Can you simply like an episode just for the humor?

[zach]

can someone please tell me?

forget about the plots and continuity. if the episode is funny, then i have no problem. example for me, Trouble With Trillions.

[Bartesque]

Yes, if the humour is good enough, e.g. Bart Star.

[Lionel Hutz]

Yes. I love several episodes based purely on their laugh factor

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Mountain of Madness

[zach]

good. so it's not just me.........

[TriforceBun]

In my eyes, Simple Simpson and Fat Man and Little Boy both have goofy, silly plots, but are really driven by the humor. Typically, though, if an episode has a lousy, meandering plot, the writing generally isn't that strong. Very few of the funniest episodes of the show actually have mediocre plots and/or lousy characterization.

Homer at the Bat may qualify just for its simple story that isn't remotely essay-worthy. Which is perfectly fine in this case, because it's hilarious.

[Monty_Burns]

yes, in fact I like several episodes from the infamous Scully Years, but sometime the plots are so boring and stupid that your mind tend to wander off and you simply switch the channel(this happens to me very often during this new Jean Era) and add to the boredom the continuity thing, as a fan that gets irritating even if the episode was good.


so the continuity bothers fans, and the bad plots affect both fans and the casual viewer or non-fan.

[The Governor]

Well, humor is what you find funny, and that goes for all personal opinions, but what makes this a difficult topic to discuss without falling into the "humor is all subjective, there is NO wrong answers!" rut takes a bit more time. But for illustration's sake let us just say there's two extreme types of fans:

TYPE A: I love the Simpsons when it's all wacky and fun! Homer is the best character because he's the star and he gets all the FUN and CRAZY episodes and he gets to be a comedy hero! I love it when he's crazy because he gets to yell and push people around all he wants. He's the symbol of the Simpsons and represents all the great comedy since as far back as I can remember, except for the first 2 seasons which are slow and stupid and filled with shitty voices and animation! On the other hand, there's characters like that "little miss Perfect" Lisa Simpson. I hate her, and I hate the nerds at school like her too. Fans of her bitch and moan about the lack of plot, satire and concepts that I don't get or aren't funny enough, or both. Those fans are like the fat comic book guy and I wish they'd all take their mean'ole opinions and cram it!

TYPE B: Geezus...is this what passes off for the Simpsons nowadays? Shitty puns, horrible plots and characters that are too out-of-character, or are just bad parodies of themselves? I cannot understand how anyone over the age of 12 can find "Zombie Simpsons" smart or witty, because if this is what passes for wit these days...oy! What happened to the smart Simpsons of the first 8 or 9 seasons? What happened to Al Jean? There are fans around here who are either blind or stupid and think these newer episodes are funny as hell, but they're not! Maybe they're faking themselves into being amused, but I won't. What happened to having these three simple criteria when watching an episode: I care about what´s going on; I can relate to the story and the characters; I can laugh. Whatever the reason the kids find the modern episodes funny with "myPod" humor is all foreign to me. I guess that kind of humor is funny when you're still have an undeveloped sense of taste, but when you grow up you'll probably wonder why you thought that crap was funny.

The problem is Type A and B fans will never agree; "A" people think "B" people are just joyless souls who live to whine and "B" people think "A" fans are too stupid to know better. There are very few exceptions, but these two types of fans will never agree.

[zach]

Well, humor is what you find funny, and that goes for all personal opinions, but what makes this a difficult topic to discuss without falling into the "humor is all subjective, there is NO wrong answers!" rut takes a bit more time. But for illustration's sake let us just say there's two extreme types of fans:

TYPE A: I love the Simpsons when it's all wacky and fun! Homer is the best character because he's the star and he gets all the FUN and CRAZY episodes and he gets to be a comedy hero! I love it when he's crazy because he gets to yell and push people around all he wants. He's the symbol of the Simpsons and represents all the great comedy since as far back as I can remember, except for the first 2 seasons which are slow and stupid and filled with shitty voices and animation! On the other hand, there's characters like that "little miss Perfect" Lisa Simpson. I hate her, and I hate the nerds at school like her too. Fans of her bitch and moan about the lack of plot, satire and concepts that I don't get or aren't funny enough, or both. Those fans are like the fat comic book guy and I wish they'd all take their mean'ole opinions and cram it!

