Hey all! This video is now over a month old, so I'm not responding to the comments as thoroughly now, but I know there have been a lot of comments from people who found the video rambly or unfocussed. I just wanted to say that while this video has done really well (thanks so much for that!) I'm not a big channel, and I'm still learning to find my own voice and communicate clearly and concisely. Just know that I'm aware of these criticisms and I'm planning on taking them onboard as I go forward with this channel! In fact, with my videos uploaded since this video I'm hoping that I've already shown some improvement with the scripting Thanks everybody for checking the video out and helping it be so successful!
I enjoyed the video and many of the cogent points you made, however I did have to skip ahead multiple times due to the unnecessary repetition. Your tone and writing are both great. The editing in general is really good too, I just feel you could cut it down to a tight 20 mins without losing anything. Now that I've given you feedback, I feel that it's only fair I go press the subscribe button.
Not sure if you do this with other content but a little bit of background music will carry the video. even if its not music usually used by main stream media
Homer is like a reverse Walter White, he gets an RV and alienates his wife but it's because he thinks he *isn't* going to die and *doesn't* need to provide for his family.
@@paulwoodford1984No sh†t dude, we know. But that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to stop listening to somebody's opinion if they personally think it's unsubstantiated or otherwise unreasonable.
Most people don't talk positively about The Simpsons because of how much the new seasons suck. And I saw it happen so I speak from first-hand experience. It was golden for nearly the whole 90s, then it got weird once the damn boy bands invaded, and now I wish The Simpsons would just end.
@@chrisrj9871They’ve been fucking with the food supply since the 1970s and that’s when the end result became obvious. Look at George Lucas when he first made *Star Wars.* Now look at him.
I don’t know which episode had it first but for me, it was when Homer went from a loveable oaf with a heart of gold to the much dreaded and hated “Jerkass Homer”
Yeah I think his Jerk Ass nature evolved over time, so it's quite subjective where the tipping point is! I'd say maybe the season 12 episode a tale of two springfields is the main episode that sticks out to me as where Homer sticks out as being a massive jerk
It was the one where he murdered Ned's wife and then was a gigantic ass to him the rest of the episode. Even as a kid I could tell the entire tone was off
I also hate Homer's behavior in this episode because Marge was trying to be responsible and he says " I work for that money while you sit around and do laundry and lounge around all day I'm at work busting my hump" when we all know he's an incompetent worker and also say he got the RV because he says " I need somewhere I can be king"
@@KraylebStudiosfor real. The way domestic labor is dismissed and devalued in American society is genuinely a serious problem, especially since there's still a cultural expectation that women take care of homemaking and child rearing, even in hetero couples where both partners work. Or in hetero couples where only the man works so the woman can do domestic labor full-time, but then the man insists on making financial decisions unilaterally because "he's the one that works for the money", ignoring the fact that he's able to do that because she's handling all the unpaid home duties. In its early years, the show was generally quite good about demonstrating how hard Marge works and how deeply necessary she is to the family. Take "Home Sweet Home, Natura-Dum-Doodily" for instance (I think I spelled that episode title right lol), where the beginning shows Marge as practically a superhero parent (that episode also gets bonus points for depicting how Marge reflexively blames herself when the kids get taken away, which I believe is quite true to the way women are socialized to generally feel more shame than men in US culture). So in contrast, an episode about Homer feeling entitled to the money Marge has saved up, which ultimately ends with an implication that Homer is in the right, is quite disappointing. It's been a very very long time since I've seen "Mobile Homer", but based on the synopsis of this video, I'm inclined to agree that it's a pretty awful message for the episode to send
@@thunder____No, anyone with a normal amount of morality and sense of responsibility would feel horrible guilt for having their children taken away. This isn't a woman-specific thing, although it's possible women would be more openly ashamed, since men tend to be less obvious with "soft" emotions, or they might convey it as rage or anger or violence, or just remain silent entirely. This isn't socialization, this is just gender dimorphism. There is no need to pretend men and women are exactly the same. We know men commit most murders, so why pretend there's no difference between us? "It's cultural." Please name a culture, across the entire world, across the entire _history_ of the world, where women committed more murders. I'll wait.
