Rate/Review "Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Three Times" (JABF05)

[Mira]

Even a complete dorkus malorcus knows that revenge has nothing to do with the reasons why the US army occupies Iraq.

You might be surprised at how many people are even dumber than complete dorkus malorcuses. The joke made sense although I agree it wasn't very funny.

[Hayden]

You might be surprised at how many people are even dumber than complete dorkus malorcuses. The joke made sense although I agree it wasn't very funny.

No, it did not make sense.

What do you think Iraq has done to the American people to deserve "revenge"?

[Kiyosuki]

Wanted to quickly add that this is the very first time I hear a completely inaccurate reference to today's politics in the Simpsons. Even a complete dorkus malorcus knows that revenge has nothing to do with the reasons why the US army occupies Iraq.

Its the whole "They bombed us, we went to go kick their ass and terrorism's ass!" thing. Its getting at how the general public's will, not necessarilly the government's will depending on what you personally believe, was to get Osama and its still used as the major selling point as to why we're still there.

Regardless of whether one thinks it was the right or wrong thing to do, or whether it was the reason or anything else...the line was meant to intentionally sound like a blanket statement, or something really generalizing and unattached, its a "Homer is dumb as fuck" reverse psychology line basically. Showing us how out of the loop he is.

[Hayden]

Hey, that makes sense...NOT!

1) Osama bin Laden is not an Iraqi. He used to be, before coming religious fanatic and a numero uno terrorist, a Saudi-Arabian businessman.

2) Saddam, though a monsterous dictator, or Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with Osama nor the 9/11.

So, to repeat myself, why is US so very vengeful?

If Homer's line was to indicate "how out of the loop he is", it was done poorly, inaccurately and very "out of the loop".

[That Jerk]

No, it did not make sense.

What do you think Iraq has done to the American people to deserve "revenge"?

Nothing. But people as dumb as Homer in America think that Hussein had a hand in 9/11. Also, by revenge, Homer could have also meant Bush Jr. at war to finish what Bush Sr. started, which is also a popular bonehead theory.

Why am I even bothering? Kiyosuki explained it perfectly, and you still don't get it.

"Homer thinks the ballet is about a bear driving a little car. THAT JOKE MAKES NO SENSE! Ballet is clearly not that! How can the writers be so ignorant!?"

[Mira]

Nothing. But people as dumb as Homer in America think that Hussein had a hand in 9/11. Also, by revenge, Homer could have also meant Bush Jr. at war to finish what Bush Sr. started, which is also a popular bonehead theory.

That's it.

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

Bonehead theory? Hardly, especially when compared to the people who actually thought there were WMD.

So, what Kiyosuki said.

[Hayden]

Why am I even bothering? Kiyosuki explained it perfectly, and you still don't get it.

Well, don't bother, I really couldn't care less.

Look dude, it isn't quite the same to make "reverse psychology line" about ballet than a ongoing war - senseless, greed driven act of terrorism.

I still think the joke was tasteless and poorly conducted. These references used to be witty and humane. But, as stated earlier, this particular episode was full of poor and immature "jokes".

[Gibbles]

I forgot about the Iraq line. Yeah totally agree, The Simpson's is not the place for these lines, this is just jumping on the bandwagon humorer.

They stopped showing the New York episodes that hilariously and innocently has Homer running between the twin towers gag, yet they allow these lame bias offensive lines. So what? Homer is a dumb American that has been tricked by the government into thinking Iraq is a result of revenge for 9/11? Or Homer is making an ironic political joke at the expense of those who believe this theory? Either way it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

It was WMD. God, those f'n liberals at the Simpsons better get their story straight.

[Kiyosuki]

Hey, that makes sense...NOT!

1) Osama bin Laden is not an Iraqi. He used to be, before coming religious fanatic and a numero uno terrorist, a Saudi-Arabian businessman.

2) Saddam, though a monsterous dictator, or Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with Osama nor the 9/11.

So, to repeat myself, why is US so very vengeful?

If Homer's line was to indicate "how out of the loop he is", it was done poorly, inaccurately and very "out of the loop".

