The Simpsons: A Journey Through Shit

[C_Larence]

Bart smells something nice outside a house and goes to the back and meets a new friend called Bashir who has just moved from Jordan. Bart gives him the lowdown on Springfield Elementary and also tells him not to let people know he is Muslim as the bullies will attack him for being different (it is done a little better than how I have written it down). Lisa is enjoying her MyPod.

Eat Up Martyr

[JamesTC]

Season 20 - Episode 9 - Lisa the Drama Queen

Comic Book Guy is teaching some kids Kung Fu for some reason. Led by Bart, all the kids attack Comic Book Guy. Lisa is at an art class. An English girl called Juliet in the class is really creative and Lisa encourages her despite the teacher being an arse. Lisa and Juliet become friends which is the plot of the episode. They go to an art exhibit. Juliet comes for dinner and sleeps over. Lisa and Juliet become best friends. Lisa and Juliet write a book called Tales of Equalia together.

The Simpsons go to Juliet's house to have dinner with her family. Juliet gets angry with her father and runs out. Lisa follows Juliet and they enter a fantasy all set in Equalia. Back at the Simpson house, Lisa and Juliet continue writing the book. Skinner calls Marge and Homer in and says that Lisa is being distracted by writing the book. Marge tells Lisa she can't see Juliet any more.

Juliet runs away and finds Lisa at the school and tells her to join her as Equalia needs her. Lisa and Juliet stay in an abandoned restaurant and pretend it is a castle. Marge finds out Lisa is missing and she blames herself. Marge instantly works out where they are... oh it turns out she has the wrong place.

The bullies arrive at the abandoned restaurant and lock up Lisa and Juliet in cages. Lisa convinces Kearney to let them out by telling the story of Equlia. Jimbo returns and goes to burn the Equalia book but Kearney beats them up to save the book. Lisa and Juliet escape. Lisa tells Juliet she doesn't want to live in the fantasy any more. Lisa submits the book to be published and it is rejected. Credits roll.

3/10 - Meh

The Simpsons in SD is over. They switch to HD and widescreen with the following episode. An end of an era. Even if the show has been awful for several seasons, I still think a line is drawn in the sand here and in many people's minds it will be the SD Simpsons vs the HD Simpsons. Scary thought it that there is a very real possibility that there will be more HD episodes of The Simpsons than SD in a few years.

This is the last shot of The Simpsons in SD.

[JamesTC]

Why are you putting yourself through this procedure?

I've paid for Disney+ so I might as well get my money's worth. Besides, what else am I going to do with my time? Something productive? Hah.

I just live in the hope that I get one more classic episode in amongst the next 12 seasons. Just one solitary episode is all I ask for. It has been since Season 15 since we've had one right now.

[dissolute ocelot]

Season 20 - Episode 9 - Lisa the Drama Queen

This is a weird episode because it feels like a parody but I've no idea what it's supposed to be a parody of - Bridge to Terabithia (twee kids book/movie about

Spoiler alert

death

[close]

) or Heavenly Creatures (mad lesbian murderers), with a bit of Scheherezade/Arabian Nights. It feels like it has the making of an interesting episode if only they weren't trying so hard to parody something I have no idea of. And Juliet is really annoying.

But that's not the weirdest thing: Juliet's dad is the world's foremost John Grisham scholar. Yup, there's a dated reference, and one that makes no sense. Is it a parody? Is it a reference? Is it meaningful at all? It would be nice if he was a scholar of something it was parodying. It just throws up lots of questions which it completely fails to answer and completely destroys it tonally. Another baffling decision. If Family Guy is written by porpoises randomly pushing balls, I don't know what kind of squidgy mammal is assembling zombie simpsons out of random sentences torn from Wikipedia.

[dissolute ocelot]

Ignore

[JamesTC]

Season 20 - Episode 10 - Take My Life, Please

The HDTV had better not fall off the wall after each couch gag. Fucking hell. The new HD opening is bad enough with all the inserting of unnecessary side characters.

Springfield are inducting a new person on the Springfield Wall of Fame. Homer hates the new inductee, Vance Connor, as he knew him in high school and lost to him in the election for class president. Homer is convinced that Vance isn't really as happy as he seems but he is. Homer is depressed at Moe's as he believes losing the election ruined his life. Lenny and Carl tell Homer that the election was fixed as Principal Dondelinger told them to bury the ballot box. Al Gore tells Homer to just move on from it.

Homer and Lenny hunt for the ballot box and recover it. Lisa counts the vote and Homer won. Homer believes he would have been rich and had a hot wife if he rightfully won that election. Homer hunts down Dondelinger for answers. Flashback to the election again and some jocks were planning on fixing the election for Homer to make fun of him. Homer is conflicted about this revelation.

