I don't think the video makes it very clear, but the Retrospectives and Top 10s will definitely still continue. It just made sense to do this video first before getting too far into those seasons 👍
Truly enjoying all your videos... any interest in doing a series focused on writer / show runner analysis? James L Brooks moments, Swartzwelder gags, Al Jean structure, etc?
The gag in Jaws Wired Shut where Homer writes “yes” to Marge then erases it and writes “yes” again is one of my favorite little jokes on all of Simpsons.
Lots of strong episodes in this list, definitely some favourites of mine! Also, I noticed your choice of music for Bart Has Two Mommies. Perfect song choice, 5 stars!
having been born in the very early 2000s these "middle ages" of the simpsons have a special place in my heart. they are flawed but i always enjoyed them
I think you should do a video on "The Boy Who Knew Too Much". I believe Mayor Quimby thought his son would be found guilty, so influenced the proceedings to later claim a mistrial. For instance, Apu sits on the jury, despite not becoming a citizen until "Much Apu About Nothing". Secondly, Homer sits on the jury, despite being clearly biased against Quimby from when he receives the letter. Thirdly, Judge appears willing to break court protocol, despite following it in episodes such as "Marge in Chains". I'm sure there's other stuff that could be mentioned.
I find it funny how you ignored the B plot of the Marge MMO episode while for me it contains the best 2 jokes in the episode the documental that Homer shows to Lisa and the Ronaldo cameo. Kinda ironic seeing how I'm mostly about videogames and not football/soccer at all.
The early-middle era is the era I grew up during, so there are a lot of episodes that feel like "classics" in my view that maybe aren't to most. Great to watch this one.
I was born in the early 90's, I grew up with a lot of the season 2-8 stuff, the 12th season, is the last one that holds some notstalgia for me. Only some of season 13 onwards, I can think of.
“Who wants to put on a leotard and get screamed at?” “Well, hookers and Spider-Man!” “Awwww! She must’ve dreamt about Hitler again” So many underrated lines
Skinner's Sense of Snow has one of my favorite social commentary jokes in the show, when the kids find Skinner's pay stubs and figure out that if he's 40 years old, he'd be a millionaire because he makes a whopping 25,000 dollars a year as a *school principal*. Just... so many things wrong with that, you don't know which thread to pull on first.
I always prefer kids to act like kids in this kind of episode, they have a genuinely entertaining naivety. Like the scene of Lisa bouncing on the bed in the Marge at the country club episode.
@@insheepsclothing5574 I know right, there are episodes where lisa is more of an adult than both homer AND marge, which makes it weird when you remember she’s in second grade
12:28 I love how you don't consider Fraudcast News too iconic, when here in Latin America was considered the final episode of the golden era of The Simpsons, mostly because it was the last episode with the original voice dub cast, which they were amazing. Granted they came back for season 32, but for a long time, Hispanics fans considered it the series finale of The Simpsons. I think it will be interesting for you to react to foreign dubs and how they change the perception of when the audience consider the show to be going downhill.
@@postironichno_innit voice acting has a lot to do, especially with the delivery of jokes and how good a character feels. sometimes it makes shitty writing good, sometimes it can ruin good writing if the voice acting is too disastrous.
@@postironichno_innitbro it's better non-existant animation(if the writers is made around that)than having voice sounding like potateos for examples,almost everything is a part of what makes a cartoon or tv show good,and voice acting is no exception
Great episode. Definitely one that always comes to mind mind I think of "those seasons when I was in high-school." The Ray Magini > Imaginary joke kills me.
Another season 16 ep is “Mommie Beerest”. It’s light hearted, not too wacky, and the ending is just all around sweet and funny! And homer and marge singing in the end credit! 💕
“Fraudcast News” is a bit of an unintentionally iconic and important episode in the Latin American community because it marked the end of an era for its Latin Spanish dub. After S15 there was a huge Voice Actors strike against the studio that dubbed the show (which was related to a VA syndicate called ANDA) and, being quite impatient and careless, FOX Latam just ordered all of their series to be dubbed with “pretty much anyone”. So the studio axed around 80% of the main and supporting cast and replaced them with soundalikes for S16 onwards. Granted, Bart got his original voice back (after first quitting the show in S9), but the rest of the Simpson family and a lot of the side characters got recast. And this change also affected Malcom, Family Guy and later on Futurama and even the Simpsons movie. So for the general public this was their dropoff point with the show. S9-15 might be divisive and overlooked in general, but most fans in that region still found quite a lot of enjoyment out of them because the dub and the work made by the classic cast was still that good. Fortunately things had a sort of unexpected twist after the Disney buyout; since for S32 (over 15 years after the incident), a decent chunk of the classic cast circa S11-15 returned to the show; including Homer, Lisa and Burns’ original VAs among others. The former even got back to being the voice director after first getting that position in S8. Sure, some new recasts had to be done for a handful of side characters and even a major one because it had been such a long time since then (Marge’s first VA is pretty much retired I think) and Bart’s S9-15 voice returned once again, but managing to pretty much resume what had been left off before the strike was incredible and quite surprising given that most had given up on that idea ever happening. Stranger things have happened after all. Anyway, this specific era of the show actually gets as much time on TV as the classic era in my region. Literally right now on TV there’s one S5-6 episode a day followed by a S10-11 afterwards, so most of us are just as familiar with them as with the usual classics.
Humberto is the man, the adaptation for Mexican humor was spot on, I've seen the episodes in English and Spanish and hands down Spanish is the funnier , dare I say funniest dub
That's incredibly fascinating! I find dubbing to be a really cool topic from all around the world, and this story might just be one of my favourites I've heard. Thanks for sharing!
@pakuma3 It's generally acknowledged that the 1933 Spanish language Dracula that was made at the same time and with the same sets and costumes as the Bela Lugosi one is the better made movie. I've seen it and agree. Apparently the Spanish language crew watched the fiming of the English language one while waiting to do their filming and kept sayingbto each other "We can do that better".
When I was a kid, they constantly played random reruns of the simpsons on TV, so it was hard for me to decipher what seasons they belonged to, my best guess was essentially from the writing and feeling the episode gave off, and usually I was right, except for Skinner's sense of snow. I always think that it was in a way earlier season than it is and i'm always surprised to see that it's actually from season 12, it just feels like an earlier season (7 or 8 maybe) kind of episode to me which is honestly pretty cool
I found the episode selection process much more challenging than in the Modern Episodes list. I feel like the HD seasons have a lot of genre parodies and experiments that pop out when viewing a list of episodes. Whereas here, you're sifting through different character duo stories and topical stuff, it became more of a question of which character journey or duo episodes were best executed. I think the episodes featured here are just as good in quality as the ones in the Modern Simpsons list, they're just a bit more straightforward and "safe" story-wise. (Except for the Season 17 examples. Anything goes in that season.)
@@KingYou2002 Yep definitely. One of the reasons I did this video now was because I realized all these seasons are coming up in the retrospectives series (so may as well do this first)
I think New Kids on the Blecch is a real hidden gem from Season 12. Most people dismiss it because of the boy band stuff but it’s a great mix of surprisingly clever moments and so-dumb-it’s-amazing ones. And the whole thing feels really tongue in cheek. Definitely one of the most entertaining episodes of Season 12.
22:45 This scenes is also followed of my favorite, yet dark, jokes of the series: *Marge Crying* Lisa: I thought Mom was the stronger one... Bart: She is. Look. *Homer outside failing at hanging himself*
I'm gonna be honest, the fact that these episodes are now considered "middle Simpsons era" really make me feel old. It feels like I've seen these most of these episodes for the first time a few years ago, when in reality, it was actually several.
Seasons 9-14 were constantly on TV when I was growing up so these are the ones I’ve probably seen the most, love seeing a video about these seasons. There’s a lot of hidden gems in there. The snow in of the school was always on and one of my favourites.
