THAT'S RIGHT, I DID THE IGGY: The Simpsons Season 4 Poll

If it was left up to me to decide what single season of American episodic television was to be put onto a satellite and sent into space, it might be this one. This, to me, is the apotheosis of television.

Agreed!

However:
"Treehouse of Horror III"
"The Simpsons Halloween Special III"

http://i43.tinypic.com/id7jo0.jpg

Only vote for THOH if that's your vote,folks.

lol best screencap

Alternate title ideas were THE BLURST OF TIMES and SENOR PLOW NO ES MACHO, btw.

The story for "Kamp Krusty" was originally intended for a tentative Simpsons movie, IIRC, and I'm sure it would've been orders of magnitude better than the movie we got.

That episode gave me what I think is my favorite Kent Brockman quote. You know the one I mean.

Thought this thread would be about Lou/Iggy mashup t-shirt

Alternate title ideas were THE BLURST OF TIMES and SENOR PLOW NO ES MACHO, btw.

We also would have accepted "Tell me what you think of me."

And having just watched it, I thought you might go for I CALL THE BIG ONE BITEY.

I could've gone with LISA NEEDS BRACES and just let nature take its course.

monorail

i hear those things are awfully loud

impossible, god, even the clip show is good ffs.

"Mr. Plow" is my standard answer to the question "what's your favourite SIMPSONS episode," so that actually makes voting in this one easy even though it should be impossible.

i say impossible but then on the other hand 'last exit to springfield' is one of the most perfect things ever constructed.

"I Love Lisa" has the line that inspired my username.

(well, the first part of my username ... and not the Display Name part)

Fuckin monorail is gonna romp home on this poll. Its a good ep but it is way from my fave.

Worker and Parasite Show cartoon was all time. It guided my vote, as there is no rational method of choosing among these.

OMG yes.

Tempted to vote for "New Kid on the Block" for the two Iranian restaurant dudes snarking "sometimes I think you WANT me to FAIL!" and then fighting over the ringing phone. And also Sara Gilbert's "youuuu wont be needing THIS!" *kicks Bart's heart into a wall*.

"Kamp Krusty" for "We're all gonna die, Lis."
"A Streetcar Named Marge" for the play enjoyed by all.
"Treehouse of Horror III" for Candy-Apple Island.
"Last Exit to Springfield" for the negotiation scene.
"Whacking Day" for the sexy slither of the lady snake.
"Krusty Gets Kancelled" for Gabbo. Gabbo! GABBO!

Among the non-obvious leaders, Homer the Heretic is a very strong choice, as is Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie. Right now I'm torn between Last Exit and I Love Lisa. It's so hard to choo-choo-choose!

(Lol who am I kidding it'll probably be monorail.)

i realise i could probably live my life saying nothing but quotes from this season.

it'd be annoying.

Well there's always this failed thread of mine! Simpsons quotations

"That oughta hold the SOB's."

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130714223357/simpsons/images/a/ac/Krusty_Gets_Kancelled_46.JPG

Got a lot of love for Itchy and Scratchy the Movie, but I'll probably go for Mr Plow.

So, when I was little, my parents wouldn't let me watch The Simpsons. I didn't understand English, and I couldn't read the subtitles, so it wasn't as if it would have rocked my world or taught me any bad words or anything, but still, it seemed intriguing and weird, and I loved cartoons. So once when we visited my grandparents, they parked me in front of a tv, and Simpsons came on, and I decided to watch it, because how bad could it be for me? Well, five minutes into the episode, this guy jumps out from an icestatue and shoots holes in everyone and blood is splurting everywhere, and I turned it off in shock. I honestly thought it was a very violent show for years after that. Still, I might vote for that episode.

I'm not sure I can be swayed from Monorail. "I call the big one Bitey" is pretty much unsurpassable.

Speaking of not getting references, Gabbo's little song and dance where he delclares he can "imitate Vin Scully" always lost me, I had no idea who that was.

so many memories

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA7p5VwAXk0

yeah and i had no idea who Ray J Johnson was. still don't in fact.

You can call him Ray, or you can call him Jay, or you can call him Ray Jay, but you doesn't have to call him

These ads dominated televised sporting events in the US in the late 70s:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7n9YX1Xfw4

ha, amazing!

VERY tough choice this season, ultimately it's between Homer The Heretic and Krusty Gets Kancelled; almost impossible to choose. the bit where Mel unexpectedly emerges from the wings to join Krusty for 'Send In The Clowns' always means i get 'something in my eye'.