You're taking it too literally and giving the joke way more credit than it deserves. Its not having Homer say a fact, its having him say something stupid on the matter. Basically talking about things he doesn't completely understand as a way of satirizing a lot of general sentiment and thoughts on the war. To a lot of people, it is or was about revenge at first...regardless of whether its actually right or not. Why? Well you know...having major monuments and loss of life tends to spark a lot of rage.

I said nothing about it being a good or bad joke though. All these little details and facts are fine but its really not that hard to get the joke even without knowing all this stuff, and regardless of whether its good or not. I didn't really care for it. It tacked on satire.

[Hayden]

Oh, grow up, will you.

[Kiyosuki]

Oh, grow up, will you.

lol, oh wow.

I've been very nice to you, more so than I should be considering you answered me back with this..

Hey, that makes sense...NOT!

[bob lobster]

The Iraq war joke is a reference to 1993 incident in which Saddam Hussien tired to to kill George Bush senior.

hears a link to the incident
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/con..._archive02kill

[Hayden]

The Iraq war joke is a reference to 1993 incident in which Saddam Hussien tired to to kill George Bush senior.

hears a link to the incident
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/con..._archive02kill

Don't you think that's a bit far fetched.

[Hayden]

lol, oh wow.

I've been very nice to you, more so than I should be considering you answered me back with this..

Sorry or whatever. I didn't realize your feelings would get hurt.

But don't you see how offensive such a joke is? Get this, over 40 000 Iraqi civilians are dead and around 3000 American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq. That is the same amount of dead Americans than in the 9/11.

Why to put line about revenge in Homer's mouth under these circumstances, even if you just want get him to say something incredibly stupid in a homeresque fashion?

Below is a joke, which is extremely offesive but at the same time funny. Why? Because it is obviously exaggerated and not based on a true incident.


A little girl is standing on top of a cliff, looking down at the sea and crying her eyes out. A priest approaches and says, "My child, why are you so upset?"

The little girl turns to him and says, "My mummy and daddy were in their car – and it just rolled over the cliff and smashed on the rocks down there."

The priest slowly looks around him while unbuttoning his cassock and says, "It's just not your day, is it?"


Where as the joke Homer says has feel to it, that the writers are making fun of the suffering of Iraqis and Americans, because THERE IS AN ACTUAL WAR going on.

I think such a joke under current state of war shows crucial lack of compassion and poor judgment.

Please try understand my thoughts on this, and not just play some übergeek who has the right to decide how people should understand the jokes in the show.

[That Jerk]

subject change: Now the joke makes sense. It's just too offensive.

People make careers out of making jokes about the Iraq war. Deal with it. You can complain that the joke was improperly paced (which made it a dud), but the subject matter is not untouchable by any means. You must have a hard time watching Stephen Colbert.

[Kiyosuki]

Please try understand my thoughts on this, and not just play some übergeek who has the right to decide how people should understand the jokes in the show.

lol. Alright...

Wanted to quickly add that this is the very first time I hear a completely inaccurate reference to today's politics in the Simpsons. Even a complete dorkus malorcus knows that revenge has nothing to do with the reasons why the US army occupies Iraq.

Your response to Mira's statement.

No, it did not make sense.

What do you think Iraq has done to the American people to deserve "revenge"?

Your response to what I said.

Hey, that makes sense...NOT!

1) Osama bin Laden is not an Iraqi. He used to be, before coming religious fanatic and a numero uno terrorist, a Saudi-Arabian businessman.

2) Saddam, though a monsterous dictator, or Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with Osama nor the 9/11.

So, to repeat myself, why is US so very vengeful?

If Homer's line was to indicate "how out of the loop he is", it was done poorly, inaccurately and very "out of the loop".

Your response to That Jerk

Well, don't bother, I really couldn't care less.

Look dude, it isn't quite the same to make "reverse psychology line" about ballet than a ongoing war - senseless, greed driven act of terrorism.

I still think the joke was tasteless and poorly conducted. These references used to be witty and humane. But, as stated earlier, this particular episode was full of poor and immature "jokes".

