Meta Analysis and Narrative Infrastructure Thread

[MisogiKurakawa]

A pretty good example of Scully's problems (in part because it's easily one of the least cartoonish premises of his latter three production seasons) is Insane Clown Poppy. Despite the basic idea being very simple and if anything quite logical (Krusty dealing with the child of a past relationship), the episode wastes no less than seven minutes on filler up until Sophie actually appears on-screen, then another two on the extended Gulf War flashback. The episode is more or less halfway done by the time the actual premise is established....and then much of the latter half is left on mafia shenanigans rather than on Sophie's character and how she effects Krusty. We learn pretty much nothing about her beyond that she plays the violin.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

Actually, that raises a very genuine question - what were the potential reasons for the sudden and dramatic drop in quality from 5F to AA production runs? While there is pretty well-agreed to be a run-off in Scully's first production season, it genuinely feels like the scripting quality utterly self-destructed the moment his second cycle began.

 

[CousinMerl]

I knew Scully had kids, didn't realize it was quite that many daughters. But it does make sense how Jing and Kimberly were the funniest, best developed kid characters in Duncanville while Duncan himself was really bland. I did like the episode he wrote this year, I think he is a better writer than showrunner and I think it's possible he had a too relaxed environment which negatively impacted some scripts.

Yeah, I think Scully should rather have stuck to being a writer (and maybe co-runner, if they would've had those back then) than being main showrunner, as he has the experience and skill & the relaxed attitude he had as showrunners wasn't ideal for the task.

Also, judging by that 'Iron Marge' script (which you referred to, and which had great writing for Bart & Lisa) I think that if he had been a writer active on the show now, things could've looked a bit different in terms of kid-focused episodes.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

Yeah, I think Scully should rather have stuck to being a writer (and maybe co-runner, if they would've had those back then) than being main showrunner, as he has the experience and skill & the relaxed attitude he had as showrunners wasn't ideal for the task.

Also, judging by that 'Iron Marge' script (which you referred to, and which had great writing for Bart & Lisa) I think that if he had been a writer active on the show now, things could've looked a bit different in terms of kid-focused episodes.

I mentioned this before, but it's important to remember the context with Scully's kid stories, which were consistently drawn in some fashion from either his own childhood (for Bart) or that of his daughters (for Lisa). This is in general a pretty common unifying pattern with the Classic kid stories that is lacking in Post-Classic - this actually lived understanding that these characters are children.

 

[CousinMerl]

I mentioned this before, but it's important to remember the context with Scully's kid stories, which were consistently drawn in some fashion from either his own childhood (for Bart) or that of his daughters (for Lisa). This is in general a pretty common unifying pattern with the Classic kid stories that is lacking in Post-Classic - this actually lived understanding that these characters are children.

Yeah, absolutely. Writers drawing inspiration from their own life, whether it was from their childhood and growing up or their family life with kids and whatnot, absolutely give the kid-centric stories a lot of weight (not just in terms of this show but others, too) and it really tend to be lacking in the modern era of the show, especially with the main writing staff not getting any younger and being far removed from the days of their children being, well, kids and that causes even more of a disconnect from those kinds of plots.

Scully do seem to be a bit of an exception (as we saw with his abeformentioned episode this season) and the show could use more writers like him (we've also had Omine, of course; just look at the immaculate 'My Octopus And A Teacher'), but also younger folks to bring in new blood (and those will be able to draw inspiration from their own lives, family, etc. like the writers in the classic era could so well).

There really need to be that understanding of children and knowing that they cannot be written as adults or even teenagers, yeah, but also a willingness to embrace writing about kids such as Bart and Lisa but also the ones in the supporting cast.

 

[Brad Lascelle]

Actually, that raises a very genuine question - what were the potential reasons for the sudden and dramatic drop in quality from 5F to AA production runs? While there is pretty well-agreed to be a run-off in Scully's first production season, it genuinely feels like the scripting quality utterly self-destructed the moment his second cycle began.

There was a significant amount of writer's room upheaval during this time... as many of the folks that got burnt out from the Classic era (the Oakley & Weinstein tenure especially) jumped ship with the expectation that the show was on its last days and the stalwarts of the modern era - Selman, Omine, Long, etc. - all hopping on board.

