Rate & Review "The Great Wife Hope" (LABF16)

[Financial Panther]

This was a bad episode, but not the worst. Better than Homer the Whopper, though.

[Jesse Pinkman]

No, he has directed Treehouse of Horror XVII (with David Silverman), Stop or My Dog Will Shoot and Dangerous Curves.

oh thanks! guess i better start paying more attention to the directors...

[EthanRunt]

Disappointing fall from last week, some moments were adequate, but for the most part it was sloppy, trying far too hard, and the plot was going by too quickly to make sense, remember when episodes had villain characters with a showdown at the end that were actually developed? I miss those days.

[Cartoonnetwork]

I personally found the ending with the kids hilarious, especially the ending of it. Way to go, Lisa!

Great episode, very enjoyable. Fantastic use of secondaries, even a half-decent use of Mr. Burns (half-decent cause I think he won't usually help ordinary people like the Simpsons, but I can concede that). It was actually a different type of episode, we haven't seen many of this kind. It had a family conflict and then the secondary characters help or contribute to it somehow. It was like a nice mixture of "Lisa On Ice" tone with "A Star Is Burns" tone, so to speak.

Marge was very well handled and all the family was great too.

Only thing I hated was the annoyingly long coach gag (I think this was reused, wasn't it?).

I'll give it 4/5 since it wasn't totally great, the story is kind of simple, but it was a fun little episode, pretty rewatchable and the best of the season so far. I would like to see them using the secondary characters like this more often.

[lionelhutz123]

Let me start off by saying that "Leftorium: Next Right" is probably my favorite billboard gag so far. I'm also glad that they have ceased the various Ralph ad libs, when he wears Jebediah's head. It's good that they are just keeping it to the generic squeal.

This episode was pulled off better than it could have been, but still suffers from some problems. I didn't care for Marge in the beginning when she walked into the ring to protest. I found it so irritating. In Roger Daltrey's words, "Shut the fuck up Marge!" Nonetheless the weakly executed premise helped lead up to an interesting show. I have to admit, that I am impressed with season 21's healthy habit of focusing on the theme, plot, etc. As people have mentioned, it was nice to see the family support Marge, because the characters would have been portrayed like jackasses if they were still upset about Marge protesting.
However, I feel Homer could have taken this situation one step further, and instead of letting Marge train or spectating from the stands, I feel he should have stepped in and maybe go talk to the UFC guy to reason with him. He came off as such a wimp, when compared to Marge's determination. Dressing as Marge instead of putting a complete stop to it? Homer wasn't a man in this episode. Like Lisa said, "Can't you control your woman?" (Great line, because when Marge was parading around the backyard, I was thinking the same thing).
The jokes in this episode were ok, but there were definitely some lame, awkward ones like Homer chanting/whispering "Kill" when Marge shows up at the playground. Also, some jokes just lingered longer than they should have like Burns and a couple of other unmemorable ones. The jokes that I liked were Skinner and Martin in the punching bag, and Tatum's "No Cherry Coke? Cancel The Order" line. The best gag of the episode IMO, which is the only one I laughed out loud at was Carl's line in the bar. In fact, everything he said was great. I specifically respected his saneness when he explained to Homer that Marge fighting the UFC guy was BAD. The way that line was delivered, to me, just summed up how absurd the situation was of Marge getting into a fight.
The episode was entertaining (Marge getting hit was unexpected), the pacing was handled well again and it had a fun ending with Bart and Lisa, but at the same time I found it as a whole, average. 3/5

SIDE NOTE: This episode marks the first glimpse of an animated Obama.

Man On The Right Is My Man Of The Night:

[Gorky]

He came off as such a wimp, when compared to Marge's determination. Dressing as Marge instead of putting a complete stop to it? Homer wasn't a man in this episode.

To me, it was more important that he respected that Marge was, like you say, determined to participate in this fight. Instead of trying to put a stop to what was happening, he did all he could to support her. Maybe that's wimpy, but I also think it's sweet and very much in-keeping with his character.

[BartSimpsonfan17]

For me it was good untill the end, I don't like Bart abuse. I gave it a 3/5

[Semaj]

This was a boring episode. Or maybe I'm just not interested in ultimate fighting.

