# Simpsons 4/19: "The Good, The Sad, and the Drugly"

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 20, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673 "2009-04-20T00:43:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/1 "2009-04-20T00:43:31Z")

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LABF07 Written by Marc Wilmore

It might be because there have been a couple of episodes with Bart having a girlfriend, but this one didn’t really “catch on” with me. There were some amusing bits here and there- I liked Homer thinking his reflection was another person. For some reason, the subplot (even though it was slight) with drugged-up Lisa was more amusing. I like the fact that, in typical style, the show takes the whole obligatory “Fox Earth Day Week” thing they had to shoehorn in and basically says, “Yes, the earth _is_ going to pot. You should just ignore it, though.”

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### Author: ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/2 "2009-04-20T01:56:43Z")

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I loved the joke about Milhouse missing Taco Wednesday due to his suspension. I make sure to let my coworkers know when it’s taco day in the cafeteria at work, so obviously this would be a harsh punishment for me as well. I even started a thread about taco day a few months back.

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### Author: ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/3 "2009-04-20T02:10:09Z")

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For some reason it really ammused me when Barney vomited 🙂 🙂 🙂

Not so much after that.

Brian

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### Author: ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/4 "2009-04-20T02:14:16Z")

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> [@N9IWP](#):
>
> For some reason it really ammused me when Barney vomited 🙂 🙂 🙂

That was pretty amusing, along with Chief Wiggum getting shot and bleeding happy faces.

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### Author: ![aerodave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f08c70/32.png) [@aerodave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aerodave)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/5 "2009-04-20T02:15:21Z")

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How were there three Zs next to Willy after the letters fell on his head? I get that they were made of Ns, but there are only 2 of those in “Springfield Elementary”.

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### Author: ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/6 "2009-04-20T02:15:39Z")

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I thought it a little odd to depict Bart and Millhouse attacking their school on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Columbine. It was obviously unintentional but it was a bit unsettling; I had just switched over from a Columbine retrospective to _The Simpsons_ to find two kids wreaking havoc on their school…

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### Author: ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/7 "2009-04-20T02:17:46Z")

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> [@aerodave](#):
>
> How were there three Zs next to Willy after the letters fell on his head? I get that they were made of Ns, but there are only 2 of those in “Springfield Elementary”.

A small piece of the “M” fell off before the rest of the letter did. One of the Zs looks a lot like an M with a piece missing.

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### Author: ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/8 "2009-04-20T08:20:29Z")

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> [@Stephe96](#):
>
> I thought it a little odd to depict Bart and Millhouse attacking their school on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Columbine. It was obviously unintentional but it was a bit unsettling; I had just switched over from a Columbine retrospective to _The Simpsons_ to find two kids wreaking havoc on their school…

I nominate this for Rolley-Eyes Comment of the Week. Here’s one rolley for you: :rolleyes:  
Homer bashing the table with his head because he had food in each hand had be giggling hysterically for several minutes. I should have seen it coming though.

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### Author: ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/9 "2009-04-20T09:48:54Z")

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I liked Willie with his floor buffer in the closing scene when Bart and Milhouse turned the school into an ice rink. I also liked how Apu saw a chance to make a quick ten bucks by selling Bart Lenny’s flowers.

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### Author: ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/10 "2009-04-20T10:28:21Z")

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The best bit in the show was one of the speculative future doom headlines: “Last Polar Bear Hangs Himself in Prison”.

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### Author: ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/11 "2009-04-20T13:18:50Z")

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> [@friedo](#):
>
> Homer bashing the table with his head because he had food in each hand had be giggling hysterically for several minutes. I should have seen it coming though.

That was a great moment. It’s the things you should have seen coming, but didn’t, that are the funniest.

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### Author: ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/12 "2009-04-20T13:33:41Z")

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Good episode. Thinking about it, they probably could have flipped the two stories and made Lisa’s the “main” one, but it was pretty funny how it played out.

The smiley faces everywhere was pretty funny.

