The Simpsons - General Discussion

[Perfect Xero]

3 hours ago, 853fisher said:

@Izzy85 and @Tachi Rocinante have made me feel that my head might not be screwed as loose as I thought. 😉 I watch with captions and they definitely rendered it as "Wayland," not "Waylon," the established character name.  Maybe the joke is that Monty, er, Burns doesn't really even know his name?

I thought Burns was intentionally getting his name wrong as a power move.

[blackwing]

So what are they going to do with Apu?  Has he made any appearances since “the controversy”?   I guess they could either 1) have him in the background but not speak, 2) have a plot (which would have one of the few permanent changes in this series) where he undergoes some kind of My Fair Lady speech training so now he talks with an English accent, 3) retire him and never show him at all again, or 4) kill him off.  
 

Thoughts/preferences?  I get why the change but he’s been such a part of the history of the show it’s kind of curious to see what will happen.  Personally I’d prefer 4).  Give him a nice send off. 
 

Are they going to retire Cookie Kwan too?   Because she could just as easily be considered offensive.

[Eataton]

On 2/28/2020 at 2:05 PM, blackwing said:

So what are they going to do with Apu?  Has he made any appearances since “the controversy”?   I guess they could either 1) have him in the background but not speak, 2) have a plot (which would have one of the few permanent changes in this series) where he undergoes some kind of My Fair Lady speech training so now he talks with an English accent, 3) retire him and never show him at all again, or 4) kill him off.  
 

Thoughts/preferences?  I get why the change but he’s been such a part of the history of the show it’s kind of curious to see what will happen.  Personally I’d prefer 4).  Give him a nice send off. 
 

Are they going to retire Cookie Kwan too?   Because she could just as easily be considered offensive.

I agree that they should give him a good send off but they'll probably go with option 3. Was there even a controversy or was it just some white dude in the Fox network that got worried?

[Kel Varnsen]

3 hours ago, Eataton said:

I agree that they should give him a good send off but they'll probably go with option 3. Was there even a controversy or was it just some white dude in the Fox network that got worried?

As much as I hate to say it I think the best option would be to just end the show. I mean sure Apu is a stereotype, but just about every character on the show is. If Apu is a problem then so is Bumblebee Man and Dr Nick and Chef Luigi and Smithers and a ton of other characters (even Homer when you think about it). Even when I was a kid I knew those characters were making fun of the stereotypes not making fun of the actual people, but I guess a lot of people don't. Maybe it is a good excuse to end things since otherwise the only way I see it ending is if one of the voice actors who plays a main character dies. Ending it on their own terms seems like a much better option than ending it abruptly because Dan Castellaneta or Harry Shearer died.

Edited March 1, 2020 by Kel Varnsen

[Spartan Girl]

28 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

As much as I hate to say it I think the best option would be to just end the show. I mean sure Apu is a stereotype, but just about every character on the show is. If Apu is a problem then so is Bumblebee Man and Dr Nick and Chef Luigi and Smithers and a ton of other characters (even Homer when you think about it). Even when I was a kid I knew those characters were making fun of the stereotypes not making fun of the actual people, but I guess a lot of people don't. Maybe it is a good excuse to end things since otherwise the only way I see it ending is if one of the voice actors who plays a main character dies. Ending it on their own terms seems like a much better option than ending it abruptly because Dan Castellaneta or Harry Shearer died.

It is long past time for the show to bow out gracefully. Just pull the fucking plug.

The fact that it took this long for them to acknowledge the problem with Apu being by a white guy to a bad Indian accent  tells you all you need to know about the show runners.

Edited March 1, 2020 by Spartan Girl

[Galileo908]

Season 31, Ep 14: Bart The Bad Guy

Quote

Bart accidentally sees a new superhero movie before it comes out -- and the world cowers before his newfound plot-spoiling powers.

Airs 3/1/20

[Galileo908]

"Your funny but not too funny banter will not save you, Magnesium Man."

And now an episode about Infinity War and Endgame. You know Milhouse was in bad shape when an actual Avenger visits him in the hospital to show him the sequel. He was treated like a Make A Wish Kid, but then again this IS Milhouse we're talking about. And no shock that Bart gets superpowers the second he knows all the details of Endgame.

