Top 5 of Scully vs. Top 5 of Jean

[Drunk Barney]

Which showrunner has the best 5 episodes?

Mike Scully

The Cartridge Family A

Denied the + as it somehow felt a little unexperimental when Homer had the gun second time around. The ending was odd, and I wasn't keen on the Homer robbing Apu gag. But this for me this episode was hilarious.

This Little Wiggy A

I know the ending fuzzles out a bit quick, but this one just felt like a classic.

Bart, the Mother A- EDIT: THOH 9 A

Felt like a classic. And that's because for me, it was.

Triolgy of Error A

Clever, funny and fun. Not a big fan of the ending though.

Hungry, Hungry Homer A

Excellent characterization of Homer. It's just nice to see how this episode develops. I think it handles Homer not eating food, very well.

5 A's

Al Jean

Half-Decent Proposal A

it was great to see Artie Ziff again, and it was done very well. The first two acts were both A+, but a wobbly third act lets this down a bit.

Little Girl in the Big Ten A

Classic. Pretty much everything about it was classic. My only complaint is that the jokes weren't good enough to hit the A+ mark.

The President Wore Pearls A

Maybe a tad disjointed, but the songs were great and well sung. Very funny episode as well.

The Way We Weren't A/A- Maybe not funny enough for an A+ or maybe even an A, but it the story was great.

Sleeping With the Enemy A Excellent Marge, excellent plot. Good humour as well. The ending lets this one down though.

4 A's
1 A/A-

Hmm...in theory Jean wins. But I think Scully's A's may be a tad better, as they are more funnier. Around the same.

EDIT: Now I've replaced Bart, the Mother with THOH 9, it now means that Scully just about wins. However, if it was a top 10 competition then Jean would win.

[TerrorK]

SCULLY

Das Bus
Fantastic parody of Lord of the Flies filled with classic moments from all the kids. Great lines and scenes, despite its absurdity, and a neat subplot from Homer. A

The Cartridge Family
Good satire on guns and gun control, with some hilarious moments from Homer, including the classic gun purchasing moment. Probably a little more one-sided than most satires, but still enormous fun. Let down just a tad only by the weak and odd ending with Marge. A

This Little Wiggy
Ralph gets a chance to shine here, in a tale that provides not only some great humour, but a great dilemma regarding Bart, as well as a look at his personality. Ralph gets some of his last great moments here, and the other characters provide some great one-liners and moments (particuarly Homer's classic popping up through the floor gag, and the guard at the abandoned prison). A-

Realty Bites
A good decent way for Lionel Hutz to go out, and an interesting exploration of Marge's character. The way she had trouble selling houses because of her honesty was a great touch. Includes some classic gags, and the Homer subplot with Snake's car, while a little full-on sometimes, is well done. A-

King of the Hill
I love the way Homer just tries to be a fitter person for his son in this episode. It's a very funny show, but it's the little bits of emotion here and there that really make it work. B+

JEAN

Sleeping with the Enemy
Sure, there were some questionable bits, a few weak gags and a sub-par ending, but the characterisation was solid, both storylines flowed and intermingled well, and there was even a little shot of decent emotion here and there. B-

Moe Baby Blues
Not as fantastic as most people say, but still very good. A nice emotional episode for Moe, and it even has some of the funnier and more natural gags of the Jean-era. Sadly, much of the first act and the mobster connections are pretty weak and bring it down. C+

'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky
A great cameo from Eric Idle and an intruiging look at Lisa's personality, as well as some decent satire on ligh pollution overall. The Bart subplot works well too, and the way both stories connect is generally well done. C+

The Heartbroke Kid
Probably the funniest of Jean's episodes, mostly because of Albert Brook's great Tab Spangler character, which I suspect he had a lot of input into. Despite some lame gags here and there (such as those annoying "hip" vending machines), this story succeeds for the most part. The homage to the opening credits is classic, and overall pokes some good fun at unhealthy eating in American schools. C+

The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Not only more believably emotional than most Jean-era stories, but funnier than most too. While let down by some bad gags here and there, things like Homer's video, the "bridge out" joke, and an interesting character in Dexter Colt brought this above average. C+

-----

Overall, Scully clearly wins, all from Season 9 though. He still would if I had excluded it though.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

I'm too lazy to look through a list of episodes, but I'm certain Scully would win it for me. Drunk Barney pretty much posted my favourite episodes, actually.

