Best episode from each showrunner?

[irvine_11]

Mine:

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Lisa's Substitute

This episode contained the best use of the show's emotional core IMO. Mr. Bergstrom was a very good "eccentric, yet wise" type of character and the scene with the goodbye at the train station remains one of my picks for some of the saddest cartoon moments (that line “That’s the problem with being middle class, anybody who really cares will abandon you for those who need it more.” Powerful stuff.) The subplot also provided some great comic relief for the serious main plot. Definite top 5 material.

Jean/Reiss: Radio Bart

A great show of the type of humor that was a staple of early seasons. Bart playing with the label maker and microphone was a lot of fun and it's also chock full of great Homer material ("Aww, there's only one beer left and it's Bart's.", the scene where he grabs a gun because he thinks aliens are attacking). Not to mention, the whole "well" thing, while a bit over the top, was very captivating nonetheless.

Mirkin: Lemon of Troy

My favorite episode of the series. The caper plot was very well done and I loved how realistically the kids were portrayed here. I wish this episode's kid portrayal was used in other episodes - Zombie Simpsons or otherwise, but what are you going to do? In addition to the plot keeping you on the edge of your seat, there are some great and memorable lines and gags in every single scene.

Oakley/Weinstein: Homer vs. The 18th Amendment

This was a tough one. O&W are my favorite showrunners, so there are tons of episodes to choose from, but I chose this. Like Lemon of Troy, the plot is very suspenseful and there are also some memorable moments in every scene, but I have to praise Oakley and Weinstein for showing Homer's cunning and genius side without turning him into a jerk. Just think how terrible this episode would be if this was a regrettable Mike Scully adventure! Then again, that could be said about a lot of episodes, but I think this shows that.

Scully: Lisa Gets an A

Best post-classic episode without a doubt. This episode and Treehouse of Horror 9 are the ONLY post-season 9 episodes I could see fitting into the classic era seamlessly. The humor was in the wittier classic era vein, the characters weren't annoying (except for a few scenes, such as Homer shoving Lisa into a freezer or guzzling beer through a hole he made), and I genuinely cared for Lisa in this episode. Very well done.

Jean: Half-Decent Proposal

Really, it's a tie between this and Eternal Moonshine, but I picked HDP because the plot felt like something that could have been done in the classic era and it was just as captivating as any "big" plot from back then. The episode its self was far from classic, but by modern Simpsons standards, this was incredible.

[MagicalManFromHappyLand]

Without going into too much detail I'll say; Lisa's Substitute, Marge Vs the Monorail, Homer: Badman, Homer's Enemy, Trilogy of Error (although it's far from any other Scully era episode) and Moe Baby Blues.

I'm in the minority here, but I really don't care for "Half-Decent Proposal", John Lovitz is great and there are a few really nice scenes in here but everything after Homer and Lenny decide to work on the oil rig is really mediocre.

Similarly to this thread I guess, has there been a 'Most quintessential episode of each showrunner" thread?

[zach]

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Some Enchanted Evening

Jean/Reiss: Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie

Mirkin: Itchy & Scratchy Land

Oakley/Weinstein: Mountain Of Madness

Scully: Bart Carny (then Saddlesore Galactica)

Jean: The Fat and the Furriest

[Mozy]

Here's my list:

Groening/Brooks/Simon- One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish

Jean/Reiss- Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk

Mirkin- Homer the Great

Oakley/Weinstein- King-Sized Homer

Scully- The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace

Jean- Thank God It's Doomsday

EDIT: Thanks for letting me know, Irvine!

[irvine_11]

Here's my list:

Groening/Brooks/Simon- One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish

Jean/Reiss- Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk

Mirkin- Homer the Great

Oakley/Weinstein- King-Sized Homer

Scully- The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson

Jean- Thank God It's Doomsday

Great choices, but The City of New York is actually an Oakley/Weinstein episode.

