xtcian

President Logan's turn from inept to evil was pretty sly on last season's 24.

The first one to come to mind though was the Newhart finale where it was revealed that Bob's Vermont resort-owning career was all a dream.

Neither of those are earth-shattering but fun nonetheless.

Try cod liver oil, high strength, on a regular basis. I haven't got sick since I started taking it - at least not sick enough to have to miss work.

Though maybe not the best, one that came to mind right away is also from 24: Nina being evil. The last (or next to last) episode of the first season when Nina kills Jack's wife freaked us out.

Best Plot Twist: Angel Heart, near the end when Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke) learns his true identity and past.

Worst Plot Twist: . . .I've got nothing. I tend to forget movies that suck.

when Seth broke up with Summer on the OC I wept

Best twist in any show or movie had to be when you realized that Verbal Kint was Keyser Soze. Anyone who says they saw THAT coming is lying and you should never trust them around small children.

70s - after the castaways were rescued, they got stranded on the very same island on Gilligans Island.

80s - Kristen shot JR

90s - since GFWD opened the door to the movies, The Crying Game trumps the Usual Suspects.

00s - Richard Hatch winning the fist season of Survivor and in Lost, I was shocked when Ana Lucia and the psychologist were shot.

Cousin Oliver.

i really loved the way the season finale of HOUSE was handled. i don't want to say too much, because i know a lot of people watch these shows later on dvd and stuff, but the way that inconsistencies were inserted throughout(for a while i thought the writing was just awkward) and the way it played on your expectations of the characters was really satisfying. also, the fact that house himself is trying to "diagnose" what's going on keeps the episode within the essential procedural framework of the show while subverting it at the same time. great tv!

Worst plot twist: Character on General Hospital turned out to be a space alien. The show was pretty inventive in the '80s, but that just went way too far.

Oh yeah, I hear that on Happy Days, Fonz should never have tried to jump that shark.

Mine have already been said....

24 - Nina being evil.
24 - President Logan being involved.

The Keyser Soze twist was also amazing, and now I refer to President Logan as President Soze.

Emma, I went on a date to see THE CRYING GAME. I knew from talking with the Charlotte Observer movie reviewer that there was some type of twist. When the twist revealed itself, I poked my date in the crotch to make sure there were no surprises there.

I see dead people

Fight Club's Tyler Durden reveal.

And

Cartman's revenge on Scott Tenerman. Do I have to say from Southpark? Well there, I did.

Not really a twist, but when we find out that Josh was shot on The West Wing... that was some great TV. Those two episodes put the bar at such a high level that it couldn't help but disappoint eventually.

The Others, The Sixth Sense, The Crying Game were all great. But really, in Signs, you can't tell me that a single one of you thought that the aliens could be killed by water. Water!

Which our planet happens to be totally covered in...

And aliens travelled billions of light years with super technology to try to take over our planet, which is covered in a thing that they find toxic...

If anyone saw that coming, they are LYING.

This may not sound very imaginative, but I loved the surprise ending of Newhart where he wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette and discovers that his entire 80-90's sitcom was a dream. Guess I've always been a huge fan of Suzanne Pleshette - and it was very satisfying to see the nod to his fantastic 70s sitcom, not to mention the spoof of some of the other ridiculous attempts by other shows to explain away plot twists as dreams (e.g. Bobby's miraculous return from the dead on "Dallas").

Cris

The ending of "Unbreakable" has been the only F. Knight Shamalamadingdong plot twist to date that really got me, made the world spin, made me need to see the whole thing over again.

Sixth Sense, I saw coming many miles away. By the time the restaurant dinner with the wife scene rolled along, I was looking for confirmation.

I always thought that the Twilight Zone had some excellent plot twists. Rod Serling was the MAN!

CL -- I loved General Hospital back in the day. The time when Luke and Laura were reunited for the first time (after everyone thought she was dead) was AWESOME! Of course, I have not followed since 1986, and I see that they are both still on the show (did they divorce? Horrors!) but Luke and Laura rocked!

