I remember one of the first Simpsons I ever saw was that one where Bart is going to be held back unless he passes that test. He actually studies, giving up even a snow day to do so, and when he fails again and starts sobbing I totally lost it and was sobbing also. True, I was only about ten, but god that wrecked me. Then my parents came home and I had to explain why I was sniffeling over the Simpsons.
The Maggie one also gets me to this day.
What Nichol Storm said. I STILL get choked up over that one!
sniff 'scuze me, I need some tissues!
The Simpsons blew its ability to carry these moments though, I think. Futurama retained it to the end. I don’t think anything has choked me up as much lately as much as the end of the dog episode.
Snarky shot at The Simpsons aside, I agree totally. I actually cried a real tear at that Futurama episode.
Its not snarky at all. I simply can’t see the show, and haven’t seen it, pull off the moments it did in the earlier seasons. They’ve broken the basic characters too much so that they are self-aware caricatures, not people. It lost its sincerity along the way.
My best friend and I were talking about this very subject today. We both got teary just thinking about the Bart/Lisa hockey episode. Eh, shaddup. 
Also, the one with Homer and his mom gets to me. Actually, pretty much all of the previously mentioned episodes do.
The Bart/Lisa hockey episode bugs me. At the end, when Bart doesn’t take the shot, that means Lisa wins!. If there’s a penalty shot, and he doesn’t score, the goalie wins, dammit! Besides, Bart let his team down. :mad:
The scene that really choked me up (after the “Homer’s Mom” ending) is the letter that Homer leaves for Lisa in the “Crayon in the Brain” episode after he decides he doesn’t want to be smart anymore.
What about the one where Homer gets Lisa a horse, and she sees all the extra work he has to do to afford it, so she gives it to the riding academy and then says that there’s a big dumb animal she loves even more?
WAAAHHH!!!
I agree with you. Those first few seasons are special for their ability to combine wicked satire and subtle, intelligent humor with genuine emotion. The show could make you laugh, but it also made you care about Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Now it’s just a tired parody of itself. It’s still funny (sometimes), but the original magic is long gone, and the humor in general has been dumbed down considerably.
Anyway, the “Lisa’s Substitute” episode gets to me every time. Beautifully done.
I wish Fox would kill the Simpsons now before the mediocre writing really starts to annoy me. Anymore I watch the new episodes more out of loyalty than desire. I don’t think Fox realizes people don’t care that they are new shows anymore. They could put on reruns and get the same ratings.
Anyway, the one that gets to me is where Bart sells his soul and Lisa busy it back at the end. And the Hockey episode. The crayon in the brain episode would have been great if it wasn't for the fact that by that time in the series, they had pretty well beat to death the Homer-Lisa "we are completely different but still love each other" theme. Plus its very similar in theme to the episode where they go the other way and make Lisa "stupid" for a day. How many times have they done that?