The Simpsons Thread (Worst. Thread. Ever!)

[Andrew]

Another episode that was at its worst bland but fairly likeable for the most part. Having glanced at the synopsis on Wikipedia, I was relieved that it didn't turn into another all too familiar marriage crisis plot where Homer does something boorish, Marge questions why she married him in the first place and he wins her back at the end with some grand gesture. The Wii parody subplot wasn't too bad but didn't really get enough screen time to go anywhere and ended too abruptly as a result. Not that everything needs to be resolved, all wrapped up in a neat little package as Homer once put it, but it felt more like a case of "We don't really have time to do anything with it and it's barely been in the episode, that's all the resolution we need".

[benji]

So apparently Armen Tamzarian is actually Seymour Skinner and was born to Mrs. Skinner after all.

[Andrew]

As it should be. Only that one episode and a lone callback support that backstory.

Not a bad episode, it had a decent enough story that flowed pretty well and thankfully didn't turn into another marriage crisis plot. A bit light on the humour, some of Bob Costas' lines were alright (the one about shaving off Larry Bird's moustache was probably the best). Predictable ending, I thought they should've ended on Agnes' line and the Swedish team's reaction and gone out with a bit more of a punch. A couple of parts ran too long, including the sequence with the Mystic Boob Lady from the movie and Homer in the bobsled but on the whole, it was enjoyable enough.

[el badman]

I thought it was pretty good too, some great lines here and there, but yeah, what's up with that Skinner backstory? Pretty shameful to either be too lazy or not knowledgeable enough of your own history to do something like that...

[Andrew]

I consider the Armin Tamzarian backstory to be the aberration. When that episode came along it conflicted with the established backstory anyway and has only been referenced once since then.

[buzzy]

It's like every second episode we argue about them disregarding the Tamzarian backstory and reveal another reviting part of his (or Agnes') life that doesn't go along too well with it. From being a cool, hip pool attendant or something like that to his mother being pregnant with him instead of the actual Skinner etc ..

I just keep wondering why they keep bringing up Skinner in episodes that involve flashbacks. It's like they're doing it on puropse to mock us.

The latest epsiode was alright, but the Simpsons being Olympic winners? Seriously?

[Lamrock]

Why do they still make this show? None of the jokes are ever funny. I watch one episode a season, and it somehow manages to get worse. Should have hung it up a decade ago.

[Andrew]

Why do they still make this show?

It still rates well enough and makes Fox a whole lot of money. Beyond that, every so often they'll have an episode that's at least "good for a show that's going on 500 episodes" and I still find it to be watchable. I find Family Guy to be more abysmal - its decline was really sharp - but I guess that's just me. Perhaps I still just hold too much affection for The Simpsons having been watching it for all these years.

[Andrew]

Another episode with a fairly decent story that would've been better five or six years back, when the show was past its prime but still had a little steam that was being wasted on marriage crisis plots. It doesn't help that Family Guy did something very similar during its initial run and has been playing around with the history of the Griffins ever since, but it was a decent story all the same. Most of the jokes lacked punch, though I enjoyed Ralph's "best one yet", Colonel Burns being Mr Burns' father and Willy laughing to fit in.

[Andrew]

Hate to sound like a broken record, but the latest ep was another one that might've been a bit better about five or six years ago. I was relieved when it stopped short of being another full blown marriage crisis plot, though it was handled a lot better than the rash of "Homer does something outrageous, Marge questions the whole marriage and then Homer wins her back by doing something even more outrageous/following an action scene" episodes a few seasons back. A few Simpson twists as well (Nelson in the window, to name one), not classic material but not bad at all. Another one that I liked well enough given the current quality of the series.

[el badman]

Another episode that started out great but lost speed along the way in my opinion. I liked it overall but the second half was once again weaker than the first. Bart's romance stuff has already been done before, but it was handled differently this time around, which was good. But they went a little far with a few things, like the Michelle Obama part, or Willy kissing Skinner, which they've let drag on for too long. Nelson and his blind "apprentice" was pretty cool. Really, it was mostly Lisa's story that was boring in this episode.

[Andrew]

Both plots were a retread of themes the show has explored before, which isn't necessarily a bad thing; an infamous example would be the run of episodes in Season 3 where three episodes dealt with strained father-child relationships fairly close together. Done differently and above all done well, it isn't a problem since the episode stands by itself and feels like a completely different story even if the issues and themes are very familiar.

To that end, Bart's plot was reminiscent of "Bart's Girlfriend" from Season 6 and (inevitably) walked the same path as other "Bart has a crush" episodes but it wasn't too bad all the same. It could've been better if the whole "No touching" policy was explored a little better instead of ultimately just being played for laughs with Bart falling off the roof and needing medical attention, which never truly resolved the complication. It would've been better if Nikki's parents had been a bit more involved, less of a shallow parody and somehow been involved in the resolution where they reconsider their stance (or maybe they don't).

