Friday, February 17, 2012

MY NAME ISN'T KRUSTY THE KLOWN. IT'S HERSCHEL KRUSTOFSKY. MY FATHER WAS A RABBI. HIS FATHER WAS A RABBI.  HIS FATHER'S FATH ... WELL, YOU GET THE IDEA:  We, too, will offer the Poniewozik/Sepinwall challenge in advance of Sunday night's 500th episode of The Simpsons: name one -- and only one -- episode of the show which is your favorite.

Mine is the one referenced in the title, and per their challenge I will not list the 5-10 others I could have chosen.  Nor should you.

54 comments:

  1. Benner10:31 AM

    The Simpsons go into foster care with the Flanderses.

    ReplyDelete
  2. NeatoTorpedo10:44 AM

    Sideshow Bob runs for Mayor.  If for no other reason than the disclosure statement on the willie horton spot against Quimby.

    ReplyDelete
  3. bristlesage10:53 AM

    It's so tempting to put the shortlist so you all know what else was in contention, but it's a form of hedging, I guess.  So I'll say just one: "Hurricane Neddy".  Swanson Angry Man Dinners!  The University of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol!  "GOD WELCOMES HIS VICTIMS"!  "Now I'm Prune Tracy!"  Flanders's dismantling of the town's efforts to rebuild his house! 

    Delightful, is my point.

    ReplyDelete
  4. While there are many I could name, I'll have to stake my claim on "Marge vs. the Monorail."

    ReplyDelete
  5. Tosy and Cosh11:05 AM

    Bart Sells His Soul. Funny, moving, even a little creepy (that dream sequence . . . )

    ReplyDelete
  6. Professor Jeff11:12 AM

    Matt took my top choice, but I also have a professional and personal fondness for "Lisa the Iconoclast," in which the true history of Jebediah Springfield is revealed, thereby embiggening even the smallest man.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Meghan11:13 AM

    Cape Feare. It's the circle of rakes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I will be shocked if the vast majority of selections DON'T come from 1990-1998.  For me, the one episode (of the two dozen or so that come to mind immediately) would have to be "Lisa's Substitute".  Not the *funniest* ep they've done, but probably the most moving. I even quoted it in another comment yesterday: "You mean there is a place where my intelligence is an asset and not a liability?"

    ReplyDelete
  9. Also, this ep has a terrific B-plot, with Bart running against Martin for class president.  "He says there are no easy answers. I say he's not looking hard enough!"

    ReplyDelete
  10. pfrduke11:31 AM

    You don't win friends with salad.  You don't win friends with salad.  You don't win friends with salad.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We can do a whole other post -- and we may this weekend -- on Greatest Single Gag/Quote on The Simpsons -- but let's be clear that this is not that post.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Bart's Inner Child.  I still shout "We Like Roy!" from time to time.

    ReplyDelete
  13. gtv200011:47 AM

    Is there anyone else here who has never watched a single episode?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dave S11:49 AM

    You Only Move Twice.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Andrew11:54 AM

    Probably because I was just talking about dental plans, I'll go with Last Exit to Springfield and won't mention the other dozen episodes that I would name in slightly different moods.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mr. Plow.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Jenn C12:03 PM

    Lisa the Vegetarian is also my favorite, esp the conversation about the wonderful, magical animal that bacon, ham, and pork chops come from. 

    ReplyDelete
  18. Janice12:08 PM

    Summer of 4 Ft. 2 (Simpsons go to the Flanders beach house, Lisa gets friends, Bart gets jealous and tries to ruin it)--I might quote other episodes more frequently, but this one's closest to my heart.  "I tried being myself, and that didn't work.  I tried being someone else and THAT didn't work.  I guess I'm just not meant to have friends."  I very nearly weep every time.  Also, the boys playing Mystery Date--POINTDEXTER!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Devin McCullen12:14 PM

    "22 Short Films About Springfield". Arguably for the Skinner/Chalmers scene on its own.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I've never been a regular viewer, but I'll go with "Homer Phobia."

    ReplyDelete
  21. heathalouise12:20 PM

    Homer Simpson vs. The City of New York. The "Flushing Meadows" sequence, the crappy musical about a thinly veiled Robert Downey Jr. checking into rehab. Mad magazine! I love it, and it sucks that 9/11 causes it to be imbued with so much more emotional baggage. (I don't mean for that to sound glib if it does.) I actually showed that episode in my TV criticism classes.

