I don’t venture into posting on popular culture too frequently. It’s not my competitive advantage and, honestly, I’m really not terribly in touch. However, the news these days has been so depressing that I thought that lightening things up on a holiday weekend might be nice.
To that end I started thinking about television’s greatest moments. I don’t mean the greatest historical moments covered on television. There are plenty of those including the assassination of President Kennedy, landing on the moon, Chuck and Di’s the Prince of Wales’s and Diana Spencer’s wedding, and the coverage of the attacks on 9/11.
What I mean is the greatest moments on entertainment television. Off the top of my head here are a handful.
Great Moments in Comedy
Vitameatavegamin (May 5, 1952)
This episode of the original I Love Lucy remains one of the highlights of television comedy. Interestingly, it bears a striking resemblance to an episode of another, largely forgotten early sit-com featuring a female lead, I Married Joan.
Went With the Wind (November 13, 1976)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH6TBEbP77Q
An uproariously funny send-up of Gone With the Wind from Carol Burnett and her cast.
Chuckles Bites the Dust (October 25, 1975)
Inappropriate hilarity is the central idea behind this hysterically funny episode of The Mary Tyler Moore program.
Cybill With an S (October 8, 1995)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0iT-Hxxvyg
A snippet from an episode featuring the remarkable Wendy Malick as Cybill’s ex’s new girlfriend who has one, little, tiny quirk.
Last Episodes
The Fugitive (October 29, 1967)
The last episode of The Fugitive was one of the relatively few satisfying endings for a drama series. It actually tied up all of the loose ends, a rarity.
Newhart (May 21, 1990)
The last episode of Bob Newhart’s second television series was a send-up of Dallas, the program itself, and Newhart’s previous program. A tour de force. Probably the all-time cleverest episode of any comedy series.
Under the category of “Last Episodes” I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the group hug that ended Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The Mother of All Cliffhangers
Who Shot J. R.? (March 21, 1980)
Television merchandising genius, this season-ending episode of Dallas set the standard for every subsequent cliffhanger episode. It literally brought governments to a screeching halt (the Turkish parliament needed to be suspended to allow its members to watch the revelation of the culprit).
The End of an Era
Carson’s last show (May 22, 1992)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSqXhzZRhec&feature=related
Johnny Carson’s retirement after 30 years of hosting The Tonight Show marked a generational shift in late night viewing.
Cronkite signs off for the last time as anchor (March 6, 1981)
Late Night’s Greatest Moments
Letterman’s first program after 9/11 (September 17, 2001)
The emotional beginning of this program was, I think, one of the important steps in the national healing process after the attacks on 9/11. Then Mayor Giuliani characterized it well: he gave us permission to laugh.
Jack Paar quits the Tonight Show (February 11, 1960)
I wish I could have located a video of this online. Jack Paar announced he was leaving The Tonight Show, said “There must be a better way of making a living than this”, and left poor Hugh Downs to finish the rest of the program alone. It was cited as the most memorable moment in late night television for years afterwards.
Reality was never like this
Richard Hatch wins the first season of Survivor (August 23, 2000)
Susan Hawk’s bitter and apparently unscripted speech that set the stage for Hatch’s victory is probably the most truly dramatic moment in the entire history of the form.
Face-off between Clay Aikens and Ruben Studdard (May 20, 2003)
The competition between these two capped the second season of American Idol.
Other suggestions?
“Under the category of “Last Episodes†I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the group hug that ended Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
Well, the leadup to that was pretty funny. New manager: “I’ve made a business decision. You’re all fired–except Ted.”
I also liked the ending of St.Elsewhere, wherein it was “revealed” that the entire story took place in the imagination of an autistic child as he watched a snow globe that contained a model of the hospital. His father and grandfather played major roles in the story that he spun out.
And for sheer comedic genius, you can’t beat Elaine May and Mike Nichols’s appearances. Check out the The $65 Funeral, on the Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar.
Is my comment springable from the moderation queue?
Samwide is correct about the last episode of St. Elsewhere.
Also, the Thanksgiving Day episode of WKRP in Cincinnati. “It was like … they were organized.”
Jack Parr’s return to the tonight show was pretty good as well.
A Charlie Brown Christmas for oh so many reasons.
The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, for the most wicked smile ever, amongst other things.
The infamous Heidi Game.
Super Bowl III.
The 1958 NFL Championship Game. (Colts-Giants)
The “Truckin'” episode of Mr. Belvedere. And yes, I’m serious. Don’t knock it if you ain’t seen it!
The opening credits of both Hawaii Five-O (the original) and Cheers (I mean the long version, which isn’t always heard in syndication) – the best theme music and theme song in American TV history.
PBS’s airing of Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The episode of Three’s Company with the mis-understanding.
The entire run of Gilligan’s Island.
The mini-series Lonesome Dove.
The mini-series Roots.
The mini-series The Winds of War, since it definitively established that Robert Mitchum had in fact been replaced by a block of wood.
MTV going on the air. You know, back when they showed something called music videos. The Buggles had the honor of kicking off the channel.
MTV showing the “Billie Jean” video.
The Tracey Uhlman Show showing a short about a family known as the Simpsons.
The first episode of The Flintstones, which was the first prime-time animated series on TV.
Speaking of opening sequences, the opening credits for The Jetsons was the best for any animated series.
