Rate and Review: "A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again" (PABF12)

[zach]

Oh, I love Mike Scully! He's one of my favorite Simpsons producers.. I have a signed DVD copy of The Simpsons Movie from him.

really? if so, that's awesome.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

This Thread = :lick::silverado::jimbo:.... All of that and beyond!

Bravo, thumbs up for all!

I haven't laughed this hard in years.

[parklife]

c'mon guys

[Tubbb!]

My God. There are now so many edits on page one of this thread, that I feel like I'm reading something completely different from what was there thirty minutes after the show aired.

With two more years of 44 episodes being made with everyone involved taking pay-cuts, I believe worse has yet to come and I believe my kingdom has come.

I don't even know what to make of that?

The climax is the most unsatisfying ending they have ever done since I demand an answer to how they get back to Springfield. I hate this episode so much that I now decided I am not watching any later episodes except for the series finale if they ever end this. I'll also watch the two sequels to The Simpsons Movie if they ever get made, I'll go on the Simpsons Ride if I ever go to Universal Studios. But all episodes that air before the Series Finale will have to wait for a DVD release if I even decide to watch them.

Really, if this episode made you this mad, you need to stop watching. Sorry to single you out, biffwestwood... but, just... wow.

[The Governor]

This thread still is not as contrived as the episode.

[parklife]

seriously how is hot chip being played on the simpsons

[kidpresentable]

i thought that it was a pretty solid episode(by season 23 standards) had some good jokes most of the episodes lately havent been half bad

[Mozy]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, either they get better special guests or they stop doing it entirely. The last special guest that I was excited about was Cheech and Chong, now those guys are worth watching! I mean, who the hell is Steve Coogan? At least Treat Williams is a known actor.

[Ryan]

that sure was an episode of the simpsons in 2012 but the lack of talking dish rags and angelic veggie tales surely ranks it above the title of 'worst episode ever'

[BartvstheSpaceMutants]

A damn good episode. From the opening montage onward, I appreciated how it dealt with the weightiest of weighty themes: What Makes Life Worth Living. That kind of ambition is rare for the show nowadays, so I'm all for seeing more Selman showrunnery.

[The Governor]

seriously how is hot chip being played on the simpsons

Why didn't they play Over and Over and Over when Bart's Mon-Fri segment is shown is baffling.

[The Angry Animated Comedy Nerd]

This thread still is not as contrived as the episode.

I dunno.. Nelson has been posting.. that is as contrived as you can get. JK JK.

[zach]

hired goons?

[Dark Homer]

My God. There are now so many edits on page one of this thread, that I feel like I'm reading something completely different from what was there thirty minutes after the show aired.

I looked and it's just people rearranging sentences, no dramatic changes of heart if that's what you're thinking

[zartok-35]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, either they get better special guests or they stop doing it entirely. I mean, who the hell is Steve Coogan? At least Treat Williams is a known actor.

Atleast they gave him something to do, and a well-animated song to sing, instead of just having him show up for "Hey look, it's Steve Coogan!""Hello Simpsons!" paint-by-numbers predictable lameness. Matt Selman might be bringing in off-beat british people, but he gets them to do something worth while!

[That Don Guy]

Written by Matt Warburton
Directed by Chris Clements
Couch: Everything appears as black words on a white background (repeat of NABF14)
Special Guest Voice: Steve Coogan, Treat Williams
Also Starring: Chris Edgerly, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Renee Ridgeley
Overseas Animation: Akom
TV Rating: TV-PG-DLSV

The cruise ship history lecture was by John Maxtone-Graham.

In the commercials, Homer's hands weren't blue.

Just like Valentine's Day in Springfield, it must have been unseasonably warm in Antarctica - especially for sliding on snow.

The cruise ship song wasn't music by Alf Clausen and lyrics by the show's writer(s) like it usually is.

