The BEST episodes directed by Thomas Schlamme
#1 - Pilot
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Season 1 - Episode 1
The once great sketch comedy show 'Studio 60' is suddenly close to cancellation due not only to its less than stellar on-air product, but another, more unexpected type of action, its Executive Producer's on-air mental meltdown. So enter NBS Chairman of the board Jack Rudolph and a new network president, looking to put her mark on the struggling network, Jordan McDeere. This results in the re-hiring of Danny Tripp and Matt Albie to replace the former Executive Producer and hopefully save the show.
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#2 - Two Cathedrals
The West Wing - Season 2 - Episode 22
On the day of Mrs. Landingham's funeral, the staff deals with a Haitian presidential crisis and the law suit against the big tobacco companies, and Bartlet must decide about running for reelection.
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#3 - Virtual Reality
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 15
Paul invests in a startup venture, bringing out a virtual-reality system with Ira, after a demo but without consulting Jamie, who reacts calmly to his actions, both real and imagined.
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#4 - Growth Pains
Chicago Hope - Season 1 - Episode 17
After Aaron successfully removes a steel rod driven into a man's head in a workplace explosion, the patient miraculously suffers no motor or cognitive problems, but begins to exhibit severe personality changes that greatly upset his family and employees; when a patient in danger of dying from an intestinal obstruction caused by his habit of eating the hair he compulsively pulls from his head refuses the surgery that will save his life, Ray's unorthodox approach to treating the patient's underlying psychological disorder -- by getting Camille to assume the persona of Dorothy Gale from ""The Wizard of Oz"" and role play with the patient -- gets him fired, even though the treatment is ultimately successful; Alan's worst fears come to light when Alicia suffers heart failure, and he lashes out at Jeffrey in his anguish.
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#5 - The Cold Open
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Season 1 - Episode 2
Now that they're on board, Matt and Danny try not to crumble under the pressure of putting on their first big show, where the stakes are outrageously high. Also high are the number of complaints the network is getting over the "Crazy Christians" sketch, which Jordan defends to Jack.
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#6 - An Innocent Man (a.k.a You're No Jack McCallister)
Jack & Bobby - Season 1 - Episode 6
Grace is stunned after Benedict informs her that her fellow colleague and good friend has been accused of sexually harassing a student. Grace immediately defends her co-worker but must re-think her loyalty when new evidence arises. Meanwhile, Bobby is spending so much time with his new girlfriend, Dex (guest star Jeanette Brox), he begins to neglect his school work. Under pressure from Grace to succeed, Bobby cheats on his test. Still reeling from the guilt of kissing Courtney, Jack is horrified to discover she and Missy (Keri Lynn Pratt) have become friends. Lastly, in the future, President McCallister is accused of sexual harassment.
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#7 - Married to the Job
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 4
An evening out at Riff's sees Paul complaining about his meddlesome new producer, and Jamie venting about her credit-claiming boss, who happens to be seated nearby.
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#8 - The Disaster Show
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Season 1 - Episode 17
Allison Janney, as herself, is the guest host of a show that goes haywire when the propmasters and cue card workers stage a last minute wildcat strike.
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#10 - Natural History
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 7
What brought Paul and Jamie together? Was it fate or a big coincidence? Jamie's belief that it was fate annoys Paul to no end, especially because Jamie is spending more time with Lisa than with him.
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#11 - In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (1)
The West Wing - Season 2 - Episode 1
While the staff awaits news regarding the injuries to Jed and Josh, they recall how Josh, Sam, and Toby became involved in the campaign three years earlier; Leo, Toby, and C.J. deal with inquiries on Secret Service protection policies, as well as the absence of executive authority while Jed was in surgery.
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#12 - So I Married a Hair Murderer
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 5
Paul is anything but pleased with Jamie, who has too much free time on her hands, and uses it to cut his hair and his film, improving on the original cut.
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#13 - In the Shadow of Two Gunmen (2)
The West Wing - Season 2 - Episode 2
With the accomplice in custody, it's revealed that the intended target was Charlie, not Bartlet. The staff still awaits news about Josh, and recalls how C.J. and Donna came to join the Bartlet campaign.
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#14 - What Kind of Day Has It Been
The West Wing - Season 1 - Episode 22
The staff deals with the crisis of an American pilot who was shot down in Iraq; Toby's brother is in danger on a space shuttle whose doors won't close; Bartlet and the senior staff walk into trouble as they leave a town meeting.