Homer is of course spoilerproof because he's an adult, but he's also known for accidentally spoiling movies and thus doesn't care.

Marvel using VR to warn Bart about the dangers of spoilers was seriously messed up, in a good way. Hooray for corporate synergy and power media monopolies! Looks like Disney has (rightfully) taken Fox's place at biting the hand humor,

Edited March 2, 2020 by Galileo908

[ottoDbusdriver]

Loved it when the bomb under Homer/Marge's bed changed from 'Armed' to 'Disarmed' -- and Disarmed was in the Disney-style font.  Hah !!

We'll let them live .... for now.

Edited March 2, 2020 by ottoDbusdriver

[Galileo908]

I loved that "SEYMOUR'S SCREEN SAVER" was in comic sans.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

Homer is of course spoilerproof because he's an adult, but he's also known for accidentally spoiling movies and thus doesn't care.

That was the best part. I don't like spoiling people but still. 

There was a billboard with the detailing King at the end. One of the movies was in 4D. 

[Snow Apple]

17 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

You know Milhouse was in bad shape when an actual Avenger visits him in the hospital to show him the sequel. He was treated like a Make A Wish Kid, but then again this IS Milhouse we're talking about. And no shock that Bart gets superpowers the second he knows all the details of Endgame.

I thought the actor went to visit Milhouse and just happened to have the movie with him. I didn't get the impression he was going to show it to Milhouse. I could be wrong though.

[Taeolas]

Yeah the presecreening was only meant for terminal kids. Milhouse while in bad shape, didn't qualify. But AirCannon didn't verify and fell asleep after mentioning it, so Bart took advantage of the opportunity. 

I'm a little surprised they picked the Hawkeye proxy as the one to kick this off; but of all the actors and characters, Renner is probably the most appropriate to do that with sad to say. (More out of process of elimination than for reasons to pick him in particular)

[DoctorAtomic]

When Bart was first pretending to be Milhous, he told Air Cannon that he was going to be ok, and then Air Cannon said something like, 'ok good, then I don't have to show you this.'

[Galileo908]

Season 31, ep 15: "Screenless"

Quote

When Marge implements a screen time limit for the whole family, she realizes that she is the one addicted -- not her husband and children.

Airs 3/8/20

[Harvey]

That sounds like an amazing episode.

[Taeolas]

By the way, if you are fans, "Onward" is in theatres now and has a Simpsons short at the start. A cute Maggie story, and probably one of the funnest stories I've seen them do in awhile. 

[Galileo908]

Couch Gag: Lisa is the only one who remembered Daylight Saving Time

"What about Baby Yoda?"
"(I was America's Baby once.)"

(fish)(banana)(postal strike)(Bob Seger)

I liked Maggie learning sign language. I wish "I only wanna eat candy" or at least Herb's baby translator came back, but I appreciated that it lasted for the whole episode and not forgotten after the first act.

I spied Homer playing Tapped Out. We're through the looking glass, people...

It's been a long, long time since we saw Lisa browse through a card catalog, and it was fun to see Bart (gasp) using his imagination! I also liked to see the return of both Werner Herzog and the shoutout to Dana Gould and his podcast. Is Dana Gould the second Simpsons writer to be acknowledged on the show and played himself? This wasn't the first time Dana voiced a character (he was Don Knotts quite a few years ago), but it was cool to see him here.

"Was any of that true?"
"Once I post it on Reddit, it will be."

This was a good one, and loved the James Lipton tribute at the end.

[Izzy85]

My favorite part was Bart, Dolph, and Jimbo playing Jupiter One. For some reason I thought it was super adorable when Dolph answered as mission control, lol. And then the straw wrappers in Martin’s eyes, 😂 

[Harvey]

"I was america's baby one time" awwww  🙁 . I still like Maggie more than Baby Yoda...

[KWalkerInc]

I laughed at Homer saying, "Did you know our second dog was a cat?" and also when after the Jumble was explained to him, he said that he just thought the copy writer had a stroke.   I also liked when Homer used his new unscrambling skills to thwart the guards chasing them.

[xander874]

When this first started and they were talking about Maggie not being understood, I thought we may get a return of Homer's brother Herb since he created that Baby Translator. But I did like the way this went. I laughed a few times, which is a rarity with the Simpsons now.

