What’s the single best scene of acting on a tv series? Not the whole series or episode - just one memorably great scene

The Comeback is one of the best satires of Hollywood ever

Incidentally, which one of you bitches is my mother?

Carmela & Tonys last knock down, drag out fight, in the the pool cabana, THE SOPRANOS.

The final scene of SIX FEET UNDER.

Sadly, this scene by Tony Geary shows just how far his acting had fallen over the years. He was incredible in this scene from 1998 - a 9 minute uncut monologue of Luke telling Lucky about the night he raped Laura. Geary did it all in one take with no cuts and they inserted scenes from 1979 afterwards.

Probably his best acting scene ever and his acting in his last years on the show were so pathetically weak compared to this.

Bree finally breaking down in sobs after polishing the family silver following the news Rex has just died. Desperate Housewives, season one.

Just saw this recently and was impressed with Robert Patrick and Joe Penny in this intense scene from The Sopranos. Patrick's character is confessing he's lost everything because of his gambling addiction.

Agree with Kudrow for THE COMEBACK. Just brilliant. She should have won the Emmy for season 1, and she wasn't even nominated for season 2, which was even better.

This was probably the bit of acting during the series run. She could have been nominated for an Emmy for it but then again I've never seen her act as well again.

First scene of Broadchurch, Season 3.

Olivia Colman blows it out of the water.

Bryan Cranston in Breaking bad. Walter White loses it in the crawl space. Season 4, episode 10.

That Robert Patrick story arc on THE SOPRANOS was really compelling. LOTS of good acting bits on this series; I LOVED Vincent Curatola as Johnny Sac; I'd probably never find the clip, but he does a brief monologue talking about his wife Ginny after he has caught her with her junk food stash in the basement. He talks about how much he loves her and how pretty she was back when she was a salesgirl at Wanamaker's fur department. He also does a great bit in the scene where the FBI leads him out of his daughter's wedding in handcuffs and he starts to cry.

First thing that comes to mind is Noel Fisher in episode 6 of The Long Road Home.

More gifs :)

and if anyone wants to watch the actual scene, it starts at about 33:30. Noel is so underrated and talented. Love the guy.

R8 goddamit! You beat me to it lol

Bree abandons Andrew

Justin Theroux goes toe to toe with Carrie Coons. Like a scene from hell this particular scene

R15 glad someone else appreciates that scene. Another good one from that show is Anya's speech after Joyce's death. You can post that one if you want!

My first thought was Bryan Cranston in that crawlspace scene. I remember being so unnerved and terrified by seeing a man crumble apart like that. I remember physically pushing myself away from the TV. Terrifying, heartbreaking, and incredibly disturbing. Breaking Bad, to me, is one of those shows that deserved every bit of acclaim it ever got. Unbelievable writing and acting from all involved.

I remember there being a moment on, of all things, Nip/Tuck where Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson were so real and raw. It was right after they attended the funeral of Sean's mistress who had cancer. Julia puts it together that Sean knew her as more than a patient and they have this really beautiful and intense conversation about it. I really loved their work in that scene and the writing was excellent.

I second anyone who mentioned Lisa Kudrow in The Comeback. How can she not have gotten Emmys for that performance? Was she TOO real for the Emmy voters? Did the characters and situations hit too close to home for people in the entertainment industry? It's definitely a niche show and one you can't show to just anyone. Some people have found it too mean or too awkward to be truly enjoyable. Either way, she was brilliant in every second of that show.

I'm still bewitched by Joanna Cassidy's tragic-comic Margaret Chenoweth in Six Feet Under. She's such a selfish monster of a mother, but hilarious at the same time.

Pretty much EVERY moment in Enlightened. What a fascinating show that was. I loved every second of it.

The Comeback is the only comedy that made me laugh and cry in one episode. Just brilliant.

Anthony Hopkins w Sidse

Jensen Ackles: I need some help.

R10 and R19 are right about the “Breaking Bad” crawlspace scene. Such good work by Bryan Cranston.

I’d add Skyler White (Anna Gunn) walking into the swimming pool and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) for the entire “Peekaboo” episode (for which he was nominated for an Emmy).

Bob Odenkirk, as Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman, has some really great, subtle moments on the “Breaking Bad” spin-off “Better Call Saul,” too. It’s not scenery-chewing, go-for-broke acting, but he fully embodies the character.

[quote]r16 Bree abandons Andrew

I've never seen Marcia Cross show a whole lot of range, but she did graduate from Juilliard.

I wonder what she'd be like onstage.

I love that scene op posted. She's just so great in it.

Tony Shaloub has several incredible scenes in s2 of Mrs. Maisel. If he and Rachel Brosnahan both don’t win Emmys, it will be a huge tragedy. I’ve always thought Tony Shaloub was a good and talented actor but this season, he had a couple of performances that were unbelievable.

Matthew Mcconaughey on the last scene of True Detective, season 1

I couldn’t find it on YouTube to link, but I lost it during the scene in the Season Two finale of “The Comeback”, when Mickey told Val he was worried he was letting her down by not accompanying her to the Emmy Awards, and Val said, softly, “When have you ever let me down?” By the time Val bolted from the awards show in the rain to head to the hospital, I was a blubbering mess. First and only time that has ever happened. (I know, Mary!) The fact that Kudrow wasn’t even nominated for her brilliant work on that episode alone illustrates what a joke the Emmy Awards are.

She was nominated r30 she just lost to Julia Louis-Dreyfuss whom the have some odd fixation on.

The under appreciated Lindsay Duncan. Her acting in this scene is on par or better than anything leading ladies of Hollywood dish out.

"I thought you were sent by god. Sent with a message just for me. But you're not an angel. There is no message, and God doesn't care about me. "

And now Mickey is gone. Was life imitating art? There's no Comeback without Mickey. Great show, even though its two seasons were almost a decade apart.

This was another powerful scene from THE COMEBACK.

I think I have to rewatch this whole series.

Lena Heady. Not a word, she uttered.

Now, now, R35.

We all know THIS is the best Cersei scene:

Jensen Ackles as the Arcangel Michael on Supernatural. He'll get an Emmy for sure!

Girls, girls. We know the best Thrones scenes involve Jon Sno.

Every moment Jessica Lange was onscreen in FEUD, pure magic.

It's tough to pick any single scene from Better Call Saul, since it's full of unbelievable performances. However, this one is on the list.

For COMEBACK fans:

Are we doing most memorable or "best" acting? OP is confusing in what we're digging up.

The famous "Karen on the witness stand" scene from One Life to Live. It made Judith Light a star, won her her first Emmy, and had folks saying she was too good to be on a measly soap opera.

Agree wholeheartedly, OP

Estelle Getty gave it her all in this scene.

The scene in Season 4, Episode 9 of "Upstairs, Downstairs" (1974) in which Richard Bellamy (David Langton) comforts his shellshocked footman Edward (Christopher Beeny) upon his return from World War I is possibly television's finest moment.

Kudrow was brilliant in every scene throughout the Comeback! Lena Heady is a great actress who doesn’t get the credit she deserves.

Powerful performance from Sean Hayes which is rare

The Comeback is a meta masterpiece.

Dorothy Zbornak v Barbara Thorndyke

Dy-no-mite!

Bob Newhart the innkeeper getting beaned by a golf ball and knocked unconscious, and waking up as Bob Newhart the psychologist, in bed with wife Suzanne Pleshette.

Nicole Kidman in Big Little Lies season 1 when she takes the husband (Alexander Skarsgard) with her to her therapist for the first time. That was absolutely bone chilling.

R46 I go back and forth on that one. I used to think it was pretty cringeworthy but I’ve come around a bit to it now. It kind of strikes a chord.

Still not sure it’s an all time great scene, though.

True actors at their A game.

John Gielgud in "Brideshead Revisited" effortlessly and hilariously stealing a scene.

R18 done

Boardwalk Empire, often a bore but once in a while.. something amazing happened while I was waiting to see Charlie Fox in the altogether. James Riordan and Jack Huston. No stirring classicla music to create a sense of drama.. just a killer a ticking clock and a guy who got in too deep almost all of it in one shot.

As an aside, some of the comments praising Harrow for being a great killer are rather frightening

Eva Green summoning the devil inside her in Penny Dreadful.

Laurie Metcalfe elevated Roseanne to a level the show inherently didn't deserve.

It's hard to correlate the Who's The Boss Judith Light with the Law & Order SVU Judith Light. I loved her on SVU.

The famous "fuck" scene from The Wire.

While we are talking about The Comeback, this scene was the standout for season 1 for me. She’s got it all.

LMFAO, R24. Jensen Ackles sure as hell DOES need some help, that's for sure. Help with his HORRIBLE acting! Goddam, I would be hard pressed to come up with worse "actor" on TV who has made the money Jensen has. He's Batman Voiced his way to millionaire status. That stupid fake deep voice he uses to play his character is sickening. He just goes to show that success in Hollywood is largely all luck.

I also love this scene from Sopranos, where Tony asks Melfi what happened to her. She was raped, and she is suffering from ptsd and she knows that her one word - and her rapist will be destroyed. And she says No. I always thought it was such a powerful moment.

OZ had so many powerful acting moments in first four seasons.

Mathew McConaughey in the sequence in True Detective where he goes undercover as a biker to raid a drug den. My heart almost stopped watching him.

It was electrifying.

Glad that Eva Green's work in Penny Dreadful got a mention. She was sensational in that show.

According to Norman Lear it was Mary’s nervous breakdown on the David Susskind show in ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’.

Omar and Brother Mouzone. Like watching a modernised scene from Shakespeare.

[r64] I think that scene was the best as well because every gay guy in the world who went through a bad middle/high school experience lived Valerie’s experience. We’d been there and that’s why we cry too.

Patty LuPone in the ep of Penny Dreadful, where she plays a witch who is burned at the stake.

One of the most amazing acting scenes I have ever encountered on television was on Party of Five. It was when Charlie (Matthew Fox) calls off his wedding to Kirsten (Paula Devicq) at the last minute because he's "not ready." The shock and anguish and anger that Devicq delivered was so complicated and monumental and authentic in its depth, poignancy and bewilderment--it gave me chills. I've tried to find the scene just now in order to upload it, but had no luck. :-( It's more than twenty years since I've seen it, but its power and virtuosity has left a lasting impression on me.

I expected Devicq to go on to major acclaim in TV or film, but she kinda disappeared. She was on Party of Five for its entire run (1994-2000) during which time she was 29-35 years old. Immediately afterwards she had a 12-episode arc on the short-lived series 100 Centre St. and a 6-episode arc in 2004/05 on Rescue Me. But after that, just a handful of single-episode credits. Perhaps she changed her focus to raising a family, or she might have simply encountered the lousy wall that actresses face when they hit 40.

I still hope that she will reemerge at some point and have an opportunity to deliver and dazzle as she did on Party of Five back in the day.

