Desert Island: One Ep and One Ep Only
November 6, 2007 by Kath Skerry
I don’t know about you, but I need a quick respite before resuming ‘strike’ talk. How about a little fun to lift everyone’s spirits?! You in? Let’s play a little desert island. This one could be tough for you diehard TV addicts out there but I think you can do it.
You’re on a desert island. You can bring ONE and only ONE episode from any show of any time. Really think about it. This is going to be the only TV you’re going to have to watch until you get off the island. Which episode of what show would you bring and why? Let’s think about this one.
GMMR’s Pick: If I’m stuck on a desert island and can only bring one episode of one TV show, I’m going to take the “Atomic Shakespeare” episode of MOONLIGHTING. Huh?! Yeah, I know this one is from a while back (and the show might have been off the air before some of you were among the living) but I loved Moonlighting and this was my favorite episode. If you ever catch it reruns you have to check it out. In the episode the genius comedy of Moonlighting meets the words of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew”…well kind of. When I watch it today I just imagine the effort it took to make this incredible episode, and how it really set the stage for shows to break out of their molds every once in a while. It was so very different for its time and it’s the only reason that I still own a VCR.
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Ok your turn…let’s make it interesting!!
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Arrested Development “Amigos”
The Office “The Injury”
You guys are forgetting the “WHY” part of the question 🙂
The West Wing was my favorite tv show of all time (first 4 seasons being best in the history of tv drama). I go back and forth on my favorite episode. The Crackpots and These Women, What Kind of Day It Has Been, In The Shadow of Two Gunmen, Noel, Bartlet for America, Posse Comitatus, 20 Hours in America, Inauguration have all been my favorite or close to at one point.
But one episode that I have always loved is Two Cathedrals. Mostly for this one scene … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FScv89J6rro … talk about acting your ass off. Martin Sheen has a whole one sided converstation with god (which any person of faith can relate to the emotions he’s feeling there and have gone through the same thing, Martin just hits it out of the park) and speaks latin at the end. First time I watched it I had no idea what he actually said but I still knew what he was saying. It was like watching a Shakespeare play for the first time. The old english is tough to understand, but if the actor is good you understand it completely. Sorry this probably isn’t making any sense, I’m just gushing with my West Wing nerdiness.
The episode as a whole is amazing. Wonderful writing, amazing acting by the whole cast, and the directing at some points is just beautiful.
Another clip from that episode…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaUPDYXQUtw
Oops! Sorry!
I picked The Office because it’s my favorite show, and The Injury because I can watch it over and over, and it never ceases to make me laugh.
And if I were stranded on an island, I’m sure I would need lots to laugh about.
Also, it’s my favorite episode to show other people, and say “WATCH THIS SHOW!”
Of course, now I’ll have to say “buy these dvd seasons” if the strike forces reruns indefinitely….
Frasier: “My Coffee With Niles”
Way back in the early ’90s Frasier was my favorite television show. It was the first show that I was able to jump on the internet about and discuss with my fellow fans. This particular episode was the season finale of the first season and the first episode of Frasier that I taped (don’t really remember why) and it is what hooked me to the show. The entire episode takes place in a cafe, is filmed in real time, and consists mainly of Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce just…talking. It may not sound like much, but to this day I still think of it as a brilliant example of top-notch writing and acting. I have since moved on to other shows like “The Office,” but I’ll always have a special place in my heart for “Frasier.”
The Office–Drug Testing. Why? “Because it has to be official and it has to be urine.”
Pushing Daisies – “Pie-lette”
I know I should pick something older that’s stood the test of time, but I can’t remember another hour of television making me happier. And every time I’ve watched it, I’ve liked it better. I think I’ll need some of that if I’m stranded on an island.
MASH – “Abyssinia, Henry”
I wasn’t around when this episode first aired, but as a kid I was in love with MASH and the character of Henry Blake especially. When I first saw this episode I was absolutely devastated. I couldn’t believe they would kill off Colonel Blake! The first 25 or so minutes is all fun and games and hilarity, and then the last minute is just heart-breaking. It was only as I matured that I realized just how genius it really was to show that hey – they were in a war and sometimes guys didn’t get to go home to their wives. I’m not sure how uplifting that would be for me if I were stranded on a desert island, but I have yet to see an episode of any kind of television program leave such a lasting impression on me.
