Pool 19 Results (my initial ranking in parentheses)
1. Selma's Choice (1)
2. Lisa's Pony (2)
3. The Springfield Files (6)
4. Dead Putting Society (5)
5. The Dad Who Knew Too Little (3)
6. The Blunder Years (4)
Low turnout compared to pools immediately before and after it. The final rankings came out pretty orderly (points: 5-10-13-16-19-21). That I prefer Lisa's Pony to The Springfield Files was relevant, though the vast gulf in my ratings between the two turned out not to be.
I actually don't think either "Too Little" or "Blunder Years" is terrible, though the three commenters would seem to disagree.
(See the category archive for other results.)
Pool 20, Pool 21, and Pool 22 are all still open. Pool 24 will go up some time Monday.
As usual, I let a pseudorandom number generator choose six episodes, then post my on-the-spot rankings and observation. You comment, ideally with your own rankings. A week later I post my revised rankings, reserving the right to be autocratic (though in practice I almost always go with the consensus).
Numbers...
180: 4F23 (SI-823 / S09E02) The Principal and The Pauper
During a surprise banquet to honor his twentieth anniversary as principal, Seymour Skinner's true identity is revealed to be Armin Tamzarian. Now established as an impostor, Tamzarian retires and relocates to his old neighborhood in Capitol City. Guest starring Martin Sheen as the real Seymour Skinner.
65: 9F03 (SI-403 / S04E06) Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie
When Bart fails to keeps an eye on Maggie and puts her life in danger, Homer finally puts his foot down on Bart's mischief by passing the ultimate punishment: Bart can never see The Itchy and Scratchy Movie.
171: 4F15 (SI-815 / S08E18) Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment
When Prohibition hits the town of Springfield, and with Bart's help, Homer goes into the booze making business. Dave Thomas and Joe Mantegna guest star.
249: BABF21 (SI-1121 / S12E01) Treehouse of Horror XI
"G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad" - Homer chokes to death on a piece of broccoli and his spirit must perform a good deed in order to enter heaven.
"Scary Tales Can Come True" - The dark side of fairy tale characters is exposed.
"Night of the Dolphin" - The world is overtaken by dolphins after Lisa frees their leader from captivity.
305: EABF09 (SI-1409 / S14E14) Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington
Krusty gets elected to Congress in part to help get the flight path for Springfield Airport diverted from directly over Homer's house, but he falls in line with the establishment once he's there.
320: FABF02 (SI-1502 / S15E07) 'Tis the Fifteenth Season
Homer is given a Joe DiMaggio rookie card by Mr. Burns (who has no idea how much it's worth), so he sells it for a lot of money. After spending most of it on himself, Homer comes to realize his greedy ways when he sees "A Christmas Carol" on TV. So he reverses course and starts to do favors for everyone he can, making Flanders jealous by becoming Springfield's new king of nice. He and Flanders then engage in a head-to-head "nice-off". Guest stars Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony.
My first impressions:
Are we stacked?
The very recent stuff I probably dislike less than you do. Yes, the holiday special is the one with the talking astrolabe. I like the talking astrolabe. Otherwise, meh. Krusty in Congress is a good viewing if you like slapstick, otherwise not so much. They're going to end up on the bottom, yet that actually says a lot more about the rest of this pool than about those two. Sometimes the late eps just can't catch a break.
Treehouse XI is brilliant. Quotes galore, which I'll leave (mostly) up to the commenters.
Many people think "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" is a classic. I think it's deeply overrated, a sentiment fueled entirely by its final line (go ahead, quote it; you know you want to). I also think "Principal" gets overrated by the sort of quiz player who feels way too much pride in remembering Skinner's real name, which doesn't change the fact that it's a darned good ep.
That leaves the one that I thought to myself, "this will be the one to beat," when its number came up. Lots of good stuff here, but I don't think any of it tops...
Preliminary rankings:
1. Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie ("Warren E. Burger was NOT a stripper!" "Oh, Marge, NOW who's being naive?")
