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Top 20 (and Bottom 5) Simpsons Episodes
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Lately, I've been bored, and I've been reading a lot of best and worst Simpsons episode lists, and I thought that I would try to cram another salted snack treat into the world's already bloated snack hole... if you know what I mean. (If you don't, watch the season eight episode "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson.")Warning: The soapbox you are about to read contains very few facts, and is mostly the opinions of me. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, and is almost entirely me rambling on about the Simpsons. I suppose the only time it would be useful is if you've never seen the Simpsons, and want someone to recommend some episodes. Let's start with the bad news - the Bottom Five Simpsons Episodes. You may get some conflicting reports, i. e. I tend to not agree with most other "Worst Simpsons Episodes" Lists, but here we go.
This episode would've been the worst episode, but luckily it featured Sideshow Bob, which saved it from the depths of the "worst list", but didn't quite save it from the top of the "worst list." I don't like to see politics in the Simpsons. This episode didn't even have a couch gag!
This episode was good for first season standards, but not good in comparison to the entire rest of the series. I don't like to see Bart get beat up; he's supposed to be the cool kid. "Do the Bartman," dude. Cowabunga. The cool kid shouldn't get beat up. He simply shouldn't. 3. The Homer They Fall I'm a nerd, and I don't completely understand boxing, but even if I did, I don't think this episode would've entertained me. I don't think the plot was thick enough. It was just another "Homer Gets a New Job" episode, the concept of which has been done far too many times. Again, Homer getting beat up is not a pleasant sight. Main characters shouldn't get wailed on... however, I'd love to see Kearney get wailed on... can't stand that stupid kid... I guess now would be a good time to tell you all that Kearney is by far, my least favorite character... can't describe why - I simply hate him.
More politics in the Simpsons. Plus, it's a long title, which I don't like to say. All the Citizen Kane references bore me. It's a great movie, but they should've found some better scenes from the movie to satirize. Also, if you watch this episode with someone who hasn't seen Citizen Kane they keep saying, "I don't get it," which is probably why I watch most episodes alone.
I can't stand this episode. This episode is bad. All the others in this "worst list" I would call "not good," but Colonel Homer is downright bad. I don't like modern country music and that was a big part of this episode. By this point, I was sick of the same old "Homer and Marge's marriage is tested" plot. For once, I want Marge to go and beat up whoever's hitting on Homer. Also, no one as attractive as Lurleen Lumpkin would ever find Homer attractive. This episode is one of the few episodes on which the show's creator, Matt Groening, has a writing credit, which is strange, because he is hilarious. By the way: unfortunately, Lurleen will return for season 19, if the strike ever ends. Okay, so now you know what episodes I don't like, now I'm going to stop putting the Simpsons down, and I'm going to start promoting the Simpsons. On an increasing scale of greatness, here are my favorite episodes of the Simpsons:
Being the Star Wars nerd that I am, Natalie Portman is one of my favorite guest stars. I enjoyed seeing Bart driving a car. Also, I enjoy seeing Lisa nervous, for some reason. And who can forget the classic Land O' Lakes butter trick that Bart does in this episode? Great music in this episode too: Low Rider, Powerhouse, and Bart's ringtone is Für Elise.
Stephen Hawking! I love when they get someone really prestigious to come on and say something like, "Your theory of a donut shaped universe is intriguing, Homer. I may have to steal it." And the gross-out contest at the beginning was beyond hilarious. Prof. Frink is one of my favorite character's, so his more prominent appearances in this episode, may be what put it on this list. 18. Moaning Lisa This was the first episode I ever saw, so it will always be among my favorites. I play the saxophone and am a fairly depressed person at times, so this is one of the few episodes in which I can actually relate to a main character. The sub-plot of Bart and Homer playing Slugfest (an obvious rip-off of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out) is one of my favorite sub-plots of all time, probably because I played a lot of video games like Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Also, the music during the closing credits is so amazing - it gives me goosebumps every time I hear it.
