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America's Favorite Non-prehistoric Cartoon Family - The Simpsons Thread
- Thread starter Johnny Unusual
- Start date
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Now Museum, Now You Don't
I love the arts but just straight up art? I've never really been that guy. Granted, there's lots of comic art I love and sometimes I will go expand my horizons in a museum but mostly I take a quick look at a picture and move on. Shame considering how much blood, sweat and tears go into pieces of art. Intellectually, I appreciate the power and beauty but often when it is not in the context of a narrative, I'm a little more detached, even when it is undeniably beautiful. Still, there will always be pieces that completely make me stop for a moment, grabbing my attention for longer than I expected.
In this episode, Lisa is home sick and decides to study art for fun. Through this we have a Lisa imagining herself as Leonardo da Vinci, creating art and inventions but accidentally giving her church weapons to hurt others. Then, she tells Bart the story of the impressionists, where Bart and friends imagine themselves as young upstarts trying to paint their feelings rather than literal things and standing up to the establishment by impressing the emperor. After Maggie imagines herself as Cupid battling other cherubs, Lisa tells the tale of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and how the latter eventually learns to respect the gifts of the former. The episode ends with Moe singing his own rendition of Vincent.
Now Museum is one of the more generic anthology episodes all over. You'd think an episode about art would allow for experimentation but aside from some lovingly crafted parody art in the Kahlo section, this episode is generally kind of a snooze. The script goes to Dan Greaney, who has written only sporadically and whose work is a mix of surprisingly good and swing and a miss (swing is good, though. Diggs is a swing and a miss but at least he was *trying* for a sensitive portrayal of mental illness in this series.) This is kind of neither, a real generic outing in terms of how we get to see these characters.
The first story is a "Lisa/Leonardo is the best" and there is some conflict but frankly I just feel they put Lisa in here because she's the smart one. Similarly, Bart is the artistic rabble rouser but this bothers me less because it's much better than "Bart's a fucking moron" portrayal, especially in episodes that seem Lisa-centric. The Kahlo/Rivera one isn't all that interesting either and despite some well done art parodies that I feel like the art team worked hard at, I wish he had some more real representation of the amazing art she did affecting the style of the show, sort of like Julie Taymor's movie Frida did at times (too my memory, anyway, it's been a long time since I've seen it).
Overall, I really have little to say, even as an anthology, there's very little there. There are a couple snicker-worthy gags but a lot that's really hackey, like the invention of the Pizza section which just devolves into mascot references. The Noid shanking Little Caeser feels more like a kid doodling their own Mad Magazine segment rather than a properly conceived bit. Like, I didn't cringe at a lot of it but at the same time I was kind of waiting for something fun to happen. Which isn't to say it's all bad but it feels a little more like Airplane!-style of throwing lots of spaghetti to see what sticks to the wall and in the end, only a couple.
Other notes:
Hank Azaria no longer voices Bumblebee Man starting this episode. That honour goes to voice actor Eric Lopez.
I love the arts but just straight up art? I've never really been that guy. Granted, there's lots of comic art I love and sometimes I will go expand my horizons in a museum but mostly I take a quick look at a picture and move on. Shame considering how much blood, sweat and tears go into pieces of art. Intellectually, I appreciate the power and beauty but often when it is not in the context of a narrative, I'm a little more detached, even when it is undeniably beautiful. Still, there will always be pieces that completely make me stop for a moment, grabbing my attention for longer than I expected.
In this episode, Lisa is home sick and decides to study art for fun. Through this we have a Lisa imagining herself as Leonardo da Vinci, creating art and inventions but accidentally giving her church weapons to hurt others. Then, she tells Bart the story of the impressionists, where Bart and friends imagine themselves as young upstarts trying to paint their feelings rather than literal things and standing up to the establishment by impressing the emperor. After Maggie imagines herself as Cupid battling other cherubs, Lisa tells the tale of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and how the latter eventually learns to respect the gifts of the former. The episode ends with Moe singing his own rendition of Vincent.
Now Museum is one of the more generic anthology episodes all over. You'd think an episode about art would allow for experimentation but aside from some lovingly crafted parody art in the Kahlo section, this episode is generally kind of a snooze. The script goes to Dan Greaney, who has written only sporadically and whose work is a mix of surprisingly good and swing and a miss (swing is good, though. Diggs is a swing and a miss but at least he was *trying* for a sensitive portrayal of mental illness in this series.) This is kind of neither, a real generic outing in terms of how we get to see these characters.
The first story is a "Lisa/Leonardo is the best" and there is some conflict but frankly I just feel they put Lisa in here because she's the smart one. Similarly, Bart is the artistic rabble rouser but this bothers me less because it's much better than "Bart's a fucking moron" portrayal, especially in episodes that seem Lisa-centric. The Kahlo/Rivera one isn't all that interesting either and despite some well done art parodies that I feel like the art team worked hard at, I wish he had some more real representation of the amazing art she did affecting the style of the show, sort of like Julie Taymor's movie Frida did at times (too my memory, anyway, it's been a long time since I've seen it).
Overall, I really have little to say, even as an anthology, there's very little there. There are a couple snicker-worthy gags but a lot that's really hackey, like the invention of the Pizza section which just devolves into mascot references. The Noid shanking Little Caeser feels more like a kid doodling their own Mad Magazine segment rather than a properly conceived bit. Like, I didn't cringe at a lot of it but at the same time I was kind of waiting for something fun to happen. Which isn't to say it's all bad but it feels a little more like Airplane!-style of throwing lots of spaghetti to see what sticks to the wall and in the end, only a couple.
Other notes:
Hank Azaria no longer voices Bumblebee Man starting this episode. That honour goes to voice actor Eric Lopez.
Last edited:
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Treehouse of Horror XXXI
A little early for Halloween but whatever. That's the one thing I'll forgive this episode for.
In this episode, four tales of terror. First, Homer fails to vote against Donald Trump and the apocalypse happens. Then, in a parody of Toy Story, Bart's toys are fed up with his abuse and gruesomely transform him into a toy. Then, in a parody of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Homer accidentally unleashes Homers from alternate universes when he toys with a mysterious machine in the nuclear plant. When Homer tries to put them back, he must face an army of Mr. Burns and loses, though Burns puts everyone back himself when he learns of a universe where he is someone else's sidekick. And in the final tale, a parody of Russian Doll, Lisa finds herself stuck in a time loop with Nelson and can only get out of it by killing Gil.
So while I largely stopped with the Simpsons for a good long while, I couldn't help but watching any time a new Halloween special came out. An old tradition. And by this time, I was well into my reviews of this series. I even checked to see if I commented on this episode. If I did, I think I would have restated that staying out of the later seasons was a wise choice because I thought this episode was pretty crappy. Written by journeyman TV writer Julia Prescott, it's an episode that I'm bothered less by the fact that it has REALLY gotten away from Halloween stuff (only the middle segment acknowledges it) and more by the fact that the logic and storytelling are subpar. After the heavy handed opening segment (though frankly, I don't mind taking time near the election to remind everyone that the last four years are terrible, including a rare acknowledgement of COVID in fiction) the first real segment is a whole lot of nothing. It feels more like a tribute to EC Comics, which I appreciate, but mostly I feel like it doesn't have a lot going on. Bart tortures the toys so the toys torture him. That's about it.
The second one is a fun idea: let's have many different versions of Homer, but somehow comes across as really lazy. Let's be clear; when Family Guy outdoes your Disney parody before they are owned by Disney and after you are, something has gone wrong. Disney Princess Homer needs a good song or a funny one (her song is neither) and there isn't any clever flourishes. Similarly, anime Homer has the slight distinction of looking *slightly* like Majin Buu (which I feel is intentional) but that's about it, and it's more broad and obvious anime gags. And the reasoning to get the Homer's home (Lisa explains Homer will die repeatedly which... huh? Why? Even in the logic of silly comedy?), it all leads to some pretty generic storytelling, even in the now well-worn world of multiverses*.
But somehow it's the Russian Doll parody that bothered me the most. It's not very funny but beyond that, it has logic problem. Why are the characters trying to get OTHER people killed by Gil? And more than that, how do they go BACK EVEN FURTHER IN TIME TO KILL GIL THE NIGHT BEFORE? Or... it takes place after? In which case, how does that help? And it's not like Gil is the only cause of death. Why is Gil at the root of things. I know the logic of comedy has to be loose but there needs to be consistent INTERNAL logic or, if you break it, you need either to hide it or make it part of the joke? Because this just feels like laziness. It's weird to through one of the show's big annual traditions to a newcomer. I don't know if Julia was making waves in the writing room or something but this is her only Simpsons credit but I feel like she's not a very good fit. Maybe there were other circumstances: she was rushed or this was a rough script and someone else did the next pass. But frankly, it's one of the worst anthology episodes and that is saying a lot.
*The latest fad.
A little early for Halloween but whatever. That's the one thing I'll forgive this episode for.
In this episode, four tales of terror. First, Homer fails to vote against Donald Trump and the apocalypse happens. Then, in a parody of Toy Story, Bart's toys are fed up with his abuse and gruesomely transform him into a toy. Then, in a parody of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Homer accidentally unleashes Homers from alternate universes when he toys with a mysterious machine in the nuclear plant. When Homer tries to put them back, he must face an army of Mr. Burns and loses, though Burns puts everyone back himself when he learns of a universe where he is someone else's sidekick. And in the final tale, a parody of Russian Doll, Lisa finds herself stuck in a time loop with Nelson and can only get out of it by killing Gil.
So while I largely stopped with the Simpsons for a good long while, I couldn't help but watching any time a new Halloween special came out. An old tradition. And by this time, I was well into my reviews of this series. I even checked to see if I commented on this episode. If I did, I think I would have restated that staying out of the later seasons was a wise choice because I thought this episode was pretty crappy. Written by journeyman TV writer Julia Prescott, it's an episode that I'm bothered less by the fact that it has REALLY gotten away from Halloween stuff (only the middle segment acknowledges it) and more by the fact that the logic and storytelling are subpar. After the heavy handed opening segment (though frankly, I don't mind taking time near the election to remind everyone that the last four years are terrible, including a rare acknowledgement of COVID in fiction) the first real segment is a whole lot of nothing. It feels more like a tribute to EC Comics, which I appreciate, but mostly I feel like it doesn't have a lot going on. Bart tortures the toys so the toys torture him. That's about it.
The second one is a fun idea: let's have many different versions of Homer, but somehow comes across as really lazy. Let's be clear; when Family Guy outdoes your Disney parody before they are owned by Disney and after you are, something has gone wrong. Disney Princess Homer needs a good song or a funny one (her song is neither) and there isn't any clever flourishes. Similarly, anime Homer has the slight distinction of looking *slightly* like Majin Buu (which I feel is intentional) but that's about it, and it's more broad and obvious anime gags. And the reasoning to get the Homer's home (Lisa explains Homer will die repeatedly which... huh? Why? Even in the logic of silly comedy?), it all leads to some pretty generic storytelling, even in the now well-worn world of multiverses*.
But somehow it's the Russian Doll parody that bothered me the most. It's not very funny but beyond that, it has logic problem. Why are the characters trying to get OTHER people killed by Gil? And more than that, how do they go BACK EVEN FURTHER IN TIME TO KILL GIL THE NIGHT BEFORE? Or... it takes place after? In which case, how does that help? And it's not like Gil is the only cause of death. Why is Gil at the root of things. I know the logic of comedy has to be loose but there needs to be consistent INTERNAL logic or, if you break it, you need either to hide it or make it part of the joke? Because this just feels like laziness. It's weird to through one of the show's big annual traditions to a newcomer. I don't know if Julia was making waves in the writing room or something but this is her only Simpsons credit but I feel like she's not a very good fit. Maybe there were other circumstances: she was rushed or this was a rough script and someone else did the next pass. But frankly, it's one of the worst anthology episodes and that is saying a lot.
*The latest fad.
It was inevitable that The Simpsons would start borrowing episode titles from The Venture Brothers.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The 7 Beer Itch
There are some actors for whom I find their ability and charm instantly help a project. I can think of a few cases of films and shows that whenever the actor is onscreen, not only does the acting save it, but the directing and writing suddenly seem a lot more lively. One example I can think of is Willie's Wonderland, a Five Nights at Freddie's rip-off which is a painfully dull slasher until Nic Cage is on the screen, at which point it livens up completely. His character is interesting, the tone is better and it becomes a drag to leave him behind. So what a shame it is when an actor capable of that is trying their best but no one else is.
In this episode, The Simpsons head for a vacation at a vineyard... all except Homer. Stuck without his family, he heads to Moe's where he meets Lily, a British wanderer whom everyone else loves. Lily immediately falls for Homer but Homer is oblivious. Eventually Burns catches site of Lily and uses Homer to trick her into a date. She isn't having it and walks out with Homer and she finally lets her feelings be known. Homer isn't interested but Lily is persistent and almost tricks him into coming over, only to think of Marge and return home. Lily returns to England heartbroken but meets a Homer-esque man and finds her own happy ending.
Ugh, this was bad. I'm one of the people who is more willing to give the later seasons a chance. I always am hesitant to use language like "zombie Simpsons" because sometimes, not as often as I'd like but more often than you'd expect, there's still life in the show. Performances, scripts, animation. Granted, sometimes only one of those factors is cooking and aren't strong enough to save the others but usually it feels like an effort. But this season has mostly been a stinkeroo. Even the one episode I like isn't particularly strong, it just has a decent performance anchoring it. And this episode in particular is very bad.
The first problem is that it's a regurgitation of much better episode and with little thought on how to alter it to take it into an interesting new angle. We've had people into Homer before like Mindy and Lurleen Lumpkin. In both cases, the romance actually felt plausible; Mindy, though a bit of a shallower character, is basically just sexy lady Homer and Lurleen is someone who saw Homer as someone who is full of love and helped her dream come true. The big problem here is... why the fuck does Lily care about Homer. The fact is, this is an easy fix; Lily's character's deal is that she has a love for live. Homer can be a lazy slob but he can also be a "big fat dynamo", a living id who can be fun at parties. That version of Homer is missing, in his place a sadsack moping about his family. Even if the idea was "Lily wants someone to cheer up", it doesn't fly because he seems fine later, just oblivious.
Homer isn't even tempted in this one. To a certain extent, I'm fine with that because no one fucking believes there's real stakes in trying to split up Marge and Homer. But rather than making Lily seem as cool as she has been, she's just kind of a creep who can sing good. I also don't like the structure: the Burns element adds little. I guess the point is Lily doesn't care about money, just one person but that's basically been established and Lily somehow becomes less and less of a character as the episode continues, just a sexy romantic lady into Homer. And it's a shame because Lily is voiced by Olivia Colman, a really funny, talented actress. She was one of the few good things in the interminable Secret Invasion (even more than Sam Jackson, who was trying dammit) and is the kind of guest star perfect for the show. But instead, they stuck her as the best woman in the world, mooning over Homer and I feel like we get no real insight into either character. It's a romantic episode that doesn't care about love, a comedy with few good jokes and a character piece lacking in character. There are far worse episodes but this is an episode that really is an exhausted sigh of a thing. A real "what's the point?".
There are some actors for whom I find their ability and charm instantly help a project. I can think of a few cases of films and shows that whenever the actor is onscreen, not only does the acting save it, but the directing and writing suddenly seem a lot more lively. One example I can think of is Willie's Wonderland, a Five Nights at Freddie's rip-off which is a painfully dull slasher until Nic Cage is on the screen, at which point it livens up completely. His character is interesting, the tone is better and it becomes a drag to leave him behind. So what a shame it is when an actor capable of that is trying their best but no one else is.
In this episode, The Simpsons head for a vacation at a vineyard... all except Homer. Stuck without his family, he heads to Moe's where he meets Lily, a British wanderer whom everyone else loves. Lily immediately falls for Homer but Homer is oblivious. Eventually Burns catches site of Lily and uses Homer to trick her into a date. She isn't having it and walks out with Homer and she finally lets her feelings be known. Homer isn't interested but Lily is persistent and almost tricks him into coming over, only to think of Marge and return home. Lily returns to England heartbroken but meets a Homer-esque man and finds her own happy ending.
Ugh, this was bad. I'm one of the people who is more willing to give the later seasons a chance. I always am hesitant to use language like "zombie Simpsons" because sometimes, not as often as I'd like but more often than you'd expect, there's still life in the show. Performances, scripts, animation. Granted, sometimes only one of those factors is cooking and aren't strong enough to save the others but usually it feels like an effort. But this season has mostly been a stinkeroo. Even the one episode I like isn't particularly strong, it just has a decent performance anchoring it. And this episode in particular is very bad.
The first problem is that it's a regurgitation of much better episode and with little thought on how to alter it to take it into an interesting new angle. We've had people into Homer before like Mindy and Lurleen Lumpkin. In both cases, the romance actually felt plausible; Mindy, though a bit of a shallower character, is basically just sexy lady Homer and Lurleen is someone who saw Homer as someone who is full of love and helped her dream come true. The big problem here is... why the fuck does Lily care about Homer. The fact is, this is an easy fix; Lily's character's deal is that she has a love for live. Homer can be a lazy slob but he can also be a "big fat dynamo", a living id who can be fun at parties. That version of Homer is missing, in his place a sadsack moping about his family. Even if the idea was "Lily wants someone to cheer up", it doesn't fly because he seems fine later, just oblivious.
Homer isn't even tempted in this one. To a certain extent, I'm fine with that because no one fucking believes there's real stakes in trying to split up Marge and Homer. But rather than making Lily seem as cool as she has been, she's just kind of a creep who can sing good. I also don't like the structure: the Burns element adds little. I guess the point is Lily doesn't care about money, just one person but that's basically been established and Lily somehow becomes less and less of a character as the episode continues, just a sexy romantic lady into Homer. And it's a shame because Lily is voiced by Olivia Colman, a really funny, talented actress. She was one of the few good things in the interminable Secret Invasion (even more than Sam Jackson, who was trying dammit) and is the kind of guest star perfect for the show. But instead, they stuck her as the best woman in the world, mooning over Homer and I feel like we get no real insight into either character. It's a romantic episode that doesn't care about love, a comedy with few good jokes and a character piece lacking in character. There are far worse episodes but this is an episode that really is an exhausted sigh of a thing. A real "what's the point?".
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Podcast News
I got into podcasts around 2007, in the earliest days of it. I was living in Japan and I wanted something to listen to when I puttered around the apartment and my two go-tos were Doug Loves Movies (still going) and the Paul Goebel Show, which was hosted by the TV Geek from the early 2000s game show Beat the Geeks. I kept going with other shows like the Nerdist (before I found out Chris Hardwick was a creep, though he was dropping little red flags on some other shit that I was losing patience with), Battleship Pretension, Comedy Bang Bang and How Did This Get Made? And for a while, it became the joke everyone had a podcast. But it really made sense for comedians, as it was a great way to build up an audience with complete creative control. It was Serial that made a big splash in the main stream and I feel like a lot of people outside my own space equate podcasts with either true crime or history. But true crime was never my thing, I was always more into entertainment and comedy. Frankly, I just wanted an escape.
