The Simpsons (Fox) TV Series
1989-
Shown from left: Lisa, Marge, Maggie, Homer, Bart
by Brandie Ashe
From its humble beginnings as a series of intermittent shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, through the over six hundred half-hour television episodes it has produced to this date, to its upcoming twenty-ninth (!!) season this fall, it remains a beloved pop culture juggernaut. Its achievements are numerous: it is the longest-running animated series, longest-running scripted primetime series, and longest-running sitcom on American television. A monster hit with audiences almost right out of the gate, it can be credited with finally making Fox a legitimate force among the major broadcast networks (after nearly five years of playing catch-up with CBS, ABC, and NBC). It has dominated the animation categories at the Emmys for years, winning a total of 31 awards to date; it has likewise dominated the annual animation awards, the Annies, winning 30 of those. The series even received a Peabody Award in 1996 for its “exceptional animation and stinging social satire, both commodities which are in extremely short supply in television today.”
It is, of course, The Simpsons, and frankly, I’m flabbergasted that the show did not rank higher on this countdown. Okay, yes, yes, I hear those of you who criticize the show for its admitted decline in quality in its most recent seasons–the satirical edges that marked the show in its first decade have been filed down in the last fifteen or so years, and the repetitiveness of the plots and the show’s flagrant disregard for series canon can be jarring to longtime viewers (then again, it is about a family that never ages yet celebrates multiple holidays, birthdays, and other age-related milestones, so what more do you expect from them?). Do we hold the show’s longevity against it, or do we recognize that, tired as it may be these days, those so-called “golden age” early seasons nonetheless contain some of the best-written, best-performed, and most cleverly-animated television episodes of all time?
I’m a huge fan of The Simpsons, and have been pretty much since it premiered in 1989, when I was ten years old. I don’t think I was supposed to be watching the show at that young an age (even though it’s downright tame compared to some of the shows floating around these days), but since my parents put a television in my bedroom at that young age–well, that’s all on you, Mom and Dad. I loved the show from the beginning, and while everyone else seemed to love Bart and his crazy antics (“Do the Bartman,” anyone?), I gravitated toward sensitive Lisa, finding in her a kindred know-it-all spirit, recognizing her as another misfit young girl who didn’t quite fit in with the rest of her family, but loved them all the same.
Hell, I’m 38 years old, and I still identify with Lisa more than most television characters I’ve ever come across in all my years of endless channel surfing.
Seeing as there is so much that I love about The Simpsons, I think the best way to approach this essay is to provide a personal countdown of my favorite episodes of all time, explaining why I find these particular shows to be exemplary of the series as a whole. Honestly, many of these episodes will be familiar to longtime fans of the show–they’ve been recognized as some of the best ever produced by the series, and have all by and large enjoyed their fair share of critical acclaim over the years. I’m sure most, if not all, have been featured in other “top Simpsons episodes” countdowns over the years, so any overlap between this list and others out there on the interwebs is coincidental and yet should be entirely expected.
A countdown inside of a countdown?
And Maggie Makes Three
Season 6, Episode 13
This episode, in which the family flashes back to the birth of the littlest Simpson, is my hands-down favorite Simpsons episode of all time. It’s not the most satirical episode the writing staff ever crafted, nor is it the funniest show that they ever concocted. But out of all of the episodes that have ever come out of this series, And Maggie Makes Three has just about the most heart. It hits every beat, from the utter heartbreak of watching a devastated Homer leave his dream job in order to provide for his growing family, to the joyous high of Homer meeting the new daughter for whom he is willing to sacrifice his own happiness.
Indeed, the ending of this episode never fails to bring a tear to my eye, because it’s a perfect testament to the fact that Homer Simpson, for all his many (many) faults, is a genuinely loving character underneath the madcap idiocy that reigns supreme throughout his many adventures.
https://youtu.be/x2mS3uDqQL4?t=51s)
Last Exit to Springfield
Season 4, Episode 17
This episode is, quite rightly, hailed as one of the finest ever produced for the series. In Last Exit to Springfield, Homer is elected head of the nuclear plant’s union, putting him in direct conflict with his boss, C. Montgomery Burns, and not for the first (or last) time. Burns sees Homer as a worthy adversary; clueless Homer is simply trying to save the workers’ dental plan from being cut so he doesn’t have to pay for Lisa’s braces. Hilarity ensues.
