I keep flashing back to one of Homer's lines from an earlier episode: "Remember me as I am...filled with MURDEROUS RAGE!" Because that's how I feel about Simpsons right now. I was on the verge of turning it off at many points...and right now, I wish I had. The screamapillar, the man with the braces, Frame-Up...I laughed maybe once the entire episode. Fox, please cancel the series NOW. It's been said before, but it's especially true today: Worst episode ever. (For more information about tonight's episode, visit www.jumptheshark.com.)
Actually, I liked the screamapillar, but other than that I agree with your view on this episode...and it's a terrible way to end what was actually a pretty decent season.
I agree with you, this was a mediocre to poor episode. However, excuse my rant (its not intended at the previous poster individually) but I am sick of hearing that the Simpsons should be cancelled after every less-than-stellar episode. The good episodes outnumber the bad ones, and for every episode that is good (this not being one), someone is bound to think it was awful and demanding that "The Simpsons MUST be cancelled" or proclaiming that the Simpsons have jumped the proverbial shark (which is a phrase that should be retired from the popular vernacular as it is more tired than the Macarena was a few years ago, but I digress). My advice is this: If you really hate it enough that you think it should be cancelled, DON'T WATCH IT ANYMORE then with low ratings it will be soon enough. But, I defy you to find anything else on television that does not have a bad episode every now and then. There's around 300 episodes of the Simpsons and I would say 20 or less are bad so I'll continue to pin my hopes of quality TV here. That's all I've got to say about this.
Yes...what is up with all of the "jump the shark" references in this ng these days? It seems a useful term at first, but it becomes pretty empty upon viewing the "official" website. It's a disorganized mess and most of the comments are inarticulate ramblings of know-nothing nobodies who wouldn't know comedy if it bit them in the....erm...perhaps I've said too much. Anyhoo, it just seems to be a catch-all phrase, one that, like the B-Sharpes, becomes less amusing the more I hear it. Jumping the Shark is irrelevant in reference to The Simpsons. It only applies to conventional sit-coms IMHO.
This is only the third time I'd give an episode a complete and total "F" grade, with nothing even close to redeeming it even to the point of being a D-minus. The other two are Kill The Alligator And Run (BABF16) and Beyond Blunderdome (AABF23). Not a damned "joke" in it was funny. Plot? What plot? There wasn't even a thin subplot to distract us. Characters did not follow their motivations. (Homer and Marge mainly). Logic took a holiday. It wasn't satirical and didn't even come close to lampooning the reality shows in any meaningful way. Part of this is because reality TV is its own joke, and as Krusty himself taught us, the only way you can make fun of something and have it be funny, is if the sap's got Dignity. Like Lord Autumn-Bottom there. F. F. F. F. F. F.
(end of rating blurb)...
This episode pissed me off SO MUCH that I literally do not want to see another new Simpsons. Honestly. They should cancel the series now. The idea that they have stopped production on Futurama, which was just beginning to hit its prime stride, while continuing to churn out this FILTH... urgh.
And this comes ONE WEEK after the BEST episode in months... Little Girl in the Big Ten!! Unbelievable. See, in last week's episode, the satire worked because it poked fun at literature, university, and competitive sports exceedingly well. It showed, not told, and was at once insightful and yet honoured its source. Basho! Banana Tree! Hyah! :)
I think my roommate said it best as he sat and watched it with me... he typically rates everything higher than I do, and yet after this one ended, he turned and said to me, "Mike, that was complete dogsh*t." Couldn't have said it better, really.
-Michael Bahr, Phoenix, AZ
"Leo Tokarski" wrote in message news:F8XF8.66085$[email]...