The Simpsons - General Discussion

[xander874]

I thought this episode was okay. Since these characters never age, I do appreciate stories that actually have characters evolve a bit as that rarely happens. But things like Apu's marriage and kids and CBG's marriage are nice "new" permanent things that capture my interest in stagnant Springfield. I get tired of Homer and Marge breaking up every other episode.

This is assuming, of course, that they actually follow thorough with the wedding storyline.

Edited October 19, 2021 by xander874

[Snow Apple]

I’m glad they’re focusing on characters other than Homer and Marge, especially if it’s yet another fight.

I’d like to see more of the children’s adventures and not necessarily the Simpson children. An episode about Selma and Ling would be nice. Or maybe Sherry and Terri.

[Galileo908]

Season 33, ep 5: Lisa's Belly

Quote

Marge puts a hurtful word in Lisa's brain; Bart gets in shape.

Airs 10/24/21

[Galileo908]

So Riot Rivers was Homer's version of Action Park. Complete with old, dangerous slide that gives you Legionnaire's Disease.

Marge calling Lisa "chunky," even (maybe especially) in that teasing mom way, and it dug in her brain? Oh, that's ESPECIALLY dickish, Marge. And it wasn't even Lisa's fault! It was a side effect of medication! And especially since she didn't do it with Bart! This wasn't the first time Lisa OR Bart were fat or had body image issues, but Lisa's worries were pretty realistic. Especially her tantrums. I'm a guy and her whole plot brought back some painful memories, my mom did the same thing. (I also came to realize I've done that to other people).

Really liked Homer doing his best to help Lisa, even bringing in Patty and Selma to give advice. LOVED their Age of Aquarius parody. THAT was a song playing to Julie Kavner's strengths.

They were really gung ho with babyfying Milhouse this episode, weren't they? Swim diapers, shopping at the same kids' clothing store as Lisa, and being a total mama's boy.

Bart's plot was fun, and as I expected, it all went to hell when the bullies all got girlfriends. And they all had great designs!

[Spartan Girl]

I LOVED Patty and Selma’s song! That’s the hardest this show has made me laugh in years!!!!

6 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Marge calling Lisa "chunky," even (maybe especially) in that teasing mom way, and it dug in her brain? Oh, that's ESPECIALLY dickish, Marge. And it wasn't even Lisa's fault! It was a side effect of medication! And especially since she didn't do it with Bart!

This. But it was nice that for once—for once!—Marge was called out for being in the wrong without the writers turning her into a big victim. Yeah, her mother made hurtful comments without realizing it too, but it wasn’t used as an excuse to absolve her. Instead it was used for her to help correct her behavior. I never thought I’d write this about the Simpsons ever again, but good job, writers!

Edited October 25, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[cdnalor]

Was Lisa's therapist drawn with only one boob to imply she was a cancer survivor or was it just the angle she was shown at ?  That would seem like an odd detail to just throw in there without some relevance to the story.

[Aileen]

1 hour ago, cdnalor said:

Was Lisa's therapist drawn with only one boob to imply she was a cancer survivor or was it just the angle she was shown at ?  That would seem like an odd detail to just throw in there without some relevance to the story.

I thought she was a survivor…she also had a scar above her breast.

[MadyGirl1987]

Wow, that was a well done episode. Being OCD I know EXACTLY what it’s like to hyper-focus on a situation or word, and it feels exactly like this; a big thing you can’t get out of your head. Also, on a personal note, my mom and I definitely clashed about my weight. Not even carelessly like Marge did here, she would be upfront about it. She meant well, and was concerned about my health, but would go about it the total wrong way. She would be direct and say I need to eat better(true), or do joking asides she apparently thought would help the message go over better, like calling me “Carbie Barbie,” rubbing my stomach like I was pregnant saying we are going to get rid of the food baby, or even saying to the dog, in a way I was supposed to overhear, that I am going to be like Gilbert Grapes mom if I don’t stop eating at Chipotle so much. Did it help? Not one bit. All it did was make me even more self-aware that the world saw me as fat and unattractive, given me a complex that lasts to this day, and it really damaged our relationship. I wish I had been more open about how it had made me feel, since I know if she had known how it really made me feel she would have felt horrible, but me being young and stubborn it just put me on the defensive, which doesn’t solve anything. Anyway, my point is that great TV touches on real life situations like this people can relate to, which is what this episode did. Well done, Simpsons.