[DotheBartman]

In all cases I'm not totally positive of the order, but...

Jean:

Moe Baby Blues:
I would actually put this in my top 50 episodes. It really is a classic-quality episode. Every joke (or nearly every joke) works, the storyline is clever and well-done, and the whole thing is very poignant and moving as well. A+

My Mother the Carjacker:
No sequel could ever quite match "Mother Simpson", but for a sequel, this is better than it has any right to be, and (barring several Sideshow Bob episodes, if they count) easily the best episode sequel so far. Again, it's really hilarious and surprisingly moving, and is a great follow up while being very careful not to destroy what made the original so great. A

Tis the Fifteenth Season:
I was hard on this year's Christmas show, and stated in my review that I think Christmas specials have just worn thin by now, but admittedly, this one was really excellent. It really skewered all the terrible Christmas shows on the air very cleverly (something that made this past one feel terribly ironic), and had some great parodies and character writing to boot. A

The Way We Weren't:
Easily the best Homer and Marge episode since the classic years, and even probably since season five come to think of it. As cheesy as this could have been, it really ended up being incredibly sweet and funny, while not hurting "The Way We Was" at all. A

Little Girl in the Big Ten:
This is an episode I can relate to even more now, having taken a number of college courses before graduating high school, and always feeling surrounded by immaturity whenever I came back to my school. But regardless, it was always really fantastic and relateable, with a number of great gags (the
"get the US out of everything" bumper sticker was hysterical). The subplot was also pretty funny. A

Other candidates:
Simple Simpson, Three Gays of the Condo, The Heartbroke Kid
The Seemingly Never-Ending Story, Future-Drama, The Girl Who Slept Too Little, The President Wore Pearls, Half-Decent Proposal, Sleeping with the Enemy

Scully:

Trilogy of Error:
I haven't seen this in so long that I'm not sure how it would hold up, but at the time it was certainly really clever and funny in a way that we had quite simply come to not expect anymore. The format and execution were interesting, and for the most part the humor was quite good as well. A/A-

The Cartridge Family:
I used to be a bigger fan of this actually, but it has fallen a bit in my opinion of it. It gets some basically deserved criticism about the handling of Homer and the story itself, and it isn't without its flaws. Still, it was a pretty good take on the subject, with both sides fairly well-represented, and mostly funny. B+

Natural Born Kissers:
A very charming and fresh spin on the Homer/Marge storylines, though perhaps a little silly in spots. But a lot of fun, and well-written. B+

Treehouse of Horror IX:
Compared to the awfulness of the following Treehouse of Horror, this was really good. All the segments are well-done and among the better Scully material, even if the Kang and Kodos segment has really dated a lot. B/B+

Bart the Mother: (Note: I actually edited out Wild Barts Can't Be Broken when I realized I had forgotten this somehow.)
For a Scully show, this was surprisingly moving, and the last really good character-study or emotional story until the Jean era (it and "Kissers" are probably the only good Scully ones, actually). Quite well done, and pretty funny to boot. B/B+

Other candidates:
Behind the Laughter, Hungry Hungry Homer, Wild Barts Can't Be Broken, not a whole lot else.

It's not really a contest. Jean.

[Nebuchanezzar]

I despise the A-F grading system, so I'll be doing it by a score out of 10.

