The Simpsons, an animated sitcom about a working-class family of parents and their three kids, is the longest-running American sitcom ever, having been on the air for 31 seasons since 1989. Despite how long the series has run the family never ages. Homer and Marge remain their spritely selves, Bart is always a trouble-making 10-year-old, Lisa a precocious and intelligent eight-year-old, and Maggie a rarely-speaking, pacifier-addicted baby.
Of all the episodes of the series that have aired to date, it’s inevitable that a few would not be quite as strong as the others. Indeed, as the show has aged, some episodes, particularly over the last decade, have not lived up to the clever, funny, and engaging stories presented in earlier ones.
Updated on January 25th, 2021 by Kristen Palamara: The Simpsons continues to be one of the most popular and long-running animated series that continues to build its fan-base the longer that it's on the air. Although the series has slipped a bit in its later seasons and there's been talk of canceling the show it stays on the air and there's still a lot of fans that tune in every week to watch the new episodes. Even though there are terrible newer episodes of The Simpsons there are also older episodes that aren't as popular or as strong too.
"I'm Just A Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" (2019)
This Season 30 episode misses the mark because it purely relies on the popularity of the musical Hamilton to try to make it a successful episode. Marge directs a musical written by Lisa about the town of Springfield and the two trying to cast and bring the musical to fruition is the main plot of the episode.
The musical is called Bloody, Bloody Jebediah in an apparent nod to the musical about Andrew Jackson that came before Hamilton but wasn't anywhere near as popular. The episode doesn't offer much more than just referencing real-life musicals.
"Four Great Women And A Manicure" (2009)
This Season 20 episode jumps from story to story seeing women Simpsons characters portraying famous women throughout history both historical and fictional as Lisa and Marge get manicures.
The episode is fine, but it isn't really special or memorable as it doesn't do much other than rehash stories in real-life history like Selma as Queen Elizabeth I and Lisa as Snow White.
"Homer Vs Dignity" (2000)
This Season 12 episode is lackluster at best and offensive at worst. Homer starts doing any and all random tasks that Mr. Burns asks him to do to earn some extra money and Lisa tries to convince him to stop so he can hold onto some of his dignity.
It's a pretty basic plot, but the panda scene in this episode is arguably one of the most offensive jokes of the series as Homer is dressed as a panda and is seemingly sexually assaulted by another panda off-screen and it's played off as funny in the episode.
"No Good Read Goes Unpunished" (2018)
This Season 29 episode centers on two books as Bart reads "The Art of War" and Marge attempts to reckon with her favorite childhood book "The Princess in the Garden" being viewed as insensitive and problematic by today's standards.
The episode tries to address the issues around stereotypical racial representation in media with the character Apu Nahasapeemapetilon being on The Simpsons and it fails to actually bring any real commentary or insight into the issue.
"The Principal And The Pauper" (1997)
This earlier episode that premiered in Season 9 of The Simpsons tries a shocking reveal centered around Principal Skinner. The episode's plot reveals that Seymour Skinner is actually Armin Tamzarian and he stole the identity of Seymour Skinner who was a prisoner of war.
Principal Skinner isn't the most exciting character in the first place and to have an episode fully centered on him that reveals something shocking about his character that ends up being completely erased by the end of the episode as he's allowed to continue to be called Seymour Skinner and keep his job at the school makes for a terrible Simpsons episode.
"The Bonfire of the Manatees" (2005)
Kicking off the 17thseason, this episode didn’t actually get things off to a strong start. Homer is in debt to Fat Tony after falling for a football betting scam and must allow Fat Tony to shoot a porno film in his house to make good on what he owes. It was too far, even for a risqué series like The Simpsons.
Then, the storyline about manatees, which sees Marge getting stuck in a phone booth with one of the marine mammals, is weird, even for this show. The phone booth, with manatee and Marge still inside, is snagged by a marine biologist, Marge develops an affinity for the creature, and when jet skiers attack a pack of them, Homer saves the day.
"A Midsummer’s Nice Dreams" (2011)
It seems this episode, which was a parody of William Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream combined with reference to Cheech and Chong’s film Nice Dreams, didn’t quite compute with the show’s audience. From season 22, Homer joins a live show in place of Chong and realizes that their supposed stoner persona is all a farce. Cheech, meanwhile, is replaced by Seymour Skinner in his new duo.
Meanwhile, in Marge’s efforts to help the Crazy Cat Lady get over her hoarding, she ends up keeping many of the items and cluttering her own home. The poorly-rated episode was the lowest-rated one of that season.
"The Nightmare After Krustmas" (2016)
Another later season episode, this episode from season 28, and the 18th Christmas-themed episode of the series overall weren’t quite as festive as viewers had hoped. Krusty and his daughter spend Christmas with the Simpsons, Reverend Lovejoy tries to find new parishioners for the church (including Krusty, who converts), and Maggie is haunted by a creepy Christmas Gnome in Your Home (a parody of Elf on a Shelf).
In Marge’s nightmare, the gnome attacks Maggie, Marge meets Santa Claus with the Abominable Snowman and Wayne Gretzky, and she’s eaten by the gnome. It seems The Simpsons got their Christmas and Halloween episodes mixed up.
