Rate/Review Moe 'N' A Lisa

[Van]

I don't like saying that an episode is predictable but this one really was. Just seeing the way Lisa was helping Moe it was obvious there'd be some sort of screw-over, then a lame reconciliation. It's hard to call a lot of the lines jokes since I didn't get a great deal of them. The J. Jonah Jameson parody, those two writers fighting and the Senior Olympics were the only decent parts. 2/5

[Spider Pig1]

i liked it-4/5 one of the best of season 18 (that ive seen)

[Sprocketeer]

Hmm...seems we're revisiting Moe episodes, and this is a perfectly average Moe episode. It's basically "Flaming Moe's Lite", with a lot of recycled elements that aren't nearly as good. The beginning with the Senior Olympics was good for some laughs, though the quality took a fall mainly when they left for Vermont.
3/5

[LisaFan17]

Wow! It was actually fairly intelligent, and the guest stars weren't overused (except maybe Pyncheon in his overdone 'recluse' role). They made me crack up, especially Tom Wolfe! The beginning could have been different--we got the unbelievable 'jerkass Homer can't remember something and Moe is so pathetic, he goes out of his way to go to Evergreen Terrace' plot, but I think I'm getting too picky...wonder why. Still, could've lived without the New England jokes. 4/5! Classic!

[Jesse Pinkman]

5/5, classic for the season it is in

[Rest your giant head]

I’ve always wondered why writers turned Moe into a pathetic loser, since he wasn’t always so miserable, but his depression provided an interesting story here, reminiscent of Flaming Moe’s, but certainly not as good in terms of comedy.

Homer’s reminders were awkward, since he could’ve just written somewhere that it’s Moe’s birthday, but I realize the opening wouldn’t work. The senior Olympics were solid, with Jasper’s beard caught on fire being a standout joke. Walking like crabs cracked me up as well.

The scene with Homer making fun of Moe’s poetry was strange. I thought it would serve Homer well to fall down the stairs for punishment, but he continued with his rant. Some of the jokes were drawn out, such as the one with Homer drinking beer in the car – although I liked how Moe served him one.

The poets weren’t funny, but I didn’t even expect them to be funny. I wasn’t sure about Lisa. I know she wanted credit for her help, but she could’ve realized that Moe was finaly making something out of his life. The ending was nice, though.

B-

[D'ohmer]

I liked it. The intro with the "don't forget" and senor olympics was funny and I like how it connected to the main plot. I think the main plot was executed well and had a good conflict and resolution. I also think the episode had a lot of laughs, like Homer stopping the car to drink. 4/5

[Nauru-1]

Not a fan of this. I felt a little for Lisa near the end but overall it just didn't sit well with me. Not very funny at all and the idea of piecing together poetry lines was a little strange. I guess you just need a really strong script to pull this off, and I can't say this episode had one. 1/5

[bartyboy]

Not great, not terrible. Just middle of the road. 3/5

[Green Man]

awful, just awful. I don't think I laughed once watching this episode and the whole thing was so predictable and forced. 2/5

[Quazie89]

Being an avid reader, I really liked seeing so many authors getting to guess star in this one episode. I also felt sorry for Lisa when Moe betrayed her. I believe I'll have to give this episode a 4/5.

[Financial Panther]

This episode is okay. I understand why Moe didn't give credit to Lisa. He has a hard life, and if he gave someone else credit, he'd be shunned. It's a true dilemma. 3/5.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Moe'N'a Lisa

To be honest the first time they parodied the title of "Mona Lisa" in the first season was good, I don't see why they'd have to do it multiple times in the modern era but I don't claim to know what goes on in the mind of those modern writers. Anyway, from the title, it's obvious that it's going to include Moe & Lisa but not in a way that you expect.

Having two unreleated Simpsons characters paired together can be interesting because it can mean one of many things, it can be comedy, it can be crisis related or it can even be tear-inducing sweetness. Moe has been known to be somewhat of a sweet guy (behind the tough persona) and Lisa has always been known to be a sweet (if logical) little girl so pairing the two together should result in some sweet moments and a good story for both of us. While there are a couple of moments like that, the majority of the episode wastes the potential for the usual stuff the show is now known for. <Insert generic comment about how much potential it had here.>

One thing you'll notice is that for an episode like this; there seems to be more focus on the jokes, the poetry theme (even a different location, turning it to a semi-vacation episode) and guest stars rather then the stars of the show themselves. Don't get me wrong, everybody loves a couple of jokes but I was under the pretense that this would explore Moe & Lisa together. It doesn't help matters much that alot of the jokes are either bleh, meh or have good ideas/jokes at first but then go on for too long. The guest stars in this episode are mostly okay but alot of them suffer from the usual attempts to have them engage in Simpsons-like conversations and the one they're focusing on is uninteresting and his connection to Moe feels forced, even though he's out of the way most of the time and the poetry thing is somewhat forced upon us in a "people aren't smart enough to get this" way. All three of these things combine to seriously affect the episode in a mostly negative way.

