As explained in my Simpsons' movie parodies article, The Simpsons is a hugely metatextual show. Every episode is steeped in a sea of references to both famous and obscure pieces of pop culture. As a TV series, the show often pokes fun at television in particular. It could be a quick cutaway gag or an extended full-episode parody, but it seems no one is safe from the show's sharp eye - with everything from All In The Family to Sesame Street getting The Simpsons treatment over the decades. Even in more recent years, when other areas of the show have lost a bit of panache, the parodies of rival TV series have remained a core part of the show's humour - the couch gags particularly are nowadays used to spoof other shows, like Breaking Bad and Game Of Thrones. And there are plenty more where they came from. We would all be here all day if we went through each and every TV parody to be found in all twenty seven seasons of The Simpsons - so let's see what are the fifteen best moments...
15. The Sopranos
Seen in: Poppa's Got A Brand New Badge (Season 13, Episode 22) Through recurring character Fat Tony, Springfield's resident mafia boss, The Simpsons has an excuse to parody classic gangster films like The Godfather or Scarface - and they also couldn't resist slipping in a spoof of The Sopranos, the greatest mobster TV show (and just the greatest TV show ever, to many people). When Fat Tony's gang are driving across town to pay Homer a visit, their journey becomes a perfect Simpsonized recreation of The Sopranos' title sequence, which sees Tony Soprano drive across New Jersey, complete with that show's theme music - Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3. The joke was later reused for season eighteen episode The Mook, The Chef, The Wife And Her Homer but this one did it better.