I wish that Groening would of slowly aged the family, instead of keeping them at the same ages. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Bart and Lisa in High School, then Lisa in college with Bart in town working odd jobs and whatnot. I don’t know, I’m not the writer.
This show has been on 21 years. There was a 90’s episode that looked into the future with Lisa getting married on a date in 2010 that has already passed.
Michelle Obama was a character in the episode “Stealing First Base,” but the First Lady didn’t do her own voice. Instead, she was played by guest star Angela Bassett.
There have been episodes mentioned that had, for me, “meh” moments in otherwise good episodes. But I really didn’t like the Shari Bobbins episode. Just one long non-joke parody. And a musical too.
episodes become better if you get the philosophical, political, cultural hook that they are latching too. there is always surface funny in some jokes and sight gags. there is also deep satire linked to other things.
I hated the ending ripping off Family Guy like that. If they’d had the former slave be the ancestor of OJ instead of Grampa that would’ve been much funnier.
No, no, NO! :smack: You’re out of your mind Erdosain. That episode didn’t create the word “Jeebus” – I’ve visited the Simpsons Archive page for this episode a dozen times too many and in the Comments section one guy pointed out it came from the September 30, 1999, Family Guy (a show that, I hasten to add, I was initially quite close-minded to).
At least in that Family Guy, there was some humour – even if it did bug the hell out of some ridiculous con-men (what I from now on call the United States Republican Party).
I stand corrected that Family Guy used Jebus a few months before the Simpsons, but I would argue that “Missionary Impossible” popularized the word into the blasphemous juggernaut it is today.
Well, the fact they don’t age + central characters don’t die or get added to + continuity between episodes.
That’s not a good formula for coming up with fresh plotlines. It’s amazing that it’s lasted for 20-something years. But in quite a few episodes you can feel the tiredness / frustration of the writers.
Although “Missionary: Impossible” may be the absolute lowest this show has fallen (to me), that doesn’t mean I like every other episode a lot. I do, however, wholeheartedly agree that the show has not held up to the standard of the practically perfect Seasons 3, 4 and 8. Then again, Season 11 is STILL my choice for the worst season of the whole show.
So here are the four henchmen of “Missionary: Impossible,” by which I mean the episodes that I rank second- through fifth-worst:
In ascending order of overall quality, “Hello Gutter Hello Fadder,” “The Last of the Red Hat Mamas,” “Marge vs. SSCCATAG,” and “Alone Again, Natural-Diddily.”
Oh, I don’t agree. I doubt I ever WILL agree. Seriously, I wanted to turn off my TV at “OH GOD OH GOD OH GOD,” but I had actually promised myself that I’d sit through the whole episode, just to ensure that my prediction would be right (I first saw it on a repeat on a Canadian station last year, and from the plot summary I predicted it would be The Simpsons’ Worst Episode Ever).
How self-insulted I feel.
I can’t even believe I actually watched the same half-hour in its entirety on two more occasions, nor that my brother, who can only just identify the show’s characters, wholeheartedly agrees with me regarding this.
The recent one (just got around to watching it) about the Angry Dad short and the awards season.
Every possible bad thing about **The Simpsons. **From the weak celeb cameos, the retread plot lines (Angry Dad, but also they been to award shows many times before, the bad trying to be current-hip stuff with the guys in the car).
it was truly dreadful. it’s like watching a car wreck these days. i just can’t stop (probably because i like the seth macfarlane toons so much that i go ahead and record it.)
i’ve been married four years and my wife had never seen The Simpsons before we started dating. she can’t understand why i hang in there. i’m starting to wonder, too.
The most recent episode, The Scorpion’s Tale, was also horrible. I’m glad it wasn’t made during one of the early seasons, because the scene with Abe Simpson’s eyes falling out would have been seriously disturbing to me as a kid!