Rate "The Latest Gun in the West" (DABF07)

[thecapecoddah]

Post your thoughts & feelings about tonight's new Simpsons episode in this thread.

"The Latest Gun in the West" >>> Dennis Weaver, whose nearly 50-year career on TV includes Gunsmoke, McCloud and Gentle Ben, provides the voice of Buck McCoy, an old cowboy star who becomes Bart's new hero.

They first meet after a stray dog chases Bart onto the grounds of Buck's mansion. Bart becomes pals with the horse-opera great, who later visits the Simpsons and brings along video highlights of his career. With Bart's help, it's not long before a Western craze sweeps Springfield Elementary, and he and Lisa land Buck a guest spot on Krusty the Clown's TV show. This could be Buck's big shot at a comeback, but it's not only his career that's in need of rehabilitation."

[thecapecoddah]

This thread will be closed until the episode starts.

[phil]

No sir, I didn't like it. An episode just revolving around Bart's conflict with the dog would have been more entertaining.

I just don't like westerns or anything western/coyboy related. Except 'Unforgiven' that was good.

[Voodoo Monkey]

This could be an isolated opinion, but I thought this was a VERY good episode. It showed Bart and Grandpa great, and had a believable plot.

A+

[rossjman1]

Wors episode ever. Stupid plot and no jokes.

[BigJimW]

I thought it was pretty good. I happened to like the last 2 better, but this one is up to par with the way Season 13 is going.

Anyone notice tonights Americas Firefighter reference?

[IcE]

Ouch, that episode sucked...A few laughs, stupid, STUPID plot....I don't know what they were thinking, killer dog? Hoemr being jealous? man, one of the worst eps ever, although it did have like 4 laughs...Why can't we just have one good ep? :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Yeah, um.. this was possibly the stupidest episode ever.

First act:
Bart gets chased by a dog the whole time in Rockos Modern Life fasion. Need I say more?? That segmant was, without a doubt, the stupidest and lowest thing the Simpsons have EVER done.

The rest of the ep had a couple decent laughs (so, in conclusion, this barely constitutes as news.), but really had no point at all. All of a sudden, Bart thinks cowboys are cool, Homer is jealous for absolutely no reason... ugh.. just STUPID.

Mr. Jean isn't doing a very good job. At least most of Scully's plots weren't written like a Nickelodeon cartoon.

[or_smth]

Though I really didn't want to (because Al Jean is holy etc etc blah blah), I voted this one a F.

One of the first episodes that I really didn't find anything at all funny in. The plot looks so-so on paper, however it plays out worse than could be imagined. It started slow and went down from there. They spent the entire first act on something that could have been done in a minute, and at the end there were to many loose connections at a standstill (Springfield elementry's western obsession, the killer dog becoming killer again). I really don't want to have to endure that one again.

I hate this new humor that they try to poke fun at themselves (Homer saying he hasn't had a wacky adventure yet), they fail at the concept and for me it cheapens the whole show.

[thugie]

Loved it. :LOL:

[Splashmore]

I thought that this episode was the Worst of the Season. It had very very few jokes that were funny. The first scene was a complete waste of time. We didn't need to see Bart get chased by a dog for almost 5 minutes straight - which had zero to do with the plot. I thought that this episode would try to be a struggle to make the cowboy famous again and appear on the Krusty the Klown show. Instead, he was easily persuaded to go on the show, and was on the show for all of 30 seconds - which were not funny. There were a couple funny lines in the episode such as, Milhouse's "I'm the dominant one." And I liked it when the police officers said slink away boys, slink away. I really didn't find this episode funny.

[Simpsonian]

Solid plot, though not the funniest of episodes.

8/10

[Tomacco]

Don't expect my usual good review this week. I voted Poor. I found it contained almost every Scully era problem, and I maybe chuckled twice. The ending was terrible too, and ..ugh..i dont even wanna talk about it. My faith is fading. Al, please explain what the deal with that episode was.

[Mr. Plow]

i have mixed feelings about this episode. it wasnt good and it wasnt bad. the beginning was pointless & the plot was getting to me. not many jokes

[lisa_the_greek]

Now I know I'm weird... I didn't like last week's episode that much, but this week's was great IMO. Some awesome Homer moments, and I thought the plot was very good. The humor has... err... humorous.

"Get me Buck McCoy" "Dad, I'm on the line!"

"A dog tore my clothes" "Nice try, but we're still going to Riverdance!"

Kay, um, this stuff definitely beats last week's, which wasn't that funny and didn't have a great plot...

[:bang:]

I think that the best word to describe this episode is: meh. Nothing really bad, but not really all that funny.

[Splashmore]

Originally posted by Tomacco
Don't expect my usual good review this week. I voted Poor. I found it contained almost every Scully era problem, and I maybe chuckled twice. The ending was terrible too, and ..ugh..i dont even wanna talk about it. My faith is fading. Al, please explain what the deal with that episode was.

I voted Horrible. I would actually add that episode to the list that includes "Simpson Safari" as episodes I do not wish to see again.

[Robbie]

Personally, I thought it was a good episode with some good laughs, but once again it felt rushed, and the timing of the three acts was unbalanced. I liked the chalkboard gag (MAKING MILHOUSE CRY IS NOT A SCIENCE PROJECT :LOL: )

[Mr. Plow]

i'm gunna re-watch the episode again. my first though was 2/5 but i wanna rethink it. then i'll vote

[Kalbelgarion]

Very solid and believable plot here. Lots of great, great Cowboy/Western jokes (The trick horse shooting, his shooting hippies in the 70's, et al). At first, I thought the dog chase went on too long. But, stangely enough, the while episode seemed longer than usual.

Very good show. A 4/5;A- from me. :)

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Originally posted by or_smth
Though I really didn't want to (because Al Jean is holy etc etc blah blah), I voted this one a F.

See, this is a huge problem with most of you guys. You think Al Jean is a freakin' god when most of his episodes have been just like the Scully era episodes, and some, like tonights, 5 times worse. The only reason everyone thinks Al Jean is a God is because of all the hype that was generated for him (by you guys) back when Scully left.

[or_smth]

Originally posted by Kalbelgarion
Very solid and believable plot here. Lots of great, great Cowboy/Western jokes (The trick horse shooting, his shooting hippies in the 70's, et al). At first, I thought the dog chase went on too long. But, stangely enough, the while episode seemed longer than usual.

A few minutes wasted are worse than a few more minutes of commercials. They really had to stretch to get the time they did on that episode. It is really what is going to drag down the season.

[Cole]

That episode. . . sucked. I can't believe it but that episode was worse than "The Blunder Years" making it the Worst Episode of the Season. I laughed twice at the most. Tonight started out good with two very good King of the Hill episodes -- hate to say it but both King of the Hill kicked the Simpsons ass tonight. :( I'll have a more detailed review later. I haven't voted yet either, but if I did, right now it'd be for a D. Hopefully it will seem better upon a second viewing.

[Jake]

Yikes, was this an uneven episode. The first act was probably the worst first act in history, the second act was actually pretty good with the most laughs/plot, but the third act slid after Krusty was shot. Basically it went like this:

Act One: F-
Act Two: B+
Act Three: C

Overall grade: C+

Also, was it me, or was the commercial with Homer reaching under the bed for "little Homer" not in the actual episode?

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

BTW, King of the Hill's grades:

The Rennisance (sp) fair ep: B+. Funnier of the two, but Peggy was her usual annoying self.

The Branson ep: A-. More character driven and it featured Mike Scully's earlier efforts: Yakov Smearnov.

[or_smth]

Originally posted by InanimateCarbonRod


See, this is a huge problem with most of you guys. You think Al Jean is a freakin' god when most of his episodes have been just like the Scully era episodes, and some, like tonights, 5 times worse. The only reason everyone thinks Al Jean is a God is because of all the hype that was generated for him (by you guys) back when Scully left.

When I said Al jean is holy "blah blah blah" I was actually trying to poke fun at some people in this board. I would almost take Simpsons Safari over that one. If we tried to be as un-biased towards jean as possible, we'd probably get some nifty opinions :).

[IcE]

whoa, what's with the good/horrible reviews? no in betweeners, the ep sucked! maybe people who like westerns like the ep as for worst of the season? I say Jaws Wired Shut was worse...

[Mr. Plow]

ah this is too boring for me

2/5 for the laughs

[Robbie]

Yikes, these reviews are harsher than I would have guessed!

[Kalbelgarion]

How is this episode like a "Scully-era" episode? It didn't really contain any of the major Scully-era problems...

-Insane screaming
-Graphic scenes
-Homer-based adventure
-Shameless use of guest stars
-Wacky, non-real life problems

Nope, virtually none of that in tonights episode.

