How would you rate Brawl in the Family? [Archive]

|RABiD|

01-06-2002, 07:35 PM

Well...this episode isnt the best in the season nor was it the worst. I thought this episode was hilarious! Lots of funny gags and stuff! Amber making Homer the sandwich in the treehouse was great and Marge saying "Oh No! She's making him a sandwich!" and Moe with the two knives were good too....BUT....(thats a BIG but) was the third act. The first two acts were quite good and I was wondering if they would put the Vegas wives in or not, but they did at the end of the second act. The episode changed so much! These 2 plots could have been 2 seperate episodes on there own which would have been a better idea. The social worker plot was just fine the way it is. But then the third act was just kinda weird. It wasn't needed and pointless. Although, I think this is a hint that Al Jean is trying to bring back the show by making the characters face with family problems again like the show used to do all the time in the earlier seasons. But I just didnt think that it was needed in this episode. Other than the third act, this episode was VERY funny! I also liked the wolves huddle! LOL...I also think Al Jean is SLOWLY changing the show. It would be kinda weird to change it in 2 or 3 episodes. i give this episode a 7.3/10! A good episode.

radiationdude7

01-06-2002, 07:35 PM

HEy Number One is the man.
Grade: D

Splashmore

01-06-2002, 07:49 PM

Highlights of the episode:
(may not be quoted correctly)

The robotic cop: Don't worry, I'm programmed to talk in a calm and soothing voice to.... DESTROY DESTROY!

Moe with his two "knives'

The "Oh no! She's making him a sandwich" sequence

The cougars huddling

Homer making Lisa talk quiet and then shouting "Whaat?!"

phippy

01-06-2002, 08:30 PM

Kinda cool how they continued that old episode. Pretty good episode I thought.

Mr. Plow

01-06-2002, 09:09 PM

the plots sement a bit reused but how the 2 plots combined came out great. didnt get funny till the 2nd-3rd acts. the 1st was ok but not great except for the monopoly bit. id like to hear tomaccos review because their pretty good. i think i saw somewhere in one of these forums that he was on vacation or sumthin

4/5

TheSimpsonsFreak

01-06-2002, 09:40 PM

I guess it was OK :bored:

Leader

01-06-2002, 10:00 PM

I missed it and I'm curious, what did it say?

cired

01-06-2002, 10:13 PM

I didn't think this episode was that great.......I mean it was like 3 different short episodes in one!! How do you start off with acid rain and then on to drunken wild cats and finally Marge getting furious at Homer and threatning never to talk to him again, but in the end she solves his and her problem of the Vegas mistriss....??? What was goin on?? it sort of reminded me of "Kill The Alligator and Run"....although the humor was pretty good, even though I laughed a lot harder from Futurama that night. Bender as a 1000lb human!! :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

Mr. Snrub

01-06-2002, 10:19 PM

I think they skipped the chalkboard part... they used the super short intro.

I was a bit disappointed in this episode... the previous one was much better... but I think the writer might have a lot more to do with it than the executive producer. Although maybe Al Jean just may need some time to get things back on track. Wouldn't it be cool if they could get Conan O'Brien back to write an episode or two? Some of his are genuine classics! "Monorail! Monorail! Monorail!" :LOL:

Well , anyway tonight's episode I'll give... a C.

albertimus prime

01-06-2002, 10:35 PM

I liked the episode overall. Although the shorter intro threw me off (I thought I had three minutes to grab a snack, turns out it was only about half that). The plot took a bunch of tangents, not unlike several episodes recently. But after spending the weekend watching the complete Planet Of The Apes dvd box set, I can handle bizarre plot twists and meaningless tangents with the best of them. :LOL:

Nugan

01-06-2002, 11:11 PM

This episode stunk of Scully and yet I couln't stop laughing through much of it. There were any number of great jokes, most of which have already been mentioned, but the plot was all over the place. Where as most of the Scully eps had a disjointed third act, here all three acts seemed almost completely independent of each other. The jokes, however, are hilarious and often reminiscent of the old days. I was particularly happy that they actually used Maggie gags a few times for once. The Homer/Tv antenna bit and the "Honest Abe" crack were terribly reminiscent of the Scully era though, and left me with a compulsion to leave the room.

Basically, Jean has brought back pre-Scully jokes, but left too much Scully plot structure. - 2/5

Coleco

01-07-2002, 02:18 AM

The best part of the episode was Homer running in and out screaming. The episode basically stunk it up, and they threw in another weird ending getting Grampa to marry the Vegas wife. At least it had Homer screaming though. :)

Jake

01-07-2002, 05:36 AM

Originally posted by Coleco
The best part of the episode was Homer running in and out screaming. The episode basically stunk it up, and they threw in another weird ending getting Grampa to marry the Vegas wife. At least it had Homer screaming though. :)

This is the first episode I can honestly say I really don't have an opinion on. The first two acts were funny in goofy way (the good kind) while the third act was very character driven a way more serious than the first 2/3s of the show. However, when put together, this episode had a very weird feel to it.

