R&R: Behind The Laughter

[Mr Black]

also if i dislike Principal and Pauper it's because it's not funny

see, this is the thing, when its a popular opinion you don't need to defend it. If I was Ben Chan I'd start a long argument now over Principal and the Pauper and how you should back your opinion up. I'll remind you BTL doesn't bother me that much, but Ben Chan couldn't stand that I disliked the episode so much. So what if I take it seriously ? Its like the computer wore menace shoes. It fucked around with reality so much that not taking it seriously could make it more enjoyable (endurable) but why should the simpsons be so difficult to take seriously when between seasons 1-4 it was a witty, clever and pretty down to earth social commentary ?
I understand your point but the fact is it doesn't change my opinion of the episode , I haven't got a problem with the S8 clipshow that portrayed the characters as actors and I don't know why. Maybe because I much prefferred its parody of modern television much more?

[Nebuchanezzar]

i didn't take issue with the fact that you found behind the laughter unfunny, rather, i took issue with the barrage of excuses you were offering me as explanations for your dislike of behind the laughter. if you had said "it's not funny" and left it at that we wouldn't have an issue but instead you went after things like "its lazy parody", or "it messes with continuity" without being able to backup why these things are the case. the same was the case for almost all of your reasons for disliking behind the laughter. these things aren't so much subjective either. liking an episode is subjective, yeah, but when you give us reasons then the reasons are usually less subjective. that was the case here. "i dislike behind the laughter" is something i can't argue against because it's subjective, but when you add "because it's unintelligent" then it becomes a whole lot less subjective.

also, i wouldn't start an argument with tfd over how he needs to back up his opinion because he's done that already re the principal and the pauper, as i did in my review.

I'll remind you BTL doesn't bother me that much

well...

Upon rewatch this is without doubt the worst episode ever

...

F

that sounds like you disliked it an awful lot.

It fucked around with reality so much that not taking it seriously could make it more enjoyable (endurable) but why should the simpsons be so difficult to take seriously when between seasons 1-4 it was a witty, clever and pretty down to earth social commentary

i think you've proven tfd's point there dude. you obviously still regard seasons 1-4 as excellent, meaning that behind the laughter didn't destroy your ability to enjoy the series, or anything like that.

[Mr Black]

you told me I couldn't back up my views yet in all fairness I still haven't heard much about the jokes you thought were intelligent apart from marge vacuuming which was more of a cheap gag. I'll say it again , a lot of the jokes in this episode I found really tasteless (the growth hormone joke) The plot was pretty weak, it was set out like Behind the music and it was almost telling the history of the show. I don't like self parodies that much, but I don't dislike ALL of them. The Simpsons xmas boogy thing was second in cringeworthiness to the family brawl at the fair, and it still leaves me confused weather or not the episode was supposed to be canon or not.

[Nebuchanezzar]

there's no point in me stepping you through the episode, outlining which jokes i found "intelligent", because the discussion would be fruitless. i think the fact that i found one example about twelve seconds into the episode, ie, about half a second after the opening sentence, speaks volumes.

in any case you said it was a cheap gag, so there's almost no point in continuing. i suspect, based off the way you're conducting this discussion, that you'd find reasons why all the jokes i mention are shit. finding reasons isn't a bad thing, but it becomes a bad thing when those reasons are contradictory and fanciful.

your original complaint was that behind the laughter was bad because it was a lazy parody because it didn't add many new elements beyond the original material (behind the music). well, another episode based just as heavily on, or close to, original material is cape feare. you love cape feare, which is fair enough, but your very own criteria states that you ought to dislike it. maybe not as much as you dislike behind the laughter, granted, but dislike nevertheless...but you love cape feare! the point i am trying to make here is that in order to avoid being hypocritical and contradictory, you should judge all episodes on a criteria you've set. i can't say anything against your criteria because that's subjective. but when your criteria suggests that you ought to dislike behind the laughter because it's "lazy parody", then you've got to apply the same criteria against other episodes which engage in "lazy parody". either that, or you can find another reason to dislike behind the laughter.

my first problem here is that the reasons you've supplied for disliking behind the laughter are all IMMENSELY contradictory. you like one parody, but not another. you dislike "unintelligent" jokes but you love the hms pinafore scene which is filled with highly amusing, but wholely braindead material. almost every single reason you've given me is just as contradictory. i am not asking you to dislike cape feare. i am simply trying to show you that the criteria you're using to judge behind the laughter is inconsistent with the criteria you use to judge other episodes.

my second problem is that the reasons you're giving us are fanciful and specious. i can't do anything with words like "scullyish", or "intelligent" or "tasteless" because none of those words means anything to anyone but the person who's using them. the marge joke i outlined, with reasons as to why it might be regarded as "intelligent" (ie multiple meanings, one of which addressed the reception of the show itself), has been dismissed by you as a "cheap gag". what is a cheap gag for you? i can't conduct this discussion any further because the reasons you're now giving, having been chased up by me (and theforbiddendonut, and qwertyuio), can't even be talked about on a messageboard. we can't really have a meaningful discussion about how behind the laughter was "scullyish" and hence bad.

