40 Best Stand-Alone TV Episodes (Slate)

September 19, 2023 10:42 AM

Yes, it's another listicle. That said, I like it for several reasons: it does not ignore pre-2000 shows; it indicates where the episodes can be streamed; and it does, for those series with which I'm familiar, make solid (though, as always, debatable) choices. (As a bonus, Andre Braugher appears twice!)
posted by Kat Allison (128 comments total)

Some real gems here! I get it, you probably don't want a bunch of Star Trek on here but there's at least 2-3 DS9 episodes that I'll never forget.
posted by aviwarner at 10:51 AM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

I see we must all share and think about this plate of beans before us....

Oh, wasn't expecting that episode of the X-Files... yeesh.

But for the shows I've watched, which becomes distressingly fewer as we get closer to present day, not bad.
posted by drewbage1847 at 10:53 AM on September 19, 2023

As a stand-alone DS9 episode, Take Me Out to the Holosuite tops In the Pale Moonlight, which is a treat for when you're totally invested.

[looks straight into camera, raises glass, bunts]
posted by avocet at 10:54 AM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

(As a bonus, Andre Braugher appears twice!)

fyi, that was an incredibly effective sales pitch.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:54 AM on September 19, 2023 [19 favorites]

It's a little known fact that an uncredited Andre Braugher is in many of these episodes, just out of frame.
posted by Iris Gambol at 10:56 AM on September 19, 2023 [18 favorites]

You have to watch for it, the second you let your guard down - that's when it happens - Surprise Andre Braugher Scene!
posted by drewbage1847 at 11:00 AM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I love, love, love Subway but over Three Men and Adena Watson? I don't know, man.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 11:02 AM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

Good point; I'd be tempted to go for Black and Blue myself, but it's really an embarrassment of riches.
posted by Kat Allison at 11:08 AM on September 19, 2023

100% here for the Bojack and Leftovers episodes, both of those slayed me. What phenomenal, uncompromising shows those were.
posted by grumpybear69 at 11:08 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Is "B.A.N." on the list? "Atlanta," S1E7? No? Then the list is wrong.

(I do see that there is an "Atlanta" episode on the list, from season 4, but I just started watching recently and saw "B.A.N." last night for the first time and so there is proximity bias to be sure.)
posted by chavenet at 11:09 AM on September 19, 2023

if you're going to include a futurama episode how is it not jurassic bark?
posted by logicpunk at 11:10 AM on September 19, 2023 [16 favorites]

if you're going to include a futurama episode how is it not jurassic bark?

Because no actual human being can watch that. How dare you even fucking mention it?
posted by The Bellman at 11:12 AM on September 19, 2023 [65 favorites]

I wish they’d credited the writers. For instance, “Chuckles Bites the Dust” was written by the great David Lloyd who also wrote some of the finest episodes of Frasier, including the brilliant “Ham Radio”, when Frasier Crane directs a radio play. Incidentally, I’d absolutely have put that on a list of best tv episodes.
posted by Kattullus at 11:14 AM on September 19, 2023 [14 favorites]

whoah, no Succession
posted by chavenet at 11:27 AM on September 19, 2023

I am less mad about unfortunate omissions and unwarranted inclusions in this listicle than with an average listicle, so I am guess that means I think they did a good job.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:30 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

The Bear, S2E7 "Forks".

You don't need to know Richie's entire backstory to watch it. This episode gives you enough as it goes to make it the one of the best shows I've seen this year.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:37 AM on September 19, 2023 [22 favorites]

How do you not include Episode 4, Season 2 (Honeydew) of The Bear? It is a warm, gentle hug.

on preview: yes, Forks is great as well. I just prefer Honeydew.
posted by cooker girl at 11:39 AM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm not happy about this list. Life Time, the M*A*S*H episode where they repair an aorta with a real-time clock on the screen, is not on it.
posted by seanmpuckett at 11:41 AM on September 19, 2023 [32 favorites]

whoah, no Succession

Does any "Succession" work as a Standalone? Maybe "Austerlitz?" Maybe "Prague?"