It’s the little touches that make this episode so almightily brilliant: the sharp satirization of union proceedings (Carl: “As you know, our president, Chuckie Fitzhugh, ain’t been seen lately. We’re all praying he’ll turn up soon, alive and well.” Cue laughter amongst the union members); Homer mistaking Mr. Burns’ offer to deal as a sexual play for him (“Sorry, Mr. Burns, but I don’t go in for these backdoor shenanigans. Sure, I’m flattered. Maybe even a little curious. But the answer is no!”); the spot-on references to How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Tim Burton’s Batman; the always-welcome addition of a sequence from one of the McBain movies (an ongoing trope riffing on the types of films that make bank for Stallone and Schwarzenegger). From start to finish, the episode is a veritable feast of comedy.
Full disclosure: when I’m not writing about movies and such, I manage a dental office, and I am here to tell you, their portrayal of the dental profession cracks me up to no end. We don’t keep a copy of The Big Book of British Smiles on hand, but let’s just say, there are manifestations of Dr. Wolfe lurking around the profession, and yes, they will scare the bejeezus out of you.
Treehouse of Horror V
Season 6, Episode 6
The Treehouse of Horror is a Halloween tradition dating back to the series’ second season, and while that first edition of a trio of scary vignettes marks a grand beginning, it’s tame compared to the horrors that lay ahead. Arguably the greatest of the Treehouse editions is the one that premiered in season six, with three strong, memorable, and hilarious stories that are also admirably creepy.
“The Shinning” is pretty much the watermark of the Treehouse brand. A take on Stanley Kubrick’s film version of Stephen King’s The Shining, this segment finds Homer taking a job as a caretaker for Mr. Burns’ mountain hotel, and going insane when Burns empties the hotel of beer and cuts off the cable. It’s brilliantly funny and unsettling all the same–undoubtedly the greatest horror parody ever concocted by the show’s writers.
“Time and Punishment” is truly funny and, strangely, also kind of sad, in a sense. When Homer fixes his malfunctioning toaster with some nuclear material from the plant, every depression of the lever sends him back in time. With every trip, he messes something up, and returns to increasingly bleaker futures. When he finally finds himself in a Utopian situation, the supposed absence of doughnuts from this new world makes him run screaming into the past again–just as it begins raining doughnuts outside the window (poor Homer!).
“Nightmare Cafeteria” tends to catch a bit of crap from some critics, who see it as a lesser third to the two admittedly fantastic tales that precede it. But I don’t think we should shortchange “Cafeteria,” because it has some really great laugh-out-loud moments amidst the stomach-churning goings-on.
The episode is also notable for using Groundskeeper Willie as a link between the three segments, with the doomed Scot succumbing to an axe to the back in each one. Random, but then, with this show, the most random bits are usually the funniest, and this is no exception.
Lisa the Vegetarian
Season 7, Episode 5
The Simpsons features cameos from all three Beatles who were living at the time of the series’ production: first Ringo (Brush with Greatness, season two), then George (Homer’s Barbershop Quartet, season five), and finally, Paul signed on to guest-star in Lisa the Vegetarian with his wife, the late Linda McCartney. Paul’s condition for signing on for the cameo? That Lisa’s vegetarianism be a permanent change for the character–and it has remained as such in the twenty-plus seasons since this episode premiered.
But this episode is so, so much more than a guest appearance by a legendary Beatle. Paul’s appearance in the episode is superfluous; even without it, this would be one of the most memorable entries in the show’s canon. Centering around the battle between the newly vegetarian Lisa and her meat-loving, barbequing champ of a father, Lisa the Vegetarian has loads of hilarity and loads of heart, too.
The relationship between Homer and Lisa is a special one in the series. They have widely-diverging priorities, and Lisa is regularly embarrassed by her father’s antics, and Homer is regularly unsure how to interact with his precocious offspring, but the fondness and love they have for one another is undeniable. This episode is a perfect example of this: Homer can’t understand why Lisa won’t eat meat anymore, and Lisa calls him a “baboon,” but after the heat of their anger, they find one another and apologize, and the episode ends with a “veggie-back ride” home.
