The Simpsons

As long as I’m saying nice things about television, let me say some nice things about the Simpsons. I was never much of a Simpsons watcher until this year. A couple of years ago I was listening to a lot of Phish and heard via the internet that Phish was going to be on an episode of the Simpsons so I watched it. It was funny. Really funny. I realized then that I’d been missing out on some pretty good stuff. Lot’s of social comment, movie and television references and some pretty on-target lampoons of many things we hold dear.

This past summer, in preparation for a drive to Denver I bought a portable DVD player so “the kids could watch in the car” and also the first two seasons of The Simpsons for “the same reason.” And that’s when I really got hooked. Hooked enough on the crystal clear quality and commentaries, in fact, that I still don’t watch the Simpsons when they’re broadcast. I just can’t deal with commercials.

So anyway, now I’m part way through Season Five (yeah – I’ve gone a little overboard) and I have decided to list some of my favorite episodes:

1. Life on the Fast Lane – Marge Takes up Bowling – Season 1
2. The Way We Was – How Homer and Marge met – Season 2
3. Homer the Heretic – Homer skips church and meets God – my all time favorite – season 4
4. Homer's Barbershop Quartet – not a fabulous episode but it’s really about the Beatles and it features George Harrison – season 5
5. One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish – Homer eats poison food and has 24 hours to live. – Season 2
6. Bart vs. Thanksgiving – features my all-time favorite line from Marge’s mother: “I have laryngitis. It hurts to talk. So I'll just say one thing... You never do anything right.” – Season 2
7. Homer Loves Flanders - Ned and Homer become best friends. Includes many great lines like when Homer yells "Hey, Flanders, over here! I got us some kick-ass seats." The funny part is that they're IN CHURCH. - Season 5