It’s like you hear FXX (FX but slightly sexier?) is airing The Simpsons in its entirety, all 25 seasons marathon-style, then life intervenes, and the next thing you know the day of the kickoff came and went and you kinda missed it.
Yes, it’s the obvious choice; no, I don’t care. Conan O’Brien wrote this near-perfect episode (proving his talents had been squandered at SNL) that established the “Springfield in crisis” trope: the town is conned out of its multimillion-dollar windfall by the smooth-talking Lyle Lanley (the great Phil Hartman), who sells them a monorail they couldn’t possibly need. Featuring one of the most memorable songs in Simpsons history and Leonard Nimoy as himself, this may be the series’ (and marathon’s) highest note. —Danette Chavez
“Treehouse of Horror V,” season six, episode five (airs Sat 8/23 at 3 PM CST): A trio of vignettes strong enough to sustain an entire episode, the stories featured here—”The Shinning,” “Time and Punishment,” and “Nightmare Cafeteria”—provide ideal case studies in three of the many things that made The Simpsons great: deconstructive parody, absurdist self-reference, and playful surrealism. —Drew Hunt
