guessing most of you are aware that
The Ringer put out a (kinda bad & schizophrenic) list of the 100 "best" tv episodes of this century (limit 1 per show)
normally i'd cut them some slack because these kind of lists are basically impossible to do, but they made a big deal about how big & involved an undertaking this was, plus Chris Ryan wrote an article specially differentiating memorable moments vs best eps of tv, and then this is what they came up with? k
http://besttv.theringer.com/
i say schizophrenic because their stated brief methodology doesn't make sense:
Quote:
To come up with a list of the 100 best episodes, the entire Ringer staff was asked to submit their favorite episodes of the century. The list was then assembled with those submissions in mind, and with one stipulation—that only one episode per show could make the cut. The result is a list of 100 episodes of TV that covers the medium’s vast variety of genres and recognizes the wealth of greatness delivered on the small screen for the last two decades. Without further ado, here are The 100 Best TV Episodes of the Century.
so as a result it's mostly a list of the most famous episodes of the century, the ones that popped the most, "best" is essentially thrown right out the window, because hey that'd be a lot harder to do
basically close your eyes and think of the biggest tv moments of this century, spend 2 minutes ordering it, rand in some trash and hot takes
*, and bravo you've made this list for The Ringer ... now pass go and collect your $200
but it's the dog days of summer so i bit ... and away we go!
* - if it wasn't obvious, the essentially admitted to hottaking in order to differentiate themselves because this sort of thing has obv already been done a million times before
i don't even hate it necessarily, if they went hard in the paint with some strong takes, but feels more like they were intentionally trolling for clicks etc, so well done i guess
anyway, some thoughts:
100
The Walking Dead (some episode) - i don't watch this show, but if you're gonna do this kind of list in this kind of way i'm guessing TWD should be higher than 100, especially considering some of the absolute other crap that no one cares about above it
94
The Price is Right (some episode)
Quote:
Celebrating Drew Carey’s 10th anniversary as Price Is Right host, the show raised the stakes, awarding contestants $10,000 if they hit a dollar on the wheel and $25,000 if they hit a dollar again on their additional spin. In a sequence of sheer madness and impossible chance, three people hit a dollar five times in a row, and a record-setting $80,000 was given out.
seems legit
Quote:
“We’ve given away $80,000 just on this wheel spin,” Carey says in a fit of laughter, partially stunned and perhaps partially considering if this could bankrupt the show.
seems legit
Quote:
The odds of hitting the dollar five times in a row are apparently 1 in 3.2 million, and the stakes were already raised to begin with. We talk about impossible-to-beat sports records—Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played, Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points—but barring an extreme rewriting of the Price Is Right rules, the odds of this moment being topped are nearly impossible.
Simmons only hires ppl who think that pro wrestling is real, right?
88
The Eric Andre Show (some episode) - the ep doesn't matter because they're all kind of similar, just wanted to say that this show is brilliant and should definitely be ranked higher, 0.000% chance there are 87 better shows from this century
if you've never seen the show and love absurd comedy, then do yourself a favour and go watch a comp of it on youtube right now
87
Futurama (
"The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings") - ^ ditto, was gonna say that i'm not sure they picked the right ep for this one, but in the writeup it says this is from S5, so possible this
is the best one from this century
80
Freaks and Geeks (
"Dead Dogs and Gym Teachers") - i wasn't as high on F&G as many, but some of the eps were pretty great, including this one iirc, which was prob the predictable choice
though i might have gone with the Jason Segel centered one, you prob know whcih i mean if you've seen the show
77
The People V. O.J. Simpson (
"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia") - probably not the best ep of the series, but the redemption of Marcia Clark is obv the one that popped with white ppl, so here we are
Sarah Paulson was really great though
76
Eastbound & Down (
"Chapter 1") - haven't seen the entire series, but i'm pretty sure i've seen this, and ... can't believe that's the best, based on what i've read 'round here alone
they unsurprisingly picked a lot of pilots and finales, which is pretty lazy tbh
74
Black-ish (
"Hope") - again, the very special ep where ABC let them tackle the issue of police violence in the wake of Ferguson is the oh so predictable choice
probably not the best ep though, and very unlikely that there are 73 better shows
73
Community (
"Remedial Chaos Theory") - not sure this is the ep i'd pick, but i don't know what is, mostly just posting to say that it's impossible that there are 72 better shows from this century
69
Curb Your Enthusiasm (
"The Freak Book") - not gonna nitpick too much because this is a pretty good choice, but agree with their internal debate that "Krazee-Eyez Killa" might be better, also the Palestinian Chicken one, really there are so many that you could go with
68 better shows that Curb this century? seriously gtfo
54
Bojack Horseman (
"That's Too Much, Man!") - at least 3 of 4 different eps i'd debate for this show, but ... this is actually a pretty good choice, well done!
