15 Best Fourth Of July TV Episodes Of All Time, Ranked

America's about to turn 250, folks — which means it's time to celebrate the Fourth of July by declaring your independence from the holiday hustle for an episode or two of your favorite TV shows. Whether your house is about to become a destination for the entire extended family to gather or a personal, private sanctuary from fireworks and awkward conversations, there's no better time to revisit the oft-overlooked tradition of Fourth of July TV.

The holiday doesn't have as robust a history on television as Christmas or Halloween, but it has nonetheless inspired some wonderful episodes on a wide variety of series, ranging from classic sitcoms like "Saved by the Bell" to prestige dramas like "Mad Men." Some wrestle seriously with questions of our national identity and legacy; others use extreme patriotism and backyard barbecues as comedic cannon fodder. Whatever your mood is this Independence Day, TVLine has a series that'll light up your evening.

"Saved by the Bell," Season 3, Episode 6

By far the lowest-stakes and most nostalgic entry on this list, the official "Fourth of July" episode of NBC's "Saved by the Bell" is perfect for anyone looking to transform their television into a window to a sun-soaked past. The 1991 episode is a perfect slice of TV Americana for the holiday.

It takes place at the Malibu Sands Beach Club, an iconic location for fans of the series, at which the Bayside High crowd spent several episodes working and enjoying summer vacation in Season 3 (for younger readers, think "High School Musical 2"). An annual "Miss Liberty" beauty pageant is taking place, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar's Zack Morris is all too excited when he's asked to sit on the judges panel — only for his boss to insist Zack cast his vote for his daughter, Stacey (Leah Remini).

Revisiting the Malibu Sands arc is always a treat for anyone watching "Saved by the Bell," especially given how special of a guest star Remini was in hindsight. "Fourth of July" will at least be aesthetically pleasing even for those who haven't seen a single other episode of the series, but find themselves in want of laid-back summer programming after the fireworks have settled down.

Note: On Tubi and Prime Video where "Saved by the Bell" streams, "Fourth of July" can be found as Season 5, Episode 3.

"Teen Titans," Season 3, Episode 7

Comic book fans will always take an excuse to jump back into the original "Teen Titans" animated series. The show's distinct expressive animation style, madcap sense of humor, and surprisingly emotional depth make it a pleasure for those interested in casual background viewing and those looking for an actively engaging episode of TV. "Revolution" is a perfect example of this.

The Season 3 episode finds the Titans ambushed on the Fourth of July by Mad Mod (voiced by the inimitable Malcolm McDowell). The techno-supervillain uses his talents for hypnotism and hijacking to convince the entire population of Jump City to forget the American Revolution. Naturally, he then attempts to anoint himself king.

"Revolution" isn't so much about how important the actual historical event was as it is a demonstration of democracy in action. The Titans realize their team thrives when they compromise with one another. It's a patriotic but thoughtful episode that shows why "Teen Titans" remains one of the best Cartoon Network shows of all time.

"Portlandia," Season 5, Episode 5

Dropping a Fourth of July episode during the first week of February is hilarious in and of itself, and is arguably the most "Portlandia" way to do a holiday episode. For those not in the know, the Lorne Michaels-produced IFC sketch series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein is written around them goofing on the eclectic, quirky perception of the city of Portland.

The Fourth gives this 2015 episode a more unified feel than most from the series, with Armisen and Brownstein playing various idiosyncratic Portlanders getting ready for the holiday. Jane Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan guest star in separate vignettes, the former playing a no-nonsense BBQ consultant while the latter reprises his role as the Mayor of Portland (charmingly, Sam Adams — the real former mayor of Portland — also guest stars as MacLachlan's assistant). Silly, laugh-out-loud funny, and built entirely around its stars' peerless commitment to various bits, it's also harmless enough that most anyone will get a chuckle out of it.

"American Dad," Season 2, Episode 11

On the much more irreverent side of things, "American Dad" could have the right audience roaring with laughter from the time the grill turns on to that sweet moment when you're cleaning up the dishes and sneaking a few final bites of pie. If you're only going to watch one episode on the Fourth of July, however, it better be the Season 2 classic "American Dream Factory."

Written by future prolific TV creator Nahnatchka Khan, this 2007 episode follows patriarch Stan Smith (Seth MacFarlane) as he attempts to start a business manufacturing and selling "Cele-Bear-Tion" teddy toys for the Fourth. In the process, he exploits undocumented workers from Mexico. "American Dream Factory" is a nearly 20-year-old episode of one of the longest-running sitcoms in American TV history — not every scene has aged gracefully. That being said, especially for those of you who already count themselves among the show's fans, it's easy to see that its heart is in the right place as it celebrates (albeit crudely) everyone who believes in the American dream.

