Television sometimes changes all at once. A single episode makes waves, and it drags the entire medium forward with it.

Television sometimes changes all at once. A single episode makes waves, and it drags the entire medium forward with it.

That episode might elevate TV storytelling. It might change how shows are produced. It might set a new standard for diversity. And together, these watershed moments present a sort of quick-and-dirty history of TV’s evolution over the past 75 years.

Enter the 25 episodes below: If you were to sit down and watch them all, you’d catch major shifts in production, groundbreaking hallmarks of diversity, and the emergence of new storytelling styles — at least from the history of American television. And you’d get to see some great episodes of TV, some just okay episodes of TV, and some pretty bad episodes, too.

But they’re all episodes that changed TV — usually for the better but sometimes for the worse.