# The "One Episode" TV Challange **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599 "2009-05-06T22:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/21 "2009-05-07T15:23:53Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > For MST3K, one must start with Space Mutiny. There is no other starting place. I don’t know, I introduced all my university friends to MSTSK with Cave Dwellers which is still our favorite episode and we still borrow riffs from it to this day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/22 "2009-05-07T15:33:23Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > Stargate SG-1; 200- the entire episode pokes fun at the entire sci-fi/fantasy genre, and it even includes the inevitable [Farscape parody scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCNDdlCo4rA&feature=related) (Ben Browder and Claudia Black were the lead actors in 'Scape) I still have this episode on my PVR, it’s freakin hilarious. I loved the marionette scene where they recreate the move and Daniel Jackson draws all over the screen with a marker. Classic!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/23 "2009-05-07T16:07:05Z")
For _Firefly_, the actual pilot. Except it’s a two-parter. But I bet the first part would hook you enough. **Kyla** said: > [@](#): > > For **Firefly** , what’s wrong with the pilot? The damn show only has 13 episodes, it’s not like there are huge drops and gains in quality that you want to ignore/point out. Oddly enough, the one I wouldn’t show is _The Train Job_, you know, the one Fox ran as the pilot. About the only thing that worked on that one was the ending, where Mal kicks the henchman through the engine Even though that is dumb for a lot of reasons, it really cements who Mal is, that he doesn’t put up with stuff. But other than that, that episode was weak. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/24 "2009-05-07T16:21:57Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > > [@Jragon](#): > > > > FLCL/Furi Kuri/Fooly Cooly: Oh, any of them will do, if I had to pick I’d say episode 5 because at least then if they don’t like it I can be smugly convinced their brain will never operate the same way again. Episode 2 was a close second and deserves an honorable mention, just for the giant Canti-cannon™ > > I came in to mention this show. But, I had the idea of showing them the first episode while pretending that it was a later episode. I saw it randomly one night on Adult Swim, and thought " I have to watch the earlier episodes, because there’s surely something I am missing here." > > Nope, it was the first episode. :eek: Yes, it’s a series that you need to watch several times, because there’s no way that you could understand much on first viewing. So I’d agree that it has to be episode 1 of FLCL, because the later episodes just get weirder. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/25 "2009-05-07T16:43:33Z")
DS 9 “In the Pale Moonlight” this was a wonderful dark episode where the hero is non heroic and presents wonderful moral dilemas that the previous incarnation (Next Gen) avoided having its protagonists deal with. Even Avery Brooks isn’t as hammy as usual and puts out a great performance ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/26 "2009-05-07T17:09:11Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Whose Line is it Anyway?–The one with Richard Simmons. That’s not fair. The person you showed it to would end up looking high and low for another ep that even came close and would never find it in a million years 🙂 My vote is the same as from that thread last week where we listed the best-written episodes from the best-written shows or something. It’s **Peep Show** ’s series 1 episode 3, where Mark and Jez go bowling with neighbor Toni and a teenage girl that Mark met at a party. Sophie and Jeff show up. Hilarity (and penis) ensue. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/27 "2009-05-07T17:09:52Z")
Absolutely agree with the previous poster re: “In the Pale Moonlight.” Firefly: Either the real pilot or “Jaynestown.” Or “Out of Gas.” Or “Our Mrs. Reynolds.” Aw hell, it doesn’t really matter - they’re all great, and the series is only 14 episodes long. Scrubs: Any of the episodes guest-starring Brendan Fraser, but especially “My Screw Up.” These episodes are probably the purest distillation of all the factors that made early-seasons Scrubs so great. The Office (US): “The Injury” or “The Client.” Season 2 was easily the best season of the show, and just about any episode would probably work, but these two episodes best show off the ability of the show to derive unexpected humor from the characters’ interactions. Buffy: “Hush,” no question. It’s more of a stand-alone than the other truly great episodes, and really gets the point across to a new viewer that this is a show with _ambition_. Veronica Mars: The pilot. The show is generally too serialized for a new viewer to “get” starting halfway through. But it helps that the pilot is, on its own, one of the best episodes of the show’s stellar first season. Battlestar Galactica: “33” (assuming you can’t get them to sit through all four hours of the miniseries). Simply put, one of the best hours of television ever created. Futurama: “The Luck of the Fryrish” How I Met Your Mother: “Slap Bet” (or the aforementioned “Pineapple Incident”). But I’d give the edge to “Slap Bet” for the hysterical faux-80s music video. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/28 "2009-05-07T17:24:48Z")
> [@kingpengvin](#): > > DS 9 “In the Pale Moonlight” > this was a wonderful dark episode where the hero is non heroic and presents wonderful moral dilemas that the previous incarnation (Next Gen) avoided having its protagonists deal with. Even Avery Brooks isn’t as hammy as usual and puts out a great performance Was one of the best episodes of DS9, but wouldn’t be a very good way to introduce the show IMHO, as it depends on the watcher knowing a fair amount of background about both the show and the characters. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/29 "2009-05-07T17:24:54Z")
