Another good one is Selma's Choice:

Patty: I can't believe Aunt Gladys is really gone.
Selma: Her legend will live forever.
Homer: [thinking to himself] Yeah. The legend of the dog-faced woman.
Homer: [laughs hysterically] Legend of the dog-faced woman! Oh, that's good!
Marge: HOMER!
Homer: Wha--? D'oh!

No "Bart Sells his Soul"? Had a great side story about Moe's turning into a Fudracker's.

The whole episode tied in perfectly.

Some of my favs from "Bart Sells His Soul"

Bart: I know that's funny, but I'm just not laughing.
Lisa: Hmm. Pablo Neruda said: "Laughter is the language of the soul."
Bart: I am familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda.

"Some ice cream dudes gonna read that, and it's totally gonna blow his mind!"

-"Way to breathe, no breath!"

"...where my soul will be chopped into confetti and strewn upon a parade of murderers and single mothers..."

"Chuuuuuuuum...pp"

"Remember ALF? He's back... in pog form!"

In The Garden of Eden by I. Ron Butterfly, the crazy street cleaner guy, it's dripping funny smelling water all over me!, love that ep.

Wow timing worked well on that

I was asking about a different episode, he quoted from the one I already linked.

Anyways, I figured out the one I couldn't place, Bart's Inner Child another great Albert Brooks appearance.

"Lisa's Rival" is a favourite of mine as well. It's the one were the new girl is better than Lisa at the saxaphone, smarter, younger, etc. Lisa and Bart conspire to sabotage her diorama. Also features the ridiculous subplot of Homer discovering, then selling sugar.

Homer: And you didn't think I'd make any money. I found a dollar while I was waiting for the bus.
Marge: While you were out "earning" that dollar, you lost forty dollars by not going to work. The plant called and said if you don't come in tomorrow, don't bother coming in Monday.
Homer: Woo hoo! A four-day weekend.

---

Homer: Must...protect...sugar. Thieves everywhere. The strong
must protect the sweet...the sweet...
Marge: Homer?
Homer: [with a Spanish accent] In America, first you get the sugar, then
you get the power, then you get the women...
Marge: Homer...Homer!
Homer: Wha...what?
Marge: I want you to forget about guarding the stupid sugar! You're
being completely paranoid.
Homer: Oh, am I? Am I really? Ah ha!
[Pulls a man from behind the pile]
Thief: Hello.
Homer: All right, pal: where'd you get the sugar for that tea?
Thief: I nicked it when you let your guard down for that split second,
and I'd do it again. [sips tea] Goodbye.
Homer: You see, Marge? Do you see?
Marge: Homer, when are you going to give up this crazy sugar scheme?
Homer: Never, Marge! Never. I can't live the button-down life like
you. I want it all: the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the
creamy middles. Sure, I might offend a few of the bluenoses with my cocky stride and musky odors -- oh, I'll never be the darling of the so-called "City Fathers" who cluck their tongues, stroke their beards, and talk about "What's to be done with this Homer Simpson?"
Marge: Look, just get rid of the sugar, OK?
Homer: No!
[a swarm of bees lands on Homer and the sugar pile]
Aah! Hey, get off my sugar. Bad bees! Bad! [gets stung]
Ow. Oww! Oh, they're defending themselves somehow.

---

Beekeeper 1: Well, very clever, Simpson, luring our bees to your sugar pile and selling them back to us at an inflated price.
Homer: Bees are on the what now?
Beekeeper 2: Simpson, you diabolical...we're willing to pay you $2000 for the swarm.

Millhouse's Grandmother: A caller at this hour? You dial 9-1 and when I say so, dial the other 1.
-------------
Comic Book Guy: If you are waiting for the Hi & Lois signing, it has been moved to the Springfield Coliseum.
Bart: Please, you have something of mine on a little piece of paper.
Comic Book Guy: Oh, so you're Bart Simpson, eh? Well, since my breakfast burrito is congealing rapidly, I will be blunt: you're too late. I sold your soul last night. Yes, yes.I found a buyer right away for _that_ item.
Bart: Who?
Comic Book Guy: I am not at liberty to divulge the party, but they were most interested in having possession of Little Boy's soul.
[Bart bangs his head]
Comic Book Guy: Um, excuse me. No banging your head on the display case, please. It contains a very rare Mary Worth in which she has advised a friend to commit suicide. Thank you.

