< Live Action TV < Awesome

Live Action TV/Awesome/Other Shows


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  • Say what you will about Carlos Mencia. However, he had his moment when he describes his encounter with a Bin Laden supporter who tried to threaten him out of doing middle eastern jokes. His response: http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/1037365820
  • At the end of Episode 11 of Harper's Island, when Chloe decides to take away her own life rather than being killed by Wakefield and fearlessly says: "You can't have me".
  • Sebastian Stark had his CMoA during the first season finale of Shark. It was also a perfectly executed Xanatos Roulette.
  • In Laverne and Shirley, Shirley's boss promotes her to beer tester in hopes of getting her drunk and having his way with her. When it doesn't work, he tries to rape her and Laverne shows up with Carmine Ragusa, aka the Big Ragoo. The boss threatens the Big Ragoo with firing him; the Big Ragoo informs him that he doesn't work there. When the boss says he's going to leave, the Big Ragoo says that he'll help him out. When the boss asks why he needs help, Ragusa answers "I have the feeling you're going to fall down a couple flights of stairs." You don't piss off the Big Ragoo.
    • His awesomeness was not limited to Laverne and Shirley. In the Happy Days episode "Joanie's Weird Boyfriend", Joanie tries to join local gang the Red Devils, but when Richie finds out that her initiation will involve necking with all eight male Red Devils, he confronts them at the school gym before they can begin the initiation. When they point out their superior numbers, Fonzie, Potsie, and Ralph come out of lockers (though Ralph's locker seems to stick, or he's holding it closed) as backup. But when that's not enough to intimidate the gang, the Big Ragoo comes out, and together he and Fonzie deliver a mulekick to the Red Devils.
  • In As Time Goes By, Lionel calmly convinces a highly disturbed criminal with a gun to give him the gun. He later doesn't think it's a big deal because he recognized that either the gun wasn't loaded or it was a replica.
  • A Crowning Moment of Awesome and Sexy in the short-lived Grace and Favour (also known as Are You Being Served Again?) happens in the final episode when the beautiful but naive farmer's daughter, Mavis Moulterd, mentions a few drinks makes her wild and pulls the neckline of her dress down with a sexy grin.
  • Brass Eye's paedophilia special was pretty much Chris Morris' Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • NYPD Blue: Det. Andy Sipowicz and co. have just brought in a violent criminal, who's repeatedly spitting out the ol' "If I wasn't in chains, I'd show you" line. He calls out Andy in particular, calling him "a bitch" who's only that brave around him because of the handcuffs and backup. Andy - who'd been sucker punched by the universe repeatedly lately - decides to cowboy up and put the thug in his place. He turns off the interview room's camera, uncuffs the perp, and opens a window (with a visible fire escape), then tells the thug to take his best shot; get past him to that window, he's home free. The thug makes every excuse in the book not to rise up ("It's a set up", "There's cops waiting outside the window", etc.) When it's clear the thug isn't going anywhere, Andy recuffs him and delivers the verbal Coup De Grace:

Andy: Just remember; you got everything you asked for... and this "bitch" didn't flinch.

Andrew: This is enough!
Gerry: You are interrupting a dialogue with the Lord!
Andrew: Then let him strike me down! [long pause with conspicuous absence of divine wrath] Didn't think so.

  • On Scrapheap Challenge / Junkyard Wars, the British Buzzards' first test flight of their scrap-built biplane (around 4 minutes into the linked video).
  • Reggae Reggae Sauce on Dragons' Den not only provided a Crowning Moment of Awesome for the show itself but went on to become a successful product in its own right.
  • Neverwhere: There are three or four Crowning Moments of Awesome for two different characters in the TV show (with one being in the book as well). First, the Marquis de Carabas, while being tortured slowly to death by two psychopaths, manages to spit blood in his killer's face. Later, still recovering from the aforementioned, he takes down a just-fed vampire with his bare hands and, shortly afterwards, faces down the canonical best fighter in the Underside with a crossbow and some well-chosen words and takes her hostage. Hunter also gets her moment when, having been gored and trampled by the giant sharp-hooved Beast she's after, she gets up and calls it back.
  • The ending of Newhart, for pulling off probably the best use of All Just a Dream ever.
  • Ed Deline has several over the run of Las Vegas, but one of his best comes after an episode where a developer has falsely accused Danny McCoy of raping her, but secretly offered to drop the charges if Ed would help her get approval for a project in Burma. Near the end of the episode, Ed picks up the phone right after Danny leaves the room and says he needs a favor. Cut to Ed's meeting with the developer, where he calmly informs her that her project in Burma has been cancelled. And two others. And the condo in Jersey. And the board of her country club would probably like to have a word with her. And she'd better not use her credit cards. She agrees to drop the charges. When Danny asks Ed if he had anything to do with it, he reminds Danny he needs plausible deniability.
    • There's one moment that perfectly combines this trope, Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, and Crowning Moment of Funny. A city inspector has shut down Delinda's restauraunt after she turned him down for a date. Ed and Dee go to his hotel room to "correct" him. Cue "Big Ed" Deline teaching his willowy daughter how to beat the crap out of the guy.

Delinda: Do I punch him like this, Daddy?

