Rate and Review: "The D'oh-cial Network" (PABF04)

[Swoony]

I just think the satire is more blatantly obvious than it was before. It used to be more subtle and handled more intelligently in the past. Now they're dumbing everything down because they assume the people watching are morons (which is true for the new generation of viewers anyway).

[Boris Johnson]

But weren't the ratings the best in seasons 5 and 7, when these intelligent jokes were being utilized the most? More people actually watched it in those seasons.

[Cartoonnetwork]

I kinda agree with Horatio. The satire wasn't extremely subtle and they would have probably done better in classic era, but it was still somewhat true to reality and the characters were mostly well used. Also, there were simmilarities with the movie, but it wasn't exactly the same plot at all.

Main problem was the filler, I wish the short at the end had been at least somewhat related to the plot. Also the first act was extremely long as well, I think it was the combination of the courtroom scenes and the normal "convention" act they usually do, both things combined ate too much time, considering the rest of the episode was short.

It felt like an episode written by a good writer in a lazy day. The concepts and structure were interesting, the gags weren't too bad, but the development of the plot was short and somewhat lacking.

I watched it without subtitles and I didn't understand the whole dialogue, but I can't imagine the reasoning behind the twins kissing each other. Really bad gag , who would find that funny? The gags about characters suddenly revealing homosexuality and kissing each others are usually lame, but one involving brothers, now that's sick.

Instead they could have done a whole subplot about Patty and Selma vs the twins, without using that gag at all, and the episode would have felt more "complete".

Also, about The Social Network, I thought it was a little overrated myself, and I'm not sure it will be a classic, but every movie that gets some Oscar recognition or nomination is usually somewhat remembered during long periods of time.

I think it deserves a 3,5/5 rounded up to 4/5.

[IceToSeeYou]

"Awful episode praised for not being as bad as it could have been"

That sums up how I feel about this one. I never saw The Social Network, did it take place in court? Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING felt rushed, and yet, the episode still ran short. The Winklevoss twins kissing was the second worst gag they did this year. There were a few high points, like Bart and Millhouse turning everything into guns. It really feels like they had maybe 14, 15 minutes of story, and they stretched the heck out of it. A couple of gags went on too long, like the Homer/Hippo argument and the Ask Jeeves one. That would have been funny as a throwaway or background event, but they made it way too obvious. Also, why was that Patty and Selma bit in there at all?

You might have had this same reply to your post already but the main story lasted about 16 minutes, so they had max of 10 minutes of story they first filled to 16 minutes which they then streched to a 22 minute episode. Oh yeah, 1/5. No wait, lets make that 1.5/5 because of McBain. Now I can't vote in the poll. :P

[Boris Johnson]

Ask Jeeves was pretty funny.
A big insult to the terror of ask.com, crudely disguised as an "asking" site when it was actually a search engine, and a bad one at that.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Ah. McBain; one of the prime segments of the classic era. I can understand why'd they want to go for a sequel (of scenes that combine to make a coherent movie) but from the stuff I've seen, I don't think I'd want to spend my money on that.

[Food Blog]

I know some people didn't enjoy this episode, but I actually agree with Tubb!. Laughed out loud several times which is rare for me, especially with the newer seasons. For me, this was far, far superior to the episode before it - the characters were in character, and the couple of delightfully contrived moments (e.g. Otto riding Bart) came across spot on for what the creators often forget it is: a cartoon.

All of that said, I'm only eighteen so I appreciate that for others it probably came across tired and reliant on pop culture - which is even a concern of mine in the last few seasons - but this one I'm more than willing to let go. I just found that it said a lot of recognisable things about people and their attitudes (kids being fickle about who they like, "I don't know how to use the phone on my phone"...), in a more accessible way than I'm used to hearing them (wordy punk music, etc), so it probably was hilarious to most people my age. I also agree with bradbradford to a point; I just watch the show - though it's often crap enough that I want to come and rant about it, this wasn't one of those times.

Anyone else think the flashback style was deliberate, lampshading the fact that their current events episodes are typically so late due to production times? "Oh yeah, well this actually happened a while ago so there!"

Agreed with Oh, that's raspberry! on how pointless the B-story was; it definitely didn't need advertising as a major plotline at all. Though I must say I don't mind that the episode was chunked with the opening/ending parts because it helped condense the A-story slightly closer on the scale to "laugh a minute" than "jokes go on too long" - think about how bad it could have been! I'd take ten minutes of decent Simpsons to rewatch, over twenty minutes of crap during which I waste ten minutes of my life because they spaced it within the main plot.

My closing comment - I know this show has had good satire in it before, but I feel constantly reminded that there are plenty of other viewers whose opinions aren't seen on forums; people who appreciate its accessibility at the cost of deeply hidden "difficult" humour, seeing as how it's a family show and supposed to be easy viewing. I am sure for a lot of people, this was a decent night of television what with the sports and ample chance to view a new show afterwards. *has not seen the rest of An Dom for that night yet, may be wrong*

[Mr. Krikt]

Anyone else think the flashback style was deliberate, lampshading the fact that their current events episodes are typically so late due to production times? "Oh yeah, well this actually happened a while ago so there!"

No, it seemed to just be a way to work the court scene into the episode. Considering how boring and literal the jokes were, there's no way that this was a subtle, self-deprecating joke. Smoking crack pipes, watching Jeeves leave, telling the audience to picture the scenes in their heads, and so on. Not a note of subtlety to be found.

My closing comment - I know this show has had good satire in it before, but I feel constantly reminded that there are plenty of other viewers whose opinions aren't seen on forums; people who appreciate its accessibility at the cost of deeply hidden "difficult" humour, seeing as how it's a family show and supposed to be easy viewing.