To this day that was still the period with the greatest amount of upheaval on the creative side of things. 5F was essentially the show's transitional phase and AA was them actively adopting the new philosophy combined with a bunch of writers that were either largely checked out or brand new and simply looking to get their feet wet and thus ripe to be molded around the show's new philosophy of "less is more" in terms of narrative structure and "we need to focus on Homer and be more wacky" to keep the show afloat. Both Family Guy and South Park becoming cultural phenomenons right around this time (the latter moreso) probably didn't help matters.

In short, I think it's fair to say the show went through a midlife/identity crisis during the Scully years until Jean came back to "right the ship" and refine the series into its more recognizable milquetoast/safe/creatively barren modern incarnation.

 

[CousinMerl]

Both Family Guy and South Park becoming cultural phenomenons right around this time (the latter moreso) probably didn't help matters.

Oh yeah, those two really stepped up as rivals to 'The Simpsons' around the time Scully had his tenure definitely had to have pushed the writers to try have the show stay relevant, which I guess is why we got the abeformentioned iwth the heavy focus on Homer and his misadventures aroun season 10, kind of leaving the rest of the family in the background for a lot of the episodes (the big influx of Homer stories in the Scully tenure always stood out as a bit weird, but factoring in those two shows it kind of puts it into more of a perspective).

In short, I think it's fair to say the show went through a midlife/identity crisis during the Scully years until Jean came back to "right the ship" and refine the series into its more recognizable milquetoast/safe/creatively barren modern incarnation.

Yeah, I think that just about says it all. The Scully tenure definitely suffered due to the abeformentioned reasons (that writers' room upheaval with writers leaving and others coming on board and the rival shows) and constantly tried to find its footing in the post-season 8 period (and Scully's looser and more relaxed kind of showrunning didn't really help so much; the show really needed a firmer hand, especially at the time) and then when Jean came on board as solo showrunner, some things got better while others got worse, if gradually so.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

This something that came to my mind watching Behind the Laughter and then comparing it to My Life as a Vlog. Both are "meta" stories which portray the Simpson family in the context of IRL celebrity culture (MTV's Behind the Music for the former, and the rise and fall of family vlog channels on YouTube), but tonally they couldn't be more different. Behind the Laughter is immensely cynical, being filled with a near endless collection of jokes relating to the declining reputation of the show and its cultural impact, with the ending being a pessimistic admission that things will just inevitably continue as such until it just dies. Meanwhile, beyond being framed as "in-universe" (not fictionalizing the actual series), My Life as a Vlog is extremely critical of YT culture, but it's extremely earnest about the characters, and ends in everyone happily reconciling and returning to their normal lives.

This sticks out to me because it's in a sense reflective of what we now see of The Simpsons as a cultural artifact. The dramatic shift in Scully's tenure as showrunner seems at least in part born from this wider belief that the show was inherently a cynical gag comedy built on violence and bitterness (which is something apparent when you look at the shows it inspired), despite the Classic series being in practice nothing like that, while Selman's work in contrast seems to be now an attempt (debatably successful) of returning to the "true" comedy-drama roots of the franchise. We've come from a world where the most "iconic" scene in the series is a misremembered version of Homer's fall down Springfield Gorge where he tried to jump it intentionally (rather than being a stupid accident), to one where it's instead the final reveal of DO IT FOR HER at the end of And Maggie Makes Three (and also Steamed Hams). And I find that interesting, in a sense. It's a reflection of a shift in how general culture now perceives the franchise, altered by how factors like the internet and streaming have allowed people to view the Classic series with fresher eyes, divorced from the wider culture it brought on.

Interesting stuff to consider.

(Worth giving this excellent post by @Sandboy a read too)

 

[CousinMerl]

Interesting stuff to consider.

I've been considering and comparing the likenesses and differences between 'Behind The Laughter' & 'My Life As A Vlog' before They do have a lot of similarities in terms of being meta episodes depicting the family as celebrities and actors & such, but at the same time they go about things completely differently in various ways, as you have explained.

As I believe I've said before, 'Vlog' is like the modern variant of 'Laughter', interpreting a similar kind of premise & its themes with a 2020's lens (social media and YouTube influencer/celeb culture) instead of an early 2000's one (music documentary series that used to be popular), which also reflects on the earnestness relism of the new one and the biting cynicism of the old one. I'd say they do reflect their time periods, both in terms of the year(s) and the show's status and approach with the showrunning quite well and aptly.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

General question for you guys - What's your view of the Homer/Marge marriage crisis plots? I feel like, in wake of the latest episode being Jean's most recent of many forays into the territory, that it be worth considering the significance of them.

 

[CousinMerl]

General question for you guys - What's your view of the Homer/Marge marriage crisis plots? I feel like, in wake of the latest episode being Jean's most recent of many forays into the territory, that it be worth considering the significance of them.

I haven't seen the latest episode (The Tell Tale Pants) yet, but I'll still chime in:

There's been a clear overabundance of lazy, more or less forced poorly told marriage crisis plots under Jean's tenure, which has oversaturated the show with this type of plot, which has turned a large portion of the fandom against them. And for good reasons.

But the thing is, marriage crisis plots can be done well and be interesting, fun to watch and/or compelling if written and told well. There has to be more to them with some typical dull, stereotypical unpleasant story with a lot of anger, shouting, bitterness and whatnot, with added depth and nuances, preferably with some creative route taken to not make it come off as too constructed, such as the two having a conflict or disagreement which is not a marriage crisis (which is something we have seen been done well some times)

But seems like Jean is usually stuck with the basis of a stilted, forced marriage crisis we've seen over and over, when he needs to break away from the typical format and be more inspired and creative (and, well, not do them too often but rather few and far between).

 

[Matty]

I know Al Jean has in the past directly addressed the criticism of his over-reliance on marriage crisis plots by saying (paraphrasing) it's just reality that there's thousands of reasons married couples get into fights

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

I know Al Jean has in the past directly addressed the criticism of his over-reliance on marriage crisis plots by saying (paraphrasing) it's just reality that there's thousands of reasons married couples get into fights

This to me says two things - First, that Jean has a seriously toxic view of marriage and relationships in general, and second, that Jean genuinely doesn't understand the point of Homer/Marge as a relationship or its narrative dynamic. Because the fact that they are genuinely happily married and that Homer for all his many flaws is genuinely, unambiguously devoted to his wife are a massive narrative pillar in making his character work.

 

[CousinMerl]

Al Jean sure has a deeply warped and troubled view of marriage relationships...

But anyhow, even aside from @MisogiKurakawa's good point above (on how Jean misses the point of Homer & Marge's relationship dynamic), I think that there can still be funny and interesting stories about married couples than relying much on more or less ugly and toxic marriage crisises because it's reality that there's thousands of reasons married couples get into fights.

Several shows have proven this so why cannot this one as well? Why do this one negative depiction of married couples over and over instead of breaking away from the formula and mine less troubled depictions of married couples for material?

 

[Wile E. the Brain]

I get that they fight a lot (I know that for experience as a witness) but let's take into account that Jean has got four or five episodes a season now and half of them at least hint / depict the Simpsons couple as miserable.

Selman on the other hand makes sure for the most part to expose the good and the bad in their relationship but in a way that still makes this couple believable. I'm not the biggest 'Homer's Adventure Through the Windshield Glass' fan but I believe summing it up as "Marge is miserable because she has to cover up for Homer's bullshit" is slightly reductive (although I haven't watched it since it first aired so what do I know). And even putting aside the wonderful 'Pixelated and Afraid' which is basically the modern Homer and Marge episode that ended modern Homer and Marge episodes, I really like those silly little moments sprinkled in his episodes where it's shown how connected they are even over the most simple / random things (think 'Bart the Cool Kid' and 'Boyz N the Highland' for instance). I'm just starting to care again for their relationship, while my interest in their episodes was mostly gone during the '20s and early '30s, despite some highlights ('I'm Dancing as Fat as I Can').

 

[CousinMerl]

I get that they fight a lot (I know that for experience as a witness) but let's take into account that Jean has got four or five episodes a season now and half of them at least hint / depict the Simpsons couple as miserable.

Indeed, there's been way too much negative depictions of them as a more or less miserable couple (even if it's just slight signs and hints) so that instead of essentially defending the overreliance on marriage crisis plots he could take the criticism to heart and include much less of them and try be more nuanced about it, plus do other types of conflict plots such as disagreement or teamwork stories.

Selman on the other hand makes sure for the most part to expose the good and the bad in their relationship but in a way that still makes this couple believable.