Kudrow, yes, but not for the desert scene. I show actors her scene about her back brace and how she cheered on the team and then the catch in her voice when she admits they wouldn't let her be in the yearbook picture. The opposite of canned, looks totally spontaneous even if it wasn't.

There's a moment with the kid in "The Riches" I also show young actors because his choice is so amazing and all his: a reunion at a diner with his girlfriend and then his realization that she has turned him in. He does it with a little smile and a lilt in his voice that is heartbreaking. 99% of actors would've yelled the line with anger.

Oh how weird, just saw R64's post and clip. Sorry to repeat but happy I am not alone in appreciating it.

Isnt it funny how that clip at R64 transported me back in time 45 years ,standing beside a creek during a school field trip asking my class mates to wait up and the "cool" kids telling me "we dont want you hanging out with us" . Then they walked off and left me and the OTHER class reject David Tucker "The Fat Fucker" standing there. Now thats acting when it can dredge up emotions like that!

Add Alfr Woodard's courtroom scene in the pilot episode of LA Law.

r65 it never ceases to amaze me that there are people out there who really do think that Jensen Ackles is a great actor. I can understand them thinking that he's handsome (or was at one time, haven't seem him lately) but that's not the same as being a good actor. I find him and his counterpart Sam absolutely unbearable to watch. They really are some of the luckiest working actors on television.

So good to see the love for Comeback. How was that show cancelled - twice!?! A crime. Or maybe it’s a gay sense of humor? I homestly thought it was the funniest show I’ve ever seen. Though Veep is damn good too. But Comeback is brilliant. Wish there were more episodes - but they wouldn’t be the same without Mickey - an awesome character - Rest In Peace.

I think the plan is to keep bringing it back in 10 episode arcs from time to time. I have a feeling Val will be back.

All the gay scenes on Supernatural!

Hilda Ogden, Stan's glasses, Coronation Street in 1984. This won't mean anything to most DLers as you really have to know the context. It's an amazing scene though.

Speaking of Veep, I love this clip with Louis-Dreyfus:

"Because of the AXIS of DICK."

Aw, I remember R82. Those ducks were part of my childhood.

Also, this..

Alexis tosses Crystal's fur off the balcony and Blake chokes the living daylights out of her.

yep.

'we wouldn't want to offend anybody while they're supporting our troops' (from Six Feet Under)

Intense.

Ahem.

Lauren Ambrose was really great on Six Feet Under. I loved that scene!

For me, it's also Lisa Kudrow, but it's the scenes of her character Valerie Cherish at the Emmys in the final episode of season 2 of "The Comeback."

President Bartlett alone in the church at Mrs Landingham's funeral.

Andrea Riseborough and Julie Walters in National Treasure. If you haven't seen this, it's on Hulu. It's a gorgeously composed series and Andrea somehow outperforms Walters and Robbie Coltrane.

Amen, R92, so many great scenes in The West Wing and that cathedral monologue was arguably one of the strongest.

I also enjoy Lawrence O'Donnell playing Bartlett's prick father in flashbacks (also about Mrs. Landingham).

I'm also partial to the Lord John Marbury and Josh's breakdown/the bells. Also the right wing radio chick who wouldn't stand when the President walked into the room and how he made her stand up.

CJ's bad tooth and Josh's stint in the Press Room. I thought of that when the cuntress Neilsen decided she could "handle it" in the Press Room that one time. Hahahahahahah. Fool.

R91, she has another classic moment when she tries to ask for help with her phone from the valet and has that great understated catch in her voice again: (I paraphrase) I don't know how to... my husband..."

This was an awesome scene for Polly Walker in Rome at Atia of the Julii. So many good lines from her character, but this scene with her daughter in law is incredible. Jump up to the 40 second mark to her entrance.

Patrick Stewart at the end of "The Inner Light," often called the best stand-along episode of ST: TNG.

Despite the terrible aging makeup, the beautiful performance comes through.

Yet another great Kudrow moment--when she's trying to find out Mickey's condition and she keeps getting her estranged husband's voicemail and she she says, "Please call me back. I don't know what to...do," as she gets that catch in her voice.

I really think Kudrow is a phenomenon as an actress. On "Web Therapy" she's brilliant but it's meant to be played strictly for laughs, and her timing and delivery are impeccable, but for me nothing compares to her work on "The Comeback," and the entire series is more brilliant and brutal than a lot of people were comfortable with. I loved it.

Enjoying this thread a lot, and seeing all the contributions people are posting.

I'm not the Jessica Lange troll, but one of my favorites is the big final showdown on the shoot of "Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte" between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in FEUD. And both Lange and Sarandon are fantastic.

"How did it feel... to be the most beautiful girl in the world?"

I guess I'm going to start watching The Comeback.

Another scene I couldn't find a clip of is from Getting On, when Laurie Metcalf's character Dr. Jenna James improvises with a hospital gown to rant about worldwide conditions for women when her boss says something flippant about women. Metcalf uses the gown as a headscarf and a full burqa. I'm not doing it any justice. It's when her character starts to thaw a little, leading up to her generous act at the end of the series.

Some shill here keeps promoting The Comeback.

Fuck off, it's been a DL favorite for years now.

Eunice and Mama go to a psychiatrist. A powerful portrayal of a woman in deep distress. Eunice's confession at 3:54 still haunts me.

The Comeback shill needs to go away.

I wish I could find a clip of it but Eliza Dushku in the first season of Angel was excellent when at the end of their fight she begs him to kill her.

can i count on your vote?

[quote]it never ceases to amaze me that there are people out there who really do think that Jensen Ackles is a great actor. I

Does it amaze you how many people out there thought that Trump would make a competent president? Welcome to dumbed-down America, 2019.

Actually, r102/r105, I am just one "Comeback" enthusiast--I, of r91 and r98. The other enthusiast(s) are just that--other(s).

Sorry if you feel it's shilling (shilling for was, exactly? the show hasn't been on for years) but really, it's just that I and others love that show.

*shilling for what, exactly?

The Comeback really is a true masterpiece. I think of it often. It's one of those series that starts out slow and sneaks up on you. I remember not knowing if I liked it or not at first and it had to build.

I can't wait to see where Valerie Cherish is in another few years.

I've always loved Catherine O'Hara, but I think Moira Rose has to be her finest work yet. She manages to make me howl with laughter at pretty much every line just with her delivery. What is that accent she's going? It's part valley girl, part Katherine Hepburn, and part alien from another planet. It's brilliant!

There's a really subtle but perfect scene in "The Path" where Hugh Dancy's character tells a story from his childhood that gets progressively more sinister. It had me in tears by the end. So fucked up.

Judith Light losing her shit on the stand after being interrogated on “One Life To Live” in the 70s.

Barbara Stanwyck was masterful in her final scene in The Thorn Birds.

Twiky Lucky proving he can act circles around Anyone on GH.

Um--"straight" Darrin Criss kissing other "straight" actors?

There's sooo many to choose from. How can you pick just one? For starters, thank you r60 for the Eva Green Penny Dreadful mention. When this superb show was on, I considered her the best actress on TV. She should've got more awards for this role. The possession scenes from Season One were absolutely riveting. Aside from the one you mentioned, I have to include the exorcism episode and that showdown between her character Vanessa and Ethan, brilliantly played by Josh Hartnett. I thought his work in the series was him at his best.

John Hurt's entire performance as Caligula in "I, Claudius"; this is just one great scene:

R119

Yes. Also love the scene when he kills his sister.

Speaking of Carol Burnett, still one of the greatest comic performances ever:

R106 I like that scene too. Also in season 5 of Angel when she's in the shower.

I'm still blown away by that scene with Gandolfini and Falco from The Sopranos. The men had the showboat characters in the series and were justifiably great. But Falco was constantly brilliant in that show to the very end.

Carol Burnett was at her best in the 1982 made for TV movie Eunice. It was mostly dramatic. Look up the final 10 minutes on YouTube with her final fights with her siblings after Mama died. It’s really good work

It's damn hard to top Judith Light as Karen Wolek on the witness stand, in terms of the technical excellence and iconic status of a single scene of TV acting.

There's a reason it's been shown in acting classes since it aired.

Wow Light is something in that clip. Really remarkable

Leftovers was an incredible show, never really got the awards love it deserved do I'm going to go with R17 for that show, though Sopranos Tony/Carmela fight is close.

But I think the award goes to Noah Emmerich for the final episode of "The Americans," where he confronts the Jennings in the parking garage. (Keri Russel and Matthew Rhys are also amazing) (see clip). The Americans is a great show but not the sort of show that appeals to most DLers

The DL split between those whose reference is HBO/Showtime/Netflix/Amazon and those whose reference is 80s network TV is very interesting.

I will

Oops-- I will warn you that if you are planning to watch The Americans, that clip is a spoiler, so don't watch it.

Soap fans will always remember Light's performance on OLTL. It aired on a Friday and Mary!, all weekend long I kept thinking about Karen Wolek.

Another I love is Emmy Rossum and William H Macy in this scene from Shameless after Monica dies. So amazing.

While we are on the subject of the flawless Lisa Kudrow, how about when she appeared on Scandal?

The clip didn’t link before. Here we are.

Wow, that was excellent, too, R132 — between “The Opposite of Sex”, “The Comeback” (her pinnacle, in my opinion, and no, I’m not a shill!) and that “Scandal” appearance, Kudrow is outstanding!

If you're also talking about all-out great comedic acting, all improvised, Kudrow in "Web Therapy."

Unimpressed by Kudrow at R132 — very flat and one-note, not aided by the preachy writing and meh direction.

I was going to ask if there's a Lisa Kudrow thread, but I guess this is it.

Law and Order: Is this because I'm a lesbian?

Dana Delany and Marg Helgenberg in China Beach.

My favorite is when Philipp reveals to Martha he is a spy and their marriage is fake. She realizes she is a traitor and has to leave the country, in the Americans.

Completely agree with R32 about Lindsay Duncan. She totally nailed her appearance on Doctor Who "The Waters of Mars." Definitely check it out if you can - it's could be viewed pretty much as a standalone episode and she's brilliant! A little spoiler with the clip below...

The Comeback is one of those shows I have watched multiple times and never get tired of it....it was perfectly cast.....and Lisa Kudrow is amazing......would love another season but do agree that it will be hard without Mickey as he was the heart of the show.....

Would the Lisa Kudrow shills go away and create your own thread.

No-one is interested in her or her show, The Comeback , except three of you posting over and over.

You can add a 4th. Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish is a national treasure.

I'm going to say the unpopular thing and agree with the Jensen Ackles fanbois. Say what you like about the shit he acts in but he's consistently amazing in it. Anyone saying otherwise is too much of a TV snob to admit it.

R113

"He was an extraordinary man."

Add a 5th. The comeback was magnificent.

The word you Comeback Stans are looking for is "droll." Magnificent, not so much.

