I may have been somewhat critical over season 5, but that isn't to say I dislike the season. In the end, it helped push the show in a slightly new direction and kept it alive. The only downside is that some of the seeds planted in that season would grow into bigger problems once they hit the infamous stretch of seasons 9-12, when the series truly began to show signs of fading into something that simply a shell of its former self.
Season 6, however, truly shows the true genius of David Mirkin and his staff. You could argue that Season 6 works as a bit of a course correction from the more bombastic of season 5. Instead, season 6 keeps the elements that did work the previous year (stuff like misdirected jokes, which are quite fun this season) while creating sillier storylines that seem a tad more grounded in reality, such as a mayoral race between criminal Sideshow Bob and the lecherous Mayor Quimby or the quest to retrieve a stolen Lemon Tree from the citizens of Shelbyville...or a season ending cliffhanger inspired by the whodunit from the worldwide Dallas phenomenon.
In addition to these storylines of deception and mysteries, the series finds an extra touch of heart at times. Certain episodes, such as "And Maggie Makes Three", take a sweeter approach that feels similar to episodes from seasons 2-4 and stand out strongly in this portion of the series.
While Mirkin would step back as showrunner and only serve as a consultant for many years after, there is no denying his immense love for the show and his hilarious contributions.
Several bits were credited to him that are iconic, such as the Homer in the hedge scene which has become a famous meme from Season 5:
And not to mention, he is credited with the whole Spider Pig bit from The Simpsons Movie.
His style may take a little getting used to at times but there is no denying his nature gave the show a very funny boost quite often.
A case could be made that this was the greatest season of The Simpsons. I might be inclined to choose another season but season 6 is most definitely a part of the Holy Trinity of sorts.
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#10-Sideshow Bob Roberts
Written by Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
You can't really get more iconic with
Simpsons guest stars than that of Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob. Anytime he appears, you are guaranteed a pretty great episode (at least from the first half of the series, I can't speak as much from the latter half).
I love that the writers borrowed from Grammer's own life and made Sideshow Bob a man with conservative beliefs. I also love that the writers accurately portrayed the Republican National Headquarters:
Although, they made it look nicer for broadcast.
(But seriously, this joke hits even harder today)
However, this episode does throw in multiple jokes about liberals and the Democratic Party which helps give the episode a bit of an even balance.
(It isn't in this episode, but they eventually portray the Democratic Headquarters as being set in a salad bar which is also pretty humorous).
Considering it is an episode that goes into the idea of election fraud, it also feels very potent to watch in today's world.
At least the episode gets something right: leave it to a Republican to commit some kind of major fraud.
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#9-Two Dozen and One Greyhounds
Written by Mike Scully
Much like Sideshow Bob, you can't really go wrong with episodes that delve into the diabolical world of C. Montgomery Burns. As a side character, Burns became so focal early on that you could consider him practically a lead character on par with some of the family members at times.
This episode practically writes itself: the family's dog, Santa's Little Helper, gets another dog pregnant and thus they know have several puppies they end up needing to give away. Mr. Burns wants companionship, but he also wants to add to his collection of animal-based clothing accessories.
Mr. Burns as a Cruella de Vill stand in? That is gold.
Burns gets to sing "See My Vest", which is inspired by Beauty and the Beast's "Be Our Guest" as a way to tell the audience (along with Lisa and Bart watching through the window) that Burns wants to kill and shave these puppies for his new fur vest. The show has had a great history of strong original songs or, at least, songs inspired by other material; this is easily one of the best.
This episode was written by Mike Scully and might be one of his best episodes. I admittedly, as do a lot of Simpsons fans, have mixed feelings about Scully as he would become showrunner during season 9 up through season 12, which is often considered the era that The Simpsons began to see its downfall into what is known as "Zombie Simpsons" and the creation of Jerk-ass Homer who might seem more in line with a family patriarch like Peter Griffin on Family Guy.
I intend to talk about two of those seasons (9 and 10) eventually, so I will let that go for now.
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#8-And Maggie Makes Three
Written by Jennifer Crittenden
As I stated in my intro, "And Maggie Makes Three" joins a group of heartwarming flashback episodes like "Lisa's First Word" or "The Way We Was" that feel similar to that of the earliest seasons.
While it might play as being a bit too sweet to some, this is one of those episodes that shows Homer has his moments of being a very loving and caring father.
The final "Do It For Her" ending might be the single greatest cutesy moment in the series' history.
It is such a strong bit that I feel like it almost singlehandedly put it on this list and gave it a push up a couple of slots.
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#7-Bart of Darkness
Written by Dan McGrath
As one of my favorite season premieres, "Bart of Darkness" is one of those episodes that settles into its world and then, in true Hitchcockian fashion, knocks everything over and it suddenly becomes about something else.