I was certainly thinking of Selman and his fairly balanced, nuanced depictions of marriage conflicts regarding Marge & Homer, beng both able to portay those less good/uglier sides but also the more or less positive (if not happy) sides which make it feel realistic and not too one sided overall. In regards to the actual marriage crisises (such as them at their worse), I have noticed that his episodes usually tend to be well-written in the sense of giving a proper, understandable reasoning and backing for Marge getting angry at Homer, but when the relationship, at best, shows them as more of a proper even-sided duo it too tend to be well-written as natural and understandable. Selman essentially does all the heavy lifting in regards to the Homer-Marge relationship, portraying it as feeling realistic and something worth caring about.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

Related to this, but one thing which surprised me watching the classic series for the first time was the fact that not only was the show very open about the fact of Homer and Marge's active sex life, but never once was it played off as a joke in spite of the many gags related to Homer's weight (the closest is King-Size Homer, but that's context-based). And the show also never highlights this fact either, it just expects the audience to go "They're happily married, of course they have sex", and leave it that. Which makes it stick out to me how Post-Classic more and more downplays that aspect of the relationship, with the actual references becoming few and far between, and the framing more often emphasizing how weird it is (there's an anecdote I read about Jean's reaction to the jacket scene from Mr. Plow being him joking why Marge wasn't afraid of the "hideous man" in front of her, and that says a lot). @B-Boy made the point to me of how this is reflective of the surprisingly progressive views on sex that 90s television had (noting Roz from Frasier as an example), but it's kinda striking how that increasingly puritanical mindset reflects how Jean warped the dynamic.

 

[Spartan Girl]

General question for you guys - What's your view of the Homer/Marge marriage crisis plots? I feel like, in wake of the latest episode being Jean's most recent of many forays into the territory, that it be worth considering the significance of them.

“We almost divorced over something insignificant, but luckily your father knows how to apologize.”

And that right there is my problem with these episodes. Most of the time these days it happens because of a misunderstanding or something petty. Which wouldn’t be such a problem if it didn’t always place responsibility on Homer to fix it even though it wasn’t really his fault. How many times have we seen Marge apologize, let alone admit she overreacted and treated him unfairly? Hardly ever. Because just like in last night’s episode, she’s always portrayed as the long-suffering martyr. The show never lets her be anything but the victim who is never the problem, despite all the times she have seen her be the problem. Episodes like Friends and Family, Moho House, Manger Things, Splintered Thing, What Animated Women Want, and Werkng Mom all boil down to: “Apparently you didn’t do anything wrong, but I was right to be mad at you!” It is exhausting.

 

[Spartan Girl]

Sorry accidentally double posted

 

[Venomrabbit]

Homer and Marge are very different but then seeing how different they are and how they'd work anyway even in a somewhat dysfunctional way was actually what made them so interesting, 'least to me. It's kind of weird how a lot of later relationships and relationship episodes just didn't get that. Anyway, given the differences and that nobody and nothing is perfect, it's kinda natural that those marriage-trouble plots do happen. In a vacuum I don't have a problem with them, things are dull and unrealistic if it's 100% perfect all the time. It's just how frequently its fallen back on and how it always has to be a crisis that's a bother to me for two big reasons. First is that there's only so many times you can tell people they shouldn't be together before people just start thinking they shouldn't be together. They were always kinda mismatched but it was in a way that still felt like they should be together. Second, it kinda turns Marge into an object a lot. Something to be won back. "Homer's wife".

It's a shame too because Marge does get good episodes that center her. Brush with Greatness, Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield and the like. Even on a more simple level there's Reality Bites. I'd bet everybody's been talking about Marge episodes lately because she really is a good character when given the proper credit and she's finally getting the kinda stories she deserves again.

Kind of a tangent but there's something to be said about the way that people tend to basically treat women and girls in fiction as blank spaces or chopped liver unless they basically exist for men or male characters in some way or can be warped to (like "Moe-fying"... moe as in that anime term for cutesy girls, not our Moe) and any traits that don't appeal to them tend to get ignored... Kinda like how just about any female character design nowadays that doesn't appeal enough to men's tastes get "redesigns" that turn their faces very homogenized or slimmed down, whitewashed or just makes their asses bigger or something... or they just get shouted down for "looking like men" or being "woke" or whatever. Or, like with "Mary Sue" vs "Gary Stu" (I wish there was a popular neutral term for those) I hear "generic girl" slung about all the time but pretty much never "generic guy" even when they often are just as generic. Or that "girl" is treated as a stock personality to begin with and not "guy".
Yeah I'm stomping on thin ice, I'll stop now...

