What is the single greatest episode of any sitcom?

"The Contest" aired last night and I was surprised how classic nearly every single scene was - I realize that this thing has been talked about ad nauseam, but it really is that good - probably more laughs there than most shows have in an entire season. The only episode of any show that made me laugh that much is probably the Sledge Hammer! pilot, "Under the Gun". You?

homer's enemy

Not sure if this is my serious answer until I think more about it, but WKRP Thanksgiving episode certainly up there.

yeah "Homer's Enemy" is great but in a way it signaled the ultimate decline of the show. if I were to name any Simpsons episode it would be "Cape Feare" or "A Fish Called Selma"

i liked that one where they were fixing a chandelier and they didn't fix the chandelier and the chandelier fell off and they broke the chandelier

Curb Your Enthusiasm - "The Car Pool Lane"

great question

First that springs to mind is the builders episode of fawlty towers, but there's probably a rising damp or reggie perrin that rivals, maybe even a south park

xp yeah "The Car Pool Lane" almost certainly has the funniest premise of any sitcom episode

Cheers Thanksgiving food fight ep was funny, iirc. Futurama tearjerker with the dog was great. A couple of Simpsons eps hit similar comedic and emotional highs.

Bunch Cheers eps, come to think of it, though I haven;t seen them in decades.

Bunch of great, that is.

Recently, some eps of Party Down, Parks and Rec, Community are all time. The speech in 30 Rock with Alec Baldwin playing Tracy Jordan's family is a current comedic high.

It's the 40th anniversary of All in the Family, trying to think which ep I would nominate. One of the broadest (with a plainspoken gravity at the end) is the 'Rashomon' one where Archie and Mike disagree about the visit of a repairman (Ron Glass, later of Barney Miller) -- Mike envisions him as a Stepin Fetchit type, Archie as a Black Power radical.

Tried to think of something for Arrested Dev but gave up b/c IMPOSSIBLE

IMO South Parks humor is too scattershot to really be considered for something like this, but I will point out that "Jakovasaurs" makes me laugh harder than anything else.

The ones that revolve around serious moral/religious issues can also be really good, especially "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" which is like the perfect representation of how religion feels to a grade schooler and just a really great episode overall (the second part was pretty disappointing though)

AD - the two that stand out are the one with Jefferson and the one with the one-armed man, but IMO too many of the jokes in every episode are dependant on seeing every other episode

also "The German Tourists" from Fawlty Towers.

and of course "Chuckles Bites the Dust" from Mary Tyler Moore, tho the first 20 mins are pure setup for the funeral climax.

South Park: Trapped in the Closet, Fun w/ Weapons, Casa Bonita or Awesome-O

If we're considering sitcoms strictly half-hour, it'll rule out a few episodes of Boston Legal and Freaks & Geeks that I think could make the cut, but there are actually some good Cosby episodes I'd go for otherwise.

"Chuckles Bites the Dust" is a very excellent episode.

Casa Bonita

this is my all time favorite episode of southpark.. the episodes that dont try and do 'relevant' current event type stuff and instead focus on the characters are where the show really shines

The Larry Sanders Show, "Hank's Night In The Sun'

at its best, the Butters/Cartman dynamic is comedy gold.

xp

Butters is IMO the most consistently funny South Park character

crackfox boosh
aussie gf flight of the conchords

The best Simpsons episode ever. Fact.

Though I think I would probably go for the Christmas episode of Father Ted.

Christ, I didn't realise that was exactly 9 years ago!

Also, everyone knows the best episode of South Park (and certainly one of the top ten greatest sitcom eps of all time) is "Scott Tenorman Must Die".

milkfloat fr ted

Tenorman is def all-time, but also slightly overrated imo

Milkfloat Father Ted > Christmas Father Ted, definitely.

the episodes that dont try and do 'relevant' current event type stuff and instead focus on the characters are where the show really shines

well I don't know if I necessarily agree with that, the topical stuff can be really great, but yeah in terms of "all time" its hard for them to hold up. my wife loves the show and we watch it together a lot but she's not from America so I usually have to explain a lot of what the episodes are about. she didn't even know who O.J. Simpson was

I'd have to go with "Marge vs. The Monorail" or "Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie."

For a non-Simpsons sitcom, that episode of "Night Court" where they have to clear the city case load before midnight or all cases get dismissed was like pants-pissingly funny back in the day.

think u guys have to brush up on The Dick Van Dyke Show

Take a nap, old man.

Although the ep where Laura gets her toe stuck in the faucet is great.

I'm trying to compose a quick top ten in my head. Besides the Larry Sanders and South Park episodes I already mentioned, I might second "Homer's Enemy" (I say 'might' because the completely perfunctory 'Bart's factory' subplot makes it sag), along with the conspiracy theory episode of Community...probably something from Peep Show and NewsRadio and Roseanne. This is hard.

frankly I'm not sure I've seen any DvanD in 30+ years

I say 'might' because the completely perfunctory 'Bart's factory' subplot makes it sag

But the subplot leads to Grimes's "Your son owns a factory!" Also: ("I saw the whole thing: First, it started to fall over, then, it fell over.")