It is summer in Springfield and the town is suffering from a sweltering heat wave. It is so intense that the family has taken to using their refrigerator as an AC...but don't worry, if their food spoils, the Hot Texas Chili man is driving around offering to feed the town.
Things take a turn when bus driver Otto shows up with a portable swimming pool which leads to Bart and Lisa proposing to Homer that they need a pool of their own.
Lisa: "Dad, we've been swimming...and we've developed a taste for it".
Homer caves and they get the pool, singlehandedly becoming a hot commodity to the neighborhood.
This popularity goes to Bart's head as he tries to show off by doing a risky pool jump, only to break his leg.
Then...the episode suddenly becomes a Rear Window parody and one of the best plot misdirects the show ever concocted.
Except for maybe Martin, who is left without a pool and to sing Sinatra tunes all by his lonesome.
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#6-Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy
Written by Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Abraham Simpson, the father of Homer, is a character that I love but I often find myself less drawn to episodes that feature him as a focal point. He tends to work best in small doses and often times, the writers tend to know which characters are best to use sparingly.
"Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy" might be my favorite Grandpa-centric episode, but a lot of that also has to do with the relationship between him and Homer.
Within the episode, Homer and Marge are suffering from a faltering sex life which leads to one of my favorite bits from this era of the series: Homer suggests they read the Kama Sutra, but Marge wants something tasteful: Mr. & Mrs. Erotic American, a book-on-tape narrated by longtime radio personality Paul Harvey.
While Paul Harvey does not save them, it is actually Grandpa who steps in and offers a tonic and it does the trick, leading him and Homer out on the road to sell their product at trade shows.
The relationship between Abe and Homer is a troubled and complicated one, especially with Homer's mother Mona having passed away (until we discover otherwise in season 7!). The comedy and the drama between the two only further show the genius of voice actor Dan Castellaneta, who voices both Homer and Abe.
The final scene, which manages to be both hilarious and bittersweet as Homer's childhood home burns down, is a classic.
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#5-Homer Badman
Written by Greg Daniels
Greg Daniels would go on to co-create King of the Hill and, more famously, adapt the BBC sitcom The Office for American television. It was actually this episode that caught the attention of Office creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as they deemed it the best episode of The Simpsons.
I certainly don't go that far, but there is something about this episode that stands out in a way that is rather unique than most episodes from that time period.
Starting with the McGuffin of Homer and Marge attending a candy convention in which Homer claims a prized green gummy, the episode really takes off when a young babysitter mistakes Homer grabbing the gummy from her behind as being sexual harassment.
The provided picture above is what the babysitter sees when she turns around...and frankly, Homer has no social grace when any kind of edible treat is around.
Homer quickly becomes a pariah and is tarnished in the press for being a sexual predator.
When writer Greg Daniels originally pitched the episode, he wanted it to be another battle of sorts between Homer and Lisa and the idea of what feminism is. David Mirkin wanted to turn it more into the crazy exploitation storyline that it became, complete with a parody of then tabloid TV staple Hard Copy, here called Rock Bottom. In many ways, this episode feels far more relevant and potent in today's world than it did when it originally aired.
This was even before the Monica Lewinsky scandal occurred, for reference.
Definitely one of the better examples of The Simpsons at its most brash and cynical along with being a perfect statement towards the extreme media exploitation that has gotten worse in the 25 years or so since it originally aired.
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#4-Who Shot Mr. Burns: Part One
Written by Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Ending a season with a cliffhanger has become more commonplace with comedic shows these days, but back around the time this episode aired, it was very rare for a show like this, animated or not, to end a season with a cliffhanger.
However, after 7 seasons of being a deliciously diabolical villain, it seems very fitting to have Springfield all wanting to see C. Montgomery Burns dead.
Modeled after the iconic "Who Shot J.R.?" cliffhanger from the 80s soap Dallas, this episode sets up multiple characters making proclamations that they want Burns to die.
Of course, the really funny aspect of this vengeful crew is Homer Simpson seems more hellbent because Burns still can't remember his name after all these years.
I will be discussing the follow-up when I make my post on season 7, but I certainly feel like time has been kinder to the resolution than many seemed to make of it in the 90s.
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#3-A Star is Burns
Written by Ken Keeler
As something of a controversial episode behind the scenes within The Simpsons, "A Star is Burns" is the kind of episode that should be gimmicky and a mess...and yet it isn't.
Simpsons creator Matt Groening was so incensed the idea of the episode that he lobbied hard for it not to air, and then when that failed, he isn't his name be removed from all credits when the episode would air.
