Latter-day Simpsons episodes that DON’T totally suck

[Phil]

Following on from a few (well-deserved, I admit) comments in the Simpsons HD thread, which episodes from the recent, non-classic seasons have you caught that actually made you say, “Hey, this isn’t totally awful”?

I catch it when I can, and I’ve had a few (underline few) standouts:

– One where Lisa helps Moe express himself through poetry…which sounds like an AWFUL idea for an episode but it was shockingly good (and funny), and a pretty decent Lisa episode as well.

– One where Abe makes an attempt at assisted suicide…a pretty daring subject, but after the (very good) first act they sort of abandon the concept in favor of Abe becoming a bullfighter. (I think this is a big problem with non-classic Simpsons; they don’t let the emotional thrust fulfill itself. Imagine if the blowfish episode happened today? Instead of Homer trying to make the most of his last day, he’d be inspired by the experience to become the first balloonist to juggle chainsaws over the bermuda triange–with special guest Prince! for some fucking reason.)

– Oh, and the one where Milhouse’s parents get back together was also pretty good. Shitty ending, though.

[peas_and_corn]

– My fair laddie, where willie gets taught how to be a gentleman is really good
– The president wore pearls

Interestingly enough, the later seasons has a lOT of Lisa, and I really like that :)

[Tyrell Corporation]

King Of The Hill was cancelled all so The Simpsons could trudge on wearing a shit eating grin, now in high definition.

[Jonathan Capps]

> King Of The Hill was cancelled all so The Simpsons could trudge on wearing a shit eating grin, now in high definition.

I nominate this post for ‘Should Have Been Posted in the Other Fucking Thread’ status.

[Tyrell Corporation]

Remember Whigfield?

[Seb Patrick]

Actually, last night my dad was watching one he’d taped off Sky from the other week, and it wasn’t that bad. It was the one with Lisa ending up with a beard of bees. I haven’t seen the end of it, but in the first ten minutes there were actually some chucklesome moments, and it didn’t feel completely HATEFUL AND STUPID the way most recent ones seem to. Maybe the argument that it’s got marginally better in season 20 has some weight.

(I mean, much like new Family Guy, it’s still not something I’d go out of my way to watch, not when there are far better things to spend my time on. But, yeah.)

[Jonathan Capps]

> (I mean, much like new Family Guy, it?s still not something I?d go out of my way to watch, not when there are far better things to spend my time on. But, yeah.)

Honestly, Seb, comparing new Family guy to new Simpsons is like comparing a slice of lovely toast to a spit drenched rag.

[Pete Part Three]

*A slice of lovely toast with a bit of poo smeared on it.

[Tyrell Corporation]

But Family Guy has always been rubbish.

[Jonathan Capps]

Jesus Christ.

[Rad]

I quite like the episode when Young Homer is out with Young Moe, Lennie and Carl and finds the dead body in the tunnel. The reveal about Smithers’ dad and the jokes about Moe’s loneliness are good fun.

It’s interesting how little of recent Simpsons. There might be a time soon when I like just over half the episodes made. Unlike The It Crowd which I can’t really be a fan of now I don’t like 2 of its 3 series.

[Phil]

>Interestingly enough, the later seasons has a lOT of Lisa, and I really like that :)

I really love Lisa episodes. Watching the show as a kid I was much more interested in Bart and Homer, but as I’ve grown up I’ve realized that it’s Lisa who resonates the strongest with me. My top 20 would have a lot of Lisa in it.

>King Of The Hill was cancelled all so The Simpsons could trudge on

King of the Hill was cancelled because nobody’s intentionally watched it for over a decade.

[JamesTC]

The one where Homer becomes a football referee was brilliant (and not just because my Dad is a referee).
I quite liked the episode were Marge gets addicted to PC games, I think it was a World of Warcraft skit (one not as good as South Park).

[locusceruleus]

The only ones I’ve seen this season, off the top of my head, are the beard of bees one, the one where Mr Burns managed a basketball team, one of the flashback to Homer and Marge dating ones, and a couple of others that I barely remember.

Actually, come to think of it, I think the bees and the basketball were the same episode.

Who the fuck knows anymore?

Act I: Homer falls down a hole that he creates in the garden while trying to blow up a squirrel with a pipe bomb.
Act II: Homer discovers a race of sexy leprechauns living in the hole. They take him to the zoo, where he gets raped by another panda. Marge becomes an alcoholic. Bart says a couple of lines.
Act III: Surf’s up, dudes!

