The Simpsons

I'm sure this was parodying something, I just didn't get what it was.

This is Kelsey Grammer's best Sideshow Bob performance in years. Mostly because he was finally given great lines again.

Him and Mel meeting and suggesting going to lunch with Krusty was brilliant.

The whole time share thing was the show at its cynical worst. It's been like this for over 30 years. Hey, Simpsons! Not everything is terrible! Lighten up!

As much as Sideshow Bob defines rakes, so does Homer define disappearing into shrubbery. I kind of love the show treating it like a superpower.

We don't see Kent Brockman much anymore, but the show has been on the air since 1990, and basically every Kent Brockman appearance boils down to the character taking TINY amount of time to get me to greatly dislike him. Like he always says something media-shitty RIGHT off the bat. Every damn time. It's his brand. Kent Brockman was Fox News before Fox had a news department.

I bet every person of a certain generation recognized Kent from their local anchor. For me I was like "This asshole is Jack Williams from WBZ Boston." Williams even had a thing going called "Wednesday's Child" in the 1980's, which was the exact same shtick as "Kent's People", only with sick children. I bet if every single fan asks which local anchor Kent is based on, the producers will probably say, "All of them."

I feel like every time the show explores scams and the people they hurt, it fails. Futurama too. Because the joke is on the scammed people. And damn it, that's not actual comedy. The Simpsons would do a lot better (as would Futurama) if it learned to stop fucking punching down! They are right time shares are shitty and a scam. And they still can't help trying to make us laugh at the family's suffering anyways. Stupid TV! Be more funny!

Mixed bag this week. But Sideshows Bob and Mel are friends! 2 1/2.

I am VERY glad Sideshow Bob had a great appearance on The Simpsons this week. If this had been Kelsey Grammer's one appearance this season, it would have been a tragedy.

The Simpsons used to be underground. It was in your face and subversive Now it's totally sold out. You can tell me it's Disney's fault, but Al Jean and the producers have done the show long enough to have clout. If they had put their foot down and said "No, this will hurt the brand," Disney probably would have backed off.

What this tells me is that Jean doesn't actually UNDERSTAND this hurts the brand. He actually thinks this is funny.

Yeah, so, there really is NO excuse for selling out other than, Al Jean doesn't understand comedy anymore. 0 stars.

So apparently 2024 Simpsons is better and more literate than 2024 Futurama. I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

For these kinds of episodes I ALWAYS take shots at the dumb reasons it turns out Lisa Is Not Allowed Nice Things. Evil criminal mastermind / fraud Tracy Lets, however is a pretty damn good angle. I'll allow it.

I love Chalmers loving being referred to as a balding stallion. Two ladies on lockdown? He kind of is.

Kool-Aid Jesus is a cunning and PG rated parody of Piss Christ. I don't think Piss Christ is made fun of enough in popular culture. It sucks.

I also loved the Truman Capote bits. I know little of the guy other than he was always good for a memorable quote.

The Simpsons is kicking your ass, Futurama. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. 4 1/2 stars.

Well, the episode has a ton of selling points. No denying that.

But negative continuity still doesn't work for me. 1982? Just... No. The show needs to stop setting stuff in specific years. And if Homer can never get fired due to a deal Burns had with Grandpa, that would have come up earlier. Also, Homer has actually been fired. A lot.

My favorite bit was after Grandpa is told he's a person of interest, Bart is amazed that he's finally interesting. He asks if they can hang out but Grandpa gruffly says he isn't talking. Bart loves that idea. This just gets better and better.

I also love that the doctor's note Wiggum had against running was written by Dr. Nick to get out of jail. The show has still got it when it comes to freeze frame gags.

Brief cameo from Smithers' not dead yet father so not ENITRELY negative continuity. Also didn't miss the crayon that fell out of Homer's nose as a kid.

Lot of clever jokes in this one. But for some reason the negative continuity is bugging me more than usual. 3 1/2 stars.

Opening

Wonderful Day Of The Dead homage. Love the crazy animation style. 5 stars.

The Information Rage

Not exactly subtle, is it?

Tox News was all right though. As was the return of the Gay Steel Mill ("Oh, be nice!").

But there is a reason people think The Simpsons oversimplifies their political episodes. Because they do. 3 stars.

The Fall Of The House Of Monty

Usually Treehouse Of Horror has one short in it that is legit scary. That's this one.

The Black Friday thing was pretty good. Maybe the political jokes on the show aren't hopeless if the entire episode isn't about them.

Also loved seeing the return of embiggen. It's a perfectly cromulent word.

Good jump scares in this one. Moe with the Skeletons hands coming out of his eyes was seriously freaky. 4 stars.

Denim

Halfway through I was like, "Oh, it's a Venom parody!"

The live-action jeans were a neat look for sure.

I love the "Spit-takes Anonymous" bit. "No, no. no!"

I thought it was great. 5 stars.

Episode Overall: 4 stars.

I love the female centric main titles. Bonus points for the Chalkboard Gag not being about the election.

Lisa's Narnia thing is weird.

While I enjoyed Homer's humiliation I didn't get the logic of the musical number or know what it was spoofing.

Bart's teacher used Lisa as a ringer! Nice!

Nelson's stuff was sad and not funny.

Luanne's intervention had some good jokes, but the idea is kind of dumb.

Lunchlady Dora is a pure monster. Actually, Agnes has problems too.

I feel like the Malibu Stacy thing could have been its own episode.

Okay Helen Lovejoy has the hots for Moe (!!!!), detests Tim's trains, and wants to punch Ned Flanders. I get the second two things, but I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around the first.