Lisa "I can't believe it, our first glimpse of Gabbo!"
Homer "He'll tell us what to do"

One reference that I never got but always made me piss myself: "standing on his hind legs like a little Rory Calhoun". (Diff season though.)

http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/worker-and-parasite.jpg

oh LOL I always thought homers "but you doesnt have to call me" ramble in S10 was him not knowing the words to some routine! I had no idea THATS HOW IT WENT omg.

Im really thinking Krusty gets Kancelled has to get a vote for Worker and Parasite, as well.

But then again, TOHIII does have "everybody loves a clown, so why don't you?" and "I think women and sea men dont mix" (...actually no, overall that TOH was a bit weak).

If I went on "oft used quotes", then "look in the tunk" would be up there. Don't ask me why.

i just love the vibe of homer the heretic

"Be he Chrisian, Jew or... miscellaneous!"
"Hindi! There are 50 million of us you know"
"oh super!"

If I went on "oft used quotes", then "look in the tunk" would be up there. Don't ask me why.

― taxi tomato or bag tomato (Trayce), Thursday, October 31, 2013 10:31 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ THIS.

Im really thinking Krusty gets Kancelled has to get a vote for Worker and Parasite, as well.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_KWC9HZVEzsw/SnZPhvEhXCI/AAAAAAAAAIY/t0OyB_QBEm0/s400/Worker+and+parasite+copy.png

T is for her tooth-filled mouth
T is for her tooth-filled mouth

worker and parasite perfectly topped off by

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/rr288/conorbenglish/krusty.jpg

OTM. I think this was the season where the quickness, rhythm, and timing of the reaction shots went next-level.

Wonder if Lou cleared this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-QT74bzHFQ

a while back i was googling dental plan information and discovered that "dental plan lisa needs braces" comes up before anything related to actual dentists.

Wish I could find a gif from Homer the Heretic of Ned doing that reverse-flip off the mattress while trying to rescue Homer from the fire.

http://i.minus.com/ixi2MH0MV7Rnb.gif

You are my god now.

I CAN'T CHOO-CHOO-CHOOSE ANY ONE EPISODE HERE, GUYS

iirc "Last Exit to Springfield" was the agreed gold standard for the entire series back in the day

Stunned there isn't more stunting for "A Streetcar Named Marge" itt.

xp that's what's so amazing, nearly ANY episode in this season could be held up as the gold standard. They're all that good.

I wonder how "Brother From The Same Planet" would have worked out if they'd actually managed to get Tom Cruise?

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100717053529/simpsons/images/thumb/f/f0/Crazyv.jpg/500px-Crazyv.jpg

she'll go three hundred hectares on a single tank of kerosene

Troy McClure: Hello, I’m Troy McClure. You might remember me from such instructional videos as ‘Mothballing Your Battleship,’ and ‘Dig Your Own Grave and Save!’ Now over the next six hours I’ll be taking you through the ‘dos’ and ‘do not dos’ of foundation repair. Ready?

Homer: Ready!

Troy: First, patch the cracks in the slab using a latex patching compound and a patching trowel.

Homer: [to Bart] Hand me my patching trowel, boy.[Bart shrugs.] Hmm.

Troy: Now, do you have extruded poly-vinyl foam insulation?

Homer: No.

Troy: Good! Assemble the aluminum J-channel using self-burring screws. Install!

Homer: What do I do for-

Troy: After applying brushable coating to the panels…

Homer: Wait a minute-

Troy: You’ll need some corrosion resistant metal stucco lath.

Homer: Wait a minute!

Troy: If you can’t find metal stucco lath…

Homer: Uh-huh?

Troy: Use carbon-fibre stucco lath!

Homer: Ohhhh!!

Troy: Now parge the lath!

This was a GREAT season for Hartman. Between Lyle Lanley, the Lionel Hutz cameo in "Streetcar," the thing Snrub just quoted, "Marge In Chains," "Brother from the Same Planet" . . .

Ha, I never noticed this,

Adam ... adds that the school's architecture is in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, who was the model for Howard Roark, the protagonist of ``The Fountainhead''.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100305022442/simpsons/images/2/2b/Ayn_Rand.PNG

Sorry for poor quality, but I mean . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akwU-ddEloI

Holy crap re: Frank Lloyd Wright! Funny, I was just thinking how that episode had one of the more spelled-out reference gags ("The Birds"/Hitchcock walking his dogs...devilishiously satirical! I wonder if anyone else got that!)

