Rate/Review See Homer Run (GABF21)

[grissom]

"See Homer Run"

As a loyal and knowledgeable Simpsons fan, it feels strange to like an episode that's full of things I would normally criticize. The plot is disjointed and has a generally silly feel to it, and the basic idea was Homer trying to gain back respect from Lisa, a plot that's been done at least 4-5 times before, and yet, this episode still managed to be enjoyable to me. I think one reason the plot didn't drag the whole thing down was because the driving force of the episode was humor rather than a complex and clever plot. The jokes came fast and were consistently funny, with very few being off target. For the first two acts, this episode was solid 'A' material. I did think Homer's reaction to Lisa's heartfelt gift was slightly out of character, but since it was necessary for the plot to progress, it was acceptable. About halfway through act 2 (or somewhere around that point), the plot started to falter. We go from a Homer/Lisa plot to a ridiculous 'Homer does something stupid and goes on a wacky adventure/gets another job' plot. But again, the humor pulls through and keeps the episode fresh. Around act 3, the plot and humor started to sort of fizzle out. The townspeople forsaking Homer because he doesn't have the salamander suit anymore was unrealistic and especially annoying. The story of Homer running for mayor is built up, but it seemed like the writer's couldn't come up with anything realistic to close it with. And I have to say, I'm not sure I could've come up with anything better. That's one main problem with these plots about Homer going on crazy adventures or getting another new job, most of the time there's no way to end it that will make sense and seem realistic. Despite the strange way he lost, the scene dealing with Homer's failure was done well, and his dance with Lisa at the very end was sweet. Like I said above, this episode had a simple, fun feel to it, which I thought was one its main strengths. Not perfect I suppose, but a solid episode anyway. B+

[ultraderecho]

2/5 , bad , bad episode , it's just an awful mix of past plots with a couple of good jokes and nothing more..........how low gonna fall this season?????

[vox]

Here's Jimbo's review, which I basically agree with:

bleh. boring, unfunny, horribly paced... homer acted like a doofus and the satire wasn't very challenging.

C+

there were a few minor chuckles throughout, and nothing was flatout terrible... but it could've been so much better. why'd they feel the need to make it about homer and lisa? there was no emotion there, and lisa barely had any depth. i didn't buy her going nuts at school one bit. she wasn't rational at all.

i'm all for characters acting out for laughs, but the characterizations in this ep missed twice by being both unfunny and contrived (lisa being too young, too hurt, homer being too dumb, too rude, too enthused... bart basically being a walking cliche "aye curumba!" ...jesus).

i wish the writers would stop trying to cram everything single thing they can into these episodes. if it's a political satire, write a political satire. we don't need to see father's day. we don't need to see homer hurting lisa's feelings. i mean, we can see that next week, and the week after. a political satire is relatively fresh... why'd they shove an emotional plotline in there? where was the emotion in sideshow bob roberts (a far superior ep)? it wasn't there. the plot was propelled by the fact that bob wanted bart dead, and his family homeless... that's funny, that's interesting! daddy hurts daughter's feelings by acting like a sitcom jerk isn't funny, it isn't interesting, it certainly isn't fresh and it only takes away time from a (potentially) far better plotline.

/angry yawn

My grade is a B-, because I found it a little funnier, but otherwise those sum up my sentiments.

[Cartoonnetwork]

I'm now wishing I had better internet connection to download this episode much faster...Everybody seems to be so on his own about this one I am extremely curious to watch it myself XD

[NoOneFamous]

You know how when you talk about the Simpsons with someone who is a casual fan who doesn't know the episode names or airdates, but they'll remember an episode if you give a simple description? ("have you seen the one with the lemon tree?" -- "Oh yeah, I love that one!"). Well, I miss the days where you could actually describe an episode's plot like that. How would you describe this to someone? "Lisa is dissapointed in Homer?" No, that doesn't work, there are countless other episodes with that same premise. "Homer becomes a safety spokesman?" No, that doesn't work either, because its just like any other "Homer gets a new occupation and/or hobby" episode plot. Oh, how about "Homer runs for mayor?" No, that doesn't work, because it didn't come about until about 18 minutes into the show.