Your mention of NewsRadio makes me withdraw Night Court in favor of the episode "Complaint Box."

Bob Newhart's drunken Thanksgiving

Trying to exterminate rats from Fawlty Towers

This minute and a half is, by itself, funnier than nearly everything on television right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QmSrYEaVb0

But the subplot leads to Grimes's "Your son owns a factory!" Also: ("I saw the whole thing: First, it started to fall over, then, it fell over.")

yeah I liked that part - I think I was like 11 or so when the episode first aired, so that was all kinda "kid fantasy" for me

still I can't stop but feel like that episode was the moment where Homer turned from a three dimensional character to a blathering idiot, which is what wound up ruining the show.

Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie

i watched this episode recently and was lollin pretty hard at this exchange in the writers' room:

"we're talking the original dog from hell"
"you mean cerberus?"

Theo/Gordon Gartrelle shirt episode of The Cosby Show (I feel like I just said this yesterday). I rofl every time.

Also, re: Cheers...the one when Diane leaves and Sam says "Have a nice life."

It's clearly "Homer At The Bat"

milky joe boosh episode. homer de milo. futurama slurm episode. south park dance-off episode.

there were a few episodes of The Critic that seemed to go above and beyond even the Simpsons, in particular the one where Jay's parents get lost on an island or the one that parodies Streetcar

mostly for "penguins can't fly! PENGUINS CAN'T FLY!!"

I would still rank the WKRP Thanksgiving episode over that

Is the milkfloat one the one with the hairy babies? It's been so long since I've watched them all I get them confused. If so that's an excellent one but I'd maybe go with the one where the Chinese people move to Craggy Island and everyone things Ted is racist.

I don't think I could ever actually answer this. Might have to be an episode of Curb though I'd have to think long and hard about which.

the 'Rashomon' one where Archie and Mike disagree

^^^ Maybe my favorite AITF episode. WKRP Thanksgiving (based on a true story!) is also ace.

Simpsons I'm going for "The Lemon of Troy" and, although I know Frasier doesn't get much love around here, "The Two Mrs. Cranes," with everyone pretending to be someone else (Martin: "I was an astronaut!")

The Gay! The Gay Musical episide of the IT Crowd is all-time even though I could take or leave the rest of that series.

I was probably being unfair tbh. I don't remember Cosby episodes that well and I'm mostly just burnt out on Seinfeld and Simpsons whereas recent shows are obviously fresher. I still think Community's and The Office's high points are as good as any show's though.

i must watch some Office (US) episodes. is it easy enough to drop in on say 'Dinner Party' or 'Casino Night' and know what's what. i mean, having seen all of the UK series etc?

I'd recommend watching all of s2 personally. "Casino Night" really works as a culmination of the whole thing imo. I really like "Dwight's Speech" for a funny episode that stands fairly well on its own. Don't know if it's an all-time best or anything though.

I stopped watching The Office about three years ago by the way, and am fairly confident I haven't missed much.

It's started becoming really funny again

I want to believe you but I'm not sure I can... There seemed to be less of a point once Jim and Pam finally got together.

I'll give it a try some time though.

Scott Tenorman is way overrated... IMO South Park peaked in Season 9.. Marjorine and The Losing Edge being two of the best
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHFu8ucCGGc

South Park lost it's real charm for me when the kids stopped being innocent open minds that just happened to see things as they really were, and instead became direct voices for whatever the creators wanted to preach about. They automatically knew the truth or motives behind every new situation rather than just reacting to them in innocently rational ways that revealed the truth to everyone. Matt and Trey got lazy a bit when they abandoned the "I learned something today" structure basically.

fresh prince: def poet's society (funny) or papa's got a brand new excuse (;_;)

I really REALLY hate sitcom episodes like "papas got a brand new excuse"

If I want drama I'll watch a drama

"last exit to springfield"

Part of me wishes Matt & Trey had done "a very special" That's My Bush

decide to open a "wilderness" store "in Brooklyn."

never saw this ep, but the concept wouldn't make anyone bat an eye IRL today.

A Wilderness Store Opens In Brooklyn is a v touching novel

father ted - holiday in the caravan
young ones - interesting
seinfeld - merv griffin show

Episode Ten: "Ed The Stowaway"- The Posts and the Kirkwoods are going to Hawaii on a vacation thinking they are leaving Mr. Ed in California. Somehow Mr. Ed sneaks aboard their ship and is discovered in Wilbur's cabin. Once in Honolulu Mr. Ed takes up surfing and announces to Wilbur that he doesn't want to return to California because he enjoys the Hawaiian lifestyle. Later in the show, Wilbur has to disguise himself as a female hula dancer to try to get Mr. Ed back.

Ignoring my own criteria (no sad/serious sitcom eps!) for the moment, I'll once again point those who've lost their taste for South Park towards last year's "You're Getting Old". It might be the actual best episode of South Park ever.

Oh well that one is great.

