This is the first episode that I watched while writing this blog that felt like classic Simpsons. There is just so much going on in the episode, so many layered jokes, and the plot hardly focused on the family. The entire time I was watching it, I had a huge grin on my face. If you've been reading these reviews, but not rewatching the episodes, I highly recommend you go back and watch this one.
The first thing to note in this episode is that it is the first of the series to have a big name guest star: Kelsey Grammer. Cheers was arguably the biggest show of the 80s and getting one of the stars to voice act on a bizarre, controversial animated program on a different network must have taken quite some effort. Grammer does an outstanding job as Sideshow Bob, and it surely encouraged the writers to look for more guest stars. Ironically, I think one of the main causes of the downfall of The Simpsons is the overuse of guest stars. By now, being on the show is almost like hosting Saturday Night Live. It seems like something every moderately popular figure in pop culture does, just to check it off their bucket list. However, even if the show relies to heavily on guest stars, the writers at least know when they have hit gold. Sideshow Bob may be one of the best reoccurring characters on the show.
I love Sideshow Bob so much because he is so intellectual and passionate about entertainment, but is completely disrespected for no reason. One of my favorite scenes in the episode is when Bob is reading a chapter from The Man in the Iron Mask. The audience looks shocked, confused, disturbed, and thoroughly entertained. Having a section title Choices, where he discusses preadolescence turmoils is also hysterical. He's a great counterpart to Krusty. Krusty is crude, a sellout, and hates kids. He relies on gimmicks like catch phrases ("I didn't do it") and slapstick for laughs and yet his audience is fiercely loyal to him. Bart's contemplative appreciation ("Comedy, thy name is Krusty") for
Krusty's ridiculous antics shows that, in Bart's eyes, Krusty can do no
wrong. Don't get me wrong, I love Krusty too, but it is a great piece of commentary about celebrity idolization. Hell, I've even experienced that level of idolization myself - it's the first bit of social commentary by The Simpsons that really rings true to me.
The episode is also fun because it is a pretty good mystery. You know that Krusty isn't going to be the bad guy, but throughout the first two acts, it's pretty difficult to guess who set him up or how the real culprit will get outed. It's the first episode where I felt completely engaged with the entire plot; including the Selma and Patty scenes. The pseudo-Scooby Doo format is a nice change of pace that doesn't feel forced, unlike Bart's recent excursion to France. It also lays the groundwork for outstanding future episodes. Sideshow Bob is a great nemesis for Bart, and its hard to think of an absolutely disastrous Bob episode, even in seasons where the show has lost its magic.
Springfield characters:
Kent Brockman: While Kent Brockman himself hasn't gotten a whole lot of characterization, the writers definitely know what they want out of their news team. The news team is full of personalities that spout off corny jokes and puns in a way too professional manner. They also highlight dumb local news stories over extremely important events elsewhere. My favorite news segment in the series is when the local news is following the assassination of a squirrel that looks like Lincoln. They're great.
In later seasons, the writers try to give Kent Brockman some storylines of his own, and they're generally pretty bad.
Other things I liked:
Once again, Bart's obsession with Krusty is both adorable and hilarious. I love how he defends Krusty by going as far as saying all people with little feet are good-hearted.
I'm surprised that this is the first episode where we see Krusty's show. I know we've gotten an Itchy and Scratchy already, but I don't think it was attached to Krusty. Since the family spends so much of its down time in front of the tv, I would have thought we'd have seen it by now.
One of the first meta jokes of the series. The show acknowledges how strange it is to have an animated show on primetime. These jokes will eventually expand to non-stop jabs at FOX.
It's funny that Krusty's catchphrase in this episode is "I didn't do it." In a later episode, Bart becomes a star on Krusty's show for saying the exact same line. I don't think that was intentional, I think the writers just forgot about this one.
Krusty endorsing pork products is great - we later learn that his family is extremely Jewish.
"Give a hoot; read a book"
In one of the great inconsistencies of the show, we actually see Krusty without his makeup on. In a later episode, it is revealed that Krusty isn't wearing makeup, his face is just white.
I really enjoyed this one and it was a lot more fun to write this review because of that. This only makes me more excited to get to season 3.
8.5/10
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
1x11 - The Crepes of Wrath
"Certain aspects of his culture may seem absurd, perhaps a little offensive." I feel like that quote by Skinner sums up this episode perfectly. I get the sense that this episode is generally well liked by fans of The Simpsons. At the very least, it is pretty well known; out of all the episodes from seasons 1, I remembered the most details from this one. That being said, I really did not like the episode this time through.
As I was watching it, my main complaint was why Bart was being put through such torture. Granted, by the end of the episode, it makes a little more sense: Bart learns to be more appreciative of his family. But did he have to be sent to French hell in order to learn that lesson? In fact, I think it's lazy writing. Of course Bart is going to prefer the Simpsons family over the most despicable characters ever created in the show. If the Frenchmen had some redeeming qualities, but Bart still missed the quirks of his family, it would have added a little more depth to the story. Instead, Bart's takes a heinous punishment for his bad actions, and we hope that he won't be a troublemaker in the future.
The Adil storyline is a much stronger part of the episode. It benefits from the fact that it is extremely surprising - I don't think anyone saw the sweet exchange student being an Albanian operative. It is one of the first episodes of the show where you will pick up on more details after seeing the entire episode. It is suddenly very funny to see the military officer salute Adil as he boards the plane to America. That kind of joke is pretty ahead of its time for 1990. Shows like Arrested Development have since mastered this kind of humor, but they have the benefit of Netflix, DVDs, and internet forums to dissect the episode. A viewer in 1990 would have one shot to catch all these references. I give the writers a lot of credit for putting these jokes in the show. There aren't a lot of them, but it shows that The Simpsons was once again slowly changing the way television was created.