[Lionel Hutz]

My answers will deviate slightly with my Top 50, as my top 50 is based on the entire run of the show and personal bias. I think a showrunners best episode should take into consideration what they brought to the table

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Bart Gets An F
Honourable mentions to Lisa's Substitute and Bart the Daredevil
Season 1 got the show off the ground, but this is the start of the classic era for me. Bart and Martin are great together and the Winter Wonderland sequence is genius.

Jean/Reiss: Duffless
Honourable mentions to Homer's Triple Bypass, Homer the Heretic, Cape Feare
Great stories with lots of tangential humour thrown in for good measure. The ending is just beautiful.

Mirkin: Rosebud
Honourable mentions to Who Shot Mr. Burns (Parts 1 and 2), Barts Comet, Treehouse of Horror V
Top class parody of Citizen Kane and absolutely no filler

Oakley and Weinstein: Mother Simpson
Honourable mentions to Bart Sells His Soul, Summer of 4 ft. 2, Hurricane Neddy
Perfect balance of emotion and humour. One of the finest endings of the series.

Scully: Hungry Hungry Homer
Honourable mentions to Natural Born Kissers, Behind the Laughter, The Cartridge Family
Silly, but the top of the heap of Scully's era is this harmless gem about Homer "sticking up for the little guy"

Jean: Poppas Got A Brand New Badge
Honourable mentions to The Dad Who Knew Too Little, I Doh Bot, Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Sure it's derivative of Homer the Vigilante, but it goes in a completely different direction and is full of memorable moments

[Lionheart]

This is hard.

Groening/Brooks/Simon: One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
Underrated, IMO

Jean/Reiss: Marge vs. the Monorail
SO hard to choose because every episode in season 4 is gold

Mirkin: Deep Space Homer
More great seasons!

Oakley/Weinstein: King-Size Homer
Also really hard to choose because Oakley/Weinstein were probably my favorite showrunners. I picked A Fish Called Selma but just changed it, because A Fish Called Selma is GREAT, but the overall plot of King-Sized Homer is better.

Scully: The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
Apparently some of my favorite season 9 episodes weren't really "his." I really liked the episodes that he wrote though, especially Marge Be Not Proud, so IDK if something changed for him or what?

Jean (solo): Holidays of Future Passed
This is also hard because he had 11 seasons. Holidays seems the most like "classic" Simpsons episode.

[Homer Defined]

I know I have a lot of Runner Ups, but it wasn't easy trying to narrow it down.

Greoning/Brooks/Simon - Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire
Runner Ups - Bart The Daredevil, Lisa's Substitute

Reiss/Jean - Lisa's Pony or Homer's Triple Bypass
Runner Ups - Stark Raving Dad, I Love Lisa, Lisa The Greek, Bart's Friend Falls In Love

Mirkin - Rosebud or Who Shot Mr. Burns? Pt. 1
Runner Ups - Lisa's Wedding, , Marge On The Lam, Last Temptation of Homer, Bart's Girlfriend, Homer Badman, And Maggie Makes Three

Oakley and Weinstein - Summer of 4ft 2 or A Millhouse Divided
Runner Ups - Mother Simpson, Homer Vs. The Eighteen Amendment, Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily, Marge Be Not Proud, Lisa The Vegetarian, King Size Homer, Homer The Smithers, Hurricane Neddy

Scully - The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
Runner Up Lost Our Lisa

Jean - The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Runner Ups - Thank God, It's Doomsday, The Way We Weren't

[Safety Inspector]

Groening/Brooks/Simon- Brush with Greatness

Jean/Reiss- Duffless, Lisa's First Word and The Springfield Files (all really good)

Mirkin- Treehouse of Horror V and The Last Temptation of Homer

Oakley/Weinstein- King-Size Homer, Homer vs the Eighteenth Amendment

Scully- Trilogy of Error

Jean- 'Tis The Fifteenth Season

[HMS pinafore]

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Itchy and Scratchy and Marge
A great satirical look at cartoon's, Funniest episode of season 2 as well.

