R & R: Grift of the Magi

[Garp]

I'm confused about this one (again).

[Charmy]

*Shudder*
This was a poor episode. It suffers from a classic case of taking far, far too long to get to the point, it's rarely funny along the way, and the night-long debate with Gary Coleman was just one of the many pointless parts of the show.

This was advertised as a Christmas episode, and when I watched the show I thought, for a long time, that I was watching a different episode. I mean, Bart breaks his butt, the school builds ramps, the school goes broke because it can't afford ramps, they try to get Mr. Burns to donate money, the schools bought out, and finally they start getting to the point. The progression took far too long.

[George Cauldron]

I also found this episode poor compared to other festive season episodes such as Marge Be Not Proud, Miracle On Evergreen Terrace and Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire. The first act was actually very good, with Bart cracking his coccyx and the school having to be wheelchair accessible, leading to them running out of money and closing down. The second act is acceptable, but it descends into moments of silliness by the third act, which is merely seven minutes of absurd wackiness with marching robots, a plan to save Christmas, and a platform for the rather pointless Gary Coleman to jump around and yell like a constipated rabbit. The ending itself was extremely anticlimactic. I liked the parody of A Christmas Carol, but then it's ruined by Gary Coleman yet again. What you talking about? More like what were they writing about?

[Rnymd]

alright plot, but a shocking end to the episode - C+

[The Brain]

It was pretty crappy for a X-mas show but nowhere near as bad as Skinner's Sense Of Snow. I tend to like the holiday special eps like the X-mas and THOH shows a little more than regular shows for some reason so it wasn't entirely unbearable to watch. Yet another example of the Simpsons decline. 6/10.

[SideshowTim]

Probably one of the worst christmas specials in the series. Not funny enough and the story was quite stupid. 5/10

[Wezzo]

Another of my controversial opinions here.. 8/10; A-/B+. Very good overall, only bad points were parts of the third act. Otherwise, a good festive ep with plenty of good jokes.

[Jessfrogger88]

I gave this one an 8/10 this might be my favorite episode from season 11. I like it alot I wish they could have shown the toys (forgetting names right now) destroying other toys and such more.

8/10

[pat]

Worst...Christmas...episode....ever. 2/10

[Mike Scully]

Not understanding the hatred for this episode, other than that it came from season 11. This episode had probably the coldest most relevant satire of the season 11-12 era, and had a cleverly written ending. The random sketch of events in the first half, and the somewhat overobvious satire kept this episode from greatness, but it wasn't bad by any means. C+

[Steve Allen]

Yeesh,

4/10

[y2dave2004]

7/10. A nice little christmas episode with a happy ending. It makes me want to have a Funzo.

[Wezzo]

Originally posted by y2dave2004
7/10. A nice little christmas episode with a happy ending. It makes me want to have a Funzo.

I was always more intrigued by Bonestorm ;)

[simplysimpsons]

One of the better episodes of Season 11, but that's not saying much at all. Some fairly funny jokes, like the kids trying to pursuade Burns to donate the money, and the whole Fat Tony thing, but it takes too long to get to the main plot, and when that happens it feels rushed. Gary Coleman is as annoying as hell in this episode and it would have benefitted without him. That said, there was some quite good satire in this episode. C+

[Wenshepp]

I can't believe that the writers would even REFERENCE Gary Coleman. That man was a tired cliche in 1994.

[lolpenis_taco]

I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Grift of the Magi in my opinion is a terrific episode. There are instead of a few hugely hilarious bits, this episode thrives on quanity and quality. Not the greatest episode ever or anything, but keeps me laughing from start to finish.

Moe: What you dont like my bags?

[Wezzo]

Originally posted by Robbie Whisman
I really don't see what all the fuss is about. Grift of the Magi in my opinion is a terrific episode. There are instead of a few hugely hilarious bits, this episode thrives on quanity and quality. Not the greatest episode ever or anything, but keeps me laughing from start to finish.

Moe: What you dont like my bags?

Agreed-e-did.

[Crotis Jivefunk]

It's quite underrated. :( One of the better Christmas episodes. 4.5/5

[Garp]

I liked it... 8/10.