You can almost say the first two acts were ruined by the very different ending, or you can also say the ending was great compared to the odd first two acts... :(

Anyway, think of it was peanut butter smeared on broiled shrimp...both are good but put together...

Grade: B

Jake

:bang:

01-07-2002, 06:15 AM

I liked it, but won't say it ruled or anything. Getting the floozie drunk and getting her to marry Grandpa was pretty cool. Something was missing. Some parts were kind of flat, but the Flanders were awesome as usual. I'd give it a B.

Eat_Up_Martha

01-07-2002, 06:50 AM

Brawl in the Family had some of the worst writing I've seen in years. They should be ashamed of this one.

grade: F-

blockyourfather

01-07-2002, 07:58 AM

Al Jean did a good job with this one. I love political satire, and this republican was about to die laughing at Bob Dole's speech. Choppy the bear was a riot, the wolves and cougar's huddling was hillarious. The meta-humor didn't seem forced this time for some reason. Grade: A

StpdItchyChrchPnts

01-07-2002, 08:35 AM

"is this the end of our series?......of adventures?"

So does this mean they are trying to hint at the series ending, is there any truth to this ,or is it rumours, or are they just trying to be funny.
I hope it doesnt end anytime soon
Please let me know what you have heard

thugie

01-07-2002, 08:37 AM

This is the first show this year I liked from beginning to end. Things appear to be looking up for the show. I wish Ned's Vegas wife could have hung around for future shows.

PrinceBejeeta

01-07-2002, 08:49 AM

I hated pretty much all of this episode I started to like it more towards the end and there was a few good laughs. Al Jean or not most of it sucked I'll give it a 2/5.

BangBangBart

01-07-2002, 09:03 AM

I gave it a 5/5. Absolutely hilarious! I can't remember the last time i laughed this hard. I lost it big time when the fish were eating each other in the beginning and homer eats them! Marge listening to homer and his other wife making him a sandwich, heh toooooo funny! I'm gonna watch it again later.

Snakes47

01-07-2002, 09:28 AM

I loved this episode...very funny stuff.

as mentioned before the highlights were:

The robotic cop: Don't worry, I'm programmed to talk in a calm and soothing voice to.... DESTROY DESTROY!

Moe with his two "knives'

The "Oh no! She's making him a sandwich" sequence

The cougars huddling

-----------------------------------------

I think that some of you are being way to critical about this show. It seems that now, maybe that you are older, you want the simpsons to be like they were when you first started watching them. Since they aren't you bash on them...shhheshhh.

That is only my theory, but overall I think many peeps need to chill out and just enjoy the simpsons rather than critique every line in it.

peace,
Steve

BigJimW

01-07-2002, 09:59 AM

I thought the first part was very poorly done. It was an awful attempt at trying to tie together plots that had really nothing to do with the story advertised. The second part was ok, the only parts that I found funny were at the end when she ended up marrying Abe, and when half of Flanders wifes makeup stuck to the pillow.

If they introduced Homers and Flanders second wives in the first act, it would have made the story more interesting, and had more oppertunity for site gags.

My smiley rating of it:

:bored: = First act
:bored: = Second Act
:LOL: = Third Act

Overall laughs per minute: http://www.duff-free.com/YaBBImages/crazy.gif

Lisa Lionheart

01-07-2002, 10:14 AM

When the episode started off with the Republican community meeting I was really excited.. the social worker part was okay, but a bit weak, I thought bringing back the Vegas wives was a good idea that was handled well.

But what I LOVE is that the show actually acknowledged that Homer has turned into a moronic, chilk-like person. I HATE it when Homer runs around screaming (no body does that!!)... and I think they are going to finally start changing him back to the Homer we all knew and loved.

Go Al Jean!!

