Top 10 Comedy TV Episodes Of All Time

Hello, dear reader!

I'm a big fan of sitcoms, and of great individual episodes in television shows. At first, I planned on making a list of the greatest TV episodes of all time, but comedy and drama episodes were simply too hard to compare to one another, so I split my list into two. Here are my all-time favorite episodes from comedy shows, next week I'll share a similar list of the greatest episodes in drama television!

Disclaimer for fans of The Office (2005-2013): I have finally started to watch the series, but I haven't finished it yet so I haven't decided what its best episodes are. Therefore the series is omitted from this list, but once I've finished the show and finalized my ranking of its best episodes, I'll make a separate post for the top 10 The Office episodes.

Here are my honorable mentions: Connection Lost (Modern Family, Season 6 Episode 16), Frank (Ramy, season 2 episode 8), The Final Episode (Episodes, season 5 Episode 7), The One Where Everybody Finds Out (Friends, Season 5 Episode 14), Winter (The Vicar Of Dibley, Season 3 Episode 2)

10. The Ricklantis Mixup (Rick And Morty, Season 3 Episode 7)

As I mentioned in my ranking of all Rick And Morty episodes, this episode has a fantastic premise and it does a lot with it. The Ricklantis Mixup subverts expectations in the most wonderful way by not spending virtually any time with the usual main characters, choosing instead to focus on the Citadel of Ricks where versions of Rick and Morty from various dimensions are living their lives.

Justin Roiland, one of the show's two creators, voices every single character in the episode, and the intrigue of the life within the Citadel is amazing. The episode's highlight, however, is undoubtedly the ingeniously build twist ending, that feels more dark and revolutionary than you'd expect any sitcom (let alone an animated sitcom) to feel.

9. The Chinese Restaurant (Seinfeld, Season 2 Episode 11)

Seinfeld is at its best when it's at its most relatable - nearly all of my favorite episodes in this series are ones that focus on extremely mundane issues that we've all been through, with the script filled with commentary on social norms and every possible typical scenario that goes with the setting. That aspect of the series is at its very best in The Chinese Restaurant, an episode that focuses on the feeling of waiting for ages to get one's food in a restaurant.

The dialogue between the main characters is hysterically relatable, and the low-stakes nature of it all makes it a lot funnier - there's really nothing to the episode except for the characters waiting at the restaurant. The scene where Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) runs into an acquaintance who starts a conversation with him, but he can't remember who she is, is pure gold, as is George Costanza's (Jason Alexander) iconic "You know WE'RE LIVING IN A SOCIETY!".

8. Luck Of The Fryish (Futurama, Season 3 Episode 10)

When most people hear Don't You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds, their mind immediately goes to The Breakfast Club - unless you're a Futurama fan. That song has just as much of an emotional impact in this episode of Matt Groening's sci-fi sitcom as it does in the John Hughes movie. One of the reasons that I like Futurama is that while its humor is similar to The Simpsons, it also goes beyond its big-brother-series by having an emotional side to it.

While the show has quite a few tear-jerkers in its ranks, the most powerful episode for me is Luck Of The Fryish, where main character Philip J. Fry (Billy West) finds out that his brother "stole his life" and embarks on a search for a lucky seven-leaf clover from his childhood. While the episode has moments of great comedy, it's the emotional gut punch of an ending that puts it onto this list - I've seen the episode many times and cried a little every time.

7. Quinces (One Day At A Time, Season 1 Episode 13)

Speaking of emotionally powerful episodes, well, this one. Every episode of One Day At A Time is somewhat emotional, as the series deals with serious issues in a gripping yet heartfelt manner while still being an old-school style comedy at its core. In this season 1 finale, the main family's daughter Elena (Isabella Gomez) has her quinceanera party, which the whole season has been building up towards.

It's hard to discuss what makes the episode so great without giving away any spoilers, but let's just say that the episode is an emotional roller coaster that shifts between wonderfully uplifting moments and incredibly heartbreaking ones - don't worry, at the end of it all you'll have a smile on your face. The episode moved me to tears, even more so than Luck Of The Fryish.

6. Whenever You're Ready (The Good Place, Season 4 Episode 13)

The series finale of The Good Place is simply astonishing. It is so much more than one could've expected. So much happened in the episodes leading up to this one, that I was confused about what story the final episode had left to tell when going into it. Turns out that Whenever You're Ready was mostly about closure, and it gave the best closure possible.

While going deep into philosophical dilemmas as the series always tends to do, the episode manages to be very fun and full of excellent humor. But the main focus is on fulfilling character archs, and therein lies the finale's greatest achievement. Every single major character gets an absolutely perfect ending, as loose ends are tied up and emotional journeys are fulfilled. The ending to The Good Place is filled with fan service, positive surprises and an ultimate feeling of closure for the journey of the central four humans and two celestial beings.

5. How Your Mother Met Me (How I Met Your Mother, Season 9 Episode 16)

Choosing which episode to pick as How I Met Your Mother's finest was a tough job, as there are so many good ones. For years, I considered The Last Page to be the best episode of the series (still a close second), but only when writing this list I realized that I appreciate this season 9 gem even more. While the show's final season is its weakest, it has some truly great episodes in it, and the conceptual How Your Mother Met Me is the greatest of them all.

