Rate & Review: "Pranksta Rap" (GABF03)

[Curtis]

About the ending I thought it was the weak point of the episode and was stupid how the rapper would let these complete strangers go to his party.

[Homer Jay]

Because rapper always know everyone at their parties

[Curtis]

A lot of people are asking why Bart suddenly likes rap, lets see he is a 10 year old boy who gets influenced by pop culture. It's just a fad type thing.

[Jake]

About the ending I thought it was the weak point of the episode and was stupid how the rapper would let these complete strangers go to his party.

That wasen't really why I thought it was bad. It was more how it was out of the air, completly random, and Scully-ish.

[Tomacco]

Geez, I thought people would be all over the improper ending just like they do to the Scully episodes, but a lot of people seem to care less...

The ending was grandiose, but there was nothing nonsensical about it. If people want to complain about this, then hey everyone, remember "Burns, Baby Burns"? "It's a party, it doesn't have to make sense. So I don't think it's worth complaining about.

[Mafia]

Since when does Bart like rap?

Remember "Deep Deep Trouble" and "Do the Bartman" back in the early 90's? Those felt pretty rapish.

[Bloodbath & Beyond]

bart's liked rap since 1991

[chris]

PS: There was another "tell and demonstrate" joke somewhere, I think in the police station, but I can't remember it now.

Are you thinking of Skinner pointing out the "El Barto" graffiti to Lisa in his office, and the longer-than-should-have-been camera pause on it?

[Cooker-T]

Did anyone notice that one of the voice credits went to Dana Gould? Who did he voice?

[Stackhouse]

dear hotmilhouse977: http://forums.prospero.com/foxsimpsons/start

this thread is really painful to read

[Cole]

The extra scene during the credits is as idiotic as ever!

yeah, it's much better to have the credits take up 20% of the screen while we can learn about upcoming episodes of trading spouses or house, md. what an asinine thing to complain about. it's in addition to the episode.

[stljason1]

Overall a pretty weak episode IMO. Nothing really had me laughing, and the story seemed kinda boring I thought. 2.0/5. Coming off a great episode last week, I guess I shouldnt be too disapointed. I have higher hopes for next week.

[Andy]

Did anyone notice that one of the voice credits went to Dana Gould? Who did he voice?

If I'm not mistaken, Barney Fife.

[Binky]

Really? It was very nicely done, sounded remarkably like Don Knotts.

[the simpsons brainiac]

1 of the funniest parts was with the chains when they were watching the concert at Aztecs house. 1 guy had the clock on and 1 guy had the date. I understand the clock one but the date was hilarious.

[Good Ol' Gil]

All you people saying the ending didn't make sense and how stuff will end up exactly the way it was before are forgetting one important thing..


IT'S A F'N CARTOON ON F'N TV!


If you want realism, turn off your damn TV. You people are basing the quality of the show on what will happen in future shows? Sheese.. come on.

[Sonecor]

This episode wasn't the best, but I don't know why some of you are making it seem so bad. It really had its strong points and I could imagine some of the jokes in this episode being used in an episode 10 years prior to this. I don't think that some people gave it a chance, just because of the "rap" tone of this episode. It did have a plot, and it really wasn't that similiar to Radio Bart.

The first act was solid. It was great to see Bart do something like this again. I liked how he used old rap 'terms' and Marge and Lisa kept correcting him. To the people moaning about how Bart has never shown interest in rap, I can think of little kids I know that have changed over night like this, and got into a new fad.

I think some people might have missed that Homer and Marge were contradicting themselves by singing a rap song on why Bart shouldn't be able to go to a rap concert. I don't think the song was supposed to be that funny, but it wasn't that bad.

Chief Wiggum was great in this episode. They've never really shown the part of Wiggum that does want to do good and not be a failure. His 'Bratty Heart' line, and his line about promoting Lou to Chief, and Eddie to Lou was great. He seemed very in character, and I'm glad he was used for something more than a one liner.

The gag with Millhouse and the frisbe got stupid, until he said, "Bart used to watch me do this." It was nice to see his dad again, as pathetic as he is made out to be. I found the part about "hearing the winning song" to be quite funny.

I'm glad that 50 cent was only on for a second, I wish most guest stars were like this. It ended up being a great joke.