Nobody needs to shill for The Comeback. It was beyond excellent and Lisa Kudrow doesn't need work. She could use $100 bills for tampons.

Loved this scene from Hannibal. Hugh Dancy's breakdown is beautifully done.

[quote]r147 The word you Comeback Stans are looking for is "droll." Magnificent, not so much.

No, it really was amazing. And you also have to give Kudrow credit for coming up with the show, and cowriting half the episodes. She's not just a windup, dancing doll performer who can only parrot words handed to her.

The character she came up with was soooooo embarrasing, yet surprisingly admirable. Her performance is naked, naunced, and [italic]extremely[/italic] funny. Kudrow's not someone I walk around thinking of as one of our most talented performers, but every single time I see her she's excellent.

[quote] How can she not have gotten Emmys for that performance? Was she TOO real for the Emmy voters?

A travesty that she didn't win or wasn't even FUCKING nominated the second time. And this is coming from a person who LOVES JLD.

[quote]I'm still bewitched by Joanna Cassidy's tragic-comic Margaret Chenoweth in Six Feet Under.

Oh, man. You should check out a really funny Canadian comedy with her and Jason Priestly called “Call Me Fitz.” She plays his slutty, amoral mother.

R149 The more I watch Dancy The more convinced I am he must have pissed off someone important in Hollywood. There's no way he wouldn't have a couple of awards by now otherwise.

Nobody watches The Comeback nor cares.

Nobody give a flying fuck about Lisa Kudrow's inadequate acting.

Go shill your show and actress elsewhere.

[r153] = Courteney Cox

R153

I...I watch it...

I only posted one clip about The Comeback and I am not a schill either. It’s a brilliant show and Lisa was perfection. It appeals to gay men as well as people in show business. I don’t know anyone who has actually given it a chance that didn’t love it. It’s hard to think of another character that you root for yet feel so uncomfortably embarrassed for all at once. Genius.

Thread Closed due to The Comeback shilling.

There's a scene in The Bisexual (Hulu) where Gabe (Brian Gleeson) runs through the streets after a great day: his book was published and his beautiful editor showed him the first copy. They end up fucking and then you see Gabe running down the street. A usually lethargic character really sprinting. He races to his sister's house to tell her the news: He's moving with the editor girlfriend to NY! "NYC baby!" And his sister just says, No. With his Irish accent: Whachumean, no? She says no, it's too far, you can't do that (to her). Their parents are dead. They're the only two "who knew mom and dad." And you can see Gabe shut down and ultimately reassure her that no, he won't move to NY. Of course not. He was just caught up in it all. It's a flashback that shows you why Gabe is where he is all these years later, not having written another book.

That series did a great job of giving every character depth and nuance. Such great writing. The performances are so vulnerable.

This scene evidences Thandie Newton in all her subtle and flinty eyed glory. Spoiler from Westworld Season 1.

Glad somebody mentioned Boardwalk Empire. Every character seemed real to me.

[quote][[R153]] = Courteney Cox

Yeah. Unsurprising how nobody's posted anything from Dirt in this thread.

It's a soap scene and has become a bit of a cliche reference over the years.....but it's the one time I really saw a performer lose themselves in a scene. She went somewhere with this that wasn't acting.....it was the frustration of someone who was only seen for her physical beauty, not her whole being. I remember being stunned when I saw this as a teenager.

I mentioned this episode in the Moonlighting thread. I always remembered the card game scene from "Money Talks, Maddie Walks." Great acting all around by Cybill, Bruce and Mark Lonow who played her accountant, with lots of layers of emotions and history. Card game starts about 35:40.

Speaking of “Moonlighting”, while I wouldn’t say it was the single best, I always liked Cybill Shepherd’s work in the scene with her father that begins at the 37:00 mark.

Clever title, too — a riff on the witty “Goodbye Columbus” tagline.

Annie Potts was really good in this episode too.

I hated Doris Roberts's character in Raymond, but she killed me in this.

I'm a little surprised that DL fave Mad Men hasn't been mentioned.

Cybill’s best acting scene of her career was this one. She deserved an Emmy nomination that year.

This blew me away when I was 12 or 13 and saw it for the first time. Still does.

It was not so much acting as reacting and enacting, but Lucy and Desi created something that continues to touch audiences, decades and decades later.

R89 posted a great one.

R112 her accent is that of “old” Canadians and their idea of how wealthy people spoke. Nobody under the age of 70 talks like that. It’s half Brit and half New England lockjaw.

And no, The Comeback is not a great show. It is mildly amusing at best. The man who plays LK’s husband is skin crawlingly slimy.

"And no, The Comeback is not a great show. It is mildly amusing at best."

More than a few here disagree with you, r171, but whatever.

Her husband is supposed to be slimy. Obviously you don't get it.

And he's not slimy, the character is a guy not in show biz and suffering through being married to someone who is--in LA, no less.

Nothing the husband character does in The Comeback is slimy.

His hideous Easter island face, receding hairline and nasal bitchy above it all voice scream Realtor. SLIME.

And not getting a show like the Comeback? Yes, you’re right, it IS the second coming of Bunuel, and not a mildly bitchy, slightly witty 3rd rate sitcom.

R176, take your meds honey. No reason to get your skidded-marked, waistband-busted tightey whiteys in a bunch.

I work in the entertainment industry and I have to say that The Comeback was chillingly spot on with its depiction of a D-list actress. I've worked with many of them and they're all fairly pleasant 90% of the time, but they're so insecure and needy at times that you just want to slap them.

Kudrow really nailed that "do I like her or not" personality. You go back and forth depending on the episode and the day. She's never a malicious character, but there's just something weirdly off-putting about her at times.

Loved this scene forever, so uncompromising

R167 Good question about Mad Men. It's hard to think of scenes where it's more about the acting than the iconic 60's, the writing, the directing or the carefully crafted set pieces.

Just found this thread, late as usual- And within first 5 replies you have Lisa Kudrow as Valerie Cherish (I would choose the Scoliosis scene from season 1, but everything she fucking did on that show was brilliant) AND the Whitecaps episode with Tony and Carmela on The Sopranos.

I have almost nothing to add here.

I didn't even read the other responses, but I will add Kudrow for the Emmys episode in Season 2 of The Comeback, as well as The Suitcase episode of Mad Men with Hamm/Moss-

I also found Hamm really excellent in that Hershey Bar/alcohol withdrawals scene on Mad Men.

"Nostalgia - the pain of an old wound."

Jon Hamm KILLS in this remarkable scene.

R182! I kept thinking CAROUSEL episode, CAROUSEL episode and was mixing up that one with the Hershey Bar scene-

And yes, it is also an amazing scene/performance-

....

I like alot of the scenes from the bravo show "dirtyjohn" i know its not amazing actiing but the grandmother who testified for the man who killed her daughter, well she is just special. if i were not so lazy i would pull up the picture of the actual grandmother sitting in her perfect 1960s home in orange county on the sofa.. its a classic. oh with beehive hair do

R185 Jean fucking Smart, you lazy gay x

Wow, that's some acting, r184! She was never better...and I mean never.

Maybe there's a focus on "drama" (crying, being creepy, tragic, etc..) when we talk about acting, but "single best scene" and "just one memorably great scene", and I'm surprised Jeff Daniel's opening in "The Newsroom" hasn't been mentioned.

Not "dramatic" in the sense of being dramatic, but damn if he didn't absolutely nail that.

That carousel scene is so amazing to me because he is using slides from his own life as he gives his pitch.

He should have been handed the Emmy RIGHT THAT SECOND.

I still maintain it 's the writing and direction that blows you out of the water in Mad Men. Even in that unforgettable Carousel scene, Hamm's acting is good but certainly no tour de force.

Someone posted Miss Barbara Stanwyck's scene in Thorn Birds earlier today. I watched it hours ago and I'm still thinking about it.

Carousel really is the finest scene in all of Mad Men. It got closest to what much of the series tried to say - why it all mattered.

Lots of great small moments in MM, though. Which was either its strength, if you watched for the cumulative effect of all those small moments, or the thing that turned you off, if you wanted bigger and splashier.

I also loved Peggy's Burger Chef presentation, which was in some ways the other bookend to Don's Carousel presentation.

Marilu Henner and Danny DeVito in this scene. I think DeVito won the Emmy for this.

And speaking of Taxi, Christopher Plummer in that moment when uptight Jim becomes burnout Iggy. 8:50 is fucking brilliant.

(Bonus: young Tom Hanks!)

^ OMG I don't know why I wrote Christopher Plummer. Obviously I meant Christopher Lloyd.

Frantic Annalise finding out who is "under the sheet" on HTGAWM....Viola Davis rocks it....

"All In The Family" was well before my time, but wasn't there a scene where Jean Stapleton's character was raped that was supposed to have been breakthrough at the time? She was a Broadway actress, so she must have had some chops?

EGs?

r197, since Youtube wasn't way before your time and it has thing called a search engine, why don't you look it up there?

r197, it was an attempted rape but it's widely considered as some of Jean Stapleton's best work in the series.

GOOD LORD, CAN WE PLEASE STOP THE SHILLING FOR THE COMEBACK. I love Lisa Kudrow. She was the only one that could get a few laughs out of me from Friends, the most overrated show in TV history but stop with all this COMEBACK shit. It was good but wasn't all that.

r199, no one has mentioned The Comeback for several posts. Why are you mentioning it now? Calm down.

Simmah down!

Jesus, what is all this back and forth about The Comeback. It was a great series with a great central performance. Who would bother shilling for a show that had 2 seasons and has been canceled?

R59, Jack Huston has said that was one of his fav scenes in the whole series even though he only had one line in it.

Sally Field surprised us all with her turn in Sybil after Gidget and The Flying Nun.

I wasn’t going to comment, but all The Comeback hullabaloo drew me in. It is a fantastic show primarily because Kudrow creates a character that you may find insipid, egocentric, and often delusional, but you root for her, at least I do, because she is so awkward and vulnerable. Kudrow addresses youth culture, disposable pop culture, and the yearning to feel relevant and values as time progresses, leaving so much behind.

It’s sometimes difficult to watch as the cringe factor escalates, a trait The Comeback shares with Enlightened and its star Laura Dern. I can’t find a clip from the s1 episode The Weekend, but it’s a standout. Dern is in a motel room with her ex, Luke Wilson, after she’s discovered he’s done a load of drugs, and he asks her, “Wanna fuck?” She declines in an almost mournful manner. It’s a tremendously sad and revealing scene for both characters, and one that rang eerily true for me after a ltr with an addict. I’ve thought about it years later and wondered if they knew how good that scene really was as they did it.

I'll probably get shit for this, but Nancy McKeon in the "Double Standard" Facts of Life episode, especially the scene where she tells Edna about Blair's friend attacking her on their date (starts about 15:05). You can totally see why the producers were so enthused to bring her onto the show. To her credit, Lisa Whelchel was also really good in this episode.