As far as flat-out laughs are concerned it would have to be:
I Love Lucy – “Job Switching”
Lucy and Ethel wrapping up chocolates in an ever more rapidly moving assembly line? Forget about it! Never gets old.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Once More With Feeling
Best musical episode ever. It’s funny and the songs are catchy and it’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. So, everything that makes anything awesome…
My vote has to go to the series finale of “The Wonder Years.” That scene at the end, when we learn about what happenens to Kevins mom, brother, sister, and dad, and then how Kevin and Winnie don’t end up together…just heartbreaking. It’s physically making me emotional just writing about it now. And I’m a 28 year old male. Wow. A truly great episode.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Graduation Day.
It’s the last episode that has Cordelia, Angel, Oz & Wesley in it, there’s laughter, romance, and a great battle. Plus, it’s a double so there’s more to enjoy.
Ah loving the choices. Keep ’em coming!!
And I know I could only choose one and I did, but it was painful to leave the “Stolen Kisses” episode of Dawson’s Creek behind. The one where the Creekers go to Aunt Gwen’s for Spring Break. This revelation, the kiss…just perfect!
Even though the Office (US) is my favorite show, I had to go down a not-so-different road for the Daniel Radcliffe episode of Extras (if you click on my name, you can see all the parts of the episode with him in it). It’s an episode that is not only hysterical, but also gives us a completely different and fictional view of everyone’s favorite boy wizard.
Enjoy the clip.
My pick has to be Gilmore Girls, Raincoats and Recipes, for two very specific reasons: Luke kisses Lorelai for the first time, and Lorelai and Rory have the following conversation:
RORY: Did you say yes [to a date with Luke]?
LORELAI: When?
RORY: To the movie. Did you say yes?
LORELAI: Yes.
RORY: That sounds like dating to me.
LORELAI: But maybe he didn’t mean it as a date thing. Maybe he just needed to get out of the house, and since I’m currently one of the women sitting home, thinking, “If I could only find a man like Aragorn,” he picked me.
This makes me crack up EVERY SINGLE TIME!!
Runners up: The Office, “The Client” and Firefly, “Out of Gas.”
lordy, i’m saying alot of things about myself here, but if i were stranded with only one television show to keep me company, it would be the “tornado watch” episode of designing women. julia, mary jo, charlene and suzanne + bernice + charlene’s new video camera + a surprise visit from daddy jones with a gasoline can of moonshine + elmer, the repressed client who by the end of the episode winds up drunk on moonshine, dancing around in reece’s red silk birthday robe * A TORNADO! = the best thirty minutes of your life.
Allthough it was a tough decision, I would have to take ‘Friends’ – The one with the Embryos. This Episode was, in my opinion one of the funniest episodes they had. It is the one where the guys challenge the girls to a game of who knows who better. Ross writes the questions and hilarity ensues.We get things like,” Joey had an imaginery childhood friend, his name was? Maurice. Correct, his profession was?…Space Cowboy.”Need I say more.
I think I would have to go with MY SO CALLED LIFE “Pilot” because it has sentimental and cultural significance. Plus, the REM “Everybody Hurts” shot on the foggy illuminated street makes me weap as does Angela going into her Mom’s bed right after. It has heart, comedy, angst, incredible acting and wow…
I’m going with the “Beers and Weirs” episode of Freaks and Geeks. This is the episode when Sam and his friends switch the keg at Lindsay’s party to a non-alcoholic one. Between Bill getting drunk off the real keg while watching Dallas and Nick jamming with Milley to “Jesus is Just all right with me” I think I would have plenty of laughs on my desert island.
I picked Gilmore Girls “A Deep Fried Korean Thanksgiving” because I actually have watched that episode more than any other and have never gotten tired of it.
It has Jess, who I don’t like, but also Lane with Dave (who I LOVED). I love seeing all the aspects of their lives. Mrs. Kim, Sookie’s crazy family (and her drunk off her ass later), Luke’s diner on the day where the whole town is family, and the Gilmore dinner to end all Gilmore dinners, blowing up with a big family fight! Lane’s first kiss! Human Kirk and Cat Kirk! French dips and cherry pie! Then there are rolls for the walk home. The episode crammed so many awesome situations and dialouge into that hour, I have never gotten bored with it.
One of my favorite moments:
Rory: I’m assuming there’s nothing left in the store.
Kirk Gleason: Actually there are a number of things left.
Rory: No, I meant, you seem to be buying a lot of stuff.
Kirk Gleason: Oh. Sorry. My excitement must be clouding my ability to judge comedic hyperbole.
