The other day I was thinking if there was any Simpsons song that was still stuck in my head sometimes, and yes, there is. It's the happy birthday song for Lisa sung by Bart and "Michael Jackson".

Another classic episode.

"See My Vest" likes to get stuck in my head.

The two songs that they sing in the Musical of the Planet of the apes will probably never leave my head, especially the first one!

Also "Who needs the Kwik E mart?" and that one Lisa sings at the nuclear power plant.

"He lied to us through song. I hate it when people do that!"

Been watching new episodes of Treehouse of Horror because of Halloween. Surprisingly some aren't too terrible, which I think is because Treehouse of Horror generally doesn't feature to many recent pop culture references, Treehouse of Horror XVIII was good despite the Mrs and Mr Smith parody, but even that wasn't too bad, more so dumb it's good humour. ET Parody with Kang was the best and worth a watch.

Behind the Laughter from Season 11 is the most entertaining episode overall for me. It would have worked nicely as the 'final episode' of the Simpsons.

"Lisa's Rival", which features this gem:

My all-time favorite is 'Much Apu About Nothing' (season 7, 'sode 23, according to Wikipedia), where they have the referendum to determine whether or not they want to kick all illegal immigrants out of Springfield. So many solid moments like Kent Brockman's "A large bear-like animal, most likely a bear, has wandered down from the hills in search of food or perhaps employment," (This was certainly bad news for the ... Impson family) and Grampa's whole narrative about how he actually emigrated to the states as a child. The political satire is pretty sharp as well and it's only gotten more relevant over time with Trump bellowing his absurd plan of kicking all illegal immigrants out of the country.


Special props also go to 'Team Homer' (S7-13). This is the one where Homer's Bowling team gets turned upside-down when Mr. Burns joins it. It also features a subplot where Springfield Elementary gets uniforms that destroy the kids' individuality to the point that they start blinking in unison.

And then Moe, one of the most outspoken people in Springfield against immigrants, turned out to be one in the end

Oh man, how could I forget the bowling episode? "You can do it, Otto!"

The one where Homer meets his half-brother is pretty good as well. Never got around the one where his half-brother returns, though.

I've been meaning to compile a list of the best episodes which to me are the ones that tell a compelling story that actually make you care about the characters.

One of my favorites that I never see anyone mention is "Dancin' Homer"
It's the one where Homer recounts his failed attempt at becoming a baseball mascot. His narration through the events is great and I really love the dialog at the end, I dont have the episode on hand at the moment so but it goes something like:
Barney: That's a great story Homer.
Homer: Hey you guys are hanging on my every word. I wonder why stories of degradation and humiliation make you so popular.
Moe: I don't know, they just do.


As far as jokes go my favorite characters is Groundskeeper Willie, he has some amazing moments over the run of the series.

"Put him with the big white guy who thinks he's the little black guy"

My favorite one is Homer Goes To College, I remember laughing every few seconds and that lecture hall scene is GOLD.


Also Nelson getting a note that says "Guess who likes you" and Milhouse is staring at him, then he's carried out unconscious.

I seriously spent my entire childhood watching every episode but I stopped once the laughter died, around the time Bart found Dennis Leary's cellphone. Terrible Viagra joke.

Cape Feare. I've seen it so many times and it's still as funny as it ever was.

Even though they aren't quite as 'laugh out loud' funny as some of the mid-to-late-era episodes, I love early episodes such as Bart the Genius and Bart Gets an "F". Watching them for the first time as a typical underachieving 10-year-old who dreaded having to do schoolwork, I found them very relatable and reassuring. There was an earnestness to those early episodes that tended to get lost as the series became more zany and slapstick.

That list will probably be made up mostly of episodes from Seasons 1 and 2. Went back and saw a few episodes from back then not too long ago and was surprised by how emotionally intense they can get. In each one, it seems, Homer and Marge are constantly on the verge of separating. There's one (sorry, but I can't remember which) where Homer tries to jump off a bridge with a boulder in his arms to kill himself.

And then there's 'Bart the Daredevil', where Bart starts jumping over things on his skateboard and eventually says he's going to jump Springfield Gorge but Homer intervenes and says he'll do it instead. He knows this'll kill him but knows threatening to do this is the only thing that could convince Bart of how stupid his behavior is.

Damn. That's pretty heavy.

I loved The Simpsons when I was a kid, but it does nothing for me now. I honestly view it as a dry run for Futurama, which is better in all ways. The Simpsons did have some funny stuff, and I enjoyed the movie, but Futurama was a masterpiece, and it's a shame that it never got the recognition it deserved.

