The Simpsons: 10 Most Overrated Episodes

2. Homer€™s Phobia (Season 8, Episode 15)

At the risk of sounding like a broken record by this stage, it needs to be stated that this is not a bad episode by any stretch of the imagination. But it is reasonable to question whether in 2016 (Happy New Year everybody!) this episode still really deserves the stratospheric esteem it is held in. At IMDB this episode is the third ranked highest episode in the show€™s history, and is rated an astonishing 9.1/10 from nearly 2000 votes. It is also consistently near the top of many other lists and columns that look to rank the best episodes. The problem with this episode isn€™t that it€™s bad, because it€™s not. The problem is that it is incredibly dated, which is not a quality you think of when you think of the best Simpsons episodes. The best episodes of the Simpsons are completely timeless with universal themes. 'Homer€™s Phobia' comes from 1997, which was a whole different world when it came to dealing with LGBTI questions in mass media. Those who remember the fiasco over Ellen DeGeneres coming out will remember just how homophobic and cruel the 1990s were to our gay siblings (not that the world isn't today of course, but you get my point hopefully). Now for something from 1997 it certainly does very well to be as inoffensive as possible and to make Homer look like the buffoon because his bigotry. But the explicit homophobia and tactlessness from Homer seem so over the top and the material is not handled nearly as well as it is when Patty comes out in 'There€™s Something About Marrying'. Today the episode feels like it is walking a bit of a tightrope between wanting to make a stand against bigotry, but in trying to do it without the controversy that would come by writing a main character as gay. And that's completely fair - the Simpsons is a business after all. But given how well the subject matter was handled when Patty came out years later, it's hard not to think this one definitely shows its age today.