# Best, and worst, Simpsons episodes (ever)? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2005, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571 "2005-01-31T10:48:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/81 "2005-02-02T18:45:44Z")
As you might guess from my user name, my favorite episode is Bart the Daredevil. It seemed to get everything right from Truckasaurus to Homer’s canyon jump. Plus the episope was one of the few things in my life my dad and I both liked. I also like the Little Miss Springfield episode a lot. As for the worst… The jockey episode sucked, the “real” Skinner sucked and the one where Mr. Burns suckles from a mole or something. Not good. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/82 "2005-02-02T18:51:59Z")
And by the way, am I the only person who has Leslie Gore’s Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows on his iPod? Best series ever. ---
**Author:** ![Typically\_Sunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Typically\_Sunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typically_Sunday)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/83 "2005-02-02T19:10:42Z")
A bunch of my favorites have already been mentioned, but if I had to pick the best it would be **Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy**. The first half of the episode is absolutely hilarious, and it’s the one Simpsons episode where I didn’t mind the shmoopy ending. Plus, reverse vampires! I’m suprised that whenever people talk about worst episodes, they never mention the one where the Simpsons get a tennis court. It contains everything suck about the last few seasons: abrupt plot change (the first half of the episode is about buying Grampa a coffin ferchrissake), pointless celebrity cameos (the Williams sisters and a bunch of other tennis stars), and to top it off, it’s not even remotely funny. The only reason I can think of why nobody brings it up is that they’re trying too hard to repress it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/84 "2005-02-02T19:23:52Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I agree about the terrific animation (some of the best in the entire series) and Cash’s presence, but there are lots of great moments, too: > > Lovejoy: Now, Helen, let us not glory in Homer’s binge-drinking. There but for the grace of God goes Marge herself. > > Homer: Five-alarm chili, eh? > Ned: Uh-huh. > Homer: [eats some] One, two… hey, what’s the big idea? > Ned: Oh, I admit it. It’s only two-alarm, two-and-a-half, tops. I just wanted to be a big man in front of the kids. > Todd: Daddy? Are you going to jail? > Ned: We’ll see, son. We’ll see. > > Coyote: I speak of a deeper wisdom. The problem, Homer, is that the mind is always chattering away with a thousand thoughts at once. > Homer: Yeah, that’s me all right. [Homer has a glazed look in his eyes as the wind blows his two hair strands.] > > Homer: We don’t have anything in common. [opens the record cabinet, with “Marge” and “Homer” sections] Look at these records: Jim Nabors, Glen Campbell, the Doodletown Pipers. Now look at her records! They stink! > > Homer: Hello? Is this… [reads his paper] GBM? Uh, yeah. I read in the personals that you were seeking a soulmate. Well, I also like rainy days and movies. Uh-huh… [apprehensively] Uh, no, I don’t like that… Or that… No, it’s not that I’m afraid. [very quickly] I’m going to hang up now, bye-bye. > > McAllister: Arr, matey. Nary a warning light to be seen. 'Tis clear sailing ahead for our precious cargo. > Sailor: Uh, would that be the hot pants, sir? > McAllister: Aye, the hot pants. > > Plus Marge’s distraction ruses, Bart’s hat, Guatamalan insane asylums, the vengeful tortoise, furniture salesmen, Earl, and Short Shorts! If it’s about laying off the Guatemalan insanity peppers I’m way ahead of ya! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/85 "2005-02-02T19:31:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > If it’s about laying off the Guatemalan insanity peppers I’m way ahead of ya! Tell that to Dooku! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RevCo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@RevCo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RevCo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/86 "2005-02-02T19:45:39Z")