I don't know why people are saying Homer acted like a jerk in this episode. I liked the burning the clothes gag, and the Thanksgiving gag. I also liked the part about the flying rock. Homer's not completely stupid if he knows what a geologist is...

I think this was one of the better endings of the seasons. The party was not funny (it was stupid, and a way to make a quick ending) but the fact that they thought not telling anyone would make everyone happier. I'm glad they didn't just have them fess up like I was expecting. Lisa's role was expected.

Overall, I think this episode was pretty solid, and better than I expected. Even some of the smaller jokes, like Kent's interview with Marge seemed to be a success to me.

4/5, I don't know why some people hated it so much :|

[the simpsons brainiac]

Does anyone have the lyrics to Barts rap at the concert?

[Valhum]

I really liked this episode, it was funny and cool, loved the bit where homer burns the tshirts but what was with 50 cent, that was his whole guest speach, 30 sec, WTF, lol, not that i wanted to hear more of him *lol*

[Mike Scully]

Tonight, we get an episode with an interesting moral dilemmna on-par with Lisa Gets an A or The Boy Who Knew Too Much.

Well, at least, the show attempted to do so much, but it didn't really work out so well. There were definitely some intriguing aspects and twists that kept me hooked: Wiggum not wanting to release Kirk, the dilemma never actually being resolved. But there were just too much incoherent and illogical character writing to make the story really lift off the ground.

It was hard to buy Homer so nonchalantly accepting that Bart completely hoodwinked him, and letting Bart off the hook. Just look at how angry he was about Bart's license prank in Bart on the Road. I know he had to be in on it to further the story, but there really should have been some sign that he wasn't altogether happy about the whole situation, instead of the weak joke about him burning all his clothes. Kirk willing to be in jail, while sort of funny, seemed a bit hokey, which makes the whole story limp. Some characters, who should be key players in the 3rd act, disappear very conveniently. Milhouse doesn't appear at all after the parade. Marge, whom I would expect Lisa to run to, is nowhere to be seen (as far as I can recall).

I'd say this episode is guilty of bending the characters or employing weird devices in order to suit the plot. Not that it was bad necessarily, but I felt too distanced from the characters to truly enjoy the story.

On the humor side, things unfortunately get very sketchy. No real LOL moments, and several jokes that do little for me. The jokes about gangsta rap seemed very standard. 50 Cent shouldn't have cameoed, the Milhouse frisbee gag wasn't funny, bla bla. There were some funny moments, like Homer's reaction to the ransom letter, but otherwise, I can't even recall what they are right now.

Overall, disappointing, considering that Matt Selman scripts are usually winners.

Grade: C

[Eart]

I liked it. That's all.

We don't need a ton of pointless reviews by a ton of people.

Just give a quick input and leave it at that. No ones cares what jokes you found funny and which ones you didn't.

[pat]

Just give a quick input and leave it at that. No ones cares what jokes you found funny and which ones you didn't.

I care. I'd much rather read what intelligent people have to say about the episode than scrolling down and seeing post after post consisting of nothing other than "it ruled, 5/5" or "it fucking sucked, 0.00003/5."

[Mike Scully]

I liked it. That's all.

We don't need a ton of pointless reviews by a ton of people.

Just give a quick input and leave it at that. No ones cares what jokes you found funny and which ones you didn't.

So? It's a hobby. This is a discussion board.

Plus, there's a lot of evidence that Al Jean and the Simpsons staff pay attention to what the internet fans are saying.

[Eart]

I'm sorry, I'm just getting irrated with this threads. Not so much this ones, but every other one pretty much has 50 people nitpicking the shit out of it.

Anyways, I'm wrong you're right.

I typed it without any thought.

[Karl]

I was working on a project so I didnt see the whole thing but what I did see was terrible.

[DotheBartman]

A fun if not especcially involving episode. If the writers wanted me to care about what was going on it didn't work especcially well (I kinda agree with Scully's assessment of it), but to be fair I don't think the story was really meant to be too involving, and was just supposed to be fun. As such it worked well enough for me. I can't think of any bombed gags offhand, and for the most part it was pretty funny. "Thursday the 20th", Kirk's general behavior, the Marge and Homer "rap" (which could have failed horribly, but was thankfully done well), and various other things provided laughs, and even the guest star wasn't too bad.

