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[UberTag]

"Browse" appears empty.

That's odd. As soon as I installed the Google Spotlight Stories app, the Simpsons couch gag is the first thing that pops up. I can then scroll left-to-right to view other 360° shorts to scope out.

Have you tried deleting it and re-installing it?

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

That's odd. As soon as I installed the Google Spotlight Stories app, the Simpsons couch gag is the first thing that pops up. I can then scroll left-to-right to view other 360° shorts to scope out.

Have you tried deleting it and re-installing it?

Yeah, in fact I had to re-install it to take that screengrab.

 

[UberTag]

Reviews are in for last night's mediocre THOH installment...

IGN - 5.8/10 (The Simpsons delivers a mostly bland and forgettable "Treehouse of Horror" special this year.)
A.V. Club - This annual celebration of the fanciful fringes of the show’s world might not have been the best, but it wasn’t the... worst “Treehouse Of Horror” ever.
Den of Geek! - 3.5/5 (Every year I, and millions of viewers, look forward to the annual Halloween episode of The Simpsons because, no matter how bad the season is, it is worth watching.)
Bubble Blabber - 7.5/10 (Two big milestones collide, but did the episode work?)
The Daily - Although “The Simpsons” has so much to commemorate with an amazing milestone and decades worth of television hits, this episode disappointingly does not do it justice.

My own personal grade = 2 out of 5

The unfortunate news is that the same writer and director tandem responsible for the past two years' pedestrian efforts have been attached to do next year's as well.
Complacent Al Jean strikes again.

 

[mreddie]

Suicide Squad and Zootopia parody next year with a half hearted horror story.

 

[Dorsal Axe]

The opening was a bit of a dud, nothing particularly interesting about it other than Kang/Kodos screaming "aww".

The first segment was absolutely dreadful, other than Burns spoofing Flashdance. I rather enjoyed the BFF/R.I.P segment, and it felt like something that belongs in a ToH episode. Moefinger wasn't bad, but utterly misplaced as part of this episode. I think both the second and third segments has sound concepts and could have benefited greatly from having a lot more time, which easily could have been given if they cut out all the filler.

 

[UberTag]

You know what I just realized was a thing? SimpsonsWorld.com ripped off Frinkiac's gimmick and incorporated animated .gif creation into their interface. They even ripped off the font.

The above is from Season 18's best episode, The Haw-Hawed Couple.

And because Frinkiac won't update their site beyond Season 17 when the DVDs came out (they won't even put up Season 20), animated .gif creation of material from episodes beyond that point is now locked behind U.S. based IPs with a cable subscription. It's like FOX keeps rubbing salt in our open wounds. It's bad enough I can't legally purchase or own Seasons 18 & 19 in any form but now I won't even be able to make .gifs of them in a freely accessible fashion.

So annoying.

Anyhow, we have what will likely be an unfocused mess of an episode with a zillion plot threads that barely get development or resolution followed by the World Series followed by a tightly-focused Selman-episode that should wind up pretty decent followed by an indulgent Castellaneta-penned vacation ep. Got all that?

TRUST BUT CLARIFY - Sunday, October 23rd | Episode Production Code = VABF21 (#601) / Writer = Harry Shearer

HOMER TRIES TO GET A PROMOTION AT WORK

Clip #1 - Anderson Cooper Did Not Get Fired!
Clip #2 - Bart and Lisa Enjoy an Episode of Itchy and Scratchy
Clip #3 - Kent Brockman Interviews at BizzFad

Dan Rather Makes Guest-Voice Appearance

Lisa and Bart investigate Krusty’s suspicious new “Krustaceans” candy. Meanwhile, Homer wants a promotion at the nuclear plant and asks Marge to help him dress the part, and news anchor Kent Brockman struggles to find his feet in the changing media world.