The internet is amazing. Out of curiosity, I looked up Luke and Laura. For any others who spent their adolescence watching GH, this is what happened since the mid-80s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luke_and_Laura

I am left wondering: WTF? Do you know anyone who writes for soap operas, Ian? Because they went and f-ked up my favorite show.

soylent green is people!!

seriously, that creepy sixth sense was an awesome twist!

can we talk about ideas for new shows??

Sean, those two West Wing episodes ("In The Shadow of Gunmen") are the best of the series and I am not ashamed to say that I watch them every time my TiVo captures them on Bravo. That averages about 5 or more times a year.

I liked the twist in THE VILLAGE and I'm curious about his new movie, THE LADY IN THE WATER.

You guys have all forgotten the biggest "twist" of our lifetime: when Darth Vader told Luke he was his father.

In American Pie, when the band geek turned out to be a nympho. M. Night Shymanalanaanana could not have pulled that off! Oscar-worthy!!

When The Real World culls 7 people and there is always a gay person and/or an angry black person. I never see that coming.

When TV basketball analysts try to perform sexual acts on Coach K during a game. It does not surprise me anymore, but is shocking nonetheless.

Lastly, for GFWD . . . when Ricky Bell dies. No one saw that coming!

xuxe- i just got your link from yesterday and that was awesome!!! thank you so much for sharing that!

that's kind of a hard question when it comes to tv shows because there are so many week-to-week cliffhangers and multiple character's storylines and little arcs all over the place, i think.

but plot twists that kept me on edge in one of my old faves, six feet under were: lisa's disappearance, david getting assaulted, the mom's new boyfriend turning out to be psycho up in the bomb shelter.

First off, Cris: I agree with you about the awesome Suzanne Pleshette. I was in love with her the first time I heard that sexy voice...

Okay, worst plot twist of all time: the nuclear explosion in the Vegas desert at the end of season one of "Crime Story."

There have been so many good ones, and I've watched so much TV, that I can't come up with just one good plot twist. I'll give the most recent one, then: Mary Louise Parker's suburban pot dealer character wakes up in her new boyfriend's bedroom and finds his "DEA" windbreaker.

Not really a plot twist, but seeing Rawls carousing in a gay bar on 'The Wire' was pretty jarring.
Jason, I raise your Cousin Oliver with Vance and Coy (the Duke boys' cousins) from the 'Dukes of Hazzard'.

P.S. "Angel Heart" with Mickey Rourke also offered a pretty good final plot twist. Even though it became clear halfway through the film that Robert De Niro's character was probably the devil, I was still surprised/confused by Mickey Rourke's revelation at the end.

oooh, shit! how excited are you for development season? no? ok. in any case, feel better and finish that draft already!

now, plot twists. I think the trend in TV is that the traditional notion of these has evolved in the sense that smaller events seem to have far bigger payoffs, with the exeception of certain shows and genres of shows (procedurals/adventure/thrillers, teen dramas which are basically really earnest soaps, quirky one hour dramedys which are basically soaps with a healthy dose of irony, etc.) what I mean by payoffs is like the end of any seinfeld episode post library cop (the episode where larry david and larry charles pretty much split the atom in terms of sitcom theory), the season one finales of either the british or american office, or all those amazing HBO shows (starting with larry sanders and continuing with sopranos, the wire, the comeback, big love, so on), in that those all seem to explore the ramifications of whatever wild world the characters already inhabit (as opposed to living in an ordinary world in which for some reason order has been disrupted and must be restored.) explosions being the norm, single moments become haiku (like in the wire season one when daniels passes avon in the chase sequence and avon wags his finger at him, which is when we realize they're the same guy just on different sides), and the littlest actions have enormous consequences, which often come to a head in surprising yet inevitable, often enormously satisfying, often ambiguous ways, even though nothing is left hanging and nothing gets resolved. (I guess the exception being big love, in which bill is exposed as a polygamist and alby's been poisoned. roll credits. tune in next year.)

but back to your question about my favorite plot twists. recently: this year's world cup and NBA finals. when I was a kid: the OJ verdict and the diff'rent strokes where dudley gets molested by the man in the bike shop after being given wine, pills, and crowned neptune king of the sea.