[Ben Paddon]

And those Clangers, eh?

[Seb Patrick]

>There might be a time soon when I like just over half the episodes made.

Oh, to live in those halcyon days once again.

[JamesTC]

Out of the first 12 or 13 seasons of the Simpsons I would say I only hate 1 episode and that was the one in the woods with the caravan, ‘Call of the Simpsons’ I think it was called.

[Seb Patrick]

Every episode from season one is better than every episode from seasons eleven, twelve and thirteen.

With the possible exception of the very first one. And by the “very first one”, I don’t mean the Christmas one (which is ace), I mean the babysitter bandit one. The one that was the first one produced, and which really looks and sounds like that’s the case. It’s amazing to think that broadcast order shuffling meant that, chronologically, that episode was followed by Bart Gets An F.

(although season two itself is kind of weird – there are episodes that feel like they come from later on, like Simpson & Delilah, The Way We Was, Lisa’s Substitute, Blood Feud and so on; but there are others that, while still absolutely great, feel more like the style of season one – Three Men and a Comic Book, The War of the Simpsons, Bart Gets an F. I don’t know if there was a shift in the production team halfway through or something, and the broadcast order then got shuffled, but you could take about half the season and put it as “season 1.5” – or have the other half as “season 2.5”, maybe).

[locusceruleus]

To at least have a little positive spin on a show that I think has long since kamikaze-dived head first down the shitter with nuclear powered rocket boots, what does anyone think was the funniest moment?

Personally for me, as far as slapstick goes, Homer accidentally jumping Springfield Gorge and the aftermath was unbeatable. I guess that was, what, Season 2/3?

[JamesTC]

Homer driving through New York with the clamp on his car is very high up there.

[peas_and_corn]

>The one that was the first one produced, and which really looks and sounds like that?s the case.

Watching the original animation on the season 1 DVD is really instructive on the HUGE road bumps they encountered- the shit that made it to air (due to budget holding back the amount they could retake) isn’t as bad as the stuff that was cut…

[Seb Patrick]

Springfield Gorge was season 2 – Bart the Daredevil.

I couldn’t pick one single moment, to be honest. Episodes, though, include :

Homer the Heretic
Deep Space Homer
Selma’s Choice
Homer At The Bat
Lisa’s Wedding
Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
I Love Lisa
Itchy & Scratchy Land

Oh wait, no, I do have a favourite moment. Kent Brockman : “Well, we’ve just lost the picture, but what we’ve seen speaks for itself. The Corvair craft has apparently been taken over… CONQUERED, if you will… by a race of giant mutant space ants. Whether the ants will consume the captive earthmen or enslave them remains to be seen, but one thing is certain – there is no stopping them, the ants… will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords! I’d like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality I can be useful in rounding up others, to toil in their underground sugar caves!”

[Pete Part Three]

I think my all-time favourite moment is in Rosebud. A copy/paste will excuse me trying to explain it, but it still wont do it justice when taken out of context:

While Lisa meditates to sea music in the living room, Maggie places the bear behind the fish tank. Bart knocks over a lamp which shines eerily onto the tank. At the top of the stairs, Homer trips on Bart’s skateboard and falls down the stairs, hitting his head several times on the way down.

HOMER
Ah! D’oh! Ow! Son of a… D’oh! Stupid… stair!

Upon reaching the bottom, he notices the fish tank.

HOMER
(gasp) How long have we had these fish?

Yup, it really doesn’t work when written down.

[Tyrell Corporation]

That scene would make an excellent animated GIF.

[Seb Patrick]

I think a few of my all-time favourite moments are in Rosebud, but that’s probably not one of them (although it is great) ;-)

Others include :

“Well, Burns isn’t gonna get this back cheap! He’s going to have to give me… my own recording studio…” *dreams* “Twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepickledonions on a sesame seed buuuuuunnnn…” *drools*

“Maggie, I’m trying to watch TV! Put that mouldy old bear down!” *realises* “Mouldy? Old? I’m gonna get something to eat!”

And of course the Ramones bit. OF COURSE.

[Pete Part Three]

It’s just the kind of Simpsons gag that I love. Like this one from Lemon of Troy:

Bart: This whole raid was as useless as that yellow lemon-shaped rock over there. Wait a minute…there’s a lemon behind that rock!

[Seb Patrick]

Yeah, I wrote an article years ago (buggered if I know where it is now) on the “subverting expectations” strand of humour in The Simpsons – there are millions of examples. It’s one of their favourite tricks – set up an obvious cliche and then do something entirely different – not that it isn’t usually funny.

