Nine Monumental TV Episodes That Changed TV Forever
Television has been full of memorable moments over the years, some more so than others.
Yet, there's a difference between just memorable and monumental.
The nine television episodes below made history in various ways and, in some cases, permanently changed the TV landscape.
All in the Family Season 2 Episode 21: Sammy's Visit (February 19, 1972)
The late writer and producer Norman Lear, who passed away in 2023, created several beloved classic sitcoms that pushed the boundaries of American television at the time.
None more so than All in the Family (1971-1979), a show about a bigoted working-class man and his struggles with family and society during the changing 1970s.
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The show covered many exciting and often controversial topics over its nine seasons.
From draft dodging to sexual assault, the show never avoided complex subjects of the time.
One of the most difficult and often tackled by the cast was racism.
The season 2 episode Sammy's Visit addressed racism in a way that hadn't been presented before.
Legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. guest starred as himself on the episode, as he hitched a ride in a cab driven by Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor).
After leaving his briefcase in the taxi, Sammy visited the Bunker home to pick it up.
When he arrived, the conversation between the two was one of the most uncomfortable chats ever televised, both at that point and arguably since.
Still, it got many, albeit uncomfortable, laughs from audiences.
The most memorable moment was when Sammy kissed Archie on the cheek, causing Archie's eyes to bug out of his head.
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Episode 195 (May 9, 1969) and Episode 1663 (February 24, 1993)
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968-2001) was one of the most beloved American children's shows ever produced. Children still enjoy its episodes alongside more modern shows like Bluey.
The late Fred Rogers (1928-2003) was a kind-hearted visionary who taught us all a lot about life.
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From how to tie our shoes to how crayons are made, he knew kids absorbed knowledge like sponges and wanted to give us as much to absorb as possible, no matter how young we were.
Much like All in the Family, Mister Rogers' Neighborhood addressed racism in a landmark episode.
The difference is that Fred Rogers did it earlier and in a much more sweet and kind way.
In 1969, racial tensions were high, and one of the significant issues of the day had to do with public swimming pools.
Many people thought African Americans and Caucasians should not be allowed to use the same public swimming facilities, which Fred thought was absurd.
He had already hired African American actor Francois Clemmons to play the ongoing role of a police officer on his show, a role Clemmons wasn't sure about at the time but eventually embraced.
In the landmark episode aired on May 9, 1969, he soaked his feet in a child's wading pool and invited Officer Clemmons to join him, even offering to share his towel.
The moment had a vast impact, and the two wholesome characters even reenacted the scene on Clemmons' final episode in 1993.
Both scenes were later featured in the film Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018).
Star Trek Season 3 Episode 10: Plato's Stepchildren (November 22, 1968)
The original Star Trek series was groundbreaking in many ways.
The late Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) created the series to highlight space exploration and use different alien cultures to emphasize celebrating our differences.
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Gene wanted everyone to be treated as equals and tried to teach us all to celebrate our uniqueness.
In the early days of Star Trek, he was especially keen to improve the positions of women and African Americans.
That is why he hired the late Nichelle Nichols (1932-2022) to play Lieutenant Nyota Uhura.
Nichelle as Uhura and William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk made Season 3 Episode 10 historic.
They did so by kissing each other in an early display of interracial kissing on television.
Some think of that kiss as the first on American TV, which it wasn't.
Star Trek featured a kiss between Shatner and a Eurasian actor named Barbara Luna almost a year earlier.
Shows like I Love Lucy, I Spy, Sea Hunt, and Adventures in Paradise also featured similar kisses, but mostly with Asian or Hispanic actors opposite Caucasians.
The kiss between Kirk and Uhura was epic, like these best first kisses of all time, because it was one of the first kisses between a Caucasian and an African American on U.S. television.
Ellen Season 4 Episodes 22 and 23: The Puppy Episode (April 30, 1997)
Nowadays, it isn't easy to imagine American culture without Ellen DeGeneres.
Her talk show aired from 2003 to 2022, and the Finding Nemo and Finding Dory voice actor reminded us to be kind daily on each episode.
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Although rumors swirled towards the end of its run that Ellen was not always kind to her talk show's staff or guests, her impact is undeniable.
She changed our culture forever by being unafraid to be who she was, which started long before the talk show existed.
Before that, she played Ellen Morgan on the sitcom Ellen, which would become the platform for a significant shift in American television culture and, by extension, American culture.
The date was April 30, 1997, and the places were living rooms nationwide.
Everyone watched with bated breath because by then, those of us who were around back then already knew what was about to happen.
Despite the title "The Puppy Episode" being used as a smokescreen, information had leaked out that Ellen Degeneres herself was gay.
It had also leaked out that her character, Ellen Morgan, was going to confess to being gay on the sitcom.
For those who were LGBTQIA+ back when the commonly used acronym wasn't nearly as long, it was a huge moment.
There was electricity in the air when Ellen iconically leaned over that airport microphone and told Susan (and the entire airport) that she was gay, paving the way for these other gay female characters to later grace our TV screens.
Dawson's Creek Season 3 Episode 23: True Love (May 24, 2000)
Yet another show that never avoided sensitive subjects was Dawson's Creek.
Racism, religious conflicts, addiction, marital issues, and death were just some of the many essential topics the show covered.
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They all swirled around a core group of teens growing up in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts.
The show, filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, aired from 1998 to 2003, when views on sexuality began shifting.
As mentioned above, many of those changes were focused on same-sex couples and were heavily influenced by Ellen.
Show creator Kevin Williamson wanted to take a crack at portraying his sexuality on TV, having come out to his friends and family right around the time he was initially creating the series.
