Rate & Review: "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" (EABF03)

[Cole]

From SNPP
After Homer gets Lisa an inappropriate birthday present", he hires a private investigator to find out more about her

You can read and discuss previews and speculation in this thread until the episode airs. Once the episode airs, this thread and poll will be open for review.

[BlindPsychic]

No sir I didn't like it.

[eddie]

Quite hilarious. There was a lot of "burst-out-laughing" moments (especially the videos from Flanders and Homer, "Padz," and Cletus's part), and I enjoyed the bonding moments between Homer (he was quite lovable this time around) and Lisa. There could have been some improvements, though. Ralph's bits should have been much funnier, the private detective was a little bland, and the whole circus thing was sort of stupid. This isn't the best of Season Fourteen, and "Lisa's Substitute," "Make Room for Lisa" and "Lost Our Lisa" were all much better episodes, but this was still very good for the current state of the show. 3.5/5. Also, this is the second time in a row that the credits have continued with a scene. A current trend for the future?

[allies107]

i didnt really laugh at this episode at all, overall 2/5. Just didnt seem funny.

[Citizen Kang]

Pretty good episode. The plot of Homer and Lisa relating wasn't very original but there were some good jokes. 4/5

I wrote to chunkylover23@aol.com on AIM. Here's what he said:

Citizen Kang NYC:homer?
chunkylover23:yes
Citizen Kang NYC:how ya doing?
chunkylover23:good good, how are you
Citizen Kang NYC:good man
Citizen Kang NYC:good episode tonight.
chunkylover23:sure is
Citizen Kang NYC: I'd imagine you're getting a million IMs from it.
chunkylover23: it's all gravy
Citizen Kang NYC: well I'll leave you alone then. Have a good night. Peace.
chunkylover23: Peace out.

[irv]

dear anyone who gave this less than a 3/5,

stop watching the simpsons.

love,
jesus

[HellBender]

A definitive improvement over last week's bore (Oh, I'm gonna get flamed for this).
The episode wasn't too wacky, had some really funny jokes. And Homer wasn't a jerk. 4/5, best of the season so far.

[Voodoo Monkey]

LOL@the conversation with chunkylover23. (Big chunks vegatables, big chunks beef)

Not bad. 4/5

I loved the Cletus scene, the carnival scene, and the smoking monkeys (going in my sig)

[Urts]

Boring, boring episode. I really didn't laugh once. On the upside, there really wasn't much wrong with it, there just wasn't much good about it. It felt like the skeleton of an episode, pretty much mediocrity from start to finish.

They missed many great opportunities. Any emotion at the end was sacrificed for a man in a cannon and circus animals. The third act could have been much darker, too. It would have benefited from a "Cape Feare"-esque darkness, but that was passed up.

Nothing horrible about this episode, but nothing impressive.

Rating: 2.5 or 3/5

[Tirefire]

I'll give it a five, better than last week's by just a hair. This one competes with the best from Season 13.

[Simpson Purist]

9/10, This episode rocked!!!

Pros
-Homer not being a jerkass
-Great noirish direction, really showcases the new digital look
-The home movie videos of Flanders and Lisa were hilarious
-Bart throwing the spaghetti into the fan
-Moe pouring the beer into the doggie bag
-Lisa saving Homer's life with the laser pointer
-Cletus and Brandine with the animals

Cons
-Ralph's lines weren't too great
-Eddie's comment about Amy
-Moe's transplant with the animal photo
-Stupid FOX Chicago cutting out the couch gag

Overall, a big step-up from Make Room For Lisa and one of the best episodes so far in this mixed season.

[StrideR]

Originally posted by jesus plays his hits
dear anyone who gave this less than a 3/5,

stop watching the simpsons.

Go sit on a very hard shard of glass.

[nowhere]

I thought it was a very good episode. An episode with an actual plot and several laugh-out loud parts. Hopefully the next few episodes will be as strong as this one.

4/5

Great line: (paraphrased)
"It's ironic that he is blind, after spending his whole life being able to see."

[HomertheGreat]

good episode

I loved the bonding between Lisa and Homer, the Flanders and Lisa's video's had me rolling! I also loved the scene where Homer paints on a tear mark. It made me actually feel sorry for Homer (which hasn't happened a lot during the newer seasons) and the end scene during the credits was hilarious also. 4/5

[JonMDavis]

Yeesh. A big step backwards from last week. It just wasn't very funny. They really tried too hard on a lot of jokes that just weren't that good. I was glad to see Ralph, liked the PTETA stuff, and liked the very end, but...yeesh.

1.5-2/5

[JDub]

When I heard the chunkylover23 I ran to the computer to try to get that sn. I was too late. But the episode wasn't that good. I onlt laughed once and I already forgot what part it was at.

