Rate/Review Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore (HABF10)

[Dave Shutton]

I love this one 5/5, but where was Charlie? how could they not have even shown him in the audience scene?

[Gamblore]

I just saw this for the first time and I really enjoyed it. One of the best of the later seasons although a bit different. 4/5

[Tamaki Suoh]

A fun, lighthearted episode that definitely has its flaws but is mostly entertaining fare. It was great to see Smithers and Burns with good characterizations: Smithers being his prissy, smart self who is right, as always, but actually defending his opinion a bit, unlike his usual post-classic characterization of doing and saying nothing (and also not making a single gay joke :-O); and Burns as the bitter, cruel, but not quite villainous boss. There were a lot of funny moments throughout, and most of the jokes worked well, although a few missed their mark or were awkward to watch. The plot was really scattered and Homer being a God was funny but not developed well. The subplot too was a bit strange but still funny, and it was great to see Selma and Patty have a storyline all to themselves. But all in all, a fun and enjoyable episode. 3.5/5

[SpikyHairedHooligan]

a good episode, entertaining but really scattered. a lot of good jokes, though, and good characterizations. like most have said, strange ending, but pretty cool anyway. 3/5

people are saying they like the the smithers arranged bride joke, but i don't really get it. anyone explain it to me?

[Granto]

Not that bad an episode for Season 17, one of its best.

I would say Dan Castellaneta's best episode to date

3/5

[sung]

Hmm... it's actually pretty weird episode. To say the least, the episode had its ups, but it had some downs that didn't really appeal me for it to be an outstanding episode or something. Smithers kind of reminded me of himself in 'Simpson and Delilah', btw. The plot kind of felt formulaic, but subplot, I think, was very hilarious and I think is one of the best subplots of Jean era. The ending music montage... ehh... I don't think it was really necessary and felt kind of sitcommish. Overall, it was... acceptable, mixed bag, but fun parts surely made it earn the grade of B

[Fox Executive]

That was actually a great episode imo. One of the best episodes in one of the worst seasons. I loved the story and Dan really wrote himself a great part. A B sounds about right for this great episode.

[Rembrandt Q Einstein]

This was a great episode, the opening movie about out sourcing was hilarious. The B plot was really funny and the ending was perfect. Say it loud "I'm Union and Proud" I.W.W local 630. Rate this one 5 out of 5.

[Rest your giant head]

Once again, The Simpsons are going abroad. This has to be the most pointless trip ever to be seen on The Simpsons. The difference here is the writers didn’t waste time on the scenes with the familly touring around India – instead, they gave as the incredible filler of a subplot.

There were a couple of good gags in India, such as Homer’s trouble with the cow, Burns floating down the river, and Homer refering to an Indian God as Papa Smurf. What bothered me was Homer finding Apu’s cousin so easily, and the joke with the new bully was aquard.

The subplot has to be one of the most tacked on stories in the history of the show. Luckily I didn’t expect anything from it, since I’m not a fan of Patty and Selma. It disturbed me how the subplot didn’t have any connection with the main story.

I didn’t like the part with Homer being a God in India, although I laughed out loud when I saw everybody being dressed as Homer. The song at the end was dragged and disjointed.

D+

[bartyboy]

3/5. Nothing special

[Nauru-1]

One of my least favorite episode right here. The B-story is about the only thing I didn't dislike about this episode. 1/5

[Worst_Episode_Ever]

Erggh... I hated this episode the first time I watched it, but as I'm going through Season 17 I actually enjoyed it more the 2nd time a little more. The last act still ruins it for me though, the first and second acts are actually pretty good

I give it 3.9/5 rounded up to 4/5

[zartok-35]

Unlike the rest of season 17, I particulalrly liked this episode. "You never like my friends."

[Mr.]

Good episode!
I wish they would ture India a bit more, but then agian they did some of it in "Homer and Apu".

