Hey, whatever happened to civil discussion, folks?
All you say in your defense is that the episodes are funny and then list the dialogue from the scenes you think are funny. I already said each episode of The Simpsons is meant to be funny but it's other aspects that make them great(satire/sentiment/character)both episodes lack anything including humor.
I generally agree with this statement about the (humor + satire/sentiment/character) thing but there are a handful of episodes that could be considered great just because they're laugh riots all the way through. "Homer at the Bat" isn't really
that satirical, doesn't have a huge emotional core, and isn't much of a character study... But it's probably one of the funniest Simpsons episodes ever, with wall-to-wall jokes. The humor alone carries the episode.
"Last Exit to Springfield" is also a good example, although you'd probably get me on the satire condition there.
That being said, these kinds of episodes are rare, so it would take a really, really funny episode for one to argue that "There's No Disgrace Like Home" is a top episode. The episode probably
is one of the funnier episodes of Season 1, particularly for the hilarious scenes at the psych clinic, the rest of it seems pretty ordinary humor-wise. The picnic is mostly filled with typical dysfunctional Simpsons quips with a little Burns-pandering on the side. The second act isn't much to write home about either, as I'm having trouble thinking of that many jokes from it.
Humor is a really subjective thing, though, so I would have trouble arguing if someone told me they thought it was the funniest episode of The Simpsons ever. I could probably string together an argument about wordplay and joke construction, but overall humor feels like such an intangible thing sometimes.