"Batman's a scientist!" Sorry, have to vote Monorail. The Halloween episode is BRILLIANT too. The Frogurt exchange and then the only zombie humor I can tolerate anymore:

Barney: Wow, George Washington!
Homer: Take that, Washington!
[BLAM!]
Homer: Eat lead, Einstein!
[BLAM!]
Homer: Show's over, Shakespeare!
[clubs him to the ground]
Zombie Shakespeare: Is this the end of Zombie Shakespeare?

she'll go three hundred hectares on a single tank of kerosene

PUT IT IN H.

Show's over, Shakespeare!

christ, I say this all the time (usually when trying to get my daughter to stop doing something annoying)

I'm not voting in any of these polls fwiw cuz yeah I just can't decide, any vote would be fairly arbitrary

I will vote in a "Best episode ever" aggregate poll though (assuming I will be able to vote for the lemon tree episode)

Well, you're really asking two questions there . . .

Worker and Parasite almost enough to get me to change my vote, but nope. MONORAIL!

omg @ the shape that Homer leaves in the window from "Heretic" gif, IT MAKES U THINK.

Well, you're really asking two questions there . . .

right, I guess what I'm saying is when we get to the season w the lemon tree episode (I can't remember which - 5?) I will vote for that, and then vote for it again in a best episode ever poll.

Combine VU solo careers with best episode ever poll.

Just watched Kamp Krusty. Mr Black kills me

"For the past 15 years I was president of Euro-Krustyland...until it blew up."

and especially his delivery of:

"Gentlemen, to evil!"

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3769/10610223406_2b16f5c78b_z.jpg

voting "last exit to springfield" for a bunch of reasons, not least among them the international brotherhood of jazz dancers, pastry chefs, and nuclear technicians logo

it's nowhere near the best thing here but i have a real soft spot for 'new kid on the block.' the scene where bart imagines sara gilbert ripping his heart out and going "you won't be needing this!" is one of the most OTM depictions of early crush angst ever.

The original idea for the b-story was that Homer was going to get in some sort of (legal?) trouble for heckling Don Rickles. Rickles was lined up as a guest voice, but backed out after reading the script, and accused the writers of stealing his material.

omg

New Kid on the Block also has Moe's best reaction to a Bart prank call, when he tells him he's going to shove a sausage down his throat and stick starving dogs up his butt. Can't remember if that's a direct lift from the Tube Bar tapes or not.

Stunned there isn't more stunting for "A Streetcar Named Marge" itt.

― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Friday, November 1, 2013 8:56 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it might be my vote, but it was kinda weird watching it recently and realizing its "homer might actually be an abusive husband" implication

I've seen this episode held up as an example of what an awful husband Homer is a number of times. Which, I get, but I don't at the same time: there are episodes where he behaves way worse.

Stunned there isn't more stunting for "A Streetcar Named Marge" itt.

― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Friday, November 1, 2013 8:56 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it might be my vote, but it was kinda weird watching it recently and realizing its "homer might actually be an abusive husband" implication

― ^^ post obviously honoring and supporting Qualcomm (zachlyon), Saturday, November 2, 2013 12:56 AM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh man, it's definitely my vote. The show songs are hilarious. And Ned as Stanley! "Can't you hear me yell-a, you're putting me through hell-a, Stella!" Also Apu's solo and the super-cheery finale. Also the Ayn Rand School for Tots, and the scene where they go to pick up Maggie and all the kids are sitting there creepily sucking on their recovered pacifiers. Might be my favourite episode.

Hard not to vote for Monorail and Mr Plow though.

i love it cause i was in streetcar in tenth grade and we were all so excited when it came on one night and IMing each other about it, and my away message was definitely "OH MY GOD STREETCAR NAMED MARGE IS ON!!" in gigantic letters, and i still sing "i am juuuust a simple paaaaperboy..." all the time, meeeeemories

(i was the paperboy)

also the room of babies creepily sucking on pacifiers is one of the best payoff jokes in history

look I guess I will have to vote Last Exit because Homer as a donut-eating Mafia Don is top level of his dream sequences

oh oh oh and the negations with Burns: "My God! He is coming onto me!"

IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE BLURST OF TIMES

OMFG why did I not vote for Mr Plow as I'd first thought, because of "PUT IT IN H!!". My fave line EVER.

"Take her for a test drive and you'll agree, "zagra verdans lotik diev!""