One of my favorites that hasn’t been mentioned is **Lemon of Troy**. The one where Bart goes over to Shelbyville to get the lemon tree? The town is a mirror image of Springfield, complete with “Fudd” beer. “So this is what it sounds like, when doves cry _sob and hug_” – Milhouse to Milhouse Favorites: Other mentions – **Secrets of a Successful Marriage** – We take the DOLT out of ADOLT Education! **A Star is Burns** , with Barneys touching “Puke-ahontis” **A streetcar named Marge** - Begins with a beauty pageant, with the contestants singing “We learned the truth at 17, that love was made for beauty queens…” – that was brilliant! Take the whole damn song and turn it around. I laughed my ass off at that part. The rest was good too. New Orleans! Stinking, rotten, vomiting, vile… New Orleans! Putrid, brackish, maggotty, foul… Worst? \*\*Alone Again, Natura-Diddly \*\* I can forgive the storyline if it’s funny, but it struck me as awful. Funny when Grimey dies, not funny when Maude Flanders dies. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/87 "2005-02-02T19:49:51Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I did like the one where Lisa became a vegetarian. Especially when Homer is trying to find her when she ran away. I always laugh at the part where he yells into the baby carriage. “…The concealed staircase behind the non-alcoholic beer…” “What if somebody wants to buy some of that?” “The question has never come up.” ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/88 "2005-02-02T19:50:45Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Tell that to Dooku! 😃 Donnn qwittt yrrr day johbbbb…whatevvrrr _that_ izzz. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/89 "2005-02-02T20:21:23Z")
The Grimes episode was not only hilarious, it was the only episode where a character that could exist in reality came in and poked holes in the series’ insanity. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/90 "2005-02-02T21:22:18Z")
> [@Gadfly](#): > > The Grimes episode was not only hilarious, it was the only episode where a character that could exist in reality came in and poked holes in the series’ insanity. And look what happened to him. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/91 "2005-02-02T21:37:10Z")
I can’t really choose a best one because there are so many that I love, but I can definitely pick out the worst episode ever. **Skinner’s Sense of Snow**. Now, I am all for penis jokes, but that episode was nothing _but_ penis jokes from “Chew through my ball sack Mitzie!” to the phallic wheat silo plowing through the snow and erupting at the school to Homer fantasizing about getting a ranch pearl necklace. Or maybe I just have a dirty mind. Either way, I hate that episode. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/92 "2005-02-03T00:33:56Z")
For me, the Halloween episodes all shine. As for quotes, I recall Homer careening down a steep hill on the top of a ladder, looking up to Heaven, & saying: > [@](#): > > You know I’m not a religious man, but if you can hear me, SAVE ME SUPERMAN!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Foible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Foible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foible)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/93 "2005-02-03T06:01:28Z")
Worst? The one where Marge buys the designer suit and gets the whole family invited to the country club. Best? I don’t know, there are so many of them that draw me in and keep me laughing for the whole half hour. Reading this thread I’m beginning to understand why people think the show sucks now. The abrupt plot changes don’t seem to sit well with a lot of people but I find them interesting. (What ever happened to the bag boys anyway?) I think the writers used the platform of a successful series to leap into whatever sureal form of storytelling struck their fancy. Can you really picture what the series would be like if they didn’t? How can you have over three hundred episodes about a family stuck at the same ages? The kids didn’t grow like live action children so they had to grow in different directions or else stagnate. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/94 "2005-02-03T13:38:05Z")
> [@Foible](#): > > Worst? The one where Marge buys the designer suit and gets the whole family invited to the country club. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite, but I think it’s pretty solid. Between the Homer/Burns golf thing (“Do you think Richard Nixon and this Homer Nixon are related?” “I don’t think so, sir. They spell and pronounce their names differently.”) and the family’s adventures at the retail outlet in Ogdenville (Magnetbox, Sorny, Panaphonics, and the Carnivalé, the television which sports a durable outer casing to prevent fall-apart), there are some strong moments in this one. ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/95 "2005-02-03T16:42:09Z")