In this episode, Lisa and Marge get hooked on true crime podcasts and go to a live taping. When Kent Brockman covers the story, he begins to see his own irrelevance. Meanwhile, Grandpa starts to date a former TV starlet but when they are out on a cruise, the woman falls overboard and Grandpa is the prime suspect. Kent jumps on the bandwagon and produces his own podcast, Guilty Grandpa, about the case. He paints Grandpa as a villain and the Simpsons' attempt to do PR damage control backfire. Despite initially resisting, Lisa and Marge start to become convinced and even grandpa, who can't remember the event, becomes convinced after hearing that Grandpa was to inherit a lot of money. However, Dr. Hibbert appears to present evidence that exonerates Grandpa, as the actress was actually still alive and faked her death. Brockman turns on his podcast and vows to focus on less sensational journalism and Grandpa finds out he forgot that he and the starlet actually conspired together to fake her death for the insurance money.
Podcast News is not a particularly strong episode but it's far less sloppy than most of the season. Written by David X. Cohen, who worked on Futurama as writer and producer, there's a lot of good ideas within the episode and I feel it at least wants to be somewhat critical of true crime and I do think it has a few things to say; that the media can wear people down to the point where they might believe a lie (it takes brainwork to even debunk obvious lies in one's own head) and that there's something sinister about focusing on conjecture in trying to understand a crime rather than just reporting facts. But frankly, what is done hear ends up being done much better and more deeply a year later with one of my own favourite mystery shows, Only Murders in the Building.
And that's a show that, even though there's a clear love of true crime, where sometimes characters do face that they are trying to make entertainment out of a death. Granted, not enough that the characters don't keep going because the show is still something more of a fantasy for true crime fans, even if it is one deftly written with rich characters. But I think selling real murder as entertainment can have a pretty awful effect and is pretty predatory. I'm not going to shame everyone who makes true crime but I do think it is important to consider that something sad can be put through a machine that turns it into a fun game.
Still, while it's doing better things than most of the season, the episode falters in... being a mystery. There's a mystery but not one explored well, there's a sudden answer and it's neither satisfying or a particularly funny subversion of expectations. I feel like Who Shot Mr. Burns?, there should have been more work in creating the mystery, lots of specifics for people to chew on and either pay those off or go the other way and reveal most of it as red herrings. I feel like the show does a bit of decent work in backing the poor Simpsons into a corner but as I have said before, the real triumph is getting us into an emotional headspace, especially when the chips are down, and there's really too much detachment, even more pointed with how poorly thought out the big reveals are. It's watchable enough but really doesn't take nearly enough advantage of the genre it's parodying, nor is it harsh enough. Though considering Yeardley Smith has been hosting her own true crime podcast for six years, it's hardly surprising.
I got into podcasts around 2007, in the earliest days of it. I was living in Japan and I wanted something to listen to when I puttered around the apartment and my two go-tos were Doug Loves Movies (still going) and the Paul Goebel Show, which was hosted by the TV Geek from the early 2000s game show Beat the Geeks. I kept going with other shows like the Nerdist (before I found out Chris Hardwick was a creep, though he was dropping little red flags on some other shit that I was losing patience with), Battleship Pretension, Comedy Bang Bang and How Did This Get Made? And for a while, it became the joke everyone had a podcast. But it really made sense for comedians, as it was a great way to build up an audience with complete creative control. It was Serial that made a big splash in the main stream and I feel like a lot of people outside my own space equate podcasts with either true crime or history. But true crime was never my thing, I was always more into entertainment and comedy. Frankly, I just wanted an escape.
In this episode, Lisa and Marge get hooked on true crime podcasts and go to a live taping. When Kent Brockman covers the story, he begins to see his own irrelevance. Meanwhile, Grandpa starts to date a former TV starlet but when they are out on a cruise, the woman falls overboard and Grandpa is the prime suspect. Kent jumps on the bandwagon and produces his own podcast, Guilty Grandpa, about the case. He paints Grandpa as a villain and the Simpsons' attempt to do PR damage control backfire. Despite initially resisting, Lisa and Marge start to become convinced and even grandpa, who can't remember the event, becomes convinced after hearing that Grandpa was to inherit a lot of money. However, Dr. Hibbert appears to present evidence that exonerates Grandpa, as the actress was actually still alive and faked her death. Brockman turns on his podcast and vows to focus on less sensational journalism and Grandpa finds out he forgot that he and the starlet actually conspired together to fake her death for the insurance money.
Podcast News is not a particularly strong episode but it's far less sloppy than most of the season. Written by David X. Cohen, who worked on Futurama as writer and producer, there's a lot of good ideas within the episode and I feel it at least wants to be somewhat critical of true crime and I do think it has a few things to say; that the media can wear people down to the point where they might believe a lie (it takes brainwork to even debunk obvious lies in one's own head) and that there's something sinister about focusing on conjecture in trying to understand a crime rather than just reporting facts. But frankly, what is done hear ends up being done much better and more deeply a year later with one of my own favourite mystery shows, Only Murders in the Building.
And that's a show that, even though there's a clear love of true crime, where sometimes characters do face that they are trying to make entertainment out of a death. Granted, not enough that the characters don't keep going because the show is still something more of a fantasy for true crime fans, even if it is one deftly written with rich characters. But I think selling real murder as entertainment can have a pretty awful effect and is pretty predatory. I'm not going to shame everyone who makes true crime but I do think it is important to consider that something sad can be put through a machine that turns it into a fun game.
Still, while it's doing better things than most of the season, the episode falters in... being a mystery. There's a mystery but not one explored well, there's a sudden answer and it's neither satisfying or a particularly funny subversion of expectations. I feel like Who Shot Mr. Burns?, there should have been more work in creating the mystery, lots of specifics for people to chew on and either pay those off or go the other way and reveal most of it as red herrings. I feel like the show does a bit of decent work in backing the poor Simpsons into a corner but as I have said before, the real triumph is getting us into an emotional headspace, especially when the chips are down, and there's really too much detachment, even more pointed with how poorly thought out the big reveals are. It's watchable enough but really doesn't take nearly enough advantage of the genre it's parodying, nor is it harsh enough. Though considering Yeardley Smith has been hosting her own true crime podcast for six years, it's hardly surprising.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Three Dreams Denied
We all have our dreams, I guess. The thing about that is fiction is also all about that but because "dreams" are such big, encompassing things, sometimes the weight of what that means is lost. In a show like the Simpsons, big dreams can change from week to week depending on what the writer wants the characters to care about. And it can also mean that writing about a dream can simply be a "thing the character wants", if not written well enough. For example...
In this episode, Comic Book Guy gets to go to the San Diego Comicpalooza and comes to the conclusion that if he asks a good enough Q & A question, he might be chosen to write for Marvel. He creates a question he is sure is gold but panics and forgets it in line, embarrassing himself. Eventually being frustrated with Ralph allows him to be comfortable with himself again. Lisa loses first chair saxophone to a cheater who has beguiled her to mess her up but Lisa learns she likes just playing for playing, not for status. Bart becomes a voice actor but is horrified to find his character is a princess. Bart is mocked and bullied as school but eventually the character is a popular ass-kicker and Bart is doing well.
What even is this? This is one of the few episodes of the later season I tried to watch in a while and I found it an even worse degradation of the show. A lot of people are surprised I'm willing to defend late Simpsons and I understand their shock... because episodes like this exist. There's so much going on that represents almost EVERYTHING I hate on late stage Simpsons. The only small solace is that by this point it's dropped some of the shittier points of view I associate with the show from a decade prior; "ironically" prejudiced jokes, straight up transphobia and old men yelling at PC clouds. But in every other way, it's a real slog of an episode. It doesn't balance it's three disparate stories with the vague theme of "characters don't get what they want but find what they need". That's just, like, a general storytelling conceit, not really a strong theme, especially for an episode where things don't connect that well.
Obviously the big points are the ones I always harp on; poorly constructed storytelling, poor character construction and just not funny. Any one of these elements being strong can save or at least buoy an episode into watchable territory but Danielle Weisberg's script is just a hodgepodge. If anything, it feels like, as this was her first episode as credited writer, she would never get another chance to write an entire episode and lumped her three big ideas together. One of these could have been a decent episode. Another one... a serviceable generic episode. One I don't think ever had a chance. I'm talking about the Comic Book Guy one. Comic Book Guy... I won't go far as to say "he'd never have a good episode" because with the right writing and approach anything is possible. But it's a bad sign when a character who represents toxic fandom (which the show seems to equate with just fandom) is your entry point and his happy ending seems to non-ironically be finding his toxicity again. It feels more like an excuse to do nerd jokes and even then they are all obvious, toothless and uninspired. It's a bizarre conceit for an anchor story anyway and doesn't really address the ridiculousness of it. It's just bad.
Not much better is Lisa's story and there's less of it. Lisa falling in love with some bland dude is really tiring (agree with @Tegan ; either non-cis male crush or don't bother. I don't care when the 8 year old falls in love) and I feel like it's all a dull rerun of previous Lisa stories. Very much no-there there. Bart's has the most potential, a story about him feeling insecure playing a girl then owning it could be fun but it has a lot of issues; Bart has no agency in the resolution. I expect that in a b-plot but this is a shared tiny a-plot and I'd rather Bart make some decisions rather than letting it happen to him. Also... is Bart just a voice actor now? And for an episode about voice acting, you'd think a cartoon show could have more fun with the ins and outs of it like Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie. Yes, it's been done but I feel like it's a rich vein. And also, having Dan Castellaneta play a voice over artist really just feels like Dan said "I wanna do a lot of shtick" and the writers caved. But I guess what bothered me is for a show about dreams, there's no weight. What is it like to be close and lose it? Or not be close but feel like you are? What does it mean to dream without acting on it (Comic Book Guy had years to try to do something with his dream)? Or the work of reality takes the shine off the dream? It's an episode that lack curiosity and I think that is a damned shame because as bad as this episode is, even the dull Lisa one could be greatly improved with genuine insight rather than characters just being OK. Being OK is fine but give me some real wisdom rather than just "I'm done now."
I'm done now.
Other notes:
It's weird for the show to name drop Marvel a lot but the panel doesn't guest star any Marvel writers/artists, which seems like it would be an easy get.
We all have our dreams, I guess. The thing about that is fiction is also all about that but because "dreams" are such big, encompassing things, sometimes the weight of what that means is lost. In a show like the Simpsons, big dreams can change from week to week depending on what the writer wants the characters to care about. And it can also mean that writing about a dream can simply be a "thing the character wants", if not written well enough. For example...
In this episode, Comic Book Guy gets to go to the San Diego Comicpalooza and comes to the conclusion that if he asks a good enough Q & A question, he might be chosen to write for Marvel. He creates a question he is sure is gold but panics and forgets it in line, embarrassing himself. Eventually being frustrated with Ralph allows him to be comfortable with himself again. Lisa loses first chair saxophone to a cheater who has beguiled her to mess her up but Lisa learns she likes just playing for playing, not for status. Bart becomes a voice actor but is horrified to find his character is a princess. Bart is mocked and bullied as school but eventually the character is a popular ass-kicker and Bart is doing well.
What even is this? This is one of the few episodes of the later season I tried to watch in a while and I found it an even worse degradation of the show. A lot of people are surprised I'm willing to defend late Simpsons and I understand their shock... because episodes like this exist. There's so much going on that represents almost EVERYTHING I hate on late stage Simpsons. The only small solace is that by this point it's dropped some of the shittier points of view I associate with the show from a decade prior; "ironically" prejudiced jokes, straight up transphobia and old men yelling at PC clouds. But in every other way, it's a real slog of an episode. It doesn't balance it's three disparate stories with the vague theme of "characters don't get what they want but find what they need". That's just, like, a general storytelling conceit, not really a strong theme, especially for an episode where things don't connect that well.
Obviously the big points are the ones I always harp on; poorly constructed storytelling, poor character construction and just not funny. Any one of these elements being strong can save or at least buoy an episode into watchable territory but Danielle Weisberg's script is just a hodgepodge. If anything, it feels like, as this was her first episode as credited writer, she would never get another chance to write an entire episode and lumped her three big ideas together. One of these could have been a decent episode. Another one... a serviceable generic episode. One I don't think ever had a chance. I'm talking about the Comic Book Guy one. Comic Book Guy... I won't go far as to say "he'd never have a good episode" because with the right writing and approach anything is possible. But it's a bad sign when a character who represents toxic fandom (which the show seems to equate with just fandom) is your entry point and his happy ending seems to non-ironically be finding his toxicity again. It feels more like an excuse to do nerd jokes and even then they are all obvious, toothless and uninspired. It's a bizarre conceit for an anchor story anyway and doesn't really address the ridiculousness of it. It's just bad.
Not much better is Lisa's story and there's less of it. Lisa falling in love with some bland dude is really tiring (agree with @Tegan ; either non-cis male crush or don't bother. I don't care when the 8 year old falls in love) and I feel like it's all a dull rerun of previous Lisa stories. Very much no-there there. Bart's has the most potential, a story about him feeling insecure playing a girl then owning it could be fun but it has a lot of issues; Bart has no agency in the resolution. I expect that in a b-plot but this is a shared tiny a-plot and I'd rather Bart make some decisions rather than letting it happen to him. Also... is Bart just a voice actor now? And for an episode about voice acting, you'd think a cartoon show could have more fun with the ins and outs of it like Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie. Yes, it's been done but I feel like it's a rich vein. And also, having Dan Castellaneta play a voice over artist really just feels like Dan said "I wanna do a lot of shtick" and the writers caved. But I guess what bothered me is for a show about dreams, there's no weight. What is it like to be close and lose it? Or not be close but feel like you are? What does it mean to dream without acting on it (Comic Book Guy had years to try to do something with his dream)? Or the work of reality takes the shine off the dream? It's an episode that lack curiosity and I think that is a damned shame because as bad as this episode is, even the dull Lisa one could be greatly improved with genuine insight rather than characters just being OK. Being OK is fine but give me some real wisdom rather than just "I'm done now."
I'm done now.
Other notes:
It's weird for the show to name drop Marvel a lot but the panel doesn't guest star any Marvel writers/artists, which seems like it would be an easy get.
Podcast News is another episode my father really loved, owing to him being a big True Crime fan.
Had to pause, repeatedly, to explain what a podcast is, but he got the gist of it.
“Some people see a neck and think ‘that’s a place to put a scarf. Other people see one and say ‘I should strangle that’” is a good line
Had to pause, repeatedly, to explain what a podcast is, but he got the gist of it.
“Some people see a neck and think ‘that’s a place to put a scarf. Other people see one and say ‘I should strangle that’” is a good line
Purple
(She/Her)
I mentioned this a couple years ago when I randomly sat down and watched the then-most-recent season, but it's so so weird that we have this Halloween episode bring us "Disney Princess Homer" and then three episodes later, we have Bart as a princess (kinda) and like... what the hell writers? Why did you have princesses on the brain this bad? I mean, I can kinda see how it happened. You're working for Disney now, you're parodying Spiderverse, your brain goes Elsa Frozen Pregnant Spiderman, you get that out of your system and feel dirty about plugging Old Man Disney's stuff and want to balance it out with some low-key promotion for Disenchantment... but it's not really leading into jokes anywhere.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
It's also weird how Marvel enters into the show lately. Its not just the synergy but it's the weirdness. I feel like full synergy we are going to see branding and such but mostly it's namedropping Marvel and dumping on DC. Not the movies, just the company. And also... is it a Marvel panel? Seems like some generic panel. It all feels weird but in a way I can't articulate why that goes beyond the weird synergy the Simpsons had done in the last few years, usually really gentle jabs at the boss, the lightest of taps. This is less than that to the point of why even bother. It's not even that it bothers me but like I said there's something odd about it and I can't tell what it is.
That said, I'm not surprised Disney would be disinterested in not drawing attention to comic creators but I feel like the people working on the Simpsons might.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Road to Cincinnati
So what makes for a great non-Simpsons lead of an episode? That's tough, I think even as someone as one note as Duffman could be given depth with the right angle. But some have tried with little success. I feel like the people writing a Comic Book Guy episodes mostly go too soft and are just content with nerd references than exploring the dark side of fandom. On the other side, even though he's had his share of bad episodes, Moe is much more dependable because the writers get the appeal; he's sleazy but there's a sadness and tragedy to his own self-sabotaging behaviour and a desire to be a better person. You need something you can hang on to, a Bart-like spark that allows them to get into predicaments and certain elements that allow them some merit, often unexpected.
In this episode, Superintendent Chalmers is going to Cincinnati to attend Educon, an educators convention, where he will give the keynote speech. Skinner wants to go with him but Chalmers would rather take Principal Finch. But the next day, Finch is suffering from food poisoning and Skinner arrives to take him to the airport. On the plane, Chalmers' fear of flying causes him to panic, getting them kicked off the plane and Skinner promises to drive Chalmers there in his mother's Buick. Chalmers has a hard time tolerating Skinner and eventually when they take some hitchhikers, they annoy him so much that Chalmers fails to pay attention to the road, causing a big crash. Luckily the judge is a cantankerous older woman and Skinner knows how to deal with her, like he does with his own mother. Eventually, they also get into an altercation with cyclists, which Skinner also saves him from and helps further by getting them a free stay at a bed and breakfast. However, Skinner overhears that Chalmers is planning to fire Skinner. Skinner goes on a tirade and accidentally lets slip that he was responsible for Finch getting food poisoning and a fight breaks out. Skinner quits and storms off and Chalmers makes it to his speech, only to find he's lost his notes. Chalmers wings a speech blaming Skinner only to realize his genuine humanity just as Skinner arrives with his notes. They patch things up and Skinner keeps his job.
So is the Road to Cincinnati a good case for a Skinner episode? Well, he's been the focus of some classics before but I feel in the last couple decades, once his relationship with Edna ended, he's mostly been in an antagonistic role with a few exceptions. And hey, Chalmers even got his own not-bad episode, too. And I think that for the modern age, it shows that while I wouldn't want them to have a spin-off, there's still power in the Skinner character. The joy of him is that like Marge, he's incredibly square and guileless but he's also someone who is a little more cowardly and needy. Meanwhile, Chalmers is the straight man but while a lot of straight man deal with an erratic fool, this one deals with someone who is bland to a degree that takes him right back around to ridiculous.
