History Heartwarming / TheSimpsons

** The episode's inciting incident is Bart writing inappropriate stories over library books to amuse the younger kids. He does this out of love for the kids rather than selfish malice, and it ends up making them more interesting in reading.

** At the end, Marge and Homer hug Bart and tell him how much they appreciate him. Bart loves them right back... but then realizes that Homer added "just recently."

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS34E15Bartless Bartless]]" features an alternate timeline in which Bart is not part of the Simpsons family. They now live in a luxurious mansion next to the Springfield sign, with Marge as head of medicine in an animal hospital while Homer has a dream job working the Jumbotron at Isotopes Stadium. They then find Bart wandering the street, and while the police look for his parents, the Simpsons take him in. Bart then procedes to disrupt their lives with his usual shenanigans, only instead of exasperating then, he ends up making their lives better in unexpected ways.

** In this timeline, Lisa is especially uptight, keeping her Malibu Stacy dolls in their original packages and doing a diorama on the history of homework. Bart helps her loosen up, and they also bond over their mutual mental disorders (OCD for Lisa, ADHD for Bart).

'''Lisa:''' Yes. No! ''[[{{Tsundre}} I don't know!]]'' It means that... that life is full of unexpected things and you should never give up. And you're cute in the moonlight.

'''Lisa:''' Yes. No! ''[[Tsundre I don't know!]]'' It means that... that life is full of unexpected things and you should never give up. And you're cute in the moonlight.

** After Bart exposes his MallSanta gig, Homer drags him backstage, seemingly ready to tear him apart. However when alone, Homer confesses to Bart that he didn't get his Christmas bonus and begs him to keep it quiet from the family until he can make up the money. Bart in turn praises his willingness to "sink so low" just to ensure his family has a good Christmas.

** Marge's misguided attempt to nurture Bart's brain with the opera after going years without doing so is sweet in it's own way.

** Homer falling off the balcony at the power plant only to get caught by the crowd of admiring protesters.
* The beginning of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E5BartTheGeneral Bart the General]]". Bart has been insulting Lisa all morning. Upon getting to school, one of Nelson's cronies takes a batch of muffins Lisa had baked earlier. That's ''all'' it takes for Bart to attack the cronie and he winds up punching Nelson in the face and is challenged to fight. Bart ends up having nightmares about Nelson every night. It's the first sign in the series that Bart [[BigBrotherInstinct isn't a total jerk towards his sister]].

** Lisa is deeply, profoundly sad. Marge encourages her to fake smile and pretend to be happy--but then when she sees how Lisa is being patronized by her teacher and fellow pupils, she pulls her back in the car, and has one of the all-time great speeches: "If you want to be sad, honey, be sad. We'll ride it out with you. And when you get finished feeling sad, we'll still be there. From now on, let me do the smiling for both of us." Then, when she tells Lisa it's okay for her to not smile, Lisa gives the CMOH payoff line: "I feel like smiling!"

* A small one from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E8TheTelltaleHead The Telltale Head]]," Mr. Burns of all people [[NotSoStoic bursts into tears]] at the sight of the headless statue, and Smithers comforts him, patting him on the back and giving him a tissue to blow his nose. And near the end of the episode, Mr. Burns solemnly declares, "I love you, Smithers," which Smithers gladly reciprocates. [[OutOfCharacterMoment Out of character]]? Possibly. A cute moment that showcases the [[TrueCompanions bond]] between these two? Absolutely.

* Near the end "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E11TheCrepesOfWrath The Crepes of Wrath]]" when Bart finally understands enough French to tell a police officer that he's being abused by his exchange family and that they're selling wine tainted with anti-freeze and the officer taking him to the station with Bart telling him, "Mon savieur. Vous aurez toujours une place dans mon coeur" (Translation: "My savior, you will always have a place in my heart")

* Homer's big speech at the end of "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS1E10HomersNightOut Homer's Night Out]]" where he says that women should be treated like human beings and not objects (out of guilt for him dancing with a woman at a party which got photographed by Bart and which Marge found humiliating) and Marge sees the whole thing and hugs and forgives him. Even the men in the audience are touched by the speech, and two patrons even share photos of their daughters.

** After Krusty's heart attack, Bart and Lisa sent him a get well card.

** Krusty getting freed at the end of He thanks Bart for proving his innocence with a handshake and a hug.
--->'''Krusty:''' Well the important thing is that I can regain the trust of the kids...but there was one little boy who trusted me all along.

