# Worst Single Episodes Of Otherwise Well Written Series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014 "2009-04-22T20:06:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/1 "2009-04-22T20:06:08Z")
I realize the term “well written” is subjective but we’ll assume that if you say it is well written it is, though others may disagree. So list your series and the ONE single worst episode of that series. You only get to choose one. For start I’ll take “the Mary Tyler Moor Show.” I think that was a very well written series consistently throughout its run. But the worst single episode I think was the episode where Ted tried out to be a game show host and got the job. Then at the resolve part, Ted decided he didn’t want to go and Murray, Mary and Lou all wanted Ted to stay. To me it made little sense. Ted was overly cheap and greedy. He wouldn’t stay if he got a chance for more fame and much more money. And Lou, Murray and even Mary were never overly fond of Ted and they all thought _HE_ was the reason for the shows low ratings. So why would they stop him. I think as well written as “the Mary Tyler Moor Show,” was this was the worst episode. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/2 "2009-04-22T20:15:08Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > For start I’ll take “the Mary Tyler Moor Show.” Nah, the worst episode of that show was the one where Iago convinces Othello that his wife has been cheating on him, so Othello kills her. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/3 "2009-04-22T20:23:18Z")
I love the series but hate the “Heart of Gold” episode of _Firefly_. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/4 "2009-04-22T20:29:36Z")
Well, that episode of _The Simpsons_ where Bleeding Gums Murphy died was a pretty huge pile of shit. Also, the “very special episode” feel of the WKRP one where the Who concert disaster occurred. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/5 "2009-04-22T20:42:47Z")
“TKO” and “Infection” from Babylon 5. Both of them advance the overall plot arc in no way, have little to no character development, and are also pretty shitty on their own. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/6 "2009-04-22T20:46:21Z")
I looked over the _Futurama_ episode list and aside from Bender’s excessive annoyingness in “Jurassic Bark” which _almost_ ruined the episode for me, I can’t find anything. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/7 "2009-04-22T20:53:42Z")
“Omega Glory” ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/8 "2009-04-22T20:55:50Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I love the series but hate the “Heart of Gold” episode of _Firefly_. I liked that one. The one I didn’t like was 'Shindig". I loved \*\*Law and Order \*\*up the point where the episode revolved around the cast’s reaction to a death penalty being carried out. It was the crime and law that made the show interesting, not the character’s personal feelings. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/9 "2009-04-22T20:57:38Z")
“ **Hollywood** ,” the episode of _Happy Days_ where Fonzi “jumped the shark.” Jumping the shark is now a well-known term that denotes the point in a TV show or movie series’ history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations. This usually corresponds to the point where a show with falling ratings apparently becomes more desperate to draw viewers in. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have “jumped the shark” are typically deemed to have passed their peak. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/10 "2009-04-22T21:28:49Z")
the fourth episode of Cowboy Bebop… it’s hard to explain, but it was so totally out of the blue, and pointless, and just utterly ridiculous in a way the show wasn’t (it _was_ utterly ridiculous, but in other ways and other times). I saw it without that episode by someone who admanantly hated it, then again later, and had to agree. The entire series would have been better off without it. Likewise, you can make a case for the last episode. The series was cut late, and they knew there wasn’t going to be another, so they basically ended it in the worst possible way short of “Rocks fall, everybody dies.” But it was close, because (and even the characters sorta recognized this, perhaps as a shout-out to the audience to say, “yeah, we know, but we got no choice”) the series was clearly not meant to go that way. The characters had changed and grown a bit - subtley, but definiteively, and the ending shoved them back into the boxes they were in at the start of it. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/11 "2009-04-22T21:33:59Z")
TNG, Wes goes on spirit quests and eventually evolves into a Traveller. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/12 "2009-04-22T21:40:00Z")
Oldie but baddie: _Star Trek_ (the original series), “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”. Unwatchably bad. It makes “Spock’s Brain” look positively Shakespearean in comparison, it’s so awful. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/13 "2009-04-22T21:47:15Z")
Missed the edit window. [YouTube has it](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kuufdY9M-E). ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/14 "2009-04-22T22:16:58Z")