I was going to comment that most of my favorite television shows are not included on this list. There are only about ten shows on this list that I've ever watched more than one episode of. But then I started thinking about what episode you show a person if you're only going to show them one episode of, like, "Better Call Saul" because the point of the show is the long-term character arc, and was like, oh right . . that's not what the list is about.
posted by thivaia at 11:42 AM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

Honeydew is excellent as well, but Marcus was already kind of transformed. Richie had a bigger leap.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:43 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Some decent choices on this list but they probably shouldn't have included anthology series (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror) which are, by definition, enirely made up of stand-alone episodes.
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:44 AM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

I can't believe that the description of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, "The Box," with Andre Braugher, didn't mention that it was based on Homicide, "Three Men and Adena," starring a 25-year-younger Andre Braugher. I'd also rank "Three Men and Adena" above their choice of "Subway," though it's been years since I've watched Homicide, which is still(!) not available to stream.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 11:45 AM on September 19, 2023 [11 favorites]

*searches for "The Tick Vs. The Tick", the episode of the 1994 show that contains a confrontation between the Tick and a Batman-type hero also using the name The Tick, as well as the appearance of The Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight*

Not found, this list is invalid.
posted by egypturnash at 11:47 AM on September 19, 2023 [31 favorites]

1955 Season 1, Episode 7 Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Breakdown”
1959 Season 1, Episode 8 The Twilight Zone, “Time Enough at Last”
1967 Season 1, Episode 28 Star Trek: The Original Series, “The City on the Edge of Forever”
1971 Season 1, Episode 1 Columbo, “Murder by the Book”
1975 Season 1, Episode 6 Fawlty Towers, “The Germans”
1975 Season 6, Episode 7 The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Chuckles Bites the Dust”
1983 Season 1, Episode 19 Cheers, “Pick a Con … Any Con”
1991 Season 2, Episode 11 Seinfeld, “The Chinese Restaurant”
1993 Season 4, Episode 12 The Simpsons, “Marge vs. the Monorail”
1995 Season 4, Episode 3 The Larry Sanders Show, “Arthur After Hours”
1996 Season 4, Episode 2 The X-Files, “Home”
1997 Season 6, Episode 7 Homicide: Life on the Street, “Subway”
1999 Season 1, Episode 5 The Sopranos, “College”
1999 Season 5, Episode 16 ER, “Middle of Nowhere”
1999 Season 4, Episode 10 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, “Hush”
2000 Season 1, Episode 17b SpongeBob SquarePants, “Rock Bottom”
2001 Season 3, Episode 10 Futurama, “The Luck of the Fryrish”
2006 Season 1, Episode 1 Planet Earth, “From Pole to Pole”
2006 Season 2, Episode 7 Avatar: The Last Airbender, “Zuko Alone”
2007 Series 3, Episode 10 Doctor Who, “Blink”
2008 Season 4, Episode 5 Lost, “The Constant”
2010 Season 1, Episode 23 Community, “Modern Warfare”
2010 Season 1, Episode 1 Sherlock, “A Study in Pink”
2014 Season 1, Episode 8 Rick and Morty, “Rixty Minutes”
2015 Season 5, Episode 11 Key & Peele, “The End”
2015 Season 2, Episode 8 The Leftovers, “International Assassin”
2016 Season 2, Episode 16 Black-ish, “Hope”
2016 Season 3, Episode 4 BoJack Horseman, “Fish out of Water”
2016 Season 1, Episode 3 High Maintenance, “Grandpa”
2016 Season 3, Episode 4 Black Mirror, “San Junipero”
2017 Season 6, Episode 3 Girls, “American Bitch”
2017 Season 2, Episode 6 Master of None, “New York, I Love You”
2017 Season 1, Episode 8 Twin Peaks: The Return, “Part 8”
2017 Season 4, Episode 7 Nathan for You, “Finding Frances”
2018 Season 5, Episode 14 Brooklyn Nine-Nine, “The Box”
2019 Season 1, Episode 7 Ramy, “Ne Me Quitte Pas”
2019 Season 2, Episode 5 Barry, “ronny/lily”
2022 Season 4, Episode 8 Atlanta, “The Goof Who Sat by the Door”
2023 Season 1, Episode 3 The Last of Us, “Long, Long Time”
2023 Season 10, Episode 15 Vanderpump Rules, “#Scandoval”
posted by 1970s Antihero at 11:50 AM on September 19, 2023 [24 favorites]

I'm not happy about this list. Life Time, the M*A*S*H episode where they repair an aorta with a real-time clock on the screen, is not on it.