It was obvious to me that Bart was going to apologize to Milhouse at the end with the flowers, but Nelson prompting Bart to punch him made it work.

Milhouse got some funny stuff to do in the beginning, in certain situations he’s one of the funniest characters on the show (“The 'House always wins.”).

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### Author: ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/13 "2009-04-20T18:22:21Z")

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I also liked how Lisa was about to kiss the fan, hallucinating it as a big smiley face. Then when Marge threw the pills in the trash, Santa’s Little Helper got into them and reenacted the fan kissing scene with Maggie.

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### Author: ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/14 "2009-04-20T19:02:31Z")

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Nelson signing “haw haw” during the Suspended Boy Walking part was pretty funny too.

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### Author: ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/15 "2009-04-20T23:04:36Z")

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Me too with the Homer face-plant into the gravy! 🙂

In the opening, I totally laughed when I thought that one of the (Lisa?) Simpsons monkey was flinging poo at the \*real \*Simpsons, but upon rewind, I saw that they had drawn small rocks into the scene.

The whole episode was generally unfunny for me, but I have to admit I did laugh at some points (Nelson giving Bart two sticks of gum because “you might get lucky”). The smiley face thing was overworked, IMO. :):):):):):):). Please.

…but then again, I was on my current medication, fukitol. 😃

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### Author: ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)
#### Post date: [April 20, 2009, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/16 "2009-04-20T23:13:00Z")

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> [@BlueOhio](#):
>
> Nelson signing “haw haw” during the Suspended Boy Walking part was pretty funny too.

Was that a reference to something? It looked like a reference to something, but I have no idea what.

Also, IMO, this was an episode with two B plots, which would have both been way more amusing if paired with real A plots. Putting them together (and dragging out the Bart gets a girlfriend and ditches Milhouse _again_ plot to the length of an A plot) was not a wise choice. Amusing episode, all told, but not as good as it should have been.

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### Author: ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/17 "2009-04-21T16:55:51Z")

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Let’s see Bart having a girlfriend, done before

Simpsons making fun of putting kids on drugs, done before

What bugs me most is they categorize antidepressents as “Happy Pills” and they are not. They don’t have that effect on you. Antidepressents aren’t “uppers”

The side gags were funny but the plot lines just recycled again.

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### Author: ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/18 "2009-04-21T19:53:02Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> What bugs me most is they categorize antidepressents as “Happy Pills” and they are not. They don’t have that effect on you. Antidepressents aren’t “uppers”

I didn’t think what they gave Lisa were antidepressants—more like anti-anxiety meds or something like that.

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### Author: ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [April 21, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/19 "2009-04-21T22:54:40Z")

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> [@mobo85](#):
>
> That was pretty amusing, along with Chief Wiggum getting shot and bleeding happy faces.

That right there turned it from a pretty good episode to a really good episode, for me.

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)🙂

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### Author: ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-4-19-the-good-the-sad-and-the-drugly/493673/20 "2009-04-22T01:48:47Z")

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> [@Markxxx](#):
>
> What bugs me most is they categorize antidepressents as “Happy Pills” and they are not. They don’t have that effect on you. Antidepressents aren’t “uppers”

You know, I think depressed comedy writers probably know this. 😉

> [@mobo85](#):
>
> It might be because there have been a couple of episodes with Bart having a girlfriend, but this one didn’t really “catch on” with me.

Despite that, this episode remininde me more of “Bart’s Friend Falls in Love” than the one with Jessica (where Bart also pretends to be good). I liked the plot and I thought the two halves of the story were both strong. I always enjoy it when Bart’s a master prankster.

To my surprise, nobody mentioned my two favorite jokes:

“You mean our whole relationship was built on lie?”  
“Not the whole thing. Just everything _I_ said.”

And of course, “Girls come and girls go. But you’ll always have your family.”  
Bart cries harder. Then Homer breaks down and cries too. My family never gave me that speech, and there’s a good reason why. 😛

I liked Nelson in this episode - the gum, the tussling Bart’s hair, all that little stuff.

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