Yeah, I miss the time when basically every episode had a coherant enough plot to describe easily.

My point is that this is just yet another throwaway episode in a sea of throwaway episodes from the past several years. It was just three recycled, tired old plot premises jumbled into one 22 minute mess with very minimal laughs.

2.75/5 for not doing anything annoying or groan-inducing.

[TheFlandersMan]

^ That's stupid. You shouldn't just up the score just because they didn't do something they're not supposed to do in the first place, right after your review was basically all negative.

[NoOneFamous]

Well I didn't specifically say the episode was horrible, I just said that it was completely forgettable and entirely rehashed and jumbled together.

[Samuel L Bronkowitz]

I guess I'll up my grade to a 3.5/5, 'cuz on second viewing there were more good jokes/gags than I remembered....Marge's "here's a $10, make your own card!", "shut up & hand me more Moe heads", Homer's "I'll Sue You All" illustration by Lisa, "how can I undo 8 years of jerkiness in two easy sessions, at no cost to me?", Tatum (to Homer) "I'm forever in debt to you...and to my many creditors", "You look like a mascot for some horrible southern college!", and so on. And maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I'm always happy to get a "D'oh!' from Homer nowadays....he doesn't say it nearly as often as he used to.

But it seemed like the instant the crowd started chanting "Recall! Recall!", it had a jarring effect & the episode kinda spiraled outta control...from that point on it (mostly) felt like a slap-dash job.

[Channel Surfer]

Thanks bmac for typing up many of the script changes. It's always interesting to get an idea of just how much a script really is rewritten before it's finalized.

You know how when you talk about the Simpsons with someone who is a casual fan who doesn't know the episode names or airdates, but they'll remember an episode if you give a simple description? ("have you seen the one with the lemon tree?" -- "Oh yeah, I love that one!"). Well, I miss the days where you could actually describe an episode's plot like that. How would you describe this to someone? "Lisa is dissapointed in Homer?" No, that doesn't work, there are countless other episodes with that same premise. "Homer becomes a safety spokesman?" No, that doesn't work either, because its just like any other "Homer gets a new occupation and/or hobby" episode plot. Oh, how about "Homer runs for mayor?" No, that doesn't work, because it didn't come about until about 18 minutes into the show.

How about, well, Homer becomes Safety Salamander? I mean, yes I do agree having coherent stories are nice, but casually referring to this episode like you describe won't exactly be difficult.

Anyway, see Jafar's review for my feelings, as that about sums up mine. Except I'll add that, even if it was still topical, basing much of the episode around the California recall is a very easy, very banal way to get humor. Second worst of the season. C-

[The Governor]

But it seemed like the instant the crowd started chanting "Recall! Recall!", it had a jarring effect & the episode kinda spiraled outta control...from that point on it (mostly) felt like a slap-dash job.

Even more bizzarre--did the town ACTUALLY think Homer was a real salamander?

[huh?]

C/C-
Meh plot. Seemed to be rushed the entire way through. I kind of wish they would have continued the Bart Blvd. thing a little more.

[simplysimpsons]

This is another example of trying to cram far too much stuff into an episode, and the ending (and even 3rd act) feels rushed and fizzles out without any real conclusion.

The first act was probably my favourite. The Father's day stuff was funny. I enjoyed Homer decorating the house and Bart asking for the money (It's true!) The Ralph scene, though, was really dull. The Leatherbuddy scene was great though, as were the scenes of Homer opening the presents. "Happy birthday dad from Lisa. D'oh!" was one of those scenes I enjoy in the show where something keeps going wrong for Homer. The Moe scenes, and Bart stealing the sign were good, but the Milhouse getting hit by a train moment stepped over the line from funny into disturbing. Lisa taking out her anger on everyone may have just been a bit too much for her, but the Skinner scenes redeemed it.

