The Simpsons - General Discussion

[SoMuchTV]

8 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Even the polar bear in Past Burns's office was just a cub. And present day bear got its head blown off.

And the “release the hounds” puppies were so cute!  Even though it makes no sense, even with a sliding timeline. 

[DoctorAtomic]

I liked this whole noir idea. And Agnes is the dame! It looked to me like the colors were a little washed out like old time movies too. 

I liked the 80s stores; boom box emporium, the Bar Side. The Beef. I Found The Beef. 

I like when Abe is actually effective and not just totally doddering.

This was a brilliant retcon. Way better than Marge getting the money from her father and not telling Homer. 

We're on a Heisenberg approved streak!

[ottoDbusdriver]

So thanks to the sliding timeline, Grampa was a young Miami Vice-like detective in 1982

And Homer was about 6 years old, yet some 7 years later in 1989 was a balding father of 3.

Spotted Waylon Smithers Sr. in Mr. Burns' office, wrangling the puppy hounds.

[SoMuchTV]

16 minutes ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

And Homer was about 6 years old, yet some 7 years later in 1989 was a balding father of 3.

Obviously, the Simpsons exist in 36 parallel universes. Why is that so hard to understand?!?!

On a related note, when Homer said he’d messed up xxx times at his job - that number referred to the number of episodes, right?  I’m hoping someone else noticed so I won’t have to go back and check. 

[opus]

30 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

On a related note, when Homer said he’d messed up xxx times at his job - that number referred to the number of episodes, right?  I’m hoping someone else noticed so I won’t have to go back and check. 

That has to be it. But to be fair to Homer, he didn’t mess up at work every episode (at least on camera).

[Spartan Girl]

On 10/27/2024 at 9:27 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

This was a brilliant retcon. Way better than Marge getting the money from her father and not telling Homer.

Retcons in general annoy me, but yes, this was a better one.

Edited October 29 by Spartan Girl

[tearknee]

How many people here feel that the 1980s is a lot more recent than it is?

[DoctorAtomic]

That's because the 80s was only about 10 years ago. 

[tearknee]

Sorry. I was making a silly Tempus Fugit related joke.

[M. Darcy]

16 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

I thought they were gonna somehow establish that Abe or Billy was Skinner's real dad (making him younger than Homer, since Young Seymour wasn't seen),

I thought that also! 

[Galileo908]

Season 36, ep 5: Treehouse of Horror XXXV

Quote

Giant monsters created by political rage threaten to tear the town apart; a Victorian Mr. Burns is jump-scared on Thanksgiving by the ghosts of abused workers; Homer bonds with a pair of extra-terrestrial jeans.

Also has an intro directed by Jorge Gutierrez (watch for Book of Life and El Tigre cameos).

Airs 11/3/24

(Not a fan of these November THOH airings when they clearly had room in October for it)

[Galileo908]

Episode got slightly delayed because the Rams/Seahawks game went into OT.

[tearknee]

[Galileo908]

The intro was awesome. Also the excuse to get Kang & Kodos in there. And loved his version of the segments through the credits.

The Information Rage: So the Pacific Rim parody was fueled by lightbulb rage. I did laugh at the blue monster being smug and attacked by sending Act Blue texts. Honestly, I got vibes from Attack of The 50ft Eyesores and that was way more clever than this.

The Fall of The House of Monty: An old timey Christmas Carol story starring Burns. This one was way more clever and better animated. With parts of the Winchester Mystery House and the Haunted Mansion. The ghosts had genuinely creepy designs. Well done. And I got a chuckle out of them literally yelling "JUMP SCARE!"

Denim: I got a laugh out of "Irv's Non-Canonical Diner." Cross The Wrong Trousers with Venom, and you have this segment. And of course the magic alien pants is powered by farts. The pants were real well animated.

Overall, okay. The second segment was the best one.

Laughed at "Thank you, Jeansus."

Edited November 4 by Galileo908

[SoMuchTV]

Okay, I’ve been a Simpsons fan or at least non-hater from day one, but that was not the kind of horror I needed at this particular point in time. The only part I mildly enjoyed was the non-canonical diner. 

[opus]

Liked them best in reverse order.  Third, second, then first.

[Spartan Girl]

Another mediocre Halloween episode, at least compared to the last two years.

7 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

The second segment was the best one.

It really was.

Although…I did get a mean little laugh that Homer dumped Marge for Denim.

[DoctorAtomic]

I liked all the social media monsters from the first segment. I didn't mind it being topical because the election is a big deal.

The colors for the second were great, and the Black Friday punchline was a nice twist off usual Halloween. 

Acid washed jeans have never been cool. Long walk for that joke. 

I'm figuring there wasn't enough time to schedule this last week in case the World Series went longer. 

 

[KWalkerInc]

I think the only problem they could have had with the World Series was if there had been a rainout in the first two games.  They did this last year too.  They seem to just like showing TOH in November for some reason.

