Rate & Review: "Fraudcast News" (FABF18)

[whisman]

Terrible. I mean really terrible. The story was decent enough, but the episode had to be the stalest-humored piece of work I have seen. Maybe 1 full laugh and a chuckle, but that is it. D+

Full review tonight.

[Shlomo]

Just watched it.

To be honest, I did not like this episode too much. Crazy plot. It had it ups and downs, but genereally - I think there were better finales in the last 5 years.

3/5

[Disgruntled Goat]

Episode was a bit weak at the beginning - actually the whole first act was basically a repeat of Monty Can't Buy Me Love with a different outcome.

Was it me, or did Willy say "shite" (when describing the tractors)? That was just... so non-Simpsony. The Smithers gay references were also weak, they were just the same things as before. They could find some new jokes for him.
- Burns: No one likes me.
- Smithers: I... like you.
Can't remember the episode... actually it may have been Monty Can't Buy Me Love again.

After that the episode was great. Some good media and political satire this week (not like last week's pile of puke), and the episode was damn funny. I also noticed the weird animation/drawing (eg Ralph too fat).

Overall, this episode had the potential to be one of the best of the past 5 years, but like so many Scully episodes was brought down by recycled gags and some flat (or stupid) humour.

4/5

[bovine_university]

Good, not great. I thought this was a satisfying way to end the season, but it wasn’t a spectacular way. The plot was pretty good and the characterization of Burns was great, his evil yet feeble qualities were handled very well. The ending was okay, though that picture montage reminded me a lot of last season’s finale. However, I didn’t really like the first act very much. Most of the humor involving Burns trapped under the rocks seemed more disgusting than funny, and the man of the mountain plot was pretty much another plot device with no purpose accept to fill up the time in the first act (though it was nice to have the topic of Lisa’s elegy pass into the second act). On top of this, the scene were Burns watched the news report felt a lot like the first act ending scene in Monty Can’t Buy Me Love. The humor was okay, but there wasn’t anything that hilarious. This was probably one of the quieter season finales of recent memory. 3/5

[Eart]

Originally posted by ShadowBun
Guess I'm all alone on that gag then.

Nah, I thought it was funny as well.

[That Jerk]

I thought the Elvira parody was out of place too. Funny the first time, pointless this time. I did give it a laught though at the very end due to the pure "what?"ness of it.
A few more random notes...
Homer's "damn women drivers!" line got a huge laugh out of me, but the chopper follow up kinda soured it. I wish sometimes the writers would let a good joke be said once (the Elvira thing is another example).
Burns' unsettling "yes, i'm old" attributes are usually a hit, but not when theres about eight of them in a row. It was looking like a Ren and Stimpy cartoon at the end of the first act.

[Stackhouse]

the booberella joke was dumb at first, yes, but burns line afterwards was pretty great i thought: "oh, that's john's daughter" or you know, somethign to that extent.

[The Foot]

The story started off slowly, although the pace picked up quickly and it was intriguing. I liked the battle of Mr. Burns trying to monopolize all of Sprinfield's media sources and Lisa fighting to be Springfield's only other media source. While, I did like the League of Evil and the Rupert Murdock line this episode wasn't very funny overall. I thought the ending with everyone writing their own newpapers was alright, but a little weak. Decent season finale. B

[Magnum]

Even though the mole joke was wrong, the look on the mole's face almost made up for it.

[Mafia]

I enjoyed it, but it could have been so much more. I did really love Burns shouting "I'm at war with a little girl.... AND I'M LOSING!"

[Mira]

Originally posted by Sarcastic Guy
Great episode. Right up there with "Tis the Fifteenth Season" and "The Way We Weren't."

I don't think it was as good as either of those. I don't even think this is in the top 5. It was ok though. My only problem with it was that it wasn't that funny. The only jokes that made me laugh were The Futurama joke, the guy taking the money just for the Ice cream sundae and the adorable ponies turning evil. Not A-ish, ok though.

4/5 B/B-

[Tara]

Excellent end to the season. The whole ant thing with Burns was just hilarious. Definitely one of my favourites. 5/5, A+.

[Citizen Kang]

Too many people in my room last night so it was hard to pay full attention but from what I remembered it was a great episode...

4/5

(I'm still surprise how much everyone hated last week's...)

[Charmy]

I loved it. I really did. Easily one of the top five of the season. There were some bad jokes thrown in (the one sticking with me the most is Burns getting hooked on mole milk), but overall it was great. A-, although I'm seriously considering giving it an A (I'll wait to re-watch it before deciding).

