On Thursday, we found out that Fox would not be releasing any more seasons of The Simpsons on DVD. Sad news for fans who hoped to own the complete collection, but Seasons 18-19, and 21-present will never be represented in the physical format. To some, this might not be a big deal; all of the “golden era” Simpsons seasons are already on DVD, and a lot of fans weren’t even watching by the time Season 18 rolled around. Still, the later years are not totally devoid of memorable episodes, and with that in mind, here are the best Simpsons seasons we’ll never see on DVD.
Worth noting: if you’re wondering why “Holidays Of Future Passed” didn’t make this list, it was included as a bonus feature on the Season 16 DVD.
“24 Minutes” – Original Air Date: May 19, 2007
It’s understandable to be skeptical of a crossover episode with 24, which would seemingly exist just to boost the ratings of both shows, but this was an extremely creative episode which benefited greatly from being able to diverge from the usual format. The story sees Bart, Lisa, and Martin try to avoid disaster at a school bake sale, while imitating the beats and plot twists of 24 perfectly. As you might expect, the real Jack Bauer shows up at the end. This was the rare crossover episode that actually felt inspired. Just don’t watch the American Idol episode that aired a few years later. That one is truly dreadful.
“Eternal Moonshine Of The Simpson Mind” – Original Air Date: December 16, 2007
Another format-bending episode, this one involving Homer’s attempt to recover his lost memory after taking a “Forget Me Shot” at Moe’s tavern. After waking up with no memory of the previous night, and finding Marge with a black eye, he fears that he may have hit her. Homer searches for the answer by using Professor Frink’s machine that allows him to relive past memories. This leads to the brilliant parody of the “picture-a-day” video as Homer relives his entire life:
In the end, we find out that Homer was simply trying to forget about a surprise party that Marge was throwing for him, but not before taking a heavy emotional journey.
“Dial ‘N’ For Nerder” – Original Air Date: March 9, 2008
When Bart and Lisa see Martin fall of a cliff as the result of a prank, they believe they are responsible for his death, and spend the entire episode trying to cover it up. One of the more interesting scenes here is the assembly held in the school auditorium after Martin is believed to be dead, in which the bullies are now praising him, and Bart now believes that Martin was “like Jesus.” It’s a perfect spoof of how when someone dies, everyone acts like they were the greatest person in the world, even if they didn’t like the person in question. Of course, Martin turns out to still be alive, and Bart and Lisa are off the hook, but not before struggling with a lot of guilt.
“The Book Job” – Original Air Date: November 20, 2011
A brilliant parody of YA novels AND heist movies. When Lisa finds out her favorite author is actually an actor, and her beloved books are actually written by hungry English majors (I’ll take that gig!), she strives to write her own novel. Meanwhile, Homer and Bart see a potential cash cow, and form a crew to collaborate on a hit kids novel. Lisa gets stricken with writer’s block, while Homer and Bart’s crew finishes their novel and end up using Lisa as their fake author. The real star here, though, is Neil Gaiman, who turns in one of the best guest appearances in Simpsons history, and naturally, ends up stealing the book and keeping all the money for himself.
“Brick Like Me” – Original Air Date: May 4, 2014
This one could’ve been a disaster; a cynical bit of cross-promotion for The Lego Movie without much else to offer. Instead, it was one of the most clever episodes in years, as the writers really ran with the idea of a Lego Springfield. The scenes showing how the characters operate as Legos are funny, and wonderfully animated, but what really makes this one work is the emotional core of the Homer-Lisa storyline. We see that Homer is worried about Lisa growing up, and desperately looks for things that they can do together. If this was just “Hey, let’s have fun with the Simpsons as Legos,” it still would have been a fun 22 minutes, but the emotional resonance is what really makes this episode memorable.
