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America's Favorite Non-prehistoric Cartoon Family - The Simpsons Thread

The Force Awakens From Its Nap

Plot: Maggie goes to a new Star Wars-themed daycare where she must get BB-8's help to retrieve her pacifier and duels with Darth Gerald the Baby With the One Eyebrow. Maggie is felled but returns as a force ghost.

How embarrassing is this?: It's fairly embarrassing. It's not just that the short was meant to be a "fun" piece of brand synergy. But it's mostly a bunch of references while trying to milk the goodwill of that first surprisingly good Maggie theatrical short. The references feel pandering but more than that, things eventually start feeling like they have less rhyme or reason. I know Gerald just doesn't like Maggie but the fight seems out of nowhere and is a left turn from the initial thrust of the story. Also it's meta gag at the end feels wrong-headed, claiming "the popular characters never die" despite that happening in MOST of the movies. But I will say this is one of the few times they kill off Maggie, even in a non-canonical capacity.
 
The Good, The Bad and the Loki

Plot: Loki is sent to Springfield where he meets Bart. When Lisa complains about inviting Loki to dinner, Bart has Loki send Lisa to Asgard. She ends up in an armory where she finds she is worthy of Thor's hammer. She confronts Loki with a bunch of other Springfieldians as Marvel Superheroes and throws "Loki" into space... who is in fact Bart. Loki is now living with the Simpsons but Homer, who knows, really doesn't care.

How embarrassing is this?: It really just gets worse and worse. I think it's not very good at the beginning when it is trying to bounce Loki (Tom Hiddleston reprising the role) off the family but at least that's SOMETHING. It's smart enough to connect Loki to Bart in feeling like the black sheep of their family. But because this short is only a few minutes, it tries to ramp up the pandering a lot. Everyone in Springfield showing up as superheroes doesn't make sense and it isn't funny. It's a bunch of weak, unimaginative fan art but in the actual Simpsons IP. There's three credit codas that are all very unfunny. Since this was almost more specifically a promotion for the Loki TV series, they probably could have easily dropped the other Marvel stuff, really. It just makes it busy and eye rolling.
 
Off-topic a bit from the Disney pandering stoofs, but any plans to seek out Springfield of Dreams: The Legend of Homer Simpson?

I mean, there was some stuff that pissed me off about it, but overall it was neat to see most of the baseball players who cameo'd in Homer at the Bat brought together to comment on their experiences like it was a real thing that happened and not a cartoon.
 
Plusaversary

Plot: The anniversary of Disney Plus' first year is celebrated at Moe's Tavern where Homer shares a table with Goofy. Everyone is getting angry and Lisa, there to pick up Homer, decides to try to cheer them up with a Disney-style musical number. Then Bart enters disguised as an angry Mickey Mouse to tell everyone to get back to work.

How embarrassing is this?: This one feels really rough. I'm of two minds of the decision to not include the Disney actors as the voices, particularly Bill Farmer as Goofy. I can see the Simpsons, despite celebrating one year of a streaming service with a rich cast, might want to keep this feeling like a purely Simpsons thing and allow Dan and Hank voice beloved Disney icons. But it also seems liked a missed opportunity. The Simpsons is clearly not too good to sell out so why not give yourself a chance to play with Farmer, who isn't just goofy but has a distinguished career even to this day of great work (such as playing Hop Pop in Amphibia, which is often a silly role but allowed for some pathos and drama). But more than anything, I think the Simpsons wanted to lovingly jab at their owners. That's not a bad idea and I don't begrudge the jabs for being softballs. But even for softballs, it feels like such nothing, just a reminder of all the great IP they have. Most importantly, in using the Disney playground, it simply fails to be funny in any way. The closest is a pretty mediocre joke that Doc is so upset he's mistaken for Grumpy.
 
When Billie Met Lisa

Plot: Lisa, unable to play at home without her family bugging her or complaining, finds herself playing under a bridge. She is discovered by music superstar Billie Eilish, who decides to invite her to jam. They do a rendition of the Simpsons theme song that is popular across town.

How embarrassing is this?: This feels more embarrassing for Eilish than the Simpsons. Eilish has this cool chill vibe and it's awkward for her to be associated with the fairly hacky and weak gags that run through the episode. I liked it more than Plusaversary but even at a slight 4 minutes, I still felt like I was just waiting for this to end. There's a scene where Eilish has a photo with her parents and that makes me wonder if her parents were Simpsons fans and this is just her way to get them into the show.
 