Best Homer vs. his brain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odoUzxgH35Y

Actually, that's one of the few instances where his brain works.

homer isn't really an abusive husband. he is a pretty awful father though -- the running 'gag' of him throttling bart is prob my least favorite thing in classic simpsons.

might have to vote 'last exit' just for this:

kent brockman: mr. simpson, organized labor has been called a 'lumbering dinosaur.'
homer: AAAAH!

kent brockman: uh, my director is asking me not to talk to you anymore.
homer: Woohoo!

And no mention of this yet. It's really amazing how packed with material that episode is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRUj8dma0oo

They sing without juicers! They sing without blenders! They sing without flungers, cabdabblers, and smendlers!

if you watch the episode, Burns' face kinda morphs into the Grinch for a second just before that line

as a kid I found workers singing lisa's song of solidarity incredibly moving

god really? I hate it whenever she sings.

[joanna nuisance joke]

but seriously, yes really! I mean I hate the jazzman song as much as anyone but the power plant song works so well in the context of last exit. I am #teamlisa forever tho

I still get choked up at that song.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/0794a78a9fc1390dafe905da0ab47285/tumblr_mr96p9pUKr1qztjn5o1_500.png

"Hmmm. Yes."

http://deadhomersociety.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/ilovelisa6.png

xp haha, I can so clearly hear the screaming of the kids when looking at that picture.
Also, omg, looking at the still: that one kid on the left looks like a really badly drawn Bart!

apparently Ray J Johnson had a disco single in '79, which was the style at the time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRo4fn03VdM

lisa's union song is awesome, don't know how anyone could ever hate on that. then lenny asks her to play 'classical gas'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTkYJCmHtNc

Ohhhhhh man. This is where this gets really hard. These are all so so so so so good.

"Last Exit To Springfield" is TOUGH to argue against. Everything that's been mentioned already, plus I always get really tickled by Burns showing Homer the basement: "Yes, I really should stop ending the tour here..." Plus: "Hired goons," "Like a BUG!", "Let the fools have their tar-tar sauce," everything to do with the dentist, the Get Smart march of Smithers and Burns... I suspect there are not two consecutive lines of this script that don't contain a classic Simpsons joke.

"Monorail" on the other hand offers an alternate string of gems of which I quote one at least every other week: "I call the big one Bitey," "Batman's a scientist," "I shouldn't have stopped for that haircut," and the whole opening bit: "That's ridiculous! The last tree held nine drums!"

Still several I need to watch again. Realizing how strong the writing was at this point, I should grow up and watch some of the ones that sound like dull plot premises, since clearly the laugh quotient is a separate matter at this point.

I rewatched the Lemon Tree ep. Some amazing moments in that! Both Bart and Homer seem to believe the world runs on old-school cartoon logic. Also, the sarcasm is just so infinitely deadpan and dry. It's razor sharp. Post-Simpsons cartoon comedies usually miss the mark w their satire because they spend too much time drawing on the eyebrows. "Get it! See how clever we are?" This era of the Simpsons knew you were smart enough to get the joke and didn't feel the need to hold your hand. And it made it so much funnier.

choosing from:

brother from the same planet
i love lisa
new kid on the block
last exit to springfield
krusty gets kancelled

I'm likely not going to vote for it but I'm surprised at the lack of hyping for "The Front"!

"Blah blah blah, blah bling bling blah." "Hey, Egghead, sing 'Fair Harvard.'" Homer admitting to eating all of Marge's fancy soaps. Et cetera.

"THE ADVENTURES OF NED FLANDERS," FOR CRYING OUT LOUD.

"Good old rock, nothing beats rock." <<< still a strategy I follow to this day.

http://i.imgur.com/0I9KKgr.png

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lskpimJim81qduujro1_500.gif

i have a confession to make: laura is, i think, the first tv/movie character i can ever remember having a crush on. :>

Hi, you've reached the Corey hot-line. $4.95 a minute. Here are some words that rhyme with Corey: Gory. Story. Allegory. Montessori.

The other day I was so desperate for a beer I snuck into the football stadium and ate the dirt under the bleachers.

i think this is the poll where i'll go for the consensus pick. too many of my all time favorite gags. including beating joel schumacher to the punch.

http://i.imgur.com/bzJSOjK.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ob2sdkC.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5MfDn_27X0

Is anyone going to go for "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show"?

http://i.imgur.com/gkliVzi.png

Come for the freak! Stay for the food!

"I love you Pepsi"
"its Pepe"

I'm pretty sure I've never watched "Kamp Krusty" or "Brother from the Same Planet" despite having seen all of the others multiple times in the late 90s when they were on heavy rotation on sky 1. Were they not broadcast on UK TV for some reason, or did I just manage to miss them somehow?