This episode is also the first time we see Springfieldians function in the real world. We now know that France, and the rest of the world, is out there. That opens up a huge number of doors for the writers. In fact, it almost becomes a yearly tradition to send the Simpson family to another country. These episodes are always fairly gimmicky, relying on stereotypes to provide the humor, but they are a nice change of pace. Just like any other group of episodes that rely on a cookie-cutter formula, some episodes hit and some miss (Australia is great; Brazil not so much). But overall, I'm glad that the writers add this formula to their repertoire.
Springfield characters:
Agnes Skinner: Agnes is half crazy old lady and half over protective mother. I think she's a fairly unpopular character, but I like her a lot. Skinner's authority is constantly challenged when she is around, and we begin to understand where his awkward, apprehensive personality comes from. I like Agnes a lot less when she becomes a horny old lady, but that doesn't happen for a while. For right now, she'll remain hilariously clueless ("No mother, it's just the Northern Lights")
Other interesting things (I really need to find a consistent name for this section):
Bart's crime to get deported seemed appropriately large without being way too over the top. It definitely needed to be bigger than graffiti, and you could imagine a student actually using a cherry bomb (although probably not in 2013). I liked it.
I really liked seeing Homer and Skinner work together to get rid of Bart. Normally Homer blindly defends Bart against Skinner, so it was great to see those two actually high-five.
Marge has officially coined the term "special little guy". It's a cute nickname for her son, and shows that she loves him no matter what trouble he gets into. It actually becomes somewhat of a plot point in Marge Be Not Proud, so it is cool to see her saying it this early on.
Bart's trip to the chateau through famous paintings was really clever. This is a good example of the writers relying heavily on stereotypes or famous images in these abroad episodes, but that part was nicely done. In fact, I feel like the animation style in France was noticeably different than that in Springfield. Maybe I was just looking for things to talk about though...
"Furious political thought" as Albania's main export was hilarious.
"We think Maggie may say a word any day now" - Let's give it about 2 seasons and then we might hear something.
As the debut "foreign location episode", it makes sense that the writers struggled in this episode. There just wasn't a lot of worthwhile screentime in France.
3/10
As I was watching it, my main complaint was why Bart was being put through such torture. Granted, by the end of the episode, it makes a little more sense: Bart learns to be more appreciative of his family. But did he have to be sent to French hell in order to learn that lesson? In fact, I think it's lazy writing. Of course Bart is going to prefer the Simpsons family over the most despicable characters ever created in the show. If the Frenchmen had some redeeming qualities, but Bart still missed the quirks of his family, it would have added a little more depth to the story. Instead, Bart's takes a heinous punishment for his bad actions, and we hope that he won't be a troublemaker in the future.
The Adil storyline is a much stronger part of the episode. It benefits from the fact that it is extremely surprising - I don't think anyone saw the sweet exchange student being an Albanian operative. It is one of the first episodes of the show where you will pick up on more details after seeing the entire episode. It is suddenly very funny to see the military officer salute Adil as he boards the plane to America. That kind of joke is pretty ahead of its time for 1990. Shows like Arrested Development have since mastered this kind of humor, but they have the benefit of Netflix, DVDs, and internet forums to dissect the episode. A viewer in 1990 would have one shot to catch all these references. I give the writers a lot of credit for putting these jokes in the show. There aren't a lot of them, but it shows that The Simpsons was once again slowly changing the way television was created.
This episode is also the first time we see Springfieldians function in the real world. We now know that France, and the rest of the world, is out there. That opens up a huge number of doors for the writers. In fact, it almost becomes a yearly tradition to send the Simpson family to another country. These episodes are always fairly gimmicky, relying on stereotypes to provide the humor, but they are a nice change of pace. Just like any other group of episodes that rely on a cookie-cutter formula, some episodes hit and some miss (Australia is great; Brazil not so much). But overall, I'm glad that the writers add this formula to their repertoire.
Springfield characters:
Agnes Skinner: Agnes is half crazy old lady and half over protective mother. I think she's a fairly unpopular character, but I like her a lot. Skinner's authority is constantly challenged when she is around, and we begin to understand where his awkward, apprehensive personality comes from. I like Agnes a lot less when she becomes a horny old lady, but that doesn't happen for a while. For right now, she'll remain hilariously clueless ("No mother, it's just the Northern Lights")
Other interesting things (I really need to find a consistent name for this section):
Bart's crime to get deported seemed appropriately large without being way too over the top. It definitely needed to be bigger than graffiti, and you could imagine a student actually using a cherry bomb (although probably not in 2013). I liked it.
I really liked seeing Homer and Skinner work together to get rid of Bart. Normally Homer blindly defends Bart against Skinner, so it was great to see those two actually high-five.
Marge has officially coined the term "special little guy". It's a cute nickname for her son, and shows that she loves him no matter what trouble he gets into. It actually becomes somewhat of a plot point in Marge Be Not Proud, so it is cool to see her saying it this early on.
Bart's trip to the chateau through famous paintings was really clever. This is a good example of the writers relying heavily on stereotypes or famous images in these abroad episodes, but that part was nicely done. In fact, I feel like the animation style in France was noticeably different than that in Springfield. Maybe I was just looking for things to talk about though...
"Furious political thought" as Albania's main export was hilarious.
"We think Maggie may say a word any day now" - Let's give it about 2 seasons and then we might hear something.
As the debut "foreign location episode", it makes sense that the writers struggled in this episode. There just wasn't a lot of worthwhile screentime in France.
