The Simpsons - Warrin' Priests (Parts I & II)

[Chairman Yang]

You all have to watch these fucking episodes of The Simpsons.

I know that the show's been dying on its arse for 25 years but I'm at a loss to explain what I've just watched. For some reason, on The Comedy Show Called The Simpsons, there's an earnest, 40 minute story written by Pete Holmes about a sincere and well-meaning pastor who comes to town and just... fucking... delivers a sermon about faith and outreach Christianity and who is also voiced by the man Pete Holmes who is... I guess some kind of fucking evangelical weirdo?

Fuck, I don't know. Just watch it, everyone on the internet is being all weird and positive about it and it just seems utterly toothless and sinister and pathetic and I need to share my pain.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I saw bits of it and came to the conclusion that a) it was shit and b) they already had an episode with a Catholic priest converting Bart away from Lovejoyism and c) they already had an episode where Lovejoy felt he wasn't needed and d) they already had an episode about everybody joining a cult and e) END THIS FUCKING SHOW ALREADY IT'S SHIT IT'S BEEN SHIT FOR AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS END IT END IT NOW TAKE IT OUT BEHIND THE WOODSHED AND SHOOT IT PLEASE

[bgmnts]

Yeah they forgot to sign the DNR, its grim.

[idunnosomename]

i always remember in Bart Gets an F, the "part of this D minus belongs to God" always made me feel a bit ill as a kid

[BritishHobo]

It feels like every time the show does something slightly different (the LEGO episode, the Boyhood one), everyone has to like wake up from a stupor and go AH FUCK THE SIMPSOMS HAS DONE SOMETHING INCREDIBLE when really The Simpsoms has just done something not as underwhelming as it normally is

[Polymorphia]

It feels weird to think that 'popular opinion' is that The Simpsons have never been decent during my own lifetime (I'm sure the repeats/VHSs I watched were of 'decent 'episodes) despite my knowing a huge amount of the gags/watched tons of it. I haven't seen the episode in question, but I did see some random 'new' episode a while back which oscillated between utterly boring writing and obvious political gag. Either way, no laughs.

[Dead Soon]

IT'S SHIT IT'S BEEN SHIT FOR AT LEAST FIFTEEN YEARS

TWENTY TWO YEARS at least. OP is horrifyingly close with ''25 years'', Principal and the Pauper aired in Sep 1997

[Nowhere Man]

TWENTY TWO YEARS at least. OP is horrifyingly close with ''25 years'', Principal and the Pauper aired in Sep 1997

I was checking the list of Season 9 episodes and sure enough there's some decent enough episodes, "The City of New York vs Homer Simpson" is a classic in my book. But it also has that horrible, horrible, HORRIBLE "All Singing All Dancing" episode that I seem to remember BBC2 used to show on repeat all the fucking time.

[Carpool Dragon]

"Halloween of Horror" and the one Judd Apatow wrote were the last new episodes I watched, and they were pretty good. That was five years ago though. Am I fuck watching this, Pete Holmes gives me "youth pastor who gets arrested for child porn" vibes enough as it is.

[Chairman Yang]

Pete Holmes gives me "youth pastor who gets arrested for child porn" vibes enough as it is.

I was waiting for the turn, like he just gets his cock out in front of Todd at the 35 minute mark... nope, he just wants to spread the good word and touch people (not sexually with his rancid penis).

There's an agonising scene where your man and Ned duel bible verses, no jokes, just The Word... for fucking ages. It's baffling.

[Chriddof]

everyone on the internet is being all weird and positive about it and it just seems utterly toothless and sinister and pathetic

This site thinks it's shit, at least.

I would say that this is the worst Simpsons episode I have ever had to review.

[Cuellar]

The title "Warrin' Priests" refers to War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Does it, though?

[Povidone]

Does it, though?

This seems to be a thing with animated comedy writers, the King of the Hill episode "Three Days of the Khando" is extremely disappointing in it's lack of clandestine CIA activity or political assassinations.

On topic: this sounds shit. I haven't met a human being in about 10 years that still watches the Simpsons, who is this stuff being made for?

[Thursday]

Every Simpsons community still going is like "Sure season 32 isn't great, but it's a lot better than the season 25-28 era"

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I had heard recently, I think it was on a Red Letter Media video, that the current season was a bit of a return to form, thanks to a lot of the writers from the classic years returning. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt, but I can't imagine it truly achieving greatness again.

[idunnosomename]

Does it, though?

oh fucks sake. I think it does. But what a shit pun. Its not even funny bad

[dissolute ocelot]

I found it poignant that the AV Club wrote a bizarrely positive review of part 1 (which acknowledges that the episode has little in the way of jokes), then announced they were stopping Simpsons reviews/recaps before part 2 because, who cares about the Simpsons?

