History FormulaBreakingEpisode / LiveActionTV

** In addition, the Halloween special takes the form of an [[Anthology Anthology Episode]] starring the characters in various horror stories, with a plot-advancing FramingDevice to boot.

** And "My Princess" in which the events of the episode are portrayed as a fairytale being told by Doctor Cox.

* Each season of the ''MastersOfHorror'' anthology (usually set in modern day EverytownAmerica) had one episode set in the early 19th century and another filmed in Japan and directed by a Japanese actor.

** Surely somebody mis-typed the above - a ''whole episode'' of Eastenders featuring ''only one character?''

* ''{{Seinfeld}}'': The [[BackToFront backwards episode]] "The Betrayal".

** "A Space Oddity". An episode where one of the techs kept daydreaming he was [[strike:Captain Kirk]][[CaptainErsatz the lead in a cheesy old sci-fi show]]. The show contains homages to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', as well as both the original and re-imagined ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''.

* ''PowerRangers'' has had two really memorable ones: "Lost and Found in Translation" (''[[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'') had the Rangers watching a Japanese TV show based on their exploits (actually a {{Hong Kong Dub}}bed episode of its source series ''Abaranger''); and "And... Action!" (''[[Series/PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'') was a behind-the-scenes episode. For a while there were also yearly teamup episodes where the current team joins forces with the previous years'.

* An episode of ''MarriedWithChildren'' which [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot focused on the Verduccis]], and aside from a 3-4 minute appearance by Al, featured none of the regular characters.
** Another pilot-in-disguise episode featured a pair of radio jockeys at Bud's college, with only minor appearances from Bud and Kelly.

* ''PoliceCameraAction'' did a few of these:
** ''Helicops'' - an episode with ''no'' in-car camera footage (well, some CCTV footage from Stoke-on-Trent in 1994 at the end, IIRC, but that's about it) and the use of "Tubular Bells" by Mike Oldfield in-between clips.
** ''The Man Who Shot OJ'' - a straight-up documentary about Bob Tur, made as a {{Biopic}} - and again, no in-car footage. A semi- HollywoodEpisode mixed with [[TrainwreckEpisode emergency rescues]]. This didn't even have the usual TitleSequence, just a plain Arial font - "THE MAN WHO SHOT OJ PROGRAMME 1".
** ''Don't Look Back In Anger'' - a VerySpecialEpisode and a history of PoliceProcedural over the years.
** ''Search and Rescue'' - an episode entirely focused on emergency rescues.

* ''{{Supernatural}}'s'' third season featured a Sam-and-Dean-lite episode, "Ghostfacers," which focused on two characters from the first season episode "Hell House". It was also shot like a real pilot, with handheld cameras and everything. Demonstrates one of the dangers of these episodes in that it did not look like an episode of ''Supernatural'' and, combined with the confusion due to the writers' strike and a lack of advertising, many people didn't realise they were watching the right programme. And switched off.

* ''[[{{MASH}} M*A*S*H]]'' had several of these during its run: TheDocumentary, the "letters to home" episodes, the newsreel episodes, the RealTime episode, the NearDeathClairvoyance episode, the "Hawkeye monologue" episode, the episode done totally from the [[POVCam point of view of a wounded soldier]], and the "[[BadDreams dreams]]" episode, among others. (Some of these may well have been the initial examples of their kind, copied by later series.)

** "The Body" was probably the best example. It begins immediately where the last episode ended, with Buffy finding [[spoiler: her mother]]'s pale, lifeless body on the couch, and except for the last five minutes features nothing supernatural, just the poignant shock of an entirely normal, unexpected death. The effect is heightened by long stretches without background music, close-ups of seemingly random details, etc.

*** It's not out of continuity. The whole episode is basically about SG-1 sitting around the table while trying to come up with good movie idea. Of course they never were a crew of Enterprise, and SGC was never invaded by zombies, but there is nothing indicating that episode itself isn't canon.

