The Simpsons: 15 Most Watched Episodes Of All Time

8.The Telltale Head - 28m

Season 1 Episode 8

The issue of whether Bart is really as bad as he is billed is a frequent subject for the Simpsons writing team, and in terms of his sinning status he's very much the Iago of the show. In this show, he falls in with the wrong crowd - one he's skirted the edges of on numerous occasions since - and in a wayward attempt to impress them steals the head of the statue of Jebediah Springfield - after some typically wrong advice from Homer.

Inevitably, guilt gets the better of him (after the bullies express their disgust with the disrespectful vandalism) and Homer shows uncharacteristic self-awareness to understand that he inspired the criminal act and helps the boy out. Even more inevitably that leads to an angry mob chase, baying for blood, though the Simpsons are able to barter their way out of trouble.