"Clown in the Dumps" (2014)
Krusty the Clown retires after he feels hurt by a comedy cable channel roast, and his father dies before telling him whether he thinks he’s funny or not. A funeral, a clown sinking into a deep depression, then Lisa reacting to the news by wrapping Homer in bubble wrap to protect him, was all too real.
Viewers just want to watch The Simpsons to laugh and be uplifted, not feel sad and think about death and despair.
"The Musk Who Fell to Earth" (2015)
Elon Musk, who voices himself, comes to Springfield and befriends Homer in his efforts to modernize the nuclear power plant. But he goes too far, leaving Homer to figure out a nice way to break ties.
Mr. Burns, meanwhile, tries to assassinate Musk, and when Homer finally tells the billionaire tech mogul that they can’t be friends, Musk takes off in his rocketship. A story that cleverly touches on technological innovation, job losses, and major corporations losing millions, it just wasn’t what viewers were looking for when they tuned in that week.
"What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting" (2014)
From season 25, this is the first episode on the worst list that isn’t centered around the parents. Here, Bart puts a voodoo spell on his art teacher and she ends up getting pregnant, to which Ralph screams a highly inappropriate joke to the entire school that Bart got a teacher pregnant. As word spreads, Bart is asked to help other couples conceive, believing he can make them pregnant, too.
It gets even weirder when Bart is kidnapped by Fat Tony who wants him to use his newfound baby-making skills to help him breed thoroughbred horses.
"Every Man’s Dream" (2015)
Another lackluster premiere, in this one from season 27, Homer is diagnosed with narcolepsy (no surprise there) but decides to get drunk instead of taking his medication. He and Marge separate, and Homer starts dating a young pharmacist named Candace after she drugs him and takes him home. When Homer realizes his mistake and returns home, he finds Marge having dinner with the kids and Candace’s dad.
In the end, it was all a dream. But the whole idea of Homer and Marge not being together, and infidelity, was too heavy for a comedic series.
"The Greatest Story Ever D’ohed" (2010)
Delving once again into religious territory, this episode from season 21 sees Ned bringing Homer along to a church retreat in Jerusalem in an attempt to save his soul. Homer defiling sacred sites might have offended some viewers, even from a cartoon known for towing the line sometimes.
But the episode went even farther, with Homer lost in a desert after losing a camel, and seeing visions that suggest he’s a chosen Messiah, right before he’s rescued and diagnosed with Jerusalem Syndrome. It was just highly inappropriate and probably rubbed people the wrong way.
"Moe Goes from Rags to Riches" (2012)
In this totally odd episode, during a town meeting at Moe’s Tavern, people joke that Moe’s bar rag is his best friend. Then the rag, voiced by Jeremy Irons, tells a story of its history and how it got its start as a medieval French tapestry before ending up in the bar. The rag is seemingly stolen, returned fully cleaned by Marge, and Moe realizes that the Simpsons are true friends. It’s a heartfelt story, but the episode centers on a talking rag.
Meanwhile, Bart and Millhouse fight and make up once Bart lets Drederick punch him as a sign of his deep love for his friend.
"Werking Mom" (2018)
The show has certainly not aged kindly over the years, and this is a great example of that. The episode features Marge in the need for a job, which is a repetitive storyline within itself. However, she ends up getting a role in selling plastic food storage containers.
However, the show decides to throw in a twist and has Marge have to do it while problematically masquerading as a drag queen. It's a poor attempt at humor that didn't go over very well and was just the start of many problems from season 30.
"Mad About The Toy" (2015)
Any episode heavily featuring Grampa has the chance to be hit or miss, and sadly, this one was very much a miss. The story is all about him in this episode, where he takes the children on a journey back to his past where he worked as a WWII toy model.
Interestingly, the episode hints at Abe not being sure about his sexuality, but rather than delivering a firm answer or a lesson, it dithers somewhere in the middle and fails to arrive at a conclusion.
"Marge The Lumberjill" (2019)
Potential affairs between Marge and Homer have been teased multiple times throughout The Simpsons' illustrious history, and this is another example of that. During this episode, Marge ends up becoming a competitive lumberjack, and that takes her away for an entire month.
RELATED: The Simpsons: 10 Ways The Animated Series Changed TV
She spends all of that time with her trainer, attempting to become the best possible, all while Homer frantically panics that she's having an affair. It's an interesting episode that puts Marge in a great position of power and control for a change, but sadly it just lacks in the laugh department.
"Lisa Goes Gaga" (2012)
Dubbed the worst episode of the series to date, which, given the number of episodes, is saying a lot, this episode is from season 23. Lisa attempts to make herself popular, but her plan backfires (thanks to Bart) until she gets help from Lady Gaga. The musician just happened to be passing through Springfield on her want to a concert and decides to stop there when she notices how low everyone’s self-esteem is there.
Even Gaga guest-starring as herself couldn’t save this episode. While the idea to run an episode that teaches kids to have confidence and feel better about themselves was great, the delivery was not. And the duet at the ending was a sour cherry on the top of an already really bad episode.