The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: #5-1.

#5 – ‘The City Of New York vs. Homer Simpson’
Season 9 – Episode 1 (Episode 179 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer allows Barney to use his car when Barney is picked to be the designated driver for that night at Moe’s Tavern. However, Barney disappears for two months with the car and returns without it. Homer searches for his car and eventually receives a letter from the City of New York. The family is excited to go there to obtain the car, but Homer, who had a bad experience in New York when he was younger, is reluctant.

#4 – ‘You Only Move Twice’
Season 8 – Episode 2 (Episode 155 Overall)

Synopsis – When Homer accepts a new job at the Globex Corporation, the Simpson family moves to Cypress Creek. Homer enjoys his new work and his easy-going boss, but is completely unaware that his boss is an evil genius and that the company is a vehicle for international extortion. The rest of the family have trouble settling in Cypress Creek and Homer must make a choice between Cypress Creek and Springfield.

#3 – ‘Selma’s Choice’
Season 4 – Episode 13 (Episode 72 Overall)

Synopsis – Marge’s Great Aunt Gladys Bouvier dies and the Simpsons, Patty, and Selma attend her funeral. During the reading of her video will, Gladys tells Patty and Selma not to die lonely and miserable like she did. Though Patty doesn’t care, Selma decides that she wants a baby. Meanwhile, Homer eats a spoiled hoagie, and becomes dreadfully ill. As a result, he can not fulfill his promise of taking Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens and Selma agrees to take them instead.

#2 – ‘Colonel Homer’
Season 3 – Episode 20 (Episode 55 Overall)

Synopsis – After Homer’s behavior at the movie theater embarrasses Marge, they have a large argument, causing Homer to head to a redneck bar where he meets a beautiful barmaid named Lurleen Lumpkin with a talent for singing. Homer becomes her manager and does everything he can to make Lurleen famous, but it takes a very long time for him to notice Lurleen has fallen in love with him. With Marge already upset and thinking Homer’s the one with the roving eyes, it’s time for him to decide on his romantic future.

#1 – ‘Last Exit To Springfield’ – READ THIS!
Season 4 – Episode 17 (Episode 76 Overall)

Synopsis – After learning that Mr. Burns’ decision to revoke their dental plan has coincided with Lisa needing braces, Homer convinces his coworkers not to give up their dental plan and becomes the new head of the workers union at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He holds talks with Mr. Burns, but these go badly because Homer is not intelligent enough to understand Burns’ sly innuendos. The plant goes on strike and Mr. Burns decides to take away the electricity for the entire town. However, this encourages the workers union and Burns decides to reach a deal with Homer.

The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: #10-6.

#10 – ‘Viva Ned Flanders’
Season 10 – Episode 10 (Episode 213 Overall)

Synopsis – When Ned Flanders reveals that he is 60 years old and looks young because he has done nothing exciting in his life, Homer decides to take him to Las Vegas, where, after a night of drunken partying, they end up married to two derelict barmaids.

#9 – ‘Life On The Fast Lane’
Season 1 – Episode 9 (Episode 9 Overall)

Synopsis – Having forgotten about Marge’s birthday, Homer rushes to the Springfield mall and impulsively buys her a bowling ball. Marge is not impressed with the gift and after discovering that he intends to use it, she decides to spite him by going bowling herself. While at the alley, she meets Jacques, a charming French bowling instructor, who offers her lessons. Jacques begins to fall for Marge and Marge undergoes a moral dilemma.

#8 – ‘Behind The Laughter’
Season 11 – Episode 22 (Episode 248 Overall)

Synopsis – In a parody of VH1’s Behind The Music, viewers take an inside look at The Simpsons‘ rise to fame, and the many scandals, feuds, and break-ups that threatened to end the show and split up the family.

#7 – ‘Itchy & Scratchy Land’
Season 6 – Episode 4 (Episode 107 Overall)

Synopsis – Bart and Lisa convince their parents to take their family vacation at the newly opened Itchy & Scratchy Land. The vacation seems to be going well, until Bart and Homer are both apprehended by the park security for assaulting a staff member dressed in an Itchy suit. Professor Frink realizes that all of the park’s Itchy & Scratchy robots will turn on their masters; an event which proves true as a horde of Itchy and Scratchy robots advance on the Simpsons.

#6 – ‘Marge vs. The Monorail’
Season 4 – Episode 12 (Episode 71 Overall)

Synopsis – After Mr. Burns is caught storing his excess nuclear waste inside Springfield Park’s trees, he is ordered to pay the town $3 million. The town is originally set to use the money to fix Main Street, but the charismatic Lyle Lanley interrupts and convinces the town to use the money to buy one of his monorails.

The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: 35 Mentions.