After seeing all those cigarettes, I was like, "So where's the crisis?" And I was like, "Oh. It's that they're horrible. That's the crisis."

The roleplaying scene was a little too arch for this specific show. It's fourth wall-bending rather than breaking, but it's still a little too broad.

Mama-At-Law doesn't work because we don't know who that character is.

For the record, Family Guy couldn't do this. There simply aren't enough female characters there.

Normally I like the show trying new things, but to be blunt, this episode probably should have happened 20 years ago already. Only partial credit. 4 stars.

Eh. The only Bradbury story here I've read was Something Wicked This Way Comes.

The first two segments were forgettable but I think the last was TOO cynical. Also the Stewie Griffin knob joke was mean and back to Al Jean slamming Family Guy for no reason. Calling The Big Bang Theory low-brow is also unfair.

Didn't care for this. 1 1/2 stars.

My major thought is that the ending was soft. And ALL Simpsons endings are soft. I guess that bothers me in an episode that is otherwise on-point. The nightmare Homer was going through with Maggie on the plane was legit tense and they basically showcased the worst behavior you can do in an enclosed space. And Krusty repeatedly licking the booze off the back of Drederick Tatum's head was the first time in a LONG time the show genuinely made me laugh.

Bart's stuff with the flight attendant would be better if I actually ever liked or sympathized with Bart. Because I literally hate every inch of that character I was not on his side. I needed to be for that bit to work.

I feel like all the pieces for a great episode were present. They just weren't all properly assembled. 3 stars.

Normally I would be disgusted at the show attempting this specific episode. Because the Status Quo must be gotten back to at the end, so it's pointless.

But the episode is clever enough to suggest the Status Quo never actually changed and everyone was deluding themselves that things between Homer and Marge's sister were actually fine.

Make no mistake: Marge deserves SOME blame for this for not letting them work things out. But there is a difference in being able to get along and being friends. And maybe if Marge wasn't always running interference they could have at least behaved with each other during family get-togethers. But Sadie acting like Marge was getting in the way of them "being friends" is just ridiculous.

I'll give the episode an additional notable compliment because it's rare it's one I extend to the show. The ending was good. The Simpsons almost NEVER sticks the landing, even during great episodes, so the fact that this one did was noticeable and appreciated. Although the end credits tag didn't add anything to it.

The Problem Isn't returning to The Status Quo. The Problem Is previous episodes tried to pretend the Status Quo had changed when it never does. 4 stars.

This kicked the ass out of Family Guy's Disney+ Christmas Special. The Family Guy "Specials" are essentially regular episodes. Aside from this being two parts long, it feels like a Christmas Special. It's the best Simpsons Christmas episode since the first (the series premiere). To tie into that it even ends on a card saying "Merry Christmas From The Simpsons". The blue bow wrapping for Maggie was perfect.

I am going to give it five stars. That is a bit generous because it's not perfect. Frankly, it feels a bit TOO long and thin. But I liked the various heartwarming elements. I feel like Ned losing his faith because he lost two wives is good for the character. You can criticize the show for giving it back to him to hit the Total Reset Button at the end, but I like that that was partly just a scam to make him feel better. Except for the yoke, which wasn't part of Derren's plan. And before he can ask the crew where it came (there is probably a plausible explanation after all) Marge tells him not to and to accept it as a miracle.

And that's what faith was for me. Accepting things I couldn't explain by refusing to look further into them. And sometimes that's enough.

Homer's ending with Ralph was beyond sweet. I love that this soft-headed kid is stuck on a four-piece puzzle a baby "fixed" for him.

The joke of the heart growing three sizes bit causing a heart attack was previously done on Family Guy. I know you HATE Family Guy, Al Jean, but I'd keep up with it if I were you. That way you won't do jokes like that and people won't be thinking you ripped them off.

I wish more of the show was consistently like this. But the fact that it OCCASIONALLY is is a big step up from The Wilderness Years. We don't get nice things every week like we did during The Golden Years. But we get them SOMETIMES. I'll take it. 5 stars.

Suggestion: Al Jean shouldn't write any more episodes. He's no good at it anymore.

The Portuguese team member was SUCH a racist idea, especially to make him the dead guy, that they had to buy it back at the end. But that doesn't stop the intention from being racist. Hell, Tress MacNeille voiced both his Portuguese WIFE and the Asian camerawoman. I don't think MacNeille ever got enough shit for that. If Hank Azaria is a monster for his ethnic voices then she is too.

Random Glenn Close appearance because the episode is a fucking mess.

Let's not do this again. It's like they decided to do the Pin Pals without Apu but Al Jean can't stop being a racist piece of shit anyways. 1 1/2 stars.

Good enough.

Oh! The French dudes from Season One are in the tag! Man, those designs look bizarre in 2024.

The Robin Hood stuff being Disney was totally unnecessary.

Loved Homer, Marge, and Smithers in the group hug. It suggests Wayland has really grown fond of the Simpsons. And hell, Mr. Burns has grown fond of Wayland too. And his wife.

The reason for Mr. Burns covering up the fraud was good and subversive. And from an evil, greedy viewpoint, actually rational.

"Cover It Up" is NOT a good song. Where are Ken Keeler and Alf Clausen when you need them?

I love Marge telling Homer to promise to take care of the kids and him sadly saying, "Oh, honey. You know I can't make that promise." The best part of the joke is Marge isn't annoyed. She just recognizes the truth and reality of the statement. That's funny.

All Moe knows about the chemistry of wine is it's the red one, right?

I was reasonably satisfied with that. But they need to bring back Alf Clausen and the orchestra. 3 1/2 stars.