(S18E08) At first glance, these newer episodes of The Simpsons are like a box of unbuttered popcorn mixed with M&Ms: even if the whole snack is rather bland, there's plenty of great bits tossed in. I loved Marge uncharacteristically whacking Bart with a wooden spoon, Homer's cry of "Woo hoo! Marital sex!", and Milhouse telling Bart it's better to walk in on both parents being intimate instead of just one of them.
Nelson is a bully, but he's a complex bully. His home life is anything but ideal, but at school his knack for intimidation makes him king of everyone, even if his subjects secretly despise him. When Bart is the only one who shows up to his birthday party, Nelson is so thrilled he recruits Bart as his best friend, and Bart takes advantage of all the perks. Nelson soon realizes, however, that Bart really doesn't like him at all, and as usual everything ends up back to normal in the end.
A decent episode, I thought, though not spectacular. My favorite part of the episode actually came from the secondary plot in which Homer becomes engrossed in a Harry Potter-like children's book. When one of the main characters is killed off, he worries about upsetting Lisa so he makes up his own ending to the story where everyone escapes and later "fight Star Wars."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-11-2006 @ 11:38AM
Dan said...
You missed telling about the quality "Goodfellas" reference when they head into the cafeteria. That was the best part
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12-11-2006 @ 11:51AM
Jefferson said...
I also liked the on screen definition of the word "faggot" that they put up to get by the FCC.
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12-11-2006 @ 12:15PM
SJ said...
The ending was a Brokeback Mountain reference wasn't it?
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12-11-2006 @ 12:19PM
Couch Potato Craig said...
Don't forget the Brokeback Mountain reference with Bart hugging the vest the nelson gave him.
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12-11-2006 @ 1:36PM
Steve said...
Dan:
But even THAT was trumped by American Dad's references to "Midnight Cowboy" AND "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?"
I don't know if TVSquad still blogs "American Dad." I don't even know if that was a new episode. Although it rolled a bit much into "Family Guy" territory (gag-a-minute,etc), I thought that AD was funnier than both Simpsons episodes (the repeat of the holiday episode was mind-numbing).
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12-11-2006 @ 1:25PM
Dan said...
There were good movie references in this one -- still not as good as "The Great Escape" reference of Maggie in daycare from a few years ago and her quest to get her pacifier -- complete with the music -- but better than some of the recent efforts of the past couple of seasons.
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12-11-2006 @ 2:51PM
Tucker said...
Steve, funny you should mention that, because I thought those were two of the best parodies I've seen in a while - I was thinking while watching that American Dad, "gee I guess I'll have to give this show another chance." The Gilbert Grape parody, especially, was spot-on and done perfectly - facial expressions and everything.
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12-11-2006 @ 3:14PM
Dr. Funbags said...
Worst Simpsons Blog Review Ever
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12-11-2006 @ 3:41PM
Dan said...
Steve:
Have yet to watch American Dad from last night yet...I'll get on it here soon. I usually enjoy that one the most out of the "Big 3" -- The Simpsons, Family Guy (which is gone to shit if you ask me ever since it came back from DVD sales-inspired re-birth) and AD.
Dr. Funbags:
They need someone to have a bit more depth in pop culture it seems -- there are tons of references that are given in every episode -- to miss all the really obvious ones is a crime -- especially in the effort of recapping it.
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12-11-2006 @ 6:25PM
Adam said...
The review was a little light, I'll accept that, and I haven't seen Brokeback Mountain or Goodfellas, so those references escaped me. Some days are more hectic than others, and I don't always have time to delve as deeply as I'd like, though I do try.
Now everyone repeat after me:
TV SQUAD DOES NOT DO RECAPS.
These are show reviews, the bloggers personal opinions on the episode. We write about what we found interesting; we don't cover everything that happened in the episode. There are other sites that do recaps, we don't.
And I'm quite pop culture savvy, so don't go hatin' cause a couple references escape me.
Yeah.
Adam
PS: I forgot to mention it in the review, but I hated the definition of "faggot" on the screen. I felt it underminded the intelligence of the audience.
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12-11-2006 @ 6:47PM
J-Spot said...
I thought last night's Simpsons was the funniest they've done in awhile, and certainly the best of the season. Since this was the first of a new production run, hopefully it's the beginning of a trend.
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