Homer is off his food at the Italian restaurant. Luigi tells him about some magic tomato sauce that lets him see into the life he would have led. Homer wins the election and everybody initially laughs but then everybody cheers him on led by Lenny and Carl. Homer is successful as class president and goes to prom with a popular girl called Debbie. Homer breaks up with Debbie at prom and gets with Marge. Homer gets a great job at the power plant and has a mansion on the site of Flander's house. Bart, Lisa and Maggie are never born as they used protection. Homer tries to live in the magic tomato sauce.

Homer is depressed in a paddling pool. Homer refuses to believe Bruce Wayne is Batman. The family takes Homer to the Wall of Fame where they have added a plaque for him. Credits roll.

3/10 - The Simpsons in HD, so what? Is that all that you got?

[JamesTC]

Season 20 - Episode 11 - How the Test Was Won

The HDTV did not fall off the wall at the end of the opening credits. Phew.

Homer and Marge are celebrating the start of the new school year. Marge tells Homer to mail the insurance and Homer reminisces all the times he got hurt which means a minute-long montage of times Homer got hurt in much better episodes which ends on all of Homer's clones from the Treehouse of Horror episode dying and a nuclear explosion. To be fair the montage ends with Homer laughing to himself and saying "What a week" which got a big laugh from me. They also get a bonus thumbs up for not cropping 4:3 material into widescreen.

The school is having standardised tests so the teachers are making it so they pass in order to increase the school budget which is the plot of the episode. Two weeks later and Homer is driving Lisa and Bart to school. Homer still hasn't mailed the letter for the insurance. Bart is told he aced the practice test so doesn't have to do the actual test and goes to a pizza party instead, but it is actually just a way to get the underperformers away.

Homer realises he isn't insured and starts to panic. He mails it directly to the insurance company but the insurance company are closed for a wedding until 3pm so he is uninsured until then. Lisa is struggling with the test. Ralph needs to pee so Skinner stops the bus with the underperformers on at a gas station. The bus gets stolen. Homer tells Marge he can't get into trouble until 3pm so he has a fantasy of everything going wrong at Marge's bookclub and that Marge goes lesbian. Homer then stops actual disaster at Marge's bookclub with 10 seconds left until 3pm.

Ralph is stuck on a garbage barge. Skinner rescues him and in doing so he teaches Bart and the four bullies something. Skinner, Otto and the kids ride the garbage barge back to Springfield. Lisa has two minutes left of the exam and hasn't answered a single question. Skinner barges into the exam and tells them all to stop the exam and they are stopping the test as he has found a better way to teach kids. Everybody at the school does a dance. Roll credits.

3/10

[bgmnts]

I'm relieved to read that the later seasons maintained that vital sense of relatability.  Many is the day upon which I ran out of fuel and so needed to walk to the gas station. On my way back, I always ran into the town drunk doing community service and he always believed that the secondary school headmaster was a huge beer can and wanting to attack him, whilst the school children watched on with indifference.  We've all been there.

Doesn't Homer go to space in one classic episode?

[St_Eddie]

Doesn't Homer go to space in one classic episode?

Yes and I thought that it was too far fetched at the time but the key difference is that it was actually funny.

[idunnosomename]

i mean, ironically, it's actually one of the more realistic plots of that season, compared to bart getting an elephant and homer being a barbershop quartet that was as big as the beatles.

in season 26 the simpsons go to Rigel VII or some shit

[Carpool Dragon]

I just live in the hope that I get one more classic episode in amongst the next 12 seasons. Just one solitary episode is all I ask for. It has been since Season 15 since we've had one right now.

I know you're doing these chronologically, but the S26 episode Barts New Friend was good (because it was written by Judd Apatow in 1990, it avoids the rot of Zombie Simpsons). Also quite enjoyable was S27's Halloween of Horror, where the writers remembered that Lisa is an eight year old girl, not Lindy West.

[Mobbd]

Not sure what's going on in this scene (I don't think I've seen the episode) but it's presumably a reverie Homer falls into, probably after lambasting Lisa about spending too much time in fantasy.

But what has Lisa morphed into in this vision? A starfish? Why, because her head is star-shaped? The other members of the family have become things Homer likes -- a monster truck, a Duff, a hotdog -- not things they are shaped like. Couldn't the writers think of a fourth thing that Homer likes?

If they weren't comfortable making Homer's eight-year-old daughter look like bikini babe in his daydream, Marge could have fulfilled that role and Lisa could have been the Duff, no? Or just make Lisa into a cupcake? Or a bag of Doritos? Given that Maggie takes the form of a Monster Truck (a petty generic hick interest rather than anything super-specific to Homer) they didn't have to be very clever.