Wait, it's "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" I've never seen, not "Brother from the Same Planet".

those were both definitely in the late 90s sky rotation!

BBC1 had the first season on at prime time on Saturday nights a good 5 years after the Sky showings and it flopped in that slot. not long after the show moved to BBC2 on fridays at 6pm for a while. not sure what happened after that tbh.

it's a pain they don't have the episode titles at the start like most shows do. you could never work out which ep it was until a few minutes in. the big change watching the DVDs in the early 00s was the lack of Domino's ad-bumpers 3 or 4 times every episode like they had on Sky.

on bbc 2 i think it was 'new' episodes at 6pm on fridays, random assortment in the same slot every other weekday. and channel 4 kept that schedule when it moved there.

the clip show has the beer can opening, which is one of my favourite bits

"I am proceeding on foot. Call in a code 8"

why i laugh?

Wait, is that the one with "you couldn't fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life if you had an electified fooling machine!"

yup!

I didn't realize "Brother from the Same Planet" is the Bigger Brothers episode, I thought that was the Danny-DeVito-comes-back episode. That is TOTALLY getting my vote. "Lost your dad?" "Yeah." "He's not coming back, is he?" "He might." "No, he's not. But at Bigger Brothers we can help!"

The comments upthread about the contemporary reviews from snpp being incredible are dead right, RE "Brother from the Same Planet":

Okay, this is getting silly. The references are gratuitous. The
plots are absurd. Homer has become a caricature of himself. What
happened to the days when plots were simple and Homer reflected our
own weaknesses? After all, ``There's a little Homer Simpson in all of
us.'' Oh well, at least Homer hasn't been accidentally locked in the
basement.

this season probably has a good 65% of all the lines constantly quoted by people my age in elementary school

The plots are absurd.

Right-o, bucko!

Those SNPP comments (which are the old usenet group comments) were gently mocked later on in eps like "Desperately Xeeking Xena" where all the nerds picked apart bits of itchy and scratchy.

...or was that in the BiMonSciFiCon ep? Anyway you know the bit I mean.

Don't forget the Poochie one! "I somebody got fired for that blunder" has become a meme on some message boards.

"I HOPE" even.

I often say "...I'm fired aren't I?"cos of that writers room scene.

"The Front" is interesting for having two guest-voice characters without the guest voices (no Alex Rocco for Roger Meyers, no Lovitz for Artie Ziff). But Azaria still kills as Meyers ("Here's a witty rejoinder!")

Oh, and I forgot to pile on to the ''Worker and Parasite'' love. One of my favorite jokes from the entire series and clearly a labor of love from an animation-nerd writing/layout staff. Kind of sums up what could I guess be called the 'integrity' of the show: this is the work of people under incredible pressure to maintain parity with Cosby, and they go for...a pitch-perfect parody of dour, abstract, Khrushchev-era cartoons (apparently simultaneously Polish and East German), topped off with that brilliant title, brilliantly delivered by Castellaneta. (The scripts have gotten so good by this point that it's also easy to overlook how confident the actors have gotten, how clearly they know the right tone, timing, and delivery for each of their characters. Krusty for example has become this amazing constellation of cynicism, delusion, bad habits, greed and plain bad habits, all shoved aside at the drop of a dime to bust out his trademark laugh when he realizes the camera is on. The improvement in the animation also has a lot to do with this, of course.)

I think I've actually watched a bunch of the commentaries for these before but I would absolutely do so again... love all the glimpses into the process, which things killed at the rehearsal, which things are 'total Swartzwelder jokes' or whatever.

e.g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmH4wpGCDwk

Brother from The Same Planet has the Shining Red Rum parody, "Dad, hide your shame", the Bigger Brothers ad with the open grave, "don't say revenge, don't say revenge", the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf style marital spat between Homer and Bart, Bart "faking it" on the swing, and Homer teaching Pepe about the constellations:

"Oh Papa Homer, tell me more! I want to know all the constellations!"
"Well, there's Jerry, the Cowboy. And that big dipper-looking thing is Alan ... the Cowboy."
"Oh Papa Homer, you are so learnéd!"
"Heh heh heh. Learn'd, son. It's pronounced 'learn'd'."

It's been a while since I saw most of these, but I think the animation on the show was at its peak around this time? I remember it as being slightly more fluid than it later became, maybe that's my imagination, though?

"Hey Homey, I can see your doodle!"

"... Shut up, Flanders."

the Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf style marital spat between Homer and Bart

There's really nothing I love more than when The Simpsons riffs on WAoVW ("Queen of the harpies!")

