Tonight's episode of The Simpsons (Dec 15)

[AndrewB]

I've been waiting for this for a while. The return of Sideshow Bob. Instinctively I have high hopes, but intellectually I know to keep my expectations very low. Kelsey Grammer has never failed to perform well on the show, so maybe he'll just upstage all the other characters.

Someone tries to kill Homer, and Wiggum turns to Bob for help (because he wants someone who can think like a criminal, I suppose).

[Naked Snake]

Find a friggin' Simpsons forum for Christ's skake

[Spike]

Wow. Someone's in serious need of a life.

[Fredrik]

Haven't we had enough of these threads?

[IMJack]

I thought they finally put Bob to rest.

[AndrewB]

I thought so too, after they sentenced him to death without due process and brought the guillotine into the restaurant back in February 2001. I wonder how they're going to explain that one.

[Black Void]

AndrewB said:

I thought so too, after they sentenced him to death without due process and brought the guillotine into the restaurant back in February 2001. I wonder how they're going to explain that one.

I hope no one will flame me here, but there's nothing wrong with The Simpsons! I like it now more than I did 5 or 6 years ago - they've brought in sporadic plots, that jump around without much meaning, yet filled with halarious things that happen! That's what I call comedy - if people are going to make a cartoon show, they need to realize that it doesn't need to revolve around real life physics and elements.

[Penguin]

the Simpsons has never been too big on avoiding inconsistencies... in fact, they point out how plenty of major events go unmentioned in future episodes, it's sort of a joke

why do you start one of these threads EVERY week? why not create a thread entitled "ANNUAL BITCH ABOUT THE SIMPSONS" thread and bump it every Sunday? :-]

The Simpsons quality may have deteriorated over the years but what the hell do you expect??? it's still funnier than 99% of the sitcoms and other bullshit on TV... especially FOX (the only good sitcom is reruns of Seinfeld)

[gatewatcher]

I'm hoping tonights episode will make up for the last few.

[IMJack]

How many plot points of the Simpsons are actually maintained? Milhouse's parents' divorce, Maude Flanders' death, Apu's marriage and kids, what else?

The Simpsons isn't supposed to be continuous, it's supposed to be episodic. You don't have to have watched the last several dozen episodes to "get" this one. No "Last Time, On The Simpsons!" necessary.

[AndrewB]

Well, evidently next week's episode involves raising funds to repair the church, caused by Homer and Bart's rocket which hit it about 2 years ago.

[zark]

Penguin stole:
My Old Avatar

Thief!

[Penguin]

ZarcyB said:

Thief!

i wasn't aware... i've only been here a few months. i figured the avatars on the preset list were for anybody

what's wrong with being proud of my Scotish heritate :-D

[zark]

Penguin said:

i wasn't aware... i've only been here a few months. i figured the avatars on the preset list were for anybody

what's wrong with being proud of my Scotish heritate :-D

Heh, I'm only kidding, glad to see some more Scots on the forums. Soon we'll have enough to form an army ;) It'll be like Braveheart all over again.

COMING SOON: BRAVEHEART 2003

[Fredrik]

Who cares I saw that Braveheart movie yesterday, it's just a bad Matrix ripoff, nothing more.

[MaCvILeWhOrE]

Fredrik said:

Who cares I saw that Braveheart movie yesterday, it's just a bad Matrix ripoff, nothing more.

WTF?

[Captain Red]

The new season of futurama has finally returned! Of course it’s on at about 100:00 at night because channel seven hates us all. But damn it’s hilarious! Far better then the new episodes of the Simpson’s.

Black Void said:
I hope no one will flame me here, but there's nothing wrong with The Simpsons! I like it now more than I did 5 or 6 years ago - they've brought in sporadic plots, that jump around without much meaning, yet filled with halarious things that happen! That's what I call comedy - if people are going to make a cartoon show, they need to realize that it doesn't need to revolve around real life physics and elements.

What?! I find the old Simpson repeats far more funny then the new episodes! (Mainly because the first time I watched them I was too young to get half the jokes). One season 4 episode is funnier then all of the latest seasons episodes put together.

[Naked Snake]

MaCvILeWhOrE said:

WTF?

MaC = Railgunner (who is oblivious to sarcasm)

[AndrewB]

Holy h___. Tonight's episode was unbelievably excellent. I'm the biggest critic of new Simpsons episodes that you're ever likely to see, and Sideshow Bob propped this episode up on its feet and made it perform. It was classy and elegant. It claims the title as best Simpsons episode ever for its time.

A-.

[Linguica]

It was OK, but the whole Frank Grimes Jr. thing was a deus ex machina of the worst sort, and the song at the end was mostly just embarassing. It had its moments, and it certainly was better than some of the crap we've been exposed to in the past few years, but it wasn't comparable to the old Sideshow Bob episodes of yore.

Modern-Simpsons rating: B+
Classic-Simpsons rating: D+

[AndrewB]

The beauty of this episode was in what it didn't have. No annoying Simpsons theme music with every scene switch, no exaggerated facial expressions, no voice-acting done in a very bad-acting fashion, no desperate s(lapst)ick humor. There weren't gaping polt holes and impossibilities relative to most episodes of the past 2 years. It even had some handwriting, rather than forming all words out of computer fonts. And it still had about 20 tasteful quips of humor, better than the usual 2-5 per episode.

Frank Grimes Jr. didn't make any sense. He's like the same age as his dad, and as we all know, time stands still in The Simpsons world. And the song was, I don't know, really not bad. Bart trying to squirm away reminisced of some classic episode. It was way better than their last musical score, heck.

It's inferior to pretty much every episode in seasons 2-6, but not by much. Strictly comparing it to recent episodes such as Homer's rock camp and Marge's implants, it's a freaking masterpiece.

This is really all I ask from The Simpsons. Episodes like these. They don't need to be knock-your-teeth-out funny, just classy and respectable. Is that too much to ask?

After thinking about the Grimes Jr. part, I think an overall B+ rating is more accurate. If the average Classic Simpsons episode ranks as a C in the Classic Simpsons category, yep, a D+.

Modern Simpsons: A+
Overall: B+
Classic Simpsons: D+