Beepela

01-07-2002, 11:51 AM

I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. As it started out, I thought it was going to be terrible. I didn't laugh at any of the jokes and it didn't seem to be going anywhere, but once they introduced the social worker and the cougars I really started getting into it, and bringing back the Vegas wives was a great idea. Especially with Maude dead, the whole Flanders part was hilarious. By the end of it I was laughing out loud. Phew! Episode saved! I thought it was very appropriate how they acknowledged the childlike behavior of the Scully years, and then brought them back to "normal."

jackscab

01-07-2002, 12:49 PM

I thought that the episode was going to be really funny at the beginning, until they got to the new anti-environmental "Chopper the Bear." Much to my suprise and horror, they lifted this bit from an on-line comic that I did last year called (suprisingly enough) "Grizzly Bear with a Chainsaw." I first posted this comic on February 26, 2001, and it was based on an idea that my friends and I came up with in the summer of 1997 at the Metro Toronto Zoo. Need proof? Visit http://www.geocities.com/jackscab/gframe.html (for the frames version), or http://www.geocities.com/jackscab/grizzly.html for the no-frames version. I'm not looking for any sort of compentsation, but this just made me really mad. It could just be a big coincidence, but I doubt it. :(

James

01-07-2002, 12:52 PM

"Brawl in the Family", like Jake said, was weird, very weird and it seemed essentially a bit thrown together. As a whole it was a bit odd, but the individual parts were great. The beginning (first two acts) reminded me alot of the David Mirkin era, with uproarious satire, vibrant and continuoud jokes, and great character sketches. It seems like the last act was just a time-filler and they couldn't think of a way to end it, so they threw in a cut-down version of a whole other episode. The Vegas girls thing should either have been left unresolved or handled to a completely new episode, and except the sandwich thing and the Flanders sequences, it seemed rather, well unfunny and thrown together in of it's self, and even less fitting with the fairly random structure of the episode.

BigJimW

01-07-2002, 12:55 PM

Sarge Morton, who worked on the Simpsons and is a regular at another forum, said the exact same thing. It looked like it was thrown together in an attempt to mimic a Season 1 episode, but failed miserably.

I'll see if he wants to register and post here his opinions. It's identical to what you said.

Voodoo Monkey

01-07-2002, 01:11 PM

The Republican meeting was good. The voice of the social worker was the same as the voice of Tigatron on Beast Wars (how's that for obscure?)

My favorite part:

Marge: Bart, can you drive the car?
Bart: Okay, but *i've never done it before*
Marge: Here are the keys
Bart: I've got my own.

mrkatie

01-07-2002, 01:14 PM

Compared to the stinking pile of dog feces that was "She Of Little Faith" this episode was quite funny. It did have a lot of the Scully wackiness that I so despise but at least the jokes were on. The Scully era had a lot of episodes with really bad endings. This one had an odd ending, but it was one of the funniest I've seen in some time.

BEST LINE - I have a son about your age.

or_smth

01-07-2002, 01:34 PM

Is it just me or is Homer getting into an endless loop of screaming getting a *pinch* overused.

However, the food chain (Homer eating the big fish) part was new, and I rather liked it.

I say this: Funny and odd, but the oddness took over the funnyness (is that even a word).

volcom

01-07-2002, 01:41 PM

i gave it a 4/5 but it was a funny but weird episode. Sort of confusing ending but better than almost all of season 13's episodes

StrideR

01-07-2002, 01:46 PM

For me, a "new ep hater," I actually laughed a lot in this episode. It wasn't gold, but I thought it was better than recent eps. The creators and staff still have a lot of kinks to work out, but the humor, although pretty weird, shows signs of improvement. It took me a while to figure out that the episode was just about the family's co-operation, and the angel bit was not that funny, but overall, I thought the episode was pretty good. Finally, Homer didn't get away with being a doofus, and he didn't get ripped to shreds one moment and become OK the next.

A very solid point though; Springfield, as a whole, was showcased in this episode.

Overall, 4/5 (My highest rating for any episode since "Last tap dance in Springfield").

irv

01-07-2002, 03:23 PM

Like someone said eariler, Mike Scully plot structure with pre scully jokes. This episode was all over the place.

The best part of the episode was when Lisa was reading off the different names of the monopoly games. Edna Krabbopoly! THAT IS FUCKING BRILLIANCE.

I have to give it a 3 of 5, because the jokes were there, but there wasn't much in the way of a cohesive plot with one story.

Kalbelgarion

01-07-2002, 03:43 PM

That was, like "She of Little Faith", a very, very refreshing episode. Plenty of gags, jokes, political satire (Hey, I loved that Republican part, even if reused slightly from "Sideshow Bob Roberts"), and character development. It seems like Homer turned a corner, and Al Jean is trying to rein in the wild Homer of the Scully era.

A good and solid A

Wiggle Puppy

01-07-2002, 03:54 PM

best ep of season

Handsome Pete

01-07-2002, 04:38 PM

Pretty good episode; it gets at most a B+ in my book. I particularly liked the little poke at the many versions of Monopoly out right now.

Drew

01-07-2002, 04:54 PM

The first act was cheasy. I didnt like the taffy part. The rest was funny tho.

