# Shows where everyone remembers one episode.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [February 28, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055 "2017-02-28T18:55:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/41 "2017-02-28T22:49:43Z")

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Battlestar Galactica - “33”

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/42 "2017-02-28T22:53:19Z")

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> [@ISiddiqui](#):
>
> Battlestar Galactica - “33”

This is from the reboot (which I’ve never seen)?

The only episode from the original I really remember is the “High Noon” one.

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**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/43 "2017-02-28T22:59:01Z")

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Yep, from the reboot.

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**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/44 "2017-02-28T23:03:26Z")

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BSG: TOS-“Living Legend”-OK , a two parter, but still…

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/45 "2017-02-28T23:09:12Z")

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_The Twilight Zone_: [“Time Enough at Last”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Enough_at_Last)

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**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/46 "2017-02-28T23:14:03Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> No way. I know it was watched by 2 billion people at the time but it’s largely forgettable. I would say the one episode people remember is when Henry died.

Chance at redemption:

_Carol Burnett Show_: Siamese Elephants.

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**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/47 "2017-02-28T23:40:13Z")

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_ **The Bob Newhart Show** _ - “Over the River and Through the Woods” (More Goo to go)

_ **The Andy Griffith Show** _ - “Citizen’s Arrest” (Barney’s in jail, Barney’s in jail)

_ **The Dick Van Dyke Show** _ - “Coast to Coast Big Mouth” (Needy bald people!)

_ **Barney Miller** _ - “Hash” (Mushy, mushy)

_ **All In The Family** _ - “Sammy’s Visit” (Whatever made you turn Jew?)

_ **Taxi** _ - “Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey” (What does a yellow light mean?)

_ **The Odd Couple** _(the original) - “Password” (Aristophanes!)

_ **Fraiser** _ - “The Ski Lodge - (All this lust coursing through this lodge-and no one was chasing me?)

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/48 "2017-03-01T00:05:18Z")

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> [@terentii](#):
>
> The one with the Seniors has to be a close second. I was laughing out loud the whole time Constanza was telling the old guy there really is no reason to go on living!
> 
> _ **Fawlty Towers** _: Either “The Germans” or “Basil the Rat.”
> 
> _ **The Simpsons** _: Either “Bart the Daredevil” or the one where Homer has only 24 hours to live.

I was going to go with “The Germans” for _Fawlty Towers_.

“The Simpsons” is a tough one. I wonder if there’s any semi-consensus for this one. The first episodes to spring to mind for me are the monorail one, the Cape Feare one, Who Shot Mr. Burns?, and maybe Mr. Plow. I would have no idea what _the_ iconic episode would be, though.

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/49 "2017-03-01T00:14:11Z")

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nm

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/50 "2017-03-01T00:18:44Z")

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> [@Loach](#):
>
> Magnum P.I. “Did you see the sunrise?”

Huh. I agree, but I’m surprised other people do. I’d never heard that it was that popular. And I couldn’t tell you anything about the plot; all I remember is the last ten seconds.

Totally disagree on the _Star Trek_ choices, though. “City on the Edge of Forever” was in a class by itself.

ETA: And for South Park, “Scott Tenorman Must Die.”

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**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/51 "2017-03-01T00:33:31Z")

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> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> Newhart: the finale, specifically the final 2 minutes, when Bob’s character Dick wakes up from his dream, to find himself in bed with Suzanne Pleshette.

Very few people seem to remember the other 20-something minutes of the finale (with the only all-millionaire production of “Fiddler on the Roof.” The show was both really strange and really funny when it ended), just the final few minutes.

Friends - “The One with the Embryos”  
“He’s a … transponster!”  
“That’s not even a word!”

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**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/52 "2017-03-01T00:50:26Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I was going to go with “The Germans” for _Fawlty Towers_.
> 
> “The Simpsons” is a tough one. I wonder if there’s any semi-consensus for this one. The first episodes to spring to mind for me are the monorail one, the Cape Feare one, Who Shot Mr. Burns?, and maybe Mr. Plow. I would have no idea what _the_ iconic episode would be, though.

