“That word you keep calling me.” – Homer Simpson
“Ignoramus.” – Artie Ziff
“Ignoramus! It means I’m stupid, doesn’t it?” – Homer Simpson
“There is a difference between ignorance and stupidity.” – Artie Ziff
“Not to me there isn’t!” – Homer Simpson
“You ever gone on a killing spree?” – Nelson Muntz
“No, no, the day of the gun toting disgruntled postman shooting up the place went out with the Macarena.” – Post Master Bill
“I’m just glad I work in an elementary school.” – Principal Skinner
“Homer, I don’t think you should wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie” – Marge Simpson
“But Sipowicz does it.” – Homer Simpson
“If Detective Sipowicz jumped off a cliff, would you do that too?” – Marge Simpson
“Oh, wish I was Sipowicz…” – Homer Simpson
“I’m sorry, Marge, but sometimes I think we’re the worst family in town.” – Homer Simpson
“Maybe we should move to a larger community.” – Marge Simpson
“Smithers, I’ve just seen the most heroic dog on television. He pulled a toddler from the path of a speeding car, then pushed a criminal in front of it! Find this dog. I want to make him my executive vice president!” – C.M. Burns
“Our first night together as man and wife.” – Marge Simpson
“Hey, lovebirds, keep it down!” – Patty Bouvier
“I Married Marge” is a wonderful example of a process that’s not quite world building, but pretty close. We already know Homer and Marge get married, we know their oldest is Bart, we know Homer works at the nuclear plant. All of these elements have already been established. But in showing us how it happened, they deepen and expand both the characters and Springfield as a whole.
How does someone like Homer end up working at the plant? He marched into the boss’s office and made it clear that he would be a terrible employee, but that he would also be an obsequious one. It’s not hard to see how that combination would immediately appeal to Mr. Burns.
How does someone like Homer end up married to someone like Marge? He knocks her up. And, sure, that makes sense, but then we get the Simpsonization of it. Bart was conceived inside a supposedly “impregnable” mini-golf castle after a date that involved watching Empire Strikes Back and consuming a lot of cheap alcohol. And all this happens at a place where Homer manually turns windmill blades on his knees and his boss talks about the place like it’s a high honor to be, “the guy who hands out the putters”.
Everything about the Springfield of 1980 leads into the modern (well, 1991) Springfield. We see Marge’s family and how they can barely contain their contempt of Homer now that he’s wormed his way into Marge’s life. We see the rathole house Grampa is living in after his only son left him an empty-nester. We see the even worse rathole Barney and Homer share, dirty, nothing more than a couch and a crappy TV balanced on one of those discarded wooden spools that were so popular at the time. We see that Dr. Hibbert was always a man with a fashionable haircut.
Everybody is in character as not quite who they are yet, but pretty damn close. And all of this is done five years after “The Way We Was”, so it isn’t just a flashback, it’s actively continuing a story. Because of that, even the cheapest of jokes endear the characters to us.
“This is the most beautiful moment of my life.”
“Everything changes when you hit the big One-Oh. Your legs start to go, candy doesn’t taste as good anymore . . .” – Bart Simpson
“Apu? You can take this job and restaff it!” – Homer Simpson
“Your wife agreed that I should break this to you.” – Dr. Hibbert
“No, need, doc. I can read Marge like a book. . . . Ooh, it’s good news! Isn’t it?” – Homer Simpson
“No, Mr. Simpson.” – Dr. Hibbert
“Aw, we’re gonna die and I never tasted cantaloupe!” – Moe
“Eh, you didn’t miss much. Honeydew is the money melon.” – Krusty the Klown
“It was a tumultuous time for a nation! The clear beverage craze gave us all a reason to live. The information superhighway showed the average person what some nerd thinks about Star Trek. And the domestication of the dog continued unabated.” – Homer Siumpson
“There it is!” – Lisa Simpson
“The Duff Beeramyid.” – Bart Simpson
“The Beeramyid contains so much aluminum it would take five men to lift it. Twenty-two immigrant laborers died during its construction.” – Lisa Simpson
“Enh, plenty more where that came from.” – Selma Bouvier
“Hey, Kearney, this fake ID, it is truly excellent. Say, if you tell me where you obtained it, I will overlook the ice cream sandwiches concealed in your armpits.” – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
“Deal.” – Kearney
“I had that dream again.” – Abe “Grampa” Simpson
“Expired ham? Oh, this time I’ve gone too far. No. No one will fall for-” – Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
“Woo-hoo! Cheap meat! Ooh, this one’s open.” – Homer Simpson
“Good news, Lisa! I don’t need your mother anymore! I’ve created a replacement that’s superior to her in almost every way.” – Homer Simpson
“Dad, that’s just a plant.” – Lisa Simpson
“Lisa, you will respect your new mother!” – Homer Simpson
“When I was your age I was a hell raiser, too. My slingshot was my cross. But I saw the light and changed my wicked ways!” – Brother Faith
“I figure I’ll go for the life of sin followed by the presto-change-o deathbed repentance.” – Bart Simpson
“Wow, that’s a good angle. . . . But that’s not God’s angle!” – Brother Faith
“And since I’d achieved all my goals as President in one term, there was no need for a second.” – George Bush, Sr.
“Ooh, there’s going to be a town meeting to decide how to spend Mr. Burns’ money.” – Marge Simpson
“What a boon it could be for our underfunded public schools.” – Lisa Simpson
“Children, it’s time for your history lesson. Put on your virtual reality helmets.” – Miss Hoover
“Mmm, excellent. Hello, Lisa! I’m Genghis Khan! You’ll go where I go. Defile what I defile. Eat who I eat.” – VR Ghenghis Khan
“Bart, I hope you won’t bear some sort of simple minded grudge against me. I was merely trying to fend off the desecration of a school building.” – Martin Prince
“Eat my shorts.” – Bart Simpson
“Pardon?” – Martin Prince
charliesweatpants.com
(The crotch really does wear out too fast.)
Dead Homer Society 
The Mob Has Spoken