Cole

01-07-2002, 05:05 PM

Best episode of the Season. I don't know why people are complaining so much about the plot, I love how it was sort of two stories in one. The Republican part at the beginning was classic, the acid raid was hilarious, and the monopoly game was very good (until that taffy part -- that wasn't funny at all IMO). I never really liked "Viva Ned Flanders" but I am glad that they brought back their wives for this episode. I wish Flanders was wife would have stayed around for a couple of more episode though, Flanders and her were hilarious together. This episode deserves an A in my opinion. And it seemed as if Homer was slightly brighter this episode which is a good sign that Al Jean will increase Homer's IQ. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the whole "sandwich orgasim." 5/5

Lance_Murdock

01-07-2002, 06:46 PM

Hey jackscab,
Had a look at your cartoon site. Looks like you have a case...

NOT!

:LOL:

cronkleton

01-07-2002, 06:52 PM

Last night's episode was horrible. I have to admit that I didn't get to see the first three minutes because my local station preempted it for the weather girl. (They let all of King of the Hill play though, horrible show.) However I was very turned off by the bit about the show being cancelled, but the total lack of continuity between the "working together" and "return of the not so great characters" parts is what ruined it for me. I laughed so hard at the wolves and cougars though. I have enjoyed this season, especially Little Faith. i even wrote an email of praise to Fox for that episode. The difference is that Faith made sense as 22 minutes of tv with a continuous plot but Brawl was just half baked.

Please Try Harder Next Time
Grade: D

Cole

01-07-2002, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by Lance_Murdock
Hey jackscab,
Had a look at your cartoon site. Looks like you have a case...

NOT!

:LOL:

I know. I think once Fox's lawyers here about this, they will have to file for bankruptcy for all of the plagiarizing The Simpson's have done from jacksab's cartoon site. I mean how else could they have come up with a bear holding a chainsaw . . . I mean a bear. . . holding a chainsaw . . it is pure genius. :p

Smilin'JoeFission

01-07-2002, 07:04 PM

I liked this episode very much, especially in the last two acts. If FOX didn't have to run so many commercials, we could have actually seen a blackboard quote! Oh well. The only parts of the first act IMO that were solidly good were the Monopoly sequences, the mutant fish eating another mutant fish, and the Republican party sequence. The second act really improved however. Gabriel was a great character, and Homer referring him to an angel was funny, especially the "I finally earned my Wings" and it turned out to be 'The Best of Wings'. As always they throw the climax together in the last seven minutes, but nonetheless they did it well. Grampa's line "I have a son about your age..." kept me laughing, along with the Simpson family, and they ended the episode well, unlike recent ones that just kind of cut off.

Grade: A-

DotheBartman

01-07-2002, 08:56 PM

This episode started off hilariously. The Republican Party Headquarters sequence was great and still funny, the whole thing with destroying the environment was also great satire, and the Monopoly bit was great. Wiggum was great as usual "How do those Parker Brothers sleep at night" and for once they actually used MAGGIE :maggie: She was hilarious and adorable as usual, and it was great that they actually used her again. Overall, I haven't laughed so hard at a first act for a while (She of Little Faith's first act was close though), and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

The second act was a little slower, but still great. The angel thing got a tad bit overused, but was still funny, and for once animals acting like humans (the wolves and cougers) was actually funny rather than just stupid. Homer's determination to get the beer was great, and Bart having an extra set of car keys was funny as well. The only thing that really scared me was the end of the act, as it showed for sure that they actually planned to bring back the floozies from Viva Ned Flanders, an episode I never liked much at all.

Luckily, the third act was not bad at all. In fact, I really liked it alot, despite reminding me of a horrible episode. Flanders was hilarious, as was Ginger's makeup on the pillow (nice touch). The main story here also brought some good moments, such as Moe's two knives and Amber's interaction with the kids. The "making a sandwhich part was absolutely hilarious, and Grandpa had some great moments at the end "It hurts now, but the senility will take care of that......ah....there it goes." The only real problem with this act was actually the fact that it didn't seem to go the best with the other two acts, but I think it still worked well enough.

Overall, this was another good episode, with jokes alot better than what we have gotten lately.

Grade: B+

As for the current episodes in general, I'd have to say that the show seems to be getting back in its old groove joke wise, but the plots still have a little room for improvement. However, overall, things are looking up for Al Jean.

