The Simpsons - 12 Christmas Episodes To Watch Over The Holidays

A few years ago, I did a similar blog post with a rundown of the best Christmas episodes for the likes of Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show. Given that The Simpsons have been around for 31 seasons, it seems only fair to do a list for them as well.

Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire (Season 1)

The opening episode that finally gave the family their own full time show. In 1989, the first episode was also the first Christmas episode we got and it did an excellent job of introducing the titular family and some of the characters around them. The plot largely centered around Homer not getting his Christmas bonus while getting a second job as a mall Santa. It also marked the debut of Santa's Little Helper.

Miracle On Evergreen Terrace (Season 9)

The one where Bart accidentally wrecks Christmas for his family and the entire neighbourhood find out his misdeed in a rather public way. This is definitely one of my favourite Christmas themed episodes from the show as for once, it's one where Bart does something bad with serious enough consequences, even if the ending sees the townsfolk forgive the Simpsons a little too quickly before clearing their house out.

Gift Of The Magi (Season 11)

The timing of this episode was interesting as it came out around the same time that Furbies were a thing and this episode exploited that idea to the max as the kids of Springfield Elementary with Funzo being the hottest toy around. There's a good commentary on commercialization as well as a great voice cameo from Gary Cole.

Skinner's Sense Of Snow (Season 12)

The last thing any student (including even Lisa and Martin Prince) want to be is trapped in the school over the festive and when Skinner exerts his authority, it didn't take long for the students to rebel and Homer and Ned to mount a rescue for the snowed in kids. Good thing there was a silo of salt to knock over or else Skinner would've gotten another terrible DVD to torture the kids with.

She Of Little Faith (Season 13)

Also known as the one where Lisa went for Buddhism and Marge resorted to various tactics including a pretend pony in order to get her daughter back to Christianity. There's some great jokes in the episode and it's definitely one of the more thought provoking Christmas episodes the show has done in it's long history.

'Tis The 15th Season (Season 15)

Think How The Grinch Stole Christmas meets A Christmas Carol and essentially this is what this episode would be in a nutshell. Homer's selfishness saw him alienated from his family so he chose to amend his ways with his niceness causing even Ned Flanders to express some jealousy for good measure. The episode has some follow up from the previous special with Lisa's Buddhism also coming into play as she advised Homer not to compete with Flanders buying everyone a present.

Simpsons Christmas D'Oh (Season 17)

Anthologies are usually the making of the Halloween episodes, but Christmas episodes have also had them and this one gave us three new takes on the likes of the Nativity, Nutcracker and seeing Santa Claus. I did love Grandpa's wrath for Santa along with learning a bit more about Abe's other family and of course this show's take on Jesus's birth was done brilliantly.

Kill Gill, Volumes I & II (Season 18)

Gill being one of life's losers has been a recurring theme throughout the show for a good few seasons but when he loses everything and winds up as a guest at the Simpsons. He soon overextends his welcome and Marge's patience by several months and when Gill finally gets on his feet, Marge's desire to her own back also puts him back to square one. There's also a subplot involving Grinches that's dealt with as an afterthought though.

Holidays Of Future Passed (Season 23)

Over the years we've had plenty of jumps into possible futures for the Simpson clan, so it made sense that one of them would form the basis of a Christmas episode. In this one, both Bart and Lisa struggle with their own kids while Maggie (who has become a famous rock singer) is about to have her own kid while Homer keeps Abe on ice, Marge undermines Lisa's parenting and Ralph has been cloned quite a lot but they're getting killed throughout the episode.

The Nightmare After Krustmas (Season 28)

If we can have a Christmas episode where Lisa converts to Buddhism, then an episode where Krusty considers converting to Christianity as a way to bond with his rarely seen daughter, Sophie is an interesting enough idea. There's also a rather sinister take on the Elf On The Shelf craze when Maggie makes a rather unpleasant new friend. As for whether or not Krusty actually converted though did make for an amusing debate between Gods during the end of this episode.

'Tis The 30th Season (Season 30)

Airing in 2018, this one saw the family head to the strangest theme park, following Marge being stressed by Christmas. There's a guest role from former Glee actor, Jane Lynch as the rather mean spirited Jeanie but while the episode isn't quite as festive flavoured as previous ones, the family do end up with a smart TV and a chance to watch a Christmas special of their own by the end of this one.

