Rating Episodes Daily

[Starman]

Dull, mediocre, and has some awkward gags. B-

[Moe Nopoly]

funny episode with a great parody.
I've seen Mary Poppins a lot, when i was younger and this episode is really a lot of fun with it's references and gags.
The songs are also really good.

B+

[Miss_Haruka]

Weak episode.There were some good gags,and the first act was good,but after,was very boring.And honestly,I've never been fan of ''Marry Poppins''
B

[Fox Executive]

The songs were ok, but it's really just scene by scene ripped off and a bit boring too. B-

[CousinMerl]

Well, I think it's a good episode. The songs are very good and the humor and funny moments are there too and they're also really good. The story with Marge loosing her hair from stress and the arrival of the singing nanny Shary Bobbins is interesting and entertaining, while the characterizations are good too.

B

[Capt Hammer]

Loved the episode my favourite quote was definately:

Bart: sing us a song sherry bobbins
Sherry: I've been singing songs all day im not a bloody jukebox
hehehehehe
A

[sung]

When I saw this episode for the first time I was like: 'Dear Lord! What the hell was that?'. But after many (I mean, MANY) rewatches, I now understand some misunderstood aspects from the first view and like it, a lot. First, there were some funny moments ("Reservoir Cats", Marge imagining herself being bald... aaand that unforgettable line: "So long, Superman!") and the episode itself had many many musical culture references that i learned more about. I guess Al Jean learned a lot of tricks on cultural references from his experiences from the show 'The Critic'--I mean, some references made in the episode could've fit right into the episodes of 'The Critic' well. I always felt that the plot was very predictable, but after learning more about 'Mary Poppins' movie, I gave it a break. The best part of the episode is the ending, because we are reminded on just what kind of family 'The Simpsons' are and the ways of the family are unbreakable. I guess Sharry died in the very end though, very shocking, yet dark-humored and cynical ending--dunno what to say about it though. Oh, and the songs were great. Maggie Roswell's finest performance. A

[tom cody]

I've always enjoyed this episode.

B+

[Van]

This isn't a bad episode but it is quite odd. I've never felt that it exists in the same continuity as other 'regular' episodes, like it was all a dream or an episode length THOH story. I haven't seen Mary Poppins, or if I have then I don't remember it, but I really liked the songs in this episode. Sherry's death was kind of disturbing to me.
B
"Suddenly the ugliest man in Glasgow wasn't good enough for her."

[The Foot]

A Millhouse Divided- A decent episode. There were some good jokes but also some that missed. I felt the fight scene between Kirk and Luann dragged on too long. Even though it wasn't a bad concept to have Kirk and Luann getting divorced, their lines were more funny when they were married. B

Lisa's Date with Density- Frankly I don't understand why everyone likes this episode. Nelson dating Lisa is not a very particulary creative premise that gathers my interest, and personally, I felt the writing was very weak with lines such as "This ought to shut her up" and Nelson throwing eggs at the Simpson house was neither funny and didn't serve any purpose. Homer's telephone scam was funny and the line about nobody liking Millhouse saved the episode from being a D. C-

Hurricane Neddy- The episode started out well but went downhill after the first act. The part with Ned ridiculing the town was amusing but I didn't find it hysterical as some other Simpson fans do. C+

El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer- Consistently funny from start to finish. The animation was great and I thought the idea of Homer finding his soulmate was one of the more original stories. Marge's explanation at the end was a little hokey and there were some flaws, but still it's a very entertaining episode. A-

The Simpson Files- Hilarious episode an an excellent parody of the X-Files. One of my favorites and possibly the best of season 8. Leonard Nimoy made a good appearance. The ending was enjoyable even if it was very similiar to Bart's Comet. A

Twisted World of Marge Simpson- There were some good funny moments and the plot was alright but there were also some dull moments. I liked the addition od Fat Tony and the mob. The one continuity error I didn't like was Principal Skinner was afraid of the mob in this episode, where as he wasn't in Bart the Murderer. B-

Mountain of Madness- Very good episode. The plot started out well with the retreat to the mountains. The story did strayed form the plot with Homer and Mr. Burns having cabin fever, but it was funny enough to be entertaining. B+

[Chou]

When cartoons have musical episodes, it usually turns out to be at least somewhat enjoyable. I enjoyed the Mary Poppins spoof, it's a very gimmicky episode so the Sherry Bobbins character isn't all that interesting as expected. The first act is really good but the episode becomes less fun as it goes along. With a paperthin plot, you can't do too much about it either. Still, the gags are mostly funny, though some of them are little awkward.

