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Post by Jeremy on Mar 29, 2018 20:21:42 GMT -8
Been a while since I've seen one of these "Best of Television" lists, but TV Guide (celebrating their 65th anniversary) did a halfway-decent piece naming the best episodes of the 21st century. It's a smart idea, and a reminder that - even in today's ultra-serialized world - people can still appreciate the joys of the individual episode.
The list hasn't (to my knowledge) been posted online, but that's why I exist. I disagree with a fair amount of their picks, but I suppose we all will. Their Top 10 is a mix of the predictable and the "Wha?":
10. "Thanksgiving" (Master of None)
9. "Two Cathedrals" (The West Wing)
8. "My Motherboard, My Self" (Sex and the City)
7. "The Suitcase" (Mad Men)
6. "Baggage" (Everybody Loves Raymond)
5. "Once More, with Feeling" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
4. "Pine Barrens" (The Sopranos)
3. "The Rains of Castamere" (Game of Thrones)
2. "Pilot" (Lost)
1. "Ozymandias" (Breaking Bad)
The list as a whole is heavily weighted toward recency (23 of the 65 picks are from 2015-17), but it's not too bad beyond that.
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Post by otherscott on Apr 2, 2018 8:39:14 GMT -8
The list is heavily weighted towards the past three years and doesn't even include "Total Rickall" - huge missed opportunity.
In all honesty the weighting does hurt the list a little bit. The lack of "Family Meeting" being in the top 2 or 3 is a rather large oversight. Also I hear "Three Men and Adena" is quite good, though I haven't seen it. "Ozymandias" and the LOST pilot are a perfectly respectable 1 and 2 though.
Everybody Loves Raymond? Really?
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 2, 2018 13:22:00 GMT -8
Well, "Three Men and Adena" is ineligible, since it aired in 1993. (All Homicide episodes are in fact ineligible, since the show ended in 1999, a few months before the cutoff date.) Everybody Loves Raymond? Really? But it's a bottle episode about a suitcase! You're required to put those in your Top 10. |
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Post by otherscott on Apr 2, 2018 13:32:50 GMT -8
*Puts on Mad Men expert glasses*
Actually, "The Suitcase" is in no form a bottle episode. It takes place over the course of 24 hours, and doesn't have a B storyline, but that's about the only unusual thing about it.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 2, 2018 13:47:22 GMT -8
Also, here are the other 55 entries (alphabetically, since they're not ranked). They allow one episode per TV show:
Alias: "Phase One"
The Americans: "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?"
Arrested Development: "The Immaculate Election"
Atlanta: "B.A.N."
Bates Motel: "Forever"
Battlestar Galactica: "33"
Better Things: "Graduation"
The Big Bang Theory: "The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis"
Black-ish: "Hope"
Black Mirror: "San Junipero"
Community: "Remedial Chaos Theory"
The Crown: "Act of God"
Curb Your Enthusiasm: "The Doll"
Desperate Housewives: "Pilot"
Dexter: "The Getaway"
Downton Abbey: "Season 3, Episode 4"
ER: "All in the Family"
Friday Night Lights: "Pilot"
Gilmore Girls: "They Shoot Gilmores, Don't They?"
Girls: "American B***"
Glee: "Pilot"
The Good Place: "Michael's Gambit"
The Good Wife: "Dramatics, Your Honor"
Grey's Anatomy: "As We Know It"
The Handmaid's Tale: "Offred"
Homeland: "Marine One"
House: "House's Head"
How I Met Your Mother: "Slap Bet"
Inside Amy Schumer: "12 Angry Men Inside Amy Schumer"
Justified: "Bloody Harlan"
Law & Order: SVU: "Surrender, Benson"
The Leftovers: "International Assassin"
Malcolm in the Middle: "Bowling"
Modern Family: "Pilot"
Mr. Robot: "eps1.7wh1ter0se.m4v"
The Office: "Diversity Day"
Outlander: "To Ransom a Man's Soul"
Oz: "You Bet Your Life"
Parks and Recreation: "Flu Season"
Pushing Daisies: "Pie-Lette"
Shameless: "Iron City"
The Shield: "Postpartum"
Six Feet Under: "Everyone's Waiting"
Stranger Things: "The Gate"
Supernatural: "Baby"
30 Rock: "Black Tie"
This Is Us: "Pilot"
24: "Pilot"
Twin Peaks: "Gotta Light?"
Underground: "Minty"
Veep: "Mother"
The Walking Dead: "Pretty Much Dead Already"
Westworld: "Trompe L'Oeil"
The Wire: "Middle Ground"
You're the Worst: "The Heart is a Dumb Dumb"
Also, five honorable mentions, from shows already listed: "The Car Pool Lane" (Curb Your Enthusiasm), "Employee of the Month" (The Sopranos), "Battle of the Bastards" (Game of Thrones), "Modern Warfare" (Community), and "Dead Freight" (Breaking Bad).
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Post by otherscott on Apr 3, 2018 7:31:44 GMT -8
The "one episode per show" rule explains the recency lean then, Jeremy. There's just a lot more shows than there were 10 years ago, even if the peak of 10 years ago is a little better than the peak of today.
No Deadwood episodes is a little bit inexplicable though. And sadly Rectify gets overlooked again.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 10, 2018 3:37:50 GMT -8
I'm curious if this list differs at all from a hypothetical "the best 65 episodes" list, given its recency bias.
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 10, 2018 5:23:42 GMT -8
Well, it's all subjective, obviously. But I think the recency slant is pretty obvious, particularly evidenced by the fact that many of the recent offerings are from shows which are not widely acclaimed, but widely popular (Westworld, This Is Us, the Stranger Things S2 finale).
As for what other shows could replace them - well, here are ten personal picks from shows that didn't make the list (all eps aired between 2000-07):
Angel: "Not Fade Away"
Deadwood: "Jewel's Boot is Made for Walking"
Farscape: "Crackers Don't Matter"
Freaks and Geeks: "Discos and Dragons"
Heroes: "Company Man"
The OC: "Pilot"
Scrubs: "My Last Day"
Smallville: "Memoria"
South Park: "Scott Tenorman Must Die"
Veronica Mars: "A Trip to the Dentist"
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Apr 10, 2018 19:16:44 GMT -8
Farscape: "Crackers Don't Matter" (clap clap clap) |
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Post by Jeremy on Apr 10, 2018 19:45:28 GMT -8
It was either that one or "The Way We Weren't." I was in a comedic mood, so I went with "Crackers."
Fun Fact: When TV Guide did their "100 Best Episodes of All Time" list, they included a Farscape episode: "Revenging Angel." (It's an episode I like, although it's a bit more successful in theory than in execution.)
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PBTD
Newbie
Posts: 44
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Post by PBTD on May 15, 2018 18:29:39 GMT -8
I got such a kick out of this one, being just as critical as anyone of the series despite still watching it (I'm trying my best to stay loyal, honey). But in all honesty, it is by far the closest to a legitimate classic episode in the last 8 seasons. And considering the fact that Supernatural is neither a popular or critically acclaimed series, it's quite a feat to be remembered amidst all the other competition at all let alone having an episode stand out. Then again... maybe not.  I found out recently that some fans still felt disappointed by the open ended conclusion. But wholly agree, because several of these series don't have a single episode that holds a candle to Angel's swan song. |
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