#140. Pilot
Veronica Mars, Season 1, Episode 1 |
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This has to be one of the most
complex network pilots in history, right? There are all sorts of
time jumps, opening about midway through the episode, jumping back to
Wallace's arrival, and building back to that point, all the while
flashing back to intermittent scenes from a year prior. Not to
mention the multiple investigations and storylines--Lilly's murder and
Veronica's break-up and rape, Celeste's visit to Keith, Cliff's case for
Loretta Cancun, Wallace's problem with the bikers--while adeptly
establishing the many characters that will be important in Neptune.
What's more, it's hilarious, noirish, and effectively dramatic, anchored
by the great performance of Kristen Bell. I'm surprised the show
lasted three seasons only because as the pilot shows, it's far too good
for network television.
Keith: No sack dinners tonight!
Tonight, we eat like the lower middle class to which we aspire. |
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#139. Where No
Man Has Gone Before
Star Trek, Season 1, Episode 2 |
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Star Trek's second pilot was a
lot more similar to what the series became, but focused on Kirk and two
senior officers who would not remain with the series. Spock's
fairly prominent as well, but Scotty and Sulu are background characters,
and Uhura's nowhere to be found. Anyway, as the Enterprise
approaches the edge of the galaxy, there is a power disturbance knocking
helmsman Gary Mitchell and psychiatrist Elizabeth Dehner unconscious,
and when they awaken, they find that they have extraordinary mental
powers. What follows is an examination of God, morality, and
heroism told in an engaging story with a gripping final battle on a
deserted frontier planet. The opening, with Kirk and Spock's chess
game, and the closing, with Kirk's final logs from the mission, are the
perfect caps for a great story. Kirk:
Mr. Spock, has anyone ever told you that you play a very irritating game
of chess? |
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#138. Pilot
Friday Night Lights, Season 1, Episode 1 |
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This is possibly my all-time
favorite pilot, adeptly introducing 20 some-odd characters and
relationships and establishing the major themes of community and hope.
The opening sequence with the morning radio show and the player
interviews is the perfect hook, and you get more and more drawn in with
the character- building scenes like the players interacting at their
hangout or the Taylors talking at night about Moby Dick and his-and-her
closets. And then, we get a career-deciding football game that
results in tragedy, and the entire finale is perfect, with everyone
gathered at the hospital rallying for Jason. This pilot does an
incredible job of establishing the world of Dillon, and it's remarkably
true to the show in ways that later episodes from the second season are
not. I don't have enough room to convey my love for this episode.
Grandma Saracen: Matthew, you need to get a
new friend. |
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#137. The Gang Gets
Racist
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Season 1, Episode
1 |
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The first episode of It's
Always Sunny in Philadelphia was shot on a true shoestring budget and
tackles far more than just racism. Dee, for the first but not only
time, thinks she's dating someone she's not, in this case Terrell, a gay
theatre classmate who starts bouncing at Paddy's and fills the bar with
people, which as usual, leads to an episode's worth of
misunderstandings. The Waitress thinks Charlie's a racist, so
Charlie tries to get a black date to prove he's not, Dennis is against
keeping Paddy's a gay-bar until he gets hit on, and Mac can't understand
why black girls go for Charlie and the gay guys go for Dennis, until
Charlie and Dee point out that he's "an asshole," which all leads to Dee
and Mac setting Dennis up and the gang pissing off Terrell.
Charlie: Earlier you were implying that I
was racist because you thought that I was implying that all black people
are related, and then it turns out that you people actually are! |
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#136. Nightmare at 20,000
Feet
The Twilight Zone, Season 5, Episode 3 |
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This is the poster child for
The Twilight Zone, one of (if not) the most famous episodes of the
series. William Shatner plays a man recovering from a nervous
breakdown with an already strained relationship with his wife. On
their flight, Shatner's character Robert sees a monster messing with the
plane's wing, but when he tries to show the monster to others, the
monster is gone. As he gets increasingly flustered, the danger
grows, even resulting in a climactic fight which still convinces no one,
until we get one final twist. This episode is classic television,
and it haunted my childhood, a stunning example of The Twilight Zone.