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#15 - The Late Show
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 14
Fran tells Jamie that she may be pregnant, and Paul finds out from Ira that Ira may have gotten someone pregnant, but neither realizes that it is Ira who might have gotten Fran pregnant.
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#16 - The Unplanned Child
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 6
Paul's shooting schedule leaves it all up to Jamie to go out trick-or-treating on Halloween with his seven-year-old nephew, whose extended two-hour visit Paul forgot to mention to her.
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#17 - Cold Feet
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 16
A Valentine's Day story that begins with Jamie and Paul rink side at Rockefeller Center and moves back three years to the day they finally moved in together and ended up engaged.
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#18 - Same Time Next Week
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 13
Jamie and Paul must endure two months of separation when Paul has to shoot a film in Chicago, returning only for the weekends, weather permitting.
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#19 - Murray's Tale
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 1
Lisa takes Murray out for a walk and returns with a dog that obviously isn't him. Paul and Jamie go to the police whilst friends and family join the hunt for the real Murray. While reuniting with Murray, they meet the couple who own the better-behaved look-alike.
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#20 - Take This Sabbath Day
The West Wing - Season 1 - Episode 14
After the Supreme Court refuses to stay the execution of a convicted murderer, Bartlet has forty-eight hours to decide whether or not to commute the sentence; Josh faces off with Joey Lucas about his staff's not backing her candidate as vigorously as she'd like.
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#21 - Bartlet for America
The West Wing - Season 3 - Episode 9
The staff and the F.B.I. work to combat a threat to firebomb black churches in Tennessee on Christmas Eve; accompanied by Jordan, Leo testifies before the House committee probing Bartlet's failure to disclose his M.S. during the presidential campaign; Sam and Josh try unsuccessfully to get Leo out of the line of fire of a Congressman on the committee intent on destroying Leo to advance his own political career; surprisingly, Leo receives a last minute reprieve at the hands of the Majority Counsel and the committee Chair.
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#22 - Pilot
The West Wing - Season 1 - Episode 1
In the series premiere, the White House staff is being called into work in the early hours of the morning to the news that the President of the United States has crashed his bicycle into a tree, much to the enjoyment of the press. The staff must run damage control on this and a gaffe by Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman who, after provocation by Christian activist Mary Marsh on a televised debate, quips "Lady, the God you pray to is too busy being indicted for tax fraud." Also, Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn meets and spends an evening with Laurie (Lisa Edelstein), not knowing she is a call girl, and then accidentally tells White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's daughter, Mallory O'Brien, about it.
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#23 - The Great Patriotic War
The Americans (2013) - Season 6 - Episode 5
As the summit fast approaches, Elizabeth enlists Philip’s help for a mission that could yield game-changing intel.
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#24 - Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
The West Wing - Season 1 - Episode 2
The Vice President refuses to fall in line with Bartlet; Sam discusses the problem of Laurie with Josh and Toby; the plane carrying President Bartlet's doctor, a naval officer, is shot down en route to Jordan; Bartlet hires Mandy as his consultant.
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#25 - The Friday Night Slaughter
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - Season 1 - Episode 15
Matt takes a stroll down memory lane and recalls how he met Harriet
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#26 - The State Dinner
The West Wing - Season 1 - Episode 7
The president of Indonesia is honored at a state dinner; the staff deals with Hurricane Sarah, a potential teamster strike, and a raid involving children in Idaho; a reporter flirts with C.J.
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#27 - Bedfellows
Mad About You - Season 2 - Episode 3
A heart attack scare sends Paul's father to the hospital, leaving his mother home alone, until Jamie tries to score some much needed points with her mother-in-law by offering to stay the night to keep her company.
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#28 - Holy Night
The West Wing - Season 4 - Episode 11
It's December 23, and the holiday brings several visitors to the White House: Zoey comes home with her new French boyfriend in tow; aided by Josh, Toby's father seeks a reconciliation; and Danny arrives bearing gifts of gold and a heads-up for C.J. about Shareef's death. Will moves into Sam's office at Toby's insistence, and is treated to some good-natured ribbing by the rest of the staff. Bartlet and Leo try to exorcise their guilt about Shareef by adding eleventh hour funding to combat infant mortality in the federal budget, and promoting peace in the Mideast, respectively.
