The best sitcom episode of all time

[outofplace]

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.

"Jurashic Bark?" You trying to make it dusty in here?

 

[outofplace]

Turned the clock forward so he didn't die on Christmas.

The young Swayze being told he has leukemia was a year-jerker, too.

You are right. Hawkeye turned the clock and said, "Look. He made it."

It was a lot more drama and comedy in the later seasons, but that show certainly had its moments. Henry Blake's farewell is one. I always liked the one with all of their relatives getting together for a party back home.

 

[MTM]

My favorite MASH is a "War for all Seasons," where the episode encompashes the entire year of 1951 with the Giants-Dodgers pennant race as a backdrop.

 

[outofplace]

My favorite MASH is a "War for all Seasons," where the episode encompashes the entire year of 1951 with the Giants-Dodgers pennant race as a backdrop.

Is that the one with Frank tries to rip everyone off by finding out the results before everyone listens to the game on tape delay and betting on them?

 

[Cape_Fear]

The best best three-episode run of any series might be Cheers in Season 8 with Death Takes a Holiday on Ice, For Real Men Only and Two Girls for Every Boyd (Eddie's funeral/Frasier's son's bris/beard growing contest and Woody in a play with Lisa Kudrow).

Frasier comes close with back-to-back episodes in Season 5 with The Ski Lodge and Room Service.

 

[MTM]

Is that the one with Frank tries to rip everyone off by finding out the results before everyone listens to the game on tape delay and betting on them?

This episode features Charles Winchester, so that had to be a different one.

My dad told me that when he was stationed in Germany during the Korean War, he would do what Frank did and win a lot of bets.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

"Have a good life"

 

[clintrichardson]

There's a WKRP podcast where they made a Johnny Fever "aircheck" episode, where they strung together every clip of when he's "on the air." It's about an hour and fantastic, from the pilot to the police demonstration and on and on. Of course many times he's coming out of a song or leading into one, so it's also a sort of time capsule for music in that era (plus other stuff Howard Hesseman wanted for Johnny, like Chuck Berry, etc.).

That podcast episode sounds amazing. Do you remember the name of the podcast?

 

[Starman]

It's "interesting" (I hate that word in this context) or maybe ironic, that many if not most of the "best" episodes of sitcoms people are mentioning here are in many ways not really funny at all, at times even tragic.
See the MASH episodes, Henry and Radar's farewells, the series finale, and of course the Archie Bunker's Place when Archie is finally hit by the death of Edith.

 

[playthrough]

That podcast episode sounds amazing. Do you remember the name of the podcast?

WKRP-Cast.

 

[Starman]

PS on MASH: Somebody did the math the other day, and it came out something on the order of there were exactly half as many MASH episodes as actual calendar days the US had active combat forces in Korea.

 

[Azrael]

Great thread.

While I honor the choices above, every sitcom episode in history is a footnote to I Love Lucy.

Either Lucy Does a TV Commercial or Job Switching (Lucy and Ethel go to work in a candy factory.)