[James]

A solid A, and a bullseye hit for both the writer of this episode and Al Jean. I too hate Westerns, but this episode made fun of their absurdity near perfectly, with jokes like "We were only on for a year but made 360 episodes", "I just shot hippies", and the commercial being targeted only to children who were already heavy drinkers. It was heavily seasoned with great jokes throughout, and the writing didn't suffer from the overwriting and over-fast pacing of some newer episodes. The storyline was well-developed and the subplot of Homer wanting Bart to worship him, and not Buck McCoy was smoothly integrated. Some other great parts were: The entire scenes inside his manse, I made a biscuit for the dog", "Little Grampa Simpson", "We don't take kindly to transvestite Chimpanzees", Ralph as the "dominant one", "His little brother is really a pinecone", branded a quitter, the alcoholic painting, and the Snake bit. I love the use of minor characters like Ralph, Dr. Foster, Janey, Krusty, Mr. Teeny, Snake, Milhouse, and Kent Brockman as well. A smooth, funny, and well-written episode that's a bit like the old times.

[or_smth]

Originally posted by Joshman
ah this is too boring for me

2/5 for the laughs

Care to remind me of what laughs those were?

Seriously people, someone post the highlights of the episode, because I don't remember any.

[Mike Scully]

The worst of the DABF episodes, but not quite on my worst episode list. It felt like Pokey Mom: dragging along, plot-driven but not that interesting, nothing really offensive, nothing that made me LOL, but a lot of chuckles. An OK, amusing job at making fun of old-time westerners. Meh. Grade: C-.

[Jake]

Originally posted by or_smth


When I said Al jean is holy "blah blah blah" I was actually trying to poke fun at some people in this board. I would almost take Simpsons Safari over that one. If we tried to be as un-biased towards jean as possible, we'd probably get some nifty opinions :).

Unbiased? Hell, read my review of tonight's ep. I almost stopped recording this ep in the middle of the first act. :mad:

[Mr. Plow]

Originally posted by or_smth


Care to remind me of what laughs those were?

Seriously people, someone post the highlights of the episode, because I don't remember any.

i only though grampa was and the ralph/milhouse skit. also the the opening credits

[Robbie]

Originally posted by or_smth

Seriously people, someone post the highlights of the episode, because I don't remember any.

See FlandersEVIL's post right above yours. :D

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Originally posted by or_smth


When I said Al jean is holy "blah blah blah" I was actually trying to poke fun at some people in this board. I would almost take Simpsons Safari over that one. If we tried to be as un-biased towards jean as possible, we'd probably get some nifty opinions :).

Oh, well then I agree with you! These biased opinions towards Al Jean have to stop.

So far, the "Al Jean episodes" have been 2 hits, 2 "mehs", and 3 big misses.

[Rowdy]

Bart and Homer acted totally out of character, the ending blew, most of the plot was a television cliche. Still, there was a solid amount of good jokes and such throughout. I give it a 3/5 or C.

First Twelve S12 Episodes: 37/60
First Twelve S13 Episodes: 42/60

Lucky for Al Jean, season 12's twelfth episode was the abysmal "Tennis the Menace", which I gave a 1/5. Season 12 ended the season with a 66/105 from me. Season 13 needs a 25/45 for the next nine episodes to stop it from becoming the worst season. I have faith in you Al.

[or_smth]

I did find two things odd though.

A: We just had two Bart episodes back to back
B: In those two episodes, Bart managed to shift his entire personality. In the former, he was a teenager who really didn't care about his girl. In the latter, he's a little boy who likes to play with toy cowboys and take heroes.

[thugie]

Seriously people, someone post the highlights of the episode, because I don't remember any.

Come on, the whole Krusty show scene was priceless!!! I loved the agressive dog storyline also. None of you ever had that one dog that terrorized you when you were a kid? I identified with, and found funny Bart's panic stricken run.

[Carl=Black]

That was by far the worst episode ever. This was a monstrocity of an episode that would have never happen 2 yrs. ago. You know back even they actually tried to make it funny. This is a damn insult. I'm sorry but how could anyone think that was any good. Any score above poor is just way too high. The best episodes this season I wouldn't even given an okay score (I score comparing to other episodes) and this was far far worse. If this is as good as they can do that please cancel the show. This show deserves to "die" with some dignity. In a better world it would've ended with "Behind the Laughter" the last good episode. Whoever wrote this needs to be fired at least.

[Cole]

Originally posted by Kalbelgarion
How is this episode like a "Scully-era" episode? It didn't really contain any of the major Scully-era problems...

-Insane screaming
-Graphic scenes
-Homer-based adventure
-Shameless use of guest stars
-Wacky, non-real life problems

Nope, virtually none of that in tonights episode.

Yup there were no "wacky, non-real life problems" -- Bart is attacked by a dog, leading him to the home of an alchoholic ex-cowboy star who causes Bart to start a new cowboy trend at school and the episode ended with the cowboy lasowing guns away from criminals robbing a bank. Sounds as real as can be.

I guess I better watch the Blunder Years again (coming on next) before I officially name tonight's episode The Worst Episode of the Season .

[Kalbelgarion]

Originally posted by or_smth
In the former, he was a teenager who really didn't care about his girl. In the latter, he's a little boy who likes to play with toy cowboys and take heroes.

In the former, Bart was a regular 10 year old who hasn't "noticed" girls yet and couldn't see romance. In the latter, Bart was again a 10 year old who acts like a kid (which he is :p)

[Robbie]

Okay, I'll ask: Why did Grampa's "Junior Buckaroo" card say "Little Grampa Simpson"? We already know his first name's Abe!

[James]

The end was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek parody of how in movies, lassoes are like a nuclear bomb or something.

[Kalbelgarion]

"Bart is attacked by a dog"

Perfectly believable and reasonable.

"leading him to the home of an alchoholic ex-cowboy star"

Many stars/former stars make their homes in quiet little towns. And many people deal with alchoholism (including many stars).

"who causes Bart to start a new cowboy trend at school"

Bart is a popular kid and a trend setter. Nothing unusual here.

"and the episode ended with the cowboy lasowing guns away from criminals robbing a bank."

This is why I didn't say it was all reasonable. This is why I didn't give the episode an A+. :)

"Sounds as real as can be."

I agree wholeheartedly. ;)

[Smilin'JoeFission]

I enjoyed some of it, but it didn't stand out as a great episode. I did like the use of the schoolchildren, however. It has been awhile since we've seen that much of them in one episode.
Homer's little line about not getting any adventure was funny at first, and then they completely destroyed the effect by putting him into over half of the following scenes! Also I think it was wrong to have Krusty getting shot-I mean the way they did it; you could clearly see the bullet going into him.
Grade- C-
Anyway-here is my list of best parts:

MILHOUSE: looks like Bart's a goner. Who wants to be my new best friend?
RALPH: I will!
MILHOUSE: yes! Now I can be the dominant one!
RALPH: be quiet.
MILHOUSE: yes sir.

LOU: wow. that made us look bad.
WIGGUM: slink away, boys. Slink away.

BUCK(to Marge): Noone even told me your name.

RALPH: I'm a Gulch!

the scene where Bart tries to make western the new fad, and Martin suggests Hawaiian shirts. Then Milhouse comments on him being fat.

Sideshow Mel as the evil guy with the transvestite chimp.

[Cole]

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
The end was supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek parody of how in movies, lassoes are like a nuclear bomb or something.

I noticed that, but I didn't find it funny at all, and way too predictable. And the reason I used that in my earlier post was to point out that this episode was very unrealistic.

[Jessica Lovejoy]

This episode was pretty iffy. Nothing really happened that stood out in my mind as being particularly great or remotely funny. I didn't really like the ending either, personally I think it ruined the entire third act. "GOODBYE BART!!! DON'T EVER BOTHER ME AGAIN!!!" -- What the hell? Meh. It's an overall 2/5 or a D+ for me. I'm kinda dissapointed =(

[Mr. Plow]

as we all r

[rossjman1]

Also, was it me, or was the commercial with Homer reaching under the bed for "little Homer" not in the actual episode? no but it's on right after Manlcome. I'm watching it now.

[Robbie]

You know, it's funny...everyone seems to hate this episode, but the majority of votes so far are going to the grade A. Oh well, I still say it wasn't that bad.

[Smilin'JoeFission]

Originally posted by Robbie
Okay, I'll ask: Why did Grampa's "Junior Buckaroo" card say "Little Grampa Simpson"? We already know his first name's Abe!

The animators probably threw that in as a gag. And anyway, Grampa Simpson is probably older than Buck(76+), plus we all know Grampa's pretty insane!

And in my previous post, I forgot to mention 2 more good scenes;

the ending where Buck rides off into the sunset, only to go to his house, get the mail, take out the trash, close the blinds, peek out of the blinds, then Bart is chased by the dog again. :)

"To the laundry room!!!"

