The worst commentaries for an episode

[J Dog]

I've already made a thread before about good and bad commentators.

And there was a thread discussing great commentaries. I always loved commentaries that featured people that knew what they were discussing (David Mirkin, Dan Castellenta, Matt Groening, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Conan O'Brien , and Jim Reardon). I usually consider commentators that don't know what the hell they're looking at to be a bit annoying (Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith and Mike Scully during his showrunner episodes), but I can tolerate them if they are partnered with good people. I can also tolerate "dead air" moments, but the whole stretch from "Bart Gets Famous" where nobody talks for nearly 3 minutes still bugs me. All in all, I generally love about 70% of commentaries and listen to them on a regular basis.

Of course, I complained about a few people, like I said, and there are a few episodes I just cannot listen to.

*Bart's Friend Falls in Love: 10 commentators. Dan Castellenta isn't one of them, but Julie Kavner and Yeardley Smith are. The whole thing just goes nowhere with Jean and Reiss trying to explain certain ideas (such as Jean not wanting Bart to come off as "gay" when he wants Milhouse to spend time with him and not Samantha Stanky), Kogen and Wolodarsky explaining their ideas, and Kavner and Smith showing their lack-of-intellegence about the series. It's the old adage, "too many cooks in the kitchen can ruin the sauce". "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" did have 12 people, but it was mostly around the fact that it featured Mick Jagger and Keith Richards ("That's right, Otto! Looks over at tree!"), which was entertaining.

*My Sister, My Sitter: I know I've complained about Simon and Molly Weinstein when it came to "El Viyage de Mysterioso de Nuestro Homer", but I loved that episode enough to be able to tolerate them. Because I don't care much for this episode in the first place, it really doesn't help with Simon going "Is that a car?" and talking about a friend of his with a cast at school. This also was the episode where he asked about Homer's wrists, I believed.

*The Last Temptation of Krust: Commentaries with guest stars can be a mixed bag. I loved "Mayored to the Mob" with Mark Hamill (when he saw Homer walk out of Moe's with all those high-class Duffs, he went "And that'll be me leaving the green room."), for example. Of course, Jay Leno did this one and it's mostly him talking about how his comedic mentor was antiquated with his comedy approach and recapped every third joke that was said.

*Make Room For Lisa: It's another one of those examples that proves that Scully is either in denial or unapoligetic about his choices (it's not like he's inconsiderate, but given his orientation of humor, I don't think he's going to admit that most fans didn't like the stuff he did as showrunner, especially in the 11th and 12th seasons). For one thing, he's very proud of the acting direction of Homer trying to show love to Lisa while at the same time not giving a damn about what she liked or wanted. And, also, for about two minutes, the whole group eats potato chips.

*They Saved Lisa's Brain: Most of the episode's commentary was basically revolved around Marc Wilmore pretending to be the mayor of East St. Louis, Illinois and having a practical joke at the expense of Matt Selman back in the day, and only getting to the episode towards the end of the second act (I was hoping somebody would've discussed how crappy "Momma" was, since Mell Lazarus was featured as a joke, but they actually praised the comic). Pretty obvious example of a Scully-era commentary with Mike not really paying attention to the show and digging into his "fun facts" real fast.

I know I wanted to discuss both sides of the coin.

[Financial Panther]

A Star is Burns. It's a 22-minute-long advertisement for The Critic.

[parklife]

not a huge fan of voice actors on commentary. more often than not, yeardley just sounds senile

[TriforceBun]

I was disappointed with A Star Is Burns' commentary not getting into the Critic controversy. But as far as dull commentaries, most of Scully's were pretty disappointing. I'm most interested when I hear the staff mention things they regret (like Groening hating the winking fish in War of the Simpsons), so I was hoping for a lot more of that during the Scully years.

Which episode had Yeardley laughing about how Krusty's arms are a different color than his face, and Matt Groening replying flatly that it's because he's wearing clown makeup? That was always a really strange exchange to me.

[parklife]

Which episode had Yeardley laughing about how Krusty's arms are a different color than his face, and Matt Groening replying flatly that it's because he's wearing clown makeup? That was always a really strange exchange to me.

my point exactly.

[MagicalManFromHappyLand]

The commentary on 'El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer' was awful because someone brought their kids along who wouldn't shut up.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

The one where they have their mothers come in to talk about the sho.. wait, nevermind.. that was SGC2C.

[zach]

all the ones where bill and josh talk.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Whenever Scully takes out his "fun facts." He even admits near the start of Monty Can't Buy Me Love that they have nothing to say about it and as you'd expect it is rather bad...

The worst aside from Scully? Probably The Canine Mutiny for me. It is already a weak episode for its season, but the commentary only has three people and Dominic Polcino outright questions why they do commentaries at all which always bugged me. Aside from that it just isn't interesting.

Guest commentators can be a mixed bag. Stan Lee, while not really talking much about the episode, is hilarious. The guy from Brawl in the Family ruins the commentary until the last few moments when he leaves.

