Our Top 5 Podcast Episodes of 2024
As we get ready to ring in the new year, we felt inspired to look back at the episodes of Springfield Googolplex this year that listeners loved the most.
Over the course of 2024, we produced 18 episodes covering the good, the bad, and the ugly of movies referenced on The Simpsons. But a few stood out in terms of total listeners and plays.
Here are the top five most popular episodes of the Springfield Googolplex podcast in 2024. If you’re just learning about us for the first time, this is a great place to start!
1. Pulp Fiction with Bill Oakley
Episode 31 | July 30, 2024
Unsurprisingly, in our most popular episode of the year featured former Simpsons showrunner and fast food critic Bill Oakley to revisit Pulp Fiction (1994) on its 30th anniversary.
Together, we talked about one of our all time favorite episodes, “22 Short Films About Springfield” (S7E21), its parody of Pulp Fiction, the shared DNA of Quentin Tarantino and The Simpsons, and more. Listen to the full episode.
2. Rear Window with Emma Badame
Episode 32 | August 13, 2024
In our first deep dive into Alfred Hitchcock—one of the top 10 most referenced directors on The Simpsons—we took on Rear Window (1954) and one of the Simpsons parodies that first inspired the podcast, “Bart of Darkness” (S6E1).
Film Critic and ThatShelf.com Managing Editor Emma Badame joins the pod to explore her love of Hitchcock and The Simpsons and the simple perfection of this single-set classic. Listen to the full episode.
3. Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
Episode 30 | July 16, 2024
Okay, this one is definitely the sleeper hit of our to five. Have you ever wondered about the movies behind Simpsons episode titles? It turns out, this is where you can find some of the deepest-cut movies—and some of them are spicy!
As part of a double feature focused on “22 Short Films About Springfield,” we did a cold watch of its relatively obscure namesake, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993). This artsy anti-biopic gave us the opportunity to dig into a statistical analysis of movie references in Simpsons episode titles and geek out about Canadian film. Listen to the full episode.
4. Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Dede Crimmins
Episode 35 | October 22, 2024
For our annual Halloween episode, film critic and horror aficionado Dede Crimmins joins us again to revel in the operatic masterpiece Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), our first foray into the work of Francis Ford Coppola, another one of the top 10 most referenced directors on The Simpsons.
The acting in “Treehouse of Horror IV” (S5E5) may put some of the performances in Dracula to shame (sorry, Keanu, we love you), but the inventive production design and special effects are second to none. Listen to the full episode.
5. All the President’s Men with Devan Scott
Episode 36 | November 5, 2024
Election night this year had us feeling nostalgic about simpler times, so we revisited a movie about Sideshow Bob’s own election shenanigans in “Sideshow Bob Roberts” (S6E5) and one of its political conspiracy inspirations, All the President’s Men (1976).
Filmmaker and podcaster Devan Scott helped us go deep into the influential cinematography of this landmark of ‘70s cinema. Listen to the full episode.
Honorable Glavins
While these episodes just missed the top five, we couldn’t resist shouting out the wide variety of the rest of the top ten. Check them out for yourself:
6. Twilight Zone: The Movie with Matthew Simpson
Episode 34 | October 8, 2024
7. This Is Spinal Tap with Marko Djurdjic
Episode 23 | February 27, 2024
8. The Terminator with Matt Lynch
Episode 38 | December 17, 2024
9. Godzilla (1954)
Episode 26 | April 9, 2024
10. Batman (1989) with Shahbaz Siddiqui
Episode 28 | June 18, 2024
Bonus: Our Top Social Media Post of the Year
See You in 2025
Those were some of the highlights of the past year, but there’s lots to look forward to in 2025!
Join us as we dissect more classic films, hidden gems, and forgotten nonsense—along with some more exciting guests. After a short hiatus we will kick things off February 4, 2025, with the infamous box office bomb Wild Wild West (1999) and its send-up in “The Sweetest Apu” (S13E19). But until then…
We’ll see you round the ‘Plex.
Wild Wild West (1999) in “The Sweetest Apu” (S13E19).
