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      This is the thread where we talk about the 27th season of The Simpsons. Yes, this show is still on, and we're still not sure when it'll end. Whenever I think Fox is done ordering new episodes, they announce another two seasons. Yes, Al Jean is still the showrunner. Yes, we know the show's greatest days are long behind us. Yes, the show's been in "bucket list" mode for a few seasons now. The past few years had a non-Halloween Kang/Kodos episode. And episode with LEGO. And a talking rag. And a Futurama crossover. And one where they go to Antarctica. And a handful of celebrity vehicles. And (admittedly good) episode based on a 1990 script written by a then-obscure Judd Apatow. It's been weird the past few years. No, Harry Shearer isn't leaving. The voice of Skinner, Ned Flanders, and Mr. Burns worked out a deal with the show after all so he can stay on. Yes, it looks like they're going through with the marriage separation thing. I'm not quite sure how long it's supposed to last. Homer will probably have to save his marriage again. I don't have high hopes for it. At least the "actual future" episodes (which does not include the episode which mentions a Trump presidency) showed Marge and Homer still together, so we don't have to deal with pretend tension. Season Premiere Every Man's Dream September 27, 2015 - 8/7c on FOX  Season 27 begins with Homer being diagnosed as a narcoleptic, which sends him on a bender, after which he returns home drunk. This prompts a visit to a marriage counselor and results in a trial separation from Marge, during which Homer finds himself a 20-something companion. Lena Dunham, Jemima Kirke, Zosia Mamet, and Allison Williams guest star. Also, Laura Ingraham. Simpsons Quote thread Season 26 thread Season 25 thread Trumptastic Voyage Don Hertzfeldt Couch Gag Rick and Morty Couch Gag 
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Sep 27, 2015 11:07
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:30 |
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Long story short, I typically defended the show up until maybe Season 20. After the classic era and after many fans tuned out, the show still had an evolution with its ups and downs. Seasons 15-19 had less energy with its jokes, but made up for it with more consistent plotting than the Scully seasons. Starting with 20, the plots just started feeling a lot blander. Even a lot of the more experimental plots and good episodes since 20 still suffered from a sense of exhaustion. I don't blame the jump to HD, though others do. I just get a greater sense that behind-the-scenes morale in the writers room just eroded greatly as the show entered its third decade, and they just more frequently settled on certain ideas and formulas. And even "concept" episodes suffered from that loss of enthusiasm. But I still see the characterizations of the characters I loved from 20 years earlier despite other people's complaints about Jerkass Homer. I'll keep watching until Fox pulls the plug.
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Sep 28, 2015 00:47
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I'll admit I laughed at Homer marrying himself and felt some tension that the marriage was really being threatened. But that last act managed to do something lamer than "it was all a dream".
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Sep 28, 2015 01:31
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I probably would have accepted a multi-episode arc where Homer and Marge really have to work to save their marriage and earn it in a way that couldn't be wrapped up in 30 minutes and that might have been the original plan. But then they chickened out of it. Not a nice start to a new season.
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Sep 28, 2015 02:49
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twistedmentat posted:Let me think of a good thing to say. Of course, that's not the route they chose, so... yeah... nice character design.
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Sep 29, 2015 02:43
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I'll admit I purposely avoided that podcast precisely because there's plenty of post-classic era episodes that are well-hated but I'm quite fond of. And before the 20something seasons really showed how much they're willing to settle with bad plots and jokes; I got quite defensive with my continuing choice to keep watching the show against the righteous TV geek hivemind where every show needs to end as soon as they stop their perfect batting average. (Heck, I still do.) I am really curious whether or not anyone within the show fought against the "it was a all dream" ending. I get that it's probably the showrunner who had the final say, but I wonder if the writers even had a real debate over bad story choices like Sunday's cop out.
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Sep 29, 2015 15:28
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I was around 20 when That 90s Show aired and will keep defending that episode. My friends IRL who've seen that episode also enjoyed it a lot. To me, the story works; the jokes were funny; and paradoxically there's attention to detail. (It's the first episode to address the 10 year gap in Homer and Marge's life.) People who hate it talk about how Homer is quintessentially a boomer so the characterization sucks, but I always related to Home as a kid and teen way more than Bart. I loved the tongue-in-cheek meta nature of the whole thing (a show that was popular in the 90s having a period episode in the 90s), not unlike a lot of the show's other good meta episodes.
