# The most ludicrous episode in TV history **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166 "2009-12-06T04:45:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/21 "2009-12-06T19:16:37Z")
Isn’t this kind of like asking what’s bigger, infinity or infinity plus one? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/22 "2009-12-06T21:07:06Z")
> [@RachelChristine](#): > > Don’t forget Albert’s girlfriend getting raped and pregnant by the blacksmith dressed up like a clown! Or Albert addicted to morphine. Or any of the other weird episodes from this “wholesome family show”. \ There was also a major continuity error. In one episode after Charles/Caroline/Albert/whatever other kids they had left, Charles brings home Albert back for a special episode visit to overcome a drug addiction (morphine? laudanum? whatever was available in Walnut Grove). The voiceover at the end says that when Albert grew up he became a doctor. IIRC, Laura had previously said that Albert became a doctor when he grew up as well. Unfortunately the next time Albert came back for a special episode visit it was because Albert was dying. Poor kid: illegitimate, grew up on the streets sleeping in alleys, gets taken to a farm where his girlfriend is clown-raped and impregnated, then turns to drugs, then gets a terminal illness, BUT somewhere in the months between his drug addiction and dying he evidently becomes a doctor (though it’s worth remembering he was in fact a [Whiz Kid](http://www.crazyabouttv.com/Images/whizkids.jpg)). Since the character was fictitious (in fact the Ingalls were only in Walnut Grove for a less than two years and that was non-consecutive [they lived there for about a year, moved away, came back for about a year- they spent far longer in DeSmet]) so the show completely made the rules about his life, but they never explained this one. There was also an episode where a blizzard hit MINNESOTA and nobody knew how to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/23 "2009-12-06T21:30:12Z")
I seem to remember a **Waltons** episode about a poltergeist haunting the family. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/24 "2009-12-06T21:49:52Z")
Honorable mention must go to the bit where several seasons of _Dallas_ turned out to be all a dream. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/25 "2009-12-06T22:05:52Z")
Almost any show that has an episode where the cast decides to “put on a show.” Like companies are always doing that. I never worked for any company that had a “yearly employee talent show.” And what’s even worse is they never can find anyone to be in these annual employee shows so they (naturally) have to use cast members who don’t work at the company in the show. Either that or a marathon, where people get to sing. I will let “I Love Lucy,” and “Dick Van Dyke” slide 'cause the plots revolved around show business. Speaking of which, on “The Lucy Show,” after she moves to California, Lucy always seems to be befriending strange people and taking them into her home? Do people do this? Maybe back in the 60s they did ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/26 "2009-12-06T22:23:45Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I never saw that one. I have trouble imagining that it could be more ludicrous than the [Spock’s Brain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spock%27s_Brain) episode of TOS. Did going at infinite speed turn Spock into a lizard who had babies with a lizard Uhura? I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/27 "2009-12-06T22:38:54Z")
NETA: Why don’t you compare them yourself? Videos:[ul][li][Spock’s Brain](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDUyvTZVHIw)[/li][li][Threshold](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Star_Trek/Voyager/Threshold.aspx)[/li][/ul] Reviews:[ul][li][Spock’s Brain](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Star_Trek/the_original_series/Spock_s_Brain.aspx)[/li][li][Threshold](http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Star_Trek/Voyager/Threshold.aspx)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/28 "2009-12-06T22:40:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Did going at infinite speed turn Spock into a lizard who had babies with a lizard Uhura? I don’t think so. According to the article you linked (which was pretty funny, btw), _Threshold_ is the only Star Trek episode that was unofficially removed from canon. Apparently later in the series, Tom Paris says something like, ‘‘Nobody’s ever gone to Warp 10!’’ As if everyone on _Trek_ has collectively decided the episode never existed. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/29 "2009-12-06T22:41:59Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Almost any show that has an episode where the cast decides to “put on a show.” Like companies are always doing that. I never worked for any company that had a “yearly employee talent show.” Our division does. [It’s a charity thing.](http://www.opm.gov/CFC/) There had also been an annual agency-wide talent show [as part of public relations](http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/08-21.htm) until this year due to cutbacks. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/30 "2009-12-06T22:43:33Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > I seem to remember a **Waltons** episode about a poltergeist haunting the family. “Goodnight Mary Ellen.” “_There is no Mary Ellen… only Zule…_” ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/31 "2009-12-06T22:48:33Z")
I came in to mention Threshold, but am not surprised to find it already here. I remember when this episode first aired. Just as the little Paris/Janeway lizard-babies went sliding off into the swamp, my phone rang. It was my best friend. She didn’t say anything; she was laughing too hard. I had to laugh too, and we sat laughing together over the phone, unable to discuss coherently the show we had just witnessed until after the closing credits had gone by and we could catch our breath. I can’t think of anything else I’ve ever seen on TV that has had that effect on either of us. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/32 "2009-12-06T22:52:51Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > According to the article you linked (which was pretty funny, btw), _Threshold_ is the only Star Trek episode that was unofficially removed from canon. Apparently later in the series, Tom Paris says something like, ‘‘Nobody’s ever gone to Warp 10!’’ As if everyone on _Trek_ has collectively decided the episode never existed. There was a very special episode of TNG that was supposed to teach us about environmentalism. They figure out that warp drive is actually destroying the fabric of the universe somehow. So they implement rules saying a ship can only travel at warp X or whatever. I only heard it mentioned again in a later episode when the Enterprise has to get somewhere quickly and because of the urgency it was allowed to ignore the warp speed limit. They’ve since ignored this stupid little gem as well though they certainly didn’t do it as dramatically as Paris. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/33 "2009-12-06T23:09:52Z")