I have a draft to finish.

Okay, this is not really a plot "twist", but rather a plot "event" that for me was the single most affecting moment I ever experienced via the boob tube: James's death on "Good Times."

It was a double episode, not really a cliffhanger b/c by the end of the first you already knew he was dead, but the entirety of episode II was his funeral. Main searing moments: everybody's in the apartment, recalling favorite stories about James and laughing uproariously, Florida included. Into the middle of this suddenly rushes Michael, the serious, studious youngest son. He screams in their faces: "My father is DEAD. And you're standing there laughing!" Florida replies, "Michael, when our ancestors died, people didn't cry. They beat drums, shouted, laughed, and sang. They didn't mourn the death, they celebrated the life!" Michael runs out of the room in tears (while I, a sentimental 11-year-old, sob in my living room).

2nd moment: the funeral's over. Florida is alone in the kitchen, busily tidying up--stacking plates, putting away food, plumping sofa pillows. There are several (incredibly daring by today's standards) long moments of TV silence. All we hear is Florida's footsteps bustling back and forth. She picks up the empty punchbowl and is carrying it in to the kitchen when SMASH!!! before you can even understand it, she has flung the punchbowl to the kitchen floor and it's shattered into a thousand pieces. She looks up at the ceiling and wails: "Damn, damn, DAMN!!!", then breaks into sobs. Michael, Thelma, and JJ all rush in from the back and all three hold her as she cries. The Most Wrenching Scene Ever.

Annie's "Good Times" moment also reminded me of Edith's attack and rape on All in the Family. When these normally funny/happy sitcoms got serious, they really got serious.

You're so right! Like at the end of MASH when the woman had to kill the baby to get it to stop crying... jeez.
It's like the funny people freak on you or something when they're sick o' bein funny.

I have to say that the "Two Cathedrals" episode of West Wing was the best hour of TV I've seen in a long time. It was the episode with Mrs. Landingham's funeral and when the President decides to run for a 2nd term. Sure, sure, the yelling at God in latin was a little over dramatic, but it's just so beautifully shot. When Leo tells Toby "Watch this." at the press conference, I still get chills.

Looking back now, it seems kind of gimmicky, but I remember it being kind of a big deal when CSI killed off who we thought would be our main character in the pilot. That may be the earliest plot twist in a season.

CP, the 'Dudley Gets Molested' episode scarred me for life. I don't think I ever set foot in a bike again shop after watching that unfold. Wasn't the molester Gordon Jump aka "Mr. Carlson" from WKRP in Cincinnati? I was highly suspicious of anyone who even looked like Mr. Carlson from that point forward.
Annie, that's an excellent call on 'Good Times'. I thought that scene was going to quietly fade out focusing on James' picture or something and then WHAM! Riveting television.

"Now I'M the King of Cats", he said, and disappeared up the chimney!

All this talk about M. Night Shyamalan, and I have to mention again the wonderful book about him and his upcoming movie: The Man Who Heard Voices, by Michael Bamberger. I work on so many books a year that they tend to blur together (and make me grumble a lot), but this one stood out. It's funny and smart and compulsively readable.

I couldn't think of any other plot twists after reading everyone else's, so I'll just second GFWD's mention of Return of the Jedi.

p.s. The book is due out July 20.

OK, I'm going to be the big dork and say the season finale of Battlestar Galactica (the new one)... Best twist I've seen in a long time.

Obviously the answer is Angel turning evil after Buffy slept with him.

Worst TV show plot twists:

A woman is very pregnant. Power goes out / Storm hits / Car breaks down. Taxi driver / child / hater of woman must deliver baby. (Night Court, Taxi, and I'm sure others.)

Four characters in two different rooms. Two unattached characters make noises that sound a lot like sex. Surprise! They're just setting up the iron / putting books on a bookshelf / giving the dog a bath. Ugh, this is the worst. (Friends, every friggin sitcom ever.)