Robert: There's a man out there! |
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#135. My Last Chance
Scrubs, Season 4, Episode 8 |
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Zach Braff's directorial debut
on Scrubs is amazing. JD and Elliot argue over whether or not
they're even, causing Elliot's ingenious revenge plan involving JD's
last chance with Molly. He drives Sasha into the hospital wall, he
gets the Janitor to take him way out to nowhere, Turk and Carla come to
his rescue but Carla gets miffed at Turk and drives off, so they run to
Molly's apartment, eventually even using a zip line. Meanwhile,
Dr. Cox is riding along with Molly Shannon in another of Scrubs'
greatest dramatic stories. Molly Shannon is hilarious as a nonstop
talker, and I love the scene of her and Jordan annoying Dr. Cox, and
when she refers to JD and Turk as "an adorable interracial gay couple."
JD: Yeah, now that we're friends, and
there's no chance of us ever having sex again, there's really not a
whole lot I "need" from you, okay? |
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#134. Mile Deep and
a Foot Wide
Weeds, Season 2, Episode 10 |
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The episode begins with the
greatness of Heylia and Vaneeta telling Nancy to make things right at
the park, since they are now being watched by the DEA. Later, Kat
shows up in the greatest subplot of the show, heart-hugging Shane,
liberating salmon and juice, and trying to get Andy to sign off on her
script for Permafuck. Meanwhile Celia and Doug continue having sex
in hotel rooms, amidst Huskeroos commercials, and Shane's dating
Gretchen. It all builds to the Botwins' dinner with Peter, wherein
Peter slams Silas' elbow, effectively ending his own relationship with
Nancy, but she can't say anything, until that night, when she tells
Peter not to stay over and he listens in as she tells Conrad she'll
never love Peter. Shane: You're the
crazy chick from Alaska who tried to kill my uncle?
Kat: That is a great story! |
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#133. Booze Cruise
The Office, Season 2, Episode 11 |
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So much greatness:
Michael's initial meeting, the Warehouse is like the engine room on the
Titanic, Toby missing the boat, Rob Riggle as the ship's captain,
Michael dancing, Dwight being an eager volunteer, Meredith doing the
limbo, Dwight put in charge of "steering the ship," and Michael saying
that the ship is sinking, causing a panic. But as always, the best
parts relate to Jim and Pam: the opening vending machine prank,
Roy and Katy bonding over being popular in high school, and Jim and Pam
making fun of them, Jim coming extremely close to spilling to Pam, Jim
saying he'd save the receptionist, the look on Jim's face when Roy
announces they'll set a date for the wedding, Katy and Jim breaking up,
and the best part of all, Jim finding consolation in Michael of
all people in one of their best scenes together.
Michael: Psh, BFD. Engaged ain't
married. Never ever ever give up. |
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#132. Jack Meets Dennis
30 Rock, Season 1, Episode 6 |
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Let's get right into it:
Dennis giving Liz a noogie, "Oh yes, I'm annoying, not the man who
honked your boobs on the Jumbo Screen," Jack interrogating Jenna about
her age ("What's a drive-in?"), Tracy walking backwards, "Yes, I steal
people's dogs," Jenna getting facework (Shark DNA--"You look like a
fetus") and Tracy getting tattoos, Josh meeting Liz Taylor, Dennis and
Jack at the restaurant (the clip-on tie, the rat king, "I hope you enjoy
the...choices that you've made."), in fact, everything Dean Winters does
on this show, Dennis selling Frank pagers and bringing Liz a salamander,
"What is your contingency plan for a crapstorm of this magnitude,"
lettuce in Liz's hair, and Liz submitting to Jack's guidance in all
things.
Liz: Okay, very funny, you bought a pager
from Dennis. Will you take it off now, please?
Jack: Oh, I can't. I'm expecting a call from 1983. |
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#131. Yoko
Flight of the Conchords, Season 1, Episode 4 |
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Bret gets a girlfriend named
Coco and Jemaine takes his desire to date her without him as a sign that
she's trying to break up the band and their friendship. I love
Bret's song to Coco ("It's very long. It's two hours long.") and
Bret's note to Jemaine, both hilarious legal pad jokes. And every
time Jemaine insinuates himself into their relationship is great.
Murray telling Mel about Bret's girlfriend adds to my love for both of
those supporting characters ("Is she stupid...Does Bret's girlfriend
look at all like me?"), and that final band meeting with Bret, Jemaine,
and Coco (who brought all three of them sandwiches) is amazing.
Even better, that closing song ("Brown paper, white paper, stick it
together with the tape, the tape of love") is awesome, and I've been
humming it all day.
Jemaine: Oh nothing, just a new song.
Called She-Wolf. "Cold-hearted bitch..." |
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