[Bella Drape 'er]

A fun subplot and a pretty amusing Homer plot made this a very likable season 17 offering, and probably Castellaneta's best script work. Still, there is room for improvement (mostly the third act).

3/5

[harry.john]

The Simpsons' seventeenth season originally aired between September 2005 and May 2006, beginning on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It broke Fox's tradition of pushing its shows' season premieres back to November to accommodate the Major League Baseball games airing on the network during September and October of each year.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore

Dan Castella is known as the voice of Homer and various other characters from The Simpsons, he is also known as a writer and a comedian, though he's not known widely as both for a reason. This proves that while he does have some sense of humor and an idea of how to make good jokes, it ultimately proves that Dan Castella is not that good of a writer...

The idea of outsourcing is a good one and something that "The Simpsons" would of likely done in the past; it's ripe for satire due to the fact that America is moving their workforce overseas, that they're portraying it as a good thing and that it helps them to earn more money... Of course they do do it and they do set it in India but the results are not what you expect; while it does hit some points, they come at the spots you don't expect and the ones that you do expect are played out for laughs rather then serious satire. The idea of Homer going to India would of been good back then (and they did go to India at one point) but it's ruined mostly due to the persona Homer has adopted, which is the stupid, ignorant oaf who doesn't understand foreign culture, makes an active effort not to read and just acts wacky for no apparent reason. I do admit that Homer being unaware of India does make for some good laughs but for most of the time he's just the person which I mentioned above. It was a surprise that he didn't read the book on the way to India and the way he references the book as if he's desperate is somewhat okay but I would of liked to see him at least read some of the book then pick it back up in desperation after he forgets it.

I must admit... It does go into the plot rather then wasting it on something like The Simpsons going to a carnival. I mean the way it starts into that addmitingly good movie about outsourcing and then naturally transcends into the airport with Homer leaving his kids for India was nicely plotted, though the actual moments inbetween border on the stupid. Homer's (or really Dan's since he loves this kind of humor) stuff with the Dining Room where he makes stupid noises while making comments about the painted phone, even though it was counteracted by a nice scene at the dinner table and the scene at the airport didn't have as much impact as it did.

Anyways, the scenes involving Apu's brother, Burns, Mr. Smithers are all nice in their own way, even though one contained someone doing funny voices while commenting on Outsourcing, it was nice that they made a comment about that but did they have to do all of those voices. And what's with Smither's sudden dejectal about Homer, it would of made sense to reference that earlier in the episode where it could of become a focal plot point and Burn's actions would of made somewhat more sense, but instead he acts like the usual Mr. Burns we've seen (the scene with a bunch of corpses for example.) and then a tyrant at the end...

Even though the power plant plot is the main plot, it's oddly squeezed out for a good subplot involving Richard Dean Anderson (of Stargate SG1 and MacGuyver fame.) and Patty and Selma. The beginning scene did have me questioning it and Richard Dean Anderson did make for a good bait and switch gag but the Stargate SG1 convention (really, should of just called it Stargate convention.) didn't make for much of a connection, even though it does lead to him calling MacGuyver stupid. The convention (while they got some things right such as the suits and the costumes) was an equal waste as well as while we got a collective sense of the nerds stupidity, I feel like the whole thing could of been done better without me questioning why they didn't notice; hell the entire scene was marginally saved by the geeks looking around and stuff, and that's only marginally...

The rest of the plot however does encounter a bit of a wave from good to bad to good but for the most part it's mostly good. It's understandable for Richard Dean Anderson to be scared then excited as he escapes and I did like Patty and Selma's behavior as they reacted to fandom and to annoyance as he didn't leave. The way he progressed however felt somewhat unnatural though it did pay off somewhat at the end with the McGuyver burgers and him escaping. The clip shows were something that we've only seem a part of, in earlier episodes... But seeing a large part of it just ruins the magic for me you know; the magic of seeing all of these clips that they took but we never get to see them, at least he escapes in a funny way...