"South Park," Season 2, Episode 8

"South Park" has always been fairly unique due to its distinctly anti-authoritarian point of view. Its irreverent, often offensive sense of humor is essentially just another expression of this, as jokes frequently target ideas or people the writers (particularly creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone) feel as though they've been told they "can't" target. They've even taken things to the extreme of openly courting censorship to make a point.

As such, it should be expected that the series' not-so-patriotic Fourth of July episode, "Summer Sucks," feels like an extended rant against government regulation. Colorado issues a statewide ban on off-the-ground fireworks after an accident, leading South Park's citizens to build a dangerously large — yet technically legal — incendiary snake that has to be counterattacked with illegal fireworks from Mexico. As far as the broad social commentary goes, your mileage will vary dramatically. It hardly takes away from the pleasure of watching these foul-mouthed rascals getting into trouble on the Fourth.

"King of the Hill," Season 13, Episode 14

If there was such a thing as the Great American Sitcom, "King of the Hill" would be the animated exemplar. It's genuinely hard to go wrong with this particular series on this particular holiday, but it just so happens to offer an explicit Fourth of July-themed episode in Season 13's "Born Again on the Fourth of July." The title perfectly encapsulates the riotous combination of religion and rabid patriotism on display.

While Rainey Street and Milton Street viciously compete with one another to have the best lawn decorations in the neighborhood, little Bobby Hill redeems himself as an evangelical Christian — then gets right to judging the people around him. "King of the Hill" isn't as safe as "Portlandia," but it's hardly making a political statement. If anything, it's lovingly satirizing (as the series almost always is) a specific kind of small-town America in which many of us grew up celebrating the Fourth.

"The Pitt," Season 2, Episode 15

If you wanted to look for an extremely captivating — if extremely stressful — Fourth of July binge-watch, you could use it as an excuse to finally get around to the second season of "The Pitt" (or, perhaps, getting around to that second watch-through, if your heart rate can handle it). The entirety of Season 2 takes place during a single 15-hour ER shift on July 4, with the holiday coming into play throughout (including a waterpark disaster that floods the Pitt with an overwhelming amount of patients).

For those who have already seen Season 2 and are solely looking for Fourth episodes to flip through, we recommend the finale. It has all the emotion and character-driven drama that sets "The Pitt" apart from its contemporaries in the medical procedural subgenre, but with the heaviest amount of Fourth-energy spliced in. It even ends with a fireworks celebration (fit enough to honor Noah Wyle's dazzling performance as much as anything else).

"Stranger Things," Season 3, Episode 8

Maybe the kind of fireworks you're searching for comes in the form of blockbuster action spectacle. In that case, you'd be best served by taking a trip back to Hawkins, Indiana, for the Season 3 finale of "Stranger Things." The Duffer Brothers took their Netflix series on summer vacation for the third outing, delivering a season of scares that was heavily set within this episode's titular Starcourt Mall. That setting in and of itself might rival the star-spangled nostalgia offered by "Saved by the Bell," given how impressively "Stranger Things" evokes the vibrant escapism of '80s mall culture.

This supersized, 75-minute episode is built around a climactic "final" battle between the kids and the Mind Flayer. Appropriately, one of their main attack strategies is using Fourth of July fireworks as projectiles (magic missiles, anyone?), giving this grotesque showdown more holiday flash than you might remember. And, based on the streaming numbers the series has pulled in overall, it isn't out of line to wonder if this might be the most-watched Fourth of July episode in TV history.

Okay, wait — stay with us "Sunny" fans! We're well aware this episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" does not technically take place on the Fourth of July and is indeed the only episode without an explicit connection to the holiday in question. But it's also the only one that interrogates what it actually means to be "free" in modern-day America.

Charlie (Charlie Day) is the heart of this ridiculous half-hour, throwing himself into a crusade against smoking because, in his mind, righteous protest is the most American thing a person can do. Though Dee (Kaitlin Olson) stands with him, the rest of the crew run in the opposite direction, turning Paddy's Pub into the last bar in America where one is truly free — to smoke, gamble, do hard drugs, and fraternize with McPoyles.

Of course, their plans go awry immediately, the gang quickly finding the downsides of activism and anarchy. It's similar in tone to "Summer Sucks," yet the chaotic register "Sunny" achieves makes this feel less like a snide indictment of power, and more like a straight satire about people who can barely be trusted with the freedoms they already enjoy.

"The West Wing," Season 5, Episode 3

If you're looking for the cleanest, smartest, and arguably the most historically and politically conscious Fourth of July episode on this list, look no further than "Jefferson Lives." This episode of "The West Wing" might not catch your eye at first — after all, it did come to us during the polarizing post-Aaron Sorkin years of the show. But whether or not it meets the high-water mark of a classic "West Wing" episode like "Two Cathedrals," it's nonetheless a satisfying installment of TV's most optimistic political series.