I mean, it's not a bad list but you can't have everything. I think most people would put an episode of The Wire on there, and probably one from The West Wing (thought you'd get some fights about which one).
posted by The Bellman at 11:54 AM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

Glee pilot S1E1. Jane Lynch, snarky writing, entertaining. Could have ended right there and some might argue it should have, but it didn't get insufferable til Season 3 or 4 IMO.
posted by thorny at 11:58 AM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Even though it features the inimitable voice of Nimoy and a catchy number, elevating a single Simpsons episode is a fool's errand. Rest assured I was on the Internet within minutes, registering my disgust throughout the world.
posted by credulous at 11:59 AM on September 19, 2023 [13 favorites]

Dammit. There's no "Gilligan's Island" on this list. But I am pleasantly surprised to see a "Cheers" episode featured!
posted by davidmsc at 12:03 PM on September 19, 2023

Red Dwarf: Polymorph. The hippy group named The Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into Society. The personality changes handled amazingly by all cast members. The different facial hair. The silly violence. The random changing the polymorph does, including silly sound effects. The loving skewering of liberal inclusiveness in 1989 - 30 years before 'Wokeness' complaints - all while perfectly parodying Alien.
posted by The_Vegetables at 12:10 PM on September 19, 2023 [14 favorites]

elevating a single Simpsons episode is a fool's errand

It's more of a Shelbyville idea
posted by chavenet at 12:11 PM on September 19, 2023 [36 favorites]

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly
posted by scolbath at 12:11 PM on September 19, 2023 [42 favorites]

PSA: Reservation Dogs is absolutely killing it this year for amazing single episodes. I'm not quite through the season yet but my vote would probably be "Deer Lady".
posted by mcstayinskool at 12:15 PM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

It's a shame they gave one of the slots to Sherlock when they could've put in a show that was, y'know, good.
posted by mittens at 12:21 PM on September 19, 2023 [13 favorites]

I guess “Metalocalypse: The Doomstar Requiem – A Klok Opera” isn't standalone enough?
posted by ob1quixote at 12:27 PM on September 19, 2023

The glorious sunset of my heart was fading. Soon the super karate monkey death car would park in my space.
posted by Nerd of the North at 12:27 PM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

Season 2 of The Walking Dead - What Lies Ahead. You don't need to know anything about the characters or storyline.

Love that Sopranos "College" made the list.
posted by tiny frying pan at 12:34 PM on September 19, 2023

I've always been partial to The Good Place, S02E02, Dance Dance Revolution. That episode could have been an entire season.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 12:38 PM on September 19, 2023 [17 favorites]

Twin Peaks: The Return, “Part 8” is the only episode I remember on this list. The entire season was mind bending.
I couldn't finish the last season of Barry, maybe I need to try again.
posted by waving at 12:44 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

As far as Buffy episodes go, 'Hush' is great, but if they're only picking one I would have gone with 'The Body'. I don't think I've ever had death made more real to me on TV, and (because we're a medical drama-watching family) I've seen thousands of people die on TV.
posted by nangua at 12:47 PM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

2020 Season 4, Episode 16 The Venture Brothers, "Operation P.R.O.M."
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 12:51 PM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

came here to make sure that san junipero is on the list, came away delighted to know that this beautiful, nuanced, brilliant work of propaganda is still both effective and respected.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 12:52 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

God, I really loved Leftovers S01E6: Guest.

Made me a lifelong Carrie Coon fan.

Maybe it's not completely standalone, though?
posted by pjenks at 12:57 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

I remember watching that X-Files episode when it aired, it was definitely creepy and every time I think of that "Wonderful Wonderful" song I get the shivers. They could have gone with the cockroach episode instead for something equally memorable but slightly less creepy. Damn there's a lot of TV I haven't seen.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 12:58 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

This is a good list elevated to one of the best by the inclusion of where to watch them all.
posted by Reyturner at 1:01 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

They went with City on the Edge of Forever instead of The Inner Light?
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:09 PM on September 19, 2023 [8 favorites]

Almost half this list were first aired in the last 10 years. Recency bias in action yet again.

Also, "The City on the Edge of Forever" isn't even the best Star Trek standalone.
posted by rhymedirective at 1:10 PM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

> "Also, 'The City on the Edge of Forever' isn't even the best Star Trek standalone."