Both the Willie scenes were great in the second act, and it was good to see Dr Pryor again. Homer had some great lines here (And whoever said this episode will be quotable is right).
The Safety Salamander was just Homer doing stupid stuff (Although his introduction to Lisa and the bus were funny, Lisa being in the seat at the front so not getting hurt). Fireworks were very predictable though, and the massive pileup was funny but I don't see how Homer could have saved everyone from burning to death in the middle of it.

For the mayor scenes to start in the 3rd act, it proved that the main plot of the episode would be be very rushed. Some good lines like "A household detergent will kill you...find out after you vote for Kent Brockman!" , Quimby's plane scene, the obvious but funny Wolfcastle for Mayor thing and "Paid for by victims of Jimbo". The rest of the episode was kinda meh. There wasn't anything memorable in the press conference, and I'm sick of seeing the Cat Lady over and over again - She's worse than the Yeeesss Guy! It also seemed like Homer running for mayor ended as quick as it started - and I wish the episode had taken a different direction to give it much more time. Homer dancing with Lisa was sweet though and at leasr it wrapped up the first act well.

Overall, as I said there was just too much in this to sustain any form of a plot but there were enough funny moments to keep it going. B-, 3/5.

[Jolly Bengali]

this was just a whole lotta nothing. horribly structured and paced, a lifeless recycled plot, bland dumbed down characterisations, badly timed and awkward jokes, etc....

its bad enough that the writers usually seem reluctant or unable to come up with any premises that are interesting and original. but what annoys me more it is that even when they kick themselves into doing a story that actually is new and has some potential to smell something fresh, they dont seem to have the balls or the ability to go all the way with it. its the same situation as with the van houtens episode earlier this season. they had a interesting, fresh premise that was ripe for exploring, but still they feel the need to fill 3/4 of the episode with some generic family conflict story that's been done a million times before. its gutless writing. any moron can look back over this show's 17-year history and pick out the stories that have been done numerous times and rewrite them, checking all the boxes and writing obvious, boring retreads. and they can't even do it right. lisa and homer stories have been done so many times and they still cant get it right. lisa being offended by homer lying about her age to get a cheaper ticket is clueless, stupidly exaggerated and misguided characterisation i wouldn't even expect to see in most fanscripts. that incident aside, the characterisations were mostly self-parodically uninspired rather than offensive. though the "flip out" scene was pretty awful, and that cant even be excused as a bad exaggeration or interpretation of an accurate characterisation; it was just dumb. homer wasnt a jerkass but he was horribly in-your-face, bland and totally unendearing. i really dont understand how one week homer's character can be great (last week) then the next week it's like this. his simple general demeanour seems to shift entirely week to week. he said "i'm winning back my daughter's love!" about sixty billion times, which really hammers home the microscopic level of humanity, nuance and depth that this story had.

the animation was also quite bland. especially the stiff, lifeless acting on just about everyone but especially lisa (the "oh you think a girl can't flip out" run is awful) and the fairly ugly traffic pile-up scenes.....

C-

Rarely do I find myself pretty much 100% agreeing with you, but here we are. Pretty spot-on and fun little diatribe there, even though I think the animation was better than you gave it credit for.

[Veryjammy]

And so the Season 17 rollercoaster trundles along in typically inconsistent fashion with See Homer Run, a schizophrenic episode that lurched between a strained Homer/Lisa story and a political satire minus anything remotely satirical. Redeemed somewhat by moments of genuine humour, particularly in the first act, it still remains an underwhelming outing.

As the second debut episode in a fortnight, this displayed a far less convincing grasp of the characters than Marge's Son Poisoning (which wasn't wholly without problems itself). The dreaded J word need not be applied to Homer in this episode but he verged on irritating, his unnecessarily brutal reactions to Lisa's gifts and general demeanor throughout the episode rendering it difficult to root for him one way or the other. Lisa was even worse, her reactions to Homer's various misdoings ridiculously overwrought and her school rampage so completely out of character that questions must again be asked of Al Jean, whose 17 years of experience on the show are only fitfully showing themselves in the recent episodes. As a 'Homer disappointing Lisa' story this was a dud, not fit to be mentioned in the same breath as Lisa The Greek, Lisa's Pony or even The Dad Who Knew Too Little.