Current Season Grades: B, B, D-, B, B, A-, B+

Richiewhiteboy

01-07-2002, 09:06 PM

This was the best episode of season 13. There was some hilarious stuff. Most notably was the sandwich treehouse scene, Homer choking Bart on the speed-dial and Homers line "Ah the first couple of seconds before I remember why I'm sleeping on the lawn." Then he asks Marge if she wants to talk about sports or bigamy. I also enjoyed the shameless send up of the Republican party. "What act of unmitigated evil shall we perform today?" It was pretty funny overall and there wasn't anything that just made me shake my head and say "What the hell were they thinking?" There have been a lot of those moments in the past two seasons. The only low points (and there were very few) were the taffy thing and the cougars and mountain lions rhinking they were people. The episode seemed to jump plots too much but I didn't see it as much of a problem seeing as the jokes were still witty and well-timed. Oh yeah, I also laughed out loud when Ginger wakes up and her make-up is imprinted on her pillow. Hi-larious. Kudos to Al Jean this was the best episode I've seen in a while.
B

Rowdy

01-07-2002, 09:43 PM

Hmmmmmmm......one wonders when we shall see Jonah's review.....

As for me, I thought it was a very good episode. The plot structure wasn't bad at all. My only problem was with many jokes (particularly the whole taffy sequence) that fell flat on their faces. Still, it's the second best episode of the season. Oddly enough (well, not really) the two best episodes have been the Al Jean ones. Hmmm......

Grade: 4/5

First Seven Season Twelve Episodes: 23/35
First Seven Season Thirteen Episodes: 24/35

We've got a close race, people. Could Al Jean's new season be the first to be better than a previous one, which hasn't happened since Season 7 ended up being better than 5 and 6 (in my opinion anyway).

Reid

01-07-2002, 10:10 PM

In watching this episode, I was a bit startled by the reappearance of two characters, the Vegas wives (from an episode that, in my opinion, represented the lowest of the low in past years), who really weren't all that funny to begin with. I really ended up enjoying the episode, though, despite all of its shortcomings (the biggest being its incredible disjointedness) and it kind of dawned on me that perhaps this reappearance represented an attempt to tie up some incredibly *stupid* loose ends that had been totally against several normal character personalities in past years. (I mean, really, Flanders getting trashed in Vegas and getting married are far enough out there, but abandoning his new "wife"? Come on.)

This episode may actually represent, even more than a stylistic return to past years of the Simpsons, a return to the more accepted norms in characters. It almost seems like an attempt to forget some of the past blunders by saying "we recognize how stupid this was, let us fix it, and we'll go from here."

Speaking of which... was Barney at Moe's when Homer was getting his Vegas wife drunk? If so, this would be a similar return to normalcy.

My only complaint was that I really would have liked to have seen the social worker return at the end to see how they had all worked together, or at least to see that nothing really changes. Just to have him make a brief appearance would have tied everything together. That or having the acid rain come back. Even dropping *minor* references to the other acts would help give a sense of continuity... I mean, hell, they can bring in characters from other episodes but cannot relate the beginning of an episode to the end? Very strange.

But all-in-all, not enough to kill the episode in my book--especially since they tied up some stupid loose ends and managed to get in quite a few good jokes that did not involve, in any way, blood or guts (which was a big surprise with the acid rain!).

4/5

--reid.

tim_duncan2000

01-08-2002, 08:41 AM

That was one of the most disjointed episodes I have ever seen. I also did not like how they followed up on the Vegas Wives episode. I didn't even like that episode at all. That episode did not flow very well, and it seemed like at least 3 different episodes (The part about the environment and acid rain, the part with the social worker, and the part with the wives). I'm sorry, but that amount of disjointedness is inexcusable to me. In addition to the disjointedness, I also did not like Homer's screaming about the TV and the antenna, and when he was running around with the doghouse on his head. About the only funny parts were the scene at the beginning and some of Wiggum's lines. And for some reason, I didn't find a lot of the parts funny that other people did. Moe's two knives, Homer screaming, animals acting like humans, and Marge's "Oh no, she's making him a sandwich." I thought Marge's line was going to be bad enough because of what most people would think they were doing, but what she did say was even worse. How would she have known what was really going on unless she saw them? I was also disappointed they would stoop to that level to make it sound like they were having sex. Overall, I would give it an F.

Jake

01-08-2002, 11:08 AM

Tim, maybe Mr. Jean is adding some "token retard Homer scenes" to the show just to please the kids. :LOL:

Greg Durand

01-08-2002, 11:26 AM

My review: This episode was great. At first, it was typical. The family gets in a fight over Monopoly, but it got much better and I'm extremely impressed. Once the Las Vegas ladies showed up, they were there better than I expected. I won't get in to big detail of my satisfaction from this episode, so I'll just stop there.
My rating: A+, 10/10.

tim_duncan2000

01-08-2002, 11:40 AM

Originally posted by Jake
Tim, maybe Mr. Jean is adding some "token retard Homer scenes" to the show just to please the kids. :LOL:
Probably so. Someone else mentioned Edna Krabbopoly, and I almost forgot about that horrible joke. What they need to do is write episodes with plots that aren't all over the place and don't make Homer run around screaming either. I'm not saying no subplots or anything like that, but I wish they would at least have episodes that seem like one episode and not three different ones like they did in this one. It certainly would be great if episodes could start going in the right direction. There were signs of the trend reversing when they actually mention how Homer is acting like an idiot, and hopefully this will mean they will try to change him back to the way he used to be. I have seen enough of "jerkass Homer" and I would love to see the return of regular Homer.

