New Worst Episode Ever

[Guest The Winter Of My Discontent]

OMG TEH SIMPSONS SUCK NOW~!!!

Did we really need yet another topic about how the Simpsons fall from grace continues? You people are beating this dead horse more than the folks in the WWF folder are with the HHH horse.

 

Calling it the worst episode is beyond stupid and I guess it won't surprise you that I thought it was pretty funny. I didn't care for the Homer / Marge subplot, but I though the overall show delivered some good laughs. The series is clearly not what it once was, but for the love of all that's holy, stop making threads every week to announce it.

^This man captured my feelings exactly.

Simpsons is different now. It doesn't take itself seriously. I respect that. the episode was just fine in mah books. Of course I haven't seen another new episode of Simpsons in a long time.

[Damaramu 0]

I thought the episode was hilarious.

I've never understood the "The Simpsons suck now!" shit because I still find them funny.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

The worst by far is still the one where Bart & Milhouse form a boyband.

[Vern Gagne 0]

The other episdoe on last night confused me. Why did part suddenly care that Skinner got rid of the Art department in school?

 

One good thing was drunk Barney looks to be back.

[Nighthawk 0]

I've never understood the "The Simpsons suck now!" shit because I still find them funny.

Well, you can't deny it's vastly different. If people were attached to one style, it's only natural they would reject a new one.

Personally, I don't really care one way or the other. I apparently do think it's bad because I've stopped watching it regularly, but it's not surprising or particularly noteworthy. It happens to almost every show, and with as much success as they've had, of course they'd stay on the air many years after. I can understand the hate, what I can't understand is watching it and complaining. If it suddenly gets better, I'm sure you'll hear about it.

[JasonX 0]

So, for those of us that didn't get a chance to watch the Simpsons last night, does anyone mind recapping the episode? Mainly the conclusion of the Skinner/Edna wedding and this whole Homer/Marge storyline. It's a little tough to decipher the clues in everyone's posts.....

Skinner and Krabappel's wedding day finally arrives but Skinner has a case of cold feet. Krabappel gets wind of it right before they exchange vows and ditches Skinner at the alter.

 

Homer and Marge then get dragged into the mess with Homer trying to reunite the couple while Marge is trying to get Edna to reject Skinner's attempts at a reconciliation mainly do to the fact that Marge is angry at Homer for his "Jerkass Homer" antics. So we get a big reveal where Homer and Marge admit that their marriage is a sham and that they never really loved each other but that they stay together simply because so long as they are married, they are morally superior than the rest of the town and can basically bitch out people/boss people around when it comes to everyone else's love life.

 

So Krabappel starts dating Comic Book Guy and he springs the idea of a Klingon Wedding to Edna at the local sci-fi convention. The Simpsons try and break it up (but have time to watch Matt Groening masturbate over how great Futurama is and how everyone loves it) while Skinner shows up dressed up in the Michelle Pfieffer Catwoman costume to fight for Edna's love. In the end she breaks up Skinner and Comic Book Guy's fight and dumps both of them. And in the end, Jerkass Homer suprises Marge with a Klingon wedding as a means to get her to stop bitching him out about what piece of shit Jerkass Homer is...

[Guest wrestlingbs]

So, for those of us that didn't get a chance to watch the Simpsons last night, does anyone mind recapping the episode? Mainly the conclusion of the Skinner/Edna wedding and this whole Homer/Marge storyline. It's a little tough to decipher the clues in everyone's posts.....

Skinner and Krabappel's wedding day finally arrives but Skinner has a case of cold feet. Krabappel gets wind of it right before they exchange vows and ditches Skinner at the alter.

 

Homer and Marge then get dragged into the mess with Homer trying to reunite the couple while Marge is trying to get Edna to reject Skinner's attempts at a reconciliation mainly do to the fact that Marge is angry at Homer for his "Jerkass Homer" antics. So we get a big reveal where Homer and Marge admit that their marriage is a sham and that they never really loved each other but that they stay together simply because so long as they are married, they are morally superior than the rest of the town and can basically bitch out people/boss people around when it comes to everyone else's love life.

 

So Krabappel starts dating Comic Book Guy and he springs the idea of a Klingon Wedding to Edna at the local sci-fi convention. The Simpsons try and break it up (but have time to watch Matt Groening masturbate over how great Futurama is and how everyone loves it) while Skinner shows up dressed up in the Michelle Pfieffer Catwoman costume to fight for Edna's love. In the end she breaks up Skinner and Comic Book Guy's fight and dumps both of them. And in the end, Jerkass Homer suprises Marge with a Klingon wedding as a means to get her to stop bitching him out about what piece of shit Jerkass Homer is...

Wow. I thought you were just overreacting, but damn if that doesn't sound awful. And while I actually liked Futurama, they really wimped out on what they could have done with Skinner/Krabappel.