    • Then there's Sam kicking her would-be rapist out of his own airplane right after he belts her in securely so he can rape her.
    • After an episode-long bomb threat, Nessa punches the bomber in the face the second she gets the all-clear.
    • The team gets psychologically evaluated. When it's Delinda's turn, she asks the evaluator which of several psychological theories he's going to use, complete with pros and cons of each one, before telling the poor guy she used to be a psych major. "Are we done?"
    • How is Danny punching Ed for not listed?
  • Almost everything Jack Frost, the titular character in A Touch of Frost (not the small ice-guy), qualifies for a CMoA.
  • The pilot of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. starts its climax with Brisco strapping a saddle to a rocket, riding the rocket to a train that's being robbed, then lassoing the caboose, tying the rope's other end to the saddle horn, and climbing hand over hand to the train. All done completely for real with no CGI, and an undeniable statement about the show's seamless blend of western and sci-fi.
  • Murphy Brown versus Dan Quayle. Enough said.
    • More from Murphy Brown: The season 6 premiere brings in the initially Jerkass Peter Hunt. After spending the entire episode being completely disagreeable and parading his ego around, he tops it all off by accusing Murphy (in front of all her friends and the FYI crew, no less) that she's gotten soft and lost her edge ever since she became a mother. So Murphy responds by punching him in the face. And it's literally seconds before show time. And her report for the night is an examination of excesses of violence on television. You do not fuck with The Murphinator, period. Especially not when it comes to her kid.
    • From season 10: Murphy heads to the hospital for her lumpectomy and the gang is forced to sneak her in due to an obnoxious and greedy member of the paparazzi taking interest in the whole situation. They are successful in getting her in, but the paparazzo isn't fooled by the sneaking part and ends up getting the pictures he came for anyway. He taunts Frank with this information while he unwraps a muffin. Before he can get it anywhere near his mouth, Frank asks if he can see the muffin. "Why?" the paparazzo asks. "I don't want to get blood on it," Frank responds, and rams his fist into guy's jaw. He goes down, hard, and Frank picks up his camera, rips it open and yanks the film out without saying another word. Wow.
  • Sea Change is a brilliant series, but two episodes that really stand out are 'One of the Gang' and 'Balls and Friggin' Good Luck'.
  • So Bad It's Good Space Opera Lexx manages to acquire one in the first season, where Stanley H. Tweedle seemingly picks up the Idiot Ball of all Idiot Balls, but is shown to have pulled off a Batman Gambit. After having taunted the sub-nebular space pirates who once tortured him, he gets a Distress Call from a woman in a derelict spaceship, and Stanley goes to investigate. Alone. Unarmed. After being captured, he is tortured again, but in the middle of it, he starts laughing. Cue the Lexx floating onto the screen.
  • On a Roast of Emmitt Smith, Doug Williams comes up and makes lame, kinda offensive jokes about everyone but Emmitt. Jamie Foxx starts mock laughing and then uses his own clip mike to start out joking Emmiet. He pretends to be his "conscious" and trolls the stuffing out of what'shisname, Doug. NSFW due to cussin' http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=B_L-gbpKZpo
  • You can debate whether a characters first appearance can be a crowning moment of awesome, but if it can Vyvians first entrance in The Young Ones definitely qualify.
  • Bill Nye The Science Guy: The Grunge Band Of Science. That is all.
  • Pretty much every time Robert Goren corners a suspect on Law & Order: Criminal Intent qualifies.
    • Whoopi Goldberg's character gets one when she emotionally manipulates Logan, making him think he's about to get a confession, then asks for a lawyer. Apparently it was just for the lulz.
  • Space Cases:
    • Harlan destroying 3 -- that's 3 -- Spung Kill Cruisers with a game of chicken. "Now you see us... now you don't."
    • Bova saving the day in the episode when Mrs. Davenport gets trapped in the computer -- first figuring out to open the Secret Room and then saving Thelma from a black hole.
    • Bova again against Warlord Shank in the Season 1 finale. To quote Sailor Jupiter, "You dare attack me with lightning?!"
    • Harlan and Radu taking on their Evil Twins Bash Brothers style.
  • On The Law of the Playground, comedian Lee Mack displayed his old school report, in which it was written that he spends too much time joking and will never get anywhere like that. Then he said "and here's another of my school reports. Oh no, sorry, that's my Bafta".
  • The whole of the Twilight Zone episode The Obsolete Man is a CMoA for Romney Wordsworth.
  • Bonekickers: out of context, the statement "Don't mess with me, I'm an archaeologist!" sounds laughable, I know. I giggled when I saw the trailer. But in context...
    • No, no, the real Crowning Moment Of Awesome in that sequence is the amazing "Call yourself a Bonekicker?! You know NOTHING!!!" ...Admittedly, I think the show is So Bad It's Good.
      • I always thought of it more as Narm Charm, but Your Mileage May Vary.
  • Though certainly a Moral Event Horizon moment as well, Francis Urquart gets one at the very end of House of Cards (British series) when the Intrepid Reporter he had previously seduced confronts him at the House of Parliament's rooftop gardens with evidence of the numerous illegal, sucessful, Batman Gambits that have allowed him to become Prime Minister... and his reaction is to go for Refuge in Audacity and chuck her off the building and claim she committed suicide. And it works. Seriously, everyone I've ever watched it with just drops their jaws at just how far this grandfatherly British Upper Class Twit is willing to go, and how devious he is at getting there.
  • The Middleman, star of, well, The Middleman, has done may awesome things - hostage rescue from the Underworld, almost beating one hundred masked wrestlers in a straight fight, "Muscle memory, bitch", taking down Ida - but his crowning moment was the entire pilot episode. In just under 45 minutes, he tasers a monster made of body parts, lays down the exposition like nobody's business, walks (unarmed) into the most notorious den of wiseguys in the city, causing everyone else to run out. Then he tortures a hardcore mobster with a glass of milk. He walks into the villain's hideout, KO's a mook with one punch, and disarms a man from six feet away. While held at gunpoint, he pulls a Batman Gambit on the Big Bad with her own damn gun, and then he gives Wendy back her dad's lighter for bonus heartwarming points. And all while not swearing. In fact, if you didn't cheer for the Middleman at any point in the pilot, hang your head in shame right now.
    • Impressive, but to some, none of that matches up to Wendy's "please hold."
  • Titus. The episode titled "Hard Ass". Erin's niece Amy moves in with them, bringing with her a stun gun and a large bag of pot. Even Ken can't rein her in. This is when the Ambiguously Gay Tommy has his redeeming moment.
  • Kasou Taishou, a Japanese game show featuring hilariously amazing puppetry shows, the most famous being Matrix Ping Pong. This could double as a Crowning Moment of Funny for this show as well.
  • After spending two seasons as the idiotic, yet sympathetic, news host on "Frontline", Mike Moore completely shocks the audience by actually researching the interview topic and humiliating the wrongful guest. What really makes it a CMoA is the question he asks beforehand, which made the guest admit he wouldn't fire Mike if he asked an inappropriate question.
    • Oh, and did we mention that this guest was the boss of the station? As in, the guy who could pull the show off air at a whim?
    • It's especially impressive when you consider how the writers lead you to believe this will go the way of previous episodes where Brian or Sam either talks him out of doing research or easily manipulates him into giving up under the pressure (ie, Mike's failed attempt at reading the professor's supposedly racist textbook in "Heroes and Villains"). Up until the climax, there is nothing to indicate than anything in the documents Sam gave him will register.
    • Mike's victory on the game show Jackpot, completely unaided despite Sam's attempts to help him cheat.
  • On Xena: Warrior Princess, Callisto is Xena's nemesis motivated by a desire for revenge for the suffering Xena has caused in her own dark past. Before Xena reformed, she was responsible for the death of Callisto's family when she had her army torch Callisto's village, thus causing a chain of events that lead her to become evil and insane. At the end of her journey she was a demon and was fighting archangel Xena; Callisto says "I will never stop hating you, Xena. Do you hear me, never. You killed my family, my soul, my reason to live and love, and I will spend eternity seeking revenge" and Xena simply says "No," and gives her light to her turning into what she would had become if Xena wouldn't had killed her family, effectively trading her place in Heaven for Callisto's spot in Hell to make up for it.
  • Following three seasons of hearing about Benton Fraser's skill at marksmanship without any demonstration (as he was unlicensed to use a firearm in the United States), the Mountie hero of Due South gets a Crowning Moment of Awesome at the climax of "Mountie on the Bounty, Part II" when the ship on which he is being held prisoner crosses into Canadian waters.
    • The six minutes or so leading in to this are an extended Crowning Moment of Awesome, as Benton, Ray and a crew of mounties overtake the ship with a small wooden ship, completely taking down the villain's crew. Came complete with Crowning Music of Awesome. "THIRTY-TWO DOWN ON THE ROBERT MCKENZIE!"
    • Ray Vecchio on the same series got one in the first season; a mob boss with whom he had grown-up started terrorizing the city and put Benton into the hospital. So Ray challenged the mob boss to a game of one-on-one... but instead beat the ever-loving sh* t out of him, humiliating him so badly that he couldn't even tell his men to put a hit on Ray, out of sheer embarrassment.
    • Not to be outdone, Ray Kowalski gets one in the third season: after Fraser and his mentor Quinn have been kidnapped by a jewel thief, members of the 2-7 reach the warehouse where they are being held. The thief tells Ray over the phone that if he doesn't get a car and a clear path away in the next thirty seconds, he'll shoot Fraser. Welsh tells Ray to wait for backup from the SWAT team, but rather than risk Fraser's life, Ray commandeers a police motorcycle and drives through a window, disarming the thief and arresting him before Fraser can even move.
    • When Benton and Ray get locked in a bank vault that a heavily armed team of bank robbers is breaking into, Benton sets off the fire sprinklers inside the safe, resulting in a colossal wave once the robbers get it open that disarms all of them.
  • The made-for-TV movie called The Vernon Johns Story was about a civil-rights campaigning Pastor, played by James Earl Jones. Johns' moment comes when he's forced by the church administration to perform the funeral of the town drunk, whose family gives a lot of money to said church.

