EWB's Favourite Simpsons Episode 2012

[Matt]

This is something I thought about when we were discussing it in The Simpsons Thread, what is, in EWB's opinion, the best Simpsons episode ever? So in true EWB fashion, let's make a list. This was done by Sousa a couple of years ago but people's opinions might have changed, some people might not have voted, some people might not have been here, whatever.

Some rules

1. List your votes 1-10, number 1 will score 10 points, number 2 will score 9 points, et cetera.

2. Use the actual name of the episode, I don't want to be tallying up loads of "That one with Hank Scorpio" votes, if you don't know the name off-hand, Google is your friend or ask in The Simpsons Thread - someone will probably know.

3. Any episode up until the end of series 23 is eligible for voting.

4. The total points an episode receives will be multiplied by the number of people voting for that episode.

5. Voting will close in a couple of weeks or when people stop voting.

6. Keep this thread for voting please, take any discussion to The Simpsons Thread

7. Feel free to edit right up until the deadline.

I'll start off:

1. Lisa The Iconoclast

2. Cape Feare

3. Lisa's Substitute

4. Homer's Enemy

5. You Only Move Twice

6. Homer The Great

7. Marge vs. The Monorail

8. Lemon of Troy

9. Last Exit To Springfield

10. Hurricane Neddy

Honourable mentions: Homer vs. The Eighteenth Ammendment, The Joy of Sect, Bart The General, Two Bad Neighbours, Mr. Plow, The Itchy, Scratchy and Poochie Show.

[Sousa]

I had a look at my list from the last one (also results), and it hasn't changed much for me. Not surprising at all. I'm going to stay away from voting for anything that made the top ten last time, so perennial Sousa favorites You Only Move Twice, Homer the Great, and Last Exit to Springfield do not make the list.

1. And Maggie Makes Three (Season 6) - Man, be a dad who's had to make sacrifices for your kid, and there's a good chance this will be your favorite episode, too. "Sometimes shit doesn't work out, but you tough it out anyway for the people you love" is a pretty sophisticated message for a cartoon about yellow people who occasionally decapitate a statue.

2. Lisa's Substitute (Season 2) - Jimmy Jam Hoffman is one of the best guests they've ever had on the show. Poignant and touching with a hilarious subplot about Bart running for class president. "You are Lisa Simpson." d'awwwwwwwwwww.

3. Simpson and Delilah (Season 2) - ...but my favorite guest ever is still Harvey Fierstein as Karl. "BECAUSE MY MOTHER TOLD ME NEVER TO KISS A FOOL!" Probably the first really great episode of the show.

4. Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish" (Season 7) - I watched this one pretty recently, which is probably why it's up there so high, but it's so weird among Simpsons episodes. I mean, it's an action-oriented episode centered around Grandpa and Bart. And every bit of it works. Grandpa is an absolute stone badass.

5. The Cartridge Family (Season 9) - This one didn't get a lot of votes last time, but I love it because it's so damn quotable. "This is the trigger, and this is the thing you point at whatever you want to die..."

6. Old Money (Season 2) - Another season 2 episode, and another Grandpa-centric one. Beautiful stuff, kind of funny, and more than a little heartbreaking. The real magic of The Simpsons is how it makes you give a shit about these little one-time characters like Mr. Bergstrom and, in this episode, Bea.

7. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (Season 2) - ...I think I just really, really like season 2. This one gets in by virtue of being a twenty minutes of tremendous build with the greatest punchline the show has ever done. Soft and yielding like a Nerf ball, indeed.

8. The Homer They Fall (Season 8) - That cactus is right. This is a fantastic episode.

9. Lemon of Troy (Season 6) - It single-handedly saved the horrible "Gabbie Giffords shot" thread. And it's really funny anyway. I wish there was a better "rabblegrumbleSHAKE HARDER BOY" video on YouTube because it would be very useful.

10. Mountain of Madness (Season 8) - This one cranks up the randomness pretty high, but "let's make real men, out of snow!" is one of those lines that gets to me every time.

Last place ever: A Milhouse Divided, because nobody fucking cares about Kirk Van Houten.

[Maxx]

Last place ever: A Milhouse Divided, because nobody fucking cares about Kirk Van Houten.

Only because crackers are a family food. Happy families.

[Sousa]

It's not even that funny!

It's literally Marge hiding the Allied Biscuits and nothing else for twenty minutes!

[Maxx]

Oh come on, Kirk getting fired is one of my favorite scenes in the series.

