BoD: Top eps from shows outside the top 50

Tomorrow we bring you our top 50 television programs of the decade, but there are obviously a number of good ones that didn’t quite make the list for various reasons. So here are 20 programs you won’t find on our list tomorrow and just to spice it up, we’ve included the best episode of each. Hopefully this list gives you an indication of what did make our top 50 – and maybe even angers you a little bit.

“Heroes,” “Company Man” – Though it was already a phenomenon by this effort aired near the end of season one, this “Lost”-riffing HRG-flashback episode proved that “Heroes” could deliver more than just snazzy marketing lines. It’s too bad that every episode after this one proved the exact opposite.

“Sex and The City,” “Ex and the City” – Even as HBO program fell into the creative depths of hell in later seasons, “Sex” was always about two things: Carrie’s relationship with the girls and her relationship with Mr. Big. At the heart of the season two finale was the latter where Carrie realized that Big would never “get it” thanks to the Barbara Streisand flick “The Way We Were.”

“Damages,” “There Is No We Anymore” – The penultimate episode of “Damages” first season featured all the best parts of the series: timeline screwiness, thrilling twists and powerhouse performers.

“Big Brother,” “Season 11, Episode 18” – Summer’s soapy and addictive reality program isn’t as respected as its other CBS brethren, but this one – featuring the expulsion of Chima, one of the worst human beings to participate on a reality show outside of MTV and Vh1 – proved that watching talentless people scheme against one another is too great to pass up.

“Smallville,” “Covenant” – Sure, it’s been uneven and ridiculously disappointing at points, but when “Smallville” is good, it’s damn good. At the height of its quality all the way back in season three, this episode capped off the previous 21 dark and depressing hours of analysis into the minds of Lex Luthor and Clark Kent in thrilling fashion.

“Psych,” “An Evening With Mr. Yang” – USA’s underrated procedural comedy delivers goofy, pop-culture-infused laugh week-in and week-out, but the season three finale took a much darker direction, proving that “Psych” could be entertaining no matter what.

“Fringe,” “There’s More Than One of Everything” – While “Fringe” didn’t quite live up to expectations during season one, the final round of episodes showed that it was more than just an “X-Files” rip-off. The best of those was the finale, which took a number of ballsy risks that have sadly yet to pay off in season two.

“Desperate Housewives,” “Pilot” – “Housewives” first hour filled us with hopes that the show would be able to straddle the fine line between a smart parody of soaps and the genre’s over-the-top conventions – while being generally awesome. Sadly it spiraled out of control so quickly that only a five-year time jump in season five could make things interesting again.

“Entourage,” “Sorry, Ari” – Remember when we thought “Entourage” was good and Jeremy Piven’s Ari wasn’t tired? Though it’s devolved into a pointless and out-of-touch 24 minutes, back in season three, Vince’s “struggles” in the industry and Ari’s positioning to keep him happy were still interesting. Hell, this one even had a cool cliffhanger.

“Everwood,” “A Mountain Town” – Though it was waaaaaaaaay too earnest, “Everwood” worked as small town family drama. This effort features a whole lot of father and son heart-to-heart conversations, some hugging and even a little crying. So exactly what all the great “Everwood” eps did.

“Glee,” “Wheels” – 11 episodes in and still hotly uneven, “Glee” is still teetering on cultural phenomenon status – and for good reason. This effort dials it down a bit and realistically analyzes the lives of two of the program’s better characters, Artie and Kurt, while giving villain Sue Sylvester a whole new side.  

“Grey’s Anatomy,” “It’s the End of the World” [Part One] “As We Know It” [Part Two] – The decade’s most popular medical drama was simply toiling away on Sunday nights before ABC gave it the post-Super Bowl slot in 2006. This one had a ridiculous premise – guy with a piece of homemade ammunition inside him – but thanks to powerhouse performances from Ellen Pompeo and guest star Kyle Chandler, this was the moment that hooked a slew of viewers to Shonda Rhimes’ brand of quirky, melodramatic writing.

“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Born to Run” – After unspooling a complex, dense and sophisticated second season, the finale (and final episode of the series) was nothing short of mind-blowing with each twist followed by one that was even nuttier.

“Modern Family,” “The Incident” – Though only nine episodes in, “Family” nearly made the top 50 – and this episode shows why. The comedy mixes the uncomfortable tension of the decade’s best comedies with the familiar heart of sitcoms past to create one hell of a half hour.

“Ed,” “Prom Night” – NBC’s quirky early decade dramedy was eventually soiled by the stupid “will they or won’t they” between Ed and Carol, but in season one it was still charming. Mix in some humorous hi jinks from Michael Ian Black’s Phil in attempt to get a television show and the S1 finale was simply a delight.

“Criminal Minds,” “The Big Game” [Part One] and “Revelations” [Part two] – As one of CBS’s endless procedural crime dramas, “Minds” surprisingly provided interesting analysis of well, the criminal’s mind. The post-Super Bowl two-parter featuring the best performance of James Van Der Beek’s career was compelling and surprising – which isn’t always the case for the genre.

“Dollhouse,” “Epitaph One” – Though it never aired on television, this handheld look into the future showed us the ultimate effects of the Dollhouse technology while deepening the series’ theme of identity. It also helped that it didn’t feature Eliza Dushku’s “acting” for most of the episode.  

“The Big Bang Theory,” “The Terminator Decoupling” – As sort of an anomaly in the time of “The Office,” “Big Bang” provides broad laughs backed by a laugh track – and people seemingly love it. This effort combined all the best parts of the series – namely Jim Parsons as Sheldon – with a funny guest appearance by Summer Glau. Or maybe we just love this one because of Glau. Either way.

“Saturday Night Live,” “Reese Witherspoon/Alicia Keys” and “Seann William Scott/Sum 41” – It’s hard to pick out the best episode of “SNL” because we tend to think about the show more on a sketch-level, but the first episodes after 9/11 were just so emotionally charged that everything felt so much funnier. There were probably funnier episodes, but these were the most important.

“Weeds,” “Pittsburgh” – The second season of “Weeds” was already incredible, but the season finale launched it to a new level. Nancy’s path of perpetual deep shit continues when Silas ruins her big drug steal by stealing her stash. By the end of the season, viewers were left with Nancy and Conrad standing over an empty safe with about six guns pointed at their heads and nothing to do.