Loved the Tapped Out reference and liked Werner Herzog voicing the evil rehab director. Also, I may be the only one, but I love Little River Band's "Reminiscing". 

Edited March 11, 2020 by xander874

[Galileo908]

Season 31, Ep 16: Better off Ned

Quote

Bart bonds with Ned Flanders, which leaves Homer jealous, so he retaliates by mentoring Nelson Muntz; a heroic act by Homer makes Bart look up to him again.

Airs 3/15/20

[Galileo908]

Title: The two leprechauns fighting

Billboard: Drink til You're Green - Moe's Tavern

Chalkboard: Bart is At A Doctor's Appointment

Couch Gag: Uber!

So...Bart committed a crime by bringing in that dud grenade. Bart was lucky Flanders was around to threaten Chalmers with a prayer chain (payback of Flanders getting fired for his prayer back in season 5?).

Man, genuinely angry Flanders is SCARY. I wonder if Nelson being adopted into the Flanders flock will be a regular thing? He still has the dog.

I wondered if the French club was gonna go anywhere. Bart knew how he was being insulted in French, I'm sure of it. I also appreciated the callback that "en Francais" laughter was snooty.

I liked the Christian Pride Parade (Warning: Pride is a Sin). I got a kick out of the "Innocent Priest" float.

EDIT: Max von Sydow tribute!

Edited March 16, 2020 by Galileo908

[SoMuchTV]

Was that the first time someone other than Bart was writing on the chalkboard?

[opus]

It wasn’t the greatest, but I desperately need escapist entertainment, so BEST EPISODE EVER.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Even though we have seen episodes before where Bart has a new father figure in his life and Homer tries to get back at him by mentoring another kid, this was a pretty good episode.

That 'Innocent Priest' float was too funny.

[DoctorAtomic]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

I also appreciated the callback that "en Francais" laughter was snooty.

My roommate at the time was French and never could get the joke. 

[Snow Apple]

It reminded me of the episode where Bart joined the Junior Campers and learned from Flanders. Homer was a jealous jerk in that episode too even though he had no interest in Bart.

That said, I still liked several moments in this episode. I always like when Bart find a real father figure and become a better person.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Seen on the whiteboard on the wall of Abe's room in the Springfield Retirement Castle

This Man Cannot Tolerate:
-- Milk
-- Soy
-- Wheat
-- Today's Music

Abe: "They'll explode in just 5 seconds if you pull the pin. Uh-oh. It's your moment."
Bart: "Put it back, put it back !"
Abe: "It don't work that way.  It's like having a kid. Aaaaaaaah ! Say your prayers boy."
Bart: "Never !" 

Skinner: "This year we've just been named the most sedentary school in the state."
Audience: "Yay !!"
Fat Kids Who Can't Fit Out the Door: "Yay !"
Skinner: "No, No, no.  Sedentary is a bad thing. The vocabulary score was also abysmal."
Ralph: "Is that a ba .."
Skinner: "It's a bad thing, yes. Now to get you kids back on your feet we decided to have a 2 hour long sit down assembly instead of recess."
Nelson: "No fair."
Skinner: "Sit down."
Nelson: "Yes ...... ma'am."

Kurt: "Climb in my asshatch son."
  
Nelson: "Mom.  You promised you'd never show up at school drunk again."
Nelson's mom: "I'm not going to lie, I admit a shame spiral hanging out with lowlifes and bums.  Hey Gary !"
Chalmers (after giving Nelson's mom $20): "This is to not say my name."
Nelson's mom: "Pay day !!"

Flanders was applying 'Left Guard' to his armpits in Skinner's office.

Chalmers: "Well Simpson, thanks to you now no one can bring grenades to school."

Flanders: "Wait.  I've lived next to this boy for years.  There's good in him. Let me work with him after school.  I'll improve him with the 3 Ps -- persistence, prayer, and persistent prayer."
Chalmers: "Oh God, you're one of those."

Comic Book Guy (on the Prayer-Amid app): "ya, heh, heh, I appear to be in the wrong group chat."