** In the original series, "Mission to the Unknown" did not feature any of the cast, who did not get a mention. The episode concerned some humans' [[DownerEnding doomed]] struggle against Daleks on an alien planet and acted as episode-long prologue to "The Daleks' Master Plan", which aired a few weeks later.

** ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'' did "200", their 200th anniversary episode, which is basically a clip show of events that never actually happened in the series. I've heard that it's out of continuity, and the style and plot are mainly unrelated to the rest of the show. It's never referred to again.

* ''TheXFiles'': "X-Cops" (which was shot as an episode of the show ''{{COPS}}''), "Post-Modern Prometheus" (black and white), "Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space'" (told through [[TheRashomon conflicting flashbacks]]), "Bad Blood" (also told in conflicting flashbacks), "Triangle" (split-screen), and "Humbug" (first comedy episode).

* The ''MyNameIsEarl'' episodes "[=Y2K=]" (which, in flashback, deals with the characters' experiences at the turn of the millenium) and "Our "Cops" Is On" (most of which is presented as an episode of ''{{COPS}}'' featuring the characters).

* "Once More With Feeling", the musical episode of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** Other examples from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' include "Hush" where nobody speaks for most of the episode, "Restless", which takes place mostly in the characters' dreams, and "Superstar" where an extremely minor character usurps main character status, even [[SpecialEditionTitle taking over the opening credits]].

** "A Space Oddity". An episode where one of the techs kept daydreaming he was [[strike:Captain Kirk]][[CaptainErsatz the lead in a cheesy old sci-fi show]]. The show contains homages to ''Franchise/StarTrek'', as well as both the original and re-imagined ''BattlestarGalactica''.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' had a few episodes following this. "My Musical" was, of course, a musical. The episode "My Life in Four Cameras" becomes a typical SitCom. Also, to a lesser extent, the "His/Her Story" episodes, as they're narrated by different characters than normal.

* ''StargateAtlantis'': The series' penultimate episode, "Vegas" is set entirely in an AlternateUniverse, with Sheppard as a Las Vegas homicide detective. The [[InTheStyleOf writing and visual style of the episode]] is an homage to ''{{CSI}}'', even including a NecroCam shot of a Wraith victim's heart desiccating. The only connection to the primary StargateVerse comes at the end, when the resolution of the plot foreshadows events of the series finale.
** ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' did "200", their 200th anniversary episode, which is basically a clip show of events that never actually happened in the series. I've heard that it's out of continuity, and the style and plot are mainly unrelated to the rest of the show. It's never referred to again.

* The DayInTheLimelight episode of ''[[{{CSI}} CSI Las Vegas]]'', "Lab Rats". The whole episode takes place inside the laboratory, focusing on a group of lab technicians revisiting the miniature killer case, the main investigator team making only short appearances, and the whole atmosphere being a lot more humorous.

* ''PowerRangers'' has had two really memorable ones: "Lost and Found in Translation" (''[[PowerRangersDinoThunder Dino Thunder]]'') had the Rangers watching a Japanese TV show based on their exploits (actually a {{Hong Kong Dub}}bed episode of its source series ''Abaranger''); and "And... Action!" (''[[PowerRangersRPM RPM]]'') was a behind-the-scenes episode. For a while there were also yearly teamup episodes where the current team joins forces with the previous years'.
* ''{{Bones}}'': The season four finale is a DreamSequence in which Booth and Bones are married and running a bar, with most of the cast working for them.
* The ''{{Fringe}}'' episode "Brown Betty" is mostly the story that Walter tells to Olivia's niece, in which Olivia is a PrivateDetective in a [[NoirEpisode pastiche]], dealing with variations on the shows characters. Who occasionaly sing.

* ''CriminalMinds'' usually has the team trying to hunt down a SerialKiller. Episodes that did something different include "Secrets and Lies" (the team searches for a mole in the CIA headquarters), "Honor Among Thieves" (the team investigates a kidnapping perpetrated by the Russian mafia), "Derailed" and "Minimal Loss" (the team become embroiled in a hostage situation), "Lessons Learned" (the team go to question a terrorist), "Masterpiece" (the killer turns himself in at the beginning), "Tabula Rasa" (the team help [[CourtroomEpisode prosecute a killer]]) and to a lesser extent "True Night" (like a regular episode, except [[VillainEpisode the killer is the main character]]).