I think I've seen at least part 1. It was dull. You get the impression that they don't care, they'll do whatever takes the least effort or provides a brief flash of amusement to themselves. Who cares about a hippy priest? Who remembers more than a flash of any Simpsons episode from the past 20 years?

[The Mollusk]

I haven't met a human being in about 10 years that still watches the Simpsons, who is this stuff being made for?

Priests.

[Ferris]

Every Simpsons community still going is like "Sure season 32 isn't great, but it's a lot better than the season 25-28 era"

Nice thick slice of DESOLATION

[Menu]

Does it, though?

Apparently the title to the early episode "When Flanders Failed" was a pun on "On Flanders Field". Which still makes me laugh as a reference.

[Menu]

I had heard recently, I think it was on a Red Letter Media video, that the current season was a bit of a return to form, thanks to a lot of the writers from the classic years returning. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt, but I can't imagine it truly achieving greatness again.

Yes I saw most of the episodes of the most recent season and enjoyed many of them. There were a couple of turkeys, and nothing to touch the golden era, but still worth watching. I really don't get the hate, and the most vitriolic hatred seems to come from people who admit they haven't watched an episode in years. I had this exact discussion about a year ago on this board. I said the new season is worth a new look and everyone just went no, we're not going to do that and just continued the hate-fest. Bizarre.

[madhair60]

Yes I saw most of the episodes of the most recent season and enjoyed many of them. There were a couple of turkeys, and nothing to touch the golden era, but still worth watching. I really don't get the hate, and the most vitriolic hatred seems to come from people who admit they haven't watched an episode in years. I had this exact discussion about a year ago on this board. I said the new season is worth a new look and everyone just went no, we're not going to do that and just continued the hate-fest. Bizarre.

For me it's because I often do go back and see what it's like now, and the sound of the dying voice actors is just too upsetting to bear

[Menu]

Makes sense but I urge you to try out a couple of the last season. Just a well-made comedy show with quite a few laughs. On the wider point, I stopped watching HIGNFY a few years ago but I don't keep popping up in threads saying how shit it is now because I don't know how shit it is now because I don't watch it.

[SavageHedgehog]

I've been watching some of the more recent Seasons on Disney+ (not the most recent as it's not on there yet) and quite enjoying them, admittedly in a 7/10 kind of way as opposed to anything approaching the quality it has in the 90s. At least the animation seems to be a tad less sterile than it was shortly after going HD.

[JaDanketies]

I used to watch the latest episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and Bob's Burgers every week they came out (Fox's Animation Domination schedule). Would torrent them and then spend an evening watching them all. This was obviously long after the Simpson's glory days, but some episodes were actually genuinely okay. And out of the four, I felt like Family Guy had jumped the shark the hardest, with episodes that were depressing in their awfulness.

I'd think "People say the Simpsons should've been cancelled a long time ago, but they've clearly not watched any new episodes of Family Guy, which is absolutely fucking awful and some episodes are inexcusably bad."

I agree with the last poster, a lot of 6 and 7/10s and very few that are under 5/10. Some newer Family Guys are 0/10 and I don't know how they manage to evade the harsh criticism the Simpsons gets.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I can't sit through any of the newer Simpsons episodes. I've tried and I can't do it. I always end up switching it off because of stupid plots that make no sense.

[McFlymo]

I used to watch the latest episodes of The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad and Bob's Burgers every week they came out (Fox's Animation Domination schedule). Would torrent them and then spend an evening watching them all. This was obviously long after the Simpson's glory days, but some episodes were actually genuinely okay. And out of the four, I felt like Family Guy had jumped the shark the hardest, with episodes that were depressing in their awfulness.

I'd think "People say the Simpsons should've been cancelled a long time ago, but they've clearly not watched any new episodes of Family Guy, which is absolutely fucking awful and some episodes are inexcusably bad."

I agree with the last poster, a lot of 6 and 7/10s and very few that are under 5/10. Some newer Family Guys are 0/10 and I don't know how they manage to evade the harsh criticism the Simpsons gets.

It's the legacy / fandom, innit?
When we liked Family Guy we were sneering at it and its cynicism, which we grew out of.
The Simpsons was our childhood AND THEY'RE RAPING OUR CHILDHOOD etc....

[Mister Six]

Also Family Guy has always been shit and The Simpsons used to be the greatest comedy of its time.

[SavageHedgehog]

I don't think Family Guy's reputation ever quite got past the Cartoon Wars attack from South Park. It was still popular for a number of years, but comedy nerds etc. by and large no longer liked it. Much as The Simpsons cruelly slayed Dinosaurs before it.

[idunnosomename]

Even if there are decent gags it's jerkass homer i cant stand.

*low, aggressive voice* "I'll show YOU

• !!"