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#29 - The Quarantine
Chicago Hope - Season 1 - Episode 10
Tensions run high as hard truths ring out when Jeffrey, Danny, Camille, Maggie, Aaron, Arthur and Phillip are quarantined in an empty operating room after a possible exposure to Ebola; Jeffrey and Danny perform an emergency bypass after Arthur has a massive heart attack; Aaron and Camille reconcile.
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#30 - Special Powers
Sports Night - Season 2 - Episode 1
Second Season Opener Isaac returns to the job, but the effects of his stroke appear to be affecting his performance. The 90-day ""cooling off period"" following Dana's canceled wedding is drawing to a close, and Dan encourages Casey to ask Dana out. Natalie and Jeremy fight over a job she's offered in Galveston, TX.
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#31 - We Killed Yamamoto
The West Wing - Season 3 - Episode 20
While Jed, Leo and Fitzwallace grapple with terrorism and moral absolutes, Josh and Amy grapple with each other over a welfare-reform bill; Donna represents the White House at a North Dakota state-party caucus whose goal is to remove the word "North" from the state's name; Toby doesn't want Jed to attend a New York fund-raiser because Ritchie will be there; Charlie is assigned the responsibility of finding Jed a new secretary; C.J. discovers that Simon Donovan is a very straight shooter
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#32 - Dana and the Deep Blue Sea
Sports Night - Season 1 - Episode 15
Having been rebuffed by Rebecca, Dan turns to Casey for help in dating her. Casey, still wrestling with his feelings for Dana, refuses. Next Dan turns to Jeremy in his efforts to be ""more than friends"" with Rebecca. Meanwhile, Dana agrees to go snorkeling with Gordon even though she is terrified of fish. Casey: ""Sometimes you just stand there -- hip-deep in pie."" Rebecca [to Jeremy]: ""Is everyone who works on your show deranged?""
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#33 - Noël
The West Wing - Season 2 - Episode 10
Josh investigates the suicide of a pilot with whom he has things in common; Donna tries to get an invitation to the Congressional Christmas party to hear Yo-Yo Ma perform; Jed insists on signing a mountain of Christmas cards himself; after a White House visitor has a strange reaction to a painting, C.J. sets out to discover its provenance; following weeks of volatile behavior and an outburst in the Oval Office, Josh meets with representatives from the America Trauma Victims Association and finally deals with the trauma from his shooting.
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#34 - Blood Atonement
Under the Banner of Heaven - Season 1 - Episode 7
As the details of the murders become clear, Pyre and Taba embark on an interstate manhunt, hoping to catch the killers before they complete their list of those to be "blood atoned."
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#35 - Comrades
The Americans (2013) - Season 2 - Episode 1
Elizabeth comes back from her injury and straight into what should have been a routine mission – but it goes awry, leaving her and Philip in fear not only for themselves but for their whole network… and family. Paige's suspicions have only grown in her mother's absence. Meanwhile, Stan continues to fall for the Russian agent who has started to play him.
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#36 - Part 6
The Plot Against America - Season 1 - Episode 6
As riots and conspiracies spread across the country in the lead up to Election Day, Herman takes measures to keep his family safe. Meanwhile, Bess does all she can at a great distance to help a small child caught in a maelstrom of anti-Semitism in Kentucky. Alvin is recruited for a new and secret mission as the ties that bind the Levins together are stressed.
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#38 - You Always Hurt the One You Love
Manhattan - Season 1 - Episode 1
Frank Winter and his team have been recruited to work on a project even they could know nothing about until their arrival. Once inside “The Hill,” a middle class bubble on a dusty foothill in the New Mexico desert, they begin to sense that this is no ordinary assignment. In fact, they are living in a town with the world’s highest concentration of geniuses, yet it can’t be found on any map, a place where men and women are torn between duty and their moral values, husbands and wives conceal the truth from each other and their families, the military keeps secrets from the scientists they chaperone, and the scientists keep secrets from each other.
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#39 - Manchester (2)
The West Wing - Season 3 - Episode 2
The senior staff clash with the consultants who are to work on Bartlet's reelection campaign; C.J. is concerned that the press senses the Bartlets' marriage could be in trouble; Josh asks Leo to let him use his connection to postpone the FDA's drug announcement; the situation on Haiti comes to a head.
