When episodes go wrong ("Saddlesore Galactica")

I saw "Saddlesore Galactica" in syndication the other day, and it's still one of the more frustrating episodes of season 12. And not because the episode is all bad, but because it had such a great Act 1, a mediocre Act 2 (when the horse is introduced) and a horrid Act 3 (with the jockey elves.)

I still love the first 8-10 minutes of this show. The whole sequence with Lisa's band practice ("soemthing _arranged_ by Sousa?", the Sinatra-like kid saying "Hey, this cat's got claws!"), the bits at the county fair: Homer with the ticket taker ("They didn't ask for ID when I fought Charlie at La Choy and Chun King!"), Homer yelling at BTO, ("No talking, no new crap, Taking Care of Business, NOW!!"), the Omnigogs booth, Lisa being mad at losing, etc. I still laugh at it all. But I usually turn it off after CBG's meta-reference, which foretold exactly how derivitive and silly the rest of the show was about to be.

Anyone else have a "favorite" episode that starts out good but goes wrong?

Yeah, I find that I can like Saddlesore Galactica only by making a paradigm shift somewhere in the middle of Act 2, changing it from normal Simpsons to a more South Parkish paradigm. But I love the Clinton ending (especially as a Republican).

What other episode does this? Homer the Moe, which was great until we cut away from Bart to Moe. Parent Rap did a bit, although I thought the second and third acts were still OK. The joyride was funny, though. In a way, Eight Misbehavin' (which follows a similar pattern of increasing wackiness.) But certainly nothing before S9 :)

Brian

James Allen wrote:

I agree on "Eight Misbehavin'" completely. The bits with Apu's various attempts at getting Manjula pregnant were great. The episode should've _ended_ with the birth of the octuplets. The whole circus ending thing was just plain bad.

all simpsons episodes are funny for the first 10 minutes.

Kent Healey wrote:

No, Homer the Moe was only funny for the first 5.

Brian

Somebody claiming to be "Kent Healey" wrote in news:jHwK7.529$[email]:

Including "All Singing, All Dancing"?

I actually get a minor chuckle out of the "Paint Your Wagon" sequence. (It nowhere near makes up for the rest of the show, of course.)

James Allen wrote:

And also, the best musical sequence came after that clip show--Testify, in Faith Off.

Brian

I've liked quite a few of the musical sequences in The Simpsons over the years. The problem with "All Singing, All Dancing" is that the musical numbers work well in the context of the episode they are from, not simply strung together for no good reason. The horrid framing "songs" just made it that much worse.

What about "kids vs adults"

Homer: Kids! Youre only here because Marge forgot her pill!

I never thought a "Bye Bye Birdie" parody could be so funny, but yeah, that sequence was great.

The boy band episode. The 1st 2 acts are hilariously funny, but the 3rd act is stupid and brainless

how about nearly every epsiode from the past season?

* * * "I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." - Jon Stewart

It would have to be pretty frustrating for season 12, considering it was part of season ELEVEN! it's not bad, but i reserve comment since other people's have pretty much run the gamut of complaints and praise

James Allen wrote:

Yes, I misidentified the season. But it wasn't my point to bash a particular season, but simply to point out an episode that had a good start and a poor finish.

"The Otto Show" is another one that springs to mind (the Spinal Tap beginning was great, the Otto part of the show wasn't), and that's from season 3, IIRC.

For that matter, what about kidney trouble? The bloodbath gulch sequence was genius, everything else was, well, theres a reason people hate this episode.

On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, James Allen stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

Especially since it was in S11!