Moreover, the way the episode was structured meant it could barely function as a political satire. Introducing key aspects of the plot two-thirds of the way through an episode is never a good idea, and the lack of focus really hurt this outing. Despite the brisk pace, this was a case of cramming way too much into twenty minutes and it showed in the way plot-points occured. Springfield's mob mentality can be a useful tool for the writers, but it can just as well be a hindrance, a justification for lazy writing. So it was in this case, the crowds demands for a recall election and their subsequent love and then dismissal of Homer stretching credibility and used merely for convenience.

Despite the inept plot there were enough jokes that got a reaction out of me for the episode to scrape a mediocre grade. The Homer tree, Marge giving Bart money, step-dad discount, the over-complicated leatherbuddy, the destruction of Lisa's book, Groundskeeper Willie, 'Sorry Bart' and various other bits and pieces just about holding my attention through the lame jokes (Ralph and the money, Crazy Cat Lady, Homer and the tennis balls, 'Whassup!')

The goodwill I had from the consistently enjoyable end to Season 16 is rapidly evaporating, and unless major changes in approach were made between production codes, the Jean era seems set to continue running aound in ever-decreasing circles.

C

[NoOneFamous]

I just thought of something... what the hell was the point of Bart stealing the street sign? It served no purpose in the episode. Cletus missed the turn to the street, but that isn't what made him crash. The whole thing with the sign and the big pile-up were just really weird and out of place... a half-assed way for Homer to have something heroic to do.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Ehhh...not too bad. The main flaw of this episode was the mishandling of the plot. Bart's subplot was hardly a subplot and the dozens of things they could've done with the recall election had to be neglected since it was only restricted to the third act. The Homer/Lisa stuff wasn't needed, and Lisa's outburst was pretty much ignored.

This is going to be one of those episodes that's better when I see it again and don't care about the plot. There were good jokes including Moe heads, Homer/Lisa unicorns riding horses, and stuff with the bullies. Plus it was nice to see older characters.

[DamnCartoonGuy]

Oh my God, you guys. Last week I was sure no one would like the episode, and you all pretty much did, and this one was even worse! The first act had Homer both as a full-fledged retard and a completely unlikeable and insensitive asshole, and nothing really changed throughout the whole episode. I've really liked Homer/Lisa episodes of the past like "Simple Simpson" and "A Star is Torn," but this episode had Homer being TOO cruel to Lisa, and when he did make a "turnaround," he didn't seem that sincere at all, even though he said "for my daughter's love" about five times per act. And stealing the Bart sign was dumb, because, as an above poster pointed out, was not the cause of the pileup at all. That was thrown together, as was this whole plot, really. We don't even see Quimby until the second act, lots of callbacks to characters of the past with different voices, and not that many laughs, payoffs, or anything, really. This season is sucking. But, then again, I'm the minority here, so feel free to say my opinion is wrong.
Grade: 1/5

[User 1.0]

The first act had Homer both as a full-fledged retard and a completely unlikeable and insensitive asshole, and nothing really changed throughout the whole episode... this episode had Homer being TOO cruel to Lisa...

What? So Homer doesn't really like Lisa's present - does that make him an asshole? No. He never hurts Lisa's feelings on purpose and immediately tries to make it up to her. Okay, he's fails at first - but that's Homer. What's unlikeable about that?

even though he said "for my daughter's love" about five times per act.

That was annoying, yes.

[Drunk Barney]