[Handsome Pete]

I gave it 3/5. Sure, it wasn't all that great, but it wasn't horrible, either. There were some good jokes, but there wasn't enough to make the episode an excellent one. There were also a few errors I noticed, but they weren't really glaring ones. Still, the guest stars aren't unnecessary apperances, like, "Oh hi, I'm just here for no reason, and I gotta go".

[Cole]

Kalbelgarion, I really don't see how you can call this a believable episode. First of all. . . oh nevermind, you'll just try to take it apart piece by piece and try to make me look like a jackass. I will just state that I live in a small town and I have never accidently wound up in the home of a celebrity who saves banks with lassows (sp?).

Anyways, I'm watching "The Blunder Years" right now and it is much better. It's offical (to me) "The Latest Gun in the West" was the Worst Episode of the Season so far.

[thugie]

Quote:

Care to remind me of what laughs those were?
Seriously people, someone post the highlights of the episode, because I don't remember any.





Another scene that comes to mind is when Bart enters Bucks house and comments on it looking like a steakhouse. Buck says thank you, most people just mutter that under their breath.

[Robbie]

Originally posted by Smilin'JoeFission

The animators probably threw that in as a gag. And anyway, Grampa Simpson is probably older than Buck(76+), plus we all know Grampa's pretty insane!


I guess I never thought of that. Heh, he probably just made that card as an adult. :LOL:

[Robbie]

Originally posted by Cloud_Cole
I will just state that I live in a small town and I have never accidently wound up in the home of a celebrity who saves banks with lassows (sp?).


It's an established fact that a lot of celebrities inexplicably live in Springfield.

[Kalbelgarion]

Originally posted by Cloud_Cole
Kalbelgarion, I really don't see how you can call this a believable episode. First of all. . . oh nevermind, you'll just try to take it apart piece by piece and try to make me look like a jackass.

M'eh, it's your opinion. It can't be wrong. I just can't see how you can call this an unbelievable episode.

I will just state that I live in a small town and I have never accidently wound up in the home of a celebrity who saves banks with lassows (sp?).

Yeah, and I've never accidently said "I didn't do it" on live TV and become a star, either. This is more believable than many other things that have happened in Springfield.

[Buesefus]

Horrible episode, but I laughed more in this one than "The Bart Wants What It Wants." Al Jean raised the bar way too high with "Half-Decent Proposal" and now everything since sucks.

FIRST ACT
The dog thing was funny for a minute, but had the same problem that was in last weeks ep: it had nothing to do with the plot and went on far too long. Had a couple of good jokes, but nothing too great.

SECOND ACT
Way too rushed. The cowboy outfits made no sense, they would have gotten Bart beaten up by Nelson and the other bullies, if the writers paid attention to past episodes (since they usually object to things Bart does). That plot point also went nowhere. The only saving grace was the Milhouse/Ralph bit.

THIRD ACT
Krusty is suddenly healed from his gunshot would, which made no sense. The ending was rushed, and wasn't too great. No really good jokes in this act.

In all I'd give it a C-/D.

[Cole]

Originally posted by Robbie


It's an established fact that a lot of celebrities inexplicably live in Springfield.

True, I feel they've overdone it a tad bit. Well, no one seems to agree with me here, so I'm gonna go watch the rest of "The Blunder Years."

[Tyking]

Two words: Not bad!
Dennis Weaver did a great job. Many jokes were excellently placed, such as the "Millions of fans" joke. However, there were some bad spots. Did anyone else notice the horrible lip sync? Rarely was the characters' mouth moving to the words they were saying!(Example: When Krusty says something to the extent of "I won't be doing a monologue because my feet hurt") In addition, the animation for the "Krusty getting shot" part wasn't very good. When a bullet hits you, it doesn't pull your shirt in, it goes through your shirt and causes a lot of blood to come out. It was entirely possible that Krusty should have DIED from a gunwound like that. Still, I guess that would draw a "It's just a cartoon" argument. Nelson's Kevin Costner joke was funny, as was most of the other parts of the newscast. However, Bart has a horrible western accent, there were drugs involved in the episode(continuing to make the series unsuitable for children), Snake's reappearance, which looked exciting at first, ending up looking stupid and slapstick, and the scene with Buck using his feet to shoot a sculpture just looked rather stupid. The scene before that, however, when Buck was shooting using his hands, looked realistic and cool. The "transvestite monkey" line didn't make much sense, but gave me a cheap laugh.
In conclusion, this didn't have as many bad points as last week's episode, but unfortunately it didn't deliver the wall-to-wall laughs of Season 6 episodes. Given that I would only give A grades to episodes of S6 caliber, I'm giving this episode a so-so rating. Good job, writers, it's looking better, but still not back up to what it used to be.

[Tirefire]

I hate to do it, but this episode reeked. The best 2 lines in the episode were from Ralph, out of nowhere. That was soooooo funny when he told Milhouse to shut up, but there was so little outside of that. It seemed like the episode was made to fill up a slot in the season, but was made as nothing more than a filler. It is my worst of the season as of right now, followed by Homer the Moe. I think starting with Sweets and Sour the season jumped incredibly in good quality episodes. Jaws Wired Shut and Half-Decent were awesome episodes to follow up, then The Bart Wants was just a little worse, but this episode was a huge let down for me. I thought it could be good, but wasn't. Ugh. D- I really have to hope they can go a complete turn around with the next or at leats within the next 2.

[Mr. Rogers]

Its A beatiful day to kick AL Jeans Ass. horrible episode 1/5

Ps Who wrote this episode because i missed it

[Tomacco]

Full review as usual here:
www.thespringfieldshopper.com/reviewdabf07.htm

I think King of the Hill is gradually replacing Simpsons as my fave show. That show is always true to itself, and doesn mock itself. It's very distinct and clever. Better than tonight's Simpsons travesty.

[Mr. Plow]

say it aint so tomacco, so it aint so

[Cole]

Originally posted by Tomacco
I think King of the Hill is gradually replacing Simpsons as my fave show. That show is always true to itself, and doesn mock itself. It's very distinct and clever. Better than tonight's Simpsons travesty.

Same here. I don't see why so many people seem to dislike King of the Hill, tonight's episodes were MUCH better than the Simpsons. Still, I wish Futurama would have come on tonight. :(

[Bart Skateboarder]

I liked it. 4/5. I thought it was funny at the beginning of the episode when Bart says D'oh! The dog was just plain annoying and really had nothing to do with the episode. I thought the episode was good, but not that good. That is what I expected.

[Mike Scully]

So I guess none of you are watching Blunder Years right now?

[Robbie]

Originally posted by Mr. Rogers

Ps Who wrote this episode because i missed it

John Swartzwelder.

[Handsome Pete]

Originally posted by The Jolly Bengali
So I guess none of you are watching Blunder Years right now?

Nope. If I want to see it again, I'll see it in syndication.

And in response to Tomacco, just remember the glory days of the show. It'll ease the pain a little.

[thecapecoddah]

I'm watching the Blunder Years. That episode was better than tonight's new one.

Nothing horrible, but nothing fantastic either. The second act was pretty good, but the first one was awful IMO. Weaver as Buck McCoy provided the most chuckles tonight, but there weren't many period for me. C/C-

But yeah, there are many episodes worse than this one.

[Mr. Plow]

Originally posted by Tomacco
Full review as usual here:
www.thespringfieldshopper.com/reviewdabf07.htm

I think King of the Hill is gradually replacing Simpsons as my fave show. That show is always true to itself, and doesn mock itself. It's very distinct and clever. Better than tonight's Simpsons travesty.

very true but i dont think koth isnt that funny. i missed it tonight though. the last one i saw was the one were bobby kept kicking people in the nuts :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:

[Kalbelgarion]

Originally posted by Tomacco
I think King of the Hill is gradually replacing Simpsons as my fave show. That show is always true to itself, and doesn mock itself. It's very distinct and clever. Better than tonight's Simpsons travesty.

Remember, KotH is still in its early seasons. Now, if you say that show's better than the matching Simpsons season, then I'll worry. :p

[Tomacco]

Cloud_Cole, I think King of the Hill doesn't have many huge fans is because it's probably the smartest show on television, seriously. That doesn't mean everyone's stupid, but most people tend to enjoy a show with a mix of stupid and clever jokes. The whole style of King of the Hill is totally different from every other TV show. Basically, I think it's the only show on TV that doesn't have moments where it loses its dignity and pride in any way. It's always there, doing it's thing, and making its episodes to please its true fans, and never takes on any clichés or lowers itslef to anything that it's not. I guess you can say it's sort of "above" TV general.

...I get the feeling NOBODY understood a word of what I just said. :LOL:

Anyways, that's going off-topic..

And no, I don't think it's better than its matching seasons of Simpsons, but it's the best thing on TV right now. And keep in mind, 6th season isn't really "early". Shows are damn lucky to make it that far.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Tomacco
I think King of the Hill is gradually replacing Simpsons as my fave show. That show is always true to itself, and doesn mock itself.