SCULLY

The City of New York v Homer Simpson- Perhaps this episode is even funnier than Homer's Enemy, in fact, I'd say it is. Whether it was Homer acting like a weirdo to the guy walking past the cab, the Khlav Kalash man, The WTC scene or the boot on car scene, it's all hilarious, to the max (not of the power variety). New York City also gets it's fair share of criticisms in this episode, with the tenants of the WTC being portrayed as typical New York jerks. The sub plot of this episode (if there ever was one) is sub-par, although it's entertaining to see Mad Magazine headquarters, but fortunately, Homer's antics make up for this and get it safely in the top 10. A very, very funny episode from Ian Maxtone-Graham. 10/10

Trilogy of Error- The very best of the late Scully years, this was a brilliant idea, that was brilliantly written and directed by all parties involved. A simple idea that for some strange reason really hadn't been attempted yet. I'm not sure why it hadn't been done yet, but when it was, it was done to perfection. Much like Pulp Fiction, the interaction between each family member's day works on every level, without any hitch at all. But of course the episode has it's downfalls, Marge abandoning Homer was a little crude, and there should have been at least one Point of View from someone else in the Simpson family, perhaps Santa's Little Helper. This could have made the episode even more engrossing, or perhaps it's a foolish suggestion by me, either way, I love this episode. 9/10

Behind the Laughter- Original, funny, high satirical and highly metaphorical, this episode remains as the best from season 11. Perhaps it loses it's joke value as you see the episode each time, but there's no denying that this was a brilliant idea, executed perfectly, and written to perfection. There's no need for the characters to remain in character here, they can be the jerks that they're meant to be in real life, and it turns out everyone of the members of The Simpsons family are, much the same as in the real life Hollywood. Hard-hitting and high successful, this episode is definitely a parody of The Simpsons itself, and it's done to absolute perfection. 8.5/10

HomR- It's given too much crap here for being shallow, I disagree and think that it has a well developed story between Homer and Lisa, and the ending very well highlights a dilemma that Homer would face, should he have been a real person in real life. Quite realistic in terms of personality's and relationships, and quite funny. 8/10

Trash of the Titans- The only thing it doesn't have going for it is the lazy ending. Otherwise, it's pretty damn funny and pretty damn good. 7.9/10


JEAN (don't take this to be definite, I can't remember a lot of Jean episodes well)

Moe Baby Blues- Quite a touching episode that deals with something that Moe would definately have trouble dealing with, lonliness. It's handled well, it has references to the Godfather that actually make sense and the relationship between Moe and Homer/Marge is handled very well. I simply love this episode. 9.5/10

The Old Man & the Key- It's rather funny, it has a nice reversal of roles, I like it. 8/10

Goo Goo Gai Pan- Haha, I love the way The Simpsons doesn't take crap from anyone. The Chinese government may be able to silence protestors with tanks, kill medical practitioners and launch nuclear missiles at Taiwan, but they won't be telling The Simpsons what to do. It's a nice satire of China, it's funny and clever. 8/10

Little Girl in the Big Ten- Very well presented. I see no reason to detail why I picked this episode. 7.5/10

Weekend at Burnsie's- If you ignore the dead Mr. Burns thing (I dunno why it was put in there), it's not bad. Sure, some people would say that "anyone could write this". Be that as it may, it doesn't mean that it's a crap. It's quite funny, and nicely paced, plus it deals with a good political issue. 7/10

[TerrorK]

Nebuchanezzar: The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson isn't a Scully show... it's an Oakley and Weinstein one.

[Veryjammy]

Scully

Trilogy Of Error - Remarkably well constructed for its time; each viewpoint slots together nicely without being repetitive and the humour is above par as well. Occasionally feels a little too kinetic and breathless but on the whole an excellent atypical episode. A-

Natural Born Kissers - Largely what DtB said. Justifies its existence alongside a certain Season 6 episode, although it gets a bit silly for my tastes. The subplot feels a bit strained and I've always thought there were a few odd lines of dialogue but overall a charming outing. B+

Miracle On Evergreen Terrace - A warm, funny and intelligent episode that seems to get dumped on for no good reason. Could easily slot into the classic era. B+

