10. The Simpsons Movie
After teasing fans about a possible Simpsons movie for a decade and a half, the writers and producers managed to make good on their word and released The Simpsons Movie in 2007. The movie was funny, weird, and considered a return to form of a sort after a few lackluster seasons. Not only did the movie make truckloads of money, it also helped usher in some small but significant changes into the show. Rather than being just a standalone piece of work like the Treehouse of Horror episodes, the movie's events were canon and the dynamic of the show was permanently changed ever so slightly. Plopper/Spider-Pig became part of the family (who is rarely seen), Springfield was rebuilt from the ground up, every citizen has a lasting memory of being trapped in the dome, and meta references (and criticisms) to the movie are still occasionally dropped into the show by various supporting characters. But probably the most notable change was that the show took a leaf out of the movie's book and made the transition into HD television. After nearly twenty years of standard definition TV, the Simpsons movie helped fans adjust to the dramatic visual leap and the show hasn't looked back since.
Alexander Pan
Contributor
My life story is nothing special. I haven't cured ebola, I'm nowhere near stopping terrorism, and I'm still working on that climate change problem.
Instead, all I've done so far is put a few hundred words together in an attempt to make people laugh.
You can follow me at @Fry_ying_pan but don't be offended if I don't tweet back. It's usually because I've spent too long trying to think up a witty response that the reply window has closed.
See more from
Alexander