Welcome to the Club

Plot: Lisa is lead to a castle where "Bart" (actually Loki) tells her she's going to be made into a Disney Princess. In fact, it's housing the Disney villains who wants Lisa to be a villain, too. They tell her it's more fun to be evil (particularly to get delicious petty vengeance on the people who wronged her). When Lisa reminds them they tend to die at the end of the films, the villains point out the Disney villains have it worse, being in relationships to incredibly dull male romantic leads.

How embarrassing is this?: This one... is actually pretty solid. Not "great" but I feel like rather than a series of references, it comes at the premise with a point of view and one that would make sense in wooing Lisa (though we never actually get Lisa's side). Again, I am torn; I would have liked it the show decided to pay for some of the voices of the original actors (at least, the ones who are still alive). But I also appreciate keeping most of the voices (except Loki, again voiced by Hiddleston) from their own pool of actors and letting them get to voice iconic characters.

One shocker to me was actually letting Mickey appear on screen in a mildly villainous role voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Other references to him have Bart dressing up like him so I think it's cool for Disney to let that happen. Some other things I liked it some commentary with teeth. Baby teeth, the softest kind but them lightly teasing Disney for dull male leads still seems like more than the Simpsons is usually willing to toy with in their "corporate synergy"-based shorts. I also think they are trying to make the villains very close to their original look instead of Simpsons-ifying them, which I think works. Overall, this short isn't something you need to run out and see but it feels closer to the kind of corporate shilling that allows the show to keep it's irreverent tone.
 
The Simpsons meet the Bocellis in Feliz Navidad

Plot: For Christmas, Homer gets Marge a visit from Andrea Bocelli and his children, Matteo and Virginia Bocelli. Initially Andrea sings classic Italian opera but then, for the season, sings Feliz Navidad.

How Embarrassing Is it?: Not real embarrassing but it's also kind of nothing. The animation and gags (at least one of which is recycled from an earlier episode) are pretty forgettable and it's really about the Bocelli family singing, which you don't need the Simpson family for, really. This just feels like maybe Matteo or Virginia wanted to be in the show and this is how they got to do it. Actually, looking it up, he is the one who reached out, initially wanting a cameo with his family. I can't tell if this is better or worse. It means the spotlight is on them but is anyone really watching this. Plus you get to say "I was on the Simpsons" with an asterisk.
 
Rogue Not Quite One

Plot: Maggie, once again at a school in the Star Wars universe, ends up accidentally taking Baby Yoda's hyper-stroller through space, where she is nearly killed by Darth Baby Gerald before pacifying him

How Embarrassing Is it?: Blech. There were worse shorts but this one is deeply "who cares". It also feels inconsistent where this is supposed to be the Star Wars universe with the Simpsons in it or what because there's a regular Springfield with no aliens but also an alien place. It feels like they just had to do something and hoped throwing Star Wars at it was enough. It wasn't.
 
May the 12th Be With You

Plot: Marge takes the Disney moms out to a playdate with their kids on a Star Wars planet for Mother's Day. A fight breaks out and Marge goes hard, only to discover it's a simulation, which she disrupts. As an apology, everyone comes to a party in her back yard.

How Embarrassing Is It?: I feel like there are more cringeworthy ones, but I think this one is, not having scene the last one remaining yet, the worst Disney short. I know that I should be treating them as a series of gags rather than a narrative but I can just not get over how the poor the consistency in terms of what we are doing moment to moment. I'm sure they were aiming for "all the Disney characters and Star Wars co-existing" in a Kingdom Hearts sort of way but it feels less like joy of having these characters be together and just pure IP slop.

It's funny because there's clear effort here. The Disney Plus shorts really do try to animate the Disney characters a bit differently. Not like the films but noticeably different than the way Simpsons characters are animated, generally. I actually like that. The problem is it just feels all completely thrown together and maybe I could forgive it if it was funny but it really isn't. Also, Stewie from Family Guy is in it at the end, voiced by Seth MacFarlane. Not funny but somehow one of the least awkward gags in the short.
 
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Plot: Bob takes the Simpsons hostage to sing about how Halloween is the most wonderful time of the year for villains. The villains of various Disney-owned franchises take part.

How Embarrassing Is It?: It's not great but there have been worse. Despite the appearance of Bob voiced by Grammar, there's not a lot too this one and it feels like it was better covered by the last villains-themed special. This is the last special so far, from 2024, so with the distance of a little over a year and a half, it doesn't look like there's another one coming soon. And that's fine with me. They mostly just feel like commercials for Disney +, which we already have if we are watching this. And while a commercial can be entertaining and funny, this is mostly just checking names off of boxes.
 
Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition

Season 37 is technically over but it seems that Disney Plus has a few exclusive episodes left before next year. It's interesting because while I'm done with the exclusive shorts and am mostly unhappy with the sloppiness of the writing, I feel there's ambition here. I think there's a sense of freedom not to be hemmed in by the constraints of TV or timing. And these exclusive episodes don't feel phoned in. The fact is, a lot of the show in this era still has some weak episodes but I still think that this is a series where, behind the scenes, everyone is trying their best to put together something different. It doesn't always work but it does smack of effort.

In this episode, Homer and Marge are planning a couples night out when the babysitter is late. Homer let's Marge go ahead early while he waits for the sitter but the sitter, Shauna, arrives drugged up on painkillers as a result of a dumb teenage stunt gone wrong. Homer, not able to find a sitter, decides to go to the night out and watch the kids from the doorbell camera while they stay on the lawn. When Marge sees what Homer has done she explodes at him, ruining her night out (which was a rare case of Marge really hitting it off with strangers). Marge, still stewing, tries to imagine a better Homer in three segments. The first is a parody of Top Gun where Homer is a daredevil pilot and Marge is his therapist. Homer is secretly bothered by his own fear of fear which has cost him the life of his wingmen. Marge helps Homer get in touch with his fear but in doing so, ruins him as a pilot before the big mission. Marge then guides Homer through the mission as a wingwoman and Homer is successful... but Marge dies due to being his wingwoman. The second story, a parody of the works of John Cheever, imagines Homer as a businessman in a soulless company in the 50s. He feels trapped by his life and career and a beatnik Marge promises to help him break out. The two plan to runaway together but Homer gets his big raise and decides to stay with his wife (Helen Lovejoy). In the final tale, a parody of the Joker films, Homer is a weird loner looking for acceptance of his uncontrollable laughing condition by working as a clown. After he's beaten by thugs, he is mocked by his hero, Krusty, on TV. Homer imagines a man visiting the hospital is Krusty and murders him. After winding up in jail, Homer is approached by Marge (as a Harley Quinn type) and lets him know that he's inspired an army of angry clowns who help Homer get his revenge. However, after Homer gets his revenge, he makes out with Marge, which angers his "clowncel" army and they beat him to death. Marge finally arrives at home to see Homer and the kids and she forgives him and sees the good in him.

The first thing to note that this anthology episode is 48 minutes long. Did this length make it better? Maaaybe. A lot of these anthology stories really need to speed run the parody of whatever and it feels incredibly rushed because of it so giving things time to play out isn't the worst idea. I think of the three stories that benefits most from this approach is probably the first story, which is the silliest of the three but I think it also committing to a particularly silly string and while there are pointed jokes that are specifically about the Top Gun movies, it feels like that's more of a framework for some silly business that is also a story. That one has some pretty obvious jokes (Homer in the Tom Cruise role being very short as a reveal) but I think there are quite a few solid gags about Homer and Marge doing extreme sports during therapy (including eating gas station sushi). It also begins a solid runner of Tegan and Sarah doing comedy music for each segment that points out the tropes. I've seen it done better but it's a solidly done "been there" gag.

The second segment is probably the more heady one. There's a solid chance while they get the jokes about stories of 1950s businessmen as despairing commentary on where the post-war years led but I suspect that most viewers aren't overly familiar with the works of John Cheever. I've heard of him but the only story I'm familiar with is The Swimmer (which is parodied within the story), which was turned into a Bert Lancaster movie in the early days of new Hollywood. But you get the idea without. Cinema and TV is filled with explorations of this era, including Madmen (yes, that's the 60s but the spirit is the same). I think it's not the best story but it's the most interesting one to me and honestly makes me want to read some Cheever.

The last story is the weakest but it's a really well-made one. I mean, the Joker is not that great a film and the creators seem to know that, putting a button on it to begin with calling "Darkham City" "almost plagiaristically" like the early works of Martin Scorsese. Nonetheless, there is much effort to style for what feels like a really groady story. They are really committed to style, down to how they animated Marge moving as the Harley Quinn/Lady Gaga character. But it's also a weird one. It kind of takes away the premise of the stories of coming up with different Homers that Marge might be attracted to because while there are certainly people who can romanticize the Joker, I can't imagine Marge being that person.

And I think while the episode works quite well in bits and pieces, it doesn't as a whole. A weird complaint for an anthology but it's worth noting the framing device's start is basically as long as a segment. And it's actually engaging as a premise as Marge is having a great night out being the life of the party with Homer to barge in, stepping on Marge's conversation and Marge's righteous anger making things awkward. And if anything, considering they give a lot of real estate to this solid first act, the fact that Marge coming home to Homer and forgiving him because... he fell asleep in the treehouse with the kids, feels really unearned in an episode that didn't have to try to earn anything. But by starting that way, it feels like there should have been more real virtue for Homer as a person for Marge to see why she married him.

