The best sitcom episode of all time

My family and I are big New Girl fans....and my brother-in-law loves the cookie scene.

Too bad Psych isn't a sitcom....so many great eps.

 

Super underrated Friends secondary (or tertiary) cast member: Mrs. Geller. At the center of the two funniest segments in show history...when Monica & Richard go public w/their relationship and during Rachel trying to cook Trifle during the all-hell-breaks-loose Thanksgiving episode. "That's a lot of information to get in 30 seconds."

Another show that could have its own thread of all-time funniest episodes: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. The final arc of "Who Pooped The Bed?" with Artemis breaking it down is fucking great.

 

The Simpsons, like Seinfeld, is another show you could fill an entire list with and there would be no wrong answers.
Besides Marge vs. The Monorail, you could easily put "You Only Move Twice" (the Hank Scorpio episode), Treehouse of Horror III and V, the Stonecutters episode, "22 Short Films About Springfield" and at least a dozen others.

Among the animated shows, though, I think my vote would go to Futurama's "Parasites Lost." Fry gets worms in his colon and the crew has to shrink down to microscopic size and go inside him to get them out, in an homage to "Fantastic Voyage."
Every little zinger and throwaway line ("Gumbercules? I LOVE that guy!") and small sight gag (Fry getting in an elevator button inside his body and the buttons read brain, lungs and ball room) connect, and they're fired out non-stop. The jokes have some wit to them, and the entire story actually advances the plot of the series a bit. It's a damn masterpiece.

Another great one is the Season 1 Venture Bros. episode "Tag Sale! You're It" The amount of world building they do in 22 minutes is staggering. They introduce several great background characters and long-running plot lines, and have about eight different subplots boiling at once, yet somehow tie everything together at the end. You can watch that one episode without having ever seen another and have a great time, but as you do watch more of the series you realize how much they established in that one episode. You could teach a class in story plotting from that one.

 

Underrated one that just had me howling this week: "Selma's Choice." Dirty sight gag upon dirty sight gag at the sperm bank and then Homer with the rancid hero/hoagie/grinder/sub.

 

Also I just watched Lisa on Ice with my daughter. Maybe more classic one-liners there than in any other episode.

"In that case, I sentence you to a lifetime of horror on Monster Island! Don't worry. It's just a name."
(Lisa and a guy are being chased by fire-breathing monsters)
"He said it was just a name!"
"What he meant is that monster island is actually a peninsula!"

 

I have a personal affinity for the Guatemalan insanity pepper episode of the Simpsons with Johnny Cash as the space coyote. As Batman said, dozens of Simpsons eps could be here.

As for Futurama... Jurrasic Bark.

 

Someone mentioned the WKRP turkey episode as having a great ending but the rest of it being underwhelming, and I kinda feel like Jurassic Bark was the same way. The ending is an all-timer you have to be cyborg not to cry at, but the rest of it is a little meh. It's not bad, but it's nowhere near the best episode of the series. Parasites Lost, The Problem With Popplers, Amazon Women in the Mood and Roswell That Ends Well are all better start to finish.

 

I'm definitely not as up on it as some of the others. Think I watched most of the run when it was new. It's underrated for sure.

 

Since we’re talking about animated, I’ll add a vote for South Park’s Scott Tenorman Must Die.

 

"Hey look, is that Dad?"
"Either that or Batman's really let himself go."

(Not you @Batman )

 

“Aye. The hot pants.”
“In your face, space coyote!”
“Look at that Homer Simpson. He thinks he’s the pope of chilitown.”

Fuck. I’m watching it tonight!

 

Always thought for an episode - as well known as the turkey ep is - the softball game against WPIG and the post-awards "therapy" session were better.

"Wait a minute. This meeting is starting to lose some of its bitterness. I don't think that is a healthy trend."

So many great moments.