The Simpsons

Eighteen years, 400 episodes and America's longest-running cartoon is still going strong - and we have the clips to prove it.

By David McCandless
Fri 15 June 2007, 4:24pm

You gotta love The Simpsons. The animated show is now in its twentieth year (if you count its original incarnations on the Tracey Ullman show). It's probably, hands-down, the most consistently funny, long-running comedy show on TV. Mash got a bit soppy towards the end. And the less said about The Flintstones the better.

To top this incredible achievement, the creators are releasing a full-length Simpsons movie in July. You can watch the various trailers here. (It looks good). And to celebrate that, we're auditioning some of best, funniest, coffee-spitting clips we could find online. Enjoy.

Intro
Every segment, every particle of every Simpsons show is a joke. The most enduring running joke is the "couch gag" at the top of the show. Here's a great compilation of recent intros (the Lantern Fish is my favourite). Having to pull off over 400 of these jokes has pushed the writers into new realms of creativity and self-mockery.

Homer
Originally the show was going to be about a semi-delinquent kid and his dysfunctional family. But the writers quickly realised they had a better, more hilarious character emerging: the kid's father, Homer. Homer has had many finest half-hours over the years. For example, Homer plays Tetris and Homer smokes weed.
Our favourite du jour is the episode when Homer gets fat to qualify for disability benefits - an excuse for eight minutes of some of the best "fat" jokes ever seen on the screen (watch part 1 and part 2). Out shopping for clothes to fit his new frame, Homer is offered judicial robes, ponchos, capes, and uni-sheets. "I'll just go with the mo-mo."

Bart
Of course, Bart is a pretty good character, too. Especially when playing video games, marrying Drew Barrymore, or being turned into a box.

Halloween specials
Burns as Dracula. Homer as an axe murder. Marge as the Bearded Lady. The Halloween specials are an excuse for the creators to chop up their own characters. In this complete classic, the family are recast as the Addam's Family and then squeezed into a fantastic reworking of fairy tales: Goldilocks, Rapunzel, and Hansel & Gretel. At least stop basting yourself.