So much time, effort, and energy goes into creating a television show, either for broadcast networks or streaming services, that you can't imagine any show is trying to be bad on purpose. It just means not every episode will be a slam dunk, "best episode ever," and that's fine. You can't be perfect all the time, right?
Then shows like these come along. Shows that, for a variety of reasons, were able to hit that, "Every episode is perfect" threshold, and might be worth your time checking out.
Reddit user, philo_fellow, wanted to know what TV show has a pristine record when they asked:
"Which TV show has never had a bad episode?"
Just because a show is animated doesn't diminish its quality. Some people get it in their minds that cartoons are "lesser" entertainment, when really just as much care and passion to a story goes into developing an animated show as a live-action one. Look to these for proper examples to check out.
Grappling Hook!
"Gravity Falls. I love to show people the first episode and then, after they tell me they enjoyed it, say 'good, because that's by far the worst episode of the show.'"
Notmiefault
"I love it when writers know their story, tell it in an enjoyable way, and go out on a high note."
Byizo
We Are But Wayward Leaves
"Over the Garden Wall"
shart_of_the_ocean
"Rewatch it every year in October. It is just so damn perfect. The aesthetic of every episode, some being more cozy, others closer to horror and some just surreal, the way the story unfolds and the questions it leaves. That single frame you get of the Beast right at the end being just long enough to enhance both the horror and the mystery, I love that show."
Isaac_Chade
A Show That Blew The Internet Away
"Arcane. Every episode has been the bomb. Hope they do the same in season 2."
"Edit. Since people were asking if you need to have [League of Legends] knowledge to enjoy it... I say it's better if you are clueless about LoL. Players that know the lore are basically spoiled by what they know."
lastroids
"Zero interest in LoL, but this show came out of nowhere for me and I f-cking love it!"
HuskyLuke
Fans Are STILL Clamoring For A Streaming Release
"Spectacular Spider-Man. So disappointed when it got canceled"
AppleJuiceKoala
Baby, You Can Chive My Car...Burger
"Bob’s Burgers."
"I finally got into it early in the year. Yes, I know I’m late to the party. I’ve been through all the episodes about 10 times now and I’m still catching stuff I missed. It’s got a great cast of characters and the personalities are amazing."
artie_pdx
"I love Bob’s Burgers. It has a human touch that most other comedies just don’t. The way the characters interact just feel more human than most comedies, especially animated."
"I’ll concede it isn’t necessarily the strongest laugh-out-loud comedy out there, but it has a charm to it that very few other shows could ever replicate."
thomthehipposlayer
It helps when there's no script, when it's authentic, real, captivating people just being themselves, showing you the wonders of the world or how maybe every mistake we make is just a happy accident.
Watch In HD If You Can
"Planet Earth"
ABN171214
"And Blue Planet. Inspired me to become a Marine Biologist"
PurpleSilkstorm
When You Have To Stick Around To See How It Works
"How it’s Made"
porta-potty-bus
"Lol. Watching this on day time tv while sick from school or in hospital."
WorldlyAssumption260
"Watching it in waiting rooms was always tough. You get called in when they are like halfway through something and you're just like "'ell, I guess I will never know how they finish making watch bands now.'"
Tharkun
Advancing The Medium
"Jacob Bronowski - The Ascent of Man - BBC. 1973."
"13 episodes. Filmed in 27 countries. Defined Epic Documentary format. Nailed the mix of advancements in arts, culture, science and sentiment"
SeachingBadge
The Internet's Guide To Flavortown!
"Diners Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri. That man can eat"
Worried-Economics-79
It's The Hair, Right? Or The Voice?
"The Joy of Painting (which I knew as the Bob Ross Show)"
WildTransportation25
"One of my favorite moments of the internet was when someone did a Twitch stream of nothing but back to back Joy of Painting episodes. The chat was all roleplaying like it was live."
"Bob would put a black blob in the middle of the painting. "Oh my god, he ruined it!"
"Then he'd take his knife with some white, and poof, a mountain would appear. "SAVED!"
Darsint
*lifts finger *puts finger back down
"Fireplace for Your Home. Every episode is exactly what it says it is."
Forbidden_Burrito
Whatever the reason, the show just works. The casting, the writing, the directing, the premise of the show itself, and that leads to marvelous entertainment like these ones.
Helps To Be Short
"Chernobyl - but it's only like 5 episodes in total so yeah..."
kirkhammett420
"It was going to be six episodes. That was the original deal. The writer, Craig Maizin, decided to combine two episodes to better serve the story/pace (I forget his exact reason). He talked about it in an episode of Scriptnotes and joked about how HBO was like, uhh yeah sure you know we pay you per episode? Hehe. Obviously everyone involved won, not least of all the audience."
Rizo1981
Spielberg Loves His WWII Stories
"Band of brothers"
WolfableGuy789
"Without a doubt, one of my favorite series of all time. Acting is great, storytelling is superb. Man, I'm gonna have to rewatch this now"
Nasorean
"Dude I remember thinking it was such a wild thing for a show to be like a movie, but take place over multiple episodes. Now it's the norm to have a show like that. Band of Brothers was the first one I ever heard about like that when I was in middle school."
nastyn8k
Slow, But Building To Something
"The Expanse."
guardwallon
"Great, great show. Season one was a bit slow for me, but once it kicked in and I knew what was going on, it crushed it."
klcrouch
"World building specially when SciFi audiences are so used to familiar tropes like artificial gravity etc, takes time. Knowing that, it was great for me even at the beginning."
guardwallon
Longer Than The War
"MASH"
"I never saw a BAD episode, but there are some that I would consider a little slow. It’s amazing the quality it had especially when you consider how long it ran"
fockingclassy
Bat!
"[What We Do in the Shadows.]"
"Every episode had me laughing."
august_skies
"Jackie Daytona a normal human bartender!"
hamperson
Everything is Fine
"I feel like this could be controversial or nobody will care, but The Good Place. One of the best casts, best writing, and a really interesting premise. Forever my favourite show."
wreckedangl
"It’s amazing. I especially love what they did at the end of the series. They manage to balance comedy with existential questions in an interesting and beautiful way. I want to watch it again."
greenwitchery
There's lots of good TV out there. Find something you like and stick to it. You might be surprised where the show's creators are trying to take you.
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