The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

[Lemmy Caution]

S12 & S13 are definitely uneven, but have some very good episodes and good scenes/segments/half-episodes.
Season 14 is when things really drop off. Just a lot of useless episodes. Though good jokes and scenes do crop up.

As usual, the Halloween episode is immune from whatever plagues the regular season.
Homer's Clone Horde is great; The Island of Dr. Hibbert terrific (fun to see the Simpson universe all converted into some type of animal); Lisa Bans Guns/Billy the Kid is quite good (the Kaiser Wilhelm silliness works real well). A terrific Treehouse episode.

Best S14 episodes?

The Great Louse Detective (S14;E6) is quite good. Sideshow Bob is let out of prison to help find who is trying to kill Homer. The jokes are a bit hit ("each one crazier than the last. Come to think of it ...") or miss ("who ordered the steamed Gentile?"). But the story is good and Sideshow Bob episodes usually hit the mark.

I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can -- Lisa in cut-throat spelling bees; a very good George Plimpton guest role ("Now I'll go back to doing whatever it is I do"). Homer and the Ribwich is all right. But the two strands don't really fit together that great.

Otherwise, Eric Idle has a great guest spot as Declan Desmond a documentary filmmaker doing an Up style doc on Springfield Elementary. [S14E16 "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky"]. He gets under Lisa's skin and the end is terrific where some of the kids talk about their future (especially over-confident, under-performing Milhouse). The main storyline about light pollution and the sub-plot of Bart trying to steal a hood ornament are decidedly mediocre. Declan's doc on the kids is entitled American Boneheads: A Day in the Life of Springfield Elementary. Worth seeing for Idle guest spot.
They bring back Idle to reprise this role in Season 18, where he's doing an 8 year follow-up doc on Homer and a handful of others in Springfield.

I like the end of Krusty Goes to Washington (S14E14) which is unusual since it's much more likely an episode will have a strong opening and then fade into a mediocre or worse main story. More typical is Bart of War, where Bart and Milhouse get in trouble and are forced to join rival non-denominational community youth groups. The first half is quite good -- if you can accept Ned being a huge Beatles fan -- but then they have trouble figuring out where to go with it and the ending is quite weak.

S14 suffers from some weak storylines, unnecessary guest spots, random poor endings, and sometimes just failed jokes despite good set-ups. Seasons 12 & 13 have problems but still come through a fair amount. While S14 is mostly a lost season. A lot of episodes just have a weak premise and seem to just go through the motions.

[Titus]

Team Homer (S7, E12)
I remember sort of being lukewarm on this, but it's one of the most consistently hilarious episodes of this show, from the warts-and-all send-up of MAD Magazine to essentially everything Mr. Burns gets to do. It's one of the better uses of that character, even though it's the quieter one-liners (store bought dirt, "That long haired freak's bowled with us for years!") that really stuck with me. There are no signs of what the Mike Scully era of this show would ultimately look like, as was also the case with Lisa on Ice - I might've made the mistake of promoting the guy, too.

Marge Be Not Proud, as well. He was credited with some pretty great episodes. Lisa on Ice I think has a pretty solid reputation, but that's actually one of my all-time favorites, and might be the episode I'd choose to introduce someone to The Simpsons who'd never seen it before. It really hits all of the marks the show was so great at - sharp observations on family life, caustic social satire, and more great jokes than any episode this side of Marge vs. the Monorail.

[domino harvey]

Speaking of Sideshow Bob, though "Brother From Another Series" is a pretty middling episode, it has one of the all time great Simpsons lines

EDIT: And since this will no-doubt lead to discussion of the greatest lines in the series, it's obvious these are some others

[thirtyframesasecond]

Homer The Vigilante's a great one too; when Sam Neill's retired cat burglar steals from Lisa, Marge and others and Homer leads the vigilante posse to catch him!

Fave line: So I said, "Look buddy, your car was upside-down when I got here. And as for your grandmother, she shouldn't have mouthed off like that."

