Best and Worst moments on television

[Fawkesfan1]

Mods, I did a search and found no threads in a similar vein.

What are those moments that stick with you for good or ill?



For me:

House M.D.: It was good for quite a while, until they messed up House and Cuddy as characters . Big no-no. They just went and threw the show off a cliff, imho. Wouldn't have cared if they'd just broken up, but not only did they do that, they had him go nuts in a way. And the writing went down hill from there.

As for good moments, I loved how they handled House and Cuddy's relationship at first. It was pretty well played and I used to like how House acted until they took his behavior too far and made him almost a characture (sp?) of the character himself .



The X-Files: Loved the show, but there were moments where I could have just stopped watching it. The whole 'Who's the daddy?' issue in season 8, combined with whiny Scully had me wanting to throw something at my tv . Not to mention the bad writing that happened during that period -- the whole 'Dearest Dana' thing made me want to scream .

As for good moments, I really appreciated the show's sense of humor (for the most part). The funny episodes didn't get all that much love back when it was on the air. Heck a lot of people (iirc) wanted to see aliens and thought that the show should have more of a serious tone to it. But imo, the show was at its best (most of the time) when it balanced all of the themes out. Having M & S banter back and forth and make quips helped to add to the show. Seriousness was a part of it (ie: the cancer arc, for example), but it wasn't the entire show.



Star Trek: TNG -- For me, the best moment from that show, are actually two of them, when Capt. Picard became Locutus of Borg . That was just terrifying and it showed that the show could do well on its own. And the other one is the finale of the series, loved the entire episode, and I especially loved how he finally took the time to play cards with the crew.



Frasier: One of my favorite shows. Really wasn't a fan when Frasier went and dated all those women during one part of the series (don't remember what season that took part in though).

As for favorite moments, really loved when Niles and Daphne danced the tango. It was just sheer perfection . Such love and longing. And it really showed (for the most part) what a class act the show was.




Those are only ones I can come up with right now, but I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with .

[jordmundt6]

Oh, I've had a myriad of favorite shows and a lot of really good and really terrible moments.

Lois & Clark was the first show I watched every week. There were a lot of fun moments, and I loved "Pheremone, My Lovely" as an episode, even if years later I can see its flaws. Worst memory of that show was probably the Clone/Amnesia arc. "Stand by to be stunned," was the jump-the-shark line for that show.

Highlander: The Series--almost any Amanda moments, but "The Lady and the Tiger" (which introduced her) and the Valentine's Day ep (from '96) were just a lot of fun. Worst moment--Duncan tricked into killing Richie in the Season 5 finale. Second was probably Kalas killing Fitzcairn...Fitzkirin?

Pretender--lots of awesome memories from that show. Tough to pick a favorite. The hands-down worst moment was Broots' dream sequence in that Valentine's Day episode.

Chuck--Wow, so many memories. Almost all of them positive. Worst moment, Steven Bartowski's death. Best moment, the coupling in Paris that was supposed to be the Season 3 finale. But there are a LOT of great ones.

[IenjoyAcidPops]

Originally Posted by Fawkesfan1

Star Trek: TNG -- For me, the best moment from that show, are actually two of them, when Capt. Picard became Locutus of Borg . That was just terrifying and it showed that the show could do well on its own. And the other one is the finale of the series, loved the entire episode, and I especially loved how he finally took the time to play cards with the crew.

If the ending of "The Best of Both Worlds: Part 1" isn't the best moment in TNG, it's definitely the most memorable. Season three of that show will always be my favorite, it's an excellent season of television (even with Wesley there), and that finale, particularly that last moment, is gripping. Think what you will of the resolution in Part 2, that's a cliffhanger.


This is but a sample, and in no particular order. Some are actually moments, some are longer scenes.

Spoiler: show

BEST

Futurama, the ending to "Time Keeps on Slipping" - Fry realizes what he did to win Leela over (long story): He wrote her a love note in the stars themselves...and then it's blown up before she can see it. Somehow as devastating as that in its own way is Bender being rejected as a Globetrotter. The last thing we hear in this brilliant episode is Bender sadly whistling the Globetrotters theme, and it's really, surprisingly poignant.

