It's pretty off-topic, but that's the fun of this board, right?
A show that has had 26 seasons now, and well over 500 episodes is worth a discussion, and I think we'll see interesting answers to this.
What are your favorite Simpsons episodes?
Quick list for me, in no particular order.
- Homer joins the Stonecutters. Hilarious voiceover work by Sir Patrick Stewart, and that Stonecutters song was a riot
- The one where the Simpsons go into witness protection to escape Sideshow Bob, only to have Bob follow them.
- The one where Selma marries Troy McClure if only for that hilarious Planet of the Apes musical number (I love you, Dr. Zaius!)
- The one where Homer becomes head of the union in order to win back the company dental plan.
The episode which starts out in the church, where they sing In the Garden of Eden, by Iron Butterfly.
The one where Bart steals money out of Homer's wallet while Homer is in the shower. Homer catches him and chases Bart while in his underwear. Bart gets away by letting the garage door down and Homer gets caught by the door.
I like 'em all but that Stonecutters episode was definitely a great!
Rick
In no particular order:
Lemon of Troy
Last Exit to Springfield
Bart on the Road
$pringfield
A Fish Called Selma (already mentioned)
Selma's Choice
Trash of the Titans
Lisa the Vegetarian
Bart's Comet
Radioactive Man
Homer and Apu
Bart vs Australia
I'd put the Stonecutters episode up there, but I can't remember the title.
I think it might be easier to list the ones from Seasons 1-9 that I didn't like.
The Stonecutter episode was "Homer the Great" from the 6th (and arguably the best) season.
Seriously that 6th season was dynamite:
Bart vs. Australia
Sideshow Bob Roberts
Lemon of Troy
Homie the Clown
Lisa on Ice
Two Dozen and One Greyhounds
Bart of Darkness
Who Shot Mr. Burns?
Classic after epic classic.
I can't say enough about "Mountain of Madness" (season 8); the one where Homer and Mr. Burns get trapped in a cabin by an avalanche on a company retreat. The fire drill at the start; the John Muir impression from Dan; the "rocket house" (Ah, something's wrong with it's brakes!)
More random greatness:
King-Sized Homer (That scene where he hijacks the ice cream truck... :rofl )
Homer At The Bat ( A classic for any lifetime baseball fan.)
The Trouble with Trillions
("Okay, Marge, if anyone asks, you require 24 hour nursing care, Lisa's a clergyman, Maggie is seven people, and Bart was wounded in Vietnam!)
Homer vs. The 18th Amendment
Homer Goes to College
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson
Weekend at Burnsies
Das Bus
Homer's Barbershop Quartet
You get the idea.
I kid you not when I say 90's Simpsons is the greatest television our species has ever produced.
They will never be able to top the Frank Grimes episode.
Of the relatively recent episodes, the gravy boat episode really stands out.
One thing weird about the older episode where they visited New York. On the way into town, they were on a bus or train or something, and Homer kept kicking the guy behind him. Then the guy leaned over and scowled at Homer. That was HILARIOUS!!! But I haven't seen the scowling part in years, because the reruns cut out the scowling.
A great early episode is the one where Bart, Milhouse, and Martin save up to buy a rare comic book, and it ends up getting ruined.
Quote from: triplemultiplex on February 24, 2015, 10:39:41 PM
The Trouble with Trillions
("Okay, Marge, if anyone asks, you require 24 hour nursing care, Lisa's a clergyman, Maggie is seven people, and Bart was wounded in Vietnam!)
The Kent Brockman quote "It is literally the eleventh hour: 10 PM" was also a great line from that one.
One of mine that hasn't been mentioned yet is The Bart Wants What It Wants, mainly for Principal Skinner's terrible stand-up act. (Skinner: "How come you never run out of permission slips before you run out of tardy slips?" Heckler in audience (Nelson, IIRC): "How come you suck?!")
The episode where George and Barbara Bush move in across the street.
Another fantastic one: The Monorail.
I haven't watched since 2005 (season 16) and am not familiar with anything more recent.
But among the years I know and care about, the best two regular episodes are The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson and Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo.
The best Treehouse of Horror shorts are Homer3 (VI) and Life's a Glitch, Then You Die (X).
Meanwhile the award for best Treehouse of Horror title goes to Easy Bake Coven (VIII).
Anything with Phil Hartman. Marge vs. the Monorail at the top of the list, but also A Fish Called Selma, Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment, Bart the Murderer.
Anything with Albert Brooks, but especially Life on the Fast Lane and You Only Move Twice.
Bart vs. Australia
Bart Sells His Soul
Favorite THOH is V (No TV and no beer make Homer something something)
Marge vs. the Monorail
Homer's Enemy (the Frank Grimes episode)
22 Short Films About Springfield (some folk'll never eat a skunk, but then again some folk'll)
Last Exit to Springfield (Lisa needs braces!)
Homer The Great
A Fish Called Selma
Mr. Plow
I Love Lisa (I choo-choo-choose you!)
Cape Feare
Itchy and Scratchy Land (my son is also named Bort.)
