With the 300th episode of "The Simpsons," coming up this Sunday, it's time to take a look back at some of the best episodes of the greatest televesion show in existenece.
1. "Marge Vs. The Monorail" (Airdate: January 14, 1993)- How fitting is it that this episode was written by the best late-night host there is, Conan O'Brien? This gaspingly hilarious episode's plot is simple: Springfield acquires $3 million, and a con man offers them a monorail. Of course, the simpletons of the little burg agree, but Marge is worried. She has every reason to be, since the monorail is a deathtrap, especially with Homer as conductor. This installment has everything from comedy to drama to guest star Leonard Nimoy soliloquizing on the solar eclipse. The best gag of all: the escalator to nowhere. Those little screams as the end credits roll are simply brilliant.
2. "The Springfield Files" (Airdate: January 12, 1997)- This is definitely an episode that is just a clothesline for tons of gags, verbal and visual. Sure, there's a plotline (Homer sees an alien and gets media attention), but, the gags are all that's important. Almost every single one succeeds, from the alien line-up (featuring Alf and Marvin the Martian) to Leonard Nimoy (again) narrating the story....for two-thirds of the show, to Bart's great line about NBC's Must-See Thursday and CBS' Saturday Night Crap-O-Rama. The best line, though, is when we see Dr. Nick Riviera re-assure a medicated Mr. Burns: "Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit...till I jam this down your throat!"
3. "Lisa's Rival"-(Airdate: September 11, 1994)- Most episodes about Lisa seem to be winners, and this show doesn't disappoint. Lisa's class gets a new student (voiced by Winona Ryder) who is just a little bit better at everything Lisa is known for; it doesn't help Lisa's esteem that this new girl, Alison, is a year younger. If you want to pinpoint when the Ralph Wiggum fan cult began, this is the episode. It's this show that has such Ralph classics like, "I bent my Wookiee," or "My cat's breath smells like cat food." Also, one of my personal favorites is here: Homer's get-rich quick scheme involving sugar, or as he calls it, "Texas tea...sweetener."
4. "Lisa's Sax"- (Airdate: October 19, 1997)- This show, about the origins of Lisa's famous saxophone, is yet another episode just for sight gags. From the parody of "All in the Family" to the continual appearances of Apu, the gags just fly fast and furious here. At the end, though, it's sentimental, slightly: Homer, despite being a doofus, knows what his daughter wants, and gets her a new saxophone. One of the best jokes is about the 1990 TV series "Twin Peaks," which was very, very strange; Homer's reaction to it is priceless: "Brilliant! I have absolutely NO idea what's going on."
5. "Cape Feare"- (Airdate: October 7, 1993)- Perhaps the best Sideshow Bob episode there was. Not only is this just a hilarious parody of the Scorsese remake of Cape Fear, but it manages to have two of the funniest bits in "Simpsons" history: a scene where Bob meets his second archenemy: rakes (nine of them), and a scene where FBI agents try to explain to Homer how the Witness Protection Agency works. Truly priceless, in every regard.
6. "Homerpalooza"- (Airdate: May 19, 1996)- This is one of the rare times when a slew of guest stars appear on the show, and it's really funny. I just can't help but laugh at the troubles of Peter Frampton, who loses an inflatable pig, an orchestra, and his cooler in about ten minutes. The plot isn't too complicated: To get Bart and Lisa to think he's cool, Homer gets tickets to Hullabalooza, a music festival, and winds up being in the freak show. It just doesn't get any better than Homer Simpson giving advice to the Smashing Pumpkins, really.
7. "Krusty Gets Kancelled"- (Airdate: May 13, 1993)- Again, the guest stars come out, and the idea (Krusty, to beat competition, has a star-studded comeback special, fueled by Bart and Lisa) works, in spades. From Johnny Carson singing opera to Bette Midler attacking litterers, this one's a gem, satirical in every sense. My favorite part is at the beginning, actually: we see Rainier Wolfcastle telling Kent Brockman about his new movie, "Help, My Son is A Nerd!"; Brockman says, "I'm laughing already!" and Wolfcastle, seriously, says, "It's not a comedy." Simply hilarious.
8. "Brother From Another Series"- (Airdate: February 23, 1997)- Another great Sideshow Bob episode, this brings the self-referentialism to an all-time high. Why? Well, we meet Bob's brother, Cecil; the two seem remarkably close to the brothers on "Frasier," the other show Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce (voices of Bob and Cecil) are on. My favorite line is quite a throwaway; Bob is fed up with his construction workers, and thinks one is in his office: "Who's in here? Cletus? Cousin Merle? Big Hungry Joe?" I always laugh till I cry when I hear that.
9. " 'Round Springfield"- (Airdate: April 30, 1995)- One of the more poignant episodes of "The Simpsons," this marks the return and end of Lisa's musical mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy. Lisa has to grapple with the older man's death, and tries to make a tribute to him over the radio. This one has more than enough laughs, but the end, when Lisa sings the Carole King song "Jazzman" in the dead man's honor, is touching enough; it doesn't need to be funny.
10. "Lisa's Substitute"- (Airdate: April 25, 1991)- It seems that Lisa gets the best plotlines, and the least episodes. Wonder why. Anyway, this show is about how Lisa gets a crush on her substitute teacher, and how Bart tries to run for class President (leading to the slogan, "SEX! Now that I've got your attention, vote for Bart!"). Dustin Hoffman, under a fake name, voices the dreamy substitute, but just when Lisa thinks she's making headway, the teacher leaves for Capital City, giving her only this advice: "You are Lisa Simpson." This may also be the only episode where Homer shows signs of good parenting. A rarity, to be sure,
It's kind of hard to pick the worst episode ever, but here's a try: "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" (Airdate: December 21, 1997). Sure, it has the word "Craptacular" in it, but this episode seemed very stupid to me. How idiotic is it for the family, deprived of all their belongings, to be chasing around a sock at the end of the show? Frankly, this isn't a horrible episode, but I don't like it too much.
Josh Spiegel is the entertainment reporter for the Web Devil. Reach him at joshua.spiegel@asu.edu.