The whole section when the posse go round is brilliant. There's another bit when Homer asks Jimbo about why he acts like he does and Jimbo says something like "because it makes me feel like a big man" - Homer then checks his book and says it's on the list.

[swo17]

I like in that episode how Lisa, bereft of her sax, has to take up playing a jug (at Homer's continued insistence). That's also the one that ends like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (other than remembering to be funny of course).

[thirtyframesasecond]

I like in that episode how Lisa, bereft of her sax, has to take up playing a jug (at Homer's continued insistence). That's also the one that ends like It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (other than remembering to be funny of course).

Never stop in the middle of a hoe-down!!!

I can't remember if it's this one when Flanders is originally elected leader and he says "or someone else" and Homer shouts "I'm someone else!"

[Black Hat]

I stopped watching the show regularly somewhere in the late 90s and have rarely checked in since. I have been meaning to revisit it and watched Monorail & Moaning Lisa about a month ago so I'm glad this is happening. I'm especially interested in seeing what the show's been up to more recently. Have they introduced any new characters in the last 15 years or so? If so who are some favorites (what episodes)?

[flyonthewall2983]

Speaking of Sideshow Bob, though "Brother From Another Series" is a pretty middling episode, it has one of the all time great Simpsons lines

Cecil thinking Bart was Maris is my favorite moment.

[Lemmy Caution]

Homer vs. Dignity -- Homer becomes Mr. Burns' "prank monkey." Resulting in Homer having sex with a giant panda. And rolling around a bathroom floor in a diaper. A terrible episode. Would make you believe the show was nearing the end of its run.

I agree this is a terrible episode (and my local syndication loved playing it, so I've seen it more times than is advisable), but it does have a great Lenny line.

They recycle the joke a mere two seasons later, in Season 14, when Homer gets a little too obsessive while doing a jigsaw puzzle:

Though i think the pudding line is better.

[flyonthewall2983]

They recycled quite a few sight gags early on. Homer drying Bart's tears in "Bart the General" with the hairdryer was redone with Lisa in "Lisa's Pony", the "I am a weiner" grafitti from "Bart the Genius" is seen again in "Bart the Murderer", and Truckasaurus was reused in a bit later where Marlon Brando is voicing him in a movie.

[swo17]

Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood (S5, Ep 8)
This has a pretty great opening, including a trip to the arcade with the My Dinner with Andre game and Homer's misplaced cash ("Ah...$20, but I wanted a peanut." "Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts." "Explain." "Money can be exchanged for goods and services." "Woohoo!") somehow finding its way to Bart and Milhouse who use it to fund the ultimate squishee bender, which ends in them unknowingly joining Flanders' and Ernest Borgnine's scout troop. Oh, the horror.

Homer and Apu (S5, Ep 13)
The pitch for this episode (let's have Homer and Apu spend more time together, we can call it "Homer and Apu") must have put a few of the writers to sleep but its pleasures all come in the details--Homer's gigantic spying hat, James Woods' dedication to the role of Kwik-E-Mart employee, and the whole middle act of traveling to the first convenience store in India to try to get Apu his job back, which turns out just to be the long setup to a punchline about Homer's self-centered cluelessness, back when that was a big part of what made him such an endearing character.

Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy (S5, Ep 14)
Between "nuts & gum--together at last" and "now with new hat," is this the forum's most memed episode? Don't ask me, I'm just a girl.

Bart Gets an Elephant (S5, Ep 17)
This is a pretty zany one, almost feeling at times like a Halloween ep (consider Homer's basement hallucinations or the brief appearance of a tornado), but it's telling that the central conceit (Bart insists upon winning the gag prize of a radio contest, so the DJs have to actually get him an elephant for fear of losing their jobs) actually feels somewhat grounded in reality. Sort of. Above all though, this episode is so chock full of heartwarming jokes that even the couple that fall flat still generate residual laughs.

[swo17]

Burns' Heir (S5, Ep 18)
After nearly sinking and drowning in the bath from Smithers laying a small sponge on his head (and when his life flashes before his eyes, he is reminded of an episode where he infiltrated Greenpeace to sabotage one of their missions), Mr. Burns decides to choose an heir from among the town's children (announced in a movie theater scene that later became a common THX preview). He chooses Bart, turns him against his family, and even wins a paternity case against the Simpsons! Also: "You can keep your job if you can tell me why I shouldn't fire you without using the letter 'E'."

