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Season 12 reviews
Here are the reviews of all the Season 12 episodes I wrote as they aired
(2000-2001). Scroll down and read the reviews at your own pace, or hop
straight to a particular episode by clicking below:
[BABF20] A Tale of Two Springfields
[BABF21] Treehouse of Horror XI
[BABF17] Insane Clown Poppy
[CABF01] Lisa the Tree Hugger
[CABF04] Homer vs. Dignity
[CABF02] The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
[CABF03] The Great Money Caper
[CABF06] Skinner's Sense of Snow
[BABF22] HOMЯ
[CABF05] Pokey Mom
[CABF08] Worst Episode Ever
[CABF07] Tennis the Menace
[CABF10] Day of the Jackanapes
[CABF12] New Kids on the Blecch
[CABF09] Hungry, Hungry Homer
[CABF11] Bye Bye Nerdie
[CABF13] Simpson Safari
[CABF14] Trilogy of Error
[CABF15] I'm Goin' to Praiseland
[CABF16] Children of a Lesser Clod
[CABF17] Simpsons Tall Tales
[BABF20] A Tale of Two Springfields
This was a good Season premiere. Homer is outraged about the new area code
change in Springfield, so divides the city into two towns - New Springfield
and Old Springfield. He then elects himself as mayor, but everyone soon
flees his town.
I'll start with the good stuff. Generally, I liked the plot as it provided
many opportunities for laughs. Homer was great in this episode, as was Bart.
Good gags were the www.whatbadgerseat.com
website (by the way, this is a real website - Fox created it for the show),
Bart confusing stoats with corn, Lenny = white, Carl = black written on
Homer's hand, the lowbrow expressions ("Oh yeah..." and "Come
here a minute"), the whole chloroform thing, the 'Who-huddle', and
their guard.
Two things I did not like were the badger ending (what was that all about?),
and Homer's skin being ripped off by the badger, which was a tad
unrealistic. However, this was counterbalanced with the excellent line,
"What am I, a tailor?" Great episode, I hope that the rest of the
Season will be like this!
Rating: 9/10
[BABF21] Treehouse of Horror XI
Three stories, one of which was quite bad, really. I have given them each a
review and score, then taken the average (rounded to the nearest ½ mark).
G-G-Ghost D-D-Dad
This was definitely the best story of the three. The very specific
horoscope; "Flupid Floropope" after the axe in the head; and the
speed at which Homer died after eating the broccoli were funny. I noticed
(the fourth time I saw the episode) that St Peter was playing cards after
Homer ate the broccoli again. The best line was probably this from Homer:
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm just trying to get in, I'm not running for
Jesus!" 8/10
Scary Tales Can Come True
It's unusual for me to say this about a Simpsons episode, especially a THOH
story, but this was really bad! There were two funny bits in this: Lisa's
line "Face it, they're not great parents," and the other with Bart
mixing the porridge, a noticeable flaw with the Goldilocks fairy tale.
Otherwise, this was poor. Shame on the writers! 5/10
Night of the Dolphin
This one was good. However, the parody of 'Free Willy' was another re-used
gag (from The Boy Who Knew Too Much), and was very similar. There
were quite a few laughs in this story, such as the "inaudible
whispers" on the subtitles for the dolphins, the marching dolphins
squeaking to the army march, and the leader who could speak. Classic line:
"Alcohol and night swimming - it's a winning combination!" -
Lenny. 7/10
Rating: 7/10
[BABF17] Insane Clown Poppy
This was a good episode. The first act provided many laughs, especially Homer
and Bart's antics with the fireworks. Great lines were spouted out, such as
"It's gonna take a lot of fireworks to clear this mess up."
Next came the book fair. Everything here was funny; including Milhouse's,
"There hands were everywhere!" My favorite bit was the Books For
Dummies author: "Duh, I don't know. Me gotta go to bank now."
There was much more great stuff in this episode which can't all fit here, so
here's some of the best gags: Kearney and his son, the mafia summit, the
mafia's web site (crime.org - note that this is a real organized crime site,
so go there at will), and Johnny Tightlips & Hugo Squealer.
One bit I did not like was when Homer was talking to Krusty on the beach, and
after he got distracted, said: "Where were we? Oh hey! A clown!"
This was a bit too stupid for Homer in my opinion.
Rating: 8½/10
[CABF01] Lisa the Treehugger
So much in this episode was funny! The episode starts with Bart delivering
menus for the restaurant, "You Thai Now" (I love that name!). This
whole section was funny, but it stopped abruptly when the family got to
Krusty Burger, and could have provided some extra laughs in addition to the
main story line if continued.
