LABF02 Written by Michael Price
Entertaining episode- reminded me a lot of a classic episode. Unusual in that it had three subplots, but all of them were pretty entertaining. It was interesting to see Skinner interact with the kids outside of the school.
I thought it was a pretty good episode. I’m surprised Lisa didn’t say “Ooh, my nose!” when she got hit by the football in the Brady Bunch opening sequence.
It was nice of Fox to delay the show for 40 minutes so they could show a bunch of hillbillies driving in circles.:rolleyes:
I wish the Simpsons moved to another network instead of being stuck in that suck shack.
How long has that new opening sequence been around? This is the first time I’ve noticed it.
Last week was the first for the new opening, in conjunction with the episode being the first Simpsons episode broadcast in HD. You can see the opening with the couch gag from last week here:
http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/sundays_simpsons_goes_hd_updat.php
This is the second episode where it was used. Second straight time with a very strong couch gag, too - and it looks like they’ll use a new billboard and maybe a new remark for Ralph each week.
The NASCAR delay was frustrating, but I liked the episode a lot. It reminded me of Separate Vocations, which is a great one - this wasn’t at that level but was very solid.
I was a bit surprised to see the Family Guy-style joke after Homer mentioned how often he gets injured: the cut-away montage of Homer getting hurt over and over. Now clearly The Simpsons was doing jokes like this long before Family Guy was conceived, but considering the relative rarity of the cut-away joke on The Simpsons, I wonder if the insertion of the joke wasn’t in some way influenced by the style’s current popularity.
They went away from cutaways somewhat after Family Guy made an entire TV series out of them, but gradually you’ve started to see more of them on the Simpsons in recent years. Describing it as a Family Guy-style joke when the Simpsons was doing it almost 20 years ago is a little… off. 
I tuned in just as the Homer-injury montage was playing and was afraid it was going to be a clip show, but it was okay. Lisa freezing up was somewhat uncharacterstic, I thought, and hiding the problem students has been done before, as when Skinner tricked Bart, Dolph, Kearney, Jimbo and Nelson into the basement with the promise of dirt bikes.
Marge in a lesbian embrace with Lyndsey Nagel? Schwing!
:smack: D’oh! Actually yeah, this was the second week for it. The first one was 2 weeks ago, on 2/15, and it was pre-empted last week.
Exactly what I was going to say.
Fortunately it’s been a long time since they did a clip show, probably five years. I was surprised they threw in at least one Halloween show moment in there, with the Homer clones falling into the chasm from “Send in the Clones” (Treehouse XIII), but I wrote it off as something Homer imagined.
Ever since *The Simpsons *began, I’ve been waiting for a couch gag where Homer trips over the ottoman ala The Dick Van Dyke Show, and it finally happened! Woo Hoo!
And did anyone else note that they took one show from the fifties, sixties, seventies and eighties? Do you think they took their favorites or what the felt was the quintessential series of the decade?
A little of both. The Cheers reference worked because of Sideshow Bob’s (Kelsey Grammer) presence on both shows – otherwise I would have said the Cosby Show or Family Ties would have been more quintessential.
Of course if they want to do a homage to classic sitcoms every week, it would be YEARS before they run out of material.
I thought Side Show Bob walking into Cheers was classic. I had to explain it to the kids.
Best episode in a while.
I missed half of it because ot the already mentioned hillbillies driving around in circles. If Fox insists on showing NASCAR, can they at least start early in the afternoon so they can get it over with and stay away from prime time.
I also caught Sideshow Bob walking into “Cheers” and came to post that.
I also liked: “Now leaving Springfield, the Armpit of America’s Butt-Crack”
“Lisa. Like Captain Kirk, I’m forbidden to interfere. But like T. J. Hooker, I’m also going to speak my mind.”
And
Skinner: I was once a boy, and like all boys…
Nelson: You like all boys? HA! HA!
Skinner: SHUT UP!
As a nascar nut who was already watching the race, even I was hoping it would just end already. My wife and daughter were in the room, and with about 50 laps remaining, I told them that the Simpson’s would start on time…if there were no more cautions! I’ve been getting away from watchin the race so religiously, as it occupies an entire Sunday. In fact, this is the first race I’ve watched this year. I told my family that, at worst, The Simpson’s would start late, but not be pre-empted. I’ll bet that The Simpson’s brings Fox as many viewers as nascar does. Sorry about the delay, it was my fault.
Also when they tricked Homer and the other dummies into “Guarding the bee” in the jar at the Power Plant.
Cripes…I saw there was nascar on before before the show, so I thought I’d be clever and record an extra half hour. TFB for me, since that still only got me half the episode.
Hey cable companies – get your shit together with respect to DVR. If I say I want to record The Simpsons, then record The Simpsons, not whatever you’re showing that’s causing the delay.
Us NASCAR nuts would also appreciate races starting much earlier. Last weeks in California didn’t start until nearly prime time to start with. Too late for a Sunday race IMO.
This is, however, no different than other networks bumping programing back for any other sport that runs long. Many a time, I’ve been forced to miss shows due to football, baseball, basketball, etc. It sucks, but it is what it is.
Blame FOX for the late start times though, not NASCAR. FOX wants the later time to lead viewers into prime time, and increase ratings. There used to be a day that all races started in the early afternoon, unless they were on a Saturday night.
The show, however, was pretty good. I like the new beginning, with the changing billboard as they zoom into the school for the chalkboard bit. I very much like the longer couch gags.
I loved the “finger in the dyke” scene with Monty Burns on their front lawn. I wonder what on earth he was doing there in the first place.