Overall, it's not as good as it could have been and really we don't need an anthology episode this long but I think it's not bad. The best stuff is technical more than the comedy or emotion but I also think it starts on a good foot and it works when it leans into being silly. The Simpsons had a real strong resurgence post-pandemic, with some shockingly good episode but it feels like there was a bit of backsliding. I really liked the Bumblebee Man episode this past season) but it felt like an outlier. Still, I don't think people aren't trying and you can see the craft in an episode that sometimes looks really impressive.

Other great jokes:

The Tegan and Sarah songs are probably the highlight.

Also the montages of Homer and Marge in the Top Gun segment.

Other notes:
Couch gag by Omega Mart. If you aren't familiar, it's a surrealist comedic parody of supermarkets as an art instillation in Las Vegas.

 
Simpsley

Patricia Highsmith was a famous writer of thrillers who created such classics as Strangers on a Train. But one of the more famous creations was that of Tom Ripley, the antihero opportunist who was willing to resort to murder to ensure he had a comfortable life. That said, he isn't someone who kills because he likes it; he kills people who either get in his way as he comes up with new scams to keep him both a step ahead of the law and in a comfortable life where he may have the resources to pursue his passions. In many way, Ripley was the precursor to the antihero boom that pervaded TV in the 2000s-2010s. Though there are still TV series with antiheroes, it kind of has gone away and it feels like more empathetic series are more en vogue now, particularly due to how kind of awful things are right now. But recently there was a much lauded Ripley mini-series covering the first book, the Talented Mr. Ripley, as the title character ingratiates himself into the life of a trust fund baby and decides to kill him when he attempts to abandon him. I remember reading the book for university and was kind of floored that the character, rather than getting a comeuppance, wins out through his cleverness.

In this episode, a parody of the Ripley TV mini-series, Marge Bouvier is a lowly scam artist who catches wind of millionaire Agnes Skinner complaining about her son, now living the high life in Italy on her dime. Marge pretends to be an old school chum and gets Agnes to send her to convince Skinner to come home when her real plan is to live the high life along with him. The plan works but it gets in the way of Homer Simpsley, who is similarly mooching off of Skinner (and is also attracted to him). The two are rivals for Skinner's attention but when Homer accidentally kills Skinner, Marge and Homer realize they are in the same boat; they just lost their meal ticket. However, the two come up with a plan: Homer can disguise himself as Skinner, who many people in the area don't know that well, and Marge can pull off perfect forgeries. The plan works but soon Skinner's friend Chalmers figures out their scheme, only to be murdered by Marge. This gets the attention of the police and it seems like Homer is going to crack but he doesn't and the two are released. Homer reveals his love for Marge is what saved them and it seems like all is well. But during a boat trip, Marge murders Homer... only to find Homer successfully poisoned Marge's drink earlier, causing the two to die together.

I think it makes sense that the stories the show is deciding to make Disney+ exclusives non-canonical stories. Not that canon is particularly sacred in Simpsons World but I think the non-canon are fun little playgrounds for the show to experiment. It does seem like an odd thing to build an episode around. Not that Ripley, the book series and mini-series doesn't deserve it (I loved that mini-series) but while it got acclaim upon release, its not something people are still talking about that much. I suspect part of it is simply that a) it is a classic timeless story that has been retold (there have been many adaptations of the first book in the series) and b) I suspect writer Cesar Mazariegos is somewhat passionate about it.

That doesn't mean it makes for a good episode. I think Mazariegos is one the the show's current strongest writers but this is just a fun, OK episode. I think he is also having fun changing the structure, essentially making both Marge AND Homer Ripley (as well as merging Homer with the character of Freddie, who is also Chalmers and merging Marge with the character of... Marge). I think all of this merging and mixing of characters actually works very well and is one of the stronger parts of the episode, at least as far as being a clever adaptation. The episode is also trying to be stylish like the mini-series and works pretty well on a technical level. For the show's flaws in it's later years, it still tends to try to look impressive.

And I have no problems per se with the episode except nothing leaps out as laugh out loud hilarious, nor can it quite ape the genuine tension of the story, making us tense for when the antihero might finally get caught. It is interesting to actually have, if not a happy ending, a "the bad guy gets what's coming to them", which is somewhat antithetical to the thrill of watching Ripley wriggle out of another trap or sticky situation. If anything, these kinds of episodes feel like the actors are getting to have fun being a little different. I suspect Kavner enjoys having Marge in the villain role, though it's pretty old ground for Castellaneta. Still, as episodes go, it's a fun but forgettable watch. I feel like the last exclusive I reviewed both has more strengths and weaknesses while this one, despite being a solid production, feels kind of just a nice, even ride.
 
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