The Simpsons, the "Who Needs the Kwik-e-Mart?" song in "Homer and Apu" - The original and the reprise both; my two favorite parts are the awkward pause after the family's done singing and Homer saying, "He lied to us through song! I hate it when people do that!" after Apu's reprise.

Friends, Phoebe and Chandler's "date" in "The One Where Everybody Finds Out" - Phoebe mock-seduces Chandler, knowing that he knows that she knows that he's seeing Monica, and he knows that she knows that he...whatever, it's a hilarious scene. And at the end of it, Chandler says he loves Monica for the first time, which is nice too.

Breaking Bad, Hank and Marie watch Walt's "confession" tape in "Confessions" - This is one of the most despicable things Walter White ever did, and one of the highs/lows of not only the last half-season but the whole series.

The Simpsons, Bart distracts Sideshow Bob from killing him in "Cape Feare" - He does that by persuading him to sing the entire score to Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore. Bob is delightfully murderous and pompous at the same time.

Doctor Who, the death of Rose Tyler in "Doomsday" - Okay, not literally. It's like death for Rose as well as The Doctor, though, when the two are separated...by a universe. It's their last scene together that I'm selecting; the scene in which they're torn from each other is upsetting, the goodbye scene when The Doctor's last message to her is interrupted is heartbreaking.

Friends, Ross & Rachel are lobsters in "The One with the Prom Video" - If you know the episode, you know what that means. The kiss in "The One Where Ross Finds Out" is a pretty damn great moment too, but this one's more satisfying. I rooted for Ross & Rachel no matter how tired I was of Ross & Rachel, so I had to include this if I mentioned Friends, and I had to mention Friends.

How I Met Your Mother, the first Robin Sparkles video in "Slap Bet" - The 1980s-but-really-1990s-for-Canada vibe, the celebrating-the-video-in-the-video moment, the robot, "So you wanted people to go to the mall...today?" The whole thing is amazing to behold.

The Simpsons, Grimey's breakdown in "Homer's Enemy" - Homer never understood why Frank Grimes didn't like him, and in this climactic scene (both for the episode and for Frank Grimes' life), good ol' Grimey explains it all. He's not that good at having a breakdown, but he tries, and that's what's important.

30 Rock, Tracy's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" video as seen in "Jack Gets in the Game" - Whoever thought of this, I am in love with the way you think.

Breaking Bad, Skyler tells Walt what she knows in "ABQ" - She doesn't have all the information yet, but she knows her husband has been lying to her incessantly, and doesn't even want to know what exactly he's hiding. I - like many others, I'm sure - had been waiting for this since the show started, and it was just what I wanted but not quite what I expected. That was the way it went with Breaking Bad. There are many moments from the last eight episodes that I thought about putting on this list, but I need to do more thinking about those episodes.

Futurama, Fry finishes his opera for Leela in "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" - Fry's lost his gift to play the holophonor well, but he still sounds great to Leela. These weren't the last moments of Futurama - they were the first last moments - and Fry and Leela didn't become a couple right after this the way it seemed they would, but this is still a lovely way to go.

The Simpsons, Homer the pervert in "Homer Badman" - When Homer is interviewed on a Hard Copy-esque show, that interview is turned into an absurd assembly of sound bites, stills, and reaction shots from the host that make Homer out to be...well, a pervert and a bad man. The episode is a dead-on satire of ugly, sensationalistic "news" shows.

The Office, Michael struggles not to say a certain inappropriate phrase in "Sexual Harassment" - I wanted to include a Michael Scott moment or scene that wasn't about half the episode, and this is a great one. By the way...THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!

Doctor Who, Sally Sparrow talks to The Doctor through the magic of DVD in "Blink" - Long story. Short version - very short version is this: Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.

Breaking Bad, Hank finds out in "Gliding Over All" - We were waiting for this even more and much longer than we were for Skyler to find out. This might be the best cliffhanger in television history. Everything changes after this.

Cheers, Sam & Diane's fight at the end of "Showdown: Part 2" - The electric, game-changing ending that lead to a tumultuous and even better second season ("Are you as turned on as I am?" "More!").

