The Simpsons Thread (Worst. Thread. Ever!)

[Andrew]

I thought the first couple of acts of the latest episode were pretty good. There were some good jokes with the Liberal Strawman, the fakeout with the Air Marshall and the send-up of political talk shows. Homer's "dream" also had a couple of funny moments as well and the fact it was faked was an enjoyable subversion of an old standard. However, the episode kind of fell apart once Ted Nugent came onto the scene and the ending was rushed, another "character has an epiphany" type of affair.

It did give us this, though:

phpBB [video]

[el badman]

I really liked the episode, but I agree that it could have almost been better without the Ted Nugent part. The first half was quite brilliant though, been a long time since I found most of the jokes so spot on.

[Andrew]

Definitely. Give it a better ending with a resolution that's better paced and that's a fairly strong episode. Of course, they might have had more time had they not gone with the full length intro and a couch gag that could've been shorter and still worked.

[Andrew]

Pretty much a forgettable episode. It was a decent premise but the courtroom jokes lacked punch and the pacing was off, for which there really was no excuse seeing as how the episode obviously came in short meaning they had time to flesh out the story a little more. The ending skit was kind of amusing though and well animated, but on the whole it seemed a very half-hearted episode, even by current standards.

[benji]

[[Q]]

that Angry Nerds bit was really funny

[Andrew]

I thought it was OK, but the scene as a whole dragged a bit.

[[Q]]

it did, but they showed only the angry nerds part in a commercial during FOX NFL football and that got me to watch the whole thing. it did drag on, but there were pretty good gags throughout the episode

[Andrew]

So The Simpsons, one of my all-time favourite shows, a show that has produced some outstanding television, a show that in its prime brilliantly blended together humour, wit, great storytelling, sharp satire and social commentary, and interesting, likeable characters that could produce genuine emotional moments in episode after episode...did an episode where Moe's anthromorphic bar rag told a story.

I have to admit, it's a little depressing.

In all fairness, points for creativity and for my money they got some laughs out of it. I loved the "blindfolds are for cowards"/"I didn't know they were doing that!" sequence, the stuff with Wiggum (and his character in the first flashback) and Jeremy Irons' delivery of "I'm in hell" over and over as the rag went around in the dryer. It didn't needlessly mess with the show's history like That 90s Show or feature painfully unfunny sequences like The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed, but the idea was just a little too weird and silly for me. I would've preferred an episode that was centred around Moe with the Bart and Milhouse subplot.

Speaking of the subplot, that had potential too and as I said, could've worked well alongside a Moe-centric main plot. After some of the truly disturbing Milhouse moments in recent seasons though, it was kind of nice that they gave him some moments of dignity.

After 23 seasons, it stands to reason that they'd be a little experimental and that's certainly not a bad thing per se. In this instance though, it didn't work out so well in my book.

[el badman]

I agree, it had several good moments and they're usually pretty good with using actual historical events, but in the end it was just too weird and far-fetched (and the subplot was just too boring to me) to be a real solid episode. Mixed feelings about this one.

[Andrew]

Fleshed out, the subplot probably would've worked as a main plot and made for a good episode. It wouldn't quite be up there with some of the great Bart and Milhouse episodes, but it could have made a solid, character-driven episode all the same.

[shadowgrin]

http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/the-simp ... icism.html

Why, After 500 Episodes, Slagging The Simpsons Is Unfair

Last year I wrote an unflattering story about The Simpsons that said the past twelve seasons weren’t a patch on the show’s glory years and that Groening & Co. should have turned the lights off years ago. A reader who liked the later seasons argued that the problem wasn’t The Simpsons but unrealistic expectations plus bottomless hunger for “the new and shiny.” She strengthened her point with a quote from season eight’s “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show,” in which Lisa says of the long-­running cat-and-mouse cartoon: “There’s not really anything wrong with [it] … but after so many years the characters just can’t have the same impact they once had.”

[Andrew]

During his 1992 reelection campaign, President George H. W. Bush even pledged to help U.S. families be “a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.”

To which The Simpsons' writers replied "We are like the Waltons. We're praying for an end to the depression, too."

On one hand, I kind of agree. There are still moments that are funny, stories that are good ideas and executed reasonably well and episodes that on the whole are enjoyable television. This late in the game, the show can't have the same impact it once did and after all this time it's virtually impossible for a new episode to reach "classic status". If you're a longtime fan, you do have to lower your expectations a bit, remember that the audience and approach to animated comedy has changed somewhat and the show has had to change with the times. In accepting that, I've found newer episodes a bit more palatable.

Still, that doesn't mean there are several valid criticisms that can be made. Even in an extended post-classic era, the show could still be more even. In terms of gags and storytelling alike, it goes to places it really doesn't need to and stumbles into pitfalls that it once deftly avoided. In trying to keep up with the times, it's lost some of the essence that made it special in the first place. It's been dumbed down a little too much, allowed characters to become caricatures and wasting some reasonably fresh ideas with episodes that haven't done a good job of balancing the jokes and the narrative. It's true that we can't expect the show and the characters to have the same impact as they once did, but it often feels like the show isn't making the best effort possible to give that a shot.

So again, I agree to an extent but I think it's letting the show off the hook a bit.

[Lamrock]

I wish they hadn't destroyed the shows's legacy. I'd prefer if all the episodes made this century had never been made and the show was cancelled in 1999. I hate that I have to use a qualifier when describing one of my favorite shows of all time, but it's gotten pretty un-watchable. The last episode I enjoyed was the one where Bart made a cartoon about Homer, and that was like 10 years ago.