Bobby, It's Cold Outside (Season 31)

The latest Christmas episode which aired on FOX a little over a week ago, this one saw Sideshow Bob unable to kill Bart as it would see him breaking character as a mall Santa. There's also a plot involving a thief with the initials SB but as the episode progressed, Lisa realised there was a more heartbreaking backstory for this particular Christmas thief.

There's a round up of some the Christmas episodes to watch. What's your favourite Christmas episode of The Simpsons? Oh and Merry Christmas everyone. 

The Simpsons - Top 5 Best Treehouse Of Horror Episodes

So, today is Halloween and while I'm hardly the first person to do a list of my favourite Treehouse Of Horror episodes from The Simpsons, I have however decided just to pick my five favourites.

1: Treehouse Of Horror I

In some ways the first one of these (from the show's second season) was by far it's best with a trio of wonderful instalments - Bad Dream House, Hungry Are The Damned and The Raven. Out of the three, they're all great but it's the last one that truly stood out with Bart being his most malevolent as the creepy raven of the piece, tormenting Homer.

2: Treehouse Of Horror VIII

From the ninth season, I always found this one rather underrated. The stories here - The HΩmega Man, Fly Vs Fly and Easy Bake Coven are delightfully bonkers tales. Bart becoming a fly was well executed along with a zombie infected Springfield and it certainly felt plausible that from centuries past Marge and her sisters would be dangerous witches too.

3: Treehouse Of Horror IV

Four stories from this particular episode - Wraparounds, The Devil And Homer Simpson, Terror at 5½ Feet and Bart Simpson's Dracula. All of them brilliant but it's really the second and last one that are the true standouts from this particular episode.

4: Treehouse Of Horror XVIII

Probably the most recent of ones to make my Top 5 (from the nineteenth season), the trio of stories here are superb. Whether it's a hostile alien invasion with ET Go Home, a certain movie parodied in Mr & Mrs Simpson or Ned Flanders being given the ability to scare the living daylights out of Bart, Lisa, Nelson and Millhouse in Heck House, they're all great here.

5: Treehouse Of Horror XVI

From the seventeenth season, you've got Bart replaced with a robot son in B.I.: Bartificial Intelligence, Mr Burns going on a hunting spree in Survival Of The Fattest and the best of the bunch - the residents of Springfield being cursed by a witch into becoming their Halloween costumes in I've Grown A Costume To Your Face. While the last one was a storyline previously done on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the results here are still hilarious to watch.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Family Guy/The Simpsons - The Simpsons Guy (Crossover Episode/Spoilers)

I am over the Simpsons.

Well on Sunday night in the US when people weren't watching the worlds of Once Upon A Time and Frozen crossing over, there was also this crossover event to behold - Family Guy met The Simpsons and the results were surprisingly a lot better than I actually expected them to be. And all because Peter wrote a sexist article, which then resulted in the Griffins ending up in Springfield and somewhat bonding with the Simpsons before also falling out with them and then bonding again.

I was surprised with how much I actually enjoyed this crossover episode. I was pretty much dreading it and didn't think the worlds would work so well together but the chemistry with the characters, the series of in-jokes (Brian pointedly telling Stewie that Bart's catchphrase was more iconic than his own made me laugh) and various references from both shows actually worked pretty well. Even Peter and Homer together weren't as grating as I dreaded them to be, though their chicken fight lasted too long (don't those fights always last too long?) and the carwash sequence was nothing short of vomit inducing but other than that, the two of them managed to compliment each other well. There were even the odd time where I didn't find myself wanting to cave Peter's brains in with a blunt object. I still loathe the character though.

Of course, while the Peter/Homer scenes were better than expected (if a tad predictable - of course those two idiots would clash over beer), it was really the Stewie and Bart scenes that were the highlight of the episode. Stewie going to extreme lengths to impress Bart by holding the latter's enemies and tormentors captive only managed to freak the spiky haired lad out and the last scene where Stewie lamented the loss of a potentially destructive friendship was both a little sad and somewhat funny. It seems that even Bart has his limits after 26 seasons of unbridled chaos.