^ Forgot the link:

It’s not DL without a Facts post, r205. You’re really performing a perfunctory service for us all.

Some of the best acting can be done with just a look and no dialogue.

[quote]Some of the best acting can be done with just a look and no dialogue.

So true, R208.

Any scene in Cagney and Lacey when Mary Beth was dealing with breast cancer. Tyne Daly was exquisite. She is truly one of our finest actresses, in the same unappreciated vein as Patty Duke.

When Dixie Carter as Julia Sugerbaker tells off Miss Georgia. (Designing Women)

Reva v India in the Blue Orchid powder room

Maureen tells off Ed in the cabin just before she dies

Alexandra reams Roger at the Country Club

excellent choice r211. How could it have taken 211 replies to hit this one?

What is so amazing about all these clips is that the actors delivered these performances with little to no rehearsal.

At least, that's what I've heard, they just basically go through it a few times and shoot it.

Anyone in the know who can break down how tv shows are rehearsed and how much time the actors have to prepare?

Maureen tells off Ed

Alex and Raj at the club

R213, I'm pretty sure Designing Women as a multi camera sitcom so the actors had all week to rehearse and block those scenes and then they'd be shot on a tape night in front of an audience; they stay till they get it right; sometimes the audience is released around 11 pm and the show stays until they get it right.

sorry, the best scene in the world is the dance scene from the movie the picnic with william holden and kim novak , the heat is just felt even though no words are said.

Courtroom dramas are made for this; I remember a very good storyline in LA LAW with Veronica Cartwright as an assistant DA who begins to have recovered memories of sexual abuse by her father. This was before "recovered memories" really became a thing. The father, played by William Windom, was some kind of powerful figure, like a Senator or something. She ends up suing him, and the scenes where she takes the stand and accuses him are really powerful. She's such an intense type anyway, and she was furious and crying at the same time. And I believe she actually loses the case.

Didn't Veronica Cartwright play Jack's mom on Will & Grace?

I can't believe she only had the one appearance early on in the show.

I’m a huge fan of Elisabeth Moss’s performance in The Handmaid’s Tale, but I wouldn’t know how to select one scene.

For the most part, each show will get one or two posts on best scenes, but the three shills for The Comeback feel the need to post something every half dozen threads,

Is it on syndication soon somewhere and you are trying to plug a failed show that nobody watched?

Meanwhile Maggie drowns via stuck ring on Falcon Crest.

[quote]Glad somebody mentioned Boardwalk Empire. Every character seemed real to me.

Yes. Wonderful characters. Too bad Michael Pitt messed up so badly with drugs.

Took 222 posts to get to this.

Will & Grace fight over not having a baby and Leo.

This was so well written, directed, and acted.

It speaks to how, ultimately, they need to grow apart; Grace, to be with Leo (or whoever, but I liked him); and Will to find his own life, not rely on Grace for a substitute.

MTM in the funeral scene in the Chuckles the Clown episode. She goes from uptight to barely holding it in perfectly.

Alexis goes to jail.

Another great DYNASTY moment

Go to 3:08 for Barbara vs. Margo, great writing, great use of history; great dialogue.

Doug tapped into what a lot of women may have felt at the time -- that they weren't sexy enough to hold onto their men.

All of the performances by all of the principal stars of Breaking Bad in the episode “Ozymandias” are spellbinding and devastating — adding up to what is, in my opinion, the most brilliant hour of television ever made.

Krystle Goes crazy.

"Dinner is served!"

I'm with R229 that "Ozymandias" was the overall best episode, but my favorite scene is Walter's final confession to Skylar: that he was full of shit all along.

I also love the very ending of the final episode when Walter is dying and lovingly looking over his old equipment, his pride in what he felt was his one real success in life. And the PERFECT song to punctuate it.

[quote]r192 I also loved Peggy's Burger Chef presentation, which was in some ways the other bookend to Don's Carousel presentation.

SHE'S NO VALERIE CHERISH...but of Peggy's scenes on [italic]Mad Men,[/italic] I think this is my favorite.

If you've never seen the show, these characters had an affair years ago, then when he finally comes around to deciding she's perfect for him, she tells him this:

BEST ENDING EVER!! BEST SCENE OF ALL TIME

Castiel's entrance in Supernatural!

R214 R215 I love you!

Huggy Bear gets out of jail

Those posts about Supernatural - are those for real? Its fine silly show but it's not known for great acting.

R236, thanks; I love you, too.

Those of us who 'get' soaps get 'em; and there's nothing better. Gl was one of the best and had some of the best writers in its history: Irna, Bill Bell, Agnes Nixon, the Dobsons, Doug Marland, Pamela K. Long; Demorest/Curlee/Reilly. and I give Jill Lorie Hurst mad props for closing it up the way she did.

Oh, i have another one. Old british miniseries Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy with Alec Guinness. Great acting all around, but the best moment was last episode with Ian Richardson, who played Bill, just collapsing, completely falling apart. Terrific moment.

Debbie Allen killing it as J.J.'s heroin-addicted girlfriend on Good Times. Her final scene when she's in withdrawal was gut-wrenching. She even managed to elevate Jimmie Walker's acting.

Debbie Allen is underrated - in a lot of what she's done.

Actually r240 both of the Smiley series with Guinness were filled with stunningly good acting, but ironically that doesn’t make for particularly memorable scenes, as they were very British and thus quite understated.

[quote]r178 Kudrow really nailed that "do I like her or not" personality. You go back and forth depending on the episode and the day. She's never a malicious character, but there's just something weirdly off-putting about her at times.

What's so funny to me about the character is you see her cycling thru so many different modes. Her real personality, her fake chirpy work personality, her :Aunt Sassy" personality when she's acting ... and then her inane, pseudo solemn/sincere personality when she's trying to be "deep" for the reality show crew.

I really crack up when she first wigs out about her temporary midget assistant, but then after she realizes the assistant's marketable for her humanitarian image, she sums it all up on her TV video diary like she's acting in Ibsen or something.

[quote]VALERIE: Well, I learned a LOT today from a little lady named Charla. I learned that dignity comes in all sizes. Some struggles are more obvious, and some are more...internal. Some people see Charla at a dry cleaner and think, 'How is she going to reach that?' Some people see Valerie Cherish's dreams and think, 'How is she going she reach that?' Two huge mountains. Two huge people. No matter the size.

Another excellent guest star on Good Times: Chip Fields (Kim's mother) as Penny's abusive mom. The scene when she walks out on Penny she is so raw and awful but so complex and real. I remember seeing this as a child and she terrified me but I still felt sorry for her. Starting at 5:40 (you have to speed up the video).

R21 Ugh, I loved that show and Laura Dern is a great actress.

Michonne’s breaking point.

OK one last Good Times episode. BernNadette Stanis usually annoyed me as Thelma, but she was so good, as was Ja'net Dubois, in the episode when Wilona's ex gropes her. She tries to minimize what happens because she doesn't want to ruin Wilona's reconciliation with him but of course Florida sees right through her.

Y'all should really turn this thread into a "Comeback" thread. Or let's continue discussing, in general, great scenes in television

Isn't Walter White sorta like the male Mama Rose? I feel like it's a similar journey. From not being seen/being ordinary, to doing crazy things to succeed, to finally admitting it was all for them and not for their family. It's a great role. They just don't write 'em like that much.

I live the scene in r56 when she says "I have been dreaming, and fantasizing, and in love with Furio" - like a bomb went off. And the one r66 mentioned, I remember when that first aired - glued to the tv begging for Dr. Melfi to say something to Tony.

I loved Penny Dreadful too - Eva Green was great from start to finish, it's hard to pick just one scene. The final scene is pretty good - with her and Josh Hartnett alone. The scenes with Eva and Patti Lupone (both as the witch and the psychologist) were also great.

Damages - The scenes with Patty and Ellen together could get pretty intense... or just the way Patty would manipulate people so flawlessly... so well-done. The writing was a big part of it for all of the above.

Breaking Bad - I liked everything mentioned, and I'd add when Aaron Paul got out of the skinhead prison and was driving off - TV NEVER makes me cry - that did.

I remember that Star Trek episode r97 posted.... definitely one of the best. The initial Borg episode also had some top notch acting and if you could ignore Q hamming it up, Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Stewart were great. Sci fi always gets overlooked, but there were many scenes from Star Trek and Fringe (mostly with John Noble in Fringe - who was fantastic) that were really memorable and well done.

The scenes between Dexter (Michael C. Hall) and The Trinity Killer, especially the "Hello Dexter Morgan" line by Trinity (John Lithgow) were also very memorable and intense. Charlotte Rampling was great in the last season too, though obviously everyone knows they royally fucked up the ending.

Well, sorry I didn't answer OP's question... out of the above, it's not easy to pick one. I think maybe Eva's scenes with Patti Lupone - I'd have to see them again to remember exactly. A lot of the above were facilitated by very good writing too.

R243

I think i disagree. I love subtle acting. I only saw Tinker Taylor..., and there were some impressive and memorable acting moments. Richardson's reaction to his lover being shot. Actor who played Ricky, when he read the letter from Irina. Those are just on top of my head.

David Tennant and Alex Kingston are brilliant here in one of my favorite episodes.

[quote]r251 Damages - The scenes with Patty and Ellen together could get pretty intense...

This is my favorite scene from DAMAGES.

My jaw dropped. (You have to know Patty.)

Better Call Saul when Mike comes clean about his Son’s death “I broke my boy.” What a punch in the gut to see him cry.

New York decides to attack New Jersey. People are gonna die!

Of more recent vintage, the long fight scene between Kathryn Hahn and Jay R. Ferguson on the “End of the Line” episode of “The Romanoffs” was outstanding. The series itself fluctuated wildly in its quality, but this Russian-set episode was very intriguing and Hahn in particular was excellent.

The electrifying Kim Stanley in the “A Fear of Spiders” episode of “Night Gallery”, if only for the moment when she spits out the phrase, “I am refreshingly blunt!” And then around that same time she was outstanding in “The Man Who Killed a Ghost” episode of “The Name of the Game”. (Yes, I’m old!)

This episode originally came on in the 90s when I was still in high school, and I thought it was the best acting ever - by Gates McFadden / Dr. Crusher... who was possessed / in love with this alien being.

It's since been ranked as one of the worst episodes of all time, and even McFadden has talked about it as one of the worst scripts she had to deal with. I think she called it "the one where I fell in love with a candle" - but there's so much more ridiculousness in this episode (like how she reads her grandmother's sex diaries and basically gets off on them).

I didn't get any of the absurdity 25 years ago, and I truly thought this was the best TV of all time for many years.

The still image below summarizes everything you need to know about this episode... though there's a YouTube review at the link.

Great television is a great escape.

