There's no single Simpsons episode that has absolutely everything: this isn't a heartfelt episode, and it doesn't really feature the rest of Springfield, which are key ingredients in so many episodes on this list. But the winning gag in Itchy & Scratchy Land is the 'Bort' license plate in the park's gift shop – a masterful creation that's inspired the best Simpsons meme group on the internet, which is the last non-cursed thing on Facebook. "Mom, dad! Bart's dead!" followed by "That's right! Dead serious about going to Itchy & Scratchy Land!" is a top-tier joke in this episode. But it's the cloud of terrible Simpsons holidays past hanging over the family's trip that makes this episode so funny, as Marge faces the doomed reality that Homer and Bart will find a way to ruin this vacation like they always do. Itchy & Scratchy Land is functionally a parody of Westworld, as the robots working at the park come to life, as well as a riff on Disneyland. Picking a single episode as The Simpsons' best is truly difficult – so we've opted for a big, funny storyline featuring every member of the family for our number one. You Only Move Twice (season 8, episode 2) It's all wonderfully inventive, and it's amazing The Simpsons hasn't tried this format again in the intervening years, given that a few classic episodes like Kamp Krusty have been revisited in the modern era. Cletus' theme song rhyming 'folk'll' with 'yokel' Moe locking himself behind bulletproof glass while Snake robs him Nelson laughing at a tall man in a small car. That Skinner sacrifices his own mother to a house fire to placate Chalmers remains a brilliant gag.īut this whole episode, which divided up scripting duties between the very talented Simpsons writing room, is full of highlights. Even before that was a thing, though, the segment between Seymour Skinner and Chalmers was masterful – a hilariously detailed encounter between a failing suck-up and his constantly incredulous boss. Rosebud (season 5, episode 4)Ī high-concept anthology inspired by Pulp Fiction (opens in new tab), this episode is now best known as the origin of the 'Steamed Hams' meme. It also features the all-time great joke that Skinner is writing a novel about dinosaurs in a futuristic amusement park: it's called Billy and the Cloneasaurus, much to Apu's chagrin. This episode, written by future showrunners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein (Oakley would write the legendary Steamed Hams skit featuring Skinner), deepens the Skinner character and shows the dimensions to his relationship with Bart. He eventually returns to the army, until Bart manages to get Flanders fired. After Bart brings Santa's Little Helper to school and the dog wreaks chaos – resulting in a near-naked Groundskeeper Willie landing on Superintendent Chalmers – Skinner is fired and replaced by Ned Flanders.īart and an unemployed Skinner form a sweet friendship as his former nemesis deals with a more pitiful, tedious existence. The 100th episode of The Simpsons focused on one of the show's best supporting characters, Principal Seymour Skinner (or Armin Tamzarian, but we don't need to get into all that).
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