The Simpsons Thread (Worst. Thread. Ever!)

[jenroe962002]

Weak Episode. Last Episode was way better.

[el badman]

That last episode didn't really make sense at all. I don't know, the main story felt like something that the writing staff should have conpletely discarded after some brainstorming. I kinda liked the premise of how to make Grandpa stop ranting, but what they did with felt pretty uninspired, or just plain awkward at least.

[Andrew]

You know, it wasn't too bad until everyone's eyes started falling out. Huh...never thought I'd use a sentence like that to describe a Simpsons episode.

The idea of controlling Abe's ranting and crankiness with drugs and Lisa's accidental discovery wasn't too bad. It might be a bit of a stretch and I can see it being something that Futurama would be able to do so much better because of its science fiction elements, but even in the classic era The Simpsons would bend reality a little for the sake of the plot or a joke, so it's not a bad thing per se. Once they got to people's eyes falling out though it got a little too grotesque and silly. I admit I got a chuckle out of a couple of jokes at the end there because the whole thing was so ridiculous, but they really didn't need to go there.

There were some decent jokes with the field trip at the beginning, the Skinner/Chalmers stuff remains a strong suit and the Devil's Anvil joke, while a little obvious, is the kind of gag I could see them going with in the classic era. Best of all, they didn't ruin it with exposition. A lot of jokes did fall flat though, including most of the stuff with Walter Hotenhoffer. On the whole the plot was kind of interesting, some alright jokes amongst the misses but the ending was needlessly weird and gross for the sake of being gross, very much a letdown.

[Andrew]

A little late on this one, but last week's episode wasn't too bad. Plot wasn't anything special, just your standard celebrity appearance/Homer gets a new job episode, but there were a couple of funny moments with Homer and the kids at the start and Skinner's deadpan performances in Teach & Chong.

[shadowgrin]

Could have posted this in Football Talk thread in the Sports Lounge section, meh.

Link

The head of mechanical and industrial engineering at Qatar University announced plans this week to develop an "artificial cloud" that will be positioned in the sky to provide shade and help reduce the heat in stadiums for the 2022 World Cup. The incredible plan has made news around the world with many wondering how Qatar University could come up with such a fantastical concept. Well, it didn't. The Simpsons did.

In the legendary two-part 1995 episode entitled "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" nefarious power plant owner C. Montgomery Burns devises a plan to create a giant shield that will block the sun and keep Springfield in perpetual darkness. Springfield's wacky residents soon turn on Mr. Burns and the mystery of his shooting ensues

[Andrew]

Once again, life imitates The Simpsons.

[el badman]

Can't say I enjoyed that last episode...Everything just felt like it had been done fifty times before, and Bart exploiting the situation was more than predictable. The Abdul-Jabbar joke was alright, but certainly not enough to save that episode imo. Very weak.

[Andrew]

Finally got around to watching it. Once again, a decent idea that's actually kind of fresh - Homer's strangling of Bart being portrayed negatively rather than played for laughs and him being called out on it - was wasted with a flat episode that lost focus and tried to be funny instead, but came up short. I too liked Kareem's appearance but it was one of the few memorable moments of the episode. I really disliked the ending, it was a poor attempt at dark humour; "Homer's Enemy" it was not. It's disappointing because again, I think that was a good idea for an episode but just not done very well at all.

At times, it's almost like we're getting the first draft of the episode. I think there's some good ideas still being pitched given that the series is approaching 500 episodes but they're not being done justice.

[Andrew]

Latest episode was better in my opinion. It was a familiar "hobby plot" and the ending was needlessly silly (silly/wacky humour is fine, but it's got to be done well and not just try to get by on something a bit more substantial than "Isn't this silly?"; something about it has to actually be funny) but I did like the back and forth between the guest voices, the Great Raymondo wasn't too bad for a one shot character and it's about the most likeable Lisa's been for quite a few episodes now. Not exactly my favourite this season, but good enough.

[Andrew]

As with South Park and Family Guy, I was a couple of episodes behind with The Simpsons but caught up on them this evening. Perhaps I was just in the right mood but as with the last two FG eps I actually liked them, the first being a much better Fat Tony episode than the previous one this season and a decent Selma episode as well. Despite being a familiar "Homer gets a new job" plot, I did enjoy the second episode and it even managed to have a decent subplot despite the lengthy intro. I remember a Season 4 commentary mentioning a subplot that was pitched where Homer ended up going to barber school, so it was kind of fun to see a similar idea explored all these years later.

[el badman]

Just like the last couple of episodes, I thought that one was pretty good. The main story didn't feel like it had been done a hundred times before, the pacing was great, and most of the jokes were funny. Little moments like Nelson saying "it was cold that day, double-vest cold" or the Cletus part are what the show used to be all about years ago, before moving progressively to slower paced jokes that would mostly fall flat in the end.
And as usual, no episode can fail if it features Skinner/Chalmers sequences.