Bluesman

01-08-2002, 11:43 AM

I don't know how much this episode was supposed to be funny as it is a forecast of things to come. Al Jean supposedly said he would address the decline in ep quality, and I think he did it here. The social worker pionted out all the family's problems, and it seemed like they tried to solve them. So maybe now the Simpsons will return to its funny, pre-Scully state of being.

There were some great jokes in this one.
"The roast beef made them stronger, and the falaffel made them angrier!"
"I've been pulling these two apart since before you were born!"
Maggie dialing the phone with the picture of Homer and Bart. :LOL:

Richiewhiteboy

01-08-2002, 04:14 PM

Why is everyone bashing the Edna Krabapoly joke? It was a good play on how outrageous all these Monopoly versions have gotten. There was even *Gasp* a Simpsons version.

blockyourfather

01-08-2002, 06:40 PM

Hey, I got Simpsons Monopoly for Christmas. I like how Cletus' Shack is on there, and how it's worth $60.

laika

01-08-2002, 07:42 PM

Brawl in the family seemed to be more of a segway episode, cleaning up all the loose ends. Till last Sunday Marge was still in the dark that Homer had been unfaithful and this tied that up nicely. It had to be done.
As for the second plotline, I'm glad to see the violent comedy is now behind them. Al probably was actually really pissed at all the torment the Simpsons (especially Homer) have gone through as of late. Next week should be amazingly satiracal (sweets and sour Marge). Can't wait till they deal with the fact that sugar is in everything (what the hell is sugar doing in ketchup anyhow?). Wonder if the other evil 'S' word will come up. SALT!

Anywhoo, the episode deserves a 2/5 imo.. Just because it wasn't funny and had no social commentary to speak of even though the topic was abuse. All in all though the episode had to be done so that Al Jean could move on and start doing old-school Simpsons with renewed vigor.

Looking forward to next Sundays episode...

laika

mrkatie

01-09-2002, 12:39 PM

Originally posted by Rowdy

We've got a close race, people. Could Al Jean's new season be the first to be better than a previous one, which hasn't happened since Season 7 ended up being better than 5 and 6 (in my opinion anyway).

I'd have to disagree with that statement. Not about the 5,6,7 part but I think 12 was MUCH better than 11. Much of 12 was simply mediocre, while 11 was so godawful I almost quit watching.

James

01-09-2002, 01:05 PM

12 had a few great episodes ("Skinner's Sense of Snow", "Lisa the Tree-Hugger", "Trilogy of Error", and "Children of a Lesser Clod"), but overall my opinion is that it had alot of mediocre/fair episodes and two terrible ones. And about a season turning out better than the one before it, I must say that happens all the time. Eight had far more true classics than seven, and two was a slight improvement over Season 1.

Smilin'JoeFission

01-09-2002, 05:08 PM

Something I've been thinking about is the way they had the Vegas wife marrying Grampa. I don't really like the way Grampa agreed to do it, it didn't seem out-of-character, but it was pretty unusual, as he is the old cranky bachelor-Grampa in older episodes. It would have been as funny if it was Jasper or the crazy old man, IMO.

Mr. Plow

01-09-2002, 05:50 PM

i just wanted to tell all you guys that i have 2 polls out right now and everything is explained in them. see people have been trying to find the best episode ever, and my poll is gunna be as accurate as ever. i hope you guys vote in it because this is very important. the links are below me. i hope you guys vote in it

http://www.simpsonsforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3016

http://www.simpsonsforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3052

Cole

01-09-2002, 06:32 PM

Originally posted by Smilin'JoeFission
Something I've been thinking about is the way they had the Vegas wife marrying Grampa. I don't really like the way Grampa agreed to do it, it didn't seem out-of-character, but it was pretty unusual, as he is the old cranky bachelor-Grampa in older episodes. It would have been as funny if it was Jasper or the crazy old man, IMO.

I didn't like the Vegas wives marrying Grampa either. And seeing them in bed together didn't settle well with me. I think they should have used a non-family member, marrying Homer's father is just -- creepy. Jasper, as you said, would have been hilarious. Even someone like Cletus would have been better. . . I think he would have to be the scariest person to wake up to.

tim_duncan2000

01-10-2002, 08:01 AM

Sorry to get off topic, but how come this thread is always at the top? I noticed it had "Sticky:" in the title, but I don't see that in the posting options. Do you have to be a Pin Pal or higher or does that not have anything to do with it? I was just wondering, that's all.

mrkatie

01-10-2002, 12:40 PM

If it had been Jasper or the crazy old man, we wouldn't have gotten that golden line "I have a son about your age."