** Additionally in the episode, while it stands out as an example of CharacterizationMarchesOn, Moe ends up giving Homer some ''genuine'' and legitimately ''helpful'' advice in putting his marriage back on track.

** This exchange marks the HalfwayPlotSwitch from being about Marge feeling underappreciated by Homer to being about the kids dealing with a sociopathic babysitter while the two enjoy a nice evening of dinner and dancing. Keeping in mind that this episode was actually the pilot and only aired last in the season because it was held back while the animation was fixed, it's a long EstablishingCharacterMoment for the relationship which shows that, whatever problems they have, they do in fact love each other very much.

* Mrs. Krabappel passing Bart due to his use of applied knowledge in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E1BartGetsAnF Bart Gets an F]]" is this in addition to the SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, as well as his kissing her for passing him (even though he was grossed-out after realizing what he did) as well as him owing his passing grade to God.

** The whole entire scene of Springfield having fun in on the freak snow day. Every single citizen is happy and at peace and doing fun activities like ice skating (which Santa's Little Helper helps Maggie to do also while holding her up in the star-shaped snowsuit), playing hockey and building snowmen. Mayor Quimby declares it the happiest day of the year, all of the citizens hold hands and sing "Winter Wonderland" [[note]]''And'' if you look closely, you can even see Sideshow Bob there singing (whilst handcuffed to an officer). [[/note]] Even when Homer throws a snowball at Mr. Burns, he's not even angry. He has a good laugh at it, saying that he hasn't seen a good snowball fight in a while, calls him a young ragamuffin and has Smithers throw one back.
** The night prior to the test, Bart prays to God to ask for a miracle, and tells that he only needs one more day to study. Cue a snowfall covering the entire town during the night time, causing the school to be closed for the day. Someone up there wants Bart to succeed.
** Bart then prepares to go out and have fun in the snow, but Lisa stops him, and tells him that she heard Bart praying, and while not fully understanding who or what is exactly God, only grasping that he's someone more powerful than mom and dad together, she makes Bart realize that this is very likely the miracle he was asking for. Despite their sibling rivalry, Lisa genuinely wants Bart to succeed on this arduous task.
** Early in the episode, Homer hangs the latest of Lisa's many A-graded tests on the fridge, irritating Bart by covering up his only contribution (an old drawing of a cat). At the end, the family happily hangs up Bart's passing D- grade. Becomes especially sweet when you remember that they all saw him slapping himself while studying in an effort to pay attention the day before, and knew just how hard he'd worked for it.

** Homer's overcome with absolute joy when he wakes up one morning and discovers that the Demoxinyl ''worked''! He has a full head of long hair, which sprouted overnight, and he runs out the door in his pajamas and through the town, cheering and greeting everyone like George Bailey at the end of ''Film/ItsAWonderfulLife''. Once he gets to the town square (where the statue of Jebediah Springfield is located), another man comes running from the opposite side of the town, also still dressed in his night clothes, with a head full of long, curly black hair. The two pause, take a look at each other and realize they just experienced the same overnight miracle.

** At the end of the episode Homer feels Marge won't love him as much anymore because he's ugly and bald again, and Marge reassures him by singing "You Are So Beautiful" while holding him in her arms.
** And in the previous scene Mr. Burns shows sympathy for Homer's baldness problem, having lost his own hair in his early 20s, and lets him have his old job back.
* The ending to "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E5DancinHomer Dancin' Homer]]", where after Homer tells his story to the bar patrons while feeling like a loser for giving up a great opportunity, the patrons tell him his story was great and ask him to tell it again, making Homer realize he's not such a loser after all.

** Near the beginning of the episode, as Homer is watching the game, Mr. Burns takes a seat next to him. Homer has an OhCrap moment, worrying that sitting next to his boss will prevent him from letting loose and having a good time. What happens instead? To Homer's surprise, Mr. Burns [[PetTheDog treats Homer to a beer]], (and then several more,) and the two actually have a moment of genuine camaraderie. They jubilantly heckle the players, drunkenly attempt to do 'the wave,' and laugh together.

** Earlier in the episode, Homer finds Mr Burns sobbing in his car, and actually seems concerned about him. Mr Burns responds to this by letting Homer into his car, and confessing that the power plant is in danger of getting shut down. It's a rare moment of humanity between these two extremely different people.