Hard to do that with a subplot taking up the time though and they really could've gone without it. Lisa feeling isolated and/or alienated due to her intelligence has been done so much better before and an appearance by Angela Bassett impersonating Michelle Obama isn't a fresh enough spin on it to make it interesting this time around. Leave it out and stick with the main plot, and I think the episode could've been better from start to finish. As it is I still liked it though, the stuff with Nelson and the blind kid worked, the more unusual entries in the kissing montage made it funny and I liked Grampa's failed imagination bubble. Solid beginning, so-so ending, everything in between was likeable enough for me.

[benji]

That was simply awful.

[buzzy]

Agreed.

[el badman]

Indeed, I can't believe how bad this one was. A couple of good moments here and there, but mostly terrible. It's like it was going nowehere. Flanders being super mad at Homer was done before, but then it turned out to be an excuse for something else, which was absolutely uninspired.

[Andrew]

I know "Worst. Episode. Ever!" is overdone and somewhat of a running gag when it comes to The Simpsons but you know what? I think I've got make that call here. Easily my least favourite guest star in Sacha Baron Cohen; it doesn't help that I've never been a fan of anything he's done in his career but the long diatribes by his character were not funny at all, they just went on and on getting more and more painful to watch. Way too much screen time for an awful attempt at humour. Just terrible. The story wasn't much better, another tired travel episode with awful characterisation. Absolutely wretched...at least "That 90s Show" had some decent jokes about the 90s. I have to admit I laughed a couple of times - the look of horror on the bible group's faces as Homer slid past nude, Ned's vampire "Blah!" and the subsequent ringtone joke, Ned's reaction to the photos of soft drink bottles and Dr Hibbert's "This looks like a job for...THE MESSIAH!" (predictable but I laughed anyway) - but the rest? Hated it. Just hated it.

Sometime this week I'm going to have to watch some of the classic episodes on DVD, some Season 2-4 to remind myself that Al Jean once knew what good television was and how to write/produce it.

[adv1s5]

I was speechless at the amount of suck ten minutes in. They have the Simpsons travel to Jerusalem with Flanders, sleep on and skateboard over holy landmarks, perpetuate the same Jewish stereotypes the show's been doing since Krusty existed and then do that with an Israeli man, and have two famous Jewish people guest voice, as if that justified everything they just made fun of.

I've noticed this show has made an honest effort to be smarter, to have more heart, and redefine itself in hopes of renewing people's interest. So far, I've just seen cringe-worthy cultural references, near total robbing of what was left of the show's power of empathy, and now an episode with ten minutes of lines from a tour guide who was designed to offend. They went crazy with Ralph and overused him, Lisa is unbearably smug (in this episode, she actually says, "Ah, yes. Jerusalem syndrome."), Homer is heartless, and have basically done their best to remove themselves from any comparisons to the first nine seasons or so. Even if I didn't mind they changed so much in the show, it's still not funny, and hasn't been for a very long time.

9/21 good seasons? Friends did better than that. Please Matt Groening, let this show die peacefully. Make another cartoon however you want to make it, just please don't toy with my affection for the yellow, eight fingered family I grew up with.

[Andrew]

Well, The Simpsons has been making fun of pretty much everyone and everything since day one - America more than anyone else, really - so for me that was the least of the problems with this episode. If it was smart and/or funny then I for one can't take issue with it, but this episode was neither.

[benji]

You know, if you consider this episode a brilliantly sarcastic satire on how far The Simpsons has declined it's pretty smart. Every character is reduced to their lowest forms (we only needed Bart to tell someone to eat his shorts or yell "cowabunga" while skateboarding), they travel to somewhere, as does half of Springfield for inexplicable reasons, have a worthless guest star who is the focus of every promotion and make a bunch of thousand year old jokes.

[Andrew]

Good point, but that's still putting the notion of brilliance in the same breath as this episode and I just can't do it.

[Andrew]

That one was kind of all over the place. The subplot was pretty pointless, to its credit it began fairly organically and had its moments but the episode probably could've been better without it. Not a bad idea having Burns go to jail and Smithers in charge as that was pretty fresh but they wasted the potential. They could've cut the opening down a bit - we know Burns is evil and a tyrannical boss, no need to try and re-establish that - and had Homer and co take advantage of Smithers' good nature finally causing him to snap and become Burns-like rather than him immediately discovering them talking about him behind his back. Another decent idea for a plot explored way too late in the series' run.

[buzzy]

I liked the reference to the first THOH episode with the asbestos scene.

[Andrew]

Yeah, they've done that joke a few times: Schuman's Head of Lettuce in "Bart of Darkness", Homer screaming at the sign he thinks says "DIET" (and again when it's revealed to say "DIET") in "The Springfield Files" to name a couple of other examples apart from the first THOH. I enjoyed it too, though in this case they probably went one reveal too far. Still good for a chuckle.

[el badman]

Didn't really like that one. Some potential like Andrew mentioned, but I thought it was pretty weak overall, and definitely undermined by the useless subplot. I just had a couple of chuckles during Burns' party at the very beginning, and with Abe imagining himself in a bird cage.

[Andrew]

Yeah, Abe's had a couple of funny dream bubbles/asides this season. I'd say he's underused, but I'm sure if he was featured more often he'd end up being overused to the point where he's not funny anymore, similar to Sideshow Mel a few seasons ago.