The Krusty burger scene was by far the funniest scene so far this Season,
with great stuff such as the "bag-zooka." Other great stuff in
this episode included Homer, on refugees: "How about a smile?" and
"moping won't make it better!" The Kentucky Fried Panda restaurant
(it's one of the shops the log destroys, if you missed it) was great - as
Homer said, it was "finger-lingling-good!"
Something that bothered me was the fact that Lisa could see the Eiffel Tower
from the tree, as well as Hollywood and the Statue of Liberty. Okay, it was
only a joke, but the weird this was that the Eiffel Tower was in between
these two.
Overall, this was a good episode. The story line was quite original (I
haven't seen Lisa campaigning in an episode for ages), and there were enough
laughs to keep me going. Classic line: "Wow! It's so decomposed!"
- Lisa, commenting on Jesse's pocket mulching.
Rating: 8/10
[CABF04] Homer Vs. Dignity
Probably the best episode of the Season so far, I was laughing all the way
through! The beginning was probably the strongest part of the episode, but
the rest was still excellent.
The 'Happy First A' celebrations were especially great. The explanation was
good as well as the family running out on the meal (Homer throwing his
credit cards at the waiter), then having to repay their debt by singing, and
selling the car chassis. Homer's 'financial panther' bit was good, as was Mr
Burns' toy gun ("Curses, it's jammed!"). The best bit of the
episode came next, in the cafeteria. Lenny's line was a classic: "My
eye! I'm not supposed to get pudding in it!"
Then we get into the main story line, which was great. The only thing that I
could say was bad about the episode (to be fair) would be the panda scene.
Maybe it was a bit unrealistic for the male panda to drag Homer off to do
whatever it did to him (I'd better not write it here!), but apart from this,
the episode was fantastic!
Rating: 10/10! Superb!
[CABF02] The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
This episode starts well, but quickly goes downhill. Aside from the major
plot hole that The Simpsons already have a computer ("A Tale of Two
Springfields", "Das Bus"), I did not like many other things
in this episode.
Firstly, there were Bart's psychological problems. I think the writers went a
bit too far with him apparently taking a swing at a cop with a switchblade,
and being "mad all the time." He was way out of character.
Secondly, Homer being gassed and taken to an island somewhere (a parody of a
60's TV show called 'The Prisoner') was a very weird and unrealistic twist
to the story. However, the giant bubble, although another recycled joke
("The Joy of Sect") was funny. Thirdly, the ending was appalling.
The family all going back to the island and living there did not do anything
for me at all.
However, there were some good jokes. The 'Dancing Jesus' and the Springfield
Police web sites, and Homer's first attempt at a web site were all good.
Also, the Mr X site, which showed Homer's face before the bag covers his
face, was funny. Be sure to check out the real Mr X's web page that Fox
created for the show at www.mrxswebpage.com
Rating: 6/10
[CABF03] The Great Money Caper
Oh my god! What is happening to The Simpsons? I thought the last episode was
bad, but this was really terrible! If you've not seen it, I advise you not
to watch it! The episode starts with a quite unfunny scene in a restaurant.
I don't think I laughed once. Next, we have a fish falling from outer space
somehow, and another recycled gag, from THOH XI - the "Russian
profanities" in the subtitles.
The episode does get better, as the conning was good in places. But by the
courtroom scene, the episode had lost any charm it had, and had returned to
the unfunny state it was in at the beginning. The one thing that was funny
(and quite funny it was) was the fact that Willy was not in on the set up.
And to end, we are presented with the now common stupid and unfunny scene.
This one was surfing, and the idea that everything was going to be
explained, but then everyone got distracted, was copied from "Brother's
Little Helper." This is definitely the worst episode of the Season so
far.
Rating: 4/10 - D'oh!
[CABF06] Skinner's Sense of Snow
This episode starts quite badly, but does get better. The French circus was
poor. The guy who disappeared was a bit too cartoonish and unrealistic, and
the rainbow in the jar thing was stupid. However, Marge was good in this
section, with some great lines: "They're only in town for eight months,
then they're gone," and "they always pick the guy with the
wires." Also, Marge imagining herself in exotic positions cleaning the
sink was good.
Next, it's snow day. Homer's snow angel, which turns out to be a devil, was
strange, but the rest of this scene was good. The movie, "The Christmas
That Almost Wasn't But Then Was" was funny, especially when we learn it
was a DVD.