At the risk of angering the anti-Soaps bitches (I guess I'm already on thin ice after posting ONCE about The Comeback in this thread), this scene still gets me. I can still remember this scene on the big TV in my college's cafeteria at lunch, and everyone in the whole place was silent and watching and tearing up.

[quote]Laurie Metcalfe elevated Roseanne to a level the show inherently didn't deserve.

If for no other reason than for "Tureen of beef".

I always thought Lou's death in Flashpoint was very well done.

Caroll O'Connor, Archie Bunker's Place, mourning Edith.

Agreed on previous West Wing comments, but my personal fave is when Bartlett tells off the gay-hating radio woman.

Many great moments in The Wire, but i especially like big confrontation between Stringer Bell and Avon, when Stringer confesses he killed Avon's nephew and Avon's reaction.

Sam meets Lucifer on Supernatural!

You're totally delusional R267. I agree with so many of the selections here. The folks recognizing Lisa Kudrow for sure. Lena Headey and Nicole Kidman also. In fact, most of the recs here I'm on board with. I would point out Kate Mulgrew on Orange is the New Black, too. She's always really awesome. I realize stuff like this is super subjective but the one or two people suggesting Jensen Ackles or Jared whatever his name is? OMG No way. I agree with the majority here when it come to him. It is truly painful to watch Jensen try to act. My throat hurts in sympathy. And Jared is probably THE worst actor on tv today.

LMFAO I was waiting for the Supernatural FRAUS to find this thread!

Jensen and Jared are some of the worst actors out there today but the fraus will say they both deserve Emmys. There literally isn't anyone worse on a show that I can think of other than them.

Chandler Massey shows how to play passive aggressive.

Dean meets Arch Angel Michael

Amara Kills Lucifer & God on Supernatural!

One of the most gripping and unforgettable hours of TV I ever saw was "Homicide: Life on the Street" episode "Subway" (1997) where a man (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) falls against a moving train and is pinned at waist level between a subway car and the edge of the platform.

D'Onofrio's guest performance was nominated for an Emmy, as was James Yoshimura's script, and the episode won a Peabody Award. Screenwriter Vince Gilligan said "Subway" directly influenced an episode of The X-Files that he wrote, which in turn helped inspire the casting of Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad.

Andy Cohen whoring up Riverdale?

Lindsay Grahams "to the extent it matters I'm not gay" airport speech was Oscar worthy.

^^ Now, that is fine acting!

I'm sorry, can we get back on topic, please?

Sue Ellen going into JRs room and gets drunk for the first time in 20 years...(Dallas TNT)......She was so sad and lost and the song choice was perfect (the bottom by Tara Holloway)......Linda Gray was amazing....

Best single episode appearance: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen as Karsi in Game of Thrones.

R228- GREAT ACTING? THAT WAS PURE SOAP OPERA ACTING-

However, the writing and dialogue was excellent-

THE AMERICANS series finale. The heartbreaking train scene. No dialogue needed.

Judith Light in the courtroom scene upthread is my top pick from the many great posts so far, and I have never sat through an episode of a daytime soap.

What impressed me most is that given the venue ( the aforementioned daytime soap) and the script (“I was solicitan men!”), the scene could have easily turned into a histrionic campfest, but JL never breaks for a second, and when the breakdown crescendo comes, it feels like a natural culmination of all the tension on display up to that point.

And then she went on a shitty sitcom for years and years.

That's a great one! The Americans had so many outstanding scenes, I'm surprised its first mention in this thread was about Noah Emmerich, the worst actor in the series.

I can't believe how great Keri Russell is in this.

R261 obviously went to college at William and MARY!!!

Delta Burke's speech in the "They shoot fat women don't they?" episode of Designing Women. In a cast of scene chewers and overactors - she really delivered a powerfully understated performance.

Happy Valley: When Catherine Cawood cradles the woman who realized that her son's the serial rapist.

Unforgotten: Every scene between Nicola Walker, who plays a detective investigating cold cases and Frances Tomolty, who plays the shattered mother of a man who went missing 30+ years earlier.

Unforgotten: Different season, when Mark Bonnar, who plays a gay barrister with a secret discloses his past abuse in a way that is devastating for being so sparingly described. Nicola Walker is a treasure.

And THAT, Marjorie, just so you will know.

And your children will someday know,

is the NIGHT

the LIGHTS

went OUT

In

GEORGIA!

I know many are not fans, and I agree that the negatives outweighed the pluses in later seasons, but the first season of Transparent really had a number of good scenes.

The three kids, as annoying as they were to be around, really felt very much like siblings raised in the late 70s early 80s.

And the scenes where Moira, pre- transition, goes to a weekend camp with her friend (played by Bradley Whitford) was also very moving, and felt very much like it felt to be closeted (in any way) during that late 70s/early 80s era.

Cold Case -

It had its particular template, including those endings, and some worked better than others. But let me say here that this show did marvelous work years before many other shows in LGBT storylines.

It was the acting and the writing, but this story remains the best of all of them. I wept so loudly at the end a neighbor came to see if I was OK.

I love the show R288- One of my first shows when I joined Amazon prime 2 years ago. I loved each and every season but this last one. Too much time spent on that vacation- I really did not enjoy it at all.

Without Moira I do not think I will enjoy the show any less to tell you the truth. I am extremely curious how it will all end.

It does have a real SFU vibe about it. And the acting has been uniformly excellent.

I loved the way the fight just escalates. Brenda and Nate just flinging everything they've buried at each other.

Good one, R291. I thought about linking that scene here but then forgot.

Thirtysomething - "Gary Dies"

Pick any scene.

Burt Lancaster, Field of Dreams.

ER had many great guest stars, but the one I remember is Bob Newhart as an architect who is gradually going blind. He bonds with ER doc Sherry Stringfield, and asks her to come to dinner at his house. He has been minimizing his symptoms to her and they are worse than he lets on. There is a long scene where he is trying to fix the dinner and it's a disaster - he can't do it. So he writes a suicide note instead and when she arrives she finds him.

Good God, R295, I can see it. I'm afraid to go find it though because the thought of Bob Newhart dying is so sad.

Not a tv series ,but this scene deserves a mention. I was watching this with my mother,and when this scene played I sobbed uncontrollably . She is ,when its all said and done,a great actress.

He was VERY good in it; he has all these little architectural models in his house and he keeps loving little pieces around as he is losing his vision. You can absolutely feel his desperation building.

moving, sorry -

R297 reminded me of this scene. Betty was so good in it.

Laura Petrie toe stuck in tub faucet.

It has no equal.

I always found this scene to be great. Dean Stockwell nails his character's frustration and contempt. Skip towards the middle.

Paul Lynde playing a straight married father on his terrible 1960s sitcom.

He HAD to be fucking the studly blond actor who played his son in law.

It’s no longer on YouTube but one of the best acted season one Cheers episodes - season one was a gem overall - is when Diane’s childhood cat dies. It’s called “let me count the ways.” Brilliant acting from both but especially Shelley.

Good call on Delta Burke in the They Shoot Fat People, Don't They? episode. I remember that being very moving and not as preachy as Designing Women could sometimes get.

Designing Women could get annoying preachy (and it hasn't aged well as a whole)(, but there was something really delicious when Julia would tell someone off who really deserved it like in this episode.

I always thought this was one of funnier Sugarbaker rants in the series. Always made me laugh. Dixie Carter sure had a talent for making these long winded speeches sound spur of the moment and natural.

R289 Here's the other gay episode that featured the Byrds at the end; again with cops, too.

R224, good choice. That scene is fantastic both in terms of writing and performance.

Another great scene is in Freaks and Geeks showing Bill coming home alone and taking care of himself. He’s a poor latchkey kid with a single mom and he’s just a happy kid in his own world. Very sweet and sad scene.

R177 is a triggered moron who needs to jump into the nearest grease fire stat.

Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark owned the Game of Thrones Red Wedding episode with her performance. That scream she does at the end and how she just stands there, totally empty, before her death, stayed with me for days. It's an absolute crime that she didn't receive any awards for that episode.

Rosie always talked about how this till upsets her.

Kudrow in the Palm Springs episode! Brilliant!

The Comeback shill is back!

I'm not so sure I see the brilliance in the Judith Light soap scene; however it was interesting to watch her as a young actress. Because I'm not a soap fan I don't know any background so that's probably affecting my viewing. Judith Light has been amazing in everything she's done. She's so good in Transparent and I thought she was great in the Assassination of Gianni Versace. She's one of my most favorite actresses. She played a conversion therapy camp owner in the low budget film "Save Me" and was the one bright spot in that film.

I remember Newhart being on ER and it was indeed such a moving performance. Another fantastic ER performance was Ray Liotta's portrayal of a dying alcoholic recently released from prison. I saw it as a young kid, probably 5th or 6th grade, and even at that age it was terribly moving.

There are some excellent picks here. Reading through them is like walking down memory lane, but the people posting Supernatural videos are crazy. Those 2 brothers on that show are beyond bad. I don't know how anyone could bear to watch that for an hour.

So interesting about the triggered anti-“Comeback” troll — I guess it doesn’t stand up to acting classics like “Dynasty” and “Supernatural”!

It's quite obvious Miss Lisa Kudrow gave the best performances since the invention of the moving picture camera.

END OF THREAD.

That is the Bai Ling is on the roof episode.

More of a montage of scenes, I guess, but Morgan Freeman near the end of Shawkshank Redemption, when his character has been paroled and it looks like he may end up committing suicide, as another elderly paroled character did earlier in the movie.

[quote]The people posting Supernatural videos are crazy. Those 2 brothers on that show are beyond bad. I don't know how anyone could bear to watch that for an hour.

It isn't "people" R314. It's probably one person posting multiple times.

I don't understand the obsession at all but there are full Supernatural threads on here that are [italic]obviously[/italic] the same one or two people posting multiple times, under different guises, asking questions and answering themselves and, of course, agreeing with themselves. It's truly odd and more than a little mental.

I've been on datalounge for a long, long time, R319, and when you've been around as long as I have you learn to take the good with the bad and just ignore a lot. BUT! BUT! BUT! There are few more irritating and loonie toons than the Jensen Acknles - Supernatural brigade. They talk about how maligned he is as an actor and how he's better than Sean Penn, Bryan Cranston, Daniel Day Lewis or anyone else you can think of. I don't even find him or the other, taller one that good looking. The Supernatural fans are a scourge, plain and simple.

If we are talking Cheers, here is my nomination.

I'm watching one of the Cheers episodes from above. I love how Ted Danson caresses Coach. He's a handsy guy.

Henry Cavill's ass on The Tudor's gave a beautiful performance

Death of Jane Seymour

The Tudors with Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

r294 r318 Those are not TV series.

I know, another soap scene. But this wasn't the usual OTT 80s melodrama.

I knew this girl - small town schemer. There were a few of them. It made the character of Nola really real. And when she gets caught, it's magnificent. The culmination of over a year of story.