The only major criticism I have is the cop-out ending....its no "surf's up", but I think they could have given it a better resolution, especcially since the one here wasn't amazingly funny. I'm okay with a non-resolution in this case, but I just think they should have come up with something better, or executed the "house party" scenes better then they did. Its a minor quibble though.

Not a whole lot to say on this one really. It was just a funny episode without much substance. Based almost purely on the humor, I'd give it a:

B (possibly B+)

[Jeremy]

Great show so far, Homer's "go to Hell" ruled, as did te Bart-Lisa rap exchange early on. "THE BAD NEWS KEEPS ON COMING" also ruled. Lots of great Wiggum stuff too. Wow, an El Barto reference, too, very nice. Nice ending, after watching the full ep, 3/5.

[Sarcastic Guy II]

4/5

El Barto
Homer & Marge's rap (feat. Maggie)
Wiggum's Gun (without bullets)
50 Cent's surprisingly funny cameo
"Thanksgiving's not for several months."
Chalmers in the bonus scene.
"Your mother makes a very loud argument."
Kirk VanHouten
Passion of the Salad

The end is a flaming pile though. But, The Simpsons is a comedy, and I did laugh heartily several times throughout. 4/5.

[Jolly Bengali]

Sometime last year, when "'Tis The Fifteenth Season" aired, I mourned the show's decline. Basically, I saw the episode as about the pinnacle of what the recent era episodes could be - devoid of character mistakes, bad jokes, or any other bad filling, and simply comedic and smart. I was disappointed that such a creation wasn't automatically "A" material - proof that simply being "not bad" does not equal being "good". I ranted and raved about how the show apparently could only be "not bad" at its best, and however enjoyable it could be it was still not aiming high enough. "'Tis The Fifteenth Season", wherever you are in syndication heaven, I owe you an apology. I had no idea how difficult it was to simply make an episode "not bad". And frankly, I have no idea why I'm still watching the show. I sat through the embarassing Super Bowl special on the strength of "Mommie Beerest", telling everyone who would listen that it was the banner of some glorious revolution in episode quality, ready to lead the GABF production run in bringing this season to the show's previously high levels. I sat through this episode, pleading with the writers for some third-act snap-turn into brilliance. No such luck. Instead I got an episode where I laughed just a few more times than "Pokey Mom". A lack of humor should have been fine in such a well-plotted episode, but the problem was that many, many jokes were <i>attempted</i>. If you're going to try for a lot of laughs, you have to make sure that a respectable percentage of the tries succeed. The rap jokes, which probably added up to around 60% of the show's jokes, were uniformly bad. Homer-related jokes and gags were straight out of annoying Homer 101. Bart's humor similarly wore away at patience. Wiggum's lines with the Lou and Eddie fared the best out of anything, since the cops as a group are simply unable to not crack a smile, but they, too, were alarmingly inconsistent. Even the animation was bad, with Lisa's argument with Skinner clearly rushed somewhere along the animation assembly-line. It's tough to say what the central problem was. It could be that doing a rap-centered episode, with Bart and the family exploring hip-hop culture and Ebonics, is just simply not a recipe for comic success. It could be that the plot, however straight-forward, was either too convuluted or too ambitious for its own good. It could be that the resolution of the episode was noticeably attempting to be "clever". An episode like this one, though, probably doesn't merit the amount of analysis it would take to figure out just what went wrong. What's important is that the episode clunked at the very time when I wanted a good episode more than anything in the world. I don't know how long I can spend getting my hopes up off the excellent episodes the writers throw out every once in a while. Like table scraps, they've kept me coming back for more despite a near-endless stream of disappointments, but I don't know if I can continue. Some may praise this episode as one where everyone stayed in character, the plot was well-constructed, and legitimate social commentary was shown. They may very well be right. What they're missing is that the show at this point has officially spent the good-will it has accrued over years of amazing episodes. If you ignore the show's elite history, how anyone could view an episode like this as anything but mediocre entertainment is beyond me.

C-

[caramelbart]

Please take what I say as an isolated opinion on a single episode and not the entire Simpsons’ canon. But the fist act of the episode came off a bit racist.