The Simpsons has been on television since 1989.
Its breath has spanned two whole generations.
Those that watched the first season as teenagers
are now halfway between the age of Homer and Grandpa.
and at the time writing there have been over 600 episodes.
But what episode can lay claim to being the best?
Essentially there really is no right answer.
But it's generally accepted that the best episodes are in the golden era of The Simpsons
i.e. between 1991's "Stark Raving Dad" and 97's "The Principal And The Pauper."
That said many claim that Season 11's "Behind The Laughter"
and Season 19's "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" are also worth your time.
So now that the 600 plus episodes have been narrowed down a bit,
which of the Golden Era best represents the classic Simpsons template?
Which episode best captures its cutting satire, timeless pop-culture references and profound visual gags
or its quotability, impressive cast of characters and familiar warmth.
How do you quantify such a subjective thing as best especially with a Simpsons episode?
What makes one episode objectively better than another?
If we're going by the YouTube model of popularity surely the number of views would be a good place to start?
So if we're going by how many people saw an episode on its initial airing,
"Bart gets an F" is number one with 33.6 million sets of eyeballs peering at Bart's tale of underachieving.
Is it the best ever?
Yes,
by this quantification.
"Bart gets an F" is the only episode using objective viewership data that can claim greatest episode.
But there's obvious issues with this thought process.
It was the season two premiere.
America was hyped the return of their favourite family.
But America wanting to watch the episode doesn't necessarily translate to an episode's quality.
Quality would only become apparent as the episode was being watched.
As such this is not conclusive.
Another metric for best-ness especially when it comes to comedy could be quotability.
Surely there's a case to be made for the episodes that are most frequently referenced
being the best episodes?
Episodes that've stuck with you and are likely to flow out of you in the right social situation.
"See you in hell, candy boys!"
But how do you measure this?
Earlier this year vlog guy Nathan Cunn used data from The Simpsons subreddit to work out
which episodes are the most referenced within the group.
Of course there's some factors to keep in mind.
These are quotes from the nerdiest Simpsons fans.
So real obscure stuff.
(Laughs) "Ni."
And the data scrape only took information from the last two years
so episodes with more widespread memes like "22 Short Films About Springfield" will rank higher.
Here's his findings:
"Last Exit To Springfield" and "Marge vs. the Monorail" come out on top
with more surprising entries like "The PTA Disbands"
"Skinner said the teachers will crack any minute purple monkey dishwasher."
and "$pringfield"
"Bart I don't want to alarm you but there may be a boogey man or boogey men in the house."
making the top 5.
Most glaring is that clearly great episodes like "Rosebud", "Mr. Plow"
and "You Only Move Twice" don't get a look-in in the top 20.
So it seems quality can't be fully measured with quotability.
Critical acclaim is another measure of greatness.
When confined to the Golden Era of The Simpsons only three episodes ever won Primetime Emmys
in the field of animated program one hour or less.
Surely this means they're the best of the best, right?
But does that make them good by Simpsons standards or by general television's?
This is similar to how the Oscars Best Picture always reflect a certain set of criteria
but may not necessarily be your best movie of the year.
"Bart Gets an Elephant" and "Lisa the Vegetarian" both won environmental or humane awards
but this is because they dealt with these issues in an agreeable manner
not necessarily because they were particularly funny or entertaining
and this speaks nothing of their objective quality.
For a more populist view, "Homer's Enemy" comes out on top
being that it's the number one rated episode on IMDb.
but IMDb has such a history of vote scamming
such as Shawshank Redemption's controversial number one position
who is to say that is really a popular choice?
Given the metrics discussed an objective best is impossible to 100% define.
Because here's the thing, taste is subjective.
You see people on social media claiming something is objectively bad
but really there is no credible way of showing that
and nothing is quite as subjective as comedy.
We as human beings are a composite of a multitude of likes, dislikes and experiences
that sum up your humor profile.
And everything that makes me laugh won't necessarily make you laugh.
Experiences vary.
Possibly your favorite episode reminds you of something external
like a particular person or experience.
Maybe you watched "Lisa's Wedding" at a memorable sleepover.
Maybe you really like "Homerpoolza" because you're really into the Smashing Pumpkins or Sonic Youth.
Maybe "Call of the Simpson" was the first episode you ever saw
so it'll always have a special place in your heart and mind.
Favorites are subjective
and liable to change from person to person.
And so to give myself a range of opinions, I asked some of my fellow youtubers for their favorites:
Hey so my favorite episodes will probably be some classic ones that everyone generally likes
but I feel that's for a reason.
I tend to find episodes I enjoy most other ones like giggle at most.
So for me the one where Homer waxes his throat so they can eat a really spicy chilli at that fair
just cracks me up.
It's his hallucinations that really get me
and being an animation geek I really enjoyed how they played with his perception of reality.
And it's got some golden gags in there as well.
"Don't quit your day job (Laughs) whatever that is."
And another favourite is the tornado one.
Again it's got some golden gags in there which elevate it in my list of favourites.
