The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

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domino harvey
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#351 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 27, 2016 12:35 pm

I was and am shocked at "Rosebud"'s high placement, but I may be carrying residual resentment for watching this episode with my Simpsons-skeptic father when it first aired. If you'll recall, the one-two punch of the Ramones' song and Homer wagging his bare butt did not make for a great impression and I think it wasn't until syndication that I ever saw the last two acts!

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dustybooks
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#352 Post by dustybooks » Tue Sep 27, 2016 12:51 pm

I bet there are some great stories here about converting (or not converting) parents to The Simpsons. My mom, who's normally pretty open-minded, was especially leery of the show; she later admitted it was because of "their hair." But I remember casually bringing it up once after I started watching and she shot me down pretty strongly over what she'd presumably read somewhere was the show's gratuitous vulgarity. I chose "Bart the General," which is so atypically sweet and innocent, to reel her in; both my parents eventually tuned in with me regularly, though we only had a few years before the sharp decline really began.

My favorite story like this is a kid who rode my bus who always talked about how much he disliked The Simpsons because it didn't make any "sense"; this was strange to a lot of us so, pressed for details, he confessed that his strongly religious parents had forbidden him to watch it for years. When he expressed interest repeatedly, they taped the episode with Spinal Tap and used two VCRs to edit out every part they considered objectionable. VCRs weren't great at small edits in the best of circumstances, presumably less so with inexperienced fortysomethings behind the wheel, so evidently the show came to him as a Page of Madness-like succession of random imagery, and their goal of keeping him disinterested was met.

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swo17
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#353 Post by swo17 » Tue Sep 27, 2016 1:17 pm

I can't remember any specific episodes that converted my parents but I think it boiled down to they had heard it was bad but then they realized it was funny.

And you know, the show is irreverent, but it's also highly moral.

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Ribs
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#354 Post by Ribs » Tue Sep 27, 2016 1:52 pm

Yeah, that's the weird thing about especially like Season 2 - as Seth MacFarlane has credited it, he gets in way less trouble for far, far worse stuff when the Simpsons would usually be regularly decried for just having Bart talk back to his parents, even though they regularly and cleverly brought in actual theological or moral ideas to a mass audience. It's loss of its moral backbone is part of why it probably fell apart after a decade or so (or perhaps it's just Al Jean's lack of a moral backbone? I'm obsessed with the possibility that if he leaves the show it would suddenly be great again).

That said, I first watched the show through my dad's VHS recordings of Season 3-4 episodes from first transmission (namely Flaming Moe's, Homer's Triple Bypass, So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show, and Krusty Gets Kancelled) so it's been a part of my cultural upbringing (I have similar fond memories of Star Trek TOS' Mudd's Women)

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swo17
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#355 Post by swo17 » Tue Sep 27, 2016 2:03 pm

Ribs wrote:It's loss of its moral backbone is part of why it probably fell apart after a decade or so (or perhaps it's just Al Jean's lack of a moral backbone? I'm obsessed with the possibility that if he leaves the show it would suddenly be great again).
And yet the Jean & Reiss run was the clear forum favorite. I was surprised by this. I would have bet money on Mirkin taking it, but it wasn't even all that close.

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barryconvex
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#356 Post by barryconvex » Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:49 pm

And my love for Rosebud has nothing to do with its allusions to Citizen Kane--it's just a really sharp and funny episode.

"Have the Rolling Stones killed."
"Mmm...64 slices of American cheese."
"I wonder what makes it turn." "Who cares?"
Totally agree. Zero percent body fat on this one, every gag lands, and the CK references are just the icing on the cake.

"Does either of you know what incontinent means?"
"Oooh, a head bag. Those are chock full of...heady goodness."

Once, after watching this episode at around 2am after a long night of drinking, i had such a yen that i called the Korean deli downstairs from my old apartment and ordered, yes, 64 slices of cheese. A few minutes later they brought up eight 8 packs of Kraft singles totaling $56.

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domino harvey
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#357 Post by domino harvey » Tue Sep 27, 2016 11:59 pm

dustybooks wrote:I bet there are some great stories here about converting (or not converting) parents to The Simpsons. [...]

My favorite story like this is a kid who rode my bus who always talked about how much he disliked The Simpsons because it didn't make any "sense"; this was strange to a lot of us so, pressed for details, he confessed that his strongly religious parents had forbidden him to watch it for years. When he expressed interest repeatedly, they taped the episode with Spinal Tap and used two VCRs to edit out every part they considered objectionable. VCRs weren't great at small edits in the best of circumstances, presumably less so with inexperienced fortysomethings behind the wheel, so evidently the show came to him as a Page of Madness-like succession of random imagery, and their goal of keeping him disinterested was met.
I don't really have any more Simpsons stories (other than my mom seeing the last couple minutes of the Boy Scouts episode and getting mad at me laughing at the Jason ending), but your second part does put me in mind of how in elementary school I used to tape Ren and Stimpy for a classmate who wasn't allowed to watch it. I wish I could say I did it out of the goodness of my heart, but he definitely paid me. Gotta get that $$$$$

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Lemmy Caution
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But ice cream cake ...

#358 Post by Lemmy Caution » Sat Oct 01, 2016 2:51 am


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domino harvey
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#359 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jun 13, 2018 8:28 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Tue Apr 19, 2016 2:53 pm
Wow, I... don't like any of those episodes! The last three of those four listed are probably the worst of the season for me.
Okay, let me correct this, as I forgot the Cartridge Family has the incredible "Arriaga, Arriaga II, Barriaga" line. I just rewatched the opening on YouTube and laughed til I cried. So the opener is at least on point. My apologies, swo, nine years after this was posted

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therewillbeblus
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#360 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Sep 20, 2020 1:31 am

Going through the show again for the nth time, I find myself mostly in agreement with the seasons 3-7 ep picks found here, though one puzzling omission is The Springfield Files which didn't even wind up on the orphans list. Revisiting it tonight, there are definitely some jokes that fall painfully flat, but there are also enough inspired gags coming from wildly different directions that more than make up for the faults. I may find Moe's whale smuggling funnier than most, but the lie-detector explosion's abrupt gag-crush, dramatic mood-shifting drunk come-on, and especially the reveal of the symphony orchestra on the bus playing Bernard Herrmann, are all clever in their own ways.

Last Exit to Springfield may be the best episode (and Homer the Heretic, Homer Badman, And Maggie Makes Three, Treehouse of Horror IV, and many more) but Homer's Enemy only gets darker and darker with age (I mean, it never wasn't unsettlingly dark even as a kid) and it may just be the best and boldest thematic trick the show ever did. It's a relentless juggling of validated disgust at unfairness and American apathy from Grimes' position, yet also a shameless acknowledgement that those who rigidly get caught up on such unfairness are doomed in this world. Laughing it off seems to be the answer in the end, but the universal ease toward acceptance and disregard for a life by all is almost too irreverent even for this show. I love it. Plus you add in Bart's warehouse as a boy's literal dream, and it's gunning for that number one slot.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: The Simpsons List Discussion and Suggestions

#361 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Sep 20, 2020 11:00 pm

I decided to grab seasons 9-11 recently after recycling through the first eight for years, just to see what gems if any existed there. Making my way backwards from season 11 has been pretty disheartening overall (though Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? and E-I-E-I still hold up quite well) but there are still some classic moments I had mistakenly thought were from earlier seasons. Of course the "Not Lenny!" mourning is great, but arguably the best Lenny gag had me laughing like the first time as a kid, probably all the more for being a rare laugh at this point in the series

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