I'm not sure if these can still get into the capsules, but I'm going to go ahead and post my reviews of the episodes from this season (aside from the last four, which I've already posted).
Treehouse of Horror XV (FABF23):
I didn't much care for the episode. It was probably the worst one since the Homer trying to get into Heaven/fairy tale/dolphin one. The Kang and Kodos sitcom SHOULD have been funny, but I really didn't laugh much. Probably the funniest part was that they played the theme from Perfect Strangers, but even then there was no real joke. It was just funny because, well, it was the Perfect Strangers theme. The first two segments had some amusing moments, like the running gag with Homer's frisbee and the Victorian Comic Book Guy, but they weren't anything spectacular. The third story was the worst, taking a premise that had been done in a million cartoons, and not doing much new with it. So, yeah, not a very good episode. Grade: C-
All's Fair in Oven War (FABF20):
This one was pretty good. Not one of the best, certainly, but a LOT better than last week's. The plot worked well, and everyone was in character. There were quite a few good jokes, like the running gag about Apu moving back to India, and Homer's food mascot fantasy. I do think it was odd that there was an empty house next door to the Simpsons'. What happened to Ruth Powers? Also, there were a few things we'd seen before, like Bart imitating Hugh Hefner with a bubble pipe. For that matter, didn't Bart learn about sex in at least one earlier episode? Oh, well. Grade: B
Sleeping with the Enemy (FABF19):
Like last week's, it wasn't uproariously funny, but it still worked well. Bart's pathetic party was pretty amusing, although it could have been better. Ralph's duck-duck-goose bit was funny, but it kind of veered into rake scene territory. The way in which Marge's motherliness toward Nelson developed was believable. Lisa's subplot wasn't as funny, but it did fit in fairly seamlessly with the main plot. One background joke I particularly liked was that the cake Lisa ate was a Labor Day cake for Lenny. (I guess that wasn't exactly a background joke, since it was pretty obvious, but they didn't really call attention to it, either.) Grade: B+
She Used to Be My Girl (FABF22):
I liked this one pretty well. It was cool to see younger versions of Moe and Barney in the flashback scenes. We also got to see Barney as a helicopter pilot again. I do think the scene with the eruption was a little overly cartoony. Yes, I know it IS a cartoon, but still. I was expecting either Lisa or Chloe to mention how the lava was flowing everywhere except where they happened to be, but neither of them did. I think I would have preferred it if they had. Grade: B+
Fat Man and Little Boy (FABF21):
I thought it was all right, but probably the weakest of the "regular" episodes (i.e., everything except the Treehouse of Horror) so far this season. I liked the way it started out, with Bart's midlife crisis. His fantasy-turned-insurance-commercial and the Viking burial for his toys were clever touches. The magician/agent was good for a few amusing moments, especially in terms of Homer's reactions to him ("Wow, you broke and entered!" and the comment about being excited about a weird older man becoming interested in his son). The resolution also managed to tie in the subplot with Homer and Lisa, which was good. Only one part of the plot was actually resolved, though. Homer never got his job back (although that's pretty much to be expected by this point), and we never find out how Lisa fared at the science fair. Aside from that, though, I didn't really notice anything particularly wrong with this episode, which is good. It just wasn't AS good as the last three. Grade: B
Midnight Rx (FABF16):
While not one of the best episodes in recent memory, this was still good. It didn't really go as deeply into the social commentary as you might expect with a theme like prescription drugs, but it was funny, and provided a decent reason for why Mr. Burns would rethink his decision. I liked the scene with Ned Flanders and Apu arguing about religion in the car. Grade: B-
Mommie Beerest (GABF01):
While this episode wasn't one of this season's best, I did enjoy it. This season has actually been really good so far. Anyway, when Moe changed his bar into a British pub, I was worried that the episode was going to be a rehash of earlier plots. As it turned out, though, the plot didn't focus on the remodeled bar, and I'm not even totally sure that part was necessary to advance the story. What we ended up getting was a new twist on the old "Homer and Marge's marriage in jeopardy" theme, and I thought it worked pretty well. There were quite a few good jokes, one that stands out for me being Lenny and Carl taking Homer to Itchy & Scratchy Land to tell him bad news. I also enjoyed the reference to "Jerkass Homer." And hearing Barney sing again was pretty cool. One minor nitpick is that I thought the line about the mad dash to the airport was kind of out-of-character for Lisa. It probably would have worked better if it had been delivered by Bart, or perhaps even by Homer himself. Grade: B-
Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass (GABF02):
My hopes this episode weren't all that high. The Simpsons Archive and the commercials gave the idea that the main point of the episode was going to be Homer choreographing the Superbowl halftime show, and that it would end up like the Janet Jackson thing in reverse. While that did happen, it wasn't until the end, and quite a lot of funny stuff happened before that. This was largely a gag-driven episode, where the plot was often an excuse to make up utterly ridiculous victory dances. The dances WERE funny, though, so that was good. I did like that the guest stars didn't take over the episode. There were quite a few guest celebrities, and several of the requisite references to their careers. These didn't do much for me, since I'm not into sports, and I didn't know some of those athletes from Adam, but at least they didn't base the episode entirely on these references. And speaking of Adam, the show's writers have apparently realized that it's hard to go wrong with jokes about religion. A lot of the best jokes in the episode came out of Ned Flanders' Bible-based movies, and the reaction to them. And I'm sure nerds everywhere are excited that they finally revealed the Comic Book Guy's name. I was disappointed in the lack of resolution, but, on the other hand, I'm glad they didn't focus overly much on parodying the reaction to last year's breast-related incident. So, yeah, a funny episode overall. Not without its flaws, certainly, but head and shoulders above the last Superbowl tie-in on the show. Grade: B
Pranksta Rap (GABF03): I didn't think this was one of the best episodes in recent memory, but it wasn't that bad, either. I preferred what I suppose could be termed the B story (even though they were both closely connected) with Chief Wiggum trying to overcome his general incompetence. The parts with Bart had some decent jokes on the extravagant rapper lifestyle, like the wax museum in the limo. One particularly funny moment was when the exact time at which Bart was on stage was determined based on Flava Flav's (or some Springfield equivalent of Flava Flav's) clock. I think the most annoying part of the show was that, not only was there no resolution, but it was a similar lack of resolution to that in other episodes, particularly the "surf's up" ending to "The Great Money Caper." After doing the non-ending thing so many times, it ceases to become clever, and starts just looking lazy. We kind of needed a resolution anyway, since Wiggum wasn't Police Commissioner anymore next time we saw him. Grade: B-
There's Something About Marrying (GABF04):
I found it interesting and kind of amusing that this episode didn't really focus on the controversies surrounding gay marriage. Aside from Reverend Lovejoy, Springfield was pretty much all in favor of legalizing it. The main conflict in the episode seemed to be Patty's coming out, and Marge's reaction to it, which didn't actually start until fairly late in the episode. There was a fair amount of amusing meta-humor, including Homer's holding up his map until the audience had read the whole thing, Mayor Quimby's opening up the floor to wild suggestions, and Homer and Marge's argument about "pushing" Lenny and Carl into homosexuality. Grade: B
On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister (GABF05):
I found the episode to be a bit unbelievable, even for The Simpsons. It had some funny parts, but I think it could have been better. I did enjoy the opening, with its digs on the government's denial of globing warming. The subplot seemed kind of tacked on, since it really didn't connect to the main plot at all. There were some good jokes in it, though, one of my favorites being the customers acting disoriented because they hadn't been greeted. Grade: C
Goo Goo Gai Pan (GABF06):
We got a Patty episode a few weeks ago, and now we get one centered around Selma. Her character was pretty well utilized, and we also got to see Jub-Jub again, which was cool. The "two characters pretend to be married" plot device was recycled from the episode with Apu's wedding, but I think it actually worked better here. My main problem with the episode was the overabundance of cartoony slapstick. I mean, in just the first few minutes, we see Selma's hot flash melt snow, and Mr. Burns's lungs come out through his mouth. Once the family gets to China, Homer gets injured in numerous unnecessary and unrealistic ways. And the whole deal with Homer claiming to be an acrobat and then having to perform acrobatics was pretty hackneyed--a comic clich� without a Simpsons twist. I did like the comments that the audience made when they found out the star acrobat was missing, and Homer's comment about a rudimentary free market. While it was a somewhat cheap gag, the Chinese spy disguised as Bart was funny. I also like that Selma got to keep the baby at the end. I wonder if we'll see Ling in any future episodes. Grade: C+