3/10
Monday, August 5, 2013
1x10 - Homer's Night Out
Marge and Homer have marital problems round two. It's a shame that this episode comes right on the heels of Life on the Fast Lane because while I think that it is good, there is no way it can compete with the previous episode. Continuity on The Simpsons is a funny thing. Because I'm writing these reviews, I have been paying attention to continuity more than I ever have before. And honestly, I'm looking at the show with more detail than was intended. In an ideal world, you should be able to look at these episode in a vacuum; it is necessary to understand the characters and their relationships with each other, but their previous actions shouldn't matter. However, it is hard for me to sympathize with either Homer of Marge in this episode because of how they treated each other in the previous one. Marge's fury at Homer seems like a complete overreaction given that she was interested in a suave bowling instructor whose "hips screamed yes yes yes". Similarly, you would think that Homer would be slightly more thoughtful after almost losing his wife. I acknowledge that these criticisms are somewhat unfair, but they are still slight character inconsistencies. (As a side note about continuity, the writers actually call your attention a previous episode with Bart's smashed up piggy bank. They don't often do this, but I thought it was a nice reference)
Another problem with this episode is how dated it is. For the most part, I consider The Simpsons to be fairly timeless. There is the occasional reference that completely flops, but on a large scale, most of the stories could still happen today. This is especially impressive given other shows that were made during the same era. Seinfeld is a particularly brutal example. I would estimate that about 60% of the problems encountered in Seinfeld could be avoided with a cell phone. Up to this point, every episode of The Simpsons could plausibly happen in 2013 (you could make an argument against The Call of the Simpsons, but getting lost in the woods is common enough). This episode is laughably dated; there is no way an entire town would get so obsessed with a random scandalous picture. It broke my immersion, and hurt my enjoyment of the episode more than I expected it would.
This episode does do a good job of giving Marge an interesting reason for her anger. It would have been even more hypocritical if Marge were upset out of pure jealousy (although that's almost certainly part of it). Marge's defense of women further establishes her as a character with a conscious. I was really hoping that this episode would pass the Bechdel Test, but unfortunately I don't think it does. Even so, it's nice to see that The Simpsons is already pushing a little feminism into their stories.
Springfield characters:
Lenny and Carl: Lenny has been in a couple of scenes so far, but never enough to actually get to know him. In this episode, these two could have easily been replaced by some of the bar flies from Moe's, but the catch was that they needed power plant workers. As a result, Lenny and Carl are way hornier than they usually are. Lenny is another one of my favorite secondary characters (I feel like I say this about almost every character I list here). At a certain point in the show, the writers decided it would be hilarious if everyone in Springfield absolutely loved Lenny for no reason. His sudden celebrity is absolutely genius.
Other interesting stuff:
More about continuity: This episode skips ahead 6 months. The show occasionally does this and can get some pretty good jokes out of it. I think it's probably good that they do it so early in the show. It teaches the audience that Bart will always be in 4th grade, Lisa will always be in 2nd, and even though the show will be on the air for 25 years, the characters will never age.
It was nice to start the episode showing more of Marge's love and devotion to Homer regardless of his physical appearance. Again, I'm a complete sucker for this couple, but I think it is especially important to reiterate this again and again in the early years. This way nobody roots for Marge to leave Homer
The speed at which the picture travels around the town shows how big the town is getting already. They're once again able to cut to several characters we know already. The show is ever so slowly becoming about the town
Burns shows a soft side! It's great to see. He's been a complete monster so far, so it is nice to see that even he can get lonely.
Bart's "female man" is a great play on words.
Moe's Tavern's ladies night was hilarious. "The hottest ladies night in months" is one depressed woman drinking at the end of the bar. Fantastic.
I want to like this episode, but there's too much for me to nitpick about. Almost done with season 1!
5/10
Another problem with this episode is how dated it is. For the most part, I consider The Simpsons to be fairly timeless. There is the occasional reference that completely flops, but on a large scale, most of the stories could still happen today. This is especially impressive given other shows that were made during the same era. Seinfeld is a particularly brutal example. I would estimate that about 60% of the problems encountered in Seinfeld could be avoided with a cell phone. Up to this point, every episode of The Simpsons could plausibly happen in 2013 (you could make an argument against The Call of the Simpsons, but getting lost in the woods is common enough). This episode is laughably dated; there is no way an entire town would get so obsessed with a random scandalous picture. It broke my immersion, and hurt my enjoyment of the episode more than I expected it would.
This episode does do a good job of giving Marge an interesting reason for her anger. It would have been even more hypocritical if Marge were upset out of pure jealousy (although that's almost certainly part of it). Marge's defense of women further establishes her as a character with a conscious. I was really hoping that this episode would pass the Bechdel Test, but unfortunately I don't think it does. Even so, it's nice to see that The Simpsons is already pushing a little feminism into their stories.
Springfield characters:
Lenny and Carl: Lenny has been in a couple of scenes so far, but never enough to actually get to know him. In this episode, these two could have easily been replaced by some of the bar flies from Moe's, but the catch was that they needed power plant workers. As a result, Lenny and Carl are way hornier than they usually are. Lenny is another one of my favorite secondary characters (I feel like I say this about almost every character I list here). At a certain point in the show, the writers decided it would be hilarious if everyone in Springfield absolutely loved Lenny for no reason. His sudden celebrity is absolutely genius.
Other interesting stuff:
More about continuity: This episode skips ahead 6 months. The show occasionally does this and can get some pretty good jokes out of it. I think it's probably good that they do it so early in the show. It teaches the audience that Bart will always be in 4th grade, Lisa will always be in 2nd, and even though the show will be on the air for 25 years, the characters will never age.
It was nice to start the episode showing more of Marge's love and devotion to Homer regardless of his physical appearance. Again, I'm a complete sucker for this couple, but I think it is especially important to reiterate this again and again in the early years. This way nobody roots for Marge to leave Homer
The speed at which the picture travels around the town shows how big the town is getting already. They're once again able to cut to several characters we know already. The show is ever so slowly becoming about the town
Burns shows a soft side! It's great to see. He's been a complete monster so far, so it is nice to see that even he can get lonely.