Can we get a marge top 10 list?! She’s such an underrated character and she needs some more love. I still lover her line in in the Bergstrum episode towards Homer after Lisa called him a Baboon. I am my dad daughter and I can say that what Marge says to Homer is very true
Top the Marge episodes in no particular order: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Marge, The Twisted World of Marge Simpson, Uncut Femmes, The Great Wife Hope, In Marge We Trust, Tapped Out ( Opps that's an American Dad episode), Brush with Greatness, Screaming Yellow Honkers ( That ending joke was perfect), Itchy and Scratchy and Marge, Marge's Son Poisoning, Marge vs. The Monorail
"lisa what's your favourite cigar size? Is it robusto" is a quote that has always stayed with me for some reason and i think it's from that lisa P.I. episode, it's just such a perfect quote for homer, he wants to know more about his daughter but asks the dumbest questions
Something that hasn't been said enough: seasons 12-19 include a butt ton of good episodes that get way too much shade put on them because they weren't produced in the '90s.
The percentage of Bangers started to go down in 12-20 but there were still a lot of bangers, I got Disney+ recently and decided to watch "that 90s episode" and like "damn that was season 19?" And also the amount of good episode scrolling down to it
Oh come on, don't throw around that excuse, those seasons get a lot of shade, because most just don't like them. Simpsons still puts out good episodes, in the last 20 years, but it feels like a completely different show now, you can the difference, when you watch the first 8 or 9 seasons.
Maybe it's that way for some people, but the tonal shifts between seasons 2, then again in 9, are pretty huge. The teen years are where I feel there stopped being "great episodes", where even the best episodes had padding or jokes that fell short or edgelord humour, so they're just not as good in comparison to the extremely polished early years. I bring up 2 specifically because the first two seasons are so different to the tone after that, I wouldn't begrudge anyone for having a starkly different opinion on them than on the rest of the series. We can all agree they have some great jokes, though.
What I like about Skinners Sense of Snow is that it's a Christmas episode where the excitement for the kids is Christmas break. It's not about the religious aspect of the holiday or even the presents. The kids are looking forward to being off from school for a week plus. This episode aired when I was a kid so I could definitely relate to that feeling right before Christmas break.
7:17 So my little sister was obsessed with Dora the Explorer as a toddler and young child, so much so my Dad one birthday got her a personalized Dora Birthday Adventure tape. Video starts with the usual Dora and Boots banter, explaining that they heard it was someone's birthday today, so they're headed to their house to take them on a birthday adventure! Out of the house comes a picture of my sister's face slapped onto an animated body, and any time they would say her name the audio quality would change and say her name, I bet because she doesn't have a super common name they didn't have any pre-recorded versions of the audio with her name, so either had to record new audio or splice together audio to make it work 😂 I should see if that thing survived, she watched it so much I would not be surprised if the tape either broke or was hidden by my parents for being overplayed 😄
i'm guessing "She of Little Faith" was one of those episodes that was intentionally excluded from the list? that episode's _hilarious._ it has my personal favorite dialogue exchange in the show: "This is the worst thing you've ever done!" "You say that so much, it's lost all meaning."
Marge Gamer is like one of my all time favourite episodes of the entire series. In fact, a lot of the ones you mentioned I completely agree on or at least regard as truly decent episodes. I don't know what it is about Marge Gamer, it just has charm. The way I also feel for Marge's Son's Poisoning. Episodes that centre around Marge bonding with Bart and getting her feelings hurt just tug at the heart strings.
The soccer subplot with Homer and Lisa also has its share of good laughs like Homer’s first time as a soccer referee and the BBC documentary about soccer hooliganism.
S14E12 "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" is a personal favorite of mine from the middle Simpsons. It manages to stay consistently funny in an era where you're lucky to get two memorable jokes in an episode.
These seasons I've got a lot of nostalgia for. I remember when Channel 10 in Australia would always hype new episodes with promos and it always got me excited when I was younger.
I went into this video hoping Skinner's Sense of Snow would be on the list and I was not disappointed. Very fond of that episode, I honestly felt like I was back in Season 7 when I watched it a few years back while going through the series.
Honestly, I’m really glad someone talked about these episodes! Ones like, “Skinner’s sense of Snow”, or “The Heartbroke kid” are really fun episodes that go unnoticed in the community. Another one I really like from season 12 is “HomR”, but I like a lot of these episodes like they were pre season.
I got SO excited when this showed up in my notifications! I have a LOT of nostalgia and fondness for middle Simpsons because I grew up during that era and I feel it's often really underappreciated. I can't wait to see what episodes you picked out! Edit now that I've finished watching: -I love that you picked Skinner's Sense of Snow. I had that one on a Simpsons Christmas dvd as a kid and it was one of my favourite episodes back then but I feel not a lot of people acknowledge it. Me and my dad STILL quote the "DIDI MAU!" scene. -I Am A Furious Yellow is great obviously, but more than just that, speaking as a 2000s kids, I feel that for my generation it's such an ICONIC episode. It was one of the most references episodes by far back then, -Finally someone else who agrees that The Dad Who Knew Too Little is one of the BEST middle-season episodes! I *never* see it come up on 'best post-classic Simpsons episodes' lists and I've never gotten why, it's always been a favourite of mine. It helps that I'm a huge sucker for Homer/Lisa episodes but it's genuinely such a great episode. Such a great exploration of their relationship and Dexter Colt is such a great one-off character. -Love that you included Sleeping with the Enemy and Haw-Haw'd Couple. I've always felt that Nelson's character development was one of the great mini-arcs of these middle seasons and they really made him into one of my favourite characters - and I know it's not just me, there's a REASON you see so much Nelson fanart these days! -I've seen people rag on Marge Gamer before so I love that you included it. It has some peak Dorky Mom Marge antics and her dynamic with Bart in it is genuinely really sweet. Marge episodes for the win. -Eeny Teeny Maya Moe was such a great way to finish off the list - the "someone can love you again" speech Homer gives Moe at the end gets me every time.
This comment aged incredibly well. Although it is unfortunate that she was so one-dimensional in her recent appearance, hopefully they do more with her soon, and also don't call off the wedding.
I absolutelly love this era of the show, it has a great balance of weird surreal moments and down-to-earth character stuff. If feels like they dialed up the wackyness for Seasons 11 and 12, and with this era they fine-tuned it.
You made me realise that I stopped watching the simpsons much later than I thought - most of the episodes you picked are ones I remember really liking!
Yeah I love that episode where Homer turns into the Hulk and Stan Lee comes out of Comic Book Guy store and says how can you be the Hulk. I'm the Hulk. In comic book guy had to bring him back into the store again. Then you heard him growl and he said almost had it that time.
My favourite Middle Simpsons episode is "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife", where Marge writes a novel and Homer briefly becomes a used car salesman ("Did that salesman cut one on the test drive?"/"Yes and he turned on the radio to cover the smell"). It also features the return of Dr Marvin Monroe and a surprising guest appearance from Thomas Pynchon (in fact it's the only publicly available recording of his voice).
All of the episodes directed by Lauren MacMullan are great. Not only do they have solid stories, but the animation quality really goes up. Lots of well-staged visual moments come to mind, like the email sequence from Half-Decent Proposal and Nelson's Yentl homage.
Trivia about Marge Gamer: In the Brazilian Voice-Over, Ronaldo voices himself, not even when Pelé appeared they were voiced by himself in the Brazilian dubbing. It was trashy, but a charming trashy, he made in one take who gave the impression that it was super rushed, but it made super funny for some reason... "Agora vou indo" (witch translates to "Now I will leave") with a sad tone and jumping backwards always gets me...
I grew up when these seasons were new, and I've always loved them. I get why seasons 9 through maybe 13 or so get crapped on so much, but pretty quickly after that they settled into a pretty solid groove that they rode out for the rest of the decade. Sidenote: they did a lot of non-Halloween anthology episodes during this era, which they seem to have completely stopped doing these days. Could make a great video subject.