* The ''HowIMetYourMother'' episode "Symphony of Illumination" used the FramingDevice of Robin talking to her kids in the future, rather than every single other episode's framework of Ted talking to his kids. [[spoiler: However, it turned out that all the narration and the kids were figments of Robin's imagination while she was reflecting on the events of the episode, and Future Ted actually ''was'' telling the whole story in the end, making the episode an imagine-spot-within-a-framing-device-within-a-story-within-a-framing-device.]]

* One of the biggest offenders being ''{{The Drew Carey Show}}'' having April Fools Day episodes, live episodes, and the like.

* Various episodes from both ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and its companion show ''[[XenaWarriorPrincess Xena: Warrior Princess]]''.

** Other examples from ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' include "Hush" where nobody speaks for most of the episode, "Restless", which takes place mostly in the characters' dreams, and "Superstar" where an extremely minor character usurps main character status, even [[SpecialEditionTitle taking over the opening credits]].

** And the group amnesia episode - ''Angel'' had one too.
** "The Body" was probably the best example. It begins immediately where the last episode ended, with Buffy finding [[spoiler: her mother]]'s pale, lifeless body on the couch, and except for the last five minutes features nothing supernatural, just the poignant shock of an entirely normal, unexpected death. The effect is heightened by long stretches without background music, close-ups of seemingly random details, etc.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'' had a few episodes following this. "My Musical" was, of course, a musical. The episode "My Life in Four Cameras" becomes a typical {{SitCom}}. Also, to a lesser extent, the "His/Her Story" episodes, as they're narrated by different characters than normal.

* ''{{NewsRadio}}'' had two episodes which, while not actually changing the format of the show or the characterization of the leads, instead changed the setting (by way of a clever set redress). The characters act as if nothing is different. The 3rd season finale was set on a radio station in space, and the 4th season finale was set on the Titanic, and roughly followed the plot of the hit 1997 film. These episodes, naturally, do not follow series continuity, especially since both involve the deaths of nearly all of the main characters.

** The Doctor-lite "Love & Monsters" told a story set in the {{Whoniverse}} [[LowerDeckEpisode from the perspective of an ordinary human]] (and UnreliableNarrator) who only knew rumours about the Doctor's existence.

* The ''{{EastEnders}}'' episode dated 31/01/2008 featured only one character, Dot Branning, recording a message for her husband. This was due to [[RealLifeWritesThePlot the actor playing the husband suffering a stroke]]. The episode made this editor [[TearJerker cry into a cushion]].

* ''[[{{Supernatural}} Supernatural's]]'' third season featured a Sam-and-Dean-lite episode, "Ghostfacers," which focused on two characters from the first season episode "Hell House". It was also shot like a real pilot, with handheld cameras and everything. Demonstrates one of the dangers of these episodes in that it did not look like an episode of ''Supernatural'' and, combined with the confusion due to the writers' strike and a lack of advertising, many people didn't realise they were watching the right programme. And switched off.

*** It's not out of continuity. The whole episode is basically about SG-1 sitting around the table while trying to come up with good movie idea. Of course they never were a crew of Enterprise, and SGC was never invaded by zombies, but there is nothing indicating that episode itself isn't canon.

* ''{{Family Matters}}'' did one episode as if it were a trashy Jenny Jones-like talk show.
* ''[[{{Psychoville}} Psychoville's]]'' fourth episode focused entirely on one of its five storylines, rather than jumping between them. It also consisted of just one scene, shot in two takes.

* ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' itself has the Cycling Tour episode, which is unique in Pythonian terms since it actually has a continuous and more or less coherent plot.

* The ''Series/ThirtyRock'' episode "Queen of Jordan" was done entirely in the format of a Bravo reality show.