14 great black-and-white TV episodes

Great black-and-white episodes of TV — Photo: FOX; Eric McCandless/ABC FAMILY via Getty Images; Marvel Studios

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Black and white done right

Over the years, many shows have paid homage to the days of black-and-white entertainment, some better than others.

We've rounded up 12 black-and-white episodes of typically color TV shows that not only paid homage to the past, but that worked beautifully within the world of their own series.

02 of 15

"The Post-Modern Prometheus," The X-Files

Of all The X-Files' many, many "Monster-of-the-Week" episodes, few are as memorable — or as moving — as this ambitious season 5 entry, following Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Mulder (David Duchovny) as they investigated reports of a mysterious figure terrorizing a small town.

Upon arrival, they realized the truth was far stranger, leading to a twisted Frankenstein homage that mashed up classic B-movie horror and a Cher soundtrack. The diva herself approved the use of her music in the episode, and the story culminated with Mulder and Scully accompanying the not-so-monstrous creature to a Cher concert, as the singer belted out her version of "Walking in Memphis." The result was one of the show's wildest, most delightful episodes ever (and that's not even mentioning the Jerry Springer cameo). —Devan Coggan

03 of 15

"Help for the Lovelorn," Felicity

For the most part, Felicity was the story of a young woman's college experience. But every now and then, the story took a real left turn, as in season 2's "Help for the Lovelorn," the show's tribute to the horror anthology classic The Twilight Zone.

Felicity (Keri Russell) found herself seeking help from a doctor who removes hearts as a way to cure her broken one. But more than that, she found herself trapped in a box with Noel (Scott Foley), Julie (Amy Jo Johnson), Ben (Scott Speedman), and Elena (Tangi Miller). And that box? In one of the show's greatest twists, the room they were all trapped inside was revealed to be Meghan's (Amanda Foreman) mystery box. —Samantha Highfill

04 of 15

"Shadow Play," Pretty Little Liars

In only one episode of Pretty Little Liars did "A" ever send a threat via telegram. Does that make it the show's best episode? Yes, yes it does.

In its fourth season, PLL tried something new: Thanks to Spencer's (Troian Bellisario) pill habit, viewers were transported back to the 1940s, where the Liars tried to figure out whether Ezra (Ian Harding) was as evil as they suspected and Aria (Lucy Hale) got to say things like, "It's time to go wrestle the world to its knees!" For a mystery-driven show, the black-and-white world just felt right. —S.H.

05 of 15

"Metalhead," Black Mirror

BlackMirror_S4_MetalHead_00317_V1 — Jonathan Prime /Netflix

As an anthology show telling one-off stories about the horrors lurking just beneath modern society, Black Mirror has always been riffing on The Twilight Zone — but the unique use of black-and-white filmmaking in this season 4 standout made the comparison even more explicit.

Unlike other episodes, we didn't get a ton of world-building in "Metalhead." Here, the starkness of the imagery highlighted the simple life-or-death struggle between protagonist Bella (Maxine Peake) and a relentless robotic dog. The scariest thing about "Metalhead" was that, once you've seen it, those Boston Dynamics videos make this future seem way too plausible. —Christian Holub

06 of 15

"Monster Movie," Supernatural

By season 4 of Supernatural, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) had seen some pretty wild stuff. But, from the opening logo of "Monster Movie," it was clear viewers were in for a treat with this one.

The fully black-and-white hour paid homage to — and had fun with the tropes of — old-school Hollywood as the Winchesters hunted down a shapeshifter (Todd Stashwick) with a love of classic movie monsters. And no, Dracula did not want garlic on his pizza. —S.H.

07 of 15

"Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience," WandaVision

The first episode of this Marvel-ous superhero series went full mid-century sitcom, plopping Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) into a black-and-white dreamscape of suburban bliss.

True to its title, the episode took inspiration from iconic comedies of the '50s and '60s like The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Love Lucy, marrying classic sitcom shenanigans with a creeping sense of dread. —D.C.

08 of 15

"The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice," Moonlighting

On a dramedy about two sparring L.A. private detectives played by Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, this season 2 episode — inspired by 1940s film noir — stood out among the rest. Filled with gorgeous costumes, witty repartee, and movie-quality production values (it cost a then-unheard-of $2 million to make) the installment was a monochromatic delight.

Add the series' signature, fourth-wall-breaking asides — "I always play my horn with my shirt off late at night by an open window next to a flashing neon light," David (Willis) mused. "I know I look good that way" — and the episode perfectly straddled the line between tribute and innovation. —Clarissa Cruz

09 of 15

"Charmed Noir," Charmed

As Rose McGowan's Paige Matthews said at the start of this film noir adventure, "Magical things happen to us all the time, but this is the first time in black and white." This season 7 episode saw the Charmed One and FBI agent Kyle Brody (Kerr Smith) sucked into a half-written crime novel where the bullets prove fatal in the real world.