Michael Jones was a worthless drunk. He went around town daring somebody to slit his throat. Last week somebody finally obliged him. He lived like a dog, he died like a dog. Undertaker, claim the body!

  • In the Taggart episode "Knife Edge", Jim Taggart is faced by about five burly leather clad Hells Angels, one of whom spits on his shoes. Without changing expression at all, the five foot nothing Taggart calmly replies 'The last person who did that to me wore their balls home as earrings"
  • In the classic comedy series Porridge, the scene in which Fletcher calmly talks down a mentally unstable gunman who is holding the main characters hostage. The moment is in no way diminished by the fact that Fletcher thought the gun wasn't loaded.
  • Jessica Tate driving away the Devil (who had possessed her infant grandson) with a Power of Love speech in the season 2 finale of Soap.
  • Spooks (or MI 5 as it's known in America) has quite a few of these, but few are quite as awesome as Malcolm's in the first episode of series five. Colin, a member of the cast since series one, is Anyone Can Dieexecuted by two rogue MI-6 agents. When Harry states that Section D will have to let them get away with it for now to uncover the larger plot, Malcolm bursts out with, "Shut up, you pompous fool! He wasn't just some geek who did crossword puzzles! He was my bloody best friend!
    • "I've got a terrible crick in the neck, y'see."
  • Malcolm's true moment of awesome comes in the first episode of season eight. He realizes that the child of a former MI-5 employee is in danger, but the agency decides it can't intervene lest it blow a sensitive operation by taking any action. So Malcolm goes off the grid, and walks to the house where the child is being held. Malcolm offers himself in exchange to the child. When that offer fails and Malcolm is taken hostage, he then proceeds to talk the gunman guarding the child out of killing him. The gunman walks away, probably to go work in a soup kitchen somewhere. Malcolm then retires from the secret service -- the first character in eight seasons to do so of his own volition, on his own terms -- to go read books by the sea. Did I mention he's a desk jockey, not a field agent?
  • Interceptor: The tractor ambush. The Interceptor is a supremely Magnificent Bastard.
  • The Odd Couple: Felix is defending himself and Oscar in court after they've been arrested and charged with scalping tickets. Calling to the stand the woman to whom he'd offered an extra ticket (for free), he gets her to concede that he'd refused the $15 she'd offered for it before she claims he'd "held out for more". Felix tells her to think carefully, and asks if he'd really asked her for more money. "Not exactly", she admits, "I just assumed...", and Felix pounces on this:

Felix: Your Honor, may defense counsel use that blackboard?
Judge: Yes.
Felix: Thank you, Your Honor! Miss Olem, you should never "assume", because when you "ASSUME" (writing the word on the blackboard), you make (circling) an "ASS" of "U" and "ME"!

  • The Glass House. Oh, the Glass House...
    • The Jason Byrne penguin scene, which is impossible to describe unless you watch it...
    • And the Lauren Burns vibrator scene... 2005 best of, if you want to see it on YouTube.
  • Rufus Hound's rap version of the plot of Gears of War 2 on Playr.
  • From Who Wants to Be a Superhero??: Monkey Woman's crowning moment from her tragically short run. After nearly being eliminated in the first episode, she (and the rest of the contestants) faced a challenge of making it across a lawn in a heavy padded suit, with two trained dogs trying to stop them. Every other would-be superhero either succeeded or admitted defeat and cried "uncle" to make the dogs stop in under a minute. When Monkey Woman's turn came, she spent nearly ten minutes fighting her way forward or being dragged around by the dogs and made it through. Even Stan was stunned.
    • Although as far as "eternal loyalty from the fans" is concerned, there are reports of this coming as early as the first major challenge, in which she "changed" into her superhero costume... in a tree.
  • Fraggle Rock has one in one of the final episodes, where Junior Gorg has spent the entire episode in the Fraggle world learning about the universe after freaking out about becoming king someday. Not only is he the first one to actually figure out all three levels of their codependant ecosystem, he then proceeds to go home to his Awesome Moment of Crowning and uses his first decree to immediately declare the universe can take care of itself and abolish the centuries-long useless monarchy while his blowhard father looks on and can't do a thing about it.
  • The Discovery Channel series Guinea Pig involves a former circus performer named Ryan Stock who executes dangerous feats in the name of science. Stock's crowning moment comes in an episode where he must test less lethal weapons designed to stop rioters and criminals. He must withstand the power of a sonic frequency generator that causes severe nausea, headaches and body pain after a few seconds. After being told that the only person who made it past 30 seconds standing in front of the device was a Marine drill sergeant who would "smile if he had a root canal", Stock and his co-star/fiancee Amber stand in front of the device. Ryan and Amber walk up to the machine, and Amber flees after a few seconds, complaining of serious pain. Ryan, however, kneels in front of the device, and crouches in front of it for more than three minutes. The looks on the generator's designers' faces are priceless.
    • While we're on the subject of Discovery Channel, if this doesn't make you want to shout victoriously and punch the air, then either 1) you're not human, 2) you're at work, or 3) you're angry that Anthony Bourdain wasn't in this video (a valid complaint, but still).
  • Dept. Chief Brenda Johnson gets a truly spectacular one in "You Are Here". Having brought in a perp who carjacked and killed a judge, she promises him that, if he writes down the name of the person who paid him, "the State of California will not charge [him] with any crime." So his face is priceless when the episode closes with this exchange:

Lawyer: "So my client is free to go?"
Brenda: "Ah, not exactly... I said I wasn't going to charge him with anything, and I won't, but there's a new law making carjacking a federal offense, and I believe it has the death penalty attached to it. Mr. Howard here will explain all the details."

    • An arrogant teenager who killed his maid has fled to Mexico with the help of his parents. Mexico won't extradite a prisoner who will face a possible death sentence. When he refuses to return, Brenda hands him over to the Federales... and then reveals that the maid was a Mexican citizen. Have fun spending the rest of your life in a Mexican jail.
  • Moving Wallpaper. Annoying internet guy calls Kelly a "cheap whore". Carl -- the middle-aged nice guy who's too shy to act on his crush on Kelly -- immediately steps forward and punches him out.

Tom: "I didn't even know you knew how to make a fist."
Carl: "Neither did I."

  • New Zealand (and anywhere else) tropers who have seen Seven Periods With Mr Gormsby will know that the fifth episode from season 2, "Camp Tepapawai" was an entire episode of awesome. But the highlight was Hohepa sawing through the boards of Steve's part of the latrine trench so that when Steve went to the toilet, he fell into the trench, and then Gormsby made him walk to the other end of the trench so they could pull him out. Fuckin' awesome.
  • On the 2008 Spicks and Specks Christmas special, there's a classic scene at the end starring Tex Perkins and the Ladyboyz singing a completely over-the-top version of Wham!'s song 'Last Christmas.'
    • In addition to the 2009 episode featuring Tim Minchin, when, in one of the games, Alan Brough (team captain 1) commented that every clue Adam Hills (the host) gave them was crap, on which Adam turned around, crossed his arms and what happened next was as follows:

Adam: Go ask your own questions then!
[Tim walks up and tips the chair over, knocking Adam onto the floor. He sits in the chair and smiles at the audience, but he doesn't say anything. Adam picks himself up with the help of Myf Warhurst (team captain 2)]
[Tim leans over to help]
Tim: Here, let me help-
[Adam slaps his hand away]
Adam: Stuff you! I'm gonna stay with Myf! [he hugs her]
Myf: Oh, look what you did to my Adam!
[Tim goes back to his chair, Adam sits back down]
Tim: I just froze up, I don't know how you do it...
Alan: It's the reading.