Hmm it was okay and fairly enjoyable. The characterizations were all top notch, whether that be Skinner, Lisa, Bart, Homer etc. It was nice to see the Phy.....(I won't TRY to spell it) but as Matt_G alone said it was really badly voiced. Though I liked the way they brought him in, and I was pleased to see he wasn't brought in for some random joke, and had a good serious part to play. The first act was quite good but featured some lame jokes. I wasn't overly on the jokes, and wasn't a fan of the Ralph and money joke, I have to say (to wacky for me). But this was the problem for me, the episode just felt lame as far as jokes were concerned. Just too meh, wacky or cringe worthy. I found the Homer suit, all very boring and the disgusting vomit etc, was as I say disgusting and unfunny. The few pain gags were unenterating as too were the people trying to run for mayor. The cat ladies speech for example was totally laugh less. These failed jokes just kept coming in. There weren't any awful ones, just pretty poor and unfunny. Though the wedding one, with Moe sticking him over Homer's head was terrible, it really was. Interesting to see that Moe still likes Marge from Mommie Beerest, but I think that should just be left alone. Cut that and you have some time for the rushed ending. So yeah, I'm rambling here, but you can see my point that I didn't find the humour funny. The jokes I did find kind of funny were all the cars smashing up, though even that was a tad cartoony/wacky for my likes, reminded me of "Sweets and Sour Marge". But, don't get me wrong I still enjoyed it. Good jokes, that I can remember liking with no complaints were when Homer stepped on the cat "oops sorry Bart!" and when Willy smashed the glass. I thought the plot, was fairly well structured, with only the ending rushed. Nice to see the school scenes despite the questionable school behaviour by Lisa. The characterizations as I say were very strong. Homer was very well characterized and Lisa was quite good as well. There were also some good mysterious pranks from Bart and some good scenes from Skinner. Marge was good in her brief scenes too. Overall an okay episode. I didn't personally like the humour, though it was hardly ever very bad, just meh, though it did offer a few good jokes. The plot was quite good except the rushed ending and the characterizations were pretty solid. C+ 3/5

Edit: just realised I didn't talk about the plot itself much. Well, I won't go on to much but I found the Homer and Lisa plot quite nice, but I just found there was no change of ideas. Still pretty good and a nice but as Tomacco says weird ending. But the depth of it wasn't very deep and it was just a small thing at the beginning, a few bits of it mentioned in the middle and the nice ending. That's not to say the plot was screwed, it just fitted a lot in 21 minutes.

[Snack Related Mishap]

Well, not that it makes much of a difference, but I just rewatched the episodeand i actually have to give it a 4/10 because it actually had a few more funny jokes in there I didn't remember. Still that's only like a C-, which is still pretty awful, but it was still much better on the rewatch.

[Upgrayedd]

The plot was meh, the jokes were pretty good. If it wasn't for the jokes, the episode would get a much worse grade than a (B-)

[Green_Peaness]

I hate to be one of those guys, but this is a very poor episode. This episode just had no direction. On one hand, it's a Scullyish gag episode (with poor gags for the most part), but then there's the Lisa/Homer relationship thing. It's almost laughable how Homer is acting like an idiot, then out of nowhere, says "I'm doing it for my daughter" about five times! Like the writers felt they needed to remind us that this episode is supposed to have substance. I'm not quite sure what to think, but surely no higher than a C-. This really feels like the 21st episode of 22 in the 16th season of episodes, though that shouldn't be an excuse.

D

[Greased Scotsman]

The couch gag was the Simpsons running in and sitting down, and the camera pans out to reveal their front room is a cage on Kang and Kodos' planet, with the words "Earth Family" on the front.

The episode itself was OK. Nothing wrong with it, and it had a few good jokes, but the storyline seemed a little all over the place, and kinda fell apart toward the end.

I HATED HATED HATED the returning character's different voices (Pryor and Freddy Quimby). If they can keep Dr Marvin Monroe's the same after ten years, why not those two as well?

I absolutely loved, however, the emergency services crashing into the pile-up. Best joke of the episode.

This episode screwed with the continuity of the series though. Like why hasn't Bart noticed Bart Boulevard before when he's lived on Evergreen Terrace for eight years?

Good episode, but the second weakest of the season so far. B+

[Simpsons Forever!]

