TVSquad

Before anyone says it, yes, I know this map of the fictional town of Springfield, home of the Simpsons, has been around for a long time, but it was linked on Digg recently and it seems to pop up on the blogosphere every now and again when someone new discovers it. So this is for those who haven't seen it yet, and for those who haven't seen it in awhile and want to see it again. The first thing that ran through my mind is that an accurate map of Springfield would be impossible to create, given the mercurial geography of the Simpson universe that allows the people behind the show to shift towns and landmarks around to fit a storyline or even a single gag. That being said, the map is at least an exhaustive list of every landmark, park, store, restaurant and whatever in the town of Springfield, from permanent fixtures like Springfield Elementary to places only seen once such as Area 51A and the Snowball II Municipal Cat Park.

(S06E25)

Burns: Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. I will do the next best thing: block it out.

In no episode has Burns been more evil than in the two-parter "Who Shot Mr. Burns" that bridged the sixth and seventh seasons. He becomes so evil in fact, that Smithers actually turns against him, even though it "violates every sycophantic urge" in his body.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. The episode begins with another normal day at Springfield Elementary, with one minor difference: Super Dude, the classroom gerbil, has died, crushed by his own water bottle. Willy buries the gerbil in the boiler room, assuring the dead rodent that his own father simply got thrown in the bog when he died. Although, didn't his father appear in the season ten episode "Monty Can't Buy Me Love?" Yes, he did, but let's not worry about that, okay? Okay.

(S06E14) When you see the words "Written by John Swartzwelder" appear on the screen, you know you're in for a great episode.

This episode begins with Bart pulling yet another prank on Principal Skinner by affixing a sign to Skinner's weather balloon that reads, "Hi, I'm big butt Skinner" and is held by a likeness of Skinner constructed so the balloon acts as his butt. Skinner exclaims: "It won't come down for months! Curse the man who invented helium! Curse you, Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen!"

Bart tries to deny he pulled the prank, but the fact that he has blueprints and notarized photos of himself planning it doesn't really help his case. As punishment, Skinner enlists Bart to help him with his amateur astronomy. He tells Bart to meet him at 4:30 the next morning, to which Bart replies, "There's a 4:30 in the morning now?"

(S06E09) Angry mob outside the Simpson house: Two, four, six, eight, Homer's crime was very great! ... "great" meaning "large" or "immense" we use it in the pejorative sense!

The plot: Homer is accused of sexual harassment when he peels a piece of candy from the babysitter's butt and she mistakes it for a sexual advance. He tries to clear his name, but the media launches a smear campaign and the entire town turns against him.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way we can talk about all the great moments in this episode. The Simpsons always manages to cram a plethora of jokes upon jokes into an episode, but damn, this one had gags that just kept coming at you. I loved the opening scene when Bart curses the "damn FDA" for not allowing cereal made entirely of marshmallows, and Lisa yelling at him for not throwing the grain pieces in the trash. The candy convention that Homer and Marge attend had some great moments, too, such as all the "gummi" candy ("Gummi Jawbreakers?") and their final escape from the convention with the Gummi Venus De Milo where Homer mixes Pop Rocks and Soda into a makeshift grenade. Also, Frink appears in this segment and you can see his pupils through his glasses. I'm not sure if that was the only time that happened.