Ahh the era where King of the Hill eclipsed the show for me. The last episode Phil Hartman was in was also the last episode we recorded with the VCR. There were definitely memorable episodes around this time, it didn’t feel zombified yet it just was getting tired.
I don't remember Phil Hartman being in that episode, you must be thinking of "Bart The Mother", from early season 10, that was his last episode. His last one where he voiced the lawyer, was "Reality Bites".
The amount of times I just screamed, "YES! THANK YOU JIMS!" More than half of this list contains some of my most favorite episodes of all time. The only one you missed that I would have to give a lot of credit to is The President Who Wore Pearls Season 15.
I feel like Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes from season 20 is incredibly overlooked. Such a fun idea for a plot, such a left-field concept of Homer and Ned partnering up to become bounty hunters of all things, but I absolutely love it. Honestly it’s just a super entertaining episode with some funny as hell jokes and action sequences.
I really like the more experimental episodes during this era (24 minutes, the seemingly never ending story, particularly the trilogy of error). Definitely agree on skinner's sense of snow and marge gamer. Also love the closing shopping montage as a callback to last exit to Springfield in fraudcast news. Also think moe and maya is one of the great post-classics, Homer's final sentiment to his friend is quite touching, and the subplot is also very fun
I loved the line Homer delivered to Moe at the end of number 20. It was very well said and it was just so nice to see the episode end on a positive note rather than have them try and shoehorn in a bad joke or a syke out.
It's pretty nostalgic seeing this video, considering these episodes essentially were The Simpson's of my formative tween years. I grew up with reruns of the series and these were the episodes I ended up seeing the most.
Jaws Wired Shut actually helped teach me German. I was living in Austria when I first saw it, and it was dubbed into German. The part where Homer is dancing with Marge and says "I'm horny", in German he says "ich bin geil", and that's how I learned to say "I'm horny" in German. But the important part is there was an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time. Edit: as for the videos in #6, they were totally a thing (as well as cheesy children's books with similar inserts) in the 80s and into the early 90s. I'm a little old for them (born at the very end of the 1970s) but my siblings got some of them as gifts at various times. They were just as cringe as this episode makes them out to be and let us never speak of them again, under penalty of torture.
Everyone agrees that Simpsons dropped in quality a lot, but the show is not as bad as people say, it's just that it went from the best show ever, to an OK show, that most episodes are at least watchable, once in a while has a pretty good episode and sometimes has a terrible episode that makes people angry.
"The Dad Who Knew Too Little" has one of my favorite Simpsons joke. It's where Lisa finds out about the PI, and Homer says (following her to the bus): "Look Lisa, I'm still trying to get to know you. Who's your favorite Traveling Wilbury? Is it Jeff Lynne?"
Heh looks like the writers realized they like Moe and Maya as a couple as well based on the latest episode as yeah seems like the team is finally more comfortable trying to break at least in little bits more away from the status quo... I am hoping it doesn't just mean getting everyone in town together as I feel there should be more to everyone's development then hooking up but hey it's something.
Great hidden gems list. I have to say that I noticed that you didn’t go over a lot of Homer centric episodes and I kind of appreciate it. It’s nice to celebrate other characters. Homer’s always going to be a big star but you gotta give plenty of appreciation to the other characters. I like Fraudcast News a lot and I’m a big fan of The Debarted too. I agrée Donny should get a return appearance someday!
I looove mid simpsons. I was 13 when season 20 aired so this section is when I started paying attention to the show more and it gives me so much nostalgia.
Great list! I would’ve added ‘The Great Louse Detective’ from Season 14, but I was also happy to see ‘Bart has two Mommies’ and ‘The Debarted’ get a mention!
I actually like these seasons, sadly between the good old ones and the new seasons they're pretty ignored by the Simpsons analysts. Thank you Jim, you are so beautiful to me
I only have one episode from this era I really loved other than Trilogy of Error, and that's Season 17's "The Monkey Suit". The plot itself is fine and servicable, but the main reason it's a stand-out is that it was just one of those episodes that really caught me off guard by how regularly I was laughing out loud. I'd recommend it to fans of the "just a constant stream of gags"-type episodes like Homer at the Bat and Last Exit to Springfield (naturally it's dialed a notch down from the quality of those, but it's still a commendable effort). Despite only having that one as a "favourite" though, I found myself nodding along to the vast majority of this list - they're all really solid episodes.
Maybe it's the fact that I grew up during this era, but I find a lot of episodes from these seasons to be pretty enjoyable. Sure, the firsr seasons are undeniably better, and there are some really bad moments here, but I do have a soft spot for them. Now, for the part of the comment that will probably make some people hate me: I actually think The Principal And The Pauper has some great jokes, and I always thought of it as a parody to stupid twists rather than a stupid twist in itself.
The Principal and the Pauper is one of the best in my opinion, it's genuinelly funny, has some great moments (and memes), and it doesn't affect the series' status quo **that** much (even tho the writters retconned it many times). I feel like the series has hit many other lows. Now, for the part of the comment that will probably make some people hate me: I don't have many issues with Lisa Goes Gaga. While I feel it was an awfully paced episode and I understand why it left a sour taste on people's mouths, Lady Gaga delivers a great performance and the scenes of her interacting with the people of Springfield were pretty good. It's defenetly much better than the Musk episode **shudders**.
I can remember all the episodes you picked from 12-14, and my reaction to each was "That was a good episode". I'm going to rewatch a few and try some of the of the ones I haven't seen from the later years.
14:35 I couldn't agree more, that is one of my all-time favorite 'Middle SImpsons' moments. When that episode first aired, watching it live, I laughed SO hard when Bart landed on Homer's car and Homer popped out. That whole sequence was BRILLIANT!
Oh, excellent! You've always got a top notch perspective and recommendation on the.... lesser loved Simpsons. That being said, I know you said Moe Baby Blues gets enough love but an 60 Seconds/Extra Seconds set on it I think would be welcomed
I'd love to see a 10 worst (or 20 worst) classic episodes list. I want to know what season 1-10 episodes you DON'T like (even if the list potentially makes me salty).
The Dexter Colt episode is awesome. I also liked “I’m spelling as fast as I can” and the one where Bart has the robot battles. And the one where Bart and Homer go on that road trip.
I am absolutely stunned that "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" didn't make the list. That episode has several memorable lines with the closing being possibly the best ending to any Simpsons episode ever.
Nothing like a new RealJims video! By the way, this is an excellent idea for a video! I can't see the whole thing now, but I am looking forward to watching it later! By the way, I am a big fan of "I Am Furious Yellow"! Edit: I also enjoyed "Marge Gamer". I think that, in a way, it tells a very sweet story between Bart and Marge.
As a kid growing up in Australia in the early 2000s, the early-middle era (seasons 10-12) were the ones that were rerun on TV the most, and so they're actually the episodes in the most familiar with and have the most nostalgia for. They'll always have a place in my heart even though they're not as well written as the early seasons.