Hey there, kids. I sincerely hope you’ve been enjoying the month-long countdown of our 100 favorite Simpsons episodes of all-time. If you’ve been following along with us all June, there’s no doubt that you have your arguments as to why my particular list was completely wrong from start to (eventual) finish. Today, before we launch into our Top 10 next week, I wanted to briefly talk about how I took my favorite television series ever, and managed to handpick my 100 personal favorites (and 5 least-favorites).

First off, it goes without saying that this is a 100% opinion-based countdown. If you want to take the time to explain to me in detail why no episode produced in the last decade should have made the countdown, I implore you to create a list of your own, print that list out, tightly roll it up and shove it deep within the black recesses of your anal cavity, because nobody cares.

It would have been easy, sterile and boringly similar to every other Simpsons list to go that route. Therefore, I made it a point to feature a certain amount of episodes from all 20 seasons thus far. If there was a recent episode that I quite enjoyed, it took a certain amount of precedence over an episode I may have enjoyed a decade ago. I find certain ‘classic’ episodes overrated. I find certain ‘recent’ episodes underrated (Seasons 19 and 20 have been arguably the best of the new millennium). I haven’t seen that ‘Mr. Plow’ episode in forever, so it got lost in the shuffle when it came time to sift through over 220 hours of landmark TV. Stuff like that.

I stand by my countdown, but for a show with as many good episodes as The Simpsons, I can’t spotlight them all. Therefore, here is a compendium list to my Top 100; a list of 35 additional episodes that did not make my Top 100. There is at least one episode from each season here, and they all could have arguably made the Countdown. Maybe this will cork the cryholes of some of the more vocal critics out there. Enjoy!

Season 1
“Moaning Lisa” (Episode 6 Overall)
“The Telltale Head” (Episode 8 Overall)

Season 2
“Dancin’ Homer” (Episode 18 Overall)
“Dead Putting Society” (Episode 19 Overall)
“Lisa’s Substitute” (Episode 32 Overall)

Season 3
“Mr. Lisa Goes To Washington” (Episode 37 Overall)
“Bart’s Friend Falls In Love” (Episode 58 Overall)

Season 4
“Kamp Krusty” (Episode 60 Overall)
“Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” (Episode 65 Overall)
“Marge Gets A Job” (Episode 66 Overall)
“Mr. Plow” (Episode 68 Overall)
“Whacking Day” (Episode 79 Overall)

Season 5
“Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy” (Episode 95 Overall)
“Bart Gets An Elephant” (Episode 98 Overall)
“Burns’ Heir” (Episode 99 Overall)

Season 6
“Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy” (Episode 113 Overall)
“Bart’s Comet” (Episode 117 Overall)

Season 7
“Radioactive Man” (Episode 130 Overall)
“The Day The Violence Died” (Episode 146 Overall)
“The Curse Of The Flying Hellfish” (Episode 150 Overall)

Season 8
“Hurricane Neddy” (Episode 161 Overall)
“The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show” (Episode 167 Overall)

Season 9
“The Trouble With Trillions” (Episode 198 Overall)

Season 10
“Kidney Trouble” (Episode 211 Overall)
“Homer To The Max” (Episode 216 Overall)

Season 11
“Eight Misbehavin'” (Episode 233 Overall)

Season 12
“Hungry, Hungry Homer” (Episode 263 Overall)

Season 13
“Half-Decent Proposal” (Episode 279 Overall)

Season 14
“I’m Spelling As Fast As I Can” (Episode 303 Overall)

Season 15
“Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples And Teens And Gays” (Episode 321 Overall)

Season 16
“Midnight Rx” (Episode 341 Overall)

Season 17
“The Italian Bob” (Episode 364 Overall)

Season 18
“You Kent Always Say What You Want” (Episode 400 Overall)

Season 19
“Mona Leaves-a” (Episode 419 Overall)

Season 20
“Mypods and Boomsticks” (Episode 427 Overall)

Boom. Ass covered; argument averted. Sound off in the comments section and enjoy your weekend. The Top 10 arrives at the beginning of the week, and I pull the plug on my Facebook/Twitter pages at midnight tonight.

The CDP’s Top 5 Worst Simpsons Episodes Ever.

#5 – ‘Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious‘
Season 8 – Episode 13 (Episode 166 Overall)

SYNOPSIS – Marge is stressed by the demands of motherhood and the Simpsons get a magical British nanny (Sherry Bobbins), who floats down from the sky holding an umbrella. The nanny is a miracle worker, who teaches Bart and Lisa how to clean and charms everyone. However, the Simpsons cannot stop living their messy ways and the nanny’s spirit gets crushed. She leaves the family realizing that she has taught them nothing.

