Saying Goodbye to The Simpsons... for Now.
Plus: A fun must-watch guide themed to TCM!
I’ve wanted to do this project for a long time. I love the simultaneous limitations and endless possibilities that television can offer, and if any show can best showcase both, it’s The Simpsons.
The series is as old as Marge is now and has no signs of slowing down. That’s good! The show will never be as strong as it was in the 90s. That’s bad. Although apparently, the show has been on an upward kick over the past couple of seasons. That’s good! I still need to stop the show here for now while I tackle other things… that’s bad. Or good!
Still, watching these early seasons of the show again, many for the first time in ages, I’m reminded of how much The Simpsons means to me and why it remains one of the most acclaimed shows of all time. Even the weakest episodes have more and better-paced gags than many other comedy’s at their very best, and that’s due to some of the sharpest writers to make it to the small screen. They helped turn what could have been another disposable cartoon into an institution. It also helps that the characters, most of all the titular family are incredibly well-rounded and make you want to stick around and see what happens next.
Has it all been roses? Kind of, but I have noticed a decline at this point in the show’s run, which I’ll cover in this week’s review. But now I want to turn your attention onto another cherished television staple of mine- Turner Classic Movies.
You might have heard over the past week or so that TCM, the last vestige for classic cinema the world over on basic cable, has had some serious cuts to its crew. As a film lover, someone who’s only ever dreamed of working in the industry, who learned to love movies of all kinds thanks to the channel, this hurts.
I can talk about my history with the channel and what it and cinema means to me, but instead my thoughts went to this blog’s primary series- what if there was a TCM for television? A curated channel dedicated to showing and preserving some of the best programs of all time. Granted, we’ve come close to this before, with Nick@Nite, TV Land and MeTV offering something similar to this idea. But these were largely made to appeal to older viewers who want to take comfort in their favorite old shows, which isn’t bad at all, and is in fact quite useful. But what if we had something like TCM’s Essentials, where one or two hosts discuss certain series that are considered, in one way or another, essential.
The Essentials has always been a favorite part of the channel for me, especially when the late Robert Osbourne and Alec Baldwin hosted it. It was exciting to see them introduce exciting new titles to me like A Face in the Crowd while hearing them debate pleasantly, yet passionately, over Brando’s Mutiny on the Bounty. What would a TV Essentials look like?
My guess would be the kinds of shows that won the Television Critics Association’s Heritage Award, ie the shows being covered on OTH. And what’s a better show to start this project out with than the one which has changed writing for comedy to the point that I’ve seen some claim that it invented the rule of threes (no, seriously)? Which almost single-handedly made animation as cool, if not cooler, a place to work than any live-action show?
So I want to try something out here. Let’s say that I’m supposed to curate an “Essentials” selection of The Simpsons, at least for the first ten seasons. Rather than relegating this to a single night for a couple of hours, let’s say that I get two hours a night, Monday through Friday, to pick and choose whichever episodes I please. That sounds pretty perfect to me, as I can pick roughly two episodes per season, AND dedicate each night to a particular showrunner era.
With these selections, I hope to highlight what makes The Simpsons so special well beyond these episodes first airing, and I intend to pick as much variety as possible. Some of the funniest, some of the sweetest, with episodes focused on satire, pure shenanigans, and as many characters as possible. These aren’t all the quote-unquote “best” episodes, but I’ll pick a few favorites.
And I’ll make a post like this for Buffy soon as well. Not too soon, though, I need to write the preface for our next series, The Sopranos. But anyway,
Monday: Groening/Brooks/Simon Era
8:00: “There’s No Disgrace Like Home” S1, E4- Let’s start off with an early episode that almost feels out of character with how we perceive the characters today. Homer is embarrassed by his family when they make fools of him at the power plant’s family picnic. Lisa is just as bratty as Bart and Marge, of all people, gets drunk and leads a parade of wine moms across the field. That doesn’t sound right. Still, future showrunners Al Jean and Mike Reiss make for a good time by putting the family at their most dysfunctional, ending with an iconic sequence where they electrocute each other. Honestly, this feels like a better pilot than the actual first episode “finished”.
8:30: “Life on the Fast Lane” S1, E9- The show’s first Emmy winner, this season 1 favorite is one of the earliest examples of how sophisticated The Simpsons can get, as Marge struggles to remain loyal when she teams up with the charismatic Jacques. Albert Brooks gives one of his all-time great guest performances as the “French” bowling expert, a turn so iconic that he recently returned to the role.
9:00: “Treehouse of Horror” S2, E3- We can’t do a best-of Simpsons without a Treehouse of Horror episode, so why not feature the one that started it all? Featuring James Earl Jones in all three segments, including an incredible turn at narrating “The Raven”, this isn’t quite the blood fest that later episodes will entail, but is still a lovely early endeavor.