[Jumblegraws]

But what has Lisa morphed into in this vision? A starfish? Why, because her head is star-shaped? The other members of the family have become things Homer likes -- a monster truck, a Duff, a hotdog -- not things they are shaped like. Couldn't the writers think of a fourth thing that Homer likes?

Not seen the episode but I like guessing-games, so, given the junk food theme, I'd guess a blooming onion?

[thr0b]

Ugly animation, lazy comedy, obnoxious shallow characters.

There is some really, really good animation in that show, so disagree there.

And the comedy may be lazy, but it IS funny. There's few shows that can make me laugh out loud, and Family Guy is consistently one of them.

Arguably American Dad is the better of the Seth McFarlane cartoons, but I'll always choose to watch Family Guy in a pinch over Stan & co. American Dad is tremendous, but less well suited to sticking on for a quick laugh.

[JaDanketies]

And the comedy may be lazy, but it IS funny. There's few shows that can make me laugh out loud, and Family Guy is consistently one of them.

Have you stuck with it and continued watching the newest episodes? I mean, really it's been substandard for over a decade if not forever, but up until about five years ago I used to download the new episodes and think they were terrible. Now when I catch a new episode on the telly I think it's terrible. I think a watershed moment for me was Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, where he meets himself in the future and he's a virgin. They would break it up into three segments for TV syndication, and each of those segments contained no jokes whatsoever. I think the only funny bit of the whole movie was the section where they arrive on the red carpet. That was 2005 - 16 years ago!

[thr0b]

Yep, I still watch every episode. It's no longer at its peak, but there's almost always something good in an episode.

Just from the current season, I really enjoyed:

Stewie's First Word
Meg's Wedding
The First No L - this one is quite reminiscent of Simpsons episodes from the mid/late 90s.

From back in 2018, this episode is great - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_in_Stewie,_Please - similar to the bank vault episode, this is (mostly) just Stewie and his psychologist and played relatively straight.

Anybody who refers to season numbers is in for a bad time. I don't know what season Family Guy is on these days, and I doubt they do either.

[neveragain]

Hear hear! I still watch and enjoy FG too. (Although I thought the Ian McKellen two-hander episode was poorly written unfortunately)

[madhair60]

Still like Family Guy. One of the only things that'll always get a laugh out of me. Usually by being phenomenally dumb.

[dead-ced-dead]

I know you're doing these chronologically, but the S26 episode Barts New Friend was good (because it was written by Judd Apatow in 1990, it avoids the rot of Zombie Simpsons). Also quite enjoyable was S27's Halloween of Horror, where the writers remembered that Lisa is an eight year old girl, not Lindy West.

I've been burnt before by people saying, "New Simpsons is terrible, but this episode is really good," only for it to be awful, so I watched it and..... I hate it.

[Blumf]

TheRealJims[nb]YouTuber who's been doing some nice reviews/overviews of The Simpsons[/nb] did a review of S25E12 Diggs which sounds intriguing, if only for the fact they appear to have tried something, even if it didn't work. Seems like they wanted to do something about mental illness in a sensitive way, but didn't manage to nail any of it down, or have any jokes.

[thr0b]

I've been burnt before by people saying, "New Simpsons is terrible, but this episode is really good," only for it to be awful, so I watched it and..... I hate it.

I frequently find with new Simpsons that everything is a swing and a miss. The ideas are frequently good, the execution shite.

There's an episode from a few years back where Kent Brockman gets sacked, so decides to go rogue and become a reporter free of network shackles etc. It's a decent idea, which entirely throws itself away with no real resolution other than Kent getting his job back and saying "I like money". This happens in the final seconds of the episode.

They often write themselves into a corner, or spend so much on side-plots they don't leave enough time for the main plot.

I think they forget - not every character needs to be in every episode.

A recent Family Guy dealt with this; some Pop-Up Video captions were being used throughout the episode, and one of them said "You all complained when we killed off Brian, but you didn't notice he wasn't in this episode, did you?"

The Simpsons wants a plot for every Simpson family member. It's not needed. A quick joke with Homer/Bart, you're into the main plot with Lisa. You don't have to spend 10:30 on both.

[thr0b]

To add: Family Guy has done similar. Tom Tucker quitting/being sacked to pursue a career as an actor with Peter as his agent.

It doesn't work out, so he goes back to Channel 5. This makes sense within the logic of the show, and there is a joke about it.

Tom: Good evening, Quahog. I'm Tom Tucker.

Joyce: And I'm Joyce Kinney. Tom, I think I speak for all of us here at Channel Five News when I say it's good to have you back here at half your original salary.

Tom: Still twice yours, Joyce.

Not the greatest joke ever, but it works in the show - there is a consequence, it's funny and it need never be referred to again as it doesn't actually piss over everything that happened in the episode, nor does it impact anything they might want to do in future.

[dead-ced-dead]

I think they forget - not every character needs to be in every episode.

