Rate/Review: The President Wore Pearls (EABF20)

[phil]

Originally posted by Tibor
but what you're also saying in the two bits I quoted are that any Simpsons fans who enjoyed this episode are lying to themselves and wrong.

Not lying to themselves, just desperate fanboys.

[Tibor]

Well, that's pretty much the same thing, now isn't it.

Have you somehow missed the extreme negativity towards seasons 10-12? And chuck out those silly aspersions all you want, it's not going to negate the arguments for the show. Bad episodes get bad reviews. Episodes people like get good reviews.

[phil]

I'm not ignoring the negativity towards season 10-12, I just don't find it relevant. Next to those seasons it doesn't take much to come up with something the slightest bit better.

Attack of the Clones for instance, while better than the crapfest that was The Phantom Menace, is still pretty lame. Yet the fanboys dig it all the same.

[Tibor]

Like those desperate fanboys that clung to the show after season four, huh?

I stopped watching the show in season 11, if I find that the new episodes' quality isn't worth my time, I won't watch it. If this episode aired in any other season it would have still gotten a B from me, and half the people panning it here would be jerking it over it.

[chris]

The Good:

The pacing. The pacing. The pacing. Unlike most recent episodes, this one didn't seem to fly by; everything flowed nicely.

The songs were passable. They didn't have much of an "oomph" to them, but they got the job done and had some funny moments. The true winner was "Skinner's Evil Plan".

I was afraid Lisa would act too mini-adult, as she has in pretty much every Lisa episode of the past couple of seasons. While some of that quality was there, it was bearable.

I liked how Bart was on to Skinner's plot; he really knows the workings of that man's mind by this point.

Willie was on throughout the entire show. I haven't found him this funny in years; in fact, he had become downright annoying. But his Milhouse impression definitely got the biggest laugh out of me.

It was nice to see Mr. Largo (even if he didn't have that good a line), Uter, and Lunch Lady Doris, and it was great to give Martin some extended screen time (too bad his voice was off, though).

The Bad:

Marge was beyond terrible. Throwing vodka in Maggie's face?! What the hell? That's worse than anything Homer has done to the kids. Her gambling problem never made her into a lunatic; a bump on a stool, sure, but not a freaking lunatic. Why wasn't she worried when Bart knocked himself unconscious? And "Those fudgerakers!" continues the unfortunate trend of trying to come up with funny "curse words" for Marge to say.

Homer was characterized just as badly. So people were angry when he chased the squirrel in "Homer Goes to College" (a bit I actually liked)? Well, this episode took that concept and amplified it to a nail-biting extreme. He was totally braindead in most of his scenes (the whole gay thing, the stamps, wishing he married a businessman).

There was nothing funny during the casino scene. And then they ended it with a riot...

The ending wasn't so hot.



All in all, I wasn't blown away like I was hoping. It was a good episode that will hold up well in syndication, but still nothing spectacular. 3/5

[Dark Homer]

Pretty darn good episode

[chris]

One thing that really bugged me and I forgot to mention:

Homer and Marge appear out of nowhere at the school during the strike. I mean, they just step onto the screen and start talking to Skinner, and somehow are aware of everything that's happening. What's with that? Barring the fact that Homer should be at work, it's completely random, out of place, and just an excuse to cram in more of the two.

[Channel Surfer]

Originally posted by Homerpalooza
One thing that really bugged me and I forgot to mention:

Homer and Marge appear out of nowhere at the school during the strike. I mean, they just step onto the screen and start talking to Skinner, and somehow are aware of everything that's happening. What's with that? Barring the fact that Homer should be at work, it's completely random, out of place, and just an excuse to cram in more of the two.

Maybe it's just me, but if I was a school principal, and one of the kids from my school was leading a student strike - disrupting class time and all that - I'd be phoning that child's parents really quick and filling them in on the details. With that said, it's pretty easy to see why Homer and Marge would both be there together, and why Homer would be cutting work.

It's one of those easy fill-in-the-blank details that really don't need to be addressed in the episode. I don't seem to recall them showing up before a cutaway either.

[Ryan]

Originally posted by Homerpalooza
One thing that really bugged me and I forgot to mention:

Homer and Marge appear out of nowhere at the school during the strike. I mean, they just step onto the screen and start talking to Skinner, and somehow are aware of everything that's happening. What's with that? Barring the fact that Homer should be at work, it's completely random, out of place, and just an excuse to cram in more of the two.

Think Skinner could've called them about Lisa, since she is their daughter causing a huge strike...which is aganist school regulations and a parent should be called to reason with her anyways?