Bart's "Fun Schedule":
7-8 XBox with PS2 controllers
8:05-9 Human Super-Mario Brothers
9:05-9:30 Slime Toss!
9:05-10:15 Mud Munch
10:20-11:00 Astronaut training with certified cosmonaut
11:05-11:30 Chimp sign language
11:05-12 Tie-dye your own cowboy hat
1-1:30 Sith training with certified Sith Lord
1:40-2 The propellers--up close and personal!
2:05-3 Claymation movie studio
2-4 Onesize Bedazzling Class For Babies
2:05-2:30 Toss melons at the propellers!
2:30-3:30 Work those water-balloon books!
3:40-5:40 Hull painting
3:40-4 Tickle the purser

3-4 Para-mini-golf
3:15-4:15 Waterslide Bobsled
4-4:15 Punch through paintings!
4:05-5 Real life Tetris
3:30-4:30 Power Ranger lessons from a former Pink
3-4 Sell your cruise ship thriller screenplay
4-5:15 Laser-Tag
4-4:50 Stuff,overboard!
5:30-6:30 Fake Broadway auditions
5:30-6 Norwegian Swearing
6-7 Ice Cream Rave w/Mixs Ins Master Mike
6-7 Mess with an octopus--advanced
6-7 Crewman Nguyen eats what?!
6-7 Victims of Bullies support group
7-8:30 Death comes to the activity center: (couldn't quite read the last line, if there was one after it)

Bart's actual schedule:
Water slide
Go-karting
Rock wall climb
Reptile Round-up
Cregg Demon: Magic Freak
Fireworks shootout
Floating on air
Cruise Ship History lecture by John Maxtone-Graham
Cowboy Time


LYRICS to "Enjoy It While You Can"
(Music by Robert Lopez, Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Matt Warburton)
Enjoy it while you can
Ice sculptures, conga lines, and working on your tan
Enjoy it while you're here
One week of glitz and glam instead of pain and fear
In just a few days' time, this boat pulls into dock
And when it does, you lovely people may be in for a shock
Here you've made exciting friends - back home you'll all lose touch
Here, Hawaiian shirts are cool - back home, well, not so much
Back home, you'll be too tired for making magic in the sack
So eat buffet, and play, and pray there's some delay on our way back
Enjoy it while you can
Here at sea, we drink and frolic
Back home that's called alcoholic
Your futures are but parabolic
Enjoy it while you can

[Tubbb!]

I looked and it's just people rearranging sentences, no dramatic changes of heart if that's what you're thinking

It's kind of hard to even refute someone's points if they're constantly changing them... or worse yet, totally incomprehensible due to blind rage.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, either they get better special guests or they stop doing it entirely. The last special guest that I was excited about was Cheech and Chong, now those guys are worth watching! I mean, who the hell is Steve Coogan? At least Treat Williams is a known actor.

See, I have the exact opposite problem. I have no clue who Treat Williams is, but I absolutely love Steve Coogan. Then again, I love British comedy, so....
The writers have stated several times in DVD commentaries, most notably in the Season 13 commentaries, how easy it is for them to get British actors / celebrities to appear on the Simpsons due to its popularity "across the pond."

(I honestly thought they made up the name Treat Williams.)
EDIT: Oh my lord... Treat Williams played "Berger" in the 1979 film adaptation of "Hair." Now I know who he is. *shudder*

seriously how is hot chip being played on the simpsons

Because American Dad already used "Mr. Blue Sky" for a similar sequence in "Fart-Break Hotel"?
Honestly, I liked the song. I'll be listening to some Hot Chip in the near future.

[Kiyosuki]

Don't worry, Jamie's got the situation scoped out.

Always.

He's got your backs against opinion shifters.

[The Governor]

Okay, well, I can finally RELAX and write a review. I case you were all wondering why I was posting like a maniac, right after the episode aired, I got called into work so I was bit stressed, but now that I've seen the episode a second time, I'll get down to brass tacks...

