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”

Holy shit, you guys. I knew “Moaning Lisa” was famous as the first Lisa episode, and that it characterised her as soulful, intelligent, and introspective instead of as Girl Bart, and I even knew about the speech Marge delivers at … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E06 “Moaning Lisa”

HELL YEAH SWARTZWELDER A recurring kind of plot throughout The Simpsons is the semi-ironic children’s adventure, with Bart and/or Lisa going on an actual adventure, with triumph and fear infused with the show’s typical cynicism and self-awareness. This episode is … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E05 “Bart The General”

Well, we had to get a major off-model episode eventually. While it’s consistently funnier than any episode up to this point, this episode is rooted in some ideas that never took hold in The Simpsons, with the chief one being … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E04 “There’s No Disgrace Like Home”

This episode is known as the season one episode where Homer attempts suicide because he’s been fired from the plant, absurd both because it becomes out of character for Homer, and for how dark it is. In context, it’s still … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E03 “Homer’s Odyssey”

The Simpsons, Season one, Episode Two, “Bart The Genius” It’s a famous story now: when Matt Groening was in the waiting room for Fox to negotiate making a cartoon out of his comic strip Life In Hell to pay off … Continue reading The Simpsons: S01E02 “Bart The Genius”

Happy New Year, everybody! I’m ringing in 2017 with possibly the most crowd-pleasing concept possible: weekly write-ups on The Simpsons! With these write-ups, I hope to create a space where we can come together to quote The Simpsons incessantly, because … Continue reading The Simpsons: “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire” S01E01