Rate & Review: "Smart and Smarter" (FABF09)

[Cole]

From SNPP
Simon Cowell voices an interviewer for a pre-school that Homer and Marge are trying to get Maggie into - but when she gets in, Lisa doesn't take it particularly well

For those of you who are once again having anxiety attacks thanks to the FOX promos, you can preview/speculate about the episode in this thread.

The thread and poll will open immediately following the broadcast of the episode.

[no_msg]

That was a pretty solid episode. I still can't get over the "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" reference. The show could use more of those.

3.5/5

[magus7000]

COUCH GAG:
Pretty clever. Gave me a chuckle. (should I expect anything more??)

4/5


ACT ONE:
Not really sure what to think of it so far. The bathroom scene was funny but a little zany. The way they brought Maggie to the learning institute was a little meh, but not really that bad at all. The Simon lines were pretty good especially the last one when he made fun of Lisa. Bart’s line at the end was hilarious. “Welcome to “The Others.” Overall an interesting act. It definitely sets up for the rest of the episode. I have a feeling Homer is not going to be in greatest form. Hes already kinda annoying. But well see.

4/5


ACT TWO:
Nice Bergstrom allusion. Lisa’s emotion was fairly genuine. But the Lisa “who am I” thing has been done already and felt a little used. The lunch room scene was pretty decent. GOTH??? WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL?!?! Milhouse was great in that scene though. The different “Lisa’s” were funny though. Nelson rolling outta the bus was unexpected, but funny. Ha-oh-eh-mer was pretty good too. I always love the Lisa future scenes, this one was no different. Her jealousy felt fairly genuine, but running away from home might have been a little much. Again, we’ll see how it wraps up. Overall, I didn’t laugh a great deal, but the act had some emotion.

3.5/5


ACT THREE:
Good to see some Wiggum, I miss him in police form. Oh great, another penis joke, even in sign form its still bad. Comic book guy gag was great.The museum montage was emotionally sweet with great music. Another reused gag (“now that ive got your attention”) with Homer, but it was still funny. The Giant thing was very weird, and kinda over the top. I didn’t really like it. Uh, the reintroduction of Simon wasn’t good. And Homer beating him up was very odd and pointless. Moe and barney being in the house was also pretty lame. I dunno, I really didn’t like the ending at all.

3/5


Overall: I dunno. It had its moments but really wasn’t that funny. Probably one of my least favorite this season. Maybe a second viewing will make it better. But right now:

3/5

[SpongeBob No Pants]

what an amazing episode, everything was done right

there was emotion and no stupid penis jokes

what i liked

Mr Bergstrom letter
Ho-a-mer-er
z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z-z
Welcome to the others!
The resolve of the story
Maggie playing the Sax
Wiggum, lou and eddie in the museum

what i didn't like
Nothing, absolutley nothing, this episode was perfect, lets have some more of those Mr. Jean

5/5

[Andy]

I loved that dream sequence, but the rest of the episode seemed a tad contrived. Lisa runs away because Maggie is smarter than her? Meh, not really a believable storyline, even for the later years. The ending makes it a bit more believable, but it seems more like a copout than a proper solution. And there weren't too many funny scenes except for the dream sequence and Nelson's scene on the bus. Kind of a step down from last week. Too bad...

[Archduke_Chocula]

That got a 5 just for the digestive system and the frog.

"Chief Chief!! I see a vase while Eddie sees to people in profile!!"
"Your BOTH right!"

that and Homer punching out Simon, I hate that guy so very much.

[forgetaboutme]

Loved it. Was even willing to go along with the absurdity of the last act -- being eaten by the large model, Moe as Homer's butler. Even Cowell was used fairly well, which never happens anymore.

Solid all around. One of the best this season. 4/5

[Mason]

Pretty good, the first act was the best part. The bathroom scene was hilarious. A-

[Mafia]

I gave it a 4/5. I enjoyed it. I didn't laugh as much as I would like, but I was interested. Cowell wasn't overused. I did like Simon Cowell making fun of the closing credits. It reminded me of Homer during "Bart Star." "Is there really a need for three of these guys?"~ Simon referring to Groening, Brooks, and Simon. I also liked "More producers, just what I need" and "More like Nancy Cartwrong."

[thugie]

4/5

The "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" sequence was well done.

