Rate and Review: "Homer the Father" (NABF05)

[The Governor]

January 23, 2011: Homer the Father (NABF05)
Homer starts acting like the father on a 1980s sitcom, and when he suggests that Bart earn the money to get the dirt bike he wants, Bart does - by trading secrets with the Russians and Chinese; James Lipton conducts an animated Inside the Actor's Studio-type interview (but it's not clear yet if it's with The Simpsons (part of the interview Lipton did with the cast on his show was "in character", and they could just animate that) or with the cast of the previously-mentioned 1980s sitcom (which Homer would probably see and then realize that parenting is not quite as easy as it looks on TV)

[IceDoesntHelp]

This episode was just terrible. The line with "Learn how to fucking write a fucking script" The Simpsons writers need to take there own advice. I really don't think I have anything good to say about this episode.

[Redem]

That episode was probably one of the strangest there is

[The Governor]

Having grown up watching shitty sitcoms from the 80's, I can say the jokes were almost right on. But anyway, I don't care what anyone says, even the DHS, this episode was fucking epic! The only cringeworthy moment was the shitty couch gag. Otherwise, nearly every joke was amazing because I actually cared about Bart's situation (i.e: Bart being treated like a character in a bad 80's Sitcom). Even the spy 'sub plot' was kept to a minimum and the Itchy and Scratchy short was actually FUNNY. But the best joke was the '...but the flag is made in China!".

This was by far the best episode since "All About Lisa" and this gets an easy 5/5. (A)

EDIT: By far, this is the fewest people I've seen in a R&R thread after an episode.

[Jesse Pinkman]

it was good. weird, but good.

the only complaints i have:

the "Act break" line from homer seems like something from family guy, to me at least.

so uh... groundskeeper willie kills children? that was uh... not funny to me.

the rest was pretty good. bart eventually getting the bike from homer. and although the plot of bart and the chinese was really, really random and weird, it was handled in a good way, i think. they could have done that worse.

i dunno. i liked it. 4.5/5, rounded to a 5/5. It isn't the best ever, but i thought it was really enjoyable for the most part

[biffwestwood]

5/5

Excellent episode. It had a nice 80's nostalgic feel to it. All those fictional TV shows were funny. My favorite scene is when Homer is at the power plant and abuses that eye scanner. Milhouse being chased by Nelson while wearing those overalls was hilarious.

[TriforceBun]

Having grown up watching all those 80's shitty sitcoms, I can say the jokes were almost right on. But anyway, I don't care what anyone says, even the DHS, this episode was fucking epic! The only cringeworthy moment was the shitty couch gag. Otherwise, nearly every joke was amazing because I actually cared about Bart's situation (i.e: Bart being treated like a character in a bad 80's Sitcom). Even the spy 'sub plot' was kept to a minimum and the Itchy and Scratchy short was actually FUNNY. But the best joke was the '...but the flag is made in China!".

This was by far the best episode since "All About Lisa" and this gets an easy 5/5. (A)

Satan's throwing snowballs tonight.

Now I'm eager to check out this episode online tomorrow. I'm hoping S22 can hold its momentum in 2011, since it had a very, very rough first half.

EDIT: What happened to my decade-long Flanders avatar? Have avatars been disappearing or something? I really want him back.

[Jesse Pinkman]

EDIT: By far, this is the fewest people I've seen in a R&R thread after an episode.

i think because of football not a lot of people are gonna watch simpsons tonight.

[bradbradford]

I really liked this episode. The traitor stuff was a little over the top for my liking but overall the jokes were great. 5 out 5.

[Snaked]

Missed it and was rather glad I did but after seeing many good reviews so far, I kinda regret it now.

[The Governor]

Missed it and was rather glad I did but after seeing many good reviews so far, I kinda regret it now.

A good Simpsons episode AND the Packers are going to the Superbowl. Life is good...

[Brad Lascelle]

This is going to wind up as one of those episodes you either love or hate.
Joel H. Cohen handled the writing honors for this one. He already delivered his one good episode this season so I'm happy.

That's about all I have to say right now.

[zartok-35]

That was quite enjoyable, but a bit underwhelming. I enjoyed their take on foreign terrorist organizations. The ending with Homer was pretty nice, too. 4/5.

[McClure]

EDIT: By far, this is the fewest people I've seen in a R&R thread after an episode.

For the record (and I realize that nobody cares), I completely forgot about this episode. I bought Night Court season 2 on DVD so I was watching that instead. (Not a joke)

This is the third time out of the last four episodes that I completely forgot about the day it aired. It's kind of sad, really, that I have no problem with forgetting to watch new episodes of a show I quite like.

And judging by the activity here tonight, it seems that a lot of fans feel the same way.

[TriforceBun]

It's not just the show's fault though. With sevices like Netflix (on the Wii, no less), official sites offering episodes, and sites like Hulu, there's less a reason than ever to actually have a traditional TV/channel setup. Since I moved out a couple years ago, I haven't gotten anything on TV; all the shows I'd like to see (including Simps) have been available through other, legal means.

[Nauru-1]

Alas, season 22 finally comes through with a legitimately good modern day episode. Pacing was natural and coherent. Suprisingly, the humour seldom felt forced and was rather well-rounded. The characterizations of Homer and Bart were solid. This is what I'm looking for in an episode of today, so it's nice to see one that delivers.

I have to admit that 80's sitcoms are a guilty pleasure of mine. It's not so much that I'm enthralled with them but rather that it's far too generically pleasant to be anything less than endearing. This episode manages to showcase that vibe by poking fun of that era of television without a malice that, given the Simpsons usual product these days, would come across as particularly hypocritical. I've noted before that I loved when back in the day the Simpsons were watching something on TV, and this one did it prominently as well as I've seen in a few years anyways.

