The Simpsons Thread (Worst. Thread. Ever!)

[benji]

I actually missed that one, is there any site to watch it online with not-too crappy quality?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/47616/the-sim ... s-p1-so-i0

[el badman]

Thanks for the link benji.
Pretty cool episode indeed, even without the basketball part, it would have been more than decent. It wasn't fantastic, but considering what they've given us lately, I'd rank that one amongst the best within the last couple of seasons.

[Andrew]

phpBB [video]

"I'm out of my mind!"

[Andrew]

The last episode was probably fairly strong by current era standards but aside from a few jokes, I didn't find it particularly funny and while it was a decent enough story it ended pretty abruptly, a shame because the build up to the last act wasn't too shabby. Episodes like this will never challenge my all-time favourites but of the episodes they've been producing in recent years, the last two are more along the lines of what I'd like to see the show do more often with its current tone and approach.

[el badman]

I thought it was pretty weak overall. A few good moments here and there (the dad being a Grisham scholar was pretty funny), but it was just one this awkward episodes with strange pacing to me. And it did end pretty abruptly, which did not help. Not really impressed overall.

[Andrew]

It had four acts instead of the traditional three, which in this case might account for the strange pacing. At least the montage was used properly this time, condensing the scene in the art exhibit which didn't need to go into great detail.

[benji]

New HD title sequence can be seen here: http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/sund ... _updat.php

[Andrew]

Looks alright but they've crammed way too many jokes into it. A slight update on the original would've been preferable.

[Patr1ck]

Looks great to me.

[benji]

Homer getting hit by the car is all you need to know the current writers just don't get The Simpsons.

[Andrew]

I couldn't agree more. I guess Matt Groening has to stand by the show but when he comments that the show is as clever and funny as it always was and people who think otherwise haven't been watching the new episodes, it's just insulting to one's intelligence.

[Andrew]

Not bad, but magic sauce? That was really reaching for a plot device. The "what if" story was entertaining enough but it all ended rather abruptly (though I did chuckle at Skinner getting screwed over again). One of those episodes that's good enough this late in the series' run, it gets the job done but nothing too special.

[el badman]

The "magic" pasta sauce was funny because of the cook, but it did seem like a cheap plot device. Flashbacks haven't really been that well done lately, so considering this, it was a pretty solid episode I guess.

[benji]

Good thing they were in high school during the 90s...

[Andrew]

That's why I'd prefer them to steer clear of flashbacks or make the timeframe as ambiguous as possible. And never do anything like "That 90s Show" ever again.

[Andrew]

Well, that was perhaps the weirdest, stupidest, most badly written episode ever from a storyline point of view but I thought it was funny all the same, at least in parts. Still not a fan of the new intro (nice to see a couple of new week-to-week jokes though) and the move to HD has just made the episodes look more stiff and sterile.

[benji]

The worst part is both plotlines were in King of the Hill episodes, one as recently as this season.

[el badman]

It started out alright, but then it was like a bunch of 12 year old actually wrote the episode. A few highlights here and there, but overall I thought it was embarassingly weak.

[buzzy]

I agree. The last five minutes were especially weird.
And what's with the dozens of pianos falling out of the container?

[Andrew]

It started out alright, but then it was like a bunch of 12 year old actually wrote the episode. A few highlights here and there, but overall I thought it was embarassingly weak.

Skinner's "Number Two" bit was a good example of that.

[el badman]

I don't know what's going on with the writers these days, it's like they've never seen any "real" Simpsons episode, when it used to be consistently funny and well-structured through and through. Last week's episode did not make any sense whatsoever, and this one was almost worse. You watch it and you just can't help but thinking "okay, based on what I know about these characters, there's just no way this could happen like that".
It's like they're trying too hard to renew some aspects of the series, it ends up losing credibility. I don't know if only long-time fans would feel that way, I think even first-time viewers would perceive the awkwardness in the latest episodes.

[Andrew]

I actually liked the idea but a lot of episodes in the current era it suffered from Homer being portrayed as too obnoxious and couldn't resist resorting to the current approach of making Ned a parody of Christian zealots towards the end. That said it was one of the more decent episodes in recent history from a storytelling perspective and the jokes weren't too bad (Homer's "welcome gift" being my favourite). It's nowhere near classic stuff but I'd say pretty OK to good by current standards.

[el badman]

t suffered from Homer being portrayed as too obnoxious

I think that's my main beef with it these days. It seems like in the good ol' days, they always knew when to stop before Homer gets more annoying than funny, and move on to something else. But lately they tend to push it too far to be actually credible (by Simpsons' standards) and funny at the same time. It ends up feeling like they really didn't have anything better in mind, so they chose the easy way to make a 22 minute episode...
I don't know, I just didn't like that episode at all.

[Andrew]

Agreed, there's only so much humour you can squeeze out of that characterisation and it doesn't do much for character driven plots.

[benji]

That was bad. But also good. It seemed long. The mystery Lisa was dealing with was fun. Same reason I liked the Homer one I mentioned earlier in this thread.

Simpsons should do a whole season of comedic mysteries. It seems to be the only thing they can do right.