Do the Simpsons being digested count as jumping the shark?

[henry]

I loved it! 5/5 from me.


"this is you telling her no. this is you telling her its a box. this is you telling her its a california condor."

[pat]

This episode had some good and some bad moments. I can't say I laughed too much throughout this episode, but the plot was solid and well-maintained. I was worried that Homer would be over-exposed AGAIN, but his appearances were toned down, as well as Simon Cowell's. I actually thought Cowell was pretty good in the episode, and I got some good laughs from his commentating the credits, even if that idea has been done previously.

GOOD:
Animation was brilliant, especially the scenes in the museum
Simon Cowell's appearance was done well
No over-exposure of Homer
Reference to Mr. Bergstrom
Got some good laughs out of the Phonics Frog (Hah-Oh-Mah-Eh-Er)
Lisa's dream

BAD:
First scene with Homer and Bart, just didn't like it
The ending
Lisa trying to find an identity, literally

I don't know what to think about Moe as the butler and Barney as the maid. I didn't really get that. But overall, a not too bad/not too good episode. After saying "What the fuck was that?" at the first act, the episode got better, up until the ending, which was pretty silly too. Not so much Homer beating up Cowell, but that whole part with Lisa's impulses telling Maggie what to answer. I didn't expect much out of this episode, and I didn't get much out of it. Perhaps a second viewing will bump up my grade, but for now, C or 3/5.

Season 15 Rankings:
1. 'Tis the Fifteenth Season A
2. My Mother, the Carjacker A-
3. The President Wore Pearls A-
4. Today, I Am a Klown A-
5. Margical History Tour B
6. Diatribe of a Mad Housewife B
7. Treehouse of Horror XIV B
8. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore B-
9. Marge vs. Everyone B-
10. Smart and Smarter C
11. The Regina Monologues C
12. I, D'oh-bot C-
13. The Fat and the Furriest D
Average: B-

[Charmy]

Hmmm... it was good, but like Psyche said it felt just a little contrived. I thought it was pretty strange mixing emotion with wackiness (the whole 'giant' stomach thing), but besides the fact that it struck me as really strange there wasn't much wrong with that. The episode was pretty funny too.

I'd say a B, maybe a B-. Not quite sure yet.

[That Jerk]

i thought this episode tanked. The first act was alright, but nothing memorable. Homer was acting like Peter Griffin with the dolphin line. The second was close to unbearable with only the phonics frog getting a reaction out of me. I laughed at the Mr. Bergstrom callback though i didn't even like that epsiode. The cops were the only stars of this epsiode. I laughed at all their museum lines and the rating cards gag. In fact almost all the museum gags were great, except for that giant digestive track thing. Cowell seemed to be reading his lines in his sleep, especially during the closing credits. Damn, worst episode of the season.

[doyle]

What a fucking disappointment. I knew we were in for trouble right after the totally useless Homer and Bart fight early on in the episode. I guess it helps lead into the plot, but not very well, as it serves as a pathetic excuse to take the family out for breakfast. Maggie is rejected, and then Lisa begins to try to nuture her sister's brain. The scene lasts about 12 seconds, and then we're back in Simon Cowell's office. A lack of development here hampers the effect of Maggie's acceptance. Lisa is initially proud of her, but it wears off after a little bit. The only real thing that drives her towards envy is the shirt that says "I'm with genius." Again, a lack of development hurts the effects on the audience. After some forced classic era references in the place of real emotion, we move on to the next scene. Lisa's efforts to overcome her problem were a bit extreme, moreso than Lisa's Rival, and much more poorly developed. She runs away and then we get a Scullyish ending in the stomach of a model of the human body. There were few bright spots along the way, with less than adequate minor character use, horrible time management, and dumb gags. One bright spot though: Cowell talking over the end credits. D+/C-

Sucks to say it, but things have been quite inconsistent for a while now. I'm hoping the season can right itself before it ends and finish strong.

[pat]

Edit: Disregard this post.

[bauer]

I can't believe the glowing reviews for this episode. I felt many of the jokes fell flat on their face. Totally forgettable Blah. 1/5

[pat]

Edit: Disregard this post. Don't know what I hit, but I ended up posting 4 times.