These were the scenes that Bette Davis wrote the actress (Lisa Brown) about, saying, "Kid, you got it."

Three parts to the scene where she's confronted.....I linked the last part but see all three if you can.

The criminally-under-appreciated Gerald McRaney on "Longmire" (also criminally-under-appreciated) is superb throughout, but the scene where he learns of his son's death is remarkable. Another standout is his own character's confession and death.

Florence thinks he’s a look-alike hired double, then realizes it’s the real Billy Dee Williams. Apologies, scene at 20:00

You got me to watch both seasons of The Comeback - I'm on the last ep with the Emmys and Mickey in the hospital - and God was this show the deal. Great use of supporting characters and yet Kudrow dominates in every scene.

I couldn't find the clip, but Olivia Colman in BROADCHURCH when she discovers her connection to the killer. Then again, she's brilliant in everything.

I never watched Game of Thrones, but that Red Wedding scene is HILARIOUS!

Jensen's Emmy deserving scene in Supernatural.

Heartbreaking at the end!

[quote]r329 You got me to watch both seasons of The Comeback - I'm on the last ep with the Emmys and Mickey in the hospital - and God was this show the deal. Great use of supporting characters and yet Kudrow dominates in every scene.

It's funny how almost everything her character says, no matter how small or offhand, is practically meme-worthy!

And of course...

Not one scene, but I loved all of the Frasier mistakenly gay episodes, so well done. The ski chalet (Guy is gay), the station manger (I'll learn to love again) and opera guy who think Frasier is gay. Especially the Valentine's episode where Martin pretends to be gay.

I'll add the scene in the bar with Donna and James while Maddy is getting killed on Twin Peaks.

"the single best scene"

And yet the Stans go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on

and on

and on and on

and on

and on and on

^ Also, the focus is meant to be on the acting, per the thread title.

Change your bloody tampon, R337.

OK, pull Lisa Kudrow out of your stinking prolapsed cunt and I'll shove her up my dry old cooter.

maybe another thread discussing or arguing the merits of THE COMEBACK would prevent this one from being hijacked?

Wasn't there a thread a while back about hot guest star actors you see on different shows that aren't stars in the normal sense of the word?

I can't remember the title but some of the clips here reminded me of it. Anyone remember it?

For R335

Kelsey Grammer was great in Boss too (he plays the mayor of Chicago). I can't remember any specific scenes since it was cancelled years ago, but he played that role really well & he was pretty intense. The character was also dealing the onset of Lewy Body Dementia. He sort of had a Tony Soprano vibe with that character. Supposedly it was loosely based on Richard Daley (Chicago's actual mayor) but that's been debated...and Daley never had those kinds of health issues.

I'm not sure what's triggering r337. The fact that so many people have their favorite "Comeback"-Lisa Kudrow scene speaks for how regarded that show is--including for one person here who's only now watching it and loving it. Why complain about something that's genuinely loved by a lot of people? Jeesh, r337--you're the only one with a problem about it. Chill out!

LOL. The Comeback is not loved by a lot of people.

It was a dud that got canceled after just two seasons.

No-one cares about it except a couple of shills here who keep posting about it.

Sorry to break the news to you but The Comeback isn't happening.

Never did and never will.

Consigned to the dust bin of television history.

Folks, let's not jump the shaahk. This has been a great thread, for the most part.

"maybe another thread discussing or arguing the merits of THE COMEBACK would prevent this one from being hijacked?"

Actually, The Comeback was OP's choice. So this thread isn't being hijacked at all. We established the "who" and the show, we're just debating which particular scene/episode.

Am I right?

Peter Mullan in “Mum” - season two, episode 4. I don’t want to give away the plot but he is amazing. Lesley Manville is wonderful too.

It has been many years since I watched it but I found some scenes with Jeanne Tripplehorn on Big Love fantastic. She was tremendously underrated on that show. The entire show never really caught on like The Sopranos, etc..

As for the person who keeps posting Supernatural clips...

Poor, bitter r345, devoid of a sense of humor.

Kim (Rhea Seahorn) lets Howard have it in Better Call Saul.

r345, there are at least 6 people here who have enthusiastically commented about The Comeback.

Jared's Emmy performance in Supernatural

R350, you made my afternoon.

Sally Field basically played the exact same scene when Norma Rae got arrested at the factory, but this scene from ER was pretty great acting.

Dana Delany and Marg Helgenberger finding an unsent letter from Recently passed Cherry White on season 2 of China Beach.

Esther Rolle for Damn Damn Damn!

January Jones in the bank parking lot mad men

I created a thread for The Comeback so the people who simply cannot STFU already about it have 600 beautiful replies to use up to discuss it! Yay!

A good call on Jeanne Tripplehorn in Big Love. I never thought too much of her until that show. It's amazing how the right actor in the right role at the right time can make all the difference. I also thought Chloe Sevingy was brilliant on that show. The whole cast was. Mary Kay Place and Grace Zabriskie stole every damn scene they were in as two very different mother characters.

Tom Welling becomes Superman.

The Battle Of Marton on 'The Vikings'.

The Final Confrontation: Vinnie Terranova and Sonny Steelgrave.

Laura Dern in Enlightened.

Comedy.

[quote]r341 Maybe another thread discussing or arguing the merits of THE COMEBACK would prevent this one from being hijacked?

Thanks, we're fine right here.

Ya can't keep a good COMEBACK down!

R59 Never understood why boardwalk empire wasn't THE biggest thing in TV history. I know that sounds a bit over the top, but the first two seasons were so complex and well acted that I had to watch each episode twice to get the full effect.

Jack Huston was the best, but Steve buscemi, Shea wigham, Gretchen mol, Michael Shannon, Stephen Graham, Michael stuhlbarg (sp?), And Michael k Williams all gave one hundred percent spot on performances.

Weirdest thing is that aside from maybe Michael Shannon, I haven't heard much from any of the rest of them. If there was any love for talent in Hollywood as opposed to whatever else they care about instead, all of these actors would be household names.

Yeah, The Comeback.

A stellar 13 episodes in season 1, a lousy 8 in season 2 and then canned.

Real groundbreaking series there. LOL.

[quote]r366 Never understood why boardwalk empire wasn't THE biggest thing in TV history. I know that sounds a bit over the top, but the first two seasons were so complex and well acted that I had to watch each episode twice to get the full effect.

I liked the first two seasons, as well, but after they fazed out the wife (Kelly Macdonald) it started to all take on a sameness.

[quote]r367 Yeah, The Comeback. A stellar 13 episodes in season 1, a lousy 8 in season 2 and then canned. Real groundbreaking series there. LOL.

Michael Pitt's pouty lips made Boardwalk Empire!

I loved Boardwalk Empire until they killed off Jimmy Darmody.

Michael Pitt's bad behaviour on set killed off Jimmy Darmody.

[quote] Michael Pitt's bad behaviour on set killed off Jimmy Darmody.

Well, they should have just dealt with him and put up with it because it became a lesser show after his character was killed.

Just out of curiosity, R332--and I do mean this seriously--do you truly, honestly believe that JA delivers a great, Emmy worthy scene there or do you just like his looks in that scene? Or perhaps it's a combination of the two? Because I can tell you first hand, as someone routinely called upon to render criticism for a living, JA does absolutely nothing for me there or in any other Supernatural scene. My personal belief is that he is a very marginal actor at best. He can cry on cue but so can I. Even so, if he moves you, if he engenders great joy or some other emotion in you, then that is a measure of success right there.

From the Netherlands here; and not familiar with the specific show R332 but that's a terrible overplayed scene of nothing but crying. Those kinds of overly emotional scenes are the easiest to do. There is nothing Emmy worthy at all there, although the crying man is quote handsome..

Valerie Cherish feels outright crying is overrated, as well:

R375

Jensen should have won Emmy's for his season 4 & 5 work.

Unfortunately the Academy has/had a great bias against Scifi/fantasy/Supernatural genres back then and snubbed most works of that nature. I think Star Trek TNG was the only show to garner one best Series nod.

It's a little better now and Jensen would have won these last two years if it had been season 4 and 5 running.

Jensen season 4 deserving Emmy award winning work

The episode of "Fringe" called "Peter" had some of the best scenes, mostly due to John Noble, who plays his father (Joshua Jackson is Peter). There aren't any clips available & the show is $2.99 an episode now but it was really good. It's too bad they took it off Netflix and it's only for sale now.

This gives a sense of it (this is where he leaves Peter permanently), but it's not as good as the original episode. This is a much later episode.

By r367's calculation, Gunsmoke was one of the very greatest shows ever aired because it ran for 20+ years. And Titanic and Avatar are three of the greatest movies ever made because they're among the most financially successful. And JK Rowling is a better writer than any Nobel Prize winner because she's sold more books. In short, r367 is a moron.

Gay men like the Comeback because they're represented so well by the mincing hairdresser.

r381 speaks like a stupid straight guy who could also be your garden-variety shit stirring asshole, gay or straight. Mickey the hairdresser was very gay and a very sweet character. Also, in the main character of Valerie there was plenty to identify with for gay men.

r366 Stuhlbarg has been in a lot of stuff, including DL's favorite flick, "Call Me By Your Name." He was also in two other Oscar-nominated flicks: "The Post" and "The Shape of Water." And he had a big role in the most recent season of "Fargo."

[quote]r381 Gay men like the Comeback because they're represented so well by the mincing hairdresser.

What's interesting about that actor is he was one of the creator's college drama teachers. He always stayed in the writer's mind, and was located when they began casting.

Can you imagine the executive producer of [italic]Sex and the City[/italic] calling you and saying, "Hey, I remember you from 35 years ago. Do you want to be on my new TV show?"

^Great character and a great story of how this actor was brought into prominence in his last years.

He really was sick and uninsurable for the second season, but the creators loved him and insisted he could do it, and got HBO to hire him.

That's what gave them the idea for the series ending in the hospital.

Which is the greatest ending they could possibly have for that show, r386. The show wasn't necessarily intended to go for a third season. Some guy on this thread keeps attempting to draw parallels that the show, because it wasn't a huge audience favorite, was therefore also a critical failure. Just not true.

It's interesting that it's kind of created a new format...a sitcom (?) that airs for one season every 10 years (?) that could go on forever [bold]: )[/bold]

In this tribute to the Mickey actor after he died, one of the creators discussed if the show will come back again:

[quote]The entire creative team expressed interest when asked about a third potential season. "It's always a possibility," Kudrow said.

[quote]King pointed to the current Peak TV era of more than 400 scripted shows and said he would love to see Valerie on one of "these small shows that you've never heard of," on an obscure cable network. "TV is so desperate now. It finally caught up to Valerie," King said, which elicited laughter and applause from the crowd.

[quote]Added Bucatinsky, "The desire to speculate about where Valerie is at any given moment … no matter what, it's always exciting and it's just a matter of what's the story."