Either way, they've done episodes before where Marge tries to be more defensive, which were far better than this one. This also had the same persistent problem of overkilling small jokes.

Not that there weren't any funny parts, it just showcases the general problem with today's Simpsons episodes, where the human just doesn't come as organically as it used to.

2.5/5

[The Sovereign]

3/5

missed the first act cause my cable sucks

surprisingly entertaining, which is much more than i can say about the other episodes this season

Burns wrestling was the highlight of the episode for me

[Jims]

OK, Season 21 has officially turned into the "Classic Era: Paint By Numbers!" season.

We've had "Radioactive Man II" followed by "Sweet Seymour's Badass Song II" followed by "The Homer They Fall II". You just swap the characters around. A Milhouse story becomes a Homer story, a Skinner story becomes a Krabappel story, and a Homer story becomes a Marge story. I can't wait until Lisa joins a school production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" because Homer doesn't appreciate her talents.

Of course, the show has been going forever so it's impossible to do anything completely original in structure. It seems like past few episodes have felt eerily similar to past ones. I didn't really feel that way at all during Season 20.

Anyway!

1. I didn't get into the plot that much because I just couldn't buy into the premise. It was a little too set-up and shticky and didn't seem believable at all. Obviously, the writers wanted to go for a plot where Marge ends up fighting, but what they came up with doesn't ring true to me. C'mon, she's going to fight the president of the company for huge stakes? Really? He clearly doesn't need to fight her, so it seems completely pointless and stupid on his part. They should have built up the promotional aspect a little more, so it's clear that he's trying to make money off the thing.

Of course, this obviously is supposed to be a "fun episode" instead of a "plot episode," so it's probably better to look at the jokes.

2. There were some good ones in there that lambasted the UFC. In particular, I like the small touch of it being a heptagon instead of an octagon. I really liked the fast-forward constant punching on the TV too. Lisa was really funny, between her comments in the car and the out-of-character "control your woman" joke. Oh, and the visuals of Marge with the rhythm dancing streamers were hilarious.

3. The Marge training segments was the most consistent section of the show, with each segment getting a laugh. Punching the Lord's Prayer tatoo on Drederick Tatum chest is pretty funny. At Akira's, the visual of Homer with his shoe in his mouth looks pretty painful but it's still a funny visual. On the other hand, the visual of Burns in a wrestling uniform is pretty disturbing.

4. There were a few clunkers, though. The Otto appearance wasn't that funny and got kinda awkward. And Burns' second appearance on Marge's hair was pushing that joke a little.

Overall, a 3/5. I was going to give it a 2.5/5, but the jokes are decent enough to make up for a stupid plot.

[Dave Shutton]

It was just so boring, only redeeming quality of the episode was getting to see Akira again.

EDIT: my judgement may have been clouded by my father laughing in my ear and explaining every joke to me that I already clearly understood. Pissed me off so much I could barely enjoy the episode...

[CyberpunkSpy]

I agree with some of the posters that Homer was far too feminine. He really comes off as weak and womanly. Its come to the point where Homer literally seems like he is a child stuck in adult body while Lisa is the opposite. I guess Homer was suposed to be like this before, but it appears that this child-like quality to him is being emphasized heavily these days.

The comment made by Lisa is the line of the episode. . In some ways it feel very victorian-esque, out of place in a show all about post-modern life(chaotic no order). What caused the writers to put that in there. I am not politically correct(far from it) or anything but 'woman' is way ooc(like way out there) for her, especially for a young femminist. Its almost like Lisa was having a bi-polar disorder.

[The Sovereign]

it's not even the child-like quality, he just breaks down at least once an episode

[bovine_university]

Geez, I keep managing to have the differing opinion with the majority of the board so far. I didn't like this episode very much at all.

For me the big problem was that I didn't like that the episode became a big build-up sequence to the final fight. Personally I think it would have made for a funnier and smarter story if the fight took place right in the middle so that the irony of the situation could ripple through the rest of the show, making for ironic directions for Marge to go next, as well as maybe the occasional biting statement about violence. Instead it becomes just a big training montage with no music, with one character after another just popping into the story to have their little joke and moment before bowing out and having nothing to do with anything.

