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The Simpsons: A Journey Through Shit

Started by JamesTC, January 08, 2021, 11:12:10 PM

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Total Members Voted: 28

Voting closed: December 24, 2021, 08:55:16 AM

JamesTC

Season 19 - Episode 20 - All About Lisa

We are at an awards show with Sideshow Mel narrating. Lisa is getting an entertainer of the year award. Flashback to the beginning and the Simpsons are in the audience of the Krusty show. Krusty is searching for a new Krustkateer so all the kids audition. Nelson is chosen over Bart despite the fact that Bart is the best. Lisa complains to Krusty but he ends up hiring her as his new unpaid intern which is the plot of an earlier episode except that episode was with Bart instead.

Lisa is bullied by Krusty but Mel gives her advice which makes Krusty praise her.

Bart and Homer sell all of Bart's Krusty toys. They trade them for a guide to antique coins and start collecting. They collect all the coins aside from a 1917 Kissing Lincoln coin. Riveting stuff.

Lisa appears on the Krusty show and instantly takes over and it becomes The Lisa Show. Krusty becomes a late night talk show host.

Homer and Bart find the coin at an auction, but Mr Burns buys it. Homer fools Mr Burns to give him the coin by asking him for change for a nickel. What will the zany Simpsons family do next? Collect stamps?

Lisa is set to win an award around two minutes after taking over the Krusty show. Sideshow Mel explains that everybody who wins the award goes on to become a failure so Lisa quits the industry and gets Krusty his show back. Credits roll.

3/10 - Honestly I feel bad about giving them all 3/10 but they aren't actively offensive so don't fall down any lower but are just too shit for any higher. I guess they've just become consistently inoffensively bad.

JamesTC

Ode to Season 19

Now I have Disney Plus
Later Simpsons, time to see what is all the fuss

Homer becomes Kurt Cobain
And he has to fly a private plane

Lenny and Carl date rape some old women
Sideshow Bob returns for murder attempt number ten

Marge coddles a potato sack
Lurleen Lumpkin has come back

Millhouse is pooed on by Cletus
Homer reveals he has diabetus

Time to head for Season Twenty
Hope is not aplenty

C_Larence

Someone in a recent Simpsons thread was talking a big game about how people who deride newer episodes don't know what they're talking about because they've never seen them. Glad to have further confirmation that it was just a bunch of gaslighting, and that they're truly shit.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: JamesTC on January 08, 2021, 11:12:10 PM
Season 19 - Episode 1 - He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs

they have hired a comedian and given him loads of dialogue but not a single actual joke or even vaguely funny line.

Not true. At one point he does three jokes in a roughly one minute period, when Homer is caught in the bannister. They may be such rubbish nothing jokes they barely register but they are jokes nonetheless. Deadpan, badly written, unfunny jokes.

JamesTC

Quote from: checkoutgirl on January 10, 2021, 10:31:40 PM
Not true. At one point he does three jokes in a roughly one minute period, when Homer is caught in the bannister. They may be such rubbish nothing jokes they barely register but they are jokes nonetheless. Deadpan, badly written, unfunny jokes.

Is it three? I remember the bit about him needing to record background noise from behind Homer and that is it. Argh.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: JamesTC on January 08, 2021, 11:39:09 PM
Season 19 - Episode 2 - The Homer of Seville

Lenny and Carl have sex with the old ladies just a few seconds after the ladies say they aren't interested.

Not true. They never say they're not interested. They roll their eyes and the next frame is the limousine rocking as it drives off. They never verbally respond to Carl's indirect suggestion of sex or "hooking up" as it's referred to by the old woman. Whether that's "rapey" or not is a personal opinion I suppose.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: JamesTC on January 10, 2021, 10:33:31 PM
Is it three? I remember the bit about him needing to record background noise from behind Homer and that is it. Argh.

I counted three. Another one from the same scene is a three letter acronym, Never Notbe Whatever, can't remember the gag. You could interpret that as not being a joke because it's rubbish but it is an attempt at a joke.

