The Best Episodes Written By Don Payne
Every TV Episode Written by Don Payne Ranked from Best to Worst by Thousands of Voters
Don Payne Ratings Summary
The best episode written by Don Payne is "Fraudcast News", rated 6.9/10 from 15 user votes. It was "directed by Bob Anderson". "Fraudcast News" aired on 5/23/2004 and is rated 0.0 point(s) higher than their second highest rated, "Thank God It's Doomsday".
6.9/10 15 votes#1 - Fraudcast News
Season 15 Episode 22 - Aired 5/23/2004
Mr. Burns buys out Springfield's media outlets after a newspaper mistakenly reports his death, and Lisa's homemade newspaper is next on his list.
Director: Bob Anderson
Writer: Don Payne
6.9/10 14 votes#2 - Thank God It's Doomsday
Season 16 Episode 19 - Aired 5/8/2005
Homer sees a movie about the end of the world and fears the same thing will happen in real life after seeing a chain of random occurrences (celebrities ["stars"] falling from the sky, raining blood, a man in a realistic devil costume) and doing a complicated math equation that predicts the end will come on May 18th, but when the end does not come, Homer discovers a flaw in the equation and ends up in Heaven where he meets God and learns that God is planning The Rapture.
Director: Michael Marcantel
Writer: Don Payne
6.7/10 20 votes#3 - The Great Louse Detective
Season 14 Episode 6 - Aired 12/15/2002
The Simpson family win a free spa weekend, and Homer is nearly killed when a mysterious figure locks him in a sauna. Chief Wiggum decides to hire someone who can think like a murderer in order to find one. Bart's mortal enemy Sideshow Bob is sent to live with the Simpsons so he can help find Homer's attempted killer. Bob and Homer track down the attempted murderer and discover that it is Frank Grimes, Jr., the son of a man that Homer drove to insanity (in the season eight episode "Homer's Enemy"). After Grimes is arrested, Bob tries to kill Bart, but he finds that he has "grown accustomed to [his] face" and cannot harm him.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Don Payne
6.7/10 15 votes#4 - Simpsons Christmas Stories
Season 17 Episode 9 - Aired 12/18/2005
The Simpsons re-enact the Nativity; a World War II tale stars Grampa, Mr. Burns and Santa; a musical features "The Nutcracker Suite."
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Don Payne
6.4/10 18 votes#5 - Treehouse of Horror XI
Season 12 Episode 1 - Aired 11/1/2000
This year's Halloween story sees The Simpsons as "The Munsters" (with everyone except Lisa getting killed), Homer as a wandering spirit on the hunt for a good deed in "G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad," Bart and Lisa as peasants in a fairy tale forest in "Scary Tales Can Come True," and Lisa inadvertently dooming mankind by rescuing a dolphin in "Night of the Dolphin."
Director: Matthew Nastuk
Writer: Don Payne
6.4/10 14 votes#6 - Love, Springfieldian Style
Season 19 Episode 12 - Aired 2/17/2008
Homer and Marge celebrate Valentine's Day by going on the Tunnel of Love ride at a carnival, but they end up stranded when Bart pulls a prank involving gelatin. To pass the time, Homer tells the love story of Bonnie and Clyde, Marge tells her version of "Lady and the Tramp," and Bart tells the love story of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.
Director: Raymond S. Persi
Writer: Don Payne
6.4/10 15 votes#7 - Labor Pains
Season 25 Episode 5 - Aired 11/17/2013
When Homer helps a woman give birth in an elevator, he forms an emotional attachment to the baby; cheerleaders for the local professional football team recruit Lisa.
Director: Matthew Faughnan
Writer: Don Payne
6.3/10 20 votes#8 - Take My Life, Please
Season 20 Episode 10 - Aired 2/15/2009
Homer is jealous when old classmate Vance Connor is inducted into the Springfield Walk of Fame. Lenny and Carl confess they fixed the result in favor of Principal Dondelinger - leading the hapless father to speculate on how his life would have changed had he won the ballot.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Don Payne
6.2/10 19 votes#9 - Insane Clown Poppy
Season 12 Episode 3 - Aired 11/12/2000
Krusty takes parenting lessons from Homer when, during an outdoor book fair, a girl tells Krusty that she is his long-lost daughter from a one-night stand with a female soldier who fought during the first Gulf War.