The Road to Cincinnati is probably the strongest episode of the season so far. There are a few laughs, a strong sense of character and a decent story. I will say, though, the decent story is also a story we've seen many times before. It follows the classic road movie formula, where two very different people are forced to travel together, deal with friction, and then come together over their shared humanity. And this version of it does nothing new. It does it well, but it beat for beat follows the formula where the straight man is driven up the wall by the funny man, but the funny man also gets him out of scrapes with his own unique skills and the straight man sees his value. It's all very Planes, Trains and Automobiles but with Skinner and Chalmers, which is no small thing.
I will say, the classic falling out scene that happens in all of these movies (often multiple times) works here because while Skinner has been mad at Chalmers before, this really does feel like Harry Shearer is letting the 20 some years he's been feed abuse by the Chalmers exploding. Chalmers began as one writer describes him as the only grown up who recognizes how ridiculous this is and will also prod at Skinner's lies until it's time to back off. But then he sort of evolved into this bully where the way he treats Skinner goes beyond mere authoritarian annoyance into often being a jerk. Skinner exploded at him a couple times (one of my favourite is the Chalmers Teddy Roosevelt episode) but this is satisfying until, once again, Skinner gives him rope to hang himself. Now I'm not going to go to bat for this one in a big way. It's merely a competant episode following the trail blazed by so many before. But it is a pleasant ride down that trail, a dependable one and as much as I want Simpsons at this stage to really experiment, I'd rather a nice pleasant ride than a drunken spree through incomplete stories until the clock runs out.
Other notes:
Man, all the WKRP references put the nostalgia in me. Also, I still can't make out ANY lyrics in the end theme.
Something about a bartender and... um, rock and roll in our hearts?
EDIT: Oh, there's a reason for that...
So what makes for a great non-Simpsons lead of an episode? That's tough, I think even as someone as one note as Duffman could be given depth with the right angle. But some have tried with little success. I feel like the people writing a Comic Book Guy episodes mostly go too soft and are just content with nerd references than exploring the dark side of fandom. On the other side, even though he's had his share of bad episodes, Moe is much more dependable because the writers get the appeal; he's sleazy but there's a sadness and tragedy to his own self-sabotaging behaviour and a desire to be a better person. You need something you can hang on to, a Bart-like spark that allows them to get into predicaments and certain elements that allow them some merit, often unexpected.
In this episode, Superintendent Chalmers is going to Cincinnati to attend Educon, an educators convention, where he will give the keynote speech. Skinner wants to go with him but Chalmers would rather take Principal Finch. But the next day, Finch is suffering from food poisoning and Skinner arrives to take him to the airport. On the plane, Chalmers' fear of flying causes him to panic, getting them kicked off the plane and Skinner promises to drive Chalmers there in his mother's Buick. Chalmers has a hard time tolerating Skinner and eventually when they take some hitchhikers, they annoy him so much that Chalmers fails to pay attention to the road, causing a big crash. Luckily the judge is a cantankerous older woman and Skinner knows how to deal with her, like he does with his own mother. Eventually, they also get into an altercation with cyclists, which Skinner also saves him from and helps further by getting them a free stay at a bed and breakfast. However, Skinner overhears that Chalmers is planning to fire Skinner. Skinner goes on a tirade and accidentally lets slip that he was responsible for Finch getting food poisoning and a fight breaks out. Skinner quits and storms off and Chalmers makes it to his speech, only to find he's lost his notes. Chalmers wings a speech blaming Skinner only to realize his genuine humanity just as Skinner arrives with his notes. They patch things up and Skinner keeps his job.
So is the Road to Cincinnati a good case for a Skinner episode? Well, he's been the focus of some classics before but I feel in the last couple decades, once his relationship with Edna ended, he's mostly been in an antagonistic role with a few exceptions. And hey, Chalmers even got his own not-bad episode, too. And I think that for the modern age, it shows that while I wouldn't want them to have a spin-off, there's still power in the Skinner character. The joy of him is that like Marge, he's incredibly square and guileless but he's also someone who is a little more cowardly and needy. Meanwhile, Chalmers is the straight man but while a lot of straight man deal with an erratic fool, this one deals with someone who is bland to a degree that takes him right back around to ridiculous.
The Road to Cincinnati is probably the strongest episode of the season so far. There are a few laughs, a strong sense of character and a decent story. I will say, though, the decent story is also a story we've seen many times before. It follows the classic road movie formula, where two very different people are forced to travel together, deal with friction, and then come together over their shared humanity. And this version of it does nothing new. It does it well, but it beat for beat follows the formula where the straight man is driven up the wall by the funny man, but the funny man also gets him out of scrapes with his own unique skills and the straight man sees his value. It's all very Planes, Trains and Automobiles but with Skinner and Chalmers, which is no small thing.
I will say, the classic falling out scene that happens in all of these movies (often multiple times) works here because while Skinner has been mad at Chalmers before, this really does feel like Harry Shearer is letting the 20 some years he's been feed abuse by the Chalmers exploding. Chalmers began as one writer describes him as the only grown up who recognizes how ridiculous this is and will also prod at Skinner's lies until it's time to back off. But then he sort of evolved into this bully where the way he treats Skinner goes beyond mere authoritarian annoyance into often being a jerk. Skinner exploded at him a couple times (one of my favourite is the Chalmers Teddy Roosevelt episode) but this is satisfying until, once again, Skinner gives him rope to hang himself. Now I'm not going to go to bat for this one in a big way. It's merely a competant episode following the trail blazed by so many before. But it is a pleasant ride down that trail, a dependable one and as much as I want Simpsons at this stage to really experiment, I'd rather a nice pleasant ride than a drunken spree through incomplete stories until the clock runs out.
Other notes:
Man, all the WKRP references put the nostalgia in me. Also, I still can't make out ANY lyrics in the end theme.
Something about a bartender and... um, rock and roll in our hearts?
EDIT: Oh, there's a reason for that...
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Sorry Not Sorry
As an educator, I have both more and less respect for the teachers in the Simpsons than before. More because the character of Mrs. Krabappel, though often checked out, also is shown spending a lot of hard work trying to care for her charges. And being an educator indeed doesn't pay all that well and can be emotionally draining at times. But also, most of them suck and are often abusive and manipulative. Obviously the degree depends on the episode. After all, the characters are flexible in a lot of ways that allows them to be slightly different in different episodes yet still allowing them to feel consistent, to an extent. But some characters just suck the whole way through.
In this episode, Ms. Hoover enrages Lisa by cutting her presentation short and giving the entire class a B- grade. Lisa calls Ms. Hoover a hack and refuses to apologize. Lisa goes to detention and the next day still refuses, even when Hoover threatens her educational future. Lisa does take a course about apologies that asks her to put herself in Ms. Hoover's shoes. Lisa decides to follow Hoover home and finds that she leads a very harsh, pathetic life, suffering from serious back pain. Lisa decides to use her own money to by a massage chair for her and apologies. Hoover doesn't accept immediately but Hoover begins to come around.
OK, so... this is an episode putting me in mind of an episode that just gets more frustrating the more I think about it, Make Room for Lisa. In that episode, Homer basically spends the episode gaslighting Lisa, not out of evil but simply because the episode treats him as a thoughtless dope and it ends with Lisa apologizing because he takes her to the museum, at least. This has more nuance to it and like Make Room for Lisa, potentially interesting ideas that are kind of scuttled because the person Lisa needs to apologize to fucking sucks. And I think the problem is the show thinks that Hoover might be worthy of forgiveness because she has a bad lot in life, which doesn't track considering she's just a shitty teacher.
Look, as an educator, I have my share of flaws but Hoover generally comes across as a bully and learning more about her doesn't change that, it only means that she's projecting her pain onto someone else and it's not Lisa's responsibility to fix it. Now what I did think was interesting was when Marge says that a seed was planted. To me, that does say there's a little more going on; yeah, we can complain about when someone sucks but there are times making that first move to mend, to take it on yourself to help someone even if they don't deserve it is the work of a bigger person. Maybe the point should be we live in a harsh world and it's OK to be angry but sometimes we have to help, even when someone makes it hard.
But this episode isn't quite so deft as to make it work. Putting aside that eventually Hoover does accept the apology (if the idea that a seed of goodness is planted in her... seeds take a while. Shouldn't the point be in small ways or something), she fucking sucks. She's using her power to bully an eight year old and handles Lisa extremely poorly. There are times with kids you need to draw a line but threatening to follow her around and fuck up her academic life is terrible and even if we can sympathize and empathize with other aspects, that's not really enough. Ms. Hoover has been painted as a shitty teacher for a while but she's also a low-key blank slate. The only things we seem to get is she doesn't like Lisa for being very smart, she's single and she drinks a bit. I think there is room to make her a somewhat sympathetic characters despite sucking but this episode really can't make that work. If anything, the episode where she accepts a massage chair that an 8 year old bought her with college money and she can barely acknowledge a thank you only goes to prove "fuck Ms. Hoover."
Other notes:
The episode is written by Nell Scovell, creator of the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch and also writer of a true classic Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" from WAY back in season two (she also worked on a couple episodes of the new MST3k seasons).
As an educator, I have both more and less respect for the teachers in the Simpsons than before. More because the character of Mrs. Krabappel, though often checked out, also is shown spending a lot of hard work trying to care for her charges. And being an educator indeed doesn't pay all that well and can be emotionally draining at times. But also, most of them suck and are often abusive and manipulative. Obviously the degree depends on the episode. After all, the characters are flexible in a lot of ways that allows them to be slightly different in different episodes yet still allowing them to feel consistent, to an extent. But some characters just suck the whole way through.
In this episode, Ms. Hoover enrages Lisa by cutting her presentation short and giving the entire class a B- grade. Lisa calls Ms. Hoover a hack and refuses to apologize. Lisa goes to detention and the next day still refuses, even when Hoover threatens her educational future. Lisa does take a course about apologies that asks her to put herself in Ms. Hoover's shoes. Lisa decides to follow Hoover home and finds that she leads a very harsh, pathetic life, suffering from serious back pain. Lisa decides to use her own money to by a massage chair for her and apologies. Hoover doesn't accept immediately but Hoover begins to come around.
OK, so... this is an episode putting me in mind of an episode that just gets more frustrating the more I think about it, Make Room for Lisa. In that episode, Homer basically spends the episode gaslighting Lisa, not out of evil but simply because the episode treats him as a thoughtless dope and it ends with Lisa apologizing because he takes her to the museum, at least. This has more nuance to it and like Make Room for Lisa, potentially interesting ideas that are kind of scuttled because the person Lisa needs to apologize to fucking sucks. And I think the problem is the show thinks that Hoover might be worthy of forgiveness because she has a bad lot in life, which doesn't track considering she's just a shitty teacher.
Look, as an educator, I have my share of flaws but Hoover generally comes across as a bully and learning more about her doesn't change that, it only means that she's projecting her pain onto someone else and it's not Lisa's responsibility to fix it. Now what I did think was interesting was when Marge says that a seed was planted. To me, that does say there's a little more going on; yeah, we can complain about when someone sucks but there are times making that first move to mend, to take it on yourself to help someone even if they don't deserve it is the work of a bigger person. Maybe the point should be we live in a harsh world and it's OK to be angry but sometimes we have to help, even when someone makes it hard.
But this episode isn't quite so deft as to make it work. Putting aside that eventually Hoover does accept the apology (if the idea that a seed of goodness is planted in her... seeds take a while. Shouldn't the point be in small ways or something), she fucking sucks. She's using her power to bully an eight year old and handles Lisa extremely poorly. There are times with kids you need to draw a line but threatening to follow her around and fuck up her academic life is terrible and even if we can sympathize and empathize with other aspects, that's not really enough. Ms. Hoover has been painted as a shitty teacher for a while but she's also a low-key blank slate. The only things we seem to get is she doesn't like Lisa for being very smart, she's single and she drinks a bit. I think there is room to make her a somewhat sympathetic characters despite sucking but this episode really can't make that work. If anything, the episode where she accepts a massage chair that an 8 year old bought her with college money and she can barely acknowledge a thank you only goes to prove "fuck Ms. Hoover."
Other notes:
The episode is written by Nell Scovell, creator of the 90s sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch and also writer of a true classic Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" from WAY back in season two (she also worked on a couple episodes of the new MST3k seasons).
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas
By December 2020, the year had been completely dominated by Covid. Some people made big changes, taking up new hobbies or learning new skills. Me... not so much. By Christmas, I just wanted to spend a little more time chilling with family and friends. It was certainly an era of asking for comfort. Some people find that in the Hallmark/Lifetime/Netflix Christmas movies. Do they suck? Yes. I find them truly unwatchable. I've only seen clips of a few and only watched one full one because it was on How Did This Get Made? (for reference it was the actual movie the 12 Pups of Christmas). As someone who is a sucker for cozy Christmas classics and a bit of hokeyness but these things seem in a world divorced from what I like about them; ridiculously chaste romances set in a completely sterile version of a small town that feels more like a case for why you should move to a city; because it doesn't feel like someone surgically removed it's soul.
In this episode, Mary Tannenbaum, a movie producer for Heartmark, must complete production on a Christmas movie filming in Springfield to get a promotion, despite her dislike of Christmas movies. Staying with the Simpsons, who have turned their house into an Air B n B for people working on the film, Mary stays in Bart's room, much to his chagrin. Meanwhile, Lisa starts following Mary around as she tries to make the film, only to be mocked by the "small town" Springfieldians for her big city ways. She also gets into an argument with Skinner who is hosting a produce festival focused on lettuce and tomatoes but the two make peace when Skinner agrees to help set-build in exchange for the use of the town centre for his festival. During the festival, which is also being used as a film set due to some last minute planning, Bart launches a revenge prank in hopes of ending production which leads Skinner and Mary spend the night trapped in a gazebo where they fall in love. But just as Mary starts to win the town over, Bart uses footage Lisa took of Mary badmouthing the town to make her persona non grata. Mary reveals to Marge that her husband died on the set of Jingle All the Way, making her hate Christmas movies and Bart and Lisa reveal this to the town, who forgive her. Mary wants to leave her fiancé for Skinner but Skinner chides her for wanting to leave a handsome surgeon.
A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas is possibly one of the best made episodes in a while and that's also what makes it hard to watch, to an extent. See, while the Halloween special doesn't take full stylistic advantage of it's ideas, this does but it has to live in a world that I have to cringe if I watch it. It perfectly captures the feel of those cynical holiday specials where the formula is down to a science. It's an episode where even the soundtrack perfectly captures the cheesy "whimsy" music and just... puts me on edge. It's a good script from Jessica Conrad, there are funny gags and I think it really understands why and how these specials "work". But there's a certain kind of parody that's so dead on, usually mocking something hackneyed and to make that point, it must become the monster.
Keep in mind, the episode mostly commits but it isn't like when Amy Pohler and Will Ferral did that straight faced Lifetime movie. There are still classic Simpsons bits around the seams and some are very funny. But it's an episode about an all-new character who is basically every lead in these films who leaves the city to live in a conspicuously wealthy looking small town (save Springfield isn't conspicuously wealthy). The episode is a nightmarish simulacrum of such films and putting in boring-ass Skinner as Mary's (perfectly cast with Ellie Kemper) unthreateningly handsome boyfriend is funny and makes sense. There's a lot of mocking of the behind the scenes nightmare these films are but somehow it is an episode that mostly decides to mock the formula without much deviation. So while it isn't completely straightfaced, it comes close (seriously, despite my complaints about Bleeding Fingers skewing too cinematic, it is a pitch perfect soundtrack here, the epitome of white people pablum.)
So overall, despite my cringing at times as if this was an episode of Nathan for You, I think this is a well-done episode. I do wish it got more ambitious; I feel like some shows might start with a parody and then take a bizarre left turn. But I also admire commitment to a bit, the decision to intentionally be a worse comedy to become a satire of not just bad comedy but terrible storytelling. Still, the abyss stares back; if you want to become this, it also means a bit of damage to watchability. It's the issue I have going back to the Simpsons Smiletime Variety Hour; it's a great parody but I'm only laughing sporadically and grinning mostly out of embarrassment. Yet, I really admire the episode for it's commitment and, most importantly, casting our greatest natural resource; Richard Kind. If anything, I hope his character, Film Director, is already being spun off into his own series, but I can understand he's hard to get on a weekly basis. Lot of irons in the fire, that Richard. After all... he's one... of a... Kind!
Other great jokes:
A nice touch: Mary's handsome surgeon boyfriend straightening his stethoscope before work.
"I'm sorry, is something funny?"
"Oh, just you city folk and your legume milks. That and this Pearls Before Swine comic. I was laughing at both things simultaneously."
"This movie might just be good enough to fold laundry to."
"As long as the attractive white people make with the closed mouth smooching, nobody's complaining."
I love Lisa's reaction to her loving the movie is "Mom, uh... no."
Other notes:
MERRY KINDMAS
By December 2020, the year had been completely dominated by Covid. Some people made big changes, taking up new hobbies or learning new skills. Me... not so much. By Christmas, I just wanted to spend a little more time chilling with family and friends. It was certainly an era of asking for comfort. Some people find that in the Hallmark/Lifetime/Netflix Christmas movies. Do they suck? Yes. I find them truly unwatchable. I've only seen clips of a few and only watched one full one because it was on How Did This Get Made? (for reference it was the actual movie the 12 Pups of Christmas). As someone who is a sucker for cozy Christmas classics and a bit of hokeyness but these things seem in a world divorced from what I like about them; ridiculously chaste romances set in a completely sterile version of a small town that feels more like a case for why you should move to a city; because it doesn't feel like someone surgically removed it's soul.
In this episode, Mary Tannenbaum, a movie producer for Heartmark, must complete production on a Christmas movie filming in Springfield to get a promotion, despite her dislike of Christmas movies. Staying with the Simpsons, who have turned their house into an Air B n B for people working on the film, Mary stays in Bart's room, much to his chagrin. Meanwhile, Lisa starts following Mary around as she tries to make the film, only to be mocked by the "small town" Springfieldians for her big city ways. She also gets into an argument with Skinner who is hosting a produce festival focused on lettuce and tomatoes but the two make peace when Skinner agrees to help set-build in exchange for the use of the town centre for his festival. During the festival, which is also being used as a film set due to some last minute planning, Bart launches a revenge prank in hopes of ending production which leads Skinner and Mary spend the night trapped in a gazebo where they fall in love. But just as Mary starts to win the town over, Bart uses footage Lisa took of Mary badmouthing the town to make her persona non grata. Mary reveals to Marge that her husband died on the set of Jingle All the Way, making her hate Christmas movies and Bart and Lisa reveal this to the town, who forgive her. Mary wants to leave her fiancé for Skinner but Skinner chides her for wanting to leave a handsome surgeon.
A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas is possibly one of the best made episodes in a while and that's also what makes it hard to watch, to an extent. See, while the Halloween special doesn't take full stylistic advantage of it's ideas, this does but it has to live in a world that I have to cringe if I watch it. It perfectly captures the feel of those cynical holiday specials where the formula is down to a science. It's an episode where even the soundtrack perfectly captures the cheesy "whimsy" music and just... puts me on edge. It's a good script from Jessica Conrad, there are funny gags and I think it really understands why and how these specials "work". But there's a certain kind of parody that's so dead on, usually mocking something hackneyed and to make that point, it must become the monster.
Keep in mind, the episode mostly commits but it isn't like when Amy Pohler and Will Ferral did that straight faced Lifetime movie. There are still classic Simpsons bits around the seams and some are very funny. But it's an episode about an all-new character who is basically every lead in these films who leaves the city to live in a conspicuously wealthy looking small town (save Springfield isn't conspicuously wealthy). The episode is a nightmarish simulacrum of such films and putting in boring-ass Skinner as Mary's (perfectly cast with Ellie Kemper) unthreateningly handsome boyfriend is funny and makes sense. There's a lot of mocking of the behind the scenes nightmare these films are but somehow it is an episode that mostly decides to mock the formula without much deviation. So while it isn't completely straightfaced, it comes close (seriously, despite my complaints about Bleeding Fingers skewing too cinematic, it is a pitch perfect soundtrack here, the epitome of white people pablum.)
So overall, despite my cringing at times as if this was an episode of Nathan for You, I think this is a well-done episode. I do wish it got more ambitious; I feel like some shows might start with a parody and then take a bizarre left turn. But I also admire commitment to a bit, the decision to intentionally be a worse comedy to become a satire of not just bad comedy but terrible storytelling. Still, the abyss stares back; if you want to become this, it also means a bit of damage to watchability. It's the issue I have going back to the Simpsons Smiletime Variety Hour; it's a great parody but I'm only laughing sporadically and grinning mostly out of embarrassment. Yet, I really admire the episode for it's commitment and, most importantly, casting our greatest natural resource; Richard Kind. If anything, I hope his character, Film Director, is already being spun off into his own series, but I can understand he's hard to get on a weekly basis. Lot of irons in the fire, that Richard. After all... he's one... of a... Kind!
Other great jokes:
A nice touch: Mary's handsome surgeon boyfriend straightening his stethoscope before work.
"I'm sorry, is something funny?"
"Oh, just you city folk and your legume milks. That and this Pearls Before Swine comic. I was laughing at both things simultaneously."
"This movie might just be good enough to fold laundry to."
"As long as the attractive white people make with the closed mouth smooching, nobody's complaining."
I love Lisa's reaction to her loving the movie is "Mom, uh... no."
Other notes:
MERRY KINDMAS
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Dad-Feelings Limited
I love kids. I love working with them, playing with them, even though the hard times with them can be hard, stressful and painful at times. Also, some of them just punch me. But I also wonder if I could be a good father. I think because I am good with kids, people seem to assume so but I feel like there's a difference between being good with kids and really having to share your life with them. After all, I live alone and I feel that outside of work, I get to enjoy just being selfish, living on my own and doing what I want. I often think I do want kids but I also wonder if I lack a certain element to be a good father.
In this episode, Homer and Marge, desperate for adult friendship outside of their lives, wind up at Moe's trivia night and making a team with Comic Book Guy and Kumiko. They become friends and when Kumiko comes over, she spends time with Maggie and suddenly wants a baby. Comic Book Guy is resistant, causing a strain in their relationship while Homer and Marge decide to help Kumiko convince Comic Book Guy she wants kids. Homer and Marge leave their kids with Kumiko and Comic Book Guy and the kids actually manage to bond with him over a movie, convincing Comic Book Guy he might want them. However, when the kids get a scare and come to Comic Book Guy for help, he suddenly gets spooked and runs away to his childhood home. The Simpsons decide to get him back and we learn of Comic Book Guy coming from a family of eccentric collectors who had a hard time expressing love, instead lost in their own worlds of collecting. The breaking point came when Comic Book Guy perfected a curve ball and was given a chance in little league, only to be thrown off by the absence of his father. losing the game and escaping pain in the world of comics. Eventually, Comic Book Guy's father, Postage Stamp Fellow, reveals he was too scared to come because if he lost, he wouldn't know how to give comfort. Instead he bought Comic Book Guy a Sandy Koufax-signed baseball that he had never given him as a sign of love and together they play catch. Comic Book Guy decides he's ready for kids and he and Kumiko begin to work on it.
So I feel like this and the Christmas episode are the signs of the show picking up but I need to be honest, I have very mixed feelings on the episode. I think objectively, it is a higher quality episode than we've seen in a while from the writing to the directing (I won't put the voice acting up there but it works). I think this and the previous episode have a lot more personality than most of the season so far so I'm really glad about that. So where do I struggle with it. It's less this specific episode but more the fact that Comic Book Guy is getting a weird amount of play lately. As a character who largely represents toxic fandom, it's weird that he's making a transition to somewhat cynical nerd when I feel like the problem he often represents is still a big problem in the circles of fandom. I mean, having him not being a racist, sexist jerk, I'm fine with but even then he represents the kind of gate-keepery creep who excises fun. And most of the episodes he features in don't really justify this turn. I feel like the problem I have is less this specific episode and more this direction for the character; ironically, one of the few times I don't need a character necessarily to be less toxic, just less... prominent. Too much of him, really.
But outside of the trend, this episode itself is OK. My other big problem is the last act; not the story, which is fine (though it's weird that the Simpsons are commonly tasked by other people to mediate disputes between loved ones, like they are being given Grand Theft Auto missions). It's well-directed and a loving tribute to the films of Wes Anderson but I'm not sure to what end. I get it from the more obvious angles; his film are about complicated dads who aren't great or are down right bad at love and it is about people who wants things "just so". But at the same time, in doing so, it really just feels like an echo of Anderson and as a loving tribute, it doesn't really get clever with the format and that's a bit disappointing. I love his films but he really is ripe for parody and yet I feel like most of the parody is on the obvious stuff, like his love of aesthetics and quirk, and maybe not anything less superficial. This is better than a lot but I feel like it doesn't have a lot to do with it's solid facsimile.
Over all, I do think it helps that it is an episode that speaks to me as someone who wants kids but am not sure I have the emotional giving to be a parent. I like to give emotionally but then I also like to have a lot of space to just stop and be in my own world. I think there are a lot of people who think me as kind but I'm not the best listener and feel like I'm often too self-focused, though I try to be better. This is one of the better arguments that there is something to do with Comic Book Guy but before him, I'd rather the show work on fixing characters like Flanders. And it's wild we have TWO Comic Book Guy episodes this season. Ryan Koh's script is good and I think what he and long time director Chris Clements do with it is the best version of what this could be (aside from the fact I think the Wes Anderson segment could be done better). I'll just say; this was fine, no more Comic Book Guy episodes until at least season... 41? Do we have a deal?
Other great jokes:
Something about the Bart looking-kid is funny to me. Low key funny but still, I'll take any funny I can.
"But I don't know much about babies except how to dress like one."
"Oh, Homey that was so dangerous. I feel like Mrs. Dracula."
Other notes:
Won't lie "I will make love to you as the trans gremlin from Gremlins 2" hits weirdly close to home. I feel like 80s cartoons and kids media with aggressive ladies who want to cover you with hugs and smooches with insane aggression was something that awoken something in me, despite my strong "consensual touching" and "bodily autonomy" stances.
Calling Gremlins 2 "underappreciated by still terrible" is a low key. I'm just going to chalk it up to the mistake I made; Koh hasn't seen it in a while and assumed it aged like Animaniacs, not realizing it holds up quite well.
Oh, yeah, and Dan Aykroyd is in this.
I love kids. I love working with them, playing with them, even though the hard times with them can be hard, stressful and painful at times. Also, some of them just punch me. But I also wonder if I could be a good father. I think because I am good with kids, people seem to assume so but I feel like there's a difference between being good with kids and really having to share your life with them. After all, I live alone and I feel that outside of work, I get to enjoy just being selfish, living on my own and doing what I want. I often think I do want kids but I also wonder if I lack a certain element to be a good father.
In this episode, Homer and Marge, desperate for adult friendship outside of their lives, wind up at Moe's trivia night and making a team with Comic Book Guy and Kumiko. They become friends and when Kumiko comes over, she spends time with Maggie and suddenly wants a baby. Comic Book Guy is resistant, causing a strain in their relationship while Homer and Marge decide to help Kumiko convince Comic Book Guy she wants kids. Homer and Marge leave their kids with Kumiko and Comic Book Guy and the kids actually manage to bond with him over a movie, convincing Comic Book Guy he might want them. However, when the kids get a scare and come to Comic Book Guy for help, he suddenly gets spooked and runs away to his childhood home. The Simpsons decide to get him back and we learn of Comic Book Guy coming from a family of eccentric collectors who had a hard time expressing love, instead lost in their own worlds of collecting. The breaking point came when Comic Book Guy perfected a curve ball and was given a chance in little league, only to be thrown off by the absence of his father. losing the game and escaping pain in the world of comics. Eventually, Comic Book Guy's father, Postage Stamp Fellow, reveals he was too scared to come because if he lost, he wouldn't know how to give comfort. Instead he bought Comic Book Guy a Sandy Koufax-signed baseball that he had never given him as a sign of love and together they play catch. Comic Book Guy decides he's ready for kids and he and Kumiko begin to work on it.
So I feel like this and the Christmas episode are the signs of the show picking up but I need to be honest, I have very mixed feelings on the episode. I think objectively, it is a higher quality episode than we've seen in a while from the writing to the directing (I won't put the voice acting up there but it works). I think this and the previous episode have a lot more personality than most of the season so far so I'm really glad about that. So where do I struggle with it. It's less this specific episode but more the fact that Comic Book Guy is getting a weird amount of play lately. As a character who largely represents toxic fandom, it's weird that he's making a transition to somewhat cynical nerd when I feel like the problem he often represents is still a big problem in the circles of fandom. I mean, having him not being a racist, sexist jerk, I'm fine with but even then he represents the kind of gate-keepery creep who excises fun. And most of the episodes he features in don't really justify this turn. I feel like the problem I have is less this specific episode and more this direction for the character; ironically, one of the few times I don't need a character necessarily to be less toxic, just less... prominent. Too much of him, really.
But outside of the trend, this episode itself is OK. My other big problem is the last act; not the story, which is fine (though it's weird that the Simpsons are commonly tasked by other people to mediate disputes between loved ones, like they are being given Grand Theft Auto missions). It's well-directed and a loving tribute to the films of Wes Anderson but I'm not sure to what end. I get it from the more obvious angles; his film are about complicated dads who aren't great or are down right bad at love and it is about people who wants things "just so". But at the same time, in doing so, it really just feels like an echo of Anderson and as a loving tribute, it doesn't really get clever with the format and that's a bit disappointing. I love his films but he really is ripe for parody and yet I feel like most of the parody is on the obvious stuff, like his love of aesthetics and quirk, and maybe not anything less superficial. This is better than a lot but I feel like it doesn't have a lot to do with it's solid facsimile.
Over all, I do think it helps that it is an episode that speaks to me as someone who wants kids but am not sure I have the emotional giving to be a parent. I like to give emotionally but then I also like to have a lot of space to just stop and be in my own world. I think there are a lot of people who think me as kind but I'm not the best listener and feel like I'm often too self-focused, though I try to be better. This is one of the better arguments that there is something to do with Comic Book Guy but before him, I'd rather the show work on fixing characters like Flanders. And it's wild we have TWO Comic Book Guy episodes this season. Ryan Koh's script is good and I think what he and long time director Chris Clements do with it is the best version of what this could be (aside from the fact I think the Wes Anderson segment could be done better). I'll just say; this was fine, no more Comic Book Guy episodes until at least season... 41? Do we have a deal?
Other great jokes:
Something about the Bart looking-kid is funny to me. Low key funny but still, I'll take any funny I can.
"But I don't know much about babies except how to dress like one."
"Oh, Homey that was so dangerous. I feel like Mrs. Dracula."
Other notes:
Won't lie "I will make love to you as the trans gremlin from Gremlins 2" hits weirdly close to home. I feel like 80s cartoons and kids media with aggressive ladies who want to cover you with hugs and smooches with insane aggression was something that awoken something in me, despite my strong "consensual touching" and "bodily autonomy" stances.
Calling Gremlins 2 "underappreciated by still terrible" is a low key. I'm just going to chalk it up to the mistake I made; Koh hasn't seen it in a while and assumed it aged like Animaniacs, not realizing it holds up quite well.
Oh, yeah, and Dan Aykroyd is in this.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Diary Queen
Edna Krabappel wasn't the most important character in the series but I feel like over the course of the series, she often comes off pretty well. Yes, she is cynical and is often checked out and, like most Springfielders, has other huge flaws like letting Martin be her clear favourite but I think the show was good about making her a compassionate teacher, even if the overt joy of her profession is gone. A lot can be owed to the writing and the performance and some of her traits that Marcia Wallace gives her that are initially played for laughs, like loving sex, become actually a point of pride for her, that she won't be shamed for that and I think that's a good approach. The show is poorer for Wallace's passing because through the highs and lows, I think Krabappel is a consistently strong character.
In this episode, Bart buys a bunch of books from Flanders' yard sale and discovers one of them is Edna Krabappel's diary. Reading it, he gets some inside scoops for pranks but then reads a section that makes him think she sees a lot of promise in Bart. Bart is moved and decides to live up to his potential. After getting a good grade, Lisa becomes suspicious and learns the truth... and the fact that Bart missed his section was actually about her cat. Lisa doesn't want to derails Bart's progress and hurt his feelings but also lying makes her nervous, especially if Bart learns the truth later. Lisa becomes anxious, especially when Bart gets overtly cocky and risks humiliating himself at the spelling bee. Lisa finally tells Bart the truth and it breaks his heart. Flanders comes over to cheer Bart up and reveal with evidence that she did see potential in Bart and in fact wanted to stay in Springfield to help boys like him. Flanders is overcome with curiosity himself and learns how much Edna cared about him.
Diary Queen was designed to be, a few years late, a loving send off to Edna Krabappel, a very important and beloved character in the series. There are a lot of ways this could have gone wrong; become too treacly, kind of accidentally insult the character and because this is an episode about Bart, again treat Bart like a stupid. The episode does try to walk a fine line. It also falters a bit. But not into terribly embarrassing territory. I do wish it was better but it's not bad and I think it makes more positive choices than negative ones. That's said, it's really just OKish and not much more.
What it could have done, that I hate, is have Lisa be smug about the revelation (they've written Lisa as needlessly mean to Bart before, particularly in terms of academics) or that Bart is just stupid and conflates academics with intelligence instead of recognizing that Bart is a different kind of intelligent than Lisa. It falters here a little (Lisa sadly calls Bart a "phony" which makes no sense; HE DID get good grades and improve his behaviour. Those are things that happened, even if the motivator was a misconception) and I think that it might be more interesting if the episode is about Bart learning the difference between potential and talent, where he assumes he's good NOW and not in need to keep working hard. I also have a small problem with Flanders' evidence in that it is a little too convenient. I would believe she would talk about Bart's potential but as a big life decision, maybe name drop a few of her kids including Bart or just say the kids of Springfield (especially since it is a shitty school that needs all the good teachers it can get) but it just felt too easy.
Still, I don't think it is a bad episode. Bart isn't stupid, Lisa cares about him and wants him to succeed and people aren't too jerky. The episode is written by show vet Jeff Westbrook and I appreciate that a longtime writer worked on this on but as a send off, it's not a big tearjerker, it's just an OK watchable episode. It is a shame because I think there are a lot of potentially emotionally engaging elements to this episode that don't really get dug into and the emotion it does get feels a little perfunctory. But considering a lot of the huge misses this season, it's not an insult to one of the most beloved characters and performers on the show.
Other notes:
Frankly, I think the episode should have just not used the archive voice. Recognizing the episodes they come from make it weird.
New voice alert: Mario Jose is Julio... for exactly one episode. Maybe they'll bring him back later.
Edna Krabappel wasn't the most important character in the series but I feel like over the course of the series, she often comes off pretty well. Yes, she is cynical and is often checked out and, like most Springfielders, has other huge flaws like letting Martin be her clear favourite but I think the show was good about making her a compassionate teacher, even if the overt joy of her profession is gone. A lot can be owed to the writing and the performance and some of her traits that Marcia Wallace gives her that are initially played for laughs, like loving sex, become actually a point of pride for her, that she won't be shamed for that and I think that's a good approach. The show is poorer for Wallace's passing because through the highs and lows, I think Krabappel is a consistently strong character.
In this episode, Bart buys a bunch of books from Flanders' yard sale and discovers one of them is Edna Krabappel's diary. Reading it, he gets some inside scoops for pranks but then reads a section that makes him think she sees a lot of promise in Bart. Bart is moved and decides to live up to his potential. After getting a good grade, Lisa becomes suspicious and learns the truth... and the fact that Bart missed his section was actually about her cat. Lisa doesn't want to derails Bart's progress and hurt his feelings but also lying makes her nervous, especially if Bart learns the truth later. Lisa becomes anxious, especially when Bart gets overtly cocky and risks humiliating himself at the spelling bee. Lisa finally tells Bart the truth and it breaks his heart. Flanders comes over to cheer Bart up and reveal with evidence that she did see potential in Bart and in fact wanted to stay in Springfield to help boys like him. Flanders is overcome with curiosity himself and learns how much Edna cared about him.
Diary Queen was designed to be, a few years late, a loving send off to Edna Krabappel, a very important and beloved character in the series. There are a lot of ways this could have gone wrong; become too treacly, kind of accidentally insult the character and because this is an episode about Bart, again treat Bart like a stupid. The episode does try to walk a fine line. It also falters a bit. But not into terribly embarrassing territory. I do wish it was better but it's not bad and I think it makes more positive choices than negative ones. That's said, it's really just OKish and not much more.
What it could have done, that I hate, is have Lisa be smug about the revelation (they've written Lisa as needlessly mean to Bart before, particularly in terms of academics) or that Bart is just stupid and conflates academics with intelligence instead of recognizing that Bart is a different kind of intelligent than Lisa. It falters here a little (Lisa sadly calls Bart a "phony" which makes no sense; HE DID get good grades and improve his behaviour. Those are things that happened, even if the motivator was a misconception) and I think that it might be more interesting if the episode is about Bart learning the difference between potential and talent, where he assumes he's good NOW and not in need to keep working hard. I also have a small problem with Flanders' evidence in that it is a little too convenient. I would believe she would talk about Bart's potential but as a big life decision, maybe name drop a few of her kids including Bart or just say the kids of Springfield (especially since it is a shitty school that needs all the good teachers it can get) but it just felt too easy.
Still, I don't think it is a bad episode. Bart isn't stupid, Lisa cares about him and wants him to succeed and people aren't too jerky. The episode is written by show vet Jeff Westbrook and I appreciate that a longtime writer worked on this on but as a send off, it's not a big tearjerker, it's just an OK watchable episode. It is a shame because I think there are a lot of potentially emotionally engaging elements to this episode that don't really get dug into and the emotion it does get feels a little perfunctory. But considering a lot of the huge misses this season, it's not an insult to one of the most beloved characters and performers on the show.
Other notes:
Frankly, I think the episode should have just not used the archive voice. Recognizing the episodes they come from make it weird.
New voice alert: Mario Jose is Julio... for exactly one episode. Maybe they'll bring him back later.
I think this episode is another point towards eventual Supreme Court Justice Bart.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Wad Goals
Why does Bart work. And when does Bart work. That can be a hard question because I think the initial appeal of Bart during Bart-mania missed who Bart is when the show is at it's best. After all, Bart is an anagram of Brat (intentional, according to Groening) and one of his core features is him making trouble. But Bart doesn't work because he's a "bad kid". He's mischievous and rebellious but it comes from a place of joy and sometimes defiance. Sometimes the defiance is misplaced but it isn't a bad instinct. Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more "activist Bart and Lisa" stories, considering they would still handle it all differently (the Bart Vs. Itchy and Scratchy is a good one but I feel like there are more angles). But Bart is a kid who worries that he is bad sometimes, mostly when he worries his mom or other people he loves. When he hurts some one and realizes it, it hurts him, even if he is a bit resistant at first. But too often, the show itself will miss this, just having Bart be a completely un-empathetic jerk. Now to be fair Bart is still a boy and empathy must be learned. I know a lot of good kids who struggle with that. But episodes where Lisa mocks Bart for being an idiot with no future is an insult to both characters and I much more appreciate it when the show can remember it wasn't Bart being transgressive that made him great but instead showing the virtue of who he is, even the stuff some people assume are "bad."
In this episode, the kids of Springfield discover a golf course and Bart realizes he can make big money as a caddy, especially if he flatters all the golfers. At first, Marge is proud but when she sees him sucking up to the golfers, she has a visceral reaction and wants Bart to stop. Bart won't and Marge begins a grassroots campaign to try to close down the golf club, helped by Lisa who objects to it on various ethical grounds. The golf club's president, Bildorf, with whom Bart wants to get in the good graces of, talks to Bart about trying to change his mom's mind but Bart instead talks about how golf is better than religion, inspiring Bildorf to transform golf into a religion and his club into a tax-free place of worship. Marge takes some time to explain to Bart her main worry of him being a suck up is he'll lose the part of him that doesn't the approval of others. When Bildorf makes it clear Bart, despite his money, will never be a part of the golf club and looks down on him despite helping him, Bart decides to get revenge by renting out a ton of ATVs to his friend to ruin the golf course. Bildorf is unbothered but is eventually arrested for another crime.
Wad Goals is a surprisingly strong episode. We've seen Bart make some money in the golf world before as a b-plot but this episode has a lot going on and really gets the character of Bart; the strength of his spark, how he can be swayed the way society is and how he is an intrinsically good person in the end. I also think it helps this is an episode very much about how much capitalism sucks, which more often than not, the Simpsons is properly cynical about (despite having some weirdly pro-Burns episodes. I feel like having a more overt capitalism president will leave that in the dust for a while, I hope, though the season did open up with an ill-considered "boss needs to be the bad guy" message). And in this one, I think it is smart about it.
I think what it shows is there are many reasons golf is detrimental to society but Marge is caring about the personal impact. In this case, she is seeing someone's special element snuffed out and she can't articulate why until the end. She calls it sucking up and it is but I think she realizes that the end what it all means; that the rich can buy justice and it's not impossible to pay their humanity away. But Bart's justice and goodness runs deep; when he realizes the big man not only doesn't care about the worker, even when they do something invaluable, Bart not only takes them on, he recruits the people he refused to share with and has a win by, well, sharing. His power alone isn't enough but it sure makes a ruckus when he shares it with others and despite being obvious in retrospect, the reveal he spent his money on not something for himself but something for everyone was a pleasant surprise.
It's not perfect. There's a weird SJWs joke that with no pay off except Lisa explains the meaning of the word to not-terminally-online people. The sex cult ending to wrap things up feels more convenient. If anything these two could actually solve each other if Bart weaponized Marge's ill-considered petition but while it would be funny to have the same kind of people golf club types would utilize turn against them, it might also make online CHUDs heroes, even if on accident, and I don't trust the Simpsons to do the needle threading to make it work. But overall, this is a strong episode because it is one that gets the Bart/Marge dynamic. Marge struggles with Bart's behaviour but she knows it's part of his humanity, maybe his most valuable part. And so does writer Brian Kelley. And I hope the rest of the creative force on the show keep it in mind as well.
Other notes:
Bildorf is a weird name and is it... a portmanteau of "bill" (as in dollar) and Dorf? Anyway, he's voiced by Stephen Root and that's always a treat.
Why does Bart work. And when does Bart work. That can be a hard question because I think the initial appeal of Bart during Bart-mania missed who Bart is when the show is at it's best. After all, Bart is an anagram of Brat (intentional, according to Groening) and one of his core features is him making trouble. But Bart doesn't work because he's a "bad kid". He's mischievous and rebellious but it comes from a place of joy and sometimes defiance. Sometimes the defiance is misplaced but it isn't a bad instinct. Frankly, I'm surprised there hasn't been more "activist Bart and Lisa" stories, considering they would still handle it all differently (the Bart Vs. Itchy and Scratchy is a good one but I feel like there are more angles). But Bart is a kid who worries that he is bad sometimes, mostly when he worries his mom or other people he loves. When he hurts some one and realizes it, it hurts him, even if he is a bit resistant at first. But too often, the show itself will miss this, just having Bart be a completely un-empathetic jerk. Now to be fair Bart is still a boy and empathy must be learned. I know a lot of good kids who struggle with that. But episodes where Lisa mocks Bart for being an idiot with no future is an insult to both characters and I much more appreciate it when the show can remember it wasn't Bart being transgressive that made him great but instead showing the virtue of who he is, even the stuff some people assume are "bad."
In this episode, the kids of Springfield discover a golf course and Bart realizes he can make big money as a caddy, especially if he flatters all the golfers. At first, Marge is proud but when she sees him sucking up to the golfers, she has a visceral reaction and wants Bart to stop. Bart won't and Marge begins a grassroots campaign to try to close down the golf club, helped by Lisa who objects to it on various ethical grounds. The golf club's president, Bildorf, with whom Bart wants to get in the good graces of, talks to Bart about trying to change his mom's mind but Bart instead talks about how golf is better than religion, inspiring Bildorf to transform golf into a religion and his club into a tax-free place of worship. Marge takes some time to explain to Bart her main worry of him being a suck up is he'll lose the part of him that doesn't the approval of others. When Bildorf makes it clear Bart, despite his money, will never be a part of the golf club and looks down on him despite helping him, Bart decides to get revenge by renting out a ton of ATVs to his friend to ruin the golf course. Bildorf is unbothered but is eventually arrested for another crime.
Wad Goals is a surprisingly strong episode. We've seen Bart make some money in the golf world before as a b-plot but this episode has a lot going on and really gets the character of Bart; the strength of his spark, how he can be swayed the way society is and how he is an intrinsically good person in the end. I also think it helps this is an episode very much about how much capitalism sucks, which more often than not, the Simpsons is properly cynical about (despite having some weirdly pro-Burns episodes. I feel like having a more overt capitalism president will leave that in the dust for a while, I hope, though the season did open up with an ill-considered "boss needs to be the bad guy" message). And in this one, I think it is smart about it.
I think what it shows is there are many reasons golf is detrimental to society but Marge is caring about the personal impact. In this case, she is seeing someone's special element snuffed out and she can't articulate why until the end. She calls it sucking up and it is but I think she realizes that the end what it all means; that the rich can buy justice and it's not impossible to pay their humanity away. But Bart's justice and goodness runs deep; when he realizes the big man not only doesn't care about the worker, even when they do something invaluable, Bart not only takes them on, he recruits the people he refused to share with and has a win by, well, sharing. His power alone isn't enough but it sure makes a ruckus when he shares it with others and despite being obvious in retrospect, the reveal he spent his money on not something for himself but something for everyone was a pleasant surprise.
It's not perfect. There's a weird SJWs joke that with no pay off except Lisa explains the meaning of the word to not-terminally-online people. The sex cult ending to wrap things up feels more convenient. If anything these two could actually solve each other if Bart weaponized Marge's ill-considered petition but while it would be funny to have the same kind of people golf club types would utilize turn against them, it might also make online CHUDs heroes, even if on accident, and I don't trust the Simpsons to do the needle threading to make it work. But overall, this is a strong episode because it is one that gets the Bart/Marge dynamic. Marge struggles with Bart's behaviour but she knows it's part of his humanity, maybe his most valuable part. And so does writer Brian Kelley. And I hope the rest of the creative force on the show keep it in mind as well.
Other notes:
Bildorf is a weird name and is it... a portmanteau of "bill" (as in dollar) and Dorf? Anyway, he's voiced by Stephen Root and that's always a treat.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Yokel Hero
I've already discussed at length what makes for a good character to focus an episode around. And you know what hit me; I forgot they've done a lot of episodes with Cletus. More than you'd think. Cletus began as a one off joke when Lisa is talking about being gawked at by a slack-jawed yokel and sure enough he comes to laugh at Lisa's hair. And like many one-off jokes the character took off and eventually went to featuring in episodes. And I think doing that brings into focus a real problem with this character.
In this episode, Homer is tossed into a drunk tank and is given the resolve to be a better man when he hears Cletus sing a beautiful song. Homer decides to repay Cletus by helping him find fame. But Cletus' success leads him to getting a new manager and dumping Homer and leaving his family behind. Eventually, Marge and Homer convince Cletus to return to his family and leave fame and fortune behind.
Written by Jeff Martin, who wrote golden age classics like "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", Yokel Hero has very little going for it. Cletus is just... not a good character. He was kind of funny early on but I think trying to have him as a filled out character doesn't work when you are not willing to make him much more than just some folksy spewer of puns about being a hillbilly. And that's what a lot of this is; just a really old hacky story that I feel like even Family Guy would be hesitant to make to hang unrelated scenes onto like some sort of comedy clothesline. But also, it's filled with dumb puns like "let me take a gander at this" while holding a goose.
More than that, Cletus never rises above a classist stereotype except when he suddenly knows or does something not lower class for a gag. It's all real tired stuff and it's clear that while the Simpsons is trying to grow in some ways, it's relying on some stuff that doesn't sit well with me, like people who don't have access to proper education or are in the lower class are weirdos living in their own filth, rather than just... people. Cletus doesn't feel like a person, he's a broad stereotype. There's extremely little depth to him, so little that I'm confused why this episode, echoing doesn't of episodes that came before, even bothered to exist. It's a real nothing mixed with some real punching down. I don't even think it has much to say about "selling out" that isn't the most cliche 90s tripe.
Lastly, the only bright spot is Albert Brooks but even this is one of his weakest outings. It feels like he is trying with the improv that they let him do, especially in a longer piece in the end but Brooks isn't on his a-game. I think it hurts that he has no one to work off of... or Brooks isn't trying. After all, the character he's talking at is a character we've never seen before played by Kevin Michael Richardson who keeps getting interrupted so Brooks isn't really interacting and Richardson doesn't really get a chance to show off any improv skills. They just keep cutting back at the character looking confused. I don't know if this is the worst episode of the season but this one is pretty bad.
I've already discussed at length what makes for a good character to focus an episode around. And you know what hit me; I forgot they've done a lot of episodes with Cletus. More than you'd think. Cletus began as a one off joke when Lisa is talking about being gawked at by a slack-jawed yokel and sure enough he comes to laugh at Lisa's hair. And like many one-off jokes the character took off and eventually went to featuring in episodes. And I think doing that brings into focus a real problem with this character.
In this episode, Homer is tossed into a drunk tank and is given the resolve to be a better man when he hears Cletus sing a beautiful song. Homer decides to repay Cletus by helping him find fame. But Cletus' success leads him to getting a new manager and dumping Homer and leaving his family behind. Eventually, Marge and Homer convince Cletus to return to his family and leave fame and fortune behind.
Written by Jeff Martin, who wrote golden age classics like "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", Yokel Hero has very little going for it. Cletus is just... not a good character. He was kind of funny early on but I think trying to have him as a filled out character doesn't work when you are not willing to make him much more than just some folksy spewer of puns about being a hillbilly. And that's what a lot of this is; just a really old hacky story that I feel like even Family Guy would be hesitant to make to hang unrelated scenes onto like some sort of comedy clothesline. But also, it's filled with dumb puns like "let me take a gander at this" while holding a goose.
More than that, Cletus never rises above a classist stereotype except when he suddenly knows or does something not lower class for a gag. It's all real tired stuff and it's clear that while the Simpsons is trying to grow in some ways, it's relying on some stuff that doesn't sit well with me, like people who don't have access to proper education or are in the lower class are weirdos living in their own filth, rather than just... people. Cletus doesn't feel like a person, he's a broad stereotype. There's extremely little depth to him, so little that I'm confused why this episode, echoing doesn't of episodes that came before, even bothered to exist. It's a real nothing mixed with some real punching down. I don't even think it has much to say about "selling out" that isn't the most cliche 90s tripe.
Lastly, the only bright spot is Albert Brooks but even this is one of his weakest outings. It feels like he is trying with the improv that they let him do, especially in a longer piece in the end but Brooks isn't on his a-game. I think it hurts that he has no one to work off of... or Brooks isn't trying. After all, the character he's talking at is a character we've never seen before played by Kevin Michael Richardson who keeps getting interrupted so Brooks isn't really interacting and Richardson doesn't really get a chance to show off any improv skills. They just keep cutting back at the character looking confused. I don't know if this is the worst episode of the season but this one is pretty bad.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Do Pizza Bots Dream of Electric Guitars?
Toxic fandom. The Simpsons certainly had to deal with it's fair share of it just like any other franchise. But the Simpsons were in a unique position. In the early days of the Internet, the show was actually very aware of their vocal fandom online. Although Comic Book Guy was created before Usenet Simpsons, he would certainly be molded by it and his Worst Episode Ever catchphrase came from it. Now I'm not going to call those reviewers toxic per se. Looking back, it is funny to see what episodes they turned on but I also understand why; the Simpsons changed a lot, even in it's Golden Years. Season Two is a really good season but it's also different than what came before or after as it is more human and the world is relatively understated. Then it gets wilder and a few people are going to be thrown off when Leonard Nimoy teleports away. I think we all have an idea about how something would, could and should be and it feel weird when a decision feels wrong headed. But it matters how we react to it. And the Simpsons has had both good (Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie) and bad ("What can you do?") reactions to criticism of it's show.
In this episode, we begin in the 90s, where despite Grandpa talking down to him, Homer has faith in his rapping and his job; the DJ at Razzle-Dazzle's Pizza-Tainment Palace. Homer even helps turn the animatronic house band, The Razzle-Dazzle Rock n Rollin' Revue into a rap group, the Phuntime Phunky Phour. But when an FBI raid takes down the restaurant for being a front for selling drug, Homer's dream job is over. Years later, Homer is reminded of it and Marge and Moe notice Homer has subtly lost the pep in his step. Bart and Lisa learn that the animatronic band is still around and the Simpsons and Moe team up to find them, acquire them and give them to Homer. However, as they move to purchase the last one, they are beaten to it by filmmaker J.J. Abrams. Bart and Lisa try to steal it but are caught. When Abrams learns of Homer's sob story he helps him reunite the band... but then takes them all away for his movie reboot of the franchise as a film series. Homer is despondent and runs into Comic Book Guy, who suggests trolling until he gets what he wants. Homer protests the premiere and confronts Abrams on stage for ruining his childhood, only for Grandpa to admit he's far more responsible. Homer realizes where his feelings are coming from and is reunited with the refurbished animatronics.
I have really mixed feelings about this episode. I think writer Michael Price is making a fairly successful episode of not just toxic fandom but where it springs from. The idea of formative culture taking on a bigger significance to the individual but also that if one's childhood is "ruined", it might point to a bigger source of pain. When the episode seemed to be pivoting to trolling, I was getting pretty trepidatious, because while I knew the show would not be on the side of the trolls, the Simpsons sometimes has handled writing about fan criticism badly. It happens mostly in the last act and Homer quickly turns into another Comic Book Guy and I think that part works more than it doesn't. If there's one failure, we don't spend a ton of time with this fact or the fall out but the episode feels far less haphazard since the last time they did this.
My big complaint is the use of JJ Abrams. A lot of nerds don't like Abrams for various reasons, some conflicting. Some are annoyed he was touching Lucas' property, some upset about "woke" Star Wars (ugh), some more fed up with some weak storytelling and some with undoing another writer's attempts to progress the franchise. It actually makes a lot of sense to use him because of being a trolling target and because he rebooted two of the four Star franchises (Gate and Search, your time will come). Me, I don't have strong opinions on Abrams. I think he made some OKish movies that I have no issues getting passed the flaws of. I don't even dislike Rise of Skywalker that much, though undoing elements from the far superior Last Jedi is weak. My problem, aside from him not being a great actor, is the weird reverence. I think some of it IS intended to be a bit more ironic than, say, when Elon Musk was declared by Lisa to be our "greatest living inventor" but even the more ridiculous sycophancy just feels weird and too close to regular actual sycophancy, especially with Bad Robot branding visible throughout the episode in a way that feels more like paid-for content. This doesn't bother me so much as the weird fawning over Lady Gaga and FAR WORSE the fawning over Elon Musk, possibly because Abrams doesn't come to Springfield to upend the town for the better. But I still don't care for it.
I think in the end, this one is not a bad episode, not even a misguided episode but an episode spent WAY too long with Abrams. Again, no strong feelings on his storytelling abilities or even acting (not great but the Simpsons had to handle FAR worse), I just feel like the episode goes a little more dim when he's the focus. I think it also doesn't help that while I think the story is OK, it's not an episode particularly strong with laughs. It's more of a character focus. So I think maybe what should have happened was speeding through the Abrams segments and instead focusing on Homer the troll, where he invests his sense of self in these childhood memories and the toxic affect of people around him. As is, the structure is almost there and doesn't feel like it was hitting plot points with no connective tissue. I guess Price does a good job with the set up but not enough time with the ugliness that this kind of toxicity creates or how to break free of it.