TYPE B: Geezus...is this what passes off for the Simpsons nowadays? Shitty puns, horrible plots and characters that are too out-of-character, or are just bad parodies of themselves? I cannot understand how anyone over the age of 12 can find "Zombie Simpsons" smart or witty, because if this is what passes for wit these days...oy! What happened to the smart Simpsons of the first 8 or 9 seasons? What happened to Al Jean? There are fans around here who are either blind or stupid and think these newer episodes are funny as hell, but they're not! Maybe they're faking themselves into being amused, but I won't. What happened to having these three simple criteria when watching an episode: I care about what´s going on; I can relate to the story and the characters; I can laugh. Whatever the reason the kids find the modern episodes funny with "myPod" humor is all foreign to me. I guess that kind of humor is funny when you're still have an undeveloped sense of taste, but when you grow up you'll probably wonder why you thought that crap was funny.

The problem is Type A and B fans will never agree; "A" people think "B" people are just joyless souls who live to whine and "B" people think "A" fans are too stupid to know better. There are very few exceptions, but these two types of fans will never agree.

and if you are not type a or b?

[The Governor]

and if you are not type a or b?

I said those were extreme examples. Most are a mixture of the two.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Well, humor is what you find funny, and that goes for all personal opinions, but what makes this a difficult topic to discuss without falling into the "humor is all subjective, there is NO wrong answers!" rut takes a bit more time. But for illustration's sake let us just say there's two extreme types of fans:

TYPE A: I love the Simpsons when it's all wacky and fun! Homer is the best character because he's the star and he gets all the FUN and CRAZY episodes and he gets to be a comedy hero! I love it when he's crazy because he gets to yell and push people around all he wants. He's the symbol of the Simpsons and represents all the great comedy since as far back as I can remember, except for the first 2 seasons which are slow and stupid and filled with shitty voices and animation! On the other hand, there's characters like that "little miss Perfect" Lisa Simpson. I hate her, and I hate the nerds at school like her too. Fans of her bitch and moan about the lack of plot, satire and concepts that I don't get or aren't funny enough, or both. Those fans are like the fat comic book guy and I wish they'd all take their mean'ole opinions and cram it!

TYPE B: Geezus...is this what passes off for the Simpsons nowadays? Shitty puns, horrible plots and characters that are too out-of-character, or are just bad parodies of themselves? I cannot understand how anyone over the age of 12 can find "Zombie Simpsons" smart or witty, because if this is what passes for wit these days...oy! What happened to the smart Simpsons of the first 8 or 9 seasons? What happened to Al Jean? There are fans around here who are either blind or stupid and think these newer episodes are funny as hell, but they're not! Maybe they're faking themselves into being amused, but I won't. What happened to having these three simple criteria when watching an episode: I care about what´s going on; I can relate to the story and the characters; I can laugh. Whatever the reason the kids find the modern episodes funny with "myPod" humor is all foreign to me. I guess that kind of humor is funny when you're still have an undeveloped sense of taste, but when you grow up you'll probably wonder why you thought that crap was funny.

The problem is Type A and B fans will never agree; "A" people think "B" people are just joyless souls who live to whine and "B" people think "A" fans are too stupid to know better. There are very few exceptions, but these two types of fans will never agree.

Quoted before deletion by mods.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

No, I won't like an episode if it's funny.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Anyways, I think Jake is over-emphasizing things.

Type A: Dumbasses

Type B: People with common sense

There ya go, a book report summed up in ten words.

[The Governor]

Anyways, I think Jake is over-emphasizing things.

Type A: Dumbasses

Type B: People with common sense

There ya go, a book report summed up in ten words.

That sounds like a TYPE A summery! :P Although, most people I've had conversations with about the show over the years are more type A.

Seriously, though, I like gag driven episodes, too, but most of the ones made after Season 8 are mostly terrible. David Mirkin did the best gag-driven episodes like A Star is Burns or Bart Vs Australia and even Deep Space Homer.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

A Star is Burns is arguably for me the worst episode of the entire classic era.

[The Governor]

A Star is Burns is arguably for me the worst episode of the entire classic era.

Barney's film are the funniest scenes in the show, IMO. Granted, there's been more heart in the classic era, A Star is Burns had FOOTBALL IN THE GROIN!

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

And A Star is Burns is in my Top 5 episodes of all time, and is also a Jean/Reiss Episode...

The answer to the main question though is of course, who'd say no?

[Lionel Hutz]

I think that there are fans who are critical (ones who critique episodes and split things into "I like this but not this") and there are more forgiving fans who look for the good and accept the bad ("I liked this but I didn't like that, but it's not a big deal"). I don't think it's blind stupid people and cynical smart people. I also think that Disco Stones was asking more in relation to the Scully era than the Jean era. In the end you like what you like.