It was also great to see some nostalgia on The Simpsons - Ned and Homer
talking about Mr Plow was great: "I think I remember my own life,"
Homer said. Also, Uter's appearance surprised me because I thought he was
dead (remember "The PTA Disbands," and his parents in "Guess
Who's Coming To Criticize Dinner?")
There were more unrealistic things in this episode, for example, the
self-repairing permanent record. How unrealistic can you get?
Overall, this was a good episode with plenty of laughs, but it was
excessively unrealistic for my liking. I don't know, maybe a wizard did it.
Rating: 7/10
First, I'd like to say it's good to see Itchy & Scratchy again after so
long. They were part of the animation fair, and the rest of this was great.
Animotion was pretty funny, and all the things that stemmed from this. Good
things were Carl's remark, "So, does he still work here or not?"
Homer's brain singing "We're in the money!" and the automatic
share prices:
"What the hell is this crap?"
"Fox Broadcasting, down 8."
Next, Homer is in money trouble for the third time this Season (Homer Vs
Dignity, The Great Money Caper), and so Homer goes to a medical research
centre. In yet another twist to the story, Homer has a crayon in his brain.
When I first heard about this story, I thought it would be really funny, but
it wasn't as good as I expected. The explanation for the crayon not having
been noticed before was poor, but a lot of things in this part of the
episode were good, such as Homer accidentally proving there's no God, the
scene at the school, the auditorium being bulldozed into a mini mall, Lisa's
graphs, and Homer's "walk" (which was actually a drive).
Rating: 7/10
There was a lot of good stuff in this episode, but there was also a lot of
bad stuff. The episode starts well, with Marge crushing Homer's juice box
and thinking it was him. The rodeo was quite funny, especially the clowns.
One thing that annoyed me was Homer's ignorance: "Not now honey, Daddy's
busy," when dangling Lisa over the side of the arena. The appearance
from Sideshow Bob (in bandages - watch carefully) was funny, as was the
artist who painted a judge being stabbed.
A couple of things bothered me in this episode. Firstly, why was the school
in the same place as the prison? Marge looked out of the window twice to the
same place - first she saw the prison, and later she saw the school.
Secondly, what was the whole "not till you eat your sundae" thing?
This was a very weird joke in my opinion.
The sideline story of Homer and his miracle spine-o-cylinder (Patent
Pending!) was good, but the ending of this episode was not. Jack burning
Skinner's car was stupid, and his conversation with Chief Wiggum really was
unfunny. This ending ruined an otherwise fine episode.
Rating: 7½/10
[CABF08] Worst Episode Ever
Every minute of this episode is hilarious! A great episode about one of the
best characters in the show. We start with a classic kitchen scene, not
matched since the "missing dinner plates" scene from The Cartridge
Family (when they eat out of colanders and mugs, then Homer's gun
accidentally shoot's Marge's picture). The baking soda that came with the
house was good, as was Homer antacid trip. This, and Homer's recollection of
his first public banning reminded me of the classic Season 4 or 5 style,
which is always good.
Right after Comic Book Guy's heart attack, the episode gets funnier and
funnier. There were so many great moments in this episode; I couldn't
possibly list them all here. Great bits were: Comic Book Guy declaring his
cardiac episode "Worst Episode Ever" (hence the episode title);
the transformer toy that turns into a watering can; Bart in his coat and
hat; Homer trying to help him make friends; the whole scene at Moe's; the
kids tying to escape through the posters; Chief Wiggum and Lou; and the
radioactive monkey.
This episode made a refreshing change to the normal activities of The
Simpsons, as it was Bart & Milhouse involved in the zany scheme instead
of Homer, and Homer was helping someone.
Another thing that kept me laughing was that Comic Book Guy, as he is known,
was never referred to by his real name. Even Chief Wiggum said: "Comic
Book Guy, you are under arrest!"
Rating: 10/10! Excellent!
[CABF07] Tennis The Menace
Another good episode. It starts with yet another repeated gag - Homer in the
shower, and Bart making it hotter and colder (recycled from Bart Vs.
Australia). I think this was just added to fill up the 21 minutes.
The old people's home talent contest was funny, as was the quick jump from
the cemetery to the tennis court. The rest of this episode was average, but
there were some funny bits. The best by far was Kent Brockman being told
what to say, especially when he said, "I guess you could say I'm
Iraqi." Other good stuff included Wiggum and Lou wanting to play
tennis, Burns' chessboard, Homer's home testing kit, and Dr Hibbert's
outdoor operation.
