The original post: /r/television by /u/Toot_My_Own_Horn on 2025-09-29 11:57:24+00:00.

I was having this discussion with a friend about some of the greatest scenes (ie. best writing) in TV over the past several decades.

Some of our top picks include:

  • West Wing: Two Cathedrals when Bartlet puts his hands in his pockets, looks away and smiles
  • The Newsroom: The opening “America is not the greatest country anymore” speech as well as the Gabby Giffords sequence set to “Fix You”
  • the finale of Six Feet Under showing where the characters wind up
  • Doctor Who: the cold open of Season 9 (“tell me the name of the boy who isn’t going to die today…” “Davros”). Also the 12th Doctor’s war speech in The Zygon Inversion
  • The Last Of Us: the whole Bill & Frank episode

What are your thoughts, Reddit? What are some of the best-written scenes in television?