Retro Review: Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?

Or the One Where
Homer's half brother Herb reappears and invents a baby translator. AKA the one with the vibrating chair.

The Setup
After a routine physical shows that Homer is sterile due to years of working at the nuclear power plant, he is awarded the First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence in order to disguise the $2,000 settlement he receives from Mr. Burns. The sudden windfall attracts the attention of Homer's estranged, derelict half brother Herb.

Retro Review: Bart's Friend Falls in Love

Or the One Where
Milhouse, um, falls in love...

The Setup
After stealing Homer's change jar in dramatic fashion, a Magic 8 ball foretells that Bart and Milhouse's friendship will soon come to an end, bewildering them until Milhouse becomes smitten with new girl Samantha Stankey.

Notable Notes
The opening sequence of this episode obviously parodies the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark (with Bart as Indy). The producers contacted Steven Spielberg to clear usage of John Williams' "Raiders March" for the sequence.

Retro Review: The Otto Show

Or the One Where
School bus driver Otto moves in with the Simpsons

The Setup
Following a Spinal Tap concert, Bart takes up guitar, and when Otto proceeds to rock out on it and deliver the kids to school late, he is fired, prompting Bart to offer him a place to stay.

Notable Notes
This is the first (and to date, only) episode to feature Otto prominently, as the show continues to develop its supporting cast and figure out who works better than others. Otto's last name (Mann) is revealed as well.

Retro Review: Black Widower

Or the One Where
Sideshow Bob marries Aunt Selma.

The Setup
Homer and the kids are watching Dinosaurs on TV before Selma arrives for dinner with her mysterious date, who turns out to be Sideshow Bob.

Notable Notes
This is the second Sideshow Bob episode, following season one's "Krusty Gets Busted". It's revealed that Bob has completed his prison sentence for framing Krusty for armed robbery, but he's sent back to jail at the end of the episode for attempted murder. Humorously, as he's being dragged away, he claims he'll be out on the street once the Democrats are back in the White House, and his next appearance occurs after Bill Clinton is elected president.

Retro Review: Colonel Homer

Or the One Where
Homer manages Lurleen Lumpkin, a waitress/country music singer with eyes for him.

The Setup
After Marge insults Homer's intelligence at a movie, he spends the night at a redneck bar where he meets Lurleen.

Retro Review: Dog of Death

Or the One Where
The Simpsons have to cut their expenses to pay for Santa's Little Helper's expensive operation.

The Setup
Caught up in lottery fever, the family fails to notice the dog's failing health.

Notable Notes
The veterinarian in this episode is based on the main character from TV's Ben Casey show.

Retro Review: Separate Vocations

Or the One Where
Bart becomes a hall monitor and Lisa becomes a troublemaker.

The Setup
After the results of a career aptitude tests suggest surprising future vocations, Bart gets a taste of authority (and likes it) while Lisa becomes disillusioned with life.

Retro Review: Homer at the Bat

Or the One Where
Homer is benched in favor of professional baseball players brought in to play on the powerplant softball team.

The Setup
After making a million dollar bet on the outcome of the Springfield/Shelbyville game, Mr. Burns hires nine ringers from Major League Baseball to play on the company softball team.

Notable Notes
Each of the nine guest-starring ball players recorded their part separately, over the course of six months, whenever their respective team was on the West Coast playing the Dodgers or Angels.

Retro Review: Bart the Lover

Yay, Retro Reviews are back!

...well, I'm excited.

Or the One Where
Bart answers a personal ad placed by Mrs. Krabappel.

The Setup
After yo-yo mania sweeps the school and Bart breaks the class fish tank doing a trick, he is sentenced to several weeks detention, during which he discovers Mrs. Krabappel's personal ad.

Retro Review: Homer Alone

Or the One Where
Marge goes on a vacation by herself to Rancho Relaxo and leaves Homer alone with Maggie

The Setup
An overworked and under-appreciated Marge snaps, leading her to take a vacation away from the family to relax.

Notable Notes
The title of this episode is a reference to the movie Home Alone, which featured actor Daniel Stern. Daniel's brother David wrote this episode.

Retro Review: Lisa the Greek

Or the One Where
Lisa helps Homer gamble on football.