[Hewey]

Can I borrow a feeling?

[apsham]

Holy SHIT Sousa. A Milhouse Divided has got to be one of my favorite episode - it'll probably make my list. Everything from Luanne and Kirk fighting, to spoiled Milhouse to the first and best appearances of pathetic Kirk.

[CobraKaiEnTai]

I had a look at my list from the last one (also results), and it hasn't changed much for me. Not surprising at all. I'm going to stay away from voting for anything that made the top ten last time, so perennial Sousa favorites You Only Move Twice, Homer the Great, and Last Exit to Springfield do not make the list.

1. And Maggie Makes Three (Season 6) - Man, be a dad who's had to make sacrifices for your kid, and there's a good chance this will be your favorite episode, too. "Sometimes shit doesn't work out, but you tough it out anyway for the people you love" is a pretty sophisticated message for a cartoon about yellow people who occasionally decapitate a statue.

2. Lisa's Substitute (Season 2) - Dennis Hoffman is one of the best guests they've ever had on the show. Poignant and touching with a hilarious subplot about Bart running for class president. "You are Lisa Simpson." d'awwwwwwwwwww.

3. Simpson and Delilah (Season 2) - ...but my favorite guest ever is still Harvey Fierstein as Karl. "BECAUSE MY MOTHER TOLD ME NEVER TO KISS A FOOL!" Probably the first really great episode of the show.

4. Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish" (Season 7) - I watched this one pretty recently, which is probably why it's up there so high, but it's so weird among Simpsons episodes. I mean, it's an action-oriented episode centered around Grandpa and Bart. And every bit of it works. Grandpa is an absolute stone badass.

5. The Cartridge Family (Season 9) - This one didn't get a lot of votes last time, but I love it because it's so damn quotable. "This is the trigger, and this is the thing you point at whatever you want to die..."

6. Old Money (Season 2) - Another season 2 episode, and another Grandpa-centric one. Beautiful stuff, kind of funny, and more than a little heartbreaking. The real magic of The Simpsons is how it makes you give a shit about these little one-time characters like Mr. Bergstrom and, in this episode, Bea.

7. Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? (Season 2) - ...I think I just really, really like season 2. This one gets in by virtue of being a twenty minutes of tremendous build with the greatest punchline the show has ever done. Soft and yielding like a Nerf ball, indeed.

8. The Homer They Fall (Season 8) - That cactus is right. This is a fantastic episode.

9. Lemon of Troy (Season 6) - It single-handedly saved the horrible "Gabbie Giffords shot" thread. And it's really funny anyway. I wish there was a better "rabblegrumbleSHAKE HARDER BOY" video on YouTube because it would be very useful.

10. Mountain of Madness (Season 8) - This one cranks up the randomness pretty high, but "let's make real men, out of snow!" is one of those lines that gets to me every time.

Last place ever: A Milhouse Divided, because nobody fucking cares about Kirk Van Houten.

Dennis Hoffman? Don't you mean Dustin?

[Sousa]

...shut up!

EDIT: correcting the timeline.

Edited June 26, 2013 by Dr. Sous Beckett

[Darnez FC Forever]

1) You Only Move Twice

2) Homer the Smithers

3) Homer the Great

4) 22 Short Films About Springfield

5) Mayored to the Mob

6) The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show

7) Raging Abe Simpson and his Grumbling Grandson in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish"

8) Homer at the Bat

9) Brother from Another Series

10) The Last Temptation of Homer

Trying to form this list after starting with a list of thirty was bloody difficult. "Lisa the Iconoclast", "Simpson and Delilah", "Marge vs The Monorail", "The Homer They Fall" and "Sideshow Bob Roberts" were extremely hard to cut away.

[apsham]

This is really hard. I have a preliminary list, and I tried giving reasons but that just kept making me get sidetracked and everything so I'm going to have to try and sit down tonight and get everything straight.

[Josh]

Last place ever: A Milhouse Divided, because nobody fucking cares about Kirk Van Houten.

But it's not really about Kirk. It's about Homer and Marge. But now I'm just piling on.

List coming up. I think I'll adopt Sousa's "Nothing from the last Top 10" rule.

[Josh]

I borrowed some from my last list, eliminated the ones that made the Top 10, added several, and reordered a bit. I'm way into the ones that play with form or go for the emotional connection these days.

