Here it is: the final results of the Simpsons Episode Ideas Contest.
I'll first start off with The Rack's comments.
BEST IDEAS [8] Children of a Lesser Maude - J. Lennington [8] My Homer The Car - N. Tominack [8] What Dreams May Go - J. Lennington [8] Those Were The D'Ohs - M. Reed [8] The Great Squishy War - D. Dreibelbis [8] King of all Springfield - N. Tominack [7] Homey Sings The Blues - D. Dreibelbis [7] Simon Church - J. Lennington [7] Homer Simpson, USMC - D. Dreibelbis [7] Lisa the Mind - N. Tominack [7] The Fling: II - J. Lennington [7] Simpsons Throughout History - N. Tominack [7] Last of the Bohemians - J. Lennington [7] Lisa the Eccentric - J. Lennington [7] (Marge gets trendy) - GagnonSux [7] Gift of the Maggie - M. Reed [7] (Frankie M. Spelling Bee) - GagnonSux [7] Something... Mel's Funny - J. Lennington
NOT SO BEST IDEAS [0] Marge The Marriage Consular - GagnonSux [Skinner/Edna Wed] [0] Bart To The Future III - N. Tominack [0] More Bad Neighbors - N. Tominack [1] Legends Of The Small - J. Lennington [Gavin] [1] Toady In The Hole - D. Dreibelbis [John] [1] Where on... Maggie Simpson? - J. Lennington [1] Lush Life - D. Dreibelbis [Barney] [1] Milhouse Is Not A Home - D. Dreibelbis [1] (Cecil Returns) - GagnonSux [1] Marge And Lenny? - GagnonSux [1] Another Man's Trash - GagnonSux [derivative] [1] (Uncle Herb Returns) - GagnonSux
BEST THOH SHORTS [10] The Springfield Wives - D. Dreibelbis [8] The Anti Misfits - D. Dreibelbis [8] "Untitled" - M. Reed [8] (Ghostbusters Spoof) - GagnonSux [7] Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Simpson - J. Lennington
LEAST GOOD THOH SHORTS [2] The Last Sideshow - N. Tominack [2] (Alien Spoof) - GagnonSux [derivative] [2] Rage Of Angel - D. Dreibelbis [Grimes]
HONORABLE MENTION: [9] (Act II Christmas Episode) - M. Reed
COMMENTS ON BEST IDEAS: -The best ideas seem centered on flashbacks and back stories, and others were just very creative. Back story with Maude/Ned (Maggie Roswell guest starring) would be a nice touch, and it would provide great moments. The USMC idea is creative; the guys are mistaken for recruits. Cool.
COMMENTS ON NOT SO BEST IDEAS -I really dislike episodes that try to fix perceived "wrongs" on the show, esp. those dealing with inconsistent continuity. At the top of the worst, though, are episodes that put unnecessary (new) continuity into the series. Don't center episodes on unlikeable characters like Gavin or Gerald. Some ideas just weren't fleshed out enough, which made them sound pretty boring. Also, any episode that tries to link Futurama and Simpsons gets an automatic zero from me... sorry :)
THOH COMMENTS: -The best have good literary/movie references, and they ask interesting questions. "The Springfield Wives" may be the single best idea in the contest; creepy, and intriguing. A Ghostbusters spoof may be long overdue, and it would go over well. The worst segments were either derivative of other segments, too wacky, or once again--try to fix percieved series-continuity wrongs.
COMMENTS ON CONTESTANTS J. Lennington - Lisa-centric, with flavors of Season 3 & 6 especially--though a stock market Marge episode sounds like Season 10 fare.
M. Reed - Some ideas are a little derivative (Hawaiian vacations/Kids writing cartoons/episode like "Bart the Daredevil"/Rodeo Clown ideas from King of the Hill) but he attempts to link characters that haven't really interacted before... that's a good thing (Homer/Snake, Gil/Lisa) None of his ideas were too bad.
D. Dreibelbis - Nice sense of humor, and creative plot twists. Made me think the most of Season 4 on the best ideas. Unfortunately plagued by the "lets fix bad continuity" bug.
N. Tominack - Ideas are from the political, wrestling, and science fiction. Plots are good, but theres some derivative work there with the space trips and Sideshow Marge
GagnonSux - Needs to flesh out the ideas more, as they are a little sketchy. Also, tries to repair "bad continuity" and put Skinner/Krabappel together (which, IMO, was one of the big mistakes ever made on The Simpsons in the first place).
And now, my own comments.