The Computer Wore Menace Shoes - Erm yes, *cough* B

THOH 9 - The best post Season 8 THOH by some distance. The Jerry Springer Parody is lame and obvious but the rest is actually very good. B

Jean

Little Girl In The Big Ten - A good companion piece to Summer Of 4 Ft 2 and some neat observation on universities. Most every joke works, the oft-misunderstood ending is one of the best of the Jean era, and the direction is wonderful. A

The Way We Weren't - Annoying wrap-arounds aside this is an excellent flashback episode that thankfully didn't screw Marge and Homer's history up. The dream sequence in particular is one of my highlights of the Jean era A-

Sleeping With The Enemy - Another MacMullan tour de force. Lots of good, quieter character humour and convincingly displayed why exactly Marge would be interested in Nelson; the resolution was weak but by no means episode destroying. A-

Moe Baby Blues - The story is undeniably excellent and the direction is, yet again, magnificent. But it's marred by some trademark Season 14 'awkward moments'. When you take into account the fact that most of the first act is poor as well, I can't help but feel the episode should have been even better. A-

Tis The Fifteenth Season - The love for this seems to have died down significantly, but it works on many levels, has plenty of great parodies and jokes; nearly the whole third act is pure gold. I really love the ending too. A-

[Number 10767]

Best of Scully:
Treehouse of Horror 8 ("Roman numerals? They never even tried to teach us that in school!")
Lisa Gets an A
Mayored to the Mob
Hungry Hungry Homer
Trilogy of Error

Best of Jean:
C.E. D'oh
Moe Baby Blues
The Way We Weren't
Fraudcast News
The Seemingly Never-Ending Story

Scully and Jean both have a lot of peaks and valleys. The valleys were much more plentiful and much, much lower with Scully, but I think his peaks might be slightly higher than Jean's. The Scully era tends to wallow in a sea of crap with a few diamonds in the rough, but Jean episodes are more consistently mediocre. Overall I'd take Jean over Scully any day, but I feel like Scully's top five are stronger than Jean's.

[Nebuchanezzar]

Nebuchanezzar: The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson isn't a Scully show... it's an Oakley and Weinstein one.

Hey, congratulations to the guy who can read production codes and EP credits.

I'm sure that the Scully team had an influence on the episode in the rewriting process, and due to the fact that Mr. Maxtone Graham wrote it (Scully v2), it's essentially a Scully episode in that regard as well. It was released during the Scully years, it has the feel of the Scully years, it has the humour of the Scully years, it has the characterisation of the Scully years, it was written by one of the more influential writers of the Scully years, I really don't think that a production code can dictate if it was or wasn't a Scully episode or not in this case.

[DotheBartman]

.....What the hell sense is any of that supposed to make?

Maxtone-Graham was hired during the Oakley and Weinstein era, and wrote multiple episodes before the Scully era. If you're going to talk about influence, it would make just as much sense (meaning, none at all) to say that all of his pre-Jean episodes were essentially Jean episodes, given that he's one of the most influential writers in the Jean era and has written for it for a longer time than any other era.

Oakley and Weinstein were showrunners on that episode, PERIOD. It is no more a Scully episode than Radioactive Man is an Oakley and Weinstein episode. And yes, it has Jerkass Homer to some degree, but it doesn't exactly meld with the Scully era in style. Showrunners are always, ALWAYS, in charge of their holdovers, not the showrunner that follows them. And the point here is to say which showrunner had the best episodes, not which showrunner happened to have the best episodes air in the general season/year/decade as their own episodes. You're clearly putting way too much convulted thought into this than TerrorK, who is merely going on the facts about that episode.

[Nebuchanezzar]

Oakley and Weinstein were showrunners on that episode, PERIOD. It is no more a Scully episode than Radioactive Man is an Oakley and Weinstein episode. And yes, it has Jerkass Homer to some degree, but it doesn't exactly meld with the Scully era in style. Showrunners are always, ALWAYS, in charge of their holdovers, not the showrunner that follows them. And the point here is to say which showrunner had the best episodes, not which showrunner happened to have the best episodes air in the general season/year/decade as their own episodes. You're clearly putting way too much convulted thought into this than TerrorK, who is merely going on the facts about that episode.

