Another Top 10 Simpsons Episodes

Once a show enters its seventh season, it needs to start experimenting with the formula in order to stay fresh. After all, we can only watch so many Bart-is-a-brat-but-then-finds-redemption-in-a-heartfelt-moment episodes. Season seven gave us the wonderfully original “22 Short Films About Springfield,” a richly woven tapestry of a story involving many random citizens of Springfield. While the title is a reference to François Girard’s “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,” the episode’s style is closer to “Pulp Fiction,” as each individual story interconnects to form a larger and more cohesive narrative. It’s great stuff, and more importantly, it introduced us to the term “steamed hams.”

Most people agree that “The Simpsons” REALLY gets going around season three. But the first two seasons certainly have their gems. Case in point – season two’s “Lisa’s Substitute.” In this classic, Lisa finds a mentor in her substitute teacher, Mr. Bergstrom. Bergstrom was famously voiced by Dustin Hoffman, and it remains one of the greatest celebrity guests in the show’s history. He fills Bergstrom with the necessary maturity and warmth, and his performance allows the famous ending to hit that much harder. When it comes to the show’s most sentimental episodes, “Lisa’s Substitute” is always in the running. Seriously, how can you look at that note and not get at least a little emotional?

By season four, “The Simpsons” were pumping out classics like no other comedy on television. (Except maybe “Seinfeld,” which was also in its fan-favorite fourth season at the time!) In “Mr. Plow,” Barney takes over the spotlight as he puts Homer out of the snow removal business with his own rival company, “King Plow.” There is a ton of stuff to like about this episode. There’s Homer’s iconic Mr. Plow jacket, the whip-smart and relentless jokes, and of course, the classic Mr. Plow commercial. Dan Castellaneta won his second Emmy Award for his performance in this episode, and it is well deserved. It’s certainly one of the better Homer-centric episodes of the show, and it cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greatest TV characters.

This episode is typically regarded as one of the show’s earliest iconic episodes, and some people even regard it as the official start of The Golden Age. Harry Shearer and Julie Kavner famously dislike this episode, as it places too much emphasis on the guest stars but others argue that it’s the guest stars who make the episode such a hit. A slew of famous baseball players voice themselves, including Roger Clemens, José Canseco, Wade Boggs, and Ken Griffey, Jr. They’re all game for some harmless fun, and the episode serves as a wonderful time capsule of the early 90s. Add an end credits song performed by Terry Cashman, and you have yourself one of the all-time great “Simpsons” episodes.

We don’t know how an episode like “Homer’s Enemy” hadn’t been done before. The general setup is brilliant – an ambitious man with great work ethic is hired at the plant and forced to work alongside the lazy and incompetent Homer. It’s a fantastic and realistic concept, and we don’t know why it took the writers eight seasons to get to it! Regardless, “Homer’s Enemy” remains one of the show’s most divisive episodes. Many people don’t enjoy the episode’s darker tone as Frank Grimes is scorned for competence, slowly goes insane and eventually dies violently. But others love it for its irony. The episode told a risky story, and it wasn’t above depicting its usual protagonist as a horribly flawed and even heartless man whose slovenly behavior goes unpunished.

“The Simpsons” isn’t just about a suburban family and their random hijinks. Sometimes they aim higher, and in the case of “Homer the Great,” their lofty aspirations take the form of satirizing Freemasonry. It’s a big task, and most shows would collapse under the weight of such ambition, but “The Simpsons” pulls it off with impeccable grace, style and hilarity. Of course, the episode’s brilliance isn’t solely found in its writing. It also contains the wonderful Patrick Stewart who guest stars as the voice of the Stonecutters’ leader, “Number One.” And, an Emmy-nominated song; the painfully brief but wonderfully satiric and catchy “We Do.” Who loves “Homer the Great?” We do!

This is definitely one of the more bizarre episodes of the show. It starts innocently and normally enough, as the Simpson family decide to take a trip to “Itchy & Scratchy Land”, a hilarious parody of Disneyland. However, things get all “Westworld” when the Itchy and Scratchy animatronics go haywire and begin attacking the visitors. It’s one of the series’ most brazenly unrealistic episodes, but it is within this brazen nonsense that the episode finds its incredible sense of fun. It is also known for containing the famous “Bort” license plate, which quickly became a cultural phenomenon. It’s slightly satirical, completely ridiculous, and consistently funny. What’s not to love?

This remains one of the most divisive episodes of the series, even more so than “Homer’s Enemy.” This episode served as a crossover with “The Critic,” a short-lived animated sitcom created by ex-“Simpsons” showrunners Al Jean and Mike Reiss. In the episode, the titular critic Jay Sherman stops by Springfield to judge the local film festival. “A Star Is Burns” was famously derided by Matt Groening, who publicly condemned its very existence and called it little more than an undignified advertisement. Regardless, there is a lot to like about this episode, primarily “Boo-urns” and Barney’s marvelous film “Pukahontas.” “A Star Is Burns” is a tremendous example of how to do a crossover right, shameless promotion or not.

Season six really was full of some all-time great bangers. Serving as the penultimate episode of the season, “Lemon of Troy” sees the kids of Springfield wage war against the kids of Shelbyville after they steal Springfield’s beloved lemon tree. Like “Itchy & Scratchy Land,” “Lemon of Troy” is a totally bonkers episode that draws on everything from Greek mythology to “Mad Max 2.” But then again, that unique blending of pop culture and academia is what makes “The Simpsons” such a beloved series. The episode contains an original story, many hilarious jokes, and some surprising character development for Nelson. This is what the Golden Era of “The Simpsons” was all about.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Lisa the Vegetarian”

“Krusty Gets Kancelled”

“Bart Sells His Soul”

“Homer Badman”

“Homer the Heretic”

With this episode, “The Simpsons” officially surpassed “The Flintstones” in episode count, serving as the show’s 167th outing. To celebrate the occasion, “The Simpsons” devoted an entire episode to meta-textually commenting on the show’s longevity and its struggle to stay relevant. It does this both through the network bigwigs who force creative decisions on the writers and through the character of Poochie, who satirizes the practice of introducing hollow new characters in an attempt to keep an old show fresh. It also directly attacks the show’s critics using Comic Book Guy, who famously states “Worst. Episode. Ever” for the first time. It’s a wonderfully self-referential episode that knowingly comments on a number of themes, and it proves that “The Simpsons” is (or at least, was) one of the smartest shows on television.