# What is the single best episode of any TV series that you have ever seen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 3, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309 "2003-06-03T04:31:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**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:** [June 6, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/121 "2003-06-06T13:16:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by belladonna \* > **Which one was that? I loved the show, but it’s been so long and I don’t know the names of the eps.** “So-Called Angel” was the Christmas episode of “My So-Called Life.” ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/122 "2003-06-06T14:47:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Evil Captor \* > \*\* > I’ll add “The Man Who Had To Struggle For Everything” ep of the Simpsons. It captured the absurdity of life in America beautifully, as driven, intelligent, goal-oriented Frank Grimes finds that everything he believes in is made total mockery of by Homer Simpson. Some great lines: > > “He was injured in a silo accident and spent years teaching himself how to walk and feel pain again.” > > “You have a nice house with a car and beautiful wife and lobsters for dinner! I live in an apartment under a bowling alley and over another bowling alley!” > > And at the end: 'Frank Grimes, or ‘Grimey’ as he liked to be called …" \*\* One of the best scenes ever was in that show. Homer showing Frank the pictures on the wall. Homer: "This is me with former president Gerald Ford, and this is me on tour with Smashing Pumpkins, and this is me aboard the space shuttle. Frank: “You. Went into space.” Homer: “You’ve never been?” and the final blow… Homer: “Want to see my Grammy?” I love that scene. ---
**Author:** ![pcarney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ea5d25/32.png) [@pcarney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pcarney)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/123 "2003-06-06T15:09:19Z")
I really, really liked the X-Files episode where they have to deal with the inbreed hillbilly family. Great horror. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/124 "2003-06-06T16:14:05Z")
**Picket Fences** : _When In Rome_ When a convicted child molester returns to Rome after being released from prison, the Sheriff and Doctor Brock find their professional duties, parental responsibilities and personal beliefs in uneasy conflict, and the usually compassionate Judge Bone is unrelentingly severe in his judgements. Gut-wrenching from start to finish, there are no easy answers here. The final moments, when the offender is quietly revealed to be Judge Bone’s own son, left me devestated. I’ve only seen this once, but I’ve never forgotten it. **Star Trek: Deep Space Nine** : _Duet_ Nana Visitor as Major Kira faces down Harris Yulin as a mysterious Cardassian visitor. Is he a lowly clerk? Is he an infamous war criminal? Does it even matter what role he had in the occupation, when both sides will see him as they want to see him? The plot twists are wonderful, the issues are meaty, and the ending is a stunner. But what makes this episode is the superb performances of Visitor and Yulin, who imbue their parts with passion, desperation and very large measures of dignity. **This Life** : _Apocalypse, Wow_ Every plot thread from the entire series run comes together at the wedding of Miles and Francesca. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Anna is left on the church steps (MILES! YOU FOOL!!), Rachel snakes her way into the crumbling ruins of Egg and Milly’s relationship, Ferdy and Lenny express their true feeling for each other up against the walls of the mens’ bathroom, a long-lost friend makes a surprise return, and the household is disbanded. Perfect. **Quantum Leap** : _The Leap Home Part II: Vietnam_ Al’s quiet but devestating sacrifice for Sam, unasked for and given freely, literally felt like a kick in the gut. I don’t think I’ve ever had that kind of physical reaction to a TV show before. (It’s nice Sam got to return the favour in the final episode, at what was possibly an even greater price: his chance of ever returning home.) **ER** : _Love’s Labor Lost_ Now that’s just damn good TV. **Seinfeld** : _The Contest_ Audacious writing and spot-on performances. It all comes together so beautifully. **Roseanne** : _Wait Till Your Father Gets Home_ It’s the epitome of what this series did best: finding the humour in real people’s reactions to the reality of just trying to get by in life as best you can. This episode is about the death of Roseanne and Jackie’s father, yet it’s one one of the funniest in the series’ run, without ever being cheap or forced. Just lovely. **Buffy the Vampire Slayer** : _Once More, With Feeling_ Oh come on! It’s got singing vampires! ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/125 "2003-06-06T16:18:37Z")
This one sticks out in my mind. It’s not the best I’ve ever seen, but it was remarkable because of a particular charistic…it featured none of the stars of the series. This was a 2-part episode of _One Day at a Time_. Barbara gets befriended by a girl who’s insecure and cloying. Barbara tries to tell her nicely to back off, but the girl becomes even more possessive until Barbara finally tells her off. By the end of episode 1, the girl calls Barbara up, having just swallowed a whole jar of sleeping pills. The first half of episode 2 had the regular cast dealing with the tragedy (the girl does survive btw). The second half takes place at the hospital, where the doctor is discussing the situation with the girl’s parents. Her mother is domineering and stubborn, and her father is aloof yet coming to realize how much he and the mother screwed up raising her, and how they had all this time been ignoring her cries for help. It was an intense scene between three very good actors who would probably never be in starring roles themselves, but got their chance to shine without having to share the scene with the stars. Doctor: I recommend not just her, but all three of you see a psychiatrist. Mother: A psychiatrist? Nobody in my family has EVER been to a psychiatrist. Father: Maybe that’s what’s wrong with your family. Maybe TV Land will do a ODaaT Marathon and I’ll get to see that episode again. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/126 "2003-06-06T17:30:09Z")
The Valentine’s Day episode of _Frasier_ (two episodes in a single 30-minute show) where Niles cuts his finger and keeps passing out as he’s trying to iron a shirt (if memory serves). He has to be one of the best physical comedians on TV. The original _Alfred Hitchcock_ where the nurses are holed up in a house on a dark and stormy night with a homicidal maniac on the loose, only to find out that the maniac is . . . (I don’t have the heart to even put it in a spoiler). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/127 "2003-06-06T17:36:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Turek \* > \*\*“The Inner Light” on ST:TNG. \*\* Amen to that!!! ---