[HomertheGreat]

One of the semi-bright spots of Season 11, unfortuately it doesn't add up overall. C+

[Garp]

At this moment, this episode gets an average grade of 6'23/10.

[Wezzo]

Originally posted by Garp
At this moment, this episode gets an average grade of 6'23/10.

The more you know!

[mohammed jafar]

amazing for season 11. decent characterisation of Bart & Lisa, and a return to the duo-work-things-out tradition with some great lines "No, but if you're gonna throw a spaz, I'll come with." "Good. Saddle up the bikes.". Satire is alright, but a bit in-your-face as Scully said. Nevertheless, it is quite amusing with a lot of good lines and no real glaring problems (the usual season 11 wackiness is in full evidence, but it's not too bothersome). B-, and the best of season 11.

[lolpenis_taco]

Woah, nice choice of words.

[mohammed jafar]

Who shot who in the what now?

[Sloppy Jimbo IV]

It took too long to get to the point and when it finally did, its message about the commercialization of Christmas was pretty empty satire. The cameo by Gary Coleman was also not up to scratch and the lengthy discussion at the tire fire was completely pointless. There were quit a few laughs though, most coming from the focus group sessions at school and Bart and Lisa, in particular were well characterized throughout. But, as a Christmas show, it felt very un-Christmassy and IMO is easily the worst ('Dude, Where's My Ranch' and 'Sense of Snow' excepted) holiday special. Still though, a decent enough episode amongst the crap of season eleven.

Grade: C+

[Air Homer]

I thought it was pretty boring 5/10

[Goty]

Probably the worst christimas episode, even worse than 'Skinner's sense of snow'. And dude, i hate Gary Coleman..However, for season 11 (very low) standards, pretty average. So i can give it a D (for the series) and a B+ (for season 11)..

[Gamblore]

not a great episode, but I laughed at Gary Coleman and Funzo choking the Krusty doll

[Moe Nopoly]

it's more an average episode for me,
even when the idea for the story is not bad imo
and has some potential for a funny episode.
But it didn't worked out that good in the end.

C+

[lardofthedance]

Eh, it wasn't really that good, but I did like the Furby reference with Funzo, I don't think Gary Coleman being in this hepled either. 4/10

[Semaj]

"Now why would you wear cleats to a store?"

It took too long for it to become a holiday story, but it was a very funny one. The funniest part was Funzo killing the Malibu Stacey and Krusty dolls.

4.0/5

[LilyVonSchtupp]

not my favorite either.

[hot-choccy]

i liked this episode from the begining to the part where milhouse and bart were jumping on the bed dressed as women :D. after that it pretty much went downhill

[Beast]

The best episode of Season 11. A-

[Whip-Smart]

Simply a laugh out loud episode, Lots of great gags B+

[ThatAsianGuy]

I enjoyed it when it came out and I still enjoy it. 8/10

[Kiyosuki]

You know after watching this again on the DVD I don't care what anyone says, I don't think this is a bad episode. It's in the middle of an ass season and it does get a bit funky with Gary later on but for the most part I think it's worth at least a 7 on this. I still say it's one of the only decent to maybe even good things to come out of season 11.

[granto1990]

Not a bad Christmas episode and a pretty good Season 11 episode. Has a reasonable plot and enough humourous moments to keep my interest.

6/10

[4 Alarm Chilli]

This is pure mediocrity. The best of season 11 though. C

[lionelhutz123]

You know after watching this again on the DVD I don't care what anyone says, I don't think this is a bad episode. It's in the middle of an ass season and it does get a bit funky with Gary later on but for the most part I think it's worth at least a 7 on this. I still say it's one of the only decent to maybe even good things to come out of season 11. I definitely agree. This was a fun and entertaining episode, especially when compared to the season it came from.

[troymclure17]

One of my favorite christmas episodes! The funzo thing was kinda stupid, but the ending was a funny spoof of all christmas specials. A+

[Jimbo77]

7/10 pretty funny episode, love the gary coleman part

[eamjr]

I thought this was a decent episode, its not the best of season 11, but it had a unique story line and a few humorous parts, which I thought was rather entertaining. There was a lot going on, and it did take a while to get to the point but I didnt think that made it unbearable to watch.