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Post by karl100589 on Oct 20, 2020 14:49:07 GMT -5
Principal and the Pauper is the first outright bad episode. There is others that aren’t as good, but that’s the one that started the turn towards bad. The ending to the episode is the caveat for me. The rest before that (even, yes, them revealing that Skinner is an imposter is okay) is not terrible. There's some great moments and lines. Like, how hard is it for them to find out that the real Skinner is a fake, that identity theft can happen or something. Instead of the shit that is, "Eh, the real Skinner is a flake. Let's get the fake one back and never speak of this again!" (Although the callback when Lisa deals with Snowball V in a future episode is great)
I think the episode would work fine without the imposter angle. Skinner starts as a rebel punk before the Sgt. takes him under his wing. After he's presumed dead Skinner makes it his issue to honour his memory and turn his life around, including taking up his dream of becoming a school teacher.
When the Sgt. returns and gets praised as a "real" war hero (possibly a POW) Skinner feels unwanted and regresses back to his old ways.
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Post by Smokey McTrees on Oct 20, 2020 19:32:44 GMT -5
My daughter and I have been doing this as well. It's amazing how much the first ten seasons hold up, even despite being memed to death
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Post by ben:friendship frog on Oct 20, 2020 20:31:38 GMT -5
I watched the first 7 or 8 seasons earlier in the year on Disney+
I was amazed at not only how I remembered every single episode (I was sure I'd find a couple I'd never seen or forgot about) but to how nearly every episode has a quote or scene (if not several) which is still a popular meme today.
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 21, 2020 1:53:35 GMT -5
My daughter and I have been doing this as well. It's amazing how much the first ten seasons hold up, even despite being memed to death I'm close to finishing season 6 and thee seasons have an incredibly ability to be both timeless and be perfect time capsules of the 1990's. And their satire of things like healthcare in America or politics are still insanely topical. It's fascinating really. The Simpsons Predicted the Future meme isn't limited to little sight gags, that's for sure!
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Knew what the hell that thing was supposed to be
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Oct 21, 2020 2:29:01 GMT -5
I’ve found the show gets to its worst once it goes to HD. There’s still some great stuff in the later SD years. Can’t recall too much in the HD era.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Oct 21, 2020 8:40:14 GMT -5
I’ve found the show gets to its worst once it goes to HD. There’s still some great stuff in the later SD years. Can’t recall too much in the HD era. Seasons 12-19 as a whole is not remarkable by any means, but they’re largely watchable and there are some hidden gems in there.
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Post by sfvega on Oct 22, 2020 6:23:14 GMT -5
2-8 is just a perfect series from a writing standpoint. It's like a cheat code to writing a joke or doing satire. Season 9 was still good, but not up to par with what was before. And then 10-12 just show flashes of being funny while mostly becoming trite. After that, I didn't watch much longer and every time I did, the show consistently took a big runny dump on its own legacy.
To me, the perfect series end would have been "Lost our Lisa" in that it was kinda dumb like many episodes that followed, but it was the last time I could remember the series having a touching moment. But it also showed that the Simpsons kids were getting older. Writing them as children for 30 years is kinda dumb, and sitcoms and even many cartoons have shown aging and growing up. Homer and Lisa having one more great moment together would be a great ending because it doesn't show them naturally growing apart (or separately more accurate) from there. The last ep of s9 is a throwaway anyway, so just snip it off and end it there.
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Post by Mandarin Dessert Version 0 on Oct 22, 2020 6:40:34 GMT -5
The moment of doneness came for me when the Simpsons went from being a semi-realistic animated sitcom to full-blown cartoon.
Two moments stick out like this for me:
1. "Saddlesore Galactica" and the whole premise about jockey elves living beneath the city. 2. A scene in "A Tale Of Two Springfields" where the badger rips open Homer's stomach and he doesn't even bat an eye at that, making me wonder why he behaved like such a baby when he fell down Springfield Gorge in "Bart The Daredevil".
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 22, 2020 16:00:14 GMT -5
So something that just blew my mind. When I got to the season 6 Lisa's wedding episode, it's clearly stated that Lisa and Hugh are both vegetarian, but Lisa doesn't become vegetarian in canon until season 7. It also establishes the Lisa-Millhouse romance, which doesn't really get established until season 8.
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thechase
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Post by thechase on Oct 22, 2020 16:09:44 GMT -5
I think it's only Groening that's interested in Lisa/Milhouse being canon. Ralph and Nelson are much better candidates for her. In Ralph's case, It took me years to watch "I Love Lisa" again as a kid, I'm find with it now only because I headcanon Lisa actually did like Ralph and that she just didn't know how to deal with her own emotions.
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 22, 2020 16:54:58 GMT -5
Well, the ending to Mother Simpson made me cry. I'm really getting soft in my old age.
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 24, 2020 19:18:31 GMT -5
So I breezed through the early seasons fairly quick. I'm currently in season 8 and I've noticed I've slowed down. I wonder if I was doing it subconsciously because I was aware that the Golden Age was nearing its end and I was trying to make it last longer. Though I do think seasons 9 and 10 hit far more than they miss.
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Post by Bang Bang Bart on Oct 24, 2020 20:04:17 GMT -5
So I breezed through the early seasons fairly quick. I'm currently in season 8 and I've noticed I've slowed down. I wonder if I was doing it subconsciously because I was aware that the Golden Age was nearing its end and I was trying to make it last longer. Though I do think seasons 9 and 10 hit far more than they miss. 9 and 10 do have some genuinely good episodes (the Movementarian and the Max Power episodes being my favorites).
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 25, 2020 15:32:01 GMT -5
For all the jokes that are made now about the show going on too long, it's amazing to see the show itself make jokes about how long it had been on the air in season 8.
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Post by BorneAgain on Oct 25, 2020 15:37:52 GMT -5
For all the jokes that are made now about the show going on too long, it's amazing to see the show itself make jokes about how long it had been on the air in season 8. Its one of those reasons why Behind the Laughter feels like it would have been a fitting series finale considering what happened after:
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Cranjis McBasketball
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Post by Cranjis McBasketball on Oct 25, 2020 16:54:15 GMT -5
For all the jokes that are made now about the show going on too long, it's amazing to see the show itself make jokes about how long it had been on the air in season 8. That’s why Oakley and Weinstein did so many episodes focusing on other characters. They figured the show was just about done, so do some different things.
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 27, 2020 3:30:26 GMT -5
Season 9's Trash of the Titans hits insanely hard here in 2020.
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4real
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Post by 4real on Oct 27, 2020 3:56:47 GMT -5
Well, the ending to Mother Simpson made me cry. I'm really getting soft in my old age. Gets me every time. I think it’s the most emotional moment in the history of the show.
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Post by Alyce: Old Media Enthusiast on Oct 27, 2020 4:12:48 GMT -5
Season 9's Trash of the Titans hits insanely hard here in 2020. Reminder: They chose Treehouse VI to be the Emmy nominee over this based solely on Homer3. They lost to the Pinky and the Brain Christmas episode.
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Shark
Hank Scorpio
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Post by Shark on Oct 28, 2020 23:15:12 GMT -5
Well. I've finished season 10 and can say for sure the Golden times are behind me. The show is still way more hit than miss, but I have noticed the times I've just busted out laughing hard are getting less and less frequent. I just started season 11, the first episode guest starring Mel Gibson and it is kind of crazy to see people just fawning all over him considering what his career is like today.
EDIT: To be totally fair, Mel Gibson is actually pretty funny in this episode. His delivery is really good and he fits into the show really well. He does a lot better than Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger did in their episode.
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