So has the Simpsons turned it around? I thought last night’s episode was pretty funny. I want to say it was on par with some of the better years, but that could be because I was subjected to the crap that ran the past couple years.
There were plenty of good lines, the best one I can remember was after Lisa’s makeover, Marge says, “Lisa, you look so successful … like the wife of a businessman.” HI-larious!
I didn’t like the disclaimer at the end, I knew that it was a parody of Evita so unless they really had to do that for legal reasons, they should have left it out.
That disclaimer was a hoot. There was no legal reason for it – it was a parody and didn’t use any music from Evita – but it was a great joke, saying, in effect, “we’re parodying Evita, if you didn’t notice.”
They didn’t use any music from Evita? WHAT? Excuse me, but as the resident Doper in charge of all things Andrew Lloyd Webber, I must challenge that statement!
I found the first song parody “Don’t Vote For Me Kids of Springfield” to be okay, but they obviously had to use the most famous song from the show. The second parody of “Rainbow High” was wonderful. Most people don’t even know the song, and the writers did a great job (Oshkosh Begosh Me…Olsen Twin me). Lisa made a great Eva Peron lookalike.
I thought the disclaim was a great ending: ON THE ADVICE OF OUR LAWYERS, WE HEREBY STATE WE ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY MUSICAL BASED ON THE LIFE OF EVA PERSON.
It was OK. The problem for the last few seasons is that all of the characters have stopped being realistic characters and have become caricatures of themselves.
Marge has devolved into a Stepford wife, afraid of the outside world. Homer has become a souless jerk, without any empathy or sympathy. He used to screw up and then feel bad about it because he loved and cared for his family, now he’s just an idiotic jerk.
They can still write good lines, but the show has no heart anymore.
I’ve never complained about The Simpsons before, because even at its worst it’s better than most of what’s on TV. But last night was just unwatchable. An Evita parody? That’s cutting-edge. Which would have been forgivable had there been even one mildly amusing moment . . . I am trusting that was just an aberation.
I thought it was great! “Unwatchable”? Not at all. The lyrics were witty enough that even someone unfamiliar with the source material, like me, laughed out loud several times. It was certainly much better than the rerun from last season that came after it. The writers had it going on, and Yeardly’s vocal performance was fantastic. I’m looking forward to the rest of the season now.
I thought it was awful and at times painfully unfunny (the hearing test joke was just heinous and predictable). I don’t like Lisa-themed episodes at all, and while I usually love all Simpsons musical episodes this one fell very flat to me.
I got the feeling it was a matter of Yeardley Smith saying, “I never get anything to do but whine, and I’ve been taking all these voice lessons, and unless you give me an episode where I sing, I’m gonna walk!” And the producers said, “Oh, crap, let’s just throw together something for her. It’s gonna suck anyway, so don’t bother wasting any jokes on it.”
True, and they changed the tune; it sounded like “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina,” but was just slightly different. It was not just the song with new lyrics; it was a slightly different song with new lyrics, one that sounded like the original but was not.
The episode after is a crappy one too. (It starts out really promising, but then really falls apart and becomes downright incomprehensible at the end.) They sure are re-running it a lot, aren’t they?
Lisa episodes are always tough, people tend to love or hate them- as you can see from the comments above.
For me, not so much on the loving it side. Still, there were a few good moments, but the songs were not doing for me.
Willy and Homer had the best jokes tonight. Seeing a strangely effective Skinner and the machinations of the Teacher’s Lounge were pretty funny and I wish they had dwelled upon that more.
I’m also in the “none too funny” crowd. Cute, maybe, but I’m guessing a large chunk of us may not have even seen the Evita musical. I’m vaguely aware of the plot, and felt rather left out of this episode.
Although I did like the random insertion of “Milhouse” into the song where they were dressing up Lisa.
Oh yeah, Michael Moore was supposed to be on this one too, wasn’t he? Glad I turned it off before that point or there’d be a shoe-sized hole in my screen.
I think its kind of funny how Superintendent Chalmers always yells Skinner’s name. He used to do it for good reason (something goes terribly wrong at school as usual, Chalmers shows up and blows a fuse at Skinner) but now he just does it no matter what he is going to say next.
Well, they’re not exact. They’re parodies very close to the originals. Kind of like what they did to the wonderful Sherman brothers in the Sharry Bobbins episode.
Max Carnage, Moore wasn’t bad. They actually parodied him and his one-sided thoughts.
(paraphrase)
Kent Brockman: “…even local buttinski Michael Moore.”
Moore: “Did you know that 10% of uneducated children are likely to grow up unemployed and end up in one of my movies?”
Brockman: “And your source for that is…?”
Moore: “Your mother.”
Homer: “You’ll become famous, like the people on these postage stamps! There’s Bugs Bunny, Fat Elvis, Autumn in New England, Bats of the Southwest…great heroes all. Hey, wanna see Elvis kiss a bat?”
Nelson (after Don’t Vote For Me, Kids of Springfield): “I have a song, too! (To the tune of Iron Man I am Iron Man! Do-do-do-do-do-do-do vote for me!”
Something about Lisa invoking the mayor’s name
Wiggum: “The same mayor who wouldn’t let me eat at the Olive Garden?”
Lou: “You sure he wasn’t at a different Olive Garden than you were?”
Wiggum: “Whatever. I can’t take that snake out of his mailbox now.”
Lou: “Yes you can.”
Wiggum: “I got a question for you: Shut up!”
Kent: “We asked Bart Simpson for his thoughts on his sister.”
Bart: “Lisa is a nut. She has a rubber butt. Everytime she turns around it goes putt-putt.”
Kent: “Yes, that butt won’t be turning around much anymore.”