The Simpsons - "Take My Life, Please" - Talkback [2/15]

[Swag Jenkins]

http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/fox.jpghttp://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/simpsons.jpg


Broadcast Order: Season 20, Episode 10
Production Order: Season 20, Episode 1

Writers: Don Payne
Director: Steven Dean Moore


A new episode airs tonight at 8 PM Eastern. Here is the synopsis:


A man named Vance Connor is inducted into the Springfield Walk of Fame and Homer recounts how he ran against Vance for class president in high school and lost.

[DarthGonzo]

The Springfield Wall of the Fame, another sad excuse to play "spot the forgotten character".

[Radical Raven]

The Springfield Wall of the Fame, another sad excuse to play "spot the forgotten character".

Surely Poochies not forgotten yet...

[warnerbroman]

your avatar discribes you about this show

the mayou sounded off

and I am not used to widescreen

[Racattack!Force]

Poochie and...some character I already forgot! :sweat:

[Radical Raven]

Poochie and...some character I already forgot! :sweat:

Actually, me too:sweat: So I retract my earlier statement

[Zorak Masaki]

Poochie and...some character I already forgot! :sweat:

I spotted Hank Scorpio as well.

[Mini Garbonzo]

What's with the weird looking camera angles durning Homer's vist to Moe's? And speaking of Moe, why didn't he join in on the conversation instead of just standing there?

[Eddy]

The Springfield Wall of the Fame, another sad excuse to play "spot the forgotten character".
Pretty much, yeah.

Also, what was the point of Al Gore? Oh, right, none.

[dothesmartthing]

Wow, this is the first time I get to see the show in hi-def. Looks really great!:anime:

[warnerbroman]

oh here we go:shrug:

[Dudley]

So far, this isn't that good.

[Mini Garbonzo]

They could have probably fit in an actual joke in that "what could have been" scene, but I guess that might be asking for too much.

[Kevin]

So far, this isn't that good.
I agree. I haven't laughed once during this episode.

[DarthGonzo]

Magic spaghetti sauce? Really??

What a lame story when you think about it. Yet another episode featuring Homer regretting the life he's lived when, in reality, his life isn't all that bad.

So he wasn't class president? Raise your hand if any of you ever were. And I think all of us are going to be ok, right?

[Daxdiv]

Pretty much, yeah.

Also, what was the point of Al Gore? Oh, right, none.

And they didn't get the real one at that either.

[mowub]

This makes it the third time they've named an episode after the saying "Take my wife, please."

[DarthGonzo]

The third act (or whatever you call it, now that the change in commercial breaks is screwing up the flow of the show) is actually interesting. Not very funny. But interesting.

If they had done this through the whole show it might have been decent. But as always it takes these writers forever to get to the meat of the story that it's over before they get to it.

When's King of the Hill start?

EDIT: So my guess is that FOX doesn't want anyone turning out after the opening or before the end credits so they shove three commercial breaks into the story. That doesn't feel right.

[Kevin]

The only time during this episode I chuckled at was at the Butthead vice president plaque. Otherwise, this episode was totally poor.

[Mini Garbonzo]

Mediocre episode, alot of things could have been done (or not, the whole Homer's life could have been better thing has been done many times before), but I guess the writers thought that they didn't need to acomplish much in the episode. And how come Vance was only used for the first act and disapeared for the rest of the episode?

[DarthGonzo]

Mediocre episode, alot of things could have been done (or not, the whole Homer's life could have been better thing has been done many times before), but I guess the writers thought that they didn't need to acomplish much in the episode. And how come Vance was only used for the first act and disapeared for the rest of the episode?

Cause story structure is a foreign concept to the dunderheads who write this show now.

[Dr. Daedalus]

Didn't bother watching, but I caught the very end of the episode due to tuning in early for KOTH. Is it just me, or do the character outlines seem razor thin now that they're in widescreen?

However, it was cool to see the Gracie Films and 20th Century Fox logos in all their hi-def glory (even if the Gracie one was just scaled up).

[Nexonius]

The first HD episode..meh.



First, the episode looked like Flash most of the time. Second, they unsurprisingly breaks conunity.....again. And Third, the plot is so tired that I purposely turned it to something else. Just a couple more boring episodes like this, and I'm gone.

[DeanBurrito25]

This episode was ok. It looked better in widescreen than it has in recent seasons.
Sure the plot was kinda stupid, but kinda funny at the same time.

7.5/10

[Linkpre]

It was a pretty good episode. I liked the little Al Gore cameo they had.

The new opening was cool too, never thought they would change it after all this time.

[HEATXZ]

Great episode,I like the part when Homer jump into the sauce XD

[Lord Dalek]

Pros:

Officially this renders "That 90's Show" as non-canon (whatever the hell THAT means in the Simpson-verse). HOOORAY!

Cons:

Still sucks

1080i makes everything look way too scratchy in terms of fine lines

The Gracie Films logo looks DREADFUL (as if they just anti aliased/uprez'd the one they've had for decades).

And yes the title sequence is too long, almost as long as the original title sequence.

[creativerealms]

Not the worst episode of the simpsons or even the worst recent episode.

