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Topic:
100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 1. "Chuckles Bites the Dust," ("The Mary Tyler Moore Show")
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DarthBoba
Registered:
Jun '00
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Date Posted:
8/28 7:54pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" ("The X-Files")
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Donnie Pfaster would eat both of them. Literally. 
I nominate Irresistible as being better than either of these.
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TOYB!
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/29 11:54am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" ("The X-Files")
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9
THE BOB NEWHART SHOW
November 22, 1975
"Over the River and Through the Woods," the craziest Bob Newhart Show episode of all time, begins sanely enough: Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) announces her intention to visit her family in Puget Sound over the Thanksgiving holiday; psychiatrist Bob begs off, saying he wants to be available to his neurotic patient, the endlessly depressed and depressing Mr. Carlin. But Carlin can't be happy unless he's making others miserable, so he invites himself over to watch football with Bob, Jerry (Bonerz), and ever-present neighbor Howard (Daily). Of course, there are certain customs that must be observed. "We take a slug of this every time the other team scores," says Jerry, offering an enormous jug of grain alcohol to Bob. Soon things get loco; it's a high-scoring game. Smashed, starving, and facing a frozen turkey, the boys consider cooking the bird at 2,000 degrees for a half hour -- but the oven only heats to 500. "Then we'll use four ovens," suggests Howard. That's when they decide to call out for Chinese food -- to be precise, for Moo Goo Gai Pan (to be more precise, for Moo Goo Goo Goo Gai Pan). And lots of it. So much that it has to be delivered with a hand truck. Luckily for Bob, Emily arrives just in time to pick up the tab -- and put on a pot of coffee."
Yes, a great one.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/30 8:06am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Over the River and Through the Woods," The Bob Newhart Sh
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8
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
September 15, 1965
"History's three best-kept secrets were the location of King Solomon's mines (never disclosed), the plans for D day (made manifest on June 6, 1944), and the fact that Alan Brady wore a toupee, which suddenly became common knowledge when Laura Petrie accidentally blabbed it to a national audience as a contestant on the "Pay As You Go" TV game show. Big oops. "What do you think Alan will do?" asks a quivery lipped, impeccably coiffed Laura (Mary Tyler Moore). "It's not what," replies her stammering husband and possibly soon-to-be-ex-Brady employee Rob (Dick Van Dyke), "but how." And indeed, in the bright, witty, Emmy-winning script for "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" that kicked off this magical series' fifth and final season, hell hath no fury like an egomaniacal TV star who's had the rug pulled out from over him. Series creator Carl Reiner, in one of his 12 appearances as Brady, is incensed and cutting, especially when addressing a desktop of heads, each sporting one of his wigs: "Fellas," says Reiner (who revealed his own baldness in this episode), "there she is -- there's the little lady who put you out of business." More than 30 years after it aired, "Big Mouth," a caustic meditation on male vanity and office etiquette, is still one of the most precise, cohesive, and funny half hours of TV ever produced."
Seen this one; don't know that I would rank it this high, but it is good.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/1 9:22pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Coast-to-Coast Big Mouth" ("The Dick Van Dyke Show")
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7
CHEERS
November 27, 1986
"In "Thanksgiving Orphans," the holiday is looming, and most of the Cheers gang has nowhere to go. Diane's solution is simple: Why don't they gather at Carla's house? "What could be more enjoyable than opening your heart with holiday cheer?" she asks. Carla (Rhea Perlman) responds, "Opening yours with a can opener?" Nevertheless, Woody (Woody Harrelson), Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), and Cliff (John Ratzenberger) agree to spend the holiday with Carla. As the afternoon wears on, they're joined by Sam (Ted Danson), Diane (Shelley Long), and Norm, who arrives with "birdzilla," a turkey so huge it takes all day to cook. Before this episode ends, nerves will fray, and the famished guests -- arguably the most adept sitcom ensemble ever cobbled together -- will indulge in the funniest food fight in TV history. The final arrival at the party is Norm's never-seen wife, Vera -- who winds up getting smacked in the kisser with a pie just before we catch sight of her face.
REWIND
"Throwing food is the most fun that you can possibly have," Perlman says of Carla's chuck-and-duck feast. "I don't know why we don't throw it at each other all the time. The world would be a better place."