    • Adam's true Crowning Moment Of Awesome came with his first appearance on Mock the Week, and the entire conversation about his artificial foot.

Dara O'Briain: And thank you Adam, for what could have descended into freak show territory, but you held it together with an enormous amount of dignity as we basically said "SHOW US THE WEIRD THING! SHOW US THE WEIRD THING NOW! LET US SEE THE UNUSUAL LIMB!"

  • In April 2009, a dumpy, overweight, single, unemployed, 47 year old woman named Susan Boyle appeared on Britains Got Talent, stated her ambition to become a professional singer, was laughed at by the audience... and then she started to sing. Within seconds Piers looks like the sun's just risen for the first time in years, Amanda's jaw is on the floor, and Simon's melting all over the judges' table. One of the most moving renditions of "I Dreamed A Dream" that has ever been performed.
    • The music starts at 1:46 into that clip. That clip, however, contains both the pre-singing snarky anticipation, and all the reaction shots of the judges and the audience being totally mindblown afterwards.
    • There has got to be a trope for someone like her. Someone who looks all sweet, clueless, and dorky and not very interesting, and then bam they do something that totally WTFPWNs everyone in sight. Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass, perhaps? Certainly no one will ever underestimate her again. Talk about not judging a book by its cover! And she knew precisely what was going to happen. That little smirk on her face right before she opens her mouth to sing is just screaming, "I am going to blow these suckers' minds, and it is going to feel damn good." You go, girl!
    • Maybe we should create a page, like Crouching Suck Hidden Awesome...?
    • She got a standing ovation twenty seconds after she started singing. Twenty seconds, and she's already proven herself to the world. Damn.
  • In Dark Angel's second season finale Joshua finds himself face to face with the man who killed his beloved Annie, realizes who it is and cuts loose (an odd show of strength aside he never got a fight scene like Alec or Max did, making this doubly awesome), beating him senseless and then stretching him over his back until Max talks him out of breaking him.
  • The Unit is made of these, but Tiffy's turning an invitation from an anti-war group into the debate equivalent of a Curb Stomp Battle in "Old Home Week" was awesome.
  • Spaced. "Well, Sarah obviously does!"
    • Also; 'Don't worry. I'll put it in Tim and Daisy's room' * cue The Magnificent Seven theme*
    • "It's not a bedsit. It's a flat!"
  • Higher Ground:

Walt: Where are you going?
Shelby: I'm going to open the door for the police.

  • Six Feet Under had Ruth at the self-help seminar: "And fuck you too, for not letting me buy that Snickers!"
  • Temptation: Yolanda Stopar's 8-day run, where she nailed the "Top Ten" bonus round all 7 times before retiring undefeated after her 8th win. Only 6 other contestants out of the 1,000+ to appear on the show in its four-season run have reached the limit of 8 wins, none of whom have ever duplicated Yolanda's feat of a perfect streak in the bonus round. She walked away as a grand champion with the maximum possible $800,000 plus $132,577 worth of prizes.
  • In Beakman's World when the title character confronts the frightening environmental problem, ozone layer depletion, head on with understanding and balance while still explaining how serious it is with the empowering address to scared viewers, "Let's turn that fear into knowledge!"
  • Harry Enfield and Chums has one of these, oddly, for a sketch show. Stan Herbert, an upper class man who has spent the entire series making fun of his relative, Frank and his middle-class family for having less money than him (His Catch Phrase throughout the series has been "We are considerably richer, than you"). Gets his comeuppance in a big way when Frank drives his wife into Stan's driveway in an incredibly expensive sports car, casually walks into the house wearing a black suit, and announces magnificently, that he is "now considerably richer, than you" (due to winning the lottery).
  • Kings deserves a mention, being an awesome and underappreciated show:
    • That shot of an unarmed David standing in front of the Goliath.
    • Silas is a walking CMoA in general, as he is played by Ian McShane, but his Unflinching Walk in the finale up the steps of the capitol in front of dozens of armed soldiers all supposedly sworn to obey Cross was just awesome. Even better? David showing up with a bunch of Goliaths loyal to him and Silas and telling the soldiers to move.
    • Also from the finale, Rose standing in the middle of the hallway when Silas returns with the true crown in her hands.
    • From "Javelin":
      • David refusing Reverend Samuels' offer of escape when he's about to be put on trial for treason.

David: If I go with you, everything Silas says about me is true.
Cross: You're worried about his good opinion of you?
David: I'm worried about my own.

      • Jack standing up to his father in the middle of David's trial, knowing the consequences and still choosing (for possibly the first time in the series) to go with Honor Before Reason.
  • Blackadder: Back and Forth: Blackadder punches out Shakespeare for all the schoolchildren who ever had to study his works.
    • A little more metafictional but the entire episode 'Goodbyeee.' It's a sitcom episode about the First World War that was seen as fit to be played on Armistice Day and no one batted an eyelid.
    • As much as a chauvinist pig Flashheart is, it's impossible to dislike the character when he not only helps George save Blackadder, but then helps him get revenge on Darling. He doesn't even like Blackadder! And, although it feels a little mean to label it as awesome, nonchalently shooting von Richthofen in the middle of the latter's Worthy Opponent speech, with the words "What a poof!" Basically, Flashheart is walking Awesome, who could probably get away with just about anything and remain awesome, just for his attitude.
  • Peo has one in the Swedish kid's show Vintergatan 5A (Milky Way 5A) when he punches his way through hordes of mutants to save Henrik and Mira.