BEST IDEAS (from best to worst) A Diamond in the Rough Simon Church My Brother's Keeper Lisa the Eccentric Simpsons Throughout History Bob Burns Those were the D'ohs What Dreams May Go The Great Squishy War Lisa Helps Gil Marge vs Grampa
NOT SO BEST IDEAS (from worst to best) Marge and Lenny? Pilot A School of Two Cities Lush Life Marge the Marriage Consular Another Man's Trash Duff Love Like Homer, Like Son Wides of Marge lisa skips into bart's grade
WHICH SEASON EACH SUBMISSION REMINDED ME OF jake - season 6 / season 8 reed - season 9 / season 10 gagnonsux - seson 12 dreibelbis - season 5 noel tominack - season 5 / season 11
COMMENTS ON BEST IDEAS The best episodes were ones that had interesting character interactions, a solid sense of conflict, and room for satire. Lisa episodes seemed the most promising. Diamond In The Rough was my choice for best idea, because it seemed like it would make a great political satire and would put Lisa in a good conflict. Simon Church sounds like a great secondary character episode; it introduces background into Lovejoy and introduces a new character. My Brother's Keeper sounds like a worthy addition to the Sideshow Bob series, because it has the two Terwilliger brothers pitted against each other again, and the potential for a good caperish episode. Simpsons Throughout History is a natural sequel to Simpson Bible Stories, and leaves room for much more satire than Simpson Tall Tales. The Great Squishy War sounds like it would work on a number of angles: Apu's business competition and maintaining his marriage. Lisa The Eccentric is a very natural idea for Lisa, because she's always been a bit of an outcast.
COMMENTS ON WORST IDEAS I didn't like episode ideas with forced conflicts, emphasis on minor characters that I don't care about (a very common problem in episode ideas), and episodes that are too recycled. Marge and Lenny? is a very random pair of 2 characters who have nothing to do with each other, so I don't think it would make a good episode. Pilot seems like it would feature some type of bizarre conspiracy, and we had too much of that in season 12. A School of Two Cities is derivative. Like Home, Like Son too much resembles Boy Scoutz n' The Hood. Another Man's Trash is a formulaic idea about another of Homer's schemes. Lisa Skips Into Bart's Grade has forced conflict between Bart and Lisa. Duff Love focuses too much on Duffman. As funny as he is, Duffman is still a one-dimensional character and shouldn't be fleshed out.
COMMENTS ON THE CONTESTANTS Jake Lennington's submission really captured the spirit of The Simpsons. There were a lot of interesting but plausible situations, ranging from adventure to econdary character studies to mystery to political satire. He's clearly a Lisa fan.
Some of Mike Reed's ideas were a little dark (like Homer joining the mafia), and there were a few rehashes, but most of his ideas were creative. Lots of flashbacks and focus on secondary characters.
GagnonSux's ideas may have been a bit too sitcomish, but he shows good character interactions. (Homer and Karl, Marge and the kids, Uncle Herb and the kids, Lisa and Thelonius.) Very plausible for an actual season of the Simpsons, with likeable characters and solid plots.
Daniel Dreibelbis had very good plots with great conflicts, like My Brother's Keeper, The Great Squishy War, and Toady In The Hole. Sometimes, ideas are slightly unrealistic, like Right Brain, Wrong Time. D'oh Canada seemes a much more clever premise for The Simpsons going on a vacation than recent vacaton episodes.
Noel Tominack seems to have a taste for exotic, complicated episodes of the Simpsons. Although most of his ideas wouldn't really work for The Simpsons (like Bart traveling in a time machine and Homer becoming consulate for Croatia), they are nonetheless creative, and work in a non-canonical way.
And now, what we all came here to see, the winners of the contest! The contestants are Jake Lennington, Mike Reed, Daniel Dreibelbis, Noel Tominack, and GagnonSux.
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winner: JAKE LENNINGTON runner-up: MIKE REED
All the contestants did a fantastic job. They all came up with episode ideas that are many times more creative than the current episodes coming up. If any of you ATSers ever get an agent, and are subsequently hired into the Simpsons staff, please show them these ideas. Special thanks to TheRack for assisting me in evaluating the contestants.
Congratulations especially to Jake Lennington and Mike Reed. Both truly understand The Simpsons, more than many current writers, and both have showed ATS what we should expect from The Simpsons.
*********************** TheAbman, HOM++ LIS+++ BAR++++ BOB++++ 7G12, 7F10, 8F15, 9F22, 1F04, 2F10, 3F13, 4F14, 5F02, AABF03, BABF05, CABF14 "Is there no place for the man with the 105 IQ?!?!" ***********************