Mobile Homer (GABF07):
This episode wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either. Like last week, there was a lot of Homer getting hurt, but at least this time it was for a reason. Still, Homer's hand in the paper shredder was going a bit far, I think. Anyway, the basic premise was another "Homer and Marge's marriage in jeopardy" kind of deal, but, although there have been plenty of episodes about marital strife and about the family's problems with money, I can't recall them ever temporarily splitting up over financial issues before. There wasn't really anything side-splittingly hilarious in the episode, but there were plenty of funny moments. I liked the Flanders' sinister Jesus hallucination, some of the discount products Marge bought, and Homer's note on the Flintstones Fun Map. Grade: C+
The Seven-Beer Snitch (GABF08):
I thought this one was kind of weak. They've done prison-based episodes before, and there wasn't anything particularly interesting about this one. In fact, we've already had Homer working as a juvenile hall guard, so his applying for a guard job this time was kind of rehashing old territory. The beginning in Shelbyville was pretty good, as were some of the head guard's lines. I actually think it might have been funnier if they had gotten more mileage out of the "loony laws" Chief Wiggum had started enforcing. As for the subplot, it's nice to see a story about the cat that doesn't involve multiple deaths, but it didn't really go anywhere. Neither did the episode in general, for that matter. Grade: C-
Future-Drama (GABF12):
Tonight's Simpsons episode was the third to offer an extended glimpse into the future. I think it was better overall than the last one, "Bart to the Future," but nowhere near as good as "Lisa's Wedding." In this episode, it seems like they put more effort into coming up with goofy gadgets and unlikely ways for the characters to end up than really developing the plot all that much. Some of the futuristic gags worked pretty well, and I liked what they did with Milhouse and Smithers. The rotisserie in Chief Wiggum's cybernetic armor was also funny, and the fact that the Bart in the future used Professor Frink's device to look even farther in the future was a clever touch. Other jokes might have worked better if they had delivered them more effectively, like the bit about McDonald's owning Yale, and the head-butting thing. Overall, though, it seemed rather overdone, like a minute couldn't go by without a new over-the-top invention or reference. I'll definitely give the writers credit for creativity, but not that much for coming up with a compelling story. Grade: C-
Don't Fear the Roofer (GABF10):
This wasn't so much bad as just totally forgettable. I have a feeling I won't remember much about it at all in the future, except possibly the Stephen Hawking parts. It seemed like nothing really happened in it. Probably the best joke in the entire episode was when everyone was giving excuses for why they didn't see Ray, and Hawking came up with this really ridiculous explanation for why Bart didn't. "Ray Magini" being an anagram of "imaginary" was also clever. The very end was essentially a joke they recycled from "The Joy of Sect," and it was okay, but it seemed a bit half-hearted. Grade: C
The Heartbroke Kid (GABF11):
This episode had its moments, but it just didn't feel right overall. There were a lot of self-referential gags, which often work well. I did like the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon that had Scratchy filling out a form listing the bad things that had happened to him in previous episodes. The parody of the opening sequence was a clever idea, but it didn't play out all that well, probably mostly because it only had one twist (i.e., Bart being really fat), and it was dragged out a little too long. Tab Spangler had some good lines, like the ones about the signs that made no sense. There were also some decent jokes with the German boarders. The resolution was kind of weak, though, and it ended with yet another pointless conversation between Homer and the guest star. Oh, and the joke with Krusty bleeding profusely was mostly just disturbing. So, yeah, a little disappointing overall. Grade: C+
Now to rank the episodes, from best to worst:
- Thank God It's Doomsday
- The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star
- Sleeping with the Enemy
- A Star Is Torn
- She Used to Be My Girl
- Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass
- There's Something About Marrying
- All's Fair in Oven War
- Fat Man and Little Boy
- Home Away From Homer
- Midnight Rx
- Mommie Beerest
- Pranksta Rap
- Mobile Homer
- Goo Goo Gai Pan
- The Heartbroke Kid
- Don't Fear the Roofer
- On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister
- Future-Drama
- The Seven-Beer Snitch
- Treehouse of Horror XV
Okay, now to post this, before I change my mind on these grades.
Nathan