If you watch the Extra Seconds on Co Dependents Day, imo it's quite clear Jims definitely hates that episode more than Mobile Homer. He briefly mentions that he has a family history of alcoholism that really impacts his view of Homer framing Marge for DUI, thus making the episode a particularly painful watch for him.
Everyone complains that the principal and the Pauper ruins the continuity of The Simpsons but have you ever actually watched the barbershop quartet? How is it that four of these characters knew each other so extensively but if you go back it seems like Principal Skinner barely knows Homer at all yet somehow justifies his relationship with Bart.
@@kcreviews8161 I know of a post Season 8 Flashback that actually messed with the timeline way worse than "Homer pulling his hair after finding out Marge is pregnant". "That's 90s Show" was an episode that screwed with continuity because of how the show wouldn't stop after Season 8. The reason the episode sucks was that it was set in the late 90s, tampering with the fact the first 8 seasons were set in the late 80s and a majority of the 90s.
@@robbiewalker2831Even then the floating timeline has existed before that. Principal and the Pauper just messes with Skinner's backstory in a way that's much more serious than say Barbershop Quartet because at least in Barbershop Quartet it's just highly unlikely while in Pauper you're being told everything about your beloved Skinner is a lie.
@@PinClockFuntime yeah that's why. While events & backstories change, the characters tend to stay, well, in character, no matter the setting. The idea that Principal Skinner, the straight edge somewhat socially awkward principal, was *actually* a ruffian bike riding petty criminal that ended up deciding to pretend to be the real Seymour Skinner for decades the whole time was a real jumping the shark moment. Of course the hate for the episode I feel has gotten out of hand, especially in the age of social media, but you can't deny it is an incredibly bizarre premise.
OK that episode when Homer busted into Barts room with serial killer masks and said he should try the brownies because they were fresh and hot (he doesn't take one because they just laugh) and right when Homer closes Barts door he busts in with a ski mask and chainsaw. I don't laugh out loud often but THAT made me chuckles for quite a while
My biggest joke that I laugh at every time is also like... the stupidest joke ever. Burns and Homer are hunting for the Loch Ness monster with the help of Professor Frink's "Monsterometer" and Frink is freaking out because a giant monster is coming there way! And he's really hyping it up, and then he looks down and realises it's actually a tiny frog. And then he says the stupidest dumbest most hilarious line in Simpsons history: "Wait a minute! This isn't the monsterometer! It's the frog exagerator!"
this is treehouse of horror homer in a non-treehouse of horror episode. homer is often a jackass in those, but at LEAST it has the benefit of being non-canon and the writers be able to let loose with their stories.
Two good jokes from this episode, despite everything: "Spider poison is people poison?!" and the "I've been Everywhere, Man" parody song which was almost exclusively places near Springfield, and Homer still going "Wow, that's a lot of places."
Plus, I will admit that the point where he comes to and is mumbling incoherently, before stumbling about on the front lawn and flopping onto the bins, does qctually make me laugh.
I don't disagree with the points you made, but the structure of this video could be improved. You spend an unnecessary amount of time adding context that doesn't really strengthen your arguement, It feels like you're trying to show your knowledge of critcism more than actually making critiques. When you actually start talking about the episode you compare it to one episode and repeat yourself when you could have expanded on your arguement more. It feels like Xavier Renegade Angel's response to the "Do you believe in god?" guy.
Yeah I came here to watch an episode of the simpsons instead what i got was this guys annoying voice blabbering nonstop about how knowledgeable he is and how much more important his opinions are than other folks' opinions. its one of those monotone diatribes where you actually have to try super hard to listen to it because its just that bad. as soon as this youtube video finished i felt a huge amount of weight had been lifted off my shoulders because it was like i no longer had to try super hard to convince my brain that this monologue was well put together, made sense, had structure and wasn't just a mindless barrage of 'smarter-than-the-entire-universe' tone combined with a toilet seat - level rant in terms of applied intellect used successfully. this has to be one of the most narcissistic youtubers.
