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hearthesilence wrote:

mfunk9786 wrote:Ha - that might be my vote for most overrated Simpsons episode ever, and certainly low on my list among Season 9. But you're right, that's absolutely where the quality dip is.

Man, I don't think it's one of the great episodes, but I thought it was pretty solid when I first saw it. I can see how it's overrated - I learned to appreciate it more after moving to NYC, and I'm sure the locals have probably championed it for esoteric reasons.

I wrote about it here during the lists project, but my issues mostly stem from how weak the plotting is once they actually get to New York beyond some surface level observations. The worst sequence is the musical - totally shoehorned in, badly written, and in reference to a rehab center in California for some reason... Ian Maxtone-Graham proved himself to be a pretty awful writer of Simpsons episodes, with a sensibility that didn't suit the show well most of the time, and this episode is one of the earliest examples of that.

"Or your car will be thrown in the Hudson River, at your expense"

Many thanks for the list and to everyone else for the information. I'm more than willing to give these episodes a shot. When I first saw The Simpsons I wasn't at all impressed.

To make my bias worse I've seen the Lady Gaga episode. I don't even remember any jokes in said episode it was atrocious. And then there was one with Werner Herzog which I assumed meant it would have some quality to it. Wrong. Sometime in the episode people's eyeballs begin to fall out of their heads. Mind you this WASN'T a Treehouse of Horror episode it was a regular one. It appears at least to me (and correct me if I'm wrong) that The Simpsons is simply coasting on it's early success for over twenty years now. They're able to attract big stars (Ed Sheeran is guest starring soon!) but that's about it. I realize my last statement may seem self-evident to most of you but I've been completely divorced from Simpsons lore for most of my life.

If you can watch Last Exit to Springfield, arguably one of the greatest achievements in the history of popular culture, and not want more, you'll save yourself a lot of time

mfunk9786 wrote:

hearthesilence wrote:

mfunk9786 wrote:Ha - that might be my vote for most overrated Simpsons episode ever, and certainly low on my list among Season 9. But you're right, that's absolutely where the quality dip is.

Man, I don't think it's one of the great episodes, but I thought it was pretty solid when I first saw it. I can see how it's overrated - I learned to appreciate it more after moving to NYC, and I'm sure the locals have probably championed it for esoteric reasons.

I wrote about it here during the lists project, but my issues mostly stem from how weak the plotting is once they actually get to New York beyond some surface level observations. The worst sequence is the musical - totally shoehorned in, badly written, and in reference to a rehab center in California for some reason... Ian Maxtone-Graham proved himself to be a pretty awful writer of Simpsons episodes, with a sensibility that didn't suit the show well most of the time, and this episode is one of the earliest examples of that.

I love that episode. "Of course you'll have a bad impression if you only focus on the pimps and the CHUDs," "Officer Steve GRABOWSKI," and the bit about Mountain Dew vs. Crab Juice are 3 of my & my friends' most oft-quoted Simpsons references. And it has forever changed how I think about Flushing Meadows

PfR73 wrote:"Officer Steve GRABOWSKI,"

Thought this was done better with

domino harvey wrote:If you can watch Last Exit to Springfield, arguably one of the greatest achievements in the history of popular culture, and not want more, you'll save yourself a lot of time

This reminds me: I'm going to the dentist tomorrow for the first time in years...ugh. Dental plan indeed.

Also, if you just watch that episode then you might as well go down the rabbit hole and embrace losing a little time.

mfunk9786 wrote:

PfR73 wrote:"Officer Steve GRABOWSKI,"

Thought this was done better with

To be fair, her explanation is second-hand speculation on the motives of someone no longer around to defend themselves

It's not like the show ever had any hidden sexist overtones to it anyway either. None I could see anyway.

Is there any place to stream Seasons 1-8/9/10?

FXNow. Requires a cable subscription

Gee, how's that for loyalty?

I just killed a fly in my cockroach infested apartment

Springfield of Dreams, a mockumentary about the Homer at Bat episode, is airing tomorrow at 4:30 PM on Fox, after the Sunday football game. Don't know why they put at that time instead of showing it at 7PM.

The Rolling Stone article mentions this, but it's actually airing before the game in markets with a later game (like there, where it's airing at 2 P.M. CDT). I don't know why they're not showing it at 7/6 either, but it means Bob's Burgers doesn't get preempted, so I'm fine with that.

As far as I can tell SIMPSONSWAVE is dead, but is now replaced with people doing stupid things to the "Steamed Hams" scene. Here it is "but it's a custom Guitar Hero song", and another with the dialogue replaced entirely by lines of dialogue from other TV shows an movies.

Yes it's a new meme that's gained traction for whatever reason. There's even a version of the scene using lines entirely different works to complete the scene.

I have to admit a few of the ones I found I thought were pretty funny.

Ted Cruz used the show yet again to sell himself, stating that all of the Simpson family members save Lisa are Republicans. Bill Oakley sets him straight

A reminder that Trump was eventually elected in the Simpsons universe and was subsequently succeeded by Lisa.

Marge voted for Jimmy Carter twice

Sideshow Bob is a staunch Republican