Bart's "female man" is a great play on words.
Moe's Tavern's ladies night was hilarious. "The hottest ladies night in months" is one depressed woman drinking at the end of the bar. Fantastic.
I want to like this episode, but there's too much for me to nitpick about. Almost done with season 1!
5/10
Sunday, August 4, 2013
1x09 - Life on the Fast Lane
This is the first episode of many that focus on Homer and Marge's marital problems. It's a subject that could easily become quickly tiresome, but for the first decade of the show, every one of these episodes is able to provide a very real sense of emotion and weight. Interestingly, most of these episodes focus on Homer's temptation, and we rarely see Marge considering leaving Homer. With very little knowledge of the show, you would guess that Marge would be the one to struggle with the marriage as opposed to Homer. I think this speaks a lot to Marge's character; she is clearly extremely devoted to Homer and very much in love with him. That being said, Marge's temptation in this episode is especially dramatic because we know how much she cares about Homer.
Jacques represents to Marge everything that she has given up because she has chosen to be with Homer. He is rich, suave, confident, and extremely sexual. He constantly flatters her and encourages her, almost to the point of being too forceful. The brief bit of dialogue where he forces her to laugh out loud really stuck with me. He is encouraging her to be open, active, and social; something that she almost never gets while taking care of her kids in the house. This works well because so far in the series, Marge has been so boring. Most of her jokes involve how mundane her life is, and I feel like she often talks to herself without anyone really listening. Jacques is seemingly offering her the opportunity for her to escape all of that, and it is tempting.
The question then becomes why does Marge chose to stay with Homer. And to be honest, this question is the same as why Marge chose Homer in the first place. This is a pretty damn hard question to answer, and I think there are a lot of reasons why Marge stays with Homer. I think the most succinct way of saying it is that Marge loves Homer because of his flaws. There's a wonderful episode in the fifth season (Secrets of a Successful Marriage) that I consider the quintessential Homer and Marge episode. Homer has to once again win Marge back, and he does so by saying he can offer her something nobody else can: complete and utter dependence. We begin to see shades of this idea in this episode. Homer's adorable speech about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is what ends up winning Marge back. She sees that Homer truly appreciates everything she does for him because he'd be a wreck without her. While Jacques is a foreign and exciting idea, Marge realizes that Homer loves her more than anyone else possibly could, and she stays with him because of that. Homer and Marge are one of my favorite couples ever to be on tv and I could ramble on about them forever - I'll stop now, but this episode does a fantastic job at beginning to explore their relationship.
Springfield characters:
Helen Lovejoy - Helen introduces herself as "the gossipy wife of the minister". I don't think her character ever evolves past that point in the entire series. She's a really obnoxious character, but in a good way, unlike the music teacher.
Other random stuff:
Jacques was voiced by Albert Brooks. He played the car salesman from Call of the Simpsons and is known for improving most of his lines. His amazing line about brunch goes through my head every time I eat brunch. He has only been a guest star on the show four times, but he steals the show in each episode. He later voices the character Hank Scorpio, who is largely considered the greatest one-episode character in the history of the show. Also on the subject of Jacques, I think it's hilarious that he has a bunch of bowling groupies that are swooning over him.
We had the first sequence of funny signs (in this case, store names at the mall). My favorite was the International House of Answering Machines.
How dare Jacques try to seduce Marge with onion rings. We later see that onion rings have a very special place in Homer and Marge's history.... "Would you mind if I took it off... The oil is burning my finger."
Bart offers Homer terrible advice. He tells Homer to bottle up his feelings and not talk to Marge. Like father like son.
The ending sequence is very corny, but that's largely due to it being an outdated reference. It is almost a shot for shot duplicate of the ending to An Officer and a Gentleman.
Again, this episode is not nearly as funny as the show's golden years. But its as emotionally riveting as some of the best. It is one of my favorites from season 1
8/10
Jacques represents to Marge everything that she has given up because she has chosen to be with Homer. He is rich, suave, confident, and extremely sexual. He constantly flatters her and encourages her, almost to the point of being too forceful. The brief bit of dialogue where he forces her to laugh out loud really stuck with me. He is encouraging her to be open, active, and social; something that she almost never gets while taking care of her kids in the house. This works well because so far in the series, Marge has been so boring. Most of her jokes involve how mundane her life is, and I feel like she often talks to herself without anyone really listening. Jacques is seemingly offering her the opportunity for her to escape all of that, and it is tempting.
The question then becomes why does Marge chose to stay with Homer. And to be honest, this question is the same as why Marge chose Homer in the first place. This is a pretty damn hard question to answer, and I think there are a lot of reasons why Marge stays with Homer. I think the most succinct way of saying it is that Marge loves Homer because of his flaws. There's a wonderful episode in the fifth season (Secrets of a Successful Marriage) that I consider the quintessential Homer and Marge episode. Homer has to once again win Marge back, and he does so by saying he can offer her something nobody else can: complete and utter dependence. We begin to see shades of this idea in this episode. Homer's adorable speech about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches is what ends up winning Marge back. She sees that Homer truly appreciates everything she does for him because he'd be a wreck without her. While Jacques is a foreign and exciting idea, Marge realizes that Homer loves her more than anyone else possibly could, and she stays with him because of that. Homer and Marge are one of my favorite couples ever to be on tv and I could ramble on about them forever - I'll stop now, but this episode does a fantastic job at beginning to explore their relationship.
Springfield characters:
Helen Lovejoy - Helen introduces herself as "the gossipy wife of the minister". I don't think her character ever evolves past that point in the entire series. She's a really obnoxious character, but in a good way, unlike the music teacher.
