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• Hi-Diddily-Ho! It's the best (and the rest) Ned Flanders episodes of The Simpsons

Howdily-doodily, readers! It's a brand new year for us here at Popverse, and we're bringing you some brand new ways to enjoy your favorite TV shows. First up is a little series we're calling Best Of/Rest Of, where we'll break down a popular series by character or theme, then tell you which of those episodes are ranked best, and give you a full list of each episode that fits the description. Let's kick it off with The Simpsons, particularly, with everybody's favorite faithful, Ned Flanders!

Outside of the characters whose names are actually Simpson, there are few more prominent residents of Springfield than Homer & Marge's neighbor, Ned Flanders. Flanders has been through it all - the loss of a wife, a breakup, crises upon crises of faith - and emerged from it all with a mustachioed smile. Maybe that's why we love him so much - if Flanders can make it, we figure, so can we.

Whatever the reason for his beloved status, there have been several episodes that fans widely agree encapsulate the finest of Rod and Todd's father, which we'll tell you here in out list of...

The Best Ned Flanders episodes of the Simpsons in order

• Homer Loves Flanders
• Viva Ned Flanders
• Hurricane Neddy
• A Streetcar Named Marge
• Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily
• Dead Putting Society
• A Serious Flanders (Pts. 1 & 2)

Of course, that's not even scratching the surface of the totality of Flanders' role on The Simpsons, one he's held since the very first episode aired in 1989 (to be clear, however, Flanders was not a part of the original Tracey Ullman cartoon shorts). To understand his full impact, we're going to have to go through all of his major appearances, which means we're going to have to go through...

Every Ned Flanders episode of the Simpsons

Really quickly, let's be clear about what we mean when we call something a "Ned Flanders episode." Basically, the titles below all feature Ned in a prominent role in regards to the plot (at least, according to the Simpsons wiki page). This means we're leaving out many episodes in which Flanders makes a minor appearance (which, let's face it, is almost every episode of the show).

Got that? Ok, let's dive in:

• Season 1, Episode 1: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
• Season 2, Episode 13: Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
• Season 2, Episode 20: The War of the Simpsons
• Season 2, Episode 6: Dead Putting Society
• Season 3, Episode 16: Bart the Lover
• Season 3, Episode 3: When Flanders Failed
• Season 4, Episode 10: Lisa's First Word
• Season 4, Episode 2: A Streetcar Named Marge
• Season 4, Episode 3: Homer the Heretic
• Season 5, Episode 16: Homer Loves Flanders
• Season 5, Episode 19: Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song
• Season 5, Episode 5: Treehouse of Horror IV
• Season 5, Episode 8: Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood
• Season 6, Episode 1: Bart of Darkness
• Season 6, Episode 14: Bart's Comet
• Season 6, Episode 24: Lemon of Troy
• Season 7, Episode 10: The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular
• Season 7, Episode 3: Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily
• Season 8, Episode 22: In Marge We Trust
• Season 8, Episode 5: Bart After Dark
• Season 8, Episode 8: Hurricane Neddy
• Season 9, Episode 4: Treehouse of Horror VIII
• Season 9, Episode 6: Bart Star
• Season 9, Episode 9: Realty Bites
• Season 10, Episode 10: Viva Ned Flanders
• Season 10, Episode 12: Sunday, Cruddy Sunday
• Season 10, Episode 18: Simpsons Bible Stories
• Season 11, Episode 10: Little Big Mom
• Season 11, Episode 11: Faith Off
• Season 11, Episode 14: Alone Again, Natura-Diddily
• Season 11, Episode 4: Treehouse of Horror X
• Season 12, Episode 19: I'm Goin' to Praiseland
• Season 12, Episode 8: Skinner's Sense of Snow
• Season 13, Episode 7: Brawl in the Family
• Season 14, Episode 10: Pray Anything
• Season 14, Episode 13: A Star is Born-Again
• Season 14, Episode 18: Dude, Where's My Ranch?
• Season 15, Episode 10: Diatribe of a Mad Housewife
• Season 15, Episode 7: Tis the Fifteenth
• Season Season 16, Episode 15: Treehouse of Horror XV
• Season 16, Episode 20: Home Away from Homer
• Season 16, Episode 21: The Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star
• Season 16, Episode 6: Midnight Rx
• Season 16, Episode 8: Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass
• Season 17, Episode 14: Bart Has Two Mommies
• Season 17, Episode 18: The Wettest Stories Ever Told
• Season 17, Episode 21: The Monkey Suit
• Season 17, Episode 9: Simpsons Christmas Stories
• Season 18, Episode 22: You Kent Always Say What You Want
• Season 19, Episode 5: Treehouse of Horror XVIII
• Season 20, Episode 1: Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes
• Season 20, Episode 12: No Loan Again, Naturally
• Season 20, Episode 5: Dangerous Curves
• Season 21, Episode 16: The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed
• Season 21, Episode 20: To Surveil With Love
• Season 21, Episode 5: The Devil Wears Nada
• Season 22, Episode 22: The Ned-liest Catch
• Season 23, Episode 21: Ned 'N Edna's Blend Agenda
• Season 23, Episode 3: Treehouse of Horror XXII
• Season 24, Episode 15: Black-Eyed, Please
• Season 24, Episode 18: Pulpit Friction
• Season 24, Episode 6: A Tree Grows in Springfield
• Season 26, Episode 16: Sky Police
• Season 26, Episode 18: Peeping Mom
• Season 26, Episode 21: Bull-E
• Season 27, Episode 19: Fland Canyon
• Season 29, Episode 15: No Good Read Goes Unpunished
• Season 29, Episode 19: Left Behind
• Season 29, Episode 21: Flanders' Ladder
• Season 30, Episode 3: My Way or the Highway to Heaven
• Season 31, Episode 10: Bobby, It's Cold Outside
• Season 31, Episode 19: Warrin' Priests (Part One)
• Season 31, Episode 20: Warrin' Priests (Part Two)
• Season 31, Episode 9: Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
• Season 31, Episode 16: Better Off Ned
• Season 32, Episode 12: Diary Queen
• Season 32, Episode 16: Manger Things
• Season 33, Episode 6: A Serious Flanders: Part One
• Season 33, Episode 7: A Serious Flanders: Part Two
• Season 34, Episode 13: The Many Saints of Springfield
• Season 34, Episode 20: The Very Hungry Caterpillars
• Season 34, Episode 3: Lisa the Boy Scout
• Season 35, Episode 6: Iron Marge
• Season 36, Episode 10: O C'mon All Ye Faithful
• Season 36, Episode 12: The Man Who Flew Too Much 

And with that, our humble Best Of/Rest Of list for one Ned Flanders is complete. But before we leave you, here's a little peek into what the internet is asking about the pop culture's least freaky Jesus freak.

Who voices Ned Flanders on the Simpsons?

That would be voice actor and Simpsons staple Harry Shearer, who has been with the show since its very first episode and is one of the longest-running Simpsons voice actors out of the entire bunch.

What is Ned Flanders' catchphrase?

Though "okily-dokily" is probably the catchphrase most associated with our boy, you can pretty much add "ily" or "iddly" to the end of any phrase and come up with something that sounds at least Flanders-esque, but be careful doing it too close to a Disney lawyer.

Don't want to get hit with a coppily-rightily infringementiddly.

Why is Ned Flanders so buff? 

Yes, not only is Flanders indeed swole, but the internet is apparently very interested in finding out why. Maybe it's because of the Stupid Sexy Flanders meme (though he's covered up in a ski suit there) or maybe it's because you've seen the episode Diatribe of a Mad Housewife and . Sadly, we don't have Flanders's exercise routine handy, but perhaps even more important than knowing that is asking yourself why you're so interested in what's going on under that green sweater/pink shirt combo.

And even more important than that? Asking why you and I are not friends yet.

Anyway, that's all we've got for today, Flanders fanatics. Goodbydly-dydly, thanks for joining us.

All this Flanders talk got you wanting more from the residents of Springfield? Check out Popverse's Simpsons watch order for exactly that.