Quote from: dfwmapper on February 25, 2015, 06:16:25 AM
Anything with Phil Hartman. Marge vs. the Monorail at the top of the list, but also A Fish Called Selma, Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment, Bart the Murderer.
Anything with Albert Brooks, but especially Life on the Fast Lane and You Only Move Twice.
Bart vs. Australia
Bart Sells His Soul
Favorite THOH is V (No TV and no beer make Homer something something)
Go crazy?
^ Don't mind if I do!
No mention of "Homer the Heretic" yet.
Homer: God, I gotta ask you something. What's the meaning of life?
God: Homer, I can't tell you that.
Homer: Come on.
God: You'll find out when you die.
Homer: I can't wait that long.
God: You can't wait six months?
Homer: No, tell me now.
Also, the "Who Needs a Kwik-E-Mart?" episode ("Now this is just between me and you, smashed hat!"), the time-capsule-like baseball episode ("Ken Griffey's grotesquely swollen jaw, Steve Sax and his run-ins with the law...") When Clemens retired for good I think he was the last left from that team.
Quote from: bandit957 on February 24, 2015, 11:00:09 PM
They will never be able to top the Frank Grimes episode.
Frank Grimes, or Grimey, as he liked to be called. LOL!
Loved any episode with Phil Hartman in it too, may he RIP.
Between Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure (who has a filmography that could probably warrant its own thread) his characters were hilarious.
I feel like after he died, and they couldn't use his hilarious supplemental characters anymore, we started seeing a lot of subpar characters like Lindsay Nagel and Cookie Kwan.
Once in the mid-'90s, I went to a Highland Heights town hall meeting about some proposed development that nobody wanted. The developer gave a speech to the crowd, and he looked JUST LIKE Monty Burns! And he had the same greedy attitude.
Quote from: formulanone on February 24, 2015, 09:56:42 PM
I think it might be easier to list the ones from Seasons 1-9 that I didn't like.
This times infinity.
My absolute favorites are Marge vs the Monorail, Lisa the Vegetarian, Frank Grimes, Bart Get an F, The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show.
Nobody ever suspects the butterfly...
iPhone
I could probably list almost all of them, but Homer's Enemy stands out as a king among kings, although I liked the Duff Gardens and Itchy and Scratchy land episodes too. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life at how Grimey's funeral is ruined by Homer saying "Change the channel, Marge" in his sleep!
Quote from: ajlynch91 on February 25, 2015, 07:53:38 PM
I could probably list almost all of them, but Homer's Enemy stands out as a king among kings, although I liked the Duff Gardens and Itchy and Scratchy land episodes too. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life at how Grimey's funeral is ruined by Homer saying "Change the channel, Marge" in his sleep!
"But this was a contest for children!"
"Yeah, and Homer beat their brains out!"
Without the Simpsons, you won't have Beavis and Butthead, South Park and Family Guy, so I say the Simpsons opened doors for adult-themed animated sitcoms since the 1990s. The best Simpsons episodes IMO is "who shot Mr Burns" a two-parter and the one when Ned Flanders lost his house from a hurricane. Ned Flanders is a caricature of the religious right, a lighter version of Eric Cartman of South Park: a right-wing bigot who hates hippies, Jews, his poor friend Kenny and I guess everyone else.
A little off-topic, the 1990s was also the time when anime became more popular in North America and has a fan base ever since...anime is now worldwide and continue to improve in quality, storytelling and gaining interest.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNb4ZewN-tw - Anime Expo Chile in south America, one of many anime fan cons around the world, the soundtrack is the 3rd ending of Sailor Moon, a renowned anime cult superhit.
Quote from: spooky on February 26, 2015, 07:13:37 AM
Quote from: ajlynch91 on February 25, 2015, 07:53:38 PM
I could probably list almost all of them, but Homer's Enemy stands out as a king among kings, although I liked the Duff Gardens and Itchy and Scratchy land episodes too. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life at how Grimey's funeral is ruined by Homer saying "Change the channel, Marge" in his sleep!
"But this was a contest for children!"
"Yeah, and Homer beat their brains out!"
We tend to remind our daughter about Frank Grimes' untimely end when she forgets to wash her hands before eating.
Of course, she'll rebut with "can't somebody else do it?" or "but I wiped it off with my napkin".
Circling back to our mutual roadgeekery, last time I was up in Portland, I snapped pictures from my Simpsons tour of Portland.
I got pictures of Terwilliger Blvd (Sideshow Bob), Lovejoy Street, and Flanders Street. There was one intersection in NE Portland where somebody had scribbled on a "D" on a NE Flanders St sign so it read Ned Flanders St. I'll have to try and upload these!
Didn't get the Evergreen Terrace. That is another real Portland street, I believe.
Quote from: spooky on February 26, 2015, 07:13:37 AM
Quote from: ajlynch91 on February 25, 2015, 07:53:38 PM
I could probably list almost all of them, but Homer's Enemy stands out as a king among kings, although I liked the Duff Gardens and Itchy and Scratchy land episodes too. I don't think I've ever laughed harder in my life at how Grimey's funeral is ruined by Homer saying "Change the channel, Marge" in his sleep!
"But this was a contest for children!"