Other random stuff:
Jacques was voiced by Albert Brooks. He played the car salesman from Call of the Simpsons and is known for improving most of his lines. His amazing line about brunch goes through my head every time I eat brunch. He has only been a guest star on the show four times, but he steals the show in each episode. He later voices the character Hank Scorpio, who is largely considered the greatest one-episode character in the history of the show. Also on the subject of Jacques, I think it's hilarious that he has a bunch of bowling groupies that are swooning over him.
We had the first sequence of funny signs (in this case, store names at the mall). My favorite was the International House of Answering Machines.
How dare Jacques try to seduce Marge with onion rings. We later see that onion rings have a very special place in Homer and Marge's history.... "Would you mind if I took it off... The oil is burning my finger."
Bart offers Homer terrible advice. He tells Homer to bottle up his feelings and not talk to Marge. Like father like son.
The ending sequence is very corny, but that's largely due to it being an outdated reference. It is almost a shot for shot duplicate of the ending to An Officer and a Gentleman.
Again, this episode is not nearly as funny as the show's golden years. But its as emotionally riveting as some of the best. It is one of my favorites from season 1
8/10
Saturday, August 3, 2013
1x08 - The Telltale Head
This episode veered dangerously close to the after-school-special line that The Simpsons has been straddling for a couple of episodes now. Up to this point, Moaning Lisa is the episode that focuses most heavily on the characters learning a life lesson. However, that episode is somewhat unique because of the relatively dark subject matter in Lisa's depression, and the lack of resolution. In comparison, this episode focuses on the common theme of bullying and ends with Bart apologizing and learning from his mistake. It's a bit too cookie-cutter for my taste.
That being said, this episode once again introduces a style that is used throughout the rest of the show. Whereas The Call of the Simpsons introduced the non-sequitur first act (which was used once again in this episode with a very funny church scene), this episode begins to use Springfield itself as a character. This is partly due to the fact that there are enough established characters for the writers to rely on. For example, I was struck by how we have been introduced to just about every character in the mob. It is a start contrast to crowd scenes from just a couple of episodes ago. If you go back and look at a crowd scene in one of the earlier episodes, none of the characters are familiar, and they are almost distractingly disfigured. But in this episode, we hear familiar voices from the crowd; Krabappel, Krusty, Burns and Smithers all get their own lines.
Furthermore, we actually get scenes that don't involve a member of the Simpson family in any way. When the head is discovered to be missing, we get reactions from the characters we know at Moe's Tavern and the nursing home. To be honest, those two scenes are probably some of the most crucial in the entire series. The writers have realized that the show doesn't have to be about a single family. It's actually about the entire town. This is the reason why the show has been able to survive for over twenty years. There just isn't enough material to write over 500 episodes about 5 characters alone. When I think about The Simpsons as a whole, I certainly don't think about the family itself. In fact, it's hard for me to think about the show on a large scale because it is just too massive. I am so excited to see the writers begin to realize how much potential is sitting in Springfield.
Springfield characters (there were a lot):
Jebediah Springfield - Springfield's beloved founder. Jebediah is a great character because it seems like every story about him is horribly exaggerated and full of misinformation. In fact, in a later episode, Lisa exposes Springfield as a huge fraud. Regardless, I love how whenever Springfield is mentioned everyone in the town is filled with an incredibly passionate and violent sense of town pride.
Reverend Lovejoy - We didn't get a good sense of Lovejoy's character, but he already seems fairly judgmental. From what we heard of his sermon, he uses lots of hyperbole and from what we saw of his speech, he gets very impassioned. As his character evolves, he becomes more like Krabappel - weary and burnt out.
Kearny, Jimbo and Dolph - More students to flesh out the school. Again, a hugely necessary step in making Springfield seem more like a real place. I also like how these bullies are different from Nelson. They're particularly nasty in this episode. As obnoxious as Bart usually is, you can see how he's still a good kid. There's nothing particularly redeeming about these three.
Apu - In this episode Apu is just an Indian guy running a convenient store. I can't wait until we get more of him; earlyApu is a great character (When his wife Majula is introduced in a later season he becomes pretty unbearable and unbelievable)
Krusty the Clown - Krusty had a few brief scenes, but they were surprisingly accurate to his character. He's basically a terrible and corrupt clown. It's fitting that the first episode that we see him he is part of an angry mob trying to kill a child. He is a huge sellout, has no morals, and is a great character. I love the story about his character model too - Krusty has the exact same character model as Homer except for the hair. The idea was that Bart constantly disrespects Homer, but idolizes a clown who looks and acts exactly like him. The writers were even considering making Homer actually be Krusty and keep the secret from his family. Luckily they thought this was unfeasible.
Other stuff I liked:
The Sunday School bit was hilarious. That poor teacher. It must be brutal to have Bart poke holes in everything you're saying. I wonder what kind of reception this episode had from the church. It certainly did not paint religion in a very good light (later episodes that focus entirely on religion do a much better job of showing the pros and cons).
Bartmania continues with the first instance of "Cowabunga". I think we've heard just about every famously terrible Bart line to be printed all over Simpsons merchandise ("cowabunga", "don't have a cow", and "eat my shorts" to name a few).
I liked the cloud-gazing bullies. A pretty common joke in The Simpsons is showing the soft side of bullies, and they started it here.
Homer's love of bowling is introduced. This seems like a very old-fashioned hobby, and it goes away after about 10 seasons. The next episode (which is a great one) features bowling heavily.
A pretty standard episode for the first season. Nothing too spectacular, but nothing horribly jarring.
5/10
That being said, this episode once again introduces a style that is used throughout the rest of the show. Whereas The Call of the Simpsons introduced the non-sequitur first act (which was used once again in this episode with a very funny church scene), this episode begins to use Springfield itself as a character. This is partly due to the fact that there are enough established characters for the writers to rely on. For example, I was struck by how we have been introduced to just about every character in the mob. It is a start contrast to crowd scenes from just a couple of episodes ago. If you go back and look at a crowd scene in one of the earlier episodes, none of the characters are familiar, and they are almost distractingly disfigured. But in this episode, we hear familiar voices from the crowd; Krabappel, Krusty, Burns and Smithers all get their own lines.
