# The moment that best sums up a TV series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780 "2013-10-09T16:09:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/21 "2013-10-09T22:18:27Z")
> [@Astroboy14](#): > > M_A_S_H_; when Radar comes in to the operating room and announces that Col. Blake had been killed in the plane crash. > > Total silence for a beat, and then everyone gets back to work. Larry Gelbart or someone else associated with the show mentioned the episode in which the characters were being interviewed for a stateside news program. Father Mulcahy mentions to the interviewer that sometimes when it’s extremely cold, the surgeon will, upon cutting open a patient for surgery, warm himself by the heat rising from the patient. Supposedly they were told that as fact by someone who worked at a real MASH unit in Korea or Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/22 "2013-10-09T22:29:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The last exchange at the end of the opening two-parter for BtVS does it for me. > > - **Rupert Giles:** We are at the center of a mystical convergence here! We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction. > > **Buffy Summers:** Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school. > > **Xander Harris:** Oh yeah, that’s a plan. 'Cause a lot of schools aren’t on Hellmouths. > > **Willow Rosenberg:** Maybe you could blow something up, they’re really strict about that. > > **Buffy Summers:** I was thinking more along the lines of excessive not-studying. > > **Rupert Giles:** The Earth is doomed.\* My nomination for _Buffy_ would be the scene where Giles throws the book down in disgust, finally having translated the caption below the picture of the demon they’ve just finished fighting: “It says, ‘Actual size.’” It’s a great blend of the world-weariness that underlies much of the show along with the comedy and the unexpected turns things in the Buffyverse often take. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/23 "2013-10-09T22:44:42Z")
[“I’m the Doctor. I’m a Time Lord.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSFwMqKIu8) ---
**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:** [October 10, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/24 "2013-10-10T03:45:58Z")
Star Trek TOS-The Edith Keeler speech [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/h9Dq8XJTkL0/maxresdefault.jpg "Star Trek Joan Collins as edith keeler famous speech "someday man"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9Dq8XJTkL0) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/25 "2013-10-10T04:07:00Z")
There might be a few better ones from the show. But it doesn’t get much more meta then Jerry and George explaining the basic premise of Seinfeld [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EQnaRtNMGMI/hqdefault.jpg "Seinfeld - The Nothing Pitch") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQnaRtNMGMI) ETA, here’s that Firefly clip. I always liked that scene and I’ll agree it pretty well explains Mal’s attitude and how he governs the ship. Like people used to say about Tony Soprano ‘of the bad guys, he’s the good guy’. Of course, that doesn’t completely apply here. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPRlHwwVIug) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/26 "2013-10-10T05:15:11Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > The very last scene of the pilot episode of **The Shield**. Same scene I was going to post. Up to that scene, you didn’t really know where the series was going. But it defined the entire series. ---
**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:** [October 10, 2013, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/27 "2013-10-10T05:57:29Z")
The final episode of the first season of _ **Cheers!** _, when Sam and Diane are having their shouting match. He flings open the office door to throw her out, and _everybody_ in the bar is on the other side, listening to every word. My all-time favorite moment! My all-time favorite episode: when Coach’s daughter comes to visit early in the first season. I get all choked up every time I watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/28 "2013-10-10T07:12:15Z")
**Always Sunny** : Dee and Charlie have been fired from not-working at the bar. They get hired at a TGIFriday’s kind of place, where the Waitress is a manager. Waitress tells Dee to fill the salt shakers, roll silverware, sidework basically. Dee: “Ooo, that sounds like a whole _thing_; I’m just gonna have a beer.” Doesn’t include the entire cast, of course, but that’s how they all are. Beer is always preferable to anything resembling work. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/29 "2013-10-10T14:34:07Z")
**Band of Brothers** : It’s not a scene from the series, but the small story related by the real life Capt. Winters about his granddaughter asking him “Were you a hero, Grandpa?” His reply: “No, but I served with a lot of them.” **Six Feet Under** : in the first season, Nate tells a client something like “We all die; you’re a ticking clock and so am I. Have you spent your time wisely?” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/30 "2013-10-10T14:54:10Z")
**Doctor Who** : The first clip in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCnXBD8TKJg) Defines the show, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/31 "2013-10-11T15:19:15Z")
Big Bang Theory: [Penny gives Sheldon a used napkin for Christmas](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlhHTdDqoBc). ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/32 "2013-10-11T17:11:06Z")
