R&R: "Moaning Lisa"

[cinco]

i don't remember this episode being very sad at all. I really need to rewatch it sometime. The only thing I remember is it being boring {IMO}

Yeah, I also found it dull.

You two started watching episodes when there were already 10+ seasons and this one was probably not one of the first you ever saw, but is was really nice when you would've seen it in chronological order. It had some groundbreaking elements for an animated series. Season 1 as a whole, in fact.

[Jesse Pinkman]

um, i like season 1, unlike some other members. finding it boring is my opinion, it's not judging the whole season as a whole. i just did not like some of the episode. maybe it would be nicer to see in order, but i guess i won't know now unless someone erases that time of my life when i started getting into this show

[The Governor]

um, i like season 1, unlike some other members. finding it boring is my opinion, it's not judging the whole season as a whole. i just did not like some of the episode. maybe it would be nicer to see in order, but i guess i won't know now unless someone erases that time of my life when i started getting into this show

Season 1 was amazing because it was the first TV I can remember, outside of dramas, that tried to have character with real emotions living in a flawed world where reality was addressed in a cartoon. You're finding it 'boring' because you're comparing it to what's out today, but I'm not saying TV today is always better, but compared to the perfect, white bread TV in the late 80's and early 90's, the first Season was brilliant.

[Jesse Pinkman]

i don't compare it to other seasons, i rarely do that. i may say that about THOH's, but not regular episodes. There was just something about this episode I didn't like...

[cinco]

It's great to see the love for this scene here at the board.
I read people being all blown away by the coloring, the mood-creating, the overall feel and flow of the scene.
And indeed, it is a wonderful early achievement.
I rated this episode too low, because I compared it with later seasons.
But let one thing be clear, this was one of the episodes that gave me the feeling The Simpsons would become something special.

[CeetjeBeetje]

I really fucking love this episode, one of my favourites from season 1. I really like S1 overall, I find them all really emotional. Serious stuff that troubles people in real life is the subject of much of these episodes. Well, as is my understanding.
Bleeding Gums Murphy is great in Moaning Lisa, great character. The B-story is also great, with Homer trying to win a videogame from Bart
At the end, the song in the Jazz Hole is pretty amazing.
So 5/5.

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

Moaning Lisa

This episode for me anyway is not bad far from it. I just find it very very VERY boring. Lisa is a good character (I feel for her because I have the same personality and interests as her) But this episode didn’t seem very good to me anyway. The Bart and Homer story seemed kind of a filler and didn’t have many jokes (More than the main plot but still few) The ending was good but still didn’t really make up for the episodes quality. This is my second least favourite of Season 1 but it’s still not bad.

Score for Moaning Lisa: C+, 3/5, 6.5/10, Adequate

[cinco]

^
I guess the Bart and Homer-storyline worked better during the initial broadcasting of this episode.
Videogames were hardly parodied in the early nineties, so it was quite original at the time.
Punch-Out was also a famous Nintendo-franchise during that period. The spoof may be lost on a lot of viewers these days.

[Blobulle]

5/5 my favorite episode of the season 1.
I search the music during the Marge's dream. Anybody know ?

[LittleMissLisaSimpson]

A really great season 1 episode. I really love both plot and sub-plot with Homer and Bart with the boxing video game. 5/5

[Old painty-can Ned]

Another season 1 episode that falls under that stupid rhetoric of "it's boring/it's not Simpsons because it's not hilarious every second/season 1 sucks". This episode is fantastic. The way the 2 plots are juxtaposed showing Lisa's want to mature and Homer's regression at the hands of Punch Out is brilliant and when the two plots come together it makes for one of the best endings in Simpsons history. This episode proves that they could do proper characterizations so episodes like There's no Disgrace like Home have no excuse. The episode really sets the bar for Lisa's character and really shows why she'd be one of the more complex characters on the show.

Rating: A-

[gilfan]

One of my favorites of the first season, there are two scenes in this episode that "make" it for me: the ones where Lisa and Marge ride in the car together. The exchanges between the two here are very outspoken for a TV series. In one scene, Marge is having a frank (and rather depressing) conversation with her daughter about trying to change a man (Homer); in the next, Marge stands up for her daughter and accepts her just the way she is, as she sees her daughter's integrity is valuable regardless. Oh, and then there's Ron Taylor, who has just the right voice for a world-weary jazz musician.

5/5

[derek]

I'll agree that it's a really great episode but does anyone just... not have the urge to watch it much?

[WarioDude]

2/5. Shit episode really.

[Old painty-can Ned]

2/5. Shit episode really.

