Seasons 2 - 8 are the mainstream episodes, the seasons that were the best and the most comfortingly familiar and the funniest.
"Lisa verses eighth commandment" really brings out Lisa's moral and extreme righteous side of her that will remain in the series for a long time to come. Actually, the first season Bleeding Gums Murphy episode was the first to explore Lisa's intelligent moral diversities, but this episode explored it deeper. Lisa is taken aback during Sunday school class when she learns about the horrors of not obeying the ten commandments. She then starts to see how members of her own family, especially Homer, are not keeping up with the commandments with little things in their day to day life. This is not the first episode that's toyed with the idea of hell. In "Bart gets hit by a car", Bart makes a brief visit to the damned before reviving after Mr. Burns hit him with his car. This episode discusses the details of hell further. Lisa is mortified over her dad getting an illegal cable system hooked up (after a funny moment with Ned Flanders going off on the sleazy illegal cable installer (Ned: "get off my property you..jackaninny!" Cable man laughing at Ned's non intimitading comical anger: "easy tiger")). The cable man stops at the Simpsons residence next and has no problem at all convincing Homer to let him install it, even with Homer knowing it's free. Lisa refuses to watch the ill gotten cable with the rest of the fam, with Homer grumbling to Marge about it, "why does Lisa have to be so moral? Why can't she be more like..well not Bart, there's got to be a happy medium". That right there really sort of defines the nature of the Simpsons; they don't want to be goody goodys, but they don't want to be totally reckless and rebellious. More modern 21st shows will often lean towards the latter rather than somewhere in the middle like the Simpons.
What I also like about the Simpsons (at least the 1990s Simpsons) is their values about needing faith and believing in God and attending church sometimes. Homer may've had some moments where he didn't want to get all into church (such as episode "Homer the heretic"), but he wasn't trying to completely go athiest. Even in "Homer the heretic", he doesn't stop believing in God, he just doesn't want to go to church. He has a dream about talking to God (where he suggests Homer to seek a new path of enlightenment), and is then quite happy and moved by it. That's not what it's like in "Family guy" where there are characters who openly admit to being a complete athiest and are proud of it, and there have been comments in that show that seem to encourage viewers not to believe. And that is not the only show or film today like that. It's because more people in real life are atheists today than than in the 1990s. It's the changing of the times in 21st century society.
There are a lot of good lines in this episode. Martin's reaction in Sunday school, "so there's a downside to the afterlife, how does one steer clear of this abode of the damned?" Bart's question "what if I were a good guy but in a really bad fight and lost a leg. Would it be waiting for me in heaven?" Teacher: "For the last time Bart, yes!" Then in car going home; Marge: "what you learn about in Sunday school today?" Bart: "hell" Homer: "Bart!!" The scene with Lisa and Marge in the grocery store with Marge stealing two grapes, Lisa's reaction, then the cashier's reaction when Marge told him was priceless (Cashier: "you stole two grapes? Who cares?" But overly moral Lisa still refuses to let it sit at that, then Marge says "can you please just charge me for them?" Cashier: groans, "I need a price check for two grapes. That's right, two measly lousy stinkin grapes!"). Also great during the time when the Simpsons are watching the cable, you can hear things playing on the TV that were in earlier episodes (i.e. Duff beer commercial, Troy McClure show, etc.). You can also pick up on major moments in TV history, such as "Dallas" "Who shot J.R." episode. I also found amusing Bart letting all his classmates from school, while charging admission, inside to watch the adult channel. Then of course the big fight on TV with Drederik Tatum (parady of Mike Tyson), and the comment about dedicating the fight to beloved deceased manager (taken from "Rocky"). Oh and Smithers and Mr. Burns discussing going to watch the fight at the Simpsons house, Smithers: "Why can't we just watch it here?" Burns: "the fight is one of those rare events where I savor the sights, sounds, and smell of other men". Smithers: "Still haven't lost the common touch sir". Also funny joke of Homer quickly hiding all the stuff he stole from Moe's when he sees Moe walking up to the house. And the continuing joke of Homer screaming every time he sees Mr. Burns coming to his house. Great episode.
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