9:30: “Bart the Daredevil” S2, E9- One thing The Simpsons likes to do is show old-school-inspired cartoon violence and mesh it with real-world consequences. A little gruesome, but not too gross to prevent strong laughs. Arguably the most iconic example of this comes from the end of “Bart the Daredevil”, where Homer tries to stop his stunt-hungry son from skating off the massive Springfield Gorge. I think we know how that turns out. Besides that classic bit, the episode is worth pulling out to remind audiences of who the favorite character was during the earliest phase of Simpsonmania. Homer may have had his share of stories, but it’s all about the Bartman.
Tuesday: Jean/Reiss Era
8:00: “Homer at the Bat” S3, E17- The show had plenty of guest stars appear at this point in the show’s run- hell, I already mentioned two of them in the previous evening’s selections- but this is one of the most star-studded episodes of them all, featuring nine then-current MLB stars, all hired to join Mr. Burns’ company baseball team just to win a bet. But even as someone who isn’t very literate in sports (the only name I recognized before this episode was Ken Griffey Jr.), I think there’s a lot to love here. This has some of fabled writer John Swartzwelder’s most explosive work, resulting in possibly one of the show’s most joke-dense episodes. Just don’t try to compare Pitt the Elder to Lord Palmerston when you’re with Barney.
8:30: “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” S4, E6- Speaking of Swartzwelder, whenever he’s given the chance to write about everyone’s favorite cat and mouse duo (in Springfield, anyway), it’s like magic, even when the episode isn’t about them. This story, where Homer decides to put his foot down and punish Bart by forbidding him to see the titular movie event of his lifetime, is as entertaining as any of his episodes, but also offers a welcome look into the show’s father and son dynamic. While they don’t always get along, the two Simpson men clearly love each other, which makes each other’s betrayal all the more unfortunate.
9:00: “Marge vs. the Monorail” S4, E12- A popular misconception from less-informed Simpsons fans, or at least a formerly popular misconception is that Conan O’Brien wrote everything for the first few seasons before getting his own talk show. The fact is that Coco only wrote three full episodes of the series, although all three are quite good, one of which is a GOAT. “Marge vs. the Monorail” takes a couple of O’Brien’s more esoteric interests, in particular, obscure public transit and Broadway classic The Music Man, and melds them into one of the best half hours the show has ever conceived, where Marge has to play the only townsperson with her head attached to her head when a smooth-talking salesman, played with incredible zest by Phil Hartman, attempts to put them on the shadiest map this side of Shelbyville. No top 10 list is complete without this all-timer.
9:30: “Last Exit to Springfield” S4, E17- Season 4 may be the show’s best, a barrage of hits which proved that Jean and Reiss were able to find the groove that the show and its staff needed, and I could have easily added twice as many episodes from this particular year to highlight. But this may be the best of them all, with day one writers Kogen and Wolodarsky offering career-best material in a timeless portrayal of union rights against a legendarily tyrannical Burns. There are too many great gags to pick for the best here, but you know that the real will know what to say if you mention a dental plan.
Wednesday: Mirkin Era
8:00: “Rosebud’ S5, E4- The first episode produced for the David Mirkin era (it’s a longstanding tradition that the first couple of episodes for a given season are leftover from the previous year), it was a bit of a risk to call him in, being a newcomer to the series. His addition proved to be a welcome bit of fresh air, however, as the Mirkin era helped to find some of the show’s finest material and kept The Simpsons as entertaining as ever while bringing the show into syndication numbers.
And this was a worthwhile first episode, even beyond the Ramones offering a snotty birthday wish to Mr. Burns. A rare major storyline for Maggie, the neglected Simpson baby, this once again brings the cruel wrath of Burns to the forefront, as he fights this infant to reclaim his long-lost teddy bear. Simultaneously offering the characters at their most invigorating, while offering one of the show’s tried and true traditions, mining Citizen Kane references for all they’re worth.
8:30- “Deep Space Homer” S5, E15- One of Mirkin’s own screenwriting contributions, I believe that this was a shark-jumping moment for some viewers. “Homer an astronaut? Get real.” But here’s the thing- The Simpsons is a cartoon, and it can get away with a good deal more than most live-action shows can, and while the characters need to be grounded first, I don’t see a problem with the show going a little wackier when it still remains as delightful as this episode does. This also features a popular story example for the series, where Homer fucks up what should have been a routine operation due to his sheer stupidity. It’s so good, that NASA has a copy just for astronauts heading on lengthy trips.
9:00- “The PTA Disbands” S6, E21- Like season 4, the sixth season features plenty of top-tier episodes, but this later-entry is one I keep returning to. Considering how Simpsons fans will note that even during the peak years, the later episodes of a given season tend to be lesser, this is worth noting. But “The PTA Disbands” is worth noting for, like many of the best episodes, its density of jokes, as well as how it features many of the show’s supporting cast. While the PTA doesn’t actually disband- in reality, the teachers go on strike and a lot of locals, including some of the PTA, take control of the classrooms- this shows how even the most at-odds members of Springfield can come together when necessary, even if they largely fail at collaboration. And if you don’t agree, that’s a paddlin’.