However, Homer thinking that Bart was going to kill him and marry Marge was a
weird twist, and shows just how paranoid Homer can get (similar to Kill The
Alligator And Run, when he thinks that everyone is out to get him). Also,
the swapping partners thing was really unnecessary.
This episode was too average with only a few highlights. It was a big
disappointment after Worst Episode Ever.
Rating: 7/10
[CABF10] Day Of The Jackanapes
This was a good episode about one of my favorite characters, aside from Comic
Book Guy. The "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" spoof was,
especially the jabs at the show, eg Moe saying he was told to stall for
twenty minutes.
This was a nice lead into the main story. Although we've kind of seen this
story before (The Last Temptation Of Krust), this was still a good episode.
Off the top of my head, I can only remember a couple of things which were
funny: the executives saying things like, "I was just thinking
that" (funny in context); and when Maggie supposedly shot Mr. Burns
again. They weren't the only laughs.
However, there were quite a few things in this episode, which were a bit
strange. The lack of continuity was one. What happened to Cecil (from The
Brother From Another Series)? Some explanation would have been nice. The
second thing was the executives who came back to life near the end was
really strange and unrealistic. Thirdly, the ending to the episode was also
strange. Why was Bob given the death penalty? Are the writers trying to get
rid of him, or what? If so, why bother even writing a Sideshow Bob episode,
especially after so many years ("The Brother From Another Series"
was Season 8)?
However, this was still a very funny episode, with very little wrong.
Rating: 9/10
[CABF12] New Kids On The Blecch
I absolutely HATE boy bands, but this episode cracked me up! I think it was
mainly because of the boy band stereotypes, such as the voice enhancer, and
the pathetic fallacy of N Sync. Their clothes getting out of date suddenly,
and the enter & exit dance routine was so sad it was funny!
The beginning of the episode was good as well. The marathon and Homer looking
like Grampa when dehydrated was great! The performances from Party Posse
were really funny, especially Ralph's singing voice.
Other funny stuff included Lt. Smash and the Captain using the gun for
pushing buttons instead of shooting, and Smash letting Lisa leave by
accident.
However, I strongly disagree with the ending they used. N Sync talking to
"the viewers" was unacceptable, because it's a cartoon and not a
chat show! This ending ruined an otherwise good episode, and brought down
the episode's score by a point or two.
Rating: 6/10
[CABF09] Hungry, Hungry Homer
Another great episode this Season. It's good to see an episode revolving
entirely around Homer (it's a rarity these days).
The beginning was excellent. The Blockoland theme park was great, and
provided many opportunities for laughs. Especially good were: the slide, the
mirrors, the boat ride and Bart's Lego shirt... I mean, Blocko shirt. Homer
going back to get the missing Eiffel Tower piece was funny, as well as the
storyline of Homer helping people.
It was also great to see Duffman again in this episode. He had some great
lines: "Duffman is thrusting in the direction of the problem," and
"What would Jesus do?"
Homer getting drugged and not tasting the beer was good, as was Milhouse
calling his father "Weekend Dad," "Duck man," and the
mayor or Albuquerque.
Overall, this episode began really well, but lost it a bit towards the end.
Still, there were some good gags in there.
Rating: 9/10
[CABF11] Bye Bye Nerdie
The subject of bullies has been covered before on The Simpsons, but it was
not as funny as this. A great episode full of laughs, and with the funniest
opening scene for years! Homer not going into work was funny ("If I
come in late again, I'm fired - I can't take that chance."), as well as
the whole 'Speed' parody. Milhouse's comment was the best line I've heard in
ages: "It's like Speed 2, but with a bus instead of a boat!"
Then we meet the new girl, and find out she's a bully. The funniest bits of
this story were Nelson talking to Lisa, the scene with Willy, and the sign
on his door: 'KEEP OOT'. The 12th Annual Big Science Thing was funny too,
with nerd remarks such as "chemicals are our friend," and the
'science pole'.
The sideline story in this episode - Homer helping to prevent baby accidents
- was better in my opinion, and this should have been the focus of the
episode. It didn't seem to end properly either.
There wasn't really anything in the episode that I didn't like - overall it
was a good episode.
Rating: 9/10
[CABF13] Simpson Safari
This was a weird, but nonetheless funny, episode. Another funny opening to
begin with - the bag boys. Lenny's 'casual' get-together (Carl, dressed up
like a millionaire, remarks "Casual?!") and Lenny being scared of
the bag boy knocking his hat off were great. So was the animal crackers
scene, leading to the family getting the holiday in Africa after all.