Peo: PEOPEOPEOPEO!

  • Of all the the things in the world, an MTV Movie Awards opening skit managed to pull off a comedic Crowning Moment of Awesome. The premise, played out through several preceding skits, is that Doctor Evil and his son Scott, played by Mike Myers and Seth Green, have captured Billy Crystal (playing himself, of course) in their latest bid to rule the world. At one point, Scott asks Billy Crystal to sing a song and he gives a lackluster performance, to which Scott shakes his head and replies "you've lost the magic, Mr. Crystal". To which a familiar voice replies "that's cause I'm not Billy Crystal, baby!" and "Billy" rips off a latex mask. Dr. Evil and Scott both give a hilariously over-the-top "Austin Powers?!?" and Austin quickly thwarts them with a fight scene worthy of the '60s Batman series.
  • In the Season Six pilot of Numb3rs, Charlie calculates the location of the sniper who is currently shooting at them, using only a pencil, paper, some gun stats supplied by Colby, and his brain. It only feels like a few steps from here to killing them with mathematics.
  • Foyle's War: One of the many Karma Houdinis in the series, an American businessman who is instrumental in a movement to bring America into the war, is about to hope on a plane when Foyle 'asks to say goodbye'. The businessman smugly gloats about it, leading Foyle to calmly retort that it's the war that's keeping the businessman from receiving punishment -- but wars end, and when this one does the businessman will still be a proven murderer, and Foyle still has the proof that he's a murderer: "You're not escaping justice. Merely postponing it. Au Revoir." The businessman suddenly looks a lot less pleased with himself.
    • His driver, Sam Stewart, gets one as well. At her new job in a map-making facility, she's overheard a potentially incriminating conversation between a suspect with something to hide and another party. That night, she's preparing to go home when the suspect suddenly appears behind her, suggesting that it'd be a lot healthier and safer for her if she just forgot about the whole thing. Sam calmly replies that she'd actually forgotten about the whole incident, "but since you're so worried about it you've come out here to try and bully me, I'm going to mention it to everyone I can." She then rides off without a backwards glance, leaving the gobsmacked suspect with an Oh Crap expression and the thought that maybe trying to intimidate her wasn't his best idea.
  • The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes features this delicious scene of Holmes effortless wiping the floor with the local ruffian. It was awesome enough in the book, played by Jeremy Brett only enhances its awesomeness.
  • I can't believe CSI: NY's season three finale hasn't been mentioned yet. To recap: Flack and other police officers take down a drug ring and make the largest haul in New York City history go into police hands. The remainging gang members want it back, but it's safely in the vault at the labs. They torture Adam to get information on how to get into the labs, and then Danny gets caught by them as well. Then a group of them infiltrate the labs and set off a fire alarm to evacuate the building. Everyone but Mac, Stella and Hawkes leave. Then, as they attempt to take back the drugs that belong to them, Stella and Mac start taking them down while Hawkes gets a guy in the coroner's office. Meanwhile, Danny hatches a plan to get Adam to get something he needs for them to escape, and willingly lets his hand get crushed to let that happen. Adam gets what he needs to get, and when the police storm the warehouse and almost shoot two cops who were set up to look like the hostage takers, Adam saves them by getting in their line of fire. Finally, back at the labs, it's Mac versus the gang leader, and Mac sets up laser trip wires and gets the bad guy to trip one of them, blowing up the lab while Mac escapes to safety. If that isn't one of the best Die Hard on an X moments ever, I don't know what else is.
  • LazyTown has quite a few of those. If were talk about each one Sportacus has we'd be here all day. But some highlights include: Sportacus kicking "RottenBeard's" ass in RottenBeard. Pixel making Robbie's feet go crazy in Defeeted. Ziggy kicking a Dinosaur (Robbie)'s ass in Cry Dinosaur.
  • It's not often you see a villain get one of these where you can actually cheer them on in doing so, but thanks to the nature of the plot (a Dragon with an Agenda who betrays the Big Bad and starts an Enemy Civil War), The Tenth Kingdom gets to have one of these for the Magnificent Bitch the Evil Queen. After her Batman Gambit to bring down the Troll King, ah, bears fruit, we get this exchange at the Merrypips Apple Orchard, worth quoting in its entirety:

Troll King: I am alone and unarmed.

Evil Queen: As am I.

Troll King: Where are my children?

Evil Queen: To be quite honest, I have no idea. I simply used them as an excuse to get you to meet me.

Troll King: Then I will kill you.

Evil Queen: Don't you wish to hear my great plan first?

Troll King: I have known of your plan all along--to put the imposter prince on the throne, and rule the Fourth Kingdom yourself.

Evil Queen: Do you think I spent seven years rotting in jail to rule only one of the Nine Kingdoms? I intend to have them all.

Troll King: But...where do I fit in?

Evil Queen: Yes...I see what you mean.

Troll King: I have heard enough. Trolls...arise! (guards appear from among the apple trees, surrounding her) You didn't expect that, did you? My men have been hiding here for the last hour.

