The Simpsons

The Top Five–Episodes of The Simpsons

Today’s “Top Five” list focuses on my favorite episodes of The Simpsons. There are so very many to choose from (over 700!) that it was a bit of a struggle to narrow it down, although I will admit that the first three came quite easily.

  • “22 Short Films About Springfield”–I guess it’s cliche, but this is my very favorite episode. My children know that they can convince me to watch The Simpsons just by suggesting we turn this one on. We quote the “steamed hams” short constantly!
  • “Hurricane Neddy”–The best part of this episode is, let’s face it, Ned’s rant. When he gets to “Do I hear the sound of butting in? It’s gotta be little Lisa Simpson, Springfield’s answer to a question no one asked!” I absolutely lose it. The rest of the episode is good, too, but that’s my favorite scene.
  • “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”–Who here is surprised that a Christmas episode made the list? The fact that’s also the very first episode of the show just makes it better. The part where Bart imagines Marge being impressed by his tattoo is absolutely hilarious, and really sets the tone for the series.
  • “Bart vs. Thanksgiving”–If it isn’t a surprise that a Christmas episode made my list, it also shouldn’t be a shocker that a Thanksgiving episode did, too. “Mom, it’s broken” has become a catchphrase around here, but I really love the sweet moment at the end where Homer and Marge are eavesdropping on Bart and Lisa on the roof.
  • “Treehouse of Horror”–The first of these annual episodes is my favorite, and it’s all thanks to “The Raven.” I’m pretty sure this is the absolute best performance of that poem out there, partly because James Earl Jones (duh), and partly because of the crazed manor in which Homer plays his part. And “eat my shorts” inserted into it is just funny.

Do you have a favorite episode of the long-running show?

Quote of the Day

“Let us curl, milady. Let us throw and sweep atwain until the heavens themselves drop their jaws in wonder and envy. And afterwards there’ll be beer and cocoa with marshmallows floating in the foam. And if, from now till the end of time, someone should ask what we were doing on the eve of the seventeenth of November, we shall proclaim that we were curling!” Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson on The Simpsons

Chickadee Thursday

Today, instead of a picture, I’m going to share a funny Chickadee story!

We were watching The Simpsons earlier in the week, and in one episode, Mr. Burns was dressed in such a way that he looked a lot like Colonel Sanders. I commented on this, and Chickadee responded with, “He also kind of looks like the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy!”

She knows now (after much giggling by her family), that they are in fact the same person!

Universal Studios Florida

I already shared the details of my favorite part of Universal Studios Florida…The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Diagon Alley. But now it’s time to take a look at the rest of the park!

Even before you go through the gates, there are notable locations, starting with the globe…everyone wants to get a picture there!

There’s also the famous Universal arch:

Inside, the park is divided into different neighborhoods. On our way to the King’s Cross station, we walked through Production Central (which was home to the one roller coaster the children wanted to go on that we didn’t get to), New York, and San Francisco:

Other than Diagon Alley, our favorite part of the park was Springfield: Home of the Simpsons. It was easy to imagine we were actually there…you know, if an animated fictional location was a real place!

Other than the KidZone, the only area we didn’t walk through was Hollywood, which is too bad, because there were a couple of things we would have liked to see there, but there just wasn’t time to do everything before it got dark, and then darker, and then was finally time to leave!

Tomorrow we’ll take a look at Islands of Adventure!