I like to call this Comic Book Guy dilemma. A fan favourite character; a character who, when used sparingly is very funny. So in response to his popularity he starts being shoved into several episodes to quote his "worst (blank) ever" character but the overuse causes him to become stale and silly. He even starts getting B plots. And that extends to the other also ran one joke characters, too. Just because they're funny in one scene, doesn't mean they'll be funny in every scene.

There's a tiered hierarchy that writers should follow:

Tier 1 - Simpsons family
Tier 2 - Main supporting cast (Moe, Skinner, Lovejoy, Apu, Grampa, Mr Burns, some of Bart's school friends etc) - Can have main or B-plots sparringly.
Tier 3 - Frequent one-sceners (Lenny, Carly, Dr. Hibbert, the rest of Bart's school friends etc) - No to few B or main plots, but show up every or every other episode
Tier 4 - Strict one-sceners. Use sparingly (Disco Stu, Comic Book Guy, Miss Hoover etc) - Giving a main or B plot is a fireable offence. 

[JaDanketies]

But Aquaman, you cannot marry a woman without GILLS. You're from two different worlds! (missile POV directly to his face) Oh, I've wasted my life.

[sutin]

Have you stuck with it and continued watching the newest episodes? I mean, really it's been substandard for over a decade if not forever, but up until about five years ago I used to download the new episodes and think they were terrible. Now when I catch a new episode on the telly I think it's terrible. I think a watershed moment for me was Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, where he meets himself in the future and he's a virgin. They would break it up into three segments for TV syndication, and each of those segments contained no jokes whatsoever. I think the only funny bit of the whole movie was the section where they arrive on the red carpet. That was 2005 - 16 years ago!

I pretty much watch it daily. It's shown on TV endlessly and my partner likes it. I've probably seen every episode multiple times. Sure, it makes me laugh sometimes but it's still charmless, artless, empty shite.

[JaDanketies]

I pretty much watch it daily. It's shown on TV endlessly and my partner likes it. I've probably seen every episode multiple times. Sure, it makes me laugh sometimes but it's still charmless, artless, empty shite.

I think where Family Guy really falls down is that it's nasty. It doesn't have a warm heart. I might be more forgiving if it was still warm and cosy, but it instead feels soulless. And I guess all those 'fuck the viewer' jokes, like playing music videos in their entirety, helped to kill any underlying sympathy.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I guess all those 'fuck the viewer' jokes, like playing music videos in their entirety, helped to kill any underlying sympathy.

Don't forget the scenes where they play voice-over for two minutes over a static image.

Any animated family sitcom that stays on the air long enough eventually degrades. The characters never have to age, so at some point you run out of stories you can do with child characters and have to resort to nonsense like Bart being awarded a driving licence for saving the city and then running away with Jimbo's pregnant girlfriend. There's no natural end to the show like there is with live action family sitcoms (i.e. the kids growing up and moving out), so you end up with seasons and seasons of episodes that are at best forgettable and at worst demented character-breaking shite. I still catch Family Guy and American Dad but fucked if I can remember any stand-out episodes of the last five years from either show.

[sutin]

It's unearned nastiness too. Seinfeld has no warmth but it was one of the funniest shows in TV history. Family Guy is lazy *and* nasty.

[sutin]

There is some really, really good animation in that show, so disagree there.

Not saying it's technically bad, it's just all smooth and digitally processed.

[JamesTC]

Season 20 - Episode 12 - No Loan Again, Naturally

The HDTV fell off the wall at the end of the opening. FUCK OFF.

Homer is preparing the house for a Mardi Gras party. Marge tells Homer to invite Flanders. Lenny asks Homer how he affords the party every year and he reveals he has a home equity loan which he doesn't understand. Marge receives a letter from the mortgage company, so they visit the broker (Gil) who forecloses their house. Homer tries to hand himself in a noose with hilarious consequences. At an auction for the house, Flanders sees the Simpsons walk away sadly, so he buys their house and tells them they can rent the house and pay him back when they can which is the plot of the episode.

As their landlord, Flanders agrees to fix problems around the house. Marge is selfish in asking Flanders to do more. Homer is angry at Flanders for not fixing something so Moe tells him to get back at him. Kent Brockman does a piece on Flanders being a bad landlord. Flanders tells the Simpsons that they need to leave at the end of the month. Homer dresses up as Jesus to try to convince Flanders to continue to let them stay. Homer then realises that having an over-75 at the house means they cannot be thrown out so invites Grandpa to the house. Flanders convinces Grandpa to move him with him and the Simpsons are homeless.

Flanders welcomes new tenants to the house, but Flanders feels bad so lets the family return. Credits roll.

4/10 - I feel like this is an episode with a few jokes that landed well elevated it somewhat.