25 Comedy Writers Pick Their Most Influential TV Episodes (Part 1)

My taste in comedy was influenced more by dramas than it was comedy.

My favorite TV episode of all time is episode 7 of the second season of Twin Peaks. My college buddies and I binged them on VHS during a blizzard in 1993, and this one stood out. It’s directed by David Lynch and features the introduction of his character, Gordon Cole.

Twin Peaks was a very funny show, but this episode featured a major character’s suicide, a brutal murder, and the reveal of Laura Palmer’s killer, so it’s not one of the lighter ones. The murder is truly terrifying, and the final reveal is a transcendent moment of pathos, but these scenes are interspersed with comedy that rocked me: Lynch as Cole, a deaf regional director of the FBI who speaks too loudly because his hearing aids are ancient. And there’s a small scene featuring a bunch of sailors bouncing rubber balls in the Great Northern Hotel lobby for no given reason.

It’s absurdity on a level I’m not sure I understand; it’s out of tune with the rest of the episode, and that’s what I found inspiring.

A former correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Rob Corddry is the creator and star of Adult Swim’s Childrens Hospital and currently stars on the HBO series Ballers.

Stream Twin Peaks' "Lonely Souls" on Netflix

My answer might surprise you, but it shouldn’t. It’s an episode of Mad About You, and that show was so incredibly well thought out in its comedy and so willing to be vulnerable in its dramatic moments that it inspired and affected a lot of things in my life. I think Paul Reiser is one of the most underrated talents of our time. The man can do it all. I will fight you if you disagree. But I digress.

The episode is called “The Conversation” [season 6, episode 9], and I remember watching it as a kid and being stunned. It’s a bottle episode, but what’s really remarkable about it is that it’s all one, long, 20 minute shot. No hidden cuts. On a prime time network comedy! When it aired, they didn’t even interrupt it with commercials. It’s an episode about Paul and Jamie sleep training their new baby, Mabel, and the entire thing takes place outside the bedroom door. I remember being transfixed watching it as a kid and feeling so excited when I figured out it felt so different because it was all one shot. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. It was so starkly dissimilar from any other thing on TV.  

That episode wowed me. It made me think about all of the different ways I could do things that were already established as, “Well, this is just how it’s done.” As a director, writer, and performer, it made me realize that I could find constant inspiration and fulfillment in what I do for a living if I always ask, “Yeah, but what’s the other way to do this?” Surprising yourself and breaking the mold of what you thought was the only way to do something is really the high I’m always after when I work. That’s where the thrill comes from.

P.S. Does anyone have Paul Reiser’s phone number?

Natalie Morales starred on ABC’s Trophy Wife and FOX’s The Grinder and made numerous guest appearances on HBO’s Girls, Parks and Recreation, and White Collar.

Where to stream Mad About You

Season 3, episode 11 of The Wire: “Middle Ground.” For me, that is one of the best episodes of television ever written. PERIOD.

Though it was not a comedy, The Wire was full of genuine hearty laughs that could teach you as a writer about the subtlety of humor. The biggest laughs don’t always come from the biggest moments. Sometimes the details are in the dialogue. David Simon sprinkled in moments of humor that, within the dramatic stillness of many scenes, stood out. The Wire‘s use of humor to add levity to the dramatic storylines is very understated.

In episode 11, the writers manage to take two rival hitmen, Omar & Brother Mouzone, and have them join forces for a common cause. The comedic tension (no matter how minute) played to the same comedic levels of intensity as Fred Sanford v. Aunt Esther or Seinfeld v. Newman. The comedic subtleties in The Wire were ahead of its time. Today there are entire shows doing what The Wire was already doing 2-3 times an episode.

The opening scene of season 5, episode 1 can go laugh-for-laugh with anything on TV today. Police detectives use a copy machine and a McDonald’s bag to trick a perp into confessing.  

Roy Wood Jr. starred on the TBS comedy Sullivan & Son and is a correspondent on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

Stream The Wire's "Middle Ground" on HBO GO.

When I was thirteen, I found a beat up VHS copy of Gilda Live, Gilda Radner’s one-woman show she did on Broadway in 1979, at my local video store.

I didn’t grow up with parents who watched Saturday Night Live, so I wasn’t really aware of who Gilda was. But when we put it on at a sleepover in Betsy Lau’s finished basement, I was instantly entranced by the tall, skinny weirdo in white overalls and pigtails singing songs about saying “Fuck You” to the animals and jumping up and down on her bed like a maniac in a Girl Scout uniform. This was funny that shot right to my core, and I wanted to shout it from the rooftops! Gilda was joyful and messy and wild and unselfconscious — all the things that at 13, we girls in my little suburban New Jersey town had to hide if we wanted to fit in.