Thanks for making this! I feel like 1998-2010 Simpsons is EXTREMELY underrated because I loved watching the show during that time! Sure it's not as good as 1989-1997 simpsons but there are some genuinely good gems in there imho
I can agree with "Little Girl..." and "Sleeping with the Enemy" being two seriously solid episodes of middle era. Additionally, both have the same duo having worked on them: director Lauren MacMullan (who, along with Susie Dietter and Nancy Kruse, is one of few female directors on the show with good run of episodes) and writer Jon Vitti, who has a lot of great classic episodes under his belt. Nice down-to-earth feeling and believable interactions and characterization in both of them. Another close in spirit episode of period is "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (S15). "Seemingly Never-Ending Story" is another gem, deservingly got Emmy in the year of nomination. I guess it's no use to remember "HOMR" and "Hungry, Hungry Homer", and they're two of often-praised episodes of era. For one episode of subset of not exactly great, but worth to check out episodes (the "curiosities", as I call them), "The Way We Weren't" from S15 is interesting one. It once again plays with Homer & Marge's past timeline and uses certain trick to extend their acquaintance to children years, but in my opinion, it's done with enough voluntarily-contrived ingenuity, so I can buy it, concept is entertaining enough and mocking "miraculous" fictional love stories in manner fitting the series. "Future-Drama" from S16 is not best timeskip episode, but after watching it few times, I say it's little above middle-of-the-road timeskip episode, not "Lisa's Wedding" or even "Holidays of Future Passed", but lot better and plausible than "Bart to The Future". And it does something that "Lisa's Future" didn't touch profoundly - sibling relationships played during teenage years. As for Bart and Lisa-centered episodes of its era, it shows their dynamic and once again, depth of Bart's care and appreciation for his sister, in very strong manner. (Sadly, HOFP, while continues storylines of this episode, chooses to negate all positive impact.) For other conceptually inventive episodes, "Springfield Up" from S18 is along here with "Seemingly Never-Ending Story": it uses formula of documentary chronicling lifetime of group of Springfield citizens, but doesn't tied by formula too much, and eventually puts focus on Homer's part of it and culminates here. Time-jumping gimmick results in fast-paced gags, some of them pretty memorable (one with Disco Stu and story of Chief Wiggum getting place in policy, for example), and episode doesn't seem dragged too much or exhausted half-way (except, maybe, last few seconds). For little more biased pick, "Moe'N'a Lisa" can serve as sort of follow-up to "Moe Baby Blues": it's not about Moe's bond with Maggie, but puts him in duo with other Simpson offspring, Lisa, and connection between them feels just as genuine and in-character for both. Mid-seasons had that kind of "saga" about bitter-sweet relationship of Moe with titular family - his fair-weather friendship with Homer, unrequited feelings to Marge and unexpected close bonds with kids. "Moe'n'Lisa" is solid chapter in this arc.
I love Springfield Up. Possibly my favorite dumb joke is in that one, where a guy who looks like a young sea captain sits down, hears disco music for the first time, throws off his sailor's hat revealing a giant afro, and the narrator excitedly shouts, "And the WORLD WELCOMED DISCO STU!"
Heartbroke Kid always bothered me a little bit because Daria had a similar plot device a few years earlier with a school installing soda machines to bring in revenue. Granted the stories are overall different, but the similarity still bothered me.
The middle era of The Simpsons from season 14's Special Edna to season 20's was the Post-Classical Simpsons, that's what is said on some sources on the internet. When I first started watching The Simpsons when I was 15 in 2014 I would watch it every day non-stop until Season 26. I liked it very much and found it very funny. I still found it funny into season 20-23.
Great video, I feel that many people watched Middle Simpsons during their childhood and enjoyed it until they discovered that in Internet the general opinion is that it sucks so they decided to hate it too, so it's refreshing watching somebody talking about these seasons in a positive light and not just "all the episodes from the classic era are good and the rest of them are bad".
Nah, I gave up on the show during this era and "oh no people love it until they read that it's unpopular on the internet" is some real conspiracy-theory stuff.
@@s_SoNick it's not really a conspiracy-theory when you realize that many people that claim to have watched The Simpson in their childhood until it became "unwatchable" were like 10-years-old when the movie came out and at that point there were 18 seasons already lmao, I won't pretend that Middle Simpson is underrated or anything but I'm sure there are lots of folks that enjoyed these seasons without even knowing they were supposed to be bad until they read about it on Internet
The Debarted was sadly ruined in Italy - despite the generally great dub the series gets here, for some reason Donny was voiced by a SOCCER PLAYER, who obviously gives an absolutely dreadful performance.
I don't think the video makes it very clear, but the Retrospectives and Top 10s will definitely still continue. It just made sense to do this video first before getting too far into those seasons 👍
What a relief!
I'm glad - there are still several other gems. I guess these are diamonds and the others are amethyst.
thanks so much for including the episode names in the description as i wanted to watch them all for the first time before i watch this :)
It just occurred to me that Maggie would make for a great SImpsons Histories.
Truly enjoying all your videos... any interest in doing a series focused on writer / show runner analysis? James L Brooks moments, Swartzwelder gags, Al Jean structure, etc?
The gag in Jaws Wired Shut where Homer writes “yes” to Marge then erases it and writes “yes” again is one of my favorite little jokes on all of Simpsons.
It was to Lisa ;)
Thanks for pointing that joke out😂 it gets me more than it should
It’s touching, in his own stupid way it shows how much Homer will do for her.
Lots of strong episodes in this list, definitely some favourites of mine!
Also, I noticed your choice of music for Bart Has Two Mommies. Perfect song choice, 5 stars!
Best part of Heartbroke Kid is Homer crying for Bart to do the Bartman.
having been born in the very early 2000s these "middle ages" of the simpsons have a special place in my heart. they are flawed but i always enjoyed them
I actually like a handful of these episodes as a kid. Middle Simpsons had it's moments
I'd have to do a deeper dive to be sure, but I imagine Simple Simpson would make my version of this list
"Yes yes, I just wish you had the power to leave my store!" he said as he politely escorted him back into his store.
I think you should do a video on "The Boy Who Knew Too Much". I believe Mayor Quimby thought his son would be found guilty, so influenced the proceedings to later claim a mistrial. For instance, Apu sits on the jury, despite not becoming a citizen until "Much Apu About Nothing". Secondly, Homer sits on the jury, despite being clearly biased against Quimby from when he receives the letter. Thirdly, Judge appears willing to break court protocol, despite following it in episodes such as "Marge in Chains". I'm sure there's other stuff that could be mentioned.
how ironic I'm watching the simpsons right now but only the good seasons
I find it funny how you ignored the B plot of the Marge MMO episode while for me it contains the best 2 jokes in the episode the documental that Homer shows to Lisa and the Ronaldo cameo. Kinda ironic seeing how I'm mostly about videogames and not football/soccer at all.
"Somebody loved you, and that means someone can love you again! And that'll make you smile." One of the best moments in the show
As someone that sometimes feel extremely lonely and hopeless, this line hit so hard and was so unexpectedly powerful.
The early-middle era is the era I grew up during, so there are a lot of episodes that feel like "classics" in my view that maybe aren't to most. Great to watch this one.
Same
Same
@@patricklauer4452 favorite ep from the middle era
I was born in the early 90's, I grew up with a lot of the season 2-8 stuff, the 12th season, is the last one that holds some notstalgia for me. Only some of season 13 onwards, I can think of.
Me too! Even though they don't hit as hard as seasons 1-8 in hindsight, it's really nice to see them get some love.
"Cats back for everyone!"
"I had a dog."
"He's cat now!"
I am Lugash.
Lugash is so great. Looking back, I should have made some room for him in that episode breakdown
@@TheRealJims he needs his own history spotlight episode.
“Who wants to put on a leotard and get screamed at?”
“Well, hookers and Spider-Man!”
“Awwww! She must’ve dreamt about Hitler again”
So many underrated lines
Spider-Man doesn't want to be yelled at and wants to fight crime.
Skinner's Sense of Snow has one of my favorite social commentary jokes in the show, when the kids find Skinner's pay stubs and figure out that if he's 40 years old, he'd be a millionaire because he makes a whopping 25,000 dollars a year as a *school principal*. Just... so many things wrong with that, you don't know which thread to pull on first.
I always prefer kids to act like kids in this kind of episode, they have a genuinely entertaining naivety. Like the scene of Lisa bouncing on the bed in the Marge at the country club episode.
@@insheepsclothing5574 I know right, there are episodes where lisa is more of an adult than both homer AND marge, which makes it weird when you remember she’s in second grade
You're right that is very funny, and I didn't really think about it before
"I wasn't a principal when I was one!" is a genuinely funny line.
