Rate & Review "22 Short Films About Springfield"

[Nameless]

Fantastique. Everything interlocks together perfectly. 5/5

[Crotis Jivefunk]

What Carolyn Omine said. Every story's well told, and it's a great Pulp Fiction parody. The scene at the Krusty Burger with the cops is icing on the cake.

[Terrier Williger]

Yep, the Pulp Fiction parodies are spot on, and there are plenty of other memorable moments. It's great to see Nelson getting a taste of his own medicine, and Rev. Lovejoy letting his dog crap on Flanders lawn .
There's some nice little musical interludes as well.
I even like the scene with Apu - "Never have I partied, so hearty."
Although I'm not the biggest fan of the Bumblebee Man, his scene is funny too.
I give this episode 9/10 [5/5]

[Butters]

i'm in the minority here and will probably get flamed by morons but i think this is an overrated episode. B-

thatz cuz u divn get it, d00d.

A fantastic episode, "Pulp Fiction" parodies were excellent, and pretty accurate to the movie. Other than the superb "Pulp Fiction" plot, you also get a humourous "Skinner and Chalmers" scene, a funny scene with Homer locking Maggie in a paper stand, a good scene with Dr. Nick helping Grandpa, a sub-plot with Lisa having gum stuck in her hair, a very tall man making a fool of Nelson and a bunch of other hilarious sequences. A very fun episode overall. A.

[Reverend Lovejoy]

Yep, the Pulp Fiction parodies are spot on, and there are plenty of other memorable moments. It's great to see Nelson getting a taste of his own medicine, and Rev. Lovejoy letting his dog crap on Flanders lawn .
[5/5]

You said it, pal.

I give this episode 5/5.

[mickmac_59]

Breathtaking - possibly the best constructed episode ever. Funny, inventive, iconoclastic. 5/5.

[Kyoya Otori]

5/5

This episode is hilarious, and everything flows together nicely. It's too bad that they never did another one like it. It is in my top 10 episodes, easily.

[Dave Shutton]

5/5, great great episode my all time favorite

[Moe Nopoly]

It is one of my favorite simpsons episodes and i really like the idea for this episode with these short films.
The reference to pulp fiction is great too
5/5

[Tamaki Suoh]

An entertaining episode, but slightly overrated. I think a lot of the plots could have been more interesting. 4/5

[Starman]

It's different, but it's possibly the best "different" thing they've ever done on the show. It's consistently funny and interesting, and there isn't one bad short film as far as I'm aware.

A

[Financial Panther]

It's okay, but a tad overrated in my opinion. 4/5.

[Kiyosuki]

Here's the thing I fully acknowledge that perhaps this does get a little more praise than it should because in comparison to this series' best it's really maybe not quite as great because it's just a great big excuse to have some silly fun with the secondary characters.

But you know fuck it, I love this episode just for that reason. Not too much to say in term of inner meanings since it's just a stroll around Springfield in a series of short stories, but I love the secondary cast to death so seeing many of them in these average or even off beat situations...many of which have nothing to do with the Simpsons is just great. Maybe enjoyment of this depends on how attached you are to the secondary characters but on it's own merit it's still pretty entertaining I think. Skinner's scenerio, the Pulp Fiction Homage with Wiggum and Snake, and of course the Ian Maxtone Graham (The tall guy. lol) coming out of the tiny little car are my favorite parts but I love it all.

Man, even if it was a homage I was never able to look at Herman quite the same way again after this.

I still stick with my opinion that I think this kind of episode should have become one of the occasional "tradition" episodes since the sky's the limit with the amount of material the writers could use for this idea. Plus you get to see the secondaries do stuff without the family, and behind the scenes it gives the writers a bit of a "free writing" day too if you listen to the commentary. I wouldn't mind at least one more 22 Short Stories like episode even now, I think it'd be pretty hard to screw up.