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yankee8255
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
9/1 11:40pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Thanksgiving Orphans" ("Cheers")
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On the Fawlty episode, I just got the first DVD, which includes the Germans. Haven't gotten a chance to watch that one yet. Is it even possible to pick one episode over another? They all seem equally brilliant.
On Cheers, definiterly remember this one well, on e of the bests episodes of one of my favorite shows. The twist with Vera at the end is brilliant.
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A perfect world: a house in the Hamptons with two solaria and a horse named Prickely Pete,
Dr. van Nostrand as my primary care physician,
the O-OT legally available on DVD in a quality worthy of its greatness
and Luke the undisputed hero of Star Wars
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/2 12:12pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "Thanksgiving Orphans" ("Cheers")
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6
THE HONEYMOONERS
January 28, 1956
"Ralph Kramden's get-rich-quick schemes were a Honeymooners staple, but the pipe dream in "The $99,000 Answer" may be the funniest. The episode plays off the then-popular mania for quiz shows: Convinced beyond all reason that he will triumph on The $99,000 Answer, popular-music expert Ralph intensely prepares at home, aided by piano-playing pal Ed Norton (Art Carney), who warms up for each song with a few bars of "Swanee River." Of course, the second he's on live TV, Ralph's bravado vanishes. Going into the classic Kramden meltdown -- the eyes bugging, the lips quivering, the tongue stuttering "humminahummina" -- he identifies the composer of "Swanee River" as Norton before being escorted off-stage, reduced to an object of pure pity. Unlike most Honeymooners episodes, there's no redemption, no "Baby, you're the greatest" clinch with wife Alice. Of course, no actor could shift from humor to poignancy as deftly as Gleason."
Haven't seen this one, unfortunately.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/3 9:54pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: "The $99,000 Answer" ("The Honeymooners")
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5
THE ODD COUPLE
December 1, 1972
"The password is "hilarious." Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were always perfectly mismatched. The two men -- one a neurotic neatnik, the other a compulsive slob -- had absolutely nothing in common except a Manhattan apartment. In "Password," Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) make the worst team since oil and water. The popular game-show host Allen Ludden is a fan of Oscar's sports columns, and approaches him to be a celebrity panelist playing against Ludden's real-life wife, Betty White.
Felix is ecstatic; he can be his roommate's partner. Oscar takes some convincing -- first to be on the show and then to be on it with Felix -- but he finally agrees. As bad choices go, this is right up there with Lincoln's decision to go to Ford's Theater. Speaking of the Great Emancipator, during one match, Felix hears the word mayonnaise and comes back with "Lincoln." Lincoln? Lincoln? As Felix explains, it's a well-known fact that Lincoln loved mayonnaise. The pair's utter failure to com-municate finds its fullest, most sidesplitting expression in this sparkling episode."
REWIND
"Hearing Jack and Tony talk to each other off-camera was hysterical," recalls White. "They both barked at each other in a grumpy way. You'd think they were fighting, but it was just small talk."
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yankee8255
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
9/3 11:24pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
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Zaz posted:
5
THE ODD COUPLE
December 1, 1972
"The password is "hilarious." Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were always perfectly mismatched. The two men -- one a neurotic neatnik, the other a compulsive slob -- had absolutely nothing in common except a Manhattan apartment. In "Password," Felix (Tony Randall) and Oscar (Jack Klugman) make the worst team since oil and water. The popular game-show host Allen Ludden is a fan of Oscar's sports columns, and approaches him to be a celebrity panelist playing against Ludden's real-life wife, Betty White.
Felix is ecstatic; he can be his roommate's partner. Oscar takes some convincing -- first to be on the show and then to be on it with Felix -- but he finally agrees. As bad choices go, this is right up there with Lincoln's decision to go to Ford's Theater. Speaking of the Great Emancipator, during one match, Felix hears the word mayonnaise and comes back with "Lincoln." Lincoln? Lincoln? As Felix explains, it's a well-known fact that Lincoln loved mayonnaise. The pair's utter failure to com-municate finds its fullest, most sidesplitting expression in this sparkling episode."
