The 5 Best Milhouse Episodes On The Simpsons, Ranked

The voice of Milhouse is leaving after season 35 of “The Simpsons.” Pamela Hayden has been part of the long-running sequence for the reason that first season aired again in 1989 and in addition voices Jimbo Jones, Rod (and typically Todd) Flanders, and Chief Wiggum’s spouse Sarah. Now, nevertheless, followers of Milhouse will certainly be feeling conflicted about one of many present’s finest characters being voiced by one other actor.

Quite than dwell upon what is really the tip of an period for “The Simpsons,” nevertheless, why not have fun the legacy of Hayden’s Milhouse? The boy whose mother says he is cool; who is aware of far an excessive amount of in regards to the numerous sorts of sprinklers; who’s had his image on “America’s Most Needed” and was subsequently hunted by the FBI earlier than leaping from a dam to what would have been sure dying (he solely broke his glasses), has been offered a few of the finest moments within the present’s lengthy historical past. However he is additionally been on the heart of a few of the best ever episodes of “The Simpsons,” persistently proving he is far more than a peripheral character good for a couple of gags right here and there.

Naturally, there are a ton of episodes that includes Milhouse that did not make the minimize right here. The unimpeachably excellent “Lemon of Troy” or “Bart on the Street” are two examples. However that is okay as a result of the Vanhoutens’ son has been the main focus of dozens of traditional “Simpsons” installments. So come alongside as we have fun Bart’s finest pal in an inventory the place legitimately all the pieces’s developing Milhouse.

Milhouse was continuously the butt of no matter joke the writers wanted him for, however again in season 3, he hadn’t fairly grow to be the working joke of a personality he later would. Episode 23 of that season, “Bart’s Good friend Falls In Love,” is an efficient instance. That is the episode the place, a lot to Bart’s dismay, Milhouse truly will get a girlfriend within the type of Samantha Stanky (Kimmy Robertson). It is also the episode that options one the best movie references within the present’s historical past, with the opening sequence completely recreating Indiana Jones’ legendary plundering of the Temple of the Chachapoyan Warriors and its “golden idol in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

“Bart’s Good friend Falls In Love” is not full of gags at Milhouse’s expense, although we do study that he cries when he does lengthy division and he has a the rest left over. But it surely stays nice as a result of like so many early “Simpsons” episodes, it combines its good humor with stunning emotional depth. The episode is pushed by a narrative that ought to ring true for anybody who remembers having a finest pal as a child. Bart’s jealousy over his pal’s newfound love feels so correct to how a 10-year-old would react and really reveals a deep fondness for Milhouse on Bart’s half. By the point the pair reconcile and go away Samantha at her Catholic college to go whip donuts at previous individuals, you understand that “The Simpsons” has as soon as once more managed to make you are feeling a little bit one thing between the gags.

In 1995, three years after “Bart’s Greatest Good friend Falls in Love,” we acquired one more reminder that Milhouse truly has emotions like the remainder of us with season 7, episode 2, “Radioactive Man.” A standout episode in its personal proper, this installment sees Milhouse forged because the titular hero’s sidekick, Fallout Boy, with Bart as soon as once more changing into jealous of his pal after lacking out on the position. It is stuffed with memorable moments, from Luann Vanhouten’s jacuzzi swimsuit to Rainier Wolfcastle’s immortal “My eyes, the goggles do nothing.” But it surely additionally reminds us that Milhouse is not a one-dimensional character who’s good for amusing from time to time. 

His struggles along with his burgeoning stardom really feel just like the one grounding component in what’s an in any other case ridiculous (and hilarious) episode. “Radioactive Man” additionally reminds us that Milhouse’s dad and mom aren’t all the time probably the most attentive, with the aforementioned jacuzzi swimsuit stopping Luann from listening to her son’s considerations over being forged in a Hollywood manufacturing. Moments like this additionally assist arrange what’s an all-timer of an episode within the following season.

“Radioactive Man” is nice for therefore many causes, but it surely’s a high Milhouse episode for displaying us that whereas the character could be a little bit of a dweeb, he is at the very least not shallow sufficient to be taken in by stardom and its trappings, even whereas everybody round him is.

