Rate and Review: "The Fight Before Christmas" (MABF22)

[The Governor]

December 5 • The Fight Before Christmas (MABF22)
When Marge needs help in getting everyone else into the Christmas spirit, she goes to the source - Martha Claus er, Clause (voiced by Martha Stewart); Katy Perry appears with Simpsons puppets in a live-action segment

[jscottstroup]

Nice "Inglourious Basterds" reference. And was that Swartzwelder in attendance?

[jayleno]

"I wish this show had a visit from three new writers"

"Well I guess this signifies the end....... of what, The Simpsons?...... No, Christmas"

[qwerasdf]

thats was bad

Then Moe kisses her Puss

[IceDoesntHelp]

Pretty fun episode. 1st and 2nd short were the best. Only section I didn't enjoy was the Martha Stewart story. Wasn't humorous, or interesting. The muppets one was okay. I found it funny when Neds arms tore off, and Katy Parry is still as hot as ever. The end line was, wow...wasn't expecting that. 3/5

[Financial Panther]

What. The fuck. Was that.

[Jesse Pinkman]

each segment got a little worse as time went on. Bart's was my favorite and the only one that made me laugh. lisa's story was alright. marge's was OK but not that funny. The last one was awful. my grade was going to be a 3/5 or so but the last segment bumps it down to a 2.5/5

[Flimpson Tide]

The Simpsons finally grew balls and made their first eating-out reference in 21 years. Nothing wrong with it I guess, but a little uncomfortable to actually end the episode on.

Overall, this episode really felt fresh. I wasn't expecting the puppet show to take the Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase route with the sitcom cheesiness, but I suppose the staff at least wanted to show that they were trying to be corny instead of risk embarrassment among themselves and viewers.

4/5

[Captain Squid]

Goofy fun Christmas episode. I can forgive off the wall humor when they keep it contained to dream sequences. I liked the first and fourth segments the most. Puppet Moe freaking out over the cell phone not leaving his hand gives this a 4/5

Oh, btw, better than the Futurama Christmas special.

[The Governor]

I liked the first act with Bart visiting the North Pole the best, but the shorts got worse as the show went on. Although Moe kissing Katie Perry at the end was the biggest WTF scene in the show in quite a while.

2/5.

Season 22 is well on the way to topping S21 as the new worst season.

[Homer Jay]

The first segment was pretty good and the last had some moments, but the second was forgettable and the third just plan bad. 2.5 rounded down to 2

[qwerasdf]

yeah this season is really making me lose faith in the Simpsons this episode will be a turning point for a lot of people ..... away just like the Tik-Tok Opening last season


I love the Concept of the episode the execution is TERRIBLE

[hughes]

Easily the funniest episode this season, and best quadrilogy since...hell, might have been the best one of those ever (non-THOH, obviously). First act was all-around solid, second had its moments (especially the Inglorious Basterds part--"He's Hitler" was great), third was a bit weaker, but I liked her chloroforming Homer, "Bart's weird friend" and the "breakfast in bed--for you to make" followed by the song, and fourth--absolutely fantastic. End was great, Flanders' arms coming off, Grandpa and Jasper. Great showing, and a nice rebound from the last couple of decent yet uninspired outings. 14/15

[D'ohmer]

Nom this is what I'm talking about! The Simpsons are back! This is why I love the show. It was just a very fun episode and it was a great way to get in the holiday spirit. Far better than Futurama's attempt at a holiday episode, but I'm not sure if it's better than Simpsons Christmas Stories. Still, I greatly enjoyed every segment.

The first segment was creative. I enjoyed it, even though I'm not familiar with the source material. The second segment was more emotional, but I still enjoyed it. The third segment was pretty mean spirited, but I guess it was supposed to be, and the use of objects was clever. The forth segment was great as well. I thought the puppet concept was used very well, and the plot was a great combo of The Simpsons and a puppet show. There were many great gags in every segment. I loved the train addicted to pot, the map looking like Marge, Homer being covered up, and even Moe kigging Katy Perry. The song at the end was kind of annoying and unnecessary, but who cares?

Overall, there was no "wow" segment, like the nutcracker segment from Simpsons Christmas Stories, but the segments were consistantly gereat (IMO). 5/5!

[Snaked]

The best X-mas-oriented episode since "Simpsons Christmas Stories" back in Season 17, IMO (Better than "Tis the Fifteenth Season", the worst of the X-mas episodes, IMO). LOLed at bits such as Hitler removing his stash and placing it on the guy next to him & Homer eating the Gingerbread men who died building the Gingerbread Mansion, as well. Though I didn't care for Bart & Homer crying or even Homer telling the mailman to shut up after he said he could join the army due to feeling that he should have died, not Marge, along with the STA with breakfast in bed (though I can't help but be a hypocrite by saying the reworded "It's beginning to look like Christmas" was preety funny).

