Sideshow Bob's GREATEST Scheme...for revenge!

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KawaiiMickii

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While it is widely perceived that the greatest Sideshow Bob episode is Cape Feare, the purpose of this thread is to determine which of his SCHEMES was the greatest, irregardless of overall episode quality or popularity.

Sideshow Bob has been featured in 10 episodes over the years however I feel 3 are disqualified for the following reasons:

1. Brother from Another Series- Bob was not the schemer in this ep.

2. The Great Louse Detective- Bob's role was to deduce the identity of Homer's would-be assassin.

3. The Italian Bob- While in Italy, the Simpson family discover Bob's whereabouts.


So, here for your consideration, are Bob's eligible schemes for revenge:

1. Krusty Gets Busted: Bob frames his tormentor for armed robbery and steals the spotlight as host of the show.

2. The Black Widower: Bob plots to murder Bart's aunt, Selma, inheriting her small fortune in the process (enough funds for Bob to resume a lifestyle he grew accutomed to as a tv personality)

3. Cape Feare: While the episode is great, the plan itself is pretty straighforward: stalk, terrorize, then kill Bart.

4. Sideshow Bob Roberts: Bob successfully lobbies for his freedom, fixes the mayoral election, and abuses his powers to make life miserable for the Family Simpson.

5. Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming: Tiring of television's ill effects on humanity, Bob capitolizes on his access to the Air Force base by stealing a nuclear bomb to hold Springfield hostage. He'll relent under one condition- the utter abolition of television.

6. Day of the Jackenapes: Upon learning Krusty had erased his television performances, Bob vows to pay Krusty in kind by erasing his future. Bob is paroled again. His plan- hypnotize Bart to kill Krusty at his farewell broadcast: a 2-for-1 revenge scheme.

7. Funeral for a Fiend: Bob lures the Simpsons into a "trap", fully intent on being foiled. During his trial he vilifies Bart for driving him to a life of crime & madness. He then creates a scene, knowing Bart will intervene, then fakes his own death his the help of his father (a doctor). In death, Bob turns the town against Bart. Upon the advice of Bob's brother, Cecil, Bart races to the crematorium to make piece with Bob, only to walk right into the villain's clutches. Bob springs from the coffin and encloses Bart inside to be cremated, afterward he'd be free to disappear w/ his family.

Remember, you're voting on the scheme, not the episode as a whole.
 
'Black Widower''s scheme was ingenious; very complex and very nicely deduced. The episode itself is without a doubt my favorite Bob episode.
 
I'd have to say "Sideshow Bob Roberts" since, if his ego hadn't gone out of control at the end, he would have gotten away with it. While the same can be said for "Cape Feare" and "Day of the Jackanapes," Bob would once again have become a wanted fugitive anyway if he had killed Bart and/or Krusty, while Bob's position as Mayor would let him go free and use all the city's resources to get revenge.
 
Cape Feare, just for the fact it was straightforward, no need for any convoluted stuff that the other ones did: just get out of jail, stalk & kill Bart. Plus how he was able to persuade the parole board to parole him was will performed. If he didn't fall for Bart's trick, he could've won.
 
Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming was undoubtedly Bob at his most dangerous, as he was going to obliterate all of Springfield, not just Bart or his family.

In terms of his most ingenious plan, it's either "Black Widower" or "Sideshow Bob Roberts". In both, Bob looks to have changed for the better, but Bart suspects something's awry and sure enough, is right. And the big revelation speeches at the end of both shows how complicated his plans were, all for something as simple as getting revenge on the Simpson family.
 
I was tempt to say Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming where he aim to blow up an entire town until TV was demolished, but I instead chose Sideshow Bob Roberts which in my opinion exhibits a truly great mixture of Bob's evil and intelligence. If he wasn't so used to the fact that he's constantly outdone by two young siblings, he probably would have stayed as mayor and turned Springfield into his own personal playground.
 