"A Totally Fun thing..." starts off very well. We see Bart's drudgery Monday thru Friday and how each day is the same Over and Over and Over, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal. We're supposed to feel bad that he's stuck in the same routine day after day with no hope for escape. So far, nothing good or bad...next Bart gets to see what life could be like on a vacation aboard a cruise ship where life could be a paradise...for a week. For once, the family is shown to be poor and cannot just jet off of a cruise, which is nice, but instead of putting it on a credit card, or just not going at all (not much of an episode if they went that route), Bart sells everything (huh?) he owns along with members of the family contributing.

IMO, Bart selling everything was the first contrivance, as someone said that he'll just have everything back next week so his 'sacrifice' had no merit, then Homer goes into whiny jackass mode bitching about how the cruise will be more work than work. Obviously 10 seconds into the bitch fest it's obvious he isn't too thrilled, but the joke went on and on and on...okay that leads to plot contrivance #2: the upgrade to a triple upgrade.

If this was the classic era, the Simpsons would've had to take the sugar-free cruise and had to deal with it, but because this episode is built on contrivances, the family is moved along to an ultra-suite. At this point I was wondering: So what if they're poor, everything is STILL handed to them anyway!

So we get a few moments of the family enjoying themselves in a cute series of enjoying themselves, and I liked the way Bart was animated in an activity collage of "fun" on the ship, which leads to the only good moment of the episode: the song at dinner halfway in the cruise. It was good to see Bart emote his disenfranchised feelings at the thought of having to go home in a few days as this was the only time the episode had any weight to it, even the first future flashforward was actually emotional. Nobody, given the chance, wants to think about heading home, but this episode used that excuse to venture off into a zany wonderland.

So, the next contrivance is Bart now has a hot fudge dispenser and is in the nerve center of the ship with crew around messing with the ship to shore communications. Magically, Bart is able to get close enough to the controls without any crew around to cause damage, while using a ship-issued DVD, which nobody seemed to watch, in order to fool the crew and passengers into believing humanity was in trouble. Wow, uh..what? And no one on board managed to even TRY to contact land to find out any more information? I guess Bart wasted that fudge for nothing.

Now six days after the ship has supposed to return to port, no one can find a modern ship that would have GPS installed and probably a few global phones, so conviently, no one can tell them nothing's wrong or find them, but when Bart's lie is exposed, the family is just dumped in Antarctica without any warm clothes and winds up playing with penguins, only to have the story be "concluded" with a cheaply sentimental lampshade that couldn't pander to the audience any more even if it had a studio audience go "awww!" on cue.

Eddie Murphy said once in his comedic routines is if you throw a starving man a cracker, he'll think it's the best cracker in the world and call it a "ritz". This episode threw a seemingly starved NHC audience some empty schmaltz and because out of desperation, some people called it poignant.

Ryan O said because this episode didn't have a talking bar rag or talking vegitables, it shouldn't be labled bad, well that episode with the talking bar rag was odd from the get go, like a THoH episode. This episode was a normal episode that had too many contrivances and thing happening at random to make it convenient for the story to progress.

I know it's a cartoon.

I know it's not 100 realistic, or even 50 percent realistic.

I know it's not interesting if the events in the plot don't unfold in a believable sort of way with a poorly established conflict and fake emotional cues.

That is why this story makes no sense and deserves a low score. Maybe in my anger a 0/5 is too harsh, so I'll give it a 0.5/5 to be fair.

I'm not hating on new episodes because they're new, I hate most of the new episodes because they're terrible.

[leprechaun_dan]

Mozy: Steve Coogan is a well-known British comedian. I don't know who Treat Williams is, and I'm pretty sure Coogan is more well-known than this Williams dude. You sound really ignorant with that statement

Anyway, decent episode with a lot of potential that it couldn't deliver. Most people on this thread seem to be overreacting a bit by ranking this a 0 (looking at you, Jake). I'm happy they didn't base the entire episode around being in Antarctica. I'm kind of in the "meh" zone for this episode so I'll just give it a 3.