Your second response to me.

Oh, grow up, will you.

Your response to Bob.

Don't you think that's a bit far fetched.

And now your telling me to stop being some übergeek that thinks he has the right to tell people how they should understand things on this show, that we should understand your thoughts on this?

Hayden...no one was even talking about any of this before you brought it up, all we've done is answer your question...maybe give an opinion of what it could mean, and everyone has also unanimously said over and over and over that they don't like this joke yet all you've done is insult everyone's intelligence around you telling them they just don't get it essentially, and telling them they should hate it...even though we've all said over and over and over that we don't really care for it either.. And now you're telling me to stop telling others what to do? (And when did I do this anyways? I answered your question, I didn't tell you to jump off a cliff.)

Hayden...you hate the joke, and now as you've kindly rammed it down our throats, you obviously hate the war too. Good for you, we're proud of you. But we get the fucking point, no one is even talking about it really but you. So before you go telling people to respect and understand what you say you should first stop being such a hypocritical borderline message board troll first and maybe do the same yourself because all you've proven is that you're not as sharp as you think you are.

[Obscured]

[Hayden]

Hayden...you hate the joke, and now as you've kindly rammed it down our throats, you obviously hate the war too. Good for you, we're proud of you. But we get the fucking point, no one is even talking about it really but you. So before you go telling people to respect and understand what you say you should first stop being such a hypocritical borderline message board troll first and maybe do the same yourself because all you've proven is that you're not as sharp as you think you are.

For crying out loud, isn't NHC a discussion board? Is this common practise for you, Kiyosuki, to declare everyone who does not agree with you a troll and pour insults on them?

You are obviously very sensitive about others disagreeing with you but let me assure, there is nothing personal in this (which I cannot say about your postings). Hey I enjoy your sarcasm even. It could be sharper, though

[Rhodan]

So many surprises - the story which was predicted to be best is now frequently labelled as the worst, even Sarcastic Guy II doesn´t like episode with quote about War in Iraq and foremost there is finally s18´s episode worse than "Jazzy and the Pussycats".

Irritating was the fact that except of the treason thing and escape first segment had almost nothing to do with real Monte Christo story. Just another Moe playing role goes against Homer playing role (sincerely, was that Hamlet idea the thing that convinced that they must repaet it all the time?). End was the most boring and out-of-thing.

Middle segment simply didn´t belong there. combining of everday Springfield reality with surreal elements should be restricted to THOH. Not to mention how pointless Milhouse´s action was.

Final segment was somehow funny but lacked any structure - Bart becomes Bartman, kill some villains and kill Serpent end of story....

1/5

[Greased Scotsman]

I LOVED this episode. It was the funniest 3-parter I have seen in a long time. None of the stories felt rushed in any way, which is something the recent THOHs have stunk of. Loads of callbacks to classic episodes, and...A BARTMAN STORY!!! YAY!!!! Finally Bartman gets a better appearance than for twenty seconds in Three Men and a Comic Book.

1st Segment (forgot the name) - Some great jokes, especially the reveal to show Meaux (nice touch with the spelling change) only had a door, Homer tunnelling back into the cell twice, Burns saying he violated Homer several times in his sleep, Homer's excitement at finding a penny, the crowd not recognising Homer until he removed the fake mole, the overall crappiness of the revenge machine, and the Moe babies. A-

Revenge of the Geeks - The weakest of the three, but still had some good gags. Favourites: Skinner being tied up beside the nerds, Milhouse zapping Richard for getting more girls than him, and Milhouse has his Nan on his revenge list. Good to see Richard, Lewis and Janey again for the first time in ages. It did feel like it should have been in a THOH, but it's great how they knew we were gonna think that by mentioning it at the end. B-