[Jazman]

Way to start your HD run...Magic life revealing spaghetti sauce.

Sigh...

[simpspin]

Way to start your HD run...Magic life revealing spaghetti sauce.

Sigh...

In HD, the blandness comes through with amazing clairty.

[nakak]

The station I watched the episode from aired this pan-and-scan, so I didn't see the whole "glory".

It's...uh...probably in the bottom of the four Animation Domination premieres today.

That's the nicest way that I can put this.

[Darklordavaitor]

The Springfield Wall of the Fame, another sad excuse to play "spot the forgotten character".
And aside from those mentioned, I caught Sideshow Bob, Mr. Teeny, Frank Grimes, and Fat Tony... None of which should be on a Wall of Fame.

I didn't really hate this episode, although I'll admit that the spaghetti sauce bs is in fact bs. No "And Maggie Makes Three", no "That 90's Show", I can name a bunch of worse episodes. Actually, I thought as it was coming along it was becoming a tad bit interesting, to see what kind of life Homer could of lived, but ultimately shot itself in the foot with typical modern Simpsons weak story development.

I don't think I'm completely bailing the show just yet, but at this point, if there aren't at least two other series airing each new episode, I don't think I'll make a habit of tuning in on the show anymore. Sound good?

[ToOn~g@l]

The one big thing I liked about this episode was how they used Homer and Marge's high school years in the 70s rather than in the 90s like that really bad 90s show story. Other than that, there seemed to be something missing from this episode and I am not exactly sure what, maybe it was the really short what life would have been like part, took them forever to get to it. And I think the new opening is kinda fun though it is sad to see the old one go.

[Master Moron]

Magic spaghetti sauce? Really??

What a lame story when you think about it. Yet another episode featuring Homer regretting the life he's lived when, in reality, his life isn't all that bad.

So he wasn't class president? Raise your hand if any of you ever were. And I think all of us are going to be ok, right?

I was fifth member! Fifth member was the loser who got the most votes. I think I ran for vice president and out of all the people who didn't win I got the most number of votes so I got to be the fifth member. I don't think I accomplished anything in the position despite my high school totally sucking, but well, class officers don't really have any power anyway.

So, I can't believe no one mentioned the scene where Homer said "Virgin? What are you? A Girl?" and then Bart drove the golf cart into the lake. That was hilarious.


Cause story structure is a foreign concept to the dunderheads who write this show now.

How would showing Vance more possibly have improved the episode?

[judyindisguise]

Oh, man. This episode was so bad. Most of the jokes were awful. The only one I laughed at was the one concerning the kiddie pool. Bummer. :(

[Peter Paltridge]

I think the writing staff are the ones "on the magic sauce."

Just watch. IGN will give this a "B" at the least. I guarantee.


1080i makes everything look way too scratchy in terms of fine lines

The Gracie Films logo looks DREADFUL (as if they just anti aliased/uprez'd the one they've had for decades).
For what it's worth, both these problems were in the Simpsons Movie. The same version of the Gracie logo appeared there (I know this, I stayed through the whole credits).

[Goodfellow]

Great episode as always, but is the show going to be in widescreen permeanantly now? Even reruns?

[SirLemming]

Great episode as always, but is the show going to be in widescreen permeanantly now? Even reruns?
New episodes will be. Reruns won't, unless they did the rest of this season in widescreen but didn't air them that way. But surely anything before this year won't be widescreen. The extra artwork just doesn't exist.

[veemonjosh]

Reruns won't, unless they did the rest of this season in widescreen but didn't air them that way.

...Which wouldn't make sense, since the rest of this season was an entirely separate season production-wise.

[Fastbak]

You guys are all jaded as hell. I thought this was a great episode. Reminded me of classic Simpsons. I like they're sticking with the old continuity of Homer in high school during the Seventies.

Favorite part was Homer not convinced Bruce Wayne is Batman and Lisa arguing with him!

[DarthGonzo]

If the people writing this show had spent as much time working out the plot as they did trying to figure out how many obscure characters to put on that wall of fame I think this episode could have been really good.

But since no one on staff seems to be able to get their priorities straight it wasn't.

[btv]

If the people writing this show had spent as much time working out the plot as they did trying to figure out how many obscure characters to put on that wall of fame I think this episode could have been really good.

But since no one on staff seems to be able to get their priorities straight it wasn't.

That probably took them about 5 minutes to think of everyone on that wall.
"Who's on the wall, fellas?"
"This guy, this guy, this guy, this guy"
"Oh and this guy this guy this guy"
"And don't forget poochie!"
(room fills to the brim with laughter)
"Who could honestly forget poochie?"

Why are you saying it like they spent a week thinking about that joke and then 3 1/2 days thinking about the plot they're fitting that joke in? These guys aren't stupid... I actually thought this was a really good episode. Unless you're there working this writing job with all the good ideas that are being thrown out I'm not sure were this jadedness is coming from haha

It's not just you but honestly I'm getting kind of tired of this whole attitude, but I'm not trying to make a thing out of it, just saying.

[Radical Raven]

I actually got a few laughs out of this one, though they were fleeting. The on that sticks with me is Homer's "Death Penalty" thing.