Lady Bouvier's Lover (S5, Ep 21)
I love the scenes of Grandpa doing the Chaplin potato dance, and also Homer showing him how to be "cool" to seduce a woman.

Two Bad Neighbors (S7, Ep 13)
I only remembered this as the episode where George Bush moves across the street (a bit of a groanworthy hook) but it's actually quite funny, particularly Bart's pestering scenes and the whole thing with Skinner and the electric tie rack.

Homer the Smithers (S7, Ep 17)
Smithers needs a vacation and gets Homer to serve Mr. Burns in his stead ("This is Homer Simpson sir...all the recent events of your life have revolved around him in some way" "Simpson eh?"). Homer is so incompetent that even the bowl of cereal he tries to prepare catches flame. He eventually cracks under pressure (there's a great scene where Bart and Lisa take advantage of "Simpson") and socks Burns in the kisser. Burns learns to be self-reliant to the point where he no longer needs Smithers, and Homer has to try to restore the natural order of things.

The Day the Violence Died (S7, Ep 18)
Bart and Lisa help Kirk Douglas get credit for creating the first Itchy and Scratchy cartoon ("Itchy runs afoul of an Irishman") but when his victory takes the cartoon off the air, it's quickly replaced with a Schoolhouse Rock parody, and the old cartoonist is unwilling to finance further cartoons ("I'm not greedy, as long as I've got my health and my millions of dollars and my gold house and my rocket car, I don't need anything else"). Bart and Lisa get to work on restoring the natural order of things, but soon learn that they aren't the only two kids to have that idea.

Bart on the Road (S7, Ep 20)
Bart prints himself a driver's license and goes on the road with a few friends. Under the guise of being chosen for the national grammar rodeo in Canada, they watch Naked Lunch and see Andy Williams on their way to the World's Fair advertised in a brochure discovered in the glove compartment. Martin spends the last of their money on a talking Al Gore doll ("You are hearing me talk") and Bart has to become a courier in the hopes of being assigned to travel home. There are also some nice bonding scenes here between Homer and Lisa at the power plant.

[swo17]

Lisa's Date with Density (S8, Ep 7)
Lisa develops a crush on Nelson Muntz and Homer enrages the town with an autodialer. Some choice quotes:

Lisa: I guess you could say I'm trying to bring out the Milhouse in Nelson.
Milhouse: But I'm all Milhouse!

Marge: You know Lisa, most women will tell you you're a fool to think that you can change a man. But those women are quitters.

[Lemmy Caution]

Speaking of Sideshow Bob, though "Brother From Another Series" is a pretty middling episode, it has one of the all time great Simpsons lines

EDIT: And since this will no-doubt lead to discussion of the greatest lines in the series, it's obvious these are some others

"Help me, Jebus" has to rank near the top.
You have to be a special kind of idiot to get Jesus' name wrong.
And it also underscores selective, situational belief.

(I didn't see the linked youtube, as not only is youtube banned here, but the past few months the previously reliable work-arounds are blocked as well)

[flyonthewall2983]

Bart on the Road (S7, Ep 20)
Bart prints himself a driver's license and goes on the road with a few friends. Under the guise of being chosen for the national grammar rodeo in Canada, they watch Naked Lunch and see Andy Williams on their way to the World's Fair advertised in a brochure discovered in the glove compartment. Martin spends the last of their money on a talking Al Gore doll ("You are hearing me talk") and Bart has to become a courier in the hopes of being assigned to travel home. There are also some nice bonding scenes here between Homer and Lisa at the power plant.

[mfunk9786]

Speaking of Sideshow Bob, though "Brother From Another Series" is a pretty middling episode, it has one of the all time great Simpsons lines

EDIT: And since this will no-doubt lead to discussion of the greatest lines in the series, it's obvious these are some others

"Help me, Jebus" has to rank near the top.
You have to be a special kind of idiot to get Jesus' name wrong.
And it also underscores selective, situational belief.