[Disco Stewie]

Fucking Global, they screwed us out of Cowell's credit remarks, all we got was his "do we really nedd 3 of these guys" and then global squished the credits and started promoting train 48 or some other shit

as for the episode itself, i really liked it, best of the season, full of laughs and emotion

5/5

[pat]

Edit: Disregard this post.

[leaderbean]

this episode could have been a bit better. i wish it included more about maggie and less about lisa just being jealous. we saw episodes about what happens to bart and lisa in the future, but not for maggie.i always pictured maggie as an artist when she grew up. something like that just seems to suit her.

[Crotis Jivefunk]

I was a bit disappointed. The good outweighed the bad though. My beefs were Homer, the Tennis the Menacesque animation, and some steam in the 3rd act. Good thing there were very few American Idol references. (Sans the credits.) Oh well, I guess a 4/5 sounds appropriate for now.

NOTE: Insight Digital listed this description for I D'oh-bot:
-Homer builds a robot that he uses to terrorize Springfield. Thank God I've seen it already.

[doyle]

I think we could have used at least one scene where we see Maggie in her new school.

[kevin]

This was decent, but nothing special. Storyline wasn't great. Laughs were few, but it wasn't really too bad. Reminded me alot of Diatribe of a Mad Housewife in that the idea was good, but alot of stupid gags and poor execution brought it down.B-

[bmac]

Well, interesting episode i suppose. First act was fairly excellent, second act was meh, third act was alright, although a little strange. Don't really know what to think of this episode to tell you the truth. But as a few others have mentioned the plot did seem a little contrived, and found it hard to believe that lisa would act to such an extreme over the situation. The explanation for why maggie was so smart was fairly lame as well. I just didn't see the point of the whole ending contradicting itself, seemed strange. Simon Cowell's appearance wasn't that terrible and surely wasn't shoved down the viewer's throat (i'm not even sure if they actually ever said it was simon cowell during the episode, or maybe i just missed it). C+ for this one i suppose, fairly up and down episode.

[Bort328]

Smart and Smarter a good episode that took a totally different direction than what I expected. I was expecting much more conflict between Lisa and Maggie, and while there was some of that, we also got a lot of Lisa trying to reinvent herself. This wasn't the most solid plot concept ever, but it was executed fairly well. Some plot points were fairly unbelievable (Homer and Marge in the giant body, for example), but they worked to advance the plot in a suitable way.

The characterization of Lisa in this episode was slightly off - running away like that is not something we'd expect from her. Also, Lisa as a goth was really implausable. However, her overall support/jealousy of Maggie was in character. The plot was well paced, although the introduction to the main plot was a little abrupt, and featured a little bit of Jerkass Homer.

There were a few good jokes in this episode: the reference to Mr. Bergstrom was a nice treat for long-time fans, however the next joke (about Katie Couric) was recycled from Trehouse of Horror XII, so it lost a lot of it's humor. Wiggum, Lou, and Eddie at the museum were good for a few laughs, although I'm not sure why Skinner was used the way he was (to tell Lisa she's wrong) multiple times. I did get a small laugh out of Moe and Barney at the end.

The ending was pretty well done, if again a little unbelievable (Lisa's subconscious help?). However, Maggie playing the sax was a funny, appropriate ending. Cowell was actually very inobtrusive throughout the episode, which I was very suprised about. His comments over the credits were quite good... knowledgable lines will appreciate "But what have you done recently" when Danny Elfman appeared.

Anyway, Smart and Smarter was a pretty good episode that made me forget about it's shaky plot and characterization with it's overall humor and emotion.

My Score: 3.5/5

By the way, sorry if this review sucks... I've been trying to write it while watching I, D'oh-bot

[HomertheGreat]

I think bmac said it best for me. "a very up and down episode". It had some really funny moments. Homer, I thought, was hilarious tonight, Cowell had some funny lines, Lisa's dream sequence was great, but the best had to be the police officers. I laughed at every joke they said... buuuuuuttttt there were many things that I didn't like, mostly involving pacing and development. I agree mostly with Dondilinger, in that the Maggie Lisa conflict was set up poorly. Why does Lisa leave over something so silly? And despite the police officers, who I have already mentioned, the third act was pretty over the top and not funny, especially the Barney/Moe thing, which just really freaked me out. Overall I can't say I liked it a lot, but I can't say I absolutely hated it. The best word to describe it is probably meh. C/C+

I hate to say this but starting with Diatribute we've seen many forgettable, meh episodes. I hope this trend doesn't continue because of the excellent way the season began.