For that, he cast actor Kerr Smith as football player and all-around nice guy Jack McPhee.
The character struggled mightily with his sexuality in some of his earliest appearances, as he finally accepted that he was gay.
In one of Jack's most important story arcs, he meets Ethan (Adam Kaufman), who is more secure about his sexuality.
Ethan doesn't think Jack is ready to embrace his sexuality fully and leaves, but Jack later tracks him down and proves he can kiss Ethan.
That kiss was not the first one between two males on North American TV, but it is widely considered the first passionate one and ranks right up there with these other dramatic kisses.
Maude Season 1 Episodes 9 and 10: Maude's Dilemma (November 14 and November 21, 1972)
If you ask a Millennial about Maude, they might give you a confused deer-in-headlights look, which is unfortunate.
The late Bea Arthur (1922-2009) brought the character to life on the sitcom of the same name, which ran from 1972 to 1978.
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Like All in the Family, it was created by visionary Norman Lear and was, in fact, a spinoff of that show.
It revolved around Maude, Edith Bunker's cousin, an independent, liberal-minded woman in her forties who lived in New York.
Maude had many adventures as a liberal-minded free thinker, including running for office.
The show had strange and silly moments, such as Maude meeting John Wayne, but it also spent time focusing on some seriously weighty subjects.
Topics ranging from hysterectomies to declaring bankruptcy were major plot points over its six-season run.
Yet, it was an early two-parter from season one that had the most long-term impact on American culture.
The episode, Maude's Dilemma, addressed deciding whether to have an abortion, a subject rarely discussed at that time, especially on television.
Maude didn't avoid the topic of pregnancy like these shows that tried to hide actor pregnancies, and it wasn't afraid to address the tricky subject of pregnancy termination either.
Instead, it was like a breath of fresh air that helped open people up to dialogs about abortion in the years that followed.
The King of Queens Season 3 Episodes 24 and 25: Pregnant Pause (May 21, 2001)
In the same vein of dealing with complex pregnancy-related topics was the subject of miscarriage.
Several shows have addressed it over the years, before and after The King of Queens.
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A notable early example was Sally Struthers' character, Gloria, experiencing a miscarriage on All in the Family back in 1974.
Many people also point to the episode of Sex and the City from 2003 in which Charlotte (Kristin Davis) suffers a miscarriage as particularly poignant.
Yet, The King of Queens Season 3 Episodes 24 and 25: Pregnant Pause is considered one of the most influential episodes about the topic.
The two-part finale of the third season of King of Queens found Doug and Carrie Heffernan (Kevin James and Leah Remini) expecting, but not for long.
As the couple struggled to learn and deal with the financial pressures of being soon-to-be parents, the audience got heavily invested in the situation.
Audiences and critics alike praised the two-parter for balancing humor and drama well.
It was also highly praised for its realism and sensitivity in handling a challenging topic.
The performances of James and Remini opened the doors for more realistic and poignant portrayals of miscarriages on TV, such as on the series The Good Doctor, which ended its seven-season run in 2024.
Friends Season 9 Episode 21: The One With the Fertility Test (May 1, 2003)
The sitcom Friends (1994-2004) followed a tight-knit group of young adult friends as they navigated life's ups and downs together.
As one of the most relatable series ever made, it's no wonder it has stayed at least partially relevant even up to the present day.
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The show has taken some criticism over the years for various issues, including the all-Caucasian main cast.
Some issues it has touched upon also haven't aged well, such as its dated approach to same-sex relationships or its various instances of fat shaming.
Despite those problems, the series is a favorite of many people and was groundbreaking in several ways.
Season 9 Episode 21: The One With the Fertility Test was one Friends episode that changed the television landscape.
The episode involved married couple Chandler (the late Matthew Perry) and Monica (Courteney Cox) finding out they both had fertility problems.
Their combined conception issues made the chances of them having a child naturally incredibly low, and the situation also made the episode one of the saddest in Friends' history.
Monica and Chandler couldn't initially start a TV family, but they persevered and found another way to have children, showing the issue could be overcome.
Although the episode took a lot of heat for downplaying fertility issues quite a bit and making the struggle look more straightforward than it is for most couples, it still helped many couples feel seen.
Although the situation may have been downplayed, particularly in later episodes, it still covered a subject not usually addressed on TV at the time, helping other shows that came later do it better.
Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 9: The Rains of Castamere, AKA The Red Wedding (June 2, 2013)
When the series Game of Thrones (2011-2019), based on novels by George R.R. Martin, premiered, it took the television world by storm.
Millions of viewers got hooked on the show, making it an immediate and permanent cultural touchstone.
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People from all backgrounds can quote lines from the show and discuss its plot points at length.
Everyone obsessed over its epic scale, complex characters, and realistic storytelling.
Game of Thrones Season 3 Episode 9, featuring the infamous Red Wedding, had all that and another feature that made everyone obsess over the series: unpredictability.
The emotional impact of the episode cannot be understated.
Viewers got invested in the Stark family for three seasons only to watch in horror as it was devastated.
The shock of the plot twists and multiple character deaths in the episode was palpable.
We all felt for the characters, especially Catelyn Stark (Michelle Fairley).
The episode completely changed the show's trajectory, shifting Westeros's power balance.
It also shifted expectations regarding how detailed and nuanced a television show can get.
What did you think of our monumental TV episode picks?
We're sure we missed quite a few great ones.
After all, there is nearly a century of TV history to cover.
Let us know in the comments below if you have other favorite monumental TV moments.
We'd love to discuss them with you!