The Simpsons - definitely [Homer Badman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_Badman) for me. Straight through hilarious. Flight of the Conchords - [Mugged](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugged_(Flight_of_the_Conchords)). Two of their best songs and a great plot. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/30 "2009-05-07T19:48:26Z")
_Frasier_ - [The Matchmaker](http://www.frasieronline.co.uk/episodeguide/season2/ep3.htm) Confusion ensues at the Crane household after a gay station manger, Tom, is hired at KACL. Frasier plays matchmaker for Daphne, unaware the he is in fact the one Tom is interested in. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/31 "2009-05-07T19:57:47Z")
_The X-Files_: “The Last Repose of Clyde Bruckman.” Everything _The X-Files_ was capable of doing, all done excellently. IMHO, one of the best hours of television ever broadcast. _Remington Steele_: “Steele Crazy after All these Years.” Creepy and spooky, and with some of the best Steele/Murphy dialogue. _Quantum Leap_: “The Leap Home, Part II.” Completely, utterly, heart-breakingly beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/32 "2009-05-07T20:07:54Z")
**Lost** - the pilot episode, of course, should be seen first and it is damn good. And while I would say that it is pretty vital to watch the entire series in order, if I had to pick one episode other than the pilot to hook someone, it would have to be “The Constant.” When Desmond finally reaches Penny on the phone at the end… well, rarely does a television show move me emotionally as much as that. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/33 "2009-05-07T20:20:25Z")
I’m gonna have to agree with whoever said Walkabout for Lost. It’s a great episode early enough on in the season so you don’t need to know anything other than "a plane crashed on the island and there’s some sort of monster in the jungle. The final scene really shows that this is not a normal show. ---
**Author:** ![SpecialAgentJem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SpecialAgentJem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialAgentJem)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/34 "2009-05-07T20:58:50Z")
X Files - Bad Blood! Love this episode and think others would too. Six Feet Under - Pilot. The L Word - Pilot. Malcolm in the Middle - Rollerskates. Nuff said! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/35 "2009-05-07T21:23:17Z")
Buffy - Hush is the obvious choice; coincidentally just re-watched it with my kids Star Trek TNG - Yesterday’s Enterprise: in a single ep (unlike the season-spanning cliffhanger with the Borg) you get all the TNG goodness you can handle, including Worf loving prune juice as “a warrior’s drink.” My favorite ep, but a perfect distillation of TNG-ness… ---
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/36 "2009-05-07T22:21:13Z")
Lost - Further Instructions/Walkabout (Really any Locke-centric episode.) ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/37 "2009-05-07T22:30:05Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Was one of the best episodes of DS9, but wouldn’t be a very good way to introduce the show IMHO, as it depends on the watcher knowing a fair amount of background about both the show and the characters. Agreed. A better candidate would be the first season episode [Duet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duet_(DS9_episode)). The episode gets to the heart of one of the central conflicts of DS9. All the backstory you need for the protagonist (Kira Nerys) becomes apparent in the episode. Duet is a well written self-contained episode that avoids the wishy-washy feel-good ending that plagued TNG. You can view the episode on youtube [here.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNa5Qe3mtz0) ---
**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:** [May 8, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/38 "2009-05-08T15:36:30Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > That’s not fair. The person you showed it to would end up looking high and low for another ep that even came close and would never find it in a million years 🙂 No, not fair would be telling someone to watch the “chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot ppppppppiiiiiiiiieeeeeee” episode of “Just Shoot Me,” and have then looking high and low for another ep that even came close and would never find it in a million years 😃 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/39 "2009-05-08T16:50:55Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > No, not fair would be telling someone to watch the “chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot ppppppppiiiiiiiiieeeeeee” episode of “Just Shoot Me,” and have then looking high and low for another ep that even came close and would never find it in a million years 😃 For which we can all be eternally grateful. David Cross has to be one of the most annoying people on the planet. **Seinfeld** - “The Contest” of course. \*\*Friends \*\*- Probably the one where Ross is trying to get everybody ready to go to his awards ceremony. Joey and Chandler get into a clothing war, and Rachel goes commando. ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599/40 "2009-05-08T17:20:58Z")
I was never really a fan of the X-Files, but in a similar spirit to the OP, a friend insisted I watch the episode “Home”. I did, and LOVED it so gave the show a try, but I never found any other episodes lived up to that so I eventually gave up disappointed. For LOST, I would say whichever episode the polar bear first showed up in (was it the pilot?) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-one-episode-tv-challange/495599.md?page=3)