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May 23, 2012

The Simpsons: We're On The Road To D'Ohwhere

by Ryan j Budke, posted Jan 30th 2006 3:54PM

simpsons; star wars; bart; homerI love Futurama; I think it was one of the most under-rated shows that aired. It was The Simpsons with even more heart. The one downside to it is that most die-hard Simpsons fans believe it's also one of the biggest contributors to the original yellow family's decline in quality, since Matt Groening split his time between the two. Since Futurama's untimely death though, The Simpsons has been on a tremendous climb back up. This year in particular has been magnificent. They've been rehashing old plots, but honestly, after 17 years, it's gonna be hard not to, yet they've been doing it with new spins and a wonderful new look at things. So, with the recent revelation that Futurama is coming back, my one concern is that The Simpsons will lose something again, but let's hope not.

Bart finally takes things too far at Springfield Elementary by busting into the steam room and ruining the entire school with some super-heated water. Skinner, Homer and Marge decide that maybe a new (military) school may be a better fit for Bart and his special "needs". Homer has to delay his trip to Las Vegas with Lenny so that he can take Bart to the academy, and is none too happy about yet another inconvenience because of his offspring. After making a couple of attempts to escape, Bart gets caught by Homer, and he drops him back off. Back at home, Marge has decided to have a yard sale to clear away all of the boys' useless garbage. One of her biggest sellers is all of Homer's former medication. A sale that gets her thrown in jail. After some soul-searching, Homer realizes how much he already misses Bart. You gotta admit, he at least makes life interesting. Homer halts his trip to Las Vegas, turns the car around (and around and around around) before finally heading straight to Vegas Bart's rescue. The episode ends with an ominous message from Homer that he and Bart had gotten into a little mischief in Vegas.

Again, great episode. I love how we finally get to see Bart and Homer "enjoy" each other a little bit more. They always work much better as a team, and this episode was no exception. Although the Marge storyline wasn't the greatest, it did have one of the funniest pay-offs this year. At the very end, when Lisa walks in and listens to the messages on the machine and realizes both of her parents are incarcerated and/or out of state, she calmly tells Maggie that she knew it would come to this, and that she'll start looking for a job in the morning. She's been featured prominently in only a couple of episodes this year, but Lisa has stolen the show on more than one occasion. Good writing. Let me know what you think.

Couch Gag of the Week:
A Bonanza ripoff, complete with a burning map of Springfield and the family riding up on horses.

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Bec

The Simpsons are cool. My fave is Lisa :) I found this article:

http://www.kangarootv.com/2006/02/03/the-simpsons/

February 05 2006 at 6:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jason Anderson

I liked it as well. But I'm sorry, if I had to choose between The Simpsons getting much better and going on for 5+ more years or Futurama coming back, I'd choose Futurama. Because it's about time The Simpsons finally bows out. I mean come on. Let Matt put his creativity into a new (Old) franchise. Replace the show with Futurama. 18 years is enough! Mr. Groening, let's put it to bed.

February 04 2006 at 7:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mack Swift

I cracked up during this episode; it definetly harkened back to the old days of the Simpsons, and Homer's in true idiot form in this episode.

"How about I just shove the whole pig down your throat?"

"Stupid horse! It's a deer crossing!"

February 02 2006 at 2:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Elliott

Twice in this episode they did the this-joke-is-funny-because-it's-going-on-for-so-long bit. First Ned's endless singing and then Bart's lowering / raising of the car perched on a cliff. It felt too forced. Overall, I've always loved the show, but this episode doesn't crack the 50th percentile, which is a statement to how many great episodes there are. Hubris indeed.

January 31 2006 at 9:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
beanspants1

i thought it was a pretty good episode. homer's diatribes, 'eating melon for breakfast,' and all were pretty funny.

After Homer did the "i'm 38 with a crappy car and one snickers pie from losing my foot to diabetes," and then pulled into the diner parking lot, i think i noticed that all the other cars in the diner parking lot were the same model as homer's...

simpsons go to africa is their best ever episode though. "i want to ride in a convertible with 2 happy zebras and shoot a lion in the face."

January 30 2006 at 7:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brent

I agree with everything you said Josh. Right on.
Plus it did seem like an old episode because it was basically copying an old plot. If people think that is creativity at its finest, you have low standards.

January 30 2006 at 7:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Josh

I was an enormous fan of the show through season 10, and watched as Homer became a loveable idiot (seasons 1-7) to an obnoxious jackass with no heart (seasons 11-17) The show became more spontaneous as if competing with Family Guy, Homer would practically state pop culture references as zingers instead of the writers being more creative with the jokes. Nothing is worse when a satirical cartoon has to use one liners to deliver the point of its source joke material. (By the way, almost every Stewie pop culture zinger like this also makes me cringe) Too bad, since the foundation for the show, even with terrible plots still could have been funnier with writers who stuck to the original formula.

And I disagree that Futurama had more heart than the Simpsons. The early years of the Simpsons often had slick morality lessons and sugar coated endings that generated moments of warmth to a dysfunctional family.

January 30 2006 at 5:43 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tenken

The show does seem to be finding it's stride (again), but I can't help but mourne for the loss of what it once was. It is nice that I can actually sit through an episode now without cringing ;P

January 30 2006 at 4:24 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tucker

I have to say, I've largely ignored The Simpsons lately. The show had just been getting worse and worse to the point where it essentially dropped completely off my TV viewing save for countless reruns. Last night, though, I caught it and really found myself enjoying it. It reminded me of an old episode. There were good plotlines running through the entire episode, which was one of my major gripes about the newer seasons. And the end was one of the best I've seen in a while. Perfect delivery of "I'll start looking for work in the morning." Classic.

But in all honesty, if Futurama coming back meant the end of Simpsons, I don't think I'd be too upset. I was only a casual fan when it came out, but I've come to absolutely love it in its spot on Adult Swim.

January 30 2006 at 4:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
R-Bro

I can't agree. This episode was just as forced and unfunny as most of the last several years. It's just sad that Fox will drag this show on so far past its prime while axing genius work like Arrested Development.

January 30 2006 at 4:06 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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