That subplot takes up so much time that it leads to us suddenly seeing Marge, the kids, and Burns on a boat heading towards the power plant. I don't like how it suddenly leads up to this but it does lead up to what appears to be an Indian movie parody (there was something with Two Tigers Earlier but it seemed inconsequential.), the way the power plant looked was nice and he did slip in something that seemed like it'd be in the classic era but Homer as a God just didn't work out for me. What with the whole family acting all abrasive and stuff, it just ruined the humor for me... The statement about outsourcing is crammed at the end, where the Indians learn American work ethics, Burns becomes a tyrant and they move the plant back to Springfield and fire everybody...

Then comes the scene that everybody talks about, yup, the dancing scene...

This scene is a parody of Indian movies as expected but it just lacks the liveliness or the magic needed for it to be effective. I mean we got characters dancing to unlively animation while a pre-recorded song plays in the background... It would of been nice if they managed to record a song but this is what we've got and it just doesn't match up, at least they managed to include something at the end with Burns and Smithers...

So, while this may be praised for being written by Dan Castella, it just proves that he's not that good of a writer. While he did good work on The Simpsons and he is well known for it, the work outside of the Simspons is mostly not known at all, he's had a comedy album that was mildly received, he's written episodes earlier in the season that most people don't talk about fondly, it seems like all he'll ever be known for is voicing Homer Simpson...

3.5/10

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

2/5

[cloneasaurus]

This one was just really random. I mean there wasn't anything that was exactly wrong with it - Homer was in generally good character and the subplot, whilst stupid, was amusing enough - but there wasn't anything right about it either. I did get the vibe that this was just trying to be a fun vacation episode, but it didn't really pull it off. However I did dislike the dancing (I know it was parodying Indian films but it was too long) at the end, not to mention the ending being really rushed. Homer being a god thing was done very quickly and it never felt like a very significant progression. However this wasn't a horrible episode so I'll say 2/5 and C-

[Toomanygrandmas]

-Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalbore-

Okay, from now on I am going to start every R&R review with a cheesey pun somehow reflecting the quality of the episode, 'cos I feel like it. 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore' certaintly is a strange episode. It has some things about it that are reasonably good - namely the subplot. Yet at the same time, there were some aspects of the episode which were weak, and brought it down. During watching the episode, I didn't really get the 'what the hell am I watching' feeling, so the the episode overall balances out to be the epitome of average. On to the main review.

The premise of the episode was average. Initially it just felt like another travel episode, and that what it essentially was. The set-up was okay, though. Outsourcing seemed reasonably realistic. The episode stayed roughly the same quality once Homer reached India. Thankfully, unlike some travel episodes, Homer didn't really act like an ignorant and obnoxious tourist, like he sometimes is in some episodes. Like all travel episodes, there were numerous jokes involving the countries culture and customs. They were fine, but one joke that stuck out (in a positive way) was Homer searching for Apu's relative, going on the little evidence he was given. I can't think of anything else noteworthy either humour-wise or plot wise until Homer suddenly thinking that... he was a god. Yeah. This was one of the things that damaged the episode. Homer's reasoning for thinking he was a god was rushed and, and the whole thing didn't really make much sense. I guess - as we saw from the Indian workers later - he was a benevolent 'god', so that was good. However, the whole thing just felt too silly, and was resolved really quickly (Marge: Homer you aren't a god, Homer: Really? Okay.). Overall, the main subplot sort of reminded me of 'The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed'. We have a travel episode, where Homer is convinced he is divine in some way. This was better than 'D'ohed', thankfully, as Homer was less obnoxious, there was no annoying tour guide, and the humour in this was bland (rather than cringe-worthy). Anyway, now to the better part of the episode - the subplot. I... liked it. Yeah, I thought it was genuinely decent. Patty and Selma's Macgyver obsession isn't something that had been explored for a long time until the episode. The subplot worked, as it was entertaining and relatively amusing.