I'm still going with "Cape Feare" as the greatest actual Sideshow Bob episode....Sure,it was just straightforward "Bob trying to kill Bart",but IMO,it's one of the funnier Simpsons episodes....I STILL laugh at the "rake" gag,and Homer's accidently scaring Bart in bed twice {first with a butcher knife,then with a chainsaw and hockey mask}...

but as for greatest scheme,I'd go with "Black Widower"....For most of the episode,noone {except Bart} has any idea that Bob could somehow be plotting something evil {In this case,planning to kill Selma on their honeymoon}....
 
I'll have to go with Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming just for the way he conjures up the plan to destroy Springfield and TV. I love how maniacal he acts in that episode too, especially when he tries to fly the Wright Brothers plane into Krusty's only spot for broadcast.
 
In Sideshow Bob Roberts his mistake was cheating when he did not need to. Before he used the names of dead people to fix the vote in his favor he would have seen if he even had a chance to lose. He was getting all of the votes anyway. It was fixing something he never really needed to fix that really got him in trouble.

Then again all his schemes no matter how well done they are seem to have a gleaming flaw that undermines it all.

Anyway Cape Feare is my favorite. A simple plan but one that still failed to his complex mind.
 
I'm actually not the biggest Sideshow Bob episode fan, to be honest. I did enjoy the first 4 Bob episodes though. I'd say I like Sideshow Bob Roberts the best; it was a great and very funny satire.
 
3F08 probably contained his most grandiose scheme, although 2F02 had the scheme that came closest to working. Still, 9F22, despite being the simplest of all his schemes (just corner Bart in his room and kill him), remains my favorite Bob episode of all.

On a related note, I've recently been catching up on the Season 17 and 18 episodes I missed, and I've decided that HABF02 has dethroned CABF10 as the lamest Sideshow Bob episode ever. I know I'm supposed to suspend my disbelief when I watch "The Simpsons", but even I can't buy Bob wearing his prison uniform under his suit.
 
OK, it's been a few days since I voted, but it's taken me this long to come up with a decent explanation, seeing as I'm the only one who voted for this scheme so far.

I voted for Krusty Gets Busted, Bob's first attempt. Perhaps not the most intricate scheme (like stealing the election), or even the most villainous (like trying to murder Bart), or even the most outlandish (trying to abolish TV). (BTW, Krusty's broadcasts from the Civil Defence Shack in the Springfield Badlands: GENIUS!).

Arguably, this was perhaps the only scheme that Bob truly pulled off. Even though he did win the mayoral election, he needed Birch Barlow to get him out of jail. I liked the simplicity of it all, there's no beating about the bush; he frames Krusty and takes over his show. And not only that, he had himself all set up to make a fortune at the same time.

And of course, this scheme set the stage for almost every Sideshow Bob episode to come after.
 
I voted for Sideshow Bob Roberts when this thread was started, but didn't post until now. Wow, that seems to be the most popular choice by a landslide.


Is it really necessary to use the episodes' obscure production numbers? Why not just use the actual titles, which were posted at the top of the thread? That would make it a lot easier to understand which ones you're talking about.
 
For us Simpsons geeks, the production codes are basically the episode titles' equivalent of shorthand. But if you insist...

3F08 - "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming"
2F02 - "Sideshow Bob Roberts"
9F22 - "Cape Feare"
HABF02 - "The Italian Bob"
CABF10 - "Day of the Jackanapes"
 
I'm going with rigging an election. I mean, only someone terribly evil will do that. And I'm going to end that thought right there.

I will say, Sideshow bob's last gleaming was an enjoyable episode, but the dullest SB episode I've ever seen. Even the last two had more of an impact on me. It seemed like something they would have done if the Simpsons moved to daytime Syndication for kids.
 
I had to go with "Funeral..."

A plot as intricate as it was diabolical. First to stage a red herring trap, then baiting Bart into "killing him thus shaming him to make amends w/ Bob only to fall prey to his ultimate trap: death by cremation. It truly was the perfect crime.
 
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