When I saw the plot summary for this episode I did like the idea of Homer becoming obsessed with 80's television, and while the turn of Bart contemplating betrayal was a little silly for the more sentimental core of the story, I did think they managed to pull it off relatively well.

It's still no match for the classics, but that's a wholly unfair plateau to expect at this point. This will stand as one of those few episodes the past few seasons that I will be able to sit down and enjoy again. Yay! 3/5 (C+)

EDIT: Also, I forgot to mention, for once we get a great episode title.

[Mr.]

This episode was... CUTE. I don't have a diffrent word to describe it. The plot was incredible simple, but at the same time it give each plot point enougth time to develope so it made me care about character's problems, and almost all the jokes where amusing. Not incredible funny, but just good enough to give me a big smille.

BTW -> I love the idea of the datet sitcome about "Black president" I actually wish they would show a clip of it...

[EthanRunt]

Inconsistent, awkward, not funny, weird and worst of all, the act break gag, ripped off from Arrested Development.

[Little Nellie Kelly]

BTW -> I love the idea of the datet sitcome about "Black president" I actually wish they would show a clip of it...

Seriously? This episode was shit.

This episode was, like many others, terrible. As I had predicted, Bart trading top secret information to spies from China was ridiculous, but that's not the only ridiculous thing about this episode. It has been officially defined that Zombie Simpsons will do anything to cram a guest star into an episode, because James Lipton was on a promotional image. And usually a promotional image shows a big, climax part of the show. But he wasn't in it for more than a minute. Maybe less. Seriously, what in the name of fuck is this show still doing on the air?

Otherwise, this episode was bland, boring, unfunny, and just ridiculous. Something I definitely didn't like was the 9/11 joke, as it was a tragedy, but not only that - usually Family Guy makes those jokes (I don't commend those either) and now Zombie Simpsons copies Family Guy. Holy Jesus end this show.

And I am also surprised they didn't find a place to fit Comic Book Guy in. It was actually a relief not to see in him in just one episode.

I'm giving it a D+, 1/5. Definitely the worst of the season.

[The Sovereign]

didn't really laugh at anything, and it took some really fucking weird turns

[Muskrat]

Seems to be a lot of love or hate for this episode. I thought it was just okay. 3/5

[Gatorgod]

Best episode of the year! 5/5
Loved every other minute, and merely liked the ones inbetween.

[bovine_university]

I could see people not liking this episode, and maybe my enjoyment of it is because I grew up on 80's sitcoms, but I don't care, I thought this might have been the best episode of the season.

From the cheesy theme song, to the jokes, to the corny lessons, they got the feel of Thicker than Waters down just right. The irony that this awful show ends up made Homer a better parent was pretty funny, though I was hoping that the aside about the True Hollywood Story of the show would play a bigger factor in Homer realizing that it's not a good idea to follow the example of TV. Bart's characterization worked pretty well too, I was afraid that there would be a lame turnaround with him going back on the deal, but what they came up with was pretty good, and I wonder if the show was trying on some level to incorporate the feel and devices of a lame sitcom with Homer's decision to get Bart the bike anyway. The terrorists were pretty funny too, especially the bit near the end involving the Chinese weapons. While the resolution seemed easy and quick overall, it was actually a very funny and clever way to tie everything up, and it was even heartwarming seeing Homer save Bart by taking his place. Despite how weird the story sounds, I was actually very impressed by it all.

The humor was very good too, aside from the jokes already mentioned, we had Bart's training montage, Lisa's computer, David Mamet's appearance (though it was a tad short), and Rod and Todd hearing Homer and Marge having sex. However, they really didn't need to throw in all those other sitcoms in there to eat up time, though they were funny. Also, while I did enjoy James Lipton's appearance right before the credits and Itchy and Scratchy, they felt really awkward in their placement of the episode, the Lipton cameo in particular. Still, this was a very amusing, and very entertaining episode for me. 4/5

[That Don Guy]

4/5 - I probably would have given it 5/5 had it not been for yet another "somebody has to save somebody else from being killed" ending.

Also, I learned a few new things about palladium.

-- Don

[lionelhutz123]

Whenever I miss an episode, and read reviews it's either "worst episode ever" (Greatest Story) or "best episode in a while". I'll be watching tomorrow.

[arii]

I laughed out loud a few times! That was pretty neat.

Much better episode than I was expecting. Very, very well-played parody, all-though out really. Homer was excellent in this one... He was just Homer, dim but funny and obsessed without being an ass.

He'll, I enjoyed the over-the-top-ness on Bart's end too. The Chinese spies thing actually worked in this one, wacky but fit right into the episode. His guilt was great, the minibike was great.

Only complaints I have are again due to the show's age, in that the episode felt done before (particularly like Saturdays of Thunder), but at this point, you really have to take what you can get I guess. And this one was really well-constructed and fairly funny, so, yeah, it was pretty good.

[NoOneFamous]

Didn't watch the episode yet, but I hate the fact that the description for the 1/5 option is "American Dad."

Yeah, take THAT, show that is consistently far better!

[jayleno]

Goddamn it, every time I miss an episode it's a good one. I'll be watching it and posting my review.

[The Sovereign]

I can safely say AD is leagues better than the simpsons is now

[Mr.]

My only porblem with the episode (if I can even call this a problem) are Bart dream sequences. Two episodes ago we already got episode with two very long and pointless Bart dream sequences for no reason. I just hope it won't beacome a habit.

"Ow look it's Bart! The flash-back kid..."