Counterpoint: yes it is.
posted by kyrademon at 1:11 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

elevating a single Simpsons episode is a fool's errand

I think that Monorail, in particular, is a memorable but not actually great episode.
posted by mhoye at 1:19 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

I agree with the sentiment, and I prefer Lower Decks over The Inner Light.
posted by dsword at 1:20 PM on September 19, 2023

INNER LIGHT INNER LIGHT PEOPLE
posted by Melismata at 1:22 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

If I had to pick a Homicide standalone qua standalone, I'd go with "The Gas Man."
posted by praemunire at 1:34 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

"Operation P.R.O.M." is acceptable for The Venture Brothers, but might I also suggest "All This and Gargantua-2"?
posted by Eddie Mars at 1:36 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

On the comedy side, Frasier deserves a slot for "The Throne," Newsradio for "Arcade," and sneak in The Good Place's "The Trolley Problem." (Sitcoms tend to rely a lot more on preestablished characterization so I guess it's more challenging for them to have episodes that really feel standalone.)
posted by praemunire at 1:44 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

As far as Leftovers episodes go, "International Assassin" is the obvious pick, but there are several worthy runner-ups. "Guest" is great, as pjanks noted above. I'd also nominate "The Garveys at Their Best", which is sort of a little movie unto itself and which places the entire rest of the season in perspective. The Matt-focused episodes ("Two Boats and a Helicopter", "No Room at the Inn" and "It's a Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt World") always struck me as being fascinating character studies and I'm glad he got an episode in each of the three seasons. Maybe the trilogy is a stand-alone episode of sorts.
posted by vverse23 at 1:45 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

I thought that would definitely be here. Also "Abyssinia, Henry".
posted by oneirodynia at 1:57 PM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

No Young Ones' "Bambi," no peace.
posted by delfin at 2:04 PM on September 19, 2023 [9 favorites]

*searches for "The Return", the Steven Universe episode I've rewatched at least a dozen times because it sets up the even-more-essential "Jail Break"*

*finds "The Return", is reminded that there was a Twin Peaks reboot/whatever*

*backs away slowly*
posted by gurple at 2:08 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

WHAT, NO STEP BY STEP? Pure trash.

I still contend that the S1E1 episode of Cheers is the best-written half-hour pilot, and maybe comedy episode ever. It introduces every character and the vibe of the bar perfectly. This may be complicated by the extinction of most of the Your Show of Shows episodes, and that The Dick Van Dyke Show might not have any standalone episodes.
posted by rhizome at 2:09 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'm kind of surprised not to see an episode of M*A*S*H on the list.

For my part, although it's too niche to ever be nominated, I have never been so surprised and delighted by a standalone TV episode than when Masaaki Yuasa guest-directed an episode of Adventure Time called "Food Chain".

Although Community's, “Modern Warfare” paintball episode came close, so at least that's there.
posted by Popular Ethics at 2:11 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

(I'm also assuming pilots / first episodes don't count as "standalone" by this list's criteria, otherwise there would be a loooooooot of additions)
posted by Popular Ethics at 2:12 PM on September 19, 2023

Taxi: "Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey"
posted by indexy at 2:17 PM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

elevating a single Simpsons episode is a fool's errand

I think that Monorail, in particular, is a memorable but not actually great episode.

it is, however, elevated.
posted by chavenet at 2:19 PM on September 19, 2023 [16 favorites]

I never get to talk about this, but Jack Cassidy's Columbo roles are basically the source material for GOB Bluth and, kinda all of Will Arnett's acting. Murder by the Book (on this list) is a great episode, but for pure "this is where they got GOB's character, fully-formed" one must watch the episode Now You See Him, where Cassidy plays an illustionist named the Great Santini. I'm not saying it is all time great TV, but if you are a big Arrested Development fan, you will be blown.
posted by snofoam at 2:23 PM on September 19, 2023 [12 favorites]

I love, love, love Subway but over Three Men and Adena Watson? I don't know, man.

Three Men and Adena isn't a standalone episode in my opinion. There are three previous episodes about the investigation leading up to TMaA. The ending of the episode packs a much greater punch for me because I saw the enormous amount of work that was poured into solving this murder, and how much was riding on this interrogation.
posted by creepygirl at 2:24 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

They went with City on the Edge of Forever instead of The Inner Light?