[whisman]

Apparently I really missed something about this episode since I am of the very few to give it a bad grade. I'll rewatch it tonight, because this is one of those episodes that need a second viewing.

[HoyvinGlavin64]

Lisa episodes are almost always good, and Burns episodes are almost always good. Put two and two together, and you could make a good guess that this episode would be good. And it was. Not the best episode ever, but still very good. I missed the first act, so maybe I missed some extremely bad or extremely good parts, but this episode would fit into the classic era perfectly, even though it wouldn't measure up to the best of the time. There was humor, satire, great characterization, and everything an episode needs to be good. A-, or 4.5/5, rounded to 5/5.

[Roger Myers III]

Originally posted by J.Re*
Dear Everyone,
saying "i have the same exact opinion as jonah" is not a good review.
Kisses & Hugs,
J.Re

No, but it seems to explain much of the immediate-poster reaction to this one, just like last week. Its as if no one noticed that there was virtually no Marge in it (*edit* 3 brief scenes, with 4 straight lines & one joke?). Or that there was the same unfunny "tattoo" joke as last week's. Or that Burns was just as "senile" and "feeble" as "evil"- which usually raises alarm bells here. Or that he now believes his mother is dead (there has been indications both ways over the years.)

More later... but, for now - why not Booberella? Burns wanted to "Fox"/sexy up the C6 newscast, so he went with what he found sexiest - a big-chested lady who dresses like a 1930's horror-film ingenue. And her "booooobs" line is just as banal as any other morning-news eyecandy who's just there for her looks and lightweight chat abilities.

[ECioffoletti]

Fantastic. 4/5. Now that's what the episode from last week should've been able to do.

And Mr. Burns was about as evil as we could have hoped for imho.

I do agree with some previous posters that the Smithers gay references were weak and tired. I think the writers have completely run out of ideas in that department. Can't really say I blame them.

[squishee lady]

Lot's O laughs, and reminisent of the "classic" era. A, possibly A+.

[Roger Myers III]

Now some DYN's:

Bee Man's terra-cotta-roof, adobe-colored house is a nod to Mexican culture.
Bart's "swell prizes" scene was an homage to old comic-book ads in which you coulld earn "swell prizes" by selling subscriptions to "Grit" magazine.
Great tap-dance visual of Homer, L&C at the cemetery gates.
In the C6 Executive's office is a promotional pster for the channel which features Scott Christian & Krusty (the others are cut off).
Great Bill & Marty scene, w/ the "Wednesday Whines" and the "naughty hottie" line.
Itchy & Scratchy & Baldie was fantastic - best I&S in a long time (Vote Republican" & "Made in Korea", too.)
"Bagdhad/Basra" was a ref to the Jayson Blair & Rick Bragg fiascos at the NY Times - one thing they did was to put datelines on stories from cities they didn't actually set foot in - Milhouse's 'sin' is much milder, b/c he was at least in the same war-torn Iraqi region.
Loved Bart's role as the editorial cartoonist: his "Skinrash" was a nod to the ed. cartoonists' propensity to put a common, 'favorite' recurring signature character in the corner of every cartoon; and his general role and final cartoon were refs to the turn-of-the-century toons of Thomas Nast, which "single-handedly" turned public opinion against NY's corrupt Boss Tweed.
"I can't be held responsible for what I tell my goons to do!"
The mimiograph does have a strong smell from the ink & carbon paper it uses - but didn't care for the wasted Nam flashback.
Homer:"Well, if that's your custom!"; and "Plastic pearls make the girl!"

The only meta-referencing I recall was the Itchy "Made in Korea" line, the (great) "Are you always this 'on'?", (sort of) and the blatant kissing up to Rupert (that "strange look" was the two of them looking straight into the camera and smiling - both are very rare poses.)

[That Jerk]

I'm not saying this was a direct reference, but did anyone else think "The Devil's Advocate" when the cutesy ponies turned into demons for a second?

[HomertheGreat]

Good, solid finale, but could have been better. I thought everything was fine with this episode except for the humor. Way too many lame, cringe-worthy jokes. But the plot flowed very smoothly and the characterizations were excellent. B/B+

[chris]

Originally posted by Roger Myers III
Its as if no one noticed that there was virtually no Marge in it (One scene?).

I was going to point that out, until I rewatched it and realized she did have a (very forgettable) line or two in the first act. But yeah, this may have been the least Marge has been used...ever; not counting something like the "Spin-Off Showcase" and what have you, where it makes sense for her not to be included much.

