A season like Season 4 of The Simpsons sort of has me on the fence.
On one hand, this particular season has more episodes that would make my top 10 list of the greatest episodes of the entire series...whereas other seasons have more of a consistent streak of episodes that I may just find more enjoyable.
So in the end, season 4 would still be listed as one of my top 3 favorite seasons of The Simpsons.
Still being overseen by headwriters Al Jean & Mike Reiss before they would depart at the end of the season to create the truly underrated animated series The Critic, Season 4 would mark the last season of The Simpsons in which the majority of the original writing staff was left in tact. By the time the season ended, the series would say goodbye to some of its best writers such as the writing team of Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky and also the original producing team of James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon.
Not to mention, a young Conan O'Brien would also depart just as season 5 was gearing up since had been selected (to some controversy) to replace David Letterman as the host of Late Night...but I guess that worked out for him...
Oh and Season 4 would also be the writing debut of future showrunners Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein...and their sensibilities would be strongly influenced by the work of Jean and Reiss from their two seasons of running the show. However, we still have a couple of seasons to discuss before we get to their era...mainly the beginning of Mirkin's Season 5.
More on that changeover when we discuss the next season because that will be worth a lengthier discussion.
Season 4 is an era of the series that manages to add something of a fantastical edge to some of its storylines. I do feel a certain silliness and imaginative nature feel more prominent this season which actually alienated some of the cast members, who resented episodes that they felt dealt more with irreverent plot devices rather than character driven stories.
I can see where they are coming from but I don't think that was always the case.
I do firmly feel that despite the slight turn towards the surreal edge, this season still has a lot of the character driven edge. If anything, it does seem fitting that this was the last season in which many of the original writers were involved as it does feel like the last season to have a similar tone to the three previous seasons.
So what will make my top 10?
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#10 - Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie
Written by John Swartzwelder
Bart is punished by his parents after his teacher, Mrs. Krabappel, tells them that he is frequently causing trouble in class. She insists if they enforce more of a firm upbringing on him, he could one day become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
The timing of this firmer upbringing coincides with the release of Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie, based on the cartoon shorts from Krusty's show that he and Lisa love.
Bart is forbidden to see the film by Homer to the point where even Marge and Lisa say that this idea of strict parenting is way too much.
The ending, which flashes forward 40 years into the future, is a solid enough ending, but I feel like my favorite aspect of the episode is how the movie in question directly parodies the famous Disney short Steamboat Willie by calling it Steamboat Itchy.
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#9 - Homer's Triple Bypass
Written by Gary Apple & Michael Carrington
A subject that had actually been pitched by James L. Brooks, many of the Simpsons writers balked at the idea of having Homer actually come close to death and needing to get a Triple Bypass to save his life...and considering it was pitched at a time when a lot of the writers were actually leaving for other projects or they just didn't want to tackle this particular episode.
Instead, the episode was given to two freelance writers named Gary Apple & Michael Carrington. The final result turns out to be surprisingly funny and sentimental but also very blunt.
In many ways, this episode is one of the earliest examples I can think of...at least in terms of a piece of mainstream entertainment...that really makes a mockery of our healthcare system.
When Mr. Burns fires Homer for sleeping on the job, Homer has a heart attack and also loses his health insurance all at once. He is told surgery would cost upwards of $30-40K, which increases should Homer have another heart attack. After trying to obtain cheap insurance (even down to a greedy insurance not allowing Homer to sign the papers as he has a heart attack in his office), the family decides they have to take a chance on Dr. Nick Rivera ("Hi everybody!!") who claims he will operate on anybody for $129.95.
Everything may get resolved at the end as one would expect to occur, but the point still stands: OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS EVIL!!
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#8 - Krusty Gets Kancelled
Written by John Swartzwelder
Some may be hesitant to embrace certain episodes from this season as there is a sense that the show was embracing Hollywood as a concept...but unlike the later episodes which seem to have guests coming on as themselves with more random frequency, this episode manages to bring in guest stars in a way that feels more organic.
When Krusty the Klown is beat in the ratings by a new show starring a ventriloquist Arthur Crandall and his dummy Gummo, he gets cancelled which greatly upsets Bart and Lisa who push to save the day by seeking to get other celebrities to help stage a comeback special.
The show manages to get Bette Midler, Johnny Carson, Hugh Hefner, Luke Perry, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers...and frankly, I still think the fact they netted Johnny Carson (along with Elizabeth Taylor in her second of two cameos this season...the first one is coming up) is quite the feat.
I have always loved Krusty's reworking of Sondheim's "Send in the Clowns" that he sings while sitting in a single spotlight (see pic above); Carson's apparent Superman abilities; and Midler singing a song to Krusty that mirrors the moment in which she serenaded Johnny Carson on his final episode of The Tonight Show.
Krusty does get his show back and, of course, Krusty will forget about Bart and Lisa helping him in the process...but hey, at least it makes for decent comedy.
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#7 - Lisa's First Word
Written by Jeff Martin
Flashback episodes can often come across as gimmicky or too mawkish, but I think The Simpsons often made them very enjoyable even if they often dove more into the sweeter side of things.