I got slightly confused where the plot was going at a few points, but the episode was still very good. It seemed like a bunch of sketches all thrown together, with a sentence linking each one, but the jokes were all pretty funny, anyway. I liked the ending too, I didn't want to see Homer as mayor and then do something stupid to lose his position, like Trash Of The Titans. B

[Jayrayman]

I liked this episode, there is still plenty of room for improvement and the storyline felt slightly lacklustre towards the end but it received quite a few laughs from me and normally when that’s the case I feel quite satisfied in any episode. See Homer Run for me is the funniest episode of the season but far from the best. B

[Cartoonnetwork]

I think this would have worked much better as a entirely-for-laughs episode. That's what it seems the writers wanted to do, anyway: almost all the emotion or possible satire was interrupted by jokes here and there, so why didn't they just do another Homer gets a job episode. It's not such a bad type of episode if you don't overdo it. I mean, a good bunch of the jokes in this episode were about a guy wearing a salamander suit. You have to be very creative to do interesting emotion scenes or witty political satire with this stuff. That said I liked the salamander costume...I know it's silly, but it was the funniest part of the episode, the guys who designed it did a good job. I liked the majority of the gags and I find it entertaining but the storytelling was really bad. I agree with Jafar, it was a whole lotta nothing, that's the best definition of it. It was a little like The PTA Disbands but worse, at least the PTA didn't try an emotional part that failed.

There were parts I found funny but not sincere, most of the Homer-Lisa scenes. "Lousy magnets" and then discovering the magnets were also Lisa's gift was pretty funny and it probably worked quite well. I also found Skinner getting hit with all those objects funny (I know it's pure silly slapstick but I enjoyed it) but there is not any possible way Lisa could do that, even if she's suffering a disorder. But ptobably the weakest part of all was the resolution (not Homer and Lisa's little dance which was kind of manipulative but still a little sweeter and better than much of their previous stuff) but the Homer loosing his costume because Marge has washed it (oh, man, now this is original) and people not having confidence in Homer anymore (Moe's reaction was terribly reminiscent of executives reaction in Simpson And Dalilah to name only one example).

I guess I would give it a C. At least it wasn't boring and it had some good gags.

[Ray Magini]

Episode Review for "See Homer Run"

I missed this episode on TV, but luckily caught it on Krustylu Studios. I forget exactly how they got from Father's Day to Homer running for mayor, but anyway...
I think Lisa overreacted about her Father's Day gift. I don't think Homer really did much wrong there. Anyway, about the actual episode. I liked how the events corresponded with each other. Bart stole the street sign, leading to some car accidents, leading to the mayor introducing a safety spokesperson. I think Homer put on a good campaign but I think that it made the people of Springfield seem unintelligent when they couldn't accept Homer for a human being, and had to see him in a Salamander costume to respect him. I also found it weird that every average Joe ran for mayor of the town.
This episode was pretty solid overall and met standards for season 17, I think.

Overall Rating: 7.4/10

[DaRick]

All up, I think See Homer Run is a pretty good episode: just watching it now. People are right about the Cat Lady; she wore quite thin, quite fast. Her speech wasn't funny either. However, the episode was nice: Homer was quite funny without being really stupid, as he can be sometimes. Lisa had a momumental snap, not unlike Hurricane Neddy, which was funny (and I'm surprised she didn't do it sooner). That's all I have to say. The characterisation was mostly fine, although the ending wasn't that great. Also, some of the jokes went a little overboard (Milhouse and the train, that wasn't funny at all). It gets a B from me. Better than some, worse than some. No classic, but it pretty much meets my expectations.

[Reservoir Dog]

The usual Homer shenanigans

[Stevie V. Scrivello]

Ugh...

I wonder how much Red Bull and Pixie Sticks the writers were on when they churned out this stinker. The plotting is ADD, very ADD.

I'll do you a favor and sum up the episode so you don't have to watch it. First Homer breaks Lisa's heart on Father's Day. Then he becomes the school safety salamander to make Lisa like him again. Then he saves people from a massive 50-something car pileup (WTF?!).Then he runs for mayor. Then he loses the salamander suit (which was the only reason they voted for him). Then Lisa and Homer make up. The end!

Oh, and in between, we get a bunch of stupid jokes involving the salamander suit, a "We were carpooling, I swear!" line from Mr. Largo when Homer pulls him and Smithers out of the same car (they're not going to "out" Mr. Largo, are they?), and a big hearty dose of Jerkass Homer.

See? Now you don't have to watch the episode! You'll thank me later.

1/5