I don't have a problem with your comment but I don't really agree with you: this is his presentation style, it could have been improved by his visual presentation being modified or more rflective of what he was presenting and by mentally dividing his essay and giving it sections, subtitles or areas to work on rather than a huge monologue, but still, this is his style and it's what flows with him. If you really don't like it that's more of a 'you' problem and you can find quite a few ""review"" (using the word review very loosely) or recap channels summarizing and giving an overview of the plot or tge story of Simpsons episodes all over the place, and for the next guy, there are plenty of those AI read or script read by a monotone guy's videos on YT shorts and short RUclips videos all over the place, even on other platforms. I really don't see what's the big deal with this video.
@@ProfDanielVargas I don't think the commenter's criticism is based off a subjective dislike for the "monologue" style of presentation. His criticism isn't invalidated because of the fact that it's a monologue so it's "supposed to be that way". I agree with him, the times spent on each section of his argument were very uneven. He spends a LOT of time just talking about The Simpsons in general and not getting to the point about "Mobile Homer", and when he finally does, he does spend a lot of time discussing counterarguments rather than taking more time to discuss *his* argument. I personally love the "monologue" style and I think it should be more common in the modern RUclips landscape, but I agree with the commenter's opinion, especially because it's about the content and distribution of the argument rather than the style of video. The commenter's opinion would still be valid even if the person who made the video had fancy-looking graphics.
@@Syndiate__ I agree with your comment, and I can get behind it, I am not sure the original commentator had these ideas behind his original comment or wanted to express what your interpretation of it is. I myself read his comment as a shell of a critique in which, like a Russian doll, he was not fully explaining his critique on why this video critique wasn't fully explaining the author's points. To be honest, I just read his comment as a criticism on how "long and boring this video was," and I accept it, could also be totally wrong, as you might also be. There is always room for improvement and I agree on that respect with the first person, the distribution and structure of the information is not the best and it's not logically the best line of thought, especially when the title is so concrete (one would expect for the focus to be on that particular subject, the why's and the how's), but still it's a salvageable format and content. For sure, this person could perfectly play with his presentation style and format and even out his segments by organizing his ideas better or leaving out all the tangents off of it. This is certainly something that can be polished out and, over time, tends to be naturally done by a lot of people presenting or developing content. There's also the fact that there are presentation styles and literary ideas for creating chapters, characterized by the use of misdirection or the conscious effort of playing off of a topic as a jumping point to discuss a broader one by skipping from one idea to the other or going down a dialectic or semantic path mapping out the lay out of the central idea or ideas around a discussion (which if this was the case, could still be improved and made more clear that was the intention). Still, these could have been the intentions of the author, and these are very valuable examples of essays to learn about them and study them, for all the positives and negatives and to diversify as you say. I don't see anything particularly wrong with the video, other than the layout of the content/information. His takes are nice and specific, I could see myself agreeing with most of it, and as a piece of recreational media to consume in a spare time, I see it as something that does its job. I am not particularly fond of this content in specific, this video, and I just came across this channel and this video a few hours ago. I am fond of particular constructive criticism and formative exchanges. I am not fond of shallow, void criticism, though. I really don't appreciate mean-spirited commentary or pointless negative reviews. That's about it all. And lastly, when I was talking about the visual presentation, I didn't necessarily meant "graphics", but maybe improving background video with something that was more representative or reflective of what he was saying in a active way, as opposed to a passive literal way the clips are used, like he was doing with so many clips, maybe use the same Simpsons clips in a more creative way, because it can get tiring and boring just to listen to a critique with background Simpsons to it, like a Tom and Jerry chase with the same background on and on, or a Flintstones car scene with the same scenery going past in the background, it's mentally disengaging and tiring. There's really no need for fancy graphics or cinematographic video editing, and a simple title card and smart cuts suffices most of the time.