Four words: Little Land of Chocolate. That music! The look on Homer's face! Truly one of the greatest moments in all the Simpsons - neigh, in all of television! The rest of this episode was good, but nothing special, but the Little Land of Chocolate is probably the single funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. I don't know if I'd ever laughed harder. The first part of the episode leading up to it was funnier simply because I was giddily awaiting the Land of Chocolate. The second part of the episode following it was funnier because I was still laughing from the Land of Chocolate. "Mmmmmm... chocolate! Half price!"
Definitely one of the more bizarre episodes, which makes it a big-time contender for the hilarious episode "best list." This episode is like a Halloween segment flattened out and made into a full episode. They really broke some boundaries on this episode - a clone of Homer, that giant bubble, an actual bottomless bag of peanuts, the koala... Anyway, here is the actual web page for Mr. X (a. k. a. Homer) featuring some of the jokes from this episode.
When I first saw this episode, I actually fell out of my chair because I was laughing so hard. People have been giving the Simpsons a bad rap lately - they say it's going downhill. Recent episodes haven't been as good as the early years, but they still are hilarious beyond belief. The sub-plot with Homer forgetting Marge's eye color reminded me of a classic 60s sitcom, which is a refreshing thing to see nowadays. Milhouse is one of my favorite characters, and every second I see of Milhosue is pure enjoyment for me. 14. HOMЯ What a fantastic episode! I like character changes in the show whether it be Bart unpopular (Little Orphan Millie), Lisa dumb (Lisa the Simpson), Marge with friend (The Last of the Red Hat Mamas), or in this case, Homer smart. I also like senseless destruction i. e. Homer jumping through a window pane yelling, "Who wants lottery tickets?!" I also liked Homer's line at the very end: "Mmmmmm... Hug," which he says when he's eating a sandwich. Oh, the mislead! The hilarious mislead! ...
Ahhhh... the TV flashback. Is their any other greater resource for "out of idea" writers? Maybe a clip show... Anyway, this episode had some of my favorite jokes from the series. I don't know if this was a joke or a goof, but did you notice that Homer comes home singing "Girls Just want to Have Fun," chronologically in time before the song was actually written? That just cracks me up. Other good jokes from this episode: "Yous guys wanna play stickball?", "Can you say, 'David Hasselhoff'?", and, "Can't sleep. Clown'll eat me."
Ahhhh... the TV crossover. Is their any other greater resource for "out of idea" writers? Maybe a clip show... or a flashback... déjà vu... Anyway, this was one of those classic, memorable episodes. It was new and different. I hadn't seen anything like it before. I don't like 24, but the Simpsons made it hilarious. Milhouse and Homer rolling around town in a dumpster was very funny. Even though he's one of my favorite characters, Milhouse in turmoil is endlessly funny for me. 11. King-Size Homer Visual gags are good, and there are very few visual gags funnier than seeing Homer wearing a "mumu" and his "fat guy hat." Plus there's the comedy surrounding the mumu like the fact that Marge doesn't want him to wear it outside, and that he buys it because he doesn't want to look crazy. I like all the jokes about things that could distract you if you worked at home: the dog's sitting down habits, day-time soap operas, and the mail. I think the writers should get some money from the drinking bird corporation, because this episode inspired me to buy two of those little guys. (They worked day and night for about a week non-stop... now they're in a box in a closet.)
Declan Desmond is one of my favorite characters. I enjoyed seeing all of the character's dreams spiral downward. Eleanor Abernathy was an aspiring young lawyer - then she became the crazy cat lady. Nautical Stu was going to be a sea captain - then he heard disco and his life was turned upside down. Marge was going to be a journalist - then she met Homer...
There were so many parts of this episode that I liked. I liked the act break trivia. I liked the deleted scenes. I liked the Who Shot Mr. Burns alternate ending. I liked the Tracey Ullman clips. I basically liked everything about this episode - particularly the Richard Simmons Robot deleted scene. I like that Mr. Burns considers that his "worst" - worse than the dogs, the bees, or even the dogs with bees in their mouths and when they bark they shoot bees at you.
Written by Conan O'Brien. Need I say more? Homer's college tutors really remind me of me. I love (love is a strong word, but it is appropriate here) how Homer remembers college and how it's changed. Homer considers himself a jock - good stuff. Homer wants to throw things of bridges - good stuff. Homer thinks he can write the Periodic Table of the Elements on his hand - good stuff. Homer burns his high school G. E. D. - good stuff. Homer Goes to College - good stuff.