should be higher than 54 tho
49
The Good Place (
"Michael's Gambit") - good choice, show should probably be higher tho
46
Better Call Saul (
"Chicanery") - fine choice, if only for Michael McKean's performance, aka the best actor on the show
this should probably be higher
45
The Leftovers (
"International Assassin") - the obv choice, and maybe the correct one, idk
should be higher but The Ringer staff are a bunch of knobs who prefer "reality" tv
43
Silicon Valley (
"The Optimal Tip-To-Tip Efficiency") - best ep? idk
most memorable moment from the series? very possible
= this list in a nutshell
41
Parks and Recreation (
"One Last Ride") - picking this finale is the Kanye shrug emoticon of choices, as is this placement, just completely mailing it in
like i would be stunned if they spent more than 10 seconds debating either, and if they did, lol
40
Dexter (
"The Getaway") - again, the most predictable choice
like half these picks could have been made with 2 seconds of thought each, and probably were
i prob would have picked something from S1 or 2 #csb
32
Planet Earth II (
"Jungles") - i mean if you're gonna do this kind of list in this way, why not make a strong move and put this show in the top10 where it belongs? cowardly placement
not sure what the best ep is, kind of hard to say right
29
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (
"Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games") - as maybe the funniest show of this century it should be higher, and def not the correct choice of ep
26
Nathan For You (
"Finding Frances") - again, the most obv choice, but the correct one? well it's def not the funniest ep of the series...
should be higher, this show is brilliant
24
30 Rock (
"Succession") - look i like 30 Rock, quite a bit actually, but wtf at this placement
the show always felt completely disposable, which should limit it's ceiling for a thing like this
16
The Office (
"Dinner Party") - an obv contender, but probably not the correct choice
unfortunately i can't say what is off the top of my head, but at least they didn't go with some hokey thing like the finale or when Michael left, etc
10
Breaking Bad (
"Ozymandias") - i guess this is the placement they've been getting the most **** for as the derposphere is convinced that this ep is the peak of art
the show should be higher, but my scalding take is that this is not the best ep of the series
9
The O.C. (
"Pilot") - this is
so Simmons, and the kind of ppl he surrounds himself with
i remember watching this when it came out (due to all the hype & promotion it got) and thinking it was laughably bad, literally
i obv have never gone back and revisited it, but find it impossible to believe that it's the 9th best show/ep of this century
congrats on the successful 'take tho
8
The Sopranos (
"Pine Barrens") - an obv sort of choice as a fun fan-fav ep, but def not the best
again, kind of a disposable standalone bottle ep really, unless you embrace the uncertainty later on, but i feel like ppl who LOVE this ep hate the ending, so... (Kanye shrug)
show should obv be higher, maybe the GOAT
6
The Wire (
"Middle Ground") - probably the most obv choice, and a defensible one for a change, but not the one i'd go with i don't think
biggest, most memorable moment perhaps, which is why it's here really
thing i kind of forgot until i heard them discussing this was how they basically created every season finale as a series finale because they never knew if they were coming back or not, which kind of helped the show tbh, no holding back
anyway that ^ was def part of this, and then they had to start over from scratch kind of, and maybe created the greatest season of tv as a result, incredible
should be higher
now go make more, not 6 seasons, not 7, not 8...
5
Chappelle's Show (
"Episode #2.4") - you guessed it, Rick James *****
best ep of the series? idk
most memorable moment? probably
repeat
4
True Detective (
"Who Goes There") - now here's a helluva take
i literally had no idea what happened in this ep until their recap reminded me
and oh yeah it was that bizarre plotline i hated where they try to infiltrate some biker gang [for reasons]
so why is it here? oh yeah, that 6-minute tracking shot all right all right all right
people
really love to jerk off to that technical stuff
good season, almost certain it's not the best ep, but hey man nice shot
truly bizarre placement
3
Game of Thrones (
"Rains of Castamere") - obv choice is obv
best ep? i would probably argue not, but what else is new
2
Mad Men (
"The Suitcase") - apparently chosen because Don's
"that's what the money is for!" line has taken on a life according to the dorks of The Ringer, and the fight between him and Peggy makes it probably the most obv choice
my first thought was
"The Gypsy and the Hobo" is their best, probably others i would have also considered before this one, but i haven't watched MM in a while
slightly aggressive placing this 2nd, white ppl amirite
1
go read the list and get MAD probably
cliffs: tl;dr
and lol me for writing that many words about a dum clickbait list
anyway, tv is pretty fun to argue about, so who else wants to GO HARD IN THE PAINT with some 'TAKES!?
wouldn't mind reading some stuff about the shows i didn't mention as well, as i obv haven't seen everything, far from it
