The most recent (as of this writing; Hello, Future People!) episode of ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’ involved a very loving riff on ‘Groundhog Day’, including the time loop scenario as a way to bring the newest team member on board without taking half a season to upgrade her character. On the one hand, yeah, it’d have been a little more interesting to see the evolution over time; on the other, the CW only gives Legends 13 episode orders and they have like fifty-seven main characters. Plus, the use of the time loop in a time-travel show makes for a new wrinkle in the whole “live it over and over again” part, making me ponder today’s temporally redundant query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) is still a huge fan of that one Star Trek TNG episode where the ship blows up at the end of every single act, asks: What’s the best story involving a time loop which involves a time loop which involves a time Ioop?
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I’m going to say Groundhog Day, because I like Bill Murray a lot and don’t really care about Tom cruise, otherwise it would be Edge of Tomorrow.
That TNG episode (Cause and Effect) is pretty hard to beat for a classic time loop episode. And it remains one of my favorite episodes of the series to this day.
This is my vote, tied with the 12th Doctor’s “Heaven Sent/Hell Bent” combo.
Primer from 2004
The manga All You Need is Kill basis for edge of tomorrow. Is a really good time loop story.
TNG Cause and Effect and Groundhog day. Both are excellent.
Of course, I have to agree with TNG “Cause and Effect”, but to add variety to the answer, I also enjoy the Supernatural episode “Mystery Spot” in which Dean is killed every day in a million different ways. Each time he dies, the loop restarts. The twist to this is that Sam is aware of the loop, just not aware of how to stop it. Sam knowing what is going to happen next actually makes the episode hilarious.
Rowan Atkinson as the Doctor, Curse of the Fatal Death