Seasons 6, 7, and eight of “The Simpsons” not solely included a historic run of Milhouse episodes, however they’re additionally notable for simply how a lot abuse the character suffers all through. Season 7 sees him poking on the controls of a fighter jet in “Sideshow Bob’s Final Gleaming,” raging in opposition to his dad and mom’ choice to place him in remedy and asserting “Take that Dr. Sally Waxler” earlier than unwittingly ejecting himself into the troposphere. Season 8 noticed him crushed into unconsciousness by Nelson, who’d misinterpreted a romantic word from Lisa, resulting in that traditional, “He cannot hear you now, we needed to pack his ears with gauze,” second. 

However there is no episode that has fairly as a lot enjoyable completely roasting Milhouse as “Summer season of 4ft 2.” Although that is actually a Lisa episode, the season 7 installment can be full of traditional jokes at Milhouse’s expense, starting along with his, “Which type of sprinkler do you want?” run that prompts Bart to implore his pal to “attempt to have some dignity.” However such a factor eludes Milhouse for the remainder of the episode, because the writers merely refused to let up on the poor man.

After the household holidays in Little Pwagmattasquarmsettport (America’s scrod basket), Bart fails to wow Lisa’s new buddies, main Milhouse to ask, “Are we down with ’em?” just for Bart to curtly reply with, “No, they need to’ve seen you!” Later, when the household performs a board recreation and Bart pulls the “dud” card, Homer does not maintain again in mocking Milhouse for trying precisely just like the poor sap on the cardboard: “Hey, he seems identical to you, Poindexter!” The child is so missed, that he is even proven hiding behind a cereal field all through breakfast, solely revealing himself when he hears information of a carnival — at which he is coated in spit from each Bart and Lisa as they attempt to commerce loogies on the carousel. It won’t be a Milhouse episode in the obvious sense, however “Summer season of 4 ft. 2” is among the character’s most hilariously tragic moments.

An all-time nice “Simpsons” episode, “Bart Sells His Soul” can be notable for giving Milhouse the higher hand for as soon as. Whereas season 7 would finish with all-out Milhouse ridicule in “Summer season of 4ft. 2,” it truly began off with the character getting one up on his finest pal, demonstrating a contact of nous that beforehand hadn’t been all that evident.

For one, Milhouse convinces Bart to promote his soul (a chunk of paper with “Bart Simpson’s Soul” written on it) for 5 bucks, solely to then demand 50 bucks when his pal desires it again. The maniacal snicker Milhouse lets out in that specific second is really unhinged and an instance of Pamela Hayden’s distinctive means to shock in her efficiency, even with a personality she had, at this level, performed for seven years.

Although the episode is undeniably Bart-focused, Milhouse’s scenes are a few of the finest and provides us a glimpse of the character’s crafty — a trait that might simply have appeared unsuitable for a personality that’s continuously the butt of the joke, however which someway appears to work as a propellant for a type of “Milhouse will get his personal again” story.

“A Milhouse Divided” combines a few of the sequence’ finest jokes with a grounded storyline that’s each hilarious and stuffed with coronary heart. It additionally occurs to be one of the best Milhouse episode.

Marge and Homer’s elegant cocktail celebration is shortly ruined by the palpable stress between Kirk and Luann VanHouten, who find yourself separating on account of their barely hid resentment towards each other. This bickering between husband and spouse (which comes throughout as a little bit too reasonable) is contrasted in opposition to charming scenes of Milhouse simply being a child as he performs with the opposite youngsters upstairs, fully unaware that his household is fracturing. Quite than being the butt of the joke, this time round you truly really feel unhealthy for Milhouse, who has clearly been the unwitting sufferer of his dad and mom’ squabbling for a while. As such, for all its good gags, the episode begins out on fairly a tragic word, which resonates all through the rest of the runtime.

Because the episode goes on, we get such legendary strains as “I sleep in a giant mattress with my spouse,” “That is Jerry, he is a serious participant down on the stitching retailer,” and “I do not recall saying ‘Good luck’.” Then, after all, there’s Kirk’s traditional “Can I Borrow a Feeling” cassette tape that Homer relentlessly mocks. However in between all of it is Milhouse, who this time round escapes such relentless mockery and is given an opportunity to simply be a susceptible child who struggles along with his dad and mom’ divorce. It is that traditional mixture of humor and coronary heart as soon as once more, reminding us that, as Kirk sings, “Hurtin’ hearts want some healin’,” and making us all need to take Milhouse’s hand with our “glove of affection.”