Alot of you are saying that it's not a problem because this was just a goofy episode all about the laughs, but I didn't find many of the jokes funny. In fact I found most of the humor to have that elongated punch-line problem which just sucks the fun out of the gag and disrupts the story. In particular I didn't like Nelson's joke about being a planner, the promoter being outside Marge's bedroom, or Homer's fantasy about Marge being paralyzed, all because they just went on too long.

I will say that I did like the final direction that the episode took, I didn't see it coming to get Bart involved in the fight. And when you think about it it's kind of sweet to think that despite all the protesting Bart was making to get Marge out of it and his love for the sport, when the chips were down he thought of his mother's safety. The villain wasn't great, but they did do a decent job of giving him enough of an edge that we disliked the guy. And I really laughed at that last joke with Bart and Lisa in the freeze-frame, and then the unfreezing. Still, I just can't bring myself to give this any higher than a 2/5.

Speaking of that last gag, it's kind of funny to think that because Bart was beating Nelson in that fight they had at the beginning of the episode, and Lisa KO's Bart at the end of the episode, essentially they are saying that Lisa is stronger than Nelson by association. Heh.

[Kiyosuki]

It wasn't bad. Marge lampshading her own prudishness got a little bit too blatant at times and it kinda maybe fuzzed up the point(if there was one), and a few things going on longer than they should as usual (foozeball, nelson the planner etc) but all and all not bad. Story rolled out well and stayed on track. And it did have one of the better Burns is oldlol scenes I've seen in a while.

I don't see the big deal with the ending.

I'm surprised there hasn't been an episode about her doing something about the school's rampant bullying herself yet...

edit: Homer having a nervous break down over the cake was kind of overkill too. I mean, an awkward and embarassed look's all they really need for it...

[ArniePye]

I really enjoyed the episode, the show seemed to move really quickly which was good. No real awful jokes which is very good for this era of the Simpsons. Nice to Drederick Tatum back and Burns had a good appearence. Its always fun to see The Simpsons kicking ass as was the case for Lisa and Marge.

[Kiyosuki]

Not complaining about it really, but has anyone noticed how lately Nelson's been used to do this thing where he goes awkwardly off on a tangent about himself in the middle of a scene for some reason?

"Gotta go. Mrs is cooking (i can't remember) tonight...
...that's my mom...
......Mrs. Muntz."

or

"My stroked out grandfather's got more memory than that thing!"

"how's he doing?"

"fine, thanks."

or the thing in this episode which is the longest yet, I can vaguely remember a few other times too. It's ....weird. I don't get it.

[Apu Nahasapasawhatever]

lame episode . .only good part was the training segment.
new show runner please.

[That Don Guy]

I have a feeling that the main difference between those who really liked the episode and those who didn't are, people who are newer to the show probably liked it more because they didn't see most of it coming a mile away. For example, while a number of people liked the Bart vs. Lisa ending, I saw the whole thing coming the minute the fight was even suggested - because I had seen it before (in "The Springfield Connection").

-- Don

[Green Man]

I really had no hopes for this episode, so I was pleasent surprised by it.

I didn't care for the plot that much since I'm not a fan of martial arts... or any type of fight to be honest. this episode had a tons of great gags, but there were some that went on for too long. for example that whole run between Marge and Nelson was kind of funny at first but it started to get boring really fast.

what really impresed me about this episode was how in character Marge was. I thought this would be like "Strong Arms of the Ma" (another episode Carolyn Omine wrote btw) where she would quickly turn into this monster and start to beat the crap out of everybody, but no. the writers did a pretty good job at putting Marge into a moral dilemma and I actually bought that she would rather fight that guy than let the violence go on. kudos to them.

overall I think this was a decent Marge episode. 3/5 seems fair.

[lionelhutz123]

What was the deal with Lisa randomly pointing out that Bart's line was a haikou? That came out of nowhere and how did she realize it the second after Bart utters it? It reminded me of the annoying, stereotypically intelligent characterization of Lisa in the episode "Gone Maggie Gone". It's pretty lame that the writer had to go out of their way to call attention to their "brilliant" wordplay by forcing the characters to reference it.

[The Sovereign]

What was the deal with Lisa randomly pointing out that Bart's line was a haikou? That came out of nowhere and how did she realize it the second after Bart utters it? It reminded me of the annoying, stereotypically intelligent characterization of Lisa in the episode "Gone Maggie Gone". It's pretty lame that the writer had to go out of their way to call attention to their "brilliant" wordplay by forcing the characters to reference it.

