Season 22 Finale First Impressions

And that's the season, a solid ending. It was slightly too gag-filled and a bit crazy, yet I throughoutly enjoyed it and was entertained for whole episode. Having said that, while Edna & Ned pairing is indeed unexplored territory, which is hard to find after 22 seasons, I still didn't like the idea overall. But it wasn't bad by any means. However, Edna did sound like shit. I don't know if they should use him this much anymore. Homer was funny as usual - if there's something consistent in modern Simpsons it's the fact that Dan Castellaneta can deliver almost any line so that it's funny.

The ending was.... Umm, different? I don't really have a clear opinion about it. It's breaking the fourth wall, but it's not a big deal in a show like Simpsons any more. Whether giving the vote to public is a good idea or not, is a different matter all together, but it didn't ruin the episode for me, even if it was left open.

Overall the first impressions for the whole season are actually quite happy. Sure, there was a lot of bad stuff and a lot of mediocre stuff, but that has been the case in recent seasons. But I feel that this season was a definite improvement over 20 and 21. That's not saying much, but it is what it is. At least I still occasionally can enjoy an episode (in fact more often than not) unlike with South Park, who are putting a new definition to a decline.

Season 22, Episode 21 - First Impressions

Well, it was not bad, but it was nothing special either. Lisa's plot had certainly some mystery in it, but it really didn't get me involved so it ended up pretty uninteresting. Bart's plot seemed the most promising, but it got pushed aside into a more background role. Marge's plot should have not been, or maybe for one scene to set up that end joke when Homer said that he has to get her a new present. Homer's plot was mildly interesting too. The best thing would have been to have Bart and Homer take the center stage and have us follow their hijinx with their new keys. Instead it ended up a little crammed with plot, light on laughs and mostly uninteresting.

Season 22, Episode 20

This was a very good episode (by modern standards). I was feeling terrible going into the episode (I just checked out the first two South Parks of the new season... Blechh! If you think modern Simpsons is bad...), but this episode picked me up well, I feel good now. It gave me a couple of chuckles, solid characterization and well-thought story. I can't really think bad things about the episode, though I was groaning a bit during the overly long couch gag - the episode in itself was solid. It had some slower moments, but nothing bad really. Really enjoyed this one.

Season 22, Episode 19 - First Impressions

Another mediocre, but not terrible episode. Both plots were fairly solid even if nothing special. There was a couple of fair jokes, but it was overall forgettable on the joke sector as well. I don't know, I'm finding it a little hard to find anything to say about it. Characterizations were a bit off the mark, but not too far to really bother. Marge was a little annoying and Lisa was stupid & unfair for Bart. But like I said, it wasn't too bad, but it just fell into that mediocre zone.

Season 22, Episode 17 - First Impressions

Ugh. Season 22 is winding down and we're right back where the season was before some decent episodes. Terrible showing, I just don't know where to begin. I mean, it was so bad that it took me until wednesday to even write anything. First of all hardly any of the jokes hit the target. There was some slight smile-worthy, but nothing else. Characterization was the biggest problem, it was absolutely horrendous. It was like only worst of Bart and Homer made 100x worse. They both were full on jerkass-mode.

There's also one thing I have to mention. Picture yourself as a Simpsons writer. You know that the episode will need to be (for whatever reason) about Homer going to a therapist to become better dad, or something along those lines. So what do you do to get Homer to go there? Have him tickle Bart so much that he PEES HIMSELF? NICE IDEA, BRO. I GOTTA SAY THAT'S AT LEAST ORIGINAL. I would have just have him strangle Bart and have Marge be worried about that, I mean Homer's usual antics are way enough to go to therapist for, but hey, that's so good an idea, that it simply has to go into an episode.

Thanks for reading, people.

Season 22, Episode 16

I just didn't care and didn't find pretty much anything funny in it. Even Homer's imagination scene, which was the type of scene I would normally like, wouldn't not work for me this time. Some gags felt blatant filler which is surprising that they need some when there's practically three plots going on.

There was only one or two truly horrible things, but otherwise it was just bad. Homer's bits were mediocre at best and the ending didn't work at all.

Season's winding down a bit, but perhaps we'll still see one or two decent episodes. I still guess it's this kind of dross that we can expect.

Season 22, Episodes 13 & 14 - First Impressions

I've sorta zoned out of Simpsons for past few weeks. So here's what I thought of those couple of episodes in between.