**Author:** ![WonTon\_Sean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WonTon\_Sean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WonTon_Sean)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/128 "2003-06-06T17:38:53Z")
The episode of Frasier in which they perform an old fashioned radio show. The calliope music for the killer had me rolling on the floor. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/129 "2003-06-06T20:13:26Z")
I’ll second Silentgoldfish and say that _Jurassic Bark_ was one of, if not the, saddest episode of ANY television show I have ever seen. And yet, at the same time, it stayed true to Futurama fassion and was funny throughout the show, witty, and kept the characters in character, as well as providing a little more background to a couple of them. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/130 "2003-06-07T00:08:57Z")
The Prisoner: ABC I was going to add Zenster’s choice, “Demon with the Glass Hand” from the original Outer Limits. Nikita : the “Looking for Michael” plotline, which took up about three episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/131 "2003-06-07T02:05:45Z")
**Simpsons** episode when Homer gets a gun. He goes to a gun shop called “Bloodbath & Beyond” and picks out a gun, only to find there is a 5 day waiting period. Incredulous, he exclaims to the clerk, “Five days?! But I’m mad NOW!” ---
**Author:** ![NE\_Texan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e99b99/32.png) [@NE\_Texan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NE_Texan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/132 "2003-06-07T02:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FranticMad \* > \*\*The Prisoner: ABC > \*\* I second that one! I liked all of the Prisoner episodes (well, most), but that was a particularly good one - #6 has to figure out he’s being scammed in his head. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/133 "2003-06-07T03:43:46Z")
Bruce Dern’s laugh on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lonely Place” kept my wife awake for months. ---
**Author:** ![Enkidu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8c91f0/32.png) [@Enkidu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkidu)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/134 "2003-06-07T03:52:02Z")
Miami Vice’s “Out Where the Buses Don’t Run” is an extremely close second place to the number one Miami Vice’s “Evan.” ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/135 "2003-06-07T23:38:18Z")
Oh, I forgot another X-Files episode: Small Potatoes. That’s the one where the somewhat dull and unattractive guy can change his shape into whoever he wants, so he locks Mulder in a furnace room and makes himself look like him. There’s one scene where David Duchovny is playing the unattractive guy pretending to me Mulder and talking to himself in the mirror - it’s amazing; he doesn’t look like Mulder, he looks like someone _pretending_ to be Mulder. When he says to his reflection, “You’re a damn fine-looking man, Mulder,” all the disappointment of the guy’s life just comes out in his face. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/136 "2003-06-08T00:39:24Z")
I think all of my favorites have been mentioned already, but I have to add votes for: **Buffy** : _Once More, with Feeling_. I know every song by heart and sing them on a regular basis. 🙂 **Homicide** : I don’t know the name, but the one with the guy pushed beneath the train. Excellent episode. **My So-Called Life** : _So-Called Angel_. I cried my eyes out the first time I saw it. My heart broke for Rickie. **The West Wing** : _Two Cathedrals_. A fantastic episode all around. I loved that Mrs. Laningham was such a huge influence on the President’s life, and that her ghost showed up during the storm to give him the push he needed. I also have to add _Out of Gas_ and _War Stories_ from **Firefly** : Zoe: I think this is something the captain needs to do for himself. Mal (shouting offsceen): No! No it’s not! Zoe: Oh. (shoots villain) Cracks me up every time. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/137 "2003-06-08T04:42:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by missbunny \* > \*\*Oh, I forgot another X-Files episode: Small Potatoes \*\* He was played by Darin Morgan, who is also the guy who _wrote_ “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” and “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space,’” so he’s practically got a sweep of the best X-Files eps. A talented actor and an amazing writer. ---
**Author:** ![Flowerchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/858c86/32.png) [@Flowerchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flowerchild)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/138 "2003-06-08T04:54:44Z")
I have several. I Love Lucy: Vite-Meta-Vegamin Happy Days:The Last Episode (I cried for like 3 days) Seinfeld: Every episode is memorable Will & Grace: The one where Jack finally sees Cher and he thinks its a drag queen. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2003, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/139 "2003-11-01T12:50:29Z")
I was linked to this thread from another thread, which explains the time gap since the last previous posting. My favorite episode not previously mentioned here would be the **Northern Exposure** in which a 108-year old man returns to the town of Cecily, and tells, through flashbacks, the story of the town’s founding by Roslyn and Cecily, a lesbian couple who came to Alaska to create an artists’ community. The historical figures (except for Roslyn and Cecily themselves) in the story are played by the show’s regular cast members, including Rob Morrow (Dr. Fleischmann) as an as-yet-unpublished **Franz Kafka**. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309/140 "2003-11-01T13:52:30Z")
\*\* All in the Family \*\*: The Christmas episode where Edith’s transvesite friend (Don we now our gay apparel) gets killed by a group of gay-bashers. Edith starts to question why God would allow such a thing, and even starts questioning if there is a God. On Christmas day she refuses to go to church and goes out to sit on the front porch. Mike the agnostic goes out and makes a really wonderful speech. It was all so meaningful. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-single-best-episode-of-any-tv-series-that-you-have-ever-seen/179309.md?page=8)