[Mafia]

who did the voice of the detective? Was it the guest star? Sounded incredibly like an impression of Robert Stack from Unsolved Mysteries. Very identical voices.

Not so many jokes, but it was interesting and not as whacky. I really enjoyed it. I guess it shows me that there doesn't need to be a lot of laughs for it to be a good episode. The episode is probably worth a second viewing as I saw a bunch of things i might have missed. The detective was pretty cool. Gotta love rogue detectives. Laser pointer ending was ah-ight. The Homer remark was better. I hope to see detective return in a season of two... or in 2006.... *sigh* It tried less to be funny. I liked that. Some nice lines that were a heh like "From the moment I meant you, I just knew that I'd kill you in a house of mirrors." 4/5 or 8.5/10 (B)

[bauer]

Not really that great. Had some good moments but a pretty weak showing, especially after last week. 2.5/5

[Wavy Gravy]

Great episode! Lots of memorable moments (Rod's video, Lisa's video, PADZ, the montage of info-gathering, Homer and Lisa on the lam, the ending sequence, etc.) and plenty of laughs. But what I loved most was the fact that Homer was actually trying to be a good father, unlike the piece of junk that was AABF12, "Make Room for Lisa". He wasn't a jerk and he wasn't annoying - I could really feel for him trying to get to know Lisa better. 4/5.

What really surprised me was that my mom (who is notorious with me for despising "The Simpsons") watched it tonight and actually liked it. That meant it must've been at least pretty good.

[Tibor]

The laughs were mainly in the second act, but the videos were hilarious. As a Homer/Lisa episode, I put it somewhere in between Lost Our Lisa and Make Room For Lisa. Not as good as the former, but better than the latter.

The Good:
Homer cares
Smoking monkeys
The detective scenes
A tight focused plot
Homer's email adress

The Bad:
Ralph disappointed me
Lisa's Powerpuff Girl comment was lame
Was weak at some times

The Ugly:
Lipstick on Cletus' collar

A 3/5.

[Bartman3010]

This was a suprisingly good episode. Homer was actually a good father and didnt turn out like some annoying freak. The whole 'Make a movie for your kid' thing was a good addition, the diary seemed a little off the wall, but it was appreciative, especially for the ending sequence. It definatley suprised me.

There are a few problems in the episode though. Yes, Ralph was lame. But I guess thats the best they could do. Also I was hoping that the pen light on Skinner would result in him thinking that he would be shot at and resort back to his war days, and the fact that they're still not clear with the family members' birthdays. Last season Lisa had a birthday, but that just passed the writers by, and I doubt that people will think that Lisa is 9/10. Not to mention we're still not sure how old Bart is now.

Oh well, the errors are very tiny, and the animation really picked up with the computer animation they started to go on. The backgrounds are sharper, and they're really showing off the techniques in the show. The hall of mirrors, and the different actions going on through the show, like the downtown like city etc.

Definatley deserves a 4 out of 5. It was definatley above the other episodes of this and previous few seasons. Good job on their part.

["Yes i Cannibus"]

best episode of the last 10 years, this rocked, but where was homers oz jr joke i saw in the commercial?

definetly the best lisa episode of all time

and to the guy who didn't like it, i say you watch to much of that crappy farscape, now thats a bad show and its the biggest nerd show on tv

watch less of that and more of the simpsons

[Clarence]

I'm not going to make a big review , let's just say 7/10. (Or 3½/5)

[Necromancer]

3/5

[Madame O____]

Hmmm...
I enjoyed seeing Lisa prominently featured, as well as some very sweet bonding moments between Lisa and Homer. Nevertheless, a good deal of the episode was consumed by bits which might have had potential, had the writers been less lazy (e.g. Ralph Wiggum), and some mindless attempts at humor. 3/5

[Wang]

3/5

[Tibor]

Please don't be an ass, Yes I Cannibus. It's a big stretch to call this the best Lisa ep ever.

I liked how they made fun of the MTV style direction on PADZ. The banana full of cigarrete butts left me scratching my head though. Something to do with smoking monkeys?

[Stina]

4/5 ^_^

I loved the beginning, with 'Padz' making fun of the show Cribs, and the commericial that was making fun of those electronic password diaries for little girls. I also really liked the cheap video Flanders made. ^_^

Wasn't Bart supposed to be on the bus with Lisa when she was going to school?

[joe]

Just "good"...which is a might higher then any other episode I have seen in the past 3 years...

[Mafia]

is it becoming a trend now to have a scene of the episode during the credits? I'm liking this a lot. Two episodes in a row.... Strummer Vacation had one too. There might have been another.