 

[Nitsy]

I don't have a problem with showing a conflict between Marge and Homer or depicting friction in a marriage. I do have a problem with formulaic plots that revolve around Homer doing something wrong (or not doing something wrong and simply being misunderstood), Marge fuming for the entire episode and kicking Homer out of the house, and Homer winning Marge back with some grand gesture. Apart from the fact that these plots have been done to death and rarely have anything new or interesting to say about Homer and Marge's relationship, they're often just outright unpleasant to watch, and unflattering to Marge's character. They could try switching up the formula for once or having the conflict not result in a cynical "Marge and Homer shouldn't be together, but they still are for some reason" resolution. It's normal for married couples to disagree and have moments of tension; it's not normal for them to constantly be on the brink of divorce. That is an unhealthy relationship, and I don't like episodes that portray Marge and Homer's marriage that way (and let's face it, the only reason it's so common is because it is a "paint-by-numbers" plot outline. The story is practically already written for you--just fill in the blanks).

 

[Venomrabbit]

I think I said something like it in the Ae Bonny Romance thread but it would be nice to have a more subversive version where, say, it's a lot less severe and that the plot is that Homer's making a bigger deal of it while Marge has already moved on or if things were flipped around more. Ends up centering Homer too much and like Nitsy said, it's really unflattering to Marge. It adds a lot of problematic elements to her character that I'm pretty sure aren't meant to be a part of her (Lisa tends to fall victim to this too) and it does end up breeding a lot of hostility that really didn't have to happen.

 

[Spartan Girl]

I think I said something like it in the Ae Bonny Romance thread but it would be nice to have a more subversive version where, say, it's a lot less severe and that the plot is that Homer's making a bigger deal of it while Marge has already moved on or if things were flipped around more. Ends up centering Homer too much and like Nitsy said, it's really unflattering to Marge.

Which wouldn’t be such a bad thing if Marge was allowed to actually own up to wrongdoing and admit she was wrong instead of being all “get over it” and refusing the let go of her high ground no matter how shaky it actually is. But that never happens: even if Marge started it, the story always makes Homer having to be the atoning one, and that’s been an issue since all the way back to Three Gays of the Condo.

 

[CousinMerl]

I don't have a problem with showing a conflict between Marge and Homer or depicting friction in a marriage. I do have a problem with formulaic plots that revolve around Homer doing something wrong (or not doing something wrong and simply being misunderstood), Marge fuming for the entire episode and kicking Homer out of the house, and Homer winning Marge back with some grand gesture. Apart from the fact that these plots have been done to death and rarely have anything new or interesting to say about Homer and Marge's relationship, they're often just outright unpleasant to watch, and unflattering to Marge's character.

This is what I've been arguing ever so often in numerous threads disucssing the marriage crisises. And you are absolutely correct.

I don't dislike the fact that there are stories where Marge & Homer has a conflict, but it is just that the way is done is so clichéd by now with the usual depiction of Homer screwing up or just being assumed to have done something bad & Marge throwing an overreactive fit at him and him having to make things up. It's such a tired and lazy plot and many of these tend to be some of the worst ('Manger Things & It's A Blunderful Life' were two that did this plot and they were essentially the same) and they are never any fun to watch, but just sad, unlikeable and downright depressing (maybe especially as they often tend have Marge tapping into being kind of a psycho shrew).

And yeah, like I said before (and I see you are saying too), they really, really need to switch up the formula and be a little creative with the couple conflict stories. Just have them be in a disagreement or have a conflict of interest or something and then having to solve it, without either one necessarily having to be the one in the wrong. Anything other than the same old crap of Homer doing a boo-boo and Marge losing her mind over it & kicking Homer out of the house until he is sorry enough (or worse, having Homer be misunderstood, which makes Marge seem like the worst toxic judgemental wife ever). So yeah, a big fat no to more of those horrible toxic relationship conflict plots we've seen over and over.

Do something new with the marriage crisis plots, Jeany.

 

[GlitterCat]

I liked the 'marriage crisis' of Mysterious Voyage, where after his chili pepper insanity trip, Homer questions if Marge is truly his soulmate and she finds him and they reconnect purely because she knows him so well even if she was trying to keep him from the chili festival. They have their differences but they love each other. More episodes like that, please.

 

[CousinMerl]

@GlitterCat, I too really like it when there's a point to a marriage crisis story & having it still get their relationship right with the nuances & getting their love come across (and come out strengthened): 'Mysterious Voyage' is a great example of that. Plus Marge had some legitimacy in being upset with Homer in that one even though she was technically "in the wrong", unlike in modern era ones where Homer is misunderstood due to circumstance and Marge's anger & reaction comes off as terribly contrived and exaggerated.