Another really 'emotional' episode was "Duffless" from Season 4, it really paints Homer in a much different light than usual, and actually has a very serious and actually kind of dark message in the end, when he realizes how alcohol has ruined his and his friends lives.

As far as newer episodes go, I can't say I've seen many. I honestly don't think "the decline" really took hold until season 18 or so (2006-2007), with the show hitting rock bottom with seasons 22 & 23 (2011-2012) with some of the worst episodes in the show's history (namely: "Love is a Many Strangled Thing" & "Lisa Goes Gaga", respectively). But what little I've seen since then has been remarkably better and more fresh, sadly I have not seen a single episode from either of the most recent seasons (my DVR for some reason didn't record them, and I'm too busy to sit around watching TV all day anyway - really The Simpsons is the only TV show I even watch ). I'll have to try and seek them out somewhere else.



To me, it's the other way around. The Simpsons is a masterpiece, and Futurama is just a show. Now, Futurama doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel like The Simpsons has at times (case in point: the aforementioned "Lisa Goes Gaga" or "Love is a Many Strangled Thing"), but it also never reaches the soaring heights either (case in point: "Fear of Flying", "Bart vs. Australia", "You Only Move Twice", "Marge vs. the Monorail", "Homer's Enemy", etc)...Futurama is a good and very funny show - arguably much more consistent in the long run, but to me it's nothing compared to classic The Simpsons.

It's got a great message but I couldn't stop laughing at Homer falling into the gorge, only to fall again from the ambulance crashing.


I agree that Futurama is better in all ways, and I would love a Futurama thread if it warrants one, but The Simpsons has many special episodes, too.

Always liked the Treehouse of Horror episodes the best, especially 'The Shinnin'' and 'Homega Man' - Homer rocking out to War naked in the church lmfao.

When the Simpsons family goes to Itchy And Scratchy Land

Bart: "Cool! Personalized plates! Barclay...Barry...Bert...Bort??? Oh come on, BORT?!"
Kid: "Mommy, mommy! Buy me a license plate!"
Mom: "No! Come along, Bort!"
Man: "Are you talking to me?"
Mom: "No...my son is also named Bort."

Also this:

"We are now approaching our final destination, Itchy and Scratchy Land. The amusement park of the future where nothing can "possiblie" go wrong. Uh, possibly go wrong. Heh. That's the first thing that's ever gone wrong."

Ha. Thread, back from the dead. Oh well The Simpsons is worth it

I think he's saying that Futurama should be remembered and revered as much as The Simpsons and South park are. Obviously Futurama isn't some obscure carton series, but when you ask a random person about American cartoons, they'll mention the likes of Simpsons, South park, Family Guy and even American Dad before Futurama.

yeah most of the top places on my list will be episodes from the early seasons. The show slowly lost its emotion and charm but there are good ones even as far as season 9. I can't really remember any after that but I only have up to season 10 there was a significant drop in quality on that season so I decided to stop buying them after that. I did watch up to around season 20 when they originally aired.

I wonder what will they do for the 666th episode if they go that far. They have already 596 episodes.

Still remember watching the very first episode with my friend and our parents back in the day, it was a big deal, a precious moment. I haven't watched anything from the last 5 or so seasons unfortunately and I had to delete a completely full DVR of all of them. I don't watch TV anymore, it's basically netflix or nothing and my wife didn't really get why the few simpsons episodes she watched were funny, but enjoyed south park for it's less subtleness I suppose :/

Off the top of my head I have to pick the Insanity Peppers / Chili Cook Off episode because that trip Homer goes on is amazing. "Sun goes up, sun goes down, sun goes up, sun goes SMASH" "Note to self, stop doing anything" Similarly the weed smoking episode is great. Or when they watch Mr Burn's mansion, or so many of the treehouse of horrors, etc. etc.

It's Kurns, stupid!

Yep, that's exactly what I meant. I know it's not an obscure show, but the shows you mention here have far larger audiences than Futurama ever did; Futurama basically became a large cult show. It's easy to see why: its sense of humor appeals to nerds, geeks, and anyone with the kinds of interests associated with nerds and geeks. Of course, you've also got slapstick, black humor, toilet humor, and several other types of humor at play, but the scope of the show is narrower overall than The Simpsons. The other thing that makes The Simpsons easier for mass-appeal is its lack of continuity; you can tune in to any episode without having seen any prior ones and enjoy it for itself. Futurama had a beginning, a middle, and an end, with characters that grew and developed, with lives and desires you really could care about. But unless you've watched the whole thing in order, coming in on a random episode might be a bit confusing, since it's part of a larger whole. Of course, there were a lot of episodes that worked just fine by themselves. But to really get everything out of it that it had to offer, it required some investment of time from the viewer. And not everyone can or wants to devote a bunch of time to a TV show. The Simpsons doesn't demand that of you. So that explains the popularity and longevity of The Simpsons (in part), but it's a shame Futurama is forever in its shadow. There's so much thought, creativity, and heart in this show; it's just wonderful. It goes without saying that it's hilarious, but at times it was powerfully moving and tear-jerking. Tell me you didn't at least tear up when you saw 'Jurassic Bark'! Or that you didn't feel Fry's disappointment when he moved the stars to write out, 'I love you, Leela,' and she didn't even see it. So many great moments. I need to watch it again now, haha.