A pregnancy happens at an inconvenient time. Couple consider options. Surprise! She has a miscarriage. (This wins the biggest cop-out prize!)

Flirting couple. Traveling together. Storm hits / power goes out. Must spend night together. (From, amongst other shows, that awful post-Taxi sitcom with Tony Danza.)

Best TV plot twists:
The ones mentioned above in Six Feet Under are great. That show is one of the best ever. Also, Adriana getting whacked on the Sopranos. Maybe ER, when the baby delivered by Dr. Green dies. They also killed off a main character once (not Dr. Green, a woman) that I didn't see coming at all. It was after Carter and the woman got attacked by a patient.

Definitely one of the most fun blog topics ever. I've had a horribly busy day at work, yet I keep coming back to read everyone's responses.

Another surprising plot twist that just came to mind: My jaw dropped when LA Law killed off Rosalyn Shays by having her step into an empty elevator shaft. Didn't see that coming at all.

LFMD, I've rewatched some old Luke and Laura stuff, and the dialogue was pretty amazing. That kind of chemistry and tension in the air was rare and wonderful, and was a cornerstone of some other shows I loved (Moonlighting, too.)

On another note, I really hated it when Bobby and Cindy Brady lost their virginity together. Since that episode aired while Nixon was resigning, most people didn't see it, but it was pretty disgusting when Tiger got involved and Sam brought over his meat.

Oh god. The Dudley molestation episode was the worst. Except they don't actually get molested, do they? When Mr. D arrives, Dudley's in his underpants, but I'm pretty sure nothing happened yet. Who knows; it was a long time ago. Anyway, yes, it was Gordon Jump, a/k/a Mr. Carlson, a/k/a the Maytag repair man. So that episode ruined "WKRP" for me, too; every time I saw Mr. Carlson I thought "Molester!!!"

WORST PLOT TWIST EVER: When Roseanne won the lottery. That was a heartbreaker. That show was like watching MY family. I can't tell you how much it meant to see a working class family just like mine on TV. Then they got rich and it turned out to be the biggest shark jump EVER.

Granted, I wouldn't mind if such a plot twist were to happen in my real life, but still, don't go ruinin' my stories!

"James" death on Good Times was a biggie. I was old enough to know better, but I was so attached to those characters, I was surprised and a little emotional when the actor showed up on other shows.

I actually caught on to the twist in Unbreakable -- about halfway through Samuel Jackson's character is walking toward the camera, and his coat flips open and you see the purple lining inside. I immediately thought of Batman's Joker -- and blurted out "he's the villain!" to the entire theater, who were completely over me when that turned out to be the case.

And I'll second Angel turning evil on Buffy as "best ever."

Rape, molestation, Bradys losing their virginity together? Where the hell was I? These are shows from my era, I'm a 70's baby, and yet I don't remember any of that! Perhaps I was just totally ignorant, or my parents didn't let me watch those episodes. Wow.

Ian, I have to tell you that it bugs me when you call yourself a leftist pill-popping stooge. Get over it. He's gone.

Laura - I agree that was a horrible twist for "Roseanne" that turned into a horrible final season. But the final episode in which we discovered that Dan actually died at the end of the previous season.. and that all of the events depicted after that (including the lottery win).. were just Roseanne's grief-stricken imaginings... was not a bad plot twist. I think it *almost* made up for the crappy episodes the show put out in its last year. Not quite, but almost.

As for your comment about it being one of the worst shark jumps ever... I was sitting at lunch the other day with a couple of technicians in my group (all in their early 20s, just out of college), and one of them commented about a show "jumping the shark." I mentioned off-handedly that I distinctly remember watching that "Happy Days" episode in primetime as a kid. They had no idea what I was talking about, or where the expression even comes from. It made me feel old.

Ok, I really have to stop reading this and go to bed.

Rebecca, I was only kidding about the Bradys losing their virginity, but sadly, the weirdness on Diff'rent Strokes et. al was real.

Speaking of WKRP, my all-time favorite plot twist was "Oh my God, they're turkeys!", followed by the best line of that show's existence: "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly."