The Simpsons are back...

[MeanJoePhaser]

My point is that I don't think the Smothers Brothers are something Bart would be interested in enough to have the kind of familiarity the dream sequence implied.

Waaay back in the 90's, Bart was familiar enough with the HMS Pinafore musical enough to ask Sideshow Bob to perform it and participate with him (so to kill time until help arrived).

So...

 

[Broccoli]

My point is that I don't think the Smothers Brothers are something Bart would be interested in enough to have the kind of familiarity the dream sequence implied.

Waaay back in the 90's, Bart was familiar enough with the HMS Pinafore musical enough to ask Sideshow Bob to perform it and participate with him (so to kill time until help arrived).

So...

Or when he made snarky comments about needing another Vietnam. Throughout the duration of the show, Bart has shown an amazing amount of knowledge in things he probably should know give that he's ten. It should also be noted Bart has also demonstrated amazing feats of strength during the show as well.

Then again, this is The Simpsons and to apply realism and logic to it is just plain silly.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think it's silly to wish that The Simpsons would be written from the perspective of character first rather than merely using the characters as vehicles for the gags. It just felt like a story point about Bart was arbitrarily put on hold for a couple of minutes so that they could justify paying the Smothers Brothers for a guest spot. It went on so long that it felt intrusive and overindulgent.

If this had been one of their typical episodes that were just a shallow string of gags, it probably wouldn't have bothered me. But since for the most part this was a strongly character-driven episode, it stood out as an anomaly.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Just a nitpick, I suppose, but I found it really disturbing that Bart has a flat screen TV and a DVD player. I just think "The Simpsons" should always be a product of the 90s and seeing them with modern technology feels wrong. I think I saw Homer with a cell phone that looks like a blackberry once and that bothered me too. Them parodying "Saw" made me sad as well, and not just because I think that franchise is a lame farce.

This was one of the first episodes in a long time that I thought was decent enough to be watchable from start to finish. Yes, it was a little more similar to a classic episode than most of their recent output, but still very far from a return to form. I still think they've outstayed their welcome and the show should have ended in the 90s where it belongs, but this was one of the least offensive modern Simpsons episodes, so huzzah.

What? How's it supposed to remain relevant? Do you think Batman should only use technology that was available in the 1940's?

Nah, I'm not talking about it needing to be relevant. I'm just saying it shouldn't have lasted so long that it would need that stuff in it to stay relevant. I guess what I'm trying to say is it's like if The Brady Bunch was still running. Those characters so belong in the 70s...they're in their element there. Watching them in a 2000s world would be changing them from what made them appealing in the first place.

 

[Finn]

^When was Brady Bunch actually appealing?

 

[Kegg]

The Simpsons wasn't a period piece of the 1990s, though of course it's become synonymous with that decade because those were the years of its greatest critical success.

So I'm fine with Bart using modern technology, because the Simpsons has always, from its inception, been set in the present day. Granted, that present day is always shifting - next year is in fact the year featured in the future where Lisa got married, if memory serves - but such is life, innit?

 

[Amaris]

I laughed during this episode. That's a good sign already. After watching the last couple of episodes, it does indeed look like they're coming back, and I'm glad. I love The Simpsons, and I'd like nothing more than to see them surge forward once more.

J.

 

[Christopher]

So I'm fine with Bart using modern technology, because the Simpsons has always, from its inception, been set in the present day. Granted, that present day is always shifting - next year is in fact the year featured in the future where Lisa got married, if memory serves - but such is life, innit?

Indeed. Looking back on old Simpsons episodes helps us see how much things have changed in such a comparatively short time. "So, they have the Internet on computers now, eh?"

And let's not forget that Futurama's first Internet jokes were about slow dialup speeds. It wasn't that long ago, folks...

 

[Broccoli]

^ "Homer's Phobia" (1997) had the couch gag where the family was being downloaded from an AOL-like provider. Needless to say, it took forever and the cursor eventually started to click "cancel" repeatedly.

 

[Nowhere Man]

^ I remember tat and it seamed like they were not only making fun of AOL,but also themselves because maybe the guy saw that it was the Simpsons and wanted to cancel imediately. Kinda like they poke fun of FOX tv. over the years.