Lisa the Vegetarian also features some of the best one-liners in the entire series (“I warned ya! Didn’t I warn ya! That colored chalk was forged by Lucifer himself!”), as well as a boffo PSA on the joys of eating meat, shown to the school in response to Lisa’s dangerous displays of “independent thought.”
And remember the greatest lesson of all from this episode, kids: you don’t win friends with salad.
Cape Feare
Season 5, Episode 2
Along with the Treehouse of Horror episodes every year, it’s also become a somewhat intermittent tradition to stage a new battle royale between Bart and his deadliest nemesis, Sideshow Bob. Kelsey Grammer’s Bob is a boffo piece of vocal work, by turns sly and menacing, light-hearted and ferocious depending on the constructs of the episode. In the case of Cape Feare, he is presented at his most threatening of perhaps any Bob-centric edition of the series, relentlessly stalking the Simpson family until he has cornered Bart in a seemingly inescapable situation.
One of those special Simpsons episodes that does not feature a distracting B-story, Cape Feare spends its entire length riffing delightfully on Martin Scorsese’s 1991 remake of Cape Fear. Grammer, as Bob, channels Robert DeNiro’s performance from that film in the most sinister and entertaining way. And while the atmosphere of the episode is appropriately creepy and filled with tension, it is also filled with some incredibly funny gags, among them Bob’s explanation of his “Die, Bart, Die” tattoo; Homer’s inability to remember his new Witness Protection-issued last name of Thompson; Bob stepping on endless rakes (a time-filler that turned into one of the best bits ever produced by the series); Homer scaring the shit out of Bart by showing off “my new chainsaw and hockey mask!” late at night, and ending the moment with a fatherly kiss on the forehead; and Bart stalling Bob by appealing to his ego and convincing him to sing the entire score of the HMS Pinafore (and the subsequent illogical staging and costuming that goes along with the performance). Without a doubt, Cape Feare is the pinnacle of the series’ many Sideshow Bob episodes, boasting a mix of parody and screwball humor that is by turns unnerving and truly effective.
A Streetcar Named Marge
Season 4, Episode 2
Could this episode include the best adaptation of a Tennessee Williams’ play, ever?
Okay, perhaps not, but it’s still incredibly hilarious. Marge’s venture to try new things finds her playing Blanche Du Bois in a musical adaptation of Streetcar that is offensive and wrong but somehow still just so right. The Simpsons has a knack for these kinds of musical moments (crafted in large part thanks to the contributions of musical composer Alf Clausen, who coincidentally was just fired from the series yesterday after twenty-seven years), and the Streetcar musical is a particularly delectable example of this. From its opening salvo towards the city of New Orleans (“If you wanna go to hell you should take that trip to the Sodom and Gomorrah on the Mississip”) to Apu’s paperboy’s lament (“Will this bewitching floozy seduce this humble newsie?”), The Simpsons’ version of Streetcar is just perverse enough to engender laughs from some decidedly unfunny source material.
And yet the best part of the episode has nothing to do with the musical, and everything to do with Maggie’s “Great Escape” from the Ayn Rand School for Tots. Well, she doesn’t escape so much as liberate a bunch of prisoners (i.e. the babies’ pacifiers) from the confines of a locker, but this episode is one of the first to highlight the seemingly unassuming Maggie’s … unique set of skills, which come into play in later episodes (and the 2007 Simpsons theatrical film).
[FYI, Maggie returns to the Ayn Rand School for Tots in the 2012 theatrical cartoon The Longest Daycare, in which she takes on her unibrowed nemesis, Baby Gerald.]
Itchy and Scratchy Land
Season 6, Episode 4
Admittedly, the series’ ongoing cartoon-within-a-cartoon can be disturbing at times. The Itchy and Scratchy bits take their cues from the Tom and Jerry shorts of old, while reveling in an even more grotesque, heightened depiction of cartoon violence. I mean, you’d think there were only so many ways to bisect a cat, and yet the twisted writers of this series continue to come up with new and creative ways to kill Scratchy (and turn stomachs). You kind of have to admire them for that sort of broadminded-ness.