Furthermore, we actually get scenes that don't involve a member of the Simpson family in any way. When the head is discovered to be missing, we get reactions from the characters we know at Moe's Tavern and the nursing home. To be honest, those two scenes are probably some of the most crucial in the entire series. The writers have realized that the show doesn't have to be about a single family. It's actually about the entire town. This is the reason why the show has been able to survive for over twenty years. There just isn't enough material to write over 500 episodes about 5 characters alone. When I think about The Simpsons as a whole, I certainly don't think about the family itself. In fact, it's hard for me to think about the show on a large scale because it is just too massive. I am so excited to see the writers begin to realize how much potential is sitting in Springfield.
Springfield characters (there were a lot):
Jebediah Springfield - Springfield's beloved founder. Jebediah is a great character because it seems like every story about him is horribly exaggerated and full of misinformation. In fact, in a later episode, Lisa exposes Springfield as a huge fraud. Regardless, I love how whenever Springfield is mentioned everyone in the town is filled with an incredibly passionate and violent sense of town pride.
Reverend Lovejoy - We didn't get a good sense of Lovejoy's character, but he already seems fairly judgmental. From what we heard of his sermon, he uses lots of hyperbole and from what we saw of his speech, he gets very impassioned. As his character evolves, he becomes more like Krabappel - weary and burnt out.
Kearny, Jimbo and Dolph - More students to flesh out the school. Again, a hugely necessary step in making Springfield seem more like a real place. I also like how these bullies are different from Nelson. They're particularly nasty in this episode. As obnoxious as Bart usually is, you can see how he's still a good kid. There's nothing particularly redeeming about these three.
Apu - In this episode Apu is just an Indian guy running a convenient store. I can't wait until we get more of him; earlyApu is a great character (When his wife Majula is introduced in a later season he becomes pretty unbearable and unbelievable)
Krusty the Clown - Krusty had a few brief scenes, but they were surprisingly accurate to his character. He's basically a terrible and corrupt clown. It's fitting that the first episode that we see him he is part of an angry mob trying to kill a child. He is a huge sellout, has no morals, and is a great character. I love the story about his character model too - Krusty has the exact same character model as Homer except for the hair. The idea was that Bart constantly disrespects Homer, but idolizes a clown who looks and acts exactly like him. The writers were even considering making Homer actually be Krusty and keep the secret from his family. Luckily they thought this was unfeasible.
Other stuff I liked:
The Sunday School bit was hilarious. That poor teacher. It must be brutal to have Bart poke holes in everything you're saying. I wonder what kind of reception this episode had from the church. It certainly did not paint religion in a very good light (later episodes that focus entirely on religion do a much better job of showing the pros and cons).
Bartmania continues with the first instance of "Cowabunga". I think we've heard just about every famously terrible Bart line to be printed all over Simpsons merchandise ("cowabunga", "don't have a cow", and "eat my shorts" to name a few).
I liked the cloud-gazing bullies. A pretty common joke in The Simpsons is showing the soft side of bullies, and they started it here.
Homer's love of bowling is introduced. This seems like a very old-fashioned hobby, and it goes away after about 10 seasons. The next episode (which is a great one) features bowling heavily.
A pretty standard episode for the first season. Nothing too spectacular, but nothing horribly jarring.
5/10
Friday, August 2, 2013
1x07 - The Call of the Simpsons
What a weird episode. As much as I was looking forward to Moaning Lisa, I was really unenthusiastic about watching this episode tonight. I hadn't seen it in years and I have always remembered it as one of my least favorite of the series. It's hard to tell if the episode is really that terrible, or if I'm biased from preconceived notions, but I didn't enjoy it very much.
Probably the most notable event of the episode is that we finally see the beginnings of the format that the show ends up using. More specifically, the first act of the show usually has nothing to do with the rest of the episode. In this case, there were a bunch of jokes about car salesmen, which was completely separate from the main plot about being lost in the wilderness. It's an interesting format because it essentially lets the writers write small skits. If they have a good bit about going to the movies, for example, they can have the family go see a movie and then at the commercial break introduce the real plot. I actually think this format might be the genesis of pretty much all the humor of Family Guy. Family Guy relies so heavily on non-sequiters, it takes this idea to the extreme. The Simpsons devotes the first act to a random funny event; Family Guy will cut away from the main plot every thirty seconds to tell random jokes.
In terms of character development, there wasn't nearly as much in this episode. Once again, Bart and Homer were paired together, and Homer tries to show Bart how much he knows about the wilderness. It's the second episode in a row where Homer's only concern is looking cool in the eyes of his son. I think that's pretty different than the Homer we saw in Bart the Genius. That Homer wanted to spend time with Bart, this one wants to impress him. As Homer's character gets more defined, I think we see a lot more of the later. Homer becomes more childish and less secure in himself. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; I love naive Homer. It's just interesting to think that the most responsible we'll ever see Homer is in episode 2.
Marge and Lisa once again prove that they're the only ones in the family who can function as real people. It also shows that they're good at adapting to their surroundings - a skill that is necessary in the Simpson family. Marge calmly picking up a squirrel and neatly placing it on a log was pretty funny too. The only problem I had with Marge this episode was why in the world she let Homer take Maggie with her. For the first time, Maggie had a couple of scenes that were hers and hers alone. These are always a little hit and miss. I can think of one outstanding success (the great escape) and some other average sequences, but in general, I like Maggie the most when she's making subtle jokes in the background.
