Well, it would have been interesting if it continued from there, but it pretty much went downhill–not that I didn’t like the episode, though.
That’s just how the Simpsons work I guess, and one of the reasons I love it: start with something completely off-the-wall for the first five minutes to create a plot for the rest of the show. However, the two usually mesh well, and yesterday’s didn’t.
Of the “comedies” that are offered, the Simpsons still make me laugh the most, and that’s what matters. Futurama is also hilarious, but IMHO, the Simpsons is still better.
I had no problem with the cut-wrist thing, just Homer teaching us not to be like Fonzie. The only thing from the show that has disgusted me is the episode where Homer gets laser-eye surgery, doesn’t take the drops, and his eyes crust over with that eye crap.
Homer slashing his hand on the jukebox was just disgusting. Of course, I couldn’t stand to watch the episode earlier this year where Marge cuts off Homer’s thumb. I remember being horrified when Kirk VanHouten had his arm cut off by a piano wire. At least it was reattached by the end of the episode.
And the hole digging thing… They are deliberately coming up with ways to make the first act of the show totally irrelevant. This time, it was some kind of “po-mo” commentary on the whole phenomenon? “Why are you digging that hole, Bart?” Why, indeed. (If nothing else, it gave Bart a couple of lines – while he was basically absent from the rest of the show.)
The trouble is, The Simpsons is not South Park. It is satirical, not “po-mo.” It mocks cartoon violence; it doesn’t mangle its main characters.
I don’t want to spend time with Jerkass Homer if he’s running an illegal bar (or hunting club) in his garage using forced child labor.
I was hoping that REM or Homer or even Moe would have fallen into a mysterious hole at the end of the episode while Bart walked away going “heh heh heh.” Now that would have been a slam dunk.
Instead, I was saying to my TV “Why was he digging a hole?!” Then I concluded that it was a parody of something I didn’t understand, that way I could get sleep last night without worrying about that hole.
Homer cutting himself was funny, but sloshing around a hose of blood was a bit on the wa-a-ay too excessive side. I also hate the episode when Homer got his thumb cut off. Marge’s brownie knife must have been extremely sharp and those brownies must have been rock-hard. In any case, I don’t like to see disfiguration happening to my most beloved fictitious characters. Save the gore for Halloween, then pour it on.
Not a huge fan of the last 2 seasons, though I wasn’t a huge fan of basically every season after '96 while they were brand new. Now some of my favorite episodes are well after '96.
But if there was anything that made this most recent episode worth it for me:
Homer: Once I become passionate about something I always see it to the end.
robot: help me dad, I need legs, please give me legs (paraphrased).
WhoooHaaa that had me rolling around uncontrollably for a bit.
I must not have watched the Simpsons last season, or at least not paid enough attention. I don’t recognize a lot of the short descriptions here. Anyways, I think the show has lost something. I always enjoy the repeats far more than the newer episodes, even though every episode has at least a couple great lines. The blood thing doesn’t bother me too much, I just hope it doesn’t become a regular “joke”.
That could have easily been the high point of the show. Really a missed opportunity.
Yeah but itchy and scratchy is a cartoon in the cartoon, so it’s even more wacky. And Homer isn’t against Elmer, it’s Homer vs. a juke box.
Ok, so it’s a cartoon and messed up, but it’s not THAT type of cartoon.
People say you wont like it the first time you see it, and you will always think a show that’s been on for 11 years… I don’t agree, I never thought that way up until last season and you would think I would start thinking the show’s gone south a while ago. 9 years is a long time to be devoted to a show. But THIS show got better with age… until last season. It’s not the same show at all… I know a lot of people who feel that way.
My favorite part was when Michael Stipe, after being restrained by his bandmates from slashing Homer with the broken bottle, calmly says, “Let’s recycle these shards and get out of here.”
I thought the episode was okay. It wasn’t very cohesive, though, kind of like a rambling pointless story that keeps going from place to place at random. Hmm…
When it comes to The Simpsons, the golden age was definitely seasons 3-8. Season 9 was still pretty funny, but Season 10 marks the jumping of the shark.
The Simpsons is still reasonably amusing, but it is nowhere nearly as brilliant as it once was. IMHO, either Futurama shouldn’t have happened, or The Simpsons should have been killed off before Futurama was made. Both of these shows are proof that even legendary talent can spread itself too thinly at times.
I really hope that if there is even any minor chance of Family Guy jumping the shark, that the creators of FG pull the plug when it is still its brilliant best instead of milking it to an undignified death Simpsons-style. For now, I think that FG has taken the crown from The Simpsons as being the best animated show on TV.
I thought this up, it’s a great quote, and people tend to approve when I say it:
“Simpsons used to be a case of, ‘This blade is your foibles and you’ll bleed by my hand’ now it’s a case of, ‘This blade is kind of blunt and heavy so I’ll just bludgeon you with it’.”
Personally, some of the episodes have been dissapointing, but i think some of the absurdities are amusing. just having stuff that makes no sense in the middle of the episode makes me laugh, for the sole reason that it has nothing to do with the show.
It had me wondering if it was a continuity reference. We know Homer has attempted to build a robot. Marge mentions it in the “Itchy & Scratchy Land” show. Marge: “See all that stuff in there, Homer? That’s why your robot never worked.” But… the legless robot worked. Except for the legs.
That classic episode provides an opportunity to contrast the new & old styles of First Acts. It and many others begin with an “I & S” cartoon. This is, of course, unrelated to the plot, but provides a hook to get into the show. Other classic episodes began with some wacky adventure that ended up somewhere else. “Brush With Greatness” is an example – Krusty’s “Mount Splashmore” pitch leads to Homer getting stuck in the waterslide and going on a diet. While looking for gym equipment in the attic, he discovers Marge’s old paintings, which revives her interest in art, and bing-bang-boom, she paints Mr. Burns naked.
They still do this – for example, the area-code switch that leads to a special concert by The Who. But too often we get deliberately pointless hole-digging stories. There was a recent episode (don’t remember which) where Act One concludes with the characters saying, That was pointless.
Here’s a typical Simpsons episode from the last 3 years or so:
Act One: As TheeGrumpy says, the little unrelated incident that used to open each show has ballooned to swallow all of act one. The writers also now call attention to it by shoving it in the audience’s face. “See, the first part of the show is totally unconnected to the rest of the show? Get it? Get it? Hilarious, huh? huh? huh?”
Act Two is generally an idea for a story, but it’s never developed because we have to show more scenes of bloodshed and Homer chloroforming Marge.
Act Three: Act three is now totally consumed by a mindless chase, random acts of violence by sociopath Homer, or scenes set in wacky locations such as Rhode Island and Africa.
So story has been tossed out the window, and the show has turned into a series of unrelated gags a la Family Guy. Which wouldn’t be so bad (the robot bit was funny), if the show hadn’t once boasted funny gags and tightly written scripts as well.