Bartman Begins - Funniest single part of S18. Every single gag was brilliantly-timed and hilarious, and despite being a 5-minute segment the story played really well. Favourites: Everything! The sign gag "Abbott and Costello meet Polio", Homer: "Avenge me...in flamboyant, impractical fashion", Bart throwng the donut on Homer's grave, the headline "Crimson Cockatoo Beaten Senseless", the names of the other villains Bartman defeats ("The Diddler" was brilliant), Bartman killing the robber to save Apu 80 cents, Poison Lenny being shot by Chief Wiggum after Bartman attacks him, the radio announcer saying "Springfield...I mean Gotham City", the sign gag "Stealable Jewels of the Orient", Wiggum telling Lou to lighten up at the museum, the Serpent shooting Krusty for booing his puns, Bartman landing in the dip, "Don't talk to me when I'm vibrating!!"...brilliant, absolutely brilliant. A*

Wraparounds - Got better with each passing story. The Iraq line did't bother me, I just took it as an 'ignorant Homer' joke, but I really liked him saying that he framed Maggie for shooting Mr Burns. The scenes after the cars had stopped were great, I loved how Bart mentioned that one story would have been better suited to a THOH, and Homer thinking there were only two stars in the sky. B+

Star Wars bit - So random, yet so so funny. I don't know what it was, but I just could't stop laughing at this bit. A-

Overall, A+.

"Don't talk to me when I'm vibrating!" has become one of my favourite Simpsons quotes.

Oh, did anyone notice they spelled Lewis's name wrong on Milhouse's revenge list? It's spelt "Louis".

[Whip-Smart]

3/5

[Otis P Jivefunk]

Terrible episode, I mean really absolutely awful. The worst three parter the show has ever done, and that's quite an achievement. So many cringe-worthy jokes. Burns violating Homer, Willie licking his own blood with his detached head, Homer implying he shot Mr Burns, Lenny's tranny joke, Homer swimming up through the puddle in his cell, and as if that wasn't stupid and unbelievable in itself, he then and goes and does it again... groan. I didn't really enjoy anything about this episode, pure filler, not even b-material. If I have to rate each segment...

Part 1 - F
Part 2 - D
Part 3 - F
All the imbetween parts - F

Over all - F

[Turambar]

4/5 This episode was great. Loved the revenge machine Homer created. Lots of great gags. Also I loved the Star Wars 'In Memoriam' bit at the end. Random but extremely funny.

[George Cauldron]

The episode was about average really. To be honest, I've seen worse non-Halloween-trilogy episodes, such as last year's The Wettest Stories Ever Told. But then again, I've seen plenty better, such as Simpsons Bible Stories, Tales From The Public Domain, and yep, Simpsons Tall Tales. This episode was about on a par with Margical History Tour, very similar in many respects, such that it was quite bland, only mildly funny at times, sort of like a watered-down version of The Good Life, but on the whole, a trilogy episode that wasn't really needed. Still, at least the in-between segments were quite well done, and it had an ending and resolution to the story. It's just a shame it's ultimately quite forgettable.

[Joey Jo-Jo Junior Shabado]

I thought this episode was quite funny actually. I enjoy these kind of episodes once a while were the characterizations and stories are pretty poor, as long as they are full of zany jokes and funny one-liners. In short, I liked this episode though I'm a long time fan of The Simpsons.

[Rory Mitch]

Relatively poor. I don't care much for trilogy episodes, and this was no exception. All three segments were no more than average. No memorable jokes, and I honestly thought this episode had potential. How wrong I was.

4/10 2/5 D+

[Dental Plan!]

Much better than last weeks piece of crap. I don't normally like these three part episodes, but this one was quite funny. The wrap around was lame (except for the Star Wars thing) but overall I'll give this one a 3. Nice comeback.

[Nebuchanezzar]

Wow. I've never seen Kiyosuki loose his temper like that. I wish I saw it more often. :silly:

Yeah, it was ok I guess. The overall story for the trilogy dealie seemed a bit flimsy and weak, as if they weren't even trying to tie these things together beyond the one word of revenge. The ending seemed a bit unnaturally schmaltzy too. The first act went on way way way too long, with minimal laughs. It was a bit of a dressup thing, and didn't really do too many wonders. The second and third stories were both quite good though, and certainly could have done with a bit more airtime. It's near bed time, I am lazy, I'll try to write a proper review for the next episode I see.

~C- - 3/5.