-"Let's just beat him up and take his stuff."
-"No no no, do not listen to that man."
And its the deconstruction and then rebuilding of Ned that I enjoy
and the blundering attempts are keeping him happy.
It might have been overdone to death via a popular meme
but "22 Short Stories about Springfield" is still one of my favorites
and I think it's a testament to their writing that even after its been done to death
the Steamed Hams segment is still so funny.
"I thought we were having steamed clams."
"D'oh no. I said steamed hams."
It's hard to pin down other favourite episodes but there are funny moments which I'll never forget
such as Le Grill.
"Le Grill? What the hell is that?"
My favorite Simpsons episode is "Mr. Plow."
Maybe I'm biased in saying this because it has one of the best cameos of all time,
where the family meets 60's Batman star Adam West
and it's absolutely hilarious how the kids are not impressed with who he is.
(Gasps) "The Batmobile."
(Gasps) "Adam West!"
"Hey kids, Batman!"
"Dad, that's not the real Batman."
"Of course I'm Batman. See here's a picture of me with Robin."
"Who the hell's Robin?"
"Mr. Plow" is about home totaling both the family's car in a snowstorm.
The Simpsons attempt Springfield Auto Show where a pushy salesman sells a $2,000 truck to Homer,
equipped with a plow.
This investment doesn't seem to be playing off until Homer films are catchy commercial.
"So remember call Mr Plow, that's my name. That name again is Mr Plow."
Homer soon has a bunch of customers.
Mayor Quimby even gives him the key to the city
and it's a wild ride with a bunch of cool things happening along the way.
Simpsons really captures like the youth of my childhood and it means a lot to me.
Picking a favorite episode of The Simpsons were surprisingly impossible
but put a metaphorical gun to my head in the form of a deadline
and the first one to come to mind was "You Only Move Twice."
Pure comedy gold from start to finish.
and stuffed full of incredible visual gags.
(Annoyed grunt) "Oh my god, a guy's on the floor."
Hank Scorpio is simply one of the finest characters to ever appear on the show
and Homer's obliviousness to his obvious super villainy
and the genuine friendship between the two is inspired.
"Let them go. You'll stay here with me. We'll go bowling. What's bothering them?"
There's a slight paradox though to my longtime appreciation of this episode
as one of my favorite aspects of The Simpsons is the town of Springfield itself.
I love all the other characters that populate the town that help bring The Simpsons to life
and who make Springfield feel like a place worth visiting every week.
This is a story about how the Simpsons belong in Springfield.
Almost every character appears as the Simpson family leave town
and it reminds me of what I found so special about the show
while still being totally hilarious to boot.
-"Err... You got any sugar around here?" -"Sugar, sure.
"There you go. Sorry it's not in packages."
"Want some cream?" -"Err... no."
Dan likes the space coyote episode because the animation rocks
and Dan's an animation guy.
Pixel Hipster likes the Mr. Plow episode because he's a Batman nerd.
They may not straight-up be the greatest ever episodes as determined by all the criteria I've listed before.
They are not "Last Exit to Springfield," "Cape Fear" or "Homer's Enemy"
but that doesn't mean they can't be favorites.
They mean something special to them.
My personal choice is "Last Exit to Springfield"
which admittedly is frequently cited as one of the best.
It's the entertaining tale of Homer's short-lived career in Union politics
featuring dental plans, Lisa needing braces and the best and blurst of times.
"You stupid monkey!" (Monkey hollers)
"Oh shut up."
It shows Homer succeeding due to his strengths:
His devotion to his kids, his unwillingness to compromise
and his ability to punch Lenny in the back of the head.
His weaknesses also seem to benefit him:
his weak bladder and oblivious demeanor translate to Mr. Burns as 'ruthless tactician.'
Plus he's lucky only when it's funniest.
But like Ross Talks About, I have no real personal connection to it.
It still makes me laugh louder and longer than any other
and that's just as valid.
You can delve in, look at the themes, structure
and characterization of any given episode of The Simpsons
but really it's just a bunch of funny stuff happening over 20 minute period.
It doesn't need to make sense.
It doesn't need to be over-analysed.
It's just the Simpsons.
So the best episode is whatever you want it to be.
It can be as simple as whatever makes you laugh the most.
That's such a cop-out. I want answers and a definitive best episode.
Okay I took ten of the most respected Simpsons episode lists,
took the top 30 of each list.
Give the episode ranked at number one 30 points the one at number thirty 1 points
and the ones in between respected point values.
Then I add their respective IMDB scores times by 10 to the result
and I got my answer.
"Marge Vs. The Monorail."
I mean, "Marge Vs. The Monorail" is a pretty good episode.
But is it the best?
Thanks for watching.
What is your favorite episode?
Go ahead and comment down below with your answers.
I'd like to thank Dan, Pixel Hipster and Ross for contributing to this video.
You should totally check out their channels.
As always thank you SAVVAS for contributing on Patreon.
You are a hero. See you in a couple weeks.