In this episode, however, the tables are turned, and the Simpsons become the targets of the cartoon characters’ rage when the family travels to a new Disney-like Itchy and Scratchy theme park. The show turns into a hilarious parody of Jurassic Park when the theme park’s robotic creations turn on the visitors, leaving the Simpson family stranded and trying to find an escape.
Again, it’s the litle things that make this one of the most memorable episodes of the entire series, from Bart trying to find a novelty license plate with his name on it (only to find an abundance of “Bort” plates instead), to the savagery of the writers’ satirization of Disney canon (“Scratchasia,” the show’s morbid take on Fantasia; the park’s screening of a film called “Nazi Supermen Are Our Superiors,” which not-at-all subtly points the finger at Walt Disney’s purported antisemitism). And this episode contains probably the most hilarious single scene of animation from the entire series, when Marge tells the kids that they can’t go to Itchy and Scratchy Land because she already booked their family vacation at the bird sanctuary. Their faces really say it all.
A Fish Called Selma
Season 7, Episode 19
The late, great Phil Hartman was a constant presence in the first nine seasons of The Simpsons, before his tragic death in 1998. He voiced two main supporting characters: the inept lawyer Lionel Hutz, and B-movie star Troy McClure, and it was the latter character who took on a central role in this episode, in which McClure marries Marge’s sister, Selma, in order to improve his reputation. McClure has a vague, unsettling sexual thing for fish, apparently, and marrying a “human woman,” as his agent (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) tells him, will open up a lot of doors for the struggling actor.
And one of those doors is a starring role in a musical adaptation of Planet of the Apes called Stop the Planet of the Apes, I Want to Get Off!
It is just as insanely brilliant as it sounds. As is the episode as a whole.
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Terrific, detailed and passionate appraisal, by Brandie, of THE ONLY sitcom to become a world-wide institution and phenomenon.
If there was any show, over all others, that gave me more trouble when selecting a numerical position on my ballot, it’s THE SIMPSONS.
I’ve juggled my thoughts and feelings about this show so many times that one minute it sits steadily at No. 5 (where it represents the finality of a progression that defines it as a result of years of refinement that spans from the early days of “standards setting”, laid out by shows like I LOVE LUCY and THE HONEYMOONERS, and furthers the model of refinement set by “rule breakers” like Norman Lears gargantuan ALL IN THE FAMILY) and the next minute I’m thinking that it’s cultural and artistic importance, not to mention longevity (THE SIMPSONS is now the longest running, scripted, prime-time series of all-time-it hits the 30 year mark in 2018 and shows NO sign of slowing), DEMANDS it should be the No. 1 show on the list.
Find me a show with as much never-ending wit, creativity, bravery in tackling ANY subject matter, thrown across the table or the front page of a newspaper, and emotional resonance and I’ll gladly laugh that person out of the room. THE SIMPSONS, by way of its think-tank of very different comedy writers, it’s ability to do anything it dreams up (because its animated), and the rebelous nature of its production team (which includes the legendary JAMES L. BROOKS) makes no bones about not taking prisoners to deliver its messages through the most bone rattling, off-the-wall comedy ever leveled at prime time.
And, yet, even with all of the hilarious set-ups and bizarro creativity splashed all over the screen, it’s the characters, very real in their every detail, that drive home the personal attributes and failures we ALL see within ourselves everyday. Sure, Homer and Marge and the kids, their neighbors and friends, are animated characters in a cartoon landscape of “anything can happen” but, I defy anyone who has ever watched this show to name me a cast of characters they believe in more, that they KNOW like the back of their hands, than these wonderful residents of Springfield, U.S.A.
When everyone in media was initially afraid to pass judgement on Trump’s fuck-up’s in the earlier part of his presidency, taking a “lets see what happens” stance on things, THE SIMPSONS came right in, without an ounce of fear, and skewered the big orange ape in one of their most hilarious passages ever. When George W. Bush was wrecking complete havoc over 9/11, THE SIMPSONS were there, before anyone, calling foul in the most embarassing way possible.