With just nine episodes to go as the series nears its end, this episode diverts the attention from the main gang and instead tells the story of The Mother (Cristin Milioti) - the love of Ted Mosby's (Josh Radnor) life who he wouldn't meet until the series finale. The episode follows the timeline from HIMYM's pilot episode all the way to the point in season 9 where the show was at, but from the Mother's perspective. It's incredibly fun, as we see her version of all the times when the two came close to meeting, but it's also incredibly heartfelt, as we follow the Mother's journey and become invested in her character arch. The ending scene is hauntingly beautiful.

4. Charlie Work (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Season 10 Episode 4)

First of all, it says something about It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia's weirdness that before I watched the series, I heard of this episode and asked my friend about "The Birdman-episode in IASIP", and he had to clarify whether I meant the episode done in the style of the movie Birdman (2014) or the episode where the gang dresses up as birds. That question made me realize that I have to see this show.

Turns out that this iconic episode, which boasts a 9.8 rating on IMDB, was the former; an episode with a similar style as Birdman, one of my favorite movies. While the plot of the episode is hilarious enough - Charlie (Charlie Day) tries to give a rosy picture of the gang's bar to a health inspector, while the rest of the gang tries to hide the fact that they're in the middle of an illegal, chicken-related scheme that's never properly explained - it's the style that makes Charlie Work into a masterpiece. The episode's highlight is an uninterrupted, 13-minute long shot as the camera follows an increasingly panicked Charlie trying his best to hide the gang's questionable activities from the inspector as they go around the bar.

It's a work of technical excellence, as well as chaotic humor at its very best. The cherry on top of the cake is Charlie Day's acting, as he delivers his lines with hysterical perfection - I've always said that about 83% of It's Always Sunny's greatness comes from Day's comedic genius, and this episode is the best evidence for that argument.

3. Lemon Of Troy (The Simpsons, Season 6 Episode 24)

Most of the episodes on this list aren't quite what you might expect from a list of comedy episodes, as the best episode in most sitcoms is a rather emotional one and therefore this list is full of dramatic episodes. Lemon Of Troy, on the other hand, is here only because of its vast comedy value. It's probably the funniest 22 minutes of television I've ever seen. It's not even a high-concept episode like the It's Always Sunny episode above - it's a rather normal episode of The Simpsons, but just with an infinite supply of above-average jokes.

There are just so many hilarious gags in Lemon Of Troy - Bart (Nancy Cartwright) discovering the lemon-shaped rock, Marge's (Julie Kavner) "a part of us all" speech, Shelbyville turning out to be an alternate version of Springfield with its own versions of familiar places and characters, and so much more. My brother and I watched this episode countless times when growing up, and to this day, we rarely go through a full conversation without quoting this episode at least once. If you're looking for pure laughter, you can't go wrong with this Simpsons classic.

2. HalloVeen (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Season 5 Episode 4)

I can't really discuss the main reason for why I love this episode without giving away major spoilers. I can, however, discuss the various other elements that help make this episode great: for a large part, it's the escalation of the Halloween Heist tradition that pushes this episode to greatness even before something even more amazing happens. Every season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine so far had had an episode that continued the annual Halloween Heist tradition, and every season had gone more high-concept and over-the-top with it. HalloVeen is the culmination of that phenomenon, as the heist is absolutely blown out of proportion in the most wonderful way. That alone makes this into one of the best Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes.

But what makes it into my #1 favorite episode of the series, and my second favorite comedy TV episode of all time? Can't spoil it here. Go watch the episode for yourself (actually you should watch the whole series up until this episode first, in order to appreciate the payoff). You won't be disappointed.

1. Remedial Chaos Theory (Community, Season 3 Episode 4)

Cards on the table: as a ground rule, I chose only one episode per series for this list (the best episode of each show, obviously), because otherwise this would've been more or less a list of the top 10 Community episodes. This way other comedy shows got their chance to shine, but I also get to express my love for Community, as its best episode is by far my favorite episode from any sitcom I've seen.

The concept of Remedial Chaos Theory is amazing: the study group gathers for Troy (Donald Glover) and Abed's (Danny Pudi) housewarming party, and when they roll a dice to see who has to go down to get the pizzas they ordered, Abed simulates six different timelines in his mind, based on who goes down to get the pizza. The humor in the episode is top notch, as certain hilarious events take place in each timeline, but the differences are quite amusing. The escalation of the episode is wonderful, as each timeline is more chaotic than the previous, and they go very far with this. The writing is great, as the plot's resolution is very clever and the last scene gives birth to a long-term storyline.

I've watched Remedial Chaos Theory many times, and each time I appreciate it more, as there are so many details that make the episode even better. It's crazy to think how much thought went into the psychological layers of the episode: with each timeline, the way the events differ from the other timelines can be explained by who is missing. For example, when control-freak Annie (Alison Brie) is away, things get out of control, when the group's jerk Pierce (Chevy Chase) is gone, everyone gets along well, and when the lovable Abed - who usually glues the group's turbulent personalities together - is gone, everything goes to hell.

P.S. - As a follow-up to my blog from July where I ranked Christopher Nolan's movies, I shall now fulfil my promise. I finally saw Tenet (2020) last week...and I loved it! The way Nolan writes time travel is absolutely revolutionary and mind-bending, something that a sci-fi geek like myself can hugely appreciate. My preliminary opinion would put Tenet on 6th place in my Nolan ranking, between Memento (2000) and Dunkirk (2017). But that opinion can't be completely trusted, as the film absolutely begs to be seen a second time. I highly recommend Tenet to all viewers who don't get headaches from mega-complicated manipulation of time!

Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my list of the greatest drama TV episodes of all time.