Thanks to pearljamfan80 (Nick) for the suggestion in the chat room!

Description of part 1: Groundskeeper Willie strikes oil underneath the school. This leaves townspeople to believe that the school is rich. Mr. Burns decided he wants to buy the oil well to protect his interests but Skinner rejects. Burns erects his own derrick which drills into the school's oil source. Burns's well strikes the school's oil and a burst of oil destroys Bart's treehouse, injures Santa's Little Helper, and cheats the school out of the money it could have made. Everybody in Springfield vows revenge against Burns. He retaliates with his own scheme, to block out the sun so that people will be forced to use nuclear power. The town is outraged --- even Smithers who is fired for insubordination. Burns surprises the townspeople at a Town Hall meeting and blocks out the sun's rays. He walks away happily, but is shot in the chest by a mystery assailant.

Description of part 2: Smithers wakes up with a hangover and recalls the events leading up to the shooting of Mr. Burns and concludes that while drunk, he pulled the trigger. Smithers confesses to a priest, but the booth turns out to be a police trap and Smithers is taken into custody. But Smithers remembers he was at home watching TV when the shooting occurred. He is released. Lisa comes up with a list of possible suspects and the police search Homer's car and discover a gun covered in fingerprints. Homer becomes the chief suspect and when Burns regains consciousness he says Homer's name over and over again. Homer escapes from the wagon carrying him to prison. He sneaks into the hospital and advances on Burns. Lisa races in to tell everybody she has solved the mystery but Mr. Burns reveals the truth, that Maggie shot him after a struggle involving candy.

PREVIOUS EPISODES OF THE MOMENT:
01. Flaming Moes
02. Homerpalooza
03. A Star Is Burns
04. Homer At The Bat

WHO THE DEVIL ARE YOU!!??
That sound clip of Burns used to be my welcome sound on AOL for a while.

anytime.

I remember being hung in suspense at 8 years old...even rushing home from the airport from my flight home from my uncles just to watch it! One of my favs, love everytime they play it.

I thought it was going to be Smithers originally.

Thats who I think everyone thought.

This two-parter is an epic Simpsons moment. I'll never forget watching this and discussing with my family who we thought shot Mr. Burns. I think part 2 is a lot better than part 1, so it didn't disappoint. Overall, one of the best Simpson storylines ever.

Kent Brockman: Burns was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was then transferred to a better hospital where doctors upgraded his condition to "alive."

Marge: [hopeful] The police already have a suspect: it's Mr. Smithers.
[everyone talks animatedly about how plausible that is]
Abe: Yeah, Smingers did it. Case closed. Now where's my hat? I'm
going to the outhouse. [leaves]
Lisa: We don't have an outhouse.
Homer: [gasps] My toolshed!

Eddie: Did you hold a grudge against Montgomery Burns?
Moe: No! [buzz]
All right, maybe I did. But I didn't shoot him. [ding]
Eddie: Checks out. OK, sir, you're free to go.
Moe: Good, 'cause I got a hot date tonight. [buzz]
_A_ date. [buzz]
Dinner with friends. [buzz]
Dinner alone. [buzz]
Watching TV alone. [buzz]
All right! I'm going to sit at home and ogle the ladies in the
Victoria's Secret catalog. [buzz]
[weakly] Sears catalog. [ding]
[angry] Now would you unhook this already, please? I don't
deserve this kind of shabby treatment! [buzz]



Oh, by the way, I thought it was Santa's Little Helper who shot him. My reason was because at the end of part 1, they showed that something dug up the gun that was buried in the yard.

LostDog, you should put links to past Simpsons EOTM.

Good idea. Thanks.

Links to previous EotM are in the main post.

Sweet. Nice pics too.

"Did you have the same dream with the backwards talking and the flaming cards?"......."I'll drive."

Always loved that one.

Skinner: Willy, some time over the holiday weekend the beloved grade four gerbil, uh, Superdude, lost his life. I need you to air out the classroom and give Superdude a proper burial.
[Willy looks inside the box, gets a whiff]
Willy: Gah!
[cut to Willy digging a hole in the dirt]
Eh, you're lucky you're getting a decent burial. Me own father got thrown in the bog.

Marge: I'm happy for the school. It sounds like this money's going to provide a lot of new opportunities.
Bart: Big deal. They didn't approve my idea; they said it was unfeasible.
Lisa: It is unfeasible to resurrect the dead, Bart. And even if the Three Stooges were alive I doubt they'd want to hang around with you.

Lisa: Dad, how can you work for a man like Mr. Burns?
Homer: Well, he's not all bad. He did send me this nice thank-you card.
Lisa: [reading it] "Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie." Dad, this doesn't have your name on it.
[Homer looks closely at the card, then lowers it slowly]
Homer: Kids, would you step outside for a second?
[the kids run out]
[standing up] F --
[a church organ plays a chord; birds fly away; everyone stops]
Ned: Dear Lord! That's the loudest profanity I've ever heard.

"You know those guitars that are like...double guitars?"

"Chocolate microscopes?"

Hahah...that double guitar thing always makes me laugh.

It's not from this one, but I just saw this scene and I'm pretty sure it's my favorite dialogue ever:

Principal Skinner: I saw my vision of heaven.
Bart: Was I there?
P.S.: No, it was HEAVEN.

I think this cliffhanger was the "shark-jumping" moment of the Simpsons for me. Myself and a bunch of fellow nerds spent many summer evenings that year re-watching the season finale to try and figure it out. Someone in our group did eventually come up with Maggie and once we realized it, it made sense. We felt pretty proud when the new season premiered.

If you spent all summer trying to figure it out and rewatching it, how would that be a shark jumping moment? Seems like the episode really lured you in and you enjoyed it.

And it seems like its gone downhill from there... Although of course my life might have progressed beyond watching Simpsons episodes repeatedly on tape with a group of guys...

Barely.

they def. have better episodes

You no like?

these are great episodes. i like when burns wakes up and is recounting what had happened... he had a line like "with smithers out of the picture, i was free to wallow in my own crapulence"

such a great line.

not really , it's not a classic. it has funny parts - but it just seems to drag on