South Park still has the power to astound, which is why it's one of the greats.

i'm not digging up anything new w/ the massive fanfare it's got, but futurama's "jurassic bark" is both one of the funniest episodes and one of the saddest things i've ever seen

You realize, ilx, that this thread was merely a cunning snare to trap you all into sounding like The Comic Book Guy. No doubt your responses are being collected for the purpose of blackmail at a later date.

if you aren't down with the Woodland Creatures episode, I don't even know who you are anymore

Does that Chuckles the Clown really live up to its reputation, or do people just think it is funny because the characters themselves keep laughing? Don't know if I've seen it since it first aired. Have the same question about they Bob Newhart episode where they get drunk watching football and can't pronounce "Moo Goo Gai Pan."

as much as I love "Marge vs the Monorail" and usually couldn't care about breaking laws of physics it always drove me crazy that Homer stopped a train going 180 mph with a 50 pound letter "M" attached to the train with one knot.

I can think of some things in that episode that violated the laws of physics worse than that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2y0euGMhiM&NR=1&feature=endscreen

"jurassic bark" is a very good suggestion!

Im never sure why we do these threads, no consensus is reached and we all just list our own faves.

So with that in mind:

Simpsons: Homer's Enemy
Futurama: possibly "The Late Philip J Fry", or "The Sting"
Black Books: Cooking the Books - really dont think they ever topped that very first episode

...eh. I cant DO this. It feels arbitrary and wrong.

i am kind of curious what a bar graph would look like of the latest seasons people thought the simpsons were any good. i'm guessing it would have a general downward slope after 8, 9?

"it went downhill after season 9" has almost become a cliche now, tbh :/

rewatched season 9 recently and it's actually way better than i remembered, some really terrific episodes -- homer buys a gun, lisa getting lost on the bus, homer trying to climb the murderhorn. afraid to revisit season 10 even tho i remember enjoying some of it at the time.

I keep saying this but it really is good right up to about S11 or 12. After that the good episodes are few, but still there. After S13 it really seems to start to slide, and the new all-digital eps seem consistently pretty crap, though I have to be fair, Ive only seen a few. Saw one the otehr night that ended with Ralph becoming the president, wtf?

"last exit to springfield"

i gave up when Homer got raped by a panda. They'd obviously been stretching the character for awhile and finally broke him afaic. but typing "homer got raped by a panda" makes me lol a little now so what do i know.

brother's little helper is a pers simpsons fav, in fact anytime i hear 'don't stop thinking about tomorrow' by fleetwood mac the first thing that pops into my head is always bart driving that tank.

probably some Monkees episode for me

kinda wanna start a thread polling anyone who's seen the latter 10+ seasons of the simpsons for hidden gems, but i'm worried no one's actually kept up with it (despite ratings)

king of the hill
"manger babies"

..maybe, there's so many

Im never sure why we do these threads, no consensus is reached and we all just list our own faves.

file under "you just answered your own question"

man, u guys elevate George Costanza and I'm the joyless, misanthropic shithead!

The beauty of George is that there's a little George in all of us. This does not hold true for other wrong-headed sitcom characters. For instance, I would certainly hope that there is none of any Eric Cartman in any of us.

There's also a little Morbs in all of us. Sometimes a lot.

p sure i know and indeed have posted alongside a few quasi cartmen

Well, I mean, we all hate Jews. That's a given. But aside from that.

wtf u capitalised jew, i'm calling fake cartman right here

a huge part of george's humor is based on how pathetic he is, not joyless and/or misanthropic.

or perhaps i'm misunderstanding that argument

No, you got it.

btw i don't think Costanza is joyless or misanthropic at all! like sure a lot of the time he's starting needless arguments about parking spaces and chip dip or figuring out how to get out of his engagement, the kind of things people have come to identify with Larry David and Curb, but a lot of the time George is this kind of excitable manchild, wandering from job to job and relationship to relationship getting all these absurd ideas and trying to take naps under his desk or combine sex with food, played by this charismatic song-and-dance man who just happened to be stocky and bold, and at first played the role as kind of a neurotic Woody Allen type but gradually did so much more with it.

― Jean-Luc Gohard (some dude), Saturday, January 14, 2012 8:05 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

no... I meant that people who think he is the greatest sitcom charcter ever are! *canned laughter*

― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Saturday, January 14, 2012 10:15 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

the difference between Larry David in Curb and George Costanza is that it's never really that believable that Larry's life is miserable, b/c we all know that he's the millionaire creator of arguably the greatest sitcom ever and thus will always have his fans, famous friends, a loads of cash, whereas George really has almost nothing going for him and can sell pathetic phrases like "I'm never going to have sex again, am I?"

OK, after just rewatching, I guess "Dwight's Speech" isn't really all-time great. Maybe "The Client" for a light funny s2 episode?

best season two ep hands down is "the injury"

One of the few things I've seen on television that has reduced me to tears of helpless laughter was the episode that featured Elaine's "dancing". In fact, I'm cracking up just thinking about it.

DP - I thought you might like this:

http://www.iwatchstuff.com/2012/02/06/dances-elaine-seinfeld.jpg