BRILLIANT!!!!

[Green Man]

did anyone else think this was funny?

[Kiyosuki]

I can't say I get it but just the way it looks did get a chuckle.

[arii]

Yeah, I have no idea why that's there but that doesn't make it any less hilarious.

Hell, it might make it more hilarious.

Seriously, is that a reference to something or is it just completely random?

[Jesse Pinkman]

did anyone else think this was funny?

I didn't find it overly hilarious but looking at it now gives me a chuckle

[Fox Executive]

I enjoyed it. I didn't think Marge was behaving out-of-character like I predicted, so the plot was okay, and there were some pretty funny jokes. Overall, I'd say a 3.5/5. Best episode so far.

[Rowdy Roddy Peeper]

Inside this episode, somewhere beneath the poor jokes and iffy premise, is a good episode. Possibly a great episode. However, what we got shouldn't have been the finished article. Too many things let it down.

Firstly, the next time Al Jean or any of the creators complain about 'not having enough time to develop the plot because of ad breaks', slap them. Seriously, find them and slap them. Because they wasted 1 minute and 56 seconds with the opening credits. Opening credits which we've seen before! That's 9% of the episode gone already? I mean, what are they thinking? This is an episode, which NEEDS a lot of time developing it as it's a premise which isn't realistic (or on paper, even in character for Marge), so the episode needs as much time as it can get to 'explain itself', so the audience can get past the verisimilitude and accept the episode. I would have liked to have seen Marge being more hesitant about fighting this man, maybe something more provoking then general teasing? How about the man spotting her family ‘telling her to stop embarrassing herself’ and the man then verbally attacking her family (bald, fat primape, the ugly pug nosed girl etc.). Just something to really make you feel ‘GO ON MARGE, FIGHT HIM!!’

I’ve felt during Seasons 14,15, 16 and partly 17, 18 and 19 Homer has been characterized very well. Most times than not, he’s funny, he’s caring (when needed) and he’s not a jerkass. Oh, he’s always funny. This Season and the one before, to me...Homer has been poorly written. He cries too easily, he makes horrible ‘writing gags’ (Jokes that Homer’s character wouldn’t say normally, but it’s a joke which the writer thinks it is good, so he needs to put it in), he gets hurt WAY too much and the audience is feeling less and less empathy towards. In this episode, Homer should have done more to talk Marge out of it; he should have faced a crisis about his own role as a Husband. He shouldn’t be letting his wife get into situations like this. The one time i felt he was in character and funny, was when Marge had ‘bought’ his opinion by making a cake for him. That was great, a nice little joke which sums up Homers character. But then they ruined it. They had him rambling on for too long, and then crying about it? FFS. They then had the line ‘She knew my one weakness...that i’m weak’. Which is fine, but i would have much preferred to have heard it as soon as he realised Bart had found him out, and not when he was sobbing on the floor.

That generally summed up one of the episodes main weaknesses, the humor. Much like the rest of this production code, the show features too many ‘jokes’ which aren’t funny. Too many gags that go on for too long, aren’t progressing the plot forward or are uncharacteristic lines.

3. The Marge training segments was the most consistent section of the show, with each segment getting a laugh. Punching the Lord's Prayer tatoo on Drederick Tatum chest is pretty funny. At Akira's, the visual of Homer with his shoe in his mouth looks pretty painful but it's still a funny visual. On the other hand, the visual of Burns in a wrestling uniform is pretty disturbing.

I agreed with this sentence so much up until about the 14th or 15th word. The training segments were the most consistent section of the show, consistently disappointing. Each one had a funny set up which could potentially leak laughter, but none of them did and they all get progressively worse. The Tatum one wasn’t awful, just not that funny (Nice to see the Tyson references haven’t gone). The Akira one starting okay, wasn’t funny, but nothing annoyed me...up until Homer got involved. Again, the writers think ‘do you know what i haven’t wrote for a couple of minutes?’ ‘What?’ ‘Homer getting hurt! We all know this will never get tired and isn’t bottom of the barrel comedy. Now let’s go on strike cos we’re too talented to only earn thousands of dollars a month!! Look i did a haiku!’. Again, breaking rules that were set at the beginning of the show. Homer’s body is just mangled and unrealistically disjointed. Not funny. Then we’ve got a Burns segment. Interesting, i thought. Let’s give it a go. Oh wait, it’s rubbish too. Burns being weak can be funny, but only when it’s executed well. In this case it was not, and when they reprised it i actually wanted to die (Not a real actuality)