Milhouse: And he paints houses in the summer!
12:28
I love how you don't consider Fraudcast News too iconic, when here in Latin America was considered the final episode of the golden era of The Simpsons, mostly because it was the last episode with the original voice dub cast, which they were amazing. Granted they came back for season 32, but for a long time, Hispanics fans considered it the series finale of The Simpsons. I think it will be interesting for you to react to foreign dubs and how they change the perception of when the audience consider the show to be going downhill.
that's hella interesting. I didn't know that. thank you for sharing bro. much love from California
Lol imagine judging the show not by writing or animation quality but for freaking VOICE ACTING
The principal and the pauper is regarded worldwide as the episode that ended the golden era
@@postironichno_innit voice acting has a lot to do, especially with the delivery of jokes and how good a character feels. sometimes it makes shitty writing good, sometimes it can ruin good writing if the voice acting is too disastrous.
@@postironichno_innitbro it's better non-existant animation(if the writers is made around that)than having voice sounding like potateos for examples,almost everything is a part of what makes a cartoon or tv show good,and voice acting is no exception
I really like season 16 “don’t fear the roofer” idk why but everyone thinking Homer is crazy and has an imaginary friend was really interesting to me.
i agree! definitely in my favourites from this era!
Agreed. And the explanation for Homer seeing him is hilarious as well. I won't spoil anything for those who haven't seen it.
Great episode. Definitely one that always comes to mind mind I think of "those seasons when I was in high-school." The Ray Magini > Imaginary joke kills me.
Another season 16 ep is “Mommie Beerest”. It’s light hearted, not too wacky, and the ending is just all around sweet and funny! And homer and marge singing in the end credit! 💕
That one is really good
“Fraudcast News” is a bit of an unintentionally iconic and important episode in the Latin American community because it marked the end of an era for its Latin Spanish dub. After S15 there was a huge Voice Actors strike against the studio that dubbed the show (which was related to a VA syndicate called ANDA) and, being quite impatient and careless, FOX Latam just ordered all of their series to be dubbed with “pretty much anyone”. So the studio axed around 80% of the main and supporting cast and replaced them with soundalikes for S16 onwards. Granted, Bart got his original voice back (after first quitting the show in S9), but the rest of the Simpson family and a lot of the side characters got recast. And this change also affected Malcom, Family Guy and later on Futurama and even the Simpsons movie. So for the general public this was their dropoff point with the show. S9-15 might be divisive and overlooked in general, but most fans in that region still found quite a lot of enjoyment out of them because the dub and the work made by the classic cast was still that good. Fortunately things had a sort of unexpected twist after the Disney buyout; since for S32 (over 15 years after the incident), a decent chunk of the classic cast circa S11-15 returned to the show; including Homer, Lisa and Burns’ original VAs among others. The former even got back to being the voice director after first getting that position in S8. Sure, some new recasts had to be done for a handful of side characters and even a major one because it had been such a long time since then (Marge’s first VA is pretty much retired I think) and Bart’s S9-15 voice returned once again, but managing to pretty much resume what had been left off before the strike was incredible and quite surprising given that most had given up on that idea ever happening. Stranger things have happened after all. Anyway, this specific era of the show actually gets as much time on TV as the classic era in my region. Literally right now on TV there’s one S5-6 episode a day followed by a S10-11 afterwards, so most of us are just as familiar with them as with the usual classics.
Just learn English
old comment, but that's very fascinating!
Humberto is the man, the adaptation for Mexican humor was spot on, I've seen the episodes in English and Spanish and hands down Spanish is the funnier , dare I say funniest dub
That's incredibly fascinating! I find dubbing to be a really cool topic from all around the world, and this story might just be one of my favourites I've heard. Thanks for sharing!
@pakuma3 It's generally acknowledged that the 1933 Spanish language Dracula that was made at the same time and with the same sets and costumes as the Bela Lugosi one is the better made movie. I've seen it and agree. Apparently the Spanish language crew watched the fiming of the English language one while waiting to do their filming and kept sayingbto each other "We can do that better".
When I was a kid, they constantly played random reruns of the simpsons on TV, so it was hard for me to decipher what seasons they belonged to, my best guess was essentially from the writing and feeling the episode gave off, and usually I was right, except for Skinner's sense of snow. I always think that it was in a way earlier season than it is and i'm always surprised to see that it's actually from season 12, it just feels like an earlier season (7 or 8 maybe) kind of episode to me which is honestly pretty cool
As a kid, I could only tell what seasons they were from, based on the art and animation, like the first two seasons the most.
I found the episode selection process much more challenging than in the Modern Episodes list. I feel like the HD seasons have a lot of genre parodies and experiments that pop out when viewing a list of episodes. Whereas here, you're sifting through different character duo stories and topical stuff, it became more of a question of which character journey or duo episodes were best executed. I think the episodes featured here are just as good in quality as the ones in the Modern Simpsons list, they're just a bit more straightforward and "safe" story-wise.
(Except for the Season 17 examples. Anything goes in that season.)
Nice touch with the DKC music on the gorilla episode
@@flynnfoil Thanks! I love me some musical puns 😀
@@TheRealJims Are you doing the Season 12 Restropective still or not?
@@KingYou2002 Yep definitely. One of the reasons I did this video now was because I realized all these seasons are coming up in the retrospectives series (so may as well do this first)
@@TheRealJims Are you still doing a top 10 for Season 12 or not?
I think New Kids on the Blecch is a real hidden gem from Season 12.
Most people dismiss it because of the boy band stuff but it’s a great mix of surprisingly clever moments and so-dumb-it’s-amazing ones. And the whole thing feels really tongue in cheek. Definitely one of the most entertaining episodes of Season 12.
@@matthewkoester1640 a bop
Lt. L. T. Smash is gold
It's one of my favorate episodes.
yeah that episode is great
I love that episode
22:45 This scenes is also followed of my favorite, yet dark, jokes of the series:
*Marge Crying*
Lisa: I thought Mom was the stronger one...
Bart: She is. Look.
*Homer outside failing at hanging himself*
I'm gonna be honest, the fact that these episodes are now considered "middle Simpsons era" really make me feel old. It feels like I've seen these most of these episodes for the first time a few years ago, when in reality, it was actually several.
And think about this, the middle era ended almost 15 years ago.
Just wait until you are actually old and your favorite shows are having their 50 year anniversaries
That scene when Homer morphs through the bushes is pretty great.
Eyyy I like your videos
@@Aethonyt thanks
OMG seeing my every night YT creator on my fav Simpsons channel....sweet
Imo one of the most iconic Simpsons imagery
They brought it back in season 32. Bart needed to get through some bushes, and he did it.
Seasons 9-14 were constantly on TV when I was growing up so these are the ones I’ve probably seen the most, love seeing a video about these seasons. There’s a lot of hidden gems in there.
The snow in of the school was always on and one of my favourites.
Can we get a marge top 10 list?! She’s such an underrated character and she needs some more love. I still lover her line in in the Bergstrum episode towards Homer after Lisa called him a Baboon. I am my dad daughter and I can say that what Marge says to Homer is very true
Very True, she is a deeply unappreciated character.
@@filmreviewer117 There would be no show without her. The voice of reason is important or the show would be too annoying.
Top the Marge episodes in no particular order: It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad Marge, The Twisted World of Marge Simpson, Uncut Femmes, The Great Wife Hope, In Marge We Trust, Tapped Out ( Opps that's an American Dad episode), Brush with Greatness, Screaming Yellow Honkers ( That ending joke was perfect), Itchy and Scratchy and Marge, Marge's Son Poisoning, Marge vs. The Monorail
@@icecreamhero2375 Such great episodes!
@@icecreamhero2375 Very true!