James

01-10-2002, 12:58 PM

I think you have to be a mod to put a thread on "Sticky".

Voodoo Monkey

01-10-2002, 04:48 PM

Yup.

BangBangBart

01-10-2002, 08:17 PM

After watching it twice, this is still my favorite scene hehe..

http://www.allouttoons.com/simpsons/framegrabs/s13ep6/s13e007.jpg http://www.allouttoons.com/simpsons/framegrabs/s13ep6/s13e008.jpg

Jake

01-10-2002, 10:18 PM

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
Eight had far more true classics than seven, and two was a slight improvement over Season 1.

I agree with Season Two, but Eight being better than Seven? Personally, I thought eight was the first drop in quality due to a certain character starting to take over the show...

Anway, here's what I thought were the "A" quality of Seven and Eight:

Season 7:

3F01 Home Sweet Home-Diddily-Dum-Doodily: A-
3F02 Bart Sells His Soul: A (Bring back Greg Daniels!)
3F03 Lisa the Vegetarian: A-
3F05 King-Size Homer: A
3F06 Mother Simpson: A
3F31 The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular: A-
3F07 Marge Be Not Proud: A-
3F13 Lisa the Iconoclast: A-
3F18 22 Short Films About Springfield: A
3F20 Much Apu About Nothing: A-
3F22 Summer of 4 Ft. 2: A+ (Second Best Lisa ep behind Lisa's Sub.)

Season 8:

4F04 A Milhouse Divided: A-
3G03 Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious: A
4F13 My Sister, My Sitter: A
4F09 Grade School Confidential: A
4F20 The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase:A-

(...and now the worst of Seven and Eight:)

Season 7:

3F09 Two Bad Neighbors (D-)
3F12 Bart the Fink (D)
3F16 The Day the Violence Died (D+)
3F21 Homerpalooza (D)

Season 8:

4F02 Treehouse of Horror VII (D)
4F03 The Homer They Fall (D)
4F05 Burns, Baby Burns (D+)
4F06 Bart After Dark (D. Nice musical, though)
4F10 Mountain of Madness (D-)
4F12 The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show (D+)
4F16 The Canine Mutiny (D-. Worst Bart ep, IMO)
4F19 Homer's Enemy (F. The begining of the end of the loveable oaf Homer)
4F21 The Secret War of Lisa Simpson (D-. I seem to be the only one who hates this one. Personally, I think it's the worst Lisa ep ever made.)

Smilin'JoeFission

01-11-2002, 01:59 PM

Originally posted by mrkatie
If it had been Jasper or the crazy old man, we wouldn't have gotten that golden line "I have a son about your age."

True. I guess it all sums up then...

Tomacco

01-11-2002, 07:38 PM

Here ya go!

http://www.thespringfieldshopper.com/!BRAWLINFAMILY.gif

James

01-12-2002, 06:54 AM

I agree about all the good 7/8 ones you listed, Jake, but I still think 8 was the funniest season ever, and had some of the most inventive and smart ideas yet. 7 was still very good, but it didn't have the same flair. Season 7/8 and some of Season 9 is my second favorite period, the Baroque era. The ideas were elaborate, the satire was strong, and almost everything was hilarious. I have to agree that both "Bart the Fink" and "The Day the Violence Died" were terrible in Season 7, but both "Homerpalooza" and "Two Bad Neighbors" were great. "Two Bad Neighbors" was admittedly an omen of the over-surrealism to come, but it had just the right amount and didn't overdo it. And "Homerpalooza" was a fairly good Gen X satire. Season 7 was good, but it was in some respects choppy and just without as much flair. Everything in Season 8 was at A-B+ quality except for that year's THOH and "The Canine Mutiny", which was about a C.

Wavy Gravy

01-12-2002, 10:52 AM

I thought it was okay, but I was wondering, how many times does this make where Blinky has been eaten?

That bit with Groundskeeper Willie singing in the acid rain was a bit weird.

The whole bit about Gabriel was hilarious. I thought it made for a very cool second act. And it was also funny how, just when you think the family is all resolved and everything, Amber and Ginger return and rip them apart again.

Tomacco: Great Guide page! I really like the way you put these things together. What program do you use?