[ShadowBun]

This was a rather strange episode, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. The Simpson women--Marge, Lisa, and Maggie--were all in top form, with in-character writing and funny lines. The plot's pacing was well-done, going from one idea to the next with smooth transition. I even liked the use of music (I noticed "Moon River" was playing when Lisa was alone at the museum). Wiggum was HILARIOUS, good grief. I have no idea why, but I the scenes with those optical illusions had me laughing out loud every time.

As for the problems, some stuff felt contrived. For instance, the reason for the family taking Maggie into the daycare were flimsy at best, and the ending was a LITTLE far-fetched (and also seemed to contradict Lisa's need to be the smartest family member, though it did add a nice angle to her and Maggie's relationship). I did think the rest of the Lisa stuff felt natural, though, like her trying to find a new self and running away. There were a handful of weird gags though, like the overly wacky shower opening, Nelson on the bus, Milhouse kissing the rock, and the ending gag with Moe and Barney.

Aside from these gags, I liked a lot of stuff in this:

-The frog toy. VERY funny
-The Lisa's Substitute references...I choose to believe the "Now that I've got your attention..." poster was another intentional reference to that classic (and the "No free beer" postscript was a nice touch)
-Simon Cowell (Henry) was used really well and was funny. The long-awaited scene with Homer knocking him out was great, I loved how Cowell's character kept criticizing, even WHILE BEING BEATEN UP!
-Lisa's flashback...was that a reference to something? I didn't catch it, but I liked it regardless. It was actually kinda sad, with the "I love you" on the frog toy, and showed Lisa's feelings well.
-"The following haw-haw is not in amusement, but in contempt. Haw-haw!"
-Although I wasn't a big fan of the opening fight, I did like the roof later breaking and Homer's taco line.
-All the puzzles with Maggie were good. Ice, rice, price, and the arrows (clever).
-Again, Wiggum and the cops at the museum = greatness!
-Lisa at the museum was really good. I loved the sunset visual gag (with the top of her head), and the SWEET/BITTER tongue joke.
-I didn't even mind the penis gag in this one, it was pretty clever. Small statement on how politically correct art has to be nowadays...

I did think the digestion climax was kinda "out there", but oh well. I loved the ending too, with the sax and Cowell over the credits: "More like CartWRONG. Ah, finally a real celebrity" (on seeing his name). Good episode overall, I'm still not sure if it's a B or a B+, but either way, it's a 4/5 on the poll. Better than tonight's KOTH too.

[Radioactive Man]

I didn't really like this one. Voted a 2/5. Mostly didn't like the homer jokes. For example, when he held up 5 fingers "I got that one right too." It would have been funnier if they ended it right there but instead they had to go and make him to some stupid laugh. I laughed when he said the line but quickly stopped when they made homer giggle.

Was that fight at the beginning a parady of the naked gun 33 1/3 (I think it was 33 1/3)? Where they have the fight in the bathroom and he fends him off with a toothbrush. Maybe its not a parody, I just thought of it because she stuck a toothbrush up his nose.

[or_smth]

Not a whole lot to say about this one, other then it is a letdown from last week's (and what wouldn't be). I thought Simon's appearence was very good, probably because they didn't go "HEY IT'S AMERICAN IDOL JUDGE SIMON COWELL, LET'S POINT HIM OUT FOR THE DUMB AUDIENCE WHO DOESN'T GET IT". Another thing that really stood out as good was the first good metareference of the season, having "You are Lisa Simpson" make a resurgence. It was subtle enough to make it funny.

Now, for things that stood out as bad. The starting sequence was extremely stupid, with exagerated Homer expressions to boot. I don't know why that would appeal to anyone or appear to be funny. It wasn't so terrible that it made me cringe, it just seemed totally useless. This matches the tail end of the episode which had an idiotic bit of Scully wackiness. The digestion scene was totally stupid. You'd think they could have made a more rational sequence to show Maggie making a decision.

I'm very glad were not getting the fall flat gags anymore, Al Jean seems to have learned a bit. Of course, we just need to tackle a few more things and we can get to really great episodes again.

3/5