(I didn't see the linked youtube, as not only is youtube banned here, but the past few months the previously reliable work-arounds are blocked as well)

It's funny, that's one of those lines that made me realize that The Simpsons wasn't for me anymore. It felt too obvious, or something. I can't really put my finger on it here and now.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Lisa's Date with Density (S8, Ep 7)
Lisa develops a crush on Nelson Muntz and Homer enrages the town with an autodialer. Some choice quotes:

Lisa: I guess you could say I'm trying to bring out the Milhouse in Nelson.
Milhouse: But I'm all Milhouse!

Marge: You know Lisa, most women will tell you you're a fool to think that you can change a man. But those women are quitters.

Milhouse is my favourite character by miles (only Hans Moleman comes close) - I keep trying to remember which episode has the "everything's coming up Milhouse" line, which I use when something particular good happens in real life.

[swo17]

Mom and Pop Art (S10, Ep 19)

I also use that line in real life!

That episode I most recently discussed is a great Milhouse one overall.



"So Lisa, who do you have in mind for your next crush?"
"I'm not really thinking about that now. I suppose it could be anybody."



Also this.

[Lemmy Caution]

Season 15 has some good scenes or gags scattered throughout mostly weak episodes.

I guess the best episodes are:

"Smart and Smarter" (S15E13), where Maggie's IQ tests higher than Lisa's. Lisa's identity crisis is rather perfunctory, but all the stuff with Maggie and Lisa is quite good, as is Simon Cowell's guest appearance, as a hyper-critical administrator of a competitive pre-nursery school.

"I, D'oh-bot" (S15E9) has Homer disguise himself as a robot and engage in a series of robot fights, borrowing from the classic Lee Marvin Twilight Zone episode. I like the set-up a lot with Bart purposely destroying his old bike to get an upgrade. Homer assembling it poorly, and the wonderful way it falls apart while Bart is riding it. I've noticed that in S 13-15 the visual gags are usually better than the dialogue. The subplot is fine with Lisa's cats dying off in quick succession.

"Margical History Tour" (S15E11). The Simpsons always does a bang-up job with tripartite episodes based on historical stories. Here we get Homer as Henry VIII; Bart as Mozart and Lisa as Salieri; and Lenny and Carl as Lewis & Clark, with Lisa as a know-it-all Sacagawea. A lot of fun.

There are some creative scenes in a few S15 episodes:
- In "The President Wore Pearls" Lisa becomes student president and gets co-opted by the authorities. Fairly average, but there are a number of sings based on Evita which are quite fun. ("Oh Lisa" instead of "Evita" -- and I really like when Lisa sings her email address as the bus carries her away to the gifted school).

- "Catch 'Em If You Can" is a rather iffy episode with a poor end, but there's a pretty striking stylized animated montage which is a lot of fun.


"My Big Fat Geek Wedding" features Skinner and Edna almost getting married and her hooking up with Comic Book Guy on the rebound. It's mostly a sloppy poor episode, but there's a great scene where Skinner tries to woo back Ms. Krabappel by serenading beneath her window. So he sings The Lion Sleeps tonight with new lyrics. The song is great with Bart (one of the "castrati" as Homer puts it) adding some cheeky lyrics mocking Skinner, and best of all, the wimoweh chorus is changed to "Oh Edna K." Classic. And instead of Edna appearing at the window, disdainful CBG pops out and mocks Skinner.

"The Way We Weren't" adds an earlier chapter in how Marge & Homer met (at Summer camp without knowing it). Homer needs to come up with a cool name -- as Marge's friends mock low-rent names like Big fat Homer -- so he says that he's Elvis, uh ... Elvis Jagger ... um, Elvis Jagger Abdul-Jabbar.
That just cracks me up -- it's so ridiculous (sidenote: I did once meet a Chinese guy who took on the English name Rockefeller Steele). Overall, it's a relatively solid episode.