FXX Marathon Theme - Anti-Social Media

4:00pm Homer Badman (S6E9 / 2F06 / 1994)
4:30pm Girly Edition (S9E21 / 5F15 / 1998)
5:00pm The Computer Wore Menace Shoes (S12E6 / CABF02 / 2000)
5:30pm Fraudcast News (S15E22 / FABF18 / 2004)
6:00pm She Used to Be My Girl (S16E4 / FABF22 / 2004)
6:30pm Homerazzi (S18E16 / JABF06 / 2007)
7:00pm You Kent Always Say What You Want (S18E22 / JABF15 / 2007)
7:30pm Four Regrettings and a Funeral (S25E3 / RABF18 / 2013)

 

[mreddie]

I feel we already got the Kent gets fired ep...oh yeah, it's listed in the marathon.


Also, damn FXX just took Frinkiac's lunch.

 

[Joni]

A Brockman episode and Homer actually trying to work. Should be fun.

 

[UberTag]

Harry Shearer managed to accomplish something tonight that Dan Castellaneta has failed to do in multiple tries... write a competent, cohesive and unindulgent Simpsons episode.

 

[Ahasverus]

Harry Shearer managed to accomplish something tonight that Dan Castellaneta has failed to do in multiple tries... write a competent, cohesive and unindulgent Simpsons episode.

No waaaay :O tunning in right now!!

 

[Joni]

Both plots deserved some more time. Poor Homer though.

 

[vypek]

I have to say that I really appreciate minor stuff like using Tibor again since he is a much more rare character. I don't mind the use of Kent either since I can only remember him having a story one other time. Although that was about him being fired as well. There is a huge roster of characters that I'd like to see them use more.

 

[aadiboy]

You know, for being written by someone who is an open critic of the show, that episode was pretty meh.

 

[UberTag]

There's a new episode airing tomorrow night... and it's being written and showrun by Matt Selman so I have every expectation of it being a good one. Which is a good thing... because the next two episodes sound horrendous.

(Incidentally, I love the idea of Bart and Lisa playing on a co-ed sports team together. Shame that's going to play second-fiddle to the main plot.)

THERE WILL BE BUDS - Sunday, November 6th | Episode Production Code = VABF22 (#602) / Writer = Matt Selman

HOMER COACHES THE LACROSSE TEAM

FOX Promo
Clip #1 - Kids and Football
Clip #2 - The Town Meeting Gets Out of Control
Clip #3 - Homer Hits the Road for Bart & Lisa's Lacrosse Game

Joe Mantegna Makes Guest-Voice Appearance as Fat Tony

Homer gets roped into coaching the kids' lacrosse team with Milhouse's dad, Kirk, who is in desperate need of a friend. When Kirk gets too clingy, Homer vents about how much of a loser he is. Kirk overhears his rant and disappears, right when the team needs him most: the championship game.

FXX Marathon Theme - Homer Makes a New Friend... Whom He Forgets About the Next Week

4:00pm Stark Raving Dad (S3E1 / 7F24 / 1991)
4:30pm When You Dish Upon a Star (S10E5 / 5F19 / 1998)
5:00pm Beyond Blunderdome (S11E1 / AABF23 / 1999)
5:30pm Three Gays of the Condo (S14E17 / EABF12 / 2003)
6:00pm Don't Fear the Roofer (S16E16 / GABF10 / 2005)
6:30pm Chief of Hearts (S21E18 / MABF09 / 2010)
7:00pm The Falcon and the D'ohman (S23E1 / NABF16 / 2011)
7:30pm YOLO (S25E4 / RABF22 / 2013)

 

[Tapejara]

Joe Mantegna Makes Guest-Voice Appearance as Fat Tony

Remember when they killed off Fat Tony and had his cousin Fit Tony come in to replace him and then Fit Tony ate a bunch of food and became Fat Tony?

...I'm still not happy about that.

 

[vypek]

Remember when they killed off Fat Tony and had his cousin Fit Tony come in to replace him and then Fit Tony ate a bunch of food and became Fat Tony?

...I'm still not happy about that.

I'm still not happy about that and Tanzarian

 

[UberTag]

Just finished watching tonight's ep in Canada.
Best episode since Halloween of Horror in my books. Selman delivers again.

