My favorite: Gummy Venus De Milo!
I’ll see you in hell, candy boys!
I can’t say I have a favorite, but a lot of good ones have been mentioned here. Some that come to mind are the one where Marge nearly has the affair with the bowling instructor, the one where Homer decides he has to go to Clown College, and the one where Homer invents the Flaming Moe.
I have always been partial to Homer and Apu and Brt the Murderer. Let me add the Frank Gries episode, which I think is them ost meta-humorous. My all-time favorite scene is from Bart vs. Aurstralia
Ward: Hello. Now, everything is all set for Bart’s apology. Mr. Conover will meet you at the parliament house at three p.m. Questions?
Bart: Yeah, do the toilets go backwards in here?
Ward: No. To combat homesickness, we’ve installed a device that makes them swirl the correct American way.
[he flushes the toilet]
[it swirls one way, then a machine kicks in and makes it swirl the other way]
Homer: [singing] Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing…[weeps]
Worst episode:
The one with the jockeys and the one with the “real” Seymour Skinner"
Hard to think of just one “best”… I guess I’ll go with “Lisa’s Substitute.”
Worst: “Alone Again, Naturally-Diddly.” It’s the episode that made me stop watching the series, so there might have been worse stuff after it of which I’m unaware.
That would be “Saddlesore Galactica”. I still find it hard to believe that every person named in the credits didn’t choose to go by the name Alan Smithee.
Best : Last Exit to Springfield
Rosebud
Worst: Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield
Gotta go with “Cape Feare” as my favorite: “Dear Lisa, today I am so sad, for my country has been taken over by THE BENEVOLENT GENERAL KRULL. ALL HAIL KRULL, AND HIS GLORIOUS NEW REGIME. SINCERELY, LITTLE GIRL.” I would say that “$pringfield” and “Boy Scoutz in the Hood” are both really high up there, too.
(I didn’t look, but aren’t those all Season 5 episodes? Pure genius, that season.)
As far as the worst – there are only two episodes that I’ll turn off if they’re on in syndication. First is the aforementioned “Saddlesore Gallactica.” Second is the one where the Simpsons go to Florida for spring break and end up becoming rednecks on the lam after killing the gator. I mean, WTF?
Favorite: Many that have already been mentioned, plus Treehouse of Horror IV
Least favorite: One from a few seasons ago that involved Grampa learning to drive again, or something.
By the way, I really liked the crazy elf-jockeys.
Favorites -
-The Beer Baron episode
-The one in which homer becomes smart
Worst -
A few years ago I became tired of the simpsons. I’m not willing to say that I think every episode is bad since then but I definately haven’t been nearly as impressed. The episodes I have never enjoyed, however, are the ones from the first season - except the one where homer and family go to the wilderness.
Best: Life on the Fast Lane
El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer
Mother Simpson (always cry at the end)
Worst: My Mother the Carjacker
Saddlesore Galactica
Homer vs. Dignity
Bolded is my vote for the best, though “Lisa’s Substitute” and “Homer and Apu” make the perfect trifecta, and “Homer Badman” and “Treehouse of Horror V” round out my Top 5.
Worst is unquestionably the flash-forward with Lisa as POTUS, though the most overrated has got to be the Frank Grimes episode, which is preoccupied with being self-referentially clever that it forgot to be even remotely funny.
Best -
Either Moe’s Diner
or
When Lisa gets fortune told about future (Hugh Grant guest stars?)
Worst - The rock and roll camp one with all those annoying cameos. Totally lame.
I’d like to put in a vote for Stonecutters as the best
“who keeps the metric system down… weeee doooooo”
The one where Bart sells his soul is probably the best episode from an artistic point of view. The whole episode has a very weird feel to it after Bart sells his soul; it’s masterful how the change is conveyed to the viewer.
Marge vs. The Monorail and You Only Move Twice are two of my all time favourites. The prohibition one too is really great. In fact, there are too many Best episodes to name. On the other hand though, there are too many Worst episodes to name too. From the 2000-2001 season forward the show took a nosedive into suckitude.
ahh…so many good ones, hard to pick one.
“Cape fear” was one of the best. Home and Ned go to vegas still cracks me up!
worst? any episode from s1, or s2, those just werent funny to me.
It’s actually Mandy Patinkin. Good episode, though.
Best: my favorite is “Krusty Gets Kancelled.” The highlight for me is the scene where Krusty shows an old Soviet-block propaganda cartoon (“Worker and Parasite”). His utterly bemused reaction at the end is what caps it.
I’d actually put the Florida episode (“Kill the Alligator and Run”) on top for the worst. At least with “Saddlesore Galactica,” there seemed to be an acknowledgment on the part of the writers that this wasn’t the show’s best entry (e.g., the CBG chiming in periodically to remind everyone that certain plot elements were recycled and his post-credit declaration of “Worst. Episode. Ever.”) Plus, it did have a good bit with Homer and Bachman Turner Overdrive. For that, I was willing to give the episode a break (although, in retrospect, I was too lenient given what lay ahead for “The Simpsons”). “Kill the Alligator…”, while also having a few good gags, is a perfect example of the problems that the show had at the time (e.g., pointless celebrity guests, stories seemingly written by someone with ADD, past characterization forgotten for the sake of the plot or for a quick gag, and–especially–the notorious “last act collapse” where the episode suddenly goes off on some weird tangent or tangents in the last ten minutes). “Kill the Alligator…” was probably the first episode of “The Simpsons” that had me at the end thinking, “Man, this show has really slipped.”
Funny. I was going to suggest it as best. It’s my favorite episode.
The “Homer3” segment of one of the Treehouse of Horrors is clearly the best thing ever to happen to television.
I am dumbfounded that no one has mentioned yet, as the best episode, “Simpsoncalifragilistickexpiala(D’oh!)cious” (the Mary Poppins parody). An incredible piece of television. Hilarious from start to finish, and the songs are terrific.
Yes, I’m sure I botched the spelling. Don’t nitpick.
Honorable Mention to “A Fish Called Selma” (Selma marries Troy McClure).
As for the worst, the last couple of “Treehouse of Horror” episodes have been strong competitors there. I think it was the one from last season that really stank.
Even at its worst, The Simpsons is still as good as anything on TV.