Evil Queen: I am impressed at your foresight. And had you arrived two hours earlier, you would have found me...poisoning the apples! (watches Relish and his men collapse, writhing in agony) Poison is something of a science with me, and I seem to have timed it just right. You know what they say, Relish: an army marches on its stomach!

gives a bow Your Majesty, I read your book!
  • During the fiasco involving Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel hosted a full episode of his show (Jimmy Kimmel Live) while doing an impersonation of Jay Leno. Jay invited Kimmel onto his show (The Jay Leno Show) the next night, and when given the opportunity, Kimmel verbally eviscerated Leno to his face about the massive screwjob he and NBC had delivered to O'Brien.
    • And there's the already infamous $1,500,000 sketch where the Conan crew dresses up a Bugatti Veyron to look like a mouse, using "Satisfaction" as its backing theme. Within a day it's already featured on three of the ten Google search suggestions under "Conan", and two for "Bugatti". A screw you to NBC's budget indeed.
    • But wait, there's more from that same episode. When Conan reminisces about things in Hollywood that lasted shorter than his Tonight Show stint, he mentioned the on-air absence of his not-11:35-PM-friendly character, the Masturbating Bear... which prompts the Bear to come out on stage. And yes... he does.
  • There was an special on the Discovery Channel a while ago devoted to utterly demolishing the various conspiracy theories behind 9/11. The best part was that each claim they took to pieces, they actually presented the findings to a group of conspiracy theorists, and each time their rebuttals sounded feebler and feebler. Pure. Ownage.
    • National Geographic did something similar with the moon landing conspiracies. After an entire episode of tolerating their nonsense, they shot down all of the theories in the last ten minutes, topping off with the guy who runs a laser that bounces off reflectors left on the moon, and he points out that no conspiracy theorists ever come to ask him anything.
  • You might wonder how the psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers, who's been a semi-ubiquitous presence most of our lives, ever became famous. The answer is that she was only the second contestant to successfully answer The $64,000 Question back in the 1950s. That's not the awesome part. Most quiz shows of that period were fully or partially rigged for popular contestants. The 64k Q was a partially rigged show. No contestant was given the answers beforehand, but if the sponsor liked a contestant, they were given fairly easy questions. If the sponsor didn't like a contestant, they were given ultra-hard questions in an effort to get rid of them, and the sponsor didn't like Brothers at all. Her category was boxing, so she was asked at one point to name the referees of certain title bouts. She confounded the sponsor and correctly named them. As a result, Brothers was the one famous Fifties quiz show contestant whose star actually rose when the later quiz show scandals broke out exposing just how rigged most of those shows were. Her quiz show had been specifically rigged against her and she still managed to win fair and square.
  • Nurse Jackie's chat with the insurance agent in the S2 premiere.
  • The Bewitched episode “Sisters at Heart” gave a crowning moment to Larry Tate, of all people, in the only known instance of his growing a spine. A somewhat bigoted client, Mr. Brockway, has made the incorrect assumption that Darrin is half of a mixed marriage because little Tabitha and a black playmate like to pretend that they are sisters. He demands that Darrin be taken off his account without stating the reason. When he discovers his mistake, the following exchange occurs:

Brockway: You mean it’s not a mixed marriage?
Larry: That’s what you thought?
Brockway: (laughing) Yes.
Larry: But now that you know the truth, you want Darrin back on the account.
Brockway: Of course.
Larry: Excuse me, I just want to make sure it’s me talking. (Walks to wall mirror, looks at his reflection, nods.) It’s me all right. Mr. Brockway, find yourself another agency. We’re not interested.
Brockway: (incredulous)You’re not interes-- You mean you’re turning down a million dollar account?
Larry: Believe me, I’m more surprised than you are.