You’re right, a consensus most memorable _The Simpsons_ episode is a tough one. There are so many great to choose from.  
Though when it comes to most memorable, there’s always that moment that sticks in our minds. Like Les Nessman doing the Hindenburg like reporting in “Turkeys Away” or in “The Germans” episode of Fawlty Towers, Basil doing the goose-stepping Hitler bit.

That being said, if I had to choose a Simpson episode I’d go with _“Bart the Daredevil”_ (which I believe someone has also posted earlier.) This 2nd season episode features the classic scene with Homer getting banged up and bruised as he falls off the cliff only to suffer even more as he’s being hauled up to an ambulance and then he suffers even more as the he falls off the cliff again, while strapped to a wheeled stretcher.

This episode is referred to a lot in interviews I’ve seen with comedians or writers when they are asked about The Simpsons. This episode seemed to be “the one” that let the audience know it wasn’t going to be a normal animated show.

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**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/53 "2017-03-01T01:25:35Z")

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> [@terentii](#):
>
> This is from the reboot (which I’ve never seen)?
> 
> The only episode from the original I really remember is the “High Noon” one.

Reminds me a another good example: the only episode of Galactica 1980 anyone remembers is the one where Starbuck came back.

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/54 "2017-03-01T01:41:48Z")

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Just Shoot Me - Slow Donnie

“Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot…pie!!!”

Honestly, I thought the show was funny back then. It really isn’t. I mean…nah.

For me, that is where I first saw David Cross. It’s a pretty funny episode.

I thought Slow Donnie was the patron saint of “only one good/memorable episode in a show”.

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**Author:** ![journeyman\_southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5e9695/32.png) [@journeyman\_southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/journeyman_southpaw)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/55 "2017-03-01T02:01:12Z")

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Bonanza: the leprechaun episode.

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**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/56 "2017-03-01T04:32:38Z")

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> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#):
>
> You’re right, a consensus most memorable _The Simpsons_ episode is a tough one.

I haven’t watched it for a few years. My favorite episode was (I think) from a Treehouse of Horrors, where Homer kept going back in time and butterfly-affecting the present.

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/57 "2017-03-01T05:19:00Z")

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Family Ties

Alex P. Keaton falls in love with Ellen.

At This Moment provides the soundtrack

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8h3JY49JTfk/maxresdefault.jpg "Alex-Ellen's At this moment by Billy Vera & The Beaters") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h3JY49JTfk)

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**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/58 "2017-03-01T05:23:45Z")

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> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> I haven’t watched it for a few years. My favorite episode was (I think) from a Treehouse of Horrors, where Homer kept going back in time and butterfly-affecting the present.

Well, there’s a difference between a memorable episode, per the OP, and a personal favorite. My personal favorite Simpsons episode is _“The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show”_ but I wouldn’t consider it the one where everybody remembers.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/59 "2017-03-01T08:18:03Z")

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Verano Azul.

That was a great summer. Every fucking body in Spain (included, it seemed, foreign tourists) was stuck to the telly in the early afternoon, following the derring-does and heartbreaks of that group of teens, tweens and their surrounding adults.

My family’s notion of “being on vacation” included “no television unless there is some unexpected news somewhere and then only to get up to date on that issue”. We had the whooooooole beach for ourselves, man!

Most Spaniards my age can recite all dialogues from the episode where Chanquete died. Oh shit, was that a spoiler?

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**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shows-where-everyone-remembers-one-episode/781055/60 "2017-03-01T08:19:54Z")

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> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> Totally disagree on the _Star Trek_ choices, though. “City on the Edge of Forever” was in a class by itself.

Fans of the show would agree that “City” was the best ever (I do). In terms of the general public, however, “Spock with a beard” or “the one with those fuzzy things” are probably more memorable.

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