I also read a lot of personal sensibilities and subjectivitids permeated in their first two comments, maybe I'm wrong but I saw it as kind of not very objective.
@@furyleferret2288 Dude there is a difference big difference between setting up your point and just talking in circles. Most of the stuff that he is saying in the beginning is understood in the first 5 to 10 seconds, but he feels the need to repeat in and drag it out to 30 to 50 seconds. It is so frustrating to listen to. The floor of comedy example is especially annoying because its easily understood and needs little explanation, but he feels the need to drag it. It does give me a deeper understanding of what he is talking about.
@@furyleferret2288 are you joking right now? I don't watch tiktok you dunce. Look up what brevity means. It will blow your mind. I'm not going to listen to someone talking in circles for 10 minutes, constantly repeating himself before getting to the damn point of the video. Let me guess, you like modern simspons? I can usually tell just for the immediate stupid crap people say.
well the video title is correct. But right when you are admitting to padding the video fir time is when I want o play the Monty Python "get on with it" clip
Apparently this guy really likes the Star Wars prequels and thought the politics were interesting. No wonder why this video is so meandering and boring. He likes that kind of stuff.
I am clicking away from this video after 6 minutes of nothing. I looked for time stamps in the comments to when the guy gets to the point, but couldn't find any.
I'm clicking off at 18mins in. It's over 11mins before the episode is really addressed and it's with constant comparisons to another worst episode that aren't necessarily relevant to this one. It's frustrating to listen to. To its credit, the points in the video are articulated well but the content needs to be more succinct.
Man I thought it was just me. The first third of video felt like a Perd Hapley style verbal meandering. There’s definite effort and I give it props, but agreed, needs to really trim down the bloat and get to the meat, with the deeper nuance later on.
@guyjobs1518 my brother can I just share my opinion without an internet stranger hitching up his pants? Why does "Homer does not consider his family in this episode" need 15 minutes to explain?
the points made here are salient and well-considered but I feel like you state essentially the same things multiple times in a row? the runtime of the video could have been cut by at least a third and I feel like nothing important would be lost
Yeah I'm 12 minutes in and considering giving up. I've paused to scroll the comments to see if anyone else got frustrated with the fact that half the video doesn't even talk about the actual episode.
@@ADeadbirdsanimate He also should take constructive criticism to heart. I wish him no ill - unlike the Comic Book Guy I don't think he "owes me" for the "worst video essay ever." It's just the truth this video is unfocused.
Yeah it's a kind of self-aware moment. What makes it is that after he steps on two or three rakes, it cuts to an overhead shot which reveals dozens of rakes strategically scattered across the yard, and the show is like, "yep, we're really doing this, we're gonna make him step on every single one of them."
The other thing I hate about "Homer's Night Out" is the fact that it's a few episodes after "Life on the Fast Lane" (the episode where Marge almost cheated on Homer). It makes the episode look hypocritical.
@@kcreviews8161 I actually thought the Homer Moodswings thing is funny. It's better than the Turkish Captain not knowing of the kids until after Homer insulted him, and the Captain says he's keeping the kids and raise them "Coptic Christian".
I don't get why people say marge almost cheated on Homer in that episode. if memory serves she was just learning bowling and then immediately cut off contact with the guy when she realized his intentions. It's far different from the episode where Homer almost cheated on Marge, where Homer was trying his best not to cheat, but still almost did it.
@@polocatfanshe was driving to his apartment, drives down a road that makes her think about a lifetime with one partner and sees her husband instead. Do you get it?
Wow, this show might be just as bad as The Boys of Bummer which is currently my most hated episode (and the majority of people can agree). But Homer's total disregard of Marge AND his family in Mobile Homer is just next level jerkass Homer.
Boys of Bummer makes me hate the town of Springfield (and Homer) cause they drove a 10 year old boy to end his own life Mobile Homer just makes me hate Homer, our main character, i dont know what is worse, making me hate almost everybody, or making me hate the face of the show.