Cordwainer Bird must be spinning in his grave!
posted by TedW at 2:24 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

otherwise there would be a loooooooot of additions)

I don't know that there are a lot of series where the first episode is the best! Though I suppose I can admit, my love for that episode is more about the technical side of screenwriting and comedy.
posted by rhizome at 2:30 PM on September 19, 2023

if you are a big Arrested Development fan, you will be blown.

You forgot to say 'away' again.
posted by box at 2:41 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

"Cool Lisa" episode.

I could watch it on loop forever.
posted by AlSweigart at 2:51 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Ctl-F > Blink

Am not disappoint 😊
posted by Thorzdad at 2:52 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

Okay I'm going to get murdered for this, but In The Pale Moonlight is *not* a stand alone episode, it barely even makes sense if you don't know the characters. It's wonderful, and I love it, but absolutely not.
posted by corb at 2:55 PM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

yeah the body is strictly better tv, and also more standalone that hush imo since hush has a bunch of standard buffying before it gets weird. still a decent list though.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:02 PM on September 19, 2023

"Far Beyond the Stars."
posted by Halloween Jack at 3:05 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

No "McLeod Meets Dracula"

4-year old me is having none of it

full episode
posted by elkevelvet at 3:07 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

If you didn’t watch the rest of the series, the finale of Game of Thrones is pretty awesome.
posted by vorpal bunny at 3:19 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

is this something I would have to remember once having had a television to understand?

But seriously. Jonny Quest, the Invisible Monster episode. Obviously.
posted by philip-random at 3:19 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

The one where Benson simulates a nuclear war on the ARPANET
posted by credulous at 3:35 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Among X-Files episodes, I would have picked "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose", or possibly "Jose Chung's From Outer Space".
posted by gimonca at 4:01 PM on September 19, 2023 [12 favorites]

*finds "The Return", is reminded that there was a Twin Peaks reboot/whatever*

*backs away slowly*

Season three of Twin Peaks is astonishly good television and peak Twin Peaks.
posted by fairmettle at 4:15 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Bluey, Sleepytime is one of the best episodes of anything ever made. That and the Cricket episode of Bluey. But I can't link directly to that one.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 4:34 PM on September 19, 2023 [11 favorites]

That college episode of the Sopranos is the only one I've watched start to finish. Guess it really was standalone, as I didn't stick around to watch the rest of the series.
posted by morspin at 4:54 PM on September 19, 2023

33
posted by Sauce Trough at 4:58 PM on September 19, 2023 [20 favorites]

PSA: Reservation Dogs is absolutely killing it this year for amazing single episodes. I'm not quite through the season yet but my vote would probably be "Deer Lady".

Themes is Reservation Dogs tend to interconnect across episodes in subtle ways. But yes highly recommended!
posted by ovvl at 5:00 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Of all the stand alone episodes that the X-Files had, THAT is the one they chose? Automatically voids the list.

Post-Modern Prometheus and The Unnatural are RIGHT THERE! Humbug, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, Bad Blood, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, even freaking Arcadia

So many excellent choices ignored.
posted by Saucy Possum at 5:31 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Justice League's Comfort and Joy is not only one of the best Christmas episodes ever but also just one of the best episodes of TV, period. You don't have to know who these characters are beyond a vague general understanding to be moved by it.

A while back, I asked to mixed results about the best TV episodes period -- prior knowledge required or not. I still say Alias: Phase One (season 2, episode 13) is incredible and satisfying even if you hadn't watched the show before that episode.

I also agree that X-Files: Bad Blood is a weird omission. Partially it's because that's the first episode of The X-Files I watched all the way through but also because it's a delight. You just need to have a vague idea of who Scully and Mulder are and it works.

I do like that "The Constant" from Lost is on this list, though. It's not quite a standalone episode because you do need to know who most of those 5000 characters are, but it works. It's still lovely and effective.

Apparently I think a lot about TV and often those TV episodes are Christmas-related.
posted by edencosmic at 5:37 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

I’ve been turning over the question of a single best Simpsons in my head today, and I think I’ve settled on You Only Move Twice.