Oh yeah, this show gave me one of my favorite quotes of all time, one that I work into conversation whenever possible: 'You can trust anything!'

I remember vividly watching the first ever Futurama episode back in... 2000? What year did the show debut in again? And I also remember that amusement park in the moon episode and that episode where they take all the trash on Earth to Outer Space. And that cruise episode.

I own the first season on DVD. It's a good nostalgia bomb.

The insanity peppers episode is awesome; probably my favorate one. Or the one where the kids end up stranded on the island after Otto crashes the bus- some epic quotes in that one ("We'll live like kings!! Damn hell ass kings!") Homer vs New York City is pretty funny too; for years, they quit showing that episode since it had the original World Trade Center towers in it.

I personally think Futurama's characters are one note, overly odd/overtly weird place holders which I never found particularly funny and that's why I never liked it as much as The Simpsons. Continuity is a minor aspect, if you can't get into the characters by just tuning in then that's the writers fault for not making them accessible and not just odd place holders on a wacky sci-fi journey, but it's really that the hijinks/encounters and the setup/pay offs aren't as memorable or as funny. Sure there's some great funny moments but they're few and far between.

^That's a good episode.

"Hey mister, that's a candle! You don't want candle wax in your mouth do you?"
"Maybe I do, son....maybe I do..."

I think what makes Futurama work is just the setting is so much more imaginative and interesting than The Simpsons'. If Futurama were just set in the modern day with weird but normal humans, it wouldn't be half the show. Not that that's a knock against it - after all, the setting is right in the title - but it does mean that they're good for different reasons. I like both shows a lot, but Futurama is more about wacky adventures in weird and interesting places with familiar (if a bit one-dimensional) characters to make quips, while the Simpsons is more about building clever jokes and funny situations with their characters in a more traditional sitcom way.

I guess it's hard for me to pick one episode of The Simpsons to be an all-time favorite, but one of my favorites that gets overlooked is "Mom & Pop Art." Starts off as a fairly typical episode, but with solid jokes (making Lisa lay the concrete, the complete clusterfuck making the grill, the farce of his attempt to return the grill). Then it twists the typical narrative a bit with Homer getting wildly successful doing something Marge likes - Homer's Eurotrash hangers-on offer one of my favorite Simpsons lines ever:


And everyone knows "everything's coming up Millhouse!"

Then of course it all falls apart in typical Homer-scheme style, but afterwards it goes hard left, with Homer doubling down on crazy schemes, which ends up working with ridiculously positive results. It's one of the very few "Homer wins" episodes, in which he proves Marge and everyone else wrong, and it's a good'un.

Futurama is world's better than The Simpsons, even if I don't like every episode, but I find the good episodes outweigh the good Simpsons episodes (and there's heaps of those, too). Plus Futurama has a lot of sad/emotion-charged moments that are fairly awesome, too.



I'm still gutted that it was cancelled.


That grill scene is one of the best things ever, haha. "English side ruined! Must use French instructions! 'Le grill'? What the hell is that?"

Yeah but didn't they make three movies and a short run of new episodes?

You should be so lucky Futurama's purposefulness and humour wasn't run directly six feet under, milked and it's corpse beaten like The Simpsons will continue being.

Just recently, I watched on of the most hilarious episodes ever - "Homer the Heretic". Back in the early days, the Simpsons were so, so much funnier. I can't even count the number of times I laughed out loud from watching that episode, LOL.

Another one of my favorites is from season 6 - "Homer Bad Man". OMG, so, so many hilarious moment that episode!

Has anyone here read Simpsons Bongo Comics? I remember reading some back in the early 2000s. A story I liked was one where Flanders had an evil twin "Flanders Goes Bad" or wtv that was.

They made four movies, each of which counted as a season, and then they did two or three seasons after those. As much as part of me wishes the show went on, I'm with you: it's good they ended it before it became a shallow parody of itself.