season 13 thoughts (pudding spree not enjoyed by all)

yes, i'm sure this has been posted repeatedly here, but i just recently started
reading this message board.
      i'm just curious exactly why it seems that the general consensus is that
season 13 was a vast improvement over other recent horrible (for the simpsons
that is) seasons. i have seasons 9-13 on my computer and i've watched them
repeatedly these last few weeks, and there really isn't anything to distinguish
the admitted crap (again, compared to earlier seasons) of 9-12 from season 13.
yet i read many posts that compare it to the glory years like season 7. there's
not a single ep in season 13 that would fit into the earlier seasons in my
mind...i can't even see a possibility in any of them.
     the Frying Game (dabf16) was supposed to be an ep that represents a new
"back to plot and character" ideal here? its barely even coherent. reminds me
heavily of The Great Money Caper (babf07) with the total need for suspension of
disbelief. surf's up dudes.
    Tales from the Public Domain (dabf08) is in exactly the same vein as
Simpsons Tall Tales (cabf17). they could have been shown back to back and i
wouldn't have blinked an eye. i could list more, but most people have probably
stopped reading by now anyway.
     now these are just two examples and maybe i'm picking the worst of the
season here, but then where's the best? what qualities are eluding me that
makes this year something different? the realistic human emotion and the
intelligent humor?
     feedback would be nice, even if its just to say i'm ranting, which i
obviously am. but i  really want opinions here. besides, this is a damn nice
soapbox and it would be a shame not to put it to use.
bottom line for me is that this season was still watchable, but i see no real
improvement.

Peterjmatt wrote:

[Season 13 no improvement to 11/12]

Now I�m usually the first one to agree with a bad opinion about new seasons (as radical oldschooler, depth lover, and S2 fan) but let me disagree a little with you.

Season 13 is far away from the style and class and intelligence of earlier seasons (lightyears away, as I usually say) but I still think it�s a noticeable improvement to the Scully Years.

Sure, there is a lot of mediocre stuff and even some truly bad episodes like awful "Homer the Moe". The emotion is still too flat (plastic emotion), the stories are too weak, the plotlines are too incoherent, the humor is too loud, the satire is way too forced and simplified and so on and so on.

But there are also some outstanding episodes, which are IMO clearly better than everything from the past 2 or 3 years. Let me name stuff like "Blunder Years" (read my recent post to see why I think it�s better than the loud Scully meta-humor episodes) or surreal but good "Jaws Wired Shut" or "Half-Decent Proposal" (IMO well-done modern tribute to Season 2 and Artie Ziff) or "Little Girl in the Big Ten" and some others.

None of that episodes is really outstanding by means of classic quality but they�re noticeable improvements to most of S11/S12 (IMO) and even the mediocre episodes of S13 are often more watchable than S11/S12.

Season 13 has at least some traces of the old idea and complexity, but the old spirit is still almost missing. Like I said in my recent reply to Abman�s S13 reviews:

The best term to describe seasons 11 and 12 is IMO"annoying" while the best term to describe season 13 is "rather empty."

But I think it�s nevertheless an improvement.

Maybe you�d like to visit my website (never miss a chance to spread my URL ;-)). There are also some well-done critical (but more or less friendly) reviews about Season 13.

http://members.aol.com/Chris84792/simp.htm

or direct link to the S12/S13 reviews

http://members.aol.com/Chris84792/twelve.htm

Chris

I do agree with you - I think it must depend on the sense of humour of the person watching. Personally I think season 13 is much worse than 12, mainly because it's resorted to sexual humour and has rarely made me laugh out loud. There have been one or two good episodes this year, but season 12 had more such as the Christmas special and Trilogy of Error.

Since we all have different opinions on what is and isn't funny we can never reach an agreement, but let me say this - never until season 13 had watching an episode of the Simpsons made me cringe and wish I hadn't watched it.

Chris Jones wrote

I just wonder that you mention the Season 12 Christmas episode "Skinner�s Sense of Snow" as outstanding episode. It was IMO cynical, pointless, cruel, and overloaded with crude and bizarre humor and sexual jokes.

The Season 13 Christmas episode "She of Little Faith" tried at least to have some content and to show a faith conflict and some deeper questions about religion vs commercialization. The satire was way too loud and obvious and the plot itself was pretty mediocre (with Lisa as typical whiny mini-adult) but at least they tried to have a message and to me that�s still better than animals talking with subtitles, ball sacks, and other crude stuff. Doesn�t deserve an Emmy nomination though (IMO).