Five minutes from now, I will have a different answer.
posted by box at 5:42 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'd add Mythic Quest's bottle episode, "A Dark Quiet Death"
posted by mikemacman at 5:45 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Good standalones all. But I find myself remembering fondly a sensational two-parter far, far better than the rest of the series: Get Smart’s “Ship of Spies” parts 1 and 2.
posted by infinitewindow at 5:49 PM on September 19, 2023

It's a shame they gave one of the slots to Sherlock when they could've put in a show that was, y'know, good

Pistols. Weehawken. Dawn.
posted by Inkoate at 5:57 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Re TNG "Inner Light" and some of the The X-Files episodes mentioned above: they do seem to tilt somewhat in favor of episodes that don't depend as much on prior knowledge of the show/characters. They reference an otherwise standalone episode of Breaking Bad as the opposite of that in the intro, for example. I'm not sure if "Inner Light" hits as hard for someone who hasn't grown to know Picard over the previous 4.5 seasons.
posted by AndrewInDC at 6:01 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Pistols. Weehawken. Dawn.

It's:

Weehawken. Dawn. Guns. Drawn.

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant,
Y. C. P. Rock
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 6:15 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

coincidentally i just started watching Alfred Hitchcock Presents and that ep they name on the list, "Breakdown", is very early, and i thought it was quite weak. i can see how it might have seemed kinda fresh in 1955 but for me it was pretty irksome, really.

the Twilight Zone ep they list, "Time Enough at Last" is widely beloved ofc but for me the best ep is "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" because it is truely timeless. i can see how other folks might find it trite or obvious, but i thought it was a pretty good & concise critique of the paranoid human condition.
posted by glonous keming at 6:16 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

What on earth is Girls doing here? I thought Lena Dunham's bribes to everyone at Slate had expired before the pandemic.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 6:20 PM on September 19, 2023 [4 favorites]

What on earth is Girls doing here? I thought Lena Dunham's bribes to everyone at Slate had expired before the pandemic.

I still like "Girls," and I'm not sure it 100% works as standalone, but my episode pick is "Panic in Central Park"
posted by thivaia at 7:08 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant,
Y. C. P. Rock

I mean, sure. I wasn't specifically referring to the musical, as much as the general practice of dueling at Weehawken, but yes, you have the general gist of the challenge.
posted by Inkoate at 7:14 PM on September 19, 2023

Weehawken, because parking is too hard in Hoboken, even at dawn.
posted by mollweide at 7:28 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

Moonlighting “Atomic Shakespeare”: Widespread recognition for this episode is hampered by the fact it is unavailable anywhere due to music rights issues but trust me — it belongs on this list:
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:51 PM on September 19, 2023 [7 favorites]

Five minutes from now, I will have a different answer.

I keep coming back to ‘Last Exit to Springfield’
posted by TwoWordReview at 7:55 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

I thought that would definitely be here. Also "Abyssinia, Henry".

I can say without hyperbole that if that had been the series finale instead of the season 3 finale, M*A*S*H would've been the greatest TV show in the history of civilization.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:02 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

'Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk' is my gold standard
posted by Flashman at 8:03 PM on September 19, 2023 [3 favorites]

My favorite The Bear episode is S1E7 “The Review,” because it’s so bewilderingly fast-paced that I did a double-take at the clock when I finished. It feels like only a few minutes pass.

I think it could hang standalone but watch both seasons anyway because it’s all good.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 8:34 PM on September 19, 2023 [2 favorites]

Probably my favorite bottle episode is from Spooks (aka MI-5), "I Spy Apocalypse". What begins as a surprise drill escalates, and the team start to suspect it's more than a drill. And then it keeps escalating. It's like nothing else the show ever did, but it worked very well.
posted by BungaDunga at 9:02 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

Red Dwarf: Polymorph

I just listened to an interview with Doug Naylor and they talked about this episode as one of his favorites.

I'm also partial to Better than Life (which has some similar plot gimmicks) and Queeg, which is just a one long, tightly written gag with the original 4-member cast.

"The Tick Vs. The Tick", the episode of the 1994 show . . .

Alternate option: The Tick vs. the Common Cold, in which a clone of Arthur collects a tissue sample.
posted by mark k at 9:16 PM on September 19, 2023 [5 favorites]

Also I don’t think you need to watch any other episodes of The IT Crowd to love S3E2 “Are We Not Men?” though it’s for the best of you do.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 9:50 PM on September 19, 2023 [1 favorite]

I haven't seen just over a quarter of the episodes in the list. In fact, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen ANY episodes of almost a quarter of the list...must be an age thing.