I'll give it a B/B-.

[Clark Westfall]

Damn good episode, with some fine parody and a plethora of gags. A

[Starman]

The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show



An unnecessary, dull episode and easily the worst Itchy and Scratchy episode I have seen. C

[sung]

Strong episode that writers actually put some messages to satirize the complaining, CBG-type hardcore fans. I actually got good laugh at it since I do feel that--when I'm judging an episode, I do sometimes feel like CBG who'd go off the internet to 'register the disgust'. But I think it could've been done just for good fun since satirizing has been a big part of the show and some guest stars did have to be prepared to be made fun of. The episode also satirized the executives and writers themselves by making them act listless--no one wins, or loses. Well, that's that...
I thought the episode had very simple plot that seemed very predictable until the last-minute happening when they really killed off Poochie--which was a big twist that made me glad since I was actually disappointed with their (almost) decision not to kill Poochie off. There weren't much of laugh-out-loud gags, but there were some clever moments such as Roy being used as a 'referrant' of the family's comment on the state of the show. There were some dull moments, but that doesn't kill the episode for me. BTW, I loved the 'The Beagle Has Landed' episode of I&S... I won't forget that. It's a great episode, but not in the traditional way. It took me some a lot of thinkings to appreciate what this episode wanted to say. A

[Van]

Yeah, it's one giant stab at all the hardcore fans of Simpsons and a pretty funny one too. The only I&S centred episode I really like. I loved the appearance of Roy and how he popped up everytime someone made a meta-reference to the state of the show. Looking back now it seems like this episode came out at the perfect time.
B
"You can cram it with walnuts, ugly!"

[Moe Nopoly]

it's a good episode, but i never really liked itchy & Scratchy too much.
For a short gag, they are great, but a whole episode is not so interesting for me.

C

[Tamaki Suoh]

Probably my least favorite Itchy and Scratchy-centric episode, but it's not too bad. Just very forgettable. B-

[Miss_Haruka]

My favorite Itchy&Scratchy episode.Some memorable gags towards and I like very much the Homer's characterization.It have few flaws,but it was good.
A-

[Capt Hammer]

Alright episode not one of my fav eps but good i give about a C+

[Fox Executive]

It's ok, it's nothing special but i liked it quite a bit. B

[The Foot]

Simpsoncalifragilisticaexpialad'ohcious- A bland, timid entry, that's suitable for patients recovering from surgery. In most Simpson movie parodies, the writers do their own version of the movie, while in this episode it seems the Simpsons were merely substituted for the movie characters. Aside from chuckling once or twice I thought the episode was weak and lacking in humor. I was never a fan of Mary Poppins. This use to get my worst episode ever label. While this is still in my ten worst Simpson episodes, I have recently decided there are episodes especially ones from the last few seasons, that are even worse. D

The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show- There's some good satire about die hard fans and television executives. There's also some good jokes, but it has some boring moments as well. B

[Clark Westfall]

Good episode, I enjoyed the jabs at die hard fans of TV shows and studio execs who try to make a sagging show hip again. I love the recurring joke with Roy and I think that it's kind of funny that The Simpsons are now in the state that Itchy & Scratchy were at the beginning of this episode. It does get boring at times and it is not all that memorable, overall it's a B- episode.

[sung]

This is going to be one opinion splitting episode....

Homer's Phobia


I'll start off with the bad things first so I can have rooms for thought to write about the other part... I don't know about you, but I felt that Homer's fear for homosexuals, like, came out of nowhere and was very surprising to see (in slightly bad way) and disappointed me earlier. It kind of broke the continuity since Homer wasn't acting alarmed on Karl (or he was not aware that Karl was gay). And how did Marge know 100% that John was gay only based on his interests and preferences? But that's where the episode goes uphill...
Again, I don't know about you, but the good part of Homer's characteristic in this episode is that Homer cared for Bart and some of his stereotypical acts later on in the episode came out of his parental love. (It would be bad if he had bad intentions for Bart, but in his view, he didn't approve homosexuality, so it can be justified as parental love... for Homer) He may have been wrong, but his intentions were right. The episode also satirized on Homer on how some of us can be stereotypical and malicious on gays--without being preachy as Homer appreciates John later. Hilarious, and somewhat touchy. Some may complain on Homer's behavior was out of whack and writers turned him as a homophobic, stereotypical character--it's not. The episode itself actually lampooned the homophobias by portraying John, the nice, easygoing and perfectly friendly person being (indirectly) harmed by Homer, who has little understanding and somewhat ignorant. Okay, enough with the controversy...
Other than that, the episode was downright hilarious with great gags ("We work hard, and we play hard", Hawaiian Shirt, Bart's assessment of hunting or Bart staring at Laramie cigarrette comercial for hours) which makes it hard for me to hate even if I tried. I believe the episode also won an Emmy. Plot was done nicely, not really big flaws to speak of.
A-/A

