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.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

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

[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?

[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.

[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]

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.

[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.

[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!

[zach]

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.

yeah it was more in relation to Scully, damn should have written that above.


i don't know some of you people seem to love plots so much, you might not see the humour.

[The Governor]

i don't know some of you people seem to love plots so much, you might not see the humour.

Maybe because some of us want a story with humor and not a bunch of semi-related 'attempted' humor that tries to pass off as a plot.

It's like a cake; the plot is the cake and the humor is the frosting. Some people like a cake that's 80% frosting. That'd make me hurl.

[TriforceBun]

I'd say A Star is Burns qualifies as nearly completely gag-driven. The film festival is a great vehicle for bringing some solid humor, but it and Jay Sherman's stay with OFF are hardly the most engaging storylines out there. That sort of episode, along with things like Team Homer and The Springfield Files, still work very well despite very basic--even silly--storylines. As long as the plotting and characterization are inoffensive, they can be unspectacular and still be part of a great episode if the humor is good enough.

Not to say this works very much--the writers often have a very different idea of what's funny than a lot of people, so strong gag-based episodes are harder to find these days.

[zach]

my final say on the matter.
good plot, good character, funny = great episode.
bad plot, bad characters, funny = great episode.

[The Governor]

My final say: The classic era was a perfect balance of humor and story. When the show stopped being plot driven, it became the post classic era.

[zach]

i lied. season 4, 5 and 6 are the only perfect balance of humor and story.

[Diversity Pumpkin]

Season 4 isn't that funny to me. Season 5 is hilarious. I don't have scientific reasoning for this opinion.

[CousinMerl]

To me, out of the classic era, Season 7 has the best combination of story and humor.

And yes, I can like an episode just for it's funniness. There's nothing wrong with that.

[Mr Black]

yes, yes I can.

but it's best to have both, see Cape Feare, Bart of Darkness, LETS.

[Boris Johnson]

Yes, I can usually enjoy an episode purely based on humour, no matter what the plot is.
Very few shows can make you laugh on TV. In some of the episodes, I'll just switch it on and laugh, won't even be paying any attention to the story at all, whether it's good or bad.
This was probably why I liked the Scully era mostly. The Jean era episodes... some of the jokes and plots are really silly and I just hate watching them because the atmosphere its self is diluted with crappiness. Even if I'm not paying attention to the story.

[Jims]

my final say on the matter.
good plot, good character, funny = great episode.
bad plot, bad characters, funny = great episode.

I think this equation only really works if the bad plot/characters episode is REALLY funny. Even then, I'm not sure if things being so inherently flawed ("bad") can keep an episode great.

For example, I'd argue that Homer vs Dignity is a funnier episode than a good number of Scully and Jean episodes, but it has such big problems in it that I wouldn't call it "great" or anything.

But, yeah, the general sentiment is true, that an average plot/characters episode with amazing jokes can make it a classic. Cape Feare isn't a particularly interesting or original (obviously) story, and certainly has no emotional core whatsoever, but the jokes are strong enough to put it up there with a balanced episode like Bart Sells His Soul. Same with something Homer at the Bat.

[Alex_Of_Darkness]

Maybe but I'm not sure because when I rate an episode, 50 % of the mark come from the humor and the other 50 % come from the story...