The Setup
Upset that Homer never gets involved in her interests, Lisa is counseled by Marge to try getting involved in Homer's interests, after which Homer quickly discovers Lisa's gift for picking winning football teams.

Retro Review: Radio Bart

Or the One Where: Bart gets stuck down a well.

The Setup: Using a radio microphone he got for his birthday, Bart fools the town into thinking a boy is trapped down a well, but when Bart attempts to retrieve the radio, he falls into the well for real.

Notable Notes
Bruce Springsteen was originally approached to guest star in the episode but he turned it down, so Sting appears instead.

Retro Review: I Married Marge

Or the One Where: Homer tells Bart and the Lisa the story of how he came to marry Marge.

The Setup: Worried she may be pregnant again, Marge goes to see Dr. Hibbert, leaving Homer in charge of the kids.

Notable Notes: This is the second "flashback" episode, chronicling past events in Homer and Marge's life. It reveals several details, including the circumstances of Bart's conception and Homer's proposal, Marge and Homer's wedding ceremony (an event which later writers are surprisingly faithful towards), Bart's birth, and how Homer came to work at the power plant.

Smithers first name is revealed to be Waylon in this episode.

Retro Review: Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk

Or the One Where: Mr. Burns sells the nuclear power plant to Germans.

The Setup: A depressed Mr. Burns contemplates selling the power plant in order to have more time to pursue other interests.

Notable Notes: Phil Hartman guest stars as Homer's stock broker.

The "Land of Chocolate" sequence was not in the original script (the dialogue referring to it was, but the actual dream sequence was added later).

Retro Review: Flaming Moe's

Or the One Where: Moe enjoys tremendous success when a drink he stole from Homer becomes a huge hit.

The Setup: With business down and the beer supply cutoff, Homer shows Moe a drink of his own invention, the Flaming Homer.

Notable Notes: Though he's appeared plenty of times before, this is the first episode to feature Moe and to flesh out his character and his relationship with Homer.

Retro Review: Saturdays of Thunder

Or the One Where: Bart races in a soapbox derby.

The Setup: After Homer realizes he's a bad father, he rushes to the National Fatherhood Institute and proceeds to help Bart with his soapbox derby car.

Notable Notes: The fatherhood test Homer takes was based on a real fatherhood test.

Homer watches part of a McBain movie at the video store, one which loosely parodies Lethal Weapon (McBain's African-American partner is killed days away from retirement).

Retro Review: Lisa's Pony

Or the One Where: Homer buys Lisa a pony.

The Setup: After failing to bring Lisa the saxophone reed she needs for the school talent show, Homer buys her a pony to repair their relationship.

Notables Notes: Lisa's desire for a pony was established before this episode (it's actually mentioned in the very first episode, Simpsons Roasting on a Open Fire) but it comes to a head here.

Retro Review: Treehouse of Horror II

Or the One Where: Lisa's nightmare (a wish-granting Monkey's Paw leads to alien domination), Bart's nightmare (Bart is an omnipotent being who grows to love his father) and Homer's nightmare (his brain is transplanted into a worker robot by Mr. Burns).

The Setup: Following trick-or-treating, Lisa, Bart and Homer all gorge on candy, which gives them all nightmares.

Retro Review: Like Father, Like Clown

Or the One Where: Bart and Lisa help Krusty the Clown reconcile with his estranged father.

The Setup: Krusty attends a "thank you" dinner with the Simpsons, which reminds him of how much he misses his father.

Notable Notes: Krusty's father, the Rabbi Krustofski, appears for the first time, voiced by Jackie Mason. The character will appear infrequently from time to time, usually voiced by Dan Castellaneta, though Mason returned to voice the character for his appearances in seasons fifteen and twenty-one. Mason won an Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Primetime Emmy in 1992 for his performance in this episode.

Retro Review: Homer Defined

Or The One Where: Homer earns unwanted fame after averting a meltdown.

The Setup: By sheer luck, Homer manages to push the right button to stop a meltdown of the power plant.

Notable Notes: Basketball player Earvin "Magic" Johnson guest-stars as himself in this episode, becoming the first pro athlete to appear on the show.