One night at Moe's Tavern, Homer tells Moe Szyslak of a secret alcoholic cocktail made with cough syrup and fire that he calls "Flaming Homer". When Moe tries Homer's recipe in the bar, he finds it boosts his business and patronage, so Moe steals the recipe from Homer.
After taking a fatherhood quiz, Homer realizes that he knows nothing about Bart, and in the result, strives to be a better father after learning that Bart is one of the racers in the Soapbox Derby. Their entry is not very good, and Bart decides to drive Martin Prince's much nicer racer.
When Lisa requires a new saxophone reed for her talent recital, she asks Homer, who immediately promises to buy her one. Though when Homer breaks his promise, he makes up for it by giving Lisa the one thing she had always wanted, a pony named Princess.
When Krusty comes over to the Simpsons house for dinner, he reveals to them that he is of Jewish heritage, and that his father, Rabbi Krustofski disowned him for pursuing an a career in comedy, and not a successful career as a rabbi.
Homer accidentally saves the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is ashamed when people mistake him for a hero. When another impending meltdown threatens the Shelbyville plant, he is asked to perform his heroic deeds once again.
After Bart catches a three-eyed fish in a river downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, the Plant is inspected and found to have 342 violations, which would cost $56 million to rectify. In order to prevent his Plant from being shut down, Mr. Burns decides to run for Governor.
Homer makes a wish for Ned Flanders to be a financial failure. The wish comes to life when Flanders's store catering to left handed people goes out of business, causing the Flanders family to end up financially in trouble.
While reading a copy of Reading Digest, Homer finds an entry form for an essay contest for which Lisa signs up. When she successfully wins the contest, she and the family travel to Washington, DC where the finals are to be held.
Homer's sanity is called into question when he arrives at work wearing a pink T-shirt. After Bart takes Homer's mental stability test for him, Homer is committed to a mental hospital where he meets a big, hulking bald man who says his name is Michael Jackson.
After Mr. Burns falls ill and desperately needs a blood transfusion, Homer discovers Bart has Burns's rare blood type. Homer urges his son to donate some, promising that they will be handsomely rewarded. However having received the blood, all Burns does is send the family a card.
After Homer gets drunk at a party, Marge decides to sign them up for a marriage counseling retreat. Homer finds out that the retreat will be held at Catfish Lake and packs his fishing equipment, despite Marge telling him that all they will be doing is resolving their differences.
When Ms. Hoover falls ill with a suspected case of Lyme disease, she is replaced by substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom. Because of his unorthodox teaching methods, Lisa quickly takes a liking to him. Just as Lisa is about to ask Mr. Bergstrom over to her parents house for dinner, Ms. Hoover returns.
After discovering some old paintings she did of Ringo Starr, Marge decides to take an art class at Springfield Community College. There, she becomes the top student and wins the college art show. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns needs a painting for the Burns Wing of the Springfield Art Museum, and asks Marge to paint him.
Grampa falls in love with a woman named Beatrice Simmons. On Bea's birthday, Grampa tries to celebrate it, but he is dragged away by Homer. Bea dies that night and Grampa blames Homer for causing him to miss her last moments.
Homer becomes fed up with Santa's Little Helper, who continually destroys things. He says he will get rid of him unless he goes to an obedience school. Santa's Little Helper does poorly there, as Bart is unwilling to use a choke chain. The night before the final exam, Bart and Santa's Little Helper play, thinking it will be their last few hours together.
Grampa confesses that Homer has a half-brother, who immediately tries to track him down. Homer eventually discovers that his half brother is Herbert Powell, the head of a car manufacturer in Detroit.
Selma begs Marge to help her find a husband and she enlists Homer's help. Meanwhile, Bart gets in trouble at school and Homer is brought in to talk to Principal Skinner, who he decides would be perfect for Selma. Homer invites Skinner to dinner, but he falls in love with Patty instead of Selma.
Homer gets an illegal cable hook up. Despite their enjoyment of the new channels, Lisa becomes suspicious that they are stealing cable. Her suspicions are confirmed by Reverend Lovejoy and Lisa protests by no longer watching television.
In the first Simpsons flashback episode, Marge tells the story of how she and Homer met in high school in 1974. Marge and Homer meet for the first time during detention and he immediately tries to get Marge to be his date for the prom.
The Simpsons go to a new Sushi bar, where Homer takes a liking to the food and decides to try Fugu, which is poisonous if not cut properly. Homer's fugu is not, and he is taken to the hospital where he is told he has 22 hours to live.
One day, Bart is skateboarding when he is suddenly hit by Mr. Burns's car. An attorney named Lionel Hutz suggests that the Simpsons sue Burns, promising a big cash settlement. Homer agrees, and he and Hutz spend time fabricating Bart's story, taking him to see Dr. Nick Riviera, who has dubious credentials.
Maggie attacks Homer with a mallet, and Marge immediately blames The Itchy & Scratchy Show for turning her violent. Marge forms S.N.U.H. and campaigns against the show. Eventually she successfully gets the writers to change their ways and make the show less violent.
The Simpsons go to a Monster truck rally that features famous daredevil Lance Murdock. Bart immediately becomes enamored and decides that he wants to become a daredevil as well. Bart's first stunt ends in injury and despite the family and Dr. Hibbert's best efforts, he continues to attempt stunts.
It is Thanksgiving and Lisa makes a dinner table centerpiece, which Bart destroys. Marge tries to get Bart to apologize, but he refuses and is subsequently sent to his room. Bart runs away and finds a soup kitchen and some homeless men.
