Three firsts at once! This is the first time we focus on characters outside the family, with our title characters almost entirely on the fringes of the story, and thus the first time we focus on Patty, Selma, and Principal … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Fourteen, “Principal Charming”

We’ve discussed what makes something Classic before – if I recall correctly, Ruck made the case that seasons one and two were part of Classic Simpsons because they laid the groundwork for the brilliance that followed, both in terms of … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Thirteen, “Homer vs Lisa and the 8th Commandment”

I confess, as much as I was looking forward to this episode, I was a little wary of it too. Romance stories from the 80’s are notorious for not exactly aging well, with stalking, Nice Guy Syndrome, and other fun … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Twelve, “The Way We Was”

Here’s a first for us: the earliest episode I recall with perfect clarity – obviously, I didn’t see this live, seeing as how I was barely a year old when it aired, but it is one of the earliest that … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Eleven, “One Fish, Two Fish, Blow Fish, Blue Fish”

HELL YEAH PHIL HARTMAN HELL YEAH So, this episode throws in another flavour of meta-gag: after twenty-two episodes where the title was never revealed, the writers decided to show this episode’s title half a second before the eponymous event happens. … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Ten, “Bart Gets Hit By A Car”

In season one, I criticised the muddled politics of an episode, and Ruck observed that surely a good story is more important than a coherent (or politically correct) message. I think this episode is the kind of thing he was … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Nine, “Itchy And Scratchy And Marge”

Well, here it is. Matt Groening’s favourite Simpsons moment, Homer failing to leap over Springfield Gorge on a skateboard, a moment referenced so often that the show eventually made a joke out of how often it was referenced. It begins with a … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Eight, “Bart The Daredevil”

Season two is not part of Classic Simpsons. Generally, the main argument seems to be either season three or season four as the beginning of the Simpsons Classic era, where every episode was solid gold. Personally speaking, I skipped the entire first … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Seven, “Bart Vs Thanksgiving”

I’ve written before about Flanderization – the gradual transformation of a character as one element completely takes over. It was named after Ned Flanders as religion and niceness completely took over his personality, especially in the post-classic era when he … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Six, “Dead Puttin’ Society”

A lot of the time this early, I’ll be watching episodes I’ve never seen before. Once we reach season four, that will definitely pass, but for now I’ll still be seeing a few for the first time, including “Dancin’ Homer”. … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Five, “Dancin’ Homer”

This episode is simultaneously a throwback and a gigantic leap forward – a throwback because it’s the first episode that was made for season two, so the whole thing is a little rough around the edges in terms of voice … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Four “Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish”

Oh, here we go! The Treehouse Halloween specials would become an iconic element of The Simpsons, and in fact would continue to be the most popular part of the show even when it went to seed: out-of-continuity episodes parodying horror stories, sometimes getting … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Three, “Treehouse Of Horror”

After the heaviness of “Bart Gets An F” and the general slow pace of season one, here we have something simple and silly: Homer sees a miracle cure for baldness on TV, commits insurance fraud to get it, and climbs … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode Two, “Simpson And Delilah”

  Already, season two gets back to familiar territory. This feels like a redo of “Bart The Genius”, where Bart contends with an incompetent and indifferent school system that he simply doesn’t fit into. This time, however, the show has … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Two, Episode One, “Bart Gets An F”

I admit, I’ve been wary of this one coming up. “Some Enchanted Evening” was the first episode of The Simpsons ever produced, but due to severe animation issues it was pushed back to the end of the broadcast line. Going … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E13 “Some Enchanted Evening”

HELL YEAH SIDESHOW BOB HELL YEAH This is the last episode produced for season one, and it really shows, as the show’s style, themes, and characters are all crafted better than they’ve ever been, and with a mostly-well-done mystery story … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E12 “Krusty Gets Busted”

Finally, we hit an episode where everyone is completely recognisable! Skinner is so sick of Bart’s exploits that he convinces the Simpson parents into sending Bart off as an exchange student to France, and this gives us split stories, as … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E11 “The Crepes Of Wrath”

A big chunk of The Simpsons’ worldview is its feminist mindset. Usually, this is expressed through Lisa righteously battling sexism, and occasionally Marge battling sexism with a righteous Lisa egging her on; this episode, the first to explicitly explore the … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E10 “Homer’s Night Out”

It’s interesting, watching the first season of a show that’s been on my entire life, seeing elements that would come to define the show presented as if they’re a really big deal instead of just a fact of life. This … Continue reading The Simpson: S01E09 “Life In The Fast Lane”

At last, an angry mob! Angry mobs would become as vital a part of Springfield as the tire fire or the Kwik-E-Mart (which gets its first appearance here too). A big chunk of the Simpsons satirical worldview is that the … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E08 “The Telltale Head”

This episode finally delivers us some classic Simpsons plotting. After gently admonishing Bart for being jealous of the Flanders, he sees Ned has bought a massive RV (the same RV he’d hijack five seasons later in “Lemon of Troy”), and … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E07″Call of the Simpsons”