Mr. Plow

01-12-2002, 11:18 AM

there was only one "original" blinky with the 3 eyes & then after that i believe that there were two more blinkies that got atten followed by homer of course

Cletus Del Roy

01-12-2002, 06:34 PM

Brawl In The Family started off like a great episode. Although the republican headquarters and the acid rain was sort of confusing. I really got into the episode when they started playing monopoly. The highlight I think was when they had to save the social worker. The scene with them driving home in the car was great, and it SHOULD HAVE ENDED THERE! The next scene would have been great as a whole different episode, but stuck in there in the last 7 minutes? It kept me up all night scared that this would cause the Simpsons to go off the air. It is one of the worst episodes I've ever seen, all because it went too quickly. They crammed way too much into 21 minutes.

I think that in the car when lisa said: "Could this be the last episode....of adventures?", the scene should have ended, and then shown someone in a chair turning off the TV.

Cletus Del Roy

01-12-2002, 06:37 PM

Originally posted by Tomacco
Here ya go!

http://www.thespringfieldshopper.com/!BRAWLINFAMILY.gif

GOOD GLAVEN! Did you make that?

Cole

01-12-2002, 06:54 PM

Originally posted by CletusTheYokel

GOOD GLAVEN! Did you make that?

Yup, he sure did. Tomacco's got all of Season 13's Episode Guides and more at his website. I go there all the time, the address is:

http://www.thespringfieldshopper.com

Cletus Del Roy

01-12-2002, 10:46 PM

Heh, Gabriels real name is Delroy. I wonder if he's related to Cletus?

DotheBartman

01-13-2002, 02:09 AM

Originally posted by CletusTheYokel
Heh, Gabriels real name is Delroy. I wonder if he's related to Cletus?

I think the implication was that someone named Delroy Lindo did Gabriel's voice. Nice observation though.

James

01-13-2002, 08:13 AM

Cletus, then, is supposed to be Cajun? (sorry for the pointless post!)

J.Re*

01-13-2002, 12:12 PM

Am I Crazy or did Gabriel's hair slowly turn greyer every minute he was with the family :LOL:

Cole

01-13-2002, 12:17 PM

Originally posted by crazyjre
Am I Crazy or did Gabriel's hair slowly turn greyer every minute he was with the family :LOL:

I watched it again this morning and I noticed that his hair seemed to be getting greyer while they were in the forrest. Ofcourse, my hair would be turning grey too if I was stuck in a tree, between two cliffs, just barely out of the reach of wild (sheme-plotting) animals. :p

J.Re*

01-13-2002, 12:22 PM

Yeah, my friend noticed it and asked me about it, and I rewatched it and agreed that it did

Cletus Del Roy

01-13-2002, 12:25 PM

No, I understand that Delroy Lindo played Gabriel, I just thought it was comical that his first name was the same as Cletus's last name. IM nawt stoopud!

4 Alarm Chilli

12-09-2006, 12:50 PM

This episode really does have some highlights. Willie singing in the rain, Burns Republican headquarters and Ned and Amber.
Not brilliant, but certainly worth a look.
B-/4/5

Dewey Finn

10-25-2008, 05:38 PM

Definitely not the best episode of S13, that's for sure. It was kind of flawed... first, the plot felt kind off in terms of pacing - the real story started after the middle of the episode and Gabriel character felt kind of wasted... other than that, it didn't have a lethal flaw, but some things in the beginning of the plot were too silly to be taken serious. The latter part of the plot was decent. Other than plot, characterstics... was decent, but humor was pretty good, definitely made me laugh... B-

Sprocketeer

10-25-2008, 08:36 PM

Damn, this forum has some ancient threads.

Not a fan of this episode, which was really more like three different stories in three different acts. Parts at the beginning felt like an inferior retread of episodes like "War of the Simpsons" (though the Willie/acid rain gag got a laugh from me), the middle featured an unremarkable one-time character, and Act 3 felt like the writers needed to fill up the remaining 7 minutes, so they tried to tie up a previous storyline that didn't really need tying up in the first place.

Did I mention that Judge Harm is a horrible character?

2/5

Moe Nopoly

10-26-2008, 03:50 AM

i like this episode actually, it's a funny follow up- on Viva Ned Flanders.
The start of the episode with the Simpsons fighting about a game is good too.
And i really loved the gag with the many different Monopoly versions (Edna Krabappoly :D)

B

Morris Szyslak

10-26-2008, 09:40 AM

After watching this episode, the first question that came to my mind was that if this plot was necessary. I think it would be much better to consider Viva Ned Flanders as a series' mistake and don't know anything more about Amber, Ginger and that double wedding.
That said, the episode was slightly better than the season 10 one. The first act was pretty funny (also crazy anyway), and the other two were not that bad. But the premise is too much stupid and I would rather ignore this episode, as I did with the former.
5.5/10. Although it wouldn't probably be that bad objectively, I hate the plot and I think it would have been better if it hadn't existed.