Simpsons

“Uh, hi, Mr. Meyers. I’ve been doing some thinking, and I’ve got some ideas to improve the show. I got it right here. One, Poochie needs to be louder, angrier, and have access to a time machine. Two, whenever Poochie’s not onscreen, all the other characters should be asking “Where’s Poochie”?” – Homer Simpson, “The Itchy and Scratchy And Poochie Show”. How prescient.

The Simpsons is the most transformative show in the history of American television. More arguably, the show is said to be in a terminal decline in the eyes of many fans. Here are the two blog series that have me tear into the series.

Scullyfied Simpsons

As The Simpsons entered its 25th season, I decided to take a look back at the greatest episodes of the show from the greatest er…

…yeah, I can’t even finish that without cringing at how inaccurate that sentence is – at least, personally speaking.

What we will be looking at is the era of The Simpsons that, for many fans, sent the show to its grave, the years where Mike Scully was showrunner. In layman’s terms, this is seasons 9-12 (with a few holdovers in Season 13). The plots got crazier and repetitive (at the same time), characterization got sketchier, and the writing got dumber all around.

However, I will be (largely) sticking to the Mike Scully years, as the episodes from this era have a distinct feel. Unlike the Al Jean years (Seasons 13 until the heat death of the universe), which are comparatively uninteresting, these episodes at least are distinct in their insanity. I also want to know if there is any redeeming quality to these episodes, or if they are the disposable wreck that fandom holds these episodes up as.

Also, note that I will be covering the first few episodes of season 9 despite Mike Scully not being executive producer, and will cover the first few episodes of season 13, because he was producer during those episodes.

Season 9: In which Scully takes the helm. It’s the season that gave us the heights of Lisa’s backstory, the dangers of Real Estate, Krusty’s brief foray into stand-up, and a parody of Lord of the Flies. It also gave us the depths of the Trash scandal, the Carnies, Homer winding up between two parts of a drawbridge, and of course, the history of Armin Tamzarian.

  1. The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson
  2. The Principal and the Pauper
  3. Lisa’s Sax
  4. Treehouse of Horror VIII
  5. The Cartridge Family
  6. Bart Star
  7. The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons
  8. Lisa the Skeptic
  9. Realty Bites
  10. Miracle on Evergreen Terrace
  11. All Singing, All Dancing
  12. Bart Carny
  13. The Joy of Sect
  14. Das Bus
  15. The Last Temptation of Krust
  16. Dumbbell Indemnity
  17. Lisa the Simpson
  18. This Little Wiggy
  19. Simpson Tide
  20. The Trouble with Trillions
  21. Girly Edition
  22. Trash of the Titans
  23. King of the Hill
  24. Lost our Lisa
  25. Natural Born Kissers

Season 10: The season where the show’s quality buckled. It gave us the genuine emergence of Jerkass Homer, insane celebrity cameos, self-driving trucks, the Loch Ness Monster, and the first “trilogy” episode. It marked the tragic end of Phil Hartman’s run on the show.

  1. Lard of the Dance
  2. The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
  3. Bart The Mother
  4. Treehouse of Horror IX
  5. When You Dish Upon a Star
  6. D’oh-in in the Wind
  7. Lisa Gets An “A”
  8. Homer Simpson in: Kidney Trouble
  9. Mayored to the Mob
  10. Viva Ned Flanders
  11. Wild Barts Can’t Be Broken
  12. Sunday, Cruddy Sunday
  13. Homer to the Max
  14. I’m with Cupid
  15. Marge Simpson in: Screaming Yellow Honkers
  16. Make Room for Lisa
  17. Maximum Homerdrive
  18. Simpsons Bible Stories
  19. Mom and Pop Art
  20. The Old Man and the C Student
  21. Monty Can’t Buy Me Love
  22. They Saved Lisa’s Brain
  23. Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo

Season 11: The season where the show arguably took the plunge beyond the event horizon. From this season came the show’s most disliked flash-forward episode, Mel Gibson accepting Homer’s advice, the rise of Tomacco, the death of Maude, Marge finally going insane (sort of), Barney going sober, the ill-fated (for fans and characters alike) trip to Florida, and the infamous horse episode. You know the one.

Preview

  1. Beyond Blunderdome
  2. Brother’s Little Helper
  3. Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner?
  4. Treehouse of Horror X
  5. E-I-E-I-Do’h!
  6. Hello Gutter, Hello Father
  7. Eight Misbehavin’
  8. Take My Wife, Sleaze
  9. Grift of the Magi
  10. Little Big Mom
  11. Faith Off
  12. The Mansion Family
  13. Saddlesore Galactica
  14. Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
  15. Missionary Impossible
  16. Pygmoelian
  17. Bart to the Future
  18. Days of Wine and D’ohses
  19. Kill the Alligator and Run
  20. Last Tap Dance in Springfield
  21. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge
  22. Behind the Laughter

Season 12: From the writers’ room came Krusty’s daughter, Homer attempting suicide over area codes, the “Worst Episode Ever” not living up to its name (thankfully), and of course, “Homer vs. Dignity”, which did live up to its name.

  1. Treehouse of Horror XI
  2. A Tale of Two Springfields
  3. Insane Clown Poppy
  4. Lisa the Tree Hugger
  5. Homer vs. Dignity
  6. The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
  7. The Great Money Caper
  8. Skinner’s Sense of Snow
  9. HOMR
  10. Pokey Mom
  11. Worst Episode Ever
  12. Tennis the Menace
  13. Day of the Jackanapes
  14. New Kids on the Blecch
  15. Hungry, Hungry Homer
  16. Bye Bye Nerdie
  17. Simpson Safari
  18. Trilogy of Error
  19. I’m Goin’ to Praiseland
  20. Children of a Lesser Clod
  21. Simpson Tall Tales

Season 13: The season where Scully wound up leaving for Al Jean’s Tenure For Life. From Scully’s last stand came the infamous Judge Harm, Homer winding up in trouble with Moe’s (and starting his own bar), Burns falling in love, and the fate of Smithers’s dad finally being revealed. I only covered the five Scully era episodes in this season, as well as an extra Scully-era episode, “How I Spent My Strummer Vacation” from Season 14. (Note that the last episode reviewed was “The Parent Rap”, on the grounds that it was the last episode of Scully’s last production season.)

  1. Treehouse of Horror XII
  2. The Parent Rap
  3. Homer the Moe
  4. A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love
  5. The Blunder Years
  6. How I Spent My Strummer Vacation (Season 14)

Wrap-Up

Top 20 Episodes

The Simpsons Movie

Simpsons Life-Support Watch:

My posts dedicated to developments in the show’s production, be it renewals or cast changes.