The Simpsons

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Simpsons

#776 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:14 pm

I really like "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and that strikes me as just as good a finale in a different way. Beyond that minor quibble, I agree with you entirely.

Taking a glance at the episode lists, there's nothing I would particularly mind losing, even ones that placed unusually high in our list project like "HOMR," which is just dreadful; or ones I personally have a soft spot for like "Lisa the Skeptic," which probably aren't as good as I remember them being.

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Re: The Simpsons

#777 Post by swo17 » Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:22 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:14 pm
I really like "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and that strikes me as just as good a finale in a different way.
I would allow that.

I would miss The Cartridge Family though notably that was a Swartzwelder ep originally intended for Season 7 or 8.

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Re: The Simpsons

#778 Post by bearcuborg » Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:13 pm

I always felt “Bart’s Comet” should have been saved for the series finale. I remember being somewhat teary eyed at the end.

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Re: The Simpsons

#779 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:23 pm

The first half of Brawl in the Family felt like a series finale, with closure and self-awareness and a focus on the primary family dynamics of the Simpson clan. Then the second half with the garbage about Ned's wife from Vegas kicks in and you truly wish that had been the series finale. What a perfect encapsulation of how much the series sucked at this point that back half is!

Oh, and Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase and Behind the Laughter are two of the all time worst Simpson episodes, are you guys kidding me with these hot takes

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Re: The Simpsons

#780 Post by swo17 » Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:30 pm

I don't actually remember SS-OS all that well outside of the concept, which would have been a good frivolous note to go out on after the acidic Frank Grimes ep. In theory.

I do, however, distinctly recall Brawl in the Family being a lowpoint of my life.

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Re: The Simpsons

#781 Post by soundchaser » Mon Jul 09, 2018 6:59 pm

2/3rds of the Spin-Off Showcase are among the best bits The Simpsons have ever done. The variety hour segment doesn't quite hit the mark, unfortunately.

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Re: The Simpsons

#782 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:19 am

I will kill for the Lovematic Grandpa

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Re: The Simpsons

#783 Post by dustybooks » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:38 am

I love the Smile-Time Variety Hour, to me it's a note-perfect satire of a whole genre of awful TV that now plays as super eccentric because nobody has any reason to remember the stuff it's making fun of (thank god). But my parents watched endless reruns of the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and such so I felt... vindicated by the segment, and I enjoy that there's essentially no break in its irony.

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Re: The Simpsons

#784 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:42 am

I feel like you all are gaslighting me

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Re: The Simpsons

#785 Post by swo17 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:55 pm

dustybooks wrote:
Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:38 am
the Smile-Time Variety Hour
I just rewatched this and was disappointed to see it didn't end with all of their skin inside out

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Re: The Simpsons

#786 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:09 pm

The difference between "Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and "Behind the Laughter" in my view is that the jokes in the former mostly all land, and the writing, though certainly at the end of its dominance, was still mostly strong. There's also sort of an outdated, timeless quality to lampooning spin-off TV shows (without being too specifically referential) that lampooning a specific VH1 documentary format that went by the wayside very soon thereafter did not have at all. One of the greatest fractures in the excellent formula of The Simpsons once the Scully era was off and running were how many swings and misses were taken on referencing current popular culture of that era as if it would have the staying power of something like the football-on-TV glimpses in "Lisa the Greek" and "Homer the Heretic," or the tabloid newsmagazine stuff in "Homer Bad Man." The tone of those earlier efforts is (even if accidentally in some cases!) timeless, and has a carefully curated feel to it.

Beginning with Season 9 almost immediately, choices are made that feel carelessly of-the-moment, and before long there are Kid Rock and N-SYNC guest-starring appearances and shoehorned gags about television formats that would never even have a lasting foothold, and just such a chintzy "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach to this kind of thing that would go on to be done better (at least for a couple of years, even if it's not my cup of tea) in Family Guy, eliminating the need for even this lousy version The Simpsons entirely. Not to mention the fact that Futurama managed to really deftly strike a similar tone to early Simpsons, by taking care with the sorts of pop culture references it engaged with instead of trying to be some zeitgeist soup of guest stars and topical gags. It's a fine line, for sure, and I'm not sure who ultimately deserves the most credit for it, but it's absolutely one of the biggest problems with the 'zombie Simpsons' formula.

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Re: The Simpsons

#787 Post by Robin Davies » Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:49 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:23 pm
Oh, and Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase and Behind the Laughter are two of the all time worst Simpson episodes, are you guys kidding me with these hot takes
Behind the Laughter is undoubtedly one of the very best Simpsons episodes.
But given that you don't like Curse of the Cat People, Images or anything by Jesus Franco it just confirms that we have very different tastes!

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Re: The Simpsons

#788 Post by mfunk9786 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:28 pm

I doubt it.