Veronica Mars, Veronica and Lilly's last moments together in "Leave It to Beaver" - The mystery of who killed Veronica's best friend has been solved, and even though that doesn't mean there are no more worries, the two of them can basically be at peace now. The song "Lily Dreams On" scores it beautifully.

The Simpsons, any moment of Homer arguing with his own brain

Futurama, Seymour waits in "Jurassic Bark" - This is actually not one of my favorite episodes, because it's really the ending that makes it. This is a thread about favorite moments, though, and this one's a killer. Fry thinks Seymour forgot about him and moved on to a new owner, but we see that, no, Seymour never stopped waiting for Fry, and that painful montage is set to "I Will Wait for You."

The Office, Jim tells Pam he's in love with her in "Casino Night" and Jim asks Pam out in "The Job" - I'm not ranking these, so it's not a tie. A tie would be cheating. I wanted to include these together for the point/counterpoint of them; Jim finally telling Pam that he's been in love with her for years at the end of season two was thrilling, but sad too because it wasn't going to happen for them...yet. A year later, Pam is trying to seem okay with Jim and Karen, she and Jim are friends again, yada yada yada, when Jim interrupts the interview and asks her out. Her happiness at that moment is infectious.

Veronica Mars, the end - The last moments, in the season three finale with a title that this site would censor a key word of, do not provide closure, but they are kind of perfect for this wonderfully cynical show. I won't describe the scene, other than to say that "It Never Rains in Southern California" is used to perfect effect, and you should watch Veronica Mars. There's a movie coming, don't you want to be in the loop?

WORST

I'll just list one here, and it's a single scene that exemplified the reasons why I gave up on this show (and I don't give up on shows often or easily).

Smallville, Grant Gabriel is actually Lex's (thought-dead) brother Julian - There was an episode in season three called "Memoria" that was always one of my favorites, very powerful episode about the events surrounding Julian's death. Now, Smallville was never the most careful about continuity or the most consistent show in any respect, but this was an example of a weak twist actually damaging great episodes from long before, and it was the last straw for me. I was only watching for Chloe at this point anyway.

I could go on talking about Futurama and The Simpsons alone, but I don't want to be here for years.

[twinsrule26]

Well from MASH some of the best & worst for me was ;
Best
1. When Hawheye and Margret are lost and staying in a bombed out hut during an artillary attack and they go from arguing and complaining about the attack to kissing each other .

2. When Col.Potter and Hawkeye are drunk and crash their jeep on the way back from another hospital ,they come under fire from snipers and Col. Potter returns fire with his sidearm then orders Hawkeye to fire his gun and Hawkeye replies by looking at his gun and saying "you're fired " to it . that whole scene was great to me as it summed up the way Hawkeye felt about war.

3. When Hawkeye and B.J. argue over whether or not to take out the healthy appendix of a gung-ho officer who kept on needlessly getting his men wounded and killed .

4. How the Doctors saved Margret's honor from a Congressman bent on getting her to appear before the Congress commity on un-American activties.


Worst

1. The Killing off of Col. Blake

2. Frank going nuts in Tokyo and being sent home . This was not the way I felt he should have left the show . I felt he should have been allowed to win one over Hawkeye, just once to give Hawkeye a taste of his own Medicine.

3. The transformation of Klinger from a man who wears dresses and wanted out of the army to a uniform wearing company clerk. I liked him better as the oddball .

[swiftphoenix9]

@ twins: Yea they did take it a little too far in that regard. But in a way he did get one over on Hawkeye... he became a doctor (if I remember correctly).

Good moments

1) When Niles and Daphne finally got married. Cheered my butt off for them when it happened.



Bad moments

1) From Angel: When Connor, Angel's son... went with Cordelia. No, just no.

[jordmundt6]

Personally, I thought Frank getting shipped home, promoted, and given command of an army hospital (three things he neither deserved nor earned) constituted a win.

Him getting a section 8 after the attack on the traveling nurse and spending the rest of his days as a patient in a mental ward would have been far more fitting.