#4 – ‘Bart To The Future‘
Season 11 – Episode 17 (Episode 243 Overall)

SYNOPSIS – After their vacation in the woods is cut short due to a mosquito infestation, The Simpsons stop by at an Indian casino, where Bart tries to sneak in and ends up in the office of an Indian mystic who shows Bart’s future in the year 2030 as a washed-up rock star living with Ralph Wiggum, while Lisa is the President of the United States trying to get the country out of financial trouble.

#3 – ‘Saddlesore Galactica‘
Season 11 – Episode 13 (Episode 239 Overall)

SYNOPSIS – The Simpsons rescue a diving horse named Duncan from abuse and keep it as a pet, but when the cost of upkeeping the horse rises, Homer and Bart train Duncan to be a racing horse and meet the ire of jockeys. Meanwhile, Lisa is upset over her school losing the band competition to Ogdenville unfairly at the state fair and writes a letter to Bill Clinton in protest.

#2 – ‘The Principal And The Pauper‘
Season 9 – Episode 2 (Episode 180 Overall)

SYNOPSIS – When a celebration is held at Springfield Elementary to honor his 20 years as principal, Seymour Skinner is revealed to be an impostor when the real Seymour shows up. The principal’s real name is revealed to be Armin Tamzarian, an orphan from Capital City. Armin soon leaves to return to Capital City, and Sgt. Seymour Skinner takes over as principal. However, many, including Agnes Skinner, soon decide they preferred the old Seymour. After persuading him to come back from Capital City to be Principal Skinner again, the townspeople send the real Sgt. Skinner out of town on a railroad.

#1 – ‘The Frying Game‘
Season 13 – Episode 21 (Episode 290 Overall)

SYNOPSIS – Homer begins delivering Meals On Wheels to an elderly woman, Mrs. Bellamy, who takes a shine to him. She subtly guilts Homer and later, Marge, into becoming her personal servants. When Mrs. Bellamy turns up dead, having been stabbed with a pair of scissors, Homer and Marge are the prime suspects in the murder, even though they witnessed a man with braces leaving the murder scene, with Mrs. Bellamy’s necklace. The people of Springfield are very suspicious of Homer and Marge, and Chief Wiggum does not believe their story. During an inspection of the house, Maggie is found with Mrs. Bellamy’s stolen necklace, presumably given to her by the Man with the braces. Bart, Lisa and Maggie are adopted by Cletus Spuckler, who decides to change their ‘city names.’

Despite no lie detector or DNA test given, the two are sentenced to Death Row. In a successful bid to spare Marge, Homer confesses it was all him. As he is sitting in the electric chair, it is suddenly revealed to Homer that he is on a reality TV show, Frame Up, that airs on FOX along with No Pants Island and Fart Date. The whole thing was part of an elaborate hidden camera scheme, the “man with the braces” was the show’s host, and Mrs. Bellamy is guest host Carmen Electra in disguise.

The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: #15-11.

#15 – ‘Bart On The Road’
Season 7 – Episode 20 (Episode 148 Overall)

Synopsis – While stuck at the DMV with Patty and Selma on “Go To Work With Your Parents Day,” Bart creates a fake driver’s license for himself and uses it to go on a spring break road trip. Bart and his friends decide to go to the World’s fair in Knoxville, but discover that their guide book is outdated and the fair ended years ago.

#14 – ‘The Otto Show’
Season 3 – Episode 22 (Episode 57 Overall)

Synopsis – Otto crashes the school bus, and is later discovered that he never actually owned a real driver’s license, prompting authorities to fire him. Otto then moves in with the Simpsons after he has been evicted. Meanwhile, after attending a Spinal Tap concert, Bart decides he wants to be a rock star.

#13 – ‘The Way We Was’
Season 2 – Episode 12 (Episode 25 Overall)

Synopsis – In the first Simpsons flashback episode, Marge tells the story of how she and Homer met in high school in 1974. Marge and Homer meet for the first time during detention and he immediately tries to get Marge to be his date for the prom. She initially agrees, but ends up attending with Artie Ziff. In the end, Marge regrets going with Artie, and reveals that she has fallen in love with Homer.

#12 – ‘Homer Badman’
Season 6 – Episode 9 (Episode 112 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer and Marge attend a candy convention, where Homer successfully steals a gummy Venus de Milo. Later, after Homer takes the children’s babysitter home, he notices that the gummy Venus has become stuck to her pants and grabs it, an action that Ashley misinterprets as a sexual advance. A mob of protesters soon appear at the Simpsons’ house, claiming that Homer sexually harassed Ashley.