Yeah, it's like sometimes I want to yell at The Simpsons: "Enough with the self-mocking jokes. We know you're not real!"

[Mr. Plow]

this should be a topic in the media discussion because your opinions are very true

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Well, after watching "The Blunder Years" again, I think that it was much better than we all once thought. It was a "meh" episode at best, but I'd watch Blunder Years over tonights episode any day.

[Kalbelgarion]

Actually, I disagree about KotH. I've watches perhaps 60% of the episodes, and there is much low-brow humor (Jokes about sex, sex organs, affairs [with no witty twist], puberty, et al). I always see it as a show that makes fun of Texans/Southerners. Hence, it's not that great, IMHO. :(

[Jake]

Originally posted by Tomacco
Basically, I think it's the only show on TV that doesn't have moments where it loses its dignity and pride in any way. It's always there, doing it's thing, and making its episodes to please its true fans, and never takes on any clichés or lowers itslef to anything that it's not. I guess you can say it's sort of "above" TV general.

...I get the feeling NOBODY understood a word of what I just said. :LOL:



You just described how I feel about the first seven seasons of the Simpsons. Thanks for opening up old wounds, man. :(

[The Sweetling]

Seriously, this was not entertaining or funny. Only read on if you want to read another harsh opinion of this show.

Now, I'm not one of the people who keeps track of who wrote the show, who produced, etc. I just sit down and watch it. But, as somebody said before, all of this referential humor is just played out and not funny. "It looks like you won't have a wacky adventure this week, Homer". I mean, what the hell? And didn't they have an episode where Homer gets jealous? And wasn't that one funny? I don't know who's responsible for such drivel, but they should go. Get some new blood in there or something. Maybe some of the ones that you guys write. Get an agent and get them in. They could not possibly be worse than this recycled hash.

And any good idea they did have, they went nowhere with. Okay, so every kid at school is into cowboys. There's gotta be something funny you can do with that. Something with Skinner or Crabapple or Count Fudgeula or somebody for crying out loud. And the cowboy is a drunk? That's not funny. And if they wanted to do something funny with it, it's possible. But they didn't.

I'm thinking that all of you who wanted the Simpsons to tone down Homer and get back down to the "moral" messages of the first few seasons and less crazy plots may have gotten your wish. And this is what we have: flat uninspired writing. If this is the new face of the show, I am not impressed. It's like they don't even care and are just throwing together whatever crap comes across their mind.

Get some new writers, stop making references to itself, or just stop. I don't want to get sick of this show, but this is not that good. And maybe we're thinking that other episodes this season were good because we've got garbage like this to compare it to. I rewatch every episode a lot, but some other ones this season (Jaws Wired Shut) really suck.

Maybe it'll be lucky 13 for this show.

[Mr. Plow]

koth wont be that good of a show forever. just wait till it's 10-13 season. i thought the simpsons would be the best show ever on every sunday. it still is imo but its goin down hill though

[Resistance]

This episode just felt awkward to me. I can't say I actually laughed once. Chuckled, at most, a couple of times. Poor.

[Jake]

Originally posted by The Jolly Bengali
So I guess none of you are watching Blunder Years right now?

I've watched it twice since it aired and it made my very select list of episodes to never watch again.

[Kalbelgarion]

*blinks*
*blinks again*

Wow! Some people...they see one bad episode, and start spouting how the show has to end, or should have ended years ago, or the Simpsons needs to hire a whole new writing staff, etc, etc. And just a few weeks ago, some were praising the return of the Simpsons of old...

If you see a bad episode, just make it clear *why* you disliked it, and shrug and say, "Well, maybe next week's episode will be better."

Of course, many of you did the latter. :)

[Mr. Plow]

for me its all singing all dancing. this one too

[skittlebrau]

This episode just didn't do it for me. I possibly laughed twice at the Milhouse and Ralph scene, and the hippie shooting scene. I could write a long, thought out essay, but prefer to leave it up to the rest of the people. I give it a 2/5. The worst of the season in my opinion. It looks like after "Half Decent Proposal", the show is going downhill fast. I could be wrong though. There will always be hits or misses, and this was definitely a miss. :(

[The Sweetling]

Ummmm, excuse me Santos, but fyi this is not the first bad episode I've seen in a while. There've been plenty. And the thing is I wouldn't care if it was another show. But this is the Simpsons, man! The show and I both deserve better.

So, i stick by my guns. They should get some new writers. Is that really so crazy? The ones there now simply aren't inspired anymore.

[Tomacco]

I'm on board with replacing the writers. I'm extremely on board with that. Here are the writers I want to go:

- John Swartzwelder (wrote "Simpson Safari", tonight's ep, and all of the wacky Homer craziness crap of the last 3 years)
- Dana Gould (wrote "Homer the Moe")
- Julie Thacker (writes a horrible Homer, and makes everyone stupid)
- Tom Martin (wrote "Pokey Mom" and "New Kids on teh Blecch")
- Joel H. Cohen (new, and not much good)
- Ian-Maxtone Graham (he's totally lost his passion, trust me)

Here's who should stay:
- John Frink and Don Payne
- Tim Long
- Larry Doyle (I wanna see more of his stuff)
- Al Jean (is he still WRITING eps? cuz i like his stuff)

I'm not too sure about Matt Selman and Carolyn Omine. Their styles are more cartoony.

Writers I want back:
- Conan O'Brien
- Jon Vitti (he IS coming back, lets see what he can do!)
- Matt Groening

Yknow, I think the overall attitude that the creators have towards the show has just changed. They sit together in that writers room reading a new script, and try to make themselves laugh too much, and forget the heart.

[InanimateCarbonRod]

The only one that I really think needs to go is John Swartzelder. Everything he has written in the past 3 seasons has been crap. Hes been there since the first season, and he has written some classics, but he just plain sucks now, or is high when he writes. He needs to go, and fast.

[skittlebrau]

Did anyone notice the montage of past clips from "The Krusty the Klown Show" during the intro? Boy those brought back great memories, especially the one of Krusty singing "Break On Through (To The Other Side)". :LOL: Why didn't they include the clip of the Little Homey sequence from the commercial? That was funnier than the whole episode.

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Originally posted by Tomacco
Yknow, I think the overall attitude that the creators have towards the show has just changed. They sit together in that writers room reading a new script, and try to make themselves laugh too much, and forget the heart.

You are so right. They've even said that their new approach is that any line or scene without a gag is considered to be "not working." Thats probably the reason so many of the jokes fall flat today. I also thing that their whole writing approach has changed. I swear, they no longer plan out a working, flowing plot and theme. Instead, they start at the beginning with no ideas of where it will take them, and insert the first idea they think sounds funny.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Tomacco


Writers I want back:
- Conan O'Brien
- Jon Vitti (he IS coming back, lets see what he can do!)
- Matt Groening

Yknow, I think the overall attitude that the creators have towards the show has just changed. They sit together in that writers room reading a new script, and try to make themselves laugh too much, and forget the heart.

I didn't think that Matt G. and James Brooks had anything to do with the show in any form whatsoever for the last five years. Also, you should add Wallace and Wordanski (sp) to that "return" list.

[Jake]

Originally posted by InanimateCarbonRod
The only one that I really think needs to go is John Swartzelder. Everything he has written in the past 3 seasons has been crap. Hes been there since the first season, and he has written some classics, but he just plain sucks now, or is high when he writes. He needs to go, and fast.

Hungry, Hungry Homer was cool...

[Datoupee]

Every Sunday night after the show I come here and see how much all of you did not like the show. And like always....I LOVED THIS EPISODE !!!!!! IT WAS GREAT !!! How can you not laugh at the jokes ? I judge by is it better than other stuff on tv. And this answer is YES YES YES !!! Al Jean has done a great job this season. Every episode is great.

Why does everyone look at every detail in the show ? Just watch it an enjoy yourselves. DO NOT JUDGE IT ON A SCALE from past episodes. You are taking the fun out of watching the show.

Tonights ep.....A+
This Season.....A+++++

[Tomacco]

Tino, I think it's kind of abnormal to like every episode. It seriously is, these days at least.

Here are Swartzwelder's best eps since Season 10:
- Maximum Homerdrive
- A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love
- A Tale of Two Springfields
- Monty Can't Buy Me Love

Here's his DECENT stuff:
- Hungry Hungry Homer
- Take My Wife, Sleaze
- The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace

And here's his CRAP:
- Homer to the Max
- Simpson Safari
- The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
- Homer Simpson in : Kidney Trouble
- The Mansion Family
- Kill the Alligator and Run
- The Latest Gun in the West

Now, keep in mind that most of the stuff in the "crap" section is REALLY CRAPPY! Four of them can be seen on my Worst Ever list even!
And none of his best work ranks above a 4/5.
The problem with his stuff might be that he writes too many damn scripts each year.

