With The Simpsons kicking off its 30th (!!!) season on September 30, we're once more looking back at the show's very best episodes.

The Top 30 Simpsons Episodes 31 IMAGES

The Simpsons has been around for almost 30 years now, spawning hundreds of episodes and one theatrical movie. It wasn't an easy task considering how many their were to choose from, but these 30 episodes are essential viewing for anyone who enjoys hanging out in Springfield, USA.Even 30 episodes barely scratches the surface of what the show has given us over the years, of course. Let us know your picks for the best Simpsons episodes of all time in the comments section below.

30 "Lisa the Iconoclast" (Season 7)

"Embiggens? I never heard that word before I moved to Springfield."

"I don't know why. It's a perfectly cromulent word."

29 "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" (Season 2)

In this episode, Lisa learned the same lesson Batman would come to understand in The Dark Knight - sometimes you need to let a city have its heroes, even if the reality doesn't actually measure up to the ideal. "Lisa the Iconoclast" is one of the stronger episodes to focus on Lisa's moral dilemma of the day. Here she makes it her mission to force Springfield to realize the truth about its beloved founder, Jebediah Springfield, only to once again find herself a town pariah. As with a lot of great Lisa-driven episodes, the focus is as much on Homer and the conflict between following his whims and wanting to live up to Lisa's expectations. A memorable guest performance from Donald Sutherland is the icing on the cake in this episode.

"I want to share something with you - the three little sentences that will get you through life. Number one: 'Cover for me.' Number two: 'Oh, good idea, boss.' Number three: 'It was like that when I got here.'"

28 "Mother Simpson" (Season 7)

While The Simpsons was still honing its voice in Season 2, this unusually dramatic episode offered a glimpse of the golden period that was to come for the series. Here Homer confronts his own mortality in a very real and immediate way, fearing he's just ingested a poisonous blowfish and has only one day left to live. The result could have been overly sentimental and melodramatic, but this episode toes the line between humor and tragedy easily enough. The scenes of Homer bidding farewell to his family and confronting his imminent demise show an unusually human side of a character who so often comes across as a self-centered, even sociopathic jerk.At the same time, this episode ends on an appropriately sly note. One minute, Homer is celebrating his second lease on life and promising to live every day to the fullest, the next he's stretched out on the couch with a half-eaten bag of pork rinds.

"Alright! I admit it, I am the Lindbergh baby! Waah! Waah! Goo-goo! I miss my fly-fly, Dada!"

"Are you trying to stall us, or are you just senile?"

"A little from Column A, a little from Column B."

27 "King-Size Homer" (Season 7)

While Abe Simpson is always a reliably entertaining supporting character, up to this point the show had never focused much attention on Homer's *other* parent. Who was Homer's mother, and what part did she play in raising this dysfunctional goofball? As "Mother Simpson" showed us, there's actually quite a story to be told there.This episode introduced fans to Moana Simpson (voiced by Glenn Close), Homer's long-lost mother who's spent the last several decades on the lam after running afoul of a (slightly) younger Mr. Burns. The ensuing family reunion is a lot of fun, from Homer's childish plays at attention to Lisa finally discovering a family member she can look up to. But ultimately, Moana realized she couldn't outrun her past, and that's where this episode finds its enduring appeal. Homer and Moana's tearful goodbye ranks among the most emotional moments of the show. It's basically The Simpsons' answer to Futurama's "The Luck of the Fryrish."

"Your father can be surprisingly sensitive. Remember when I giggled at his Sherlock Holmes hat? He sulked for a week and then closed his detective agency."

26 "Lisa's Wedding" (Season 6)

One of our favorite animated sitcom tropes is the episode where a character goes to extreme lengths to get out of having to perform an annoying task. "King-Size Homer" sees Homer transform into a 300-pound caricature of himself in order to get out of Mr. Burns' mandatory exercise program and enjoy the pleasures of working from home. But when nuclear meltdown looms, Homer has to race against the clock and his own, uncooperative body in order to save the day."King-Size Homer" stands out for many reasons, whether because of its smartly crafted dialogue, the hilarious sight gag of Homer in a mumu or its effective blend of cynicism and sympathy regarding Homer's plight.

"Oh-ho! An English boy, huh? You know, we saved your a$$ in World War II."

"Yeah? Well, we saved your a$$ in World War III."