5/5

[The Law-Talkin' Guy]

This is one of my least favorite episodes. And the concept had so much potential! Especially hearing how the process went, according to the commentaries. I loved how it starts with Bart and Milhouse on the bridge... but we don't get to see anything really interesting. Nothing that is to come answers the question that Milhouse raises about the ordinary people of Springfield and the the things that they face.

The Apu story was the strongest by far, with some great jokes and gags. Then, it tumbled down hill. None of the shorts felt anything like a Simpsons episode. I felt like I was watching tiny toons or something. There were a few jokes that forced a half smile... but to me this episode was completely forgettable. The Skinners / Chalmers deal was very flat, and most of what was in between was shallow and forced. Homer and Maggie and the end is good stuff, and makes for a strong ending to a boring episode.

What can I say, I don't like this episode. I know that others will strongly disagree, but this episode is the weakest of the season.

[The Southern Dandy]

The Skinners / Chalmers deal was very flat, and most of what was in between was shallow and forced.

It amazes me how two people can see the same thing and feel so differently about it. I've always enjoyed the interaction between Skinner and Chalmers, especially the ad-libbed bits in "Whacking Day", and you can tell from this episode (even if you don't listen to the audio commentary) that this was meant to be like the ultimate culmination of all the hilariously awkward exchanges in their relationship. It seems like that's what Bill Oakley intended for it to be when he wrote it, and I think he succeeded tremendously.

With Chalmers being his favourite character, I'm sure he relished the opportunity to write the ultimate 'awkward Skinner and flabbergasted, but accepting against all reason Chalmers' scene, and that's what I thought this was. I consider his outraged exclamation about the audacity of Skinner's Aurora Borealis claim, and the eventual "may I see it?" to be the quintessential Skinner and Chalmers moment. Their relationship in a nutshell and the funniest depiction of why it's so brilliant. If I could gouge out my eyeballs and shove them into your sockets, I would, but to me, it's beautiful.

[Tamaki Suoh]

The Skinner/Chalmers segment was the only one I really liked. Nelson's encounter with the tall man, Homer's problem with Maggie, and the Burnsmithers segment were decent, but nothing special. The rest of the episode failed to deliver. C-/C

[sung]

I think the episode was really really well done in terms of kinetic portrait of the city of Springfield itself. The memorable ones for me were the Pulp Fiction parody, Wiggum's conversation in Krustyburger, Lisa's hair plot, Homer's ordeal with Maggie--wait forget it--EVERY story really entertained me because those doings of the characters really matched to their characteristics (Skinner nervous infront of Chalmers, Apu being strict to his job, Burns being bossy, etc.) Every segments flowed into another fluidly. Only flaw that I can think of is that the Spanish spoken in Bumblebee's Man was atrocious, but other than that the episode took a very unorthodox way, but succeeds to maintain entertaining. A/A+

[The Sovereign]

5/5 great, great episode

[Van]

I love episodes with gimmick story telling methods (eg Trilogy of Error, The Seemingly Never-Ending Story) and this one's still the best. I remember watching The Front and seeing how unusual the Flanders bit at the end was, never thinking that an entire episode could be done with little skits like that. I like how the stories just seem disposable with no attempts at any sort of character development. A classic that I will always enjoy watching. 5/5 A+

[ThatAsianGuy]

My favorite segments were Skinner and the Superintendent and the Pulp Fiction parody. 5/5

[Fox Executive]

A great idea from O&W. I especially liked the Frink-segment.
''Professor Frink, Professor Frink, he makes you laugh, he makes you think.'' That was so funny.
Another great run was Oakley's 'Skinner and the Superintendent'-Segment. They kill me every time.
A straight A for O&W.

[The Law-Talkin' Guy]

I don't really get what was so special about the Skinners / Chalmers thing... it felt like a typical awkward dilemma scene out of some cliche show like Wings or Will and Grace.

[qwertyuio]

This is my favorite episode of all time, and easily the best 22 minutes I have ever watched on TV.