All the other girls fell into sugar-induced comas, but I stayed up the whole night and watched that video at least 5 times in a row. I knew right then that I wanted to be a comedian. It’s hard to say which character of Gilda’s I loved the most, but if I had to choose, it would be a tie between Judy Miller, the aforementioned hyperactive Girl Scout, or Lisa Loopner, whose piano recital of “The Way We Were” was eerily close to my very loud rendition of “Send in the Clowns” which I tortured my poor family with on a daily basis.

Gilda had a way of capturing the secret weirdo that lives in all us. Her humor was kind – you could tell she truly loved all her characters. There wasn’t a detached ironic bone in her body and because she truly lost herself in the characters, it gave you, the audience, the permission to lose yourself in them too. And I loved that all of her characters were based in reality – these were people you felt like you knew. That approach to comedy has always made the most sense to me.

I watched that VHS so many times that I eventually broke it, but not before I had committed every sketch to memory. In fact, I think I’ll throw on my old retainer and perform the whole show for my parents at Christmas, for old times’ sake.

Jessica St. Clair is a UCB vet and co-creator of USA’s Playing House and NBC’s sitcom Best Friends Forever.

Not sure why, as an eleven-year-old, I had access to Saturday Night Live, which aired WAY past my bedtime. Did I sneak out of my floral trundle bed at 11:30pm? Did they replay it on Sundays after church? Did my parents help me record it on our brand new VCR? But somehow, I got my grubby tween hands on The Sweeney Sisters.

Jan Hooks and Nora Dunn expertly portrayed Candy and Liz Sweeney, two low-rent lounge singers and sisters who were truly doing it for themselves, whether in a living room or the lobby of a Holiday Inn. I was OBSESSED. I remember singing “Like a bridge over… TRUH..UH..BULLED..WATER!” over and over.

I didn’t know in 1987 what it would mean to me to see two fiercely talented women side by side, being unapologetically funny, but it was very powerful. The commitment, the emotional roller-coaster that somehow felt real, and the straight-forward, bad-ass pursuit of comedy is something I strive for in my work today. Also, their wig work? Flawless.

Lennon Parham is a UCB vet and co-creator of USA’s Playing House and NBC sitcom Best Friends Forever.

Where to stream Saturday Night Live

I’m a standup comedian today because of Eddie Murphy. When I was around ten-years-old he came out with Delirious. Back then there wasn’t YouTube and Netflix and a million other places to watch comedy specials. So my friends and I got our hands on a VHS of Delirious and we just watched it over and over again.

That special is so ingrained in my head that to this day, I hear a random word and I break into one of his bits. Ice cream? “Maaaa! The ice cream truck is coming!” Jeans? (As Mr. T) “Hey boy! Looking mighty cute in them jeans!” Steps? “Vivian! The bitch is falling down the steps again!” It’s become shorthand for me and other comedian friends like Jermaine Fowler, who I work with on Superior Donuts. Every time I hear his name I think of Eddie’s bit where he impersonates Michael Jackson getting emotional while singing “She’s Out of My Life,” “Tito get me some tissue. Jermaine, stop teasing!”

Eddie was a God!

Maz Jobrani is an actor, writer, and stand-up comedian who currently stars on CBS’ Superior Donuts.

Where to stream Eddie Murphy: Delirious 

I was a big theatre nerd when I was a kid. I was also a TV addict. These two sad loves came together perfectly when, in its fifth season, Family Ties came out with a spectacular two-part “very special” episode called “A, My Name Is Alex” [season 5, episode 23]. It was an astonishing episode for a kid to see, as it was shot like a play, and Michael J. Fox walked through pools of light and talked to an unseen therapist as he mourned the death of a friend due to an auto accident he was supposed to have been in as well.

Having grown up watching sitcoms all day, every day, this episode blew my mind. It opened my mind up to the idea that a sitcom could be weird and theatrical and serious and form-breaking — modes I try to bring to my show, You’re The Worst, every chance I can get.

Stephen Falk is the creator of FX’s You’re the Worst.

Stream "A, My Name Is Alex" on Prime Video

In this sketch, a son (Jay Johnston) returns home excited to tell his father (Odenkirk), his mother (Jill Talley), and his brother (Cross) of his adventure. However, as he begins his tale, he falls into his mother’s thimble collection. They fix it then he falls again, and again, and again, over and over. His ridiculous clumsiness overshadows his story, culminating in the making of a movie of his story. Not his story of conquering Everest, but his story of telling the story. I laugh just as hard at it now as I did then; it’s a perfect sketch.

It taught me that repetition, heightening, and simplicity can be powerful tools in comedy. An example would be a Key & Peele sketch I wrote called “Proud Thug.”

Colton Dunn currently stars on NBC’s Superstore and is a former sketch writer for Key and Peele.