Tune in to FOX and scope it out for yourselves.

 

[BriGuy]

This is the first episode I've caught in... five years maybe? When did they ditch the opening credits? And good lord, some of the voices sound awful. Like I'm genuinely sorry for the voice actors. Marge in particular sounds like she's battling esophageal cancer.

 

[Sanjuro]

This is the first episode I've caught in... five years maybe? When did they ditch the opening credits? And good lord, some of the voices sound awful. Like I'm genuinely sorry for the voice actors. Marge in particular sounds like she's battling esophageal cancer.

I feel sorry for their accountants.

 

[vypek]

Just finished watching tonight's ep in Canada.
Best episode since Halloween of Horror in my books. Selman delivers again.

Tune in to FOX and scope it out for yourselves.

10 minutes into it now and I'm actually enjoying it a lot so far. Enjoying the fact that they have stuff about Kirk

This is the first episode I've caught in... five years maybe? When did they ditch the opening credits? And good lord, some of the voices sound awful. Like I'm genuinely sorry for the voice actors. Marge in particular sounds like she's battling esophageal cancer.

Yeah. Julie Kavner sounds REALLY bad. The opening credits aren't always gone. Sometimes they are taken out for a longer episode runtime.

 

[UberTag]

This is the first episode I've caught in... five years maybe? When did they ditch the opening credits? And good lord, some of the voices sound awful. Like I'm genuinely sorry for the voice actors. Marge in particular sounds like she's battling esophageal cancer.

They only ditch the opening credits when Matt Selman is running the show so he can devote maximum time to developing the storyline. It's a calling card of his episodes. Whereas Al Jean would rather sacrifice the episode for padding - of which the couch gag supplies plenty - although sometimes the best part of his episodes are when they get outsourced to guest animators who do something wonderful with them.

As for the voice delivery, yes Julie Kavner sounds like crap more often than not. Believe it or not, she's sounded worse than she did tonight on a number of occasions. She's also in her late 60s so it's not too surprising.

10 minutes into it now and I'm actually enjoying it a lot so far. Enjoying the fact that they have stuff about Kirk.

This is the best Kirk episode outside of A Milhouse Divided.

 

[Sanjuro]

It's a very good episode so far.

 

[manzoman96]

Yeah I'm rather enjoying this episode so far.

 

[Tapejara]

Great episode. Really nice to see one where Kirk isn't just some punching bag.

 

[Sanjuro]

It's always at least a decent episode when you have a writer that enjoys and knows how to balance Homer.

I wouldn't say it was as good as the Halloween episode last year, but this might be the best episode for this season.

Rice Sandwiches!

 

[aadiboy]

Ok, that was a good episode with several funny jokes throughout. My only complaint is that Homer seemed oddly anti-strip club, which seemed out of character for him. Other than that it was great.

 

[Richie]

Ok, that was a good episode with several funny jokes throughout. My only complaint is that Homer seemed oddly anti-strip club, which seemed out of character for him. Other than that it was great.

I thought that was actually pretty in-character for the guy who can't say "titmouse" without giggling like a schoolgirl, or who was attracted to Mindy not because of looks but because she was pretty much a female version of him. Perhaps it's not something that's ever been as upfront in the past but I thought it lined up nicely with what we know of Homer, and appreciated it at any rate.

I happened to watch three season 7 episodes hours before watching this, so the difference in approaches was instantly noticeable, not exactly to the new episode's benefit....but Selman episodes always carry an energy that makes them engaging to watch, even if they aren't pure winners. Episode was alright, not the home run I expected from the reception but enjoyable. Some fun phrases and gags, my favorite would be that blink-and-you-miss-it "The guy in the bathroom doesn't work for us" sign in one of the strip clubs...Wait, I actually LOL'd when everyone instantly tossed stuff at Milhouse, among of them a freaking gun, I'll give the crown to that joke instead. How about that daycare at the strip club, or "See how much the kids' heads are enjoying it"? Fun stuff. I dug how they set up the simultaneous song too, especially when the separating line was lifted. See, there's that Selman vibe, with jokes that come in fast and furious or try to deliver something outside of the norm for the new episodes. I like that moxy.

