Retro Review: Krusty Gets Kancelled

Original Airdate
May 13 1993

Or the One Where
Krusty's show gets, uh, cancelled. So Bart and Lisa assemble an all star list of celebrities to help launch his comeback.

The Setup
After a new children's performer, a ventriloquist dummy named Gabbo, takes Springfield by storm, Krusty's show gets taken off the air.

Notable Notes
According to the DVD commentary, the impetus for doing a star-studded episode like this was born of an attempt to emulate season three's "Homer at the Bat", but with celebrities instead of baseball players.

Retro Review: Marge in Chains

Original Airdate
May 6 1993

Or the One Where
Marge goes to jail for shoplifting from the Kwik-E-Mart.

The Setup
After the dreaded Osaka Flu comes to Springfield via orders of Juice Looseners and the Simpson family comes down with it, a beleaguered Marge accidentally walks out of the Kwik-E-Mart with a bottle of bourbon. 

Retro Review: Whacking Day

Original Airdate
April 29, 1993

Or the One Where
Bart and Lisa team up to stop Whacking Day, a local holiday involving the beating of snakes.

The Setup 
After Bart ruins an inspection by Superintendent Chalmers, he is expelled and Marge is forced to home-school him, inadvertently teaching him the knowledge he needs to help Lisa stop Whacking Day.

Retro Review: The Front

Original Airdate
April 15 1993

Or the One Where
Bart and Lisa ghost write an episode of Itchy & Scratchy using Grampa's name, while Homer retakes a failed high school science class to earn his diploma. 

The Setup
After watching a lackluster episode of Itchy & Scratchy, Bart and Lisa determine they could write a better episode, but are forced to submit it under Grampa's name to be taken seriously.

Retro Review: So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show

Original Airdate
April 1, 1993

Or the One Where
With Homer in the hospital, the Simpsons recall past episodes...of their lives.

The Setup
After Homer continually pranks Bart on April Fools Day, Bart gets him back by shaking up a can of beer in a paint mixer, causing an explosion that lands Homer in the hospital.

Retro Review: Last Exit to Springfield

Original Airdate
March 11, 1993

Or the One Where
Homer becomes the head of the power plant's union and takes on Mr. Burns.

The Setup
When it turns out Lisa needs braces, Homer accepts a position as head of the union in order to get back their dental plan.

Retro Review: Duffless

Original Airdate
February 18, 1993

Or the One Where
Homer gives up beer for thirty days at the same time Lisa conducts an experiment to determine whether her brother is smarter than a hamster. 

The Setup
Following a trip to the Duff Brewery, Homer gets a DUI, prompting Marge to ask him to give up alcohol for a month, while Bart earns himself a place in Lisa's new science project after he destroys her steroid-enhanced super tomato.

Retro Review: I Love Lisa

Original Airdate
February 11, 1993

Or the One Where
Ralph Wiggum crushes on Lisa. 

The Setup
After Lisa takes pity on Ralph and gives him a Valentine, he becomes enamored with her, much to Lisa's frustration. 

Notable Notes
This episode established that Ralph is Chief Wiggum's son (both characters had obviously appeared before this, but this is the first time their relationship to one another was established).

Retro Review: Brother from the Same Planet

Original Airdate
February 4, 1993

Or the One Where
Bart and Homer join the Bigger Brothers organization to spite each other.

The Setup
After Homer forgets to pick up Bart from soccer practice, Bart signs up for a Bigger Brother, pretending to have been abandoned by his father.

Notable Notes
The part of Tom, Bart's Bigger Brother, was written for Tom Cruise, but he turned down the role, so Phil Hartman stepped in.

Retro Review: Selma's Choice

Original Airdate
January 21, 1993

Or the One Where
Aunt Selma takes Bart and Lisa to the Duff Gardens amusement park.

The Setup
Inspired by the death of a childless aunt, and contemplating artifical insemination, Selma agrees to take the kids to Duff Gardens after Homer gets food poisoning from a rotten sandwich.

Notable Notes
This is the first appearance of Jug-Jug the iguana, who becomes Aunt Selma's pet (and fills the void in her life).

Retro Review: Marge vs. the Monorail

Original Airdate

January 14, 1993

Or the One Where
Springfield disastrously builds a monorail.

The Setup
After Mr. Burns is fined for dumping toxic waste in the city parks, the town debates what to do with their sudden windfall, ultimately agreeing to pay a slick salesmen to build the town a monorail.

Notable Notes
This episode was pitched and written by Conan O'Brien, and he has cited it as his favorite episode of the episodes he's written.

Retro Review: Homer's Triple Bypass

Or the One Where
Homer undergoes open heart surgery

The Setup
After a series of heart attacks brought on my unhealthy eating and stress, Dr. Hibbert tells Homer he will need to have a triple bypass.

Notable Notes
The Cops parody that opens the episode was added to increase the run time of the episode.

Retro Review: Lisa's First Word

Or the One Where
We learn the story of Lisa's birth/first word. And Maggie says her first (and thus far only) word.  

The Setup
While trying to get Maggie to talk, Marge tells the kids the story of Lisa's first word (Bart's was "aye carumba", said after walking in on Homer and Marge having sex; Marge declines to tell that tale).

Retro Review: Mr. Plow

Or the One Where
Homer starts a snow plowing business

The Setup
After wrecking his car driving home on a snowy night, Homer decides to replace it with a plow.

Notable Notes
Adam West and Linda Ronstadt guest star, as themselves. 

Retro Review: New Kid on the Block

Or the One Where
Bart crushes on the new girl next door while Homer sues a seafood restaurant for kicking him out of the "All You Can Eat" buffet before he's had all he could eat.


The Setup
After the Winfields move away, a single mother and her daughter move in next door to the Simpsons, and Bart is immediately smitten with the tomboyish Laura.

Retro Review: Marge Gets a Job

Or the One Where
Marge goes to work at the nuclear power plant, where Mr. Burns falls in love with her. 

The Setup
After the foundation of their house cracks, Marge gets a job to pay for the repairs. 

Retro Review: Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie

Or the One Where
Bart is forbidden from seeing the Itchy and Scratchy movie.

The Setup
After being admonished by Marge for not punishing Bart hard enough when he misbehaves, Homer finally puts his foot down and forbids Bart from seeing the movie everyone is talking about after Bart leaves Maggie unattended, allowing the baby to drive off in the car.

Retro Review: Treehouse of Horror III

Or the One Where
"Clown Without Pity" (Homer is stalked by a killer Talking Krusty doll), "King Homer" (King Kong re-imagined with Homer in the title role), and "Dial Z for Zombie" (Bart accidentally raises the dead").

The Setup
Marge hosts a Halloween party for all the kids in lieu of trick-or-treating, with Lisa, Grandpa and Bart each telling a scary story at the party.

Retro Review: Lisa the Beauty Queen

Or the One Where
Homer enters Lisa in the Little Miss Springfield pageant.

The Setup
At the school carnival, Lisa has a caricature drawn of herself, which makes her think she's ugly. To boost her spirits, Homer sells his ticket to ride the Duff blimp to enter her in a beauty pageant.

Retro Review: Homer the Heretic

Or the One Where
Homer starts his own religion.

The Setup
After skipping church and subsequently experiencing the greatest day of his life, Homer decides to start his own religion.

Notable Notes
The chalkboard gag in this episode's opening, in which Bart writes, "I will not defame New Orleans" is a reference to the controversy surrounding one of the songs from last episode, and was rushed into production to serve as an apology.