Also, I loved the call out to Action Park and the documentary Class Action Park. If you haven’t seen it, watch it on HBO Max, it’s fascinating.

[DoctorAtomic]

Was the therapist based on someone they knew irl? 

[Harvey]

This episode was so good! Who's doing it like The Simpsons, 33 seasons in? Amazing. And as a psychologist, Marge's last words were true. When you  become aware of your unconscious programming you picked up from your environment while  you were young, their power does become less. Awareness is the key.

[M. Darcy]

Quote

Was Lisa's therapist drawn with only one boob to imply she was a cancer survivor or was it just the angle she was shown at ? 

Quote

Was the therapist based on someone they knew irl? 

Yes.  She was voiced by Matt Selman's wife - Renee Ridgeley who is a breast cancer survivor.  Here's an article about her and the character.  

[qtpye]

16 hours ago, MadyGirl1987 said:

Wow, that was a well done episode. Being OCD I know EXACTLY what it’s like to hyper-focus on a situation or word, and it feels exactly like this; a big thing you can’t get out of your head. Also, on a personal note, my mom and I definitely clashed about my weight. Not even carelessly like Marge did here, she would be upfront about it. She meant well, and was concerned about my health, but would go about it the total wrong way. She would be direct and say I need to eat better(true), or do joking asides she apparently thought would help the message go over better, like calling me “Carbie Barbie,” rubbing my stomach like I was pregnant saying we are going to get rid of the food baby, or even saying to the dog, in a way I was supposed to overhear, that I am going to be like Gilbert Grapes mom if I don’t stop eating at Chipotle so much. Did it help? Not one bit. All it did was make me even more self-aware that the world saw me as fat and unattractive, given me a complex that lasts to this day, and it really damaged our relationship. I wish I had been more open about how it had made me feel, since I know if she had known how it really made me feel she would have felt horrible, but me being young and stubborn it just put me on the defensive, which doesn’t solve anything. Anyway, my point is that great TV touches on real life situations like this people can relate to, which is what this episode did. Well done, Simpsons.

Also, I loved the call out to Action Park and the documentary Class Action Park. If you haven’t seen it, watch it on HBO Max, it’s fascinating.

Lord, it was a nightmare growing up in an era where there was not a thing as being too skinny.

My mother was always saying that I needed to lose weight even though I was 5'4" and 103 pounds and yes, we wish our mothers were as nice as Marge was about that.

The Action Park documentary was unexpected and I agree that it was excellent.

[KWalkerInc]

I liked how Homer's memories of everyone being injured matched the documentary perfectly, but he objected because "They changed the music!" from the happy song in his head to the somber score.

[Lone Wolf]

I got a kick out of how Bart and the bullies didn't know how to use the gym equipment correctly. 

There was an ep in which Milhouse got super muscular and was flexing his lats at Lisa and saying, "Look at these guns!" (or it may have been the other way around - flexing his biceps and talking about his lats.)

Either way, the guys cluelessly working out seemed to parallel Milhouse getting results, but not knowing enough to understand what he'd accomplished.   

On 10/24/2021 at 8:36 PM, MadyGirl1987 said:

Also, I loved the call out to Action Park and the documentary Class Action Park. If you haven’t seen it, watch it on HBO Max, it’s fascinating.

It was kind of a long way to get to Lisa and Bart gaining weight, and I wonder if the writers were hoping most viewers wouldn't know that it was an "homage" to a real place.

I'd also recommend the original:

 

 

Edited October 27, 2021 by Lone Wolf

[honeywest]

Homer: “Snakes. Nature’s quitters.”