Springfield characters:
Tood: Todd is basically Bart's version of Flanders. I think the writers wanted to make Todd annoy Bart in the exact same way Flanders annoys Homer, except by doing kid things. It's funny how the family isn't overly religious yet, because that's their defining characterization later on
Other things I liked:
Since this episode was kind of a dud, most of my notes are jokes that I thought were funny. I really enjoyed the newscaster interrupting a presidential address to have a story on bigfoot. The news segments only get better when Kent Brockman is created.
All of the car salesman bit was great. I love how he tries every trick in the book. From calling Homer a god to blaming the pricing on someone else (he's not the owner, even though his name is on the sign... Long story). Homer is the perfect sucker in that scene
The music seemed very loud and out of place this episode. Most of it was in the Maggie scenes, which is understandable. But even when Homer and Bart were walking around, I was pretty distracted by it.
Definitely the most cartooney episode yet. An RV plummeting off a cliff is about as cartooney as you can get
A pretty sweet ending to a bad episode. Are all of these tender moments too sappy? I haven't thought so yet, but I could see other people rolling their eyes at them.
2/10
Probably the most notable event of the episode is that we finally see the beginnings of the format that the show ends up using. More specifically, the first act of the show usually has nothing to do with the rest of the episode. In this case, there were a bunch of jokes about car salesmen, which was completely separate from the main plot about being lost in the wilderness. It's an interesting format because it essentially lets the writers write small skits. If they have a good bit about going to the movies, for example, they can have the family go see a movie and then at the commercial break introduce the real plot. I actually think this format might be the genesis of pretty much all the humor of Family Guy. Family Guy relies so heavily on non-sequiters, it takes this idea to the extreme. The Simpsons devotes the first act to a random funny event; Family Guy will cut away from the main plot every thirty seconds to tell random jokes.
In terms of character development, there wasn't nearly as much in this episode. Once again, Bart and Homer were paired together, and Homer tries to show Bart how much he knows about the wilderness. It's the second episode in a row where Homer's only concern is looking cool in the eyes of his son. I think that's pretty different than the Homer we saw in Bart the Genius. That Homer wanted to spend time with Bart, this one wants to impress him. As Homer's character gets more defined, I think we see a lot more of the later. Homer becomes more childish and less secure in himself. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing; I love naive Homer. It's just interesting to think that the most responsible we'll ever see Homer is in episode 2.
Marge and Lisa once again prove that they're the only ones in the family who can function as real people. It also shows that they're good at adapting to their surroundings - a skill that is necessary in the Simpson family. Marge calmly picking up a squirrel and neatly placing it on a log was pretty funny too. The only problem I had with Marge this episode was why in the world she let Homer take Maggie with her. For the first time, Maggie had a couple of scenes that were hers and hers alone. These are always a little hit and miss. I can think of one outstanding success (the great escape) and some other average sequences, but in general, I like Maggie the most when she's making subtle jokes in the background.
Springfield characters:
Tood: Todd is basically Bart's version of Flanders. I think the writers wanted to make Todd annoy Bart in the exact same way Flanders annoys Homer, except by doing kid things. It's funny how the family isn't overly religious yet, because that's their defining characterization later on
Other things I liked:
Since this episode was kind of a dud, most of my notes are jokes that I thought were funny. I really enjoyed the newscaster interrupting a presidential address to have a story on bigfoot. The news segments only get better when Kent Brockman is created.
All of the car salesman bit was great. I love how he tries every trick in the book. From calling Homer a god to blaming the pricing on someone else (he's not the owner, even though his name is on the sign... Long story). Homer is the perfect sucker in that scene
The music seemed very loud and out of place this episode. Most of it was in the Maggie scenes, which is understandable. But even when Homer and Bart were walking around, I was pretty distracted by it.
Definitely the most cartooney episode yet. An RV plummeting off a cliff is about as cartooney as you can get
A pretty sweet ending to a bad episode. Are all of these tender moments too sappy? I haven't thought so yet, but I could see other people rolling their eyes at them.
2/10
Thursday, August 1, 2013
1x06 - Moaning Lisa
I was really looking forward to this episode. My old roommate, Jason, is just as big a Simpsons fan as I am, and he claims this is his favorite episode (He says his favorite line in the whole series is "Lisa, you stay away from that jazz man!"). Having not seen it in years, and knowing it is in the notably weak first season, I have always been fairly skeptical. And after watching it... Sorry Jason, it's not the best episode of the show. But for season 1, it is pretty outstanding. First and foremost, we finally get an episode that doesn't focus on Homer and Bart. Lisa finally takes the spotlight, and as a result, the episode is much more thought provoking than any others so far.
The main issue I was struggling with while watching this episode is what is really making Lisa sad. From the very start of the episode, her sadness is very ambiguous. The episode opens with Lisa looking at herself in the mirror, Homer pounding on the bathroom door, and Lisa quietly sighing. Clearly something is wrong, but we really have no idea what it could be - I really love that opening. Later in the episode, Homer sits Lisa down on his lap to find the source of the problem and she gives him a very vague answer about the world being a hard place. It's a problem that any angsty elementary school could have; especially one who doesn't fit in with anyone else. As a side note, it's pretty remarkable that Lisa doesn't have any friends at school - even once the series establishes more of its universe. I think this makes Lisa's stories far more diverse. Telling a story about Bart's relationship with Milhouse or one of his other friends is an easy fallback and has been done countless times. Lisa has had the occasional guest star friend, but she has never had a regular character as a safety net for slow weeks in the writers room.
Anyways, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Lisa's real issue is the same one the other members of the family have been dealing with: she doesn't know how to accept being a Simpson. Her song to Bleeding Gums Murphy is all about Homer, Bart, and even Marge neglecting her at home. We quickly realize that small sigh at the start of the episode was about starting another day in a house with her father banging on her door. She wants to be more than a Simpson. Homer dealt with this problem in Homer's Odyssey and There's No Disgrace Like Home. The resolution to both of those episodes was something along the lines of "it could be worse, make the best you can out of it." In one episode, Homer happily accepts a slightly better job, and in the other, the family embraces their dysfunction and gets a new tv for doing so. I really like how in this episode, Lisa doesn't fix her problem. By the end of the episode, she's slightly less miserable because Marge gave her some support, but nothing else has really changed. It will actually take work for Lisa to accept being a Simpson and find her place in the family, and future episodes continue to address this point (e.g. Lisa the Simpson).