“To Serve Man – It’s a cookbook!”
That’s all for now.
And I’m serious about all but two things in the previous list. I am absolutely serious about the Mr. Belvedere episode, but other than that you can figure it out for yourselves.
Oh, Bette Midler was on the NEXT to last episode of Carson’s run on The Tonight Show. One of the best moments on TV ever. Not quite up there with the Moon Landing in 1969, but way past most everything else.
Speaking of Carson’s best, I give you Copper Clappers . Not to mention the bit that ends with “Sure, if you’d get that damned cat out of the way.”
The Twilight Zone has a wealth of such moments. I’m sure you all have your favorites. The other one I have to add is “Time Enough at Last”, and the moment where Burgess Meredith’s character breaks his glasses. Now to dinner.
“As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
I agree with all of the above.
I’d add the first interracial kiss. Captain Kirk, who, of course had long since done the interspecies kiss (a more or less weekly occurrence) and Lt. Uhura. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FynuBw_VsBE
I don’t think people used the phrase “No way!” back then but we were all thinking the equivalent.
In politics there’s the famous Kennedy-Nixon debate. Kennedy won the debate while he and Nixon were still seated and listening to the intro. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6Xn4ipHiwE It was the start of television as the great trivializer of politics.
Edward R. Murrow and Joe McCarthy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anNEJJYLU8M
Dan Rather at the 1968 convention. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlYRWD_tnA
The rest of my TV highs would be more about long-running series and continuing great writing: Early Simpsons and South Park, all but the final season of The Wire, most seasons of The Sopranos, Community, Modern Family, The Office and Louie and others.
One of two things are needed for a good TV show , and both are needed for a great TV show* – writing and casting. I don’t know why TV requires better writing than movies, but it does. And casting can make a show. Magnum PI was great at times, and almost always good. It would not have been anywhere near that if the four main actors hadn’t worked so well together.
Cheers was a show that did great casting, especially given two of the most important characters (Diane and Coach) left the show after a few seasons. For a look at brilliant timing see the episode in which Woody marries Kelly.
A few other great moments:
Steve Sabol founds NFL Films.
Ted Turner could get his own category for this, but the creation of CNN is possibly the greatest achievement. Sure, CNN and HLN are complete garbage now, but that ain’t Ted’s fault, and both were great at one point, as well as important.
That was weird – the last one posted itself. Huh.
A few more great bits:
Two episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – “The Body” and “The Zeppo”. Also, the line “Again?!” from the episode “Doomed”.
Avery Brooks complaining that the future isn’t what it was cracked up to be. [Note for the clueless: The Jetsons takes place in 1999. An fact later spoofed in an episode of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law.]
Speaking of Josh Whedon shows, Firefly‘s episode “Out of Gas” is terrific, and there’s the “I’m right there with ya” moment from “The Train Job”. You can see it here starting at the 9:54 mark. Best use of a jet engine on episodic TV ever!
And the * in the last note should have been
* Speaking of scripted shows only, of course. Live event TV (most notably sports) is something else altogether.
Icepick:
I completely agree that “The Body” was one of the great moments in television. I wish I’d thought to include it in the body of the post. Thank you.
I don’t know why TV requires better writing than movies, but it does.
Smaller FX budgets, far longer running times, and it’s inherently harder to write character-derived stuff as opposed to plot-driven so TV tends to emphasize and reward writers. In movies writers are pretty low-status, well below director and stars. In TV the showrunner, the guy with control, is basically the head writer.
Which reminds me: The Dick Van Dyke Show where Rob and Jerry decide Laura’s brought the wrong baby home from the hospital. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3uNYUw5s4s
Last episode of MASH. Elvis and the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. The first Steve Martin appearance on the Tonight show. The Alamo series on Walt Disney.
Steve
The “Opie’s Back” skit from the Saturday Night Live episode with Ron Howard.
Burn Notive season 1 episode 6, in which listening devices are foiled with a vibrator.
My husband likes the beautiful running horse opening of “Deadwood.”
I think that Al Swearingen’s part in the whole series is an actor’s dream.
Let’s not leave out any performance of one of the great, great children’s puppet shows: Howdy Doody; Kuckla, Fran,and Ollie; Time for Beany (created by Bob Clampett with the incomparable Stan Freberg as Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent). Those shows were national treasures (at least for millions of kids).
Two more, and then I’ll stop.
Julie Andrews in Cinderella way back in 1957.
60 Minutes showing Julie Andrews’ tits, sometime back in the 1980s. (And nothing fuzzed out, either.) The best part was actually on the next week’s letters section. Someone wrote something along the lines of “How dare you show the world Julie Andrews naked breasts!” I believe it was Morley Safer who replied, “She showed ’em first.”
I’m a music listener guy; outside of sports I really don’t watch squat on TV but………
Not to mention the bit that ends with “Sure, if you’d get that damned cat out of the way.â€
I have seen this, and its belly laugh material. I’ve also seen come ons for the old Dean Martin roasts etc. If its late at night, and I’m gassed………….good stuff.
The Simpson’s episode “Last Exit to Springfield”
MI-5 (Spooks) episode “I Spy Apocalypse”
MST 3000 episode “Rocket Attack USA”
MST 3000 episode “Rocket Attack USAâ€
No way! The episode featuring “The Giant Gila Monster” was better!