The Simpsons - General Discussion

[DoctorAtomic]

Nice to see the entire opening theme. 

Marge has been hiding money from Homer for years. He gets mad, but it's his fault because Marge was using the money to help him. 

Spartan Girl is probably going through the roof. 

I didn't realize the elf was Lizzo until she busted out the little pink flute. 

 

[Spartan Girl]

18 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Marge has been hiding money from Homer for years. He gets mad, but it's his fault because Marge was using the money to help him. 

Spartan Girl is probably going through the roof. 

 

Just ONCE I’d like an episode where Marge is called out on her own actions without putting the blame on Homer. ONCE.

If it were the other way around and Homer was hiding money from Marge, she’d be furious with him no matter why and how he was spending it.

How many episodes do we need of the show kissing Marge’s ass? I’m seriously asking. I support the writers strike and all, but when it comes to this show, the writers clearly stopped giving a damn a long time ago.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[DoctorAtomic]

16 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

How many episodes do we need of the show kissing Marge’s ass?

853.

[Spartan Girl]

5 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

853.

Right, how silly of me. 750 wasn’t enough.

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, Galileo908 said:

Couch Gag: Holy hell, it was like every character ever was stuffed into this opening. I'm gonna comb over this, it was a really short list to who WASN'T here. Caught Troy McClure and Ozmodiar in there. And Timmy O'Toole (the little wolf boy) was at the end!

Also spotted Pinchy the Lobster, Lurleen Lumpkin, Leonard Nimoy, Lyle Lanley (I still miss Phil Hartman), Hank Scorpio, Cowboy Bob (the RV Salesman from the Camping episode), Larry Burns, Mark Hamill, Elvis Costello, Cheech & Chong, Number One (leader of the Stonecutters Springfield chapter), the coyote (from Homer's hot pepper-induced dream), Dr. J. Lauren Pryor, Bart the Raven (from the first Treehouse of Horror episode), all 4 Beatles, and Ugolin and Cesar (Maurice the Donkey surprisingly absent).

Kang and Kodos showed up multiple times.

The cash register in the opening sequence registered $750.00 (instead of the normal amount).

[DoctorAtomic]

I thought those were the Beatles. When the band was playing. 

I didn't see Mr. Pinchy. My roommate cooked a lobster for the first time, and me and his girlfriend were cracking up because I was screaming about Mr. Pinchy. 

54 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Just ONCE I’d like an episode where Marge is called out on her own actions without putting the blame on Homer. ONCE.

I liked you picked Heisenberg. I imagined you were at that level of derisiveness + no steam relief valve. Silver lining - I watch the show with a more critical eye. I enjoyed Homer being in hell, but the epiphany was kind of the wrong one to have. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

9 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I thought those were the Beatles. When the band was playing. 

Actually no, only John was present during the band playing.

George, Ringo, and Paul (along with Linda McCartney) showed up in other scenes.

[Spartan Girl]

This is another example of how the show’s free-for-all approach to continuity makes the characters look even worse. If Marge was sitting on all that money the whole time, why didn’t she use it to fund her stupid coaster idea in “Woo-Hoo Dunnit?” instead of stealing Lisa’s college money? Or all the other times the family was in financial trouble for this and that? We’re really supposed to believe she uses Daddy’s money ONLY for bailing Homer out? Why that and nothing else? Because she subconsciously wants another reason to resent him?

”Marge is a better person than you.” Suuuuuuuuuure.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Spartan Girl

[DoctorAtomic]

I mean, I know it's the show, but you're getting $1000 *every month*; she should have been socking a lot of that away in mutual funds or a Roth. They should be millionaires at this point. 

 

[Snow Apple]

Even without earning interest, that's $12000.00 a year. That's $216,000.00 in 18 years and could pay for Lisa's college. But of course the writers must say it all goes to Homer's (and probably Bart's) antics and Marge can't even buy a new purse for herself. At least Marge is not angry at Homer in this episode.

[Shermie]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

This is another example of how the show’s free-for-all approach to continuity makes the characters look even worse.

Animation rarely has continuity. Each new ep is a reset; the characters don’t age. Sure, new characters might stick around sometimes, but it’s basically a do-over. I thought that was well known.

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

If Marge was sitting on all that money the whole time, why didn’t she use it to fund her stupid coaster idea in “Woo-Hoo Dunnit?” instead of stealing Lisa’s college money? Or all the other times the family was in financial trouble for this and that?

It wasn’t that much money - only $1000 a month. I doubt it actually was enough to even bail out Homer all these years.

I enjoyed the I Spy aspect of the opener, had to pause the ep several times to have a closer look at all the background characters. I’m certain there actually were 750 characters because somebody, somewhere actually bothered to count them.