And I'm not one to usually complain about negativity in an episode.

But Bart should never do this again

[Stackhouse]

This is the Simpsons, it isn't serious fiction - so complaining about the unlikeliness of a ship believing Bart's deception kinda isn't the point. This was a pretty ambitious plot handled deftly to communicate a nice message - that if you seek out a grand idea of fun, you'll never find it, that fun and happiness needs to exist day-to-day and satisfaction needs to be found in moments often forgotten. It's a pretty mature theme for modern Simpsons and it made me smile. I hardly even use the phrase "modern simpsons" negatively in this sense - I thought the communication was remarkably relevant & well-told. Not a perfect episode, but folks - at least it had something to say.

[The Governor]

This is the Simpsons, it isn't serious fiction - so complaining about the unlikeliness of a ship believing Bart's deception kinda isn't the point.

Yeah, if ignore all the contrivances, it's sort of good, I guess...

Stan Lee said if he and a super power, it'd be luck, so I guess he's aspiring to be like Bart Simpson cuz everything goes his way at all the right times.

This was a pretty ambitious plot handled deftly to communicate a nice message - that if you seek out a grand idea of fun, you'll never find it, that fun and happiness needs to exist day-to-day and satisfaction needs to be found in moments often forgotten. It's a pretty mature theme for modern Simpsons and it made me smile. I hardly even use the phrase "modern simpsons" negatively in this sense - I thought the communication was remarkably relevant & well-told.

Sounds like it's "serious" when you want it to be but "It's the Simpsons" when the flaws are pointed out. Of course the classic Simpsons relied on the viewers' intelligence to figure shit out, but this episode decided to tell you what to think, right?

Not a perfect episode, but folks - at least it had something to say.

Wow, how astute! But that doesn't make the episode any more interesting or fix the problems I could steer a cruise ship through. And if I want a message, I'll check my voice mail.

[Bartesque]

4/10 - Sure, they had a great holiday, but they sort of played it straight rather than make fun of the cruise ship scenario. I find it pretty dumb how it took so long to recognize that the warning message was from a film.

[ModernSimpsonsRocks]

C'mon everybody! Form a conga line behind me!!!!

[brandnewhalo]

I can only assume Rango hates Season 4's Bart Gets Famous, with all these contrived situations:
* Bart happens to go on a boring field trip.
* Bart happens to be next a TV studio where Krusty is.
* Bart happens to get his assistant fired, and do the right thing to replace him.
* Krusty happens to offer Bart a line just as he gets disillusioned.
* Bart happens to screw up his line in an amusing way that makes him get famous.
* The audience get sick of Bart just after he changes his mind.

All utterly contrived. This John Swartzwelder guy obviously doesn't know how to write for The Simpsons with his utterly contrived plotlines.

Or what about Season 5's Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood, with all its contrived situations:
* Homer loses a peanut, and finds $20, and then loses it
* Bart finds Homer's lost $20.
* Bart goes on a Squishy bender and somehow happens to join the Junior Campers
* Mrs. Krabappel is about to have a test just as the Junior Camper meeting is happening, so Bart goes to the meeting
* Just as Bart is about to quit, he learns about the pocket knife
* Homer loses the map they need by turning it into a hat
* They sail the wrong way
* They happen to be near an off-shore oil platform with a Krusty Burger, which Homer discovers just as the raft is sinking

Utterly contrived and unrealistic. Clearly, a terrible episode.

[Ryan]

Ryan O said because this episode didn't have a talking bar rag or talking vegitables, it shouldn't be labled bad, well that episode with the talking bar rag was odd from the get go, like a THoH episode.