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Sep 30, 2015 01:32
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Plot seems simple and unambitious enough. I have moderate expectations for this.
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Oct 4, 2015 15:49
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Bender!
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Oct 5, 2015 01:03
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This is the episode is the bare minimum of what I'd wish every modern Simpsons episode would have. Why couldn't this have been the season premiere?
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Oct 5, 2015 01:27
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twistedmentat posted:Didn't have a celeb guest voice? By bare minimum, I mean there's a plot that's resolved. There are jokes, some of which work well. It doesn't betray the characterizations of the Simpsons that I'm familiar with. I liked how the episode portrays Homer (and Bart, Lisa, and Maggie)'s sadness. Homer lying on the ground isn't from just from his laziness, but that compounded with having the one thing that motivated him taken away from him. Bart and Lisa's attempts to resolve the issue are endearing, but they too fall victim to defeat. It's the kind of pathetic despair that's amusing yet I can relate. The episode as a whole isn't too special. But I miss the days when an episode like this was still considered average for the show, rather than a highlight.
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Oct 5, 2015 01:52
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Oh no, Hoppy! 
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Oct 12, 2015 01:10
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The Maggie plot worked. I kind of like the more Fantasia-inspired bits on the show with minimal dialogue. The Patty and Selma plot wasn't terrible... it just exists. It just seems like there was no real "so what" to it. It just went for the pointless ending and asks us to not think about it too much. So where does Mrs. Bouvier live now? The plot moved on before it can answer that. So Ling just continues growing up in a household with two smokers? Don't think about it. I wouldn't have mind had the show found a way to make Patty and Selma quit smoking altogether; it wouldn't have betrayed their characterizations too much IMO. Or they could double down on their smoking addiction and go for the "they're assholes but our assholes" ending, but I felt like they didn't pursue that decisively enough. This ending isn't quite the same cop out as the season premiere, I just wanted something. Yo-Yo Ma gags worked. Liked his cover of the theme.
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Oct 12, 2015 14:39
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I appreciate this episode. I'm not sure how I feel about it beyond that. They went for the sentimental angle, which I don't mind. Even though the episode's premise is kind of unique, I kind of felt like they double downed on all the stuff that works in typical good Homer/Lisa episodes. In a way, it still feels safe and calculating. It's not a bad episode at all. But I can't say it's a great episode. I'll definitely take this over all the episodes that misfire.
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Oct 19, 2015 01:33
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I wanted to like this episode more than I ended up. I definitely prefer Lisa when the writers remember she's supposed to be a little kid and not a self-insert character. It just that it seems like I've seen this episode before. Specifically "The Girl Who Slept Too Little". And there's probably a few other successful late-era Simpsons that used kid Lisa to great effect that I'm not recalling right now. Anyway, they combined that with the show's best character relationship (Homer and Lisa) when it's time for the show to have a nice sentimental episode. And it hit all the expected beats and had just enough gags to work for a safe episode. Not to complain too much about it. This episode's better than most. I wish every episode had the good intentions this one had, and ended up being at least this decent. And I liked the "You don't know how sorry I feel right now" joke.
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Oct 19, 2015 03:32
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The Godzilla bit felt it could have been better if its Hollywood franchise bashing had more teeth. Third one just was. If not for the second act, I kind of wish this one made fun of those "found footage teens get superpowers" genre that's emerging from Hollywood. I did like Skinner correcting the spelling.
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Oct 26, 2015 01:36
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This episode perfectly embodies every forgettable episode we've had for the past few years. There's no red flag that I could single out as bad, but the whole thing has some numbing effect even though it lacks anything particularly offensive. Did like the YVAN EHT NIOJ reference.
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Nov 9, 2015 02:29
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Meh. I liked Amish Flanders.
