Tonight's Simpsons

[James Harvey]

It was a good episode actually. Not too bad but they glitch up continuity ocne again by having Lenny and Carl as Buddists. The thing that most caught my attention? Al Jean has replaced Mike Scully.

Comments on tonight's episode?

[Karkull]

Not bad, not bad. I've been in Lisa's position before, trying to find your own spiritual path.

Let's see...first Lisa becomes a vegetarian, then a Buddhist. Maybe next season she'll announce that she's gay, :D.

[James Harvey]

Originally posted by Karkull
Let's see...first Lisa becomes a vegetarian, then a Buddhist. Maybe next season she'll announce that she's gay, :D.

In all honesty...that wouldn't surprise me.

[Jowy Blight]

Pretty good, I think last sunday's episode was better though. Then again, any episode with Fat Tony on it I'll like it. Some of the jokes seemed kinda forced to me. It's good at least, to see that the episodes are getting better after the awful last two seasons.

[Failure]

Eh. It was ok. Some of the jokes seemed forced. I liked the Burns' devil cowlicks though. And the little hamsters were great, but after the first 7 minutes or so, I thought it went downhill.

I think they've decided to totally screw away with continuity. They've always been pretty loose about it, but now I think they're deliberately not caring.

[Bird Boy]

seems I'm always able to catch the good episodes..hehe.

I enjoyed it. I just turned on my TV and there it was, so I decided to watch it..

-BB

[Trent Lane]

It was pretty good. The "B" movie at the begining was really funny- The Planet from Outer Space! The hamster rocket thing was pretty funny as well, especially when Milhouse lost his eyebrows and they landed on Bart's cheeks like sideburns....

[DR. BELCH]

Bart should know better than to ask Homer to help him build anything, considering his bad luck in the past with a spice rack, a barbecue grill, and a doghouse. There was something almost Wile E. Coyote-ish about the way the rocket just blew up in his face, leaving a smoking imprint in the ground. "My eyebrows!" And my mom loved the hampster in the astronaut suit.
Interesting satire on the commercialization of religion--reminiscent a bit of the Daria ep "Fizz Ed", which dealt with the commercialization of education (the ads all over the church just as they'd been all pover the school library and classrooms). Watch for the parody of Pip Boys, an appearance by Lard Lad, and the Noid giving a sermon (though that ad campaign went out of vogue years ago. I think the current ads use a michevious monkey named Andy.)
Though in a couple of scenes Homer came off a bit boorish--demanding Bart to butter his bacon ("But, Dad, my heart hurts!"), and at one point having to ask if he should feel happy or sad about Lisa's outburst in church. "I found our dog!" "You were supposed to be looking for Lisa!")
Lenny and Carl actually don't seem to be true Buddhists; they come off more as a couple of guys dabbling in the latest fad. I rather doubted their suncerity when they starting singing "Short Shorts" in the temple. Keep in mind the show also has Apu, a Hindu, attending a Christian worship service regularly.
The Christmas tie-in was adorable, esp. Maggie trying to comfort Lisa with her little offering.

[James Harvey]

I thought the holiday tie-in to Christmas was a good touch. Has me anticipated the risque 'Futurama' episode. I thought this was better than the regular sort of episode we usually get. The "advertising" cameos from the monsters of a past TREEHOUSE OF HORROR was a nice little in-joke as well for the long time fans.

[Captain Caps]

(Cue: Oingo Boingo's "Weird Science")

I see it now. "Homer vs. Homophobia"! Lisa comes out of the closet, and Homer becomes bigoted toward his own daughter (With continuity out the window, the writers and show people will think "Like anybody will remember the Sexy Flanders line or the other instances of Homer possibly wavering in his sexuality"). Special guest stars: Elton John and Eminem! Clinch ending: Homer in a dress! It's insane! It's twisted! It could happen!

Okay, I don't watch the show anymore, except in reruns (and even then, I've been forgetting those), but do you think my idea expansion is valid?

Sincerely,

John "Captain Caps" Kilduff

[James Harvey]

I think they'd end up aking that episode with Homer running around screaming for the whole ep, like the one that aired a few weeks back.

I wonder if they'd bring back that guy from that other 'gay' themed episode...

