The Simpsons have been running for 32 years, starting with shorts in the Tracy Ullman show, and has been a significant influence in pop-culture and modern cartoon animation as well as storytelling. With more than 30 years under their belt, there's bound to be the odd bad episode, but today we're focussing on the top 10 most beautiful and creative Simpsons episodes as voted by hardcore fans and critics alike.

10. "Homer Badman" (1994)

Homer vs. the World

More than 20 years later, this episode is still as poignant as ever. Homer and Marge hire a babysitter, Ashley, to look after Lisa, Bart, and Maggie, whilst they go to a candy convention to smuggle candy. The crème de la crème of which is the rare gummy "Venus de Milo." When Homer drops the babysitter off, he notices the gummy is stuck to her bottom and he reaches out to grab it. Homer is accused of sexual harassment and the complete town and the media are against him.

The episode tackles "he said, she said" arguments, media tabloidisation, feminism, crowd think, and sensationalism.

In a world as socially connected as ours is today, it's easy to see how this episode is still one of the best.

9. "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer) (1997)

Homer walks the desert.

The episode based on the books of Carlos Castaneda involves some of the most creative and beautiful animations of the show so far. When Homer eats an extremely spicy chili and has a psychedelic hallucination, where he questions his relationship with Marge and his own existence. "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" was an incredible turning point of the series and showed it could be beautiful and introspective.

8. "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie" (1992)

Itchy and Scratchy Movie Ad

Homer grounds Bart from seeing the Itchy and Scratchy movie after he finds out Bart's causing trouble in school. The Itchy and Scratchy movie itself is a cultural event for all of Springfield, and Bart missing out represents an injustice to all the children who watched it back in the 90s. But for parents, it shows viable options in enforcing strict behaviours in your child. It involves references to historical animations like "Steamboat Willie" and other Disney cartoons, post-World War II. The meta-comedy runs rife in this episode and is an exciting launch point for setting up the Springfield world and its characters.

7. "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" (1991)

Homer contemplates his life.

After Homer eats a poisonous part of a blowfish, he contemplates his life's worth, his family, and his legacy. Though it's clear now they were never going to kill off the show's magnum opus, at the time, perhaps they were going to be cancelled soon and this was the best way to end the show. The episode carefully mixes sentimentality and jokes in a way all the others had.

6. "New Kid on the Block" (1992)

Bart gets his heart ripped out by Laura.

Bart's unrequited love for his babysitter Laura creates turmoil in his life, climaxing in this beautiful scene where Laura rips his heart out and throws it in the bin. Written by Conan O'Brien, the episode explores love and heartbreak through the devilishly naive Bart and his first experience in love and loss. The episode is beautiful, heartbreaking, and exceptionally funny but some of its big laughs come at the expense of deep, stinging emotional resonance.

5. "Lisa's First Word" (1992)

Toddler Bart and Baby Lisa

This is one of the earlier episodes which explores Bart and Lisa's relationship in depth. When Lisa is born, Bart receives less attention from his parents, causing him to lash out, and eventually try to run away, until Lisa says her first word "Bart." The episode is touching and sentimental but provides context for the two characters and strengthens our relationship to them, and them to each other. As emotionally touching as this episode is, it's still a ludicrously funny episode with many cultural and movie references.

4. "And Maggie Makes Three" (1995)

"Don't forget, you're here forever."

Again, this episode explores the Simpson children and their relationships, mainly focussing on the overlooked Simpson, Maggie. It reintroduces the tear-jerking sentiments of the family and tells a struggling tale of Homer and his efforts to provide for his family, as well as Homer's influence and drive being entirely his family. The episode mixes Homer's vagueness and unconditional love for his family and winds up being the most stunning portrayal of the family.

3. "Lisa's Substitute" (1990)

Mr. Bergstrom and Lisa

Lisa's intellectually equivalent teacher inspires her to achieve her best and put herself out more. Unfortunately, Mr. Bergstrom is only a substitute and must leave when Miss Hoover returns from the doctors. Lisa's family can't sympathise with her when she explains her sorrow at Mr. Bergstrom leaving, and she feels more alone than ever. Bart also runs for class president against Martin, which he loses because he forgot to vote. It's a surprisingly touching episode and involves many funny references and observations of school life, democracy, and teaching resources.

2. "Who Shot Mr. Burns" Part 1 & 2 (1995)

Burns points west and south.

These two Simpsons episodes have been combined as they both amount to a special cultural event all over the world. The event could be solved if you watched and studied the episode enough and was an incredibly inventive way to get people excited to watch the next season of The Simpsons to find out the all-important question, who shot Mr. Burns?!

Honourable Mentions

"Homer the Heretic" (1992) involves different perspectives on Christianity and showing faith.

"Stark Raving Dad" (1991) Michael Jackson guest stars in this episode exploring the character dynamics between the members of the Simpson family.

"Bart Sells His Soul" (1995) follows Bart in his introspective turmoil about his soul, also includes Milhouse's greatest performance.

"Mr. Plow" (1992) is a hilarious episode which explores Homer's friendships, career, and family. Barney has his best episode.

"Radio Bart" (1992) Bart cries wolf, only to become what he created. Nice amount of sentimentality and jokes.

1. "Last Exit to Springfield" (1993)

Homer rallies his workers.

Homer finally takes initiative and does the right thing. When Burns tries to remove the plant's dental plan, Homer rallies the plant workers to go on strike. It includes now internet memes like Lenny's "dental plan" and "now do classical gas." The episode involves real-life issues mixed with cartoonish humour and hilarious observations of current cultural landscapes, and is, therefore, the best Simpsons episode.

The Simpsons is an incredibly inventive, creative, and influential show and hopefully, with season 30 coming, will reinvigorate the once ground-breaking show.