Top 10 Simpsons Moments that Left us Speechless
#10: Fox Leaves Homer on a Cliffhanger
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"Missionary: Impossible" To pride itself on providing entertainment without commercial interruption, PBS has a lot of interruptions to request donations. To get out of fulfilling a $10,000 pledge, Homer flees to another continent as a missionary. What ensues is such mad mischief that it doesn't look like Homer can make it out of a chapel bell tower collapsing into lava. Well, he doesn't. The episode ends with representatives of Fox interrupting the scene with their own pledge drive. Homer's fate is left unresolved for a spoof of both PBS's panhandling and Fox's corporate greed. Bart may ultimately save the network with a generous donation, but audiences were stupefied by Homer going unsaved. Thankfully, he can apparently survive any catastrophe, as long as Fox's demands are met.
#9: Homer's Last Day
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"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" After eating improperly prepared and venomous fugu, Homer spends what could be his last day alive with loved ones. It's safe to assume that even when this episode premiered during the second of the show's dozens of seasons, audiences were confident in Homer's survival. However, it’s hard to not be stunned to silence when Homer slumps over while watching the sunrise. When he and Marge realize he'll be alright, you feel relieved with them. This uplifting payoff shows how "The Simpsons" can stick even the most predictable of emotional landings. Homer's vow to live each day to the fullest rounds out this life-affirming story…at least until he goes back to watching TV and snacking.
#8: The Problem with Apu
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"No Good Read Goes Unpublished" In the 2017 documentary "The Problem with Apu", comedian Hari Kondabolu explored Apu Nahasapeemapetilon's unfortunate history as an Indian character who leaned on stereotypes. "The Simpsons" responded with an episode in which Marge realizes a storybook from her childhood is racially insensitive. She and Lisa break the fourth wall to contemplate that while characters like Apu can be important at one time, they can become offensive years later. Unfortunately, audiences felt that this attempt to absolve the show of its own insensitivity just supported Kondabolu's criticism of its tone-deafness. The scene ironically caused even more backlash. With Apu’s stereotypical portrayal making it hard to recast him, the speaking part was retired after three decades of service.
#7: Homer Undoes the Apocalypse
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"Thank God, It's Doomsday" It seems the only judgment Homer has to face on the supposed date of the Rapture is from his friends. But after adjusting his predictions, he’s lifted to Heaven while his loved ones are left to face Armageddon. As if this wasn't jaw-dropping enough, the remorseful Homer is able to convince God to undo the Rapture and return him to Earth. The convenient spell was even dubbed "Deus Ex Machina". Some viewers found Homer accurately predicting then ending the apocalypse to be a sacrilegious cop-out. Others admired this extreme tribute to Homer's devotion to his family. Either way, this unlikely prophet turning out to be the actual savior of humanity was one of the most unexpected "Simpsons" moments of the 2000s.
#6: Maude Flanders Dies
"Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" After almost a decade of voicing Ned Flanders's mild-mannered wife Maude, Maggie Roswell left the recurring cast of "The Simpsons" over a pay dispute. Maude was then written out of the show with a fatal t-shirt cannon accident at a motor speedway. This marked one of the most drastic and disturbing twists in "Simpsons" canon... That's canon with one "n". From there, the widowed Ned went on to have a complicated arc as a single father who eventually marries Edna Krabappel. But she herself passed away after her actress Marica Wallace died. Along the way, Roswell has reprised Maude in flashbacks and other assorted cameos. Even so, viewers and the Flanders family are still reeling from the shock of how she was killed off as a series regular.
#5: "Do It For Her"
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"And Maggie Makes Three" "The Simpsons" has a history of moving us with episodes about the family's history. "And Maggie Makes Three" is a classic that might take the cake. After it was discovered that there are no photos of Maggie in the Simpsons' photo albums, Homer has serious explaining to do. He goes into a long-winded story about how he left his dream job at a bowling alley to provide for three kids. As it turns out, Maggie's photos are posted around her father's station at the nuclear power plant to alter a "Don't Forget: You're Here Forever" plaque to read "Do It For Her". This poignant reminder of Homer's love for his children is sure to leave you without words and sobbing.
#4: A Farewell to Mona
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"Mother Simpson" Much of Homer's hilarious dysfunction can be linked to abandonment issues with his fugitive activist mother. Yet it's always a somber occasion when he reunites with Mona, voiced by Glenn Close and introduced in the Season Seven's "Mother Simpson". With the law bearing down, Mona has to go back on the run. But she and her son finally share a proper goodbye. This was by no means the last we've seen of Mona, whose occasional returns and ultimate death have been behind some of the most dramatic moments in the show's history. But few moments are as beautifully perfect as Homer first wishing his mother farewell. As he spends the night staring at the stars, the sense of longing and closure goes beyond words.
#3: The Death of Frank Grimes
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"Homer's Enemy" Homer's shenanigans are all fun and games until somebody gets hurt. That is, somebody other than Homer himself. His incompetence and dumb luck generally go ignored until the nuclear plant employs the hard-working, hard-living Frank Grimes. The poor man's outrage at Homer's unjust success culminates in a mental breakdown at work. As Grimes thoughtlessly grabs high-voltage wires, he is electrocuted to death. Audiences were themselves shocked by this incredibly dark turn. Of course, it was an appropriate way to resolve a reckoning with the depressing reality of our favorite sitcom idiot living the American Dream. Frank Grimes leaves behind a legacy as one of the most baffling tragedies and voices of reason on "The Simpsons". Still, he hasn't stopped Homer's fans and friends from laughing.
#2: Maggie Shot Mr. Burns
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"Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two" TV cliffhangers that rock the world don't come around often. No one expected "The Simpsons" to deliver one of the most suspenseful pop culture events of 1995. Additionally, they certainly didn't expect to discover that it was Maggie Simpson who was behind Mr. Burns' near-fatal gunshot. The twist that the old man's own pistol went off while he was trying to steal candy from a baby baffled viewers, to say the least. But this reveal has become celebrated as one of TV's hottest watercooler moments of the '90s. The suggestion that the shooting was no accident was also a watershed moment in Maggie's darker characterization. While she may never be as evil as Mr. Burns, she's hardly as harmless as she looks.
#1: Armin Tamzarian
"The Principal and the Pauper" One of the most bizarre “Simpsons” twists came in Season Nine's "The Principal and the Pauper". In this episode, it’s revealed that Seymour Skinner is an imposter named Armin Tamzarian. This crook-turned-soldier stole his missing sergeant's identity to turn his life around. But the real Skinner's return throws Springfield into disarray. Although everything ends up normal, partially thanks to an ordinance forbidding Springfielders from mentioning Tamzarian, Skinner was never the same for fans. Both fans and show staff members felt this was an absurd shark jump from which the show never recovered. Others now praise the episode for satirizing sitcom storytelling and TV canon. Love him or hate him, Armin Tamzarian remains the biggest and most jaw-dropping controversy "The Simpsons" has ever had.