WTF? I thought I was watching a Simpsons marathon earlier tonight! Those plots sure were used up and dropped fast.

I thought it was a great episode. Seemed to last longer than usual.

Much stronger than usual... I doubled over with laughter at Moe and his two knives.

I missed this one. Did Milhouse saying anything funny?

Um... oddly enough he did have one funny line - but you seem to have already included it as your signature. So are you SURE you didn't see it?

We could just play "Edna Krabapp-oly".

Marge, Bart, girl bart

This was definitely the funniest show they've had in a while. Very strong episode.

It's true. Two knifes do make you happy.

What's funny about the "multiple versions of Monopoly" joke is that there actually is a Simpson's version of Monopoly. I have it (I also have Simpson's Clue).

I liked Homer tacking one more "Stanford" as they were taunting Lisa.

Hehe.. that was a funny part.


Marge, Bart, girl Bart, the one who doesn't talk.

Aside from a few good jokes I thouhgt it was weak, especailly since they went back and forth, having a new focus every commercial break. To end it with bringing back the women from the lame "Homer and Flanders in Vegas" episode was all I could take. Was anyone really wanting to see those women again?

I agree. It seems like they had 2 ideas for shows that they couldn't expand into 2 seperate episodes, so they just kind of through them together willy nilly. It definitely had it's funny points, I'm glad Grampa got laid, but I think the episode was one of the lamer ones.

I thought the opening segment with the Rebublican headquarters was great...it made me feel like I was watching an episode from an earlier season.

They'be been doing the self-refferential thing for the last couple of seasons and I think its wearing thin. "Think we'll get cancelled now?"

Also, they never used to be this unrealistic (the wolves and lions conspiring) - its like they're running out of ideas and so we're just getting hodge-podge, almost like the Flintstones introducing the Great Gazoo (sp?). The Simpsons need to have some writers who can do actual plots, not a bunch of sight gags.

I thought it was a good one.

There's an episode in season 1 where Maggie lives with bears that is just as unrealistic.

Have you been watching the same show I have for the past decade? The show has *always* had little gags like that... and "realism" was never a goal.

Anyway, I thought this particular episode was pretty strong and I enjoyed the sort of "stream of consciousness" approach to the plot.

Funny moments, but not as good as it could have been. The plot was pretty poor overall. I had almost lost hope in the Simpsons these days until I saw an episode a few weeks ago where Homer kept screaming uncontrollably. Frickin Hilarious. Restored my faith, so this one is forgivable.

I do remember the bears in season one, and I realize 'realism' isn't what the show is about - it is animated with yellow people with 4 fingers - I get that.

I also don't mind sight gags and little shots to make a point, but once a show sets its rules, it should follow them. Breaking the rules does pull the viewer out of the story. Like in the bear scene, it was done not only to be funny but to provide drama and a poignant moment.

Now, if any one can think of any example where something even more unrealistic has happened (and no, I'm not counting the halloween episodes), then I would stand corrected.

I liked haering Lisa yelling, "You take that back!" after they taunted her.

Or what about the time when the meteor was about to hit Springfield and those Penguins flew away? Another purposefully unrealistic animal moment.

What rules? The Simpsons has always operated without a net.

* Just about any of Professor's Frink's inventions
* Chewbacca and Alf turning up
* Musical numbers where everybody spontaneously breaks into song
* Osmodio
* Leonard Nimoy beaming out
* Etc Etc Etc

You realize the show we're talking about is The Simpson's, right?

- Krusty's monkey chauffer
- Their dog and cat juggling fire after they got Laddy
- Fat Tony milking rats
- Homer being raped by a Panda
- When Home faked his death beavers swam out and attacked/ate the dummy

Those are just off the top of my head. Thinking about, the only animal that has acted like an animal on the show was the wild boar when the kids got stranded on the island.

I would say they have very lax rules yes, but I wouldn't say they have no rules at all. They follow certain rules at least to let the viewer follow the narrative.

Quote:

* Just about any of Professor's Frink's inventions
* Chewbacca and Alf turning up
* Musical numbers where everybody spontaneously breaks into song
* Osmodio
* Leonard Nimoy beaming out
* Etc Etc Etc

Almost all of the above are sight gags. And to me, the song episodes don't show things that break my suspension of disbelief - at least on a physical level. I realize the threshold on this is purely subjective, but last night's episode crossed that line.

To restate my opinion - I don't mind sight gags. They're what keeps the show on a laugh-a-second level. Having 2 second scenes of penguins flying fall into this category. But to have a three minute scene with wolves and lions conspiring and coming up with Wiley Coyote schemes was tasking believability. Now, if this happened in Futurama, I wouldn't blink an eye. Its understood that things like that can and do happen on that show. But, after 11 years of the Simpsons, I was used to a certain level of 'realism' and the last two years they seem to be trying really hard to break the consistency. Maybe that's just the new direction of the show.