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

Duff Beer for me,
Duff Beer for you,
I'll have a Duff,
You have one too.

And no mention of this yet. It's really amazing how packed with material that episode is.

― Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Saturday, November 2, 2013 8:28 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

omg abe's ramble in this ep had me dying in front of my students when i showed it to them at the end of last school year

"can't talk...coming down"

omg, Homer and that sandwich w/the mushrooms growing off it!

Marge: You've been eating that sandwich for over a week. I think the
mayonnaise is starting to turn.
Homer: Two more feet, and I can fit it in the fridge.

Duff.... Gardens.... huuuZAHHHHH *passes out*

For me, Last Exit takes Marge vs. the Monorail by an inch. I think once Entertainment Weekly named it the best episode my response to it has been, "yeah, I guess so." That said, if it never existed and you told me about an episode where Homer becomes head of the power plant union, I'd probably already think it's the best episode ever. Indeed, I think Treehouse of Horror IV is the only one I like more.

Ive just been watching S5 and thats where most of my "all times" are. But I'll get to that next poll :)

Season 5 is definitely my favourite. Oh, and xpost: I mean THoH V (the shinning, time and punishment, etc.)

"Brother from the Same Planet" is the Bigger Brothers episode, I thought that was the Danny-DeVito-comes-back episode.

This ALWAYS gets me. cf Homer defined (where homer saves the plant from meltdown) and Homer the Great (stonecutters); Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish and One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish.

I'm presently at work ranking all episodes from S1-8. I advocate doing a ballot style top-100 poll for all episodes when this is through.

I forgot to mention cf. Bart the Lover and Bart's Girlfriend. Very confusing

by which I mean, Bart the Lover, Bart's Girlfriend, AND New Kid On the Block.

Especially confusing, as my triple post indicates.

"can't talk...coming down"

― taxi tomato or bag tomato (Trayce), Sunday, November 3, 2013 2:04 PM (5 hours ago)

--Give her this, and then this, and then these.
--Thank you, doctor.
--Oh I'm not a doctor.

omg, Homer and that sandwich w/the mushrooms growing off it!

Marge: You've been eating that sandwich for over a week. I think the
mayonnaise is starting to turn.
Homer: Two more feet, and I can fit it in the fridge.

― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Sunday, 3 November 2013 20:50 (Yesterday) Permalink

Yes! He finds it in the garbage: "Stupid sandwich. This is all your fault!...oh, I can't stay mad at you!"

"Hercules! The Cyclops tore my clothes."

"HAAAHHAA HAA"

"Homercles cares not for beans!"

Man now I sort of wish I'd voted for that ep.

http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/060/d/5/I_am_the_lizard_queen__by_leif_j.png

Underrated moment from that episode: Selma singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" to Jub-Jub.

I know, the more I remember the more vote-worthy it is.

Bart looking at Selma through the beer goggles, so funny.

Rivaled only by the Aunt Hortense gag for Homer funeral lulz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS4-vsVk3hY

Underrated moment from that episode: Selma singing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" to Jub-Jub.

One thing that often comes up when me and my friends talk Simpsons is gags/references that younger people just won't get, and this is always one of them. It's kind of hard to explain just how big a deal that Murphy Brown ep was at the time.

Yes, the writers talk about that on the commentary, that no one gets that joke anymore, despite being really direct about it. I mean, it was listening to that commentary where I first learned about the MB connection.

what is the Murphy Brown joke that i'm clearly not getting?

I don't even know what Murphy Brown is.

Oh my.

Huh, I always liked that scene. Had no idea there was an allusion.

Which is the *proper* way to do those, IMO. It isn't obviously a reference and still works as a cute and funny scene. They were great at this on The Simpsons, unlike that other show with the dog and the baby.

the murphy brown scene isn't on youtube which is saying something.

i hope jub-jub freaking out at selma's distorted face inside the tupperware jar is also a murphy brown reference

Yup, never seen Murphy Brown, only vaguely heard of it. The scene works because it is innately funny to see and hear Selma singing that particular song to a lizard.

Never seen Murphy Brown either and didn't know this was a reference to it. The controversy that I believe is being referred to is that the character has a baby that she chooses to raise as a single mother and Dan Quayle flipped shit over it.

Holy shit, Dan Quayle is nuts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy_Brown#Murphy_becomes_a_single_mother

I'm surprised what didn't freak him out more was "ex-husband and current underground radical Jake Lowenstein."

"...Lowenstein...Lowenstein..."