No, no, no, no…
The more I think about it, the more I know I was mistaken. THE SIMPSONS has done the work, both artistically and socially, that 10 shows combined couldn’t do. It’s tapped into our brains and souls to became THE representation of all of US. These kooky little cartoon characters, in all of their fragile pencil lines and paint, started saying and doing what was on the minds of us all.
Pushing back a notch the afforementioned ALL IN THE FAMILY, THE SIMPSONS is the single most socially significant and important prime-time series EVER to air. You CANNOT over-estimate it scope, its reach and its power.
THE SIMPSONS really should have been ranked at No. 1.
It represents the entire US, with a scant 2 black characters (a dummy drunk, and a loutish cop), no Hispanic characters, and one borderline offense Arabic one. Methinks you puff a bit too much. D’Oh!
That being said, it’s a great show, that when it was red hot—seasons 3-6—it was absolutely crackin’. SOUTH PARK had a similar scorching run, and both have probably ran a bit to long (SOUTH PARK seeing it’s political ‘everyone is bad’ ethos come full circle and smack it in the face, while SIMPSONS has just gotten formulaic and less funny). Is #28 too high? I’m not sure, but, when lesser stuff comes in the next few days I’ll probably rethink. Of course it’s appeared after some stuff it’s debatably not as good as. No worries, a really nice essay here.
Thanks, Jamie. I agree that the series was at its best in those initial seasons (I’d push the “crackin'” classification to include seasons 7 and 8 as well, because there are some truly classic episodes in there), and wish it could recapture some of that early satirical snap that made the show so utterly hilarious. I still watch the show regularly, and though I find the episodes are hit and (largely) miss nowadays, most seasons feature at least one episode that echoes some of that early zing, and it makes me remember why I’m still watching. Just wish that happened with more regularity than not, I suppose.
Thank you, Dennis. The Simpsons was number one on my ballot–in fact, it’s really the only show with which I didn’t have difficulty in figuring out where to rank it. And much of that is driven by its connection to my childhood, seeing as how it made such an impact on me at a young age and has lasted well into my adulthood. But it’s also just such a great show all around–perfect casting, fantastic writing, creative storylines. And yes, it’s dipped in overall quality over the years, because sustaining that initial high level of brilliance is a difficult feat for anyone, let alone a show that’s moving closer to its third decade of existence. But I’d still rather watch a new episode of The Simpsons than 90% of the stuff on television today, and I’m not ashamed to admit that.
Tl;dr: I wish it had been #1, too. 🙂
Brandie, this is a wonderful, fabulous piece here, beautifully written in a labor of love vewin, attractively illustrated and meticulously organized. You knew this was a mammoth proposition so you took some special shows and incorporated them into a personal appraisal one with some marvelous anecdotes. I certainly do consider this animated, undying phenomenon as worthy of this account, and know well it is rated in the upper-etchlons of television lists on both sides of the pond. Love those individual episodes you have chosen as well. Bravo Brandie!
Thanks, Sam. I could probably add another 10 episodes to the list above (Bart Sells His Soul, Marge Vs. the Monorail, Lisa’s Wedding, Lisa’s Substitute, several other Lisa-centric episodes that come to mind). There’s just too many excellent examples to list from this show.
Great work about a classic series, one which I am still working my way through.
Thanks, Adam!
A bravura essay on a great show Brandie. It’s a pity it didn’t finish while it was ahead, like ‘Seinfeld’. I can see this show hit 50 years, because it’s so cheap to make and doesn’t have any star salaries. I love that you, like Sam, put in a ‘best of’ which makes easier for newcomers to sample it.
Bobby J.
THE SIMPSONS is, actually, one of the more expensive Prime Time Network shows on the air. The animation of the characters is painstaking rendered by hand, which is a long, laborious and expensive process that requires dozens of top-notch animators (both in the USA and Japan) and conceptual artists. The backgrounds and mechanical animation (cars, aircrafts, big special effects shots) are rendered through CGI and is not cheap at all.
