"Dial N for Nerder" thoughts

I really enjoyed this episode. (Caveat: I missed the first few minutes. It's on tape.)

This episode hearkens back to the days of character exploration like "Bart Sells His Soul." It's not up to that standard, but at least they're trying. Bart retrieving Martin's belongings and finding the picture saying "Bart, please be my friend" was poignant. (Although, it wasn't completely clear that the picture came from the box.)

Of course, to move the story along, they couldn't let Lisa go to Chief Wiggum with what she knew, so she had to go through some angst. I think they handled it well. This episode could have been completely Bart-centric, but Lisa really seemed to play a great part in it, and she wasn't annoying or know-it-all this time.

Also, I thought it was neat that Nelson got to play the detective tracking down the Simpson kids, when we would usually expect the roles reversed.

-- R Flowers

"R Flowers" ([email]) writes:

Well they could have brought in Lester & Eliza.

Michael

Whilst I did (for the most part) enjoy this episode, these latest episodes seem to have lost the essence of what made The Simpsons the Simpsons. Too much emphasis on contemporary musical snippets/references and the characters (specifically the kids) more 'adult'.

Aside from that just the visual look is no longer the same... it looks cold & derivative. If they could at least return to how the show used to look (a more hand drawn or even 'analogue' feel) I could almost live with the change in characters. The show has always changed over the years, but now it seems to have crossed a line where it /really/ isn't the same anymore.

Had it been any other show than The Simpsons, I admit I would have been full of praise for the writing :)

I do not disagree. To a certain extent, it's unfair for us to compare the newer shows to the old. The older shows were most effective when they revealed something about the characters. After 20 years, there really is nothing more to learn.

On the other hand, the humor in the show has gone down hill, and there's really no excuse for that except a talent drain.

-- R Flowers

R Flowers wrote:

They spend too much time trying to be "oh so clever"; explaining the crazy cat lady, slipping us Comic Book Guy's real name, and references to past episodes.

It's also called "resting on your laurels". They think that no matter what kind of lame crap they crank out, like that "24" episode or the embarrassingly tired "Sideshow Bob" crap, their fans will just lap it up.

Are they still fairly funny at times? Yeah, mostly. Are they WORTHY of being part of the Simpsons of many years ago? Absolutely not.

[email] wrote:

Very true.

OTOH... I know of no other show that has lasted this long, produced this many episodes of what I still do have to admit is still worth watching. And I can count on half a hand the TV series I consider worth watching.

If only they could regain that edge they had a decade ago...

What they are doing now is dangerous, in my opinion. They risk alienating their loyal, hard-core fans whilst simultaneously boring the newer generations of viewers by trying to become more 'contemporary/relevant'. Seen this happen so many times before with TV shows, bands and even political parties (eg: Australian Democrats).

Good point. Then again, I don't feel the need to reveal anything news about the characters anyway, since they're locked into an ageless situation. Or *were* anyway... not sure *what* the newer episodes are doing on that score.

Indeed. At face value, the new episodes are good - but compare them to the earlier series and there is no comparison. The writing was on such an altogether higher level.

Writing this, I'm now thinking it is time to watch some of the older eps again... ones with Dr Nick and Lionel Hutz... pure LOL GOLD!