Pool 46 results (original ranking in parentheses)
1. Like Father, Like Clown (1)
2. Bart of Darkness (4)
3. The Canine Mutiny (2)
4. Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble" (NR)
5. Dog of Death (5)
6. Burns, Baby Burns (3)
But... he spelled "Yale" with a 6! An episode with a line that memorable can't be all-bad, right? The commenters have spoken, though, and to the bottom Rodney goes. I can't really argue with you.
In the aggregate, no close calls here. I'm intrigued at the degree of disagreement on the merits of the "Canine Mutiny" ending.
(See the category archive for other results.)
Pool 47, Pool 48, and Pool 49 are still open. Those of you recharging from TRASHionals, this'd be a good time to get caught up.
Pool 51 whenever I feel like it. Pool 56 (of 56) ETA midweek next week.
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).
NOTE TO SELF: =INDIRECT("A"&(FLOOR(RAND()*(335-COUNT(C2:C336)),1)+COUNT(C2:C336)+1))
Numbers...
206: 5F22 (SI-922 / S10E03) Bart, the Mother
Bart accidentally kills a mother bird with Nelson Muntz's bee-bee gun, and tries his best to raise the mother's eggs on his own. But when the hatchlings turn out to be a pair of destructive lizards that harvest nests for their own survival, the town's bird population is placed at great risk. Guest voice Phil Hartman, in his final speaking role on The Simpsons.
313: EABF17 (SI-1417 / S14E22) Moe Baby Blues
[...] Springfield Botanical Gardens [...] during the ensuing traffic jam Maggie is thrown from the Simpsons' car into the arms of a suicidal Moe - who is dubbed a hero by the city. Maggie accepts him unconditionally as her new babysitter and surrogate father [...].
212: AABF05 (SI-1005 / S10E09) Mayored to the Mob
When Homer rescues Mark Hamill and Mayor Quimby from a rowdy mob of sci-fi fanatics, he is appointed the mayor's new bodyguard. But after convincing Quimby that he needs to stop Fat Tony's mob from selling rat's milk to the town's schools, the mayor's life is placed in jeopardy. Also guest starring Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony and Dick Tufeld as the Robot.
74: 9F13 (SI-413 / S04E15) I Love Lisa
Lisa's valentine to the most disliked boy in her class causes her to be chased by him.
308: EABF12 (SI-1412 / S14E17) Three Gays of the Condo
While looking for a missing puzzle piece, Homer stumbles upon an angry note Marge wrote on the back of a placemat one night when he suffered alcohol poisoning. Homer wonders why Marge every stayed with him and decided he wasn't good enough for her. So Homer moves out and settles on a condo, which he shares with two homosexuals.
165: 4F10 (SI-810 / S08E12) Mountain of Madness
To promote team work amongst the power plant's employees Burns makes them go on a corporate retreat up in the mountains: the goal to find a hidden cabin.
My first impressions:
Didn't know about the Phil Hartman milestone, unclear how relevant that is. I have deep mixed emotions about "Bart the Mother": Mostly a poignant episode (high quality albeit hard to watch comfortably), but then it degenerates into overheated plot twists. "Feels like" a 4, but obviously that depends on the rest of the pool.
"Moe Baby Blues" is fantastic. I'd slot it at #1 without regret, if the pool called for it.
Ah, "Luke be a Jedi tonight." An inspired episode. Two in a row that are diamonds among the later seasons' rough.
But "I Love Lisa" is demonstrably the best episode left. Superior episodes, to the extent that they even exist, were already covered in pools 1-49. I'd be shocked if anyone disagreed.
"Three Gays": NR by force, without even a good sense of how good I'd guess it to be. If it's at all above average then this pool is top-heavy. That wipes out Season 14.
Did Season 8 have any mediocre episodes, or just a jarring combination of greatness and suckitude?
Preliminary rankings:
1. I Love Lisa
2. Moe Baby Blues
3. Mayored to the Mob
4. Bart, the Mother
5. Mountain of Madness
NR. Three Gays of the Condo
Remaining episodes (final six pools), count by season:
Three S1, four S2, zero S3, three S4, one S5, four S6, two S7, two S8, five S9, one S10, two S11, two S12, four S13, no S14, three S15.
1. I Love Lisa - I don't think I'm as taken with large doses of Ralph as some are but this is still a clear #1 in this pool and it probably does deserve to be in the top tier.
2. Mountain of Madness - You wouldn't consider Mountain part of the greatness? This is not a first tier episode but I'd say it's easily top half... the closed caption-only arguing was stunning.
3. Moe Baby Blues - My first thought was that you'd overrated this one but it really is quite solid.
4. Mayored to the Mob
5. Bart, the Mother
6. Three Gays of the Condo - I've only seen this once and it wasn't terribly memorable. They've certainly done marriage trouble episodes better than this (though that certainly is not my favorite episode arc.)
Well, I have been waiting for this one (and afraid I missed it) to speak up, since "I Love Lisa" is my favorite episode of all-time. To rank them all, I will go with:
1. I Love Lisa ("and the doctor said I wouldn't get so many nosebleeds if I didnt keep sticking my finger up there.")
2. Mayored to the Mob
3. Mountain of Madness
4. Bart, the Mother
5. Moe Baby Blues (really 3-5 could be shuffled in any order; I have only seen B,tM and MBB once each so I may not be remembering everything well)
6. Three Gay of the Condo (not bad per se, but nothing inspired)
Posted by: Kubi at April 19, 2005 05:18 AMI'd take John's ranking, but flip 3 and 4.
Posted by: Mark at April 19, 2005 12:46 PM1. I Love Lisa -- What John said.
2. Bart the Mother -- "First, they don't have beaks. Second, they don't have feathers. Third, they're clearly lizards!" This is an underrated episode. The whole ending is classic.
3. Mayored to the Mob
4. Moe Baby Blues
5. Mountain of Madness -- To answer your question, I would put the Maison Derriere one, The Mysterious Voyage of Homer, the Springfield Files, and My Sister, My Sitter in the "mediocre" category.
6. Three Gays of the Condo -- Meh.