The reason for this was that this was essentially a cross-over episode in which former Simpsons headwriters Al Jean & Mike Reiss produced this based around the lead character of the show they left The Simpsons to create: the short-lived series The Critic, which was about a film critic with his own show a la Siskel and Ebert. The critic, Jay Sherman, was voiced by Jon Lovitz, who had been a recurring voice actor for The Simpsons practically since it began.
Did it seem like a cheap ploy? Maybe in a way.
Did they make it work? I honestly think they did...even if The Critic didn't survive in the grand scheme.
The plot revolves around the idea that Springfield has no culture, which leads Marge to want to start a film festival and have a famous film critic (The Critic's Jay Sherman) come to town and be an adjudicator.
I think a lot of what makes the episode work is that it doesn't entirely rely on references to the other show (except for one key joke in which Bart tells Jay "I think all kids should watch your show" to which he promptly says that he "feels so dirty" for even saying that)...and that a lot of the drama comes from Homer pushing to join the judges despite Marge's insistence that he would not vote for the best film and vote for something as silly as Hans Moleman's Man Getting Hit By Football or as he calls "FOOTBALL IN THE GROIN!"
Burns also tries to weasel his way into the festival by making a grand epic which the town sees right through, even though he tries to buy the votes of other judges, like Krusty the Klown. However, its drunken Barney Gumble who makes a splash with artistically dreamy but unfortunately titled Pukahontas, a very blunt statement on alcoholism.
In the end, it was a gimmick to get another show a potential ratings grab. It didn't work to save The Critic but honestly the episode succeeded far more than it possibly could have.
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#2-Treehouse of Horror V
Written by Bob Kushell, Greg Daniels, Dan McGrath, and David X. Cohen
This might very well be the definitive Treehouse of Horror anthology installment.
Since I haven't really discussed these yet in my series, the Treehouse of Horror segments are the show's longest running bit as around each Halloween, they do an episode solely focused on telling scary stories, usually three per episode. It has been occurring every year since 1990.
This fifth installment contains the truly hilarious parody of The Shining which is called The Shinning.
Bart makes a point to call it out before Groundskeeper Willie stops him: "Shhhh! You want to get sued?!".
Time & Punishment has Homer traveling through alternate dimensions trying to make it back to normal. Perhaps the best bit is when Homer asks for donuts only for Marge to ask "What are donuts?" leading Homer to quickly leave that dimension.
That leads to the great gag where in that dimension, rain only exists as what we know are donuts.
Lastly, Nightmare Cafeteria might be one of the darkest segments they've tackled in which one by one, all of the staff are killing students of Springfield Elementary in order to eat them.
I normally consider these episodes to be pretty solid though I don't often end up ranking them. In this case, it was too hard to ignore its greatness.
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#1-Lemon of Troy
Written by Brent Forrester
The defining episode of Mirkin's tenure is often considered to be season 5's Deep Space Homer, but I think his staff truly stumbled upon something wonderful when plotting out Lemon of Troy.
Considering this episode comes down to a Hatfield and McCoy style feud between the towns of Springfield and Shelbyville when the latter town steals the former's famed Lemon Tree, it gives the episode more of a charming feel that is very reminiscent to some of the episodes from the show's earliest days.
The comradery between the kids and their parents in trying to get this tree back is truly infectious and is even more fun when you factor in that Shelbyville's citizens are essentially darker and more rural doppelgangers of the people of Springfield.
In fact, Homer's doppleganger (voiced by Hank Azaria) has the original Homer voice that Dan Castellaneta used which was modeled more after Walter Matthau than what it eventually became.
By the episode's end, Springfield achieves its success in stealing back its lemon tree, much to the chagrin of Shelbyville.
Sadly, they will just have to cling a little closer to their abundance of turnips.
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FINAL THOUGHTS:
Before writing out my top 10, I made a comment that you could easily make a case that season 6 was the greatest season of The Simpsons.
In terms of consistency, I would have to say that I agree with such a proclamation.
While Season 4 has more episodes that make my top 10 of the best episodes of all time, I think season 6 manages to strike gold a little more often.
The season does contain a clip show which we will just toss out of the running for obvious reasons, but even its weaker episodes are still a lot better than some of my least favorite episodes of the golden era, like The PTA Disbands, The Springfield Connection, or Bart vs. Australia.
I think that the truly remarkable thing is that The Simpsons made it to this season and to season 7 on a truly creative peak.
The sad shame is that a lot of it starts to dim in season 8 and then steadily crash throughout seasons 9 and 10....but we will get there.
Season 6 is certainly a season of television that I adore...and that goes even beyond the realm of it being within The Simpsons universe.
Stay tuned for my volume on Season 7, another season that is simply fantastic and, sadly, the last truly masterful season of the series.
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REVISITING THE OTHER SEASONS:
Season 1: This post has been taken down and will be revised
Season 3
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