From ‘The Office’ to ‘Breaking Bad,’ 9 Episodes Where TV Shows Went from Good to Great

There’s just something off about early Seinfeld. It moves at a slower pace and the jokes don’t hit as hard, maybe because the “show about nothing” was really leaning into the “nothing” part of its premise. You could make the case for earlier Season 2 episodes “The Pony Remark,” “The Statue,” or “The Deal” being where the show really hit its stride, but the show’s genius is definitely undeniable in “The Chinese Restaurant.” This episode is truly about nothing as Jerry, Elaine and George spend the entire half-hour waiting for a table that never becomes available. The episode zips along from joke to joke, though, as Elaine grows hilariously ravenous. This is the episode where Seinfeld realized that they can pull a whole lot of something from nothing.

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For its first two dozen episodes, Buffy was a super fun cult show that turned teenage angst into metaphorical monsters and then let Buffy and her gang of witty buds beat the crap out of them. And then halfway through Season 2, Buffy lost her virginity to her ensouled vampire boyfriend Angel, thus breaking a curse she had no idea existed. Her boyfriend lost his soul and Buffy the Vampire Slayer lost its innocence. This episode asked Buffy to do the one thing no fan wanted her to do: kill her boyfriend. Buffy was still a teen horror romp, but now fans knew it could go for the emotional jugular at any moment.

Stream Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Innocence" on Hulu

It’s hard to imagine now that we live in a post-Office world, but NBC’s adaptation of the UK hit was initially met with mad side-eye. The show’s shortened Season 1 didn’t assuage any fears, as it mimicked the tone and plots set up by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on the original show. The Office kicked off its sophomore year with the Dunder Mifflin crew taking a trip to the local Chili’s for Michael Scott’s cringeworthy awards ceremony. The episode had a new plot, let the supporting cast shine, and featured a totally American location. Pam felt way more than just God in Chili’s that night; she also felt the American Office coming into its own.

Stream The Office's "The Dundies" on Netflix

Danny DeVito is so integral to Always Sunny that it’s impossible to think of the show without him–yet that’s what the show was in Season 1! Frank Reynolds’ slow descent into a toe-knife wielding, rum-ham devouring maniac begins with his arrival in the Season 2 premiere. “Dennis and Dee Go on Welfare” is a turning point because it pairs Frank up with Charlie and Mac for the first time, forging destructive partnerships that would explode on a weekly basis over the next decade. And in the A-plot, Dennis and Dee get addicted to crack (an addiction they of course shake by the next episode)! This is the episode where Always Sunny realizes it is a live-action, R-rated cartoon and the results are hilariously inappropriate.

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30 Rock had a lot to prove when it debuted. Not only was it the first sitcom from ex-SNL head writer Tina Fey, it featured a stacked cast including Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, and Jane Krakowski. Not only that, it debuted alongside Aaron Sorkin’s SNL-inspired drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip–and everyone thought that show was gonna be the hit. 30 Rock’s first few episodes are fine, but the show really shifts into gear when the TGS staff bands together to prep Tracy Jordan for a guest spot on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Chris Parnell debuts as the out-of-his-mind Dr. Leo Spaceman and Rachel Dratch has a bizarre cameo as a creature known only as Blue Dude. Plus, this one has Jack Donaghy’s iconic comeback to Liz asking why he’s wearing a tux: “It’s after six. What am I, a farmer?”

Stream 30 Rock's "Tracy Does Conan" on Hulu

Mad Men basically started the prestige TV trend, proving that basic cable networks like AMC could create dramas just as powerful as anything on HBO. I’m not going to front like Mad Men wasn’t great from the get-go, but I will say that the show kicked it up a notch in its Season 1 finale. This episode pays off a season’s worth of simmering plots, including Pete Campbell’s struggle to prove himself and Peggy Olson’s totally surprise pregnancy. But it’s Don Draper’s pitch scene where he sells a carousel slide projector that lifted this already great show to the greatest of its time. In one scene, Don digs into the power of nostalgia, the very thing that viewers initially turned to Mad Men to experience, delivering a meta thesis statement that’s just as resonant to the men in the room as it was to the viewers at home.

Stream Mad Men's "The Wheel" on Netflix

Like Mad Men, it’s hard to say that Breaking Bad wasn’t great from the beginning. It was, without a doubt, the most thrilling show on TV for its first two seasons, but things took a turn at the end of Season 2 with one moment that the show could never take back. After a season of growing estrangement between Walt and Jesse over the latter’s heroin abuse and destructive relationship with Jane (a pre-Jessica Jones Krysten Ritter), the show resolved that plotline in a terrifying way. Walt, standing over a drugged out Jane and Jesse, watches his protege’s girlfriend vomit in her sleep and begin to choke. After fighting back the urge to help, he lets her die. It’s a long, drawn-out scene, the tensest one of the series to date–and it’s a scene that would get called back in one of the series’ final episodes years later. Breaking Bad knew this was its point of no return.

Stream Breaking Bad's "Phoenix" on Netflix

Just as the American Office was an imitation of the U.K. Office at first, Parks and Recreation’s freshman year was way too much like the American Office. Leslie Knope was too much of a doofus and the show’s tone was as dry as that dusty pit Andy fell into. Thankfully Parks and Rec did what the Office did and got its act together in Season 2, specifically this episode. For one thing, the entire cast, including background characters Jerry and Donna, have a lot to do in it (Donna’s freakout over her car getting shot is legendary). Another thing, this episode also ignited the spark between Andy and April, an unlikely pairing that went on to become the show’s longest lasting couple. Most importantly, this episode figured out that Leslie isn’t incompetent like Michael Scott. No, she’s over competent, so aware of how society perceives women that she begrudgingly plays up gross stereotypes to a park ranger in order to protect Tom, who went hunting without a license (and also accidentally shot Ron). This episode introduced Leslie the fighter, the same champion that would later run for town council.

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Superstore’s biggest hurdle was its premiere date. It debuted after the series finales of The Office, 30 Rock, Community, and Parks and Recreation; it also debuted before the current wave of NBC comedies, which includes The Good Place, Trial & Error, A.P. Bio, Champions, and Great News. Superstore gets left out when people talk about NBC’s Must See TV renaissance (I am guilty of this!). That’s unfair, because Superstore figured out what it is in Season 2 and has been a perfect ensemble comedy ever since. “Rebranding” turns up the comedy by dropping wet blanket Sandra into a sizzling imaginary romance with district manager Jeff, and it heightens the will they/won’t they tension between Amy and Jonah when he contemplates ditching Cloud 9 and returning to business school. From this point on, Superstore becomes millennial Cheers–and that’s a great thing.

Stream Superstore's "Rebranding" on Hulu