51 replies to this topic

[InvaderNorbert]

Well, tonight's episode is new, and let's see the SNPP Synopsis:

When Homer mistakenly declares bankruptcy, Grampa ends up getting out of the Springfield Retirement Castle...and into love...with Selma; Bart and Lisa con a delivery man out of cardboard boxes.

Umm...I hope it's good, this season's been beating my low expectations...

[Harrison Fjord]

That seriously sounds like one of the plot ideas that should have been included in the "We've Got Stories For Years" montage.

[ElleBelle24]

Uhh, I believe it WAS in the "We've Got Stories for Years" montage, but only that involved him marrying Patty AND Selma.

That said....wow. What a turd of an episode.

[jediknight]

The Battle at Simpson Tirith was cool. I would have called it the Battle of Simpson Deep, but there weren't any Nazgul at Helm's Deep. Take that UPS, you can't defeat Bart and Lisa.

The rest of the episode with the exception of Homer at the very end wasn't nearly as good.

Edited by jediknight, Mar 11, 2007 @ 7:43 PM.

[AimingforYoko]

So, Grandpa and Selma? Uh, no. Nothing about this storyline amused or entertained me. In fact, it kind of skeeved me out. Now, the cardboard plot on the other hand, Gold.
Bart looking at General Industries and coming up with "Dog Company." "Who thought people in brown shirts could cause so much trouble?" The whole Lord of the Rings parody.

[paolo12345]

Was I the only one who thought that it was a callback to that montage episode? In that regard I thought it was pretty clever, but the rest of the episode was lackluster.

Edited by paolo12345, Mar 11, 2007 @ 7:59 PM.

[A Conspiracy]

An above average episode for me. Because the cardboard box story was great!
I thought it was going to be BraveHeart at first, then the Saving Private Ryan landing, then LOTR came up.
Otherwise a minor laugh with Patty seeing Ms Krabapple as her fantasy.

[CantThinkUpName]

Weird episode but I liked it.

Really liked the Cardboard plotline. There was something awesome yet cute about it. "Nelson you came to help in our hour of need." "Who knew guys in brown shirts could cause so much trouble."

I love stuff with Grandpa. His Teddy bear, his poster of Gish, "they told us the more soldiers you tickle the easier it gets..."

Was Grandpa/Selma at the end parodying Rainman?

Something else I enjoyed was Marge/Homer's relationship in this. I like when they're just a loving couple with feelings and attractions towards one another and no drama between them. I really liked Homer having the fantasy of Marge while looking at Patty. I liked the return of Marge's fetish for guys in costume.

Also, Marge's $500 a month poker website, "Shut up, it's an instructional website, shut up!"

I thought by now someone would complain about the continuity error of how Grandpa was mad at Santa for not bringing presents yet Grandpa was Santa.

EDIT: Typing the "poker website" line made me remember the first act plot of the episode which was totally dropped.

Edited by CantThinkUpName, Mar 11, 2007 @ 8:06 PM.

[samsnee]

"Who knew guys in brown shirts could cause so much trouble."

Is there something deeper to this line that I'm not getting? I thought the whole ep was meh. I didn't care for the cardboard box storyline for awhile. I know this show has given up on a reality for a long time, but when I see a flying dragon in this ep, and then think of an ep like Last Exit to Springfiield where everything is fairly grounded in reality, it makes me sad.

[Dead Composer]

I know it's been said before, but...

Worst. Episode. Ever.

Seventeen seasons ago, Grandpa almost married Selma's mother--and now he marries Selma herself. How sick and wrong is that? To make it worse, the writers executed this horrible, horrible idea in a completely serious, unimaginative, and unoriginal way. It's like remaking "A Fish Called Selma" with Grandpa in place of Troy McClure, and then lopping off ten minutes to make room for more commercials. The least they could have done was add a reference to the Grandpa/Mrs. Bouvier episode, or turn it into a parody of "The Graduate" (oh, wait, they did that already). Of all the stories they could have made about Selma and Ling, why this one? Why? Why? I was ready to forgive the writers if they kept Grandpa and Selma together at the end of the episode. But no--they had to restore the status quo in the most trite and perfunctory manner possible.

I have no reason left to watch Fox. They cancelled Futurama, they cancelled Arrested Development, and now they've destroyed The Simpsons. They're turning into the Idol Network, and nothing can be done.

[CantThinkUpName]

Is there something deeper to this line that I'm not getting?

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Brown_shirts

[Mod Suit]

Did the animation seem lackluster to anyone else? With the exception of the battle everything else seemed kind of off. Or maybe I'm just spoiled by the Dark Stanley segment from last week.

Nice to see Ling, though.

[samsnee]

Is there something deeper to this line that I'm not getting?

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Brown_shirts

Makes sense now. I've never actually heard that term before. Thanks.

[CantThinkUpName]

Makes sense now. I've never actually heard that term before. Thanks.

Complaining about a cartoon past its glory days and informing people about world history all in one place.

This is why Al Gore created the internet.

[orangeslice]

Something else I enjoyed was Marge/Homer's relationship in this. I like when they're just a loving couple with feelings and attractions towards one another and no drama between them. I really liked Homer having the fantasy of Marge while looking at Patty. I liked the return of Marge's fetish for guys in costume.

I completely agree with this statement. I have always loved the Homer/Marge love.

I really liked everything they did with Bart and Lisa's subplot, I giggled through the entire battle sequence. I liked the absurdity of the dragon.

I also liked the fake out with "Dog Company"

[RobertBlue]

I really liked the West Wing scene at the DMV. "Go to the costume shop, get a 100 wizards caps and a bucket of orange paint." And, of course, "I shaved my legs and knees for this?"