1. HOMR (Season 12)

- I'm sure basically everyone will disagree with me putting this at number one, but it's my personal favorite. Why? First off, the Homer/Lisa stories almost always get to me emotionally. This one is more focused on Homer himself, but his relationship with Lisa is brought sharply into focus here. In addition, twelve seasons on, the show is still playing with its basic premise and asks "Why is Homer so dumb?" On that note, the show takes the opportunity to examine what it's like to be intelligent in a society of the ignorant. Plus, it's just ridiculously funny. "Notice I no longer say 'libary' or 'tomorry." On top of all of that, Homer's "I'm taking the coward's way out" note to Lisa kills me every time. It's touching to see him communicate his admiration for Lisa, yet heartbreaking to see the finality in his decision.

2. The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show (Season 8)

- There's a damn good reason why this is one of the most quoted episodes 'round here, and many other places (such as real life!) It was a ballsy premise, executed so well that I don't think most people my age at that time (high school) realized the episode was all a meta-commentary on the very show and medium they were watching until years later. Even now, the tenants being preached in this episode apply directly to 90% of television. "Poochie died on the way back to his home planet."

3. El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (Season 8)

- A touching Homer and Marge story, a literally surreal story, and JOHNNY CASH AS SPACE COYOTE - and it's all the same episode. It's visually arresting, emotionally involving, and for most of the episode you have no idea where it's going. "Are you kidding?! If anything, you should get even more possessions!"

4. Mother Simpson (Season 7)

- The Simpsons is at its best when it has you emotionally invested, yet laughing out loud. This is arguably the episode that evokes the most intense emotional reaction while keeping you laughing all the way (Maggie Makes Three, Lisa's Substitute, and my number one choice would be the other major contenders for this throne, in my view.) Plus, it has Glenn Close in a great guest-starring role. Plus plus, the series that is perhaps best known for a new joke every few seconds spends its final moments just reflecting quietly on what has happened.

5. Homie the Clown (Season 6)

- " . . . and all the other piddlin' crap that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot clown-pole." "Good one, Krusty!" "I THOUGHT THE GENERALS WERE DUE!" "That's it! I'm going to clown college!" Etc. Just a fun-ass comedy clinic.

6. Lisa's Substitute (Season 2)

- It seems cliche now, but "You are Lisa Simpson" is just brilliant.

7. Trilogy of Error (Season 12)

- I don't see this episode referenced very much, but I feel it represents one of the most fun breaks in form the series has done (the story structure was modeled after the films Go and Run, Lola, Run.) Plus, it's just plain funny. "You could be one of them TV magic queers!" "Linguo? Dead?" "Linguo IS dead . . ." *dies*

8. The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase (Season 8)

- "Damn straight, Troy, my man." One of the earliest, weirdest, and most fun examples of the show playing with form and structure. The very idea of replacing Lisa with a different actor in the final segment is tremendous.

9. I Love Lisa (4)

- "We are the mediocre presidents!" "Look in the 'tunk'. . . . He must mean trunk." "Awww, nothing gets chocolate out. See?" "Hasta la vista . . . Abey." Etc.

10. Coming to Homerica (Season 20)

- People seem to moan these days that The Simpsons stopped being a great series after the 90's. While I think the show peaked around then, there's still a ton of great episodes that have come around since, and I think most people just aren't paying attention. One such great episode is this one here - a hilarious satire of the current immigration debate in America.

Honorable Mentions (Because I just can't not mention them, and in no particular order):

Homer the Heretic (Season 4) ("We interrupt this public affairs program to bring you a football game.")

Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire (Season 1) (The first episode to air really set a great tone for the whole series.)

The Cartridge Family (Season 9) (Another Swartzwelder classic, rife with satire.)

Lemon of Troy (Season 6) (Seeing Shelbyville equivalents of Springfieldians is surreal.)

And Maggie Makes Three (Season 6) ("Do it for her." *cue tears*)

Missionary: Impossible (Season 11) "SAVE ME JEEBUS!"

Simpsons Bible Stories (Season 10) (A sequel to David & Goliath as done by Jerry Bruckheimer. "I thought you were dead!" "Nope.")

[apsham]

Alright going on a watching spree right now.

[Hewey]

Had a hard time narrowing it down to 10.

1. Homer Badman

2. Homer's Enemy

3. Lisa's Sax

4. Lisa On Ice

5. And Maggie Makes Three

6. Homer Vs The Eighteenth Amendment

7. Mother Simpson

8. Lemon Of Troy

9. Bart's Girlfriend

10. Homer Goes To College