The thing that has always distinguished TV storytelling from its big-screen counterpart is the existence of individual episodes. They consume our series — even the ones that they binge — in distinct chunks, and the medium is at its best when it embraces this.
Inside every great show is a 22- to 60-minute story that stays with you forever. For this Rolling Stone list of The 100 Greatest Episodes of all Time, they looked at both the peak installments of classic series, as well as examples of lesser shows that managed to briefly punch way above their weight class.
They have episodes from the 1950s all the way through this year. They stuck with narrative dramas and comedies only — so, no news, no reality TV, no sketch comedy, talk shows, etc. In a few cases, there are two-part episodes, but they mostly picked solo entries. And while it's largely made up of American shows (as watched by their American staff), a handful of international entries made the final cut.