Another joke later is him eating a TV dinner in his underpants and saying he's with a client, that one is a lot more debatable as to whether it's a joke. I'm not sure. I can imagine the studio audience of Three and a Half Men cracking up at that one but does that make it a joke?

checkoutgirl

Quote from: checkoutgirl on January 10, 2021, 10:35:55 PM
Not true. They never say they're not interested. They roll their eyes and the next frame is the limousine rocking as it drives off. They never verbally respond to Carl's indirect suggestion of sex or "hooking up" as it's referred to by the old woman. Whether that's "rapey" or not is a personal opinion I suppose.

I've just realised I might have downloaded episodes that are differently edited, possibly?

JamesTC

Now onto Season 20 which is exciting. I bet they pull out all the stops for the big anniversary year.

Season 20 - Episode 1 - Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes

The family are celebrating St Patrick's Day. Bart makes an IRA joke. A brawl erupts between Nationalist Irish and Unionist Irish. Lisa temporarily resolves the troubles with a song. Marge has her cupcakes stolen by toothless Irish orphans but an Irish guy called Patrick recovers the cupcakes and offers her a job at a bakery. Homer gets arrested for fighting and then he gets bail and takes up a job as a bounty hunter which is the plot of the episode.

Homer tries to capture Snake who is passing by but Snake pulls out a gun and tries to shoot him in the head. Flanders puts some bulletproof glass in front of Homer's head to save his life. Flanders unintentionally distracts Snake while Homer sneaks up on him and asphyxiates him with a bag to knock him out and take him in. Homer asks Flanders to work with him as a bounty hunter.

Marge realises she is working for an erotic bakery with Patty and Selma buying an arse cake. Marge is convinced by Patrick that erotic bakery doesn't harm anybody. Dr Hibbert's penis as a cake.

Homer tases his balls but doesn't die from a heart attack like that MAGA guy. Homer and Flanders are very successful at catching criminals in a montage. Homer gives Lisa evidence from a meth lab. They now need to capture Fat Tony. Homer is reckless, so Flanders tells him he won't do it anymore. Flanders goes to quit, but they ask him to bring in Homer as he has jumped bail. An extended chase sequence follows involving numerous buildings exploding. Homer and Flanders fall into wet cement and get stuck.

Homer is now in prison but will apparently be released in a day and had been given a non-erotic cake from Marge. Credits roll.

No resolution to Marge's job as a baker. Standard.

3/10

JamesTC

Quote from: checkoutgirl on January 10, 2021, 10:35:55 PM
Not true. They never say they're not interested. They roll their eyes and the next frame is the limousine rocking as it drives off. They never verbally respond to Carl's indirect suggestion of sex or "hooking up" as it's referred to by the old woman. Whether that's "rapey" or not is a personal opinion I suppose.

There is barely a couple of seconds between them saying they aren't interested and the limo rocking. It is dodgy as can get and date rape in my book. YMMV

mippy

I believe Bart's line about the IRA in that episode that gets cut for TV in the UK. (As does, now, "I've reviewed the latest tractors....and they're all shite!!")I always hated the lazy stereotypes of The Simpsons Are Going To... episodes, but that one went quickly from "a bit plastic" to "actually offensive now"

JamesTC

Quote from: mippy on January 10, 2021, 11:41:33 PM
I believe Bart's line about the IRA in that episode that gets cut for TV in the UK. (As does, now, "I've reviewed the latest tractors....and they're all shite!!")I always hated the lazy stereotypes of The Simpsons Are Going To... episodes, but that one went quickly from "a bit plastic" to "actually offensive now"

When there is a "Controversy" section on the episode's Wikipedia page then you know you are onto a winner.

Shortly before I got Disney+ I was speaking to a friend and asked him if all the episodes are on there and unedited (aside from Stark Raving Dad of course) and he confirmed they were including the marijuana episode. This really surprised me.

