As I did back in March and again in July, I'm posting in advance the schedule for the next block of Very Special Episode columns, so that those inclined to do so can watch along at home. There'll be a new column tomorrow (the subject of which I'm still keeping under wraps), and then we reconvene in January, as follows:
January 6th
The Tonight Show, 3/6/69
January 20th
Freaks & Geeks, "Carded & Discarded"
February 3rd
Taxi, "Vienna Waits"
February 17th
Blues Clues, "Occupations"
March 3rd
The Dick Van Dyke Show, "The Return Of Happy Spangler"
March 17th
Lucky Louie, "Kim Moves Out"
March 31st
Eight Is Enough, "Jeremy"
April 14th
Family Ties, "A My Name Is Alex"
April 28th
South Park, TBD
May 12th
Checkmate, "The Paper Killer"
May 26th
The Rockford Files, "Sleight Of Hand"
June 9th
Leave It To Beaver, "The Last Day Of School"
And now, as always, I'm open to suggestions for future columns. I'm also looking for thoughts on which South Park to do. I solicited proposals via Twitter and Facebook a couple of weeks ago, and the overwhelming choice of most was "Scott Tenorman Must Die," though I also heard strong arguments for "Cartoon Wars," "Trapped In The Closet" and "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society," among others. I'm planning to re-watch these (or watch for the first time in some cases) before I settle on which one fits the column best. I'll also take any other suggestions you might have.
Standard disclaimer applies: This column isn't intended as a list of the greatest television episodes of all time or even the greatest episodes of their respective series, but as a way to talk about aspects of TV history and TV aesthetics, using these episodes as case studies. With that in mind, see you tomorrow with another VSE.