Slashdot Mirror
300 Episodes of the Simpsons
circletimessquare writes "As we approach 300 Episodes of the Simpsons, Entertainment Weekly tries to pick the 25 best episodes of The Simpsons (and the one episode they consider the worst). They do a pretty good job. But since "best of" lists like this one are always rife with debate and contention, I can't think of a better place than Slashdot to send up EW (pun partially intended)."
Homer: "OK, no more deer for a week"
Marge: " Homer, did you say deer or beer?"
Homer: "Deer."
"Want in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first." - My Dad
From the List of Inquiries and Substantive Answers, aka the alt.tv.simpsons FAQ:
How much does Maggie cost in the opening titles?
Maggie is listed as costing $847.63, a figure once given as the amount of money required to raise a baby for one month in the US.
The Simpsons was one of the deepest shows on American TV. Now it's a Saturday morning cartoon starring Captain Wacky (aka Homer). I use to watch it religiously, participate in forums, even did some work and article writing for a Simpsons website. Now the show seems so geared towards an age group far younger than mine, I hardly bother trying to catch it anymore.
IMHO, Entertainment Weekly did a fine job of picking episodes - much better than most publications do. Now if only the writers would pick up on that and say, "Maybe we should start doing that sort of thing again."
How, Marge? How?
Besides, there were some real stinkers in the first season while they were still trying to find their voice and before the show went Homer-centric (in a fair world, Homer-centric should be a word).
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
hmmm ... seen the list, and while I agree with some (Mr Plow, Monorail, Homer Badman) it misses out some of my all-time favourites
...
Deep Space Homer
the one where Homer gets fat to work from home
the episode where Bart wins the elephant
any episode where Barney is sober
and now for some classic simpsons quotes (all atributed to Homer of course - who else!):
"I'm a white male, aged 18 to 49. *Everybody* cares what I think!"
"Kids, you tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is, never try."
"I know I'm not usually a praying man, but if you're up there, Please Superman help me!"
"Homer no function beer well without."
"Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals... except the weasel."
"To alcohol - the cause of, and solution to all of life's problems."
and my all-time favourite
"Maybe for once, someone will call me 'sir' without adding 'You're making a scene'." - Homer J Simpson
"Because it's there." - George Mallory, when asked why he wanted to climb Mt Everest, March 18, 1923 (New York Times)
It says something about a show that the best episodes are almost exclusively from several years ago.
Before I'm modded down for heresy, I adore The Simpsons. Yet, I still believe that the show was far greated from seasons 3-7 than from 8-today. The show has lost its ability to be intellectual at the same degree, in losing writers such as Conan O'Brian.
Frankly, I'm not entirely sure they should keep making the series: Homer is now retarded (whereas he's merely simple in the beginning), Homer has no Job (or actually, he's had well over 70 jobs, as listed in a recent episode...which means roughly a quarter of the episodes have been "Homer becomes a "), they no longer make subtle erudite references...its falling apart.
"Stumble before you crawl"
Plotting the TOp 25 by year we see:
90 XXX
91 X
92 XXX
93 XXXXXXX
94 XXX
95 X
96 XX
97 XXXX
98
99
00
01
02 X
Looks like they peaked early in 93 and, despite a brief revival in 97, its been downhill ever since.
Or does anybody's best ever list contain items from 98 - 02 seasons?
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
The fact that The Simpsons is getting hype from Entertainment Weekly further proves this show lost its satrical bite (and relevance) a LONG time ago.
Phil died in 1998 and the show hasn't recoverted until very recently. Gronig pushing Futurama in '99 probably added to the slump.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
I think the chili cookoff episode (El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Homer) is pretty darn good and was sadly overlooked for the list. Johnny Cash. Guatamalean Insanity Peppers. Space Coyote. Hot pants. Marge smokes. Homer dances and whines. Homer trips out. "I hope I didn't brain my damage"
Its Different. Cool. Funny. How could they overlook it?
-Sean
Oh Come ON! Already with the revisionist history? Should we take every show with a picture of the twin towers, and edit them out? Good Lord, tragedies happen...we are sad, we mourn, hopefully, we learn...then move on. But, it is no reason to wipe out any references to them from the past before they were gone....If it was funny in the past...leave it that way!! Best way to remember them.....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........