[Ribs]

Halloween of Horror, S27 E04, is really a nice episode. It is probably due to the fact of it mining an idea (Halloween) so closely tied to the Simpsons but in a way that's completely different from the way we usually think of it - it functions more like any of the many Christmas episodes.

I wish it had lower stakes than somebody breaking into the Simpsons' house, but it does at least *try* to have the nice emotional beat in the A-story, and the first half before they get to that is delightful. I was less keen on the horror-movie stuff being used here as I feel part of the idea and appeal of doing this episode is surely to do a Halloween episode that isn't ridiculous and over-the-top; just one that's down-to-earth. I don't think it'll end up making my list but unless I'm really surprised by something I've missed I expect of the past five years it's the only one that'll come close.

[swo17]

Mountain of Madness (S8, Ep 12)
Homer's Enemy (S8, Ep 23)

I'm starting to notice that a lot of my favorite episodes were written by John Swartzwelder (check out his CV here). They tend to have a sort of zany earnestness about them that reminds me a bit of Preston Sturges (and he even kind of looks like him!)



Granted, he was also responsible for one of the first "I am done with this show" episodes for me (Kill the Alligator and Run) but I'm still interested now in checking out his later season episodes that I never bothered with before. As for these particular episodes, Mountain of Madness is the one where everyone at the nuclear power plant has to go on a team building retreat after a fire drill goes horribly wrong. Homer brings his family, who are stuck touring the very boring national park ("Only who can prevent forest fires? You selected 'you,' referring to me. The correct answer was you.") Homer and Mr. Burns are paired up and easily make it to the cabin before all the other employees, but then get buried under multiple avalanches and quickly go insane.

And Homer's Enemy is one of the most mean-spirited things ever, but it would also have been the perfect note for the show to go out on, acknowledging and reveling in every flaw in Homer's characterization over the years. I also love how the episode begins midsentence with the Kent Brockman line "which, if true, would mean death for us all."

Grade School Confidential (S8, Ep 19)
I can't remember if this is an episode that I'm supposed to resent or not for romantically linking two random characters, but I suppose I can overlook pretty much anything if the jokes are good enough. Skinner and Krabappel start a secret relationship which Bart witnesses (at Martin's birthday party where everyone gets food poisoning from bad oysters) and agrees to protect in exchange for an expunging of his record. They use him to send cutesy messages to each other but eventually he can't take it anymore and exposes their dalliance to the whole school. This gets blown out of proportion (Ralph: "The principal and Ms. Krabappel were in the closet making babies and I saw one of the babies and the baby looked at me") and the two are eventually forced to choose between their jobs and their hearts. Or not.

[Ribs]

I think Swartzwelder's exit is probably the definitive end date to the show losing its appeal to me - I think his last, Season 15's The Regina Monologues, is really great, and of course he was on the team for the Simpsons Movie. That's the point where I think it went from good, occasionally great to okay, occasionally good.

There's a good bit on the commentary for his The Cartridge Family where they try to call him up on the phone to ask him about the episode and why he hasn't done any commentaries.

[mfunk9786]

I'm going to go ahead and say that "King of the Hill" is the last really good episode Swartzwelder wrote, and even that might be pushing it.

[Lemmy Caution]

On a sidenote, I'm not sure why wiki (or anyone) uses the production code #'s to identify episodes, such as:
"Mountain of Madness" (4F10) (1997)
At least they also include the year it aired.
But it is of course much simpler and more informative to provide the Season and Episode #:
"Mountain of Madness" (S8, E12)

And this is especially true since the production code numbers don't follow sequentially between years.
"Homer at the Bat" (8F13) (1992) v. "Mountain of Madness" (4F10) (1997)

[colinr0380]

I've just been thinking of one of my favourite film reference moments from the early Simpsons series - Homer's happy "Hey there, Blimpy Boy" song in the Lisa The Beauty Queen episode in season four, sung to the jaunty title tune from Georgy Girl! Its not just the heartbroken second version of the song that Homer does over something so silly, but the implication that at one point before those scenes Homer sat down and watched what ends up being a quite dark exploration of premarital sex and unwanted pregnancy in 60s London!