Next comes the weird stuff: A spider spits on their suitcase and it shrinks
("bound to happen" - Homer); a rhino comes out of an egg; a
giraffe emerges from a hole in the ground; a cheetah climbs a tree; a hippo
is afraid of the water; and of course, the monkeys mining.
Still, this was all funny, and in the end, that's what counts. The warthog in
the car was definitely the best moment for me ("Mom! Bart implied I was
a warthog!" - Lisa).
The ending was again a bit strange, but funny nonetheless. Overall, I think
the episode was very funny, if a little unrealistic.
Rating: 8½/10
[CABF14] Trilogy of Error
An absolutely fantastic and original episode, for once involving the whole
family. Well, I say 'original' - for me this was very similar to "22
Short Films About Springfield," in that it was a series of interlocking
stories. I much prefer this episode though, because it keeps you guessing
until the very end!
I'll start at the beginning (that seems most logical) with 'Homer's Day.'
Most of this was pretty funny: Marge cutting Homer's thumb off, and Santa's
Little Helper running away with it. Then Homer gets drunk at Moes, and has
trouble hitch-hiking - with no thumb, how can he? Also, Dr Nick not
realizing that inflammable meant flammable was another good moment.
Next up is 'Lisa's Day.' Lisa puts some last touches to her science fair
project - Linguo, the grammar correction robot. It's pretty funny, too,
especially when Lisa corrects the robot: "Must conserve battery
power." After getting taken to the wrong school, Lisa ends up in Moes,
where Chief Wiggum has just lost an undercover spy. Anyway, Marge is there,
and gives her a lift. Suddenly Bart appears from a manhole cover in the
road...
'Bart's Day' was probably the funniest: his Itchy & Scratchy clock hits
him on the head, trying to get him up; we find out that 123 Fake Street is a
real address; and Linguo corrects the mob, but suffers from bad grammar
overload. And then the story is wrapped up nicely with Lisa stitching
Homer's thumb back on for her Science project. Phew!
This episode has so many funny moments, especially the repeated bits (Ned
Flanders' mailbox being destroyed three times for example).
Rating: 10/10!
[CABF15] I'm Goin' To Praiseland
Four words: Homer is a jerk. He just ruined what could have been an excellent
episode. It was as if the episode was all about him, and not Ned. The first
bit of Homer's 'jerkiness' was when Rachel and Ned met again, and he was
whispering things like "oh, she wants to go for coffee!" very
loudly to Ned. Then there was Homer hanging from Ned's window, watching him.
Next, Ned wanted to build a theme park, and it was taking up a lot of Homer's
time - he kept looking at his watch. Actually, this was quite funny, which
just goes to show how Homer being a jerk can be good if used at the right
time.
There were many good bits in this episode: Ned's obsession with Maude; Homer
and Bart's 'sorting' machine; and the appearance of Patches & Violet.
The ending, although ruined by Homer's jerkiness, was at least sane and not
completely off the wall like most endings these days.
Rating: 7/10
[CABF17] Simpsons Tall Tales
This was a pretty poor Season Finale. This is the third "special"
episode this Season (the other two being BABF21 and CABF14), and I
personally thought it was too much.
The episode starts with a lame excuse for a holiday. In fact it's a repeated
clip from Behind The Laughter. Even Homer said: "We'll make this the
last Season" in that episode, implying that it is a bad episode. They
can't get on the train, so they board one of the carriages, where they
encounter a singing hobo.
We start with Paul Bunyan (Homer) and his giant Ox. There were a few good
moments, but overall, this story was pretty poor. The same goes for the
second story about Connie Appleseed (Lisa).
The third story was better, but still average. The gun fight in the pub was
funny, as was Dr. Hibbert singing.
There were some funny moments, but overall I didn't like this episode because
it just wasn't funny enough.
Rating: 5/10
[CABF16] Children of a Lesser Clod
This episode has to be one of my favorites of Season 12. For once, Homer is
being nice to people... well, children anyway. The episode starts off well
with the sport evening thingy.
Then Homer breaks his leg and has to go to hospital. Everything here was
funny, especially the comment by Homer: "So I've got to just sit on my
ass and watch TV? That's not my style, man!" The bear appearing was a
great gag as well.
Next, we get into the story. This was funny as well. The best in this section
was probably the snack table for the television program. The ending was also
great - nice to see Arnie Pie returning, and he was funny, too.
The episode as a whole was great, there were so many funny moments!
Rating: 9/10
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