100 best TV episodes of this century

The only things that would have qualified are Enterprise and the last season of Voyager. I think one of their rules was no currently airing shows, too.

 

re: The list overall, I think it skews hard toward reality shows, and pretty hard away from most network shows, because of the demographics of the Ringer staff, which seems to mostly run 25 to 40. It seems like they used an admittedly ambiguous criteria of, "What was memorable, entertaining, or of incredible skill?" So, it's kind of hard to pin things down - you go from episodes of The OC, to Parks and Rec, to Breaking Bad, to Jeopardy, to Lost, and so on.

If you're looking for a more thorough look at an aspect of TV, might I recommend the companion content that went up today, When TV Shows Peak? - When Do TV Shows Peak? - That I found very interesting, even though it corresponded with what I would have thought going on. (Namely, for most great shows, they gradually build up through the first season and peak in the second, and often there is a spike at the end if they stick the landing.)

 

I might get scorched here for this, but "Jurassic Bark" as an episode is nowhere near close to the best Futurama had to offer. The ending is iconic and makes my house dusty, don't get me wrong, but most of the episode is pretty forgettable. I've seen it a dozen times over the years and I still have no idea what the Amy-Leela wrestling subplot/gag was about.
Amazon Women in the Mood, Parasites Lost, The Problem With Popplers, Where No Fan Has Gone Before, and Godfellas are all superior from beginning to end.

And, yes, they did limit it to one episode per series. Might be why they had to populate the list with so many questionable reality TV episodes.

 

I agree about Jurassic Bark, in that it is so overwhelmingly depressing at the end then I purposely took it out of the Futurama playlist I would have at night when I used it as background "music" to go to bed. Godfellas is probably my favorite contained episode of the show, followed by Roswell That Ends Well.

 

Roswell That Ends Well was another good one.
The Popplers one, Parasites Lost and Amazon Women in the Mood are my three favorites. So many great one-liners and subtle gags that just keep you laughing the whole damn time (like Zapp's, "You win again, gravity!" throwaway line as the restaurant is crashing onto Amazonia, or "Wingus, Dingus ..." in Popplers).

 

"Ozymandias” was the finest hour of TV in recent memory. I think there is an argument that either both of the next 2 episodes were post-finale fantasies. I actually take the position that Walt dies behind the wheel in “Granite State”

 

One under the radar episode I've always thought was really great was "Tag Sale ... You're It!" from the first season of The Venture Bros. It's just a masterpiece of pacing and plotting.
In 22 minutes they basically sow the seeds for this entire absurd universe and several seasons of running plot threads, introduce characters (some key ones, some that are memorable one-offs), seamlessly juggle seven or eight different plots, and still provide an awesome standalone parody of the superhero/action/adventure genres. Everything from a couple of frogmen quietly buying a used speargun to the series' main villain the Monarch having a sudden pang of sympathy for his archenemy is perfectly executed.
The best part, though, is that you don't have to watch another episode of the series before or after to enjoy it. It's a perfect episode in that it makes you want to see more of this crazy world, but even if you don't you can still enjoy it.

 

Oh, a century is a 100 years. 1918 to 2018 is s century.

Not 18 fucking years.

 

If we are talking last 18 years, Last Chance U season 3, episode 5 should be considered.

 

One of my favorite shows ever.

 

Sport-sy Guy Simmons said on a podcast this week that he tried to “stay out of it” and seemed to be bitter about the one-episode-per-show rule.

 

JFC. Fucking millennials, and their uninformed political commentary, popping up in a pop culture article.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS
S2 E14
“ANTHONY BOURDAIN IN BEIRUT”
Israel blockades Lebanon and bombs the nation’s major airport to spite Hezbollah. Bourdain and his crew must drop their meze and flee Beirut.