2. The Principal and the Pauper
3. Treehouse XI ("The dolphins just wanted it more.")
4. Homer vs. the 18th Amendment
5. Mr. Spritz Goes To Washington
6. Tis the 15th Season
Ooh, this is very interesting.
1. I&S The Movie: Clearly the best, although you've totally mangled the quote. From SNPP:
Marge: Do you want your son to become become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or a sleazy male stripper?
Homer: Can't he be both, like the late Earl Warren?
Marge: Earl Warren wasn't a stripper!
Homer: who's being naive?
2. Homer vs. the 18th Amendment -- "It's not a very happy birthday for Rex Banner."
3. Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington -- I don't know about you, but I have to love the "debate" on Fox News. "That's a very *adulterous* comment."
4. Principal and the Pauper -- I have exactly the *opposite* impression of this episode: most hard-core fans tend to *dislike* it (what with its messing up continuity and all). I don't really mind.
5. Treehouse XI -- I can't see what you see in this. Maybe I'm just comparing it to past, better Treehouses.
6. 'Tis the 15th Season -- a solid meh.
Looks like your comment box doesn't agree with SNPP's formatting. Homer's last line there should be "*Now* who's being naive?"
Posted by: Paul at February 27, 2005 01:31 PM1. 18th Amendment
2. I&S Movie
Hard to articulate a reason for that order, but I think it's mostly to do with having seen 18th Amendment several more times.
3. Prinicpal
4. Spritz
5. Treehouse
6. Tis
Very deep field. Even the worst is no worse than average.
1. Homer vs. the 18th Amendment: My third-favorite episode ever. Yeah, the last line is a classic of classics, but this'd still be a top tier episode without it -- consider "Swaggering about in a garish new hat, he seemed to say 'Look at me, Rex Banner! I have a new hat!'"
2. Itchy & Scratchy: the Movie: "Mmm... soylent green."
3. The Principal and the Pauper: I like the way the return to sitcom status quo ante is so deliberately heavy-handed. I also like "When I grow up, I want to be a principal. Or a caterpillar."
4. Mr. Spritz goes to Washington: The actual Washington part of the episode isn't that great, but the setup is a hoot -- Ralph Wiggum and Cookie Kwan play off each other particularly well.
5. Tis the 15th Season: The talking astrolabe gives it the tiebreaker.
6. Treehouse of Horror XI: Indeed, the dolphins wanted it more. Other than that, though, this is only a so-so episode. I wouldn't say it's quotes galore, exactly; it's got more claim than "Homer vs. the 18th Amendment" to being a one-line show.
Posted by: David V. at February 28, 2005 07:52 AM1. Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie - The Earl Warren bit was the best part.
2. Homer vs. the 18th Amendment
3. The Principal and the Pauper - "Now let us welcome our new Principal Skinner...Principal Seymour Skinner!" Also there's "I must say, in many ways, Springfield really beats the old slave labor camp" and "Can I see your copy of Swank, Armin?"
4. Treehouse XI
5. Mr. Spritz Goes To Washington
6. Tis the 15th Season - I've seen this one but I try to forget it.
Having "hard-core fans" and "messing up continuity" in the same sentence (even parenthetically) seems very strange to me.
Posted by: John at March 1, 2005 10:41 PMOK, I take back my hard-core fan comment. I just read the newsgroup reviews on SNPP... wow.
One of my favorite things about The Simpsons is the combination of continuity and plastic reality.
If it's funny to have Xtapolapocetl in the basement then it's there but if we need to have yet another last day of school then that's fine too.
They're working on sixteen years/seasons crammed into a one year period (or so) where they don't age (unless it's a future epsiode, or when compared to parts of a flashback epsiode, or for babies within the episode.) It's theme and variations - as you get on there may be echoes of what we've already seen but it's not going to fit together like a puzzle.
Posted by: John at March 1, 2005 10:58 PM