He felt that the show in general is a little ill-suited to the platform (before the new adult orientated selection arrives in February) whereas I said that they just need to take a few episodes out of the selection and lock them for children but by and large The Simpsons is suitable as a family show. In general The Simpsons has always been good at appealing to kids and adults at the same time with only a few exceptions. The episodes I've watched over the past few days seem decidedly more adult with jokes that push the boundaries. Stuff like Homer having a needle in his arm which is initially assumed to be a heroin needle is the type of thing I really look at and think shouldn't be open to all on Disney+ if they care about locking unsuitable content.

neov1974

there's loads in the zombie era that's just tonally doesn't fit with what came before and the rise in depicting sexual scenarios in jokes is probably the most obvious and unnecessary.


checkoutgirl

Quote from: JamesTC on January 10, 2021, 11:02:56 PM
There is barely a couple of seconds between them saying they aren't interested

Must be a different edit I have because they never say anything at all, positive or negative, after Carl hints at sex in the version I saw. Can you provide a link or download of what you watched? Mileage can vary but if we're not comparing the same thing that's à moot point.

JamesTC

Quote from: checkoutgirl on January 11, 2021, 01:40:16 AM
Must be a different edit I have because they never say anything at all, positive or negative, after Carl hints at sex in the version I saw. Can you provide a link or download of what you watched? Mileage can vary but if we're not comparing the same thing that's à moot point.

I'm watching on Disney+.

The women say they are interested in Homer so Carl makes a comment (something along the lines of Homer not being there from what I remember) and then the limo is rocking. Honestly with all these sorts of jokes it is just dodgy naughties sex jokes that have aged very very badly. Thankfully there only seemed to be two or three early on in the season and there hasn't been any since.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: JamesTC on January 11, 2021, 01:46:10 AM
I'm watching on Disney+.

The women say they are interested in Homer so Carl makes a comment (something along the lines of Homer not being there from what I remember) and then the limo is rocking.

I agree with that synopsis. They say they want to "hook up" with Homer who is standing outside the limo with Marge. Carl says "That's not going to happen......but I'm here" *hint hint*. The woman rolls her eyes, cut to limo rocking. If that's rapey I'm a Dutchman. Although I will fully agree your mileage may vary.

It's just a lame joke about famous musicians and their groupie cast offs. For instance the Memphis Mafia took full advantage of being around Elvis by boffing the groupies Elvis didn't want or hadn't time to have sex with. The twist is Homer is an opera singer (for an hour) so the groupies are more mature. It's a pretty rubbish bit of humour and probably quite outdated, also a bit tawdry and not worth it for the quality of joke but rapey is a bit strong I think. Then again groupie culture has been recontextualised years later by people but these women are at least three times the age of consent so can presumably make their own mind up. And there's no verbal indicator that they were unwilling participants so I would assume consent unless otherwise indicated.

Anyway that's all I have to say on it I reckon.

Lemming

Some of these plots have to have been written by a cursed AI or something.

Tempted to watch Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes just to see if it really is as much of a nonsense-barrage as it sounds.

Mister Six

At what point did every episode title have to be a shit pun? I liked the old "X vs Y" and X the Y" formulas, and the flatly descriptive ones like "Bart Gets an F" and "Whacking Day" - seems like the actions of a much more confident show.

thr0b

There's a lot in current Simpsons which makes it no longer a safe family show.

An episode on Sky One recently, post season-20 (could be season 30) featured Reverend & Helen Lovejoy in a sex shop (him in a gimp suit) and the resolution of the episode featured Homer & Marge having a selection of sex toys in the garden, including a queening stool with the heavy implication that Marge likes like and powerful dildos ("I want the one which takes sixteen batteries!").

JamesTC

She just thinks powerful dildos are neat.

One thing I've noticed over the past season is how much dumber Marge has gotten. The deterioration to her intelligence is happening much faster than it happened for Homer. Weird that it happens in a season which confirms she is a university graduate.

JamesTC

Definitely think my Marge starts an OnlyFans idea will happen soon. Moe will be her pay pig and there will be a hilarious sequence where Moe pays Marge, Marge gives money to Homer, Homer goes to Moe's and then the cycle repeats.

St_Eddie


St_Eddie

Quote from: JamesTC on January 11, 2021, 09:50:18 AM
One thing I've noticed over the past season is how much dumber Marge has gotten.

That and how much coarser Julie Kavner's voice has gotten.  It's like taking a cheese grater to the ears.

the

I'm enjoying these synopses JamesTC. Just make sure you don't accidentally drive yourself insane.

