Top 5 Episodes from each season of Simpsons cont...
Season 4
5. Lisa’s First Word - Marge tells the story of Lisa being born and her first word.
Aw, this one’s just sweet. Plus it kinda takes place in the same year I was born. Fun trivia: Elizabeth Taylor was the voice of Maggie for her first word. In my mind, it’s Simpson’s second best flashback episode.
4. Selma’s Choice - Selma wants to have kids, so as a trial she takes the kids to Duff Gardens.
“I am the lizard queen!” I enjoyed all of the Duff Gardens stuff, especially the ridiculous take on “It’s a Small World”, but also Surly, ‘cause “Surly looks out for Surly”.
3. A Streetcar Named Marge - Marge plays Blanche DuBois in the community theatre musical “Oh Streetcar!” (a take on A Streetcar Named Desire).
This was my first introduction to A Streetcar Named Desire, and to be honest, when we finally had to read Tennessee Williams’ classic in high school, it kind of paled in comparison. I like that Marge finally shows some backbone and goes out and does something for herself, and realizes that Homer’s kind of a buffoon. But then Homer redeems himself in the end, as usual. Marge’s singing is also pretty bad, but it doesn’t take away from the musical numbers.
2. Marge vs. the Monorail - The City of Springfield falls into some money, and the town decides to use it to build a monorail.
Oh Phil Hartman, the characters he played were all pretty genius, and this one-bit part as a monorail shyster was pretty awesome. It seems I really like the musical eps, since this is the second one in a row for this season. Also, there’s a Leonard Nimoy cameo, how could it go wrong?! “A solar eclipse: the cosmic ballet…continues”.
1. Last Exit to Springfield - Homer becomes the union boss for the power plant, leading the workers as they go on strike.
Oh man, there is, like, nothing wrong with this episode. It’s insanely quotable, and it features a storyline where Homer’s actually mildly competent, albeit mostly by accident (“oh my God, is Mr. Burns coming on to me?”). “Dental plan…Lisa needs braces…dental plan…Lisa needs braces…” repeat ad nauseum. Plus Grandpa Simpson and his onion on his belt, Lisa’s strike song, Mr. Burns being the Grinch, I can pretty much recreate this entire episode in my head, which is why it consistently ranks as my all time favorite Simpsons episode.
Honorable mentions: Homer the Heretic (Homer starts his on non-church-going religion), Mr. Plow (Homer starts a plow business, “Call Mr. Plow, that’s my name…”), Brother From the Same Planet (Bart gets a Big Brother after Homer keeps letting him down…yay Phil Hartman!), and I Love Lisa (Ralph likes Lisa).