It was ranked the third best episode of the entire series by Entertainment Weekly.

A similar list by Los Angeles Times ranked the episode as the fourth worst of the series, describing it as "boring".

A similar list by the Los Angeles Times ranked the episode much higher at 31, writing "The haters need to shut up.

Entertainment Weekly ranked the episode as number eleven on their list of the top twenty-five The Simpsons episodes.

Michael Moran of The Times ranked the episode as the best in the show's history.

A similar list by Los Angeles Times ranked the episode at 49th, describing it as "a great first chapter that sadly never got a worthy follow-up."

In 1997 TV Guide ranked the episode number 52 on its '100 Greatest episodes of All Time' list.

He also ranked the final episode "Always" No. 1 on 2011's Top 10 TV Episodes list.

Daily Kos, an American political blog, ranked the episode at number eight in its list of the ten best episodes in the series.

The Futon Critic ranked the episode as the 19th best television episode of 2005, calling it "note-perfect."