In his first-ever interview, the infamously reclusive The Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder named eight of the 59 episodes he wrote for the show as his personal favorites.

Swartzwelder told The New Yorker which episodes he likes to revisit, noting, "I don't have one I prefer over all the others, but I do have some favorites I always enjoy watching. 'Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,' 'Bart the Murderer,' 'Dog of Death,' 'Homer at the Bat,' 'Homie the Clown,' 'Bart Gets an Elephant,' 'Homer’s Enemy' and 'Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment.'"

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Season 2's "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" focused on Marge campaigning against the Itchy and Scratchy cartoons, satirizing both TV violence and censorship. Swartzwelder took credit for co-creating the "nice" version of Itchy and Scratchy with Sam Simon -- a gag he says "still makes me laugh every time."

Three of Swartzwelder's favorite The Simpsons episodes -- the Fat Tony introduction in "Bart the Murderer," the Santa's Little Helper adventure featured in "Dog of Death" and the guest star-heavy baseball episode "Homer at the Bat" -- are from Season 3. Swartzwelder shared, "I will say that I’ve always thought Season 3 was our best individual season."

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He also named two favorites from Season 6, including "Homie the Clown" and "Bart Gets an Elephant." The Simpsons writer's remaining favorites were from the show's eighth season -- "Homer vs. the Eighteenth Amendment" and "Homer's Enemy."

"Homer's Enemy" is among The Simpsons' darkest and most controversial episodes. In the episode, the hard-working Frank Grimes accidentally kills himself criticizing Homer. Later, Homer proceeds to sleep through his funeral. When the interviewer called the moment "not what James Brooks might refer to as a 'lot of heart,'" Swartzwelder replied, "Grimey was asking for it the whole episode. He didn’t approve of our Homer. He was asking for it, and he got it. Now, what was this you were saying about heart?"

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Ultimately, Swartzwelder praised the animated show's ability to inspire audiences to note the writer(s) of each episode, stating, "The Simpsons did something I didn’t think possible: it got viewers to look at writers' credits on TV shows."

The Simpsons stars the voices of Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith and Hank Azaria. New episodes air Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.

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Source: The New Yorker