When Mel Gibson and Homer make a movie inwhich the president gets his head chopped off and Mel Gibson goes "Happy Birthday Mr. President" and then the boardroom is like "But you cut the president's head off".

The scene at the end where the mobsters are fighting the yakuza is so great.

i've been trying (not very hard) to not nit up this discussion with nerdery and overanalysis, but one can only take so many comments like this.

for one, frank grimes himself isn't funny, or entertaining. his humor value comes only from homer's interactions with him. there's a comment on the homer's enemy wikipedia which says that frank grimes is like a character imported from the real world into the simpsons universe - and i think i agree with that, it's a good way of looking at frank grimes. whereas everyone in the simpsons universe finds homer's boorish, insensitive, and annoying behavior either amusing or unremarkable, frank just can't believe that he's the only 'sane' person who's actually noticing how dangerous and offensive homer is.

what frank grimes' presence amounts to is a question about how homer simpson continues to live and work in this environment, and the answer is, of course, that's it's a tv show. obviously we being citizens of the real world are supposed to find it amusing that homer simpson in this fictionalized world has gone to space and expresses skepticism when grimes hasn't - there's a lot going on here playing with reality versus fiction.

the entire episode (minus the bart subplot, which i felt was a great setup with no payoff) is an uninteresting commentary on television in general - that we are entertained and amused by someone who would be entirely unentertaining and unamusing were we to actually meet him. i don't find this kind of joke funny, i guess perhaps (given this pedantic diatribe) because i sympathize more with frank grimes than i do with homer simpson. i see why the writers think it's funny, and why you do, but i don't, and never will; this sort of episode in its complete exploration of fiction kind of destroyed homer as a sympathetic character for me, and it wasn't until the simpsons movie that they actually managed to make him almost have the attributes of a real person again.

They're just jokes turn your brain off bro.

Homer gets a gun episode is my favorite. Mostly because his desire to get one is caused by a soccer riot erupting once the town realizes how boring soccer is to watch.

Center holds it...holds it....hoooolds it!!!!

I watched Homer bowl a perfect game yesterday. When he launched that ball and it started blowing up all the pins in every lane I was laughing pretty damn hard. That **** was brilliant.

Bart: Milhouse! You were supposed to be the night watchmen.

Milhouse: I was watching, I watched the whole thing. It started to fall over....then it fell over.

haha love it

This exactly.

10 years after the show started, Futurama came out, and all of Groenings good ideas went to that, leaving the Simpsons less funny.

this is not what happened. i am pretty sure, based on the commentaries, that groening is not the simpsons' mastermind - obviously he created the characters, but he gets a writing credit on very few episodes.

Very few cartoons are improvised, it's a terrible strain on the animators' wrists.

you only move twice, itchy, scratchy, and poochie, itchy and scratchy land, and i know these two might not be considered the best by a lot of people but king sized homer and homer at the bat are some of my favorites.

The fingers you have used to dial are too fat. To obtain a special dialing wand, please mash the keypad with your palm now.

This is accurate. There's a guy John Swartzwelder who's written by far the most episodes of any writer. He was responsible for lots of the great early stuff. Greg Daniels (King of the Hill, US Office) wrote several popular episodes including 22 Short Films about Springfield, Bart sells his soul, Homer Badman, Homer and Apu, Lisa's Wedding, and Secrets to a successful marriage. Conan Obriens Season 4 & 5 contributions have already been mentioned.

http://www.snpp.com/guides/epsbywriter.html
episodes by writer

Pilot: We're now approaching our final destination, Itchy and Scratchy Land: the amusement park of the future where nothing can possi-blye go wrong.
[everyone looks worried]
Er, possi_bly_ go wrong. Heh, that's the first thing that's ever gone wrong.

Great episode. Just got back from Disneyland and they had the nuances down very well.

Years 4-9 were it. I don't ever watch new episodes. The animation is too sharp too. I actually prefer it duller. I heard the shows have improved, but I much rather watch an oldie for the 30th time.

WE DO NOT ACCEPT ITCHY AND SCRATCHY MONEY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDtdC...eature=related

My two favorite (short) Simpsons-scenes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQW2t4SxvJ0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4i8S...eature=related

This is hands down my favorite simpsons bit of all time

Question: Is Lisa's quick sax solo during the opening different in every episode?

I say it is, friend says it's not.

It's not different in every episode, but there's definitely more than just one:

http://www.snpp.com/guides/sololist.html

These are both phenomenal choices. The gym one has cracked me up forever.

Bart: [whining] Mom, my slingshot doesn't fit in these pockets.
And these shorts leave nothing to the imagination. These
uniforms suck!
Marge: Bart! Where do you pick up words like that?
Homer: [on phone] Yeah, Moe, that team sure did suck last night.
They just plain sucked! I've seen teams suck before, but
they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.
Marge: Homer! Watch your mouth!
Homer: Aw, I gotta go. My damn weiner kids are listening. [hangs
up]
Lisa: We are not weiners!
Homer: Then what are you dressed like that for?
Bart+Lisa: They made us.
Homer: "Oh, they made us." That's loser-talk! You gotta start
acting more like me and my team, the future champions of the
world. Nothing's going to stop us now!

Homers Bardershop Quartet... some of my favorite quotes:

Homer: This next song is dedicated to a very special lady. She's 100 years old and weighs over 200... tons.
Fan: This enormous lady will devour us all!


Marge: Your teenage son or daughter will think this wishbone necklace is
really cool!
Man: I doubt my son or daughter is that stupid.


Abe: That's my son up there!
Man: What, the balding fat-ass?
Abe: Uh, no, the...Hindu guy.

The number eight song

i loved it