** Bart passes out after giving blood and when he wakes up, two bums bring him into a soup kitchen and get him some food. Bart gives them twelve bucks, money that he half killed himself to earn by donating said blood.
** Bart is spitefully satisfied when he hears that Homer and Marge are distraught over him going missing... but when he hears Lisa crying, he actually whispers a message to her through the air duct that he's okay, showing apparently genuine empathy for her.

** Homer and Bart are both equally excited about the upcoming monster-truck event that they both gleefully yell about it at each other and hug. Later, at the event, they laugh at each other's quips and have a great time. It's nothing especially noteworthy, but given how antagonist their relationship can be, it's nice to see them on the same wavelength and enjoying spending time together.

** The kids of Springfield going outside and enjoying life after "Itchy And Scratchy" has all the violence taken out of it (thanks to Marge), especially when the Simpsons kids explain what they've been doing (Bart went fishing with Milhouse while Lisa went birdwatching with Janey) and Homer quips that they're both great kids. Becomes a slight TearJerker when it's reversed at the end.

** A very small one, but still kinda sweet. That complete disaster of a so-called spice rack Homer is trying to make in the beginning of the episode? Marge is using it while cooking later.

** When Homer eats a poisonous fish and only has twenty-four hours to live, in his last day of living, he goes around to do everything that he could, including having a man-to-man talk with Bart, listening to Lisa play her saxophone, making a video for Maggie, being nice to Flanders for once and spending his last night with Marge. Each scene itself deserves to be a CMOH. But the best scene is when Homer reconciled with his father. He went to Abe, who acted indifferently to him at first, until Homer told him that he loved him. Then, both started crying and ended in an embrace. And for the rest of the afternoon, despite wanting to do other things, Homer stayed with his dad to do some father-and-son things with him that they never got to do before.

** After his brush with death, Homer vows to live each life to the fullest. Cut to him watching tv and eating pork rinds. It might seem like AesopAmnesia at a glance, but considering how happy he looks you realize he actually is living it up in his own odd way.
* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E12TheWayWeWas The Way We Was]]," young Homer telling Marge he's gonna hug her and kiss her, and he knows he'll never be able to let go of her. Flash forward to the present, where he says "And I never have," and hugs her again.
** The way Homer fixes the strap on Marge's dress seems to imply he figured out what happened and chose not to pry into the matter.

* "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E16BartsDogGetsAnF Bart's Dog Gets an F]]": When Santa's Little Helper passes his final exam, Homer at first claps bitterly and sarcastically, knowing this means the dog gets to stay, but his expression gradually changes to one of genuine joy and he finds himself cheering sincerely.

** Even before that when Homer prevents his father from striking out and losing his money in a casino, despite appearing to have a winning streak, saying "For the first time in 36 years, I'm glad I had children". Later, the two have a moment together when Homer asks him if he's decided what he's going to do with the money while eating a baguette. When Abe sees the elderly people get off the bus. He tells Homer that he has, and wipes the mess made on his mouth.
** Abe recites an excerpt of Creator/RudyardKipling's ''If'', partly because it's some of the only heartfelt fatherly wisdom he's ever shared with Homer, and partly because it shows how desperate he feels in being faced with the suffering of so many people and feeling like he ''still'' doesn't have enough to help like he wants to: in stopping him from blowing his fortune, Homer reminds his father (who raised him as a single dad), that even if you can't always do as much as you want, sometimes, the best you can is still pretty good.

** When Homer rushes to the Retirement Castle to make amends with his father, he tells the nurse to tell Grampa that "I love him and I don't care about his money". The nurse says that "they get a lot of that here". Apparently this is a recurring situation.
* Marge receiving a kind letter from Music/RingoStarr in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E18BrushWithGreatness Brush With Greatness]]", who praises her skills as an artist and is thankful for the portrait she sent him. At that point in the episode, Marge had been expressing serious doubts about her ability to paint Mr. Burns's portrait, and the letter inspires her to finish the job.

** Homer pulls off a good parenting hat trick - comforting Lisa over Mr. Bergstrom leaving, then cheering Bart up over losing the class election and finally giving Maggie her pacifier.

