Bart
Gets An F
After failing a history test, Bart strikes a deal with Martin Prince to
make him cool in exchange for tutoring. Bart successfully transforms
Martin into a regular kid, but Martin reneges on his side of the bargain
and Bart is once again in danger of failing. After an all-night study
session, Bart still fails but he manages to impress Mrs. Krabappel with
his grasp of history and she gives him a D-minus, a grade Homer is proud
to hang on the fridge.
Simpson and Delilah
When Homer gets an experimental hair treatment, he grows a shaggy new
mane. Marge finds the new Homer sexy and Mr. Burns mistakes his most
incompetent employee for a hungry up-and-comer and promotes him. As part
of his promotion, Homer gets an overly attentive assistant named Karl
who ensures that his every step is correct and his every move
successful. When Homer's hair begins to fall out again, his success goes
down the drain as well.
Treehouse of Horror
In this first instalment of the yearly Halloween special, the Simpsons
move to a haunted house, beam into outer space and take on a chilling
literary classic. In the first segment, the family checks into a mansion
that tries to make them kill one another. In the second segment, Kang
and Kodos bring the Simpsons aboard a spaceship, and then proceed to
entertain and feed them in preparation for what might prove to be their
last supper. In the final segment, Lisa reads Bart Edgar Allan Poe's
frightening poem, "The Raven".
Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish
Bart and Lisa catch a three-eyed fish in a polluted stream near The
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, bringing scads of negative publicity to
Mr. Burns. In order to fight the bad press, Burns decides to run for
Governor, enlisting a team of spin doctors. But all the spin doctors in
the world can't fix Mr. Burns' major blunder when, on live TV, Marge
serves him a three-eyed fish for dinner and he finally coughs up his
true feelings about pollution.
Dancin' Homer
Homer becomes a local celebrity when he is named the mascot for the
Springfield Isotopes, a local minor league baseball team. With a
repertoire of dance moves and specialized routines, Homer attracts the
attention of the team's owner, who recruits him to become the mascot for
Capital City Capitals. Homer discovers that his moves don't play in
Capital City as well as they did in Springfield and retires from the
mascot business.
Dead Putting Society
In a bout of over-the-top neighbourly competition, Homer and Ned
Flanders pit Bart and Todd against one another in a miniature golf
competition. Both boys train incessantly for the big day, but it's clear
that the tournament is more important to Homer and Ned, who have made a
side bet for the loser's father to mow the other's lawn in a dress. On
the day of the big tournament, Bart and Todd face off until the final
hole, when they agree to throw the match and tie. Because of their bet,
Ned and Homer are both forced to mow each other's lawn in dresses.
Bart vs. Thanksgiving
Lisa spends the days leading up the Thanksgiving building a centrepiece
dedicated to female heroes of American history. In order to make room
for more food on the table, Bart accidentally throws Lisa's centrepiece
into the fireplace, destroying it. Sent to his room with no Thanksgiving
supper, Bart escapes out his window and, with Santa's Little Helper,
wanders the city, eventually landing at a homeless shelter where he is
filmed by a TV crew. Returning home, Bart apologizes to Lisa for
destroying her centrepiece.
Bart the Daredevil
At a Monster Truck event, Bart spots his hero Captain Lance Murdock, a
daredevil who attempts to jump his motorcycle over a tank filled with
great white sharks, electric eels, piranhas, alligators, a ferocious
lion and one drop of blood that drives all the wild animals insane.
Inspired to follow in Murdock's footsteps, Bart attempts increasingly
risky skateboard jumps until he sets his sights on Springfield Gorge.
Homer tries to stop Bart from jumping, only to find himself in danger of
accidentally skating off the ramp and into the gorge.
Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
Convinced that the images on "The Itchy & Scratchy Show"
are a bad influence on kids, Marge wages a one-woman campaign against
the show that eventually forces the creator, Roger Meyers, Jr., to curb
the violence in favour of bland, lovey-dovey plots. The new format bombs
and the show's ratings plunge. Meanwhile, Marge is asked to comment on
The Springfield Art Museum's exhibition of Michelangelo's "David." Not
finding it at all objectionable, Marge loses her standing with the
anti-free speech brigade that once supported her.
Bart Gets Hit by a Car
Mr. Burns hits Bart with his car, sending him on a trip to
heaven and hell while he's unconscious. After consulting the crooked
attorney Lionel Hutz, Homer and Marge attempt to sue Mr. Burns for a
million dollars. Burns is prepared to settle for $500,000, but promptly
withdraws the offer when he discovers that the Simpsons have exaggerated
Bart's injuries.
One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
Homer discovers the wonders of sushi, trying a piece of every fish on
the menu of the Happy Sumo restaurant. But when he eats a bad piece of
blowfish, he is poisoned and given 24 hours to live by Dr. Hibbert. With
one day left on earth, Homer makes a list of everything he ever wanted
to do but didn't and tries to pack it all in before he succumbs to the
blowfish poison. After staying up all night, Homer survives and goes on
to live his life exactly as he did before--watching TV and eating salty
treats.