Fair enough to those who still watch and enjoy the show. If there's still a market, that's fine, I don't have to watch it, whatever. It's just my personal opinion that it's unfortunately that they continue to churn episodes out.

With its original writing staff, I believe this show would still be funny. I think that's the real problem, and that's why I disagree with the article. To be fair, even I don't have time to go through nine terrible seasons of the Simpsons to see if there are some episodes (or even moments) that don't suck, but I usually watch a couple episodes per season, and they're never good.

It's a different show, but Archer is the best animated sitcom right now. Holy shit is that show hilarious. Hulu it.

[Kenny]

The show's been stripped of it's subtlety to try and stay relevant. There are episodes I watch now from the first 9 seasons where I pick up on stuff that I never did when I watched it the first 5-10 times. Not just in the writing, but facial expressions and other subtleties in the animation.

Now? Nelson has to explain why he says haw-haw, Ralph Wiggum's voice is getting higher pitched and even the opening sequence looks like it was written by Seth MacFarlane. It's gotten to a point where I think South Park has almost surpassed it by default, due to the fact that it's been good for more seasons than the Simpsons has.

In saying all that though, I've found that after a re-watch or two, the newer episodes become more bareable. I look at it as a completely different show now than what it was during the glory days. I think as long as Seth MacFarlane is allowed to have two terrible shows and one absolutely abysmal show (Cleveland Show) on TV, I don't mind that the Simpsons is still going.

[Andrew]

I'd prefer if all the episodes made this century had never been made and the show was cancelled in 1999.

That's pretty much the end of what can fairly be considered the classic era but there were a couple of seasons after that which I still think are more than watchable. I think they still could've ended on a reasonably high note around 2003-2004, around the 15 season mark.

[JaoSming]

http://www.ranker.com/list/13-simpsons- ... ert-wabash

[Andrew]

Once again, life imitates art.

[Andrew]

Good couch gag in the latest episode, one of the better ones as of late. I actually thought this episode wouldn't have made a bad 500th episode, so hopefully next week's episode is at least this good or better.

I was caught off-guard by how much I liked this one, given the aforementioned inconsistency of the show these days and some of the recent episodes being very forgettable. However, I thought this one was pretty decent, not stellar but reasonably good. I liked Bart and Homer enjoying each other's company and getting up to mischief, which felt closer to classic era characterisation than the way their relationship is usually portrayed these days.

Bart and Milhouse's subplot was entertaining with a satisfactory conclusion and though the main plot with Lisa was intended to be the serious/emotional story, it had some laughs too that didn't feel out of place. The ending was a pretty standard way of restoring the status quo but there was a little bit of a build towards Nick revealing his true colours and on the whole it wasn't paced too badly. The gag with Homer at the end was obvious but it made me laugh all the same, a good button to finish the episode on and not too overdone.

Quite enjoyable in my book but again, fingers crossed they've got something good lined up for next week as this would've made a solid milestone episode.

[ixcuincle]

Do not watch newer episodes anymore, last one I saw was the one with all the chefs in it. But it looks like the Simpsons will have their 500th episode this Sunday, so congrats to them.

[kibaxx7]

Well, the show has been renewed for two more seasons, so still have a long way to go

[Andrew]

Do not watch newer episodes anymore, last one I saw was the one with all the chefs in it. But it looks like the Simpsons will have their 500th episode this Sunday, so congrats to them.

I maintain there's a couple of good episodes every now and then with most of them being at least watchable, but other than that you're not missing out on too much week to week.

[el badman]

Disappointed with the 500th episode, it seemed to make an amalgam of various previous episodes, but especially from the movie, which was not exactly the Simpsons at their best. Was expecting a bit better, even given the new ”standard”...

[Andrew]

Me too. I wish the 499th episode was the 500th episode, it wouldn't have been spectacular but I liked it better than the actual 500th episode.

I liked the note about the "meaningless milestone" in the intro, Milhouse writing on the board instead of Bart and the flashback to all the old couch gags. That was fun, and nostalgic. As for the episode itself, however...

It's one I was predisposed to dislike, as I've always felt uncomfortable with episodes where the Simpson family is hated. In this case it was somewhere between Miracle on Evergreen Terrace and Bart-Mangled Banner, because the callbacks to previous episodes made it kind of an interesting concept. Still, it just made the whole cast look like a bunch of jerks and while I actually kind of liked Marge's speech to the town when they were caught, it was another ending without a resolution, with an off-screen snap back to the status quo taking place before the next episode...not unlike previous "The Simpsons are outcasts" episodes, funnily enough.

The note about getting fresh air before racing to the Internet to bash the episode was kind of lame too. When they did a send-up of the fanbase in The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show, it was clever and on target. Here they were, to paraphrase a quote from Who Shot Mr Burns?, wallowing in their own crapulence.

I did like the parody of their own intro with The Outlands though and the stuff with Skinner at the end wasn't so bad. It wasn't terrible, but after last week's reasonably solid episode it was a letdown. I think they were trying to go for something monumental and different for such a big milestone but they really should've gone for something more low-key, like last week's episode or their 100th episode (Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadassss Song). Again, I'm not a big fan of episodes where the family are pariahs so had they gone in a different direction, maybe I would've liked it a bit more without much of a change in tone.

Ah well. It's kinda cool they've made it this far, 500 episodes and from the looks of things, at least 25 seasons before it's all said and done. Hopefully there'll be a few more gems here and there before it all comes to an end.

[ixcuincle]