[Tachi Rocinante]

On 5/22/2023 at 8:02 AM, ottoDbusdriver said:

Actually no, only John was present during the band playing.

The several older looking guys in back were Elvis Costello, the Stones, and the Who.

[Spartan Girl]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:27 PM, Snow Apple said:

Even without earning interest, that's $12000.00 a year. That's $216,000.00 in 18 years and could pay for Lisa's college. But of course the writers must say it all goes to Homer's (and probably Bart's) antics and Marge can't even buy a new purse for herself. At least Marge is not angry at Homer in this episode.

Well, consider it Marge’s karma for blabbing to Ashlee Starling about Homer and getting him publicly humiliated.

[Tachi Rocinante]

On 5/22/2023 at 1:27 PM, Snow Apple said:

Even without earning interest, that's $12000.00 a year. That's $216,000.00 in 18 years and could pay for Lisa's college. But of course the writers must say it all goes to Homer's (and probably Bart's) antics and Marge can't even buy a new purse for herself. At least Marge is not angry at Homer in this episode.

$12K a year for some of the stuff Bart and Homer get into would be gone in a flash.  😆

[DoctorAtomic]

That might be so, but Homer does have a right to be upset that Marge kept it from him. 

[blackwing]

"That was Marge, bitch!" is one of my favourite Simpsons songs in recent memory.  Great guest appearance by Lizzo, who I agree with the comment upthread that I didn't even know it was her until she busted out the flute on "That was Marge, bitch!".  I had been thinking that Goobie Woo was possibly Tiffany Haddish.

[bettername2come]

So I just finished watching and/or rewatching every episode of the series and am now completely caught up on The Simpsons. I think their 30s are going somewhat better than their 20s, but maybe that's just cause I had seen most of the 20s so they weren't as amusing as new content. 

[Kel Varnsen]

So for the last week or so I have been watching THOH episodes with my kids (since they have never seen them). A few nights ago I realized I was having a Matt Groening show festival, watching those, then a couple of new episodes of Disenchantment, then sometimes Futurama. Then to top it off, last night I watched all three shows and all three featured the devil. First it was THOH VI which had the giant mascots, one was the devil. Then in Disenchantment Satan is a character. Then I watched Hell is Other Robots with the Robot Devil.

[qtpye]

A few of us in this forum have already noticed this.

 

[JTMacc99]

8 hours ago, qtpye said:

A few of us in this forum have already noticed this.

Good lord. That guy put way too much thought into it.

It's a social satire. Every episode stands on it's own for whatever it is they're satirizing that week. Period.

In completely unrelated news, I've been hearing this absolute savagery from Lenny and especially Carl in my head for the last day. 

 

[qtpye]

On 9/27/2023 at 10:24 AM, JTMacc99 said:

Good lord. That guy put way too much thought into it.

It's a social satire. Every episode stands on it's own for whatever it is they're satirizing that week. Period.

In completely unrelated news, I've been hearing this absolute savagery from Lenny and especially Carl in my head for the last day. 

 

Wait, I thought I was the only one who secretly said this to myself?

[DoctorAtomic]

Is there a new episode tonight? My tivo says it's an hour earlier than the usual spot so I didn't know what was going on. 

[Galileo908]

Yes! It is new tonight!

Season 35, ep 1: Homer's Crossing

Quote

Feeling worthless at work, Homer volunteers to be a school crossing guard; when Homer's safety guard receives too much funding, the crossing guards become a force to be feared.

Airs 10/1/23

[DoctorAtomic]

I was excited to see elephant toothpaste. Very popular around here. 

That was actually quite good satire. 

[Galileo908]

I actually love that Homer has a fake safety console at work (filled with unsold Mr. Burns funkos!), and everyone else is, you know, actually competent at their jobs. 

The opening bit with Otto's acid trip had really good animation. Who voiced Flexulon? I couldn't place it. Didn't see anyone out of the ordinary in the credits.

Homer became corrupt much sooner than usual. I couldn't help but think "we have Homer The Vigilante at home." I did like how it was all a commentary on the militarization of local police. I knew catching Thin Orange Line flags and Punisher stickers were inevitable. They can use those, it's Disney synergy. 

It's still weird to see Chief Wiggum and Mayor Quimby being somewhat competent at their jobs. Liked the six-way war between the crossing guards, cops, ICE, the TSA, the lifeguards, the meter maids, and the overzealous neighborhood watch guys. And it was all solve by Otto running over Homer.

Seldom seen characters I caught tonight: Alison Taylor and her dad, plus Mike Wegmen and the Yes Guy among the crossing guards.

[Tachi Rocinante]

This ep had potential, but it didn't deliver. Very uneven.