I think for _Twin Peaks_ it as to be the very start… **Pete Martell** : Oh dear. Lucy? Lucy, this is Pete Martell. Lucy, put Harry on the horn. **Lucy Morgan** : Sheriff, it’s Pete Martell up at the mill. Uh, I’m going to transfer it to the phone on the table by the red chair. The red chair against the wall. The little table with lamp on it. The lamp we moved from the corner? The black phone, not the brown phone. **Sheriff Truman:** Morning, Pete. Harry. \*\*Pete Martell: \*\*She’s dead, wrapped in plastic. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/33 "2013-10-11T17:32:17Z")
For **Supernatural** , I think it’s the scene where the brothers[discover their fan base](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wz2KWCixtE). Fourth wall? What’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Crawlspace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Crawlspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crawlspace)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/34 "2013-10-12T01:31:48Z")
Roseanne: They get a notice that their electricity will be shut off for non-payment. Roseanne is trying to turn up the freezer just as the lights go out so she closes the door and says with a smile, “Well, Middle Class was fun.” ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/35 "2013-10-12T02:05:51Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > **Doctor Who** : The first clip in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCnXBD8TKJg) Defines the show, I think. That is good… > [@RealityChuck](#): > > [“I’m the Doctor. I’m a Time Lord.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRSFwMqKIu8) …but this is better. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/36 "2013-10-12T02:51:51Z")
“No. We have to stay here, and there’s a simple reason why: ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics, and you’ll get ten different answers. But there’s one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens it won’t just take us. It’ll take Marilyn Monroe. And Lao Tzu, Einstein, Marobuto and Buddy Holly and Aristophanes. All of this, -all of this-, was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars.” From Babylon 5. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2013, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/37 "2013-10-12T04:17:55Z")
For x-files, by far its that episode where they bring in a new agent who represented legions of fans. Pawn stars: the episode where chum lee fixed the secret Santa. Usually, they’re assholes to each other, but that episode showed how much they really cared about each other. Married with children: similar to above, where they try to commit insurance fraud after they think their car is stolen. After they recover it al says the trunk contains his most valued possession. He pulls out a copy of Jugs magazine, which actually has a picture of his family in it. Really hit the nail on the head about what that show was all about. Seinfeld: tons of choices here, but im going with the scene in The Bet where Kramer comes in and throws the money on the table. It shows the essence of a show about nothing, yet highlighted all the characters inherent selfishness. Happy days: the opening sequence where the fonz is about to comb his hair and then realizes its already perfect. to many people the 50s will forever remain perfect in their memories, just like the fonz’ hair. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/38 "2013-10-13T17:23:49Z")
Newhart: The Finale. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2013, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780/39 "2013-10-13T19:56:02Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > “No. We have to stay here, and there’s a simple reason why: ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics, and you’ll get ten different answers. But there’s one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on. Whether it happens in a hundred years or a thousand years or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold and go out. When that happens it won’t just take us. It’ll take Marilyn Monroe. And Lao Tzu, Einstein, Marobuto and Buddy Holly and Aristophanes. All of this, -all of this-, was for nothing. Unless we go to the stars.” > > From Babylon 5. B-5 was my favorite show ever, and reading this thread has had me trying to think of what I thought the defining moment was. I don’t have to think about it any more, you nailed it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-moment-that-best-sums-up-a-tv-series/670780.md?page=1)