By the way...is it just me or is this episode the "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the 3rd Grade" of the 15th season. Let's see...both are the third episode aired in the season, both are Springfield kids episode, both brough back something we haven't seen in a while (3rd Grade- Capitol City, Pearls- full-blown musical [Brake My Wife, Please (it had 3 songs) does not count]) and both got mixed reviews. There were no "that was okay" for both...both only had "BOO!" or "YAY!". 3rd Grade and Pearls each had faults that a majority do not like. 3rd Grade AND Pearls- Cop-out ending. 3rd Grade had it's whole "wacky adventure in Capitol City" thing, Pearls had Casino Night. 3rd Grade has returning characters, which a lot of people hated, Pearls was a musical, which a lot of people were irritated by. It's a conspiracy, folks...

...the only difference is that when I saw 3rd Grade again in January, I then realized it was nothing much but a Bender appearance and Japanese Friends. Then again, I'm watching Pearls over and over again...and I'm still loving it like crazy...in fact, this morning, I had the songs stuck in my head in the shower...I knew a new bank of tunes had entered my brain and I was proud of it...even if they were Evita's tunes disguised as Simpson's...

[Incognito, Guy]

Originally posted by Homerpalooza
And "Those fudgerakers!" continues the unfortunate trend of trying to come up with funny "curse words" for Marge to say.

Actually, she said "Those Fuddruckers!", which is the name of a hamburger joint. Thought it was pretty funny

[prince jafar allah]

comrade, if you're so pissed about people liking the episode, rather than spending your time tossing out childish insults, you could spend that time discussing the episode's pros and cons. telling the people who liked the episode where they are wrong, rather than just sulking and whining about "fanboys". and i don't see why I'm being singled out - most people in this thread were far more kind to this episode than me, most people just offered gushing praise without reasoning. i wrote a balanced review which had the good praised and the bad criticised, and each side reasoned for, tell me why I was so wrong rather than just slipping into denial mode. i'm a lot more critical of the show than at least 90% of people here - at the start of last season for example, i hated four of the first five episodes, D grades all round. my average grade last season was like a B- or something. so i fail to see, because i happened to like two episodes in a row, how I'm a "fanboy". i didn't even especially love this episode, i thought it was pretty good, but nowhere near a classic or anything.

if i were to say that all people who disliked this episode were just bitter dorks desperate to show their superiority by criticising the show, you wouldn't be too happy, would you? it's the same thing, flip it round. dismissing fair praise with "You're just a fanboy, the simpsons sucks and always will" is just as pathetic and fucking stupid as all those kids who dismiss any fair criticism with "OMG LOL you're just a nerd who loves bashing the show, the simpsons is better than 999.56% of TV". it's the same thing, dont get it twisted. if your name were HOMERRULEZZZZ2003BEGOOD or some shit instead of Comrade, I doubt anyone would even pay the slightest bit of attention to your moaning (that is, everything after and including "Jafar is a Simpsons apologist"). it would just get buried under all the other one-sentence trolls.

and your review wasn't especially well thought out, no. you whined about the couch gag, you whined about a few jokes you didn't like, whined about it having singing, and then quickly said it had "uncreative writing" and then stopped. nah.

Originally posted by Mike Scully
I meant, more along the lines that it could have been a little more of either of those 2 types. Kind of like Bye Bye Nerdie could have been a more down-to-earth character episode instead of an empty gag episode.

OK then, I said that in my review also. Nevertheless, I think it worked well enough purely as a gag episode to work well overall.

Originally posted by Mike Scully
I should have added this clause to my statement: as a gag episode, the gags were not as consistently hilarious as, say, Dana Gould's other gag episode.

sure they were. poppa's got a brand new badge was not funny, dammit. the running zinger gag? "that's the pride"? "I shine you uppa nice pizza"? homer dancing to Golden Earring for some reason? (and no, that's not me complaining merely about the gags I didn't like, that's the only gags I can remember and they all happen to suck)

[blueguy]

Originally posted by Homerpalooza
One thing that really bugged me and I forgot to mention:

Homer and Marge appear out of nowhere at the school during the strike. I mean, they just step onto the screen and start talking to Skinner, and somehow are aware of everything that's happening. What's with that? Barring the fact that Homer should be at work, it's completely random, out of place, and just an excuse to cram in more of the two.

When IS Homer at work?

[NukeTheWhales]

was there a different show on in canada?

this was awful. even worse than the THOH.

As Homer himaself might say, Let us never mention the episode again.