The Blue and the Gray
Either I am getting used to modern Simpsons' crap factor or this was another decent episode. Kind of predictable, but in a good way, I would have been dissapointed if the two plots wouldn't have came together in the end. Moe's plot kinda got pushed aside though. Speaking of Moe, the suicide-committing girl-Moe was a good joke. But probably the best joke for me was Bart and Lisa's hairline joke. I guess not everyone likes these self-referential jokes, but they work for me. There was some continuity issues with Marge's hair (then again, it already was fucked up... I mean the continuity). I felt also that Bart was slightly out of character when he went hardcore on Milhouse, but that's minor stuff. There was still the problem of bad jokes going on too long and being completely unrelated to the plot (which doesn't help), but it never got too bad this time.

So overall, this episode avoided big mistakes and avoiding mistakes is a big part of a succesful modern Simpsons episode. That's not to say that it was too bland either, but only time will tell that.

Angry Dad: The Movie
Not bad, but not particularly good either. The shorts of different animations were pretty good, but other than that there wasn't too much going on. I agree with the sentiments that it was basically just a bunch of shorts thrown together with bare basics of a plot holding the background together. But I was entertained, that was the most important part I guess. Not an episode to remember as a whole, but those animations make it worth checking out, especially the pixar part. Wallace & Gromit parody was somewhat uninspired. Again, it was not bad, but I just felt that you could have done something better with it.

Still, it's way above the past couple of seasons average level so this season has so far been a huge improvement over seasons 19, 20 and 21. Hope it keeps up for the rest of the season.

Season 22, Episode 12

Awesome episode. Lots of very good jokes, great theme song for that show and an actually coherent plot. I don't remember laughing out loud this many times while watching a new Simpsons episode in ages. Though I though that the A-Team of Finland was just... Weird.

Best episode of the season by far. Really not much to say about it right now, awesome (by modern standards) just sums it up.

Season 22, Episode 11 - First Impressions

I had completely forgotten about this, so I checked it out today. I don't know, I don't like it as much as other have liked especially after getting my hopes a bit up when I saw it was written by Matt Selman. It just seemed crammed with bad gags that I really didn't care about. What's up with all these weird visuals from dreams? We get the Moe's dream painting, the stuff that girl had drawn about Bart and Skinner's love hallucinations. Comic Book Gay was right there on the "so bad it's good" -category and to be frank it was the only time I even cracked a smile during the episode. Well I guess I smiled also when Skinner talked to Chalmers while being happy and when he came back.

But I guess when you look at it in terms of plots, it's okay especially compared what's around it. That said I still got the feeling that the subplot with Skinner sprang out of nowhere. Overall, I don't think it was terrible, but it wasn't good either. I think this is one of those episodes that I might appreciate more after a second viewing, but we'll see.

Season 22, Episode 10 - First Impressions

It was resoundingly mediocre in every way, which I guess is pretty good for this season. There wasn't much really bad stuff and for once the couch gag didn't last two hours. The best bit was probably Bart's fantasies on dodgeball. The beginning was overall promising for this day and age, but it didn't keep it up, even if it didn't get really bad either. I enjoyed CBG's appearance though. There was some pretty random moments like Bart's shark thoughts but they weren't so bad that they'd really bother me.

Season 22, Episode 9 - First Impressions

I'm not going to blow the Fit/Fat Tony thing out of proportion. It was stupid, that's it, moving on.

I think this was fair, because I pretty much didn't hate it. I can look over some flaws like that Fat Tony stuff. It kept me fairly entertained and I actually laughed at couple of jokes. Overall though it just felt like they were trying too hard again. They tried to force something funny out of pretty much every line and there was some weird gags thrown in, like the whole Moe "Chimpan-me" bit. Plot was fair enough if you, once again, overlook some things.

Listing every failed gag would have me writing 'til tomorrow, so I'll just say the bits I liked. Homer "getting beaten" gave me a chuckle. It's simple stuff, but it worked. Also seeing Moe prank call was refreshing. When was the last time we saw one of those? I don't remember one in years. Of course it really wasn't a Moe prank call, but the effect was the same. "Only one who ever shot anyone was the baby" and Maggie shooting was a pretty good way to end it.

Season 22, Episode 8 - First Impressions

During the first story there wasn't really any laughs, it was somewhat depressing actually. I remember thinking "Well, this is grim". Santa turning out to be rich in the end was meant to be funny? The only funny joke of the segment was the Polar Express being fueled by cannabis. Once we got to the Lisa's story it got better - Marge in the WWII was great stuff. The Inglorious Bastards reference was good, but it ran a tad too long without really being that inventive. Martha Stewart segment was okay, nothing really special, but it wasn't bad either. I didn't laugh a lot, but neither did I groan. The puppet segment in the end started hilariously but it also got slightly ankward as it went on. It's an uneven episode, but there's some great jokes so overall it's okay. For this season this is decent stuff.