Ned Flanders invites Homer round for a beer, seeing how nice his house is Homer becomes jealous, causing Flanders to angrily ask him to leave. Flanders immediately regrets his outburst and tries to make up with Homer, who remains defiant. One day while mini golfing, Bart and Flanders' son Todd Flanders decide to enter a mini golf tournament.
Homer fires up the crowd at a Springfield Isotopes game and is chosen to be the team's new mascot. He immediately becomes a popular attraction and the Isotopes start a winning streak. As a result, Homer is promoted to the team in Capital City.
After Bart catches a three-eyed fish in a river downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, the Plant is inspected and found to have 342 violations, which would cost $56 million to rectify. In order to prevent his Plant from being shut down, Mr. Burns decides to run for Governor.
A Halloween special which is divided into three short stories: Bad Dream House - The Simpsons move into a new house which turns out to be cursed. Hungry are the Damned - The Simpsons are abducted by aliens, who plan to take them back to their home planet, but Lisa becomes suspicious of their intentions. The Raven - A retelling of Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven".
Homer discovers a new miracle hair growth formula called Dimoxinil and cheats on some insurance forms so that he can buy some. Homer grows hair overnight and is soon given a promotion at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. He gets a new secretary named Karl, who helps him become successful.
Bart fails a test and is told that he has one more chance to pass it or else he will be held back a year. Bart tries to get the class genius Martin Prince to help him, but after that fails, Bart prays for help. That night, Springfield is hit with a massive blizzard and the school is closed, giving Bart one more day to study.
Plot:The city of Springfield orders a clean up of the polluted Lake Springfield and bans waste dumps there. However, someone forgot to tell Homer Simpson that, and when he dumps a silo of "Pig Crap" in it, he inadvertently dooms Springfield, his family, and himself.
Marge, feeling unappreciated by Homer, makes a call to a radio therapist, which Homer overhears at work. Homer, wanting to make it up to Marge, decides to take her to dinner at a fancy restaurant and hires a babysitter to take care of Bart and Lisa. They are sent Ms. Botz, who Bart and Lisa soon discover is actually a burglar nicknamed "The Babysitter Bandit".
While buying ice cream at the Kwik-E-Mart, Homer witnesses a robbery perpetrated by a man believed to be Krusty the Clown, host of the "Krusty the Clown show", Bart's favorite program. Krusty is sent to jail and his show is taken over by his assistant, Sideshow Bob. Bart is certain that Krusty is innocent.
Principal Skinner finally becomes fed up with Bart's pranks and proposes that Bart be sent to France as part of the student exchange program. The family agrees and Bart is sent to a "beautiful chateau", which is actually a dilapidated wine making facility.
Bart purchases a mini spy camera and manages to take a picture of Homer dancing with a belly dancer named Princess Kashmir at a co-worker's bachelor party. He gives copies of the picture to his friends, and eventually the picture starts to circulate around until eventually Marge sees it.
Having forgotten about Marge's birthday, Homer rushes to the Springfield mall and impulsively buys her a bowling ball. Marge is not impressed with the gift and after discovering that he intends to use it, she decides to spite him by going bowling herself. While at the alley, she meets Jacques, a charming French bowling instructor, who offers her lessons.
Bart becomes friends with Jimbo, Dolph, and Kearney, a group of local troublemakers. Trying to impress them, Bart decides to cut off and steal the head of the statue of Jebediah Springfield. The next day, the entire town grieves for the vandalized statue and Bart discovers that his new friends want to attack the vandal. Feeling remorse, Bart confesses to his family and Homer and Bart take the head back to the statue.
Homer becomes envious of Flanders' new RV and goes to "Bob's RV Round-up" to buy one of his own. Settling on a dilapidated camper, he takes the family camping and in the process destroys the RV. Leaving Lisa and Marge behind, Bart and Homer try to find their way back to civilization, but have little luck.
Lisa becomes depressed, which begins to affect her performance in school. Neither Marge nor Homer are able to make Lisa happier. One night, she hears distant Jazz music and sneaks out of her room to follow it. She meets Bleeding Gums Murphy, who teaches her how to express her music through the saxophone.
Bart runs afoul of Nelson Muntz, the school bully, who begins attacking Bart every day after school. Homer suggests fighting back, which does not work. Desperate for a solution, Bart visits Grampa for advice. Grampa takes Bart to meet Herman, who suggests that Bart rally all of the school children and declare war on Nelson.
Homer takes his family to the company picnic at Mr. Burns's manor. Marge, Bart and Lisa embarrass Homer and he notices that Mr. Burns seems to favour a family who love and respect one another. Convinced that both he and his family are pathetic, he takes everyone to Dr. Marvin Monroe's family therapy center.
Bart's class visits the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and Homer, anxious to look like he is working, accidentally crashes his cart into a radioactive pipe, causing him to immediately be fired. Depressed and unable to find a new job, he decides to jump off a bridge. His family discover his plan and try to stop him, but in the process they are almost run over by a truck.
Bart has trouble on an intelligence test and sneakily switches tests with Martin Prince, the class genius. After the results are tabulated, the school psychiatrist labels Bart a genius and sends him to the Enriched Learning Center for Gifted Children. Homer starts treating Bart with respect, but Bart immediately feels out of place among his new classmates and is alienated from his old peers.
While Christmas shopping, Bart sneaks off and gets a tattoo. Marge soon discovers this and uses the family's Christmas savings to get it removed. Meanwhile, Homer discovers that he will not be getting a Christmas bonus from Mr. Burns and thus the family has no money to buy Christmas presents. He decides to keep their financial troubles a secret and gets a job as a department store Santa, but later discovers that the job does not pay enough.