[Chou]

Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show- A
I'm with Dewey, this is a great episode. While it does satirize the fans of the show a bit, I always felt the satire was more about T.V. executives and the industry than the fans. I think that part gets a little overblown or is made more important by Simpsons fans than it really is. The addition of a new, pointless character to get more ratings is a problem that often gets criticism. Poochie is a very funny satire of that and the "Beagle Has Landed" episode is like making fun of those predictable and stereotypical episodes of a show that follow. Also, the focus group testing was very funny. It's a stab at the stupidity of knowing what the audience wants when really, what you want from a show is different than what someone else might want. The results tend to be for the worse.
My only complaints is that some of the moments feel tedious and that Homer's speech was sappy. But the sappy speech was just setup so I can look past that.

Homer's Phobia- A-
I'd like to see what other opinions on this episode are...

[Van]

This is one of the more hilarious offerings and I remember the first few times I watched this I didn't know whether it was appropriate to laugh out loud or not at certain jokes. The more I think about this episode the more it feels like it was a stereotype of the reaction to gays, from the way Homer's reaction seemed deliberately over the top. The steel mill scene is still the funniest of the whole episode but there are funny gags throughout (the cigarette ad, hunting trip). The Smithers appearance keeps reminding me of Harleen's fanfic Incurable and.. uhh well, I won't spoil it for anyone. I read a review (not Dewey's) that also pointed out that Marge just seemed to come to the conclusion that John was gay going purely by what he was interested in and time spent at the Simpsons house. That was the only thing I really had a problem with.
B+
"That's our word for making fun of you!"

[Starman]

I found it offensive, but I guess it means well. B

[tom cody]

Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show: One of my favourite episodes from Season 8, I liked seeing the different people around Springfield auditioning for the part of Poochie.

B+

Homer's Phobia: An interesting episode, it was great to see Homer's take on John.

B

[Tamaki Suoh]

The Smithers appearance keeps reminding me of Harleen's fanfic Incurable and.. uhh well, I won't spoil it for anyone.

Thanks for the mention.

As for my opinion of the episode, I think it's pretty good but not perfect. I've always thought that Homer's homophobia was really rather out-of-character; I see Homer as more of a lovable, innocent, well-intentioned guy who doesn't have many hateful bones in his body, plus he had no problem with Karl, who actually kissed him. Homer's characterization was obviously meant to be satirical of close-minded bigots and such, but it still was a little annoying, and the ending with him trying to make Bart shoot the deer was pretty cold.

John was a pretty good and funny one-time character, although not the best. Bart's characterization was iffy; I liked that he was conversely not homophobic at all and enjoyed John's presence, but his ignorance at what Homer assumed was a bit too naive for someone as intelligent as Bart. The humor was good, although I don't remember too many jokes that make me aloud, and the plot was interesting and down-to-earth. Probably the episode's biggest fault is the ending; Homer accepts John because he saved him, and while I guess that's kind of realistic for Homer, it doesn't feel like the most satisfying or appropriate conclusion to the episode. B

[Moe Nopoly]

A great episode and one of my favorite ones in general.
The story is hilarious and a lot of fun. Really no downside for me in this episode.
Just perfect entertaining. A great one-time character and also great that Barney and Moe have their appearance too.

A

[CousinMerl]

The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show

This Itchy and Scratchy episode is not bad in my eyes. There was some really good humor and gags, such as Homer's brain telling him to look sad and say d'oh. Poochie is somehow a more or less memorable character and the apperances of Roy, even though they were quite insignificant for the episode, was entertaining. I like how they parody the deal about when the creator(s) feel that a show is outdated so they decide to creat a new character and add to the show even though the outcome might not become what's expected.

B+


Homer's Phobia

I admit that this is one of my favorite episodes with some really great humor and gags through the whole episode; a lot of the dialogue was great too. The story itself is a quite interesting one and I didn't have any problems with Homer's or Bart's characterizations, it was interesting to see something different and to see what would happen if Homer went homphobic. There are quite many both funny and memorable scenes and bits in the episode, like the steel mill sequence which is almost classic and the whole hunting trip towards the end that was also a good addition. John was a really good and interesting one-time character and all it took for Homer to like John again was to get saved by John from the irritated reindeer, so I guess Homer learned a lesson there.

A