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#40 - Mary Pat Shelby
Sports Night - Season 1 - Episode 5
Dana is excited to be getting a notorious football player, Christian Patrick on the show. The staff is not when his lawyers force them to not mention the ex-girlfriend he badly abused, Mary Pat Shelby. When Natalie goes to pre interview him, he assaults her. Dana's decision about whether to break the story is a difficult one, and it is not the same as Dan and Casey's. Also Dan wrestles with whether or not to get a goatee and Dana realizes her absence of a sense of humor.
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#41 - Manchester (1)
The West Wing - Season 3 - Episode 1
Bartlet's decision about Haiti falls under scrutiny; C.J. makes a horrible blunder in a press conference and is hounded about the president's health by reporters; the staff disagrees about whether Bartlet should apologize for not revealing his medical condition; Abbey is angry that Jed has decided to run for reelection.
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#42 - The Secret Sharer
ER - Season 2 - Episode 8
Doug's heroics earn him a second chance as Bernstein and Morganstern ask him to stay on. Doug and Mark clash when each treats a seriously injured patient and want to use the same equipment. Benton learns that Jeanie has separated from Al. After missing an earlier diagnosis, Carter overcompensates on his next patient and catches a break when the test results reveal something. Shep gets on Carol's bad side when he makes disparaging remarks about the people who make botched suicide attempts. Doug gets a phone call from his estranged father.
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#43 - Gregory
The Americans (2013) - Season 1 - Episode 3
Philip and Elizabeth discover that their murdered colleague Robert had a wife they never knew about. As they try to determine what she knows and where her allegiance lies, Stan's investigation into Robert's death puts him hot on their trail.
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#44 - The Prisoner's Dilemma
Manhattan - Season 1 - Episode 2
A special shipment of the first sample of plutonium arrives at The Hill – one that could change everything. With the future of his team up in the air, Frank knows that having some of the precious material could make all the difference. As Frank desperately tries to keep his team alive, he learns that Liao has been detained by a covert outside party. Liza helps Abby find creative ways to survive life on The Hill. As the wives grow closer, competition escalates between Frank and Charlie in the lab.
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#45 - Betrayal
The Practice - Season 2 - Episode 2
The firm defends Joey Heric, a colorful client on trial for the murder of his lover. Jimmy is tried on solicitation charges by a vengeful district attorney.
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#46 - The Match Game
ER - Season 2 - Episode 17
Susan institutes extra precautions in case Chloe tries to reclaim Little Susie. Mark changes his look, growing a goatee and wearing contact lenses. Carol and Jeanie square off over the care of a transient. Carter celebrates when he receives his residency match, putting his patient and his job at risk. Shep, still suffering from Raul's death, is surly with new parter Reilly. Benton and Ross have differences when Peter discloses a critical mistake made by Doug, raising animosity between the two.
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#47 - Of Mastodons and Men
The Wonder Years - Season 5 - Episode 15
Kevin has been dating Julie Aidem for two weeks when she invites him for dinner with her family and asks him to tell her parents they are going steady. When he sees Mr. Aidem is dominated by Mrs. Aidem, Kevin decides he doesn't want to end up like that and breaks up with Julie.
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#48 - The Quality of Mercy at 29K
Sports Night - Season 1 - Episode 9
The team broadcasts an Everest climb, the first one since 1954. Jeremy realizes he's got something to live for, Natalie. Casey searches for food, as Dan searches for a charity to give to. Dana takes her niece to see ""The Lion King"", and discovers a love of the theater.
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#49 - Part 5
The Plot Against America - Season 1 - Episode 5
After learning the family has been selected for an essentially forced relocation to Kentucky under the Homestead Act, Herman looks to make a challenge in court, while Bess and Philip appeal to Bengelsdorf and Evelyn, respectively. Later, Bess gives Herman an ultimatum when violence breaks out at a rally for Lindbergh's most public liberal challenger.
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#50 - Ambush (East Coast)
ER - Season 4 - Episode 1
The ER is under the bright lights when a television documentary is filmed depicting a typical day in the ER. British trauma specialist Elizabeth Corday joins the staff. Carter restarts his residency, this time in the ER. A man is paralyzed while breaking up a gang fight. Morganstern suffers a heart attack. Greene's stress level continues to build.
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