Classic TV series episodes

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

“I look over to Gene [Roddenberry], while we're doing the scene and there are two suits. The suits say, ‘Go with the kiss. As for the South, f--- them if they can't take a joke...’ That's how the first interracial kiss came to be on national television in the United States of America.” Nichelle Nichols, Actress

Interiewees discuss the backstories behind some of television's most memorable episodes.

Highlights

Sam Denoff on the "That's My Boy" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show

Sonia Manzano on the Sesame Street episode "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" (airdate: November 24, 1983)

Andy Ackerman on directing his first episode of Seinfeld, "The Chaperone"

George Schlatter on Richard M. Nixon's appearance on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Bob Keeshan on remaining in character as "Clarabell the Clown", and his opinion on the Howdy Doody finale where "Clarabell" spoke for the only time

Who talked about this topic

Andy Ackerman

Andy Ackerman on directing his first episode of Seinfeld, "The Chaperone"

Chris Albrecht

Chris Albrecht on the ending of The Sopranos

Jason Alexander

Jason Alexander on his favorite Seinfeld episode and lines

Lucie Arnaz

Lucie Arnaz on Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton guest-starring on Here's Lucy

Edward Asner

Ed Asner on the classic The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust"

Thomas Azzari

Thomas Azzari on designing the bedroom set for the final Newhart episode

Thomas Azzari on set designing for the Seinfeld episode "The Finale"

Paris Barclay

Paris Barclay on directing a pivotal episode of ER in which a main character is revealed to have AIDS, and seeing the power of television's reach

Rick Berman

Rick Berman on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations"

Kevin Bright

Kevin Bright on the finale of Friends

Harvey Bullock

Harvey Bullock on writing The Andy Griffith Show episode "Opie the Birdman" starring Andy Griffith and Ron Howard

Robert Butler

Robert Butler on directing the original pilot of Star Trek ("The Cage")

Betty White with Emerson College

Betty White on The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust"

Betty White on The Mary Tyler Moore Show finale

Tim Conway

Tim Conway on hosting the notoriously short-lived show (it was canceled during its premiere) Turn-On

Bill Dana

Bill Dana on how he came to write the classic All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit," and how he and producer Norman Lear invented the show's premise

Bill Dana on guest star Sammy Davis, Jr. calling him from the set of the All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit" to compliment him on the script

Greg Daniels

Greg Daniels on writing The Simpsons episode "Homer and Apu"

Greg Daniels on writing The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Wedding"

Greg Daniels on his favorite episodes and moments of The Office

Sam Denoff

Sam Denoff on the "That's My Boy" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show

Richard Donner

Richard Donner on directing the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"

Edie Falco

Edie Falco on the finale of The Sopranos

Tom Fontana

Tom Fontana on his favorite St. Elsewhere episodes and the finale of the show

Tom Fontana on the Homicide: Life on the Street episode "The Subway"

Larry Gelbart

Larry Gelbart on making the transition from radio to television with the Red Buttons Show

Marla Gibbs

Marla Gibbs on creating the memorable sequence from the classic The Jeffersons episode "Mr. Piano Man," which had her crawling under the piano in a crowded party to try to answer the front door before "George Jefferson"

Marla Gibbs on memorable episodes of The Jeffersons that featured her character, "Florence," and on Billy Dee Williams appearing on the show

Sandra Gimpel

Sandra Gimpel on playing the Salt Vampire on the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap"

Lesli Linka Glatter

Lesli Linka Glatter on directing the classic Mad Men episode "Guy Walks into an Advertising Agency"

Jon Hamm

Jon Hamm on going to dark places while playing "Don Draper" on Mad Men and how "Don's" journey ends in the final episode (the Coca-Cola commercial)

Jeffrey Hayden

Jeffrey Hayden on Quincy's plots, including the episode "Seldom Silent, Never Heard," that influenced the passing of the Orphan Drug Act (ODA)

Ron Howard

Ron Howard on The Andy Griffith Show episode "Mr. McBeevee"

Ron Howard on The Andy Griffith Show episode "Mr. McBeevee"

Felicity Huffman

Felicity Huffman on the episode of Sports Night where her character, "Dana Whitaker" kissed Peter Krause's character, "Casey McCall"

Roy Huggins

Roy Huggins on the Maverick episode "Shady Deal at Sunny Acres"

Al Jean

Al Jean on The Simpsons episode "There's Something About Marrying"

Al Jean on The Simpsons episode "Blame it on Lisa"

Al Jean on The Simpsons episode "A Streetcar Named Marge"

Geri Jewell

Geri Jewell on having to perform a dance number on the first The Facts of Life episode on which she appeared ("Cousin Geri")

George Clayton Johnson

George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "Penny for Your Thoughts"

George Clayton Johnson on The Twilight Zone episode "The Four of Us Are Dying"

Robert Justman

Robert Justman on "The Zanti Misfits" episode of The Outer Limits

Elodie Keene

Elodie Keene on directing Claire Danes and Jared Leto on My So-Called Life

Bob Keeshan

Bob Keeshan on remaining in character as "Clarabell the Clown", and his opinion on the Howdy Doody finale where "Clarabell" spoke for the only time

Barry Kemp

Barry Kemp on the Newhart series finale

Walter Koenig

Walter Koenig on his favorite episodes of Star Trek

Judith Light

Judith Light on her One Life to Live character "Karen Wolek" and her famous courtroom scene

Art Linkletter

Art Linkletter on his friendship with Walt Disney and on hosting the live broadcast of the opening of Disneyland

John J. Lloyd

John J. Lloyd on memorable episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents - "The Glass Eye"