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Re: The Simpsons

#789 Post by Orlac » Wed Jul 11, 2018 12:33 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:09 pm
The difference between "Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" and "Behind the Laughter" in my view is that the jokes in the former mostly all land, and the writing, though certainly at the end of its dominance, was still mostly strong. There's also sort of an outdated, timeless quality to lampooning spin-off TV shows (without being too specifically referential) that lampooning a specific VH1 documentary format that went by the wayside very soon thereafter did not have at all. One of the greatest fractures in the excellent formula of The Simpsons once the Scully era was off and running were how many swings and misses were taken on referencing current popular culture of that era as if it would have the staying power of something like the football-on-TV glimpses in "Lisa the Greek" and "Homer the Heretic," or the tabloid newsmagazine stuff in "Homer Bad Man." The tone of those earlier efforts is (even if accidentally in some cases!) timeless, and has a carefully curated feel to it.

Beginning with Season 9 almost immediately, choices are made that feel carelessly of-the-moment, and before long there are Kid Rock and N-SYNC guest-starring appearances and shoehorned gags about television formats that would never even have a lasting foothold, and just such a chintzy "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" approach to this kind of thing that would go on to be done better (at least for a couple of years, even if it's not my cup of tea) in Family Guy, eliminating the need for even this lousy version The Simpsons entirely. Not to mention the fact that Futurama managed to really deftly strike a similar tone to early Simpsons, by taking care with the sorts of pop culture references it engaged with instead of trying to be some zeitgeist soup of guest stars and topical gags. It's a fine line, for sure, and I'm not sure who ultimately deserves the most credit for it, but it's absolutely one of the biggest problems with the 'zombie Simpsons' formula.
Time has changed the Mel Gibson episode from standard celebrity ass-kissing to hilariously ironic.

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Re: The Simpsons

#790 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:32 pm

True, but it remains not very well written or compelling, but when the tone of an earlier episode shifts with time, often the strong backbone of the writing and performances ensure that it will endure in its altered state.

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Re: The Simpsons

#791 Post by domino harvey » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:40 pm

What?? The Mel Gibson episode is hilarious, easily one of the best guest star-focused eps. Is this thread a prank

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Re: The Simpsons

#792 Post by DarkImbecile » Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:51 pm

If only we had done a list project on this show.

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mfunk9786
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Re: The Simpsons

#793 Post by mfunk9786 » Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:32 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:40 pm
What?? The Mel Gibson episode is hilarious, easily one of the best guest star-focused eps. Is this thread a prank
Not only is it awful, there is not a single good episode in Season 11 outside of "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"

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Re: The Simpsons

#794 Post by knives » Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:21 pm

For some weird reason I misremembered that as featuring Hanks. Good episode though.

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Re: The Simpsons

#795 Post by PfR73 » Wed Jul 11, 2018 4:51 pm

mfunk9786 wrote:
Wed Jul 11, 2018 3:32 pm
domino harvey wrote:
Wed Jul 11, 2018 2:40 pm
What?? The Mel Gibson episode is hilarious, easily one of the best guest star-focused eps. Is this thread a prank
Not only is it awful, there is not a single good episode in Season 11 outside of "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"
Image

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Re: The Simpsons

#796 Post by Orlac » Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:48 am

I didn't really go off the Simpsons until Season 12, probably because in the UK we didn't see post Season 8 until we got Sky in 2002, and suddenly noticed the drop in quality. I still don't get why people hate the Skinner imposter episode so much!

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Re: The Simpsons

#797 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:56 am

The thing about the Skinner episode that amuses me is that somewhere in a previous episode he says that "Mother insists that I retroactively pay her for all the meals I ate as a child". Which of course then got revealed as having never happened!

But compared to other series which throw character continuity out of the window even harder (Brian in Family Guy's back story, etc) to suit a joke, I felt that one worked!

Its always seemed that the Simpsons staff seemed more hung up on the issue than even fans were. After all they went back to the same premise with the death and replacement of Snowball II in Season 15, as well as Fat Tony dying and getting replaced by his cousin Fit Tony, who fattens up into the standard model at the end of his Season 22 episode!
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: The Simpsons

#798 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:59 am

colinr0380 wrote:
Thu Jul 12, 2018 11:56 am
somewhere in a previous episode he says that "Mother insists that I retroactively pay her for all the meals I ate as a child".
Lisa's Date with Density!

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Re: The Simpsons

#799 Post by colinr0380 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:23 pm

By the way, I like the Mel Gibson episode as well: the ultraviolent Mr Smith Goes To Washington remake especially but also for the moment in the chase sequence after that when Homer and Gibson burst in their getaway golf cart in a very gynaecological fashion through the "She's Having A Baby...Again!" poster, which proves that Hollywood have not hit bottom yet in sequelising that almost forgotten John Hughes film! (Though Steve Martin did his part in the following years with Father Of The Bride Part II and the two Cheaper By The Dozen films)
Last edited by colinr0380 on Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Simpsons

#800 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:26 pm

Fun fact: in syndication they cut out all the violence from the Mr Smith parody, making the rest of the episode incoherent because you couldn't tell what the outrage was about

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