Quayle would eventually display a sense of humor about the incident—after the controversy died down, he appeared for an interview on an independent Los Angeles TV station and for his final question was asked what his favorite TV show was. He responded with "Murphy Brown—Not!"

conservative humour, people

never occurred to me that that was a Murphy Brown joke (I had stopped watching Murphy Brown well before that point, altho I def recall the public spat with Quayle)

holy shit, whacking day is based on a real event!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rattlesnake_round-up

"Linda Ronstadt! How'd you get her?"
"Ahhh, we've been looking for a project to do together for a while."

ahhh god, homer's rap/the reaction is so great. the cat!

Burns: Relax, Simpson. I just brought you in here for a friendly hello...
Homer: Whew... (heart slows down)
Burns: ...and GOODBYE! YOU'RE FIRED!
Homer: Aaargh! (heart speeds up)
Burns: But, wait. Perhaps I'm being too hasty. You are highly skilled...
Homer: Whew... (heart slows down)
Burns: ...at GOOFING OFF!
Homer: Aaargh! (heart beats faster)
Burns: Now don't worry, Homer. You're the kind of guy I could really dig...
Homer: Whew... (heart slows down)
Burns: ...A GRAVE FOR!
Homer: Aaargh! (heart beats even faster)
Burns: Your indolence is inefficacious!
Homer: Uh? (heart beats normally)
Burns: That means YOU'RE TERRIBLE!
Homer: Aarrggghh! (suffers a heart attack and collapses)
Smithers: Mr. Burns, I think he's dead.
Burns: Oh dear. Send a ham to his widow.
Homer: Mmm, ham...
Smithers: No, wait. He's alive.
Burns. Oh good. Cancel the ham!
Homer: D'oh!

^ preceded by scene where burns is disappointed to learn that his lawyers won't let him give homer a poisoned donut. 'they consider it murder.' 'damn their oily hides!'

Same episode has Mr. Burns' pet vulture, no?

http://i.imgur.com/SEWaa.jpg

Dr. Nick: Troy, would you like a glass of orange juice?
Troy McClure: I sure would. But won't we have to pay those outrageous grocery store prices for something the farmer probably spit in?

Mobilier - the chandelier for your car!

Where's my burrito?! Where's my burrito?! Where's my burrito?!

ha, yes, a perfect synonym for "i'm hungry".

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I always thought I'd say "Monorail," but "Last Exit" just has it all. But there are no duds here.

Voting "Last Exit," but in my mind, it's a vote for the entire season.

(even though "the tar fumes are making me dizzy!" "Yeah, they'll do that" is one of my favorite exchanges, and even though I was once in a band called Worker & Parasite)

ended up voting for 'mr plow' which i think is as wonderful and dense as 'last exit' or 'monorail.' also voted for this exchange which my mom and i still quote all the time:

homer: kids! it's batman!
lisa: dad, that's not the real batman.
adam west: sure, i'm batman. see, here's a picture of me with robin!
bart: who the hell's robin?

I'm having fun cracking open episodes I never really thought about before and being just floored by great jokes. The first scene from "Marge in Chains" might be all-time for Troy McClure.

Reverend Timothy Lovejoy: [Reading from his Bible] And the Lord said, "Whack ye all the serpents which crawl upon their bellies, and thy town shall be a beacon unto others." So you see, Lisa, even God Himself endorses Whacking Day.
Lisa: Let me see that.
Reverend Timothy Lovejoy: [Putting his Bible away] No.

Aww mann, "I Love Lisa" is nice. Maybe the most "Season 2-3" episode here (except for Homer's increased stupidity) and really sweetly executed.

Last Exit was good but wow they are really laying into this union = corrupt humor. I do love how Homer screams at the mention of a "lumbering dinosaur":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h1PrSp9uo8

Yeah, the "corrupt unions" jokes are a little stock - I'd even say politically suspect except that the main plot of the episode is about the union carrying out a heroic and successful strike to save the dental plan, Lisa's song, etc. Hard to imagine that showing up in a prime-time cartoon today, to be (sadly) honest.

for some reason i find it especially funny when homer is described as 'union kingpin homer simpson.'

Simpsons writers probably grew up during the Jimmy Hoffa stuff, I wouldn't sweat it

Plus you have

http://i.imgur.com/8zbP0vV.png

I dipped into my stash of simpsons eps to make that screen cap

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Swartzwelder

Also fwiw this guy's political views were apparently highly suspect

John Swartzwelder : The Simpsons :: Dave Berg : MAD Magazine , but man can he write.

