The Simpsons, season 4

The Simpsons was laugh-out-loud funny from its first episode, but season four is when it completed its journey from mere brilliance towards genuine transcendence. This show did for the 30 minute sitcom what The Beatles did for the 3 minute pop song; it literally expanded the very potential inherent in its medium.

Season four is widely hailed as the greatest Simpsons season ever. I disagree; I think the show achieved its zenith in season eight. But season four was a watershed for the series, the moment when our love and admiration for the show turned into awe and worship.

In its first couple of seasons, The Simpsons was plotted and paced much more like a conventional sitcom, but by season four it had achieved something unique. By season four, the plots get told with lightning-swift efficiency, leaving lots of room for flashbacks, fantasy sequences, non sequitur hilarity, and just a general level of goofiness unprecedented in commercial TV. The Simpsons makes everything else on TV look pedestrian, sluggish, and dull.

I think one big reason The Simpsons got so good so quickly is its annual Halloween episodes. Those episodes are great in themselves, but, more importantly, I think they showed the creative team just how much was really possible, just how far they could really go. The "Treehouse of Horror" segments are just 7 minutes long, so they had to learn to tell stories more quickly than is normal in TV. Also, the Halloween episodes encouraged a whole new level of surreality and an anything-goes attitude.

In some ways, these are just intensifications of regular Simpsons episodes, but that's precisely my point. By pushing at the limits of their medium, the creators of this show discovered that they were able to transcend them.

Every episode of the show is packed, overflowing with smart and funny ideas. And most of its funniest moments have nothing to do with telling the story; that's part of their charm, they feel extra, superfluous, the icing on the cake. The Simpsons is more icing than cake, and it's that richness and density that makes it so great. Moment for moment, it remains the most rewarding experience the medium of television has yet produced.

Here are 10 of my favorite moments from season four:

HOMER: [when the pull tab breaks off] Now my pudding is trapped forever!

"Steamboat Itchy" (The very first Itchy and Scratchy cartoon)

HOMER:[on the family of possums living in the monorail] I call the big one "Bitey."

BART: Didn't you wonder why you were getting checks for doing nothing?
GRANDPA: I figured, because the Democrats were in power again.

"Malaise Forever" (Inscription on Jimmy Carter's statue)

TROY McCLURE: You may remember me from such films as P is for Psycho and The President's Neck is Missing.

The Big British Book of Smiles

TV ANNOUNCER: The following is a public service announcement. Excessive alcohol consumption can cause liver damage and cancer of the rectum.
HOMER: Mmmm, beer!

WIGUM: I've got pictures of you Quimby.
QUIMBY: You don't scare me, that could be anyone's ass.

And my favorite Simpsons line of all time:

SMITHERS: I think women and sea men don't mix.

The Simpsons, season 4 (1992-93)
GRADE: A