Stream Mr. Show's "The Story of Everest" on Prime Video

In the mid-to-late-90s, I moved to Portland, Oregon and was pursuing a life in classical regional theater.  Nick at Nite would air back-to-back episodes of the sitcoms from my childhood like Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, and Taxi. I was too young to get the jokes as a kid, but in my 20s, I realized that Taxi was the funniest show I had not only ever seen then, but still holds the trophy for me.

I’ve always been drawn to ‘character’ and Taxi has such exquisite, unique, and well drawn personalities. (Although, criminally, only one woman in the cast.) The writing is so clever and they really take their time with a joke if it serves the character. The show has even made me cry on many occasions. This can only happen when you are invested and believe everyone.

When I am blue, I will watch a clip of Reverend Jim (Christopher Lloyd) taking his driving test [season 2, episode 3]. The rhythm of sitcoms felt like they were in my blood.  I needed to do whatever I could to give it a shot, even if it meant giving up theater and the comfort of Portland livin’. When I decided to move to L.A. and join the sketch comedy improv theater The Groundlings, I was most excited about writing sketch. There was something so powerful about not waiting for someone to write me the straight boring role that I may or may not get. I got to do whatever I found funny. But Taxi will always be my first love.

Michaela Watkins stars on Hulu’s Casual and created the USA comedy Benched.

Where to Stream Taxi

There have been so many influences, but I’m going to go back to the early ’90s and Dana Carvey’s impression of George H. W. Bush on SNL.

I was still in elementary school and didn’t know much about anything, but, on some gut level, I was awed by the idea that comedy could be both funny and meaningful. It could comment on our state of affairs, while finding levity where other media couldn’t. And I marveled at Dana’s ability to strike a balance between humanness and satire. The jokes, the voice, the gestures – all of it was a magic trick I had to figure out.

The actor/writer in me was so inspired by the sketch that I took immediate action, debuting my imitation of Dana’s imitation during a class retreat skit night at Camp Alpine in Mentone, Alabama. It was a complete rip-off, of course, but man was it fun. I don’t write or perform much sketch anymore, but those formative viewing experiences – well past my bedtime – have stayed with me. “Wouldn’t be prudent” and the laughs that followed still ring in my ears.

Tommy Dewey stars on Hulu’s Casual and created the go90 sports comedy Now We’re Talking.

Where to Stream Saturday Night Live

I was a definite TV kid. My friend in elementary school called me a walking TV Guide (pedestrian prose) because I could tell you what the line-up was for every network any night of the week. I loved watching a lot of the women who appeared on 90s/00s sitcoms — Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Megan Mullally, and Wendie Malick were my personal favorites. However it was not until I was 18 and saw The Comeback that I first became aware of the writing.

I was watching the episode titled “Valerie Shines Under Stress” [season 1, episode 12], and there was a monologue that Valerie Cherish (Lisa Kudrow) gives where she is talking to the camera about her past. She is remaining upbeat, however, as she shares personal information about how she has a rod in her back and how in Junior High School she was in a full body cast and couldn’t play on the field hockey team that year. She goes on to say that she still went to every game, every practice, wore the uniform, handed out towels, got water, and cheered the team on. She takes a beat and then, under her breath, says “they wouldn’t let me be in the picture” and then starts to tear up.

The scene is so heartbreaking and tragic and yet, I found myself laughing. I thought it was so funny. It was the first time I went back and looked at who wrote the episode. It was written by Heather Morgan. I googled her and saw that she taught a writing class in Los Angeles, so I signed up for it. One class she casually mentioned how she had been in a back brace in her youth. I followed up by asking if this monologue on The Comeback was based on her real life and she said yes. I then asked her if when she wrote it if she intended for it to be funny. She paused, thought about it, and said, “Umm, I don’t know.” I was a little surprised by that answer, but the more I thought about it the more I loved it because it shows the intention of the writing was not to make a joke or try to be funny. It’s character driven specifics that some may find sad or others may find funny, but at the core it’s very true. And I love that.

I’ve also come to realize this is my favorite humor, when something is so sad and just when you think it can’t get sadder, the sadness is heightened. And because you know it’s true, and because you don’t know if there is a God, all you can do, for your own survival, is laugh.

Stephanie Allynne is an actress and writer who can currently be seen on Amazon’s One Mississippi. A UCB vet, she also performs with the improv team Wild Horses.

Stream The Comeback's "Valerie Shines Under Stress" on HBO GO

What comes to mind are two shows — one in my childhood and one when I was already working in television. But both shared something in common: great setups and great payoffs.

Season 2 of M*A*S*H has an episode titled “For Want of A Boot” [season 2, episode 17]. As young as I was when I saw it, it was still only in syndication, so between that and the Korean War time-setting, it had the feel for me of something that was made a generation ago, and thus a “classic.” 90% of the episode was setup: Hawkeye has a hole in his boot so he engineers a complicated series of barters to get a replacement boot. Radar will requisition it if he can have a date with Nurse Murphy, who will go out with Radar if she gets a hair dryer, which Klinger will give if he gets a Section 8, etc. At the end, in a speedily cut sequence, the house of cards falls apart and Hawkeye, resigned to his failure, uses a golf club bag for a boot.

