The Best Times the A and B Plots Collided on ‘The Simpsons’

4 Mojo Joins in Lisa’s Conniving Cackling

In the Simpson household, it’s probably not all that unusual for the kids to come home and find that their father has adopted a “helper” monkey after seeing one at the Kwik-E-Mart as he did in “Girly Edition.” However, that doesn’t make it any less surprising when Lisa, thinking she was alone, delighted at the devilish plan to oust Bart from the anchor’s desk at their short-lived kid’s news show only to hear a little “monkey see, monkey do” action coming from above her bookcase.

3 A Vision of Bart’s Future Included A Story About Homer and Lincoln’s Gold

Along with eerily calling Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign a full four election cycles early, “Bart to the Future” provided one of the most underrated meta moments in the history of The Simpsons. After the Native American casino manager who caught Bart sneaking into his establishment finishes predicting the Simpson scamp’s future, he explains that the side-story of the fortune-telling session wherein a future Homer searches for lost treasure was necessary because, “I guess the spirits thought the main vision was a little thin.” Now Bart knows where B-plots come from.

2 “Now, Marge, You’re Gonna Hear a Lot of Crazy Talk About Bart Working in a Burlesque House”

We almost forgot that, in the absolutely iconic episode “Bart After Dark,” the inciting incident that leads to Bart’s gig working as the doorman at the Maison Derrière was Lisa and Marge leaving the house to do some mother-daughter bonding time by scrubbing sea life clean after an oil spill. Homer probably forgot that, too, when he prematurely declared, “If Homer Simpson wants his 10-year-old son working in a burlesque house, then Homer Simpson’s 10-year-old son is going to work in a burlesque house!” 

When Marge finally returned from the beach, it became clear that Bart’s her 10-year-old son, too.

1 A Newly Close Lisa and Homer Bail Out Bart and the Boys When They Get Stuck in Tennessee

If we were to make a supercut of Dan Castellaneta’s best line readings as Homer Simpson, the moment in “Bart on the Road” when he calmly tells Lisa, “Alright, I’ve thought this through. I will send Bart the money to fly home, then I will murder him,” would be an obligatory entry on the highlight reel. When Principal Skinner slaps together a “go to work with your parents day” for the elementary school, it leads Lisa to spend more time with her father in his own element as they grow to appreciate each other’s presence. Bart and his friends just booked it to Knoxville, Tennessee.