Norman Lloyd

Norman Lloyd on directing the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "The Jar"

Norman Lloyd on what he thought of the final episode of St. Elsewhere

Will Mackenzie

Will Mackenzie on directing the Family Ties episode "A, My Name is Alex", featuring Michael J. Fox

Will Mackenzie on directing the Moonlighting episode "Atomic Shakespeare"

William H. Macy

William H. Macy on the live episode of ER

Sonia Manzano

Sonia Manzano on the Sesame Street episode "Farewell, Mr. Hooper" (airdate: November 24, 1983)

Beth McCarthy-Miller

Beth McCarthy-Miller on directing the final episode of 30 Rock

Rue McClanahan

Rue McClanahan on the Maude episode "Maude's Dilemma," and on her fan mail

Rue McClanahan on the Maude episode "Maude's Dilemma," and on her fan mail

Burt Metcalfe

Producer Burt Metcalfe on the most effective line in M*A*S*H: "The Interview"

Burt Metcalfe on the M*A*S*H finale "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen"

Burt Metcalfe on the next-to-last M*A*S*H episode "As Time Goes By"

Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore on initially disliking The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "Never Bathe on Saturday" (airdate: March 31, 1965), when Laura's toe is stuck in a faucet

Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (airdate: October 25, 1975)

Bill Mumy

Bill Mumy on appearing in the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life"

Bill Mumy on appearing in the classic Twilight Zone episode "Long Distance Call"

Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy on his creation of "Mr. Spock's" Vulcan salute and its use in the episode "Amok Time"

Leonard Nimoy on the Star Trek episode "The Devil in the Dark," and "Spock's" mind meld ability

Timothy Van Patten

Timothy Van Patten on his "story by" credit for the "Pine Barrens" episode of The Sopranos

Suzanne Pleshette

Suzanne Pleshette on her cameo on the series finale of Newhart

Tom Poston

Tom Poston on the final episode of Newhart

Del Reisman

Del Reisman on being on set for the filming of The Twilight Zone episodes "The Invaders" and "Eye of the Beholder"

Gene Reynolds

Gene Reynolds on the M*A*S*H episode "Point of View"

Gene Reynolds on killing off "Henry Blake" on M*A*S*H

Gene Reynolds on the M*A*S*H episode "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet"

Producer Gene Reynolds on the classic M*A*S*H episode "The Interview"

Lee Rich

Lee Rich on the "House Divided" episode of Dallas which generated the question, "Who Shot J.R.?"

Lee Rich on Patrick Ewing leaving and returning to Dallas - the previous season was all a dream

John Rich

John Rich on the live broadcast of the opening of Disneyland ("Dateline: Disneyland")(airdate: July 17, 1955)

John Rich on memorable episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show

John Rich on Proctor & Gamble and CBS having issues with the "That's My Boy?" episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show

Director John Rich on the audience's reaction to the kiss in the All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit"

Director John Rich on Sammy Davis Jr.'s suggestion, as a guest on The Tonight Show, that he would make a funny guest star on All in the Family (leading to his appearance on the classic episode "Sammy's Visit")

Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts on the Everybody Loves Raymond episode "The Wallpaper" where "Marie" and "Frank" crash a car into "Ray's" living room

Cliff Robertson

Cliff Robertson on the classic Twilight Zone episode "The Dummy" (SPOILERS!)

Jay Sandrich

Jay Sandrich on the I Love Lucy episode "Lucy Does the Tango" (1957) in which Lucy dances and crushes the eggs she's trying to hide from Ricky

Jay Sandrich on a scene in Soap which deals with sexual tension, written from a woman's perspective

Jay Sandrich on the challenges faced by the writers and cast for the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Jay Sandrich on the classic episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show which introduced Betty White as "Sue Anne Nivens"

Jay Sandrich on The Cosby Show episode "Denise's Friend," and directing an episode that didn't start out as being funny and finding the humor

Richard Schiff

Richard Schiff on The West Wing episode "In Excelsis Deo"

Bob Schiller

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on the "Lucy Does the Tango" episode of I Love Lucy

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on the final episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, "Lucy Meets the Mustache" with Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams

George Schlatter

George Schlatter on Richard M. Nixon's appearance on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

George Shapiro

George Shapiro on Andy Kaufman reading "The Great Gatsby" on Saturday Night Live

Yeardley Smith

Yeardley Smith on Michael Jackson guest starring on The Simpsons

Yeardley Smith on Dustin Hoffman guest starring on The Simpsons on the episode "Lisa's Substitute"

Suzanne Somers

Suzanne Somers on working with John Ritter in the classic Three's Company episode "Handcuffed"

Jean Stapleton

Jean Stapleton on the All in the Family episode "Edith's Christmas Story," which dealt with breast cancer

Jeremy Stevens

Jeremy Stevens on memorable episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond

Stanford Tischler

Stanford Tischler on the classic M*A*S*H episode "Abyssinia, Henry" and when he was informed about the show's ending

Neil Travis

Neil Travis on editing Kunte Kinte's capture in part one of Roots

Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner on his favorite Cosby Show episodes

Bob Weiskopf

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on the "Lucy Does the Tango" episode of I Love Lucy

Bob Schiller and Bob Weiskopf on the final episode of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, "Lucy Meets the Mustache" with Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams

Tucker Wiard

Tucker Wiard on the famous Carol Burnett Show sketch "Went With the Wind"

Henry Winkler

Henry Winkler on classic episodes of Happy Days

Terence Winter

Terence Winter on the series finale of The Sopranos

Bud Yorkin

Bud Yorkin on the All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit"

All Topics