I feel they're doing their fast pace a disservice, though, whenever they describe the jokes aloud instead of letting them speak for themselves as they appear on screen. Several instances of that here.

 

[Sanjuro]

Homer isn't Al Bundy.

 

[Tapejara]

Yeah, I didn't feel it was out of character at all. Homer's always seemed more naive when it comes to other women than lustful. He's also stood by Marge through just about everything and seems very content in his relationship (not that a fulfilling relationship and strip clubs are necessarily mutually exclusive, but it's clear he's happy with what he has). Homer's vices are really drinking, food, and depending on the episode his relationship with his kids.

 

[Joni]

And you know, he has a bad history with strippers. There was Princess Kashmir in Homer's Night Out and Amber in Viva Ned Flanders.

 

[Tapejara]

And you know, he has a bad history with strippers.

That was 26 years ago! Can't hold it against him forever

Spoiler

.

 

[RadioHeadAche]

This is the first episode I've caught in... five years maybe? When did they ditch the opening credits? And good lord, some of the voices sound awful. Like I'm genuinely sorry for the voice actors. Marge in particular sounds like she's battling esophageal cancer.

Sometimes they do the opening, sometimes they don't. I think it's the former, in most cases.

 

[Joni]

I like that Friday Night Lights intro.

 

[UberTag]

There's a new episode airing tonight. I don't expect it to be any good so I'm not putting in my regular amount of effort to hype it up.
You're probably better off watching The Trouble with Trillions again instead.

HAVANA WILD WEEKEND - Sunday, November 13th | Episode Production Code = VABF19 (#603) / Writers = Dan Castellaneta, Deb Lacusta and Peter Tilden

THE FAMILY TAKES A TRIP TO CUBA

FOX Promo
Clip #1 - The Simpsons Fall in Love with Cuba
Clip #2 - Grampa Has a Cuba-gasm

Stacy Keach and Deb Lacusta Make Guest-Voice Appearances

When the Retirement Castle and the V.A. Hospital can't solve Grampa's health issues, the Simpsons decide to take a family trip to Cuba to get him cheap medical care.

 

[BatDan]

Latest chalkboard gag read "Being Right Sucks"
Seems that the writer of Bart to the Future is still around (he wrote Barthood)

 

[vypek]

Didn't care too much for this one although I did like "The Bart" scene

 

[Joni]

Latest chalkboard gag read "Being Right Sucks"
Seems that the writer of Bart to the Future is still around (he wrote Barthood)

It could just be a general Simpsons writer who has been reminded countless times that The Simpsons were right about Trump. There is probably a 'Being Wrong Is Awesome' version that didn't get aired.

 

[UberTag]

Another new episode airs tonight. I highly suspect this will be in contention for worst episode of the season based on the premise and previews so if you have something better to do like watch Survivor Series, play Pokemon, stuff your turkey or map out your Black Friday bargain shopping itinerary, I suggest you do that instead.

DAD BEHAVIOR - Sunday, November 20th | Episode Production Code = WABF01 (#604) / Writer = Ryan Koh

A NEW APP MAKES LIFE MUCH EASIER FOR HOMER... AT FIRST

Couch Gag - Bart Finally Gets Control of the Remote
Clip #1 - Homer Gets Jealous of Matt Leinart
Clip #2 - Dan Fouts Tries to Get Maggie to Quit the Pacifier
Clip #3 - Grampa is Skipping Town

Former Quarterbacks Dan Fouts and Matt Leinart Make Guest-Voice Appearances

Homer finds a new app that makes his life much easier and outsources his father-son bonding. Meanwhile, Grampa finds that he is about to be a father again.

 

[Tapejara]

I missed last week's episode. Worth catching up?