  • The 2010 Emmys pulled this off in the opening sketch. Joel McHale, Amber Riley, Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Cory Montieth, Chris Colfer, Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, AND Betty White? And they're singing "Born to Run"? Mind = blown.
  • Spartacus: Blood and Sand has a lot. The fight against Theokoles is an in-universe one, referenced by other characters several times after it happens.
  • The penultimate episode of The Unusuals had a chase scene set to Daler Mehndi's "Tunak Tunak Tun". If you're at all familiar with that song (and it's very possible), it's just as awesome as you would imagine. Particularly because the song just suddenly shows up completely unegxpected.
  • "Quantum Leap": Sam has leaped into a rape victim, but the rapist is a Karma Houdini. He comes by her place to taunt her (unaware that Sam has leaped into her) and to try it again. So Sam tells Al "Now I know what I came here to do," and proceeds...to beat the crap out of the rapist.
  • The Walking with Dinosaurs series and its spinoffs have loads of these. "Cruel Sea" and its Liopleurodon are probably some of the best.
  • The short-lived Commander-in-Chief may have had its issues - but no one can deny that Mackenzie Allen's speech to Congress at the end of the first episode is a CMoA for her, for Geena Davis, and for the show itself.
  • Lois and Clark has the first season finale, for the Daily Planet crew. All year long, Magnificent Bastard Lex Luthor has been getting away with murder, literally and figuratively. At the end of every nefarious plot, Lex is still untouchable, and Superman winds up outside Lex’s window delivering an “I’ll get you someday” speech that Lex is totally unimpressed with (it’s notthe only Superman continuity to have these.) However, after he makes the Daily Planet go boom, Lois, Clark, Perry, Jimmy, and Cat put their investigative skills together, finding proof of Lex’s evil deeds, this and others. Clark’s only contribution as suited Superman was... getting put in a Kryptonite cage in two minutes flat. The Planet crew did what Supes and all his power couldn’t and took Lex down.
  • The I'm in The Band season two opener, "I'm Out of the Band". Metalwolf, rival band to Iron Weasel, is scheduled to perform in the Superbowl halftime show, and it looks like Tripp is about to sign with them and join them. Derek, Ash and Burger show Tripp that they really care about and miss him and that they can't be Iron Weasel without him. Prior to this, they were about to try to get Tripp back, until they realized that he was playing in the halftime show, so they told him they were glad he was out of the band because they wanted what was best for him. So on the contract, Tripp signs, "Fluff your cupcakes, you sell out phonies!". Then, when Metalwolf comes back to get him over (they had him named "Scabb"), he says, "My name is Tripp, and i'm the lead guitarist of Iron Weasel." They see what he said on the contract, and feel insulted. Then, he flips a switch which sets off a giant fan, pinning Metalwolf to a speaker sack. They then perform "Never Turning Back" at the halftime show. Then we get a nice still frame before the last commercial break. After that, just before the episode ends, they give the crowd an encore by using Metalwolf's Amp Blaster 50,000 to shoot themselves in the air.
  • In The Dick Van Dyke Show's first season, we see a two-part story about Rob's brother, Stacey (played by Jerry Van Dyke). He is a shy, timid fellow with a serious sleepwalking problem that turns him into the life of the party. Rob decides to record Stacey in somnambulance and play it back when he wakes up. Later, Rob throws a party for his coworkers (including Alan Brady), and Stacey does a brilliant comedy bit. Rob talks to him in the kitchen and discovers that Stacey was awake the whole time. He had listened to himself on the tape recorder and learned to channel the comedic energy while wide awake.
  • The Bionic Woman, like its parent series, had numerous cases of this. One particular one stands out for Jaime Sommers thanks to the new DVD release. In the first season episode "Winning is Everything", Jaime finds herself on foot being chased by a race car loaded with enemy agents. She breaks into her bionic sprint, and next we know the race car is unable to catch up to her and she escapes. What makes this a CMOA is The Six Million Dollar Man and, indeed, bionic fandom itself, claims Steve Austin can only run between 60-66 MPH. Yet in this episode Jaime is clearly shown running greater than 100 MPH - the on-screen speed of the race car. Girl power!
  • Koichi Yamadera's a cappella performance of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" on the variety show Monomane Battle.
  • The prehistoric dragon mother in Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. She had a Big Damn Heroes moment in saving her son from a T-Rex, coming from above and slashed the head of the T-Rex with her claws. She finally managed to drive off the T-Rex, by burning the T-Rex with her fire breath. As the T-Rex went away, the Narrator said that the T-Rex will not live long after the fight.
  • Jem Stansfield's creations on family-friendly science show Bang Goes The Theory are often awesome to varying degrees, to the extent that it's often worth watching the show just for his bits. Triumphs included constructing a musical road to play the Wedding March, going 360 degrees on a playground swing and climbing a building using nothing but suction pads. And although his boat made of reinforced ice was a failure, it was still an awesome failure. (Also: co-presenter Yan Wong got his own MoA when in the course of a film about human perception of movement, it turned out that beneath the quiet geeky persona, he is one badass dancer.)
  • If there's one person on Quincy you'd never expect to have a Crowning Moment of Awesome, it's Quincy's superior Dr. Robert "Status Quo Is God" Asten. And yet in the episode "Hot Ice," our hero - following a successful undercover job in Las Vegas (long story) - has been stabbed with a poisoned umbrella and is on the verge of death. Having ID'd the man responsible, Asten and Brill go to confront him, he tries to escape... and Asten promptly judo flips the guy and gets him in a headlock before assuring him if he doesn't tell them what poison he used (without which they can't find the antidote) he'll regret it. Needless to say, it works.
  • Both Jim and Artie had plenty of CMoAs in the course of The Wild Wild West, so just one example each - in "The Night of the Human Trigger" two bad guys have Jim flanked on both sides, so if he gets one the other'll finish our hero off...he gets one with his regular gun and the other with his sleeve-held Derringer. And Artie has a rare action scene all to himself in "The Night of the Big Blast" when he has a swordfight with one of the villains - also a CMoA for Ross Martin, as it's clearly him in some (though not all) of the shots.
    • Although a one-shot character, the old Indian chief in "The Night of the Green Terror" has one all his own thanks to his absolute refusal to take any shit at all from "Robin of the Hood," alias the series' Big Bad Dr. Loveless ("Stop talking back to me, you funny little man!").
  • HGTV's show Income Property" has had a few. In one, host Scott Mc Gillivray learns that the couple he is helping have become victims of identity theft while in the middle of renovations and have lost thousands of dollars- in fact, most of their savings. Scott gathers the crew, speaks to them, and they agree to work extra hours so that the project will be completely done, even to the extras, before the deadline, in order to save the homeowners the exact amount they lost. In another, the wife of the couple being helped mentions that her husband thought that Scott was just the pretty-boy host and didn't actually do any work. Scott blinks, laughs, walks into the bathroom where the husband is unsuccessfully trying to drain the heavy old toilet that has just been removed. Scott takes the toilet and drains it effortlessly, then carries it out to the balcony and throws it across the sidewalk into the dumpster as the husband watches gaping. For the record, Scott is not a big guy. Also doubles as CMoF since Scott and the husband bust each others chops though the entire episode without actually offending each other once, and as Scott leaves the bathroom, he's yelling "Clear the way! Pretty face coming through!"
  • This legendary piece of Vital Information from All That:

Lori Beth: Oh, Macarena, Macarena, Macarena. Oh, Macarena, Macarena, Macarena. Oh, I HATE the Macarena! (wild applause)

  • Keeping Up Appearances shows us Richard, who has been involuntarily thrust into early retirement, but after a painful outing with Hyacinth ends with her embarrassment, Richard begins deliberately going out of his way just to tick her off.
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