'bees are on the what now?' was a friend's way of saying 'i don't understand'. probably the best sub-plot i can remember on the simpsons.

Another fantastic episode. Love when they play the word game with Alec Guiness (genuine class). And Jeremy Irons. And then the dad gives Lisa a ball to play with.

I love the gag in Lisa's Rival where she has the nightmare then it actually happens word for word. Always cracks me up.

Beekeeper 1: Well, sure is quiet in here today.
Beekeeper 2: Yes, a little too quiet, if you know what I mean.
Beekeeper 1: Hmm...I'm afraid I don't.
Beekeeper 2: You see, bees usually make a lot of noise. No noise -- suggests no bees!
Beekeeper 1: Oh, I understand now. Oh look, there goes one now.
Beekeeper 2: To the Beemobile!
Beekeeper 1: You mean your Chevy?
Beekeeper 2: Yes.

I use this one IRL when someone's about to do something dangerous.

Lemon tree is my all time favorite. I have all the seasons on my computer and watch them to go to sleep.

There are so many good ones from season 4-8.

Frank Grimes episode def should have made the list. That was the first one that came to mind.

Couldn't picture the season, but randomly queued up an ep to watch and picked "Trilogy of Error," which is an old favorite of mine, not top tier, but up there.

Looking at the full list now, it looks pretty hit or miss imo, but some good eps in there, "Simpson Tall Tales," "Hungry Hungry Homer," "The Great Money Caper," "Skinners Sense of Snow" all are pretty solid.

Nelson: Skinner gets paid $25,000 a year.
Bart: Let's see, he's 40 years old--Wow, he's a millionaire!
Principal Skinner: I wasn't a principal when I was one!
Milhouse: And in the summer, he paints houses. He's a billionaire!
Principal Skinner: If I was a billionaire, why would I still be living with my mother?
(Kids laugh)

Principal Skinner: This is bad, they're not even responding to logic anymore.

Nelson: What was that?
Lisa: It sounded like a silo tipping over!

Agnes: Seymour! Are you looking at naked ladies?
Seymour: No, mother!
Agnes: You sissy!

This line always cracks me up. I've searched for it before.

Also from Lisa's Rival: "...Well...that was very good for a first try....Here is a ball. Perhaps you'd like to bounce it."

Bart vs. Australia

Man: You call that a knife? _This_ is a knife.
Bart: That's not a knife, that's a spoon.
Man: All right, all right, you win, heh. I see you've played
Knifey-Spooney before.

what about the one where homer's on dope? or tomaco?

No love for Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment?

"Listen rummy, I'm gonna say it plain and simple. Where'd you pinch the hooch? Is some blind tiger jerkin suds on the side?"

the beer baron is great obv.

funny part from that sugar sideplot is when it rains and the english thief guy sees it and spits tea everywhere.

also i like the episode with that cult and the leader.

also the alien episode with mulder and scully and leonard nimoy narrating.

This thread has me wistfully reminiscing about those great early years. I wish the greatness could have continued but I guess I shouldn't be bitter about the last 12 or so seasons when I should be happy that I have 7 or 8 great years to revisit.

The consensus is that The Decline occurred over a few years beginning in season 8. By 10 the golden age was officially over. Does anyone know why? Was it a mass exodus of writers, did Groening become more hands off or were the characters essentially played out?

Also, what was it that tipped you guys off that something had changed in Springfield? One of the things I recall is the show becoming more reliant on guest voices. They were used to great effect in the earlier years to enhance an episode where, in later seasons, episodes relied on the guest actor. I also recall episodes dropping the social commentary and becoming more topical. Way more pop culture references iirc.

I can't even remember when I stopped watching. I guess I stuck with it through 8 and 9 but it definitely stopped being must see tv in 10. I'm not sure if I've seen an episode post season 12 or so... maybe a few treehouses.

why? because all good things must come to an end.

Agree. And like I said... 7 or so great seasons is more than anyone could wish for in any series. I just find it interesting that the quality and philosophy (meh... maybe not the best descriptor) changed so drastically when it seemed as though they had it worked out.

Inevitable, I guess.