"lisa what's your favourite cigar size? Is it robusto" is a quote that has always stayed with me for some reason and i think it's from that lisa P.I. episode, it's just such a perfect quote for homer, he wants to know more about his daughter but asks the dumbest questions
Something that hasn't been said enough: seasons 12-19 include a butt ton of good episodes that get way too much shade put on them because they weren't produced in the '90s.
Pretty much.
The percentage of Bangers started to go down in 12-20 but there were still a lot of bangers, I got Disney+ recently and decided to watch "that 90s episode" and like "damn that was season 19?" And also the amount of good episode scrolling down to it
Oh come on, don't throw around that excuse, those seasons get a lot of shade, because most just don't like them. Simpsons still puts out good episodes, in the last 20 years, but it feels like a completely different show now, you can the difference, when you watch the first 8 or 9 seasons.
Maybe it's that way for some people, but the tonal shifts between seasons 2, then again in 9, are pretty huge. The teen years are where I feel there stopped being "great episodes", where even the best episodes had padding or jokes that fell short or edgelord humour, so they're just not as good in comparison to the extremely polished early years. I bring up 2 specifically because the first two seasons are so different to the tone after that, I wouldn't begrudge anyone for having a starkly different opinion on them than on the rest of the series.
We can all agree they have some great jokes, though.
@@theMoporter I honestly don't notice any tonal shift in season 9 at all
Not going to lie, as someone who partly grew up on these episodes, it’s great to hear them be complimented !
What I like about Skinners Sense of Snow is that it's a Christmas episode where the excitement for the kids is Christmas break. It's not about the religious aspect of the holiday or even the presents. The kids are looking forward to being off from school for a week plus. This episode aired when I was a kid so I could definitely relate to that feeling right before Christmas break.
"...I fixed the DVD!" 😃
7:17 So my little sister was obsessed with Dora the Explorer as a toddler and young child, so much so my Dad one birthday got her a personalized Dora Birthday Adventure tape.
Video starts with the usual Dora and Boots banter, explaining that they heard it was someone's birthday today, so they're headed to their house to take them on a birthday adventure! Out of the house comes a picture of my sister's face slapped onto an animated body, and any time they would say her name the audio quality would change and say her name, I bet because she doesn't have a super common name they didn't have any pre-recorded versions of the audio with her name, so either had to record new audio or splice together audio to make it work 😂
I should see if that thing survived, she watched it so much I would not be surprised if the tape either broke or was hidden by my parents for being overplayed 😄
i'm guessing "She of Little Faith" was one of those episodes that was intentionally excluded from the list? that episode's _hilarious._ it has my personal favorite dialogue exchange in the show:
"This is the worst thing you've ever done!"
"You say that so much, it's lost all meaning."
My eyebrows! My beautiful eyebrows!
Marge Gamer is like one of my all time favourite episodes of the entire series. In fact, a lot of the ones you mentioned I completely agree on or at least regard as truly decent episodes. I don't know what it is about Marge Gamer, it just has charm. The way I also feel for Marge's Son's Poisoning. Episodes that centre around Marge bonding with Bart and getting her feelings hurt just tug at the heart strings.
Same. Also helps that I was(and still somewhat am) super into MMOs, so I enjoyed a lot of the jokes there.
The soccer subplot with Homer and Lisa also has its share of good laughs like Homer’s first time as a soccer referee and the BBC documentary about soccer hooliganism.
S14E12 "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" is a personal favorite of mine from the middle Simpsons. It manages to stay consistently funny in an era where you're lucky to get two memorable jokes in an episode.
It’s the complete opposite of “phoning it in”, that ep stands very tall over S14 imo.
The mcrib subplot worked well
I still don't know whether the weather will improve.
And a hot plate!
I particularly love the Requiem for a Dream sequence with Homer eating the Ribwich
So is there gonna be a 20 hidden flops of the classic era to counter the two hidden gems of the post classic era?
Haha, there should be. I wonder if it's even possible to do a 20 Worst Classics without making the whole subscriber base mad 🤣
@@TheRealJims that's why you should do it.
Here’s a head starter an option, My sister my sitter, awful episode
These seasons I've got a lot of nostalgia for. I remember when Channel 10 in Australia would always hype new episodes with promos and it always got me excited when I was younger.
I went into this video hoping Skinner's Sense of Snow would be on the list and I was not disappointed. Very fond of that episode, I honestly felt like I was back in Season 7 when I watched it a few years back while going through the series.
Honestly, I’m really glad someone talked about these episodes! Ones like, “Skinner’s sense of Snow”, or “The Heartbroke kid” are really fun episodes that go unnoticed in the community. Another one I really like from season 12 is “HomR”, but I like a lot of these episodes like they were pre season.
I got SO excited when this showed up in my notifications! I have a LOT of nostalgia and fondness for middle Simpsons because I grew up during that era and I feel it's often really underappreciated. I can't wait to see what episodes you picked out!
Edit now that I've finished watching:
-I love that you picked Skinner's Sense of Snow. I had that one on a Simpsons Christmas dvd as a kid and it was one of my favourite episodes back then but I feel not a lot of people acknowledge it. Me and my dad STILL quote the "DIDI MAU!" scene.
-I Am A Furious Yellow is great obviously, but more than just that, speaking as a 2000s kids, I feel that for my generation it's such an ICONIC episode. It was one of the most references episodes by far back then,
-Finally someone else who agrees that The Dad Who Knew Too Little is one of the BEST middle-season episodes! I *never* see it come up on 'best post-classic Simpsons episodes' lists and I've never gotten why, it's always been a favourite of mine. It helps that I'm a huge sucker for Homer/Lisa episodes but it's genuinely such a great episode. Such a great exploration of their relationship and Dexter Colt is such a great one-off character.
-Love that you included Sleeping with the Enemy and Haw-Haw'd Couple. I've always felt that Nelson's character development was one of the great mini-arcs of these middle seasons and they really made him into one of my favourite characters - and I know it's not just me, there's a REASON you see so much Nelson fanart these days!
-I've seen people rag on Marge Gamer before so I love that you included it. It has some peak Dorky Mom Marge antics and her dynamic with Bart in it is genuinely really sweet. Marge episodes for the win.
-Eeny Teeny Maya Moe was such a great way to finish off the list - the "someone can love you again" speech Homer gives Moe at the end gets me every time.
"The rat symbolises obviousness!!'
- the best Ralph line ever
Watching this made me realise how much I want them to bring Maya back as a recurring character
She can be Moe's Kimiko
This comment aged incredibly well. Although it is unfortunate that she was so one-dimensional in her recent appearance, hopefully they do more with her soon, and also don't call off the wedding.
Your wish has been granted.
I absolutelly love this era of the show, it has a great balance of weird surreal moments and down-to-earth character stuff. If feels like they dialed up the wackyness for Seasons 11 and 12, and with this era they fine-tuned it.
You made me realise that I stopped watching the simpsons much later than I thought - most of the episodes you picked are ones I remember really liking!
Yeah I love that episode where Homer turns into the Hulk and Stan Lee comes out of Comic Book Guy store and says how can you be the Hulk. I'm the Hulk. In comic book guy had to bring him back into the store again. Then you heard him growl and he said almost had it that time.
I wish people could acknowledge more outside of the ever-changing "Golden Era".
My favourite Middle Simpsons episode is "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife", where Marge writes a novel and Homer briefly becomes a used car salesman ("Did that salesman cut one on the test drive?"/"Yes and he turned on the radio to cover the smell"). It also features the return of Dr Marvin Monroe and a surprising guest appearance from Thomas Pynchon (in fact it's the only publicly available recording of his voice).
All of the episodes directed by Lauren MacMullan are great. Not only do they have solid stories, but the animation quality really goes up. Lots of well-staged visual moments come to mind, like the email sequence from Half-Decent Proposal and Nelson's Yentl homage.
The directors are given the episodes randomly.
Trivia about Marge Gamer: In the Brazilian Voice-Over, Ronaldo voices himself, not even when Pelé appeared they were voiced by himself in the Brazilian dubbing.
