What is the best TV episode or TV scene you have watched in the last 30 years?

[diabeticman]

It can be funny, or touching, or dramatic or anything you like.


Now I am not a Doctor Who fan like my wife but I will say I have seen the Episode Blink and that one was just amazing to me.

This right here is my favorite part. If you can find the Whole episode and watch it you will understand why these 35 seconds just give me goosebumps.

My wife and her friend being- bored are trying to come up with some of the best TV list they have ever seen.

So far on the list:

The first episode of Mad Men

The last episode of House of Cards (British version)

Twilight Zone "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street"

There are a lot of All in the Family episodes.

West Wing "Noel"

[Ohio Joe]

1. Talyns End

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. finale of Six Feet Under....

final sequence -

First season ER episode when a woman under the watch of Dr. Green dies while the ER was shorthanded (an amazing, difficult, tragic, tense hour)

not available free, but this is it on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Loves-Labor-Lost/dp/B000LQD6I6)

Dream episode, and finale, of St. Elsewhere

very end of the finale

any of many episodes of The Sopranos

Several Breaking Bad (we have the final 5 to watch)....

Some episodes of Twin Peaks

[onestepforward]

19. I pick the finale of Six Feet Under too.

The ending still moves me like no other. It was an excellent show.

[Tripper11]

27. Agreed!

Damn near perfect IMHO

That show was so good on so many levels.

[kalli007]

39. Came here to post that! SFU finale is, IMO

the best piece of television ever written/acted.

[progressoid]

86. Six Feet Under +1

[First Speaker]

3. When Mulder breaks off the corpse's finger in "X-Files"...

...that's a favorite. Also--when we realize that President Logan is the Bad Guy during Season Five of "24"...the return of Sherlock in, yes, "Sherlock"...and too many others to recall right now...

[hlthe2b]

4. Breaking Bad season 5 (Ozymandias)--the third from the finale episode...

This was some incredible writing, acting, story telling...

[JeffHead]

72. +1

The best hour in the history of television.

[Initech]

5. 30 years???? That's a bit of a stretch!

If I had to ballpark some of my favorite episodes of TV:

- The episode of Seinfeld where they go to the Dealership
- The Simpsons where Lisa has a rival and Bart gets Milhouse on America's Most Wanted
- Any episode of the original Arrested Development
- Multiple episodes of 30 Rock (probably my favorite is the "Idiots R People Too" episode)
- Multiple episodes of Psych
- The entire 4th season of Dexter
- The Pilot of Dexter
- Two episodes of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia": "Who Pooped The Bed?" and "Chardee McDennis: The Game Of Games"
- Multiple episodes of South Park
- The entire series of Breaking Bad
- The entire series of The Walking Dead

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett

the Blue Carbuncle episode. It's one of the best Conan Doyle stories and has a heartwarming ending at Christmas time. I think this production, with some of the best British actors of the time in each episode and Jeremy Brett as the definitive Sherlock Holmes, the gorgeous cinematography and taut scripts faithful to the original Conan Doyle stories, is some of the greatest television ever produced.

I too am a fan of Dr. Who, though.

[fizzgig]

7. the last episode of battlestar galactica

the world's supply of tears

edit: blink seriously freaked me out

[elleng]

8. The West Wing

Sorry, can't do just one. There are MORE!!!

[fizzgig]

14. west wing was insurpassable in its prime

got bored with it toward the end, didn't finish the last season and change until a few years ago.

[AngryOldDem]

17. "In Excelsis Deo" from the first season.

Stellar acting and writing.

[Rhythm]

47. I can't watch that episode without crying...

[Aristus]

31. Another good one:

[MissMillie]

36. "Two Cathedrals"

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[Rhythm]

48. There's too many WW episodes to list...

I've been re-watching the series with my better-half for the last couple of months...

[davidpdx]

58. Yes

Bible lessons "One last thing while you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the ignorant tight ass club, in this building when the president stands nobody sits"

Presidential debates "...game on boyfriend, let's go." "By the way I feel bad I don't think I've done enough to help you prepare for this debate (snip)"

In Excelsis Deo "If we start pulling strings like this don't you think every homeless veteran will come out of the woodwork" "I can only hope so"

Two Cathedrals "Thug"

Twent-five "You're relieved Mr. President"

[elleng]

61. THANKS!!!

[OriginalGeek]

9. I haven't seen it since it aired so I don't know how well it holds up

but I always thought the first time Peewee Herman was on Murphy Brown was the funniest half hour of television I ever saw.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Just about any episode of Max Headroom

A dystopian futuristic series about television and computers controlling the lives of large numbers of people living in hopeless squalor.