I can make the same point about the vacation episodes from S12 and S13 - "Simpson Safari" was IMO absolutely pointless, incoherent, no story but a row of zany jokes and filled with wacky sightgags and African stereotypes and without a trace of true satire. S13�s "Blame it on Lisa" at least tried to make some satirical fun about Brazil (like the painted slums) but then it wasted most of its potential for sexual jokes and crude humor in Scully style. Meh.

Personally, I see more "good" episodes in Season 13 than in Season 11 and 12 together, but opinions are different. Compared to the brilliant masterpieces of the early years (and Season 7) almost everything past Season 10 is lightyears below true Simpson quality.

Chris

Hehe, interesting point. Normally I hate that sort of episode, but for some reason Skinner's Sense of Snow, along with Missionary Impossible, just hit it right with me. I can't really explain why either - but I guess the sexual jokes were more subtle ("chew on my ball sack" wouldn't be noticed by a kid since it was a ball sack) rather than "the doctor says he can't get a boner" or whatever it was from a S13 ep, where it leads to your kid asking you what a boner is.

Oh yeah fair enough, but the thing is I just didn't find that ep funny. I mean it's all very well trying to make an episode which makes you think, but for the Simpsons it should make you laugh as well.

Indeed they are - what constitutes a "good" episode varies a lot from person to person. All I can say is that I used to look forward to new episodes of the Simpsons, but nowadays I think of it as a chore (and before you say "Stop watching then" I am hopeful that somehow it will pick itself up and give us some good new eps).

That we can agree on :-)

Hi,

I just saw episode 13, DABF09, and damn that stunk! What a load of crap. As I live in The Netherlands, all we get here are reruns of the good old stuff. The poor quality (although the animation is very good) of this episode (and some other recent stuff) makes you realise they should have quit a few years ago. A shame to see my all time favorite show going down the crapper. Any chance of improvement? Aren't there any good writers anymore? What about Matt; What does he think of this?

Adios,

Stefan

In article , "Chris Jones" wrote:

Somebody claiming to be [email] (Peterjmatt) wrote in news:[email]:

I haven't seen that. I've seen suggestions that Season 13 is better than Season 12, but not anywhere near as good as the earlier seasons.

I only saw the second half of "The Frying Game", and the impression I got from reading reviews here is that everybody hated the ending. I certainly did, and immediately thought of "The Great Money Caper".

Here I disagree. I think "Tales from the Public Domain" is more intelligent that "Simpsons Tall Tales". The cover story was better (I found the sexual innuendo between Homer and the hobo disturbing, and Homer's "stupid fist-shaking law" commentary was just dumb (as was the whole "The Simpsons are going to [insert place name here]" which has been recycled several times now. (I'm reminded of the "Wedding after wedding after wedding" from the 138th Episode Spectacular for some reason.) In "Simpsons Tall Tales", the Lisa-centered story involved Homer being an utter jerk as usual, and Lisa being a whiny adultlet (just as bad as she was before meeting the McCartneys in "Lisa the Vegetarian"); in "Tales from the Public Domain", she did a very good job as Joan of Arc and Ophelia. I was thinking about the difference between the two episodes as I was walking my dog this evening, and realized that I was having difficulty remembering the third act of "Simpson Tall Tales"! (I have no problem with the third story in "Simpsons Bible Stories", on the other hand.) Shows how forgettable it is for me. :-)

I also agree fully with Chris Pfeiler about "Skinner's Sense of Snow" being a lousy episode, and would add "New Kids on the Blecch" to the lousy Season 12 episodes. Season 13 had some stinkers, to be sure (Gump Roast, Brawl in the Family), but the best of Season 13 (Half-Decent Proposal, Tales from the Public Domain, Hunka Hunka Burns in Love, and even Blunder Years) was better than everything in Season 12 except for the highly atypical "Trilogy of Error" (atypical in more ways than one, just like 22 Short Films About Springfield). And the worst of Season 13 doesn't match "Skinner's Sense of Snow", "Saddlesore Galactica", or "Kill the Alligator and Run"

These are just my quick observations, done without any research, so take them for what that's worth.