Jean/Reiss: Cape Feare
Best episode ever.

Mirkin: Rosebud
2 episodes after Cape Feare we get another great episode,

Oakley/Weinstein: Summer of 4ft 2
Very funny episode with strong charactization throughout

Scully: The Cartridge Family
If only all of scully's episodes were this good

Jean (solo): Special Edna
Edna is one of my favourite character's so it was nice to see an decient episode about her. This episode is also one of the funniest Jean ep's

[leprechaun_dan]

Groening, Brooks and Simon - The Way We Was The first flashback episode and arguably my favourite. A stunning look at how Marge and Homer came to be from beginning to end.

Jean and Reiss - Flaming Moe's One of my all-time favourite episodes with an original plot, awesome guest stars and brilliant characterizations. Close contenders are Radio Bart and Mr Plow

Mirkin - Lemon of Troy Nothing much to say except: best episode ever! Good to see Irvine that you think similarly

Oakley and Weinstein - Summer of 4 Ft 2 Possibly my second favourite episode of all-time. Brilliant characterizations on Lisa and Bart's behalves and incredible story. Close contender would be Springfield Files

Scully - The City of New York vs Homer Simpson One of the funniest episodes ever as well as a very memorable one

Jean - The Way We Weren't This usually changes a lot, but I'm a sucker for flashback episodes. Especially ones as good as this one. This was pretty much a memorable gem in the post-classic era and easily one of my favourites.

[Mr Black]

G/B/S- Dead Putting Society

one of the few actually funny season 2 episodes, very strong plot, good characterisation, almost perfect.

Jean & Reiss - I love Lisa

I always sound this slightly underated, only strange thing is Ralph's characterisation after Lisa rejects him.

Mirkin- Bart of Darkness

Probably the best episode in the shows history, honourable mention to Cape Feare.

O & W- El Viaje Misterioso De Nuestro Jomer

I love the atmosphere in this episode, and it's one of the few really enjoyable Marge/Homer marriage conflict episodes.

Scully- Simpson Tide is Mirkin I believe so it'll have to be Lost Our Lisa.

Jean- The President Wore Pearls.

[irvine_11]

Simpson Tide is Mirkin I believe

Jean and Reiss

[Malaise Forever]

Groening, Brooks and Simon - Lisa's Substitute (A+)

Jean and Reiss - Homer the Heretic (A+)

Mirkin - Rosebud (A+)

Oakley and Weinstein - Bart Sells His Soul (A+)

Scully - Trilogy of Error (A)

Jean - Sleeping With the Enemy (A)

[The Thompsons]

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Lisa's Substitute
Jean/Reiss: Last Exit To Springfield
Mirkin: Who Shot Mr. Burns Part 1
Oakley/Weinstein: 22 Short Films About Springfield
Scully: Trilogy Of Error
Jean: Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind

Mirkin- Bart of Darkness

Probably the best episode in the shows history, honourable mention to Cape Feare.

Cape Feare is a Jean/Reiss holdover I believe.

[Mr Black]

wow, I've been corrected twice in this thread. shows what I know

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

Groening/Brooks/Simon- "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish"

Jean/Reiss- "Cape Feare"

Mirkin- I CAN'T PICK, arrgghhh!

Oakley/Weinstein- "Mother Simpson"

Scully- "Behind the Laughter"

Jean- "Weekend at Burnsie's"


Notice every episode on my list is at least ten years old or older.