Sally Field is such an exceptional actress, R356 She deserved that Emmy for playing Abby's mom, and Maura Tierney who played Abby was fantastic too.

Count me in as a Comeback shill. I thought Kudrow did some of her very best work on that show.

This, however, is just utterly delusional, R377:

[quote]Jensen should have won Emmy's for his season 4 & 5 work. Unfortunately the Academy has/had a great bias against Scifi/fantasy/Supernatural genres back then and snubbed most works of that nature. It's a little better now and Jensen would have won these last two years if it had been season 4 and 5 running.

My twelve year old does a better job of acting when he claims he's "sick" and wants to stay home from school. I sincerely hope you're trolling; otherwise, you're sadly devoid of any taste or sense.

Supernatural fans are all crazy AF, R389. You can't reason with them. I think watching such a shitty show with such shitty acting for all those years has rotted their brains.

There's a little known, now cancelled show I used to like called [italic]The Comeback.[/italic]

Did anyone else catch it?

No-one caught your shitty little show, Lisa.

Another Jensen Emmy deserving scene.

I'm crying as I type this.

So moving.

A Supernatural Frau?

There has been a lot of good work done in television. But the 'single best scene of acting' is this one.

Obviously.

This thread makes me think how there's so many shows I don't watch, or know nothing about.

I had to pick something on amazon the other night. Everything looked bad in one way or another, so I watched [italic]The Bletchley Circle[/italic] again.

The best unaired TV performance may be Dolly Parton's slowed down Jolene.

The acting (and everything else) in Boardwalk Empire was extraordinary, and I've never quite understood that despite the plaudits when it aired, it hasn't quite achieved the same reverence as that given to The Wire or the Sopranos. I recently rewatched it from start to finish, and it's as glorious and complex and sad as anything else HBO have ever produced.

I'm unsure if 'Mum' has been broadcast in the US, but it's worth checking out - especially the second series. While Lesley Manville and Peter Mullan are effortlessly brilliant, the entire cast is amazing - especially Lisa McGrillis as Kelly. There's a scene in the third episode where Karl Johnson, thinking of his late son, remembers that 'He loved a barbecue.' It's incredibly understated and subtle, and absolutely heartbreaking.

And below is a scene from Six Feet Under. The first time I remembered being absolutely floored by the playing of a scene of television.

[quote]r398 The acting (and everything else) in Boardwalk Empire was extraordinary, and I've never quite understood that despite the plaudits when it aired, it hasn't quite achieved the same reverence as that given to The Wire or the Sopranos. I recently rewatched it from start to finish, and it's as glorious and complex and sad as anything else HBO have ever produced.

The acting's good ... but what's so special about the main character? That's why it didn't really stick with me, and I started speeding thru stuff in the last 2 seasons to Gretchen Mol's scenes. Then when the last few episodes reverted to them (?) as kids I just gave up.

I did like the character with the mask. All his stuff was compelling, like when he went off into the woods by himself and then ended up with the hobos.

Nucky, not so much.

Ruth washing Nate's Body in Six Feet Under.

[quote]The acting (and everything else) in Boardwalk Empire was extraordinary, and I've never quite understood that despite the plaudits when it aired, it hasn't quite achieved the same reverence as that given to The Wire or the Sopranos. I recently rewatched it from start to finish, and it's as glorious and complex and sad as anything else HBO have ever produced.

Boardwalk Empire was extraordinary in many ways but it was difficult to watch. Many of the creators/directors were alumni of The Sopranos and they were mentored by David Chase. Terrence Winter and Tim Van Patten were both key contributors to The Sopranos success. The Sopranos had an amazing performance by Gandolfini to center it ( +Edie Falco) but the show is literally impossible without Gandolfini in it. Boardwalk Empire had Buschemi at the center but he and his character were not the core of the show. If Buschemi quit, the show could have easily continued.

As it was airing, I loved the first 2 seasons, hated the 3rd and almost stopped watching but the very first episode of Season 4 "New York Sour" ( where r59s clip is from) got the show firmly back on track. My friend worked at HBO during that time and told me that many name actors wanted to be on Boardwalk Empire, even for just an episode because it was viewed as such a "classy credit" The creators however (like the creators of MadMen) always opted for the best actor vs the most famous even for the smallest roles and I think the show benefited hugely from having NY theater actors to round out the cast of regulars

I love Frances Conroy. She was one of the best characters on American Horror Story - even when the show's plot was a giant mess, she always delivered. I wouldn't call these "the best scenes of all time" - just another side of her that's very funny / camp.

LOL, r392--the idea that Lisa Kudrow herself bothers to go on Datalounge and post.

First it was supposedly just a couple "stans" posting about The Comeback and now they've morphed int Kudrow herself! As if! LMFAO!

Frances Conroy is transcendent in just about everything I've ever seen her in.

Funny thing though....Did she work as an actress when she was young?

Ive only seen her in roles since she was at least middle aged. Nothing where she'd have been a 20-something.

I would like to talk about...THE COMEBACK

Boardwalk Empire suffered from not having a core. The Wire was about the interconnected bureaucracies, both legal and illegal, that make up a city. Six Feet Under was about life in the face of constant death. Deadwood was about chaos descending into order. The Sopranos was about one man juggling his family and his Family. Boardwalk Empire was about a bunch of different people doing a bunch of different things; all of them interesting, well acted and brilliantly designed, of course. It just lacked a central purpose.

Frances Conroy played a waitress in a brief scene in the DeNiro/Streep romantic drama “Falling In Love”. She says to DeNiro “give me a break” when he asks her to repeat the beer menu.

Just re-watched season one of Happy Valley. Sarah Lancashire is unbelievable. I have a gay man crush on her.

Caitriona Balfe has been consistently amazing in every episode of Outlander. Despite the overwrought melodrama she has to work with.

Speaking of The Path. It reminds me how great Aaron Paul is in .... Everything. Eddie totally made me forget he was ever Pinkman.

I miss Olive Snook.

Once again, we appear to have gone OT - -

Dean forgets who he is. Give this man an Emmy!

Battlestar Galactica was one of the best series on tv....IMO. There are too many best scenes for me but this one in particular made me cry.

Just re-watched the first season of Happy Valley. Their are dozens of times that Sarah Lancashire is mesmorizing, most notably in the last episode of Season 1.

Sorry. "There" not "Their" R415.

No offense, r414, but I absolutely hated that scene. The revelation at the end regarding Starbuck almost ruined the entire series for me.

So, wait a minute. The Supernatural stuff is a joke, right??? OMG the acting on that show, the guy with faked deep voice, is got to be the worst on TV. No way could some ever find that good.

One of several moving scenes in Shameless

Alice Playten and Terry Kiser own this thread.

Another shameless scene

Mickey comes out

Fiona tells off Monica

First 2:30 of this Wonderfalls ep sets up this family dynamic perfectly.

I loved Wonderfalls. So many good scenes there.

Castiel tells Sam & Dean he loves them!

Destiel-Castiel & Dean

The best gay scenes in history!

Does it get any better than this??

The idea that anyone would actually choose to watch Supernatural is sad to me. It's got to be one of the absolute worst pieces of shit on television.

R311, it's that fourth NO that gets me from Barr.

Great stuff. Tom was still a hunk.

R430, I disagree. To each , their own.

Personally, I loved Smallville. and I've posted some of the soap stuff.

to me it's not soap acting; it's just acting.

everyone has their thing; their opinion, what they like what they don't.

Some people love Downton Abbey; some love According to Jim.

I loved Shameless and Boardwalk Empire. Ruth Conroy is probably one of the best television actresses we've ever had and I love her in everything she does, same with Patricia Clarkson.

Sure, R432. Just like some folks like McDonald's and others fine dining. I'm not R430 but I agree with them. Sorry but neither Supernatural nor Smallville have any place on a thread about excellent acting. Sure, I get that different people have different tastes but you're not being realistic.

Jesus, the Spn/Jensen Akles freaks are just too much. That show is awful beyond comprehension. The acting is [bold]terrible[/bold].

[quote]Tony Shaloub has several incredible scenes in s2 of Mrs. Maisel.

Ohmygawd. Well different strokes, I guess. I find Shaloub entirely uncomic and incredibly mannered and predictable on "Maisel". He appears endlessly in scenes that don't move the story and is never funny in the slightest. It made me wonder what anybody sees in him. Go figure.

R380, did you fail that pesky Logic 101? You do realize that deriding a single, short-lived TV show for it lack of viewers or commercial success does not equate to believing that popularity plus longevity automatically equals quality?

Wholeheartedly agree, R435 — I don’t know what the creative team was thinking when they beefed up Shalhoub’s role on Season Two of “Maisel”. His scenes were pointless, boring and ENDLESS. I was much less engaged with Season Two than with Season One, and a big part of that had to do with Shalhoub’s increased role.

[quote]Personally, I loved Smallville. and I've posted some of the soap stuff.

Such discerning taste you have, R432, such discerning taste. You're a veritable Michiko Kakutani, I'm sure.

The Supernatural posts are hysterical. I know the person who runs a charity for one of the actors and even they don't watch the show.

The last scene of the season three finale of White Collar with Neal in the plane. No words spoken, but the emotions that Neal felt showed so clearly.

r436, I think you mean the troll at r367, who's equating The Comeback's short life span to its quality. I wasn't the one deriding The Comeback. Far from it.

R439 what do they think of the actor?

Jack dies on Supernatural.

I felt the same sense of distraught during this scene when I learn Lady Diana had died!

To me, this is one of the funniest scenes on tv, the finale in Season 1, Silicon Valley. Zach Woods as Jared Dunn, sleep-deprived and stressed tries to help his team win Tech Crunch. It's a crime that Woods has never gotten nominated.

The memorable dick-jerk algorithm scene in Silicon Valley.

[quote]r153 Nobody watches The Comeback nor cares. Nobody give a flying fuck about Lisa Kudrow's inadequate acting.

Aden Young as Daniel - Rectify masturbation scene season 1 episode 2 Sexual Peeling

Sorry - still haven’t seen much that outdoes The Comeback. Maybe Sopranos or Breaking Bad.

No one?

Can't beat this. This scene is powerfully executed by HBO. It's all leading up this last season we're in now. The Stark daughters v Cersei.

THE best scene ever to grace the small screen from Supernatural

R447 I LOVED Rectify. He was amazing in it. So underrated. A lot if the same writers/producers worked on The Path which is probably why I loved that show too.

This show is just so good! Barry is just great acting and great writing with no bullshit.

All this Supernatural crap is a joke, isn't it? No one, not even someone on datalounge has taste that bad.

Yes, it's a joke, R454.

This Thread Is Now Closed:

We have all agreed that THE COMEBACK has swept up all the votes.

The Skin of Our Teeth - live in the 1950s

A confusing Broadway show even more confused on TV. Even Helen Hayes, George Abbott and Mary Martin did not understand the plot, but soldier on nevertheless.