[Splashmore]

Tomacco, I was reading your review and generally believed in most of the stuff you wrote.

-- "All in all, this episode just was not ABOUT anything, and was full of lame, lame, stupid stuff."
-- "Next, Buck McCoy was as forgettable of a character as Jack Crowly ("Pokey Mom" - terrible episode), and I thought it was really cheesy how all of a sudden he was revealed to be an alcoholic."

I couldn't agree more. I don't know why this episode didn't deserve a "1" from you.

The only 2 or 3 jokes that were even remotely funny had nothing to do with the plot. The plot had to honestly be one of the most boring plots I had ever seen.

Although Simpsons Safari and Pokey Mom sucked, I do think that their plots were at least more exciting that tonight's episode.

By the way, Larry Doyle went to my former High School.

[Cole]

Originally posted by Tomacco
Cloud_Cole, I think King of the Hill doesn't have many huge fans is because it's probably the smartest show on television, seriously. That doesn't mean everyone's stupid, but most people tend to enjoy a show with a mix of stupid and clever jokes. The whole style of King of the Hill is totally different from every other TV show. Basically, I think it's the only show on TV that doesn't have moments where it loses its dignity and pride in any way. It's always there, doing it's thing, and making its episodes to please its true fans, and never takes on any clichés or lowers itslef to anything that it's not. I guess you can say it's sort of "above" TV general.

...I get the feeling NOBODY understood a word of what I just said. :LOL:


I understand completely. What I love about KotH is that it deals with more normal day occurences and struggles within families, something that The Simpsons use to touch on in earlier days. I agree that King of the Hill never tries to change to gain new fans (which is the reason it rarely turns off old ones). It's there, like it or not, take it or leave it and this has been its best season to date. Last weeks episode about the Olympic torch gets an A+ in my book. The two new episodes tonight both scored in the A/A- range with me. KotH is definately one of the most intelligent shows on television, it never relies on the fact that it is a cartoon, to come up with cray, unbelievable plot lines and for that, it gains my utmost respect.

Sorry, if that was a little off-topic. Back to the Simpsons, my final score for tonight is a 1/5 (F). The worst episode this season, in my opinion. Let's hope that Al Jean and boys can scramble together and put out some more episodes of "Half-Decent Proposal" quality in the coming weeks.

[blockyourfather]

Originally posted by InanimateCarbonRod
The only one that I really think needs to go is John Swartzelder. Everything he has written in the past 3 seasons has been crap. Hes been there since the first season, and he has written some classics, but he just plain sucks now, or is high when he writes. He needs to go, and fast. So true. I think I speak for everyone on this board when I say I want to see episodes like Bart the General and Life on the Fast Lane again.

I did not like The Latest Gun in the West. No laughs whatsoever.

[Splashmore]

Originally posted by Jake


Yeah, it's like sometimes I want to yell at The Simpsons: "Enough with the self-mocking jokes. We know you're not real!"

I actually did yell that out. They have went overboard with poking fun at themselves. Enough already!

[Mike Scully]

Originally posted by Kalbelgarion
*blinks*
*blinks again*

Wow! Some people...they see one bad episode, and start spouting how the show has to end, or should have ended years ago, or the Simpsons needs to hire a whole new writing staff, etc, etc. And just a few weeks ago, some were praising the return of the Simpsons of old...

If you see a bad episode, just make it clear *why* you disliked it, and shrug and say, "Well, maybe next week's episode will be better."

Of course, many of you did the latter. :)

I completely agree with you. It's like every single negative review on this board about one episode has to have some obligatory comment about how the show is going downhill and should be cancelled. We get the picture! We know the show's not as good as the classic seasons. Just review the damn episode!

Tonight's episode may not have been very funny, but it wasn't necessarily dumb or poorly written, nothing to make me lash out at the writers. Simply, the episode was a matter of taste; you either found it hysterical and brilliant or you were left cold.

[Tomacco]

I was contemplating giving it a One, AnswerMan, but somehow I found it more entertaining than "Blunder Years", which I gave a 2, and I can't rank it lower than 2 if I thought it was slightly better. Anyways, I think to give an episode a 1, it has to be "Kill the Alligator and Run" or "Simpson Safari" bad.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Datoupee
Every Sunday night after the show I come here and see how much all of you did not like the show. And like always....I LOVED THIS EPISODE !!!!!! IT WAS GREAT !!! How can you not laugh at the jokes ? I judge by is it better than other stuff on tv. And this answer is YES YES YES !!! Al Jean has done a great job this season. Every episode is great.

I'm sorry, but I can't help being human. Face it, anyone who's been around in the Simpsons community WILL have presuppositions on how to rate the show. Even you. Unless you've never seen the show before, you're not free of predjudices (and even the people who've never seen an ep has probably heard someone commnent on it, so they're going in somewhat biased in their opinions, too).

Why does everyone look at every detail in the show ? Just watch it an enjoy yourselves. DO NOT JUDGE IT ON A SCALE from past episodes. You are taking the fun out of watching the show.


Why is being "honest" consistful of ignoring the past? Aren't you forgetting that you're watching the show now because of HOW GOOD IT WAS IN THE PAST?

[Splashmore]

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
A solid A, and a bullseye hit for both the writer of this episode and Al Jean. I too hate Westerns, but this episode made fun of their absurdity near perfectly, with jokes like "We were only on for a year but made 360 episodes", "I just shot hippies", and the commercial being targeted only to children who were already heavy drinkers. It was heavily seasoned with great jokes throughout, and the writing didn't suffer from the overwriting and over-fast pacing of some newer episodes. The storyline was well-developed and the subplot of Homer wanting Bart to worship him, and not Buck McCoy was smoothly integrated. Some other great parts were: The entire scenes inside his manse, I made a biscuit for the dog", "Little Grampa Simpson", "We don't take kindly to transvestite Chimpanzees", Ralph as the "dominant one", "His little brother is really a pinecone", branded a quitter, the alcoholic painting, and the Snake bit. I love the use of minor characters like Ralph, Dr. Foster, Janey, Krusty, Mr. Teeny, Snake, Milhouse, and Kent Brockman as well. A smooth, funny, and well-written episode that's a bit like the old times.

FlandersEVIL, I usually agree with you on most of your opinions, but if I were bribed a large sum of money by Fox, I still could not give this episode anywhere close to an "A."

[Evan Conover]

What the hell happened here? 2 weeks in a row with mediocre, stupid episodes! I almost feel like Mike Scully got rehired somehow! (Hopefully THAT will never happen!)

[James]

I can see why people don't like this episode, even though I do. You really have to favor a certain type of very tongue-in-cheek and knowingly silly type of comedy to like this, and know the unrealism is mostly satire. As JollyBengali has said in other posts, it's percieving an episode with knowingly idiotic and tongue-in-cheek parodic silliness as either nonsense or parodic fun. It's all in perception for episodes like this or "The Blunder Years", and the interpretation of their silliness.

[DotheBartman]

This is a strange one. Not really very good, yet not really that bad either. The thing with the dog went on WAY too long, but it had its moments ("Eat my short stories!"). But overall, the first act left me thinking "what the hell". Someone compared the sequence to Rocko's Modern Life. The difference was that Rocko was generally consistantly funny from what I remember. The Ralph/Milhouse scene was also pretty funny.

The second act picked up a bit. Dennis Weaver provided a good voice for his character, even if the character himself wasn't terribly interesting. His horse wanting more credit for his movie roles made me chuckle, but it made no sense that Bart is supposed to be at school, yet a minute later its 5:00 and he should be at dinner. It was nice to see that they tried to integrate a real plot with Homer into this one, but it just didn't work. Krusty's show provided a few chuckles, but him getting shot? Not funny, even if it didn't make me want to throw the tv.

The third act wasn't too great either. Probably the best joke was the end when the heroic music is playing and Dennis Weaver's character is putting out the trash, pulling the blinds, etc, since it obviously was going on too long to be funny. I can think of several Family Guy jokes that were purposely drawn out, so much so that it made it funny, and the same thing applied to that joke. Other then that, Wiggum provided a few chuckles, but the lassoing scene was rather dumb, and as soon as the report on the tv came about the robbery, you knew what was going to happen.

Overall, this episode was way too uneven. Mainly though, it just didn't have the best jokes, though there were at least enough jokes to save it. The episode wasn't too good, but no too bad either, just right in the middle.

Grade: C

This season's grades:
THOH XII: B
The Parent Rap: B
Homer the Moe: D-
Hunka Hunka Burns in Love: B+
Blunder Years: B
She of Little Faith: A
Brawl in the Family: B+
Sweets and Sour Marge: B+
Jaws Wired Shut: B-
Half Decent Proposal: A
The Bart Wants What it Wants: B+
Latest Gun in the West: C

So far not too bad a score card, and the only truly abymsmal episode is a Scully holdover. I'm not biased towards Jean, but I really think the show is getting better under his reign. Latest Gun in the West wasn't great, but no one said the improvements would happen that quickly. Personally, I'm surprised how much the show has improved this season, since while I hoped Jean's influence would help, I simply didn't expect certain improvements to happen so fast.

