Since there’s some debate as to whether or not The Simpsons have jumped the shark, I’m curious as to what Dopers think is the worst episode?
I think the jury’s out on the worst total episode. IMHO, however, I think that the Simpsons Variety Hour third of an episode was the absolute worst that they’ve ever ever been, with the Grampa’s soul in a love-tester machine short not far behind.
So that episode containing those two shorts would be the worst if the Wiggum third wasn’t really damn funny. Shame on the creators ruining the worst episode by throwing in some quality.
Homer joins the Navy.
Sucked beyond suck.
Wasn’t even funny as a post-modern unfunny episode.
I’m not sure exactly, but the worst episode is somewhere in the first two seasons, rather than the last two.
When a syndicated episode shows a non-fishbulb-shaped Simpson cranium or I hear the garbled Homer voice, I flip the channel immediately.
Two Bad Neighbors (the George Bush ep – and I’m not a Bush fan)
All Singing, All Dancing
Maximum Homerdrive (Homer takes over trucker’s rig after eating him to death)
E-I-E-I-D’oh (Tomacco)
Take My Wife, Sleaze (the motorcycle gang)
are all worthy candidates.
However, the grand champion is Saddlesore Galatica. It didn’t even try to make sense and was a big middle finger to fans of the series.
You should give those first two seasons another chance. I used to think (around S6-7 or so) that those first two weren’t good at all. Giving them another chance on DVD has improved them in my memory. They aren’t as gag-centric but they tell great stories.
The one that was on tonight was pretty rancid. (“Highlights:” Tom Brokaw vomiting, antique Blair Witch Project jokes, extremely unfunny hillbillies, and the revelation that the Capitol in Capitol City is in fact in the middle of the wilderness for no apparent reason.)
Any of the preachy “Very Special Episode” episodes. Hint guys: warmed-over idiot leftie philosophy can be funny, but not if its done with a nauseating sincerity.
The “Homer buys a gun” episode, the “no illegal aliens” episode, the “tomacco” one…the only Simpsons “Very Special Episode” episode that was any good was the “Lisa becomes a vegetarian” one, and that was only so-so (they went for funny with a hint of preachiness. Plus the bit where Bart and Homer are chasing the pig was hysterical).
“Very Special Episodes” suck, whether they’re Arnold and/or Willis getting molested by Mr. Carleson from WKRP, Jo’s deaf cousin on The Facts Of Life trying (unsuccessfully) to be a comedianne, Richie giving a party and inviting a “negro” and no-one but Fonzie, Potsie and Ralph showing up, Chrissie being “attacked” on Three’s Company, etc ad nauseum.
No more “Very Special Episodes” of the Simpsons, dammit!
Fenris
all singing, all dancing.
Blech!
The Simpsons has definitely gone downhill since Futurama came into being. Why I’m not sure; did the writing team get broken up? The first two seasons aren’t that funny but the stories were still brilliantly written. Recently, the storylines have become weak and the jokes obvious and overplayed. Many characters have become parodies of themselves now. For me the worst episode is the boyband episode: Bart and some of his friends form a boyband and are manipulated by the Navy. Pretty boring I thought.
Simpsons is still a must see though.
I’ve always hated the episode where the Simpsons go to Florida, Homer sees Kid Rock and acts like a jackass, they kill the gator, end up living in a trailer, etc etc. Terrible.
And the singing one sucked, too.
<— counting posts till someone imitates the comic book guy.
Worst…Post…Ever
good enough for ya?
I agree on the Florida-Kid Rock episode (and mainly for its last ten minutes). That ep demonstrated the main flaw with the Simpsons over last several years: recurring “last act” problems. All too often, the stories peter out with 7 to 10 minutes remaining in the show before going on wild tangents that seem to exist only as padding. Other episodes where I noticed this happened included the one with Homer as an on-line columnist that suddenly turned into a parody of “The Prisoner” and the one with REM where Moe remodels his bar and the story somehow ends up with Homer going turkey hunting.
It would have to be one of the clip shows. Even when they apologize during the clip show for doing a clip show, they still suck.
The first clip show is quite watchable, with the whole April Fools Day plotline.
“Me lose brain? Uh-oh! … Why I laugh?”
The one where Sideshow Bob runs for mayor.
The one where Principal Skinner is a fraud. Even the writer’s pretty much admitted as much at the end of the show.
Anyone that is all about Krusty - they can get quite boring
That used to be mine, mostly due to the Limbaugh caricature but I got over it.
So now it’s “Moaning Lisa”… or any other reallife-difficulty-treacly-happy-ending crap from the early days.
IMHO of course. Took me a while to be a fan.