REWIND
"Hearing Jack and Tony talk to each other off-camera was hysterical," recalls White. "They both barked at each other in a grumpy way. You'd think they were fighting, but it was just small talk."
Brilliantly funny episode. One more example of Felix's A+ clues:
(Felix gives Aristophanes as a clue for "birds")
Allen Ludden & Betty White: Aristophanes???
Felix: It's a perfect clue! Everybody knows Aristophanes wrote a play called "The Birds"! (edit)
Of course, when they finally lose, things get ugly:
Allen Ludden: And so we have to say goodbye to Felix Unger. Thank you very much for coming to play our game.
Felix: Why???
Allen Ludden: Because you lost.
Felix: No, sirree! My clue is good, I can prove it!
Allen Ludden: Sorry, we've got to move along to a new player, but we'll give you a copy of our home game.
Felix: I've got two copies of your home game. I've got one in my car! I don't understand this!
Allen Ludden: Thank you very much, Felix Unger, now if you would just relinquish your chair.
Felix: Chair! Seat! Aw, please! Oh, just give me one more chance! Please! Oh, what a gyp!
Allen Ludden: And for all of you playing with us at home -- I'm terribly sorry.
-----signature-----
A perfect world: a house in the Hamptons with two solaria and a horse named Prickely Pete,
Dr. van Nostrand as my primary care physician,
the O-OT legally available on DVD in a quality worthy of its greatness
and Luke the undisputed hero of Star Wars
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/4 7:51am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
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I have to see this one. Obviously Cliff on Jeopardy had an original.
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yankee8255
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
9/4 8:01am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
- Date Edited:
9/4 8:02am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
yankee8255
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HGyUhRGeuM
I don't think I've seen this or any other episode of the Odd Couple in at least a decade and yet I remember this bit really well. Tony Randle was absolutely brilliant.
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A perfect world: a house in the Hamptons with two solaria and a horse named Prickely Pete,
Dr. van Nostrand as my primary care physician,
the O-OT legally available on DVD in a quality worthy of its greatness
and Luke the undisputed hero of Star Wars
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/4 12:16pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
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I'll watch it tonight...thanks.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/4 10:31pm
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
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Alas, poor Felix!
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
9/5 7:38am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "Password" ("The Odd Couple")
- Date Edited:
9/5 7:41am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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Next:
4
SEINFELD
February 12, 1992
"How do we treasure "The Boyfriend"? Let us count the ways. This is the episode in which Jerry "dates" former New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez but eventually loses him to Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus); in which George (Jason Alexander) tries to get an extension on his unemployment benefits by fabricating a bogus job selling "latex and latex-related products"; in which Kramer (Michael Richards) ruins George's scam by forgetting to answer the phone as "Vandelay Industries," forcing George to come scurrying out of the bathroom with his pants around his ankles; in which George sinks so low he even dates his caseworker's ugly daughter to ensure that his benefits continue; in which a pair of pixilated new parents keep nagging Jerry and Kramer, "You gotta see the baby"; in which Jerry sneers "Hello, Newman" for the first time; in which Kramer and Newman (Wayne Knight) unveil their own conspiracy theory in a brazen satire of the J.F.K./Zapruder film. Just about every other current TV comedy prays that it could come up in its entire run with as many time-capsule highlights as this single, one-hour episode contains. Seinfeld makes this funny, smart, ingenious, and risk-taking hour look effortless.
REWIND
"I was so nervous in front of a live audience," says Hernandez. "The cast was like, 'Why are you nervous? You have to get up in front of 50,000 people with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.' But doing that show was very nerve-racking."
See the baby
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Darth Dark Helmet
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Dec '99
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Date Posted:
9/5 8:41am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "The Boyfriend" ("Seinfeld")
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An even better moment, Keith Hernandez spits on Newman and Kramer.
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When dealing with genocide, you must ask yourself,
"What would Hitler do?"
And then, you know, do the opposite.
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Boba_Fett_2001
Registered:
Dec '00
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Date Posted:
9/5 9:13am
Subject:
RE: 100 Greatest TV Episodes Of All Time: 4. "The Boyfriend" ("Seinfeld")
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That is one magic luggie!
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Everyone is entitled to my opinion.
Go Toronto sports teams!
All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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