Overall, 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore' was very average. Maybe I shouldn't have gone with 'Bangalbore', because dullness isn't the problem with this episode. The problem is that at its heart, it is another travel episode. Also, Homer thinking he was a god was stupid. Yet at the same time, this episode didn't feel terrible, and the subplot was rather decent. So the bad and the good balance out, making a very 'mixed' episode.

3/5 or 5/10 (therefore, a low 3)

[kkkrusty]

A really terrible episode, audience insulting at times and quite embarrassing to watch. The plot was toothless and it just felt like a random series of postcards . I didn't like how anyone was characterized -Homer, Monty, the Indians etc. The ending is one of the lamest I have ever seen -it's just them dancing!

The subplot was also bad. P+S went out of character to explain MacGuver as if they were a wiki page or tv tropes. The convention was full of cheap jokes. I really got sick of hearing Richard Dean Anderson's name for the fifteenth time.

All in all this is probably the worst written episode that I can remember. 1/5 "because I'm a showman"... eurghhh.

[Simpsonsfan1981]

I had the distinct impression watching this that this is the kind of episode I would normally dislike but, for some reason, I liked it. In fact I would even go as far as to say that this is my favorite episode involving the Simpsons going to another country

Some of the jokes were cliched, predictable and awful and some of them would probably have made me groan in some circumstances (for example Homer confusing India with Indiana) but for some reason they made me laugh here. Some of the humor about the stereotyping of Indians fell a bit flat and was slightly hit and miss but I managed to get enough laughs out of the whole story to keep me entertained and engaged. Homer making fun of the Hindu gods was slightly cringe-worthy for me (I think it brought back bad memories of Homer trying to masquerade as Ganesh in Apu and Manjula's wedding episode) and I will agree that the "Homer as a God" plot seemed slightly rushed but it was probably understandable given the amount of material they were trying to fit in during this episode. I actually liked the final scene where Marge, Lisa, Bart, Mr Burns and Lisa find Homer and what unfolds from there and I enjoyed the Bollywood dancing and didn't think it went on for too long (although I will concede that it had the hallmarks of the annoying post-classic era habit of tacking on a distracting scene at the end to smooth over the inconsistencies and holes in the story).

The MacGyver sub-plot was quite creative thinking and had some funny moments but it dragged on for too long. Good to see Richard Dean Anderson being such a good sport in spoofing himself so thoroughly though.

All in all 4/5

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Season 17 continues with an episode dealing with outsourcing! Mr. Burns decides to move the plant to India but Homer is lucky enough to keep his job and go along for the ride. He naturally doesn't know what he's doing but somehow manages to get Mr. Burns to give him absolute power, and seemingly a god complex. But when the family arrive to try and snap him out of it they find he was actually helping the Indian workers all along. With the threat averted, Burns decides to fire them and return the plant to Springfield while everyone dances! Meanwhile Patty and Selma get to meet Richard Dean Anderson, MacGyver himself, and take him prisoner in a Misery-esque fashion.

This is a somewhat strange episode full of exotic locales and weird but neat camera angles. The best bits from the main story are Homer's reaction to finding Apu's relative on his second try, and Moe and the American made shotgun. The usually great Mark Kirkland directed this one and it isn't really bad, but I did notice that Lenny and Carl look really weird in some scenes and Mr. Burns' eyes pop upward appearing to protrude from his forehead at one point. I'm not much of a fan of big dance scenes in the show, even in something like say Burns, Baby Burns, unless they involve singing too. I think the end of How the Test Was Won is awful for example. This one wasn't quite as bad but it still went on longer and much too long in general. Mr. Burns as the snake was pretty amusing though I'll admit. Burns floating down the Ganges was funny too now that I think of it. The B-Story involving Patty and Selma is actually much more enjoyable than the main plot though and the show makes a good use out of the guest star. The Misery setup is funny but the twist with him craving the escapes is great too. I feel like I missed several references to other films in this one. I'd say a middle of the road kind of episode overall, 3/5. Given the premise I think it could've been better but oh well.