[blackwing]

On 10/2/2023 at 9:09 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

This ep had potential, but it didn't deliver. Very uneven.

I agree.  I liked the opening fantasy bit and the part with the nuclear team averting disaster and the beginning of Homer's crossing guard job.  But then it devolved into a social commentary about power and corruption, and I found myself losing interest.

[Galileo908]

Season 35, ep 2: A Mid-Childhood Night's Dream

Quote

Marge feels an overwhelming dread of the empty nest.

Airs 10/8/23

[Galileo908]

They made Baby Bart and Lisa in Marge's dreams so adorable. But man, Marge is gonna have those existential thoughts forever. It's been 35 years, Bart and Lisa will never grow up...but what if they finally do? And Homer's right, lots of Bart's futures have him with kids not long after he graduates high school (not unlike them, come to think of it), so she won't have to feel like having an empty nest. I thought this one was really good. (Although some of us have a really high bar when it comes to Marge these days)

Man, they're really able to make Sick Marge look especially gross. And the animation was really stellar, especially when the house was collapsing around Marge, and the Terminator 2 reference.

"She's as smart as Old Sheldon!"

"It's like going to work on time: there's no point."

[Spartan Girl]

1 minute ago, Galileo908 said:

Man, they're really able to make Sick Marge look especially gross.

Seriously. Marge would be the kind of Karen that would go to school events even when she’s sick (and risk infecting the school) to be a martyr to the PTA. Because it’s all about her and making sure she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on Bart and Lisa’s childhood. Missing out on one event isn’t the end of the world.

3 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

I thought it was a good episode. (Although some of us have a really high bar when it comes to Marge these days)

Haha, no mine are pretty low. Don’t get me wrong, I guess it it was an okay episode. Though it says a lot that Marge doesn’t give a crap about Bart winding up a teen dad as long as she gets grandkids out of it.

[SoMuchTV]

Some of those dreams were a little too realistic! (But I didn’t mind some of the iterations of Homer.) 

But all through it, I kept thinking, at least they couldn’t go with the woman being sick = pregnant trope, because that would break the series. Would they? They wouldn’t, right?  I didn’t breathe easy until it was over. Heavy duty deodorant!!

[DoctorAtomic]

I have to know why Dracula would sue Homer. 

"I'm throwing up stuff I ate years ago. I think I saw wedding cake."

Credit to Bart for actually feeling bad about saying he doesn't like bounce-a-thon anymore though. 

I liked how dream-Homer was all different. And dream-Lisa getting facts just slightly wrong. 

Was the fence at the playground a nod to Terminator? Oh, I see it was!

I can't stand those scooters. They're everywhere around here. 

53 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Though it says a lot that Marge doesn’t give a crap about Bart winding up a teen dad as long as she gets grandkids out of it.

Not so much that, but dog-Homer had to bring her back to *that morning* to show her Lisa was excited that Marge was going to the event. 

The deodorant jokes killed because my mother bought *lots* of it when I hit puberty. 

[Spartan Girl]

30 minutes ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Not so much that, but dog-Homer had to bring her back to *that morning* to show her Lisa was excited that Marge was going to the event

And even then she still didn’t get the point that she needs to chill out and stop stressing about the future, let alone treating every single school event like it’s a milestone no one will forgive her for missing.

[DoctorAtomic]

She went and got blasted off a parent-teacher conference and then ate a hubcap hotdog. That's issues. 

[Not4Me]

I know it’s been discussed before, but Julie Kavner’s voice is truly shot as Marge. I actually had to turn off the episode midway because it was too distractingly painful to listen to (and seeing Marge in that awful pale skin looking like grim death didn’t help), which is a shame because I still enjoy the show. But not at the price of the voice actors. 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Not4Me

[Spartan Girl]

7 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

She went and got blasted off a parent-teacher conference and then ate a hubcap hotdog. That's issues. 

Would have made the episode better if they actually addressed those issues instead of enabling her control freak insecurities.

5 hours ago, Not4Me said:

I know it’s been discussed before, but Julie Kavner’s voice is truly shot as Marge. I actually had to turn off the episode midway because it was too distractingly painful to listen to (and seeing Marge in that awful pale skin looking like grim death didn’t help), which is a shame because I still enjoy the show. But not at the price of the voice actors. 

This. So much this. This among many reasons is why the show needs to be put out to pasture.

[blackwing]

As the parent of teenagers who are well into the "leave me alone" phase, this episode got to me a bit.  But it was a little bit heavy for me, I kept trying to find the laughs.  Or was the joke that none of it was a big deal and Marge was overreacting?