[quote] r457Even Helen Hayes, George Abbott and Mary Martin did not understand the plot, but soldier on nevertheless.

Well, in a way, that's kind of the theme of the play. So, maybe that's fine.

PS: Are you in the correct thread?

Not so fast R456

We tried The Comeback but alas....

R112 One of my favorites. Catherine O'Hara is hysterically funny on Schitt's Creek. Hell, it's worth watching just for her ridiculous outfits.

Whenever Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson had scenes together in True Detective.

The 6 minutes tracking scene in True Detective, done with one camera, no edits and no cuts, multiple actors in various actions scenes all perfectly choreographed. Best scene by a director in tv but McConaughey pulls it off too.

Heartbreakingly real.

The greatest scene of the greatest show ever. This is an awful version of a great scene.

Frasier finds out his hot boss is interested in someone else and it's not Daphne.

R366, Jack Huston is playing Bobby Kennedy in Scorsese’s upcoming film The Irishman but I think it’s just one scene.

I loved the scene in Succession’s Thanksgiving Day episode where Logan and Ewan Roy had it out about serving in Vietnam. James Cromwell and Brian Cox nailed it.

I can't find a link to the particular scene, but beginning at 44 minutes in the "Clyde Buckman's Final Repose" episode of the X-Files is one of the best scenes in all media ever. Scully is bed with Clyde Buckman crying, just like he said.

This is one of my favorite recent ones--from the first season of "The Crown." Elizabeth comes home from Africa in 1953 for the first time as queen after her father has died while she was away, and has to meet her shattered mother and sister, and then sees her grandmother Queen Mary--in extremely heavy Edwardian mourning--unexpectedly kneel to her, to signal she is the queen. I am not sure Eileen Atkins was in pain doing this, but even behind her heavy veil you can see that kneeling is causing her character great physical pain--but she absolutely must do it anyway. And Claire Foy's face is extraordinary--in just a few seconds she expresses multiple emotions (shock, fear, admiration, and finally steely resignation).

Christina Hendricks had some very moving scenes as Joan on "Mad Men", particularly when she was raped by Greg. She always played the character as efficient and tough as nails, but the vulnerabity was always there, just beneath the surface, and Christina did that all with her eyes. It was all non-verbal.

The greatest wordless comic performance I think I've ever seen on TV is from the MTM Show episode "Sue Ann's Sister." In this scene, Mary Richards returning to get her forgotten purse in Sue Ann Nivens's bedroom, and she surreptitiously tries out Sue Ann's heart-shaped bed (which has a mirrored ceiling and vibrates and plays Tchaikovsky if you hit a switch). Try 24:18 to the very end.

MTM was really an amazing actor.

Oops--wrong scene. Here's what I meant to post.

R251 and many others: do you ever get out of bed and do something other than watch tv. Gosh no wonder there are so many snowflakes on here. You all want free stuff so you can watch lousy tv. I proudly say I have never even heard of most of these shows, Mad men and breaking Bad and Veep are among the worst series ever. Laurie Metcalfe is a hack....zzzzz.

Kudrow was great in season one. Esther, Bernadette and "Willona" all had some very strong acting. "Phyllis" and "Rhoda" too on MTM. Strong acting on SIX FEET UNDER, remember Nate's girl friend when he was dying? Also very good. Angela Bassett and the other woman on 911 excellent.

r473 has been TRIGGERED!

r473 manages to be both uninformed and yet opinionated on the very things they know nothing about. You couldn't actually watch VEEP and say it's lousy.

Veep is more great writing. Julia is great - but the writing is what makes that show. Brilliant and insightful. One f the only good shows left on HBO - until it disappears next year.

It disappears this year, R476.

The underrated Rome.

David Hyde Pierce in the "Ham Radio" episode of Frasier.

Not the best clip from YouTube.

I found EVERY scene of Emma Thompson in WIT to be "the best scene of acting"...

Does a TV movie count?

Beyond that, Carmela and Tony (Gandolfini and Falco) in the Whitecaps episode of The Sopranos...

The two actors who played Adriana and Christopher in Long Term Parking, more than earned their Emmys in those final scenes...

Kudrow- The scoliosis scene, the "auditioning to be herself "scene in episode one, season 2.. the Palm Springs scene- I don't care who bitches. And the scene with Mickey at the limo before the Emmys- slapstick -BRUTAL- comedy to moving drama? Fuck the haters.

I found Lily Taylor PITCH PERFECT as a supremely unlikeable character on SFU...

Any scene with Oscar winner Olivia Colman on Fleabag. The EPITOME of evil. I have never seen a character like that on a series. Perfection.

Lisa Kudrow is a treasure

R480, you either have a great taste or you are one of the few DLers who understand acting. In any case, great list.

R482. I am honored. And I made that list under the influence of 3 Corona Lights!!!!

So let me ruin it!

January Jones talking with Glenn through the car window on Mad Men. Not only beautifully shot, but PERFECT. Yes. January nailed it.

Of course, John Hamm in that alcoholic withdrawals scene on Mad Men, about unwrapping a Hershey Bar "with great ceremony"..

Rachel Griffiths in that Maggie delivering the casserole scene after Nate's death on SFU.... In fact, Rachel Griffiths in that entire 5th season of SFU- earthy, brilliant... That brilliant "A Coat Of White Primer" wedding episode.. And I have not rewatched SFU in a long time, I recall her later in the season, clearly pregnant, walking down a street in Santa Monica after buying 2 maternity blouses-- on her own.. and she was going to have that baby, on her own... I truly loved her performance in that final season. And the character,

And by the way, Lisa Kudrow can act with her EYES, it's pretty fucking amazing to watch. The Comeback is a masterclass of acting in my opinion.

I love Kudrow’s moment in The Comeback when she makes a remark to a make-up lady about being Japanese and the lady coolly responds “I’m not Japanese.” Then stops dabbing her with pancake make-up and says “You’re fine.” And Kudrow says in a tiny voice “Yeah, I’m fine.”

R253--This scene too

Rome was superb ! One of the very few shows I actually bought the dvd for! Polly Walker was divine.

R46 I was going to post about the very same scene after scrolling through all the other (highly enjoyable!) others. I've seen that episode countless times and the performances are wonderful in that last scene.

^^^other posts

The single best scene of acting on a tv series?

Vitameatavegamin. Everything else has to fight for 2nd place. That one has the best writing, the best actress for the scene, and the best performance.

[quote]r480 Re: Kudrow- The scoliosis scene, the "auditioning to be herself "scene in episode one, season 2.. the Palm Springs scene- I don't care who bitches. And the scene with Mickey at the limo before the Emmys- slapstick -BRUTAL- comedy to moving drama? Fuck the haters.

[bold]#iStandWithYou[/bold]

There is only ONE single person in the entire world who does not revere Kudrow on THE COMEBACK - - we have [italic]tried[/italic] to block them from this thread, but they are damn persistent.

Everyone knows THE COMEBACK is the greatest.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus might actually be as good as Lisa Kudrow in this scene.

Much of this scene is how I feel all day at work, right down to "Mr. Burton, I am so sorry. We're having a complicated day here"

This scene gives Sopranos' Whitecaps episode a run for its money.

Not anything with any members of Friends in it......GET REAL

This.

Aha - Take On Me has never been better lol

Get real, r493? Have you even watched The Comeback? Otherwise, you'd realize one show doesn't define an actor's full talents. Kudrow has proved that over and over again.

I agree w R496. Ms Kudrow is a well rounded actor. The Comeback is legendary. Well ahead of its peers. She's proven herself... A friend and an ally to us.

The Academy is giving Lisa Kudrow a special Oscar for her work in The Comeback. Unprecedented, but her acting in season two is that good.

My scene in the Golden Girls, where I whirlybird and jackhammer myself into a Charley Horse, is epic.

R116- Genie Francis is TERRIBLE (per that clip!).

She's making me appreciate the actresses on Y&R (when I watched it 25+ years ago, that is).

Sad. But the acting is crisp and spot on

"Do you have any idea what's like spending day after day with someone who's constantly complaining? "

The confessional scene in Fleabag. Andrew Scott.... wow.

I'm generally no Maggie Smith fan, but she really delivers the good in Alan Bennett's "Bed Among the Lentils" from his "Talking Heads" series. This is how great she can be when she tries.

Still, she's no Valerie Cherish.

[bold]THREAD CLOSED!

506 posts, and I didn't see one of the most intense scenes I remember: the death of the woman in childbirth in ER. Love's Labor Lost was the episode title.

Anthony Edwards, but everyone was amazing.

Looks like I better watch the comeback

The Comeback was the greatest comedy

Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Body. When Buffy discovers her mother

Meant to post this link instead. It's longer with a better opening scene and is higher quality.

Julia Louis Dreyfus losing her temper on Veep

R8 You’ve gotta be fucking kidding. Pure soap opera tics.

Don't know if anyone has posted this yet (I'm not scrolling through 500 replies). I call it Will & Grace & The Baby. The best sitcoms combine comedy with drama.

Peter Mullan is so sexy in Mum.

Alison Wright was just about the best thing on "The Americans" and was nominated for an Emmy for her performance.

She had so many truly amazing moments in this series, but this one - where she finds out she must flee America for Russia - is the most heartbreaking. She has only a few lines in this scene, but she masterfully registers all the pain, fear, and anguish on her face.

"I'll be alone. Just the way it was before I met you."

R330, here's the link

BIGGEST SPOILER if you haven't watched Broadchurch.

THE GOOD WIFE, when Will finds out Alicia is leaving his law firm, and is taking some of his clients with her.

Kids can be great

I always thought John Amos and John Spencer were at the absolute top of their games here.

The finale of Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale. 4 minutes and 30 seconds that devastes you.

Probably the best acting I ever saw on TV was Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Barbie Batchelor in "The Jewel in the Crown." The scene where she goes down on her knees before Judy Parfitt's Mildred Layton to pray (and then Mildred throws water in her face) will always stay with me.

I never watched that, R16. Tell me Bree got her comeuppance?

when McKinsey's Alexandra took down Roger at the Country Club on July 4, 1991.

R4 that’s very good for a soap. That era of GH may have been the last time a soap was consistently good.

R515 Martha!!!! I don’t even think she was intended to be a long term character but they just kept bringing her back because she was so good and such a fan favorite. I felt so bad for her :(

R78, it's all opinion.

One person's over the top hammy performance is another's Olivier or Streep.

Speaking of Streep, didn't Katharine Hepburn find her to be overrated and that she could always 'see' the acting.

Personally, I think the best performances have come from daytime greats -- Hubbard, Scott Bryce, Zimmer, Grant Aleksander, Maureen Garrett, Geary, Genie Francis, Jane Elliot.

Here's another great performance. Flannery on BB admits she faked her heart attack so that Ridge would dump Brooke and go back to Taylor.

You really believed that this was a woman who had her family torn apart by a slut from the valley.