[Andrew]

Yeah, I was fairly pleased with that episode myself. It was pretty silly in parts but not in a bad way, for the most part they avoided the hallmarks that tend to infuriate and disappoint me as a longtime fan. The writing felt pretty sharp, at least by current standards, with good pacing and punchy jokes. I'm a big fan of the rake scene from way back, but not every gag can be a rake scene. The Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys imagination bubble gags are a good example of not overdoing the joke as well as some decent dark humour, which is something else that's often bungled these days.

Good story too, as you mentioned it didn't feel rehashed and came off pretty well. I thought they did a good job splitting the plot between the family and weaving it all together in a way that felt natural. Good episode all around.

[benji]

So I had circumstances that prevented me from watching the FOX shows for the last few months, but for whatever reason I banked them all. And put them off forever to watch other things.

I started with The Simpsons (since you save the best for last) and "watched" the entire season so far in like two or three days.

Looking at your posts I really have to think to determine which episode it is the posts talk about half the time. And I also saw Fat Tony die and come back to life to date Selma in a weekend.

So I turn to Wiki and hope I actually remember. I liked when Lisa used stats for baseball. The Lisa/Marge one was alright, as was the Burns one. I liked "Flaming Moe" and Homer using a sitcom was an idea that would have been awesome a decade ago. (When said sitcom was recent!) I like magic (and Teller even more) and lots of keys, but both really underwhelmed.

Lamrock was right about this cesspool, now on to Family Guy!

[JaoSming]

from a Cracked article, all the McBain clips edited together make a movie

phpBB [video]

[Andrew]

That was quite well done. "Bye book!" is still one of my favourite McBain clips.

As for the finale, it was doing alright up until the ending. Decent premise and some funny moments, Edna's face turning into all the men she'd been with worked for me and the moments with Skinner and Chalmers were good as they always seem to be, but on the whole it reminded me of the episode where Ralph Wiggum becomes a presidential candidate. Both took a long time setting up the plot and the resulting conflict before finishing on what felt like a second act break. Obviously they're setting up interactive content and making it a cliffhanger of sorts - and I use the term very loosely here - but on the whole I thought it was a poor way to handle a decent idea for an episode.

Looking back at Season 22 it'd probably have to be my favourite season in a while, though that's not saying much. I felt it started out fairly strong for being this late in the game and there were some other really enjoyable episodes too, but some reasonably fresh ideas were squandered on episodes that felt like they were the first draft while others just weren't good ideas from the start. Nice to get a few here and there that I liked though.

[el badman]

Edna's face turning into all the men she'd been with worked for me and the moments with Skinner and Chalmers were good as they always seem to be

Certainly the highlights in this episode, but I agree that the ending felt rushed and awkward. It's just strange for this show to have to resort to such a gimmick as online participation, but I guess it's gonna be harder and harder to avoid now.
Overall, I would agree that this season was much better than that the 2 or 3 previous ones, so hopefully it's a good sign.

[Andrew]

Yeah, "Who Shot Mr Burns?" it ain't. The reference to it did raise a smile, though.

[jenroe962002]

So are you Pro-Nedna or No Nedna

[Andrew]

I probably won't bother to vote but it's an interesting prospect for the series moving forward. Introducing something significant into the continuity and having a few running storylines might inject a little life into the series outside the odd gem here and there. However, I'd be more in favour of the idea if the episode had been a little stronger, giving the storyline more of a leg to stand on. I'm not sure how entertaining it will be beyond the one episode, though I guess they could give it a try as they did with Edna and Skinner.

Give it a shot, it might at least make for some funny moments here and there.

[jenroe962002]

i Voted Pro Edna cause we might see interesting episodes like Skinner being jealous and etc.

[Andrew]

If it can give Ned something else to do in the show apart from being an over-the-top parody of right-wing Christians, I say go for it.

[shadowgrin]

http://twitter.com/#!/comicbookguy

[Andrew]

I’m here at #ComicCon! Look for me -- I’ll be the overweight 40-ish man in an Imperial Storm Trooper costume. #FOXSDCC

Well, that narrows it down.

[Andrew]

Merged all The Simpsons threads into one as I did with Family Guy. As with FG a new season is underway, for the 23rd time if you can believe it.

And much like the FG premiere, I wasn't too impressed. That's not an uncommon reaction this late in the game but last season had quite a few decent to good episodes, some which I'd have liked to have season done earlier when the show was fresher and still had a bit more steam. The Season 23 premiere is not one of them. Sure, it was kind of funny to see Kobe get punched out (even if I do feel compelled to point out he hasn't been #8 for years), the "Taiwanese animated dramatisation" was good and "Death to America"/"Stick to script!" was amusing but on the whole, it was pretty bland and forgettable.

[el badman]

You know, I actually liked that one. I missed the first 2 min but I thought most of the jokes and cutscenes were spot on, and I enjoyed the overall pacing. The plot was nothing to write home about, but I thought it was a good season starter.