[zach]

not a huge fan of voice actors on commentary. more often than not, yeardley just sounds senile

oh agree on yeardly. what commentary does this conversation happen on?

yeardly: is that an hommage to you?

greoning (sarcastically): yes it's an hommage to myself.

Guest commentators can be a mixed bag. Stan Lee, while not really talking much about the episode, is hilarious. The guy from Brawl in the Family ruins the commentary until the last few moments when he leaves.

^agreed, oh god yes. Stan Lee's is hilarious and i can't stand that guy in Brawl in the Family.

[The Thompsons]

all the ones where bill and josh talk.

[zach]

did they really have to say,

"we wanted to get back to the family, we wanted to do a few episodes that pushed the envelope."

10 times every commentary?

[The Thompsons]

Their enthusiasm towards the show was quite refreshing. They genuinely had a passion to make it their own and make it interesting for the viewer. They brought a fan's perspective to producing the show, something that is sorrowly missed with todays current regime.

[zach]

we're talking about commentaries, not the actual show. we're talking bout commentary, not not not the actual show, we talking bout commentary. we in hear talking about commentary, not not a not the not the actual show. we talking about commentary, we talking about commentary, we talking bout commentary.....not even talking about the actual show.



"How the hell can I make my team mates better by practicing?!"

[The Thompsons]

Sorry if I didn't clarify, but this is what I got from their commentaries. I found it very interesting to hear them discuss their approach to producing the show and how they wanted to mold the show in their own way. Much more interesting than Scully's "fun facts."

[parklife]

never realized how much allen iverson looks like avon barksdale

[kidpresentable]

simpson tide only had two people talking and that was boring. i was hoping monty cant buy me love would be good but overall mike scully is one of my least favorite commentators. im gladvjulie kavner stopped doing them because she didnt add much more than questions. nancy cartwright should do more and so should hank azaria im getting kind of tired of yeardley smith talking about how lisa “exists in her own way”

[Lionel Hutz]

all the ones where bill and josh talk.

To be fair, David Mirkin is a tough act to follow. As is Jon Lovitz

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

To be fair, David Mirkin is a tough act to follow. As is Jon Lovitz

I dunno...Mirkin can be great, but at times he seems to talk over people and over explains things, which can be both good and bad. I do love the one where he silences Scully though, saying he'll get his chance. Lisa's Rival I think?

[Lionel Hutz]

I dunno...Mirkin can be great, but at times he seems to talk over people and over explains things, which can be both good and bad. I do love the one where he silences Scully though, saying he'll get his chance. Lisa's Rival I think?

True, but when I listen to his commentaries, it's like having two shows in one.
He can be a bit obnonxious and overbearing, but he always keeps things interesting.

[J Dog]

A Star is Burns. It's a 22-minute-long advertisement for The Critic.

I loved how Lovitz kept making fun of Jean and Reiss, but I hated that they never bothered to discuss how much Matt Groening hated the episode (so much that he had his name removed from the credits and was intentionally absent), and James L. Brooks was there, since it was his idea to do the episode. This isn't me bashing the Critic, but the fact that the controversy about the show was entirely ignored.

So, the one complaint I have is the same as yours... it was basically a 22-minute long Critic celebration.

[J Dog]

simpson tide only had two people talking and that was boring. i was hoping monty cant buy me love would be good but overall mike scully is one of my least favorite commentators. im gladvjulie kavner stopped doing them because she didnt add much more than questions. nancy cartwright should do more and so should hank azaria im getting kind of tired of yeardley smith talking about how lisa “exists in her own way”

"The Crepes of Wrath", "The Day the Violence Died", and the alternate commentary for "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" had two people talking. In the case of "Violence", like "Simpson Tide", it was the showrunners.

With that episode, I was really hoping to hear Bill or Josh utter the words "right-wing parody" to explain the spoof on Schoolhouse Rock, but never did.

[cloneasaurus]

I've only listened (ie. attempted to listen) to one Scully commentary. It was pretty much

"So, this episode was written by Swartzwelder.."
[joke]
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH"
"classic Swartzwelder"
"he loves old timey stuff"
[joke]
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH"

...sorta put me off listening to any more scully commentaries

[zach]

scully hates the fun facts himself.

[kidpresentable]

no matter who it is i dont like commentaries with just two people its my problem and i'll deal with it

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

How do you feel about those hidden commentaries on Season 3 where Jean or Reiss comments alone?

[kidpresentable]

this feels like a trap

[Dehumanizer]

I have yet to listen to any commentaries from season fourteen, due to the fact that each episode has like twenty different fucking commentators. Sorry, that's just annoying and a huge clusterfuck to me. Pretty unnecessary. So in a way, I can consider those types of commentaries the worst.

Along with most where Scully is involved.

[Financial Panther]

I never did get to finishing the Season 14 commentaries. I will eventually, but they're just so BORING now.

[kidpresentable]

for the most part commentary quality went down as the show did