I don't think it can be called "satire". Even the term "parody" seems to afford it too much dignity. The beauty of the classic Simpsons was that their parody/satire was interwoven into a plot that anyone could enjoy; recognizing how they were referencing culture was a further source of humor. You mistake its shallowness for accessibility and there's a clear sense that if you aren't familiar with the source material, you're often not going to find it entertaining.
Did you need to have studied the play from "A Streetcar Named Marge" to find entertainment in the episode? No, but you're perhaps rewarded for it. Conversely, I feel punished for not having watched The Social Network because apparently seeing a Simpsons character in a situation from a movie is supposed to be inherently amusing.


On an unrelated note, does anyone find it a bit weird how the episode's supposed to be about Springface but it's more about the novelty of having mobile phones? Some of the jokes were even about being new to text messaging which was a novelty a long time ago. It's been a good while since I watched this but wasn't this sort of covered in Bart Gets a "Z" and Lost Verizon?

[Boris Johnson]

I'm younger than eighteen and even I hated it.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

I'm younger than eighteen and even I hated it.

A 3 out of 5 isn't hating.

[Boris Johnson]

A 3 out of 5 isn't hating.

Oh, right...
On re-watch, I'd give it 1.

[laurso99]

After seeing Homer headbutt a woman, albeit only in a couch gag, no one can claim Scully's Jerkass Homer to be worse than current Homer. He wasn't such a jerk that he couldn't go through a decent run of episodes without beating someone up.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

The D'oh-cial Network has received positive reviews, Teresa L. of TV Fanatic said, "its social commentary might have been a little more effective a year ago. Still it's The Simpsons: the episode delivered some extremely funny gags. Arnie Hammer reprised his role as both Cameron and Tyler, and their joint whining, coupled with a passionate make out scene, made the scene a fitting closer to the half hour."

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

I second your vomit.

[Financial Panther]

If I ever find out what Teresa L. stands for...

[Bartesque]

Teresa L. of TV Fanatic should have said,"its lazy attempts at social commentary might have been a little more effective a year ago. Still it's not The Simpsons: the nonsensical episode delivered some extremely barely any funny gags. Arnie Hammer reprised his role as both Cameron and Tyler, and their joint whining, coupled with a passionate stupid make out scene, made the scene a fitting this empty abomination closer to the half hour."

A less vomit inducing review.

[Alex of Insomnia]

2.9/5
A very forgettable episode. Poking fun at the social network just seems old now even though the movie only came out a year. Reminded me of the Avatar parody in the new THOH, no one wants to see spoofs of it anymore because it's been done to death. It just seems kinda lazy.

[LucasTrem]

Great episode, I don't know why you guys hated this.

Everybody just keep saying: "New simpsons sucks, old simpsons rocks!". Piff.

"Alcoholic hippo" scene and Otto riding Bart was hilarious!

Sorry for my bad english, too.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

2.9/5
A very forgettable episode. Poking fun at the social network just seems old now even though the movie only came out a year. Reminded me of the Avatar parody in the new THOH, no one wants to see spoofs of it anymore because it's been done to death. It just seems kinda lazy.

You know it takes a year to make an episode, so it may have been considered "fresh" when written.
But I don't care, it still sucks.

[HomerJaySimpson11]

3/5 I laughed at the Ask Jeeves joke, so it's an alright rank for a season 23 episode in my opinion.
I'm 17 too so I'm probably one of the 'morons' they were aiming the episode too, haha.

[Commander Flanders]

End the misery. Cancel the Simpsons. If this the best they can come up with, we're going to be worse than Family Guy soon enough.

1/5.

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

I just saw this episode for a second time and I'm totally surprised. That was a very good idea for me to see the episode a second time before doing a review because after the first time I watched this episode, I wanted to put a 2,75/5 but you will see the note at the end that I put now. The beginning of the episode is not so bad and there are still a lot of gag even if there less gag than in the rest of the episode. There are some who complain that there too many Apple in this episode (Mapple in the Simpsons) but I noticed that in this episode there are also many other cellular and other computer than Apple. So it bothers me not because it's not as if there were apple products and the Simpsons are not supposed to be an exaggerated caricature of society ? The only thing I wonder is how Homer does it take to pay it without even thinking when the Simpsons are not supposed to have a lot of money. At first I did not like the two stories of the end but I learned liked the second and the first is also not bad despite the twins kissing. In short, I finally decided to give a rating of 3,5/5 to this episode that I had much underestimated.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

What was the Ask Jeeves joke that everybody found funny?

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

^Assuming you really don't know, while Lisa is on trial they reference old, no longer used internet places and Jeeves is mentioned. He happens to be in the courtroom and leaves, shoulders hung.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

I was honestly asking, I didn't watch this one. That sounds pretty funny.

[Bleedin' Gums Murphy]

It wasn't, nothing in the episode was.

[Bartesque]

It would've been funny if they didn't make it go on too long. It was the only joke with potential, but they still squandered it.

[jordanwj]

^Agreed. I wish they would've picked the movie as opposed to the website, there was alot I anticipated they'd make fun of and it could've been great but...alas, this is Zombie Simpsons. How dare I hope for quallity Simpsons this day in age.

[zartok-35]

...alas, this is Zombie Simpsons. How dare I hope for quallity Simpsons this day in age.

If you do, jbauer will call you out.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

This one needed some re-writes pretty badly, but I'm going to guess this was saved here and there by J. Stewart Burns' strong original draft.

I gave it a 3/5... but just barely.