[simpspin]

You guys are all jaded as hell.

For a show renowned for being smart and witty, it's hard not to get jaded when episodes this bad make it past the idea stage. And if you think we should cheer up, then the writers shouldn't give us reasons to feel upset.

[DarthGonzo]

When you grow up enjoying a show that's incredibly intelligent and clever it's hard to deal with shows featuring magic spaghetti sauce that shows people alternate versions of their lives.

[warnerbroman]

did the episode end I---what happened after homer jumped in the sauce

[Eddy]

You know, considering how much Simpsons writers love to bring back obscure characters, why didn't they bring back the Indian chief who showed Bart and Lisa their lives when they grow up? I see no reason why he couldn't have shown Homer what his life could have been.

Hell, it makes more sense than "magic sauce".

[FinnMacCool]

When you grow up enjoying a show that's incredibly intelligent and clever it's hard to deal with shows featuring magic spaghetti sauce that shows people alternate versions of their lives.
Why is everyone so down on the spaghetti sauce? It's as likely to show visions of what-might-have-been as anything else.

[SirLemming]

Why is everyone so down on the spaghetti sauce? It's as likely to show visions of what-might-have-been as anything else.
Because it was a lame episode and they're trying to figure out exactly why. But I think the answer is a bit more complicated.

[toonfan2003]

The spaghetti sauce part honestly didn't bother me. Come on, this is an episode about looking into the past and you guys are complaining about the method used? :shrug:

I did get a chuckle out of the "Hey look! This idiot's talking to a piece of garlic bread!" joke.

[simpspin]

The spaghetti sauce part honestly didn't bother me. Come on, this is an episode about looking into the past and you guys are complaining about the method used? :shrug:

I prefer the "Let's not make episodes that deal in arbitrary-past "what-ifs" method. If this keeps up, soon we'll have such 'genuis' what-ifs as:

"A well-red Marge"
--Marge imagines her life if her hair was red.

"Oh, boy! It's Lisa!"
--A 'what-if' for Lisa if she was born a boy.

"His Girl, Barty!"
--You guessed it--WHAT IF Bart was born a...wait for it--GIRL!

"Dred-Full Flanders"
--What if Flanders worshipped--SATAN!

...and so on. But the good news is, the Simpsons will soon break Gunsmokes record! :sweat:

[glennstar]

This was a pretty good episode, but what shocked me was the new opening. After watching the show since pretty much the beginning, it was kind of a shock. I thought they should have changed it a few years ago, after they killed off Bleeding Gums Murphy, but still, a person gets used to the opening credits after a while. It will take a while to get used to it, but it was still pretty funny. The show is still great, as good as anything on tv.

I didn't realize this is the 20th season. I thought next year was. Still pretty cool though. Flintstones only lasted 6. I believe Bugs Bunny did original shorts for just over 20 years and only 5 minute shorts, not a half hour show. I believe between 1940 and 1963. The Simpsons are incredible, keep it up.

[toonfan2003]

"Oh, boy! It's Lisa!"
--A 'what-if' for Lisa if she was born a boy.

"Dred-Full Flanders"
--What if Flanders worshipped--SATAN!

...and so on. But the good news is, the Simpsons will soon break Gunsmokes record! :sweat:

If you wanna get technical, those scenarios have been used before. In "Girls Just Wanna Have Sums", Lisa disguised herself as a boy when the school was split into a girls school and a boys school and she became rather popular amongst the boys.

And in one Treehouse of Horror IV, the role of Satan is played none other than Mr. Flanders himself.

[Peter Paltridge]

Just watch. IGN will give this a "B" at the least. I guarantee.
Yerp. Good ol' predictable IGN.
http://tv.ign.com/articles/954/954500p1.html

[simpspin]

If you wanna get technical, those scenarios have been used before. In "Girls Just Wanna Have Sums", Lisa disguised herself as a boy when the school was split into a girls school and a boys school and she became rather popular amongst the boys.

But that wasn't done with magical powers or weird sauces and the like.


And in one Treehouse of Horror IV, the role of Satan is played none other than Mr. Flanders himself.

I"m sure they'll have an episode that's NOT a THoH where Ned's a closet pegan. ;)

[SirLemming]

Yerp. Good ol' predictable IGN.
http://tv.ign.com/articles/954/954500p1.html


The biggest laugh for me, though, was finding Grampa living at Evergreen Terrace, stating, "I can't complain and I never do." This was a great joke in that Grampa in the real world complains all the time, and that's the Grampa we've grown to love over the last 20 years.

:shrug:

[DeanBurrito25]

"How the Test Was Won" Episode no. 431 Prod. code LABF02 Orig. airdate March 1, 2009
Bart receives a perfect score on a practice test for the upcoming Vice President's Assessment Test. Because of this, he will not have to take the real exam and will get to ride a helicopter to a special pizza party. Lisa, shocked that Bart did better, is unable to do well on her exam, but Bart realizes that the party is not what it seems. Meanwhile, Homer is late making an insurance payment and must go an afternoon without injuring himself.

Well on the plus side, this plot doesn't involve magical spaghetti sauce.