The Simpsons Bracket: Day 8 – SMRT

By: Connor Lenahan

Previously: Moe’s Tavern Region / Nuclear Plant Region / Springfield Elementary Region / Lard Lad Donuts Region / Krusty Burger Region / Kwik-E-Mart Region / Tire Fire Region

Even though I have been the one filling out the bracket even I thought that this day would never come. Today we get the final member of our final round and tomorrow we finish out this Simpsons Bracket Marathon. There’s No sense waiting any longer. Here’s the Leftoruim region.

As always, the seedings are random and mean nothing, while we also won’t waste time when a classic faces a scrub.

Round 1:

“Das Bus” over “Homer the Father,” “Skinner’s Sense of Snow” over “Lisa’s Date,” “Crepes of Wrath” over “Barting Over,” “Lard of the Dance” over “Hunka Hunka Burns in Love,” “Maximum Homerdrive” over “Spy Who Learned Me,” “Blame It on Lisa” over “We’re on the Road to D’ohwhere,” “Bart’s Inner Child” over “Exit Through,” “Blunder Years” over “Homer’s Odyssey,” “City of NY vs. Homer” over “Bart’s Dog Gets an F,” “Lisa’s Sax” over “Midnight Towboy,” “Selma’s Choice” over “Treehouse 9,” “Lemon of Troy” over “EIEID’oh,” “Two Dimes” over “Surveil with Love,” “Homer Goes to College” over “Treehouse 15,” “Treehouse 6” over “138^th Episode,” “30 Minutes to Tokyo” over “Parent Rap,” “Bart the Murderer” over “Kill Gil,” “Viva Ned Flanders” over “Fat Man and Little Boy,” “Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy” over “Girl Who Slept Too Little,” “Bart Gets an F” over Treehouse 22,” “Simpsons Roasting” over “Treehouse 8,” “Radio Bart” over “Gump Roast,” “Don’t Fear the Roofer” over “Old Yeller Belly,” “Gone Maggie Gone” over “Lisa, This Isn’t,” “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” over “Worst Episode Ever,” “Clear Day I Can’t” over “Wedding for Disaster,” “Burns, Baby Burns” over “Mommie Beerest.”

Coin Flips:

“Treehouse 14” over “Homer’s Paternity Coot,” “Brush With Greatness” over “The Debarted,” “A Star is Torn” over “There’s Something About Marrying.”

Matchups:

“Summer of 4 Ft. 2” over “The Cartridge Family” – I could watch Homer with a gun all day long and laugh hysterically. It’s incredible. That said, the story of Lisa making summer friends is so real, so touching, and so brilliant that it takes the win here.

“Mountain of Madness” over “Lisa the Vegetarian” – This is high up on the list of decisions I have made during this bracket that will probably piss people off. I don’t know, I happen to think “Lisa the Vegetarian” is not as strong an episode as the rest of the world. I also think that “Mountain” is criminally underrated. I’ll take an upset here.

 

Round 2:

 

Outright Victories:

“Summer of 4 Ft. 2” over “The Crepes of Wrath,” “Bart’s Inner Child” over “Blame It on Lisa,” “City of NY” over “Blunder Years,” “Lisa’s Sax” over “Treehouse 14,” “Selma’s Choice” over “Brush with Greatness,” “Lemon of Troy” over “A Star is Torn,” “Treehouse 6” over “30 Minutes to Tokyo,” “Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy” over “Viva Ned Flanders,” “Bart Gets an F” over “Simpsons Roasting,” “Radio Bart” over “Don’t Fear the Roofer,” “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” over “Gone Maggie Gone,” “Burns, Baby Burns” over “On A Clear Day.”

Matchups:

“Das Bus” over “Skinner’s Sense of Snow” – The more I think about “Das Bus” the more I remember things like Ralph starting to sing “Oh Canada” in the midst of a riot and I laugh to myself. The latter episode is pretty strong itself, but I like the kids surviving a bit more.