It was trashy, but a charming trashy, he made in one take who gave the impression that it was super rushed, but it made super funny for some reason...
"Agora vou indo" (witch translates to "Now I will leave") with a sad tone and jumping backwards always gets me...
I find It more enjoyable than the weird speech patern he has in the original.
NOSSA SIM AIDJSIDJSI tava torcendo pro jims falar sobre isso..
I grew up when these seasons were new, and I've always loved them. I get why seasons 9 through maybe 13 or so get crapped on so much, but pretty quickly after that they settled into a pretty solid groove that they rode out for the rest of the decade.
Sidenote: they did a lot of non-Halloween anthology episodes during this era, which they seem to have completely stopped doing these days. Could make a great video subject.
It's not season 9-13. It's season 9- current. The Simpsons will never hit another golden age like the 90's.
@lolmanyeah1 I don't think season 9 should be lumped in with the later seasons, to be honest.
Ahh the era where King of the Hill eclipsed the show for me. The last episode Phil Hartman was in was also the last episode we recorded with the VCR. There were definitely memorable episodes around this time, it didn’t feel zombified yet it just was getting tired.
I don't remember Phil Hartman being in that episode, you must be thinking of "Bart The Mother", from early season 10, that was his last episode. His last one where he voiced the lawyer, was "Reality Bites".
The amount of times I just screamed, "YES! THANK YOU JIMS!" More than half of this list contains some of my most favorite episodes of all time. The only one you missed that I would have to give a lot of credit to is The President Who Wore Pearls Season 15.
i love that one my favourite one from season 15 also the christmas episode from that season is great
good video (haven't watched it yet)
I feel like Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes from season 20 is incredibly overlooked. Such a fun idea for a plot, such a left-field concept of Homer and Ned partnering up to become bounty hunters of all things, but I absolutely love it. Honestly it’s just a super entertaining episode with some funny as hell jokes and action sequences.
It's one of my favorate episodes of all time.
that chase scene is my favorite scene of the whole show
I really like the more experimental episodes during this era (24 minutes, the seemingly never ending story, particularly the trilogy of error). Definitely agree on skinner's sense of snow and marge gamer.
Also love the closing shopping montage as a callback to last exit to Springfield in fraudcast news.
Also think moe and maya is one of the great post-classics, Homer's final sentiment to his friend is quite touching, and the subplot is also very fun
I loved the line Homer delivered to Moe at the end of number 20. It was very well said and it was just so nice to see the episode end on a positive note rather than have them try and shoehorn in a bad joke or a syke out.
The Simpsons was the peak of my childhood, life literally revolved around watching it.
I absolutely love these middle seasons, these were always on reruns when I was a kid and I watched them over and over again
It's pretty nostalgic seeing this video, considering these episodes essentially were The Simpson's of my formative tween years. I grew up with reruns of the series and these were the episodes I ended up seeing the most.
Jaws Wired Shut actually helped teach me German. I was living in Austria when I first saw it, and it was dubbed into German. The part where Homer is dancing with Marge and says "I'm horny", in German he says "ich bin geil", and that's how I learned to say "I'm horny" in German. But the important part is there was an onion tied to my belt, which was the style at the time.
Edit: as for the videos in #6, they were totally a thing (as well as cheesy children's books with similar inserts) in the 80s and into the early 90s. I'm a little old for them (born at the very end of the 1970s) but my siblings got some of them as gifts at various times. They were just as cringe as this episode makes them out to be and let us never speak of them again, under penalty of torture.
The main issue is in the german dub all the german from original is bavarian dialect instead
The Computer Wore Menace Shoes is one of my favorite episodes!
"Hello operator! I'd like to report a really weird island!"
LOL, so funny!
Everyone agrees that Simpsons dropped in quality a lot, but the show is not as bad as people say, it's just that it went from the best show ever, to an OK show, that most episodes are at least watchable, once in a while has a pretty good episode and sometimes has a terrible episode that makes people angry.
"The Dad Who Knew Too Little" has one of my favorite Simpsons joke. It's where Lisa finds out about the PI, and Homer says (following her to the bus): "Look Lisa, I'm still trying to get to know you. Who's your favorite Traveling Wilbury? Is it Jeff Lynne?"
Heh looks like the writers realized they like Moe and Maya as a couple as well based on the latest episode as yeah seems like the team is finally more comfortable trying to break at least in little bits more away from the status quo... I am hoping it doesn't just mean getting everyone in town together as I feel there should be more to everyone's development then hooking up but hey it's something.
Great hidden gems list. I have to say that I noticed that you didn’t go over a lot of Homer centric episodes and I kind of appreciate it. It’s nice to celebrate other characters. Homer’s always going to be a big star but you gotta give plenty of appreciation to the other characters. I like Fraudcast News a lot and I’m a big fan of The Debarted too. I agrée Donny should get a return appearance someday!
That’s actually a good idea for some videos, you really should do top 10 or 20 Marge episodes, then do the same for other characters.
I looove mid simpsons. I was 13 when season 20 aired so this section is when I started paying attention to the show more and it gives me so much nostalgia.
Same, In elementary school I loved watching the new episodes every week and reruns almost every day. The mid Simpsons were my childhood Simpsons.
Great list! I would’ve added ‘The Great Louse Detective’ from Season 14, but I was also happy to see ‘Bart has two Mommies’ and ‘The Debarted’ get a mention!
I actually like these seasons, sadly between the good old ones and the new seasons they're pretty ignored by the Simpsons analysts.
Thank you Jim, you are so beautiful to me
The "Dad Who Knew Too Little" gave me Rock Strongo and Lance Uppercut and for that I will be ever grateful.
I couldn't agree more
You formatted the segment intro slides superbly, with a consistent inset format throughout. This is a well-produced piece.
I really like season 16 for episodes like Don't Fear the Roofer and Thank God it's Doomsday
I only have one episode from this era I really loved other than Trilogy of Error, and that's Season 17's "The Monkey Suit". The plot itself is fine and servicable, but the main reason it's a stand-out is that it was just one of those episodes that really caught me off guard by how regularly I was laughing out loud. I'd recommend it to fans of the "just a constant stream of gags"-type episodes like Homer at the Bat and Last Exit to Springfield (naturally it's dialed a notch down from the quality of those, but it's still a commendable effort).
Despite only having that one as a "favourite" though, I found myself nodding along to the vast majority of this list - they're all really solid episodes.
The Heartbroke kid is legitimately one of my favourite Simpson episodes. Just makes me laugh every time. Albert Brooks is also great.
I know, I love the ending when Homer and Tab fighting over a cheeseburger. I recorded it once and that got cut off I was so upset
@@DarkhalfBreed "You're disgusting. Gimme half of it."
"I just want the cheese, I don't want the meat. I *DO* want the meat."
Maybe it's the fact that I grew up during this era, but I find a lot of episodes from these seasons to be pretty enjoyable. Sure, the firsr seasons are undeniably better, and there are some really bad moments here, but I do have a soft spot for them.
Now, for the part of the comment that will probably make some people hate me: I actually think The Principal And The Pauper has some great jokes, and I always thought of it as a parody to stupid twists rather than a stupid twist in itself.
The Principal and the Pauper is one of the best in my opinion, it's genuinelly funny, has some great moments (and memes), and it doesn't affect the series' status quo **that** much (even tho the writters retconned it many times). I feel like the series has hit many other lows.
Now, for the part of the comment that will probably make some people hate me: I don't have many issues with Lisa Goes Gaga. While I feel it was an awfully paced episode and I understand why it left a sour taste on people's mouths, Lady Gaga delivers a great performance and the scenes of her interacting with the people of Springfield were pretty good. It's defenetly much better than the Musk episode **shudders**.
Yes! I was really looking forward to this video
edit: finally Skinner's Sense of Snow gets some love, and I agree with all the episodes you picked
"I've never seen the film 'The Departed'".