Bart: "Fishing.  When I didn't take a ritalin, you monster."
Flanders: "Hush, if you don't catch something, we don't eat tonight."
Bart: "Stupid fishing.  Stupid peace and quiet.   Stupid sunset -- thinks it has so many colors, so beautiful and bright and golden."

Dr. Hibbert: "I thought the only way to turn Bart into a little angel was a downed power line in a water park.  Heh, heh, heh."

Springfield City Dump -- 50,000 Seagulls Can't Be Wrong

Rod and Todd: "I can't believe we're going to be in the Pride Parade."
Flanders: "Christian Pride.  Finally Christians can openly show our faith."
Rod and Todd: "We're sure.  We're pure.  Get used to it."

The wall of shame on Nelson's mom's trailer wall included such notable Springfieldians as: 
-- Akira from the Karate Dojo
-- Hank Scorpio
-- Lou the cop
-- the Captial City goofball
-- Barney Gumble
-- Krusty the Klown
-- Bleeding Gums Murphy
-- Groundskeeper Willie

And many many many many more (145 in total).

We're Christians, We're Proud -- just don't say it too loud.

Quimby: "Err, welcome, err, um, Christians.  God is pleased to thank our corporate sponsor -- C. Montgomery Burns."
Crowd: "Booooooooo !"
Lenny: "Why won't you die ?"
Quimby: "Mr. Burns will take some questions later.  There, uh, thanks to this magnificent parade you right-wing dingdongs will keep me in office forever."
Crowd: "Yay !!"

Signs seen at the Christian Pride Parade:
-- Jews for Jesus
-- Atheists for Nobody

I liked the Whack-a-Martyr float, with the Roman soldier.

Chief Wiggum was eating a Sin-o-bun.

Lisa was reading Non-Christian Science Monitor -- lead article: Dcotors -- See Them When You're Sick.

Nelson (pointing to Milhouse in Flander's freezer): "Thaw, thaw !"

[M. Darcy]

The episode kind of made me sad - it made me think of Brother From The Same Planet which made me miss Phil Hartman. 

[Taeolas]

I'm a little disappointed that when Lisa and the French club started taunting Bart, he didn't taunt back with the french he learned in that episode a few decades ago. 🙂 It would've been a great call back and a nice joke to knock Lisa back a bit. 

[Kaboom 2.0]

I'm going to hell anyway (Hi, I'm Catholic) and so do not regret cackling at that Innocent Priest float. 

[Welcome5431]

Wasn't Nelson set up in the book depository overlooking the Christian Pride parade?

Then Jesus' impersonator was on an I-tablet, which defeats the point of a book depository.

Passion of Springfield episode, 03-15-2020.

The parade of Christian pride averaging into St Pat's procession 

[Galileo908]

Season 31, Ep 17: Highway to Well

Quote

When Maggie goes to preschool, Marge decides to get a job to pass the time and ends up working at an upscale weed dispensary; Homer decides to open his own dispensary that mimics a sketchy drug deal, putting their two businesses at odds.

Airs 3/22/20

[Galileo908]

"Okay, so I work here now." I like how Marge just fell into working in a weed dispensary this week. I also liked how they used Drederick Tatum as the founder of Well + Good and not some random guest character. We've come a long, long way from Weekend At Burnsie's where legalizing cannabis failed to pass because everyone was too high to vote.

"But pot is for Cheeches...and Chongs."

Otto being the catalyst for Homer and Moe's legal-yet-scuzzy pot dealership was such a great touch. It's genius. Lenny as the weird friend who never acknowledges you was great, too. Well + Good is too corporate and clean.

Really liked Marge's freakout, and that Homer convinced everyone he was Kevin Smith's father (even Kevin believed it! That was a great cameo)

[DoctorAtomic]

"And I'm hot." for some reason killed me. 

My cousin's husband is in cbd oil so I loved this. 

 

Edited March 23, 2020 by DoctorAtomic

[ottoDbusdriver]

That was actually a pretty good episode.

Loved Maggie's Mandarin sub-titles.

The Kevin Smith cameo was pretty funny.

After The Drederick caught fire there was a guy who resembled Matthew McConaughey who said "All wrong, all wrong, all wrong".

Cheese Balls !!

