askchapo

I would like to take this opportunity to dissect one of the greatest joke writing in modern TV history (and thereby ruining it)

Homer Simpson (to a car full of completely disinterested kids): "Now, Grand Funk Railroad paved the way for Jefferson Airplane which cleared the way for Jefferson Starship."

The first layer of the joke is Homer being a typical uncool dad, talking about bands that were cool when he was growing up to kids who really didn't care. It's relatable, and in line with Homer not being cool. Most people can relate to this, it works on a surface level as a joke for the plot.

The second layer of the joke is that what he said doesn't make any sense, Jefferson Airplane predates Grand Funk Railroad by 4 years. It's in line with Homer being stupid and/or misremembering key facts while he's confidently lecturing kids about something seemingly important to him. The second layer of the joke for people who know about classic rock history.

The third layer of the joke is that he's talking about the band names: Railroad > Airplane > Starship. He was never talking about the music of the bands he was listing to disinterested kids, he was talking about the modes of transport in the band names. The third layer of the joke is probably missed by most people upon first viewing even if they caught the second layer of Homer stating something wrong as a fact to children he was trying to educate.

All this in less than 10 seconds. The line works for the scene, helps progress the plot, is in character both for Homer's intelligence/misplaced confidence as well as feeling uncool and dated. This isn't even the funniest thing golden age Simpsons pumped out nor the best episode overall.

God what a great TV show.

Early Simpsons is Season 1 - 8 which almost everyone thinks is good except for people who think Season 1 is too wonky (the wonkiness comes from some Season 1 episodes more resembling longer Tracey Ullman shorts than actual Simpsons episodes) or purists who think Season 8 was when the Simpsons started to run out of ideas. Seasons 9 - 12 was when Mike Scully is showrunner, and it's a contentious 4 seasons. Most Simpsons fans would say that the decline in quality was underway by the time Scully was showrunner. The argument is mostly when. Did the decline began in the second half of Season 8, did it happen in Season 9 with that infamous episode with Skinner, did it happen at the end of Season 10, did it happen in Season 13 when Al Jean took over showrunning duties, and so on? Everyone has their own hot take.

I'm a traditionalist. The Tracey Ullman shorts are awesome although mostly interesting as a historical curiosity if you're not a Simpsons fan, Season 1 - 8 are the good seasons, the Scully years are hit and miss, with more hits in Season 9 - 10 and more misses in Season 11 - 12, and Al Jean taking over showrunning duties is when the Simpsons became what many people term Zombie Simpsons. The movie is whatevs and while many Simpsons Youtubers swear by the newer seasons not sucking as hard, especially since Al Jean is no longer a full-time showrunner, I can't find myself caring after all these decades. Plus, it's very painful hearing Marge's VA these days.

The episode which introduces Frank Grimes is memorable. Think what would happen if a person outside the Simpsons universe moved into Springfield and became Homer's coworker.

I'm a huge Simpsons fan and I agree that seasons 1-12ish are peak TV. The show stays good until like season 15 but definitely starts to slip a little after 12. Nearly all the Treehouse of Horror episodes are really fun. I'm also partial to the Sideshow Bob episodes like Cape Feare where the family has to change their identity and relocate because of him & Sideshow Bob Roberts where he runs for mayor. Nearly every episode is a banger though, the show had so much heart back then.

Honestly, I can’t really think of any memorable episodes even though I enjoyed the early seasons.

Actually now that I think about, I like the episode where Homer becomes a genius. He proved that god wasn’t real, and it also showed that Flanders was also a genius enough to understand the proof and destroyed it so no one else could find out lol

The episode where the Bleeding Gums dies, and Lisa is crying in her room. Homer comes in while holding Maggie and sits next to Lisa and tells her to not worry because they can go to the pound and get a new jazzman. The image of Homer taking care of his baby while also being a naive father makes the moment very sweet even if it ultimately made Lisa cry even harder lol

I like the episodes where Homer somehow has a deep understanding of an abstract/difficult concept, like when he schools Apu for trying to fix his karma then slams the door

There’s also the one where Moe steals Homer’s alcoholic drink and his bar becomes the hot trendy bar. I like it because of the Flamin Moe song they sang lol

I was in The Simpsons twice. AMA.

1. I'm going to be one of those people and say that peak simpsons was seasons 3-7. Afterwards they try to get too clever for their own good, lampshading everything and mostly not even bothering to write actual endings to episodes. Sometimes it works, but often times it just doesn't. You could kinda feel they were running out of stories they could fully realize within 23 minutes. But it's very lofty criticism, very few shows manage to be as consistently excellent as the Simpsons were for its golden age. It's still the greatest show of all time.
2. There's too many to choose from: "Lisa's Substitute" might be as heartfelt as the show ever got, "Last Exit to Springfield" is just a completely irreverent joke parade for 23 minutes, "Bart's Comet" somehow goes from ridiculous spectacle and chaos to quiet and poignant, "Treehouse of Horror III" (and IV and V) are peak pop-culture parodies (the kind you can't make anymore).

I really really love the Simpsons, don't think there is any other show that's as dear to my heart as it. Still remember the first time I ever saw it, when my dad watched "Faith Off", the episode where Bart becomes a miracle faith healer on his PC with a TV tuner card.

I'm a 4th level Simpsons Fan, I only watch the Tracey Ullman shorts.

I lived for treehouse of horror episodes

All episodes starting from the second season until circa 2000 are gold. After having told every story the scripts and characters descended into ridiculousness.

My favourite episode is the one where Homer wants to become a clown. It's so stuffed with jokes and silly ideas.

without question the best comedy tv show of all time, even though by now there are more bad seasons than good ones. honestly probably the peak of amerikkkan culture

Death to America

1. idk seasons 1-12?
2. individual episodes are "great many theory", the quality of the show is not captured in a single episode. but everyone like's the monorail episode so

I remember watching the early seasons of the Simpsons a very long time ago. I keep thinking I'll go back and try to rewatch from the beginning and then I see that its got something like 50 seasons now and I honestly think I will die before I'd ever be able to catch up.

Lord of the flies episode

I'd agree with ColonelKataffy, 1-12 are the good ones imo. The show definitely starts changing towards the end of those seasons but its still good. Just different from season 2/3.

I really enjoy the Mr Burns episodes. Three eyes on every fish, bart gets hit by a car, Burns' Heir, Homer The Smithers, Mountain Of Madness, and The Old Man And The Lisa. (there are more but those are just the ones I can think of right now)

As far as ones outside of those seasons I'd consider grabbing the treehouse of horror episodes, they stay better for longer imo and from what I've heard even modern Simpsons has good treehouse episodes sometimes. There's also some sideshow bob episodes after season 12 iirc so if you get involved with that plot line you might want to grab those too.

Also grab the movie, its worth a watch.

Season 4 & 5

It's interesting that the episode that is often brought up as a jumping the shark moment takes its setup from a right wing conspiracy theory (MIA-POW, Principle Skinner is a fake).

The Simpsons Promo from 1989

I'm a purist, the decline can be tracked from season 7 but 1-8 maybe 9 are well worth watching. 7 is still great but it's where a lot of the humour started becoming less grounded and into more wacky famy guy humour