I do seem to remember reading somewhere that the showrunner that shows the holdover does a rewrite for the episode in question. I cannot find it, and seeing as you've presented minimal evidence (i.e. zero evidence) for your theory, I think we're pretty much on equal ground here, pal.

but it doesn't exactly meld with the Scully era in style

That's by far the stupidest thing I've heard in quite some time. It fits in with the Scully mesh remarkably easy.

Scully episodes have become notorious for having lazy plots (vacations, jobs), jerkass Homer (throwing away the wallet, the drunken rage, being an ass to everyone in NYC) and pain gags (urination, banging his head on the car, biting off the bolts, garbage in his face) strewn throughout the duration of his episodes. The City of NY v Homer Simpson has everything that Scully has become famous for in spades, in that essence, it's a Scully episode, and it's certainly more Scully than O&W despite your insolent faithfullness to whose name appears at the credits.

The other question is why was this subject even brought up at all? I presented my view on my favourite episodes. Instead of pointing out what could have been a minor slip up in my listing system, TerrorK could have pointed out the flaws in the episode itself, as you could have instead of defending a trivial matter. Now please, on with the listing. I prefer to look at other people's favourite episodes rather than two people nitpicking someone elses posts for no apparent reason.

[bluemoose]

I agree with the first post. All those are basically my favorite episodes from Scully and my favorites from Jean. That's kind of funny, that Scully has so many bombs, but when his episodes are good, they're really good.

[garret]

Scully

1. Trilogy of Error
2. Natural Born Kissers
3. Wild Barts Can't Be Broken
4. The Cartridge Family
5. Bart the mother

Jean
1. Moe Baby Blues
2. The Way We Weren't
3. Little Girl in the Big Ten
4. Fraudcast News
5. Sleeping with the enemy

I guess Jean wins this time.

[Channel Surfer]

Hey, congratulations to the guy who can read production codes and EP credits.

I don't care what reasons you have to put that episode in your Scully list. But TerrorK was trying to help you and your comment was uncalled for. Warned.

[Rest your giant head]

I'm not sure for the order.

SCULLY
The cartridge family
New kids on the bleech
Pygmoelian
The computer wore menace shoes
Worst episode ever

JEAN
Weekend at Burnsie's
Half decent proposial
A star is torn
Dude,where's my ranch
The president wore pearls

They're both good but I'll choose Scully - I love strange ideas for plots.

[TriforceBun]

This'll take some thinking. The following lists are not definite...

Top 5 Scully (in no particular order):

The Cartridge Family - Satirical, potent, and consistently hilarious. A

Lisa Gets an A - Simply a warm, enjoyable episode with good characterization, a down-to-earth, well-done story and a wacky, fun subplot. A-/A

Trilogy of Error - This episode is very clever in the way the stories overlap and play off each other. Numerous perspectives to various situations lead to some really fresh and well-done jokes. A-/A

Miracle on Evergreen Terrace - I'm a sucker for Christmas episodes, and this one's no exception. I really like the way Bart handles his problem, and the story is fairly gripping. Although the ending is a little abrupt, with the Springfieldians stealing OFF's possessions, it does speak a lot about the characterization of the family itself. Well done. A-/A

Wild Barts Can't Be Broken - Another great episode where everything simply works well--the gags, the story, and the song. Just all-around enjoyable. A-

Close, but no cigar: THOH 9, Bart the Mother, Hungry Hungry Homer, Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?