The Way We Was
When the TV breaks, Marge takes the opportunity to share the story of
how she and Homer met with Bart and Lisa. Flashing back to 1974, we see
Homer as ne'er-do-well high school student and Marge as a budding
feminist. Homer becomes smitten with Marge and tries to get close to her
by enlisting her as his French tutor. After several hours of verb
conjugation, Marge falls for Homer too, only to become enraged when he
admits that he's not even a French student and only said he was to get
her to spend time with him. Marge rejects Homer's invitation to the prom
and goes with Artie Ziff, a nerdy debate club colleague of hers. Artie
turns out to be a terrible date and Marge realizes that it's Homer who
she really wants
Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment
Homer becomes the most popular guy in town when he gets an illegal cable
hook-up. But Lisa doesn't approve and fears that Homer will go to hell
for violating the Eighth Commandment. Lisa seeks advice from Reverend
Lovejoy, who simply tells her not to watch the stolen cable. Later,
Homer invites all of his new friends over to watch a big fight, but he
begins to feel guilty about stealing the transmission and, to lessen his
guilt, cuts the cable line.
Principal Charming
Marge enlists Homer's help to find Aunt Selma a husband.
During his search, Homer is called into Springfield Elementary to meet
with Principal Skinner and decides that the principal is the man for
Selma. Skinner agrees to meet Selma but mistakenly falls in love with
Aunt Patty instead, causing Selma to grow even more depressed about her
life. Even though Patty enjoys Skinner's company, she eventually gives
him up to make her sister happy.
Oh
Brother, Where Art Thou?
Homer discovers that he has a long-lost half brother, Herb Powell, who
is the wealthy CEO of a car company. When Homer and Herb meet, they
instantly hit it off and Herb takes in the Simpson family as his own.
Herb hires Homer to help design a car for regular guys, but Homer's
design proves so disastrous that it bankrupts Herb's company and forces
the brothers apart once again.
Bart's Dog Gets an F
After a series of destructive acts, the entire Simpson family loses
patience with Santa's Little Helper. Marge and Homer insist on sending
the dog to Emily Winthrop's Canine College but Santa's Little Helper
proves too unruly and stupid to learn anything. Homer and Marge threaten
to give the dog away if he doesn't pass his obedience training, so Bart
tries as hard as he can to train him, but Santa's Little Helper refuses
to lie down or do any of the other tricks he was taught. Somehow, Bart
finally gets through to the dog, who ultimately passes Canine College
and stays with the family.
Old Money
Grandpa Simpson falls in love with Bea Simmons, a fellow resident of the
Springfield Retirement Castle. During the course of their brief romance,
Bea passes away and leaves Grandpa her entire savings, $100,000. Grandpa
decides to give the money to charity but can't decide which one is
worthiest. Eventually, he donates the money to the Retirement Castle to
buy new easy chairs and equipment.
Brush With Greatness
Marge's interest in art is reawakened when she finds some of her old
paintings in the attic. Signing up for a painting class taught by
Professor Lombardo at Springfield Community College, Marge eventually
develops enough confidence in her work to enter the Springfield Art Fair
and win. Her winning painting catches the eye of Mr. Burns, who hires
her to paint his official portrait, a task that proves very difficult
because Marge finds Mr. Burns to be excessively ugly. Eventually, she
paints a picture that emphasizes Mr. Burns' flaws. But rather than
embarrassing him, the portrait humanizes him in the eyes of the public
and he is forced to accept the painting as a success.
Lisa's Substitute
When Lisa's teacher Miss Hoover gets Lyme Disease, Mr. Bergstrom takes
over the class. Lisa finds Mr. Bergstrom's teaching methods incredibly
inspiring and discovers an entirely new love for learning. When Miss
Hoover returns to her class, Lisa is devastated to lose her most
positive grown-up role model. Eventually, she realizes that while Mr.
Bergstrom was one of a kind, she can find role models in other people,
including her own father.
The War of the Simpsons
When Homer humiliates Marge at a party they've thrown for their friends
and neighbours, the only thing that can save their marriage is a weekend
retreat for married couples run by Reverend Lovejoy up at Catfish Lake.
Marge is determined to fix their marriage, but Homer is more determined
to catch General Sherman, the freakishly large catfish that lives in the
lake. Marge tells Homer that if he really loves her, he won't spend any
time fishing, but while taking a walk along the lake one morning, Homer
finds himself unable to resist the chance to catch General Sherman. When
Marge finds him wrestling the gigantic fish into a boat, she scolds him
for lying to her. Homer proves his love for Marge the only way he can:
He lets General Sherman go.
Three Men and a Comic Book
Bart becomes obsessed with buying the first issue of Radioactive Man,
but can't scrape together the $100 he needs to make it his own.
Enlisting Milhouse and Martin Prince, Bart is finally able to buy the
comic, even though he only possesses one third of it. But things get
hairy when none of them can decide who gets to keep it or for how long.
The three enter into a dangerous confrontation that threatens to destroy
not only their precious investment, but their friendships as well.
Blood Feud
When Mr. Burns gets sick, only a transfusion of Bart's blood, which is a
special type, can save him. With the boy's blood coursing through his
veins, Mr. Burns is more alive than ever and writes a thank-you note to
Bart. Homer is convinced that Burns has not shown his boy enough
gratitude and writes his boss a nasty letter. Realizing he's made a
mistake, Homer tries repeatedly to stop Burns from getting the note, but
can't do it in time. Reading the letter, Mr. Burns vows to ruin Homer's
life, but after some strong words from Mr. Smithers, the mogul realizes
that he is wrong and shows his gratitude by buying the Simpson family a
huge, frightening Olmec Indian statue for their house.