There is such pleasure in watching all the dominoes get set up so perfectly, and a perfectly paced collapse afterwards. It’s both slapstick and dark comedy. It’s all about one protagonist (Hawkeye) and one goal (new boots), while at the same time, giving a mini-story, each with their own goal, to a whole host of minor characters. Everyone was grasping for one small thing to make their lives feel normal, yet that wasn’t to be. You can’t have a happy ending in M*A*S*H.

Years later, I found myself watching a Frasier episode that felt just as perfect to me for all the same reasons. Season 5: “Frasier’s Imaginary Friend.” Frasier meets the perfect woman on a plane (Sela Ward) — a supermodel/zoologist. Back home, the relationship really heats up. The problem is that, for one reason or another, she’s never able to meet his family. So his family believes Frasier’s pathetically fabricating the whole thing to impress them. To prove she’s real, he takes a Polaroid while she’s sleeping, which wakes her up, which begets a fight.

There’s more, but the episode ends with Sela Ward storming into Frasier’s apartment, in front of his whole family, slapping him in the face, dumping him and leaving. After the perfect amount of time, while we expect Frasier to be devastated, his eyes light up and he boasts “What do you think of me now??!” In this case, it was 98% setup and 2% payoff. Defeat is victory and victory is defeat. The problem in the episode is one of his own making, as is the “solution,” as is the ending. He did it to himself… obliviously.

I guess there’s something funny about watching people toil to climb up just one rung on the ladder, only to be kicked back down to where they started. Because that’s kind of how most of us feel every day.

Jonathan Stern is the founder of Abominable Pictures and has served as an executive producer on Childrens Hospital, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, and Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return.

Stream "Frasier's Imaginary Friend" on Netflix

Okay, so it may not be the coolest or most sophisticated pick, but honestly, the “Yellow Fever” episode of The Adventures of Pete and Pete was hugely influential on me.

Pete and Pete was a big favorite in general, but it’s this episode specifically that I remember watching as a kid with my brothers and my dad and all of us laughing so hard that our faces hurt. Also, it was probably the first TV show or movie that I wanted to watch regardless of what my parents thought I should be watching and it was certainly the first comedy that made me think, “this is funny. I like funny.” And I just remember watching how hard my brothers and dad were all laughing at this episode and feeling that I wanted to do something to make them laugh that hard too.

The basic premise and construct of the episode are fairly simple: it’s essentially a bottle episode set on a school bus that is making its way to the Milk Museum for a field trip. And the two main characters of the episode, Bus Driver Stu and Big Pete, are both dealing with the complications and emotional fallout of love and heartbreak. But the thing that really influenced my writing and comedy sensibility was how they executed this otherwise relatively simple story.

First, they populated the bus with an insane cast of characters (there’s Wendell Hyde, the shyest kid in school who reveals he wants to sing at weddings and bar mitzvahs; Della, the girl who needs to pee more than humanly possible; Teddy, the boy famous for eating his entire lunch the first 5 minutes of every trip and who is desperate to break the cycle using charts and math; and Endless Mike, the perfectly named, back-of-the-bus bully among others.) Second, they go full horror with their directing choices and music cues/sound effects/horror stings so that we’re basically watching two horror movies play out: Stu’s descent into heartbreak-induced mania and Pete’s descent into jealousy-induced/Endless Mike-nurtured bullying.

It’s amazing, it still makes me laugh and the blending of other genre styles into comedy stories is something that I very much see in my own writing. And third, there’s just a ton of really funny jokes and really, really hilarious sight gags in this episode. Bus Driver Stu has some truly great “off-bus” bits that just play in the background of the on-bus scenes and they’re all so wonderful. At one point Bus Driver Stu asks a scarecrow for directions and then fights it in the deep, deep background of a scene where Endless Mike is peer pressuring Pete and it still makes me laugh so hard to this day. It is great. Everything Damien Young (the actor portraying Bus Driver Stu) does in this episode is perfect. Every face he makes, every line delivery. It’s just perfect. I really recommend people just watch the episode, it’s very easy to find online.

And here’s one last endorsement of this episode: it deals heavily in romantic love, heartbreak, jealousy, features a character that wants to be a wedding/bar mitzvah singer, and there’s a field sobriety test at one point… and I first saw this episode when I was 7 or 8, didn’t know what any of those things were or what any of those feelings felt like, and I still laughed so hard and loved every second of it.

Rachele Lynn is a writer on HBO’s Silicon Valley and FX’s Baskets.

PART 2 COMING TOMORROW!

Where to Stream The Adventures of Pete and Pete