This episode is, for me, what all episodes of the show should aspire to be.
If I’m going for pure brilliance, I have to pick “In the Shadow of Two Gunmen” from season 2 of The West Wing. A two-parter, and absolutely the best singular piece of television I’ve seen.
But on a desert island, I might be depressed and want to cheer myself up. In this case, I have to agree with the above comment and choose “The One with the Embryos” from Friends. I can never get enough Transponster.
The OC – Model Home, It was just the best episode of the show ever. I could watch it over and over again.
Runner up: Friends – The One Where No One is Ready – Or just about any other Friends episode. But really, I figure I could just act those out on the island to entertain myself because I know that show a little bit TOO well!
right now, off the top of my head, i’m going to go with “the dundies” from the office. i’m sure if i sat here long enough, i could think of something else but honestly, i could watch the entire chili’s part on loop & be content. for some odd reason, watching pam drunk & hilarious makes me giddy with glee. oh yeah- and the kiss doesn’t suck either.
This is such an awesome thing… and I have been vacillating for an hour or so between a few.
In the end, for me it is “In Excelsis Deo” episode of The West Wing. It is the Christmas ep for the first season and my favorite curmudgeon Toby Ziegler finds a homeless man near the Vietnam memorial dead on a park bench and wearing Toby’s castoff coat. (I am teary just thinking of it now). Toby goes on to search out the man’s identity and long story short gets him a military burial and the president’s secretary goes along to the funeral with Toby as she reveals her painful struggles related to her twins and why she hates Christmas.
Could I have chosen something lighter and funnier? For sure. But this episode was brilliant. NBC did a contest a few years back where viewers voted for their favorite West Wing ep and it won hands down. I think Sorkin is a genius.
My humorous alternative would be the Seinfeld ep in the Chinese restaurant. The show about nothing was one of my faves of all time.
Wow, reading through everyone’s ideas has reminded me of a lot of good episodes. I love Dawson’s Creek “Stolen Kisses”, GMMR. Barry, that episode of Extras was excellent, as was the one with Ian McKellan….
But I have to choose BtvS “Once More with Feeling.” This way I could take an excellent episode of one of the best shows ever, along with a great soundtrack, where I could sing my heart out by myself on the island. I do a lot of that anyway, but I think it would make me feel less lonely and desperate on a deserted island.
Others I considered: Arrested Development “Afternoon Delight”, Friends, “The One Where Everybody Finds Out”
I’d go for “The One in Vegas” from FRIENDS. My all-time favorite show just makes me fill giddy inside. I adore the friendships, the character quirks, the storylines and of course, the overall humor.
This episode especially makes me happy. Drunk Ross and Rachel are HILARIOUS and adorable. It includes the famous Joey “this hand is my hand” song. Mondler (Monica/Chandler) at at their cutest. AND Phoebe is at her fullest ridiculous level of fighting with old love that makes me love her.
Watching this episode would be a guaranteed cheer-up, plus make me think of other great FRIENDS moments….since I feel that it is both a classic episode and one that shows all the relationships and characters at their best.
Dang, this is a tough one, there so much good tv to pick from. I guess I would have to pick episode#3 from the first season of ‘Newsradio’ (Smoking). I remember Newsradio being the first program I really watched on my own as an adolescent, because my parents absolutely hated it,but I couldn’t get enough of it. Rewatching on Dvd really brings me back to that time when I felt really grownup and cool(silly as it seems now) and that episode is still one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Example:
Dave: Hey Bill, I’m your friend.
Bill: Oh yeah? Where were you last night at 3 A.M. when I was watching Steel Magnolias and crying my eyes out?
and
Bill: It smells like an ashtray when I pee. Is there anything you can do to help with that?
Dave: Gosh, I hope not.
I think I would choose The Office, “The Fire”. It would be the most relatable.
Whew! This is tough! I love the Stolen Kisses – Dawson’s Creek idea, and so hard to choose a favorite from My So-Called Life. The Office has so many, and I could still watch Casino Night even after watching it too many times to admit.
However, what came to mind immediately was Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers from Freaks and Geeks. This has one of my all-time favorite tv moments when Bill Haverchuck is watching Garry Shandling on tv and laughing while eating a grilled cheese sandwich: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmCpmEQD0L4
I laugh so hard I cry every time. And this episode also has the “Lady L” song. Wow, what an episode.
Boy Meets World, “What a Drag!”
