If the Marvel Cinematic Universe can have multiple viewing orders for their movies, so can The Simpsons. As of today, there have been 695 full episodes of The Simpsons. Over the show’s 31 year legacy, they have released additional media such as a movie, comic books, a variety of digital shorts, and video games like Simpsons Hit & Run. Last year, Disney Plus added all 31 seasons of the show onto its streaming platform, making it easy for many to binge-watch their favorite animated family.
Rewatching The Simpsons can be tricky as some argue that the first few episodes aren’t that great or that it’s essential to first watch the show's less-accessible shorts which premiered on The Tracey Ullman Show. Others would say that the show doesn’t pick up until season three, and many would agree that the show has dropped in quality after season 20. Luckily for everybody, the episodes tend to present one-off storylines and there is no essential order meaning that there's no, strictly-speaking, "right" way to consume the show. Here are a few recommended ways to spice up a rewatch of the American classic, The Simpsons, for both seasoned and unseasoned viewers.
Watch Character-Centric Episodes
The Simpsons has a variety of colorful and iconic characters; there’s Homer Simpson, the dim-witted patriarch, and Marge, the stereotypical super mom and housewife. Their three children are polar-opposites; Bart is always up to no good and pulling pranks with his partner-in-crime Milhouse, Lisa is a saxophone-playing, animal-loving middle child, and Maggie is the silent but mischievous baby. These fun and charismatic characters grow (figuratively) immensely over the show’s existence, and the best way to appreciate the character development is to conduct a rewatch of character-centric episodes only.
For instance, a Bart Simpson-centric rewatch would include key episodes such as, “Bart of Darkness" (season 6, episode 1), this classic episode spoofs the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window: After breaking his leg from diving into a shallow pool, Bart spends his summer spying on his neighbors using his sister’s telescope, and a series of weird events involving his neighbor, Ned Flanders, leads Bart to believe that Flanders is a murderer. “Bart Gets An F” (season 2, episode 1) is another big one. In this episode, Bart finds out he might fail the fourth grade, so he recruits Springfield Elementary brainiac Martin Prince as a tutor.
Other episodes include, “New Kid on the Block” (season 4, episode 8), “Bart the Lover” (season 3, episode 16), “Marge’s Son Poisoning” (season 17, episode 5), and “Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou” (season 21, episode 8).
Character-centric lists can be easily located on Wikisimpsons and various online forums.
Start the Series Backwards
Long series’ have an expected monotony. They typically start off strong or invest in building a strong foundation, then there’s the first dip. From there it continues to ebb and flow. The Simpsons isn’t an exception. However, to break the tedium when rewatching The Simpsons, it is possible to watch the series backward, starting from the last completed season and ending with season one.
The show mostly adopts a “floating timeline,” the characters don’t age and the moral lessons are not carried on from episode to episode. The most significant time benchmark through the series is death, which only a few minor characters suffer through. The only set-back of this order is the oddity that comes with these characters starting out as dead, reaching the death episode, and then miraculously being alive.
Enjoy musicals? Watch only the musical episodes.
Like many of the Animation Domination successes, The Simpsons has a handful of musical episodes. There is the season 22 episode, “Elementary School Musical” which starred a few members from the Glee cast and follows Lisa as she attends a performing arts camp. “New Kid on the Blecch” (season 12, episode 14) shows Bart joining a boy band that later becomes associated with “Join the Navy” propaganda. The show’s well-acclaimed Evita parody, “The President Wears Pearls” (season 25, episode 3) presents an invigorating storyline about Lisa’s newfound popularity after she is elected as a student body president.
Other musical episodes include; “Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious” (season 8, episode 13), “A Star is Torn” (season 16, episode 18), and “Covercraft” (season 26, episode 8).
Add the Movie into Chronological Order
This one is a bit tricky. As mentioned above, the show doesn’t follow a sequential timeline. The Simpsons Movie was released in 2007, between seasons 18 and 19. The movie doesn't necessarily need to be watched at that time, although the "spider-pig" character has made an appearance in the later episodes. This is another foolproof way to break the monotony of a long binge-watch as the movie adopted a traditional cinematic approach; it had a big opener (a legendary Green Day performance), a soft and heartfelt climax, and a heroic ending— all without sacrificing the show’s witty and satirical nature.
Guest Star Highlights
Over the years many A-list celebrities have frequented The Simpsons screen. Kelsey Grammer played the recurring character Sideshow Bob, Bart’s nemesis and attempted murderer, in numerous episodes. A watch-through of Sideshow Bob’s crazy antics would consist of an estimated 22 episodes, including his first appearance in “The Tell-Tale Head” (season 1, episode 8), and the episodes “Black Widower” (season 3, episode 21) and “Bobby it’s Cold Outside” (season 31, episode 10).
Other celebrities have made appearances as themselves in the show such as; Katy Perry in “The Fight Before Christmas” (season 22, episode 8), Alex Trebek in “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” (season 9, episode 10), and Stephen Hawking in “They Saved Lisa’s Brain” (season 10, episode 22).
The Simpsons seasons 1-31 are available for streaming on Disney Plus. New episodes air Sunday nights on Fox.