Ranking All 25 The Simpsons Season Finales
24. Simpsons Tall Tales
Season: 12
What should you never, ever do for a Simpsons season finale? Make it an multi-story anthology episode unconnected to anything. Sadly, that's what the producers chose for season twelve, deciding to go with Simpsons Tall Tales after strong viewer reaction to Simpsons Bible Stories.
The episode that finds the family in a train car, listening to stories told by a hobo who was originally supposed to be voiced by Jim Carrey until scheduling conflicts made him drop out.
So in the end viewers were treated to a middling episode that featured Simpsons characters retelling the tales of Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed (with Lisa playing "Connie Appleseed), and Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
None of the three segments really hits home, and the episode's lackluster feel is highlighted when it makes reference to a much better season finale, Behind The Laughter, from the year before. In that episode, the joke is that the show is so out of ideas, the next big "destination" episode for the family will be Delaware.
In Simpsons Tall Tales, the family actually is going to Delaware.