Nothing illustrates just how ridiculous and unprecedented The Simpsons' 30-year run is than episodes like "Lisa's Wedding." This episode flashes forward to what was then the far-flung, futuristic landscape of 2010 to explore what Springfield looks like 15 years in the future. Apart from the presence of Jetsons-style hover cars and Bart being gainfully employed, not much had changed.The 2010 humor alone would have been enough to make this episode succeed, but it also hinges on a romance between Lisa and her handsome, wealthy British suitor, Hugh (Mandy Patinkin). As much as Lisa may be embarrassed by her family, she can't bring herself to marry a man who won't accept them for who they are. Even though the whole future storyline is just a glorified "What if?" scenario, it serves as one of the more poignant looks at the love between Lisa and Homer.This would be the first of several times the show has looked into the future of the Simpson clan, but all others pale in comparison to "Lisa's Wedding."

''Who Shot Mr. Burns, Parts 1 & 2''

“Ever since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. I shall do the next best thing: block it out.”

We're cheating a bit on this one by technically including two episodes, its true. To date, "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" remains the only two-part storyline the show has ever tackled. And it was a gleeful parody of the infamous "Who Shot J.R.?" storyline on the 1980's soap opera Dallas.

The first episode closed out Season 6, as Mr. Burns managed to piss off just about every resident of Springfield by stealing oil, blocking out the sun, firing Smithers and still, through it all, never remembering Homer's name. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, with Burns shot and dozens of Springfielders as potential culprits. Season 7 continued the drama as Chief Wiggum investigated the crime and Lisa raced to clear her father's name before he actually killed his boss.

Both episodes were funny, certainly, but we also appreciate their darker edge and the whodunit mystery that kept Simpsons fanatics speculating and debating all through the summer of 1995.

''Alone Again, Natura-diddly''

"Now, now, now, don't beat yourself up. I'm the one who drove her out of her seat. I'm the one who provoked the lethal barrage of T-shirts. I'm the one who parked in the ambulance zone, preventing any possible resuscitation."

Time all but stands still in Springfield, and no one ever actually ages on the show (not even little Maggie). So death is a topic that only comes up rarely. And rarer still does death strike a major recurring character. "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" was motivated largely by the fact that Maude Flanders' voice actress had moved away from California, but the writers found a great storyline to explore in Maude's tragic, T-shirt cannon-induced death.

This was the first major tragedy to strike the Flanders clan since Ned's brush with financial ruin in Season 1. It upset his comfortable, squeaky-clean world and allowed for an extended character arc to play out over the course of many seasons as Ned adjusted to the single parent lifestyle and started dating again. It was one of several cases where a key twist has given an old character new life on this show.

''Radioactive Man''

"My eyes! Ze goggles do nothing!"

With "Radioactive Man," various characters learned that the glamorous allure of Hollywood doesn't always live up to the reality. The episode saw a Hollywood studio choose Springfield as the location to shoot their big-budget Radioactive Man movie (starring Ranier Wolfcastle, of course). Bart's dreams of playing Fallout Boy were dashed when the role went to Milhouse. For his part, Milhouse wanted no part of the fame, fortune, and constant hassle that come with child stardom. Meanwhile, production ground to halt as Mayor Quimby and the rest of Springfield bled the studio dry with bogus taxes and fees. In the end, nobody won, especially not Wolfcastle as he was swept away by a river of toxic waste.

This episode was a great spoof of both Hollywood and superhero films, aiming its barbs at the Batman franchise in particular.

''Itchy & Scratchy Land''

"We need more Bort license plates in the Gift Shop. Repeat, we are sold out of Bort license plates."

How can you not love an episode that simultaneously parodies Westworld, Jurassic Park and the Walt Disney empire? This episode sees the Simpsons travel to the new Itchy & Scratchy theme park for their summer trip. And naturally, it's only a matter of time before Homer and Bart's promise not to embarrass Marge completely falls apart. Luckily, a little Chaos Theory causes an uprising of animatronic Itchy and Scratchy robots, providing for some much-needed family bonding. Anyone who has experienced the overwhelming assault of capitalism and corporate mascots that is Disney World can appreciate this episode.

''Lemon of Troy''

"Homer, come quick! Bart's quit his tutoring job and joined the violence gang!"