#11 – ‘Homer’s Phobia’
Season 8 – Episode 15 (Episode 168 Overall)

Synopsis – The family tries to sell an old heirloom at a collectibles store and strike up a relationship with John, the store owner. The Simpsons invite John over to their house to assess their other belongings and Homer takes a liking to him. Marge then informs Homer that John is gay and he refuses to see him again. Afterwards Homer notices changes in Bart’s behavior and fears that John has turned him into a homosexual.

The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: #20-16.

#20 – ‘Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife’
Season 17 – Episode 15 (Episode 371 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer’s obsession with Lenny’s new plasma TV prompts Marge to enter the family in a sweepstakes. Against Marge’s wishes, Homer signs them up for a Trading Spouses/Wife Swap-style reality show and is forced to take in a controlling wife, while Marge moves in with a beaten-down husband and his perfect son.

#19 – ‘E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)’
Season 11 – Episode 5 (Episode 231 Overall)

Synopsis – Inspired by a cheesy “Zorro” movie, Homer begins slapping people with a glove and challenging them to duels (with the victims giving Homer whatever he wants instead of accepting the challenge). But when a real Southern gentleman accepts Homer’s request for a duel, The Simpsons run off to the old farm Homer lived in with his parents, and breed a dangerously addictive tobacco/tomato hybrid called “Tomacco.”

#18 – ‘How I Spent My Strummer Vacation’
Season 14 – Episode 2 (Episode 293 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer goes to a rock and roll camp, run by the Rolling Stones, after confessing on a hidden camera show that he hates his family and his job.

#17 – ‘New Kid On The Block’
Season 4 – Episode 8 (Episode 67 Overall)

Synopsis – The Simpsons’ next door neighbors move and are replaced by a single mother, Ruth Powers and her daughter Laura. Laura becomes the object of Bart’s affection but Bart becomes heart broken after learning that her boyfriend is Jimbo Jones. Meanwhile, Homer wages war against the Sea Captain’s seafood restaurant The Frying Dutchman, for falsely advertising their “all-you-can-eat” buffet.

#16 – ‘Treehouse Of Horror V’
Season 6 – Episode 6 (Episode 109 Overall)

Synopsis – A Halloween special which is divided into three short stories:
‘The Shinning’ – A parody of the film The Shining, in which Homer tries to kill the rest of the family after Mr. Burns cuts off the beer supply and cable TV in his winter home.
‘Time and Punishment’ – Whilst attempting to fix it, Homer creates a time machine out of his toaster.
‘Nightmare Cafeteria’ – To solve the problems of overcrowded detention and lack of meat, the Springfield Elementary teachers resort to eating the students.

The CDP’s Top 100 Simpsons Episodes: #25-21.

#25 – ‘One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish’
Season 2 – Episode 11 (Episode 24 Overall)

Synopsis – The Simpsons go to a new Sushi bar, where Homer takes a liking to the food and decides to try Fugu, which is poisonous if not cut properly. Homer’s fugu is not, and he is taken to the hospital where he is told he has 22 hours to live.

#24 – ‘Eternal Moonshine Of The Simpson Mind’
Season 19 – Episode 9 (Episode 409 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer wakes up in the snow with no memory from the night before, and Moe informs him he drank a “Forget-Me-Shot,” a drink powerful enough to rid the previous 24 hours from a user’s mind. With his family missing, Chief Wiggum and Ned Flanders tell him of a domestic disturbance from the night before, prompting Homer to worry he may have done something awful and tries to regain his memories with help from Professor Frink. After gaining portions of his memory, Homer believes Marge cheated on him.

#23 – ‘Homer At The Bat’
Season 3 – Episode 17 (Episode 52 Overall)

Synopsis – The Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team proves to be a huge success with Homer as their official star player. But after Mr. Burns makes a bet with Shelbyville Nuclear Power Plant owner Aristotle Amadopoulis, he hires nine professional baseball players to fill out the team. However, eight of those ringers fall victim to separate misfortunes, and Burns is forced to turn to his regular employees.

#22 – ‘Beyond Blunderdome’
Season 11 – Episode 1 (Episode 227 Overall)

Synopsis – Mel Gibson admires Homer’s brutal honesty during a test screening of Gibson’s latest movie (a remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and hires him to create a better ending. However, when the ending proves to be too controversial, Mel and Homer end up on the run from studio executives while Marge and the kids see the sights of Hollywood.

#21 – ‘Mother Simpson’
Season 7 – Episode 8 (Episode 136 Overall)

Synopsis – Homer fakes his death in order to get out of working on a Saturday and is later forced to go to the records office to verify that he is alive. The clerk reveals that Homer’s mother is still alive, and he takes her home to meet his family, but she remains silent as to where she was for the past 27 years. The family finally forces her to reveal her secret: she was part of group of Hippie radicals in the 60s and is on the run from Mr. Burns and the FBI.