7.9/1018 votes#1 - The Wait Out
Season 7 Episode 23 - Aired 5/9/1996
Jerry and Elaine see opportunities for themselves when George causes a couple to separate; Kramer can't remove his new jeans.
Director: Andy Ackerman
Writer: Matt Selman
7.8/1022 votes#2 - Trilogy of Error
Season 12 Episode 18 - Aired 4/29/2001
Homer's rush to the hospital to reattach his thumb, Lisa's rush to school to win the science fair, and Bart's run-in with an illegal fireworks scheme are interconnected in a parody of Go and Run Lola Run.
Director: Mike B. Anderson
Writer: Matt Selman
7.8/106 votes#3 - Treehouse of Horror XXXV
Season 36 Episode 5 - Aired 11/3/2024
Giant monsters created by political rage threaten to tear the town apart, a Victorian Mr. Burns is jump-scared on Thanksgiving by the ghosts of his abused workers, and Homer bonds with a pair of extra-terrestrial jeans in an unforgettable stop-motion adventure that can only be called… Denim.
Director: Timothy Bailey
Writer: Matt Selman
7.7/107 votes#4 - Treehouse of Horror XXXIII
Season 34 Episode 6 - Aired 10/30/2022
In a book-themed trilogy, Marge's resentment takes monstrous form, Lisa tries to save the planet through murder and Homer learns he's not the man he thought he was.
Director: Rob Oliver
Writer: Matt Selman
7.5/102 votes#5 - The Great Phatsby (2)
Season 28 Episode 13 - Aired 1/15/2017
Mr. Burns tries to relive his glory days and crosses paths with a mysterious music mogul. After being conned by him and reduced to bankruptcy, Mr. Burns seeks revenge on the Music Producer with the help of Homer, Bart, rapper Jazzy James and the mogul's ex-wife, Praline. Also, Lisa is courted by the richest kid in town, Smithers begins a perilous journey and Marge opens an obscure boutique store.
Director: Timothy Bailey
Writer: Matt Selman
7.2/1025 votes#6 - Natural Born Kissers
Season 9 Episode 25 - Aired 5/17/1998
Homer and Marge try to spice up their love life and are caught baring it all in public. Bart and Lisa discover an alternate ending to Casablanca.
Director: Klay Hall
Writer: Matt Selman
7.2/1019 votes#7 - Behind the Laughter
Season 11 Episode 22 - Aired 5/21/2000
A "Behind the Music"-style look at the Simpsons, narrated by VH1's Jim Forbes, shows their rise to stardom--and the "private hell" that followed.
Director: Mark Kirkland
Writer: Matt Selman
6.9/1020 votes#8 - Jaws Wired Shut
Season 13 Episode 9 - Aired 1/27/2002
A jaw injury from colliding with a new town statue turns Homer into a better listener while recuperating with his jaws wired shut, but once the wires come off, Homer does not go back to being loud and obnoxious and Marge becomes starved for thrills.
Director: Nancy Kruse
Writer: Matt Selman
6.7/1023 votes#9 - Covercraft
Season 26 Episode 8 - Aired 11/23/2014
Homer has a mid-life crisis, takes up bass guitar and forms a cover band with some of the other dads in town. But the band's modest early success is soon overwhelmed by the breakout potential of their most unlikely star, Apu.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Matt Selman
6.6/1022 votes#10 - Simpsons Bible Stories
Season 10 Episode 18 - Aired 4/4/1999
When Reverend Lovejoy subjects the congregation to an extended Bible reading, the Simpsons fall asleep and have dreams based on Bible stories.
Director: Nancy Kruse
Writer: Matt Selman
6.6/1021 votes#11 - They Saved Lisa's Brain
Season 10 Episode 22 - Aired 5/9/1999
Mayor Quimby flees Springfield, leaving the town chapter of Mensa in charge. As the group's new power goes to their heads, they take their utopian plans too far and the townspeople revolt.
Director: Pete Michels
Writer: Matt Selman
6.5/1017 votes#12 - That 90's Show
Season 19 Episode 11 - Aired 1/27/2008
Flashbacks follow Marge and Homer back to their dating days, when she was a college student and he was working for his father to support her. Then Marge becomes smitten with a professor, so a sorrowful Homer turns to music--and invents grunge.
Director: Mark Kirkland
Writer: Matt Selman
6.4/1016 votes#13 - The Haw-Hawed Couple
Season 18 Episode 8 - Aired 12/10/2006
When Bart ends up the only guest at Nelson's birthday party, the bully decides he's his best friend and goes about protecting Bart in a parody of "Goodfellas." Meanwhile, Homer reads Lisa to sleep and debates on whether to reveal the book's sad ending to her.
Director: Chris Clements
Writer: Matt Selman
6.3/1015 votes#14 - Future-Drama
Season 16 Episode 15 - Aired 4/17/2005
Through Professor Frink's future machine, Bart and Lisa see their lives in the year 2013, where Bart steals Lisa's chances at going to an Ivy League school in order to impress a skater girl named Jenda while Homer (now separated from Marge and living in an underwater apartment) fights Krusty the Clown after Marge begins dating him.