I probably should find a lot more enjoyable some epic or heartwarming episodes, and it actually has raised my doubts about the privileged position that this one has in my list, thinking about Who Shot Mr Burns?, Mother Simpson and some other series' gems that I also love but they are inevitably below 22 Short Films. Why I adored this episode more than all those that developed a deeper and more serious plot has bothered me a long time, and I even thought that, as Hell Is Other Robots in Futurama, its first place was only justifiable by an inexplicable affection.

But reviewing it showed my reasons and reinforced my idea. This episode is essentially humour, but it's the best humour ever in the whole series. The few remaining scenes (like Lovejoy's story) were at least enough good to make me draw an amused smile. And what really impressed me: how every character had its perfect line, at its perfect story developed with the perfect pace. Skinner's more paused story, that attached importance to the dialogue (best dialogue ever, I have to say) contrasted with Apu's and Bumblebee Man's respective frenzies, fast, crazy, greatly effective at visual gags and anyway as undoubtedly characteristic of them that I accepted that it was just the kind of plot that could exploit their humorous quality to its best level. Homer made a great appearance, funny at all and spontaneous. Herman had his best acting ever at the series by exploiting his previously outlined psychopatic facet and also giving great scenes to the still extremely funny and atmospheric parody of Pulp Fiction. The Burns and Smithers hilarious interaction, followed by the even funnier Dr Nick's appearance. Moe entrenching himself on a refuge lacking oxygen, Marge, Ned and actually the whole Springfield town contributing to fill Lisa's head with an assortment of substances, Nelson's unconscious answers when he feels intimidated by the very tall man, Frink excusing his delay...

All that was gold material. Humour, parody, characterizations, narrative pacing, animation. The script was flawless, the characters were at their best as a whole and the original and risky idea was completed with nothing to reproach. I must insist on this last point, making fifteen or sixteen stories about different characters is not as easy as it seems, not even at the classic era. This episode needed the contribution of a group of writers at their maximum productivity and that's the reason why I would be skeptical if the format was tried in the current seasons. No matter how much effort they put in it, the season 7 episode is unrepeatable.

That's all for the time being. I think I can't add a lot more. A giant 50/10 for the best TV show ever.

[Jesse Pinkman]

one of the all-time greats, easily the exact definition of what it means to be classic in Television

[Nauru-1]

A little wacky and not a fan of every single segment, but others (Herman's shop, Chalmers at Skinner's) are quite excellent. Kudos on a change in style that worked relatively well. 4/5

[Sniper Squirrel]

one of the best, could go on and on, but it's already been said 5/5

[qwertyuio]

A little wacky

Uh, I have to disagree. I'm probably overanalyzing because it's my favorite episode ever but I really do think that "wacky" is the wrongest definition. From the sitcommish bit of Skinner/Chalmers, to the fast and crazy short film with Apu, to the extremely careful and highly-detailed parody of Pulp Fiction, this one remains in my view as one of the most meticulous and hard-worked episodes from the whole series, with Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part One). The characterizations were always respected and each storyline had its own ideal characteristics in pacing, dialogue and animation.

[Boss]

Not a perfect episode, it's like a test with one question answered incorrectly. 5/5 still, has the makings of a good episode. Ranked number 71 in my top 150, purely because it's not one I prefer to watch too often, even though it is a good one.

~I said fine, what part about sure don't you understand?~

[troymclure17]

Superintendant Chalmers: Good Lord, what is happening in there?
Principal Skinner: The Aurora Borealis?
Superintendant Chalmers: The Aurora Borealis? At this time of year? At this time of day? In this part of the country? Localized entirely within your kitchen?
Principal Skinner: Yes.
Superintendant Chalmers: May I see it?
Principal Skinner: No.

Nuff said. One of the greatest ever. Wonderful from start to finish! 5/5

[Uosdwis R. Jewoh]

5/5 fuckin love this episode