[Phil]

I told that idiot at the deli to SLICE my sandwich!

[JamesTC]

HOMER
Don’t worry. We won a dental plan in the strike of ’88. (indicating scar) That’s where I got this scar.

Flashback to the strike. The employees protest.

CARL
What do we want?

EMPLOYEES
More equitable treatment at the hands of management!

CARL
When do we want it?

EMPLOYEES
Soon!

Pan across to Homer at the snack cart.

HOMER
Where’s my burrito? Where’s my burrito? Where’s my burrito? (awning collapses and hits him in the head) Ow!

[Phil]

Wikipedia has allowed me to identify the episodes I enjoyed from later seasons, as listed in my first post.

– Moe’N’a Lisa (18)
– Million Dollar Abie (17)
– Little Orphan Millie (19)

I’ve also been reminded of a few others I thought were pretty strong.

– Stop or My Dog Will Shoot (18), Santa’s Little Helper becomes a police dog under Officer Lou
– Girls Just Want to Have Sums (17), a great one in which Springfield Elementary is divided into gender-based educational systems
– Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind (20), a latter-day masterpiece

[Seb Patrick]

HOMER
Where?s my burrito? Where?s my burrito? Where?s my burrito? (awning collapses and hits him in the head) Ow!

You’re posting a lot of stuff I agree with, lately.

[peas_and_corn]

>I’m getting a lot of fast responses to those PMs, which is great! Makes all of this so much easier and smoother :)

This one is really good- carries a great premise to the end, and some awesome Lisa moments.

[JamesTC]

Episodes I thought were very good from later seasons (where exactly does later seasons stat, I started from 17)

“Marge’s Son Poisoning” (17)
“Girls Just Want to Have Sums” (17)
“The Monkey Suit” (17)
“G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)” (18)
“Marge Gamer” (18)
“Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind” (19)
“Dial ‘N’ for Nerder” (19)

Looking at that it seems like alot of episodes that I really enjoyed, well how about if I compare it to season 4 –
“Kamp Krusty”
“A Streetcar Named Marge”
“Homer the Heretic”
“Lisa the Beauty Queen”
“Marge Gets a Job”
“New Kid on the Block”
“Mr. Plow” (My favourite episode)
“Lisa’s First Word” (Easily the best flash back episode)
“Homer’s Triple Bypass”
“Marge vs. the Monorail”
“Selma’s Choice”
“Brother from the Same Planet”
“I Love Lisa”
“Duffless”
“Last Exit to Springfield”
“So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show” (As much as I hate clip shows I like this if not just for the shaken Duff can joke)
“The Front”
“Krusty Gets Kancelled”

Oh my!

[Seb Patrick]

Season four is basically perfect.

[Tyrell Corporation]

I bought the Season 4 boxset in a charity shop for 50 pence, the old dear thought it was a book.

[Dave]

>I bought the Season 4 boxset in a charity shop for 50 pence, the old dear thought it was a book.

That Meryl.

[si]

Did you have a bag?

[Pete Part Three]

Yeah, her name was Meryl. Pay attention, si.

[si]

I WAS paying attention. That’s why I made the bag reference.

[Jonathan Capps]

> I bought the Season 4 boxset in a charity shop for 50 pence, the old dear thought it was a book.

Yeah, those stupid charity idiots.

[locusceruleus]

> I bought the Season 4 boxset in a charity shop for 50 pence, the old dear thought it was a book.

You do realise if you didn’t put at least a fiver in the donations tin, you’re a bit of a tosser?

[JamesTC]

I’d say more, I had to buy Season 4 twice after my first got lost, I have moved since and it was no where to be seen in the house, it is the only DVD I have lost.

[Jonathan Capps]

> it is the only DVD I have lost

I have all the Lost DVDs.

[JamesTC]

I’m so sorry for you.

[Jonathan Capps]

> I?m so sorry for you.

SoundableObject… have you ever been hit over the head with a welding mallet?

[JamesTC]

Oh you are easy!

[locusceruleus]

I’ve lost shitloads over the years. I keep moving between countries, which really fucks you over. First time, took everything out of the cases, put them in those half-arsed CD wallets, put the booklets in a folder….no good.

I’m a music nut, so at least there’s my iPod these days and I don’t have to worry about all the CDs that have ended up who knows where over the years. DVDs are a trickier business though.

[ChrisM]

>I?m so sorry for you.