The Simpsons has always referenced an ongoing rivalry between Springfield and the neighboring city of Shelbyville. But it wasn't until "Lemon of Troy" that said rivalry truly took center stage. Here we saw Bart lead a crew of misfits (Milhouse, Nelson, Martin, etc.) on a quest to retrieve Springfield's beloved Lemon Tree from Shelbyville's miscreants. This in turn forced their parents to pile into Flanders' RV to rescue them.

"Lemon of Troy" offered a fun glimpse into Shelbyville, which turned out to be an almost Mirror Universe version of Springfield in some ways. But the episode also hit all the right notes in terms of celebrating the peculiar sense of community among Springfielders and their mythologized town history.

''Homer's Enemy''

"Yes, that's me, and the guy standing next to me is President Gerald Ford… And this is when I was on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins… Oh, and here's a picture of me in outer space."

"You? Went into outer space? You?"

"Sure. You've never been? Would you like to see my Grammy award?"

As much as Homer is portrayed as an ordinary slob of a lower-middle class guy, he's had some pretty grand adventures and lucky breaks over the years. "Homer's Enemy" introduced us to Frank Grimes, the man who was everything Homer isn't. Grimes was intelligent and ambitious, yet he could never seem to catch a break in life. And all of his pent-up aggression burst forth when he encountered Homer, a happy family man with a house and a decent job and everything Grimes didn't have. Is it any wonder Grimey snapped?

It was definitely amusing to see Grimey lash out at a man too happily obtuse to realize he had made a mortal enemy. But in some ways this is one of the darker Simpsons episodes. It showed viewers that sometimes life really is unfair, and some people just don't get what they want out of life, no matter how hard they struggle.

''Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment''

"There's something wrong with that kid. She's so moral. Why can't she be more like...well, not like Bart..."

Homer is a well-meaning guy, but sometimes his grasp of right and wrong is a little tenuous. And some of the most memorable conflicts on this show have come when the far more mature and morally pristine Lisa struggles to reconcile her beliefs with her father's actions. Case in point, this Season 2 episode where Homer became the most popular guy in town after getting an illegal cable TV hookup (this being a time when cable TV was still considered a luxury). Seeing her father so brazenly violate the Eighth Commandment caused Lisa no small amount of distress.

The result was an endearing little drama as Homer struggled to live up to the man Lisa wanted him to be. It says a lot about Homer that he gave in and did the morally correct thing, not because he feared for his own soul, but because he didn't want Lisa to be unhappy.

''Bart the Lover''

"Truly, yours is a butt that won't quit."

Edna Krabappel's romantic misadventures have often been a focus on the series, as have her clashes with Bart, every teacher's worst nightmare. This episode combined both conflicts as it explored Edna's sad, lonely existence and the emergence of a bond between teacher and student. Bart pranked Mrs. K with a series of love letters inspired by his parents' own letters, only to feel a pang of regret when he realized the emotional damage he had caused. Luckily, it all worked out okay in the end.

This episode also benefited from an amusing subplot involving Homer struggling to build a doghouse and accidentally teaching Todd Flanders how to swear. It had to happen sometime.

''Flaming Moe's''

"Moe, I haven't seen the place this crowded since the government cracked down on you for accepting food stamps."

With as much alcohol as Homer consumes, it wasn't too surprising to learn in "Flaming Moe's" that he can mix a mean drink or two. Homer's bizarre creation, The Flaming Homer, brought a new level of success and prestige to Moe's Tavern. But leave it to Moe to hog all the credit and leave his friend and most loyal customer out in the cold.

"Flaming Moe's" is just an all-around great episode, with a steady stream of gags and one-liners and some nice character growth for Moe, who up till that point had mostly just been the surly bartender who always fell victim to prank calling. And the episode featured a guest appearance by Aerosmith, which was pretty cool.

''Bart of Darkness''

"I'M A MUR-DIDDLY-ER-DLER!!!"

"If that's not Flanders, he's done his homework."

If you've ever been trapped in a boring summer vacation without end, you'll understand what Bart went through in this episode. While Bart was stuck indoors with a broken leg and little but bad TV to keep him entertained ("Ugh... Klassic Krusty..."), Lisa was able to bask in her newfound popularity as the girl with a swimming pool. Seeing Bart descend into madness was funny, but the episode really hit its stride when it launched into a parody of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, as Bart and Lisa investigated the possibility that Flanders murdered his wife. As with everything on this show, the truth was more bizarre and entertaining.