[Galileo908]

Season 33, ep 6: A Serious Flanders (Part 1)

Quote

When a ruthless debt collector comes to Springfield, Homer and Ned's lives are sucked into the artfully violent world of prestige TV.

Airs 11/7/21

Yeah, this is gonna be a two-parter.

[Galileo908]

Loved seeing all the spoof Netflix shows. Caught "Krustified" and "What We LOU In The Shadows." I need to see the screencaps for that bit.

So Flanders is actually Ned III. "Paw Paw" was Ned I, voiced by Timothy Oliphant to boot. I can imagine Ned's dad being raised into a Beatnik by that guy.

Looks like we're in for a noncanonical genre-breaking story, since Rich Texan died (quite gruesomely) in the first minute. Hell, there was a gruesome body count in this one! I've never seen Fargo, but I enjoyed this story. That was a hell of a cliffhanger.

Fun detail: Johnny Tightlips being hit in the throat.

Oh no, Bethany Barb was an honest to god good match for Flanders. She's not lasting long. Was NOT expecting her to be Sideshow Mel's wife, though. So she was THE Barbara he always talked about.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Galileo908

[rubaco]

2 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Loved seeing all the spoof Netflix shows. Caught "Krustified" and "What We LOU In The Shadows." I need to see the screencaps for that bit.

And "House of Carls." But yeah, that went by too quickly to catch more.

[ottoDbusdriver]

At the end of Part 2 are we going to see Flanders coming out of the shower, and it all turns out to be a dream a la Dallas -- rendering both episodes meaningless.  Because I don't see them permanently killing off Monty Burns or Disco Stu or Fat Tony (he might not actually be dead, but his crew is).

Not sure if I liked, it certainly wasn't very funny -- might have to watch it again.

Recognized Brian Cox's voice almost immediately -- and then when he went full beast mode in the donut shop.

Edited November 8, 2021 by ottoDbusdriver

[DoctorAtomic]

Someone Feed Gil was another show. 

This was really good. 

The whole Mel scene came out of nowhere. 

[Galileo908]

I do love how all the "Property of Ned Flanders" stuff is what came back to bite Homer in the ass.

[Tachi Rocinante]

Snake's reaction to the carnage in the donut shop was priceless and very well done.

Fargo (the movie) still remains one of the most overrated pieces of crap I've ever had to sit through. Come to think of it, most Coen movies are. (Miller's Crossing was brilliant.)

[Spartan Girl]

34 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Fargo (the movie) still remains one of the most overrated pieces of crap I've ever had to sit through. Come to think of it, most Coen movies are. (Miller's Crossing was brilliant.)

THANK YOU!!!!

[DoctorAtomic]

I didn't realize they were doing a take on Fargo. Clearly, this is meant to be non-canon. I liked them taking a really different direction. I mean, really, there were some jokes, but the episode just played straight. This wasn't for kids. They straight up murdered the Texan, and then chopped him up and sliced his face off. 

I actually thought the money was going to be D. B. Cooper's lost stash, and the debt collector would be actually Cooper. 

[Dewey Decimate]

I thought it was a little unusual to get the full "DSLV" warning at the start of a Simpsons ep, but boy was that well-advised! I've only seen one season of Fargo, but picked up on some of the other movie references, and really enjoyed this episode. I love when they stick to at least some of the old family canon, as with all of the items labeled "Property of Ned Flanders" coming to bite Homer in the ass. And for some reason, Mr. Burns' head exploding into powder literally made me laugh out loud. Brutal and fantastical, but I'm on board with these "reset the universe" forays.

[aghst]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:38 AM, DoctorAtomic said:

I didn't realize they were doing a take on Fargo. Clearly, this is meant to be non-canon. I liked them taking a really different direction. I mean, really, there were some jokes, but the episode just played straight. This wasn't for kids. They straight up murdered the Texan, and then chopped him up and sliced his face off. 

I actually thought the money was going to be D. B. Cooper's lost stash, and the debt collector would be actually Cooper. 

The girlfriend, who turned out to be in an open marriage, had that Fargo accent.