** The scene of Homer cheering up Lisa in her room is a combination of this and a TearJerker in the happy sense. Lisa is literally ''sobbing'' out of grief, and Homer is trying to talk to her and say something intelligent and helpful to get through to her. When this doesn't appear to work, he cheers her up in the only way he ''knows'' he can- by making her laugh. He takes her "baboon" comment in stride and makes her giggle by making baboon noises. Then he picks her up and hugs her. Lisa may have lost Mr Bergstrom, but she still has ''Homer'' in her life.

** The whole point of Homer trying to catch General Sherman in the first place was so he could get some recognition. Releasing General Sherman showed that the only recognition he truly wants is the love of his wife, but, the final scene in the bait shop shows that he still became a legend to the locals in his own right as the man who came closest in catching General Sherman.

** While it naturally [[StatusQuoIsGod doesn't last]], shadowing Homer at work gives Bart a new awareness of how his job provides for the family, causing him to respect him to the point of wanting to follow in his footsteps as a nuclear safety inspector, moving him to tears. He even dresses similarly to Homer saying it's to honor him.

* In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS30E12TheGirlOnTheBus The Girl on the Bus]]" When Lisa is embarassed to introduce a new family she really likes to her own family she hugs Flanders and asks him to pretend to be Lisa's dad without even questioning her whatsover to cover for her.

* Most of "Wad Goals" deals with Marge taking increasingly dramatic measures to get Bart out of a new job caddying at a golf club after discovering that the job largely consists of earning tips by sucking up to the club's wealthy patrons, a skill Bart has taken to with aplomb. It's only when she's exhausted all her resources that she straightforwardly admits to Bart why she doesn't want to see him become a ProfessionalButtKisser: she's always ''admired'' his lack of concern for the approval of others, regardless of all the trouble it got him into, and doesn't want to see him lose what makes him who he is.

* Most of "Wad Goals" deals with Marge taking increasingly dramatic measures to get Bart out of a new job caddying at a golf club after discovering that the job largely consists of earning tips by sucking up to the club's wealthy patrons, a skill Bart has taken to with aplomb. It's only when she's exhausted all her resources that she straightforwardly admits to Bart why she doesn't want to see him become a ProfessionalAssKisser: she's always ''admired'' his lack of concern for the approval of others, regardless of all the trouble it got him into, and doesn't want to see him lose what makes him who he is.

* In "Burns' Heir," Burns prevents Bart from wanting to return home by faking footage of his family saying they don't miss him and are glad he's gone, using actors wearing [[LatexPerfection highly convincing latex masks]]. Bart swallows the story, but when Burns later tasks him with [[FriendOrIdolDecision firing Homer or being disowned as his heir]], he realizes Homer really did miss him when Homer tells him as much. The whole plot could have wrapped there, but the show bothers to throw in another scene where the family spells it out for Bart in as many words that the people he saw in the video were actors playing them. It almost feels like a reassurance to younger viewers who might have been confused on the point.

** Bart comforts Lisa, who initially thought that the mass turnout of Springfield's citizenry was a vigil for Homer (they're for Ned; Homer only has a handful of stragglers) by telling her Homer is an acquired taste, like pineapple on pizza.

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** Even the looting manages to be this [[UnnervinginglyHeartwarming in a twisted sort of way]], given the rest of Springfield did it specifically out of the InsaneTrollLogic that they don't want to stay mad at the Simpsons anymore and just call it even and sincerely wish them a Merry Christmas. At the very least it applies for Ned, who only "steals" things Homer looted off him in the first place.

** Even the looting manages to be this in a twisted sort of way, given the rest of Springfield did it specifically out of the InsaneTrollLogic that they don't want to stay mad at the Simpsons anymore and just call it even and sincerely wish them a Merry Christmas. At the very least it applies for Ned, who only "steals" things Homer looted off him in the first place.

* In one Coke commercial, Mr. Burns' fortune goes belly-up and he's forced to sell all of his assets, including Smithers. He goes to the park and sees that everyone has someone else- Even Chief Wiggum and Snake, handcuffed together, are each enjoying a Coke together. Apu, having just bought an armful of bottles from a cart run by Gil, who actually looks ''happy'' for once, sees Mr. Burns all alone, and gives the Monty a free Coke. This act of kindness turns Burns' day around, and Carl and Lenny pick him up for some fun. The commercial ends with the camera zooming out to show everyone having a good time.