Author Topic: El Barto's Top 20 Simpsons Episodes (Read 19869 times)

El Barto · « **Reply #105 on:** June 05, 2012, 07:05:59 PM »

4. Trilogy of Error s12e18

Inflammable means flammable? What a country.

In some ways I think this is their finest hour. As I've pointed out, I have a thing for the oddballs when they get it right, and this one was a moonshot. I actually had this one at second originally, but after watching all of these, I decided that I really needed the top three to be the very best of what they do best, rather than a fantastic episode that's so far removed from what made the show so good. Nevertheless, this is still a top five episode. It's impeccably written, and it features a few of my favorite characters. Dr. Nick and Fat Tony are two of the biggest factors in my getting into this show.

Might be time to start placing bets on the final three. With this one gone, they're all classic episodes from the golden era. Shouldn't be too hard to figure them out.

Dr. DTVT · « **Reply #106 on:** June 05, 2012, 10:44:36 PM »

I'm guessing what is probably one of my favorite episodes isn't on here, I ask you El Barto, what do you think of Bart Sells His Soul s7e4?

Top 3 guess (without looking back too far):

Who Shot Mr. Burns?
Mr. Plow
Marge vs The Monorail

Not necessarily my top 3, just an off the cuff guess.

The King in Crimson · « **Reply #107 on:** June 05, 2012, 10:56:40 PM »

Quote from: Dr. DTVT on June 05, 2012, 10:44:36 PM

I'm guessing what is probably one of my favorite episodes isn't on here, I ask you El Barto, what do you think of Bart Sells His Soul s7e4?

The opening sequence with "In The Garden Of Eden" is one of the best ever.

That episode might actually be one of my favorites.

Marge Vs. The Monorail and Mr Plow I agree.

Who Shot Mr Burns? maybe, if only both parts are counted as one episode.

I'm guessing Krusty Gets Kancelled is up there.

Pols Voice · « **Reply #108 on:** June 05, 2012, 11:03:24 PM »

Cape Feare is my third or fourth favorite. It's just packed with classic scenes.

Trilogy of Error is alright. Good for its season, but not one of my overall favorites.

Ravenheart · « **Reply #109 on:** June 05, 2012, 11:13:06 PM »

Cape Feare is fantastic. I think seasons 5 and 6 have always contained my overall favorite episodes.

LieLowTheWantedMan · « **Reply #110 on:** June 05, 2012, 11:20:22 PM »

Trilogy of Error is fantastic. Possibly my favourite season too, not sure.

Kwyjibo · « **Reply #111 on:** June 06, 2012, 12:03:09 AM »

Great list so far. And the chosen episodes once again show how great this series once was.

Oh, those were the days.

Riceball · « **Reply #112 on:** June 06, 2012, 07:06:29 AM »

Quote from: El Barto on June 04, 2012, 06:48:14 PM

5. Cape Feare s05e02

My favourite, right here.

El Barto · « **Reply #113 on:** June 06, 2012, 08:36:03 AM »

Quote from: Dr. DTVT on June 05, 2012, 10:44:36 PM

I'm guessing what is probably one of my favorite episodes isn't on here, I ask you El Barto, what do you think of Bart Sells His Soul s7e4?

Leave this place, you are in great danger. The one you call Milhouse is gone.

Not sure how they did it, but they managed to give this one a pretty creepy tone. It kind of makes you feel uneasy watching it. Probably for that reason, I was never a huge fan. It's got some great bits in it, but just never sat well with me.

Dr. DTVT · « **Reply #114 on:** June 06, 2012, 10:15:18 AM »

I never thought about it as creepy. It's got a good bit of humor, Bart doing some serious soul searching (figuratively and literally), and a genuine act of love by Lisa. It's not preachy, but thought provoking and heart warming.

El Barto · « **Reply #115 on:** June 06, 2012, 10:23:08 AM »

Bart and Lisa used to end shows like that all the time. It's something that I miss about the newer episodes. That's one of the reasons I put Lisa on Ice on my list. Somewhere along the line they just decided to make Lisa a whiny and condescending cunt, at which point it was acceptable for shows to end with everybody hating her.

Ben_Jamin · « **Reply #116 on:** June 06, 2012, 01:22:32 PM »

Lingwo makes the episode.

"sentence fragment, is also a sentence fragment"
"going into sleep mode"

El Barto · « **Reply #117 on:** June 06, 2012, 01:59:17 PM »

Yeah, Lingwo vs the mobsters is priceless. Shut up your face.

JRundquist · « **Reply #118 on:** June 06, 2012, 03:19:08 PM »

Brfore you finish up the list is there any episodes that you didn't like before the Downward Spiral? Like during the golden days seasons 4-9 where there was one that never clicked with you?