Long, Long Time was breathtaking.
posted by Chuffy at 10:35 PM on September 19, 2023

Two that are classic:

Dragnet: The LSD Story

Quincy, M.E.: Next Stop, Nowhere

What is wrong with kids these days? SMH
posted by TedW at 6:02 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

ST:TNG definitely "Sub Rosa" (light the candle, Beverly!) and for DS9 it has to be "Move Along Home". As for Buffy, it's clearly "Beer Bad".

Oh whoops, wrong list.
posted by Athanassiel at 6:06 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

Red Dwarf: Polymorph.

Gotta be Backwards.
posted by fairmettle at 6:34 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

The West Wing S02E17 - The Stackhouse Filibuster. No prior knowledge required, excellent mystery, multiple character perspectives, satisfying resolution.
posted by Molesome at 7:28 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

British, thirty years old, lasted one six-episode season, but The Day Today is still a visceral stab at the heart of TV news reporting worldwide. Even the massively overblown CGI intro still hits. The episode WAR, in which the news anchor (Chris Morris) derails a peace accord into an outbreak of war so that his team (already in position) can report on it is breathtakingly good. It is still hard to take any war reporting seriously after seeing it. And the whole thing is on Youtube.

Launched the TV careers of Chris Morris (Brasseye), Steve Coogan (Alan Partridge), Rebecca Front (The Thick of It), Patrick Marber (Closer), and Armando Iannucci (Veep, Avenue 5).

Worth your time, if only for the line "That's The Day Today bringing you another tear on the face of the world's mother. Alan, SPORT."
posted by Hogshead at 7:44 AM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

Red Dwarf: Polymorph.

Gotta be Backwards.

I'm sorry, the proper answer is "Quarantine." Few things have made me laugh harder than Mr. Flibble. I've been searching for a replica of the puppet for years.
posted by jzb at 7:59 AM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

I'm sorry, the proper answer is "Quarantine." Few things have made me laugh harder than Mr. Flibble. I've been searching for a replica of the puppet for years.

Quarantine is great I don't think it works as well as 'standalone' - you have to know the characters well enough to understand why they are crushing on each other's nerves for the maximum funny.

Better than Life comes close, but again you have to know personalities to know why a guy would go from a cool Jag and military leader dream to an Edsel and 12 children to buried in the sand with his face covered in ants, all in one day.

I think Backwards works pretty well as a standalone, but I just think Polymorph is slightly funnier.

But yeah, every early episode was a gem.

Unlike Black Mirror, which has a really high unwatchable vs watchable, thought-provoking swing to me between episodes, but is that particular episode actually good?
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:13 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

San Junipero?

Yes. It's very, very good, and is just about the only episode of Black Mirror that I can tolerate.
posted by schmod at 8:40 AM on September 20, 2023

What on earth is Girls doing here? I thought Lena Dunham's bribes to everyone at Slate had expired before the pandemic.

As distasteful as Lena might be, Girls is a good show, actually, and it holds up.
posted by likeatoaster at 8:43 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

For Star Trek I think it is DS9’s Duet. It’s the episode where they really dig in on the occupation details, so while it isn’t stand alone exactly, it is the first and therefore anything you need to know is explained.

Can’t argue with Blink. Polymorph is also the right call for Red Dwarf. I’d also suggest 33 from BSG, but that’s also pretty much the place to stop with that series. Sell your BSG stock, it may rally a bit but it isn’t going up.
posted by BeeDo at 9:56 AM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

The West Wing S02E17 - The Stackhouse Filibuster.

I have to admit, I was surprised not to see The West Wing anywhere in the list. I was also surprised that nothing from All in the Family, The Prisoner, or the rebooted Battlestar Galactica appeared.
posted by aught at 10:45 AM on September 20, 2023 [1 favorite]

I'm not what you'd call super-knowledgeable about All in the Family (Norman Lear's heyday was a little before my time), but this random list of best episodes makes it seem like it... may not have aged well.

(It also seems like some of the best episodes of All in the Family costarred people who would go on to be on The Golden Girls.)
posted by box at 11:17 AM on September 20, 2023

Oh wow I just randomly watched "Breakdown" a few weeks ago. I didn't find it weak; I found it very creepy. that kind of paralysis has always terrified me.
posted by dunhamrc at 12:27 PM on September 20, 2023

OK fine there are some really great episodes in here.
posted by danhon at 3:26 PM on September 20, 2023

Can’t argue with Blink.

