Legendary ‘Simpsons’ Showrunner Bill Oakley Ranks the Show’s All-Time Best Food Jokes
Given the sprawling buffet of cuisine-related gags that have made it into the 773 Simpsons episodes and counting over the last 35 years, only an unparalleled expert on both the show and on food could narrow the many thousands of punchlines down to a definitive three-course meal of the top Simpsons food jokes — mmm, definitive.
Former Simpsons head writer and co-showrunner Bill Oakley isn’t just an undisputed authority on the show that put him on the map, he’s also an expert junk food writer whom The Wrap once hailed as “the Gordon Ramsay of fast food” for his many viral reviews of drive-thru fare. The 58-year-old Oakley also has plenty of experience combining his two areas of expertise, as, last year, he partnered with a Portland-area brewery to create the Steamed Hams Lager that goes great with Albany-style burgers. On top of all that, Oakley is the founder and head of the Steamed Hams Society, a members-only organization dedicated to the “discussion of food, recipes, restaurants and snacks (as well as The Simpsons, memes, TV and many other subjects).”
Suffice it to say that the only person who would possibly be a better judge than Oakley for the top three Simpsons food jokes of all time would have to be Homer Simpson himself.
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As such, Oakley was kind enough to settle the debate on the best gastronomic gag in Simpsons history by naming his top three picks in an Instagram post earlier today:
“We put SO many food jokes in The Simpsons back in the day but these are my all-time Top Three. It was hard to narrow it down!” Oakley wrote in the caption. “Just missing the cut were: Two spaghetti meals, Rex Banner’s Banana Kaboom and George Bush pronouncing a cheeseburger ‘really more of a weekend thing’!”
Of course, even with Oakley's unmatched acumen in the field of food on The Simpsons, there are still so many incredible food jokes from the show's historic run that deserve their recognition, despite falling short of being the chef’s choice. As such, here is a small handful of similarly gourmet gags that make us drool…
“Or-eh-gah-no?”