This was the only new episode tonight, wasn't it?  When I turned over to watch just before 8, the listings said that the new episode "Women in Shorts" was airing at 7:30.  I hope that wasn't the case, as it isn't listed on demand so far.

[Nerfect Drifty]

On 10/27/2024 at 8:27 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

This was a brilliant retcon. Way better than Marge getting the money from her father and not telling Homer.

Can you have retconning in a show with no continuity?

Treehouse of Horror 35 was good.  I liked the gag where they set up Bart and Lisa to be co-pilots of the giant robot, then subvert it for a second with those two never before seen adult siblings, only to have it go right back to normal with an annoyed commentary from Frink.  I also liked that the monsters born of political rage spawned from both sides, and the writers didn't take themselves so seriously that they thought the right wing was the only wing capable of being jerks.

[incandescent]

I enjoyed the casual use of "embiggen" in the second segment.

[DoctorAtomic]

Well, it's a perfectly cromulent word. 

[tearknee]

Fiddle dee dee! That will require a tetnus shot!

[Galileo908]

Season 36, ep 6: Women in Shorts

Airs 11/10/24

There's no real summary this week, oddly enough.

 

This is gonna be the last new one for a while, as football takes center stage for the next few weeks. Next week they're rerunning Bart's Brain.

[Spartan Girl]

This episode hit differently after the last week. Especially Lisa’s Narnia dream.

[Galileo908]

Whoa, full intro! I laughed that it ended up going in reverse at the end. And it features all the women! In fact, this was all a women-focused rehash of 22 Short Films.

Sign: Ladies Night Moe's Tavern. Pleeeeaaaase?!

Chalkboard: I Will Not Get Detention Just to Practice Cursive

Couch Gag: Kirk is on the couch, while all the ladies push him off it for book club.

Loved that Luann had an intervention for wine mom merch.

And heh a spoof of the Barbie movie, but with Malibu Stacy. I liked the twist that she was Shauna's doll, and her severed head freaked out Smithers. And they gave The Bear parody to Lunchlady Doris Dora. 

The Patty & Selma segment was great. Of course they'd fight over sharing cigarettes...that they've hidden all over the house. They remembered Jub-Jub! MacGuyver! And that they own a Volkswagon Thing! But not Ling.

Loved the segment with Agnes looking for a new nemesis on Scowlbook. And the teachers betting on recess disasters. 

Out of all characters, Luigi's Mom gets a theme song?

[DoctorAtomic]

What a neat opening with Lisa instead, and they went to the other house. 

The magazine with Jennifer Garner also said 'Tony Shaloub recyling bin shocker.'

I liked the Lunchlady sketch because it's sadly true that schools have something like only $1.50 per meal per kid, but Lisa not being able to have fun in dreams was also funny. 

First middle finger. Brilliant.

This was really clever. 

 

Maggie: Origins!

[cdnalor]

The Mama-at-Law animated theme reminded me of Fran Drescher's The Nanny.  This episode felt like the writers were clearing out their idea file of stories that couldn't fill a half hour on their own.  

[incandescent]

I loved the transitions between shorts, eg the Bouvier smartwatch cardiac alerts to Hibbert's date night alert.

[BetterButter]

‘The Simpsons’ Voice Actor Pamela Hayden Retiring After 35 Years

[tearknee]

IIRC most of Mel Blanc, Daws Butler and Don Messick's really important character voices are up to the third or fourth generation successor by now and i have my doubts that the 'Simpsons' original VAs will be considered any more 'sacred'. They revived the 'Jetsons' in the 1980s, 20 years after the original series, and i am all but certain that we will see more incarnations of the 'Simpsons'.

[Galileo908]

On 11/10/2024 at 6:30 PM, Galileo908 said:

This is gonna be the last new one for a while, as football takes center stage for the next few weeks. Next week they're rerunning Bart's Brain.

My mistake, turns out there IS a new one on Sunday, it's the other THOH episode.

And man, end of an era with Pamela Hayden.

4 hours ago, tearknee said:

They revived the 'Jetsons' in the 1980s, 20 years after the original series, and i am all but certain that we will see more incarnations of the 'Simpsons'.

And everyone was still alive! (George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc died while recording the Jetsons Movie). It's the Flintstones that kept getting recast over the years. That show kept getting new incarnations. Nowadays it would just never stop.

[opus]

I wonder of the main ones (Dan, Julie, Yeardley, Hank, Harry), who leaves first?

[tearknee]

Harry and Julie are the oldest.

 

[tearknee]

7 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

My mistake, turns out there IS a new one on Sunday, it's the other THOH episode.

And man, end of an era with Pamela Hayden.

And everyone was still alive! (George O'Hanlon and Mel Blanc died while recording the Jetsons Movie). It's the Flintstones that kept getting recast over the years. That show kept getting new incarnations. Nowadays it would just never stop.

