Wow, how iconic is that picture? I've spent the better part of 10 years claiming to be the resident expert on The Simpsons and I stand by that for the most part. However, when it comes to making a Top Whatever, I can not help but feel like I'm disrespecting the show. Any top 5 I can construct is made up of masterpieces of animation and comedy, yet I never feel as if I've done the show justice, and any episode left out is utterly unjustified. That said, I'm going to attempt it, knowing full well I'll have other fans at my throat for leaving out X episode. I'm trying my best. Here goes:
5| Deep Space Homer
Wow, this actually proved to be the hardest episode to rank as the 5-10 area has so many episodes to choose from that they are virtually interchangeable, but "Deep Space Homer" won out just for possessing some of my favorite all time moments in The Simpsons. It features your average "Homer gets a new job" plot line that is featured on the show taken to a ridiculous degree when Homer is allowed to become an astronaut purely for being a "blue collar slob" and somehow getting NASA's number.
Favorite moments and quotes:
- Kent Brockman's eagerness to turn in his fellow humans and the speed to which the news broadcast has a picture of ants conquering us never fails to make me laugh.
Homer: Stupid carbon rod. It's all just a popularity contest!
Bart: Wow, did you actually get to see the rod?
Bart: Wow, my father an astronaut. I feel so full of...what's the opposite of shame?
Marge: Pride?
Bart: No, not that far from shame.
Homer: Less shame?
Bart: [smiling] Yeah...
4| Homer at the Bat
This seems to be the point at which The Simpsons really hit it big in terms of their reach when they pulled 9 major league baseball players to guest star. It also marks the first point where the show edged out The Cosby Show in ratings. But is it funny? Amazingly this episode juggled 9 guest appearances with Homer's story to hilarious and well balanced effect. Each major league player has their own quirks written in by the Simpsons staff. From Daryl Strawberry's fantastic portrayal as a massive suck up to Mr. Burns to Wade Boggs' insistence that Pitt the Elder was England's greatest Prime Minister. Ultimately, this episode has a multitude of facets in play and even lets Homer end up as the hero, in typical Homer fashion. And all of it adds up to a virtually flawless episode.
Favorite moments and quotes:
Mr. Burns: I've decided to bring in a few ringers, professional baseballers. We'll give them token jobs at the plant and have them play on our softball team. Honus Wagner, Cap Anson, Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown...
Smithers: Uh, sir?
Mr. Burns: What is it, Smithers?
Smithers: I'm afraid all of those players have retired and, uh... passed on. In fact, your right-fielder has been dead for a hundred and thirty year.
Carl: [matter-of-factly] Hey, Homer's choking again.
Lenny: Isn't there a first-aid chart around here somewhere?
Carl: Somebody scare him.
Charlie: That's for the hiccups.
3| Marge vs. the Monorail
Well this is one of the few episodes penned by Conan O'Brien and still remains one of the best of the series. It pretty much has all you could want in a show: a fantastic one time character in Lyle Lanley, a perfect musical number, a great use of a celebrity appearance with Leonard Nimoy as an annoying, always in character Spock, and a high laugh per minute ratio. The episode seemed to be an especially outwardly strange premise during a time when the show tended to not be overly ridiculous but with this episode, it opened the show up to a plethora of situations and served as how to do a fantastic one correctly. Really, it seems to really possess everything that could make it a number 1 entry and for any other show it would be.
Favorite moments and quotes:
Bart: True or false: You can get mono from riding the monorail?
Marge: Homer, there's a man here who thinks he can help you.
Homer: Batman?
Marge: No, he's a scientist.
Homer: Batman's a scientist.
Marge: It's NOT Batman.
2| Last Exit to Springfield
Favorite moments and quotes:
Mr. Burns: This is a thousand monkeys working at a thousand typewriters. Soon, they'll have finished the greatest novel known to man.
[reads a page]
Mr. Burns: All right, let's see... "It was the best of times, it was the BLURST of times?" You stupid monkey.
Homer: [answering the door] Who is it?
Voice: Goons.
Homer: Who?
Voice: Hired goons.
Homer: Hired goons? [opens the door]
Goons: [take Homer away]
And all this leaves is...
1| Homer Goes to College
Wow, ok, so after much toil and self reflection, I decided to just go with what episode I could watch at any time, laugh at almost everything, and quote in any situation. This won out, barely. It is not the most heartfelt episode, nor is there any lesson or commentary to be taken from it, but what it is is 23 minutes of rapid fire, perfect comedy. Homer takes on his stupid persona but it is never used for cheap laughs and only emphasizes his focus on what he expects college to be like, including his insistence on hating the world's coolest dean, which may be my favorite Homer. The episode also benefits heavily from repeated views, and it just shows how intricate Conan O'Brien's writing for the series was. Everything from Homer's casual familiarity with the people sent to clean up nuclear meltdowns to his desire to roll things up and throw them off a bridge, this episode specializes in the absurd. It doesn't necessarily follow a particular pattern and Conan has even mentioned that he included "bee jokes" in the episode for the purpose that he "thinks bees are funny." And I think we can all agree that yes, yes they are. All in all, I don't think I regret this choice, but who knows, I might in a minute or two.
Favorite moments and quotes:
Homer: Dean, I'm really sorry about the running-you-over prank.
Dean Peterson: Prank?
Homer: And all those other pranks were my idea, too. *I'm* the one who should be expelled.
Dean Peterson: Well, I'm touched by your honesty. And, who knows, perhaps I've been a bit of an ogre myself.
Homer: Yes you have.
Bernie: Duh, Homer, why are we down here?
Homer: Aw, geez. I told you, Bernie: to guard the bee!
Man: [whining] But why?
Homer: Aw, you guys are pathetic. No wonder Smithers made me head bee-guy.
and of course:
Well, that's all I got for now. I'll let you know it took everything I had to construct this list. It may not pretty, but dammit, it's honest.
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