The Simpsons Thread (Worst. Thread. Ever!)

[Andrew]

The standout line for me was Mr Burns' "No, it feels weird". Harry Shearer's delivery was great. The rest of it I wasn't too keen on, nothing horrible but nothing special either. Not my kind of episode I guess.

[el badman]

A pretty good episode, better than the last few in my opinion. At least, the premise and story felt more like classic Simpsons to me, and even if the execution was not always there, there were plenty of funny moments to it. The ending felt a little off though.

[Andrew]

A little better than ordinary, nothing terrible but nothing outstanding either. Kind of a re-tread of "The Regina Monologues" except with all the Irish stereotypes and landmarks/tourist attractions instead of the English ones.

[Andrew]

The latest episode was another one that wasn't bad but could've been so much more. I didn't mind the premise, having the parson act like Bing Crosby wasn't all that great and the Helen/Harold joke was pretty poor, one of those "let's put this in to be edgy and piss off the diehard fans" lines they really don't need to be doing.

Patty and Selma being behind the kidnapping was a nice swerve that wasn't built up so much within the episode but given the synopsis and Kelsey Grammer being advertised as reprising his role as Sideshow Bob, I'd say that's what most people were expecting going into the episode (I certainly was, anyway). Selma did come to mind the moment the SB keyring was found but I figured that was the fakeout that would eventually lead to Bob being the culprit. That part I liked.

However, for Patty and Selma it was just going too far. I felt the same way about them pushing Homer off the bridge in "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind". Yes, there's animosity there and yes, they greatly dislike, even hate him but still...it was just a bit extreme and it's very hard to come back from. I would've preferred Marge to find out her sisters were involved and be some conflict there where she puts them in their place. They've done some pretty despicable and bitchy things throughout the years and this one was a new low. Just a tad too mean spirited for them for my liking.

I did like Marge's "Bridezilla" moments though and some of the Lovejoy stuff was good, his meetings with Jasper and Cletus are the ones that stand out to me. Not bad, even slightly above average but that's as far as I'd go.

[el badman]

I thought it was pretty funny. Putting aside that fact that it involved yet again some drama in their marriage (when Marge turns out to be a bridezilla and then she thinks Homer left her, which thankfully didn't last too long), I thought it was a pretty original episode. I guess it was a good choice not to have Sideshow Bob as the actual culprit here.
I'd have to day that Cletus was the best part for me too, but I can't be objective in that regards, he's always been my favorite character (along with Bumblebeeman)...

[Andrew]

I might give it another watch. That's something I don't do much with new episodes these days, give them a second viewing soon after the first. It'd be interesting to see if I feel differently about it second time around and/or notice anything I missed in the first viewing.

[Andrew]

The latest episode was quite a strong one in my opinion; not a classic but a good post-classic episode all the same. It started out a bit weak with a bunch of "Isn't this wacky?" jokes that they could have done without, babies with super strength is very hit and miss for me and the subplot was probably the weakest part of the episode though still not terrible. The main plot was quite good though with the only problem being that they rushed the breakup, which gave the feeling of "Well, we better start heading back towards the status quo". The abruptness of it did help make Moe a more empathetic character though which certainly worked for the story and the ending was great. It might have been too sappy for some people's tastes but I liked that they had the guts to end it that way instead of trying to squeeze in an unfunny joke and lose all impact...like other shows we could mention.

[el badman]

I too thought it was a pretty solid episode. Nothing absolutely epic or memorable but some 22 minutes well spent overall.
It's not the first time that they go for this type of abrupt breakup, in fact it feels like they always choose that path for any of the side-characters' relationship stories. I think it works fairly well most of the time.
The last couple of episodes have been much superior to what's become the average, so hopefully that's a good sign for what's to come.

[Andrew]

It works but sometimes it feels too abrupt, a rush to get to the conflict and then back to the status quo. I do think it worked here though as it made you feel for Moe, who was uncharacteristically decent in the episode but still had it blow up in his face.

[JaoSming]

I didn't like it too much, reminded me too much of the Bart vs girl Lovejoy episode with a mix of Lisa & Bart running away from Millhouse.


Just, wasn't that entertained by this one

[el badman]

The Bart-girlfriend-Milhouse triangle has indeed been done a couple of times before, but I was actually pleasantly surprised by that episode. I thought it was refreshingly funny compared to what's been done lately. Nothing really standing out for me, but I had a good time with that one overall.

[Andrew]

It's familiar ground but nothing like they've done with marriage crisis plots. Probably one of my favourite episodes of the year, still nowhere near the classic era but very enjoyable in my book. In retrospect I should've seen the joke with Willy's bikini model girlfriend coming but it was better than another played out "everyone's a depressed loser" angle they usually go with, making it a nice screw-the-audience joke. Fine outing.

[Andrew]

I wasn't as keen on this one but I liked it for the most part. There was still that hint of dullness/pushing jokes too hard that has dogged the last few seasons but the story was good enough and there were some good moments. Homer was in pretty good form and Marge's imagining what would happen if she told people about the sauna was another highlight. It's neither a classic nor on par with average to good episodes in the classic era but another fairly good episode in the current style; nothing too special but enjoyable to watch.

[JaoSming]

Pretty much agree with you, although I thought the beginning stuff with Bart and Homer was absolutely hilarious

[Andrew]

I wasn't as big a fan of that but definitely better than a lot of stuff they've done in the last few seasons.

[JaoSming]

this one is hilarious, lol, definitely having it's moments

especially the random cutaways, that are smarter than Familia Guy

[el badman]

yeah, I thought that there was much more cutaways than in a usual Simpsons episode, but they were mostly good. I really liked that episode, the story itself was maybe a bit awkward considering everything that has been done previously on Bart and Lisa going to school, but most of the jokes were right on target.

[Andrew]

Good, solid episode. I'm not a huge fan of how certain institutions within The Simpsons universe have gone so wretchedly bad (Springfield Elementary being a mess, Skinner not being a competent educator, Dr Hibbert being almost as goofy as Dr Nick and so on) but I suppose it helps make a satirical point and it did work for this story. Aside from that, it felt like familiar ground but it was fun all the same, so I'll have to agree with el badman's take: a bit awkward perhaps, but satisfying.

[Patr1ck]

For some reason the Simpsons episodes seem to build something up and then all of a sudden the episode is over.n I think they are just trying to tie in too many stories at once.

[Andrew]

"E. Pluribis Wiggum" is probably the best example of that in recent years. The end of the episode felt like a second act break at best.

[JaoSming]

Im not a fan of the multistory episodes, so I turned this one off after the first commercial in favor of the Celtics.

[buzzy]

Boy, the Simpsons look weird with finger nails.

[el badman]

I didn't like that episode too much. The "Snow White" segment had a few funny things to offer, but the rest was pretty much flat and uninspired.

[Andrew]

As I mentioned in the Family Guy thread, I'm a fan of the format (Season 8's "Spinoff Showcase" is actually in my top ten favourites) and for me they're a welcome change of pace in recent seasons since they can't miss the mark on characterisation or canon as quite a few episodes have (and probably still will). I certainly wouldn't rate this up there with the "Spinoff Showcase", "Tales from the Public Domain" or any of the better THOH episodes but I liked it. It suffered from the four act format though, four stories was stretching it though having Maggie speak has been done rarely enough to be funny in the way that they did it. James Earl Jones remains my favourite guest voice for Maggie though ("This is indeed a disturbing universe").

[Patr1ck]

They could have cut the whole MacBeth skit. The episode seemed like a rehashing of a Halloween episode that never made it to air.