"Yeah, and Homer beat their brains out!"
"Well, I just copied the plant we have now. But I added these racing stripes for appearance. And these fins make it more aerodynamic, wouldn't you agree?"
"Agreed. First prize goes to Homer Simpson!"
I love the 4th-8th seasons. Not a bad episode in the batch. But I am a softy and love the tender ones the most:
Lisa's Substitute
Lisa's Wedding
Bart Sells his soul
Lisa the Vegetarian
Marge be not Proud
Those are on the top of the list
Quote from: spooky on February 27, 2015, 01:43:41 PM
Quote from: ethanhopkin14 on February 27, 2015, 01:41:52 PM
Marge be not Proud
Buy me Bonestorm or go to hell!
Young man, in this house we have a little word called "please".
Never realized that there was an entire McBain movie hidden throughout the series. Ah, the classics of season 1-9 certainly were that, classic, weren't they?
The Simpsons animation in their very first season vs. newer episodes shown an evolution of improved quality, in fact the 1980s Simpsons on the Tracey Ullman Show are unrecognizable. What else changed is Homer is dumber than in the past, Marge hasn't aged abit and the Simpsons family: Bart, Lisa and Maggie hadn't grew up. The cartoon world is a different place: be the same age forever...you won't even die.
Quote from: Mike D boy on February 27, 2015, 03:26:00 PM
The Simpsons animation in their very first season vs. newer episodes shown an evolution of improved quality, in fact the 1980s Simpsons on the Tracey Ullman Show are unrecognizable. What else changed is Homer is dumber than in the past, Marge hasn't aged abit and the Simpsons family: Bart, Lisa and Maggie hadn't grew up. The cartoon world is a different place: be the same age forever...you won't even die.
What also changed was in the beginning the show was mostly centered around Bart. Homer has been the central character for at least the past decade.
In similar fashion, Family Guy was mostly about Peter, closely followed by Brian & Stewie. But those characters remained separate. I remember reading a story where there was some talk about the characters, and someone mentioned how the relationship between Brian & Stewie should be closer. Seth MacFarlene said it never crossed his mind how well those two characters could interact with each other, and since then the story lines allow them to interact much more closely.
I wonder how much Mili Kunis gets paid for doing that show, considering her average speaking part is about 2 lines (or less) per episode.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 25, 2015, 12:16:32 AM
I haven't watched since 2005 (season 16) and am not familiar with anything more recent.
But among the years I know and care about, the best two regular episodes are The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson and Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo.
The best Treehouse of Horror shorts are Homer3 (VI) and Life's a Glitch, Then You Die (X).
Meanwhile the award for best Treehouse of Horror title goes to Easy Bake Coven (VIII).
One of my favorite Treehouse of Horror bits was in the opening credits to Treehouse II, where they briefly show the neighborhood with all the
Peanuts characters walking down the sidewalk in Halloween costumes - a subtle but wonderful send-up of
It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (which is still one of my favorite holiday specials)
Quote from: Mike D boy on February 27, 2015, 03:26:00 PM
The Simpsons animation in their very first season vs. newer episodes shown an evolution of improved quality, in fact the 1980s Simpsons on the Tracey Ullman Show are unrecognizable. What else changed is Homer is dumber than in the past, Marge hasn't aged abit and the Simpsons family: Bart, Lisa and Maggie hadn't grew up. The cartoon world is a different place: be the same age forever...you won't even die.
Tell that to Maude Flanders.
I disagree that Homer has gotten dumber. Early Homer was all id and stupidity. One of the factors contributing to the decline (in my mind) since the late 1990s is that whatever is going on in the world, Homer is now hip to it. He's complicated and sensitive and erudite–all characteristics his comedy thrives on a
lack of.
A wonderful example of stupid, stupid Homer, from the episode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie":
Homer: Someday you'll thank me for this, son.
Bart: Not bloody likely.
Homer: No, it's true. When I was a boy, I wanted a catcher's mitt, but my dad wouldn't get it for me. So I held my breath until I passed out and hit my head on the coffee table. The doctor thought I might have brain damage.
Bart: Dad, what's the point of this story?
Homer: I like stories.
A timely mention from the dedication ceremony in "Marge vs. the Monorial":
Leonard Nimoy: I'd say this vessel could do at least warp five.
Mayor Quimby: And let me say "May the force be with you."
Nimoy: Do you even know who I am?
Quimby: I think I do. Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 28, 2015, 01:14:55 AM
A timely mention from the dedication ceremony in "Marge vs. the Monorial":
Leonard Nimoy: I'd say this vessel could do at least warp five.
Mayor Quimby: And let me say "May the force be with you."
Nimoy: Do you even know who I am?
Quimby: I think I do. Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?
Leonard Nimoy: "Well, my work here is done."
Barney Gumble: "What do you mean? You didn't do anything!"
Nimoy: "Haven't I?" *beams away*
Don't forget his appearance (along with Mulder and Scully) in The Springfield Files.
"Hello. I'm Leonard Nimoy. The following tale of alien encounters is true. And by true, I mean false. It's all lies. But they're entertaining lies. And in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is: No."