[ms liberty]

78. yes. great show.

[mrmpa]

11. West Wing

Christmas episode where Toby pulls strings to have a homeless Vet buried at Arlington.

[elleng]

13. Yes.

[Sherman A1]

24. +1

I have all the seasons on Dvd and they are superb!

[MadrasT]

26. Yep. I cry just thinking about it. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

12. For comedy...Frasier: Three Valentines - A Valentine for Niles

[Auggie]

63. I love that segment

[Joe Shlabotnik]

15. Agree on 1st episode of Mad Men.

Mad men and the walking dead are pretty much the only shows that I've gone out of may to watch in the past 20+ years.

[blogslut]

16. There are so many.

But, one of the most satisfying was the X-FILES episode Redux in which Kritschgau explains that the alien conspiracy business is just a shiny diversion to keep the American public distracted from the real crime of how our government wasn't in the democracy/freedom business - it was in the arms business.

[Whisp]

18. Damages with Glenn Close had some real jaw droppers.

It's been a while so I can't recall exactly which eps.

[The Second Stone]

20. Chuckles the Clown from MTM and Feleena from Breaking Bad

were standouts.

[murielm99]

55. I was going to post Chuckles the Clown. n/t

[edbermac]

21. Sammy Davis Jr on All In The Family

A classic!

[Scuba]

30. The only one posted so far that I've actually seen!

I used to love "I Spy" will Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Guess that's more than 30 years though.

[sakabatou]

22. Cowboy Bebop

[Sherman A1]

23. The Bold Ones, The Invasion of Kevin Ireland

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0528581/

I wish this series would reappear in some fashion. This is one the I watched as a kid and still recall to this day as to how a guy was screwed by mistakes on his credit report.

[Make7]

25. One of the most interesting scenes I can recall was 'The Box' episode of "The Lost Room" ...

... mini-series where they are at the hotel and use the Polaroid object to view Room 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_aeb_kb2Q4

That mini-series is the best thing the the Sci-Fi Channel ever produced.
[div style="width:100%; height:1.2em; border-bottom:1px solid #aaaaaa;"]
The most disturbing scene (to me anyway) was probably the end of season four of Dexter.

The best overall sci-fi episode was, in my opinion, the episode 'Q-Who?' of "Star Trek: TNG".

For pure comedy it is hard to beat 'The Germans' episode of "Fawlty Towers".

[font style="font-size:0.8462em;"](Those last three are all on Netflix streaming.)[/font]

[Orrex]

28. Are you talking about episodes that first aired within the last 30 years?

Or episodes that we have personally seen within the past 30 years?

The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street is over 50 years old.

[diabeticman]

34. Episodes you have seen.

[TM99]

29. Newsroom Opening Scene

Best I have seen in at least 15 years.

[Xyzse]

32. I'd have to +1 on this.

I don't know why, but I recently saw this:

One of the quotes was:

That's the different between a real soldier and this Halloween outfit you have going on. You'd kill to protect your rights. A real soldier would die to protect someone else's.
Eliot -

http://www.tvfanatic.com/quotes/thats-the-different-between-a-real-soldier-and-this-halloween-o/

[DFW]

33. The Newsroom opening scene is mine, too.

Hands down.

[malthaussen]

35. Probably the last episode of "Hill Street Blues."

Limiting it to the past 30 years... I don't watch a lot of TV, but seeing Dennis Franz deck Jon Cypher was a high point.

-- Mal

[KatyaR]

37. "Blink" is epic.

I would say the final, what, 20 minutes of the last episode in the second series of Sherlock? Sherlock and Moriarty on the roof--absolutely incredible.

I can't remember which episode of "West Wing," but the scene where the President and Josh march down Pennsylvania Avenue to Congress...how I wish that would happen in real life. Of course, anything from "West Wing" is brilliant.

Funniest would be the 'phone police' episode of "WKRP" and the scene in "Frasier" where Niles is having a three-way conversation with the Spanish-speaking maid and the German fencing instructor (I think).