El Barto · « **Reply #119 on:** June 06, 2012, 04:46:27 PM »

Quote from: JRundquist on June 06, 2012, 03:19:08 PM

Brfore you finish up the list is there any episodes that you didn't like before the Downward Spiral? Like during the golden days seasons 4-9 where there was one that never clicked with you?

None that I actively dislike. Tons that I think are average at best, and frequently highly overrated. What I find is that plenty of episodes from that era aren't good enough to stand out among the pack, but they all have some fantastic gags in them. Consider an episode like Duffless. Completely forgettable, and not something you'd suddenly decide to watch, like some of the classics. But when you start watching, it's full of great jokes. Hell, Flanders' AA confession alone is worth the price of admission. You couldn't really say that you don't like an episode with so many good laughs.

JRundquist · « **Reply #120 on:** June 06, 2012, 05:11:37 PM »

Quote from: El Barto on June 06, 2012, 04:46:27 PM

Quote from: JRundquist on June 06, 2012, 03:19:08 PM
Brfore you finish up the list is there any episodes that you didn't like before the Downward Spiral? Like during the golden days seasons 4-9 where there was one that never clicked with you?
None that I actively dislike. Tons that I think are average at best, and frequently highly overrated. What I find is that plenty of episodes from that era aren't good enough to stand out among the pack, but they all have some fantastic gags in them. Consider an episode like Duffless. Completely forgettable, and not something you'd suddenly decide to watch, like some of the classics. But when you start watching, it's full of great jokes. Hell, Flanders' AA confession alone is worth the price of admission. You couldn't really say that you don't like an episode with so many good laughs.

I WAS MORE ANIMAL THEN MAN! *cries*

I do love that episode.

But yeah I totally agree. I was just curious about that because between those 5 seasons, there isn't anything I could say was a bad episode sans, Another Simpsons Clip Show, but that still had some great jokes in it.

Ravenheart · « **Reply #121 on:** June 06, 2012, 05:28:35 PM »

Drinking has ruined my life. I'M THIRTY-ONE YEARS OLD.

ReaperKK · « **Reply #122 on:** June 06, 2012, 07:16:46 PM »

I love Cape Feare, that episode always has a bunch of great laughs.

wolfking · « **Reply #123 on:** June 07, 2012, 05:21:06 AM »

Quote from: El Barto on June 02, 2012, 07:19:21 PM

7. Treehouse of Horror V s06e06

That's odd. The blood usually gets off at the second floor.

Easily the most well-rounded of the Treehouse of Horrors. I think there are better vignettes than these (though not many), but no better block of three. Each of them is top notch. For the Shinning, Moe is probably the funniest part, urging Homer to kill his family. Also pretty damned funny how Homer snaps almost immediately, with no build up. Time and Punishment is great from the onset, with Homer's hand stuck in the toaster. I also love how menacing Ned looks on the big screens. While the least stylistic of the three, Nightmare Cafeteria might have the best jokes. Uterbraten was a great touch. Then you've got the completely nonsensical musical number at the end, which with all of the blood flying off of them is actually pretty funny.

Most importantly, there's the frequent axe-murder of Groundskeeper Willie. The first time I saw this (maybe we'd smoked something, maybe we hadn't) it absolutely floored me. Each one was funnier than the last, and the idea of doing it in each vignette was just fantastic.

Argh! Oh, I'm bad at this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-pqvOPnNEk

One of my favourite Simpson moments.

Mladen · « **Reply #124 on:** June 08, 2012, 04:19:20 AM »

Nothing needs to be said about Cape feare.

AcidLameLTE · « **Reply #125 on:** June 08, 2012, 06:58:16 AM »

Hey, kids! Want to drive through that cactus patch?
Me!
Me!
No!
Well, two against one!

Pols Voice · « **Reply #126 on:** June 08, 2012, 12:58:16 PM »

Not the elephants!

El Barto · « **Reply #127 on:** June 08, 2012, 05:51:41 PM »

3. Kamp Krusty s04e01

The Krustiest Place On Earth

Again, not a whole lot that needs to be said. Definitely more story driven than madcap, but wonderfully done, and still tons of good laughs. I always loved the revelation that it was Bart all along that caused Homer's problems. The scene of him reverting back to his old self when he saw the boy was priceless. And I always thought taking the kids to TJ to make it up to them was a wonderful gesture.

For those of you playing the home game, the last two are both perfect episodes (probably the only two). Shouldn't be too hard to figure out at least one of them.

Pols Voice · « **Reply #128 on:** June 08, 2012, 06:58:33 PM »

Nice choice.

"He's still funny, but not haha funny."

LieLowTheWantedMan · « **Reply #129 on:** June 08, 2012, 06:59:56 PM »

Kamp Krusty's alright. The Mr. Black thing always entertained me, haha.

Nel · « **Reply #130 on:** June 08, 2012, 11:00:18 PM »

"Can I say 'crappy' on TV?"
"Yes, on this network, you can."