[DR. BELCH]

--an ep called "Homer's Phobia", in which Homer unwittingly befriended John, a gay antique store clerk, and when Marge told him the truth, he flipped out. "You know me, Marge. I like my beer cold, my TV loud and my homosexuals fa-laaaaaaa-ming." Worried that Bart's door would swing the other way from being around John too long, he took the boy on a disasterous hunting trip, in which he and the guys try to shoot some domesticated reindeer.
So how would Homer try to combat Lisa's pink triangle leanings?
Will there be cameos by k.d lang, Charity Bono, and the Indigo Girls? And will Smithers be used to full advantage?
Though truth be told, Marge has some homophobic leanings too (cf. her remark about Gore Vidal in one ep).

[Captain Caps]

but from these "Simpsons" threads I've been reading, do the creators really care about continuity and their timeline anymore?

Sincerely,

John "Captain Caps" Kilduff

[Lonestarr]

As I stated in another thread, Homer could very well be...
I mean, there's a lot of evidence. Some people might say that Homer isn't; "after all, he's got a wife." Well, so did the Colonel in American Beauty, and we all know how that turned out.

As for Lisa, are you guys nuts?! First off, she's too young, Second, the writers wouldn't dare. You see how condescending the family (esp. Homer) has been toward her beliefs, but this? Remember that multiple heart attack that he had at the end of "The Old Man and the Lisa"? That's gonna seem like a case of the sniffles compared to how he'll take this. Captain Caps, you're not too far off in your summation of Homer.

For the sake of continuity, the show should end.

Getting back on topic, last night's episode was okay, though the best X-Mas ep is still the one where Bart got caught shoplifting.

[Failure]

Originally posted by DR. BELCH
--an ep called "Homer's Phobia", in which Homer unwittingly befriended John, a gay antique store clerk, and when Marge told him the truth, he flipped out. "You know me, Marge. I like my beer cold, my TV loud and my homosexuals fa-laaaaaaa-ming." Worried that Bart's door would swing the other way from being around John too long, he took the boy on a disasterous hunting trip, in which he and the guys try to shoot some domesticated reindeer.
So how would Homer try to combat Lisa's pink triangle leanings?
Will there be cameos by k.d lang, Charity Bono, and the Indigo Girls? And will Smithers be used to full advantage?
Though truth be told, Marge has some homophobic leanings too (cf. her remark about Gore Vidal in one ep).

But Homer's real phobia is sock puppets? Anyone remember that from Marge's fear of Flying episode? One of the funniest eps ever.

As for best Xmas ep, I'd have ot agree with Lonsestarr, the Bart stealing ep was very touching.

Oh and for Homer's gay tendencies, I dont think the writers have any intention to portray him as gay, I think they're just doing it for the laughs.

[Cyclops]

This episode was bettrer than usual, but the best stuff was with the hamster.

[Alaskanbullworm]

Yea, the hampster was funny. It was funny when Marge said that the hampster left his wife with 5 kids and Bart says that the female hampster already ate 3 of them.

[RockItShipper]

Did anyone see that future episode where Lisa was president? I didn't see all of it, but what was up with that guy living with Bart and Bart's request at the end?

[DR. BELCH]

--Ralph, Police Chief Wiggum's boy. The two socialize infrequently, particularly in the ep with the old Morningwood Prison and the electric chair, and he once had feelings for Lisa. He's a couple of years younger than Bart and not the sharpest crayon in the box. As for Bart's little favor, it may have been a stab at Clinton's purported marijuana use. Not one of the best, for my money--the whole future thing was done better in a vision Lisa was shown by a carny fortune teller ("Someday, sir, they'll find a cure for seventeen stab wounds in the back!") in a previous ep.

[Scythemantis]

I remember when that episode aired many people on this board fussed up a storm that the marijuana joke was "shocking" "disgusting" and "tasteless"...I never really got why.It`s not like it`s a secret that Groening himself is,well,a major pothead (my friend`s teacher even met him once and can confirm this) and tobacco is a LOT worse than marijuana...heck,cholesterol is worse (I don`t smoke -anything-,but then again,I even hate taking cold medicine)...IMO that sort of humor is soft PG level at worst.

[Jowy Blight]

the marijuana joke was "shocking" "disgusting" and "tasteless"

I honestly never knew what Bart was talking about until now. So THAT's what he ment.

[Karkull]

People were actually offended by a marijuana joke? Do they have any problems with the constant beer and cigarette references?

[Failure]

Originally posted by Karkull
People were actually offended by a marijuana joke? Do they have any problems with the constant beer and cigarette references?

Oh I'm sure they did at first. Heck, people used to be appalled at the family disfunction that is now considered pretty tame.

It's just people have to get acclimated to new topics. Anything you dont normally hear of usually receives a strong initial response before fading away.