I never thought of this being as bad as "Boys of Bummer", but I'd still place that over this. If "Mobile Homer" ruined Homer for you, then "Bummer" will ruin just about everyone else.
The episode where Homer loses his license and then Marge tries to kill him is one of the worst episodes for a few reasons. Narratively, it takes so long to even get to a main plot that there really isn't one by the time the episode ends. The fact that Marge's homicidal rage could be taken care off by throwing her a fancy party also seems like a really desperate last second solution, which doesn't make sense in universe, comes out of nowhere, and seems to only have been used because it was the quickest way to wrap the story up. It also has one of my favourite moments of Flanderized Marge, where at therapy, she is mad, angry and sad that Homer didn't put her on his list of favourite people, immediately after she admitted she intentionally ran him over with her car, because she actively wants to cause him pain. And....yet she expected to be placed on that list right after and Homer is portrayed as the bad guy for not listing his homicidal wife as one of his most favourite people.
You can't praise Patrick "Space Wizards Movie Intended For Children" Willems in same breath as you mentioning reviews where you nitpick Star Wars. Guy has an ego bigger than his forehead.
I don’t know what makes a bad episode, but I know talking for ten mins without getting to the subject of your RUclips video, sure makes for a terrible watch.
As someone who watches a lot of the mainstream "adult" cartoons, once you summarized Mobile Homer I realized the problem: It sounds like a modern Family Guy episode I think that says enough
The worst episode people don't talk about is "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner," the one where the Simpsons go to a theme park and end up on Kang and Kodos's home planet. Every single joke is painful and making Kang and Kodos canonical is a million times worse than "The Principal and the Pauper."
Classic example of how The Simpsons doesn't have to be funny to produce a good (or great) episode: Moaning Lisa I hated that episode as a kid. I was like, "where's the laughs? Why is Lisa such a Debbie Downer?" But after becoming more familiar with depression (and the idea of toxic positivity) in my late teens/adulthood, I developed a belated appreciation for it. It's truly deserving of being one of the Golden Age GOATs.
@@kcreviews8161 It's very weird looking back at season 1 and thinking "wait, *this* was the outrageously provocative material that triggered moral panics across America? It's so mild-mannered and warm-hearted, even a bit too much on the schmaltzy side to be honest."
@@alexpotts6520 That comes out in the DVD commentaries for the early seasons. Even the show’s own creators were surprised by how relatively mild and wholesome their “controversial” show was compared to the heat they got, including even from the White House!
@@RandyHawkeye I guess this is a case of hindsight. Adult animation wasn't really a thing in mainstream media back in the day so to see a cartoon do anything out of the realm of saturday morning cartoon shenanigans was provocative
@@kcreviews8161 There's a Season 6 episode called "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", and it's a better "political view" on Barbie than the 2023 Barbie film. Whereas the 2023 film makes hypocritical stances on Barbie as a product rather than giving us a character study on Barbie as a character, "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" was based on an actual controversy revolving around a Talking Barbie Doll that was perpetuating negative stereotypes (like the inability to learn math and science), and the episode talks about the dangers of the product or how it can be improved under the right people. What's also interesting to note is that the creator of the Malibu Stacy doll within the show is voiced by the same woman who voiced Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
Considering that the worst Simpsons jokes are the ones that go for too long, I always considered that the worst Simpsons jokes are the ones that could be an average Family Guy joke.
@@kcreviews8161 I think Jean is saying the Garage scene where Homer hurts himself by accident constantly is one of the worst jokes if you actually cared about characterization.
Okay, Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes is the funniest shit I have ever seen and I will not tolerate slander about that joke. Edit: I'm 10 minutes in, holy shit my man, get to the point already.
Holy shit it takes this dude 2 minutes to get to the episode he's talking about and right before he even says it he goes "I should probably hurry up btw let me shamelessly plug in my channel and elongate the suspense because im worth it"
There's something called "synthesis" and unfortunately, your video lacks that. I understand you want to explain your point, but dragging it on and on isn't going to make a good video.