[bovine_university]

Originally posted by Homerpalooza
I was going to point that out, until I rewatched it and realized she did have a (very forgettable) line or two in the first act. But yeah, this may have been the least Marge has been used...ever; not counting something like the "Spin-Off Showcase" and what have you, where it makes sense for her not to be included much.

Don't forget Krusty Gets Kancelled, she didn't even have a line in that episode. That's the only episode in history where one of the four main members of the Simpson family doesn't have a single line of dialogue.

[FooR]

Originally posted by That Jerk
I'm not saying this was a direct reference, but did anyone else think "The Devil's Advocate" when the cutesy ponies turned into demons for a second?

That's exactly what I was thinking of when I'd seen it.

[NoOneFamous]

It was pretty good.

4/5

[Channel Surfer]

Well, now that my power is back, I guess I can write something more that will do this episode justice. It's too bad I don't have a tape of it because it really is one I would like to see again, if for no other reason than just to enjoy it again.

This episode shared a format similar to that of another Jean era Lisa episode, "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can". Both episodes introduce Lisa to an interest that would eventually put her up against an adversary, be it Mr. Burns or George Plimpton, who tempts her with fulfilling one of her dreams/interests (ponies/college scholarship) and leaves her at a temporary war with her conscience. She chooses the high road, loses, but everything comes out OK in the end thanks to the townspeople. But if I had to pick between the two, I'd pick this one in a heartbeat. This episode gets the conflict going much quicker than in "ISAFAIC", and is much better for doing so, allowing for an engaging war between the two, grabbing my interest with the two of them attempting to undermine the other, and how each will respond to another's tactic (e.g. Lisa using Skinner's mimeograph to print her paper in response to Burns cutting power to the Simpson household). "ISAFAIC", perhaps limited by its premise, couldn't really do that, chugging along for almost two whole acts before establishing a defined conflict, basically only held together by likeable characters and the surprisingly good subplot (though I am glad there wasn't a necessity to insert a Captain Wacky subplot into this episode). The ending here too was much better than in "ISAFAIC". Both ending ultimately lift the episode out of its funk and have a sort of feel-good quality to them. But the ending of "ISAFAIC" offered little more than that, and truthfully came off cheesy to me for that reason, especially with the giant stone Lisa head. This ending I felt was genuinely clever in contrast, to have everyone create their own form of media. It was great both because it showcased many individual side characters well, and because it played the "one person can make a difference" inspiration story angle in such a unique way, with an ending that is utterly absurd yet can easily be drawn as a conclusion from Homer printing Lisa's newspaper and legitimately solves the problem. I also didn't mind Burns and Smithers shopping spree at the end either. It was quite a petty thing for Burns to buy up the media just to flatter himself, and him just going out to shop later helps put that pettiness in its place. Plus, it could be seen as a tribute to the end of "Moe Baby Blues", with both finales ending with a series of photographs.

And the actual story itself was a joy to watch. Sure, there was the oddball joke that I felt fell flat, Burns addiction to mole milk for instance. But I don't think it was a more pressing issue than many other popular Jean era episodes. "Little Girl in the Big Ten" had the panda virus thing, "Special Edna" had Marge's "Latin Grammy" comment, "Moe Baby Blues" had its first act woes with the plant, and "Tis the Fifteenth Season" had Marge's insane reaction to being given a pork chop. Obviously this is subjective, but those moments are just as bad, if not worse than the stuff in this episode, and IMO most every episode has at least one gag (if not more) that just doesn't work. I didn't feel it was a frequently intruding problem, and most of the gags I felt worked great. This episode probably had the best Burns characterization since, well the Mirkin era probably. While he was played for goofy sight gags (his escape from the landslide being the most obvious) and had his fair share of senility/craziness, there isn't much of a point in the series where that isn't true. He still felt the Negro leagues were around in "Homer at the Bat" after all. He had plenty of great lines and moments, most of which have already been mentioned by others. Lisa too was just as well written, and had plenty of great lines as well. (Paraphrasing) I loved her response to Nelson's "I make nerd's cry", "Good, you'll be our TV critic", to Burns "My mom doesn't arrive for another hour", her assessment of music (and the following Burns "Are you always this 'on'?") that Roger Myers III has already listed. She didn't have that smug pretension of "Lisa the Skeptic" nor was she reduced to some strange commentator like in "Lard of the Dance". Idealistic, humorous, and appealing, more akin to "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" or "Lisa the Iconoclast". And plenty of funny side moments too, off the top of my head the pimply face teen attempting suicide over the cancellation of "Futurama", Burns being knocked over by an ant (I never would've thought the writers could've found a way to make Burns even more frail in such an outrageous but still surprising way), the league of evil, Milhouse printing false stories a la Jayson Blair (again like RMIII pointed out), the "Itchy and Scratchy" toon (probably one of the best ever), and of course the Rupert Murdoch line at the end.

