Top Moments in Television (21 – 25)

That’s a bold title there, and probably untrue. The Ebert of television I am not. In fact, I have no qualifications that would give me the right to make this kind of list. But that’s not going to stop me. Rest assured that while my choices may not be well informed, they’re also not arbitrary. These are moments in TV that I loved, that freaked me out, or that I was amazed by. In some cases I’ve chosen an entire episode, but for some it’s a single scene that makes it great.

This list is entirely personal, and sure to have huge gaps. So, apologies in advance to fans of Rome, The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, News Radio, Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, Black Adder, and any other good series that I’ve never seen an episode of.

In a perfect world, I’d have YouTube clips for each of these. That’s part of the reason I’m posting this in five segments: so that the top end of this list will be decked out in YouTube finery (unlike the bottom).

25. Night Court: Season Four, “A Day in the Life”
The Story: As the result of an obscure law and a trial backlog, the night court team needs to process a hundred cases before midnight.
Why it’s great: To this day, Night Court remains near and dear to my heart. 98% of all my humour between the ages of nine and fifteen was derived directly from this show. And “A Day in the Life” is the episode that I remember enjoying the most, where the cast was at the top of their game, and the writing was at its best. And the format—short trials one after another—just allowed them to go setup, punchline, setup, punchline, from start to finish. The format worked so well that they did it twice more over the years that followed (sadly, these subsequent attempts sucked).
Clip: Sadly, no. In its place I offer a photo featuring the girl of my twelve-year old dreams.

24. Family Ties: Season Two, “Say Uncle”
The Scene: In his second appearance as Uncle Ned, Tom Hanks visits the Keatons after losing his job. Late in the night, Alex sneaks down to the kitchen for a snack. Uncle Ned sits off to the side in the dark, and just as Alex has his arms loaded with food, he shouts, “HUNGRY, ALEX?” Food goes flying; hilarity ensues.
Why it’s great: It’s an inconsequential scene in an eventually heavy episode (Alex finds out that Ned is an alcoholic,) but it’s one of the funniest bits of TV that I remember from my childhood. Hungry, Alex? was a catchphrase around my house for years.
Clip: No, and I’d love to see this again.

23. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two, “When She Was Bad”
The Story:After being killed (albeit briefly) by The Master in last season's finale, Buffy returns after a summer away from Sunnydale. She's different though; edgier. It's only moodiness and curt responses at first, but as the days wear on and her behavior becomes more atypical, her friends begin to believe that Buffy is possessed. Why it’s great: Because she's not! Her behavior is the result of her brush with death. She's feeling both all powerful and extremely vulnerable all at once. In a show that’s flipped the nature of every one of its major or minor players at one point in time, this revelation is honestly surprising. And it's just a great, dark way to start the second season.
Clip: Finally, yes we have a clip. This is a scene where Buffy walks into the local Sunnydale hangout and invites Xander out to dance. She knows he has a thing for her and she flaunts it, sexy dancing against his ever-tightening pants. 22. Friends: Season Four – “The One With the Embryos”
The story: Monica and Rachel face off against Joey and Chandler in a contest of who knows who better. Ross run the contest as a game show. The stakes for the contest keep getting raised, and when the guys win in the end, they get Monica’s apartment as the prize.
Why it’s great: Like the Night Court episode, it’s mile-a-minute comedy. Punchlines pile on top of one another. And the quiz game itself has a nice balance of call-backs from previous episodes and brand new material.
Clip: It has to be out there, but I'm too dumb to find it.21. 24: Season Five – “8:00 AM – 9:00 AM”
The scene: Jack Bauer returns to his role as a CTU agent after several months working on an oil refinery under the assumed name ‘Frank.’ For a short time, he’s forced to deal with a tag-along—the teenage son of a woman he’d lived with in his time away from duty. The boy, Derek, has always been suspicious of ‘Frank,’ and has tailed him to find out who he truly is. For Jack, the mission is more important than placating the kid, so when he meets with more resistance than he can stand, he tells Derek, "The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you."
Why it’s great: Because it’s cool! Keifer Sutherland, with his good looks and lean figure, isn’t a really imposing guy. So this was a really direct way of reminding the viewer that Jack's not someone you should fuck with. He doesn't care that you're sixteen; if he feels like it, he will punch you until you go to sleep.
Clip: No luck so far.