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rah
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Apolyton Prince of Moderators, Master of Reason
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Lord of the Ferrets
Jan 1970 time: 23:28
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The Newhart finale ranks right up there.
Another favorite is the Simpsons episode with Sideshow Bob and his brother Cecil. Great stuff.
The second act opens with a title, just like an episode of Fraisier:
In Cecil's apartment, and he offers Bob a choice of wines.
"I've been in prison, Cecil. I'll be happy just as long as it doesn't taste like orange drink fermented under a radiator." Surprisingly, Cecil is able to rule out one of the wines based on that comment.
or
Bob replies, "Cecil, no civilization in history has ever considered Chief Hydrological Engineer a 'calling'."
Cecil glares at Bob, and clears his throat.
"Yes, yes, the Cappadocians, fine."
or
Cecil is preparing to blow up the dam, running through a checklist. Bart jumps on him, and says, "Guess who!"
"Maris?" asks Cecil.
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Ubergeek
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St. Paul, MN USA
Feb 2000 time: 23:28
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The X-Files episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" was, IMO, the best single hour of television I've ever seen. All these wild, Rashomon-esque POV stories, each one more wildly impossible than the one before, the lovely and bizarre trifecta of guest stars (Charles Nelson Riley, Alex Trebec and Jesse Venture), the Sheriff who said "bleepin'" instead of swearing, Mulder's hoot-scream of delight when he spots the dead alien, the guy who decided that Scully was a Man In Black because "her hair was red...but a little TOO red, you know what I mean?" It was a beautifully crafted episode that played off of all the standard bits of all the other X-Files episodes.
Another candidate would be the B5 ep where the Shadow-Vorlon war ended with Sheridan kicking all the First Ones out of the galaxy. B5 was the best sci-fi show I've ever seen, and that episode was the climax of the entire series.
My third choice would be the finale of the first season of 24, with Jack going nuts because he thought his daughter was dead, ripping into the terrorists with a blazing gun in each fist in the most adrenaline-soaked two minutes of television I've ever seen, the sublime look of resignation on Dennis Hopper's face right before Jack shot him (Hopper's only good moment on the entire show), and of course the best and most devastating kick-in-the-gut moment of TV I've ever seen when Jack finds the body of his murdered, pregnant wife. I still get chills thinking about it.
Whoever said the final episode of Newhart made an excellent point too -- that's one of the boldest and cleverest moments in TV history.
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Ubergeek
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St. Paul, MN USA
Feb 2000 time: 23:28
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quote: Originally posted by The diplomat
I know what you mean. S5 was a bit anti-climactic compared to S4. My biggest problem with S5 was the telepath arc, that just did not catch my interest. But S5 did did have a few amazing eps ("The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari", "And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder" and "The Fall of Centauri Prime").
The problem was that JMS was not sure whether the show would end after 4 seasons or 5 because of decisions by TPTB. SiL was made so that it could have been shown at the end of S4. When the suits decided at the last minute to extend the show to 5 seasons, JMS had to come up with one more season. |
Yeah, that was a really, really obvious problem with Season 5. Season 4 was, in part, so thrilling because it was really two seasons condensed into one, and so it never gave you a moment to catch your breath.
You're also completely correct in saying that Londo's arc was remarkably compelling during Season 5. Londo is my favorite television character, in fact, because he was so beautifully and heartbreakingly realized. Here's a guy who was vain and ambitious, yes, but who also really just wanted joy for himself and the people he loved, but who was always going to be denied that joy because of the unforseen consequences of his own actions. Sometimes the character was just painful (in a very good way) to watch because you knew he was always going to be denied the thing that would make him happiest.
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