I unironically like all of those episodes you mentioned in the description, I feel like the worst episode nobody talks about is Boys of Bummer, it's just 22 minutes of the entire town of Springfield being nasty to Bart over a baseball game, that episode felt WAY too mean-spirited for a Simpsons episode and felt like it would've been way more at home as an episode of Family Guy or American Dad as that kind of mean-spirited humor works better on those shows(I could totally see Meg or Steve going through what Bart did).
When you say "it would've been way more at home as an episode of Family Guy", it reminds me of the episode where the Griffin family moves to Texas because Stewie pukes after accidentally chugging wine at church and all the townspeople are convinced that this means that he's possessed by Satan. So yeah, you have a point there!
There's one episode in the description I mentioned that I also like, and that's Kill the Alligator and Run. I just think it's a really funny episode with a lot of great lines, and I don't think Homer's that much of a jerk in it. Absolutely agree Boys of Bummer is a bad episode
That wouldn't be a bad idea tbh. Then I wouldn't have had to explain why i think a character being morally wrong makes the episode bad, which apparently some people didn't like
I agree. One of my brother and I's favourite Simpsons jokes. Obviously if you watch it 10 times it loses impact. But the first few times it's hilarious because it just keeps going on and on.
For me it's the one with Moe's dishrag cause at that point why would I care to follow a dishrag's lineage. Truly they could've just turned the episode on as a throwback like they normally do but they just needed to tie in this thing you'll never see sentient again. I mean he's there cause Moe uses it but it's an unnecessary character overall and I knew it as I was watching it
Looking at the episode every single plot beat could be written better with the same skeleton of the episode, for example: - Marge, being her over protective self starts saving money AND stopping homer from taking any risks so he won't die - Homer sees this overprotectiveness as taking away his freedom and that he can't enjoy his life - Somebody takes advantage of Homers impulsivity and stupidity to upsell him on an RV because "it'll make your worries go away" and that's what Homer wants for Marge - Homer proves himself not as accident prone as he seems, and apologies to Marge Boom, some dialogue and some scenes switched out, job done
I liked it. Interesting take. Since you asked for criticism, here it is: I skipped to where you actually started talking about the episode. The text crit stuff isn't wrong, but I got bored quick; I wanted to hear your arguement, not why your arguement is valid. Perhaps you could intercalate those sentiments in your arguement itself? It's good stuff for people to know, but once you know you don't need to hear it again. I only say it because it distracts from an otherwise interesting thesis. The second half of the video is engaging and carries it's own weight. I liked how the repeated frames would slowly progress; it kept otherwise repeatative material visually engaging. Uh... your arguement was good, I donno. Keep making these, I love these video essays.
my nomination of the worst episode is the "lumberjack" epside, the episode where it starts off pretty good with Marge trying to not be boring and somehow turns into Marge becoming a competetive lumberjacker which is so contrived and stupid that the episode make me very upset. Part of my love of the Simpsons died that day I watched that terrible episode.
@@jn1mrgn other bad ones of course are the Lady Gaga one, and the "Marge Y2K class reunion musical" episode which either one and this one shown here really could be the worst three episodes of all time, it's just the Lumberjack episode made me seriously rethink if the Simpsons was worth watching anymore.
I don't like homer's actions in codependents day, but i can't hate the episode over all. There's way too many funny moments in it for me. The joke with Homer singing on the phone kills me everytime.
Also the line of the episode too, "I'm drunk I shouldn't drive... Wait I shouldn't listen to me, I'm drunk" I probably butchered that but the idea is the same
And even Barts line “but the bread’s still dancing” cracks me up everytime. And Comic Book Guys response to the Gathering Shadow will not be funny for me
In order to talk about the worst episode we must first define what constitutes a bad episode. Websters dictionary defines bad as an undesireable quality that...
