10: The Old man and the Lisa
Note: Some episodes that would seem to be shoo-ins for the list were deemed to not have enough focus on Burns. These include "Homer at the bat" and "A star is Burns".
Episodes with kind Mr Burns suck. This is the exception. After Mr Burns realises he has been bankrupt for years, he is forced to move into the Springfield Retirement Castle with Grampa and tries to make a new fortune via recycling with Lisa. Some of the best moments of this episodes feature people other than Burns, like Lenny being in charge of the Plant, but his basic eco-friendly evil scheme is brilliant. Who else would create an all-purpouse slurry made of minced up fish guts, then slap Lisa's face on it? Nobody.
9: Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk
9: Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk
Three words: Land. Of. Chocolate. In perhaps the best Simpsons sequence of all time (Though the rake scene from "Cape Feare" may beat it), Homer skips through a city made of chocolate and marshmellows. There are other great moments, such as the scene with Mr. Burns boxing, but the L.O.C stole the show. However, the main plot, with Mr. Burns selling the power plant to german investors, was pure brilliance too. It also had some of Burn's best one-liners, like "What good is money if you can't inspire terror in your fellow man?". Plus, there was the priceless scene after Burns bought back the plant. Add it all up, and you have an early Burns classic.
8: $pringfield
Though most of the episode focused on Marge, a recurring theme in the episode is Burn's descent into insanity after the opening of his casino. Season five delivered other Burns classic, like "Burns' Heir" and "Rosebud", but this one focuses on Burns' money, rather than evil, and so is so much more memorable. The best moment of this episode comes when he outright copies Howard Hughes with the "Spruce Moose", and threatens to shoot Smithers if he doesn't ride the model-sized plane.
7: Mountain of Madness
Mr Burns matched with his employees doesn't work as well as Skinner with his pupils, but episodes like this one make it seem like it works just as well, if not better. After a fire drill results in everbody (Except Homer) being locked in the power plant, Burns hosts a team building exercise in the mountains. However, the episode takes a strange turn as Burns and Homer are paired together, and trapped by an avalache. Few Simpsons episodes have character pairings as good as this one, and it is easily one of my favourites from season 8, along with "In Marge we trust", "Homer's Enemy", "A Milhouse Divided",and "Homer Vs the 18th Amandment" that didn't make my season top 5 list.
6: Two Cars in Every Garage and Three eyes on Every fish
We now come to the first Mr Burns episode, where he tries to run for govenor of Springfield's State in order to change nuclear plant safety standards. Everything about this episode it great, and I'd actually call it the Simpsons's first truly great episode (LOTFL can't recieve that title due to the bad animation). There are so many great moments here, from Charles Darwin to Bart's "My father told me to support Burns" Shirt. This episode is also notable for being the first episode not to focus on the Simpson family
4: Two Dozen and One Greyhounds
I absolutely love this episode, from what may be the best musical number in the series, to the random scene with Burns not putting effort into his evil schemes. Most notable in this episode is the performance of "See my vest". Some men hunt for sport, others hunt for food. the only thing I'm hunting for is an outfit that looks good. See my vest, See my vest, Made from real gorrilla chest. See this sweater, there's no better, than authentic Irish setter. Can you watch that song without laughing? In the words of Comic Book Guy: Best. Disney. Parody. Ever.
3: Rosebud
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This episode is a shoo-in for the top 25 episodes ever, and it would, in all likelihood, make the top 10. It starts with a spoof of "The wizard of Oz", ends with "Planet of the apes", and in the middle packs in Hitler, Excalibur, George Burns, a nude photo of Mark Twain, and 64 Slices of cheese. It makes for a great, hilarious, touching, genius episode. It also reveals a lot of the Burns backstory: He was once a kind, happy boy, before his grandfather took him off his parents hands, causing him to mutate into a twisted, loveless, billionaire. Now, at over 100 years old, he wants his childhood teddy back. It's a great setup for an episode, and quite easily one of the best of all time.
2: Last Exit to Springfield
This is, in my opinion, the greatest episode of all time. Why is it ranked at #2? Because I disqualified #1 from my top 25 episode list. It starts with a fantastic McBain movie and ends with a flawless so-bad-it's-good payoff. In the middle we get the Godfather, the Grinch who stole Christmas, the infinite monkey theorem, Batman, and the big book of british smiles.When Mr. Burns knocks the union down to size by removing the dental plan, the power plant employees go on strike. It's a very simple idea, but it's excecuted so well that no best episode list is complete without it.
1: Who shot Mr Burns?
Did anyone doubt that this brilliant, season ending cliffhanger, would take the #1 Spot? When Burns gets on everyone in Springfields bad side by stealing oil discovered by Groundskeeper Willie, somebody shoots him. However, nobody knows who shot him, as the only witnesses were Maggie and Santa's Little Helper.
It's incredibly hard to decide which part is better, Part 1 or 2, as Part 2 featured Moe on the lie detector, but it also featured the crappy ending, while Part 1 didn't have any standout moments, but was all-round great. Could you imagine any other episode taking out the top spot on the list?
