Generally speaking I usually hate episodic action, so you might guess any filler episode that is not part of a story arc drives me away. Especially if they are aiming for comedy because it usually means an episode about Naruto being the butt of a stretched joke for 20 mins straight, which I don't consider funny.
However, I must admit there was one episode where they managed to do it right, the legendary episode about Kakashi's mask. I liked how the anime pokes fun about this point on Kakashi's character for the whole episode in a wacky and light-hearted but still funny tale with an epic untwist right at the end. It was unique in its own way and the stupid plans Team 7 came up to unmask him remember me of some cartoons I used to watch when I was younger.
Among other arcs that really impressed me were the Star Village arc, the Raiga arc and the final one with Gaara and the weapon users.
Pretty much all episodes with episodic action is on my unfavorite category, but I will make special mentions to the rich brat and the idiotic artist Kiba and Naruto had to protect in one episode.
The first three arcs of Shippuden were the best written filler arcs I've ever seen in this anime. They really changed the formula for Part II and decided to make their own story arcs once in a while instead of overloading the viewers with years of filler and up to a certain point they were so good some of them could actually pass as Kishimoto's own work. All of those three arcs were spetacular, but if I had to pick a favorite it would be the Three-Tails arc. I know it is a bit long, but if you are willing to actually watch it instead of complain about its extent you will find some of the best written characters I've ever seen. Guren deserves an special mention for being more interesting for me than any other female character in the manga.
However, it was to good to last and once again the anime decided for the episodic approach. Ugh! Konoha's History arc was moderate, but the Adventures at the Sea made me actually feel in a boat with a severe case of seasickness to the point I could relate with Gai. Episodic action is bad enough, but doing an entire season about the main characters floating in the middle of nowhere was too much for me. Woah, sea bandits again! I could see a pattern in almost all episodes, it was like watching late Johto arc from Pokemon all over again.