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Nov 23, 2015 02:26
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I thought it was getting a bit off rails when the military guy showed up, but I like how it was resolved.
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Dec 7, 2015 02:41
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I liked the episode better when it was "Springfield Up". Okay, despite the gimmick, it's high concept enough that it could good if they don't totally drop the ball. If.
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Dec 13, 2015 03:13
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That's the third origin of the boat painting.
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Dec 14, 2015 02:04
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Oh they're already ignoring frozen future Grampa from the Christmas episode.
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Dec 14, 2015 02:18
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S27 hasn't been better than 26. 26 hasn't been better than 25. 25 hasn't been better than 24. So on since season 20 or 21. I don't expect any upswing unless if there's a huge, unexpected shakeup behind the scenes. And the show has an equal chance of getting worse as it does better if that's the case. I did like the joke about how in the future the only in Republican senator in Congress is really good at stopping the agenda of 99 Democrats.
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Dec 15, 2015 10:44
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I know the show and Tracey Ullman haven't been on great terms, but getting her to guest star in what's supposed to be the series finale would be another bookend they can pull out when the time comes. I think less about what should be in the series finale after the fifth time I assumed Fox would stop ordering new seasons just to be proven wrong.
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Dec 15, 2015 17:26
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And the Simpsons showrunners always felt like she was determined to get rid of the shorts on her show because they ate into her air time. But when the Simpsons became a full phenomenon Ullman insisted she groomed the Simpsons into the success that it was. So yeah... money.
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Dec 27, 2015 03:54
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That was not bad. The third act plot twist worked better than it should have.
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Jan 4, 2016 02:27
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I don't have high hopes for this one, beyond the amazing couch gag that's already on YouTube. Last week's episode was fine. I don't think we can get two good ones in a row.
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Jan 10, 2016 08:31
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That wasn't as bad as I imagined. Just mostly forgettable. I don't know why Homer's chin shaved had to look like that. And I liked Thing magazine.
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Jan 11, 2016 18:33
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This episode wasn't good.
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Jan 18, 2016 02:30
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That wasn't bad.
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Feb 15, 2016 16:48
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I do think it's strange how Mr. Largo was slowly rephased back into the show into a frequently used recurring character.
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Feb 22, 2016 02:16
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Lisa the Veterinarian Lisa wants to be a veterinarian after she performs CPR on a raccoon, but learns a tough lesson when the neglected class hamster dies. Elsewhere: Marge moonlights as a crime scene cleaner to make extra money, but the gory scenes impact her too much.
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Mar 6, 2016 17:21
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This episode feels like it had a guest writer. I'll take Lisa episodes that knock her off her high horse.
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Mar 7, 2016 02:26
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I like the Homer & Bart bonding over screwing Flanders over.
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Mar 14, 2016 01:08
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That was a surprisingly good character-driven episode.
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Mar 14, 2016 01:26
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I remembered a while ago they talked about how they were going to have Smithers flat out come out to Mr. Burns. They ended not doing that. Not sure how I feel about this episode. I didn't laugh that much. Homer's Phobia did hint Smithers does have a history and a life beyond Burns, but this episode decided he didn't until now. I still felt like this episode fell short of fleshing out Smithers' character. Burns' character requires that his character can only be moved so much. ("Excellent." and not much more.) Episode ended up being more forgettable than I guess what they were aiming for.
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Apr 4, 2016 01:43
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Apr 4, 2016 16:09
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There's so many good lines and gags that work in this episode. Wow.
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Apr 11, 2016 01:14
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Cacator posted:Another Marge/Lisa episode this season? Has the show finally run out of ideas??? The Marge/Lisa plot did lose focus once it became a string of Broadway parodies in the third act. But even with that, I liked the "every show is a movie adaptation with an American Idol star" gag.
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Apr 11, 2016 22:52
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 01:30 |
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Alright, I liked this episode. Not sure if they needed the framing device. Maude didn't play a pivotal role; her conflict with Marge wasn't fully realized. And of course, if we take this episode at face value it doesn't explain why Homer often hates Flanders. But yeah, I liked the "go on an adventure" thing.
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Apr 25, 2016 01:32
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