 

The Simpsons, even if they put on some of the worst crap ever seen on tv, would still be remembered favorably for their contribution to pop culture. However, most of what people will remember will be from the early seasons, when the cast, writers, and creator gave a damn (and by the appearence of the show they don't now). And if the series finale stinks, if it ever actually ends, it'll tarish how the series as a whole looked (for example, Sienfeld).

[Guest Redhawk]

I think the problem is that when you have characters not age for 10+ years, their development will inevitably cease. Look at it this way: How three-dimensional would you be if you stayed 15 years old for a decade?

[MrRant 0]

I just don't like how it went from being semi-realistic portrait of a middle income family which had some synergy to being so far out there in self contained episodes.

[Guest JumpinJackFlash]

You still cared about the characters? Wow I didn't think that was a possibility after every character became a parody of themselves. I mean how long has it been since any of the characters have been fleshed out and three diminsional?

 

That one Treehouse of Horror short where Homer goes into the 3rd Dimension.

[Skywarp! 0]

If that's true, the "never loved each other" plot is horrible. There are plenty of tender examples from the series to defute that, so why did they go there?

 

Also, there was a Groening/Family Guy feud? Expound, please.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Wow. I thought you were just overreacting, but damn if that doesn't sound awful. And while I actually liked Futurama, they really wimped out on what they could have done with Skinner/Krabappel.

wrestlingbs, keep in mind that the person who wrote the scathing review of the episode is also the guy that started the thread stating it was the worst episode ever. Somehow I doubt that he's the most impartial reviewer ever. The repeated usage of 'jerkass' could be a hint.

 

but have time to watch Matt Groening masturbate over how great Futurama is and how everyone loves it

And again, NO ONE ELSE has agreed that the intention of this quote was to circle jerk over Futurama. It's his opinion, and seemingly his opinion alone.

 

On an unrelated note:

I think you picked a very bad example. I would not hesitate to call Curb Your Enthusiasm a series. Each series except for the first has had a plot that begins in the first episode and ends in the last (Season 2 - pitching TV series to the networks, Season 3- The Restaraunt, Season 4- Producers). I know this is a thread about the Simpsons, but I just thought I'd point out what (I think) is an error.

 

Doctor Mik, I'll concede that CYE wasn't the best choice, but I don't know many other HBO series and I wanted to stick with the same network for my comparison. I could have picked virtually any prime time series, and in retrospect probably should have. But I still stick with my point, which is someone can skip half the episodes and not be lost in the plot - the whole season might have a theme, but it's not like if you miss 2 weeks you'll be confused about what's going on.

[Damaramu 0]

I still don't think he was jerking off about Futurama. He seemed to be making fun of himself over it.

I must be the lone person in the world that loves Futurama.

[notJames 0]

Nope. Futurama is brilliant. I'm finally picking up Vol. 3 after weeks of saving my pennies.

 

As for the Simpsons, I have no problems enjoying each episode I see, even the bad ones. Like others have said, I'm not one to take an animated series so seriously. Sure there have been many thought-provoking and meaningful episodes in its storied run, but now that the finish line is in sight, it's only natural for the quality to lag a bit. If you don't like the show, that's fine.

 

I was reminded of the subtle brilliance of the show when I saw a re-run of "A Tale of Two Springfields". Kent Brockman is reporting on the town's split, and the background graphic shows the word "Springfield" split in two, but instead of the natural split ("Spring" and "field"), it broke into "Sprin" and "gfield". Little things like that keep me watching.

[JasonX 0]

If that's true, the "never loved each other" plot is horrible.  There are plenty of tender examples from the series to defute that, so why did they go there?

 

Because it's more amusing to the hack writers currently writing the show to write Homer as an unredeemable asshole that Marge is trapped with do to her being dumb enough to have unprotected sex with and getting knocked up by Homer than to write Marge and Homer as a loving couple who love each other despite being polar opposites...

 

Also, there was a Groening/Family Guy feud?  Expound, please.

 

Basically Futurama and Family Guy debuted at the same time but Fox only wanted to put one of them on their Sunday Night Line-Up (which is the golden goose night on Fox's schedule). The story goes that Groening gangpressed Fox into booting Family Guy off of the Sunday Night Line-Up so that Futurama would get the crucial Sunday timeslot and used his pull to keep Fox from putting it back onto the Sunday night line-up....

 

Of course this bit of backstabbing eventually came back and bit Groening in the ass, as Fox ultimately moved Futurama to the 7PM-8PM timeslot of doom and resulted in the show being pre-empted like crazy...

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I still don't think he was jerking off about Futurama. He seemed to be making fun of himself over it.

I don't agree with Dam too often but this is exactly what I thought. The fact that Groening was practically begging everyone around him to let him give them his autograph among other things seemed to be a shot at himself. Not some weak subliminal promotion for Futurama.

 

I must be the lone person in the world that loves Futurama.