Alan Reed died in 1977 so recasting Fred to Henry Corden was the first one needed. Corden actually appears on the 'Simpsons' as the voice of the Fred Flintstone Phone in "Sideshow Bob Roberts".

Edited November 21 by tearknee

[M. Darcy]

New York Times interview with Pamela

[tearknee]

[Galileo908]

Season 36, ep 7: Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes

Quote

A tattooed man at a mysterious night circus transports Lisa into three strange stories from the innocent 1950s, the chilling retro-present and a brutalist future where prestige tv rules the world.

Airs 11/24/24

[Galileo908]

Screaming Lady: This was a good segment, but it really felt like the Rear Window spoof from "Bart of Darkness" but not as clever. The screaming lady turned out to be Kirk and not a ficus plant. 

"You know your father only has a two hour lunch break."

Marionettes Frinkorporated: Chalmers segment! And gets a robot replica to work with Skinner. Really loved the retro-future design of this one, and loved the twist that Skinner got a robot to deal with Chalmers. And the robots becoming friends was the tipoff that they became self-aware. Not a fan that they played the "I'm the REAL one, shoot them" trope straight, though.

Fahrenheit 451: Lowbrow entertainment got banned and prestige entertainment rules in the future. And of course Homer the fireman gets exposed to lowbrow entertainment and questions everything. It was nice to see CBG's basement full of tapes again. "Our squinting reinforces the themes!" The comment on lighting was the best observation so far. This was the best segment by far.

Edited November 25 by Galileo908

[Galileo908]

Season 36, ep 8: Convenience Airways

Quote

The Simpsons are trapped on a flight with the most unruly passengers in America.

Airs 12/8/24

Airs at 8:30pm because Universal Basic Guys is once again in the 8pm post-football slot.

[opus]

I get irrationally angry whenever they air it at 8:30.

[Spartan Girl]

Best. Ending. Ever.

[Galileo908]

Oh, someone is REALLY gonna like how Marge acted in this one. She got to experience Rancho Relaxo on a plane. While everyone else gets the flight from hell because Con Air only serviced people banned from the other airlines. I did like how each and every person was awful in their own way, and how they dealt with everyone else's awfulness. You got CBG eating expired Christmas corn, Karens, influencers, babies.

When I went to NYCC, there was a booth for a Japanese airline that let you sit in business class seats, and they were exactly the ones Marge got to sleep in. They're swanky.

Just about everything that happened was based on true stories from flight attendants, according to Michael Price. Especially the parents potty training their kid in the aisle.

Of course Burns was responsible for the trap doors on the plane. The Billy Eichner flight attendant didn't scream enough. (EDIT: It wasn't Billy Eichner, it was John Early. That explains it)

Edited December 9 by Galileo908

[DoctorAtomic]

Good Spirit joke. 

I don't really have a problem flying because I fly alone, so seats aren't a problem.  My bad fits under the seat too. Of course, it's terrible overall because everyone has to carry huge roller bags. 

I was in those seats that recline all the way, but I didn't use it. 

[Spartan Girl]

20 minutes ago, Galileo908 said:

Oh, someone is REALLY gonna like how Marge acted in this one. She got to experience Rancho Relaxo on a plane. While everyone else gets the flight from hell because Con Air only serviced people banned from the other airlines.

And ordinarily, I would be pissed, but when she felt entitled to lecture the airline on their policies after reaping all the benefits, karma finally came back to bite her in the ass by having her wind up in the courtroom trap door, and I loved it!!!

[KWalkerInc]

Article about the Simpsons/NFL crossover tonight on ESPN+ and Disney+

The article also has a bit about the Christmas episode that they are only airing on Disney+ (which doesn't make me happy because I've seen every episode to this point). 

The football crossover also may be airing late tonight on NFL Network, but I'm not sure if the schedule is accurate.

[Galileo908]

Season 36, ep 9: Homer and Her Sisters

Quote

After a fight in an escape room, Krusty's aunt fixes Homer's relationship with Patty and Selma.

Airs 12/15/24 at 8:30pm EST again. Fox keeps trying to make Universal Basic Guys happen.

[DoctorAtomic]

Well, they can try all they want. 

[Galileo908]

4 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Well, they can try all they want. 

Especially since they pulled a Simpsons and saved the pilot for the end of the season.

[DoctorAtomic]

I'm not sure why Marge thought dragging Homer to an escape room with Patty and Selma would be a good idea. I'm not sure Homer was the problem here. 

That's got to be Susie Essman! Great in-joke because she does the Curb podcast with Jeff. 

Once Susie pointed the finger at Marge, I heard whistles and fireworks and then a tooty horn like at the circus, and I know who was prancing around her living room in her Heisenberg hat. Maybe even I daresay a jig was jagged. 

Aaaaand then the hat gets flung across the room when Marge got absolved.