Another highlight from the episode was bonding scenes with Lisa and Meg, only because it gave the latter a moment of self worth, which the show will inevitably forget yet again. Personally after 13 seasons, I'm beyond bored of Meg being terrorised by her family. It's just not funny and if Family Guy ever ends, I want the last episode to result in Meg kicking the living shit out of Peter before killing him off in the worst way possible. At least Lisa was nice to her, if initially a little bitchy though. Of course while the crossover was fun and had a few cameos from other shows and a delightful compare/contrast scene in a courtroom, it did struggle to give Lois/Marge anything meaningful to do and the subplot with Chris, Brian and Santa's Little Helper wasn't that great either. However while the best days are behind both shows, this was a fun meeting of worlds, though not one that would need repeating though. As Peter said, let's keep a half hour distance between both shows.

When The Simpsons Met The Griffins

Well, it's been in the news for the last week - The Simpsons and Family Guy are crossing over for an episode due to air in 2014.

For Family Guy's upcoming 12th season (which will also feature Ashton Kutcher and Peter Dinklage in later episodes), the Griffins will meet their Springfield counterparts with castmembers Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria as the Griffins take a roadtrip and end up in Springfield with some alliances and clashes expected with Homer/Peter, Marge/Lois, Bart/Stewie throughout the episode. The episode itself will go by the title of The Simpsons Guy too.

I have to admit, I'm not really sure of this. Both shows aren't as good as they used to be and crossovers don't always work. Plus, I have an urge to fast forward through the Peter/Homer scenes as well. Then again, it might actually be the very thing both shows could do with at the moment but it's hard to deny that it seems more like a publicity stunt for two shows that don't have the impact that they used to though. It's also been confirmed that Cleveland will return to Quahog and a member of the Griffins will die at the end of the upcoming season and be replaced by a new family member too. Is it too much to hope that it's Peter?

More News: http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/07/18/simpsons-family-guy-crossover-episode/

Family Guy's 12th season will air Sundays at 9pm on FOX from September 29th.

Top 40 TV Characters Part 2

And here is the second part of my Top 40 characters blog. This time, it's a bit of an animated special. Hope you all enjoy. 

31: Death (Adam Carolla) - Family Guy

Yes, the almighty creature known as Death gets to be my favourite character because given how divisive the population of Spooner Street can be, you almost wouldn't blame the guy if he decided to kill every single resident on that street at some point. Plus, the fact that he hasn't killed Peter shows an admirable self-restraint I didn't think was possible.

32: Charles Montgomery Burns (Harry Shearer) - The Simpsons

Excellent himself. Yes this might be a man who will happily trample on anyone who gets in his way and even will consider skinning greyhound puppies for a new coat but Burns cartoony villainy, coupled with the odd doses of humanity do make him a fascinating character to root for, be appalled by and grudgingly admire from time to time. Though how he hasn't noticed Smithers overt fondness for him does beggar belief at times.

33: Klaus Heissler (Dee Bradley Baker) - American Dad

Ah, the fish. One we can often feel a little bad for. If you live with a family like the Smiths and an entitled alien like Roger, then like Klaus, you'd probably have the odd bouts of rage and resentment from time to time. The fish is often the most sympathetic character on that show.

34: Father Jack Hackett (Frank Kelly) - Father Ted

Drink. Feck. Arse. Girls. It's amazing how those four particular words have been associated with this character. An alcoholic, violent, often lecherous priest played to absolute perfection by Frank Kelly. Jack might have been the very character whose bad side you did not want to get on but he certainly made for entertaining viewing, especially that time he punched Bishop Brennon for good measure.

35: Rallo Tubbs (Mike Henry) - The Cleveland Show

This might be the weakest of Seth Macfarlane's creations but as a character goes, Rallo is pretty entertaining and considering that Cleveland has become every bit as a jerk as Peter is in Family Guy, it's kind of nice to have Rallo make an idiot out of Cleveland every now and then. When he isn't commenting on his mother's fondness for drinking.

Okay, this new Blogger format is going to take some getting used to. Happy April everyone.

The Simpsons - To Be Canned Or Not?

It's been running for 23 seasons but it seems like the time could be up for The Simpsons. Reports have surfaced that the long running FOX comedy cartoon could end because of a salary dispute and the ratings taking a tumble. So should it end?

I think maybe so. I love The Simpsons and literally catch nearly everyday (let's face it, it's bloody hard not to) but recent series just haven't been that great and the celeb cameos that use to be enjoyable from time to time have become somewhat intrusive to the series.

But at the same time, I can't imagine the series not producing new episodes. Love it or loathe it, it's a bloody iconic show and it's certainly better than other cartoon families (and live action) ones. I suppose we'll know in due course what the show's eventual fate will be.