I will, a little, for the same reason the article mentions: it's a Doctor Who episode in which the Doctor is barely present. Although: what there is of him gave us wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey; so there's that. Anyway: I'll counterpropose Midnight.

I was also surprised that nothing from All in the Family, The Prisoner, or the rebooted Battlestar Galactica appeared.

Oh yeah, most of the episodes of The Prisoner are standalones.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 3:42 PM on September 20, 2023 [4 favorites]

you probably don't want a bunch of Star Trek on here

Huh. And here I was wondering precisely which 850 or so episodes of Star Trek didn't make the cut.
posted by Flunkie at 4:53 PM on September 20, 2023

I don't disagree about the excellence of any of the episodes on the list with which I'm familiar. (Had the list been created 10 or 15 years ago, before streaming, I'd likely have known every show.)

I'm surprised the writers didn't reference the "box" connection between Braugher's prior show (also on the list, the excellent Homicide: Life on the Streets) and Brooklyn99. (I still remember that Subway ep of H:LotS so clearly that whenever I'm in a city with subways, I'm singlemindedly careful about getting near the edge.)

I'm delighted that Community was referenced; I was late to that show, only finally seeing it during the early months of the pandemic, and am agog that it's not more widely appreciated. Never has genre-bending been so compelling to me.

If I were going to pick a Trek episode, I'd personally lean more toward TNG's The Inner Light, but I get it.

But no. Buffy's Hush is great, but The Body is perfect. I have never experienced mourning since my first viewing without recalling so much of that episode, from Buffy's "...Mommy?" to Anya's amazing monologue.
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 6:17 PM on September 20, 2023 [2 favorites]

Buffy's Hush is great, but The Body is perfect.

But it's highly informed by everything that's come before -- the times that Buffy, the Scoobies, and even Joyce herself have escaped death; the plot armor of anyone who made it past two or three episodes; the ways that people who did actually die fought or were avenged or returned or were thematically appropriate. Even apart from the "dense mythology" cited in the writeup, without the weight of all that history behind it, The Body is merely Good.

But Hush? That one you can just plop anyone in front of, and it will hit exactly as hard.
posted by Etrigan at 6:29 PM on September 20, 2023 [5 favorites]

[Cntl F “M*A*S*H”]

Zero results.

Hmmmmmkay.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 6:38 PM on September 20, 2023 [3 favorites]

I would add “The Contest” episode of Seinfeld. I think that’s the tightest and funniest episode of any sitcom ever.
posted by wabbittwax at 5:15 AM on September 21, 2023 [6 favorites]

I'm not what you'd call super-knowledgeable about All in the Family (Norman Lear's heyday was a little before my time), but this random list of best episodes makes it seem like it... may not have aged well.

The list under discussion here appears focussed on what is best for 2023 audiences, however I can imagine another list which determines 'best' by how impactful it was on the TV audience of its own time.

It's perhaps difficult for modern viewers to appreciate the era in which All in the Family was originally aired. Casual racism and sexism were not uncommon even amongst liberal families. The opportunity to see these archaic attitudes held up for observation and ridicule was a revelation at the time. Norman Lear (now 101 years old) surely deserves credit for significantly improving social justice in the early 1970's, and to an extent laying the foundation for how far we have come today.
posted by fairmettle at 9:30 AM on September 21, 2023 [6 favorites]

I'm surprised the writers didn't reference the "box" connection between Braugher's prior show (also on the list, the excellent Homicide: Life on the Streets) and Brooklyn99.

Thanks for mentioning this! I thought of it but forgot to.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:41 PM on September 21, 2023

"Luck of the Fryish" is good but my standalone Futurama pick is "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings." It's got everything:

• The single greatest episode title for all time
• Important contributions from all seven of the main cast, but the primary focus is on Fry and Leela
• Robot Devil and Hedonism Bot (whom you can learn everything necessary about from their design)
• The line, "I can't believe we're all ad libbing"

I've been arguing for at least ten years that there isn't a more perfect 22 minutes of television, and it's just as standalone as almost any other episode from the first run of the show.
posted by thecaddy at 1:53 PM on September 22, 2023 [2 favorites]

Two more Atlanta episodes could be on this list: "Teddy Perkins" (S2 E6) and "Three Slaps" (S3 E1)
posted by fncll at 10:01 AM on September 26, 2023