I was recently rewatching the IT Crowd, which is one of my favourite shows and after finishing Season 2 Episode 1, “The Work Outing” for the hundredth of time I realized this is probably my favourite sitcom episode of all time. I just can’t get bored of the jokes and the delivery. The writing is gold, and the story escalates from funny to absolutely insane hilarious. Makes me laugh every time. Half the dialogue I quote to this day.

There are many good episodes I love, and could put here as close seconds: probably most of the Futurama series, a dozen of episodes of The Office or some classics from the Friends, I could think of.

So I would like to hear what episodes of any TV show is your favourites and why? Doesn’t needs to be necessarily comedy, anything from television is fair game.

Think of it as a “what single item would you bring to a desert island with you” question, just with an episode of a TV show :)

  • stringere@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    7 days ago

    Maybe not favorite of all shows but the first that came to mind;

    Out of Gas, Firefly

    Take my love
    Take my land
    Take me where I cannot stand
    I don’t care 'cause I’m still free
    You can’t take the sky from me

  • Pronell@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 days ago

    Community, season 3, Pillows and Blankets.

    It’s a campus wide pillow fight between two friends / armies done as a Ken Burns Civil War documentary.

    • ValiantDust@feddit.org
      0·
      9 days ago

      There are people who say: ‘I don’t get it, so it was a pillow fight.’ To which I say: ‘You weren’t there.’

    • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Winger’s critics suggest he merely improvised hot-button patriotic dogma in a Ferris Bueller-ian attempt to delay schoolwork. Winger decries the accusation as “A slanderous betrayal akin to 9/11.” Later after the war, he would refer to the theory as “essentially accurate.”

    • mommykink@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Ah man thats an unpopular one, I’ve got to ask why? I loathe that episode and skip it everything it comes on shuffle. Mac and Charlie Die has got to be my pick for IASIP

      • NegativeLookBehind@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 days ago

        I think it’s a great episode because Charlie really plays the “simple minded commoner” role really well, spitting in peoples faces and bartering with people over pumpkins. Macs wooden teeth scenes are hilarious. The part where they try to act like British royalty kills me. And by the end of the episode it’s just very obvious how full of shit the gang is, as usual.

  • NineMileTower@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 days ago

    The Luck of the Fryrish - Futurama

    Fry spent his life thinking his brother was a dick who was stealing his personality, when all he really wanted was to be around him. And by the time he realized it, it was too late. Having a similar relationship with my brother, this hit close to home. I keep telling myself if I ever got a tattoo, it would be a 7 leaf clover.

  • Romkslrqusz@lemm.ee
    0·
    9 days ago

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Hush

    The writing for this silent episode is just wonderful, and the whole cast’s chemistry really shines in their non-verbal acting

    • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Mine is also from Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, but the complete opposite of Hush; mine is Once More, With Feeling. The musical episode.

      But I have to admit, the stabby stabby masturbation joke in Hush is one of the best jokes on the show.

      • twice_twotimes@sh.itjust.works
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        9 days ago

        Both excellent, but I have to put The Body at the top. I think that’s where I realized how excellent some of the actors in this show were, SMG in particular. Anya’s monologue has stayed with me in a way nothing else from tv or movies ever has. Would I rather enjoy a OMWF singalong? Yes, any day. But The Body felt like a one of a kind thing.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    9 days ago

    Fuck that’s a tough one. Futurama also leaps to mind immediately… but I think it’d probably be a Firefly episode simply due to the density of awesome. Of those it’d probably be Train Job though Shindig is a strong contender.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
        0·
        9 days ago

        I thought of that one but, at least to my memory, the strong focus on Mal in that episode sort of minimized the fun space cowboy aspects.

        Honestly I think any episode outside of Bushwhacked/War Stories/Out of Space is fair.

        In my original comment I’d mentioned Jaynestown as a runner runner up and Serenity also probably deserves an honorable mention.

        The show, IMO was weakest when it tried to build an overarching plot probably because we never got payoffs for it - so the anthology episodes aged the best. Honestly, I may also love it because it was like bonus Cowboy Bebop - but none of those episodes feel as jam packed with awesome.

        God, my comment has probably pissed off everyone on the internet.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    X-Files: Jose Chung’s From Outer Space

    You will never laugh so hard at the X-Files.

    • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      Same. I didn’t dare to say it, but since I’m not the only one… I also think that one is an outstanding episode and amongst my favorites. I think the SG-1 writers were crazy anyways. Mixing well-written episodes with the daily grind of almost the same plot happening just on a different planet… for like 10 episodes straight… Then some melodramatic stuff, or more a sitcom in-between. Sometimes it seems they just didn’t give a f— and the main actor wasn’t available so they just made his character invisible… And they made an effort to also sometimes include story arcs, sometimes not, or portray single characters in an episode. All within a very limited and confined format… Because I think a lot of SG-1 has been cheap mass-production.

      • EleventhHour@lemmy.worldEnglish
        0·
        9 days ago

        I’m doing a rewatch of SG1 right now, and I forgot just how charming this show is. I always preferred Atlantis a bit more, but I’m coming around to liking SG1 more than I used to.

        • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
          0·
          9 days ago

          Don’t neglect your real life in those 160 hours 😂 But seriously… There are a lot of episodes. Since I’m not watching a lot of anime, SG-1 is probably one of the longest TV series I ever watched. Atlantis was good, too. I still feel for the latter episodes and the end of that show… Give me 10 more years and I might consider re-watching some of that, as well. As of now I’d like some new scifi. Star Trek Lower Decks will come to an end this week… And I need someone to give some money to Seth MacFarlane and order more The Orville…

    • Subtracty@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 days ago

      I always find myself returning to a couple of the earlier episodes. S2 E1 - In my Time of Dying because it raises the stakes before Winchesters sacrificing themselves became a cliche, S4 E6 - Yellow Fever because it is hilarious, S5 E10 - Abandon All Hope because I loved Joe.

  • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.techEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    Scrubs, Where do you think we are?

    A perfect misdirection the entire episode, us as the viewer have no idea what is happening or why Dr Cox is losing it, until it all just shatters. We experience his grief firsthand, not understanding and denying it, until the world shatters around us and reality finally forces its way through. It’s perfectly done, and completely gut wrenching

  • 👍Maximum Derek👍@discuss.tchncs.de
    0·
    9 days ago

    Probably the “Flu-ouise” episode of Bob’s Burgers (Season 7, Episode 1). At least I hope so, it’s the only episode of a TV show I have a tattoo of (terrible photo and the tattoo needs touch-ups). Bob’s is my and my wife’s comfort show, we end up re-watching it a few times a year.

    Flu-ouise is the show’s first take on a real musical episode. Both the A and B plots are really strong. Its firmly in the show’s golden age and is flanked by really great episodes too (The “Glued, Where’s My Bob” two-parter is before and “Sea Me Now” is the next episode). It introduces Melty Kuchi Kopi (aka 6-pack Kuchi Kopi) and may on Louise’s other toys and gives us one of the best arguments that H Jon Benjamin has with himself throughout the series.

  • hogmomma@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    I know we’re being asked for our favoritE, not favoriteS, but it’s too difficult to pick just one. Both of them had me unashamedly bawling my eyes out. The first (aired) is the fourth episode of the third season of Black Mirror – San Junipero. The second is the third episode of the first season of The Last of Us – Long, Long Time. I couldn’t keep my cool during either of them or for quite a while after.

    Honorable mention is the series finale of Six Feet Under. The show, by and large, I’m just not a fan of. Like, pretty much at all. But that finale. Good god.

    • Pronell@lemmy.world
      0·
      9 days ago

      I don’t care about The Last of Us at all but I’ve watched that episode a few times.

      It’s just such a perfect love story. Regardless of your orientation or views, it should hit home.

      • triptrapper@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 days ago

        I agree that it’s a beautiful love story in a vacuum, but in the context of a larger society I think Nick Offerman’s character was a psychopath. With so many people suffering around him, he chose to hoard weapons and resources, and set up booby traps to avoid having to share with anyone. That’s essentially what the ultra-rich are doing today in response to the climate crisis, and nobody is romanticizing it.

      • hogmomma@lemmy.world
        0·
        9 days ago

        I have very strong opinions about flashback episodes (ask me some time, I’ll tell you), and I haven’t changed my mind, but holy crap, that was just one of the most beautiful loves stories I’ve ever encountered.

        • Pronell@lemmy.world
          0·
          9 days ago

          That’s also why I can say I didn’t care about the show that episode is a part of.

          It stands on its own, and it could have been a footnote, or a few lines. A heartfelt scene, some light sorrow.

          I’m so glad they chose to give it a full episode.

          • hogmomma@lemmy.world
            0·
            9 days ago

            I don’t know the game, but from what I understand, the relationship between those two men could’ve been completely skipped in the show and the story wouldn’t have been affected at all. That’s just what I’ve heard, though.

  • neidu3@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    9 days ago

    Star Trek TNG, that episode where Picard has been captured and turned by the Borg.

    Backstory: I’ve always considered myself a bit of a geek, but despite this I never watched Star Trek. From 2008 to 2012 I was working on a ship, so I needed something to watch. So I decided to start watching ALL of Star Trek, starting with the pilot, then via Kirk, etc.

    Come 2010 I wad at home with my GF, and we were watching TNG together the evening before I was to fly out. And with each episode it got more and more exciting, to the point where it was 0200 in the morning and 8 had to get up early to catch a flight for work at 0900.

    “OK, one more episode, and then we HAVE to call it quits for now”.

    Well, yeah, that was the episode that ended with the cliffhanger of Picard having been captured. I ended up not sleeping at all that night.

    • Brown5500@sh.itjust.works
      0·
      8 days ago

      I had to wait for the next season to watch the conclusion the first time I saw it back in the day. Broadcasters were mean with the season ending cliffhangers!

      That story arc is still one of my favorites. When Ryker is about to try warping right through the other ship and Data just tells him “standby”, one of my favorite scifi moments in any show/movie. Comparable to Adama saying jump the ship! Where, I don’t have a solution? Anywhere, jump now!

    • EleventhHour@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      You consider yourself a bit of a geek, but you don’t know off the top of your head that the name of that episode is “Best of Both Worlds”?

      Pfft…

      /s

  • flux@lemmy.world
    0·
    9 days ago

    Twin Peaks season 3 episode 8 comes to mind. It might not be something I want to watch over and over but it’s probably the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen on broadcast TV. A surrealism short film in the context of a series that both has a self contained story and speaks to the broad narrative of the series. Krzysztof Penderecki’s Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Nine in Nails, The Platters’ “My Prayer” on the soundtrack? Amazing! Still to this day I can not believe the artistic freedom allowed by Showtime to create this. Jaw was on the floor for the entire episode. I’ve felt for a long time that nothing could actually be new/shocking/different on broadcast TV. This changed my mind. Nothing has even been close imho.

    • Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.worldOP
      0·
      9 days ago

      That was something. We watched it with a group of friends and half the people were stunned and some had no idea whats going on, but enjoyed it regardless.

    • jwiggler@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      9 days ago

      I watched all of Twin Peaks because I was interested in the hype around David Lynch and wanted to see his most recent work.

      This episode made it all worth it.