I don't get the ending though, Homer is still in danger and they said to tune in for the next episode?  Are they going to continue with this?

If this show within a show was really on some streaming service (forget the name, something-flix), there would be wait for the next episode, it would be binged.

I thought when Disco Stu got killed it was going to be some deal.  But then all the local mafia gets killed so this isn't part of the regular Simpsons-verse.

 

[qtpye]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:43 PM, ottoDbusdriver said:

At the end of Part 2 are we going to see Flanders coming out of the shower, and it all turns out to be a dream a la Dallas -- rendering both episodes meaningless.  Because I don't see them permanently killing off Monty Burns or Disco Stu or Fat Tony (he might not actually be dead, but his crew is).

Not sure if I liked, it certainly wasn't very funny -- might have to watch it again.

Recognized Brian Cox's voice almost immediately -- and then when he went full beast mode in the donut shop.

I appreciate the effort and some of the visual gags were brutal and clever.

However, I agree with you in that it just was not funny. It was kind of a slog for me to sit through it.

[SoMuchTV]

29 minutes ago, aghst said:

I don't get the ending though, Homer is still in danger and they said to tune in for the next episode?  Are they going to continue with this?

If this show within a show was really on some streaming service (forget the name, something-flix), there would be wait for the next episode, it would be binged.

I thought the whole "part 1" thing was part of the bit,
 

Spoiler

 

but the description for next week says:
 

Quote

 

The Simpsons

WVBT-DT - 14 Sun, 11/14, 8:00 PM 30 min

"A Serious Flanders (Part 2)"

New, 11/14/2021,  Season 33 / Episode 8 , Comedy, Animated, Situation Comedy

Ned and Homer's bad situation gets worse before the problem with the debt collector is resolved.

Credits: Dan Castellaneta (Voice Of), Julie Kavner (Voice Of), Nancy Cartwright (Voice Of), Yeardley Smith (Voice Of), Hank Azaria (Voice Of), Harry Shearer (Voice Of)

 

 

Not sure if published future show descriptions are considered spoilers, but just in case.

[DoctorAtomic]

I was so engrossed with what was going on that I was surprised when it ended. 

[KWalkerInc]

At least they did warn that it wouldn't be that funny, when they had that message on the screen after the "Simpflix" viewer selected "A Serious Flanders" and it said something on the screen about gratuitous violence and minimal comedy.  I did laugh at Homer's ranting about how Flanders kept protesting that he didn't want praise for the donation.

[Twilight Man]

Simpsons:  Plusaversary

Quote

The Simpsons host a Disney+ Day party and everyone is on the list... except Homer. 

Well, that was .................. something.

After watching "Ready Player One" and "Space Jam 2", I'm really just sick of

"Hey, look, a cameo!!"  Hey, look, another cameo!!!"

I even thought the musical number was a little underwhelming

What was Bart going to do with Goofy at the end?????

[ottoDbusdriver]

14 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

Simpsons:  Plusaversary

Well, that was .................. something.

After watching "Ready Player One" and "Space Jam 2", I'm really just sick of

"Hey, look, a cameo!!"  Hey, look, another cameo!!!"

I even thought the musical number was a little underwhelming

What was Bart going to do with Goofy at the end?????

Plusaversary has the feel that they were forced to do this but didn't really want to, so they didn't really try that hard.

[Twilight Man]

8 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Plusaversary has the feel that they were forced to do this but didn't really want to, so they didn't really try that hard.

A person on another Simpsons forum summed it up best.

(I wish I would have thought of this).

"The jokes that they made about Disney when they were NOT part of Disney

(Itchy & Scratchy Land, Homer tries to sneak into Magic Kingdom from EPCOT)

were a LOT funnier than the jokes they made about Disney now that they ARE part of Disney"

[hypnotoad]

Edited November 14, 2021 by hypnotoad

[opus]

12 minutes ago, hypnotoad said:

Still can’t make out one. What We [????] In The Shadows.

[hypnotoad]

Quote

Still can’t make out one. What We [????] In The Shadows.