"Lisa's First Word" is about the family trying hard to get Maggie to say her first word, which then leads Marge to tell the story of what Lisa said as her first word.
As we go back to 1983, we see Homer, Marge, and young Bart are living in the Lower East Side of Springfield (callback to "Like Father, Like Clown") in a small apartment. When they discover Marge is pregnant again, they have to find a way to obtain a house.
When Grampa Simpson sells his house and moves into the retirement home, he gives Homer $15K to use as a down payment on a new house...and that gives us background history we had yet to hear.
As expected, young Bart is jealous and not a fan of his younger sister and he desperately wants the attention of his parents:
Lisa's first word turns out to be "Bart", which is certainly a bit of a cliched "awwww!" moment but then her second word turns out to be Bart's first word: "Homer".
All Homer wants is to be called "daddy"...and then that leads us to the episode's final moment.
Maggie is all alone in her crib at night and she pulls out her omnipresent pacifier and says "Daddy".
And apparently it took the legendary 2-time Oscar winning actress Elizabeth Taylor nearly two dozen times to get the line reading right since she, according to Matt Groening, sounded "too sexy".
Well, at least she didn't say the word like she did when she announced "GLADIATOR!" the winner at the Golden Globes several years later.
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#6 - Mr. Plow
Written by Jon Vitti
The character of Barney Gumble was a humorous but also rather dark take on a man who is, essentially, an alcoholic. His life almost proves that perhaps Homer is not as much of a sloppy lush as we may first view him as.
"Mr. Plow" will pit Homer against the messy but lovable Barney as Homer finds himself in yet another job working as a snow plowman known on his commercials as "Mr. Plow", but when Barney sees the success, he decides to jump on the bandwagon and deem himself "The Plow King" and cuts into Homer's clientele.
While the dynamic of two friends battling each other, the episode has such a classic feel but it is the ending in which God himself puts an end to both Homer and Barney that really shows how the show is taking on that more irreverent tone and that it isn't afraid to go as far as to bring in God to be able to dictate the plot.
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#5 - Homer the Heretic
Written by George Meyer
"Who wears short shorts?"
"I wear short shorts!!"
I feel like this episode was something of a bad influence on me as a kid...and I also related to the concept of wanting to stay home from church when weather was really bad. Actually, I was open to not going to church regardless for most of my youth.
To this day, I still feel like I have a weird sense of dread on Sundays because they were completely usurped by church. We had a Sunday morning service which usually lasted from 10-12 and then an evening service which normally began at 6:30 and would often last past 9pm...and then I'd basically get home and have to get ready for bed since school followed the next day.
I never really felt like I had a weekend growing up. I treasured my time on Saturdays because Sundays were just dominated by going to church.
"Homer the Heretic" shows how Homer manages to escape from having to go to church on one freezing snowy morning and realizes that he is missing a life that might be more fun...and even if the episode does seem to end with a message where Homer shouldn't give up on church so easily, I still took away that perhaps I was missing something that was more fitting to do on a Sunday: actually using it as a day of rest!
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#4 - I Love Lisa
Written by Frank Mula
The Ralph Wiggum we see in this episode is not quite the same Ralph Wiggum we will see in upcoming episodes when he will become as his voice actress Nancy Cartwright puts it: "a walking non-sequitur".
However, this episode was important in truly establishing Ralph as one of the more charming, if not ridiculous side characters...while also establishing him as being the son of the incompetent Police Chief Wiggum.
It is Valentine's Day and it is time for the class to distribute their valentines to everyone...but no one gives a single card to Ralph. When Lisa sees him noticeably upset, she takes him a card on a whim that reads "I choo-choo-choose you!" and Ralph takes it to heart.
"I Love Lisa" is another one of those episodes that takes the topic of a misunderstood kind gesture that seemed commonplace on TV and gave it a bit of freshening up.
I think one aspect of this episode that manages to be both hilarious and sad is how Chief Wiggum tells his son that he needs to be more persistent with Lisa since she seems to be wavering on the interest he suspects she has. In a way, it is a rather biting take on how society seems to groom boys to try to push for girls to take a chance on them even when they rightfully tell them no.
It is certainly interesting to watch this episode in retrospect to find a Ralph who still had a little bit of common sense, even if he did seem ditsy.
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#3 - A Streetcar Named Marge
Written by Jeff Martin
For many years, this was my favorite episode...and frankly, it is such a strong episode that I feel like it would've been my favorite episode had it aired in almost any other season.
As a person who loves theatre and film, I tend to get drawn to episodes of TV shows that have episodes centered around them as a topic.
Marge decides to audition for a community theatre production of Streetcar: The Musical, an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' iconic A Streetcar Named Desire...and pretty much right off the bat, we can see this is an episode where no one seems to care about Marge's desire to audition for this show in the Simpson household.
After managing to impress the director Llewellyn Sinclair just by talking on the phone dejectedly to Homer, he casts her as Blanche du Bois. Despite her meek nature holding her back at first, Marge is able to see the parallels of both Homer and the brutish Stanley that is her nemesis in the production.