Yeah, the "corrupt unions" jokes are a little stock - I'd even say politically suspect

I saw those more as a critique of top-down business unionism, but yeah, the squeaky-voiced teen's "and then we'll go too far!" is decidedly suspect.

Well mainly it strikes the same chord that I get when I see the "Hot Coffee" episode of Seinfeld (after having seen that movie). A weird dash of Right Wing politics sprinkled into my anti-authoritarian comedy.

Like Marge scabbing on the teachers' strike. That was like a punch to the gut.

ah i think the last exit to springfield thing can be seen as more or less apolitical jokes that play on right wing ideas about unions, within an episode in which the union and the strikers are otherwise the heroes.

disappointed me when homer later said that the american way wasn't to go on strike but to go to work and make a half-assed job of it. losing your lefty credentials there, homer.

and it hadn't come to mind that marge teaching amounted to scabbing, even more disappointing. :(

Rewatching some of these Itchy and Scratchy episodes as an adult.... yikes, this stuff is demented!

There's a deleted scene on the DVD where Marge awkwardly tries to cross the teachers' picket line, and Mr. Largo calls her a scab.

xp

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

"Marge Gets a Job" 	0

I'm used to seeing people promoted ahead of me. Friends, co-workers, Tibor...

FOR SHAME.

Take my pen-knife, my good man.

this season sure had its share of pudding can gags

"A Streetcar Named Marge"	1

I didn't vote in this time, it was too just hard to pick one. I'm surprised that four episodes took such a large percentage of the votes, I would have expected it to be a more even spread?

Would've voted "I Love Lisa". Probably the best Lisa EP.

DENTAL PLAN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcXq0-dObYI

this is what i hear when i read 'hooray'.

'marge gets a job' is almost perfect -- slightly ruined by stupid ending where mr burns inexplicably turns nice and (kind of) apologizes to homer and marge. still, there's tibor.

I'm not sure I can be swayed from Monorail. "I call the big one Bitey" is pretty much unsurpassable.

It surpasses itself the second time it's used - when it finds its way into Marge's chain of thought

"A Streetcar Named Marge" 1

Jesus, people.

― midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Sunday, 10 November 2013 07:28 (Yesterday) Permalink

My fault. Forgot to click "vote".

Lionel Hutz: Now, Apu, Mrs. Simpson claims that she *forgot* that bottle of... delicious... bourbon. Brownest of the brown liquors... so tempting.
(holds the bottle to his ear)
Lionel Hutz: (whispering) What's that? You want me to drink you? But I'm in the middle of a trial!

Watching "New Kid on the Block" and this great Hutz moment happened:

[Homer has been thrown out of an all-you-can-eat restaurant for eating too much]
Lionel Hutz: This is the most blatant case of false advertising since my suit against the movie The Neverending Story.
Homer: So, do you think I have a case?
Lionel Hutz: Mr. Simpson, I don't use the word 'hero' lightly, but you are the greatest hero in American history.
Homer: Woohoo!

I heard your dad went into a restaurant and ate everything in the restaurant and they had to close the restaurant.

Does that sound like the actions of a man who had had all he could eat?

"I think I have some Tic-Tacs in my purse..."
"Excellent choice."

Very forgiving of Australia, all things considered:

http://www.uproxx.com/sports/2013/12/simpsons-signs-australias-world-record-cricket-test-cromulent/

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Dental-Plan-2.jpg

http://cdn.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Dental-Plan.jpg

Lisa "I can't believe it, our first glimpse of Gabbo!"
Homer "He'll tell us what to do"

― piscesx, Friday, 1 November 2013 02:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

rewatched this one tonight, this was the standout totally-forgot-about-that-gag gag. Also "My face, my valuable face!" Worker and Parasite of course had me in stitches, as always.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akdzx5/an-oral-history-of-marge-vs-the-monorail-the-simpsons

its been mentioned upthread but wow Phil Hartman was really on his A game this season, the writers must've known it too, since his voice is everywhere, he's basically part of the main cast this season

"Last Exit to Springfield" would probably get my vote, like maybe a third of Simpsons Bortposting derives from this episode alone. even the best comedies in cinematic history don't have as many quotable lines. despite having seen these episodes a bunch already there are so many amazing jokes in all of them. I think about Flanders backflipping through the window all the time. so often there would be these little scenes that almost redefined what you could do in a comedy. also love Homer winning all the trophies at the class reunion including the one for "lowest paying job"

I have no idea why, but Flea’s “HEY MOE!!!!” in the Gabbo episode makes me laugh uncontrollably every time.