OVER THE YEARS The Simpsons has provided us with many, many laughs. Reliable and consistently able to amuse viewers, it’s not very often you find someone who doesn’t like The Simpsons. Despite it being such a funny show, there have definitely been some moments that have broken everyone’s heart. Let’s look over some of them.
1. When Homer commits to a job he hates for Maggie
In season 6, episode 13 the kids question why there are no photos of Maggie in the family album. Homer explains that in 1993, completely sick of his job in the nuclear power plant, Homer quits to pursue his dream job working in the local bowling alley.
Homer and Marge snuggle to celebrate Homer’s new life and Marge ends up pregnant with what will eventually be Maggie Simpson. Homer is forced to return to the power plant on his hands and knees and beg Mr. Burns for his job back.
The kids are still confused as to why there’s no photos of Maggie in the family album, when Homer explains that it’s because he keeps them where he needs the most cheering up – at work.
2. When Lisa sacrificed her marriage for her father
In the 18th episode of season 6, a carnival fortune teller begins to tell Lisa what her future marriage will be like. She’s seeing a man called Hugh Parkfield who doesn’t understand her family and has no patience for Homer who wants him to wear the traditional family pig cuff-links.
Hugh is deeply embarrassed of the Simpson family and wants Lisa to leave them behind after the wedding. Believing that here family are more important, she calls the wedding off.
3. When Bart fails an important test
In the first episode of season 2, Bart is told that if he doesn’t pass a test he will be held back a year at school. This is the kick up the arse he needs to start studying, but unfortunately it’s not enough. Ms. Krabappel hands back the papers and Bart finds out he has an F. The scene that follows is devastating.
This is definitely one of the most heartbreaking scenes that has ever been in the show.
4. When Homer ate the poison Fugu and accepted that he was going to die
Although this episode is the same length as any other, it always feels a lot longer when you watch it. It starts off with Homer eating the Fugu and being told to prepare to die. It’s nothing short of harrowing watching Homer as he goes through his final hours completing a bucket list.
After he finally rushes home to “Be intamit with Marg”, he goes downstairs and listens to Larry King on an armchair and waits to die. As a child, the first time I saw this episode I really believed it was the end of Homer Simpson.
5.When substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom left Lisa
Lisa meets few adults in her life who are interested in inspiring her or encouraging her talents. Most of them think of her as a little know-it-all. That’s what it’s especially painful when Mr. Bergstrom, her substitute teacher gets moved to another school after their brief time together. He leaves her with one piece of advice to get her through situations where nobody understands her.
6. The death of Bleeding Gums Murphy
Lisa hasn’t got a minutes luck. One of the most memorable episodes of The Simpsons is when she meets Bleeding Gums Murphy and he becomes her mentor. Despite his talent, after he passes away nobody shows up to his funeral except for Lisa. Reverend Lovejoy calls him by the wrong name during the ceremony so in memory of him. Bart, who knows how upset Lisa is, offers her $500 he got in a claim from eating a jagged Krusty-o to buy Bleeding Gums’ record to have it played on radio.
7. When Maude Flanders died
In this very same episode, Lenny is hit with the tyre of a car and survives without injury. That most definitely occurs to highlight the injustice Ned Flanders experiences in his life, because seconds later, when hit by a t shirt, his wife Maude dies. Few things can make you feel as sad as seeing the Maude shaped imprint in Ned’s bed after she’s gone.
8. When Ms. Krabappel died
There’s no denying that the older episodes of The Simpsons was where it was at, whether it was for the jokes or episodes that made you want to cry. But when Marcia Wallace, the voice actor of Ms. Krabappel died in real life, they paid a nice tribute to her in the show.
If we thought Lisa’s luck was bad, Ned’s is a hundred times worse as he loses his second wife. Her final appearance was a scene where Ned remembers the pair dancing together.
9. When Bart had his heart broken for the first time
When Bart has a crush on his new babysitter Laura Power, he’s set up for disappointment because she’s clearly too old for him, but he doesn’t realize that. This scene is one that everyone remembers and you can’t help but pity Bart here.
10. Maggie’s first word
After the family try to get Maggie to speak for the first time, the family reminisce on Lisa’s first word, which was “Bart”. Bart’s first word was “Ay Caramba!”. Both of the children referred to Homer by his name rather than calling him any variation of the word ‘Dad’.
When Homer’s putting Maggie to bed that night, he tells Marge that the sooner that kids learn how to talk, the sooner they start to talk back. Therefore he hopes that Maggie never says a word. When he turns off the light and closes the door, she says her very first word which is “Daddy”.
11. When Bart gets caught shoplifting
It’s coming up to Christmas and Bart wants a new video game called ‘Bonestorm’ more than anything else but Marge refuses to get it for him. Jimbo and Nelson pressure him into stealing it but is caught and told to leave the store and never return. Marge, who is totally unaware that Bart has shoplifted arranges for the family to return to the store to get a photograph together.
When the security guard shows Marge the footage of Bart shoplifting, she becomes distant from him, refusing to tuck him in at night or treat him the same as Lisa or Maggie. You can’t help but feel really bad for Bart as he wonders if Marge will ever love him again. In the end Marge surprises him with a different video game that is significantly less exciting than Bonestorm.
12. When Bart burned the centerpiece at Thanksgiving
The whole family is extremely impressed when Lisa presents her centerpiece that she spent countless hours on and describes as a “labour of love”. Moments later, because of Bart, it’s dust in the fireplace. It’s not often that Marge loses her patience but she is furious when Bart destroys something his sister worked so hard on.
Bart decides to run away and give blood in exchange for a cookie and hangs out at a homeless shelter for a while before returning home. When he comes home, he decides to sit around on the roof of the house for a while and overhears Lisa crying in her room and the pair eventually make up.