Other notes:
Greg Grunberg is in this episode. That's a name I did not expect to see. When's the last time we thought about the cop from Heroes?
Toxic fandom. The Simpsons certainly had to deal with it's fair share of it just like any other franchise. But the Simpsons were in a unique position. In the early days of the Internet, the show was actually very aware of their vocal fandom online. Although Comic Book Guy was created before Usenet Simpsons, he would certainly be molded by it and his Worst Episode Ever catchphrase came from it. Now I'm not going to call those reviewers toxic per se. Looking back, it is funny to see what episodes they turned on but I also understand why; the Simpsons changed a lot, even in it's Golden Years. Season Two is a really good season but it's also different than what came before or after as it is more human and the world is relatively understated. Then it gets wilder and a few people are going to be thrown off when Leonard Nimoy teleports away. I think we all have an idea about how something would, could and should be and it feel weird when a decision feels wrong headed. But it matters how we react to it. And the Simpsons has had both good (Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie) and bad ("What can you do?") reactions to criticism of it's show.
In this episode, we begin in the 90s, where despite Grandpa talking down to him, Homer has faith in his rapping and his job; the DJ at Razzle-Dazzle's Pizza-Tainment Palace. Homer even helps turn the animatronic house band, The Razzle-Dazzle Rock n Rollin' Revue into a rap group, the Phuntime Phunky Phour. But when an FBI raid takes down the restaurant for being a front for selling drug, Homer's dream job is over. Years later, Homer is reminded of it and Marge and Moe notice Homer has subtly lost the pep in his step. Bart and Lisa learn that the animatronic band is still around and the Simpsons and Moe team up to find them, acquire them and give them to Homer. However, as they move to purchase the last one, they are beaten to it by filmmaker J.J. Abrams. Bart and Lisa try to steal it but are caught. When Abrams learns of Homer's sob story he helps him reunite the band... but then takes them all away for his movie reboot of the franchise as a film series. Homer is despondent and runs into Comic Book Guy, who suggests trolling until he gets what he wants. Homer protests the premiere and confronts Abrams on stage for ruining his childhood, only for Grandpa to admit he's far more responsible. Homer realizes where his feelings are coming from and is reunited with the refurbished animatronics.
I have really mixed feelings about this episode. I think writer Michael Price is making a fairly successful episode of not just toxic fandom but where it springs from. The idea of formative culture taking on a bigger significance to the individual but also that if one's childhood is "ruined", it might point to a bigger source of pain. When the episode seemed to be pivoting to trolling, I was getting pretty trepidatious, because while I knew the show would not be on the side of the trolls, the Simpsons sometimes has handled writing about fan criticism badly. It happens mostly in the last act and Homer quickly turns into another Comic Book Guy and I think that part works more than it doesn't. If there's one failure, we don't spend a ton of time with this fact or the fall out but the episode feels far less haphazard since the last time they did this.
My big complaint is the use of JJ Abrams. A lot of nerds don't like Abrams for various reasons, some conflicting. Some are annoyed he was touching Lucas' property, some upset about "woke" Star Wars (ugh), some more fed up with some weak storytelling and some with undoing another writer's attempts to progress the franchise. It actually makes a lot of sense to use him because of being a trolling target and because he rebooted two of the four Star franchises (Gate and Search, your time will come). Me, I don't have strong opinions on Abrams. I think he made some OKish movies that I have no issues getting passed the flaws of. I don't even dislike Rise of Skywalker that much, though undoing elements from the far superior Last Jedi is weak. My problem, aside from him not being a great actor, is the weird reverence. I think some of it IS intended to be a bit more ironic than, say, when Elon Musk was declared by Lisa to be our "greatest living inventor" but even the more ridiculous sycophancy just feels weird and too close to regular actual sycophancy, especially with Bad Robot branding visible throughout the episode in a way that feels more like paid-for content. This doesn't bother me so much as the weird fawning over Lady Gaga and FAR WORSE the fawning over Elon Musk, possibly because Abrams doesn't come to Springfield to upend the town for the better. But I still don't care for it.
I think in the end, this one is not a bad episode, not even a misguided episode but an episode spent WAY too long with Abrams. Again, no strong feelings on his storytelling abilities or even acting (not great but the Simpsons had to handle FAR worse), I just feel like the episode goes a little more dim when he's the focus. I think it also doesn't help that while I think the story is OK, it's not an episode particularly strong with laughs. It's more of a character focus. So I think maybe what should have happened was speeding through the Abrams segments and instead focusing on Homer the troll, where he invests his sense of self in these childhood memories and the toxic affect of people around him. As is, the structure is almost there and doesn't feel like it was hitting plot points with no connective tissue. I guess Price does a good job with the set up but not enough time with the ugliness that this kind of toxicity creates or how to break free of it.
Other notes:
Greg Grunberg is in this episode. That's a name I did not expect to see. When's the last time we thought about the cop from Heroes?
Greg Grunberg has been a friend of Abrams literally since childhood. He has a tendency to appear in all of his (Abrams) projects, so it was probably a two-for-one situation.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Manger Things
Oh, this is the 700th episode! Does... that mean anything to this show anymore?
In this episode, we flashback to 6 years ago when Homer and Marge go to an office Christmas party only for Homer's drink to be spiked. Homer intended not to drink for Marge and when Homer makes a drunken ass out of himself, she asks him to spend time somewhere else until he can show himself to be a better man. With nowhere else to go, Homer stays at Flanders but is working Maude's last nerve. Flanders doesn't want to kick him out but Maude eventually kicks him out. Moe then tells Homer of one more option; the small room above the garage the family never uses. Homer spends time there, listening in on his family to figure out how to get back into Marge's good graces. He realizes she needs him to do one thing that proves he is worth it and when he realizes Maude is going into labour, he works hard to deliver the baby. Marge forgives Homer and Todd's middle name is revealed to be Homer.
So apparently Matt Groening wanted three things for the 700th episode; for it to be a Christmas episode, regardless of the season (makes sense, that's how the show first made it to air with it's own series), it be a Ned/Homer episode and for it to explain that one little window over the garage. The last one is a little random; it's not something we need. But I actually don't think these are a bad writing prompt, even with this three different things all together. After all, it's as simple as "Homer and Ned are stuck in this room on Christmas and maybe learn something about each other." Obviously the hard work from there is what but even then there's a lot to draw on from these characters. And Rob LaZebnik is one of the better Simpsons writers of this era, who often works the human side. That's perfect for Christmas.
But this episode is really so much nothing it's very disappointing. First of all, Ned is in it but really it's strangely a Homer/Maude episode. And, hey, there's potential there. In fact, even though none of the episode is particularly good, that's when it is at it's best; the tension of an annoying house guest testing an already frazzled Maude's patience is a fun comedy and drama set up. Unfortunately, it kind of treats Maude as kind of jerky rather than very understandably frustrated. She's already acting like Patty and Selma when he saunters in, making a crack about him being a sinkhole. I feel like Maude was more passive-aggressively judgmental but still would do the right thing initially rather than just attack. All the stuff that happens after? Her anger is justified. But I feel like you need to set up someone trying to be patient before getting fed up, which would also mirror Marge's position.
And hey, Marge has every right to be fed up too but I've seen this situation so many times, this feels like a real "what's the point." Once again Marge is waiting for a grand gesture rather than real change. I thought we were passed that. Manger Things in theory has the three requests of Matt Groening but they are three almost unconnected things. It didn't need to be Christmas, the attic never really enters into the story in a telling or important way, and Homer's connection with Ned and/or Maude leaves us with no emotional connection between the characters. There's an attempt to do this by having Homer pretend to be Ned without mocking him and I think that could even have potential but seriously, nothing lands here. Instead if feels like the creators were just happy to do the bare minimum of Groening's admittedly somewhat arbitrary assignment. Frankly, if the point was to point back to Simpsons Roasting Over an Open Fire, then maybe we have a Ned a little more like the initial one; a good-hearted yuppie ignorant of Homer's jealousy of his life. I think having them hash it out over this, especially since then Ned has lost SO MUCH and fell into a sort of toxic version of his faith has a lot more potential.
Other notes:
Another Bill Plympton opening. The man like morphing bodies. Unfortunately this is a lot less effecting than his "cover" of Your Face, which is easily his best.
Oh, this is the 700th episode! Does... that mean anything to this show anymore?
In this episode, we flashback to 6 years ago when Homer and Marge go to an office Christmas party only for Homer's drink to be spiked. Homer intended not to drink for Marge and when Homer makes a drunken ass out of himself, she asks him to spend time somewhere else until he can show himself to be a better man. With nowhere else to go, Homer stays at Flanders but is working Maude's last nerve. Flanders doesn't want to kick him out but Maude eventually kicks him out. Moe then tells Homer of one more option; the small room above the garage the family never uses. Homer spends time there, listening in on his family to figure out how to get back into Marge's good graces. He realizes she needs him to do one thing that proves he is worth it and when he realizes Maude is going into labour, he works hard to deliver the baby. Marge forgives Homer and Todd's middle name is revealed to be Homer.
So apparently Matt Groening wanted three things for the 700th episode; for it to be a Christmas episode, regardless of the season (makes sense, that's how the show first made it to air with it's own series), it be a Ned/Homer episode and for it to explain that one little window over the garage. The last one is a little random; it's not something we need. But I actually don't think these are a bad writing prompt, even with this three different things all together. After all, it's as simple as "Homer and Ned are stuck in this room on Christmas and maybe learn something about each other." Obviously the hard work from there is what but even then there's a lot to draw on from these characters. And Rob LaZebnik is one of the better Simpsons writers of this era, who often works the human side. That's perfect for Christmas.
But this episode is really so much nothing it's very disappointing. First of all, Ned is in it but really it's strangely a Homer/Maude episode. And, hey, there's potential there. In fact, even though none of the episode is particularly good, that's when it is at it's best; the tension of an annoying house guest testing an already frazzled Maude's patience is a fun comedy and drama set up. Unfortunately, it kind of treats Maude as kind of jerky rather than very understandably frustrated. She's already acting like Patty and Selma when he saunters in, making a crack about him being a sinkhole. I feel like Maude was more passive-aggressively judgmental but still would do the right thing initially rather than just attack. All the stuff that happens after? Her anger is justified. But I feel like you need to set up someone trying to be patient before getting fed up, which would also mirror Marge's position.
And hey, Marge has every right to be fed up too but I've seen this situation so many times, this feels like a real "what's the point." Once again Marge is waiting for a grand gesture rather than real change. I thought we were passed that. Manger Things in theory has the three requests of Matt Groening but they are three almost unconnected things. It didn't need to be Christmas, the attic never really enters into the story in a telling or important way, and Homer's connection with Ned and/or Maude leaves us with no emotional connection between the characters. There's an attempt to do this by having Homer pretend to be Ned without mocking him and I think that could even have potential but seriously, nothing lands here. Instead if feels like the creators were just happy to do the bare minimum of Groening's admittedly somewhat arbitrary assignment. Frankly, if the point was to point back to Simpsons Roasting Over an Open Fire, then maybe we have a Ned a little more like the initial one; a good-hearted yuppie ignorant of Homer's jealousy of his life. I think having them hash it out over this, especially since then Ned has lost SO MUCH and fell into a sort of toxic version of his faith has a lot more potential.
Other notes:
Another Bill Plympton opening. The man like morphing bodies. Unfortunately this is a lot less effecting than his "cover" of Your Face, which is easily his best.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Uncut Femmes
There are a few Simpsons episodes about the rich backstories or inner lives of minor characters. But it doesn't always work; it's note enough to tell us there's stuff we weren't aware of before, we need to care about it. And in some cases, the backstory is for ill-advised characters like the Crazy Cat Lady, a one-off joke who kept ballooning in a why that is a bad take on mental health. More successful was a goofy act one of an episode where the Sea Captain reveals he was presenting as a one-off joke for a better cause, only to be backstabbed. Sometimes it works and I think part of that is choosing just the right character.
In this episode, Homer make Marge do his job of chaperoning the kids on a weekend-long field trip and she ends up being partnered with Sarah Wiggum. Marge finds it boring at first but soon she starts to see the fun side of Sarah she never saw before. Suddenly, the two are kidnapped and it turns out the kidnappers were friends of Sarah's in the past when they were all thieves. Sarah assumes they must want revenge after she accidentally forgot to act as a getaway driver but in fact they were all betrayed by their hook-up for a big job; Lindsay Nagle. They want revenge on her and want Sarah to help the diamond Lindsay betrayed them for. The heist is happening at the gala at the Museum of Generational Wealth and Marge reveals she has key information about how to get in. Together, the four manage to steal from Nagle and frame her for pickpocketing. Wiggum, with Homer in tow, finds Sarah and learns she was once a thief but it doesn't change their relationship.
I feel a few people were talking up this one as being really good but I feel it was more... pretty good. I don't think I liked it as much as some but it's a solid and fun little tale. I've often complained about the Simpsons using a certain kind of structure before and the Simpsons have done their share of episodes where someone turns out to have a criminal past or they need to do a heist. The key here is... this is written well. Yes, I've seen this before but I have no objection to a formula. TV is built on it. My problem primarily is it often being clumsy or lazy and Uncut Femmes is not that. It's a fun romp.
Megan Mullaly takes over voicing Sarah Wiggum for the episode and she does a good job but it's weird because while Sarah has barely done anything in the series, some of Pamela Hayden's line reads will live forever in my head and Mullaly isn't doing an impression. But this is a small complaint; a background character who's main feature is "present" gets to reveal a hidden side and scriptwriter Christine Nangle, formerly of Inside Amy Schumer, has a lot of fun crafting this character in a largely funny episode.
So why don't I like this one quite as much as I suspect others do? Because while it works pretty well as a character piece, it's also a heist episode and I think it's key to make people feel really surprised when the turns happen. But really, there's not a lot of that. It's a pretty dull heist, in all honesty, with a lot of the jokes being about the utilitarian nature of Marge's colossal bouffant. So it kind of slips a bit there but certainly enough not to hurt my overall enjoyment; it's still pretty funny, Nangle gets why Marge works and I think even though the heist is pretty pedestrian, the direction (man someone LOVED animating Nagel falling down those stairs) and performances are quite good.
Other great jokes:
"How about you forget about you forget about any floating unkillable entities you THINK you saw..."
"Rust has overtaken the vessels and I have given you the three tools you need to defeat it; a wire brush, military paint and the remainder of your weekend."
"Hi Mr. Seger, you probably don't remember this but I saw you at an airport and I was too shy to say anything and it wasn't you."
"Rock and roll never forgets... the needs of his co-equal life companion!"
"We got to make it up to Bob Seger... and our wives"
"Most women have such an idealized version of the second world war in their heads that when they face the cold hard reality they can't take it."
"You look a lot like that guy, Chief Bungles"
Other notes:
Oh, Patty is still with Fortune Feimster! Or they just attend the same Gala Watch Parties.
There are a few Simpsons episodes about the rich backstories or inner lives of minor characters. But it doesn't always work; it's note enough to tell us there's stuff we weren't aware of before, we need to care about it. And in some cases, the backstory is for ill-advised characters like the Crazy Cat Lady, a one-off joke who kept ballooning in a why that is a bad take on mental health. More successful was a goofy act one of an episode where the Sea Captain reveals he was presenting as a one-off joke for a better cause, only to be backstabbed. Sometimes it works and I think part of that is choosing just the right character.
In this episode, Homer make Marge do his job of chaperoning the kids on a weekend-long field trip and she ends up being partnered with Sarah Wiggum. Marge finds it boring at first but soon she starts to see the fun side of Sarah she never saw before. Suddenly, the two are kidnapped and it turns out the kidnappers were friends of Sarah's in the past when they were all thieves. Sarah assumes they must want revenge after she accidentally forgot to act as a getaway driver but in fact they were all betrayed by their hook-up for a big job; Lindsay Nagle. They want revenge on her and want Sarah to help the diamond Lindsay betrayed them for. The heist is happening at the gala at the Museum of Generational Wealth and Marge reveals she has key information about how to get in. Together, the four manage to steal from Nagle and frame her for pickpocketing. Wiggum, with Homer in tow, finds Sarah and learns she was once a thief but it doesn't change their relationship.
I feel a few people were talking up this one as being really good but I feel it was more... pretty good. I don't think I liked it as much as some but it's a solid and fun little tale. I've often complained about the Simpsons using a certain kind of structure before and the Simpsons have done their share of episodes where someone turns out to have a criminal past or they need to do a heist. The key here is... this is written well. Yes, I've seen this before but I have no objection to a formula. TV is built on it. My problem primarily is it often being clumsy or lazy and Uncut Femmes is not that. It's a fun romp.
Megan Mullaly takes over voicing Sarah Wiggum for the episode and she does a good job but it's weird because while Sarah has barely done anything in the series, some of Pamela Hayden's line reads will live forever in my head and Mullaly isn't doing an impression. But this is a small complaint; a background character who's main feature is "present" gets to reveal a hidden side and scriptwriter Christine Nangle, formerly of Inside Amy Schumer, has a lot of fun crafting this character in a largely funny episode.
So why don't I like this one quite as much as I suspect others do? Because while it works pretty well as a character piece, it's also a heist episode and I think it's key to make people feel really surprised when the turns happen. But really, there's not a lot of that. It's a pretty dull heist, in all honesty, with a lot of the jokes being about the utilitarian nature of Marge's colossal bouffant. So it kind of slips a bit there but certainly enough not to hurt my overall enjoyment; it's still pretty funny, Nangle gets why Marge works and I think even though the heist is pretty pedestrian, the direction (man someone LOVED animating Nagel falling down those stairs) and performances are quite good.
Other great jokes:
"How about you forget about you forget about any floating unkillable entities you THINK you saw..."
"Rust has overtaken the vessels and I have given you the three tools you need to defeat it; a wire brush, military paint and the remainder of your weekend."
"Hi Mr. Seger, you probably don't remember this but I saw you at an airport and I was too shy to say anything and it wasn't you."
"Rock and roll never forgets... the needs of his co-equal life companion!"
"We got to make it up to Bob Seger... and our wives"
"Most women have such an idealized version of the second world war in their heads that when they face the cold hard reality they can't take it."
"You look a lot like that guy, Chief Bungles"
Other notes:
Oh, Patty is still with Fortune Feimster! Or they just attend the same Gala Watch Parties.
Purple
(She/Her)
Simpsons, NO! You cannot call an episode this! I understand the reference you are going for, but... put your title ideas into a search engine before you commit!