17 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Seriously. Marge would be the kind of Karen that would go to school events even when she’s sick (and risk infecting the school) to be a martyr to the PTA. Because it’s all about her and making sure she doesn’t feel like she’s missing out on Bart and Lisa’s childhood. Missing out on one event isn’t the end of the world.

Completely agree with this.  I was disgusted with the way she played up her sickness (it was supposedly food poisoning which isn't contagious!) to make people move out of her way.  Marge is the kind of bully who thinks that her kid is the most special and that nobody else's is.  I can't believe I was applauding Brandine who stood up to Marge.

They made Marge look like she was on her deathbed with the pale skin.  I did doublecheck that this wasn't a Treehouse of Horror ep and that she wasn't actually supposed to be a zombie.  I kept waiting for the storyline to change dramatically.

[Galileo908]

4 hours ago, blackwing said:

I can't believe I was applauding Brandine who stood up to Marge.

Nelson's mom if I remember. But still.

[KWalkerInc]

I read that this year's Treehouse of Horror episode is apparently scheduled for November 5 even though there is a new episode on October 29.  This seems odd.  I suppose that one of the first two games of the World Series could be rained out and they were worried about having to push the episode to November anyway, but if any of the games after Game 2 get rained out, that could lead to a game being on November 5 and bumping TOH all the way to November 12!  (I think the latest it has been is around November 7, which I remember from commercials on my recording of a World Series.) The only potential for rainouts is in Philadelphia, as the other three remaining teams have roofs, but it did happen last year.  I suppose it doesn't really matter though with a show that had a Christmas episode in May a couple years ago for some reason.

[Galileo908]

Season 35, ep 3: McMansion & Wife

Quote

Homer thinks he's being tricked into buying a sports car; Lisa neutralizes Nelson after he goes on a bullying spree.

Airs 10/22/23

[Galileo908]

Title: Agnes as a pterosaur!

Couch Gag: Loved Homer's sports car daydream. With Dick Van Dyke in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I was shocked that it was actually the couch gag! And it was called back in the episode!

So the new neighbors moved into Ruth Powers's old house. I appreciate Hank Azaria using his Brockmire voice for Thayer. I love a lambo that can detect and blow out unpleasant thoughts.

Loved Lisa's idea of cyberbullying Nelson: having video footage of him nursing an injured hummingbird.

I can buy that Evergreen Terrace was where Jebediah Springfield founded the town, as much of an asspull as that is (Fieldspring sadly didn't stick). I did like the flashforward acknowledged Homer being an astronaut, and Lisa still becoming president.

[DoctorAtomic]

Wow Lisa is sinister. 

Is Ol' Gil drawn more faded than the other characters?

I thought the house renovations were a little much. 

[Spartan Girl]

Okay, Marge getting the one-up on that guy by revealing she speaks Spanish was pretty awesome.

I did like the video with Nelson and that hummingbird. RIP Hummy.

[ottoDbusdriver]

Liked the Goodfellas reference when Nelson entered the cafeteria.

And of course the Lion King reference during the credits.

Edited October 23, 2023 by ottoDbusdriver

[DoctorAtomic]

Was the baby supposed to be Mr. Burns? 

[Tachi Rocinante]

23 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Was the baby supposed to be Mr. Burns? 

I believe so, yes.

[MadyGirl1987]

On 10/24/2023 at 7:41 AM, Tachi Rocinante said:

I believe so, yes.

Between them not having baby Burns say anything, which is weird as having him say something would have made the connection that the baby is Burns easier, and the episode with Burns talking with a strange voice last season(can't remember which one, though) are they working Burns out of the show?

[Galileo908]

Season 35, ep 4: Thirst Trap: A Corporate Love Story

Quote

In a parody documentary, a young college-dropout CEO embraces the Silicon Valley "fake it until you make it" philosophy and bewitches Mr. Burns into funding her highly dubious dream project.

Airs 10/29/23

I mean...I really do wonder why they're holding off the THOH until next week if they've been airing new episodes without interruption.

[DoctorAtomic]

I had thought because of the world series, but they're on a travel. 

[Galileo908]

That Dramatic Chipmunk meme is old enough to vote. As are references to Jim looking at the camera in The Office.

Really wish I hadn't read that episode summary, it ruined the twist for me. I was waiting for the reveal that Lifeboat was all a scam. It took me a bit to realize the plot is all a reference to Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, whose only crime was scamming rich people. Which, in this country, is the worst crime of all. Honestly, that tattoo gun that was able to suck up the tattoo ink back into it without pain was the billion dollar idea.

Honestly, I trust Persephone to run Twitter more than Musk. Of course Burns' issue with her wasn't that she was evil (he loves evil!), but she kept insisting she's good. I did like that he somehow got her high school friends in the divorce.

I honestly could've watched more of the fake, mundane Get Back clips.