[Izzy85]

“Bithnith ith booming!” 😆 

[KWalkerInc]

I liked when Marge was confused by the store and asked, "Is this what Radio Shack is now?"  Also when Bart and Lisa were spying on their parents' fight from the stairs:

Lisa: "What's going on?"

Bart: "Mom and Dad are having a drug war."

[nuraman00]

On 3/8/2020 at 6:35 PM, Izzy85 said:

My favorite part was Bart, Dolph, and Jimbo playing Jupiter One. For some reason I thought it was super adorable when Dolph answered as mission control, lol. And then the straw wrappers in Martin’s eyes, 😂 

Agree.  Me too.

On 3/22/2020 at 4:51 PM, Galileo908 said:

Season 31, Ep 17: Highway to Well

Airs 3/22/20

Everything about this was predictable  Nothing that surprised me.

[Galileo908]

Season 31, ep 18: The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby

Quote

Cletus becomes a helium tycoon; Maggie reunites with Baby Hudson

Airs 4/19/20

[Galileo908]

Intro: Eagle: Canada or Bust!

Billboard: Springfield Isotopes: If there were baseball The Isotopes would be out of it by now

Chalkboard: School Online

Couch Gag: AR game! Don't know what that was, but I really liked it.

Hey, we actually get a sequel to that short that played in front of Onward. It was sweet, but a little Rugrats-y for my taste, Who knew Hudson had rich, super yuppie parents?

"Ohh why didn't I put on my pizza-eating gloves?!" Same, Homer. Same.

I really loved the animation on the moonshine trips, and I loved seeing the Hired Goons again. I got a good laugh out of Burns floating around, even after the main story ended.

Edited April 20, 2020 by Galileo908

[Snow Apple]

That parody of You're My Best Friend was surprisingly touching.

[DoctorAtomic]

Have your people call my basset hound. 

[Galileo908]

Season 31, ep 19:

Quote

 

Warrin' Priests

When Bode, a young charismatic new preacher, comes to town and shakes things up at church, Reverent Lovejoy investigates his mysterious past.

 

Airs 4/26/20

[Galileo908]

Title: We want Grampa 2019 back.

Billboard: Let A Billionaire fix things

Chalkboard: How did the boy get me to do this?

Couch Gag: Just the clothes! I love that.

It's more accurate to today when the only people at church are the Simpsons, the Flanders, and some old folks. Pete Holmes is pretty perfect as the cool youth pastor. He's actually drawn pretty flattering here. I really enjoyed his story.

Noticed an ad for both Howard's Flowers and Mount Splashmore on Christlist.

"This is the most exciting thing to happen in a white church!"

Love Grampa using a calendar for a bingo board.

I really loved the animation on Lisa's meditation trip. "ANIMATION BUDGET EXCEEDED" killed me. Lisa aside, seems like the Simpson family is taking a backstep to the overall plot.

Wait, this is a two parter? Crazy. But knowing this show, I got a feeling that Bode's ouster from Michigan will be pretty benign, but damning. He just seems TOO perfect.

Edited April 27, 2020 by Galileo908

[DoctorAtomic]

I know it's a sight gag but if you're running out of church at the end, you don't actually have to go. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

Wait, this is a two parter? Crazy. But knowing this show, I got a feeling that Bode's ouster from Michigan will be pretty benign, but damning. He just seems TOO perfect.

When was the last time that there was an official 2-part episode of The Simpsons ?

The 'Who shot Mr. Burns ?' episode was an end of season cliffhanger, but not a formal part 1 of 2 to be continued ?  Or was it ?  That was a long time ago.

[Galileo908]

17 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

The 'Who shot Mr. Burns ?' episode was an end of season cliffhanger, but not a formal part 1 of 2 to be continued ?  Or was it ?  That was a long time ago.

This is the first two part episode that was neither a season ending cliffhanger (Who Shot Mr. Burns) nor a full hour episode later broken into two parts (The Great Phatsby).

Edited April 27, 2020 by Galileo908

[853fisher]

I have mystical powers, y'all.  For absolutely no reason, maybe 10 minutes in, I thought to myself "hmmmm, maybe this could be a two parter, have they ever done that?"  Totally unspoiled, I swear.  Maybe I should be the next youth pastor! 😉