- Half hour sitcoms only. That means no Freaks and Geeks, which would have had at least 3 episodes ( Carded and Discarded, Discos and Dragons and Pilot) on the list. All of those would have been in the top 10. Gilmore Girls is also not eligible but wouldn't have made it anyway. But you will see Lauren Graham on the list! Will it be for her 6 episode guest stint on Caroline in the City? Or her work in Conrad Bloom? Spoiler: no.
- Post 1989 TV shows. Let me explain. Putting together the list I noticed a small amount of classic shows in my very top. Stretch it out to 100 and there is a good amount of Cheers, Mary Tyler Moore, Taxi, All in the Family and a couple of I love Lucy's. I feel like putting classic shows on the list I would try and force older shows in there to make my list look more legit or some bullshit. So this is list is basically post 1989 sitcom episodes. 1989 to include Seinfeld and Simpsons, of course. There will be a lot of current shows because I think we are in a Golden Era of TV right now ( We might slip out of it soon, at least on the network side of things,but that's for an another blog)
- No sketch shows. So no Mr Show, SNL, Python, Kids in the Hall, etc. It is hard to judge a sketch show on an episode by episode basis instead of a skit by skit basis. Even though some do have skits that work very well together. "The Return of the Curse of the Creatures Ghost" from Mr Show would be in the top 15 at least. Despite the fact, I actually dislike the Titanicca sketch. Pre Taped Call In Show is a shoo in top 3 for my best Sketches of all time list.
"Today is not the day for cunning plans and crazy capers."
"Planbee" through "Security Door" is perhaps of the greatest runs of great episodes a show has ever had. 12 episodes, no clunkers or just average episodes. The Planbee arc, which involves Lauren Graham as an efficiency expert is among the shows best. The episode plots include Dave trying to show Angela Planebee he can run the office while Matt ( who got fired the previous episode) keeps on sneaking back in and Bill is trying to start a Mark Russell type career in political satire songs. One of the best sight gags of the show is Bill just popping up in the hallway or bathroom singing crappy mid 90's political satire using songs from the public domain. Although the "satire" is over 13 years old. "Twinkle Twinkle Kenneth Starr", Paul, Paul, Paula Jones , shes seen Clinton nude" or "someones in the kitchen with Bob Dole" will always be funny. I could just watched Phil Hartman do that for 22 minutes, it still would of made the list. "Oh the Lincoln bedroom costs this much/ moolah moolah/ good Fred Thompsons says it's bunk/ oh the moolah hey" I barely know what means, yet still funny. Jimmy James stage fright in front of cameras was also a highlight. Planebee's assistant Steve, who she brought in to share Dave's job is causing Dave stress because he can't control the office. But Bill has a plan, just bring Steve to him. Then Bill panics and punches Steve. I know it's coming. And I know Matthew coming out from under the desk after Planbee says maybe she will think about rehiring him is coming as well. But I love it every time. That there are 29 better episodes than the one where Phil Hartman sings " When Johnny Comes Marching home again, HE'S GAY HE'S GAY" is amazing.
29. Slow Donnie - Just Shoot Me
"Chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot piiiiiiieeee"
No Archer? No Office UK? No South Park ( Scott Tetterman Must Die was very close)? No Cougartown? But you talk about that show more than Abed, Sean! Why in the fuck is Just Shoot Me on your list??? That David Spade show? Yes, the show was mediocre for its first two seasons, then for a few months was randomly one of the best shows on TV for like 2 months ( In the post Seinfeld, pre Arrested era it wasn't that hard) then back to mediocre again. This spot is largely due to the performance of David Cross, who obviously will show up later. For his narrator voice over on the 4 Oliver Beene episodes on the countdown. David Cross plays Elliot's brother Donnie, who is slow after a fall from a tree. Or so everyone thinks. He is just playing it up so his mom can wait on him hand and foot and he doesn't have to work. The dialogue sounds like David Cross and he plays it to perfection. Him switching between Slow Donnie and sleazy Donnie when around Maya are well done. "Green Quarter" "Break the dishes" and "My pants are tight" are just some of the great quotes from this episode. There's a subplot with Nina and some birds,but who gives a shit.
28. My Half Acre- Scrubs
"Do you play?"
Music sometimes plays a huge role in a show, Scrubs always made very good use of music on their show. With the exception of Freaks and Geeks, it does the best job of using music to convey emotions. This episode uses "More than a Feeling" "Poison", "Hey Juile" and "100 Years" and uses them well. Turk dancing to Poison is one the most memorable moments of the series and is the very reason I don't do it at karaoke. I can't do it as well as Turk, why should I bother doing it? More than a feeling with the air band is one of the best episode endings they have done. Also I have a thing for Mandy Moore and I should her and Zach Braff had great chemistry in this episode and I remember being pissed off when JD breaks up with her in the very next episode.
27. Racial Sensetivity- Better Off Ted
"Diversity. Just the thought of it makes these white people smile"
It was so close between this one and Andy Ricther Controls The Universe 's "We're All The Same, Only Different" for which one got on the list. Both have the same show creators and deal with race. This one won out. Better off Ted was a show set in the corporate world and often poked fun at it. The episode centered around a story where Veridian installed motion light sensors. However, the a flaw in the sensors is that they don't sence black people. Thus, what does Veridian do when black people can't drink at the fountains because of the sensors? Install a separate manual drinking fountain for black people. And when that for some reason is frowned upon? They hire white people to follow the black employees to trigger the sensors. Better off Ted did absurd stuff like this perfectly, like in this episode. Too bad nobody ever watched it.
26. Modern Warfare - Community
"What if they call the police? They'll think I'm a bad Dean!"
At one point this episode might have been in my top 10. After all it was the very episode that turned Community from my favorite new show of 2009-2010 to starting to be one of my favorite shows of all time. "Comtempary American Poultry" was the first great episode of Community, but Modern Warfare showed what the show could be. They went to this type of well many times after with genre spoofing and different types of twists on episodes ( like stop motion animation, clip show, war docs, etc.) A show could get criticized for doing what worked once too many times. However, it seems to work close to every time they try something different. Even other paintball episodes worked very well. This was the start if that. This episode was about a paintball game where the prize is priority registration, which made the whole campus go crazy. So many different action movie nods from Die Hard, Reservoir Dogs, Warriors, etc. were done well. The episode with the way it was shot and they fact that it was played serious helped the tone of the episode and made it funnier. Most shows, this would be the peak. But for this show, it was only the start of something great.