The title of this one alone, always makes me laugh. It makes me think, "Oh, so it's come to this... time to make a clip show." The pranking at the beginning was almost too funny for TV. Question: What kind of father would pull pranks on his own son to make him think he's gone blind, or pranks that would result in him drinking milk from behind the radiator? Answer: Probably the funniest father ever. Whenever I think of this episode, I associate it with the footage of Homer opening the shaken up beer can and Bart yelling April Foo -! That always makes me laugh.
This episode is so down-right funny that, I must admit, I once watched it four times in a row. It just has so many laugh-out-loud-fall-on-the-floor-gasp-for-air hilarious moments: Homer dropping his retirement bucket of pennies through the earth, Bart organizing a lottery, and who can forget the hilarious Gay Steel Mill? Also, I'd like to thank Bart (or more accurately the writers) for finally putting into words, what I've always thought about hunting: "A bunch of guys in the woods. Alone. Seems kind of gay."
I love to see the town unified like they were when they were in the Flanders' bomb shelter. I like to see odd combinations like Moe with Maggie, Marge, with Nelson, or Bart with Flanders, so this episode was great because it basically combined the whole town into one little area and their personalities all collided. Also I love the end when the town sings "Que Sera Sera." And Bart's Skinner Weather Balloon is truly one of the greatest pranks of all time. I don't care what people say; Bart Simpson is a way better prankster than Jim Halpert will ever be. Hold on a minute... I just got a pick idea.
I think I read that this episode has more parodies and rip-offs, I mean homages, to other forms of media. This one is on a lot of "best lists," and was even named the best episode of all time by several sources. The song was very funny: "Come gather 'round children, it's high time ye learned, 'bout a hero named Homer, and a devil named Burns. So we'll march day and night by the big cooling tower. They have the plant, but we have the power." Also, I constantly quote, "Dental Plan. Lisa needs braces. Dental Plan. Lisa needs braces. Dental plan..."
Truly Sideshow Bob at his best! I loved all the singing in this episode. I didn't think it was possible, but it actually made me enjoy Gilbert and Sullivan. One of my favorite jokes from the entire series is when Homer asks if the family would like to drive through the cactus patch. "2 against 1." Who did he think had the deep Shakespearean male accent? Marge? Maggie?
Another Conan O'Brien episode. This was pretty much the perfect, well-balanced, hilarious episode. The perfect amount of crazy and bizarre. The writers thought they were going too far in making Spock disappear into thin air - I disagree! I must quote this episode more than any other: "Oh, Andy Cap. You wife beating drunk", "The ring came off my pudding can," and of course, "I call the big one Bitey." In the audio commentary for this episode Conan O'Brien says that middle-aged men come up to him on the street and say, "Dude! I call the big one Bitey!" Oh, and that song. I have it memorized. One of my favorite Simpsons moments of all-time. And my all-time favorite Simpsons episode is...
This episode is my favorite for one reason: everyone got their moment to shine. All my favorite characters - Lovejoy, Flanders, Wiggum, Chalmers, Skinner, Lisa, Apu, Bumblebee Man, Dr. Nick, Cletus, Mr. Burns, Smithers, and Comic Book Guy. I also loved that scene where they crammed in every other character - Uter, Sideshow Mel, Captain McCallister, Lionel Hutz, and the Capital City Goofball. Plus, this episode just had an explosion of fantastic writers - twelve to be exact. It didn't have any guest stars (just Phil Hartman, but by this point he could've been considered a regular), so it was a nice, close to home episode. Great episode! Well, thanks for reading, if you did. I'm assuming you probably skipped over most of this because of the length or extreme boringness of it. |
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By the way, I don't know if you're aware of this but since you didn't mention it in the article, I'm gonna assume that you're not: The Computer Wore Menace Shoes is basically a wall-to-wall parody of an old TV show called The Prisoner where people who knew the British government's secrets were sent to a secluded island and drugged constantly until they accepted their situation.
It's a really great show. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, if for no other reason than the fact that the Simpsons episode is about a million times funnier once you have.
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