Director: Mike B. Anderson
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1017 votes#15 - Lisa the Tree Hugger
Season 12 Episode 4 - Aired 11/19/2000
Lisa falls for the teenaged leader of a militant environmentalist group and tries to impress him by living in Springfield's oldest tree in order to keep it from being cut down.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1019 votes#16 - The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Season 14 Episode 8 - Aired 1/12/2003
Homer hires a private detective to learn more about Lisa. But when Homer refuses to pay the detective's expenses, he frames Lisa for a crime she didn't commit, forcing her and Homer to go on the run.
Director: Mark Kirkland
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1015 votes#17 - Girls Just Want to Have Sums
Season 17 Episode 19 - Aired 4/30/2006
The family attends "Stab-A-Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musical." The musical's director is a graduate of Springfield Elementary and Principal Skinner puts his foot in mouth when he makes sexist comments about her education and that of women in general. He tries to make the situation better, but only buries himself deeper and deeper until he is fired and replaced by Women's Educational Expert Melanie Upfoot. The first thing she does is split the school into girls and the boys. Lisa dislikes the way girls are being taught math and she ventures over to the boy's side of the school in search of a challenge. Disguising herself as Jake Boyman she starts attending the boy's school but while she finds the math problems more interesting, it is being a boy that is a greater challenge.
Director: Nancy Kruse
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1012 votes#18 - Oh Brother, Where Bart Thou?
Season 21 Episode 8 - Aired 12/13/2009
One snowy day in Springfield, Lisa informs Bart that she and Maggie share a bond that Bart will never understand because he doesn't have a brother, so Bart asks Homer for a baby brother. When Homer denies Bart's request, Bart makes his way to the Springfield Orphanage to find what he thinks he's missing.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1018 votes#19 - Once Upon a Time in Springfield
Season 21 Episode 10 - Aired 1/10/2010
Krusty grudgingly adds a pretty, singing cohost named Princess Penelope to his show in order to attract more female viewers. Girls love her, and ratings improve, but Bart and Milhouse want to get the show back to the way it was. The situation gets more complicated when Krusty and Penelope fall in love and decide to get married. Meanwhile, Homer, Lenny, and Carl consider working at a competing nuclear plant when Mr. Burns cuts off their daily doughnut service.
Director: Steven Dean Moore
Writer: Matt Selman
6.2/1012 votes#20 - The Clown Stays in the Picture
Season 30 Episode 14 - Aired 2/17/2019
Krusty reveals the untold story of his past in his movie "The Sands of Space". While working as personal assistants on the movie, Bart and Lisa learn about the early years of their parents' relationship.
Director: Timothy Bailey
Writer: Matt Selman
6.1/1014 votes#21 - Sky Police
Season 26 Episode 16 - Aired 3/8/2015
Chief Wiggum is mistakenly delivered a military jet pack, which he gleefully accepts and uses in order to fight crime. But when the jet pack crashes into the church, the congregation, led by Marge, must resort to gambling and counting cards in order to collect money to repair the church.
Director: Rob Oliver
Writer: Matt Selman
6.1/1015 votes#22 - Pranksta Rap
Season 16 Episode 9 - Aired 2/13/2005
Bart fakes his own kidnapping to get out of being punished for going to a rap concert, but the ruse goes too far when Milhouse's father is implicated as the kidnapper and Chief Wiggum sees this as an opportunity to make a name for himself as a competent police officer.
Director: Mike B. Anderson
Writer: Matt Selman
6.1/1016 votes#23 - There Will Be Buds
Season 28 Episode 6 - Aired 11/6/2016
Homer gets roped into coaching the kids' lacrosse team with Milhouse's dad, Kirk, who is in desperate need of a friend. When Kirk gets too clingy, Homer vents about how much of a loser he is. Kirk overhears his rant and disappears, right when the team needs him most: the championship game.
Director: Matthew Faughnan
Writer: Matt Selman
6.0/1020 votes#24 - Bart Gets a 'Z'
Season 21 Episode 2 - Aired 10/4/2009
The fourth grade students of Springfield Elementary School decide to spike Ms. Krabappel's coffee in order to teach her a lesson after she takes away their cell phones. She is fired by Principal Skinner, who hires a new teacher named Zachary Vaughn. Although Vaughn is a hip young teacher who impresses the students, Bart is plagued by guilt and tries to get Ms. Krabappel hired back.
Director: Mark Kirkland
Writer: Matt Selman
5.9/1012 votes#25 - The Food Wife
Season 23 Episode 5 - Aired 11/13/2011
Marge, Bart and Lisa start their own food blog and land a reservation at a popular restaurant; when Marge sends Homer to a cooking lab, he finds himself in a situation with law enforcement.
Director: Mike B. Anderson
Writer: Matt Selman
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The Best Episodes Written By Matt Selman
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Matt Selman Ratings Summary
"The Wait Out" is the best rated episode written by Matt Selman. It scored 7.9/10 based on 18 votes. It was directed by Andy Ackerman. It aired on 5/9/1996 and is rated 0.1 points higher than their second-best episode, "Trilogy of Error".