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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

"Fraudcast News" is the best rated episode written by Don Payne. It scored 6.9/10 based on 15 votes. It was directed by Bob Anderson. It aired on 5/23/2004 and is rated 0.0 points higher than their second-best episode, "Thank God It's Doomsday".

  • Fraudcast News
    6.9/1015 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

  • Thank God It's Doomsday
    6.9/1014 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

  • The Great Louse Detective
    6.7/1020 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

  • Simpsons Christmas Stories
    6.7/1015 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

  • Treehouse of Horror XI
    6.4/1019 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

  • Love, Springfieldian Style
    6.4/1014 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

  • Labor Pains
    6.4/1015 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

  • Take My Life, Please
    6.3/1020 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

  • Insane Clown Poppy
    6.2/1020 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

  • Old Yeller-Belly
    6.2/1017 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

  • Bye Bye Nerdy
    6.1/1018 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

  • Treehouse of Horror XII
    6.1/1018 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

  • White Christmas Blues
    6.1/1016 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

  • The Bart Wants What It Wants
    6.0/1016 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

  • The Wandering Juvie
    6.0/1017 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

  • Simpsons Tall Tales
    5.6/1019 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

  • Thursdays with Abie
    5.6/1016 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

  • Little Big Girl
    5.3/1011 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