I had to look up the name of this episode, but it’s the one where Jack and Eric dress up as girls to avoid being beaten up by some guy who ends up being attracted to Jack, and Eric talks in a French accent the entire time. It’s hilarious.
Also, Cory tries to decorate his and Topanga’s new apartment with stuff he finds at “Cork World,” and that right there is the funniest invention of a store, ever. God I love Boy Meets World.
Sorry GMMR- For why Arrested Development – “Amigos” …
Since I would be stuck on a desert island, I figured it would be good to learn how to plant, just like Ann.
This is really tough but I think I’d pick an episode from Wonderfalls, so probably “Love Sick Ass”. It’s hilarious, romantic and even heartwarming. I think I’d need that on a desert island.
I am not sure the title of the episode, but it’s from Designing Women, and it’s the one where Julia tells off some chick for making fun of her sister (she tells about the wonderful baton twirling victory Suzanne had when she was on the pageant circuit). It’s funny and fun, and even though Designing Women isn’t one of my all time favorite shows, every time I see it I think of my own sisters & how I feel about them, and there is a happy sort of peace & love I feel. And this great strength that makes it seem anything is possible when Julia cries: “And THAT is the night the lights went out in Georgia!!”
Ahhh, I love it!
Wow. I’ve been thinking all day and reading everyone else’s. SO hard to choose. There’s my favorite Friends ep, “The One with the Prom Video”…but then..there’s “The Fire” from the Office. OMWF is permanently saved on my TiVo….And anything from GG S1 or S5 would work…”Jaynestown” cracks me up everytime… OH OH I got it finally…
“Slapbet/Robin Sparkles” from How I Met Your Mother. I could watch that over and over and not get tired of it. I’ve been known to randomly bust out laughing and when asked why all I could mutter was “I was a teenage pop star in Canada…”
I’m trying to find the right episode of Veronica Mars…and I’m torn between the pilot and Russkie Business. I think I’d want an episode that was funny but touching, that reminded me to stay strong and spunky even in the face of serious obstacles, and that rocked some great 80’s music. Who wouldn’t want to have “One Thing Leads to Another” stuck in their head the whole time on the island? 😉
Great choices from the rest of the folks too. I agree that “Raincoats and Recipes” would’ve been worth it just for the “man like Aragorn” line, and the Friends ep where everyone finds out I could watch over and over.
I’d have to pick The Office episode Beach Games solely for the clip of Andy falling into the lake, and the clip that follows where Angela pretends she can’t understand him. That clip makes me laugh every single time I watch it.
this is really tough, but i’d have to go with friends, the one at the beach, which is the one where chandler has to pee on monica after she got stung by a jellyfish and where ross and rachel get back together only to break up right away again. it’s hilarious, and i just love the pee story! it’s great.
I would have to go with one of my favorite episodes from West Wing (In the Shadow of Two Gunmen) because it’s a 2-hour episode and I would need to waste more time, and because it’s absolutely brilliant.
If it was for laughs, I would go old school, and choose the Escaped Convicts episode of the Andy Griffith Show. Barney and Floyd trapped with Big Maude and the other two girls, Floyd and Barney dancing, everyone calling Barney “Al” I could go on and on.
Since humor would be key when stranded on a desert island, I would probably go with a Friends classic: “The One Where Everybody Finds Out.” From the “they don’t know we know they know we know” to Phoebe’s attempted seduction of Chandler, that episode always has me in stitches! And of course, there is the sweetest moment at the end when Chandler reveals he’s in-love with Monica. Ahhhh . . .
I don’t know if it’s cheating or not to pick an extra-long TV show, but I’d want to take an episode of MST3K. Specifically, I’d want to have “Werewolf.” It’s really funny, and there’s musical numbers, and pretending that I’m watching a movie with Mike and the ‘Bots might make me feel less lonely. I could truly sympathize with Mike’s plight of being trapped in space.
I love reading these, super idea GMMR. I chose already but reading back through I see a lot of Designing Women and in truth I’ve been watching this on rerun and reliving it and I have to say it was a great showcase for flinty women and I think ahead of its time. I also see a few West Wing (my vote above) and I have to say I miss that story development and writing. I was a fan (perhaps only five of us:-) that loved Studio 60 and mourn from not being able to hear Sorkin’s ‘voice’. And so I bring it back to the writers. This is my testament to these gifted people. It is a miracle to be able to make people feel things in this way. Give ’em he11.
