
Even casual Simpsons fans would do well not to remember the Mr Plow jingle, but it’s the absurdity of the episode’s set-ups that are most fondly recalled. This episode marked the moment where the show went from a pretty damn good cartoon to one of the all-time greats. Why it’s one of the best: Now we’re reaching classic territory. The episode: Homer finds success by starting up a snow plow business but best friend Barney tries to muscle in on his turf. One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish (season 2, episode 11)

His reluctance not to touch anything in the past – thanks to, weirdly, his father’s wedding day warning – gives way to Homer going all smashy-smashy with a baseball bat and messing up the timelines for good. The highlight of the episode, though, is Homer’s time travelling adventures. Nightmare Cafeteria, complete with gross-out ending, also brings the chills and the chuckles, particularly with the outlandish Principal Skinner puns that have no intention of hiding the fact he’s eating elementary school students. The Shinning (we don’t want to get sued) is a note-perfect parody of the Stanley Kubrick classic – with a delightfully Simpsons feel to it as Homer goes crazy due to a lack of beer and TV. Why it’s one of the best: This topped our best Treehouse of Horror episodes list - and for good reason. The episode: The fifth instalment of the show’s legendary Treehouse of Horror series, this episode features a parody of The Shining, Homer travelling through time with disastrous consequences, and Springfield Elementary being turned into a Sweeney Todd-style eatery. Treehouse of Horror 5 (season 6, episode 6) Not too bad for a silly animated series, eh? 21. It’s a first-rate episode with the added dimension of it being a more-than-passable crime mystery as well. Yeah…Įven with that nonsensical reveal (which would be roundly mocked by the show itself in the years to come), the episode is packed with the crème de la crème of Simpsons hallmarks from this period: obscure references (including a whole Twin Peaks parody that was probably lost on 80% of the audience) and absurd plot beats, but there’s so much more than that too.įor one thing, it’s a genuine mystery you can still go back and piece together, and its irreverent, offbeat ending - which sees everyone involved brushed off the murder, leaving no consequences for the murderous Maggie Simpson - was unlike anything else at the time. Then it turns out it was the baby all along.
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To put it mildly, this was a mystery that gripped a nation in the summer of 1995 as even a telephone contest and TV special – with Vegas odds, no less – was set up to try and figure out whodunnit.

While both episodes aired separately, and make up one of only two serialised stories in Simpsons history, one doesn’t work without the other. Why it’s one of the best: Okay, this one is a bit of a cheat. He’s only stopped in his tracks by a mysterious assailant who shoots him just outside Springfield’s town hall. Burns goes on a tyrannical tirade and manages to block out the sun.

Burns? Parts One and Two (season 6, episode 25 and season 7, episode 1) It’s a great commentary of the show, with enough laugh-out-loud moments to rival some of the show’s golden years. Homer’s a pushy star hooked on drugs, Bart and Lisa tire of the show’s one-note and repetitive plotlines, and narrator Jim Forbes decries the tacky merchandise pushed out in the show’s name. A meta deconstruction of everything that was good (and bad) about the show, "Behind the Laughter" captured the lightning-in-a-bottle effect of what made the series’ early years so magical but turned it on its head with the genius concept of giving the origin story of The Simpsons a fictional documentary.
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Why it’s one of the best: Ideally, this should have served as the series finale to The Simpsons.

The episode: A parody of VH1’s Behind the Music, the episode re-imagines the Simpsons as a real-life TV show, complete with behind-the-scenes interviews with Homer (the creator of the show) and his supporting cast.