Something that's striking when you see these written down is, there's often a complete disconnection between what's happening at the start of the show and what the main plot is. Not in a sort of "that surprised you!" way, but more like "we took 2-3 separate bits and glued them together to get an episode in the can".

St Patrick's Day leads to a career as a bounty hounter plus bakery. A comic shop opening and closing leads to stuff about gyms and plastic surgery. Litres of glue holding these together.

Gregory Torso

Not having watched Red Dwarf since the early 90s, I thought Lemming's descriptions for the series 8 episodes were mad enough, but these are on a whole other level of what?? These synopses read like some kind of HS Art thread. Just insane, and probably not even half as bad as whatever the Simpsons is now. Don't think I've ever knowingly gone beyond series 11. Loving the thread though - the descriptions are far funnier than the experience of watching the episodes would be!

Ham Bap

The Simpsons is a strange beast these days. Any time I flick the channel and there's a newer episode on, anything from season 12 onwards, I usually find myself apologising to the people in the room for how bad it is and usually mutter 'it used to be good'.

By and large the only time I go and seek these out now is to watch the old Halloween episodes at Halloween and the old Christmas episodes at Christmas.

Mango Chimes

Quote from: the on January 11, 2021, 10:36:01 AMSomething that's striking when you see these written down is, there's often a complete disconnection between what's happening at the start of the show and what the main plot is.

That's a Simpsons trademark as much as interweaving stories is a Seinfeld one. I don't know when it began, but it's a classic era thing.

Thanks for this thread, James, it's excellent. It reads a much richer version of  those Seinfeld and TNG imaginary season Twitter accounts.

Phil_A

Quote from: thr0b on January 11, 2021, 09:40:37 AM
There's a lot in current Simpsons which makes it no longer a safe family show.

An episode on Sky One recently, post season-20 (could be season 30) featured Reverend & Helen Lovejoy in a sex shop (him in a gimp suit) and the resolution of the episode featured Homer & Marge having a selection of sex toys in the garden, including a queening stool with the heavy implication that Marge likes like and powerful dildos ("I want the one which takes sixteen batteries!").

Something I've noticed in recent episodes is a tendency towards casual gore and gross-out stuff, way beyond the point where it feels appropriate for this kind of show. I think the most recent one I've seen was a "Homer in Roman times" episode which just had maiming and slaughtering all over the shop. Not to say comedy gore can't be funny, but it feels weird and unpleasant in The Simpsons.

That kind-of stuff had started to creep in more during the years when the series was declining but not yet completely unredeemable - I can't remember which episode it is but there's definitely one that ends with a guy's severed leg flying off (checked, it was "Faith Off" from Season 11).

dead-ced-dead

Quote from: Phil_A on January 11, 2021, 11:07:03 AM
Something I've noticed in recent episodes is a tendency towards casual gore and gross-out stuff, way beyond the point where it feels appropriate for this kind of show. I think the most recent one I've seen was a "Homer in Roman times" episode which just had maiming and slaughtering all over the shop. Not to say comedy gore can't be funny, but it feels weird and unpleasant in The Simpsons.

That kind-of stuff had started to creep in more during the years when the series was declining but not yet completely unredeemable - I can't remember which episode it is but there's definitely one that ends with a guy's severed leg flying off (checked, it was "Faith Off" from Season 11).

I think in seasons 8-11 (when the wheels were first starting to come off but the show was still funny), they started to over rely on Homer getting hit in the head or beat up or having cars drive over his head and stuff. That was the point they started to fall into that gimmick.

thr0b

It's like they're trying to do Family Guy jokes, but not even good Family Guy jokes. And they wouldn't work with Simpsons characters, even if they were good jokes.

(I like Family Guy; it's a sketch show with linking plot devices. The Simpsons isn't.)

Also, any Trilogy episode is terrible. I don't want three separate stories putting the characters in the place of character from other shows/novels/films. They don't have the skill to write their own plots these days, I get it. But a weak parody is lazy. Three weak parodies is terrible. I'd prefer a clip show with two minutes of new material (e.g. Bart paralyses Homer by shaking a can of beer, causing the house to explode. Cartoony, but done and dusted in under three minutes.)