I have to pick something from Alias because it has everything: action, drama, love story, a bit of comedy. Now…what episode? Geez…
Okay, I’m going with the first season finale, “Almost Thirty Years”…because she wore the BEST blue wig in that one. I’ve searched long and hard for one just like it but haven’t been able to find one.
I could have picked something from Felicity but if I were on a desert island I’d need something a bit more peppy. 🙂
Or, if I could have neither of those…pretty much any episode of Joan of Arcadia. Man, that was a good show.
Hands down “weapons of mass destruction” from season one of veronica mars…it is the episode where veronica and logan first kiss, and i could watch that scene over and over again
Buffy – “Hush”
The best episode of the best series on television. Truly awesome in every way – genuinely funny and scary at the same time, with film quality visuals and a glorious musical score. Also, the Gentlemen were the scariest monsters I’d ever seen on the show.
Whedon grew tired of critics saying Buffy was only popular because of the snappy dialogue so he said, “Okay, I’ll just write an ep where they don’t talk at all. Suck it!” I may have paraphrased that. 😉
Mine would have to be Veronica Mars “Not Pictured” I loved everything in it from the beginning to the last line.
Anyone who’s seen VM can agree that Veronica and Logan were meant to be together and this whole episode had everything from romance to shock and mystery. I especially love the scene where she is dreaming and in her dreams she is dating Logan, even though Duncan and Lilly were still there. It also had to be one of the most shocking finale I have ever seen.
I think my favorite episode of any TV show is the Scrubs episode “His Story.” Johny C. McGinley is amazing, the episode is completely hilarious, and just when you think the ending is going to be gut-wrenching, you instead get a wonderfully well-done happy ending.
Other thoughts:
Arrested Development: “Pier Pressure,” which involved the “Hot Cops,” a one-armed man, and being taught a lesson to not teach lessons.
That 70s Show: Dine and Dash. Completely hilarious from start to finish. Easily the best ep of the show, and one of the best eps from any traditional sitcom.
Friends: “The One with Chandler in a Box”. Especially great was Monica’s rant in which she lashes out to everyone who’s judging her for dating her ex’s son (which I had to find, copy, and paste): “Fine! Judge all you want to, but… (Points at Ross) Married a lesbian! ( to Rachel) Left a man at the altar! ( to Phoebe) Fell in love with a gay ice dancer! ( to Joey) Threw a girl’s wooden leg in a fire! (Points to the box Chandler’s in) Lives in a box! ”
I can’t really think of a drama episode that I would want to watch over and over. Maybe Heroe’s “Company Man.”
I would have to go with the episode “Finally” from Felicity. Noel getting hyper from the beets in the smartpowder (wow, beets get a lot of love on my favorite shows 😉 is hilarious and his tirade about Richard’s bbq is just great. Plus, Richard’s “I’m gonna report you, I’m gonna report your ass!” just cracks me up every time.
And I need to mention that the only reason that I would choose this over Office episodes like “Email Surveillance”, “The Injury” or “The Fire” is because at least I would get an hour of entertainment.
This is VERY difficult, but in the interest of giving Everwood some representation here, I’m going to go with Foreverwood. The end with Ephram and Amy just makes me so happy and the pan over the little town makes me cry. Mostly though this episode makes me feel grateful for television because it is so true to the whole series and wraps it up in such a satisfying way that made me feel like some people in the world really do care about making TV good.
Runners up: 17 People, The West Wing. The One with The Morning After, Friends. Raincoats and Recipes, Gilmore Girls.
I was originally thinking Friends, “The One Where Everyone Finds Out” for Phoebe’s, “…it makes me want to rip that sweater-vest right off,” but someone already used that one. And I cannot seem to chose between “The One With the Resolutions” (Ross in leather pants), and “The One with the Embryos” (Trivia contest).
So I’m going a different route with The Office, “Casino Night.” It has hilarity (dinkin’ flicka & mind control) balanced with romance (the confession & kiss). There’s nothing left to say, but a perfect hour of Television.
I’m going to have to agree with Ryan and say the “Two Cathedrals” episode of The West Wing…if only because, if I’m stuck on a deserted island for a year, God and I are going to have a not-so-nice talk…which I imagine will go the same way as Bartlet’s did in the cathedral.
Arrested Development – The Sword of Destiny!
“I need something to give my dingle less tingle”
Best line ever.
Hello everybody, my name is Damion, and I’m glad to join your conmunity,
and wish to assit as far as possible.