“Maximum Homerdrive” over “Lard of the Dance” – This really just came down to how great everything at The Slaughterhouse restaurant is.

“Homer Goes to College” over “Two Dimes” – Of every line in the history of the show, I’m not sure I’ve used one more than “Nerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd.”

“Mountain of Madness” over “Bart the Murderer” – There’s something so wonderful about Homer and Mr. Burns going crazy in that cabin together. Plus the avalanche joke is comedy gold.

 

Round 3:

Matchups:

“Summer of 4 Ft. 2” over “Das Bus” – Can we just remember that Homer + Fireworks is the greatest combination ever?

“Bart’s Inner Child” over “Maximum Homerdrive” – I take that back, Homer + Trampoline is the greatest combination ever.

“City of NY” over “Lisa’s Sax” – Of all the episodes that have the “The Simpsons go to” premise few are better executed than “City of NY,” which is to say none are.

“Lemon of Troy” over “Selma’s Choice” – When I was a kid I was terrified of Lisa drinking the water at Duff Gardens and as an adult I’m still afraid. Also this has the foot long hoagie joke, where Homer gets deathly ill. It’s crazy, but I love it. A clip of Homer passing out onto his horn in the car once convinced my mom to pick me up from school when I was sick.

“Homer Goes to College” over “Treehouse 6” – There is nothing in “Treehouse 6” that can make me break into hysterical laughter anywhere close to the “roll him up in a carpet and throw him off a bridge” line. There isn’t much in the world that can.

“Mountain of Madness” over “Grandpa vs. Sexual Inadequacy” – I’m not even entirely sure what strikes me so strongly about “Mountain.” It is a fairly dark episode yet still manages to bring the laughs. Maybe that’s the reason.

“Radio Bart” over “Bart Gets an F” – Every time I watch “Radio Bart” I find myself searching for radio sets like Bart has online. It looks like so much fun.

“Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” over “Burns, Baby Burns” – The former episode marks the only time that a punishment actually stuck for Bart. It is a sweet father and son moment when Homer and Bart watch the film together years later.

 

Round 4:

Matchups:

“Summer of 4 Ft. 2” over “Bart’s Inner Child” – Who amongst us hasn’t been Lisa in this episode? Feeling like they want a reinvention. It’s such a sweet story that hits home no matter who you are.

“City of NY” over “Lemon of Troy” – I love “Lemon of Troy” quite a lot, so it hurts to knock it out. But when the decision is between the classic town rivalry or Homer’s vehement hatred of NYC I am forced to take the one that has Crab Juice.

“Homer Goes to College” over “Mountain of Madness” – When you think of Conan O’Brien’s episodes you almost always think of “Marge vs. The Monorail.” I am of the opinion that “Homer Goes to College” should be held in just as high a regard for how delightfully hilarious and insane it is the entire time.

“Radio Bart” over “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” – The fact that Bart tricked the town into thinking there was a boy trapped in the well is genius beyond words.

 

Round 5:

Matchups:

“Summer of 4 Ft. 2” over “City of NY” – “Summer of 4 Ft. 2” gets it right. They take the main plot to tell a hyper realistic story of Bart and Lisa while they take the B plot to bring the comedy with Homer screwing around at the beach. It’s a perfect balance if done right, which it is here.

“Home Goes to College” over “Radio Bart” – My reaction to every exam I have had in college has been the same as Homer’s reaction to the simulator – “What do I do? What do I do!? In the name of God you’ve gotta tell me!” This episode is perfect.

 

Round 6:

Matchup:

“Homer Goes to College” over “Summer of 4 Ft. 2” – “Homer Goes to College” is one of the most quotable half hours in history. The gags are incredible. The lines are stupidly brilliant. The animation is beautiful, even more cartoon-y than normal. This episode truly is perfect Simpsons.

Coming Tomorrow: THE FINALS