Also: nice to see that the baby didn't actually disappear. I was worried we would never see her again.

ETA: thankyou, InvaderNorbit, I bow before your tallness.

Edited by RobertBlue, Mar 11, 2007 @ 11:59 PM.

[catray]

I really enjoyed the Bart/Lisa cardboard box plot. Loved the LotR ref. So great (basically because I'm a huge nerd).

Grandpa and Selma was gross. Blech. Homer/Marge was cute.

[box lobster]

I have no reason left to watch Fox. They cancelled Futurama, they cancelled Arrested Development, and now they've destroyed The Simpsons. They're turning into the Idol Network, and nothing can be done.

Fox actually has no editorial control over The Simpsons. So the writers are basically destroying the show themselves.

I actually liked this episode. But then I always enjoy the Patty/Selma episodes and old people jokes always makes me laugh.

[Dead Composer]

Fox is strangling The Simpsons to death by cramming in more and more advertisements for its other shows. Commercials, commercials, commercials. Some episodes seem like they last only 15 minutes, with 15 minutes occupied by commercials. They could've dropped some of the ads so that tonight's episode would have ended on time, despite being bumped forward by NASCAR--but noooo, nothing must stand in the way of their precious commercials. If not for the superabundance of ads, the writers might have a chance to add some *depth* to the episodes.

When did Selma become such a big shot at the DMV, anyway? Last I recall, she was just a customer service representative.

[InvaderNorbert]

Tonight was a calvacade of continuity! Yes, some was missed (no "Lady Bouvier's Lover" callback for this, Simpsons in money trouble again, how did Selma & Grampa get that house?, financial panther, etc), but a lot was covered:

-Ling
-DMV
-the fact that Patty & Selma are hard to tell apart
-Grampa not having 2 kidneys
-Selma's many marriages...but who is Bob? We already know that she already married Sideshow Bob with Terwilliger as a last name, and we know she married Hutz between episodes...
-Grampa's war stories
-Patty's lesbianism (seeing Krappapel as her dream gal made me laugh)

And, of course, "I shaved my legs for this?"

The line was "I shaved my legs and knees for this?" still really funny.

Of course, there's "A talking bear is eating my father?!"

Of course, the Grampa/Selma plot was just screaming of "We Got Stories For Years!", but I did like the fact that Homer & Marge caught them early on, and didn't wait until the end, and that the relationship was mostly to piss off Homer. I thought the box plot was really clever, and the fight scene was fantastic. Was this the most acting we've seen from Sarcastic Guy?

The liked how both Bart & Lisa acted like kids, and that Bart's suggestion of melting the boxfort with the hose was funny, as was Lisa's response.

The whole Estaban Sexpants was stupid, but I totally thought it was definately a Homerism, especially the act-break line. And that whole Marge fantasy sequence...woo. Dang.

[JessicaLovejoy]

EDIT: Typing the "poker website" line made me remember the first act plot of the episode which was totally dropped.

Isn't that a mainstay of the later years episodes? Something completely unrelated and ridiculous leading to the main plot?

[eEagle]

It was just average, but now I have "Is she really going out with him" stuck in my head.

[pellenaka]

Did the animation seem lackluster to anyone else?

Definitely. I can't explain why, but it did seem odd at points.

I can't believe that the main plot was grandpa and Selma getting hitched. It was so stupid.

Isn't that a mainstay of the later years episodes? Something completely unrelated and ridiculous leading to the main plot?

I don't feel that this is something particularly new. I've always loved it in the show and had competitions with my sister about who could remember the main plot first. The one I remember best is where they start by going to a talent show at the retirement castle and end up buying a tennis court (Tennis the Menace).

Edited by pellenaka, Mar 12, 2007 @ 12:19 AM.

[animal dreams]

I feel dirty after watching that.

That said, I will definitely be using "Wait, don't answer that. I enjoy not knowing." in the future.

[Fig in Mouth]

Isn't that a mainstay of the later years episodes? Something completely unrelated and ridiculous leading to the main plot?

It really isn't anything new, as pellenaka said. I mean Homer Badman started out with a candy convention.

I actually really liked this episode. The only thing I didn't like was the fact that they used the plot in the first place (if that makes sense). I thought the episode for some reason worked.

Edited by Fig in Mouth, Mar 12, 2007 @ 3:28 AM.

[brandmed]

Yeah, the whole opening completely unrelated to everything else has kind of always been part of the show I thought.

I'm surprised to see all the hate for this episode. I LOVED it! I laughed the whole way through. And as InvaderNorbit pointed out, it was filled with continuity.

And I heard the line as: "I shaved my legs to the knees for this?" Since her dress ended at the knees, implying she was has hairy thighs.

[animal dreams]

I too thought she said that shaved her legs to the knees, which makes more sense to me. To further pick on InvaderNorbit (sorry!) I thought Homer was Estoban de la Sexface, which for some reason is funnier to me.

[Alenore]

I think this was one of the best episodes of the season. I loved it when Homer picked up Grandpa at the Retirement Castle and tried to use the "Flintsone method" to start the car. Of course it didn't work since Homer doesn't have as big feet as Fred.

[LTG]

I'm just mad that Fox ran the episode ten minutes late. I was actually looking forward to seeing how the box fort plot ended, but my recording ended with ten minutes of show still to go.

[Kaboom]

Another meh ep. I'm all for continuity yay! but something about the ep just seemed off and...not funny.

Thank God Nelson rescued it for me by popping up at the Fort, sailing into the fray and kicking ASS ass. Ha HA!