While the plot may be okay and competent, the characterization is not up to par and almost feels like a rehash of what we've seen in "Please Homer, Don't Hammer Em". Take for example the way the scene where Moe takes credit goes down, Moe initially reveals some of the truth and then they go in shock and he quickly changes the story to him having 100% credit while shunning Lisa. Even though it's different, it's mostly the same scene as before but with a bunch of minor changes. This happens 2 more times throughout the episode and they even exhibit the same problems as that episode. Moe acts like the obvious jerk who is unaware that he's acting like a jerk and Lisa is acting as the pissed off girl who wants someone to acknowledge her contributions; though she does act sad in some parts, it doesn't matter much as the pissed off parts of her overwhelm her sad parts.

Even the scene where Moe acts obvious to Lisa while wanting her to write another poem credited to him is similar, and there's barely any change to that scene as well. Those characterizations affect the episode and even make Moe undeserving of the ending where he freestyles a poem to Lisa and all is forgiven. I will admit that I liked most of the first act of the episode as it does attempt to create the sweet character-based environment I thought the episode was going for. Moe in his hotel room is mostly decent, Lisa was somewhat bearable and there were some good moments here and there.

Unfortunately, the majority of the good moments cannot be found in this episode; which feels mostly like a rehash of a really recent previous episode, despite the different plot, different characters, different aspect and even the different jokes. It feels as if they're trying to make the magic happen rather then letting it happen naturally and because of that, alot of the moments falter. Not adding to that fact is the fact that there is alot of mediocre stuff in this episode and a number of numerous bad moments, which can make it a bit hard to watch. Alot of this episode isn't bad but when it's so similar to an episode airing two days ago, does it really matter?

3.0/10

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Season 18 continues when Lisa decides she needs a Moe episode! That's right we've had a spectacular Maggie one(which Moe seems to forget in this episode), a surprisingly funny Marge one, and of course tons with Homer. After this we only need Moe and Bart to finally team up! Anywho our story begins when Homer forgets it is Moe's birthday and instead goes to watch Grampa at the senior Olympics. Moe is naturally dejected, but Lisa sees a deep spirit within and helps Moe create a poem that gains national recognition. They go to Vermont for a poetry seminar, but Moe fails to give Lisa any credit at all...until he sees the error of his ways near the very end of the episode.

Okay so I had totally forgotten the beginning for this episode. I think the opening act is definitely the best but still not without issue. We get our best joke of the episode here with the Willie reaper both as a basic Grampa death joke and then the sight gag of him actually coming in second place. Easily the best moment of the episode. Old Jewish Man's reference to Rocky the Flying Squirrel was nice too. I knew Family Guy did the same joke, but I forgot the Simpsons did it here first. Moe's birthday is a poor man's version of the opening for "Moe Baby Blues," but it still works in that you do feel sorry for the character. His encounter with Lisa at the end of act 1 with repeated bad things happening to him does go on a bit too long though.

We start act two at Moe's apartment and the episode just about instantly goes on life support. From this point on we're marred with unfunny elongated jokes like Homer falling down the stairs acting girly, or Homer stopping to take a drink of beer every two seconds while driving, or Homer sampling Vermont apple cider over the end credits. The only lengthy scene I even liked was the scuttle crab bit in act one and even that may have gone on too long. When we get to Vermont we get famous author jokes that don't really hit, at least not for me, but then I don't even know who have these authors are. Although their appearances feel natural enough when considering the story I still can't help but feel like they're awkwardly shoe-horned in similar to "Strummer Vacation." Tom Wolfe's mashed potatoes joke was probably the only exception to this and I did like that they used that fighting music when the two go at it near the end. There feels like some commentary or at least observational humor is being made here with the q and a portion but it's not funny and ultimately boring so I don't really care.

Moe's relationship with Lisa kinda crashes and burns really quickly and I know these episodes are short but it just feels like weak storytelling to me. I mean I dunno maybe Moe not giving Lisa any credit wasn't as bad as we're supposed to think because she forgives him easily enough, but then I guess he did give a very flashy apology. I dunno all of it just lacks the interest of the previous Moe and family member episodes for me and I don't even have a problem with Moe and Lisa being paired together in theory I just thought the execution was....too formulaic...going through the motions...if you get my meaning. The episode is just very bland for the most part, very boring, and a 2/5 at best.

[Simpsons_Sweden]

Decent ep. I really liked the part when Homer maked fun of Moe for being a writer.

3/5 or 6/10