9:30- “Lemon of Troy” S6, E24- I’ve mentioned this in the past, but I first started watching The Simpsons as a child, and while I always enjoyed Homer’s stupidity and Marge’s idiosyncrasies, episodes about the kid’s ecosystem often stood out to me, and arguably the most iconic example of that kind of story is this other late season 6 gem, where Bart calls together a crew to return Springfield’s prized lemon tree from the thieving bastards over in Shelbyville. It’s an incredibly well-paced half hour, AND it doesn’t let down when the adults get involved.
Thursday- Oakley & Weinstein Era
8:00- “Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily” S7, E3- The first episode of Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein’s era, the duo wanted to ensure that as many episodes as possible would focus on the family, and this is as good of an example as any, where the one time Marge has a bad day and doesn’t give the kids her full attention, she and Homer end up losing them to, of all people, the Flanders. Jon Vitti, who would get my vote for the show’s best writer after Swartzwelder, returned to pen this story and got some welcome jokes at the Flanders’ odd devotion to the Holy Spirit, while featuring the Simpsons at their most vulnerable, with Homer and Marge’s desire to get their children back juxtaposed with Bart and Lisa’s desire to return, that angle also conflicting with Maggie’s increasing indoctrination into the Flanders family. It’s great stuff, and results in one of the most memorable endings in the show’s run.
8:30- “Summer of 4 Ft. 2” S7, E25- Lisa episodes tend to get a bad rep for being saccharine and self-serious, and while that may be true sometimes, fuck those people. The Simpsons has never been afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing. That said, I haven’t added many Lisa-focused episodes because they do tend to be a little familiar, but this episode has always stood out to me, a sweet tale where she receives a set of cool friends at a summer away from town. It’s still a mighty funny episode, even if other characters tend to get the best comedic material (adding Milhouse into the story is a brilliant touch), but I think its attempts at sentimentality work out, complete with a solid performance from Christina Ricci as Lisa’s new bff, Erin.
9:00- “You Only Move Twice” S8, E2- Hank Scorpio is probably the most iconic one-off character in television history, unless you count Kaworu from Neon Genesis Evangelion. I’d throw Khan from Star Trek into the mix, but apparently a new version appeared in Strange New Worlds.
But anyway, Scorpio is Homer’s unforgettably eccentric new boss, a “real-life” James Bond villain who offers this dope everything he can hope for at the expense of his family’s comfort, all of whom miss their life in Springfield. While even the biggest Homers can rightfully guess how the episode ends, this is about as good as the show gets, complete with another incredible Albert Brooks performance.
9:30: “A Milhouse Divided” S8, E6- While I would have liked to have seen more of how his parent’s divorce affected Milhouse, I’ve always felt highly of this episode, which features many memorable moments, including another iconic one-off character in his grandpa, the head of the crackers factory. But this episode is also worth singling out for how it features Homer and Marge’s relationships, one of the most returned-to wells for the series, for better or worse. Their love is undeniable, even if Homer often fails to live up to his vows, which this episode notes by having the two remarry! Literally, this isn’t another cheesy sitcom where they just renew their vows.
Friday: Scully Era
8:00: “Lisa the Skeptic” S9, E8- Something I’ve noticed in Mike Scully’s take for Lisa is that her episodes tend to get a little more theological and introspective than in the past, which I’m usually here for. In this episode, a supposed angel’s skeleton is found in town, and Lisa rightfully remains unconvinced that this is the big deal. This results in a bunch of memorable cheaper gags, but also the occasional heavier questions, including a nudge from Marge, who to her daughter’s shock, errs more on the side of faith than she’d expect.
8:30: “Trash of the Titans” S9, E22- One popular well that later episodes will return to will involve Homer trying out different jobs, more or less forgetting about his duties at the power plant. In this Emmy winning favorite, he becomes Springfield’s sanitation commissioner after running a libelous campaign against the incumbent, played humorously by Steve Martin as the straight man. It’s a wacky episode, not too crazy until the very end.
9:00- “Bart the Mother” S10, E3- Wait, we haven’t seen much of Phil Hartman, have we? In this memorable endeavor, we get Hartman’s last performance for the series as Troy McClure, but the meat of the episode has Bart remorsefully try to watch after what he thinks are a family of birds whose mother he killed. That’s not quite what happened, but it results in an episode that’s a little sweet, but with enough of a kick to not spoil your appetite, one of a handful of season 10 highlights.
9:30- “Thirty Minutes over Tokyo” S10, E23- I don’t want to say too much about this episode, as my review for it will drop on Sunday, but this will feature another upcoming type of episode the show loved to do in later seasons, taking the family outside of Springfield and having fun with the local customs. Even when that borders on racism, like it does here. Spoiler alert- I think “Thirty Minutes over Tokyo” is an enjoyable time, even if certain elements don’t hold up, and it’s worth looking at for a taste of what’s to come.
So what do you guys think? Would you pick different episodes to highlight what The Simpsons is capable of? And what are your thoughts on the show at large, during this first decade or possibly beyond, if you want to share. As mentioned before, I’ll miss the show, but I do think this is the right time for me to pause my reviews. Maybe in a couple of years, I’ll return to do seasons 11 through 20, but until then, woohoo!