[Nauru-1]

Simon/Brooks/Groening: Lisa's Substitute

Jean/Reiss: Homer at the Bat

Mirkin: And Maggie Makes Three

Oakley/Weinstein: Summer of 4 Ft. 2

Scully: Treehouse of Horror IX

Jean: Half-Decent Proposal

[Disgrunted Martian]

Groening/Brooks/Simon: Some Enchanted Evening

Jean/Reiss: Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie

Mirkin: Homie the Clown

Oakley/Weinstein: Marge Be Not Proud

Scully: The Wizard of Evergreen Terrance

Jean: The Dad Who Knew Too Little

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

This is a very good thread, i like the idea

Groening/Brooks/Simon: One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish (S2)

Jean/Reiss: Homer The Heretic (S4)

Mirkin: Bart Of Darkness (S6)

Oakley/Weinstein: The Springfield Files (S8)

Scully: Maximum Homerdrive (S10)

Jean: Eternal moonshine of The Simpsons mind (S19)

[jjj]

Groening/Brooks/Simon Stark Raving Dad
Jean/Reiss Marge vs. the Monorail
Mirkin Treehouse of Horror V
Oakley/Weinstein Summer of 4 Feat 2
Scully HOMR
Jean Eternal Moonshine

[Sinister Burns]

Brooks/Groening/Simon - "Lisa's Substitute"
Jean/Reiss - "Last Exit to Springfield"
Mirkin - "The Boy Who Knew Too Much"
Oakley/Weinstein - "Mother Simpson" (honourable mentions to "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" and "Homer's Enemy")
Scully - Probably "Lisa Gets an 'A'" (honourable mentions to "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", "Behind the Laughter" and "Trilogy of Error")
Jean - "The President Wore Pearls" wins out here for the music, but for an overall best I'd say "Holidays of Future Passed"

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

Groening/Brooks/Simon
"Krusty Gets Busted"

Jean/Reiss
"Cape Feare"

Mirkin
"Homer Badman"

Oakley Weinstein
"Mother Simpson" BEST EPISODE EVER

Scully
"Trilogy of Error"

Jean
"Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind"

Selman
"The Book Job"

[hammster]

Simon/Brooks/Groening: Lisa's Substitute
Jean/Reiss: Last Exit to Springfield
Mirkin: Who Shot Mr Burns Part One
Oakley/Weinstein: Bart Sells his soul
Scully: Behind the Laughter
Jean: Moe Baby Blues

[Dobbie]

Simon/Brooks/Groening - The Way We Was
Jean/Reiss - Cape Feare
Mirkin - Homer's Barbershop Quartet
Oakley/Weinstein - Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming
Jean - Moe Baby Blues

It tends to change though

[Frightened Inmate No. 2]

Simons/Brooks/Groening- There's No Disgrace Like Homer
Jean/Reiss- Cape Feare
Mirkin- Homer the Great
Oakley/Weinstein- Lisa the Vegetarian
Scully- The Cartridge Family
Jean- 24 Minutes

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

The only one I feel remotely confident picking atm is Mirkin: Homer Badman

[Sinister Burns]

@Jesse Pinkman, "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is Jean/Reiss.
@Murdered Inmate #2, "Lisa the Vegetarian" is Mirkin.

I know, I'm a nerd.

[Frightened Inmate No. 2]

@Jesse Pinkman, "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" is Jean/Reiss.
@Murdered Inmate #2, "Lisa the Vegetarian" is Mirkin.

I know, I'm a nerd.

Oh duh. I can't believe I forgot about that. I noticed the mistake on the post above me, but I still made a similar mistake.
I'll correct the list then, and put where the episodes rank on my all-time list.

Groening/Brooks/Simon: There's No Disgrace Like Home #12
Jean/Reiss: Cape Feare #1
Mirkin: Homer the Great #3
Oakley/Weinstein: Two Bad Neighbors #26
Scully: The Cartridge Family #17
Jean: 24 Minutes about #41

[Blobulle]

Simons/Brooks/Groening: Moanning Lisa
Jean/Reiss: Lisa's First Word
Mirkin: Lisa on Ice
Oakley/Weinstein: Lisa's Date with Density
Scully: Trilogy of Error
Jean: Stealing First Base