Shot like a classic noir film, the episode delivered a unique crisis of the week — but is most memorable for providing Paige and Kyle a beautifully lit backdrop as they moved their relationship beyond a flirtation. —Patrick Gomez

10 of 15

"It Never Ends Well for the Chicken," Lucifer

The Fox-turned-Netflix fantasy procedural's trip to the 1940s had both style and substance. Framed around Lucifer (Tom Ellis) telling Det. Chloe Decker's (Lauren German) daughter Trixie (Scarlett Estevez) a story, the hour flashed back to when the Devil visited New York in 1946 to reveal both how he got his ring and, interestingly, what was essentially his first case.

Rather than hire a bunch of guest actors, the show cleverly has its series regulars portray different characters, most notably: Lesley-Ann Brandt as her character Mazikeen's mother Lilith, who tasked Lucifer with recovering her stolen ring, and German as the male detective with whom Lucifer teamed up. The episode worked so well because Lucifer fully committed to the bit, filtering its standard case-of-the-week structure through the period's aesthetics, and, more importantly, this wasn't just a standalone tale. "It Never Ends Well for the Chicken" was integral to season 5 overall, especially when it came to Maze and her relationship with Lucifer in the present. Plus, there were two musical numbers! —Chancellor Agard

11 of 15

"As Time Goes By," Boy Meets World

It was one of those episodes, you know the kind...the kind where Topanga (Danielle Fishel) crawled through a "time continuum vortex" into the film noir dreamland Shangri-La.

With four episodes left in its final season, the show took a swing at this Casablanca send-up, in which our heroine got offed by the regulars at Rory's Place — an alternate universe Matthews clan — for the crime of being a buzzkill. This show was never afraid to add a dash of dark fantasy ("Witches of Pennbrook," "And Then There Was Shawn," "And in Case I Don't See Ya") and this sexy whodunnit marked its last hurrah. —Anne Latini

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"There's a Place Where the Lost Things Go," Legacies

To deal with recent trauma, the students of the Salvatore School entered into a simulation of sorts where their consciousnesses were transported into a film noir world. There, everyone worked through their trauma in their new roles. For instance, Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) was a classic Hollywood movie star, MG (Quincy Fouse) became a very serious detective.

It wasn't the wackiest idea that Legacies had ever executed, but it was a whole lot of fun, and the hour still managed to move the larger season plot forward while looking oh so glamourous. —S.H.

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"Part 8," Twin Peaks

Director David Lynch enjoyed early success with black-and-white films like Eraserhead (1977) and The Elephant Man (1980) and returned to the format for the second half of his Twin Peaks sequel's eighth episode.

An Atomic Age origin story for the entire franchise, the show (sort of) explained how the denotation of the first nuclear bomb unleashed malevolent forces upon planet Earth. Body horror and bloody head-crushing added a terrifying modern edge to the vintage monster movie vibe. —Clark Collis

14 of 15

"Nippy," Better Call Saul

Bob Odenkirk as Gene, Carol Burnett as Marion - Better Call Saul _ Season 6, Episode 10 — Bob Odenkirk and Carol Burnett on 'Better Call Saul'. Greg Lewis/AMC/Sony Pictures Television

Since the inception of Better Call Saul, we had seen glimpses of Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill's (Bob Odenkirk) future, post-Breaking Bad chaos, in black-and-white flash-forwards. Reinventing himself as Gene Takavic, the unscrupulous lawyer made a new life for himself in Nebraska, hoping to evade the law while also indulging in his old Slippin' Jimmy schemes.

But the final four installments of the series, starting with "Nippy," expanded those brief glimpses to full-blown episodes. In "Nippy," Gene met an elderly woman, Marion (the legendary Carol Burnett), the mother of a cab driver who recognized Gene as Saul. What unraveled from there would spoil the show's satisfying conclusion, but the use of black and white demonstrated the series' gorgeous shot compositions and lighting to full effect. —Kevin Jacobsen

15 of 15

"East/West," Fargo

FARGO -- "East/West" - Year 4, Episode 9 — Ben Whishaw on 'Fargo'. Elizabeth Morris/FX

For the ninth episode of Fargo's fourth season, the series fully embraced its Coen brothers-inspired origins. "East/West" followed Rabbi (Ben Whishaw) and Satchel (Rodney L. Jones III) as they escaped to the small, windy town of Liberal, Kan., with the former hoping to collect his stash of money. Everything comes to a head when members of the warring factions arrive in town, only for their petty feud to be swept away (literally) by a tornado.

Among many references to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz, the final five minutes feature a transition from black and white to color, with Satchel emerging from the wreckage a transformed person. Dana Gonzales earned an Emmy nomination for his cinematography on the episode. —K.J.