You're not missing out on much Jim.
It's been a long since I watched that movie, but one thing I remember is that Mark Wahlberg is not a bad actor and the ending ^^
Yeah, had more plot holes than I could count. I also didn't really like The Debarted.
that's a strange sentiment, Departed is widely considered a modern classic and got 4 academy awards
I can remember all the episodes you picked from 12-14, and my reaction to each was "That was a good episode". I'm going to rewatch a few and try some of the of the ones I haven't seen from the later years.
"I am furious yellow" has genuinely always been one of my favorite episodes, I'm really happy to see this one here
14:35 I couldn't agree more, that is one of my all-time favorite 'Middle SImpsons' moments. When that episode first aired, watching it live, I laughed SO hard when Bart landed on Homer's car and Homer popped out. That whole sequence was BRILLIANT!
Oh, excellent! You've always got a top notch perspective and recommendation on the.... lesser loved Simpsons.
That being said, I know you said Moe Baby Blues gets enough love but an 60 Seconds/Extra Seconds set on it I think would be welcomed
I'd love to see a 10 worst (or 20 worst) classic episodes list. I want to know what season 1-10 episodes you DON'T like (even if the list potentially makes me salty).
That would be an excellent video. I have never seen people saying that they dislike certain episodes of the golden era
the two clip shows and half of s8. done
The Dexter Colt episode is awesome. I also liked “I’m spelling as fast as I can” and the one where Bart has the robot battles. And the one where Bart and Homer go on that road trip.
Those were awesome
Every time I see Homer write “Yes” twice when talking to Lisa, kills me
I feel like Sad Boy Nelson is the anti-Jerkass Homer: As the show goes on, we start to sympathize more for him...
I am absolutely stunned that "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" didn't make the list. That episode has several memorable lines with the closing being possibly the best ending to any Simpsons episode ever.
the subtle weaving in of a Dicken's Christmas Carol's plotlines in the Heartbreak Kid is great
Nothing like a new RealJims video! By the way, this is an excellent idea for a video! I can't see the whole thing now, but I am looking forward to watching it later!
By the way, I am a big fan of "I Am Furious Yellow"!
Edit: I also enjoyed "Marge Gamer". I think that, in a way, it tells a very sweet story between Bart and Marge.
GREYSTASH! No man should outlive his fictional wizard!
“Dads ending was so much better though”
As a kid growing up in Australia in the early 2000s, the early-middle era (seasons 10-12) were the ones that were rerun on TV the most, and so they're actually the episodes in the most familiar with and have the most nostalgia for. They'll always have a place in my heart even though they're not as well written as the early seasons.
Thanks for making this! I feel like 1998-2010 Simpsons is EXTREMELY underrated because I loved watching the show during that time! Sure it's not as good as 1989-1997 simpsons but there are some genuinely good gems in there imho
"Stan Lee came back?"
"Stan Lee never left..."
Sleeping with the Enemy had me in stitches the first time I saw it, especially the "planing down the thighs" guy and Nelson's singing.
"NO you're angry. Look you're punching the cat right now!"
*cries*
"I'm a rage-a-holic! I just can't live without rage-ahol!"
I can agree with "Little Girl..." and "Sleeping with the Enemy" being two seriously solid episodes of middle era. Additionally, both have the same duo having worked on them: director Lauren MacMullan (who, along with Susie Dietter and Nancy Kruse, is one of few female directors on the show with good run of episodes) and writer Jon Vitti, who has a lot of great classic episodes under his belt. Nice down-to-earth feeling and believable interactions and characterization in both of them. Another close in spirit episode of period is "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (S15).
"Seemingly Never-Ending Story" is another gem, deservingly got Emmy in the year of nomination.
I guess it's no use to remember "HOMR" and "Hungry, Hungry Homer", and they're two of often-praised episodes of era.
For one episode of subset of not exactly great, but worth to check out episodes (the "curiosities", as I call them), "The Way We Weren't" from S15 is interesting one. It once again plays with Homer & Marge's past timeline and uses certain trick to extend their acquaintance to children years, but in my opinion, it's done with enough voluntarily-contrived ingenuity, so I can buy it, concept is entertaining enough and mocking "miraculous" fictional love stories in manner fitting the series.
"Future-Drama" from S16 is not best timeskip episode, but after watching it few times, I say it's little above middle-of-the-road timeskip episode, not "Lisa's Wedding" or even "Holidays of Future Passed", but lot better and plausible than "Bart to The Future". And it does something that "Lisa's Future" didn't touch profoundly - sibling relationships played during teenage years. As for Bart and Lisa-centered episodes of its era, it shows their dynamic and once again, depth of Bart's care and appreciation for his sister, in very strong manner. (Sadly, HOFP, while continues storylines of this episode, chooses to negate all positive impact.)
For other conceptually inventive episodes, "Springfield Up" from S18 is along here with "Seemingly Never-Ending Story": it uses formula of documentary chronicling lifetime of group of Springfield citizens, but doesn't tied by formula too much, and eventually puts focus on Homer's part of it and culminates here. Time-jumping gimmick results in fast-paced gags, some of them pretty memorable (one with Disco Stu and story of Chief Wiggum getting place in policy, for example), and episode doesn't seem dragged too much or exhausted half-way (except, maybe, last few seconds).
For little more biased pick, "Moe'N'a Lisa" can serve as sort of follow-up to "Moe Baby Blues": it's not about Moe's bond with Maggie, but puts him in duo with other Simpson offspring, Lisa, and connection between them feels just as genuine and in-character for both. Mid-seasons had that kind of "saga" about bitter-sweet relationship of Moe with titular family - his fair-weather friendship with Homer, unrequited feelings to Marge and unexpected close bonds with kids. "Moe'n'Lisa" is solid chapter in this arc.
I love Springfield Up. Possibly my favorite dumb joke is in that one, where a guy who looks like a young sea captain sits down, hears disco music for the first time, throws off his sailor's hat revealing a giant afro, and the narrator excitedly shouts, "And the WORLD WELCOMED DISCO STU!"
@@ethansloan Yes, my favorite too)) I think I did put attention to it only after couple of watchings)
I really like Moe'N'a Lisa
I just want an actual decent Herb episode so we can get some Dramatic Devito.
Heartbroke Kid always bothered me a little bit because Daria had a similar plot device a few years earlier with a school installing soda machines to bring in revenue. Granted the stories are overall different, but the similarity still bothered me.
The middle era of The Simpsons from season 14's Special Edna to season 20's was the Post-Classical Simpsons, that's what is said on some sources on the internet. When I first started watching The Simpsons when I was 15 in 2014 I would watch it every day non-stop until Season 26. I liked it very much and found it very funny. I still found it funny into season 20-23.
Great video, I feel that many people watched Middle Simpsons during their childhood and enjoyed it until they discovered that in Internet the general opinion is that it sucks so they decided to hate it too, so it's refreshing watching somebody talking about these seasons in a positive light and not just "all the episodes from the classic era are good and the rest of them are bad".
Nah, I gave up on the show during this era and "oh no people love it until they read that it's unpopular on the internet" is some real conspiracy-theory stuff.
@@s_SoNick it's not really a conspiracy-theory when you realize that many people that claim to have watched The Simpson in their childhood until it became "unwatchable" were like 10-years-old when the movie came out and at that point there were 18 seasons already lmao, I won't pretend that Middle Simpson is underrated or anything but I'm sure there are lots of folks that enjoyed these seasons without even knowing they were supposed to be bad until they read about it on Internet
I'm going to have to agree with the "Bart Has Two Mommies" pick. Love the episode myself
The Debarted was sadly ruined in Italy - despite the generally great dub the series gets here, for some reason Donny was voiced by a SOCCER PLAYER, who obviously gives an absolutely dreadful performance.
Aw crap.