My favorite part of classic Simpson character dynamics was Lisa and Bart where if Bart comes up with a fun activity, Lisa will join in and have fun. Similarly to how both love watching the same TV together
Arguably, you can't use Homer's mortality as a possible consequence of him spending the money, as he himself obviously believes he can't die. But that's a pretty big nitpick.
S18E3 "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em" Never hear anyone talk about this one either. Homer literally just goes along with Marge's desire to be a carpenter and her plan. Then when that works the way it was intended, Marge gets pissed at Homer? Like the episode was initially based around the societal problem that women are not taken seriously as carpenters. Homer does what he can to help, a plan Marge was all for, and then the show pivots entirely and places all the blame on Homer. Homer is made to apologize and win back Marge when shes the one taking out a social frustration on her husband for no good reason. And the show never acknowledges this or attempts to subvert it. The message was apparently that Homer should have known better then to do what Marge wanted and he deserves shame for that. It's just such a lazy and unthoughtful way to tackle an idea like gender inequality in the trades. It just boils the issue down to Jerk-ass homer, without ever even establishing that he is being a jerk, and never actually tries to investigate, explore, address, do literally anything with, the very real topic they decided to write about.
I feel like you went with an essay on writing in general with regards to The Simpsons, rather than focusing on the episode you actually have a disdain for and discussing/reviewing as to why you found it worse than anything that hasn't been discussed.
Instead of announcing the worst episode and claiming you weren't, you waffled for 5 sentences like an AI or recipe writer padding the run time. It made me inordinately angry.
What the episode needed was a revision; either show more explicitly that the family as a whole is being too miserable with the savings to justify the spitefulness of Homer or plain and simple, tone down jerkass Homer's...jerkassery. Maybe have him being forced to get another job or extra shifts at the power plant so there's more money for the family. Or even a third option, have Marge getting a job to support the family and that disrupts the family dynamic so much it creates the conflict Marge's POV is definitely the sympathetic one here but the episode seems to want the viewer to side with Homer.
I feel like we all have are own little episode that prooved to us that "the Simpsons are dead". I consider the golden age to be the first 10 seasons, but I still continued watching the show after. It was only when I saw "Million Dollar Abie" (the sixteenth episode of the seventeeth season) when I officially declared that I'm done with the show. It featured an awful act 1, where grandpa does something to make everyone hate him, so he tries to get assistance in suicide, as an old person.... This feels beyond dark, and doesnt go anywhere cause the procedure doesn't work. Then the city announces that they will start having bullfighting in Springfield , and Grandpa as someone with no will to live volunteers to become a bullfighter... And now everyone loves him. Lisa is sad that Grandpa killed a bull. Que the next scene, Grandpa releases all of the bulls. The End. A stupid plot with some dark tones which serve hardly any purpose, and the story ends in a way that makes everything feel so pointless. I never would expect anyone else to feel the same way about the episode as I do, but it was what changed the way that I look at the show from that point on.
The real clue that season 16 is when I gave up on the simpsons is that this is just one season after and I don't think I've ever seen it! But it sounds pretty awful. I think I've seen pictures of grandpa in a matador outfit, but I've never seen the episode
@@kcreviews8161 I saw someone yake a look through all the episodes of all season (up till that point) and was surprised how many I recognized after that matador one, so maybe I was still catching glimpses of them here and there, and only 2 seasons later did it completely stop for me. I guess as much as I love to proclaim it as "the end" for me, it still took me a bit to completely let go and not watch a second of the episodes to follow....
Definitely. I remember I saw it in 2012 with my family and we all were negatively confused at the end. Reeks like a promo for Lady Gaga and that's it. No message, no nothing. It even messes Lisa's character, which is unforgivable.
@@Snarl616 What's even worse is how Lisa basicly ragged on Homer for not supporting her music, when he was the one who gave her the sax in the first place.
You have to work on your scripts. You repeat yourself often and re-explain concepts multiple times. For example, you spend 5 minutes explaining what a "funny episode" even means. You aren't clarifying yourself, you're just being redundant.