[Rich]

Meh. A solid C.

Me--->Seemingly the only one that liked "Kill the Aligator and Run"

[Ignignot]

If you want the brunt of it read my haiku:

my eyes were bleeding
i hung my head in remorse
i had to watch that

or you can read my ramblings:

Just think about it anything could of been better than Bart wasting his...corretion my five minutes on him being chased by a dog. Bart could of fell out of the sky for an opening. Bart could of been shot out of a catapult for no appearent reason and it would of been better. The main reason why this was bad is because it used recycled jokes. The only two lines i found funny were as followed.
1. i shoot the lasso but the bullets just go threw it.
2. how the hell do i do that?(lasso a bananna)

[Jake]

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
As JollyBengali has said in other posts, it's percieving an episode with knowingly idiotic and tongue-in-cheek parodic silliness as either nonsense or parodic fun. It's all in perception for episodes like this or "The Blunder Years", and the interpretation of their silliness.

To be satirical a form of wit has to be involved. Irony makes me smirk, bitter sarcasm makes me think, wit makes me laugh out loud. The Simpsons have de-evolved into show and tell. The writers present you with cliches mixed with tired formulas in an attempt to find something "ironic" and tell you "this is what's funny, laugh".

Being silly--nay DISJOINTED--is the biggest cop out the writers could ever take (and were taking during Seasons 10 and 11). I could criticize grammar and never use punctuation, would that make my sentences fun to read? Maybe at first but not if you must read an entire term paper like that. I want to say to the Simpson's writers, "I get it! Move on!". Week after week during Seasons 10 and 11 these half assed, "disjointed" episodes thinking the writers have just given up. Why are you rehashing the same absurdity? It was hardly funny the first time, what makes you think I'll love it five more times?

[Splashmore]

Here are some framegrabs: :)

http://slatetoad.hypermart.net/f1.jpg

http://slatetoad.hypermart.net/f2.jpg

http://slatetoad.hypermart.net/f3.jpg

http://slatetoad.hypermart.net/f4.jpg

http://slatetoad.hypermart.net/f5.jpg

[Nugan]

I wasn't too fond of this episode. I would go into futher detail, but others have already summed up what I didn't like (most notabley the sudden alcholism and dog chase) and what I did like (the Milhouse and Ralph friendship springs to mind). One other major problem that many of you have neglected to mention is the Homer is acting very "Scully-era" in this episode. Utilmately this is the second or third worst Al Jean episode (The other two being "The Bart Wants What it Wants" and "Jaws Wired Shut").

There seems to be a disturbing trend here. The three worst that I named all have consecutive production numbers. Perhaps Al Jean isn't going to help the show as much as episodes like "She of Little Faith" and "Half-Decent Proposal" make us want to believe...

[Tomacco]

Thanks for the grabs! ;)

[The Sweetling]

Look, I know I'm not going to change anybody's mind, but this episode sucked. You can't think it's funny, becuase you're wrong...WRONG. Okay, sorry. I know it's your opinion. But your opinion is wrong...WRONG.

Even the stuff that people said was funny, wasn't that funny. Ralph and Milhouse was not that funny. A line or two here and there does not make an episode. I think you may be groping for jokes that are comparitively funny. It ain't right.

For the third time tonight, this episode sucked, Jaws Wired Shut sucked, Homer the Moe sucked (better than this one though), your mom...okay, I'll let that go.

And this is nothing against anybody, but the show just ain't what it used to be. Perhaps the writers are taking it too seriously and/or they're trying to please too many people. But, it both sucks and blows. When me and my friends talk of Simpsons, we don't talk of any episodes of the past 3 seasons. There are no classic sayings/email subject headlines like:

"Bart...this is your FATHER! Do you know where the remote control is? I've looked everywhere."

[sWeEtMiNtJeNnY]

I dunno if anyone caught this or not, but at the very beginning when Bart runs into the living room and Homer and Marge are watching TV, Homer says something like: "I don't like this Tarzan movie"

I just thought it was ironic because at least here in Chicago, ABC was playing Disney's Tarzan at the same time.

[Helper Monkey]

I'm on board with FlandersEVIL this week. The episode was really funny, and tied together very well. Everyone is howling about the first act, but if any part was weak, it was the abrupt third act that hurt it. Even despite that, I gave this one a 5. I am completely SHOCKED that so many people rated this lower than Homer the Moe. I was copying it to another tape, so I watched it about an hour before the new one came on. I can only say that the direct comparison may have been what pushed my grade from 4 to 5 this week. Homer the Moe was an awful episode, with a horrible guest star appearance, and sickening, disheartening jokes (Homer's callousness to that half-robot child, and the jukebox bit, ugh!).

Back to this week: the dog was funny. We don't know why it hated Bart, but I knew a dog just like that as a kid, and I was terrified of it. If you didn't, consider yourself lucky. As for making animals act like people-- let's not kid ourselves. It has happened dozens of times already with SLH (anytime he "hears" what they say and reacts), and with Snowball II for that matter. Krusty's monkey WRITES JOKES FOR HIM! Homer had a helper monkey that was a little too smart for realism, and even beloved Stampy was a bit too clever, especially at the end (why would an elephant dig into tar to save a person?).

For anyone who wanted lead-up to the alcoholism-- how about when Marge listed the menu (Rattlesnake meat, Varmint kabobs, and refried whisky). Buck said: "Mmmm... that last one sounds real good!" Then, during his screening, he advertised Happy Cowboy Whiskey (he was the happy cowboy, get it?). Then, when Krusty was putting all the pressure on him, he started to hit the bottle (you may have thought this was your first hint). THEN, when he showed up drunk, he admitted to being an alcoholic (GASP! We didn't even have any warning of this! We should have been given clues specially designed for us brilliant fans, that 10-yr-old Bart would have overlooked! Fie, writers! You should be fired!).

All the trick shooting and roping was hilarious. Some was even too tricky for real life, but it was still funny. He could shoot out sculpture with his feet? I'm sure that was just too predictable for all you brilliant watchers of the show. No one else thought Bart roping Martin's shirt off was funny? Clever twist on the lasso-a-person trick.

Tomacco, the Poochie bit wasn't in there just to refer back. Bart really didn't like the character, but he still came in above Homer in his "hero list". Still not funny?

Eh, if you didn't like this one-- too bad. This is the first one that has really cracked me up this year, even though I generally enjoy the show. And don't come at me with ridiculous KOTH comparisons. Ooh, the cartoon that ages it's characters. Jake, how can you like it when they're doing all your work for you? Finally, I discount any reviews that start with "I hate westerns and all things cowboy, and SURPRISE, I hated this, too." Hmm. Sounds like you really gave this episode a chance. I guess the Simpsons should just scratch "cowboy" off their list of options, because some people just can't like western humor in any form. And I just pray that none of you who hate western humor are the same ones who are claiming to be huge fans of KOTH.

Uck. My frustration is boiling over. I try so hard to never let this happen with this board.

HM

[The Sweetling]

What is KOTH?

[DotheBartman]

Originally posted by The Sweetling
What is KOTH?

It stands for King of the Hill.

[Zjraus]

Damn, I missed it. Dinner with my family last night. How long until re-runs?

[James]

Yes, it's the How and not the Why in art, but the how of both this and "The Blunder Years" were excellent, even if not to the same level of pre-8 episodes. And the silliness of this had a background and was so tongue-in-cheek I almost found it enjoyable, and about the writers giving us a "show-and-tell".....isn't that their job?

[Citizen Kang]

This episode was alright. A few good jokes but it wasn't anything special. And no Futurama?!?! Oh well...

[Jake]

Originally posted by Helper Monkey
And don't come at me with ridiculous KOTH comparisons. Ooh, the cartoon that ages it's characters. Jake, how can you like it when they're doing all your work for you?

Huh? Did King of the Hill suddenly come out with an all new series?

Finally, I discount any reviews that start with "I hate westerns and all things cowboy, and SURPRISE, I hated this, too." Hmm. Sounds like you really gave this episode a chance. I guess the Simpsons should just scratch "cowboy" off their list of options, because some people just can't like western humor in any form. And I just pray that none of you who hate western humor are the same ones who are claiming to be huge fans of KOTH.
HM

That's funny. Col. Homer was much funnier than tonight's episode and it had more in the empathy department. Now with Family Guy gone, I sure as hell don't hope the powers that be WILL NOT make the Simpsons more Family Guyish in an attempt to "bring in" lost FG fans. Hopefully the writers got all their kicks already and we wont be witnessing anymore atrocities committed in the name of cookyness.