[Betty88]

38. Hush- Buffy the vampire slayer

The doctors angels were very creepy, not to be missed. I would have a hard time choosing between them

[Kingofalldems]

40. Seinfeld

When Jerry and Elaine take the same plane, he's in first class, she has to ride coach.

[Boomerproud]

41. Moonlighting-Big Man on Mulberry Street.

Synopsis: David reveals to Maddie that he's been married and he has to return to New York to attend his ex-brother-in-laws funeral. Maddie follows him to New York and meets his ex-wife who reveals the real reason for their divorce. It has everything-humor, drama, a great dream/dance sequence and wonderfully realized performances and writing.

[shenmue]

45. Yes!

[WinkyDink]

74. For ML, I'd pick the Taming of the Shrew episode and also the FABULOUS "Be My Baby" scene!

Whew!

Heck, I'm adding it to MY post!

[ms liberty]

79. A fav of mine...its title is "Atomic Shakespeare" IIRC...n/t

[A HERETIC I AM]

42. The "Barney Miller" Hash Brownies episode.

Jack Soo as Sgt. Yemana is at his comedic best.

[Auggie]

70. +1. Best episode of the series.

[A HERETIC I AM]

71. So glad someone else agrees with me!

[Jenoch]

43. I don't know if I would say it's the best,

but the last episode of Newhart was quite clever and unexpected.

[diabeticman]

44. Yes that is another one on my wife's list.

[Sancho]

46. Star Trek: Plato's Stepchildren

The kiss - at the time it was a huge discussion. Besides that, it really put Star Trek into the minds of people who had never thought about it.

I realize it was a little more than 30 years ago...

[XemaSab]

49. Favorite scenes:

"One Minute" from Breaking Bad.

Maddy's death in Twin Peaks.

The scene where the exterminator goes under the house in the first season of American Horror Story.

Almost any scene in LOST with Ben.

And for comedy, the scene in Sunny where Pop Pop tells Charlie that he wants to be buried in his old war uniform, and...

[idendoit]

50. I had to go back to 1968.

The best final episode to the best series I ever saw was from The Prisoner. With Patrick McGoohan (Secret Agent) and Number 2, Leo McKern (Rumpole of the Bailey).

[Mr.Bill]

51. Might have been more than 30 years ago,

but the Barney Miller pot brownie episode was hysterical.

[nirvana555]

52. There are so many... Definitely Breaking Bad has too many scenes to list..

IMHO it's the best show in television history. Also, as several have mentioned, the last scene in the Six Feet Under series finale, WOW! And, as someone else also mentioned, the last scene in season 4 of Dexter. I love nothing more than watching really good T.V. Programs, and, there have been some really good ones.

[didact]

53. The Red Wedding

[karadax]

54. Quantum Leap Finale.

Sam came to the conclusion that he'd be time traveling / helping people for the rest of his days. He willed himself to leap back in time to tell Al's wife that he was still alive as a POW and to wait for him. Al never became the man-pig going through five wives and many girlfriends.

The episode where Sam leapt into Lee Harvey Oswald is another good one.

[CBGLuthier]

59. Did you know it was not filmed as a finale.

NBC just added the card at the end that said he never came home and cancelled the series.

But oddly enough, the strange quality of that episode made it a pretty good finale.

[murielm99]

56. The "All in the Family" episode

where the guy tries to rape Edith.

[Vashta Nerada]

57. Doctor Who - The End of Time, Part 2

The last 15 minutes or so, when David Tennant's Doctor is saying goodbye to his former companions. So sad and so full of emotion.

This is a crappy video, but it's the obvious saddest moment of the episode:

[lame54]

60. Men of a Certain Age - "Go With the Flow"

This episode was like an expertly written joke that builds and builds to a fantastically funny punch line. The whole episode is exactly that.
The story telling was great, with Joe, played by Ray Romano, recounting his blind date to his two friends over breakfast. It being his first date in 20 years and him being who he is, it makes for a great, if long, story. The date also happens to be with guest star Sarah Clarke (24), who was perfect in this part.
In the case of this episode, the slow pace of the show worked in its favor. As Joe tells the story, we get to see what is taking place. We already know that Joe has a black eye, but we don’t know how it happens. The way the story plays out only heightens are anticipation of finding out.
The leg cramp first appears in the episode when one of Joe’s employees doesn’t want to load the truck at work. It reappears when his son doesn’t want to go up to bat during his baseball game. It last appears in one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a while. When Joe jumps up and heads for the bathroom yelling that he had a leg cramp, I broke out laughing so hard that I almost fell over and could feel the blood rushing to my face.
That scene along with some advice from Terry, played by Scott Bakula (Star Trek Enterprise), that didn’t work for Joe the way it does for him was just too good.
- See more at: http://www.tvaholic.com/2010/01/11/review-men-of-a-certain-age-season-one-go-with-the-flow/#sthash.6s4j71Id.dpuf

