The Simpsons: 10 Best Episodes From The Past 15 Years

10. Gorgeous Grandpa

Season 24, Episode 522 - March 2013 This one is a personal favourite of mine. It might be that, while I no longer watch it on a regular basis, I still have a soft spot for the wrestlers of old - especially the 80s/90s era. I'm old enough to remember Gorgeous George in name only, but I certainly remember the legions of vain, pompous wrestling heels that were inspired by him. Ravishing Rick Rude, for example. So when The Simpsons produced an episode that had Grandpa reliving his old glory days as a successful wrestling heel, I was all over it. Here's what the episode did right: first, it played up the nostalgia angle, both for wrestling (plenty of early Simpsons fans are the right age to have loved pro wrestling in its hey-day) and for the character of Grandpa himself, who has over the years managed to steal scenes on more occasions than I can count. Second, it told a straight-forward story that made sense (as far as Simpsons episodes go), and brought back the moral aspect of the series' best episodes. When Bart begins to mimic Grandpa's heel character Glamorous Godfrey's personality, Grandpa actually turns face and becomes Honest Abe to give Bart a more positive role model. That's right, they managed to get a face turn in there. That's classic Simpsons right there, having a moral underlining in the episode, and paying close enough attention to what they're spoofing to include little details like that.