A Very Special Episode

• 

  A Very Special Episode Hogan’s Heroes’ unceremonious finale comes from the era before TV “endgames”

  In the pre-serialization age, the practicalities of filling a timeslot took precedence over authorial intent.

  April 4, 2013 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode How Dollhouse toyed with the idea of how people and institutions are formed

  Snappy dialogue masking genuine questions of identity or writers’ lament?

  March 14, 2013 | 12:00pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Pre-Star Wars, Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman were beacons for young nerds

  A supremely silly double episode shows the enduring appeal behind the ultra-’70s exteriors of Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers.

  February 21, 2013 | 12:00pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode The appeal of The Avengers’ stylish, lascivious vision of Britishness

  How John Steed fighting in ladies’ underwear and Emma Peel in a catsuit became an embodiment of cool.

  January 31, 2013 | 12:00pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode NYPD Blue and Hill Street Blues’ pilots hooked viewers with sex, violence, and depth

  From the moment of launch, both formidable, pioneering cop shows cleverly promised viewers things they’d rarely seen on TV.

  January 10, 2013 | 12:00pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode A holiday episode of The Bob Newhart Show defies convention and affirms Christmas

  An unexpected hospitalization keys into Bob Newhart’s adorable irritability.

  December 6, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode A personal Roseanne episode mirrors its star’s fluid relationship with her past

  Both Roseanne Barr and her groundbreaking sitcom found the humor in their darkest moments.

  November 15, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode The Middleman died too soon, only to live on, like a trout-craving zombie

  To understand the slow-growing cult of The Middleman, look no further than its zombie episode.

  October 25, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode When The Morton Downey Jr. Show examined—and mimicked—pro wrestling’s shtick

  It all comes down to the shouting.

  October 4, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Nixon gets socked in Laugh-In’s most famous, and influential, five seconds

  “Fuchsia”? 

  September 13, 2012 | 10:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Crockett and Tubbs reunited on Nash Bridges, but not as equal partners 

  What Philip Michael Thomas’ guest spot on Don Johnson’s post-Miami Vice TV vehicle says about different paths of fame. 

  August 23, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode This will be the lineup for the sixth “season” of A Very Special Episode 

  The fifth round of “A Very Special Episode” wraps up tomorrow with the “Wild Card” episode of Nash Bridges, which means it’s time to announce the next ten episodes up for discussion.

  August 22, 2012 | 1:15pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode How Miami Vice launched the ’80s on TV, then died with its decade 

  “The first show to look really new and different since color TV was invented” started a minor TV revolution. 

  August 2, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode WKRP In Cincinnati, “Mike Fright”   

  Between the laughs, a classic sitcom captured the power of voices in the air. 

  July 12, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Space Ghost Coast To Coast, “Surprise” 

  So what kind of show was Space Ghost Coast To Coast, anyway? 

  June 21, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Saturday Night Live, Dec. 15, 1984 (Host: Eddie Murphy)

  When Eddie Murphy came back. 

  May 31, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode The Love Boat, “Marooned/The Search/Isaac’s Holiday”

  An oversized season première captured everything appealing and terrible about the show.

  May 10, 2012 | 12:00pm -

• 

  A Very Special Episode The amiable madness of Green Acres

  In a town this odd, a TV-watching pig fits right in.

  April 19, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Better Off Ted, “Racial Sensitivity”

  Modern sitcoms don’t usually tackle issues as directly as one episode of this great, little-seen show.

  March 29, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Too Close For Comfort, “For Every Man There’s Two Women” 

  An infamous, hazily remembered sitcom episode reveals some uncomfortable truths about the 1980s. 

  March 8, 2012 | 12:00am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode A Very Special Episode: Battlestar Galactica, "33" 

  After a great miniseries, a cult hit’s grim first episode sought to establish the rules of the series.

  February 16, 2012 | 12:01am -

• 

  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 -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Here’s the line-up for the fifth “season” of “A Very Special Episode” 

  The fourth round of “A Very Special Episode” wraps up tomorrow with the “Superstars 1978” episode of Cheap Seats, which means it’s time to announce the next ten episodes up for discussion.

  January 18, 2012 | 4:00pm -

• 

  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 -

• 

  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 -

• 

  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 -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Soap, Episode 44

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

  October 13, 2011 | 12:01am -

• 

  A Very Special Episode Studio One, “The Arena”

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

  September 22, 2011 | 12:00pm -

• 

  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 -

• 

  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 -