"Jefferson Lives" paraphrases the last words of John Adams in its title, who died on the Fourth of July unaware that his fellow Founding Father, frequent adversary, and former Vice President Thomas Jefferson had also died the same day. Through Martin Sheen's President Bartlet, "The West Wing"  channels the frustration Adams felt at the increasingly cynical state of politics, as the fictional world leader is denied his choice for his own Vice President. It also searches for the same hope Adams is said to have been grasping for in his last words — one which Bartlet approaches in a characteristically blunt yet poignant speech.

"Magnum, P.I.," Season 4, Episode 1

Our oldest entry on this list is also one that might have you closest to the edge of your seat. Airing in September of 1983, the Season 4 premiere of "Magnum, P.I." took Tom Selleck's carefree and cunning private detective — a man who normally faces down armed and powerful foes — and made him a victim of circumstance.

Every year, Thomas Magnum elects to spend his Fourth of July alone, paddling through the ocean off the coast of Hawaii. His life isn't endangered by some criminal coming to hunt him down, but rather an errant speedboat that accidentally throws him from his own vessel, without which he is thus pulled by a deadly current into isolating waters. Magnum treads water for hours on end, hoping to survive until help improbably arrives. As he does so, he reflects on the life of his father (guest star Robert Pine), which ended in a July 4 funeral some 30 years prior when Magnum was just a child.

The episode is widely regarded as one of the best of the series, remarkable for its formal ingenuity and restraint and its willingness to slow down at the start of a season to interrogate its lead in an unexpected way. It isn't a happy watch for the holiday, but an important one nonetheless.

"China Beach," Season 3, Episode 5

Of all the series mentioned on this list, you're least likely to have seen "China Beach." The Vietnam War drama (which ran for just four seasons between 1988 and 1991 on ABC) had the talent and critical acclaim behind it to become the next "M*A*S*H." It just didn't have the audience. Despite its premature cancellation, however, modern audiences still happen upon it every once in a while — often through its widely praised Fourth of July episode.

On Independence Day 1968, Americans in Vietnam working in support of the war effort spend the holiday quietly wrestling with conflicted feelings of disillusioned patriotism and resentment. More than any other series on this list, "China Beach" manages to balance consistent and overt Fourth of July imagery with a dramatically rigorous, thought-provoking story about what the holiday actually means when the country is at war. It won't be the most comfortable watch this Independence Day — but it might be the most necessary.

"The Simpsons," Season 7, Episode 25

Did you really think we'd make it through a holiday list without getting "The Simpsons" involved? The legendary animated sitcom has been running for so long that you could assign two episodes to every day of the year and still run out of calendar before you run out of episodes. At the end of Season 7 in 1996, they finally tackled the Fourth of July in the surprisingly moving "Summer of 4 Ft. 2."

A holiday vacation to Cape Cod (courtesy of Ned Flanders) is the backdrop for Lisa's own declaration of independence from the Simpson family, as she attempts to reinvent herself for some new friends. Her arc toward self-acceptance is genuinely as sweet as Homer's firecracker antics are hilarious. Thirty years on, it remains one of the series' most beloved holiday episodes.

"The Wonder Years," Season 6, Episode 22

If you grew up watching "The Wonder Years," you might still be getting over its tear-jerking series finale. Technically a two-parter with the preceding "Summer," this episode picks up with Fred Savage's Kevin Arnold having left everything behind to follow his series-long friend and love interest Winnie (Danica McKellar) to her summer job. Sadly, real, adult life has started to get in the way of their plans, forcing them to consider whether or not they're truly meant to be more than childhood friends.

In "Independence Day," the titular holiday is used to punctuate that tragic end of childhood — growing up. The day once associated with summer vacation and romance now comes with a summer job and serious life decisions. For longtime "Wonder Years" fans, it will be striking to see how much they allowed Kevin and Winnie to change; for new viewers, it might feel like a thank you note to the childhood we left behind.

"Mad Men," Season 3, Episode 6

"Mad Men" is in the conversation for the greatest television show about America. It dissects the national identity more closely than any historical or political drama, in large part because it's the story looking at the country exclusively through the eyes of the people trying to sell it.

Like most great "Mad Men" episodes, Season 3's "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" is so tightly written from concept to dialogue that it feels like it could be a stage play. The night before July 4, the employees of Sterling Cooper are forced to work late at the behest of their British parent company. If you've yet to see the episode for yourself, it's best we don't say more, as it's safely one of the most shocking — and darkly hilarious — hours the series ever produced.

What we will say is that "Guy Walks Into an Advertising Agency" is not only near-perfect on a technical level, but the greatest cross-section of quality entertainment, vintage Americana vibes, explorations of the national psyche, and overt, explicit references to Independence Day. We don't need to give you the hard sell here — this is the best Fourth of July episode of all time.