[Still Blue in PDX]

62. There are many from Doctor Who and Supernatural, but this one makes me smile every time.

I also love the finale of Newhart.

[Auggie]

64. Sherlock: "A Scandal in Belgravia"

Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2014, 02:35 PM - Edit history (1)

First episode in the series that I saw. Blew me away.

Several Sopranos episodes: Whitecaps, College, Pine Barrens, Whoever Did This, University

The Americans, Season 1

Sitcoms: Bob Newhart, Over the River and Through the Woods (With Emily out of town, Bob spends Thanksgiving with Jerry, Howard and Mr Carlin watching a football game -- they proceed to get drunk and order Moo Goo Gai Pan from a Chinese restaurant for dinner.)

Dick Van Dyke Show: Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth

Just a few ...

[GermanDem]

68. Agree on Sherlock!

I recently watched that episode again, and it is so cool!

Was "College" the Sopranos episode where Tony takes his daughter on a college tour (and whacks someone along the way, while at home his wife flirts with the priest)? That one was outstanding!

[Auggie]

69. Yes on "College"

[Paladin]

65. The final episode of "Six Feet Under"

The last few minutes (available on-line) still shake me up, emotionally. Beautiful idea, beautifully done......

[geardaddy]

66. Too many to mention

Here are few highlights though:

Seinfeld: "The Contest" and numerous others
Curb Your Enthusiasm: probably all of them
Trailer Park Boys: "If I Can't Smoke & Swear, I'm Fucked"

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

67. As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.

Best comedic episode in the history of broadcast TV.

[WinkyDink]

73. The Patrick Stewart "Frasier"---2 "L&O's": Lennie's farewell; the execution ep---Hardy's "The Take."

Last edited Thu Feb 20, 2014, 10:32 PM - Edit history (2)

"Damn my fatal allure!"

[WinkyDink]

75. Not to be buried: The "Be My Baby" ep of "Moonlighting! Zowie! And ALL OF KEN WAHL'S "WISEGUY"!!

"Moonlighting":

"Wiseguy" AMAZING scene (the "Sonny Steelgrave" arc):
I.

II.

[ms liberty]

80. especially the Mel Profit arc with Kevin Spacey. n/t

[kwassa]

76. The Wire. All of them. Best show ever made.

Many incredible episodes, I don't know where to start.

The first season was the strongest, which is true of almost all shows.

Also, the first season of the Sopranos, when Livia was still alive.

[nilesobek]

77. The first episode of "All in the Family."

What a great classic and it hits almost every nerve.

[ailsagirl]

81. Rod Serling was brilliant and quite ahead of his time

"The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" is one of the most chilling things I've seen on TV. He nailed it.

[diabeticman]

83. Another episode my wife loves from the Twlight Zone that does get mentioned much is: Number 12

Looks Just like you".

[Hippo_Tron]

82. There's a Law and Order SVU episode called Outcry...

And the final scene is absolutely fucking brilliant.

In the lead up to a rape trial, the prosecutors explain to the victim that her odds of winning are slim and that the defense will try to convince everyone that she's a liar. But they encourage her to go through with it, if for no other reason than its been empowering for rape victims in the past. Sure enough that's exactly what happens and the defendant gets off. But just when you think the episode is over and they're ready to fade to black, another girl walks in and thanks the victim for her bravery and comes forward about being raped by the same person.

[kairos12]

84. Ozymandias Episode of Breaking Bad's Final Season

[MrMickeysMom]

85. As a Whovian...

You'd have me on most episodes over the last 5 years there, second to just about any Star Trek Next Gen.

But, the one I'm definitely hooked on after one season is Orphan Black. I'm counting down until April 19th!