But yeah, but the standards of this season, this one's probably one of the best ones.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Burger Kings
I love junk food. A few years ago, I found out I was pre-diabetic, went on a spartan diet and then gave myself a once-a-week cheat day. But lately I've been slipping. After losing 60 pounds and closely watching my wait, I'm terrified to look at the scale again. Maybe when things are less stressful. Maybe when I'm done with school. And I should stop letting things slip. But I think finding a really balanced diet can be challenging in our current food culture. I think we are more aware but are we doing better? And are society... AND CAPITALISM... giving us those chances?
In this episode, Burns has a fear of being unmourned after he dies and finding food he enjoys. He soon develops a love of burgers but they prove to be far too unhealthy for him. Smithers manages to create a solution; a new plant-based burger just as good as a regular burger. Burns opens a franchise and even Lisa is impressed with the final product. Burns becomes beloved by the town. Bart, meanwhile, is suspicious and convinces Lisa to help him take down Burns' restaurant, mostly out of loyalty to Krusty Burger. Lisa learns the plants used are all endangered and confronts Burns about it. Burns doesn't want to hear about it but starts to wonder if making doing this makes him a bad person. Meanwhile, Homer is the burger's spokesman who is only allowed to speak in chosen catchphrases or face a breach of contract but he wants to help Lisa so they concoct a plan to communicate the truth only with catchphrases. Burns is vilified again but he's happy, no longer burdened by a conscience.
Burger Kings is a watchable enough affair but while Rob Lazebnik's done some great episodes, this one feels like it's trying to a lot with very little landing. I think the problem is as a basic outline, there's something really interesting here but in practice, it doesn't hold together. It's not nearly as sloppy as a lot of episodes with this problem but I feel like it has a problem balancing it's big ideas about capitalism and moral consumption. What's more it uses some old ideas that are a bit played out; Burns decides he wants to be loved, Lisa wants for a hot second for Burns to change in a genuine way only for him to show even his good deeds are twisted.
I think there are episodes that really thread the needle of playing with a lot of ideas and fitting them together. And this one is very much about the evil's of capitalism so that helps in a big way to tie things together. But in the end, I just don't think it works sadly. Part of it is poor motivation; I don't know why Burns wants to be loved now. I don't know what Lisa hopes Burns can change to the point despite the only thing he did was release a product. I think it does a good job showing how Marge initially gets into trading but very little follow up on that in a way that feels substantive. Maybe this one needed to be one of the series hour-long episodes. Frankly there are a few of those that works even though in theory you are asking "why is THIS story the hour long one". Often it's less because "people are excited about Burns hanging out with a rapper" and more because there's enough narrative meat on the bone to really let it all play out.
I think the other problem is the wasted potential. There's a joke about how there are only two beloved billionaires in the world but I think that opens up the question; if Burns REALLY wants to be good, can he do that AND be a billionaire? Does he want to BE good or be seen as good. Because those are different. I like the idea that Homer unthinkingly sells his own freedom of speech but that only matters in the very last act. That seems like it has potential for social commentary AND wacky comedy that is unrealized. I think there's a lot of stuff here but while the ingredients are there, they are in bad proportions and I can't taste all of them. I also have a hard time believing Springfield would turn on Burns for making them eat an endangered species considering how the majority of the town is pretty apolitical environmentally unless it directly effects them. Maybe we'd have that reveal but the town would turn on him for a much pettier reason. Again this isn't a bad episode but seeing how it could have done a lot more, it's aftertaste is a little bitter (smiles smugly to self because of wordplay).
I love junk food. A few years ago, I found out I was pre-diabetic, went on a spartan diet and then gave myself a once-a-week cheat day. But lately I've been slipping. After losing 60 pounds and closely watching my wait, I'm terrified to look at the scale again. Maybe when things are less stressful. Maybe when I'm done with school. And I should stop letting things slip. But I think finding a really balanced diet can be challenging in our current food culture. I think we are more aware but are we doing better? And are society... AND CAPITALISM... giving us those chances?
In this episode, Burns has a fear of being unmourned after he dies and finding food he enjoys. He soon develops a love of burgers but they prove to be far too unhealthy for him. Smithers manages to create a solution; a new plant-based burger just as good as a regular burger. Burns opens a franchise and even Lisa is impressed with the final product. Burns becomes beloved by the town. Bart, meanwhile, is suspicious and convinces Lisa to help him take down Burns' restaurant, mostly out of loyalty to Krusty Burger. Lisa learns the plants used are all endangered and confronts Burns about it. Burns doesn't want to hear about it but starts to wonder if making doing this makes him a bad person. Meanwhile, Homer is the burger's spokesman who is only allowed to speak in chosen catchphrases or face a breach of contract but he wants to help Lisa so they concoct a plan to communicate the truth only with catchphrases. Burns is vilified again but he's happy, no longer burdened by a conscience.
Burger Kings is a watchable enough affair but while Rob Lazebnik's done some great episodes, this one feels like it's trying to a lot with very little landing. I think the problem is as a basic outline, there's something really interesting here but in practice, it doesn't hold together. It's not nearly as sloppy as a lot of episodes with this problem but I feel like it has a problem balancing it's big ideas about capitalism and moral consumption. What's more it uses some old ideas that are a bit played out; Burns decides he wants to be loved, Lisa wants for a hot second for Burns to change in a genuine way only for him to show even his good deeds are twisted.
I think there are episodes that really thread the needle of playing with a lot of ideas and fitting them together. And this one is very much about the evil's of capitalism so that helps in a big way to tie things together. But in the end, I just don't think it works sadly. Part of it is poor motivation; I don't know why Burns wants to be loved now. I don't know what Lisa hopes Burns can change to the point despite the only thing he did was release a product. I think it does a good job showing how Marge initially gets into trading but very little follow up on that in a way that feels substantive. Maybe this one needed to be one of the series hour-long episodes. Frankly there are a few of those that works even though in theory you are asking "why is THIS story the hour long one". Often it's less because "people are excited about Burns hanging out with a rapper" and more because there's enough narrative meat on the bone to really let it all play out.
I think the other problem is the wasted potential. There's a joke about how there are only two beloved billionaires in the world but I think that opens up the question; if Burns REALLY wants to be good, can he do that AND be a billionaire? Does he want to BE good or be seen as good. Because those are different. I like the idea that Homer unthinkingly sells his own freedom of speech but that only matters in the very last act. That seems like it has potential for social commentary AND wacky comedy that is unrealized. I think there's a lot of stuff here but while the ingredients are there, they are in bad proportions and I can't taste all of them. I also have a hard time believing Springfield would turn on Burns for making them eat an endangered species considering how the majority of the town is pretty apolitical environmentally unless it directly effects them. Maybe we'd have that reveal but the town would turn on him for a much pettier reason. Again this isn't a bad episode but seeing how it could have done a lot more, it's aftertaste is a little bitter (smiles smugly to self because of wordplay).
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Oh and there's a gag where Homer is reading "Harry Potter and the Apologizing Author" and boy did that not predict the future.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Panic on the Streets of Springfield
I grew up in the 1990s, which, like all times, was a weird time. TV characters wouldn't stop complaining about "political correctness" on TV, the youth was depicted as jaded and when they were involved in activism, it was often weird and misguided. The Simpsons were no exception, to be certain. There was also a certain "coolness" in being bitter and sardonic, which I associate with programs like Daria or the comic book Ghost World. But re-reading Ghost World (and a lot of Daniel Clowes stuff hasn't held up, for various reasons), I do believe while he thinks his characters are cool and witty, they are also pretty sad, particularly when they begin to realize they may lack empathy for other people. I like to try to be witty but now it's much more important to me to be kind, because that's what we really need.
In this episode, Lisa becomes obsessed with Quilloughby, an 80s musician Lisa appreciates for his sardonic humour and activism. Lisa tries her own activism at school and when it backfires, she's humiliated. At home, Lisa is visited by Quilloughby as her imaginary friend, who helps her generate a powerful observation to wound Bart as he mocks her. Lisa creates her own identity around Quilloughby, saying clever but hurtful things and taking on a world weary attitude where she believes everyone else is awful. Marge is sick of it and decides to put a stop to it but Lisa sneaks out to see the real Quilloughby in concert, his first public appearance in decades. But Lisa begins to grow tired of her imaginary friend's relentless negativity and when she sees the real Quilloughby, he's aged terribly and has turned his back on everything that made Lisa fall for him in the first place. Lisa turns her back on Quilloughby, save for her memories of what she likes about him, and apologizes to Marge. Marge relates, also having gone through rebellious phases.
Panic on the Streets of Springfield was the rare Simpsons episode people seemed to be talking about when it aired, mostly because of it addressing the fact that Morrisey sucks. Quilloughby is an obvious parody of such and I get the feeling writer Tim Long, the guy who was really into shipping the students of Springfield Elementary a few years back, is a disillusioned fan. Likely by Morrisey but really this could be any number of artists who it turns out is actually a terrible person, either in a way that always was or in a way where they became the monster. This isn't a perfect episode, which I'll get to, but I think more often than not, this is actually a very strong episode about the idea of wrapping your identity up in a piece of culture that's meaningful to you and how that can backfire.
It actually goes with the a and b plots; there's a rather enjoyable b-plot where Homer is convinced he's a truck guy (with a pretty great button on it that seems like it's dovetailing into the main plot). I like how the leads really identify with something but while Lisa slowly sees the limitations of her new worldview, Homer... just doesn't get it. I think Lisa's story speaks to me, I've definitely gotten REALLY into a thing, only for that thing to turn out to suck in some capacity that left me really bummed. I think with said things, I can identify how good aspects are still a part of me but I don't have to accept them all, which is where Lisa lands and I think it is a well-structured episode.
But it does have some hiccups. Lisa having to face the nasty reality of the actual Quilloughby is a good idea that I think has some problems in the showing; it's a little sucky for the first part of the disillusionment to be "he's old and fat now". I'm cool with the idea of seeing the reality of aging take Lisa aback a bit, I think it's possible to have a certain visceral reaction to seeing something we imagined in one specific way being different but while it doesn't out and out make that part the joke, we are clearly supposed to see it as a "bad sign". When he starts ranting that reveals his shittiness, it doesn't quite land. Not because he isn't shitty but because his hate is so non-specific. And don't get me wrong, I understand why the choice was made; I think the creators didn't want to risk, even in presenting him as an absolute turd, for him to say anything specifically hateful in a way that can cause actual damage in the world. I think it can be a bit tricky and the episode doesn't quite thread that needle of giving us the feeling of hate without going to an unwise space. I don't begrudge the show for it but it has a little less power because of it. A smaller complaint is it makes "is Lisa acting like a teenager now" comment twice when I really feel like this obvious analogy either needed to be said once or not at all.
Oh, rare, a sixth paragraph. Anyway, this is a flawed episode but overall, I think it's one of the better Tim Long episodes. Tim Long feels like he wants to explore an older Bart and Lisa without inundating the show with more "imaginary future" episodes and in so doing, often has the characters dating and doing things that just feel wrong. But I actually think this is a better case of aging up Lisa socially in a way that is believable. You are more likely to be sullen and cynical as a teen but I see no reason it can't happen as an 8 year old and it makes sense for Lisa, who often does face a lot of disillusionment in the world. But in a way this is also about disillusioned about seeing disillusionment as a lifestyle and the heartache of people you may have romanticized as being only human, often in ways that can be heartbreaking. Panic on the Streets of Springfield I think is a mostly successful episode that speaks to me who sometimes, still, has a bad habit of getting so into a thing, that I can't always see the forest for the trees.
Other great jokes:
"Testosterone? But that's what fuels my punching and yelling. And my undeserved confidence. Now I'll never be an NFL quarterback/international superspy"
Again, the Homer hero fake out... it's been done but it's pretty effective here.
Other notes:
Kevin Michael Richardson finally gets to do the Dr. Hibbert chuckle. Not bad. Not a perfect approximation but it has the spirit.
I grew up in the 1990s, which, like all times, was a weird time. TV characters wouldn't stop complaining about "political correctness" on TV, the youth was depicted as jaded and when they were involved in activism, it was often weird and misguided. The Simpsons were no exception, to be certain. There was also a certain "coolness" in being bitter and sardonic, which I associate with programs like Daria or the comic book Ghost World. But re-reading Ghost World (and a lot of Daniel Clowes stuff hasn't held up, for various reasons), I do believe while he thinks his characters are cool and witty, they are also pretty sad, particularly when they begin to realize they may lack empathy for other people. I like to try to be witty but now it's much more important to me to be kind, because that's what we really need.
In this episode, Lisa becomes obsessed with Quilloughby, an 80s musician Lisa appreciates for his sardonic humour and activism. Lisa tries her own activism at school and when it backfires, she's humiliated. At home, Lisa is visited by Quilloughby as her imaginary friend, who helps her generate a powerful observation to wound Bart as he mocks her. Lisa creates her own identity around Quilloughby, saying clever but hurtful things and taking on a world weary attitude where she believes everyone else is awful. Marge is sick of it and decides to put a stop to it but Lisa sneaks out to see the real Quilloughby in concert, his first public appearance in decades. But Lisa begins to grow tired of her imaginary friend's relentless negativity and when she sees the real Quilloughby, he's aged terribly and has turned his back on everything that made Lisa fall for him in the first place. Lisa turns her back on Quilloughby, save for her memories of what she likes about him, and apologizes to Marge. Marge relates, also having gone through rebellious phases.
Panic on the Streets of Springfield was the rare Simpsons episode people seemed to be talking about when it aired, mostly because of it addressing the fact that Morrisey sucks. Quilloughby is an obvious parody of such and I get the feeling writer Tim Long, the guy who was really into shipping the students of Springfield Elementary a few years back, is a disillusioned fan. Likely by Morrisey but really this could be any number of artists who it turns out is actually a terrible person, either in a way that always was or in a way where they became the monster. This isn't a perfect episode, which I'll get to, but I think more often than not, this is actually a very strong episode about the idea of wrapping your identity up in a piece of culture that's meaningful to you and how that can backfire.
It actually goes with the a and b plots; there's a rather enjoyable b-plot where Homer is convinced he's a truck guy (with a pretty great button on it that seems like it's dovetailing into the main plot). I like how the leads really identify with something but while Lisa slowly sees the limitations of her new worldview, Homer... just doesn't get it. I think Lisa's story speaks to me, I've definitely gotten REALLY into a thing, only for that thing to turn out to suck in some capacity that left me really bummed. I think with said things, I can identify how good aspects are still a part of me but I don't have to accept them all, which is where Lisa lands and I think it is a well-structured episode.
But it does have some hiccups. Lisa having to face the nasty reality of the actual Quilloughby is a good idea that I think has some problems in the showing; it's a little sucky for the first part of the disillusionment to be "he's old and fat now". I'm cool with the idea of seeing the reality of aging take Lisa aback a bit, I think it's possible to have a certain visceral reaction to seeing something we imagined in one specific way being different but while it doesn't out and out make that part the joke, we are clearly supposed to see it as a "bad sign". When he starts ranting that reveals his shittiness, it doesn't quite land. Not because he isn't shitty but because his hate is so non-specific. And don't get me wrong, I understand why the choice was made; I think the creators didn't want to risk, even in presenting him as an absolute turd, for him to say anything specifically hateful in a way that can cause actual damage in the world. I think it can be a bit tricky and the episode doesn't quite thread that needle of giving us the feeling of hate without going to an unwise space. I don't begrudge the show for it but it has a little less power because of it. A smaller complaint is it makes "is Lisa acting like a teenager now" comment twice when I really feel like this obvious analogy either needed to be said once or not at all.
Oh, rare, a sixth paragraph. Anyway, this is a flawed episode but overall, I think it's one of the better Tim Long episodes. Tim Long feels like he wants to explore an older Bart and Lisa without inundating the show with more "imaginary future" episodes and in so doing, often has the characters dating and doing things that just feel wrong. But I actually think this is a better case of aging up Lisa socially in a way that is believable. You are more likely to be sullen and cynical as a teen but I see no reason it can't happen as an 8 year old and it makes sense for Lisa, who often does face a lot of disillusionment in the world. But in a way this is also about disillusioned about seeing disillusionment as a lifestyle and the heartache of people you may have romanticized as being only human, often in ways that can be heartbreaking. Panic on the Streets of Springfield I think is a mostly successful episode that speaks to me who sometimes, still, has a bad habit of getting so into a thing, that I can't always see the forest for the trees.
Other great jokes:
"Testosterone? But that's what fuels my punching and yelling. And my undeserved confidence. Now I'll never be an NFL quarterback/international superspy"
Again, the Homer hero fake out... it's been done but it's pretty effective here.
Other notes:
Kevin Michael Richardson finally gets to do the Dr. Hibbert chuckle. Not bad. Not a perfect approximation but it has the spirit.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
Mother and Child Reunion
I liked university but I think a lot of what I learned there wasn't really of much help professionally, more personally. That's not to say it wasn't important; many of the jobs I have I wouldn't have gotten without a university degree. But growing up, I was under the impression you had to go to higher education or you were... unfortunate in some ways. But I think there are a whole lot of reasons not to now and not going is not some terrible alternative but a conscious choice. There are other roads in this life and they are just as valid as spending ridiculous amounts of money on a degree you might not end up using.
In this episode, The Simpsons visit a magic shop where the owner uses tarot cards to tell the Simpsons future. Again. When Lisa is 17, she has her pick of colleges but finds she doesn't want to go to any of them. Marge is heartbroken and angry having spent so much time into helping her but Lisa is determined. Initially, she decides to work a regular job but it proves to be demeaning. When she encounters a kid she realizes can't read, she decides to open an after school program to help teach, which becomes a huge success. Eventually, Lisa's business grows and she ends up becoming the super-intendent. This, in turn, paves the way for her becoming governor and eventually the President of the United States. However, there is still friction between Marge and Lisa and Marge comes to appreciate Lisa's path while Lisa understands the sacrifices Marge made to get her to that point.
Mother and Child Reunion actually takes a premise I've REALLY wanted to see this show do; what if Lisa realizes... she doesn't have to go to college. There are other options in life, other paths. My take would be activism or the arts (something that can be taught in school but you don't need it to do it) might change her direction. This episode proposes a bit of a different theory; Lisa simply realizing there are reasons it's not the best option and maybe she needs time to herself. The problem I have with this episode, that I think is just fine, is that her reasoning comes a little too secondarily to the dramatic fallout. I think there are good reasons and Lisa lists some but I wish it was more directly related to the emotional core of the episode.
