movies just full of them:
“I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m just “Crewman Number Six.” I’m expendable. I’m the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I’ve gotta get outta here.”
“OH, That’s not RIGHT!”
"Red-thingy moving toward the green-thingy. I think we’re the green-thingy. "
"Uh, hi guys. They’re telling me that the, uh, engines, they can’t take it. The ship is falling apart. Just F.Y.I. "
*Who says I don’t care about my people? PULL! *–History of the World, Part I So, you feel like you’ve been symbolically cast…in a bad light.–Ivanova, to Londo in Babylon 5.
The only movies I’ve watched in a long time are The Princess Bride and Monty Python and the Holy Grail- not that those have any shortage of quotable lines.
Monty Python’s Holy Grail and Life of Brian are treasure troves, as are Airplane! (“and don’t call me Shirley”).
TV-wise, for me, it’s The Simpsons followed by Seinfeld for most memorable one-line quotes.
Top of my head, best Simpsons quote is from Eddie the policeman in a conversation with his fellow cops about a Pulp Fiction like comparison between Krusty Burger and McDonald’s:
Wiggum: Do they have Krusty’s Partially Gelatinated, Non-Dairy Gum-Based Beverages?
Lou: Uh-huh. They call ‘em “shakes”.
Eddie: Huh. “Shakes”. You don’t know what you’re gettin’!
From the same episode, Skinner makes a lame excuse about why his kitchen appears to be on fire (behind a closed swinging door) while having his boss, Superintendent Chalmers, over for lunch at his house: “Aurora Borealis”.
“The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year… At this time of day… In this part of the country… Localized ENTIRELY WITHIN YOUR KITCHEN?”
“Yes.”
“…May I see it?”
“No.”
(As a terrific visual touch, the “camera angle” framing the Superintendent is slightly askew and zooms in slightly more with each new objection about the Aurora Borealis.)
Then as he quickly escorts his boss out the front door, his mother screams from upstairs, “Seymour, the house is on fire!” and he calmly replies, “No, mother, it’s just the Northern Lights.”
My all-time favorite moment from that show was when Homer was abducted into Kang and Kodos’ spaceship. Homer says, “Well, I suppose you want to probe me. May as well get it over with…” He begins taking down his pants.
Kang and Kodos recoil in disgust, and one of them says, “Stop! We have reached the limit of what anal probing can teach us!”
“You’re makin’ a fool outta yourself, Clairee…This is football. All people care about are touchdowns and injuries. They don’t give a damn about that grape shit.”
And this entire sequence between Olympia Dukakis and Shirley MacClaine:
Clairee: Here!
[grabs Ouiser by the shoulder and positions her in front of M’Lynn]
Clairee: Hit this! Go ahead M’Lynn, slap her!
Ouiser Boudreaux: [taken aback and confused] Are you crazy?
Clairee: Hit her!
Ouiser Boudreaux: Are you high, Clairee?
Truvy: [in a frightened tone] Clairee, have you lost your mind?
Clairee: We’ll sell t-shirts sayin’ “I SLAPPED OUISER BOUDREAUX!” Hit her!
Annelle: [in a scared tone] Ms. Clairee, enough!
Clairee: Ouiser, this is your chance to do something for your fellow man! Knock her lights out, M’Lynn!
Ouiser Boudreaux: [snatches away] Let go o’ me!
Clairee: M’Lynn, you just missed the chance of a lifetime! Half o’ Chiquapin Parish’d give their eye teeth to take a whack at Ouiser!
In Lethal Weapon 2, Danny Glover and Joe Pesci are creating a distraction at the South African consulate so Mel Gibson can break in. Pesci goes up to the counter and says his friend wants to emigrate to South Africa, and he’d like help talking the friend out of it. Before the guy at the counter can respond, Glover sits down with a huge grin on his face.
Counter guy (heavy accent): B-but… you’re black.
(pause, Glover looks innocently confused)
Pesci, turning toward Glover: He’s right, ya know… y’are.
The absolutely perfect deadpan Pesci uses has made that last line a staple catchphrase among my friends.