I went off Lost for a while (mostly due to the repetitiveness of the format and how little the stories seemed to move) but it is really good now. It truly is.

[JamesTC]

Oh I have nothing against Lost, I never really watched it but I have nothing against it, just wanted a funny reaction since I’m usually on the other end of the reaction (usually having a go at ignorant fucks saying Colin Baker was crap as the Doctor because he was sacked).

[ChrisM]

Fair enough.

Concerning Colin Baker, I haven’t seen much Old Who. I did grab an episode starring him from the library though. I forget the name (it was the one set on a planet whose inhabitents were essentially a mortuary service. Alexi Sayle was an irritating DJ. Hang on….
1 Google later….)

Revelation of the Daleks.

The doctor didn’t have much of a role in that episode. He was more an observer than anything but I rather liked the character. Rather acerbic. I wasn’t that keen on the episode but it had some good ideas there. And Peri was… interesting.

[JamesTC]

He is much better on audio (he is voted #1 on audio out of the 4 audio Doctors) but he certainly has some classic on screen stories too, ‘Trial of a Time Lord’ shows how good a Doctor he is. ‘Revelation of the Daleks’ didn’t have much of the Doctor in it because Eric Saward didn’t like Colin Baker and so didn’t write much for him, Peri is my favourite companion along with Evelyn Smyth, Peri is certainly interesting, you should see her in ‘Planet of Fire’ and ‘Attack of the Cybermen’! What I find strange about her is that she has hardly aged a day, here is a picture taken just a few days ago from the recording of an audio – http://www.drwho-online.co.uk/news/images/bf-missiontomagnus-promo.jpg

[Seb Patrick]

DON’T LISTEN TO CAPPSY, REVELATION OF THE DALEKS IS BRILLIANT.

[Phil]

It’s about time this forum had a thread in which we can discuss Dr. Who.

[ChrisM]

Ha ha! Sorry.

[Mr Flibble]

It?s about time this forum had a thread in which we can discuss Dr. Who.

Gallifrey and Titan?

[Phil]

http://www.avclub.com/articles/in-a-way-theyre-all-winners-10-simpsons-episodes-f,25487/1/

[peas_and_corn]

Quite a good article!

[Phil]

Yeah, they made some really good choices. My power went out THREE TIMES during The Debarted, but I got to see most of it, and it was really, really good. (Why couldn’t it cut out during one of the many horrible episodes instead?) Add it to my list.

Also nice to see the one with Marge’s romance novel. Plotwise it was nothing special, but it had a lot of really good moments, and–all together now–a hilarious Thomas Pynchon cameo. That’s all I need to want it on DVD.

[Seb Patrick]

Sorry, stopped reading when they opened with The Regina Monologues. Awful, awful, awful episode.

[Phil]

>Sorry, stopped reading when they opened with The Regina Monologues. Awful, awful, awful episode.

You know, I only saw that one once, so I was inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I agree with you Seb. I remember thinking it was totally unfunny, and the fact that it was Swartzwelder’s final episode is just a whole additional level of disappointment.

[Pete Part Three]

I think the only episode of that list I’ve bothered watching is 24 Minutes. And that was ropey.

[si]

I can still remember the very first episode I saw – it was The Telltale Head. There was a girl called Tracey who worked in the chemists’, and when it started on Sky One, I asked her to tape me a few.

[Mr Flibble]

I’ve been watching 3, 4, 5 and now 6 again as a result of this thread. 3 is almost universally funny, 4 comes very close, 5 and 6 just seem to tail off…

[Plastic Percy]

I kinda liked the episode where they parody Apple and Steve Jobs.

“You think your cool because you buy a $500 phone with a picture of a fruit on it? Well guess what – they cost $8 to make and I pee on every one!”

[Phil]

I just saw a recent episode, maybe from this past weekend. It was available for viewing on myspace and for some reason decided to give it a look.

And it was really very good. Moe starts dating a midget, which is certainly a “typical” latter-day kind of plot, but the quality of the gags, and the awkward sweetness generated between the characters, was really pretty great. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but if this were to have been made during season 8 or 9, it’d be on par with the middling episodes of that era.

I particularly liked that the episode was allowed to end on a sort of heartfelt moment. I don’t mind tenderness being undercut for the sake of a good joke, but within the past however many seasons, they seem to undercut it for the sake of undercutting it, whether or not they actually HAVE a good joke.

Then I watched the most recent American Dad and almost shit myself laughing.

[Author]

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