Well that's not what I said at all, every episode I even glanced at this season has been mediocre as that's no surprise since we're in season fucking 23, I'm just saying that this is nowhere near "worst episode" territory. Considering the past 500 or so episodes, the Simpsons being stranded in Antarctica and a cruise ship being forced to keep chugging due to notions of the apocalypse (which was a hoax)... they seem like novel and not bizarrely dumb ideas. I laughed a few times, liked the crisp focus of the plot and admired the on-point satire of the increasingly ridiculous cruise industry. Sure it fell apart in the end, but I'm not out of my seat gawking at the screen at how amazingly idiotic and hilariously over-the-top it is... which the show has done to me on easily more than one occasion for the past twelve years since I started watching.

Yeah this is obviously mediocre (though a notch above the usual mediocre), I just find it weird somebody would actually think this is the worst the show has to offer.

[The Governor]

I can only assume Rango hates Season 4's Bart Gets Famous, with all these contrived situations:
* Bart happens to go on a boring field trip.
* Bart happens to be next a TV studio where Krusty is.
* Bart happens to get his assistant fired, and do the right thing to replace him.
* Krusty happens to offer Bart a line just as he gets disillusioned.
* Bart happens to screw up his line in an amusing way that makes him get famous.
* The audience get sick of Bart just after he changes his mind.

All utterly contrived. This John Swartzwelder guy obviously doesn't know how to write for The Simpsons with his utterly contrived plotlines.

Or what about Season 5's Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood, with all its contrived situations:
* Homer loses a peanut, and finds $20, and then loses it
* Bart finds Homer's lost $20.
* Bart goes on a Squishy bender and somehow happens to join the Junior Campers
* Mrs. Krabappel is about to have a test just as the Junior Camper meeting is happening, so Bart goes to the meeting
* Just as Bart is about to quit, he learns about the pocket knife
* Homer loses the map they need by turning it into a hat
* They sail the wrong way, and no-one notices
* They happen to be near an off-shore oil platform with a Krusty Burger, which Homer discovers just as the raft is sinking

Utterly contrived and unrealistic. Clearly, a terrible episode.

Wow, at least I'm impressed you didn't point out the characters are yellow and have four fingers, too! Mad props 4 U!

Ok I kinda feel like David Mirkin like in the commentaries, laboriously explaining obvious jokes, but that's just because it annoys me when people throw out an incredibly lazy inferences like 'well there was unrealism/wackiness in the classic era and you didn't mind it there'. As the above example shows, those so-called contrivances were well-written, and was used to comedic effect far beyond the novelty of something unrealistic being on screen, which is far more than can be said for 99% of tonight's episode. So y'know, your knee-jerk listing a complete non-starter of an argument.

BTW, did you now the Simpsons is a CARTOON???!!!!

Yeah this is obviously mediocre (though a notch above the usual mediocre), I just find it weird somebody would actually think this is the worst the show has to offer.

I gave this a much harsher grade because unlike the "Homer gets a job" "marriage crisis" "bart gets a GF" episode this could've been genuinely interesting, but it fell flat on its face, so the disappointment was a lot greater, I guess.

[EthanRunt]

I really enjoyed the episode. Still rare to watch The Simpsons with a smile plastered on my face the entire time, and to have jokes hit so strong. I'm really happy for this season, and this episode was a great one for not doing what seemed so obvious. At points it felt like they were building to a big Sideshow Bob beat, or something equally big out of OFF's hands would occur. But having Bart be the cause of all the cruise's problems was great.
Coogan's performance was nice too, took me a while to recognise the voice.
Strong stuff.
5/5

[ThankYouComeAgain]

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ZOMBIE SIMPSONS!!!

Has this episode thought you NOTHING?!

The message was clear: STOP looking for fun! Just have it!

STOP trying to compare modern Simpsons to the old episodes! Just have fun! Geez!

I'm sorry but this forum has officially turned into a place where you only come to see Simpsons being as trashed as much as possible. When the creaters of the show themselves specifically point that out in the 500th episode, you know something is wrong, and not with the show. Can we have some serious clean up here? Or just shut the damn forums down already. This is ridiculous now.

I've been waiting for this day

[ThankYouComeAgain]

Le Jake hurry up and rate this turd you're the only one trustworthy in ratings in this side