the only way we can continue this discussion is if you give me some kind of outline as to what terms like "intelligent", or "cheap gag" mean for you when it comes to the simpsons. that way i can point out some other jokes in the episode which fit the criteria.

but i'm not sure that will make any difference anyway because it looks to me like you're not willing to budge. you've accepted the conclusion before the reasons, and you're inventing reasons on the fly to support a conclusion you've already decided is the case:

I haven't got a problem with the S8 clipshow that portrayed the characters as actors and I don't know why.

i'm sure we all think things without knowing why, but there's really no point in publishing those type of opinions on a messageboard. that's why i stay away from quantum physics forums

[DotheBartman]

I have to admit, one of the reasons (not the primary one, but you know) that I don't watch the show anymore is that I don't want to have to accept the modern episodes as canon, or deal with watching classic episodes and realizing what happened later on. Basically, I don't really like that characters like Fat Tony and Homer's mother are now dead in the series (at least, as I understand it? I know they copped out with Tony, though...) and sort of prefer never seeing those episodes simply so that I can live in a universe where Fat Tony is still Fat Tony and Homer's mom is still out there somewhere plotting to go see him again. At the same time, this is a conscious choice on my part, and even if I saw those episodes I don't really see how they would completely destroy a bunch of classics, because if nothing else I can choose to disregard them anyway. Especially with a show with continuity as fluid as The Simpsons, it's pretty easy to just pick and choose which seasons or episodes you actually want to "count" if you really wish to. Believe me, it's a bit harder to completely count out The Phantom Menace and The Godfather Part III (though I've still done so). Not to mention you have episodes like this or the Treehouse of Horrors that are so clearly concept pieces anyway that it really doesn't matter. The family in Behind the Laughter isn't even the "Simpsons" characters we know and love, they're the SIMPSONS family of actors who play them (within the fictional context of the episode). In the same way that in real life Jerry Seinfeld the character or Stephen Colbert the character and Seinfeld the person or Colbert the person are two different things.

I kinda understand where you're coming from Goodfella, but I think it's easy enough to just say "okay, only the classic era is actually 'The Simpsons' to me from now on" and move from there. That's more or less what I've done over time. And an episode like this should be easy enough to ignore, whether you love or hate it, because it's already designed to be.

....as for the episode, um, it was alright? I haven't seen it in a decade. I remember initially really liking it, then being bored to death with it after a while on repeat viewings. It doesn't hold up well.

[HMS pinafore]

This is clearly a very contoversal topic. It seams to either be the best of the season or the worst. As for me it is the best
4//5

[Toomanygrandmas]

Yikes, I guess I chose the wrong moment to review this episode , but I might as well review it when it's on the front page.

Personally, I didn't like Behind the Laughter episode much. While it certaintly isn't season 11's worst, I still think there are other season 11 episodes which are better . I probably dislike it because I don't like the idea of the Simpsons just being actors. I didn't mind the concept in '138th Episode Spectacular', because you never actually saw the family in the episode. I generally find humour in non canon episodes not as effective (I prefer more realistic humour, which revolves around the characters not breaking character, and not acting in unrealistic ways).

Even looking past the concept of the episode, I didn't really it all that funny (sans a few good jokes: 'Krustophenia', and somehow the absurdity of Jimmy Carter breakdancing gets a laugh out of me), and never really empathised with any of the characters (I can't feel empathy towards the characters, if the episode isn't actually canon).

2/5

[Blobulle]

My least favorite episode. 0.5/5

[cloneasaurus]

Very funny episode and a unique one at that; a pleasant change from usual. There are some Scullyish moments here and there but overall this is easily the best of S11, very refreshing to watch and I think it holds up very well on repeat viewings. Some people take this way too seriously though. Way too seriously. B+

[Blobulle]

No I don't take this episode seriously, but it still bothers me whenever I watch it.

[cloneasaurus]

Ok whatever. But personally the whole "actors" thing to me is just a one episode joke, it's a one off. Well actually that might not be what bothers you. What do you dislike so much about it? out of curiosity.

[Blobulle]

It's a surrealist episode/joke, it's unthinkable that there are cameras everywhere in the house, the Simpsons are real actors etc. and nothing is explained.
And I hate the surrealism in the Simpsons except in the ToH (or Christmas...) episodes.

[cloneasaurus]

Ok. Whilst I prefer more down to earth episodes as opposed to surreal gagfests, I still treat this differently. To me everything's done in such an intentionally over the top and ridiculous way, being a direct parody of Behind the Music, that I just can't see it in the same light as other Simpsons episodes, because it's completely different. To me, it's just a fun, non canon one off, which I find entertaining and unique. Therefore I find the "surrealism" acceptable because that's the point. But I can understand how even then the episode could annoy you, and it's subjective, so I won't force my opinions on you or anything.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

5/5 or 9/10 but tempted to vote for 4/5 but for a post classic, it's very good and entertaining.