The musical itself is hilarious with its opening number that is rather eviscerating towards New Orleans:
"If you wanna go to hell,
you should take a trip
to the Sodom & Gomorrah
on the Mississip.-"
Or such other outings like "Hey Stella! Can't you hear me yell-a!" and the ironically upbeat closing number that cheerfully tells the audience that they can always depend on the kindness of strangers because "a stranger's just a friend you haven't met".
As a B-plot, we get what might be one of the best highlights of the youngest member of the family, Maggie. In order to ease the strain of Marge's rehearsal, Maggie is put in a daycare center but not just any daycare center: The Ayn Rand School for Tots.
A preschool modeled after the philosophy of that conservative whacko has to be one of the most hilarious bits this show ever gave us.
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#2 - Marge vs. The Monorail
Written by Conan O'Brien
So, remember how I mentioned some of the cast members resented certain episodes taking on a more surreal and more plot driven approach than what the show had been accustomed to?
That brings us to "Marge vs. The Monorail", which certainly signals a change in storytelling approach and I can see why one might have issues with it if they love the more character driven stories...and I certainly prefer character driven stories too.
However, there is something that is just wonderfully loony about this episode and I think it is easy to see why it is often singled out as being an ultimate classic by fans and critics to this day.
Written by the eventual late night legend that is Conan O'Brien not long before he left to due the Late Night gig, he packs this episode with many rapid fire jokes that gives it an energy that is truly on fire.
It works so well because it was fresh for the show at that time and arguably, it could be seen as (for better or worse) an early forerunner into the kinds of the episodes The Simpsons would produce as it began to lose some of its creative spark and also you can a lot of its influence in the animated series' that were created by Seth MacFarlane.
So yes, I am not sure I want to give this episode a credit for giving us something like Family Guy because this episode certainly stands far above anything that series produced even at its prime.
If someone out there hasn't seen this episode, I am just going to give a very basic synopsis and wish that you would seek it out on your own to enjoy its zany brilliance.
When Mr. Burns is fined $3 million for dumping nuclear waste in a Springfield park, the community then has to decide how to put that money into use to better serve Springfield. Marge suggests that they need to fix a lot of the infrastructure in Springfield, particularly the roads.
Then...a mysterious man modeled after Music Man's Harold Hill named Lyle Lanley appears (voiced by the late legend that was Phil Hartman) and suggests that Springfield should invest in a monorail system...and thanks to a catchy tune, he instantly grabs the attention of Springfield that a monorail is the best option while Marge is left suspicious.
Let the lunacy ensue from there.
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#1 - Last Exit to Springfield
Written by Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky
"Dental plan!"
"Lisa needs braces!"
"Dental plan!"
"Lisa needs braces!"
"Dental plan!"
"Lisa needs braces!"
"Dental plan!"
"Lisa needs braces!"
So yes...if the union at Springfield Nuclear gets rid of their dental plan, Homer will have to pay for Lisa's braces that she just so happens to need at that very moment.
"Last Exit to Springfield" is one of those episodes that I always appreciated but didn't truly realize its greatness until I was a lot older. It is also something of a typical choice as not just the best episode of Season 4, but several outlets have dubbed it the best half-hour of The Simpsons.
I appreciate the episode having a very strong push of more leftist politics by way of the unions and I also like how it utilizes Lisa's rather leftist views by joining her father's colleagues at the strike to get the dental plan reinstated by Mr. Burns.
We also deal with Lisa's insecurity for having braces...particularly when she realizes that since her parents have to pay out-of-pocket that she will need to wear an bulky outdated headpiece. Lisa's concern for having braces is not a topic that was uncommon; Sitcoms like The Brady Bunch touched on the topic, but sitcoms like that didn't have Lisa go on a drug trip while under anesthesia.
It is certainly a very irreverent episode but perhaps one of the best aspects of the episode is how in the last minute or so, everything sort of gets wrapped up in a neat little bow and then intentionally ends on the cheesiest joke and forced laughter from the family and dentist to mirror the hokey nature of the sitcoms that The Simpsons had hoped to satirize from day one.
This would also be the last episode written by the duo of Jay Kogen & Wallace Wolodarsky, two of the best writers the series ever had and their contributions would be greatly missed...especially when going into season 5.
So yes...I very much love "Last Exit to Springfield" and do consider it to be not just the best episode of season 4 but possibly the best episode of the whole series.
"And that's the TOOTH!"
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IN CONCLUSION:
Season 4 has such an interesting aesthetic and tone that almost feels dark at times. When it excels, those episodes represent some of the finest half hours the series ever produced. Certain episodes just never worked as much for me as they may for others...which isn't to say they are bad...but it sort of is fascinating to me that the season wasn't as consistent as I expected it to be.
I suppose you could argue that is a mix of the writers room starting to dissipate and a sense that the show needed a bit of a jolt.
This jolt would continue even further with season 5 in which a new headwriter who had never written for the show before joined the staff and brought several new writers with him.
Their goal would be to further develop the show and to take it to new places.
More to come on that in my next post, so be on the look out for that!
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REVISIT THE OTHER SEASONS!
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