I’ll only list my three faves. So far I don’t hate any of them, though the very old ones aren’t as funny. 1. The one where Homer doesn’t go to church anymore, the house catches fire and representatives from Christianity, Judaism and “Miscellaneous” save his bacon. 2. The one with the three different viewpoints of the one day. “Lingo _is_ dead”. 3. Treehouse of Horrors nr ?. The one with The Raven. “Quoth the raven: Eat my shorts.” ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/96 "2005-02-03T17:43:35Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > In syndication they cut my favorite part of that episode. > Sideshow Mel: You’ve arrested the wrong man. > Wiggam: What? Okay, Dr. Doom you’re free to go. Just stay away from Misery Mountain. > Dr. Doom: Oh, but all my stuff is there. Actually, it’s Dr. Collosus and Death Mountain. And earlier in the ep., when SMithers is first arrested, he’s in the jail cell then, too. Dr.C: o jail cell can hold Dr.Collosus! Ha ha ha ha! (at which point he pushes a button on his belt and his boots grow five feet and he smacks his head into the ceiling.) interesting note: this was NOT the first appearance of Dr. Collosus. Five points to you if you name the ep. he first appears in! And the bee episode is good. Skinner:I’m just talking to the sugar man!..(leafves…comes back)thanks a lot Simpson, now I’m grounded. Bee guy#1: It’s a little quiet. Bee guy #2: yes, a little too quiet, don’t you think? BG1: I don’t know what you mean? BG2: Non noise, suggests no bees… BG1: Oh, there goes one now. BG2: To the beemobile! BG1:…you mean your chevy? BG2:…yes… And the GREAT Homer line: Homer: Am I Marge, Ami I? Oh sure, I may never be one of those so called ‘City Fathers,’ who stroke their beards, cluck their toungues, and talk about what’s to be done with this Homer SImpson! ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/97 "2005-02-03T18:59:21Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > interesting note: this was NOT the first appearance of Dr. Collosus. Five points to you if you name the ep. he first appears in! Off the top of my head – was Dr. Collossus a husband of the inventor of Malibu Stacy? (I’m blanking on the character’s name, but Kathleen Turner did the voice). Stacy Lovell? Is that the name? Either way, I’m thinking it’s the episode with Lisa Lionheart. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/98 "2005-02-03T19:38:04Z")
> [@quixotic78](#): > > Off the top of my head – was Dr. Collossus a husband of the inventor of Malibu Stacy? (I’m blanking on the character’s name, but Kathleen Turner did the voice). > > Stacy Lovell? Is that the name? > > Either way, I’m thinking it’s the episode with Lisa Lionheart. You are correct, sir! ---
**Author:** ![Othersider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/cab0a1/32.png) [@Othersider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othersider)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/99 "2005-02-03T20:05:44Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > I wouldn’t say this is my favorite, but I think it’s pretty solid. Between the Homer/Burns golf thing (“Do you think Richard Nixon and this Homer Nixon are related?” “I don’t think so, sir. They spell and pronounce their names differently.”) and the family’s adventures at the retail outlet in Ogdenville (Magnetbox, Sorny, Panaphonics, and the Carnivalé, the television which sports a durable outer casing to prevent fall-apart), there are some strong moments in this one. Someone might actually call me “Sir” without adding “you’re making a scene.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Thirty-Nine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2005, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571/100 "2005-02-03T23:37:43Z")
Can’t pick a definite favourite, but it has to be one of the below: Mr. Plow Cape Feare Weekend at Burnsie’s (The medicinal marijuana one) I was also quite impressed by some of the more novel ideas in recent years, such as Behind The Laughter (Season 11) and A Trilogy Of Error (Season 12). Worst: I too am amazed that the show survived through the first season. It almost competely lacks the social commentary that characterises the series, leaving something like a cartoon sitcom. I daren’t imagine what else was on TV at the time. That said, I also have the rock camp celebrity-fest (How I Spent My Strummer Vacation) down as the worst episode. Close 2nds: The B-Sharps (Homer’s band) follow up episode. The latest treehouse of horror. I think I may have laughed once, where Lisa’s accent slips in the ‘Jack The Ripper’ segment. The ‘smuggling pills from Canada’ epsiode (also from the latest season). Vaguely disturbing to say the least. In fact, I’ve tried to keep my faith in the series, but the whole of season 16 has left me cold so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-and-worst-simpsons-episodes-ever/287571.md?page=6)