Jean:

The Way We Weren't: This episode is my personal post-S8 favorite by a wide margin. I thought the story and pacing were extremely well-done, and there's a genuine sense of emotion behind the whole thing as well. There are a couple uneven points near the beginning and scattered in a couple other scenes...but not enough to knock this out of A-range. Probably top 30 material for me. A

Little Girl in the Big Ten - This ep's definitely grown on me in the past couple years. Even the seemingly goofy subplot provides some good laughs, and it ties in with the main plot well. Very well-done. A-/A

The President Wore Pearls - Eh, I liked Homer in this. He was immature, childish, and stupider than normal, but he was still funny. Meanwhile, the Lisa/Springfield Elementary plot was refreshing and interesting, while the songs were funny and well-produced. Also, this episode has possibly the best Willie in the show's run. A-/A

Moe Baby Blues - Very enjoyable and innovative episode that takes two unlikely characters and forms an excellent bond between them. But most of the first act gags just don't work all that well for me (oddly, I rather liked the extremely unpopular Krusty manure gag though). Eh, still great. A-

Half-Decent Proposal - Slipped a little recently due to some third act issues, but still a very strong sequel to one of my all-time favorites. Ziff was hilarious, and Homer and Marge were in top form. There were a few too many sex jokes, but at least they were consistently funny. A-/A

Runners-up: 'Tis the Fifteenth Season, Home Away From Homer, I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can, 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky, The Dad Who Knew Too Little, Mommie Beerest, Sleeping With the Enemy, My Mother the Carjacker


Top 5s from each are about equal, but Jean has a lot more runners-up.


New kids on the bleech
The computer wore menace shoes
A star is torn
Dude, where's my ranch


Well, aren't you the iconoclast. :p

[Galalimit]

Is this supposed to be a joke? It's not even close between them. Heck, instead i'll just list all the A's from both eras to prove it.

Mike Scully (15 A's)

The Cartridge Family - A
Realty Bites - A
This Little Wiggy - A
Girly Edition - A
King of the Hill - A
Lost Our Lisa - A
Natural Born Kissers - A
Bart, the Mother - A
Treehouse of Horror IX - A
Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo - A
Day of the Jackanapes - A
Lisa Gets an "A" - A
Make Room for Lisa - A
Brother's Little Helper - A
Trilogy of Error - A


Al Jean (3 A's)

Bart vs. Lisa vs. 3rd Grade - A
We're On The Road To D'ohwhere - A
Moe Baby Blues - A

[Imperciph]

Scully

Trilogy Of Error A very innovative episode. All three characters are very tightl and hilariously written and converges well towards a common ending. A-

Natural Born Kissers An adventurous, risque look at Homer and marge's relationship. Charming characterisations along with great callbacks to previous episodes make this a lot of fun. A-

The Cartridge Family Some people may find the satire to be heavy-handed and Homer's characterisation to be a bit extreme but in conext of my country the satire works and I feel Homer' beahviour was only slightly exaggarted compared to other season 9 episodes.A-

Lisa Gets An A Good Lisa story. Her moral dilemma is well-written and she is very well-characterized. A-

THOH IX It is great. Hell Toupee was a nice suspenseful story, Terror Of Tiny Toon is a good surreal look at 'cartoon" rality in the simpsons' universe (though quite limited, sadly) and Kang and Kodos rarely disappoint. I thought the Jerry Springer parody wasn't silly, it was just a bit too easy to mock that program. B+

Honorable mentions : Bart The Mother, Miracle On Evergreen Terrace

Jean

Little Girl In The Big Ten A great look at Lisa's desire to be among intellectual equals together with nice observational satire of college education combined with a hilarious surreal sublot make it the best of the Jean years. A

Moe Baby Blues A great emotional story about an unnatural paring that is really well-developed. Has fantastic direction as well as some great Godfather homages as well.A

The Way We Weren't A sweet flashback of Homer and Marge's childhood. I sometimes feel some of the wraparounds are a little shaky and some of the emotional conflict is a bit underdeveloped, but the flashback is written well enough with charming characterisations and nice callbacks to past classics to justify its position as a neo-classic. A-

Half Decent Proposal Develops Artie Ziff from his geeky smartass persona to a lonely vain obsessive billionaire. Artie himself carries the whole episode, but both Homer ad marge are well-written and the gags are some of the most memorable of the Jean Era. Only held back from excellence due to the contrived "character in danger" climax. A-

'Tis the Fifteenth Season Subtle observations about increasing materialistic nature of Christmas, great parodies and references together with a sweet characer conflict between Homer and Flanders. A minor criticism is Ned's jealousy came off as being too underdeveloped. A-

Honorable Mention : My Mother the Carjacker

[Jims]

I don't really assign grades, but I could probably rank them.