DUKES OF HAZZARD- somewhere between a sitcom and action I suppose- had an episode featuring a space alien once. I don’t think I ever saw it in its entirety, but I remember the Duke boys hiding him and Roscoe/Boss on the trail. I would guess this was around the time ET came out. Of course a show where a family with four members and one job (Daisy’s waitressing) between them who crash their car every week and cause the local sheriffs department to crash at least one or two yet nobody ever goes back to prison or seems unable to afford repair jobs or gets held accountable by the local corrupt sheriff who crashed while chasing them (apparently Roscoe didn’t know that if he could positively ID them he could arrest them after the chase) has to reach high to have a particularly ludicrous episode, but I think space aliens did it for them. Robert Reed hated pretty much everything about THE BRADY BUNCH other than his castmates (the kids all say he was a quiet but nice guy in real life- he took them on a world cruise between seasons once) but particularly the scripts. He hated the last episode- in which Greg buys defective hair tonic from (either Peter or Bobby) so much that he refused to participate in it; his logic- quite sound- was that a teenaged boy in the 1970s would probably not even know what hair tonic _was_ let alone use it. (The script was one that one of the writers, who was in his 60s, had dusted off from a short he had written a generation before.) ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/34 "2009-12-07T00:36:26Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Almost any show that has an episode where the cast decides to “put on a show.” Like companies are always doing that. I never worked for any company that had a “yearly employee talent show.” I’ve worked for such a place. We participated in local charitable talent shows/contests. I volunteered to participate; it was always fun. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/35 "2009-12-07T03:53:40Z")
Everybody raves about the last episode of _Newhart_, and with good reason, but the final season was getting pretty weird even before that. In one episode, George, Jim and Chester reunite their teenage gang (the Hooligans), along with Dick and Michael. Their rival gang, the Ruffians, provoke a rumble by criticizing Dick’s grammar. After trying to dance like a revival of _West Side Story_ they conclude that without a choreographer their rumble is getting nowhere. I like to think that once it was decided that the whole series would be a dream, it allowed them to go almost completely crazy in the final season. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/36 "2009-12-07T13:26:57Z")
Pretty much any episode where the entire family packs up and goes to some exotic location (Hawaii, Europe, the Caribbean, etc.). The Simpsons could pull this off, at least in the early seasons before they made it a regular gimmick, but most other shows that try this just feel really cheesy. ---
**Author:** ![Cumberdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Cumberdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumberdale)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/37 "2009-12-07T14:08:49Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > Honorable mention must go to the bit where several seasons of _Dallas_ turned out to be all a dream. I believe it was one season that turned out to be a dream. Also, in an earlier season Dallas was hit by a hurricane. If a hurricane is able to make it to Big D, I’d hate to see what Galveston and Houston look like as it made its way inland. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/38 "2009-12-07T18:00:26Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > (apparently Roscoe didn’t know that if he could positively ID them he could arrest them after the chase) Well, of course he could. But he’d still have to catch them eventually. Every time he sees the Duke boys, they confuse him or get him stuck in a barrel of something, so they can go speeding off again. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/39 "2009-12-07T18:03:24Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Well, of course he could. But he’d still have to catch them eventually. Every time he sees the Duke boys, they confuse him or get him stuck in a barrel of something, so they can go speeding off again. IIRC the series ended when Enos finally said “Aw screw this!” and shot Bo through the head, which became a gunfight in which Daisy took down Roscoe and Enos, Cletus mowed down Daisy and Luke with an Uzi, Boss said “My God what have I done!” and fell on a detonator blowing up himself and Uncle Jessie, and ends with Waylon Jennings on the porch singing “and that’s how the Duke Boys went to their maker!” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166/40 "2009-12-07T18:12:49Z")
_The Bitter End_, an episode of a show called **The Little Theater** circa 1949-1950. This episode showed up on a Rhino Video tape several years ago – it’s about a man who tries to commit suicide and fails\*. I didn’t know who the actor was until his last line: “Well whaddaya know! I couldn’t do it!” The way he said that was _exactly_ the way he said it when he said “Well whaddaya know! I finally got the Last Word!” as Dr. McCoy in **Star Trek** – DeForest Kelley. It was apparently one of his first TV roles: > **[Deforest Kelley's Unseen Scenes](http://www.tvparty.com/unseende.html)** > > Deforrest Kelley's Unseen Scenes You can click the link for the 6 minute scene. It’s some of the weirdest stuff I’ve seen that would have been on prime time TV. [http://klhalliday.com/DeKelley/Annotated/1950.htm#1950BitterEnd](http://klhalliday.com/DeKelley/Annotated/1950.htm#1950BitterEnd) Oddly enough, the IMDB has nothing at all on this. \*For some perverse reason this theme of The Failed Suicide has some sort of resonance. I’ve seen it done as a one-page in Mad, as a cartoon, in Jan Harald Brunvand’s books of Urban Legends, and as a one-page in _The Big Book of Urban Legends_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-ludicrous-episode-in-tv-history/520166.md?page=3)