    ReplyDelete
  22. heathalouise12:22 PM

    That's my runner-up!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm also a big fan of Apu's remark about non-alcoholic beer in that one.

    ReplyDelete
  24. And Ralph's proud "When I grow up, I'm going to Bovine University!"

    ReplyDelete
  25. Mr. Plow, which just never lets up: "It's a pornography store. I was buying pornography." The Adam West cameo, the Sorcerer reference (had me on the floor the first time I saw it, and it's still funny), the Mr. Plow theme song...the show was at the height of its brilliance then.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Marsha1:01 PM

    Aw, that was mine!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Marsha1:02 PM

    Linda Ronstadt!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. kd bart1:52 PM

    "Dad, why did you bring me to a gay steel mill?"

    ReplyDelete
  29. Streetcar!

    ReplyDelete
  30. kd bart2:06 PM

    "Mel Brooks is Jewish?"

    ReplyDelete
  31. isaac_spaceman2:10 PM

    I like that one that people are always quoting all the time. 

    ReplyDelete
  32. Becca2:23 PM

    I have also never really watched a full episode.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Tosy and Cosh2:32 PM

    Bart rowing in circles is one of my favorite metaphors ever. Not sure for what, but I love it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  34. That one's a perfectly cromulent episode.

    ReplyDelete
  35. pfrduke2:46 PM

    Completely understood - that was a vote for Lisa the Vegetarian as the favorite episode.  So much good stuff - in addition to what people have already pointed out, there's the BBBQ / BYOBB invite, and "it's just a little airborne, it's still good, it's still good."

    ReplyDelete
  36. GoldnI3:31 PM

    Last Exit to Springfield.

    Lisa needs braces!  Dental plan.  Lisa needs braces! Dental plan.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Dan Pohlig4:58 PM

    Definitely Deep Space Homer.
    <pre>Stupid carbon rod. It's all just a popularity contest!</pre>

    ReplyDelete
  38. Moaning Lisa, season 1

    ReplyDelete
  39. worst repeated word ever

    ReplyDelete
  40. I Love Lisa.  I find the redemption of Ralph moving. 

    ReplyDelete
  41. A Streetcar Named Marge.
    "Stella!  Stella!  Can't you hear me yell-a?  You put me through hell-a! Stella!  STELLA!"

    ReplyDelete
  42. Joseph J. Finn6:00 PM

    You Only Move Twice.  Four solid stories, each member of the family getting their due, the single best guest voice appearance ever, a Bond parody story that my wife (a Bond nut) notes that is from people who seriously love even the bad Moore movies (all of them), and it has a hammock district.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Jenn.6:46 PM

    My first thought was Monorail, but I'll also through out there Treehouse of Horror IV.  Forbidden donut....

    ReplyDelete
  44. This episode won me $500!

    ReplyDelete
  45. J. Bowman7:33 PM

    Homer at the Bat, without which I would not know the correct rules of softball.

    ReplyDelete
  46. J. Bowman7:33 PM

    Homer at the Bat, without which I would not know the correct rules of softball.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Andrew9:31 PM

    Pretty much every episode that's been listed here (and discussed on Twitter and at Sepinwall's), I can endorse as a Best. Episode. Ever. Even though I think post-season 8 the show became a different entity, there are so many Great episodes from the run of the show.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Megan9:47 PM

    "The Good, The bad and the drugly" because of it's great Milhouse quotes; "Suprised to see me at sea level?" and the Milhouse collector's plate series.

    ReplyDelete
  49. "Meat and You: Partners in Freedom"
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bps-xbo8wnA

    "Don't kid yourself, Jimmy, if a cow could, he'd eat you and everyone you care about."

    ReplyDelete
  50. "You know me, Marge.  I like my beer cold, my steak rare, and my homosexuals flaming."

    ReplyDelete
  51. <span>"He prefers the company of men." "Who doesn't?"</span>

    ReplyDelete
  52. Actually came here to cite the same episode, for the same reason.  Absolutely classic scene.  "The Northern Lights.  At this time of year.  In this part of the country.  Localized entirely within your kitchen?"  "Yes!"

    ReplyDelete
  53. Agree about the voice appearance.  Brooks was brilliant in that one.

    ReplyDelete