As well as them segments, the bad jokes were sprinkled throughout the episode. The autograph signings, the ‘kill, kill, kill’. ‘Maybe some punk kid will shoot me’, Otto, Moe dating Homer, etc. There was some nice jokes in there as well, i suppose. Marge’s innocence regarding training (ribbons), fast forward punching, Carl Carlson, and the best one of the night being the scalper ‘I am not a scalper, i am a dude whose 200 friends did not show up’.

And the Bart and Lisa end reminded me of Classic Simpsons.

I know the show i loved, is still in there somewhere, behind all this nonsense!
3/5

[Zenmiester]

Bart of Darkness vs. The Homer They Fall equals average fun.

[qwertyuio]

Whoa, great episode. I never thought this premise could work in The Simpsons but it did indeed.

One of the things that amazed me was how surprisingly good and well-balanced Marge's characterization was. From her "crazy bowling" idea to the demonstration (although she had some of the Bart After Dark flaws in this part, but I didn't care too much) she was portrayed in a very classic way. When the storyline was going to develop the controversial decision (Marge involved in a fight), I felt scared... and didn't ease my fears until I realized it was already introduced and it was not that bad. In fact, I found Marge accepting to fight good because instead of reinforcing her bitterness they managed to add spontaneity to her choice as an answer to the provocation of the MMA promoter. Maybe she felt a little unconscious and nervy when decided to keep her decision, but all in all her characterization was still strong. I can see her being somehow overcomed by a blinding pride and behaving thoughtlessly in that situation.

The final fight was one of the best bits of the recent Jean era as it was filled with surprise factor. I never thought they would really fight on equal terms, I was waiting for the MMA promoter falling suddenly and then being paid a bribe. When he punched her I was shocked, and from that scene to the ending everything worked perfectly: Bart jumping into the ring to defend her mother, Marge portrayed as a furious defender of her family (you know, it's exaggerated and cartoon-ish but I always find these things hilarious) and finally knocking out the guy.

In the humorous aspect it was pretty consistant, though not really memorable. I laughed at the beginning with all the Springfield men watching the Mixed Martial Arts, the childish fights with Bart defeating Nelson, Skinner in the punching bag, Moe dating Homer, the ribbons, the visuals at the training with Akira and Drederick Tattum, the ending with Lisa knocking out Bart... Sometimes there were bad jokes too (Burns trying to hit Marge was funny at first but then it went too long), but nothing really cringeworthy.
Another aspect that could be doubted is Homer's characterization. And heck, it was more a mixed bag than a bad portrayal as some of you are saying. I agree he was slightly childish and weak, but I enjoyed these characteristics for the sake of humour. I disagree anyway with what Rowdy Roddy Peeper says that Homer has been lowered in these two last seasons; if anything he is showing the weakness of the whole Jean era (except for some episodes in the first three or four seasons). And this one wasn't definitely one of his worst. The rest of the family was fine, though. Lisa's line was very shocking, but in the context of the episode it worked.

Best of the season so far, and I didn't even dislike the previous two. This episode was somewhat different in its development (the premise is recycled from classic episodes like in Homer The Whopper and Bart Gets A 'Z') and it was well-handled. 9/10

What was the deal with Lisa randomly pointing out that Bart's line was a haikou? That came out of nowhere and how did she realize it the second after Bart utters it? It reminded me of the annoying, stereotypically intelligent characterization of Lisa in the episode "Gone Maggie Gone". It's pretty lame that the writer had to go out of their way to call attention to their "brilliant" wordplay by forcing the characters to reference it.

I tend to agree with this complaint but the joke was well-written by showing Bart reciting unconsciously a haikou. Yes, it's probably what you say that the writer was trying to point out too obviously the wordplay but in the way the characters were used and the idea was developed it made me chuckle (not real laughs anyway, but I found it amusing).