Lou

[Galileo908]

Season 33, ep 7: A Serious Flanders (part 2)

Quote

Things for Ned and Homer go from bad to worse in the stunning conclusion of this SIMPFLIX prestige crime thriller.

Airs 11/14/21

[Galileo908]

Man, what an ending. Honestly, they add a few more bits, and stretch some parts out and this could've been another movie. That's how much I liked this.

Should've known Paw Paw was crooked, too. I had a feeling that money was his. Of course Ned;s breaking point was that he couldn't believe the truth about him.

Man, that was some good animation on Collette. There was only 15 minutes left in the episode, of course the two assassins got dispatched quick.

Okay, someone hitting fast forward on the parable was great.

It was honestly weird to see a timeskip. The kids have visibly aged (no Maggie, though), and Snake is the new Reverend.

[ottoDbusdriver]

25 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Man, what an ending. Honestly, they add a few more bits, and stretch some parts out and this could've been another movie. That's how much I liked this.

Should've known Paw Paw was crooked, too. I had a feeling that money was his. Of course Ned;s breaking point was that he couldn't believe the truth about him.

Man, that was some good animation on Collette. There was only 15 minutes left in the episode, of course the two assassins got dispatched quick.

Okay, someone hitting fast forward on the parable was great.

It was honestly weird to see a timeskip. The kids have visibly aged (no Maggie, though), and Snake is the new Reverend.

So, does this mean that everyone that died in this 2-parter remains dead ?

Or is next week back to business as usual ?

[Galileo908]

This was a self-contained two parter.

[Spartan Girl]

I really love after all her self-righteous bleating about Homer being selfish, Marge had zero quibbles about Ned sacrificing himself to lead the killer away. Hypocrite.

They totally stole the music from Fargo. And even that show knew when to bow out when it went bad.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[ottoDbusdriver]

19 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

This was a self-contained two parter.

Thanks @Galileo908 -- it really wasn't obvious that was the case.

Not sure if I liked it -- it was an interesting experiment -- just wish it had been a little funnier.

[DoctorAtomic]

That ended great. The money just kept killing people. 

And Ned really went dark. 

[opus]

52 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

Thanks @Galileo908 -- it really wasn't obvious that was the case.

Think of it as an extended Treehouse of Horror, I guess.

[SoMuchTV]

10 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I really love after all her self-righteous bleating about Homer being selfish, Marge had zero quibbles about Ned sacrificing himself to lead the killer away. Hypocrite.

They totally stole the music from Fargo. And even that show knew when to bow out when it went bad.

It was the actual Fargo music, wasn't it?  Or else it was so similar to my memory of it that I couldn't tell the difference.  How does that work, anyway?  I didn't catch the ending to see if there was a music credit.

[DoctorAtomic]

I don't think the entire story works unless it's centered around Ned. This was just a fantastic concept. 

It's like they said, he went through all the sins except sloth. I think the biggest beat was him being prideful for wanting recognition for the donation. Because if it was truly anonymous, the debt collector would have never known. 

[GallwayGirl]

I don’t know. I laughed more during this episode than I had during a lot of them lately. And this episode being sort of an homage to season 2 of Fargo, awesome. The shootout at the hotel had Mike Milligan and Hanzee Dent. I’m sure there were others I missed. If there would have been a UFO, I would have peed myself laughing. 
 

[853fisher]

I enjoyed that for the novelty, and caught a few jokes too.  I haven't watched Fargo or some of the other "prestige" shows I think they were referencing, so there was a bit of an odd hollow for me at points where I sensed I was missing something even though I could follow the narrative fine.  But it was definitely an interesting diversion in my eyes.  I wouldn't be opposed to more riffs on different corners of TV land.

[Spartan Girl]

If they wanted to go full-Fargo they could have had the assassin kill Marge and for Homer to realize that he’s secretly relieved since he wouldn’t have to deal with her staying in the marriage just to torture him anymore.

What?

Edited November 16, 2021 by Spartan Girl

[Tachi Rocinante]

Part 1 was better