Get fucked

[WarioDude]

Get fucked

[Rowdy Roddy Peeper]

My Why I Love this episode section –
The Intro Of Ralph Wiggum and the blues, I love the blues and I now have the second grade blues on my phone and my ipod and Ralph Wiggum possibly the greatest character in any tv show ever, god I love that little guy

Ralph did not feature in this episode at all. That kid who you think is Ralph, is not Ralph. Some people say the real Ralph didn't appear until Season 3/4, although you could put a claim in the first episode being the first appearence of Ralph. His personality is off, but his character design is nearly spot on.

[cloneasaurus]

I rewatched this today on a whim and enjoyed it far more than before. Lisa was in great character and back in 1990 this must have been pretty groundbreaking. The whole episode literally revolves around Lisa being sad, being balanced out by the amusing subplot. And yet it still feels really substantial eg. Marge turning around the car was great. I also laughed a fair bit. Plus there was some great animation here and there (but it does have the whole reused animation at numerous points which does get annoying). A.

(edit: this review is lame but nonetheless this is still a great episode)

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

4/5 and sorely tempted to say 5/5 because of my cameo, although I don't remember it too well these days with the weed and all that.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

4/5 and sorely tempted to say 5/5 because of my cameo, although I don't remember it too well these days with the weed and all that.

Role-playing on forums is terrible.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Role-playing on forums is terrible.

HAHA my god I know people on forums have the reputation of being geeks but jeez lighten up...

[Unckie Herb]

5/5 and Handsome, don't be such a cunt

[Lionel Hutz]

Good episode. Homer and Bart's b-story was more memorable than Lisa's a-story though.

Highlights include Maggie choosing the TV over Bart and Lisa, Homer at the arcade, Homer's dream, Bart's prank phone call (Jacques Strap), Marge's line "Nothing personal, I just fear the unfamiliar", and the Bleeding Gums Murphy scenes

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

the Bleeding Gums Murphy scenes were the best parts.

[christmas_ape]

A very strong episode by season 1 standards. Lisa gets some serious development here, and while she's still not quite the Lisa we'd recognise from the next season onwards, it's very interesting to see how she progresses as an individual personality besides just being a sidekick to bart. I actually like the rather thin sideplot as well, it packs the humour punch the rest of the episode lacks. There are problems, the way the Bleeding Gums Murphy thing is introduced and resolved relies on too much flexible reality for my liking and I personally find the second year blues a touch cringeworthy, but it is streets ahead compared to most offerings from the show's rocky beginnings, even including an interesting look at Marge's childhood and how it shaped her life.

The show would get better than this, but it deserves to be in the upper tier of the first season, along with Miracle on Evergreen Terrace, Life on the Fast Lane and Krusty Gets Busted. I find it a bit complicated to give scores to season 1, so no numerical summation.

Edit: I meant Simpsons Roasting obviously. I don't think it would have happened if I'd typed the post sober.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

Miracle on Evergreen Terrace

That's season 9...

[The Thompsons]

You two started watching episodes when there were already 10+ seasons and this one was probably not one of the first you ever saw, but is was really nice when you would've seen it in chronological order. It had some groundbreaking elements for an animated series. Season 1 as a whole, in fact.

This is the point I was trying to make in the Last Episode of the Classic Era thread. The full impact of the early seasons cannot be fully appreciated unless you've seen the episodes in chronological order. This episode also made me a believer in the series and has tremendous atmosphere. The direction by Wes Archer is possibly the best of the season 1 episodes. 4/5

[db105]

Storyline: First Lisa-centric episode. Solid story about Lisa's sadness, with a good B-plot about Bart and Homer's rivalry in a boxing videogame. Nice music, too.

Characterization: I would have liked to know what set off Lisa's sadness. Her depression is kinda heavy for an 8-year-old, but well, she's not a regular 2nd grader, she's Lisa. Good character work throughout, helping establish the main characters, especially Lisa, who hadn't got much attention in previous episodes. Nice Marge-Lisa moment at the end.

Jokes: That was the problem with this chapter. When the character work is good I don't mind a joke-light episode, but this was too joke-light. It's not easy to get jokes out of Lisa, particularly out of a depressed Lisa. Thankfully the B-plot was funnier, and that helped a little. Still, not too many chuckles here. Homer had a couple of great lines ("I have feelings too. You know, like, 'my stomach hurts.'", and also "Oh, so that's it. This is some kind of underwear thing."). And, of course, the end of the B-plot, with Bart's retirement from boxing videogames, was very funny.

Grade: B

[Septimus Singus]

Discraceful. 1/5

[cloneasaurus]

care to elaborate?