That part of the episode always gave me a laugh.

Mladen · « **Reply #131 on:** June 09, 2012, 04:18:56 AM »

Wow, I haven't seen this episode in quite a while, and I don't remember it was that good. But interesting choice nevertheless.

The King in Crimson · « **Reply #132 on:** June 09, 2012, 12:17:57 PM »

I honestly remember nothing about this episode aside from the ending and I'm pretty sure I've seen it multiple times.

El Barto · « **Reply #133 on:** June 09, 2012, 01:50:30 PM »

2. The Last Temptation of Homer s05e09

Colonel Klink! Did you ever get my letters?

This is really the bigtime. Those guys were firing on all cylinders at this point, and it's probably a perfect episode. You got a couple of different stories happening, and both of them are excellent. You got wall to wall jokes, and very few of them miss; most are great. You got excellent animation; the scene of Marge opening the door and looking like Typhoid Mary is one of many great examples. There's just not much you can find fault in here.

Bonus points also go to the writers who actually made Homer's temptation believable. Hard to do since his complete devotion to Marge is so thoroughly established throughout the series. They constructed this so that his crush was perfectly believable and understandable, and moreover, completely unintentional. You're actually sympathetic to a guy who's contemplating cheating on his wife. Given the nature of his and Marge's marriage, that's a very tall order.

The Colonel Klink element really intrigues me. There's a possibility that Klink was telling the truth, in which case Homer screwed everyone by not dumping Marge to bang Mindy.

There are far too many jokes here to try and recount them all, but a couple of my favorites are: That plane crashed on MY PROPERTY!, Joey Joe-Joe Jr. Shabbadoo and the fortune cookies (even the Chinese are against me).

Dr. DTVT · « **Reply #134 on:** June 09, 2012, 04:08:41 PM »

Hey! Joey Joe Joe!

Not in my top 5 or so, but not bad.

JRundquist · « **Reply #135 on:** June 10, 2012, 02:00:48 AM »

COLONEL KLINK, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?

Mladen · « **Reply #136 on:** June 10, 2012, 09:54:29 AM »

So many hilarious moments in this episode.

Well, this is my floor...

No guesses for number one yet? I'm still thinking.

soundgarden · « **Reply #137 on:** June 11, 2012, 04:23:19 PM »

Quote from: Mladen on June 10, 2012, 09:54:29 AM

So many hilarious moments in this episode.

Well, this is my floor...

No guesses for number one yet? I'm still thinking.

Its got to be the one with Grimy. It sums up the show (and Homer) so perfectly.

El Barto · « **Reply #138 on:** June 11, 2012, 05:24:00 PM »

It's not.

I guess I'll throw out my honorable mentions now. These were all episodes that I would have loved to include, but for various reasons did not. Most of these were on the short list, and barely got axed in favor of the top 20.

Number one will be forthcoming.

Treehouses of Horror II, III and IV. I think each of these has the best vignettes the series had to offer. Unfortunately, each of them also has one that just doesn't sit well with me. Burn's Frankenstein was possibly the very best one they ever did. The Monkey's paw, the Devil and Homer Simpson, Dial Z for Zombies, are all excellent. Unfortunately, just no perfect episodes in there. That's why V got the nod.

Selma's Choice Always one of my favorites. Homer vs the sandwich and Lisa drinking the blue water; both priceless moments.

Krusty Gets Kancelled Probably would have made a top 25 list.

Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy I think this was the last one to get cut, so it's basically #21. The subplot with the reverse vampires is what pushes it into awesome territory.

Radioactive Man Milhouse episodes were generally pretty good, and this was the best of them.

E-I-E-I-D'o I love all of the challenges, Tomacco, and particularly the B52's singing Glove Slap. Jimmy Carter accepting his challenge was a nice touch.

The Frying Game and The Old Man and the Key were both excellent episodes from season 13. Trying to weigh including some of the post-golden era episodes with any of dozens from 5-7 was tough, and a few later ones had to be excluded. Still, I love Grampa as Rebel Without a Cause and the death race with the old Mexican fellows.

Really, it's like I said earlier. The quality of shows they were cranking out from seasons 4-7 was really extraordinary. All of those were very good episodes, and plenty of them could be reasonable additions to a list such as this. That means that a whole lot of people's favorite episodes were left out. Certainly through no fault of their own. There's just not much of a point to a top 87 list, with 74 coming from 4 seasons.

TheVoxyn · « **Reply #139 on:** June 11, 2012, 05:51:47 PM »

What do you think of Futurama?

News: The staff at DTF wish to remind you all that a firm grasp of the rules of Yahtzee can save your life and the lives of your loved ones. Be safe out there.

Author Topic: El Barto's Top 20 Simpsons Episodes (Read 19869 times)