The Simpsons so bad my dad called

[JediTricks]

My father has been a big fan of The Simpsons for pretty much the entire run of the series. Long after I considered the series a washout, my ever-the-optimist father has been loyal. So it was with great surprise that I got a call last night at 8:37 from my dad that started with "worst... episode... ever". My dad does not imitate the character voices, he doesn't spew lines verbatim like most fans I know, so the gravity of his statement was evident. I let him know that I had taped the episode and not yet seen it, so he proceeded to tell me that this episode was so bad and unfunny that it was easily the worst Simpsons he had ever seen. Thinking to myself that he and I don't share that many specific tastes, I thought maybe there was simply some small facet that he didn't dig that was skewing his viewpoint and asked him what he meant.

"Not one thing was funny at all, the only time I even chuckled was when Moleman was trapped in the snow."

I was intrigued, how could my father - who tries to find something good about everything - be so repulsed by one of the few TV shows he has been a fan of for so long? I assured him I'd watch it on tape to gauge it for myself and report back to him, and after the rest of our phone conversation, I did indeed view the tape...

YIKES!!!

I was, to say the least, surprised at how accurate my pop was. I was expecting there to be something that would jump out and say "that wasn't as bad as such-and-such episode" (I'm lookin' at you Saddlesore Galactica and Simpson Safari) but nothing ever did. So much of the writing fell flat or felt misplaced that I felt a little assaulted - and that is coming from JT, the guy who has disliked nearly every episode since the New York one. The only stuff I was amused even a little by was the couch gag (which only worked as a stand-alone and barely that) and the Hans Moleman gag (which I felt could have definitely been tightened up). This episode wasn't even a "so bad that it's good" sort of thing, it was just a disjointed, unfunny mess.

[Exhaust Port]

To each their own. I didn't think it was that bad and laughed throughout. Oh well, what are you going to do?

[Anakin Palpatine]

It was a good episode with lots of hidden humor. Not to say you didn't read between the lines or anything but, I found myself laughing at a lot of the backround jokes. True, it is not one of the best episodes they have put out, but hey with over 300 something episodes, a few are not going to make par. The end was really bad though!!!!

[El Chuxter]

Funny, I thought it was the best episode I've seen in a while. The parodies of old Christmas specials were awesome.

Though this whole thing with Nelson's dad going to the store that first popped up a year or so ago has gotten really old. How many moms and dads has the boy had? Seriously?

And they could drop the Buddhist Lisa thing, too. That's just dumb.

[scruffziller]

It was a good ep. I found Homer slithering along the floor very amusing,
With those 300 producers they have it has to be funny.

[darthvyn]

i thought it was really funny...

like the throw-away gag about ned's eldest (rod or todd?) when they ask him if he's jealous of "brother homer" and the older son (which one is he, i can never get it right...) says "i'm jealous of girls, because they get to wear dresses..."

c'mon, that's FUNNY!!!

[Exhaust Port]

"One problem at a time."

There were a lot of funny lines in that episode. Worse episode ever? I think not.

[Mr. JabbaJohnL]

I liked it a lot! Especially that funny picture of Jesus and Moleman in the snow. It had a lot of good jokes, but most of them didn't come for a while.

[JediTricks]

i thought it was really funny...

like the throw-away gag about ned's eldest (rod or todd?) when they ask him if he's jealous of "brother homer" and the older son (which one is he, i can never get it right...) says "i'm jealous of girls, because they get to wear dresses..."

c'mon, that's FUNNY!!!

I thought that was too forced, we've done the "Rod & Todd are future-homosexuals" thing before too.

[Lowly Bantha Cleaner]

I too liked last week's Christmas episode and am glad that after 14 years on the air, the Simpsons has not gotten stale, lost it's edgy humor, social commentary or superb writing. To remain on the air for that long, and to stay consistently funny, is a testament to the dedication of the staff of the show.

Sure, over the last few year seasons, more than ever, there have been a handful of less than stellar episodes. Some have complained loudly about them, but as I say, be thankful that on Sunday nights for the last many years, we have and still can tune in to a 1/2 hour of laughs with one of America's most endearing families. The ones that do miss, don't deter the fact that the series is still one of the best ones on t.v.