[Wavy Gravy]

This was a mediocre episode. The dog thing dragged on far too long, and what's weirder, Homer treated the dog as if it were his own! (Also note that SLH didn't appear in this ep.) Dennis Weaver was a good choice as guest voice, but he didn't add much. McCoy's voice was so typical, it could've been provided by Shearer or Azaria. I thought the different "cowboy tricks" McCoy pulled off were too weird at some points (i.e., lassoing food out of the kitchen, shooting a block of clay into a statue using his feet, and so forth) and the sudden Western turn the school kids took was a bit odd (even though it provided some good lines, especially Kent Brockman's "this barely qualifies as news" bit). The animators need to get on the ball, because the lip sync in this one SUCKED! It's almost as if they rewrote the whole thing shortly before it was recorded.

Of course, I must draw my review from memory, because my family was still obsessed with the Olympics and I couldn't tape the episode. Damn this national unity. :D

Overall, it coulda been better, but it coulda been a lot worse. 3/5.

[tim_duncan2000]

I agree with the people that did not like the dog chasing Bart. It did go on too long and was not especially funny to me. Other than that, I enjoyed the episode and it had some funny scenes and lines. The end was really funny and I liked how they made it look like he was riding off into the sunset but went home, got the mail, took out the trash and went inside. This part was nearly ruined by that damn dog again. If it was not for the dog dominating half the show, I would have liked it a whole lot better. 4/5

[thecapecoddah]

I'm sure it was mentioned before in this thread, but did many of you feel that you weren't really watching The Simpsons during the 1st act? It was weird, like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon show or FOX Kids/Nick (without the wackiness but containing a bland, silly sequence of events that a 3 year old could understand). Fortunately, the 2nd act was much better.

And, like I said before, great performance by Dennis Weaver as Buck McCoy IMO... but normally I don't like these cowboy characters in animated shows/comedies... the memories of "Cactus Jake" in "Garfield & Friends" keeps coming back to me. :D

[Greg Durand]

My review: This episode had the average stupid jokes and I didn't like it too much otherwise.
My rating: 6/10, C+.

[elbarto36]

The first act was stupid. The rest of the episode was decent although it wasn't that funny. I later watched the Blunder Years and thought it was a lot better than the first time I watched it. The first time I watched it I didn't notice the quote "I just logged onto my internet." I thought that was hilarious. And the rest of the episode seemed a lot funnier. As for the new episode, It was ehh... 2/5 Hopefully next week is better.

[Zjraus]

I just saw the pictures and Ralph was in it apparently, I can't believe I missed a Ralph episode. What funny stuff did he do/say?

--commits suicide--

[Robbie]

Originally posted by Zjraus
I just saw the pictures and Ralph was in it apparently, I can't believe I missed a Ralph episode. What funny stuff did he do/say?

--commits suicide--

Ralph was Milhouse's best friend for a few seconds, and Milhouse said "Finally, I'll be the dominant one!", and Ralph said "shut up" and Milhouse said "yes, sir." Later, Ralph lies on the ground saying "I'm a gulch!" Also in the episode, Lisa told Janey that Ralph's new "baby brother" was actually a pinecone.

[bartimus prime]

Well, this episode was very bad, I don't think I laughed once. Maybe I chuckled a little bit, I can't really recall right now.

First act was terrible, didn't saw the point to it, other than running into Buck's house. Second act was pretty good, but still.
Third act, the whole episode went downhill.

My vote for it is: Poor.

Well that's a first.

[InanimateCarbonRod]

Originally posted by Number One
I'm sure it was mentioned before in this thread, but did many of you feel that you weren't really watching The Simpsons during the 1st act? It was weird, like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon show or FOX Kids/Nick (without the wackiness but containing a bland, silly sequence of events that a 3 year old could understand).
Exactly. I said this before, but I felt like I was watching an episode of Rocko's Modern Life, with Bart being Rocko. I hate to sound like CBG, but that first act was the absolute worst act to ever air on the Simpsons. Even though this episode wasn't the worst, its still ONE of the worst, IMO.

I'd say that anyone who ranks this episode as "Really funny" must be kidding themselves.

[VileHomer]

Do you think the ghost of the actor Dirk Rictor haunts the Bordello where his bullet riddled body was found?

-Bart's Question at the Radioactive Man(Dirk Rictor) Convention.

[|RABiD|]

WOW! it seems like im the only one who somewhat enjoyed this episode. It wasn't the best episode but it wasnt crap ya guys! Cmon, there was no wacky scully crap or anything of that nature. And yes, it wasn't packed with laughs, but it more focused on plot which picked up in the EXTRA long second act. I enjoyed it, and now I'm going to read tomacco's review. Here is my mark for last nites episode.

8.3/10 SOLID EPISODE!

[thecapecoddah]

More reviews: http://www.nohomers.net/interactive/reviews/DABF07.shtml

I love how the A+'s always follow the F's and vice versa... that always cracks me up. Simpsons fans can never come to a consensus in regards to an episode. :D

[Splashmore]

Originally posted by Number One
More reviews: http://www.nohomers.net/interactive/reviews/DABF07.shtml

I love how the A+'s always follow the F's and vice versa... that always cracks me up. Simpsons fans can never come to a consensus in regards to an episode. :D

Wow there were a LOT of bad grades. I'd say the average is probably a D+/C-. I also agree with one of the reviewer's favorite quote from the episode:
Lou: Wow that sure made us look bad.
Wiggum: Slink away boys, slink away.

[Zjraus]

Originally posted by Robbie


Ralph was Milhouse's best friend for a few seconds, and Milhouse said "Finally, I'll be the dominant one!", and Ralph said "shut up" and Milhouse said "yes, sir." Later, Ralph lies on the ground saying "I'm a gulch!" Also in the episode, Lisa told Janey that Ralph's new "baby brother" was actually a pinecone.

Heh, thanks.

[Cole]

This might have already been pointed out, but it looks to me like the writers should have included Santa's Little Helper in this episode. If the Simpsons had a dog hanging around the house, looks like Santa's Little Helper or even Snowball II could have been used humorously.

[tim_duncan2000]

If I liked this one ok, I was almost certain that many here would think it was great. I say this because I am really tough on these newer episodes but liked this one, and I hated almost every season 11-12 episode, and thought "The Blunder Years", "Jaws Wired Shut", "Brawl in the Family" and "Homer the Moe" were not funny. All of these episodes (except for maybe "Homer the Moe") got surprisingly (well, surprising to me anyway) high marks even though I hated them and thought they sucked. So believe me, if I like a new one, that's really saying something because I don't compare them just to recent efforts, but to all episodes ever. I think it's only fair to do it that way and not just relative to recent efforts. It's not like previous seasons never happened, and the only way to know how good an episode is is to compare it to ones that you think are really good. To me, that's the only way to know exactly how good an episode is. If you just compare them to newer episodes, you don't get a true measure of how good an episode is. Getting back to this episode, I do agree with the people about the dog bit not seeming like a Simpsons episode. It was oddly out of place a dragged on for too long. It should have only been a minute, tops and not like 5 minutes of the show. I don't like being hit over the head with a mildy amusing bit that the writers think is hilarious. It was not that funny to me. Unlike many other viewers, I thought it was pretty funny when they talked about Homer not going on an adventure like he often did in crappy episodes. Also, I liked the lasso part at the end because that is often how it is in stupid movies. Something like that is often used against heavily-armed bad guys and I thought it was clever. I also thought the "hippy-shooting" scene was hilarious for some reason and the dog was the only thing that kind of pissed me off about the episode. I don't think it's bad as other people, and "Homer the Moe" was much worse than this one was.

[Tomacco]

Bet you weren't expecting it so soon!:
http://www.thespringfieldshopper.com/!LATESTGUN.gif

Let me know what you think of it. Also tell me if you like the dog being in the corner. I thought adding some small cartoons to the singles would slicken them up, but I could be wrong. Let me know.

[J.Re*]

Your best looking one yet, Jonah

[Splashmore]

Great work as always. I think its fine to have just one small cartoon. It works well, as long as it doesn't overcrowd the layout.

[J.Re*]

Sidenote: Literary Moment : All In All, It had been a weird lottery is a reference to O.Henry's "The Lottery"
English Nerd :smoking:

[rossjman1]

nice work Tomacco.

[DotheBartman]

Great guide Tomacco. The dog really does add something to its look.

Back on the episode, I can't believe I haven't noticed anyone mention the line "Eat my short stories!". I thought it was one of the better lines.

[radiationdude7]

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
Yes, it's the How and not the Why in art, but the how of both this and "The Blunder Years" were excellent, even if not to the same level of pre-8 episodes. And the silliness of this had a background and was so tongue-in-cheek I almost found it enjoyable, and about the writers giving us a "show-and-tell".....isn't that their job?