F-

New worst episode ever.

[joe h]

I was able to look past the musical numbers, but I was unable to get past the unneeded use of Marge and Homer, and reverting them back to their Scully days only made this episode more painful to watch. 3/5

[I'm David Croket!]

Homer and Marge being at the School when the strike is a reason to hate the episode? Skinner could have phoned them because Lisa was the one who called for the strike.
The episode was far better than the average parody of Mary Poppins at season 8, IMO.

[Channel Surfer]

Originally posted by homer5000
By the way...is it just me or is this episode the "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the 3rd Grade" of the 15th season. Let's see...both are the third episode aired in the season, both are Springfield kids episode, both brough back something we haven't seen in a while (3rd Grade- Capitol City, Pearls- full-blown musical [Brake My Wife, Please (it had 3 songs) does not count]) and both got mixed reviews. There were no "that was okay" for both...both only had "BOO!" or "YAY!". 3rd Grade and Pearls each had faults that a majority do not like. 3rd Grade AND Pearls- Cop-out ending. 3rd Grade had it's whole "wacky adventure in Capitol City" thing, Pearls had Casino Night. 3rd Grade has returning characters, which a lot of people hated, Pearls was a musical, which a lot of people were irritated by. It's a conspiracy, folks...

I think your connection is quite loose in all honesty. You might as well just say "Homer the Moe" was the "Insane Clown Poppy" of the 13th season. They were both side character episodes. They both had unrelated first acts. They both had a fairly large role for Homer. "Insane Clown Poppy" had Homer getting shot which people didn't like. "Homer the Moe" had a jukebox sequence which people didn't like. "Insane Clown Poppy" had a new character. "Homer the Moe" had a new writer.

Let's just hope this episode doesn't degrade for so many the way "3rd Grade" did over time.

Season 14 Grades:

"Treehouse of Horror XIII" C+
"How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" B-
"Bart vs. Lisa vs. the 3rd Grade" D+

Season 15 Grades:

"Treehouse of Horror XIV" B-
"My Mother the Carjacker" B+
"The President Wore Pearls" B+

[phil]

Well Jafar I'm sorry I don't make long winded blowhard, bloated reviews like the likes of you. Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, you're an exceptionally good writer. What would you suggest people do to improve their negative reviews? A long thesis regarding the dynamic of the interpersonal relationships in the episode coupled with the general character development in the context of the events which justifies their behaviour? That may be stretching it but may be too much work for someone who doesn't really care about the episode in the first place. And I'm not pissed, I just like pissing off some of the dorks here who take things too seirously. Surely you can understand that. But as Tibor stated, I'm in 'nerd country' where things are different than Media discussion.

[Friz]

Friz is talking, so be quiet.

I enjoyed this episode. I found Homer to be the Season 7/8 Homer that I fell in love with. Him acting gay; "Ding-a-ling-a-ling!"; was fantastic. Everybody was in character, and the songs, although not really memorable, were a perfect tribute to 'Evita' if ever I saw one. Laugh out loud moments every twenty seconds or so, which is what I look for in an episode. Good solid plot, although it was a random ending, which I found to be a season 5 quality.

Well done Dana Gould, you've been forgiven for "Homer the Moe"

[Tibor]

I just like pissing off some of the dorks here who take things too seirously.

Oh, I see, so you're being a board troll.

i'll keep that in mind next time I start to take anything you've posted seriously.

[Magnum]

No one's mentioned the pink Miata joke yet.

[phil]

Originally posted by Tibor


Oh, I see, so you're being a board troll.

i'll keep that in mind next time I start to take anything you've posted seriously. [/B]

One can't help but feel amused by the most humourless fans of a comedy show I've encountered. Plus it's not like anyone of a dissenty voice has really been taken seriously anyway.

[prince jafar allah]

Originally posted by Comrade
Well Jafar I'm sorry I don't make long winded blowhard, bloated reviews like the likes of you. Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing, you're an exceptionally good writer. What would you suggest people do to improve their negative reviews? A long thesis regarding the dynamic of the interpersonal relationships in the episode coupled with the general character development in the context of the events which justifies their behaviour?

no. you clearly haven't been reading what i've been posting. i'm suggesting people criticise things that matter, and that people provide reasoning and backup for their basic points. that's...not really too much to ask, is it? it hardly demands a huge multi-paragraph reply to simply give a bit of evidence for your claims, whether they be negative or positive.