Scully
1. Trilogy of Error
2. Lisa Gets an A
3. Homer to the Max
4. This Little Wiggy
5. Girly Edition

Jean
1. Moe Baby Blues
2. Sleeping With the Enemy
3. The Heartbroke Kid
4. A Star is Born - Again
5. Special Edna

I don't care how questionable a few of those picks are. That's my list.

Jean wins easily. I like all of the Top 3 of Jean better than "Trilogy of Error." I think the Scully episodes I picked are each fantastic, but don't really stack up to some of my favorite Jean episodes.

[TerrorK]

The other question is why was this subject even brought up at all? I presented my view on my favourite episodes. Instead of pointing out what could have been a minor slip up in my listing system, TerrorK could have pointed out the flaws in the episode itself, as you could have instead of defending a trivial matter. Now please, on with the listing. I prefer to look at other people's favourite episodes rather than two people nitpicking someone elses posts for no apparent reason.

It was brought up simply because it was inaccurate. It is an Oakley and Weinstein episode... pure and simple. To list it as a Scully episode is just plain false. You might as well list Lisa's Sax or The Joy of Sect, or even Cape Feare of all things as Scully episodes as well.

Let me just finish by saying, come the Season 9 DVD, guess who will be introducing themselves on the commentary for the episode as the showrunners for it... Scully probably won't even be present.

[Javeman]

I do seem to remember reading somewhere that the showrunner that shows the holdover does a rewrite for the episode in question. I cannot find it, and seeing as you've presented minimal evidence (i.e. zero evidence) for your theory, I think we're pretty much on equal ground here, pal.That's impossible. By the time a season is over all the holdover episodes are finished, since re-writing is done prior to shipping the episodes overseas to be animated. If an episode is re-written then it would have to be sent AGAIN overseas for the changed scenes to be re-animated. There are a few cases where no re-animation is needed, sure (like Bart's "Ken Starr" line in THOH IX) but that can hardly be considered rewriting. If your theory is correct, then the holdovers wouldn't start airing until... January, at the very least.

On-topic: (Not in order)

SCULLY:
- Trilogy of Error
- This Little Wiggy
- Behind the Laughter
- The Parent Rap
- Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo

JEAN:
- I Am (Furious) Yellow
- My Mother the Carjacker
- Mommie Beerest
- Moe Baby Blues
- Fraudcast News

[DotheBartman]

I'd kind of like to know where this love for "This Little Wiggy" is coming from.....it's a decent enough episode I suppose, but a rather silly plot combined with a general blandness combined with a weak conflict combined with essentially wreaking Ralph's character....I just don't see what's so great about it. I Love Lisa will forever be the only really good Ralph episode.

[Corkus]

Before I begin, I can safely say Scully will win mine. Now, then...
(Dangit, I forgot Lisa the Simpson was Oakley/Weinstein. *deletes*)

Scully

1. The Cartridge Family: A
Funny how Scully's very first episode as EP was his very best, as many will agree. The scene with Homer waiting a week for his gun with potential "targets" passing in front of him is probably the hardest I laughed in the entire era. I haven't seen this episode in ages, though.

2. Skinner's Sense of Snow: A
This is a controversial one. Season 12 was incredibly hit-and-miss, and I found this one to hit it home in practically every way (except maybe the ending, which was admittedly stupid). Hilarious one-liners abound.