[Commander Flanders]

Absoultely the worst episode. I remember freshman year of high school, Monday morning, others talked about how great this was. It really wasn't what the Simpsons should be... I guess never having watched VH1 documentaries I was a bit behind the times, so maybe if I were more pop-culture savvy I wouldn't despise this one so much.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Overrated, but still okay. 3.5/5.

[Quote Unquote Sir]

I guess this was done about as well as a "Behind the Music" parody on "The Simpsons" could have been done, but I just hate the concept so much, I don't think I enjoyed this episode at all. I don't remember it very well, because I've only seen it maybe once and I've had no desire to ever watch it again.

This is the kind of episode that makes me wish the show had been cancelled long ago so they hadn't done shit like this which just shows that they're clearly out of ideas and desperate to remain 'relevant' by ripping off things that they really have no business trying to meld with "The Simpsons".

I hate when the series gets all self-referential and acts like the characters are celebrities or some such bullshit (even in "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase", it makes me cringe just when Marge says, "We'd like to thank Fox", even if it's done jokingly), so episodes like this just piss me off.

The only thing worse was that episode where Lisa actually has the freaking "A Guide To America's Favorite Cartoon Family" seasons 1-8 episode guide book. When I saw that, I was like, "Really, guys? Seriously?". At that point the people running the show had obviously lost their minds.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Season 11 concludes with a Behind the Music spoof! In this Treehouse of Horror-esque non-canon show we see how the family got their TV show and became famous. Then we see how it all went wrong...and right...for them once more.

This one really seems like it would've been a fine bonus episode after the show ended, they even manage to humorously address some bad episodes/problems of the show at the time, albeit rather jokingly. With that in mind I am rather surprised that the show wasn't even half way through its run when this aired. I was 11 when this aired and I can vividly remember talking with friends about how great it was at school the next day. As a parody of Behind the Music, a show I did watch at the time, it really is spot on.

The best thing this has going for it though is just how funny it remains, at least to me. This is easily the funniest episode in Season 11. Homer's prostitute line and subsequent nod is one of my favorite lines in the entire series. His role in Rent II was also wonderful. I see this one caused an issue from a continuity standpoint in the thread, all I can say is I treat this one like a Halloween show as I mentioned above so it doesn't bother me in that aspect or really any I guess. For what it is trying to be it succeeds masterfully. The key is whether or not you enjoyed what it was trying to be and I did. Not much else to say about it though that wouldn't just be a listing of more funny moments. 5/5, easily my favorite episode of this season, one of the funniest from the Scully Era.

PS: I recently became aware that Behind the Music has come back, but with different intros and whatnot.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

A lot of people do indeed love this episode.

I just re-watched it and it deserves a 4.5/5 for sure, I'm glad it won the emmy and proves just how funny season 11 could be when they actually cared to make an episode worth watching.

[cloneasaurus]

Rewatched it, I didn't enjoy it as much this time around, mainly cos I knew what jokes were coming next and it was a bit boring. So even though this is like B+ quality, my personal rating is a B

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Rewatched it on WTSO and I laughed out loud at "MAMA MIA!!", Bart's enthusiastically awful acting, "Meanwhile, Krustophenia sits on the shelf!" "I was this close to firing Marge, just to shake things up, you know?", all the announcer metaphors, and "Pain was like a drug, but what was even more like a drug was the drugs." Newly crowned 4.5/5.

[zach]

jam-packed with hilariousness. A+ any day.

[SimpsonsAUS]

A pretty decent episode and a really good concept. Not really a lot more to say. There were a few hit and miss jokes but I loved the "Backstory" andRupert Murdoch and Homer signing the contract. I always go back to this one when I'm watching Season 11.

4/5

[N]

I absolutely loathe this episode. I know some people find humour in the characters being out of character, but I don't. I didn't get very many laughs in this episode either to be honest.

2/10 E

[cloneasaurus]

[from memory] this is the last properly hilarious episode in my book. sure there have been some funny eps after - hungry hungry homer, the heartbroke kid - but they don't top this or the classic era.

so i like this episode. you could say i.... really like it. 4/5

[N]

Maybe one of the reasons I hate this episode so much is because I like Seasons 10 - 24 as much as 1 - 9.

[Acrobat]

As far as parodies go, this absolutely nailed Behind the Music, right down to the shitty metaphors. ****

[AngusCastle]

This is one my favourite episodes, It's actually in my top 20. I love the parody of behind the music and I just think it's really funny. 5/5

[Nebuchanezzar]

Maybe one of the reasons I hate this episode so much is because I like Seasons 10 - 24 as much as 1 - 9.

...that doesn't make a whole lot of sense :S

[R41]

2/5 - A few funny moments, but generally a pretty dull episode.