Overall, a 3.5/5 (I rated it 3)

[D'ohmer]

I noticed they only gave us the descriptions of the segments with guest stars. Hmm...

[bartyboy]

only funny things in here were nazi dumbo and the number e, all in all a lackluster episode, that puppet segment was just awful.

2/5

"Well I guess this signifies the end....... of what, The Simpsons?...... No, Christmas"

we can dream

[D'ohmer]

What. The fuck. Was that.

A Christmas-themed quadrilogy Simpsons episode.

[The Governor]

Nom this is what I'm talking about! The Simpsons are back! This is why I love the show.

With the possible exception of the first act, this episode was terrible compared to any episode from the first 9 seasons, and dare I even say it--terrible compared to Seasons 13-15. For a show that used to pride itself by making fun of things in order to produce humor, the current Zombie Simpsons thinks it's 'funny' to shit all over itself with whatever's 'hip' and 'trendy' to try and stay relevant.

A Christmas-themed quadrilogy Simpsons episode.

This isn't the Simpsons, it's now a product of a Wacko, right wing network that thinks it's being 'edgy.' The only thing different between the Simpsons of today and the Cosby show of the 80's is one's animated.

[D'ohmer]

With the possible exception of the first act, this episode was terrible compared to any episode from the first 9 seasons, and dare I even say it--terrible compared to Seasons 13-15. For a show that used to pride itself by making fun of things in order to produce humor, the current Zombie Simpsons thinks it's 'funny' to shit all over itself with whatever's 'hip' and 'trendy' to try and stay relevant.

Well, that's just your opinion. I am happy whenever I can take enjoyment out of an episode, for whatever reasons. In this case, I thought it was creative and funny and it seemed like the writers put in a lot of effort this week, compared to most of the episodes this season so far.

Oh, and I'm sorry Jake, but it's still a Simpsons episode. I know it's hard to accept it because you didn't like it, but it's part of the show as much as Lisa's Substitute is.

[Little Nellie Kelly]

Hm .. I would say that my favorite of the segments was Lisa's dream .. I found it somewhat funny that Marge was the one that was sent to war and Homer was the "Rosie the Riveter" type character - but no laugh out loud moments. As predicted, I thought this episode was bland and just a big ol' borefest.

A C+ just due to the reason that I believed that the World War II segment brought it up a bit. The puppet segment was meh but not entirely awful - the ending with the 39 Days of Christmas was .. hm .. so-so.

[noaizuma]

I dont generally like the multi mini-story episodes much, and this one was no exception. The only lasting highlights for me were..

1) Martha stuart drugging homer and saying "It's a good thing"

2) The comment from puppet grampa and jasper about getting new writers and this being the end of the show.

3) My favorite joke was the "We brought you breakfest... now you just have to make it." It personally caught me really off guard.

As a side note I often watch the show with non-simpsons fans and as such get a rather interesting perspective on how casual viewers see the show. This episode got the lest amount of laughs this season though EVERONE really enjoyed the 'moe kissing kattie perry'

[D'ohmer]

I enjoyed the Moe kissing Katy Perry joke becasue it's rare that the writers are that daring to put in a joke like that, so I commend them whenever they do as long as it works.

[The Governor]

Well, that's just your opinion. I am happy whenever I can take enjoyment out of an episode, for whatever reasons.

Desperation?

Really, I got the feeling that the writers in these past couple of seasons are writing these Simpsons episodes in one draft and are submitting them without anyone questioning if they make any sense whatsoever. Honestly, take the Marge's Martha Stewart dream: I honestly think the collective ass (aka the writer's room) had written a laundry list of jokes that seemed funny to themselves and decided to add some dialog in a sad attempt to string the mess together. After watching the behind-the-scenes specials over the years, do these writers still go over the scripts 50 times to see if the joke worked? Do they stay up all night doing rewrites to make sure it was pretty damn funny?

Oh, and I'm sorry Jake, but it's still a Simpsons episode. I know it's hard to accept it because you didn't like it, but it's part of the show as much as Lisa's Substitute is.

Yeah, but when LS was written, the show had satirically competent staff that didn't have contempt for storytelling.

[Little Nellie Kelly]

I didn't really enjoy the joke of "Moe kissing Katy Perry," though. I mean, it was a fine innuendo joke, but I don't think they should have ended the show on it.

[D'ohmer]

No, not desperation. Jake, what you have to understand if that different people have different tastes. You can't state your opinion as a fact because other people may not agree. I understand that it's surprising to have a member here with the opinions that I do, but please accept my opinions. I accept all of the opinions of other members here.