Marge continues to be a really great character. You can see that in this episode because she really believes in the terrible advice she's giving Lisa. That scene has always stuck with me because Marge cares so much for her daughter but doesn't know how to help her. It shows that Marge is fallible and doesn't really know what she's doing.
For the first time there is a recognizable B story in an episode. So far every episode has been one continuous story about a single character or a group of characters. In this episode, Bart and Homer's videogame duel has nothing to do with Lisa's story. As is to be expected with a B story, there was very little character development other than showing Bart and Homer can hang out with each other. Other than that, there were some ok jokes (Bart beating Homer by the age of 4) and the resolution was unexpected. Can't complain too much.
Springfield Characters:
Mr. Largo: To be honest, I didn't even know that this was the music teacher's name even though he is in many episodes. He's a pretty terrible character. Generally grumpy, mean and unfunny. Later they make him gay, but its pretty inconsequential. I think the writers just wanted to have a regular character around if they ever needed to two or more gay characters in a scene (the first always being Smithers).
Bleeding Gums Murphy: Unlike Mr. Largo, Bleeding Gums rarely appears and is a great character. I can only think of one other episode that he appear in (although I have a pesky feeling that I'm forgetting another one) and in that episode he serves as a great mentor to Lisa.
Other things I liked:
I feel like this episode was the prettiest one so far. Some of the shots of Lisa riding on her bike in the moonlight are really beautiful. The tone of the episode definitely dictated the art style.
Out of all the family members, Maggie is the best at embracing the Simpson in her. I love the scene where she chooses the tv
Oh yeah, Lisa plays the saxophone! We've seen that in the title sequence, but this is the first time it's actually shown up in the show.
Lisa episodes are always pretty outstanding until the end of the golden age (season 9? 10?). This one was my favorite episode so far
7/10
The main issue I was struggling with while watching this episode is what is really making Lisa sad. From the very start of the episode, her sadness is very ambiguous. The episode opens with Lisa looking at herself in the mirror, Homer pounding on the bathroom door, and Lisa quietly sighing. Clearly something is wrong, but we really have no idea what it could be - I really love that opening. Later in the episode, Homer sits Lisa down on his lap to find the source of the problem and she gives him a very vague answer about the world being a hard place. It's a problem that any angsty elementary school could have; especially one who doesn't fit in with anyone else. As a side note, it's pretty remarkable that Lisa doesn't have any friends at school - even once the series establishes more of its universe. I think this makes Lisa's stories far more diverse. Telling a story about Bart's relationship with Milhouse or one of his other friends is an easy fallback and has been done countless times. Lisa has had the occasional guest star friend, but she has never had a regular character as a safety net for slow weeks in the writers room.
Anyways, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that Lisa's real issue is the same one the other members of the family have been dealing with: she doesn't know how to accept being a Simpson. Her song to Bleeding Gums Murphy is all about Homer, Bart, and even Marge neglecting her at home. We quickly realize that small sigh at the start of the episode was about starting another day in a house with her father banging on her door. She wants to be more than a Simpson. Homer dealt with this problem in Homer's Odyssey and There's No Disgrace Like Home. The resolution to both of those episodes was something along the lines of "it could be worse, make the best you can out of it." In one episode, Homer happily accepts a slightly better job, and in the other, the family embraces their dysfunction and gets a new tv for doing so. I really like how in this episode, Lisa doesn't fix her problem. By the end of the episode, she's slightly less miserable because Marge gave her some support, but nothing else has really changed. It will actually take work for Lisa to accept being a Simpson and find her place in the family, and future episodes continue to address this point (e.g. Lisa the Simpson).
Marge continues to be a really great character. You can see that in this episode because she really believes in the terrible advice she's giving Lisa. That scene has always stuck with me because Marge cares so much for her daughter but doesn't know how to help her. It shows that Marge is fallible and doesn't really know what she's doing.
For the first time there is a recognizable B story in an episode. So far every episode has been one continuous story about a single character or a group of characters. In this episode, Bart and Homer's videogame duel has nothing to do with Lisa's story. As is to be expected with a B story, there was very little character development other than showing Bart and Homer can hang out with each other. Other than that, there were some ok jokes (Bart beating Homer by the age of 4) and the resolution was unexpected. Can't complain too much.
Springfield Characters:
Mr. Largo: To be honest, I didn't even know that this was the music teacher's name even though he is in many episodes. He's a pretty terrible character. Generally grumpy, mean and unfunny. Later they make him gay, but its pretty inconsequential. I think the writers just wanted to have a regular character around if they ever needed to two or more gay characters in a scene (the first always being Smithers).
Bleeding Gums Murphy: Unlike Mr. Largo, Bleeding Gums rarely appears and is a great character. I can only think of one other episode that he appear in (although I have a pesky feeling that I'm forgetting another one) and in that episode he serves as a great mentor to Lisa.
Other things I liked:
I feel like this episode was the prettiest one so far. Some of the shots of Lisa riding on her bike in the moonlight are really beautiful. The tone of the episode definitely dictated the art style.
Out of all the family members, Maggie is the best at embracing the Simpson in her. I love the scene where she chooses the tv
Oh yeah, Lisa plays the saxophone! We've seen that in the title sequence, but this is the first time it's actually shown up in the show.
Lisa episodes are always pretty outstanding until the end of the golden age (season 9? 10?). This one was my favorite episode so far
7/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)