I’m going to go out on a limb here and think that maybe everyone hasn’t seen the White Stripes “Hardest Button to Button” video, so that whole scene with the drum chase would have been lost on most viewers. As it was that whole bit went on waaaay too long.
I did like the scene with everyone getting the paddleball stuck in their throats.
I had seen the video and recognized it immediately, but my roommates (who don’t like the White Stripes anyway and hadn’t seen the video) were confused at first, and then annoyed that it went on so long. I heard the White Stripes first recorded their vocal parts a couple years back, when that song and video were a lot fresher and newer.
This would make sense, along with last week’s Metallica bit, since neither of those bands are currently doing much of anything. Maybe next week they’ll have some Spice Girls or some other canned pointless guest stars.
When they ran down the roster of jazz musicians with absurd “colorful” nicknames, I was laughing out loud. The White Stripes bit was pretty good, too.
Otherwise the episode left me cold.
What a steaming pile of dog shit this was. More pointless celebrity cameos, telegraphed jokes (Lisa sitting in) that would embarass a UPN comedy, stupid plots, and on and on…pathetic. And I think I am finally about to take the advice of those who will be along shortly to say ‘if you don’t like it, don’t watch’.
I thought the paddleball thing was funny, too.
For what it’s worth, I wasn’t familiar with the White Stripes video, but I’m at least savvy enough so that I realized, “oh, this must be spoofing some video.”
Then the White Stripes showed up, so. . .
Overall a weak episode (as most Lisa episodes are). For some reason, I did find Homer’s “white noise machine” hilarious with him screaming at Marge over the relaxing “waves crashing” and “circus fire” sounds.
A few other amusing moments:
-Yeah…uh…we’re not smoking reefer either.
-AHH!! My arm hurts where the tiger is biting it!
I hadn’t even heard of that band.
That vid is on YouTube, FYI.
I didn’t like the main plot, and I really didn’t like the animal rescue plot, but some of the asides were very good like Snake on the ostrich and the jazz names.
I did really like the funeral bit at the start. How Vegas Mom died, the split between the Springfield people and the Vegas people, and (the best bit of the night) the blue man group member spitting out more paddleballs and turning flesh colored.
That seems to be the norm anymore. Like Family guy, the two second joke is funnier than the big story.
I dunno why, but I got a chuckle when they opened Bart’s bedroom door and he was sleeping and still playing the drums.
Glad to hear I didn’t miss much. I was watching the Buffy series premiere instead, made me remember that I really need to buy the series on DVD.
And here it is.
I actually liked that episode. There were some good sight gags (especially the reason why the Blue Man Group really has blue faces), and it didn’t seem that strange to me that Bart could become a juzz- er, jazz musician. And I thought Lisa and her group of dejected animals was very funny. And the list of jazz musician names is up there with their list of country performers and rappers. And even if I hadn’t read here that the drum sequence was a parody of a music video, I would have enjoyed it- it’s clever, funny, and the White Stripes’s cameo is thankfully short.
“You know that sign that says don’t stand up on the rollercoaster? She OD’d in front of that.”
“You were Homer’s wife for a two-day flirt. Your name was Amber, just like the Alert.”
The joint is:
-Jumpin’
-Disappointin’
-Closed for inventory
“I used to be a great drummer, and now I’m nobody- just like Phil Collins.”
“Hey, hey. We got more jazz superstars on the way, folks: Gooey Martin, Willie Mims, Drop-Jaws Turner, Sketch Friendly, Tootsie Childs, Sammy Biltmore, No-Talent Jones, Anwar Benitez, Bossy Marmalade, Bad Check Mazursky, Ray Ray Takamura, Shaky Premise, Bootsy Crouton, Richard Sakai*, The Premarital Sextet, C.S.I. Miami, D.W. Jitters, The Chubb Group, Cantelope St. Pierre and many, many more funny names.”
[sub]*Is a Simpsons writer, and I believe the picture is a caricature of him. The man wearing a hat Bart passes on the street is a caricature of a writer too, although I forget who- I want to say David Silverman, but I may be wrong.[/sub]
According to Wikipedia, this season will have seven holdovers from season 17 (and, of course, a laundry list of celebrity cameos).
Thank you for posting the list of jazz musician names. It might just be because I’m a huge jazz fan, but I thought it was one of the funniest things I’ve seen on The Simpsons in years.
Also, the Jazzy Goodtimes restaurant/club was a pretty direct parody of the House of Blues chain, right down to the outer facade, decor, and font on the sign.
Lots of great lines; I was particuarly fond of “The Premarital Sextet” (along with the rest of the jazz names).
I got the White Stripes bit because I recognized the song, but I hadn’t seen the video; who watches videos anymore? (Especially pre-YouTube.) I like the fact that they put in bits and references that they can’t expect everyone to get.
I also like the throwbacks to previous episodes, like Homer’s Vegas Wife’s funeral.
The plot, on the other hand, seemed to come straight from a Random Simpsons Plot Generator.
That explains why they started the season so early this year. I don’t know how they did so many episodes while also working on the movie, though. And I’m very psyched about the finale (if that’s what it is), but I won’t spoil it for people who’d rather not know.
My only laugh of the night was when Bart referred to her as “Malt Liquor Mom”.
I don’t think it’s the season finale, but I do know it will air in January on the same night a popular Fox series returns. (And if you know what the episode is about, you can guess what series that is. Got it, Jack?)
I thought it was Chuck Mangione.
Decent episode overall. It’s just hard to watch with the devil sitting on my shoulder screaming “They’re dumbing it down!”
Then I look at the angel on my other shoulder who says “No, he’s right. They’ve been reduced to imitating Family Guy 'cause it’s more popular with the kids what use the Myspace and the text messaging.”