[MmeBergerac]

Best

Sherlock: Sherlock and Watson meeting at St. Bart's lab in Study in Pink. Then I knew I was going to love the show.

House: the episode in which we were told how House got his bad leg.

Doctor Who: the double episode Human Nature/ Family of Blood, from season 3. One of the best written, best-acted episodes I've seen.

Worst

Downton Abbey: The end of final episode of season 3. I dropped the series in that moment and I've refused to watch season 4.

[jordmundt6]

It was an absolutely terrible ending, but Season 4 of Downton was entertaining even without Matthew. I'm just not sure where they'll go from here.

Three Stories (House subbing for a med school class and working his own case into the lecture) was one of my favorite House episodes, and probably one of the best ever of that series.

For lighter fare in Sherlock, I loved Holmes' wedding toast and the conversation immediately after. For whatever reason, my favorite line in the whole scene was Sherlock cueing the resumption of the music. I can't explain it. It's a complete throwaway line in the middle of an excellent scene.

Worst moments

Lois & Clark--The clone looking into the mirror saying "Stand by to be stunned."

Pretender--Broots' awful St. Valentine's fantasy/nightmare that devolved into absolute garbage.

Chuck--either the death of Steven Bartowski or Sarah losing her memory.

Buffy--The...er, attack in Season 6

JAG--worst visual and personal moment was Bud stepping on a land mine. Worst moment of the series was the bickering after the crash when Harm burned his career to save Mac (and Webb)...followed by Mac experiencing the Florence Nightingale Effect with Webb. Ugh!

NCIS--worst personal moment was Mrs. Vance's death, but the worst moment for the series was Ziva's write-off.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by jordmundt6

It was an absolutely terrible ending, but Season 4 of Downton was entertaining even without Matthew. I'm just not sure where they'll go from here.

Three Stories (House subbing for a med school class and working his own case into the lecture) was one of my favorite House episodes, and probably one of the best ever of that series.

For lighter fare in Sherlock, I loved Holmes' wedding toast and the conversation immediately after. For whatever reason, my favorite line in the whole scene was Sherlock cueing the resumption of the music. I can't explain it. It's a complete throwaway line in the middle of an excellent scene.

Worst moments

Lois & Clark--The clone looking into the mirror saying "Stand by to be stunned."

Pretender--Broots' awful St. Valentine's fantasy/nightmare that devolved into absolute garbage.

Chuck--either the death of Steven Bartowski or Sarah losing her memory.

Buffy--The...er, attack in Season 6

JAG--worst visual and personal moment was Bud stepping on a land mine. Worst moment of the series was the bickering after the crash when Harm burned his career to save Mac (and Webb)...followed by Mac experiencing the Florence Nightingale Effect with Webb. Ugh!

NCIS--worst personal moment was Mrs. Vance's death, but the worst moment for the series was Ziva's write-off.

I think I remember that one. Didn't that one involve that one old guy with the oxygen dancing? Man that one was just bad . I thought that the writers were on drugs while writing it.

[jordmundt6]

Even the..."it was just a one-off joke!" excuse doesn't cover that episode, particularly because I think they hyped it as event television. Well, Valentine's Day was usually an event in the Pretender-verse. Everything from "Girls mature faster than boys," to revisiting Tommy's murder and relationship history with Miss Parker. As such, this was particularly galling as their last Valentine's Day ep.

[jordmundt6]

Connor's very existence was a "No" but Connor coupling with Cordelia carrying Jasmine was just awful in a variety of ways.

The worst aspect of Buffy (other than the attack) is a toss-up between Tara's death and Kennedy's existence. The only way to justify Kennedy's existence after she covered every positive thing Willow ever was or did in poisonous dung would have been to have her die in some hilariously gruesome way.

[Wab]

Originally Posted by twinsrule26

Worst

2. Frank going nuts in Tokyo and being sent home . This was not the way I felt he should have left the show . I felt he should have been allowed to win one over Hawkeye, just once to give Hawkeye a taste of his own Medicine.

Although Frank may not have seen it that way that was a victory. He went home, got a cushy job and was promoted.