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BY ALEXANDRA ISRAEL

In print | Published October 30, 2008

“The Simpsons” is perhaps the defining piece of pop culture of the last 20 years. The show’s influence has permeated Western civilization to a degree that’s almost frightening. Just think about your classes, guest lectures you’ve attended and any conversation you’ve had in the past month: chances are, you will find a “Simpsons” reference somewhere. The show is quoted everywhere, likenesses of the characters are found plastered on billboards and T-shirts and Homer Simpson’s catchphrase “d’oh!” is an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Some might ask, “Is ‘The Simpsons’ really all that it’s cracked up to be?” Well, there’s no question that the answer is yes. As the show enters its twentieth season it’s still the most consistently funny half-hour on television, and last year’s movie proved that everyone’s favorite yellow family is a box-office force to be reckoned with. As much as it pains me to say this, however, not every episode is genius; some of them are, indeed, far from perfect, as anyone who watched last season’s “E. Pluribus Wiggum” waste the guest appearance of Jon Stewart can attest. The best episodes, however, are wonderful half-hour packages of witty dialogue, pointed satire and family drama that make you think while you laugh. Following is a list of ten episodes that are, in my opinion, the best of the bunch.

10. “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest-Star” (Season 16)
This episode is the best of the later seasons, combining incisive social commentary, great gags and a spot-on guest appearance by Liam Neeson as the hip Catholic priest who convinces Bart and Homer to convert (although, really, all Homer needed was the free pancakes). The story relies less on outlandish plot devices than later episodes do, instead focusing on the Simpson family’s internal conflict and the show’s trademark brand of sharp satire, which drives home the message of religious tolerance.

Memorable moment:
The scene in which Marge imagines herself in staid, boring Protestant heaven while Homer and Bart party it up with the Irish, Italians and Mexicans in Catholic heaven.

9. “A Streetcar Named Marge” (Season Four)
An episode that manages to satirize community theater troupes, egomaniacal directors and Ayn Rand and still leave time to deal with Homer and Marge’s marital crisis. Plus, this is the first time we get to see just how ripped Ned Flanders’ abs are.

Memorable moment:
FLANDERS (singing, as Stanley Kowalski): Can’t you hear me yell-a / you’re putting me through hell-a / Stella, Stella!

8. “’Round Springfield” (Season Six)
A truly touching Lisa-centric episode. We see the show take on themes of loss and friendship when Lisa’s musical mentor, Bleeding Gums Murphy, dies after reconnecting with the spiky-haired Simpson daughter. We also see brotherly affection on Bart’s part, and there are some great death-related (as well as non-death-related) jokes to lighten the mood.

Memorable moment:
When Groundskeeper Willy, who is now teaching French, spits out the sentence, “Bonjourrr, ye cheese-eatin’ surrender monkeys!”

7. “Bart the Daredevil” (Season Two)
This episode is best known as the episode that contains the Springfield Gorge Jump, arguably the single most memorable moment in the show’s history. There is, however, considerably more going on here than just the one moment; this is an episode in which Homer and Bart’s tense, fractured and occasionally loving relationship is explored with depth and feeling.

Memorable moment:
HOMER (to Bart): “I tried ordering you, I tried punishing you, and God help me, I even tried reasoning with you.”

6. “Brother from Another Series” (Season Eight)
How could one not include a Sideshow Bob episode? This one has the added bonus of David Hyde Pierce (a.k.a. Niles Crane) as Sideshow Bob’s jealousy-ridden, diabolical genius younger brother Cecil. The two take the pretentious, pseudo-intellectual banter of “Frasier” and, in cartoon format, knock it out of the park.

Memorable moment:
BOB: You wanted to be Krusty’s sidekick since you were five! What about the buffoon lessons, the four years of clown college?
CECIL: I’ll thank you not to refer to Princeton that way.

5. “Whacking Day” (Season Four)
An episode that showcases the mob mentality and bloodlust of the citizens of Springfield, it’s also a classic Bart-and-Lisa-save-the-day episode, but with a twist; this time, Bart acts as the knowledgeable foil to Lisa’s determined crusader as they try to stop the barbaric tradition of Whacking Day. There’s even Barry White.

Memorable moment: A fantasy sequence in which Evil Homer, dressed in a devil suit and carrying maracas, dances on the grave of Good Homer while singing, conga-style, “I am evil Ho-MER! I am evil Ho-MER!”

4. “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer” (Season Eight)
Another Simpson-marital-crisis episode, which stands above the others because of a beautifully animated hallucination sequence (brought on when Homer eats a Guatemalan Insanity Pepper) and Johnny Cash as the voice of a spirit coyote. The trip in “The Simpsons Movie” wishes it could be this good.

Memorable moment:
HOMER: I’m a lonely, insignificant speck on a has-been planet orbited by a cold, indifferent sun.

3. “Homer the Great” (Season Six)
This episode makes fun of everyone, from the Masons to … well, the Stonecutters, who are essentially the Masons. It has everything: a catchy musical number, a nice tragic-hero story arc for Homer and a good Grandpa scene, in which the old man name checks, you guessed it … the Masons!

Memorable moment:
All together now: “We do! We do!”

2. “Homer and Apu” (Season Five)
Another episode that is known largely for a musical number (the Emmy-winning “Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?”) this episode focuses on the travails of everyone’s favorite ethnic stereotype, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. The episode takes Homer and Apu from Springfield to the world’s first convenience store—located, not very conveniently, at the top of a mountain in the Himalayas—and back again as Apu struggles to get his job back after selling Homer tainted meat.

Memorable moment: HOMER: Hey, he’s not happy at all. He lied to us through song. I hate when people do that!

1. “Rosebud” (Season Five)
An episode that lampoons both “Citizen Kane” and “Planet of the Apes” while proving that Mr. Burns might have a heart and showing Homer’s devotion to the oft-forgotten third child, Maggie, can only be great. This episode, jammed with laugh-out-loud gags and historical and pop-cult references, transcends great and enters the realm of sublime. A flawless half-hour of television.

Memorable moment:
HOMER: I’ll never wiggle my bare butt in public again.
LISA: I’d like to believe that this time. I really would.

Alex is a sophomore. You can reach her at aisrael1@swarthmore.edu.

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