As one of the longest-running shows,The Simpsonshas had hundreds of episodes, and new ones are still airing. It’s a challenge to pick the favorites. Depending on personal taste, everybody can enjoy different episodes. Nevertheless, there are those that are simply better than others. Or at least have better ratings.RELATED:The Best Simpsons Episodes, According To IMDbAn important thing to do for any show is to draw the audience in. That’s why the first episode of each season should be of high quality. The audience needs a reason to keep watching.The Simpsonshave done the best first episodes in its initial seasons, corresponding with the opinions of some fans who believe the show is no longer as great as it used to be.Updated Jul 04, 2025, by Kat Leroy:The show has premiered its 33rd season in September 2021, proving once again that it’s here to stay. The season is currently airing on TV and should have 22 episodes in total. The 34th season is then planned for the next year. The current season started with an episode titled The Star of the Backstage but the episode got a very low rating on IMDb – only 4.4 out of 10 at the moment. So far it seems that the highest ratings of the first episodes of each season will therefore continue to belong to older episodes and the new season won’t change this trend.
15Season 16: Treehouse Of Horror XV - 7.4
InThe Simpsons' Halloween specials, the characters don’t do so well. In this entry, Ned Flanders can predict the future this time, more specifically, when people will die, Maggie is shrunk inside a vitamin capsule and her family tries to save her, and in the final crime story, Eliza Simpsons pursues a dangerous murderer.
All horror fans will be happy that the episode pays homage to famous works, such as Stephen King’sThe Dead Zone. Its clever ideas and plots make sure the episode will keep the audience invested from the start to the finish.
14Season 18: The Mook, The Chef, The Wife, And Her Homer - 7.5
Homer has done his fair share of jobs during the show’s run but most of the time, his attempts to leave the nuclear plant behind and start somewhere else don’t pan out. This story is no exception. Homer takes over Fat Tony’s business temporarily and bringsBart along as well. While Homer means well, he only makes things worse.
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The episode has a deeper undertone to it since it suggests people shouldn’t judge others because of what their parents are doing. One of the main characters in this episode is Fat Tony’s son Michael whom Lisa befriends but most people fear. Unfortunately, the episode closely mirrors the movieGodfather, and in the end, Michael becomes just like his father, if not worse.
13Season 15: Treehouse Of Horror XIV - 7.6
The average ratings of the Treehouse of Horror episodes prove that the horror genre is far from dead! The episode offers three original stories. Homer gets an unexpected job as a grim reaper but what will he do when he needs to kill someone close to him? When professor Frink revives his father, things don’t go according to plan. And finally, Bart and Milhouse decide it’s a good idea to use a time-stopping stopwatch on the world.
The episode draws inspiration from classic horror stories but its own spin on the topics attributed to its success.
12Season 10: Lard Of The Dance - 7.6
Being a kid in a school full of more popular kids is tough.Lisa feels jealousof a new beautiful and worldly classmate Alex Whitney. She decides to organize a school dance, but it won’t be a spoiler to reveal that things don’t go the way Lisa’s planning.
At the same time, Homer and Bart attempt to kickstart their grease business, even if it means Bart will never go to school again. The two storylines connect in the end and form a hilarious finale of an overall funny episode.
11Season 14: Treehouse Of Horror XIII - 7.7
Some of the best episodes of the show have the power toscare the audience. Once again, this Halloween special introduces three short stories. In the first one, Homes makes a clone of himself thanks to a magical hammock. The second story sees Springfield fight zombie cowboys after they had gotten rid of all their weapons.
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And in the final story, the Simpsons go on a mysterious island where animal-human hybrids live. The audience appreciated the fact that neither of these stories has a traditional happy ending and it helped that the episode also used popular horror creatures, such as zombies.
10Season 12: Treehouse Of Horror XI - 7.7
Another scary episode that scored with the audience features three different stories. In the first one, Homer is trying to do a good deed to get into Heaven. In the second one, Bart and Lisa face a witch in a gingerbread house. And the third story has extremely intelligent dolphins attack humans after everything they’ve been through.
The episode both manages to draw inspiration from classical fairytales (the second story) as well as be unexpectedly brutal and bloody (third story), making it a good Halloween watch.
9Season 1: Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire - 8.2
Every show has to start somewhere, andThe Simpsonsstarted with a bang! The episode takes place during Christmas.The problem is that Homer has no money to buy giftsfor his family as a result of paying for Bart’s tattoo removal.
Homer’s despair is palpable in the episode which makes him sympathetic, unlike in some other episodes. Luckily, things work out in the end, andthe Simpson family gets a new member. The animation isn’t as good as in later episodes, but it’s easy to ultimately get over it.
8Season 2: Bart Gets An F - 8.3
Studying is hard, but it doesn’t help when people don’t take their studies seriously. When Bart learns fromhis teacher, Edna Krabappel, that he might fail the fourth grade, he does his best to make it, but it might not be enough. Bart may not be a saint. In fact, he actually causes a lot of problems.
Despite that, in this episode, the audience will be cheering for him to make it in the end, finding common ground if they struggled with something in their lives as well. As a result, the viewers are emotionally invested in the episode which makes it compelling to watch.
7Season 4: Kamp Krusty - 8.5
As the old saying goes, people should never meet their heroes. Lisa and Bart learn the hard way that Krusty the Clown isn’t as amazing as they have believed. They go to Kamp Krusty, but they discover it’s absolutely awful, and Krusty, himself, is nowhere in sight.
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Meanwhile, Marge and Homer are experiencing unusual calm and happiness, especially Homer. He loses weight and his hair grows back. Taking care of kids is never easy and this episode reflects it in a funny way.
6Season 8: Treehouse Of Horror VII - 8.5
The Simpsons' tradition to air scary Halloween episodes makes it different from most current shows. As usual,this episode contains three shorter stories. In the first, Bart discovers he has a Siamese twin, but which one of them is good and which one is evil? In the second story, Lisa accidentally creates a new civilization and becomes God, but things don’t go well.
The final story sees aliens, Kang and Kodos, making a plan to conquer planet Earth. Since the stories are short, even if the viewers don’t like one story, they don’t have to wait long for another one to start.
