1. Who Shot Mr. Burns? - Seasons 6-7: Alright, so maybe this is kind of cheating in that it's a two part episode, but I'm willing to consider the entire story as one entity, regardless of length. So what makes this the best episode of all time? Many of the top episodes feature either clever songs or excellent performances by special guests. This episode has both, thanks to Tito Puente. Because the episode was twice as long and featured a plot that involved the entire town, we got to see use of a lot of secondary character. The Simpsons has an entire town full of people, and this used all of them effectively. We got to see that Mr. Burns truly is evil and not just a cranky old man, which is something they don't focus much on. Even if it was only one line, we also got great use Otto, Ralph, Kent Brockman, Dave Shutton, Jimbo, Jasper, Dr. Colossus, Chief Wiggum, Krusty, Sideshow Mel, Lunchlady Doris, Dr. Hibbert, Groundskeeper Willie, Barney, Moe, Eddie, Lou, and more. This is also one of the few episodes in which Maggie is more than a piece of furniture. Sure it would've made more sense is Smithers shot Mr. Burns, but this ending was fine and allowed for some great material in the "138th Episode Spectacular". The entire episode is full of great quotes, and to list them all would take me an eternity. Combine all that with a great story and a bit of parody, and this episode really becomes the complete package. There are a lot of spectacular episodes of The Simpsons, but because writers Oakley and Weinstein used all the tools that Springfield had to offer instead of narrowing the focus to just, say, Smithers and Burns, they were able to create what I feel is, without any doubt, the greatest Simpsons episode of all time.

I hope you've all enjoyed the week of Simpsons material, so come back next week as I resume my schedule of complaining about petty irritances!