Last Exit to Springfield was on last night...

The local syndicate is having a Simpsons by demand this week so this was of course one of the most requested episodes. Got me to thinking, with many people talking about how the show has gone downhill in recent years, what did people of this newsgroup think about what is now considered one of the greatest episodes ever back when the episode originally came out? Here's an actual post from back then, now almost 11 years old:

From: Andrew Ross, UO Law School ([email]) Subject: Re: Some Stuff from This Week Eps... View this article only Newsgroups: alt.tv.simpsons Date: 1993-03-22 07:35:12 PST

  Does anyone else feel that perhaps the Simpsons are finally running
low on
gas? The story lines are getting more and more disjointed and surreal.
In
addition, the "Last Exit to Springfield had a LOT of dead air
sequences that
went on too long, as if they ran out of jokes and were trying to fill
space
between commercials, ie:
   *"Dental plan...Lisa needs braces". Way too long.
   *Classical Gas
   *Gandpa's rambling story
   *Homer's weird dance around Burns' office.
One dragged-out sequence in an episode could be forgiven, but four in
one night?

By the way, I'd just like to end this post by saying...

DENTAL PLAN!

[email] (Scott H) wrote in message news:...

Glad you posted this...Time makes things become novel. Just look at all the 80's nostalgia, (music, culture, etc.), things that are now being hailed as "great"...when in fact they were crap when they came out - but now have a novel appeal as time passes. These "newer" eps will have great novel appeal in the future. But, if you look with honest objectively at all the eps both old and new; the newer ones are comparable and in some cases better than some of the older seasons. Although I understand the classic Simps fans liking the "character driven" aspect of the older shows - I think part, but not all of, the reason they have an affinity to the older eps is that they were much younger then - and perhaps associate those times in their life as good times. Just like when you are a kid and you associate music you grew up with relating to good times.

Baker Street, Smithers is gay, and one time he was black. And so on.

Homer is slow between the ears. That is why this was so long.

Grandpa told a rambling story? (taps forehead in disbelief)

Blame Shemp and Curley for that. They started it.

Space Mvsevm

"Aaron Hirshberg" wrote in message news:[email]...

Shemp is hemp spelled backwards

And "Nitesbane" is "Nitesbane" spelled backwards!

"Mark Allen Adams, Jr." wrote in message news:BzEZb.58580$[email]...

Now I'm scared

"Mark Allen Adams, Jr." wrote in message news:BzEZb.58580$[email]...

"Racecar" is "Get off my front porch before I get my shotgun and send you home in a hearse!" spelled backwards...

Duff Man wrote:

Gee, you're a little testy, Duffman. I take it the lawsuit against Duff Corp. didn't go too well?

"Mark Allen Adams, Jr." wrote in message news:5m8_b.64508$[email]...

you

Duffman's pension plan has been mismanaged!

Sorry, but this was a primo episode right from the start. And Grandpa's rant was probably the highlight. (So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now, to take the ferry cost a nickel...)

"This WAY to the egress, ladies and gentlemen" - Brave Combo ('Mystery Spot Polka')

[email] (Scott H) wrote in news:[email]:

These were the original fans of the original show, which was little more than a cartoon version of the Bundy's. They were reacting to the beginnings of the surreal Simpsons that watermarked the true peak of the show.

Bundy's were after the Simpsons. Simpsons originated on the Tracy Ullman show.

Stan +- +- +- +- "donutbandit" wrote in message news:c16vfq$oe8$[email]...

beginnings

"\"MIDIcian\" \(tm\)" wrote in news:c170il$fuc$[email]:

Duh!!!! Was I discussing the timeline, or using a metaphor?

Ullman

it was more of a simile, though i recognise it's a greyish area.

JQM, kidding.

I should've said along with this - "from my recollection.",

Stan +- +- +- +- ""MIDIcian" (tm)" wrote in message news:...

"Scott H" wrote in message news:[email]...

...lisa needs braces

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Last Exit to Springfield was on last night..." thread, Scott H wrote:

Your post accomplishes a rare feat: It is at once accurate, and misleading. You give the impression that after "Last Exit" aired, people pile onto the newsgroup to post bad reviews.

In reality (if Google's news archives are any consideration), there were very few reviews of *any* kind in the weeks after March 11, 1993, when "Last Exit" aired. Most of the posts concentrated on DYNs and references, without indicating how much the poster liked the episode. Even so, I found a few complimentary reviews of this episode in the very same thread you cite [Warning -- long URLs ahead]: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1993Mar23.013534.10501%40sco.com&output=gplain> <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=C3s4vp.B0A%40watserv1.uwaterloo.ca&output=gplain> <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=C3woA6.49q%40news.cso.uiuc.edu&output=gplain>

Here's some more positive comments: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9303200040.AA05209%40borg.spd.analog.com&output=gplain>

And here's one that could be considered at middling: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=1993Mar12.022009.17756%40midway.uchicago.edu&output=gplain>

Abe's rant was a hit right from the start: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=C3sBKK.EC8%40undergrad.math.waterloo.edu&output=gplain>

And, about a year and a half after it aired, the episode wound up on at least one a.t.s.er's "all time best" list: <http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=9411160011.AA1104%40WRF.COM&output=gplain>

So, in 1993, when a new episode came out, some people liked it, and some didn't. The same situation prevails today -- I read lots and lots of reviews for capsule purposes, and more often than not audience opinion is evenly divided. People who insist otherwise either have selective memory, or some sort of agenda.