 

I guess I'm back to disagreeing with him. I can't stand Futurama. It's an okay show, but the way people slob all over its knob, the show suddenly drops a few (hundred) notches in my book.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I still don't think he was jerking off about Futurama. He seemed to be making fun of himself over it.

I must be the lone person in the world that loves Futurama.

Nope, I love it. It is actually better than Family Guy, and better than the Simpsons have been in 5 or 6 years. FOX screwed it over with the 7PM timeslot. It wasn't the quality that was the problem.

 

I guess I'm back to disagreeing with him. I can't stand Futurama. It's an okay show, but the way people slob all over its knob, the show suddenly drops a few (hundred) notches in my book.

 

You must really hate Family Guy then because no show gets as much praise around here than it. Compared to the amount of love it gets, Futurama's is pretty much non-existant.

[the max 0]

I can't stand Futurama. It's an okay show, but the way people slob all over its knob, the show suddenly drops a few (hundred) notches in my book.

Gotcha. So because other people like it, you have to be "cool" and hate on it because it's popular.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

You must really hate Family Guy then because no show gets as much praise around here than it. Compared to the amount of love it gets, Futurama's is pretty much non-existant.

 

Nah, I don't hate Family Guy, but I think most of the praise it gets is well-deserved. Whereas the praise that Futurama gets isn't. That's my opinion, simple as that. I gave the show a shot and thought it was okay but it was never the "next Simpsons" like so many wish to believe. I think the fact that in almost every Simpsons thread, at least one person saying how Fox needs to bring back Futurama is a pretty good sign that the show definitely gets a good amount of love from this place.

 

Gotcha. So because other people like it, you have to be "cool" and hate on it because it's popular. 

 

No, but people giving mad props to a show that I on a personal level found to be average at best doesn't exactly make it any more endearing to me. On the contrary, actually. I don't try and go against the trends, but when people obsess over something that honestly isn't that good, it tends to appear even more flawed than it already is.

[Nighthawk 0]

I gave the show a shot and thought it was okay but it was never the "next Simpsons" like so many wish to believe.

That's the problem. It's only natural to compare the shows, hell I've done it myself. But calling anything the new, or the next something is bad. I was prejudiced against Malcolm in the Middle because it was called a live action Simpsons. Just let it stand on it's own.

The Simpsons was not the new Life in Hell, after all.

[Guest Redhawk]

How else was Matt Groening going to introduce himself, though? He can't say, "The creator of The Simpsons," because the Simpsons TV show wouldn't exist in Springfield. And not many people who watch The Simpsons know about "Life is Hell."

[Tawren 0]

That was not Matt Groening making fun of himself. You want to see that, watch the 131st Episode Special where this takes place:

 

Troy McClure, reading a question: How do you manage to make brand new episodes every week? For the answer, we went straight to creator Matt Groening!

*cuts to Groening as an old man with an eyepatch, grabbing his shotgun*

Groening: Get outta my office!

[Bruiser Chong 0]

So what you're saying is they should've used the same gag in this episode that they used that one? Just because they didn't follow the same formula doesn't mean he wasn't poking fun at himself. If you people think he's taking himself seriously in Sunday night's episode, you have some problems because I thought it was quite clear that he was doing anything but that.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

So what you're saying is they should've used the same gag in this episode that they used that one? Just because they didn't follow the same formula doesn't mean he wasn't poking fun at himself. If you people think he's taking himself seriously in Sunday night's episode, you have some problems because I thought it was quite clear that he was doing anything but that.

Yeah, it was obvious that it was joke. On Futurama, the Simpsons is a TV show. On the Simpsons, Futurama is a TV show.

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Tonight's episode (yeah, this is for last week's ep, but I hate making new threads) was OK until that bizarre dream Homer had. Was that some sort of Catch Me if You Can reference? I also didn't like Marge's character now hating her children.

 

And hooray for another Futurama refernece with the poster in the video store! We can't be too far off from Professor Frink building a Bending Unit for the Simpsons Family and / or the Planet Express crew time travelling to Springfield and / or The Simpsons getting cryogenically frozen and living in New NEw York for 1/2 a season until it's revealed it's all a dream!

[DMann2003 0]

^^^^Yes, it was a lift of the credits for "Catch Me If You Can", complete with John Williams jazzy score. I loved it.

[Nighthawk 0]

There wasn't really a joke, it was just the exact same concept. Pretty pointless. This was the first episode I've watched in a while, by the way. It was ok.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Tonights episode was pretty funny actually, one of the better episodes this season.

[Downhome 0]

I missed tonights episode, but I'm downloading it right now.

 

I still don't care what anyone says. Once these later seasons of The Simpsons come out on DVD, I'll be buying them also just like I have the first four seasons.

 

Of course, it'll be quite a while untill we see that.

[Guest messiah2004]

I caught tonight's episode and I found it moderately entertaining.

 

Perhaps they just stop being creative and spoof movies for the remainder of the contract.

 

I urge for a Simpsonized "FIGHT CLUB" spoof