I usually keep my mouth shut but man was that underwhelming. I knew when i read the description it was going to be rough going. But the really poorly done 8 Mile parody just hit way too flat.
The rest of it was very poorly done too. (I know there will be about 15 posts soon saying "it’s been poorly done for the last X years… so i’ll put in this obligatory reference to hopefully stem that).
I have been against most of the nay sayers, in that in the last year ot two i can find at least a few gems in an episode to make me laugh and convince myself i’m not wasting my time but damn. I think i laughed more at American Dad’s premier than I did at this.
In fact I think I laughed more at my last dental cleaning.
It was a definite improvement over the previous episode. The CSI: Springfield bit was clever, as was Milhouse playing frisbee. I also liked Wiggin suddently becoming competent (“I should have read those clippings before.”).
I actually liked this episode quite a bit. The premise was a bit old (especially Marge and Homer rapping), but, all in all I thought it was quite funny. Some that made me laugh:
Wiggim: In jail, you will be in a tiny and dirty cell. Well, not as tiny and dirty as this apartment but you get the idea.
Homer: Follow Instructions? He’s doomed.
The previously mentioned finger comment.
50 cent giving a more you know comment and wondering if it counted as community service.
And, as an owner of a Veggie Tales DVD, I absolutely cracked up at the “Salad of the Christ”
Those bits were good, but the storyline felt so dated. In part because I failed to pick up on the 8 Mile reference (I haven’t seen it), but even so. The stereotypes bugged me, too. I liked the Wiggum storyline, so when that started the ep got better before it just kinda stopped.
I loved the following sight gag:
“So that proves Bart was at the concert!”
“Not exactly. We need the time.”
[FF to a Flava Flav-lookalike wearing a clock]
“And the date…”
[FF to a guy wearing a necklace that says “Thursday the 20th.”]
This episode was tough for me, mostly because not only have I not seen 8 Mile, but because I hate rap in general. You know the scene where Homer & Marge start rapping and Bart covers his ears and screams (just like he and Lisa did in the Mr. Plow epsiode)? I reacted the same way during Bart’s big scene at the concert. Rapping makes you sound like a 10 year old re-tard. I was this close to FF my TiVo if that bit had gone on a second longer!
But, I did like the way the episode sort of pointed this out, that rapping is incredibly pretentious because, in the end, its incredibly silly.
I also liked Milhouse’s dad being such a loser that being a criminal was the only way he could get chicks. I liked them watching the tape and, after seeing the guy wearing the big clock, seeing the guy wearing the big gold ‘date’. I liked Lisa pointing out how long its been since rappers stopped saying illin’ or keepin’ it real. Plus her early comment, “Oh great, just what we need, another lame suburban white kid who thinks its cool to like rap”.
In the end it was just ok. Not bad, but too gimicky as usual.
Actually, she didn’t say “white”. Just “suburban”. I was curious if they’d say white, because he is, after all, yellow, so I was paying close attention.
This was the first time I have not laughed once during a Simpsons episode. I am begining to reconsider my Sunday night schedual since there has to be something fascinating on the ‘Paint Drying Network’ (check your cable guides).