Another problem I have is the way the episode treats Marge. She's not great to Lisa this episode in a way that I think undermines her actual understandable frustration. She's pecking at her to go to college, is extremely unsupportive of her path and vocally admits she's projecting her desires onto Lisa. I'm not saying you can't do that with the character but it makes her both less sympathetic and empathetic and it hurts it a bit later on. Namely that the episode needs Lisa to be a bit forgiven for not appreciating Marge's sacrifice. This isn't as bad as, say, Lisa having to accept that Homer sucks like in Make Room For Lisa (a low point for both characters), and I think you can have Lisa appreciating Marge a bit more, but Marge should really accept that she wasn't making those sacrifices so Lisa can do what Marge wants. I think it's an episode with some good ideas but I think it really drops the ball in the emotional resolution.
Mother and Child Reunion is, like, the fourth imaginary episode this season. It is also the best of those four. But it's really only OK. It takes the premise I really wanted to see and I think it missed doing a lot with it but I'm glad it exists and as I said, I like the idea that Lisa gets to question what she's spent a lot of time working on. Sometimes our path takes us to unexpected places. And I think Marge's feelings of frustration are valid, having spent so much time trying to help Lisa gets what she wanted only for her to drop it at the 11th hours. But as noted her actual response to Lisa is shitty and I think writer J. Stewart Burns is less successful on the emotional path than on building a new path for Lisa, even if it takes her to where most writers see her in the future.
Other notes:
Nate fucking Silver? In 2021? Fuckin' why show?
Bart is done a disservice again but not nearly as bad as most future Bart stories. He too becomes a success but it's glossed over. I know it's not a Bart episode but I feel like the show never gave Bart a proper future except Supreme Court Bart and demolition company Bart. Barthood does OK, I guess. I feel like the show doesn't know what future Bart is and just makes him a big loser. I actually don't need him necessarily to be Supreme Court guy but I think I want the two Simpsons kids to be happy and fulfilled but in different ways that reflect who they are.
I liked university but I think a lot of what I learned there wasn't really of much help professionally, more personally. That's not to say it wasn't important; many of the jobs I have I wouldn't have gotten without a university degree. But growing up, I was under the impression you had to go to higher education or you were... unfortunate in some ways. But I think there are a whole lot of reasons not to now and not going is not some terrible alternative but a conscious choice. There are other roads in this life and they are just as valid as spending ridiculous amounts of money on a degree you might not end up using.
In this episode, The Simpsons visit a magic shop where the owner uses tarot cards to tell the Simpsons future. Again. When Lisa is 17, she has her pick of colleges but finds she doesn't want to go to any of them. Marge is heartbroken and angry having spent so much time into helping her but Lisa is determined. Initially, she decides to work a regular job but it proves to be demeaning. When she encounters a kid she realizes can't read, she decides to open an after school program to help teach, which becomes a huge success. Eventually, Lisa's business grows and she ends up becoming the super-intendent. This, in turn, paves the way for her becoming governor and eventually the President of the United States. However, there is still friction between Marge and Lisa and Marge comes to appreciate Lisa's path while Lisa understands the sacrifices Marge made to get her to that point.
Mother and Child Reunion actually takes a premise I've REALLY wanted to see this show do; what if Lisa realizes... she doesn't have to go to college. There are other options in life, other paths. My take would be activism or the arts (something that can be taught in school but you don't need it to do it) might change her direction. This episode proposes a bit of a different theory; Lisa simply realizing there are reasons it's not the best option and maybe she needs time to herself. The problem I have with this episode, that I think is just fine, is that her reasoning comes a little too secondarily to the dramatic fallout. I think there are good reasons and Lisa lists some but I wish it was more directly related to the emotional core of the episode.
Another problem I have is the way the episode treats Marge. She's not great to Lisa this episode in a way that I think undermines her actual understandable frustration. She's pecking at her to go to college, is extremely unsupportive of her path and vocally admits she's projecting her desires onto Lisa. I'm not saying you can't do that with the character but it makes her both less sympathetic and empathetic and it hurts it a bit later on. Namely that the episode needs Lisa to be a bit forgiven for not appreciating Marge's sacrifice. This isn't as bad as, say, Lisa having to accept that Homer sucks like in Make Room For Lisa (a low point for both characters), and I think you can have Lisa appreciating Marge a bit more, but Marge should really accept that she wasn't making those sacrifices so Lisa can do what Marge wants. I think it's an episode with some good ideas but I think it really drops the ball in the emotional resolution.
Mother and Child Reunion is, like, the fourth imaginary episode this season. It is also the best of those four. But it's really only OK. It takes the premise I really wanted to see and I think it missed doing a lot with it but I'm glad it exists and as I said, I like the idea that Lisa gets to question what she's spent a lot of time working on. Sometimes our path takes us to unexpected places. And I think Marge's feelings of frustration are valid, having spent so much time trying to help Lisa gets what she wanted only for her to drop it at the 11th hours. But as noted her actual response to Lisa is shitty and I think writer J. Stewart Burns is less successful on the emotional path than on building a new path for Lisa, even if it takes her to where most writers see her in the future.
Other notes:
Nate fucking Silver? In 2021? Fuckin' why show?
Bart is done a disservice again but not nearly as bad as most future Bart stories. He too becomes a success but it's glossed over. I know it's not a Bart episode but I feel like the show never gave Bart a proper future except Supreme Court Bart and demolition company Bart. Barthood does OK, I guess. I feel like the show doesn't know what future Bart is and just makes him a big loser. I actually don't need him necessarily to be Supreme Court guy but I think I want the two Simpsons kids to be happy and fulfilled but in different ways that reflect who they are.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Man from G.R.A.M.P.A.
I love my dad but sometimes I realize there is a lot about him I don't know. There's a lot about everyone I don't know, I suppose, but I have access to my parents so I don't think it would be too hard to learn. Maybe someday soon, I need to sit down with them and hear their life story. Meanwhile, my folks are really into my sister's partner's mother's updates as she has been actually doing a family tree for the family (getting a lot of detail on my mother's side). I think there's a lot I need to find out.
In this episode, a spy suspects Abe Simpson of being a Russian agent. 50 years later, in the present, the spy, Terrence, now living in the retirement castle, thinks he is closing in on Abe. He decides to get to him through Homer, drinking with him, sharing his life story, and ingratiating himself to Homer. Eventually he tells Homer his suspicions, showing him trading canes with another old man and having an envelope placed in his pocket. Homer agrees to help Terrance catch Abe peacefully to give him leniency but in the end Homer can't betray his dad. Homer and Abe are both captured by Terrance who ties them up and places them in the trunk of a car. Abe explains that what Homer saw were misunderstandings (the cane was a mix up and the envelope contains medication smuggled from Canada) and it is revealed Terrance is actually delusional. Homer and Abe are saved by Marge, the police and Terrance's daughter. Abe sees Terrance struggling with a sense of failure and decides to lie and say he was a spy all along and he's been caught.
The Man from G.R.A,M.P.A. has a premise, Homer meets a spy, that sounds like pure "well, we are 32 seasons in, after all". But it actually doesn't play it as wacky and over the top as you might think. Rather than taking it's cues from James Bond, tonally it's taking more cues from John La Carre and the Third Man (which are both references). There are tales of regular people being caught way in over their heads in a spy thriller and this is of that ilk. What's more, it's clear writer Carolyn Omine is interested in exploring the idea that we might not be listen to our elders and are so caught up in our own lives, we really don't know who they are.
That said, this episode is only OK. It's not a particularly strong one but neither is it an embarrassment. It's just an OK episode with a theme the show has done before but it doesn't dig real deeply into. It's a Homer/Abe episode but I feel like we don't get much more insight into them than pretty much the last couple paragraphs I've been typing. Which is OK. Some episodes are more about the jokes than about themes and character. But the jokes here are simply passable, no real strong laughs. No cringey gags either, mind, but in the end, for an episode where the Simpsons gets to be a spy story, it's not terribly memorable.
It does have some strengths. British comedian and character actor Stephen Fry plays Terrance and does a pretty good job of it. There is a fun sense of style in some scenes but it also doesn't overplay that hand. And the episode clips along nicely. I wasn't bored or angered by it and it's a pretty easy watch. But in the end, there's not a lot too it and I think in the end, it's going to fade from memory. If it wanted to do more, I wish it did get a little bit more emotional in regards to Homer feeling like he has to turn on his dad but by comparison to much of this season, it's one of the better ones.
I love my dad but sometimes I realize there is a lot about him I don't know. There's a lot about everyone I don't know, I suppose, but I have access to my parents so I don't think it would be too hard to learn. Maybe someday soon, I need to sit down with them and hear their life story. Meanwhile, my folks are really into my sister's partner's mother's updates as she has been actually doing a family tree for the family (getting a lot of detail on my mother's side). I think there's a lot I need to find out.
In this episode, a spy suspects Abe Simpson of being a Russian agent. 50 years later, in the present, the spy, Terrence, now living in the retirement castle, thinks he is closing in on Abe. He decides to get to him through Homer, drinking with him, sharing his life story, and ingratiating himself to Homer. Eventually he tells Homer his suspicions, showing him trading canes with another old man and having an envelope placed in his pocket. Homer agrees to help Terrance catch Abe peacefully to give him leniency but in the end Homer can't betray his dad. Homer and Abe are both captured by Terrance who ties them up and places them in the trunk of a car. Abe explains that what Homer saw were misunderstandings (the cane was a mix up and the envelope contains medication smuggled from Canada) and it is revealed Terrance is actually delusional. Homer and Abe are saved by Marge, the police and Terrance's daughter. Abe sees Terrance struggling with a sense of failure and decides to lie and say he was a spy all along and he's been caught.
The Man from G.R.A,M.P.A. has a premise, Homer meets a spy, that sounds like pure "well, we are 32 seasons in, after all". But it actually doesn't play it as wacky and over the top as you might think. Rather than taking it's cues from James Bond, tonally it's taking more cues from John La Carre and the Third Man (which are both references). There are tales of regular people being caught way in over their heads in a spy thriller and this is of that ilk. What's more, it's clear writer Carolyn Omine is interested in exploring the idea that we might not be listen to our elders and are so caught up in our own lives, we really don't know who they are.
That said, this episode is only OK. It's not a particularly strong one but neither is it an embarrassment. It's just an OK episode with a theme the show has done before but it doesn't dig real deeply into. It's a Homer/Abe episode but I feel like we don't get much more insight into them than pretty much the last couple paragraphs I've been typing. Which is OK. Some episodes are more about the jokes than about themes and character. But the jokes here are simply passable, no real strong laughs. No cringey gags either, mind, but in the end, for an episode where the Simpsons gets to be a spy story, it's not terribly memorable.
It does have some strengths. British comedian and character actor Stephen Fry plays Terrance and does a pretty good job of it. There is a fun sense of style in some scenes but it also doesn't overplay that hand. And the episode clips along nicely. I wasn't bored or angered by it and it's a pretty easy watch. But in the end, there's not a lot too it and I think in the end, it's going to fade from memory. If it wanted to do more, I wish it did get a little bit more emotional in regards to Homer feeling like he has to turn on his dad but by comparison to much of this season, it's one of the better ones.
Johnny Unusual
(He/Him)
The Last Barfighter
The 32nd season of the Simpsons has been a trip. Mostly, it's been a bad season of TV, to my disappointment, though there are some high points. At the same time, I feel like the Simpsons, while struggling with joke structure, story structure, WEIRD celebrity cameos (weirdly quasi-sycophantic to JJ Ahbrams, also NATE SILVER?) but it does want to make progress; it's trying to make it's jokes about LGBTQ people less weird but it also doesn't know how to approach it so it generally seems inoffensive but... not funny or about much? And it's recast a lot of characters with people related to their actual ethnic group. I like this both in principal but also there are actors who are really getting out there or have more to do within the show because of this. Kevin Michael Richardson has been a great addition to the cast and it's nice he gets to be Dr. Hibbert (yes, the chuckle is off but it's still pretty good and I'd rather have that than Harry Shearer playing a black man). I think the show took a big downturn this season but is actually stumbling towards self-betterment. Which I hope pays off in season 33.
BTW, @Purple reviewed the whole season a while back. Worth a read.
In this episode, Bart wins a crystal skull on a game in a Spanish language talk show and it turns out to be filled with tequila. Homer decides to steal it to share it with his friends in the bar and invites Moe to join. Initially, Moe is hesitant but decides to join his friends and gets so wasted, he spills everyone's secrets. Moe's friends are mad but it turns out there is a worse fate in store; Moe is part of a secret society of bartenders who, because of their exhausting jobs listening to everyone's problems, has a place where his own problems can be listened to. When Moe broke their cardinal rule, spilling secrets, Moe is expelled and his most loyal customers will be "cut off". It turns out being cut off means being injected with a serum that makes it impossible for them to drink booze anymore. Moe tries to save them but they all end up being unable to drink. However, three months later, ALL of Moe's regulars have turned their lives around and everything they complained about is fixed. They decide to visit Moe who know works at an omelet bar and feeling sorry for him, decide to be his customers again, even if that means only being able to drink water. The head of the secret society has seen the whole thing and is moved by the customer's loyalty and allows them to drink again... in Homer's case, whether he wants to or not.
When I saw this episode was heading into a parody of John Wick, I sighed a bit. The last episode took a high concept idea and actually grounded it a bit. This episode is much more over-the-top... and yet I actually think it is much more successful. Part of it is while it does spend some time being John Wick, I don't think it is so dedicated to parody to enter Mad Magazine 1-to-1 comparisons and uses it as a springboard for a fun adventure that also speaks to the characters' relationship with alcohol and each other. Keep in mind, it's not a terribly deep episode and is more like a lark but this is one of the more successful adventure-based episodes in a while.
I think it helps that it has a solid foundation. The story has a beginning, a middle and an end and it all connects and that seems like damning with faint praise but that's not one of the strong points of latter day Simpsons... but it does become a strong point when they achieve it. It reminds me why I want to spend time with these characters and the fun we can have in new scenarios. It's by turns cynical and sweet about the human condition where being a good friend ends up being rewarded with a chance to throw away everything you worked hard for to be able to drink and then pine away for those very things.
Yes, this is a very wacky Simpsons premise with a secret society and anti-booze serum and bartender assassins but it also has some very funny lines, good character work and is just a well-realized episode. This is also a Dan Vebber episode and not all of his episodes are hits, he actually has a pretty strong Simpsons track record, especially for latter day Simpsons. This is an episode that is also very lean, which is interesting. I feel like the Simpsons is known for using up time on stuff that goes nowhere (not always a complaint, I often like those first acts unrelated to the following) and it neither feels rushed nor does it feel lethargic. If anything, I'm hoping for more episodes like this in season 33. Hoping this is an omen for things to come.
Other great jokes:
"This is so fancy, I'm finally breaking out my commemorative Iran Contra shot glasses."
"There isn't much time but I'm still going to be cagey about it."
"Barney doesn't work here."
"Really? It seems like he would."
"Yeah, that would lead to some good stories all right."
"I haven't seen you guy since... you know..."
"Jeez, it would have to have been... the syringings."
The 32nd season of the Simpsons has been a trip. Mostly, it's been a bad season of TV, to my disappointment, though there are some high points. At the same time, I feel like the Simpsons, while struggling with joke structure, story structure, WEIRD celebrity cameos (weirdly quasi-sycophantic to JJ Ahbrams, also NATE SILVER?) but it does want to make progress; it's trying to make it's jokes about LGBTQ people less weird but it also doesn't know how to approach it so it generally seems inoffensive but... not funny or about much? And it's recast a lot of characters with people related to their actual ethnic group. I like this both in principal but also there are actors who are really getting out there or have more to do within the show because of this. Kevin Michael Richardson has been a great addition to the cast and it's nice he gets to be Dr. Hibbert (yes, the chuckle is off but it's still pretty good and I'd rather have that than Harry Shearer playing a black man). I think the show took a big downturn this season but is actually stumbling towards self-betterment. Which I hope pays off in season 33.
BTW, @Purple reviewed the whole season a while back. Worth a read.
In this episode, Bart wins a crystal skull on a game in a Spanish language talk show and it turns out to be filled with tequila. Homer decides to steal it to share it with his friends in the bar and invites Moe to join. Initially, Moe is hesitant but decides to join his friends and gets so wasted, he spills everyone's secrets. Moe's friends are mad but it turns out there is a worse fate in store; Moe is part of a secret society of bartenders who, because of their exhausting jobs listening to everyone's problems, has a place where his own problems can be listened to. When Moe broke their cardinal rule, spilling secrets, Moe is expelled and his most loyal customers will be "cut off". It turns out being cut off means being injected with a serum that makes it impossible for them to drink booze anymore. Moe tries to save them but they all end up being unable to drink. However, three months later, ALL of Moe's regulars have turned their lives around and everything they complained about is fixed. They decide to visit Moe who know works at an omelet bar and feeling sorry for him, decide to be his customers again, even if that means only being able to drink water. The head of the secret society has seen the whole thing and is moved by the customer's loyalty and allows them to drink again... in Homer's case, whether he wants to or not.
When I saw this episode was heading into a parody of John Wick, I sighed a bit. The last episode took a high concept idea and actually grounded it a bit. This episode is much more over-the-top... and yet I actually think it is much more successful. Part of it is while it does spend some time being John Wick, I don't think it is so dedicated to parody to enter Mad Magazine 1-to-1 comparisons and uses it as a springboard for a fun adventure that also speaks to the characters' relationship with alcohol and each other. Keep in mind, it's not a terribly deep episode and is more like a lark but this is one of the more successful adventure-based episodes in a while.
I think it helps that it has a solid foundation. The story has a beginning, a middle and an end and it all connects and that seems like damning with faint praise but that's not one of the strong points of latter day Simpsons... but it does become a strong point when they achieve it. It reminds me why I want to spend time with these characters and the fun we can have in new scenarios. It's by turns cynical and sweet about the human condition where being a good friend ends up being rewarded with a chance to throw away everything you worked hard for to be able to drink and then pine away for those very things.
Yes, this is a very wacky Simpsons premise with a secret society and anti-booze serum and bartender assassins but it also has some very funny lines, good character work and is just a well-realized episode. This is also a Dan Vebber episode and not all of his episodes are hits, he actually has a pretty strong Simpsons track record, especially for latter day Simpsons. This is an episode that is also very lean, which is interesting. I feel like the Simpsons is known for using up time on stuff that goes nowhere (not always a complaint, I often like those first acts unrelated to the following) and it neither feels rushed nor does it feel lethargic. If anything, I'm hoping for more episodes like this in season 33. Hoping this is an omen for things to come.
Other great jokes:
"This is so fancy, I'm finally breaking out my commemorative Iran Contra shot glasses."
"There isn't much time but I'm still going to be cagey about it."
"Barney doesn't work here."
"Really? It seems like he would."
"Yeah, that would lead to some good stories all right."
"I haven't seen you guy since... you know..."
"Jeez, it would have to have been... the syringings."