Confession: today, I turn 26, which means I’m in the throes of panic that come with finding my own health insurance. As such, I’ve needed a lot of comfort TV to get me through this, so, here are my favorite TV episodes that aired each year of my life. (Limited to one episode per TV show, to prevent the entire ‘90s from being Friends).
1995 - Seinfeld 7x06 “The Soup Nazi” - True, I only watched Seinfeld for the first time in 2020, but I heard people quote “No soup for you!” my whole life, probably because this episode aired the year I was born. I have to say, it lives up to the hype.
1996 - Friends 3x02 “The One Where No One’s Ready” - A classic bottle episode, which takes place not only in one room, but also in real-time. This is multi-cam comedy at its best, a group of talented comic actors playing it up on a stage in real-time.
1997 - Arthur 2x10 “Arthur’s Mystery Envelope” - Arthur shaped my childhood in a big way, and this episode gets a mention because the image of Arthur’s spooky envelope from school plaguing him all night and growing so large it dwarfed his entire house gave me nightmares for a while. Almost as bad as the episode where he cuts his knee on the lima bean can (if you know, you know)!
1998 - Sabrina the Teenage Witch 3x05 “Pancake Madness” - Sabrina gets addicted to pancakes. Literally. Possibly the greatest TV plot of all time.
1999 - SpongeBob Squarepants 1x14 “SB-129” - an episode that was odd and perhaps frightening when viewed as a child but is a masterwork of absurdism as an adult. Nothing ever spoke to me more than Squidward lying on a chrome-covered floor post time travel, groaning, “Future… future…”
2000 - Buffy the Vampire Slayer 4x16 “Who Are You?” - I love a bodyswap episode, and I love Faith Lehane, so this Buffy/Faith bodyswap is a highlight of every rewatch.
2001 - Charmed 3x22 “All Hell Breaks Loose” - A crazy finale that shifted the show forever with Shannen Doherty’s departure. A killer performance for all of the cast, as high stakes as this fluffy magic show can get.
2002 - Gilmore Girls 3x07 - “They Shoot Gilmores, Don’t They?” - This one earns bonus points as it aired ON NOVEMBER 12! My 7th birthday! Certainly the best episode of Gilmore Girls… the dance marathon, the tension, the dramatic breakup, you can’t beat it. Peak Amy Sherman-Palladino.
2003 - Futurama 4x18 “The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings” - Honestly, all my favorite Futurama episodes are the ones that spotlight the growth in Fry and Leela’s relationship. An underrated slow burn!
2004 - Arrested Development 2x06 “Afternoon Delight” - iconic solely for the most uncomfortable Uncle-Niece duet ever performed.
2005 - It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 1x04 “Charlie Has Cancer” - Being honest, this isn’t my favorite Sunny episode ever (not even top 5) but it is my favorite of Season 1. Also gets special mention since I love the show as a whole and this friend-saying-he-has-cancer bit was part of the homemade pilot they used to sell the show.
2006 - The Office 2x12 “The Injury” - A classic. Who doesn’t love Michael burning his foot on the George Foreman grill, and concussed-Dwight becoming friends with Pam?
2007 - American Dad! 4x01 “The Vacation Goo” - American Dad! is the funnier cousin of Family Guy, and a big reason why I love it was the abundance of bizarre episodes like this one, where it’s unclear whether the family’s hellish vacation is a simulation or real, but at least they took it together.
2008 - Avatar: The Last Airbender 3x17 “The Ember Island Players” - The entire show is so brilliant and every episode does its job, but this one earns a special place as the comedic breather episode before the epic four-part series finale.
2009 - Dollhouse 2x10, “The Attic” - While flawed, Dollhouse will forever remain one of my favorite TV shows, and one of my biggest influences in realizing I wanted to write for TV. This show did such a wonderful job of blending episodic and serialized storytelling, laying groundwork for big reveals, and making exciting character choices. This episode is one of my favorites for the action-packed dream/nightmare sequence as Echo and the others try to escape the mind-prison of the “Attic”.
2011 - Community 3x04 “Remedial Chaos Theory” - a brilliantly weird episode with branching timelines based on the silliest thing: who goes down to the door to get a pizza delivery.
2012 - 30 Rock 6x09 “Leap Day” - There are plenty of classic episodes to choose from with 30 Rock (although my love for the show overall has diminished because it feels more and more dated by the day)… but this one is iconic solely for creating the Leap Day traditions we all know and love. Oh, Leap Day William, Leap Day William…
2013 - Orphan Black, 1x09 “Unconscious Selection” - Tough to pick an episode here because all of season 1 of Orphan Black is brilliant - but this one already has most of the important characters in play, and punches you with a big reveal right at the end.
2014 - The Mindy Project 2x22 “Danny and Mindy” - an incredible romantic finale. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore! (I mean, they do, there’s lots of good TV, but this one is iconic.)
2015 - Jessica Jones 1x13 “AKA Smile” - If anyone’s ever told you to watch Jessica Jones, they probably only watched the first season, and they’re probably right to do that. As someone who’s seen all three seasons, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend the second and third, though they do have a wonderful arc for Jessica and Trish - no villain could ever compare to David Tennant’s Kilgrave, and so Jessica’s final showdown with him at the end of the brilliant and chilling Season 1 is an all-time great episode.
2016 - BoJack Horseman 3x04 “Fish Out of Water” - a visually and aurally beautiful, mostly-dialogue-free episode… BoJack is a show that does experimental episodes so well, and this is no exception.
2017 - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 3x06 “Josh is Irrelevant.” - Technically, if I am honest, I enjoy seasons 1-2 of this show more for rewatch value, but this episode is special for setting the show on the new direction it maintains for seasons 3-4, and including one of the best anthems of the show, “A Diagnosis”.
2018 - One Day at a Time 2x09 “Hello, Penelope” - Every episode of One Day at a Time is brilliant and heartwarming, but this one is truly special, showing the normally sunny Penelope struggling with her PTSD and depression, and learning how to admit she needs help. It delivers a serious message without getting preachy or losing the heart of the show.
2019 - Killing Eve 2x08 “You’re Mine”
A high tension rollercoaster from start to finish… this is one of my favorite season finales of all time and even could’ve been a fantastic series finale with the deleted alternate ending (if you’re a fan of Killing Eve, look it up on Youtube, and imagine the show ended that way – scream material!)
2020 - Mythic Quest 1x10 “Quarantine” - The only TV episode relating to Covid that I’ll ever want or need. The rest can go away, but this episode which was actually filmed by the cast in their own homes, while in quarantine, is not only surprisingly high quality, but also delightful and uplifting. It gets at what we all felt in May 2020 and, most importantly, it feels natural in the world of the show.
2021 - Kevin Can Fuck Himself 1x08 “Fixed” - If you’ve talked to me at all since summer 2021, you’ve heard me rant about how much I love this show. I truly loved every episode of season 1, but the finale gets special mention because this show is a bit of a slow burn, trusting the audience to come along on a ride without holding your hand… but the finale brings together so many pieces that are boiling under the surface for all of season 1, and sets up their next season with a bang. Unlike Kevin, I CAN’T wait. (bad-dum-tss)
Podcast News
On this week’s podcast we discussed the original Gossip Girl! Give it a listen here if you haven’t already.
What We’re Watching
Here are some shows we’ve been keeping up with!
Adina: The Morning Show season 2
Kara: You season 3
And if you’re like us and you’ve been keeping up with Succession, check out this interview Nicholas Braun and Matthew Macfadyen did with Entertainment Weekly here.
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