50. THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW
“Flip” 5/31/1998
A robed David Duchovny flashed his comedic skills—and a basic instinct for Larry’s bod.

49. DEXTER
“The British Invasion” 12/16/2007
Poor annoying Lila. May she rest in pieces.

48. MOONLIGHTING
“Atomic Shakespeare” 11/25/1986
Fantasy sequences usually leave us craving reality, but this “Taming of the Shrew” spoof made us regret dozing through Shakespeare 101.

47. CSI
“Grave Danger” 5/19/2005
First, George Eads got the good news: He was going to be the centerpiece of CSI’s 2005 season finale, to be directed by Quentin Tarantino. Then, the bad news: His character, Nick, was going to be buried alive and covered by fire ants. When it came time for Nick to tape-record his farewells, Tarantino advised Eads to “imagine your mom’s watching you die.” As the tears started, Eads recalls, “I heard Quentin quietly singing ‘Hush little baby, don’t you cry’ right by my head. After that, all the words just flowed out of me.” And it’s safe to say audiences dug the episode. “People would come up to me and say, ‘Hey! You’re the dude from the coffin!’” explains Eads. “I know there’s no dipstick to measure how famous you are but after ‘Grave Danger,’ I was recognized almost everywhere.”

46. ELLEN
“The Puppy Episode” 4/30/1997
Ellen came out. And yep, she was funny.

45. GENERAL HOSPITAL
"Luke & Laura's Wedding" 11/16/1981
The nuptials of Lucas Lorenzo Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Webber Baldwin (Genie Francis) drew 30 million viewers and a 52 share of the audience—a daytime record that stands today. “It’s astounding that the wedding continues to garner so much interest—it certainly impacted my life in a big way,” says Geary, who’s still with the soap 27 years later (Francis does sporadic guest stints). “For all its idyllic romance, the relationship of Luke and Laura was hot and complicated and messy—let’s not forget the whole thing started with a rape,” Geary says. “Back then we really challenged the audience. Nowadays we’re too concerned with keeping people comfortable.”

44. MY SO-CALLED LIFE
“Self-Esteem” 11/17/1994
Like you didn’t totally swoon over Jared Leto.

43. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
“Blood on the Scales” 2/6/2009
Mutiny on the Galactica leads to one frakking out-of-this world showdown.

42. EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND
“Marie’s Sculpture” 10/22/2001
We don’t know art, but we know what we like: this bawdy screamer about a suggestive statue.

41. FREAKS & GEEKS
"Carded and Discarded" 1/10/2000
Hollywood owes a huge debt to these freaks. Judd Apatow’s ridiculously underrated comedy/drama about ’80s teens met a too-early demise, but its talent eventually graduated to the big screen. Without Freaks and Geeks, there’d be no 40-year-old virgins, no stoners knocking up brainier girlfriends, no Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jason Segel or Linda Cardellini. At its best, F&G showed youth culture as it really was (and is), and no episode did that better than “Carded and Discarded,” in which the freaks embark on a quest to buy fake IDs. “The show captured how uncomfortable it is to be in your own skin as a teenager,” remembers Cardellini, who played confused yet soulful Lindsay. “It was a quirky, nostalgic, yet somehow realistic look at how awful high school can feel.”

The Paley Center for Media in Los Angeles is hosting screenings of select episodes of TV Guide Magazine's Top 100 Episodes! For more information, go to paleycenter.org/visit-daily-schedule/