I agree. I liked this episode. I didnt really like it. I did not like the dog. It was someone else said like Rocko's Modern Life.


I also agree with Datoupee that episodes should be compared to other episodes let alone other Series (King of the Hill comes to mind from this thread) I have one question. What does the Executive Producer actually do. It seems like the writers choose the shows fate. Al Jean just supervises. So maybe Scully wasnt all that bad(Which most were not)Maybe the crap was just a bad combo of writers.

Anywho Grade: B 4/5

[Cole]

Excellent job Tomacco. Even better than last week.

[Jake]

Originally posted by FlandersEVIL
Yes, it's the How and not the Why in art, but the how of both this and "The Blunder Years" were excellent, even if not to the same level of pre-8 episodes. And the silliness of this had a background and was so tongue-in-cheek I almost found it enjoyable, and about the writers giving us a "show-and-tell".....isn't that their job?

If you want to believe "The Lastest Gun..." is a 'subversive' satire on washed up cowboy stars, fine. But don't think that those of us that don't agree with you are just too naive to see it. We see the satire, we just think it is badly done when approached with these levels of absurdity. Only if you read things into this episode that aren't there does it work as satire. The writers have done a good satirical episodes before, but this one is a dud. Whatever the staffer's intentions, all they succeeded in making was a very stupid episode.

[Splashmore]

Originally posted by Jake


If you want to believe "The Lastest Gun..." is a 'subversive' satire on washed up cowboy stars, fine. But don't think that those of us that don't agree with you are just too naive to see it. We see the satire, we just think it is badly done when approached with these levels of absurdity. Only if you read things into this episode that aren't there does it work as satire. The writers have done a good satirical episodes before, but this one is a dud. Whatever the staffer's intentions, all they succeeded in making was a very stupid episode.

Damn straight.

[Zero the Hero]

it was ok i gave it a B it wasnt as goodas other one's, it could have been better but i guess it was fine

[alabar]

It was a sort of dissappointment after the last 2 shows being so good. Defintely short of laughs and I felt the plot was just silly. I felt that the Homer being jealous and then becoming the Homer wanting to restore Bart's faith to be too much of a contradiction in one show. I also had a hard time buying into Bart's enthusiasm for the cowboy way of life. It was kind of interesting show in all though. "Meh" defintely describes this epsidoe best.

[Zero the Hero]

Originally posted by alabar
It was a sort of dissappointment after the last 2 shows being so good. Defintely short of laughs and I felt the plot was just silly. I felt that the Homer being jealous and then becoming the Homer wanting to restore Bart's faith to be too much of a contradiction in one show. I also had a hard time buying into Bart's enthusiasm for the cowboy way of life. It was kind of interesting show in all though. "Meh" defintely describes this epsidoe best.

Exactly...heh, heh...D'OH! i really dont know why i gave it a B, i wasnt thinkn, then again i usually never do :LOL:

[Friz]

Great Work, Tommacco. I'm a bit uneasy with the small cartoons in the corner though, but good job anyway.

[StpdItchyChrchPnts]

Tomacco , great work as always the little dog looks good there

[Smilin'JoeFission]

Excellent, Tomacco. I like the idea of having a little piscture on the opposite corner. A good way to grab people's attention. If Harper Collins publishes another "Simpsons" guide, they should hire you to help with the research!

[Mr. Plow]

another cool guide tomacco

[thecapecoddah]

Why, these poll results illustrate a perfect bell shaped curve, n-hey!

[Cole]

I noticed that too Number One. Looks like alot of people had alot of different opinions about this episode. I voted D.

[gahr]

Very mediocre ep. Definitely the weakest of the year, so far...I don't think I laughed more than twice. Surprising since Swartzwelder penned it. Hopefully this will be the low point of season 13.


Sure, everything looks bad if you remember it

[Wavy Gravy]

No offense, Tomacco, but I have another slip-up. In "The Stuff You May HAve Missed", you have "Krusty Gets Kancelled" as episode 9F20. It's really 9F19. (I got an eye for this stuff.)

Other than that, excellent work! The line jobs on the characters are great.

[Friz]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the dog? On "Jaws Wired Shut", that picture was great, because even though I hadn't watched the episode, It showed a "Show Highlight". The dog makes no sense to somebody who hasn't watched the episode.

I'm also making a little thing for Jonah. It'll be up in a few days...

[Helper Monkey]

Originally posted by Crazy Jre
Sidenote: Literary Moment : All In All, It had been a weird lottery is a reference to O.Henry's "The Lottery"
English Nerd :smoking:

Not nerdy enough, Crazy. "The Lottery" was written by Shirley Jackson.

HM

[Tomacco]

Whatcha making Friz?

[thecapecoddah]

My bet's on a bouquet of a flowers.

[Friz]

Clue: Additional Page. Should go near the front. Not a cover.

[Tomacco]

Okay, can't wait!

[MarkM]

Why/what are you making 4 jonah?

[|RABiD|]

I think it could be a Table Of Contents page!

[Friz]

I made one for my own guide, but I don't think I'll use it... It's a "how to read the guide" page. (The file name also parodies the way Jonah saves his pictures :)) And...it's a bit big:

http://web4.facelink.com/edit/raw/rawimage/79/2485079.gif


And Another thing. I don't think Bart was inpressed. I believe he was impressed. ;)

P.S: Jonah, why do you save things as HELLOGUTTER!!!!!!.gif or ITCHYANDSCRATCHY!!!!!!!.swf?

[Robbie]

Originally posted by Friz


P.S: Jonah, why do you save things as HELLOGUTTER!!!!!!.gif or ITCHYANDSCRATCHY!!!!!!!.swf?

Saving stuff probably just excites him. I know it excites me. :D

By the way, the guide page looks good.

[J.Re*]

Most Funniest
??? :(

[J.Re*]

Originally posted by Helper Monkey


Not nerdy enough, Crazy. "The Lottery" was written by Shirley Jackson.

HM
oops, I thought I was wrong but wasn't sure so i kept it as was
I thought it was because I read "Ransom of Red Cheif" O.Henry and that in the same week for school and the teacher was trying to show us the contrast in writing styles, i thought it was because it was the same author

[Bluesman]

Ahh, I'm beginning to think Jean is as lame as Scully. The eps are beginning to be just as aggravating as Scully's, and they still have that dumbass style of a beginning plot that is totally unrelated to the rest of the ep. It is really discouraging, especially since the eps were starting to get better at the beginning of the season. Lame.
Just freaking lame.

[|RABiD|]

O cmon! It was one stinking episode! I liked it! This was probably Jean's worst episode so far,tho. Dont worry. "The Old Man And The Key" will kick ass!

[Tomacco]

I save guide pics with exclamation points infront so they'll be the first in my saved folders, before the html pages where the guides are put, and the mini pics of each guide page. Now, I only use one exclamation point though. :)

[Friz]

Did you see the double I made?

[Tomacco]

Yeah, it's nice but I don't think I'm gonna use it for my guide, because Simpsons Forever! didn't have one of those pages, and if I were to print it out, a lot of the words would get cut off in the middle. Actually, wait a minute, they might not. I'll see how it prints.

[Friz]

I've already printed it out on A3 paper, cut it and folded it down the middle. It looks like:

How to Read The /Guide

[pic of HGHF] /Instructions

(The / is the fold)

Hang on- I did this page to fit you're new guide pages. I've noticed the sizes are a tad different.

[Cletus Del Roy]

I for one liked the episode. It was very good. Thats all I got to say about that!

[Ryan]

meh. not bad, not exactly entertaining either. There were some good laughs though. (B-)

[chiefdan]

what's with the bump, Ryan?
Well, while we're here, let me just say that I thought this episode was POOR.

[Cole]

Ryan probably just now saw it.

I still stick with my statement that this is one of the Top 3 Worst Episodes of Season 13.

[skittlebrau]

THE DAMN DOG CHASED BART FOR THE WHOLE FIRST ACT.

WORST. SEASON 13 EPISODE. EVER.

[Mike Scully]

It was a C+ episode. Not really my taste, but it was original and different. Certainly not a bad episode.

[Mindy Simmons]

Highly underrated episode. The main plot takes a page from other, older sitcom plot lines which feature young people bringing washed up stars back to the limelight. The jokes worked, and it was a genuinely nice story. Nothing spectacular (I accidentally rated this an A when it should really be a high B,) but very good nonetheless.

[Moe Nopoly]

It's a good solid episode for me.
Story is not bad and provides funny moments and is entertaining until the end.
Buck McCoy is also a good one time character for me.

B

[tom cody]

F, this was the worst episode in the show's history for me. Just an awful episode.

[lardofthedance]

I wasn't crazy about it so I'll just give it C

[NIGHT MAYOR]

I don't see what is that bad about it, except I didn't really like the ending. Overall, just a sort of funny, so-so plot, episode.

C+

[Burnin']

F, one of the worst.