Director: Bob Anderson
Writer: Don Payne
6.2/10 17 votes#10 - Old Yeller-Belly
Season 14 Episode 19 - Aired 5/4/2003
Homer throws out Santa's Little Helper for not saving him from a fire, but soon the dog becomes Duff's new mascot.
Director: Bob Anderson
Writer: Don Payne
6.1/10 18 votes#11 - Bye Bye Nerdy
Season 12 Episode 16 - Aired 3/11/2001
When Lisa becomes the target of a female bully, Lisa discovers a scientific reason as to why bullies pick on nerds. Meanwhile, Homer goes into the baby-proofing business, which is threatening the businesses of pediatricians and greeting card salesmen.
Director: Lauren MacMullan
Writer: Don Payne
6.1/10 18 votes#12 - Treehouse of Horror XII
Season 13 Episode 1 - Aired 11/6/2001
In the twelfth Treehouse of Horror episode: Hex and the City – While on a day trip through Ethnictown, Homer's bumbling catches the ire of a gypsy, who curses Homer's family and friends into receiving nothing but bad luck. House of Whacks – in this mixed parody of Demon Seed and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Marge buys an automated house and customizes it with the Pierce Brosnan personality, who falls for Marge and attempts to murder Homer. Wiz Kids – In this Harry Potter parody, Bart and Lisa go to a school for wizards, and Lord Montemort (Mr. Burns) uses Bart to capture Lisa's magic. Guest star: Pierce Brosnan and Matthew Perry.[20]
Director: Jim Reardon
Writer: Don Payne
6.1/10 16 votes#13 - White Christmas Blues
Season 25 Episode 8 - Aired 12/15/2013
Springfield is inundated with holiday revelers after the nuclear power plant springs a radiation leak, causing snow to fall all over town. When the tourists drive up Christmas shopping prices, Marge opens up the Simpsons' house to boarders.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Don Payne
6.0/10 16 votes#14 - The Bart Wants What It Wants
Season 13 Episode 11 - Aired 2/17/2002
Bart befriends Rainer Wolfcastle's daughter Greta. She has a crush on Bart, but he does not seem to realize it and eventually stops seeing her. Seeking revenge, Greta begins dating Bart's best friend Milhouse, which causes Bart to start missing her. She leaves for Toronto with her father, and Bart convinces his family to follow them there.
Director: Michael Polcino
Writer: Don Payne
6.0/10 17 votes#15 - The Wandering Juvie
Season 15 Episode 16 - Aired 3/28/2004
Bart gets sent to juvenile hall after fooling everyone that there was a marriage concerning him. He encounters a dangerous girl there... He flees with Gina, but then the two are caught by Wiggum.
Director: Lauren MacMullan
Writer: Don Payne
5.6/10 18 votes#16 - Simpsons Tall Tales
Season 12 Episode 21 - Aired 5/20/2001
When Homer refuses to pay a five dollar airport tax to fly to Delaware, the family is forced to ride in a livestock car of a train instead. There they meet a singing hobo who tells three tall tales: Homer as Paul Bunyan. Lisa as Connie Appleseed, a parody of Johnny Appleseed. Bart as Tom Sawyer with Nelson as Huckleberry Finn.
Director: Bob Anderson
Writer: Don Payne
5.6/10 16 votes#17 - Thursdays with Abie
Season 21 Episode 9 - Aired 1/3/2010
Grampa is sitting on a bench waiting for his family when a thoughtful-looking man named Marshall Goldman approaches him and asks to hear about his life. Grampa tells Goldman about the time he was on a World War II battleship, which was hit by an enemy torpedo, and Goldman, a human-interest columnist, publishes it in The Springfield Shopper. Later, Grampa meets Mitch Albom and shares another story with Goldman for a follow-up article. Homer becomes jealous of Grampa's newfound fame and seeks a surrogate father. But when Homer discovers a draft of Goldman's third story, he must race to find Grampa before it is published and his life is changed forever.
Director: Michael Polcino
Writer: Don Payne
5.3/10 11 votes#18 - Little Big Girl
Season 18 Episode 12 - Aired 2/11/2007
Lisa pretends to be Native American for multicultural day at school. Meanwhile, Bart finds love with an older woman.
Director: Raymond S. Persi
Writer: Don Payne