I was going to list grievances (which I do have some, albeit small ones) but I'm getting tired of writing so I won't bother. But needless to say, I really enjoyed this episode a lot, and it just might be my favorite of the season. Will decide that on a second viewing, whenever I get that chance. But for now...

Grade: A-

Originally posted by scottvivian
The Smithers gay references were also weak, they were just the same things as before. They could find some new jokes for him.
- Burns: No one likes me.
- Smithers: I... like you.
Can't remember the episode... actually it may have been Monty Can't Buy Me Love again.

It was, but that was also fairly similar to his "Somebody down here likes you too sir." from "Brush With Greatness". I personally didn't have much of an issue with it, but I can see the complaint.

Originally posted by Roger Myers III
No, but it seems to explain much of the immediate-poster reaction to this one, just like last week. Its as if no one noticed that there was virtually no Marge in it (*edit* 3 brief scenes, with 4 straight lines & one joke?). Or that there was the same unfunny "tattoo" joke as last week's. Or that Burns was just as "senile" and "feeble" as "evil"- which usually raises alarm bells here. Or that he now believes his mother is dead (there has been indications both ways over the years.)

In all fairness, aside from possibly your Burns comment (though as I said above I don't think it's that bad, in the context of the series probably one of his best appearences) those would be very trivial things to complain about, as well as very flimsy (or extremely harsh) criteria to bash either this episode or even "Bart Mangled Banner" with. For all the pounding "Homer's Enemy" gets from its critics, how much of it has to do with the minuscule role Lisa plays in it? Not much I would think. And how fast would the people here, perhaps even yourself, harp on someone else if their criticisms were centered around an unfunny sight gag like a tattoo? Or if the writers briefly disregarded continuity in a scene for the millionth time for whatever reason?

Besides, your inference about the board in the R&R threads is quite cynical. While I'm not above making fanbase assessments myself, it's probably more likely that the episode was received this way because it's a character-driven Lisa story with a tyrannical Burns. Much like I'd suspect "Bart Mangled Banner" was maligned because it had the characters acting in blatantly weird ways (mostly in the third act) without much of a coherent plot, similar to "KTAAR" and "Simpson Safari".

[Sloppy Jimbo XOX]

One thing that struck me about the episode was how well the background characters and familiar settings were utilized throughout. It really helped further the believability of Burns' media controlling effecting the entire town, and was all the more entertaining to watch. The direction was particularly impressive for an odd-numbered episode also, fluid animation and emotive facial expressions aren't usually this prominent in an even-numbered p-code. Well, I was impressed.

As for the actual content of the episode, characterizations and so forth, let me just say that I completely agree with everything Channel Surfer said. Now that's a good review!

Grade: A-

On a RMIII-esque note.

- Did you notice this subtle gay joke (I assume it's a gay joke):

"Selma: Are you a Patty or a Selma? Take our quiz.
Sea Captain: Well blow me down, I'm a Selma!" (It means he likes men)

- My favorite line of the entire episode was "Way to go, Moon Milhouse". I almost laughed through Burns' ant battle.

- Did you notice this subtle diction:

"Lisa: But give him a runny nose, I want the readers to gag on their morning cup of jo.
Bart: Snot a problem, chief!"

- I purposely waited for somebody with esteem and a similar opinion to mine to submit a review in this thread.

[Disgruntled Goat]

Originally posted by Sloppy Jimbo XII
- Did you notice this subtle diction:

"Lisa: But give him a runny nose, I want the readers to gag on their morning cup of jo.
Bart: Snot a problem, chief!"

Yeah I noticed that too, but it was kinda overshadowed with the "Sure thing, jerk!" line.

[Friz]

Grabbed a download last night. Loved the whole thing. Teenagers falling into cars, Mother Moles, Segways, Mimeographs, Vietnam, Patty & Selma, Itchy & Scratchy... This episode could have easily have fitted into Season Seven/Eight without anybody noticing.

"I review the new tractors. They're all shite!"

Methinks this line will be cut when shown in the UK.