corinwright Reviews

The Simpsons: Barthood (2015) Season 27, Episode 9

An Award Worthy Episode

[10/10 · 17 November 2017]

This is a very special episode, and a true gem in and amongst the newer era of Simpsons seasons.

This is a great episode because it shows the life progression of one of the shows most beloved, if not most beloved character Bart and as stated in another review, this is not a goofy view of his future where the main humour is derived from the novelty of a futuristic environment, this is all about Bart.

This episode makes an emotional connection with anyone who has invested time into The Simpsons at any point over the last thirty years, and it does so without sacrificing comedy. I found myself laughing more during this episode than I did during most of the previous episodes combined in season 27.

I was curious to watch this episode when I saw the stand out rating, and it really is deserving of the praise. When the Simpsons eventually does finish, this one will live long in the memory for sure. And it's good to know that our favourite ten year old actually ends up alright.

The Simpsons: Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass (2005) Season 16, Episode 8

Deserving of More Than a Pathetic 3

[8/10 · 7 November 2017]

This Simpsons episode is a bit silly. The story-line get's a bit silly and the humour is a bit silly, but silly humour is just as valid a form as any other I think and I certainly laughed out loud a few times throughout this episode enough to overlook or forget a couple of the more "cringey" moments.

It's not a classic by any means but it's a good episode. It provides some good laughs and keeps you watching which is why I give it a solid eight.

The Simpsons: Bart-Mangled Banner (2004) Season 15, Episode 21

A Much Misunderstood Episode... Apparently

[7/10 · 1 November 2017]

This is The Simpsons doing political satire, and the extent to which some people have seemingly completely missed the points a is astounding and also somewhat ironic given the content of some of the reviews for this episode.

The message of this episode makes a lot more sense if you give it some context by considering the time when it was first aired and what was going on during that period (the early 00's).

People frothing with rage insisting this episode is "pro-american" and "disgraceful" really need to chill and re-watch the episode, perhaps trying to apply some perspective, patience and reason upon their second watching.

Overall 7/10. It's an OK episode, but I like it when writers try to do things like this, even if they could have pulled it off slightly better.

The Simpsons: The Good, the Sad and the Drugly (2009) Season 20, Episode 17

One of the Best in Season 20

[8/10 · 24 October 2017]

This episode made me laugh quite a lot and I would highlight it as one of the funnier episodes of season 20. Yes, the story-line is slightly cliché (Although the way it resolves is not necessarily) and yes one could argue it is a slightly reworked version of a previous episode where Bart has a girlfriend, but after 20 seasons I'm not particularly bothered if they revisit some ideas and neither am I overly bothered about the use of clichés. In fact the only clichés i'm bored of as I attempt to watch every season of The Simpsons are of people talking about "How far the great juggernaut of the 90's as fallen" and phrases like "Zombie Simpsons". I enjoyed the subplot of Lisa's sudden bout of hopeless depression and thought some of the gags involving her happy pills were very amusing. "Who wants to see Lisa Simpsons get high?"... well why not? Perhaps season 20 is one of the slightly weaker seasons, but I felt this episode stands out as one of the best in the season and thus deserving of an above average rating. 8/10

The Simpsons: Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? (1999) Season 11, Episode 3

One of my favourite episodes

[10/10 · 20 September 2017]

Some people say The Simpsons went down hill after season 8. Some even say it went down hill after season 7! But I think this episode is a good example of why it was still going strong in Season 11.

I laughed so hard at the very sharp and quick jokes throughout this episode and I think the storyline is great too.

This IS a very good episode and one of my favourites.. that's why I'm giving it 10/10... not 5/10

The Simpsons: All Singing, All Dancing (1998) Season 9, Episode 11

This Episode Makes You Realise How Good Some Other Episodes Are

[4/10 · 7 September 2017]

In case you didn't know, this episode is a clip show based on music clips from previous shows.

In defence of the show and of the writers of this episode, they do state in the running commentary of the episode that clip shows are something they "have to" do (for whatever reason) and they do reiterate that they don't like doing them. But this clip show seems to stand out as being particularly boring for me. There's no real plot of any substance in the episode and so there is very little to actually keep you entertained and with the greatest respect to the composers, I wouldn't ever highlight the occasional songs as one of the main reasons I love The Simpsons even though I can appreciate that they are well written.

In fact I think an episode full of new songs that were related to an interesting plot would make for a decent episode, it's just the fact that nearly all of the songs I'd already seen that prompted me to fast forward due to slight boredom.

The Simpsons: Lisa the Skeptic (1997) Season 9, Episode 8

An Excellent Episode With A Meaningful Message

[10/10 · 6 September 2017]

I had seen this episode before, as a young kid, and after watching it back again I can honestly say it's one of my favourite episodes of The Simpsons.

The episode shows how easily people can push reasoned evidence (or a lack of) to the side when deep rooted religious beliefs are involved.

If anyone is annoyed or critical of how gullible and "stupid" the people of Springfield seem in this episode, I think they've really missed the point. We all know that most of the people of Springfield are not "morons" as Lisa suggests in the episode, but despite this they still want to believe in the angel even though there is nothing other than blind faith and unreasonable arguments to consolidate their beliefs.

A thoroughly enjoyable episode.

The Simpsons: The Principal and the Pauper (1997) Season 9, Episode 2

Understandably Criticised But Not Awful

[6/10 · 5 September 2017]

I'd heard a lot about this episode and what people feel is its relation to the decline of The Simpsons. Judging it as a lone standing episode it really isn't that bad. It's not the best for sure but there's some funny moments. I reckon that to some degree its reputation proceeds it.

However I do completely understand the rage that this episode brought about. I was also somewhat bewildered after listening to the on disc commentary of the episode how surprised the writer and producers seem to be at the amount of criticism the episode got, In particular the writer who seems to suggest, to paraphrase, that this is possibly the best bit of TV writing he's ever done. It's easy to understand why they came across as somewhat bitter about the whole thing given the amount of "verbal abuse" they apparently received over the episode, which of course is completely unacceptable, but I'd still much rather they just admitted that this wasn't a great idea.