 

[Spartan Girl]

You know what Homer and Marge episode I really loved? “Natural Born Kissers.” Because it wasn’t really a crisis episode at all. Sure, they were in a rut and kind of bored, but they were on the same page, and they both got a kick out of sex in risky places to spice things up. I’d take that over something like “Dancing As Fat as I Can” any day of the week.

I’ll go even further and say it’s what “Pixelated and Afraid” took to another level because at the beginning of the episode they were in that rut but they didn’t care. They were happy with things the way they were and there was nothing wrong with it; the ordeal only strengthened what wasn’t even broken in the first place. But then we go back to stuff like “Ae Bonny Romance” where Marge is whining about the romance being gone, and it’s like it never happened. Ugh.

 

[CousinMerl]

You know what Homer and Marge episode I really loved? “Natural Born Kissers.” Because it wasn’t really a crisis episode at all. Sure, they were in a rut and kind of bored, but they were on the same page, and they both got a kick out of sex in risky places to spice things up. I’d take that over something like “Dancing As Fat as I Can” any day of the week.

I still like 'Dancing As Fat As I Can' fine enough (probably the only modern marriage crisis that sees Marge overreacting that I enjoyed, much due to the work Homer put into trying to make things right), but I do like the portrayal of their marriage in 'Kissers'. That was a good, fun way to have a marriage conflict plot without either part angry at each other, but more trying to get their love life back in the saddle.

I’ll go even further and say it’s what “Pixelated and Afraid” took to another level because at the beginning of the episode they were in that rut but they didn’t care. They were happy with things the way they were and there was nothing wrong with it; the ordeal only strengthened what wasn’t even broken in the first place. But then we go back to stuff like “Ae Bonny Romance” where Marge is whining about the romance being gone, and it’s like it never happened. Ugh.

I think that which made 'Pixelated And Afraid' work as excellently as it did (truly one of the modern masterpieces of the show, btw) was that that while they were in perfect harmony and sync and happy and content, the episode put their bond to the ultimate test and they came out stronger than ever before, with even more of a renewed appreciation for one another (kind of building on, and I'd argue improving on, what 'Kissers' presented with there probably needing to be a spark in their relationship and, well, this was kinda the ultimate payoff).

(Oh, I love the modern eras tendency to have Homer & Marge be like two peas in a pod and share a healthier love but also a lot of glee and a bunch of silly moments (such as being excited over minor things) in the Selman episodes (and I think Carolyn Omine helped a lot, also to renew and rejuvenate Marge as a character, whom has been hurt by Jean making her psychologically & emotionally unstable).

If only Jean would take more pointers from how those other showrunners handled things, we wouldn't have those portrayals of their marriage as loveless and sexless (and downright robbed of any fun and interest).

 

[Spartan Girl]

I still like 'Dancing As Fat As I Can' fine enough (probably the only modern marriage crisis that sees Marge overreacting that I enjoyed, much due to the work Homer put into trying to make things right)

To each their own, but Marge came off as an asshole in that episode. Initially, I understand why she was hurt, but she uses that as an excuse to be emotionally and almost physically abusive to Homer. And then gets mad that he’s staying out late (to make things right, but still). It’s the same basic thing as “The Spy Who Learned Me”: you can’t push someone away and then get mad at them for leaving. And once again she’s rewarded for her petty tantrum with a grand gesture.

Episodes like this are why I have a hard time warming up to episodes where she IS well-written. Because I know sooner or later Jean or one of the other writers had her revert to form.

 

[MisogiKurakawa]

You know what Homer and Marge episode I really loved? “Natural Born Kissers.” Because it wasn’t really a crisis episode at all. Sure, they were in a rut and kind of bored, but they were on the same page, and they both got a kick out of sex in risky places to spice things up. I’d take that over something like “Dancing As Fat as I Can” any day of the week.

I’ll go even further and say it’s what “Pixelated and Afraid” took to another level because at the beginning of the episode they were in that rut but they didn’t care. They were happy with things the way they were and there was nothing wrong with it; the ordeal only strengthened what wasn’t even broken in the first place. But then we go back to stuff like “Ae Bonny Romance” where Marge is whining about the romance being gone, and it’s like it never happened. Ugh.

Funnily enough, Natural Born Kissers was inspired by an actual story with Selman's parents.