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 day