The Clips Shows

Just saw "Gump Roast" this evening, and it got me to wondering about the various clips shows. Not as many as I thought. One of them sure goes a long way.

Let's see, we have:

"So It's Come to This: A Simpson Clip Show" (Season 4) -No bad, but nothing special. It was the first time they did it, so it was rather straightforward.

"Another Simpson Clip Show" (Season 6) -A little better than the first one, actually. The theme (various romantic relationships) was stronger, and the self-referential pokes were fun and new.

"The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" (Season 7) -The best of all the clip shows, with a great framing device (Troy McClure) and lots of good new gags. Most of the clips are outtakes, which is also good.

"All Singing, All Dancing" (Season 9) -The worst clip show by far. The "Paint Your Wagon" gag was funny, but when they got into conceit of the framing device (the lines sung in rhymning couplets) it turns into nails on a chalkboard. And, to the point, more than any other kind of clip, the song clips pretty much hit the ground like a lead balloon when robbed of their contexts inside of an episode.

"Gump Roast" (Season 13) -Not bad, but not great. The Forest Gump bit was already old, but still relatively servicable. But the self-depricating jokes about the nature of the show "Sorry for the clip show..." wore thin quite awhile ago.

So, all in all, the clip shows as a whole aren't all that bad. Only ASAD would definitely make me turn off the TV.

Actually, here is how I viewed the clip shows.

• > "So It's Come to This: A Simpson Clip Show" (Season 4)

• This is a great clip show with a great theme, and Bart at his worst.

• > "Another Simpson Clip Show" (Season 6)

new.

2. I actually hated this show because I feel it was over done with a romantic theme that really could be done better than the Simpsons just sitting at the table.

• > "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" (Season 7)

McClure) and

3. Here I agree with you again. Episode 138 was one of the best clip shows. I really loved it when the names of the people that work on the Simpsons flew by fast, and like you, I loved the outtakes.

• > "All Singing, All Dancing" (Season 9)

when

than any

5. Just because it is a season nine episode doesn't mean that the episode is bad. I loved everything about this episode from start to finish, and wonder why Fox didn't wait until season ten to air this episode so the producers could use footage from Trash of the Titans. I love Simpsons music, and I am sure almost everyone felt the same way.

• > "Gump Roast" (Season 13)

the

6. Actually this is my pick for worst clip show, I had to turn off the tv after just one act. Hopefully the next clip show (possibly season 15) will be much better.

Jessy Scholl

[email] (James Allen) wrote in news:[email]:

I though this was hilarious, especially the way it sounded like they were having trouble making their words fit the music. Absolutely Pythonesque (and like a lot of Python, went on about 15 minutes too long.)

I absolutly hate musicals, so maybe that's why I found it so funny.

"Now because of you I've got a song stuck in my head. The only way to stop it is to make you all dead!"

[email] (James Allen) wrote in message news:...

I like this one. It's not bad for a clip show. The driving plot isn't too bad either.

I don't like this one much. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but there's nothing right with it either. It just doesn't do anything for me.

This is what all clip shows should strive to be. This one is so good, it hardly counts as a clip show. Unless you've got the Ullmann shorts on tape or you actually get Ullmann reruns, you can't see most of the clips anywhere else.

You're right about Paint Your Wagon. It's pure hilarity. Unfortunately, this episode goes on another 20 minutes. I don't even really care for the clips, but I'm not much on shows with big musical numbers anyway.

I absolutely hate this episode. I don't know why, but it drives me crazy. For me, this barely ranks above All Singing All Dancing. The final song is the worst part of this one.