I love every episode of every season of Red Dwarf (yes, even Meltdown), with one exception. The one episode I just can’t stand, is Camille. I keep trying to make myself watch it but I find myself getting irritated and I stop paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/15 "2009-04-22T22:55:33Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I realize the term “well written” is subjective but we’ll assume that if you say it is well written it is, though others may disagree. > > So list your series and the ONE single worst episode of that series. You only get to choose one. > > For start I’ll take “the Mary Tyler Moor Show.” > > I think that was a very well written series consistently throughout its run. > > But the worst single episode I think was the episode where Ted tried out to be a game show host and got the job. Then at the resolve part, Ted decided he didn’t want to go and Murray, Mary and Lou all wanted Ted to stay. > > To me it made little sense. Ted was overly cheap and greedy. He wouldn’t stay if he got a chance for more fame and much more money. And Lou, Murray and even Mary were never overly fond of Ted and they all thought _HE_ was the reason for the shows low ratings. So why would they stop him. > > I think as well written as “the Mary Tyler Moor Show,” was this was the worst episode. I once read a series companion book on TMTMS that expressed this same view of that episode, and I disagreed. I always thought that the permanently-grouchy Lou Grant actually enjoyed having something to complain about. Ted was like that sore tooth that Lou couldn’t stop touching. There was another episode where the station hired a ridiculously snobbish cultural critic who went as far as to slam WJM on the air for being philistine. When he came in off the air, Lou was waiting with a cake. But the critic sneered that Lou wouldn’t hit him with the cake, because “only an idiot” would do that. As Lou appeared to grudgingly agree and backed off, Ted barged in and spontaneously slammed the cake in the critic’s face. Sometimes, you need an idiot, and Ted was the idiot of the WJM village. It wouldn’t have been the same without him. And Lou knew it. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/16 "2009-04-22T23:35:10Z")
The worst episode of the show _The Outer Limits_ (a series that I loved when it showed originally) is “The Children of Spider County.” The stupidity of it is apparent in the opening. Four important young scientists have just disappeared without a trace. In investigating this, it’s discovered that they were all born in the same county in the same month and were all born two months prematurely. Furthermore, they all have the same middle name - Eris. The show opens with two investigators discussing these coincidences. One of them asks, “So why Eris?”. The other says, “It’s the name of an obscure planet in the galaxy Krell.” (I’m guessing how Krell is supposed to be spelled.) So we’re supposed to be able to know the names of planets (yes, even obscure planets) in other galaxies. At that point I turned the TV off. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/17 "2009-04-22T23:52:10Z")
The worst episode of Friends is The One With Ross and Monica’s Cousin. The plotline with the cousin goes nowhere (and makes Ross look like a sexual predator), and Monica and Joey’s story about needing to find a fake foreskin is just stupid beyond belief. That one is so stupid it’s like a Three’s Company plot. This episode is the only one I regularly skip on the DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/18 "2009-04-22T23:57:16Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > “TKO” and “Infection” from Babylon 5. Both of them advance the overall plot arc in no way, have little to no character development, and are also pretty shitty on their own. Have you blocked out the steaming pile that was, “Grey 17 is missing”? > **[List of Babylon 5 episodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_17_Is_Missing)** > > Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on the Babylon 5 space station: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262. With its prominent use of planned story arcs, the series was often described as a "novel for television". > The pilot film premiered on February 22, 1993. The regular series aired from January 26, 1994, and ran for five full seasons. Due to War... > [@](#): > > It has been noted that this episode was one of the weaker ones overall. J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, expressed his own dissatisfaction with a part of this episode, namely the appearance of the Zarg **as well as a desire to apologize to fans in person.** Jeez that was bad. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/19 "2009-04-23T00:23:56Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > I love the series but hate the “Heart of Gold” episode of _Firefly_. Blasphemy, heretic, blowtorch, blah blah blah. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014/20 "2009-04-23T00:30:03Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > Also, the “very special episode” feel of the WKRP one where the Who concert disaster occurred. Similarly, the “Isaac and Ishmael” very special episode of The West Wing. Almost any very special episode is a bad idea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-episodes-of-otherwise-well-written-series/494014.md?page=2)