Season 22, Episode 7 - First Impressions

I really didn't care much for the plot, but I just kept smiling for long periods in the episode. There was plenty of okay humor, especially Homer for the most part was funny in this one. That said, there were some jokes that definitely didn't work for me at all, like Chalmers "doing it" with Edna. I just felt bad for Skinner. There was a lot of cliché moments like Bart's early attempt to leave the bird. I kept waiting they'd do something unexpected with that, but it never happened. After all there was zero emotional load in that scene, so you would've expected at least some gag on it. I think they could've just had Bart say "No way I'm getting rid of this bird now" instead of writing useless scene like that. But they just like to waste time a lot nowadays. After the episode turned focus on Santa's Little Helper I really didn't care for it at all anymore. Most of the fourth act was just random. I also think that the bird opening his eyes was the perfect moment to end the episode, instead of actually showing it attack the Simpsons.

I feel that with an okay plot and less filler it could've been a good one. Couch gag had me groaning "oh no, they're making a long one again", but it wasn't too long after all and the concept was interesting.

All in all good humor, useless plot and lot of filler combining to make mediocre episode.

Season 22, Episode 6 - First Impressions

Well, this sucked. I think the idea was fair, but that's not opinion shared by everyman. At least I say that it could've resulted in a decent episode, if executed well. Which it wasn't. It was basically just a shitty gagfest in which almost nothing worked. The best jokes, like the tv executives, shots at the Simpsons Movie and some other joke that I've forgotten now were barely smile-inducing. The plot was a mess and it was really cartoony, in a bad way. I know this is a comedy show, but there used to be a time when I could've taken the events on the screen seriously, instead of just groaning at Mr. Burns bouncing around and then randomly becoming E. T. (though I kind of liked that). Oh yeah, Dick Cheney, that was the third joke I was looking for. But South Park made Cheney way funnier. So all-in-all, bad shit, almost as bad as Elemetary School Musical

Season 22, Episode 5 - First Impressions

I know I shouldn't get excited about the new episodes, but I can't help myself. There really isn't much to wait, but I guess it just tells about how much I love the show that I can't help but to get excited even when I know that it's probably going to be dross. We'll see (I wrote this prior to watching episode)

And the episode was surprisingly good, at least by today's standards. Gagwise it was a mix of good and bad ones, but the plot was fairly solid, a bit aimless at times, but it worked. Lisa was characterized better than usual, but I thought abandoning jazz because of studies was completely unrealistic for her. Bart and Nelson subplot was decent and not overstreched luckily, couple of more of those gags and it would've grown tiresome. Nothing epic or special, but solidly made episode that in a dreamworld would be the minimum-standard for Simpsons episodes. Best of the season so far. It managed to live up to my excitement.

Season Twentytwo, Episode Four - First Impressions

The first segment was mess. Which is a shame, because the concept had some potential. The second segment was the best. There wasn't very good of a plot again, but at least the random radio-joke was good and Homer's cellphone sounds amusing even if seen before. Blatant Marge fanservice here, but that's not a bad thing. Frankly I didn't get the ending because I haven't seen Clockwork Orange yet. I guess I'll pluck that hole very soon. The third segment was just uninspired. I didn't really get why should I laugh at any of the stuff in it. Mediocre overall.

In the context of just watching all the THOH's prior to this it was terrible. But at least first and third segments weren't offensively bad, just among the worst and the second hardly would make it in the average segments.

Season 22, Episode 3 - First Impressions

I completely forgot to post this.

I thought the episode was bland, basicly a remake of My Sister, My Sitter, but worse, much worse. However, it still beats the two episodes before it. Frankly this has been the worst start of a season so far and I'm losing faith that this could be bearable. It might be that episodes like this are in the end the best ones. There were couple of amusing gags so overall it was at least watchable.

Season 22, Episode 2 - First Impressions

I don't know. I am aware that there has been sort of shift in my mentality and I'm looking for flaws semi-subconsciously. It's really like shooting fish in a barrel with these modern episodes as they're full of flaws.

It felt disjointed. Homer's subplot was predictable and somewhat unnecessary. Lisa's plot on the other hand... I don't know what was the point. Also the implications in the end between Lisa and Nelson felt ankward and odd. I wonder, whatever happened to Colin? I guess the movie happened in an alternate reality.

Overall, it's better than the abomination of last week, but not that much. Season's start has been the worst ever.

Season 22, Episode 1 - First Impressions

Well, that was.. I don't know, after first act I would've said "fuckin' terrible", but it built up to something. Still, fun jokes where non-existant and the plot had some pretty contrived twists. Fake-Nobel for Krusty just to get him to Europe on some petty crimes? Just too far out. I hated all of the songs from Lisa's plot. I don't think they should do songs anymore if they can't do better. Overall I disliked it and I'm now worried about what the quality of the season will be.

That's it! All the episodes and the movie with 8 minutes to spare in a month!