Rate & Review "How the Test Was Won" (LABF02)

[JimBob]

How the test was won is one of my least favourite episodes on season 20 because this episode almost put me to sleep with it's lame and very unfunny jokes,I'm giving this episode a 1/5.

[The Wiggs]

I actually thought this was a pretty decent episode. I like the whole idea of removing the underachievers for the test. However, I didn't like the bull crap dance ending that's become all to common. Either way, I liked the episode. 4/5

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Season 20 continues with a standardized test! But first Homer and Marge celebrate the beginning of a new school year, which happens to keep Bart and Lisa in the same grades anyway. Yay for consistency!!! Anyway this episode with the opening is just over 20 minutes. I point this out because you can also subtract half a minute for all the pointless Homer pain gags which really stand out against the HD of the rest of the episode. So this is in fact an extraordinarily short episode. Makes you wonder if it should've been greenlit in the first place honestly. The pain montage was clearly filler, plus we got that extra long sitcoms couch gag which, while nice, further pads the episode. Homer drives the kids to school, but not before Marge gives him the insurance payment which he naturally forgets about. At school Bart and Lisa learn they'll be taking a very important standardized test. Bart screws around but somehow gets a perfect score and is allowed to leave to go to a pizza party instead. The plan is but a ruse however, and Bart along with the bullies and Ralph are taken to Capital City for the day. Skinner is also stuck with them much to his horror as we end act 1.

In act 2 Homer finally figures out he forgot to pay the insurance bill...2 weeks late...and sends it in. However he won't officially be insured again until 3 that afternoon. Until then he must make sure no one is injured on his property. Lisa begins the test but begins having a panic attack and falls prey to despair. Bart informs the others of what is really going on and they are forced to stop for Ralph to go to the bathroom. We're given a running gag here of all the boys acting really stupid that is easily the best part of the episode, particularly the wonderful animation on Bart. They do this 3 times during the episode and each time it is really nice. GIF worthy actually. When they return from the bathroom the bus has been ransacked as we end act 2.

Act 3 basically just has more of the same and isn't worth mentioning aside from Ralph somehow inexplicably gets trapped on a garbage barge. In act 4 Homer arrives home and finds Marge having a book club meeting. We're given several cringe-worthy gags here including Marge making out with Lindsey Naegle and Homer drinking Mr. Burns' blood but it all ends alright in the end for Homer. Skinner rescues Ralph and manages to give a free piano to a musical orphanage, another solid joke. He, the boys, and Otto arrive back at school and barge in on the test, calling it a joke. Lisa is overjoyed at this as she can now be a brainy outcast again. We end with the boys doing the awesome stupid dance again and everyone else dancing to Footloose.

This episode is just wacky in a Scully sort of way and no that isn't good. It is always tough for me to decide which is more unforgivable, being totally boring or ridiculously wacky. This episode is rarely funny but the premise isn't bad and at times they seem like they're trying so I'm honestly not sure. That Footloose ending is one of those rare examples though of if I were watching the episode with someone else I'd be fairly embarrassed so that should tell you something. With all the filler and still really short run time though again I must point out how this was probably not written properly and was in need of a rewrite to work better. 2.5/5, rounded down to a 2.

[MagicalManFromHappyLand]

4/5
This is probably one of my favourite season 20 episodes, but a big issue I noticed is that Chalmers was horribly out of character, he's supposed to be the only normal man in Springfield, in this episode he jumped up on the desk and told the children to pray to their Gods...

[Blobulle]

One of the best episodes of the season. 4/5
But like MagicalMan said, Chalmers is out of character.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Yeah, I'll give this a 2.5/5 rounded to a 3. Had enjoyable scenes but overall, I think season 20 has a lot better episodes to offer.

[SimpsonsAUS]

Some story issues but really funny gags and one of many really solid episodes from season 20

4/5

[Prune Tracy]

This episode was awful. It's really sad when the freakin' couch gag gives you the only laugh (Sideshow Bob appearing in the Cheers bar). Couch gag aside, this episode was horrendously dull and stupid. I mean, the trick they played on Bart and the bullies was too reminiscent of Whacking Day for me, and as usual, Ralph Wiggum had stupid lines, like singing "Wannabe" while in the bathroom. Speaking of stupid lines, they sure pushed that #2 joke beyond its limits (HAHA GET IT BECAUSE #2 ALSO REFERS TO SHIT). And that ending was just strange. Like, that was nearly "Surf's Up!"-level bad. Overall, a very deserving 1/5.

[cloneasaurus]

god this episode was just terrible (how did i give it a 3/5 before). nothing feels right. the bullies love education. chalmers is completely destroyed as a character, and him dancing for 30 seconds is seen as a credible "joke". and there's a stupid subplot where marge accepts she's an idiot and can never get mad at homer because she's a doormat and has accepted he's incapable of doing anything right. the only thing that felt 'right' in this episode was skinner acting like an actual principal at the end. not that that's brought up again. 1/5

[huge2thadork]

I thought it was average at best, although I remember really liking it as a freshman in high school. (life was so great back then, though) Anyway, let's see...

The couch gag was amusing, I must say. It was probably one of the best parts of the episode. The Honeymooners, the Dick Van Dyke Show, Brady Bunch, and Cheers. During the Cheers part, Sideshow Bob walks in because, well... Kelsey Grammer voices him and... Yeah.