3. Lisa Gets an A: A-
Definitely my favorite postclassic Lisa story. Perfect characterization, and the hilarious Mr. Pinchy sub-plot simply adds excellent comical balance to the solid main plot. Haven't seen it in a while, though.

4. Trilogy of Error: A-
All right, first things first - I hate seeing blood on this show outside of Treehouses. Taking that minor detail into account, one of the zaniest plots ever concocted in the show's history comes together brilliantly, a sharp contrast to most other episodes of similar vain.

5. Children of a Lesser Clod: B+
I don't see this one talked about too much, and consider it quite underrated. I'm quite fond of most plots where Homer goes mad with power, and this is no exception. I especially love the little jokes in this, such as Apu carrying his kids on a leash, the video of Homer chasing Bart with a mace, and Homer's basketball fantasy.

(Runners-up: Treehouse of Horror IX, HOMR, Last Tap Dance in Springfield)

Jean

1. Special Edna: A
My only solid 'A' of the Jean era. You see, this episode actually had a solid plot to it. Not only that, but it had a vital purpose that culminated the development of two important supporting characters, had some humorously clever jokes (Enron's Ride of Broken Dreams), and didn't have a completely idiotic ending. Too bad "Big Fat Geek Wedding" had to ruin it...

2. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star: A-
Postclassic religious episodes have been really hit-or-miss, and this is definitely my favorite of the bunch. I might get mauled for this, but it's about ****ing time that Catholics got their dues on this show. Maybe I just loved this episode so much because it exemplified every reason I reverted from Catholic to Protestant. Really, though, the only thing I didn't like was Marge's characterization.

3. The Seemingly Neverending Story: A-
Easily the most well-put-together episode since Trilogy of Error. Ian-Maxtone Graham's turn-around over the past two years has been incredible. If the Rich Texan OCD joke weren't turn into a horrible running gag, this might have gotten a solid 'A' from me. This episode damn well better get this year's Writer's Guild.

4. I, D'oh-Bot: A-
Hear me out - I hate cats. Watching them suffer gives me great, great joy. You know how many times I've played the scene of the cat being launched off the catapult in the Beer Baron episode? A LOT. This sub-plot made me laugh so hard. That's not to mention the main plot, which was also very good. Some great Homer/Bart bonding moments, although again, I hate blood.

5. The Heartbroke Kid: B+
Oh, Albert Brooks, how you were missed so. His character was probably my favorite postclassic one-timer, with some great ad-libbed lines. They could have done without Bart getting a heart attack, but the rest was gold, or as good as gold gets these days.

(Runners-up: I am Furious Yellow, Goo Goo Gai Pan, Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky)

So, Scully wins by having one more solid 'A' episode. Also, you have to take into account that Jean has had more episodes, thus more chances.

[bluemoose]

Is this supposed to be a joke? It's not even close between them. Heck, instead i'll just list all the A's from both eras to prove it.

Mike Scully (15 A's)

The Cartridge Family - A
Realty Bites - A
This Little Wiggy - A
Girly Edition - A
King of the Hill - A
Lost Our Lisa - A
Natural Born Kissers - A
Bart, the Mother - A
Treehouse of Horror IX - A
Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo - A
Day of the Jackanapes - A
Lisa Gets an "A" - A
Make Room for Lisa - A
Brother's Little Helper - A
Trilogy of Error - A


Al Jean (3 A's)

Bart vs. Lisa vs. 3rd Grade - A
We're On The Road To D'ohwhere - A
Moe Baby Blues - A
Dude, this doesn't prove anything. It's just your opinion. These aren't facts, and they would only prove something if they were.

[Nameless]

Scully

1. Trilogy of Error A-
2. Natural Born Kissers A-
3. Bart the Mother A-
4. THOH9 B+
5. Lost Our Lisa B+

Jean

1. Moe Baby Blues A
2. Little Girl In The Big Ten A
3. The Heartbroke Kid A
4. 'Tis The Fifteenth Season A-
5. The Seemingly Never-Ending Story A-

I think Jean has the edge.