I'm sure you would demand the same thing if someone, say, came into your LOTR thread and starting badmouthing it with as much reasoning and backup as you (and Broom, and most other heavy detractors) provided for this episode. wouldn't you?

Originally posted by Comrade
That may be stretching it but may be too much work for someone who doesn't really care about the episode in the first place.

Yet you've posted 10 times, the second most anyone has, in this thread. Hmmm.

Originally posted by Comrade
Plus it's not like anyone of a dissenty voice has really been taken seriously anyway..

what the fuck are you talking about. until the start of this year or so, the general consensus on new episodes in these threads was usually fairly negative if not very negative. go back and look at the old R&R threads.

[NoOneFamous]

I haven't seen the episode yet, so if my legions of fans (*cough*) are wondering where I am.. thats why. I can't seem to find it on Kazaa either.

[Jolly Bengali]

Jafar, lay off of Comrade... really. He's sticking by his opinion, and he's offered up enough of his own reasoning. You can probably guess what he didn't like or did like. He's up against entrenched nerds, it's tough...

That being said, he's wrong about the episode being bad, burn him alive.

That is all.

[prince jafar allah]

Originally posted by Jolly Bengali
Jafar, lay off of Comrade... really. He's sticking by his opinion, and he's offered up enough of his own reasoning.

i've got no real problems with his review, i argued a couple of points on it, one of which he replied to fairly, and that's fine. it was just the "apologist" crap...

[Rowdy]

I think the huge problem with the episode is that it felt like a fan script. In other words, it was a parody of something that lots of people haven't seen before. Evita is best known as the forgetable Madonna film from nearly ten years ago...it just didn't feel like it connected with the audience at all and a great deal of the songs were humorless...

Also, I agree with some previous reviewers that the scene with Homer was one of the worst bits in the show's history.....

Anyway, a decent amount of laughs and a good storyline helped make it an average episode. 3/5

[Maddog53]

Originally posted by Rowdy

Also, I agree with some previous reviewers that the scene with Homer was one of the worst bits in the show's history.....

See I disagree with this statement unless you also dislike Homer's prancing around the Land of Chocolate, or his "I'm a gumdrop fairy from Lullaby Lane (I forget the exact quote right now) to be just as horrible. I find his nonstop screaming from The Blunder Years, or his stupid backing up (not once but twice, second time on a ladder) from the Sweetest Apu to be much more grating and annoying.

Maddog.

[Channel Surfer]

Originally posted by Maddog53
See I disagree with this statement unless you also dislike Homer's prancing around the Land of Chocolate, or his "I'm a gumdrop fairy from Lullaby Lane (I forget the exact quote right now) to be just as horrible. I find his nonstop screaming from The Blunder Years, or his stupid backing up (not once but twice, second time on a ladder) from the Sweetest Apu to be much more grating and annoying.

Maddog.

Yeah, the listed gags from "The Blunder Years" and "The Sweetest Apu" are worse.

Essentially, without getting too deep into this, the question over Homer's antics here isn't so much if it is out-of-character, but whether his actual antic is funny in of itself. Sort of like comparing the "Pearl-Os" segment of "Saddlesore Galactica" to previous Homer dream sequences. Nothing wrong with it in principle, it's more on whether you liked the sequence or not, for whatever reason.

I hate advocating this kind of thinking though, because it's almost promoting the "execution" argument which justifies why something OK in the classic era isn't OK now, and such, without actually stating why.

[prince jafar allah]

Originally posted by Rowdy
In other words, it was a parody of something that lots of people haven't seen before.

sigh. absence of x, presence of y.

if we don't get any obscure parodies, there are complaints there are no obscure parodies anymore. if we get obscure parodies, there are complaints we are getting obscure parodies.

Originally posted by Rowdy
it just didn't feel like it connected with the audience at all and a great deal of the songs were humorless...

i wouldn't say they were humorless, at all. most of them were funny in a subtle way, they were very similar to the Evita originals, and so kept the parody fairly on-track, but still had that touch of simpsons quirkiness and whimsy. and the Skinner's Evil Plan song, of course, had Willie. they were clever, i'd say, if hardly genius.

[tim_duncan2000]

I think I know what Channel Surfer means. There have been much worse jokes than the stuff where he acted gay and pranced around. Still, I did not find this funny in the least.

I also don't see much wrong with liking certain things certain times and not liking it another time. I don't think that means that you are trying to have it both ways. Take vacation episodes. Some have been pretty good (Itchy and Scratchy Land, Bart vs. Australia, Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington) and some have been pretty bad (KTAAR, Simpsons Safari, and Helter Shelter).