The voice cast, the most famous in American TV history, most of which have been working on the series for just about 30 years and are synonymous with the characters they voice, meaning they are pretty much irreplaceable because they are so immediately recognizable, are now getting in the neighborhood of 450 grand PER episode. Guest actors like Kelsey Grammer, who annually appears as Bart’s arch-enemy, the nefarious Side Show Bob, commands about 250 grand per episode.
THE SIMPSONS has been FOX’s flagship show since its first season. Along with THE X FILES, it MADE the network and turned it into a major competitor for the likes of CBS, NBC and ABC.
FOX is very careful about nursing their most valuable and critically acclaimed property and asset. It seems to never run out of steam (yes, some seasons are stronger than others but ALL have enough great episodes to help keep its edge as the best comedy on TV) and the network wants it around for as long as Matt Groening and James L. Brooks want to continue.
FOX feels it’s money well spent and, considering that even the worst seasons of THE SIMPSONS are far funnier and more creative than most other comedies best seasons, their thinking is correct.
No, Bobby J is right, even in todays dollars the average Simpsons episode sees around a $5 million dollar production cost—a fact greatly elevated because it’s such an institution and they have to pony up higher rates for the voice talent, who have won contractual wars when season financing is determined. If The Simpsons was a brand new show now, and executed the exact same, the cost would be easily half that (animated shows, in the digital age are remarkably cheaper, Dennis recounts a painted cell animated day now decades gone). Compare that to a Friends episode of more than 10 years ago that saw production costs at $10 million (!) to shows today with little in the way of star power—Sense 8—that cost Netflix $9 million per, on up to Game of Thrones and Rome that are $10 million plus. Netflix’s money problems count a lot when you look at Baz Luhrmann’s The Get Down season one costing $120 million, and the Crow $130m. In the hey day of network sitcoms, ER topped at $13 million per episode (hey, the dreamy Clooney wasn’t cheap). That was in the 1990’s, it makes the point about the Simpsons at around $5-7 million TWENTY years later all the more.
That FOX gains legitimacy by the Simpsons is twofold—a fact Bobby J hints at the beginning of—it made them bankable and thus solvent, but also allowed them to attempt other projects. In short, according to industry people, the Simpsons bankrolled the $15 million dollar flop of TERRA NOVA years back for example. But, it remains to be seen how long this can really continue. The audience for the Simpsons has shrunk by more than half of its heyday and FOX now claims they make more on old reruns of the show than current, new ones (which makes sense, they’re a lot better). They’ll eventually drop it probably (eventually the talent behind the Simpson’s shouldn’t take FOX’s continued requests for pay cuts), which will be a shame as what all this points to is that FOX should have more respect for its bread and butter.
Thanks, Bobby. I, too, sometimes wonder if the show would have been better off ending a decade ago–the theatrical film might have worked well as a “happy ending” point (I continue to watch the series, but I do so recognizing that it is well past its heyday). One thing that helps it stay fresh are the couch gags, particularly from guest animators–I love the freshness that those bits add to the new shows, though I will admit I find myself wishing some of that creativeness would bleed into some of the newer storylines.
Brandie no one better here to write on this than you. Thanks for sharing your passion for it and great stuff here. I’ve seen only a handful of reruns so don’t consider myself a fan per se, but it’s a really remarkable show and just amazing it’s been on this long. I’m 37 years old so we were both hit with this show at about the same time in life. I desperately wanted to watch this show but it was banned in our house, therefore I never quite got into it during the time in my life where I could have really attached to it. I think it didn’t place higher because of the demographics of the folks in this countdown. Not sure there are enough Gen Xers and Millenials here to put it higher.
Many thanks for the kind words, Jon. I had friends who were banned from watching the show, too, so I get where you’re coming from. Had my parents actually bothered to watch the show, they might have done the same thing, but luckily for me, I had a television in my bedroom and I could watch what I wanted! 😀
I hate to admit to this – but I have never seen this show! Wonder if it is on Netflix or Prime now? Not sure I want to, then again your write up makes me feel like I am missing something?
Hi, Patricia–the entire series is available for streaming on FX Now’s Simpsons World site! You just have to have a cable company log-in to access the episodes.