[Xt'Tapalatakettle]

I missed the first few minutes of the episode (I tuned in when Milhouse and Nelson were making toys), but I feel the opposite of folks here, i.e.- the segments progressively got better. Overall, this was weird, but felt very fresh and new.

The first segment, however, seemed ultimately forgettable except maybe the ending, which was pretty hysterical. A lot of the jokes in the workshop were unbelievably lame. Is it ok to be sick of Nelson by now?

The second segment was overall enjoyable and I liked the twist with Marge being off at war and Homer being at home. Even though Marge killing Hitler was a bit out there, it was fairly comedic. The thing with Nazi Dumbo was funny, but I think they overused it a bit too much at the end. I don't like how characters "show" things they're referencing. This was true when Lisa holds up both the book and the stuffed animal. Can't we just get a pan to it? I'm not really into the in your face kind of mentality that some jokes on the show still have.

I would just like to say that the third and fourth segments utilized their guest stars extremely well. In a way, the last two segments felt very un-Simpsons-like, but it made the show feel fresh (for once). Marge dreaming about Martha Stewart made sense instead of them just plopping a guest star randomly as they do these days. I really think they played her helpful anal-retentiveness very well and she seems like a good sport to go along with it. The mail truck exploding and the letter flying out made me laugh out loud. As mentioned, the last segment had an obvious Simpsons Spin-Off vibe to it and it was entertaining seeing them as muppets. 39 days of Christmas was more than worth it. I really don't like Katy Perry, so I'm glad the kind of attention they gave her was more tongue-in-cheek than of outright praise.

This wasn't without its faults, but I felt good after watching this. A bit dark, definitely, but light years ahead of Simpsons Christmas Stories (except maybe the last segment) and Kill Gil. I'll go with 4/5

[lionelhutz123]

Better than the THOH. I feel like this episode would have stood well on it's own without the last act. I liked how they setup all the conflicts between the family members in the beginning and through dream segments was able to have the characters learn something. I thought it was a neat, psychological concept other than just random story after random story. Of course, after the Martha Stewart story, all conflicts are resolved and we get the breakfast in bed scene. Everyone's happy and although Homer's song there was kind of lazily written, it was still a nice way to wrap it up.

I guess the puppet segment was meant to be the fun, icing on the cake type of segment where it's just a callback to Maggie's DVD. While it wasn't as bad as I speculated, (where now I'd say that both those previews we were given yesterday were not as bad as they seemed once viewed in a fuller context) it still wasn't as strong and had some pretty awkward parts. At the same time, I liked a select few of the gags here and I'm always down for that cheesy sitcom-like satire as well as some good Muppet homages like the statler and waldorf references (Always loved those guys and I'm glad they had grandpa and Jasper use some relevant criticism) and Homer and Lisa sniggering at the stereotypical items they were packing. The Katy Perry scene didn't seem as focused as I thought it would be, but there was some iffy parts here. The scene tagged in during the credits was a bit strange.

My favorite segment was the first one with Bart. It was a nice twist on the Polar Express having harsh reality pose stress upon Christmas. I liked Bart having to use the warehouse elevator and the music montage was welcomed by me personally because I enjoyed the animation and you can't go wrong with The Doors. Overall I enjoyed this first act. It didn't drag and got the story across well.

As for the second segment, there was nothing necessarily bad here. The Inglorious Bastards parody was cool, although I was expecting Marge's face to appear on the movie screen and tell them they're all going to die or something. Everything else was fine and I'm glad they called attention to Lisa's environmental side and replaced it with her getting into the spirit of Christmas.

As for Marge's dream, while not remarkable it was alright. Martha Stewart can really suck the energy out of a character though, especially when that character is supposed to be like super-festive. I did smile at the snowflake decorations she was putting on the windows using Maggie's head to trace it, since that seems to be a staple with her to begin with on several of her home projects.

Overall, it was neat how each segment had the freedom to go all out because of the dream concept, but actually had a point to each, because of what was set up in the opening scene. Of course, there was the usual missed jokes here and there, and the end was kind of just there, but as far as late Jean standards go, this wasn't half bad. 3/5

[EthanRunt]

The opening and Bart's story worked, then Lisa's was, well, it was neither funny nor well crafted, Marge's was just stupid and the muppet bit, painful. And way too blue in the final moment.

[zartok-35]

The Simpsons war-time christmas was pretty good; I really enjoyed that. Bart's trip on the Polar Express had its moments too. The puppets were hit and miss, and the Martha Stewart story was particularly unremarkable. All in all, that was done well, and it does justice ot the Christmas season. A bit better than 'Christmas stories'. 4/5.

Bob Anderson must have had some outside engagements during production; We have a 'Flaming moes/D'ohin in the wind' alignment, with his assistant Matt Schofield picking up the slack.