 

[UberTag]

I missed last week's episode. Worth catching up?

Not especially. But it's a better alternative than watching tonight's disaster.

This was the worst episode since Days of Future Future... and it bodes ill for the upcoming production line as it's the official kickoff to the WABF episodes.

 

[Tapejara]

Not especially. But it's a better alternative than watching tonight's disaster.

This was the worst episode since Days of Future Future... and it bodes ill for the upcoming production line as it's the official kickoff to the WABF episodes.

Cool, I'll probably check out last week's episode.

And yeah, holy crap this week's episode is bad.

 

[vypek]

Well...I liked the couch gag

 

[UberTag]

Well...I liked the couch gag

The couch gag was pretty much the only semi-creative element about this episode - and, even then, it came off poorly executed with all of the stop starts and seemed like more of a benchmark studio test to gauge the effectiveness of the new domestic animation studio's ability to re-create the opening.

This was the first Simpsons episode to be fully animated in-house at FOX as opposed to getting outsourced overseas to Korea... although this is somewhat of a technicality as The Simpsons Guy was also animated in North America.

 

[UberTag]

There's a certain marathon event kicking off on Thursday that should help to get the bad taste of that last episode out of our mouths.

 

[Nerdkiller]

The couch gag was pretty much the only semi-creative element about this episode - and, even then, it came off poorly executed with all of the stop starts and seemed like more of a benchmark studio test to gauge the effectiveness of the new domestic animation studio's ability to re-create the opening.

This was the first Simpsons episode to be fully animated in-house at FOX as opposed to getting outsourced overseas to Korea... although this is somewhat of a technicality as The Simpsons Guy was also animated in North America.

Huh, really? Is there any reason why they're no longer outsourcing? Has it gotten less economical these days?

 

[vypek]

There's a certain marathon event kicking off on Thursday that should help to get the bad taste of that last episode out of our mouths.

I'm going to really enjoy this

 

[UberTag]

Yes, there's a new episode airing this Sunday before the FXX marathon even ends.
No, I do not believe it will be a good episode.
But I do believe it will be a better episode than the one airing during the marathon at the same time.
I mean, how could this not be better than The D'oh-cial Network?

Incidentally, I have a sneaky feeling that subplot is going to be a Snowpiercer parody. That could actually turn out to be a lot of fun.

THE LAST TRACTION HERO - Sunday, December 4th | Episode Production Code = WABF03 (#605) / Writer = Bill Odenkirk

HOMER'S INJURIES LEAVE MARGE LONELY FOR COMPANIONSHIP

FOX Promo - Homer Falls into a Lawsuit
Clip #1 - Homer Falls Through Mr. Burns' Trapdoor
Clip #2 - Homer Calls a Lawyer

A workplace accident leaves Homer in a cast, and in a position to sue Mr. Burns. This leaves Marge unfulfilled, so she turns to an unexpected source for romance. Meanwhile, Lisa is made "Bus Monitor" and tries to keep the peace.

 

[Tapejara]

A workplace accident leaves Homer in a cast, and in a position to sue Mr. Burns. This leaves Marge unfulfilled, so she turns to an unexpected source for romance. Meanwhile, Lisa is made "Bus Monitor" and tries to keep the peace.

This doesn't make any sense. Isn't Smithers' sexual orientation an open secret?

 

[UberTag]

This doesn't make any sense. Isn't Smithers' sexual orientation an open secret?

Naturally. Hence why this qualifies as an "unexpected source for romance".
Although I suspect this is either some kind of non-sordid emotional connection or Waylon hooks Marge up with his personal stash of self-authored, raunchy Malibu Stacy fan fiction.

 

[Tapejara]

Naturally. Hence why this qualifies as an "unexpected source for romance".
Although I suspect this is either some kind of non-sordid emotional connection or Waylon hooks Marge up with his personal stash of self-authored, raunchy Malibu Stacy fan fiction.

Eh, I guess when I read "unexpected romance" I interpreted it as something that would have been reciprocated.