I had pretty much forgotten the B-plot of this episode until watching it again recently. I remember reading reviews about "Lisa Goes Gaga", and somebody was like "They already had two women kiss on the Simpsons in 'How the Test Was Won'". Let's not forget Karl kissing Homer on the lips, as well. I remember watching "Simpson and Delilah" and being like, "Wow! He kissed Homer!" In this episode, I didn't really care about Homer imagining Marge kissing Lindsay Naegle. (didn't really care about it in "Lisa Goes Gaga", even though FOX put up a hashtag for it )

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'll discuss the rest of the episode. It begins with Homer and Marge celebrating the new year of school, even though this episode aired in March and Bart and Lisa remain in their respective grades. But whatever, they've done stuff like that before. Bart apparently gets 100% on a standardized test, though it's really a lie, as Chalmers tells him and some other kids (the bullies... and Ralph) that they're going to a pizza party with a helicopter escort, although in actuality the helicopter is a bus, and it was really to purge the school of test takers. Okay... oh, and Skinner ends up on the bus as well. They end up going to Capital City. Ralph tells Skinner "Mommy! I have to go potty!", and stops for a bathroom break, although when he's at the urinal singing "Wannabe" by Spice Girls, he then reveals that he already went. Okay...

Ralph is really stupid in this episode. I miss the "old" Ralph, if that makes any sense. That's just my opinion. Also, Bart filling in the circles on his test to spell out "SLURP MY SNOT" and supposedly getting a good grade reminds me of something. It reminds me of a Fairly Oddparents episode "Cosmo Con" where Timmy gets an a rare "A" on a test, because he filled in the circles to resemble a smiley face. ("Actually, I just doodled!") Although, in that episode Timmy really did get a good grade on that test.

I liked how Skinner was teaching the kids in an unconventional way, I guess. (when they were going to Capital City) I'll leave it at that.

Lisa being unable to focus on her test... I didn't care for that. Plus, why was she talking out loud during a test? Wouldn't she be reprimanded for that? Ah, whatever. It was worse than the B-plot, though. (I guess that would be the C-plot?)

Which brings be to the B-plot... yes, let's end this review by bringing it full circle. Maybe this is the C-plot, since the other plots are kind of intertwined more. Homer is so stupid that he forgets to mail his insurance payment, which I didn't care for. But I kind of did care for the rest. Let's talk about Homer getting hurt. There is a montage of it. It's decent, at least toward the beginning. It is interesting to see these standard definition clips interspersed with the HD clips. Although I think Homer gets hurt too much in some of the clips. I would say "What is this, a clip show?", but I did like the line Homer said after it, saying that was an "interesting week". Anyway, Homer went to the insurance company and placed the envelope into the insurance company's door. (with an amusing enough message written on the front) However, there is a message written on the insurance company's building's wall about how the guy won't be back until 3 PM because he's "stopping daughter's wedding". Okay. So... Homer cannot hurt himself until 3 PM. Given how much Homer's been hurt, especially in the later seasons, that must be tough. However, all Marge is doing is having her book club at the house. This is when Homer imagines them getting hurt, as he has injury on his mind because he temporarily isn't insured. He does all he can to keep them safe, but ends up throwing a knife out the window, which hits Mr. Burns in the head, who is... on their lawn... for some reason. Homer tries to plug up his blood, in a disgusting gag. Eww.

Actually, let's end.. with the ending. Lisa can't answer the questions because the answers all mean the same thing, and according to her, there's a penalty on guessing, dissuading Chalmers' stance of "If you don't know an answer, guess!" However, Skinner is back from Capital City, despite some mishaps including the bus being disassembled! Then it ends with Skinner canceling the test, and lifting the schools "ban on dancing". Then they all dance to "Footloose". What a shitty ending. Thank you, Michael Price!

Another average Season 20 episode, perhaps painfully so. While there are some decent jokes here, including ones I left out, I can't give it any more than a 3/5. The poll says "3/5 - the glass is half full/half empty". Well, in this episode it would be half empty!

Wow! That must have been my longest single review of an episode yet! Well, it's for good reason because... this is my hundredth post! Woo! I did it! Yeah!

[Gatorsrule]

Rewatched it. Like Tomacco, it was a little better than I remember. I think when episodes start off good and gradually get worse, I remember the weaker moments with a lot more clarity than when they start off weak and get better. This show's first act was largely quite strong.

On the FOX site, the lip-syncing was fine. I think this is a problem with SD-sets, and I really hope they find a way around it, or else I'll have to start watching the episodes online from now on (which I really don't want to do).

After a couple episodes of it in action, I have to throw my vote into the ring for the four-act format...I don't like it. And I have no idea how the THOH/trilogy episodes will work either. With all three of the four-act episodes, we've had one super-short act that really damages the pacing. When the short act is in the middle, the episode feels aimless. When it's at the end, the episode feels rushed. Strong enough writing could probably solve this, but as it is, it feels like a detriment.

The HD animation IS a lot nicer though--I'm noticing more detail and shadows everywhere. If the animators take chances on more flexible poses, the show could look better than ever.

So yeah, upon a rewatch, it got slightly better. The Marge lesbian scene still feels very odd to me in the show--it's not like the show hasn't done gay kissing before, but it's never been in a sexual/fetish context like this. To me, it'd be akin to seeing Marge in skimpy leather and a whip...just plain weird. And the Burns blood gag was right out of the grossest Scully and Jean moments. Those moments aside, there were some nifty lines ("Several? That's more than a few...and almost a bunch!" "Book club!? That's the most stupid, boring thing ever ohhh thank you...") and neat moments (like Homer cutting Lindsay's ascot with the knife, then stopping the toothpicks with the cheese cubes [even if that didn't make much sense considering where they were thrown from]) to save it from the dreaded 2/5 C-.

Even so, still pretty uneven. I'd say a middling C, or 3/5.

P.S. Anyone notice that "nonplussed" was misspelled in the alphabet soup? It was missing an S.

I avoided responding to RR threads for a while. But I had to correct this. Please forgive me. It is spelled both ways. Nonplused or nonplussed. They were correct.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nonplused?s=t