#3186

it’s just a big lady gaga advert and unashamedly so. lady gaga has psychic powers alerting her that lisa is sad ffs. ya know. the whole modern day simpsons, everything has to be an of-the-time cultural reference. but to the max

1 Like
#3187

Bit like this

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11 Likes
#3189

I was considering that – making a mini series of the dozen or so later episodes that are meant to be decent.

1 Like
#3191

As good as you could hope for, really.

2 Likes
#3193

My findings with the better later episodes that I’ve checked out is that they generally have quite an interesting concept/are fairly well written TV, but aren’t particularly funny, nor really reminiscent of classic Simpsons episodes. I don’t think I’ve seen a new one where I’ve really felt that it feels like an old episode/return to form.

1 Like
#3194

is this your nickname for The Simpsons?

8 Likes
#3195

don’t think i’ve seen the Gaga one thankfully. think the worst episode i’ve ever seen is the one where Carl is from Iceland (probably because it’s the newest one i’ve seen)

#3196

Googling to see what some of the later yellow ones are

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image640×776 258 KB

Nooooooooooope

7 Likes
#3197

I watched the Lady Gaga episode.

The first half or so isn’t that bad! In the bits between Lady Gaga, there’s actually a decent and dense number of good lines. e.g.

Lisa: I’m sorry. I try and only start crying after you’ve gone to sleep.
Homer: I appreciate that.

There’s another good bit later on where Homer sits Lisa down and says some complete bullshit and she says ‘thanks dad, whilst I switched off listening to you I actually came up with the answer’ and they both go away happy. Classic Lisa/Homer moment, the writers still know how to move these characters around.

The problem is… I get this sensation with all of the latter day Simpsons. They can’t seem to write a story with any dramatic tension, or even the basic connectivity that would make it hold your interest. I can’t really pin this to anything specific beyond the fact these characters are so tired and so obviously belong to a different era. t’s like watching a Pokemon episode, nonsense just happens but you also know exactly how it’s going to play out. It manages to be both boring and also discomforting, like a train seat that stinks of piss.

The Lady Gaga parts are awful. Fuck me. So embarrassing to see something that used to be so biting so simperingly enthralled to celebrity like that. When she dueted with Lisa I started groaning and didn’t stop until the episode finished.

6 Likes
#3198

This is the perfect analogy for the latter day Simpsons

#3199

Forgot to say that another feature of newer Simpsons is that they seemingly always contain some moment which is very uncomfortable. In this case Stefani molests Marge, it’s implied she likes it because she immediately goes and fucks Homer, and he says ‘wow, it’s not been that good since the New Hampshire primaries’. One long string of no thankyous.

#3200

It’s been that way for ages now, I mean the episode where Marge rapes Homer was all the way back in 2003!

#3201

the thing i always notice is how they used to spend the first ~5 minutes with a first act that is sort of its own thing but ultimately sets up the plot for the rest of the episode. now they seem to go through 3 or 4 of these before they finally find their way to the main plot about 15 minutes into the episode

6 Likes
#3202

This must be a huge part of it. You look at those numbers, how few well rated episodes there are in 20 years, how there’s barely an episode that can be considered a return to form or that captures the magic of those golden years at all. Then you think, there’s been a huge amount of resources available to the show, at times classic writers have returned, surely talented writers have come on board thinking that they want to write at least one episode that harks back to the glory days. Obviously there’s been plenty of cashing in, but surely in twenty years there should have been better returns.

Just seems like a creative dead end. They seem backed into the corner by both the weight of the show’s legacy and the need to somehow keep it current and they can’t satisfy either of those while keeping the other intact.

4 Likes
#3203

The thing that annoys me the most are the b-plots that frequently just never go anywhere or get resolved to any real degree.

#3204

its properly horrifying

#3205

very weird but fine by latter season standards

#3206

And as said, for all the endless blogs and Youtubes about how the show has lost its way, watching a couple of the new ones brought home to me that the writers do know how the Simpsons is supposed to be. Gags are often much more involved than you’d find elsewhere, and they come faster. The characters (mostly) act how they should. I laughed during this infamously bad episode, genuinely. The legacy of the show must hang very heavy on the necks of the current creators.

The real problem (aside from celeb worship) is the flabby plotting, which feels like a consequence of there not being anything more you can really do with these characters that were invented in 1989. I often think about Homer in particular - the character he inhabits, a homeowner in his late 30s with three kids and a stable job, has completely different connotations then from now. The main character doesn’t seem like a real person anymore and that probably explains why it’s so difficult to write for him anymore.

#3207

What’s the deal with ‘Capital City’? Just watched ‘Dancin’ Homer’ and it’s clearly a reference to New York but New York isn’t a capital city.

#3208

Isn’t it a reference to the capital of whatever state they’re in?

8 Likes