A Very Special Episode

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  A Very Special Episode Cheap Seats, “Superstars 1978” 

  A silly sports show provides ample fodder for an inventive, overlooked foray into comedy by ESPN and the Sklar brothers.

  January 19, 2012 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Dragnet, “The Christmas Story” (a.k.a. “The Big Little Jesus”) 

  Dragnet told the same Christmas tale three times. Time changed the way it looks.

  December 22, 2011 | 12:02am -

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  A Very Special Episode Ally McBeal, “It’s My Party” 

  A single episode illustrates why Ally McBeal became a can’t-miss show—and why that status didn’t last. 

  December 1, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Cheers, “Fortune And Men’s Weight” 

  How a classic got beyond “Will they or won’t they?” 

  November 3, 2011 | 12:02am -

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  A Very Special Episode Soap, Episode 44

  The warm, familiar, biting, (and occasionally terrifying) satire of Soap.

  October 13, 2011 | 12:01am -

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  A Very Special Episode Studio One, “The Arena”

  What a great writer’s missteps say about his career. 

  September 22, 2011 | 12:00pm -

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  A Very Special Episode Beauty And The Beast, “Ozymandias” 

  What a romantic fantasy that looked at New York from the bottom up says about the way we tell stories, and the way we perceive the stories we tell. 

  September 1, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Land Of The Lost, “Album”

  Sid and Marty Krofft find some poignant moments amid the Sleestaks in this episode of Land Of The Lost.

  August 11, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Dinosaurs, “Changing Nature”

  A series finale offered a grim view of its characters’ futures, and our own. Fun for the whole family?

  July 21, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Celebrity Hot Potato, 6/29/84

  The last gasp of a never-popular game show provides a peculiar snapshot of its time.

  June 30, 2011 | 12:01am -

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  A Very Special Episode Leave It To Beaver, “The Last Day Of School”

  Beneath the squeaky-clean surface, Leave It To Beaver was actually… well, pretty squeaky clean. But also interesting.

  June 9, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Announcing the fourth “season” of “A Very Special Episode”

  June 8, 2011 | 4:00pm -

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  A Very Special Episode Family Ties, “‘A’ My Name Is Alex”

  The epitome of the ’80s sitcom “very special episode” finds Alex dealing with the death of a friend. Is it bold, insufferably cheesy, or maybe both?

  May 26, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode South Park, “Cartoon Wars”

  From Jesus v. Santa to Cartman v. Muhammad

  May 12, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Checkmate, "The Paper Killer"

  This largely forgotten detective drama had a lot more to say about its genre than it probably ever knew.

  April 28, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode The Rockford Files, “Sleight Of Hand”

  A missing woman. A tortured detective. All in a week’s work.

  April 14, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Eight Is Enough, “Jeremy”

  One man’s family life became the fodder for a TV show. But real life and fiction quickly diverged.

  March 31, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Lucky Louie, “Kim Moves Out”

  Before Louie, Louis C.K. had the clever idea of reinventing the traditional sitcom as a raw HBO comedy. Why didn’t it work?

  March 17, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode The Dick Van Dyke Show, "The Return Of Happy Spangler"

  A classic comedy's look at classic comedy.

  March 3, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Blue’s Clues, “Occupations”

  When kids’ shows become a world unto themselves, and why that’s how it ought to be.

  February 17, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Taxi, “Vienna Waits”

  When a whirlwind trip with one meaningful night changes nothing.

  February 3, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Freaks And Geeks, “Carded And Discarded”

  A pulled-from-nowhere episode gives a short-lived series some of its best, most bittersweet moments.

  January 20, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode The Tonight Show, 3/6/69

  Brown shoes and tuxedoes. (And booze. And Sam Yorty jokes.)

  January 6, 2011 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Turbo Cooker Plus infomercial

  It’s yours for three, no, two easy payments. Can you afford not to buy it?

  December 16, 2010 | 12:00pm -

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  A Very Special Episode Here's the "A Very Special Episode" schedule for the first half of 2011

  December 15, 2010 | 1:00pm -

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  A Very Special Episode All In The Family, “Gloria Discovers Women’s Lib”

  The hot topic is feminism, and nobody's got the right answers.

  December 2, 2010 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Northern Exposure, “Thanksgiving”

  It's not just a holiday in this small Alaska town. It's a thoughtful, funny, feast.

  November 18, 2010 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode The Muppet Show, “Steve Martin”

  How did two different ironic takes on show business combine to make something so sweet?

  November 4, 2010 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode The Outer Limits, “The Man Who Was Never Born”

  It's only fun until someone gets lasting psychic scars.

  October 21, 2010 | 12:00am -

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  A Very Special Episode Homicide: Life On The Street, “A Doll’s Eyes”

  A dark show delivers one of its darkest hours.

  October 7, 2010 | 12:00pm -