Simpsons Shrine
The Simpsons is an animated sitcom that needs no introduction. It has already been talked about at length on the internet, especially its downfall (my personal definition of the Golden Era is S1-9, although I do enjoy some later seasons). I love the series as it's hilarious, with excellent satire, but does have its fair share of heartwarming and touching moments. This shrine is mainly about my favorite characters on the show, Lisa Simpson and Homer Simpson.
Lisa Simpson
Lisa is the most intelligent member of the family. She loves school, learning, and crusading for social justice, but gets overlooked often, as others barely bother to listen to her. She's a misfit, both in her family and at school, due to her high intelligence, and although she does have a few friends in certain episodes, most of the time she's portrayed as having no friends. She does want to be popular though, so much so that she tries to change herself to fit in better, but her true friends do appreciate her knowledgeable self. She's a vegetarian and a Buddhist. She plays the saxophone in her spare time to express and process her emotions. She's still a kid though, and loves dolls, ponies, unicorns, and teasing her brother Bart. She also is witty and sarcastic sometimes.
She's my favorite because I relate a lot to her, as I'm a vegan and care deeply about the state of the world, and have a mischievous big brother. While Lisa was at her best in the Golden Era, IMHO, she's still a great character in the newer seasons, and the sheer hatred for Lisa in certain YouTube videos and comment sections is unwarranted, at best...
Common criticisms of her from Lisa-haters include her being too preachy, an Author Avatar, and just not as funny as the rest of her family. I think that while Lisa doesn't necessarily need to be funny, she does have many funny moments of her own throughout the series. Many of 'em are included in my Simpsons playlists linked below. I also think that in most episodes, she is likable and has a good balance between having high morals and learning that she's not necessarily better than others just because of them.
Some of my Favorite Lisa episodes are Moaning Lisa, Lisa's Substitute, Lisa's Pony, Lisa the Greek, Lisa the Beauty Queen, Lisa's Wedding, and Summer of 4 Ft. 2. Most of these episodes are about the relationship between Homer and Lisa, which is my favorite part of the show, due to them being almost polar opposites, but trying to get along with and understand each other. Which leads me to...
Homer Simpson
Homer is the gluttonous, beer-guzzling, doofus main character of the show, and the funniest. Most of my favorite Simpsons gags feature him, including The Land of Chocolate, the bits with Homer talking to his Brain, and his parody of the Flintstones theme. He's my second favorite because, at least in the classic seasons (and S33-present), he's pretty much a dimwitted naive idiot, but a caring father and a lovable goofball. He does have a major anger problem though, which leads me to the infamous gag...
Yeah I'm not really the biggest fan of Homer choking Bart, but at the same time, I don't think it's a big deal whether it gets removed or not. In fact, it seems to be already mostly phased out in the newer seasons, as it's been getting old anyway.
There are different versions of him: in the Tracey Ullman shorts, he's stricter, angrier, and is more like a typical father, although he does win the burping contest in one of the shorts. He's slightly dim, but nothing like what he would later become. Most of the shorts are about the kids, so we don't get to see much of Homer.
In S1, we see more about him, such as how he got his job at the nuclear power plant. He is more humble in this season, and overall more of an everyman type of character.
In S2, he's closer to his later self, with more stupid and funny moments, but in S3-8, he becomes Classic Homer, my favorite version of him. He is quite endearing, due to his silliness and uniquely positive attitude towards life. He goes on long weird rambles leading to some of my favorite scenes in the series, and has many fantasies like living Under the Sea, and becoming King Homer, covered in gold! He's pretty emotional and sensitive, surprisingly self-aware at times, and can easily become happy or angry depending on the situation. He's childlike, and childish. He's driven by his instincts and relies on creature comforts a lot. He's really really silly in S5, but it gets dialed back down in S6 and onward. I relate to many of his traits, so that's another reason he's one of my favorite characters.
In around S9-12, he turns into a Jerkass, and this version of him is probably my least favorite, although I still enjoy some episodes with him in them. There are also some episodes where he's less obnoxious and annoying, such as HOMR.
In S13 to around the 30th season, he's... weird. Sometimes he is Captain Wacky, taking up a new job every week, and doing random stuff, going on silly and ridiculous adventures where he gets into a lot of pain, but most things go right for him. But, sometimes he is simply the stupidest version of Homer yet. There are a lot of Marriage Crises too, which don't help. At least he starts to become less of a Jerkass over S13 to S18, culminating in the Simpsons Movie, which basically deconstructs Jerkass Homer, literally LOL
In S33-present, he's finally close to Classic Homer. But he's a lot nicer, and so this version of him is known as Teddy Bear Homer. This is my second favorite version of him. But he became too nice in S33 and S34, so in S35 and beyond he regained some of his jerkishness.
Some of my Favorite Homer episodes are Last Exit to Springfield, King-Size Homer, Mother Simpson, Homer the Great, Homer Goes to College, Deep Space Homer, and Pixelated and Afraid.
In Mother Simpson, Homer reunites with his mother, Mona, and it is revealed that she had to go into hiding after sabotaging Mr. Burns' germ warfare lab, while Homer was still a kid. As a result, Abe, Homer's father, had to raise him by himself, and didn't do the best job, often calling him stuff like "dumb" and "ugly", belittling him, and ignoring him most of the time. Sure, those moments are funny in the show, but they're also pretty sad. Homer is happy to have Mona back, and so is the rest of the family, especially Lisa ;) but alas! Mr. Burns tracks her down and she has to go to the Underground again. The scene that follows is one of the most beloved, heartrending scenes in the series, and is one of my current wallpapers. This episode indirectly explains a lot about Homer, like his childishness.
It's interesting what they did with Mona, Abe and Homer in the later seasons, especially the 30th season and onward.
I'm currently working on a Homer screenmate using SSP. Stay tuned!
These playlists include funny and heartwarming moments, reviews, analyses, interviews, behind the scenes stuff, etc.
I'm Homer, who are you? by Lexi
I'm Bart, who are you? by The No Homers Club
Page first created on Tue, Apr 22, 2025.
Page first updated on Sun, May 18, 2025 (added more info to Homer and Lisa sections, and added more personality quiz results).