The Leftovers, “International Assassin” (Season 2, Episode 8)

September 3, 2024 5:13 AM

Highlights from “Friends,” “Veep,” “Succession,” “The Sopranos,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Simpsons,” “Black-ish,” “Twilight Zone” and more

The thing that What has always distinguished television storytelling from its silver-screen counterpart is the existence of individual episodes. We consume our shows—even the ones we binge-watch—in discrete chunks, and the medium is at its best when it sticks to that. The joy of binge-watching a series comes as much from the individual stages of the journey as it does from the destination, if not more. Few experiences in popular culture are more satisfying than when your favorite show hits it out of the park with a single chapter, whether it’s an episode that radically departs from the series norm or simply an incredibly well-executed take on the familiar formula.

However, this episodic nature makes television fundamentally incoherent. The greatest drama ever made, The Sopranoswas sometimes capable of misfires like the Columbus Day episode. And even mediocre shows can produce a single episode that is on par with a much stronger overall series.

For that Rolling stone In our list of the top 100 episodes of all time, we looked at both the flagship episodes of classic series, as well as examples of lesser series that managed to stand out for a short period of time. We have episodes from the 1950s up to this year. We limited ourselves to narrative dramas and comedies only – so no news, no reality shows, no sketch comedy, no talk shows, etc. In a few cases, there are two-part episodes, but we mostly chose solo entries. And while these are largely American shows (as viewed by our American staff), a handful of international entries made the cut.