Sorry I had to stop watching this video when you said sideshow bob stepping on rakes for far too long isn't funny. That's one of their best jokes they've ever done and now your opinion on anything else cannot be trusted.
Good analysis, well laid out argument. However, this episode does feature a joke that for some reason never leaves my head and always makes me laugh. "Bart, that's a bread compartment." "You're a bread compartment!" Classic.
My favorite episode is an early one when Bart's class goes on a field trip. They drive past a carnival, a pet store and a firework store. They end up at a Box factory. I find it funny because in 6th grade my class went on a field trip to a Clay Factory. A factory where they made Clay pipes for plumbing. Another field trip my class went on in the 4th grade was Mr, O'Niel's farm where we went into his barn and watched him milk a cow. After getting back to school I caught the bus home, to my family farm.
Oh, I can relate. When I was in 5th grade I went to a birthday party for a friend. The grown ups talked and talked about how awesome the place will be we would visit later in the afternoon. Like it would be the best trip of all time. We were hyped up and thought about something as a theme park but even cooler. We went to the wood museum. To this day I wonder if they were intentionally messing with us. But this would be extremely messed up, because the birthday girl also had no idea what the trip would be.
I don’t have the confidence to call my least favorite episode the worst episode because I haven’t seen the ending in years so I don’t remember exactly what happens but I would rather chew glass than watch that one episode about grandpa’s kidneys again. I had similar feelings of just wanting to sink into my seat because Homer’s characterization in that episode was so unfunny and cruel it became truly cringeworthy to watch. It was also heartbreaking for me because I had recently seen the episode Homer’s triple bypass for the first time, so I was still in the headspace of organ failure/ surgery being super serious and high emotional stakes. I definitely respect your take on this one though because it seems like we agree on a lot of the same fundamental issues in the show and I really hate when Marge gets treated this way by the writers.
Whilst that episode has elements of Evil Homer, there are a couple of things that I'd say stop it from going into that territory (If I recall correctly, it's been a while since I've seen it). First would be how he isn't do the operation not out of selfishness but out of a legitimate terror of doing the surgery. The second key thing would be the thing that differentiates old Homer from new Homer, in that he genuinely seems to feel awful about it. He knows he should do it, he feels bad for not being able to do it, but is struggling to bring himself to actually do it.
There’s an eastern egg in one of the flashback episodes about which I never heard anyone talk of. When Homer first meets Marge, the walls in the room, which used to be gray, turn pink. Homer is still with Marge to this day and his house, his car and most of the world are pink and purple. That refers to the fact that Marge’s existence turns homers world into a fairy tale.
I feel like, if the writers only changed Homer's motive behind buying the RV in the first place, this episode would have been much better. So, hear me out, instead of Homer buying the RV purely out of spite and defiance, have his motives play out this way (or at least one of these ways): -First off, have Homer wanting the RV to be foreshadowed from the get-go, rather than it just being purely an impulse buy. This way, the audience will, a) want to empathize with Homer more once Marge starts cutting costs, while still understanding that Marge's side of the argument; and b) better understand why Bart and Lisa say it's the RV that's tearing the family apart and not Homer's actions in the first place, because Homer can't be happy with what he always wanted and now has because Marge is now unhappy that Homer owns it in the first place; -Secondly, make Homer more empathetic: have him understand why Marge is trying to save money in the first place, but also see that her efforts are not just making the rest of the family miserable, but also herself. Over the course of the episode, have Homer watch Marge as she slowly degenerates into a nervous wreck, as she becomes so obsessed with saving money for the family's future that she completely forgets how to enjoy life now, with that being the final deciding factor for Homer to buy the RV in the first place, in an ill-thought attempt to remind Marge to enjoy life as it is now, while still fulfilling his own selfish desires. This way, the "lesson" that Marge learns at the end of the episode actually has a purpose: to show that Marge now understands that fretting about enjoying life in the future shouldn't get in the way of enjoying life as it is now; -Lastly, have Homer at least try to compromise with Marge by showing that he is at least willing to lower the family's budget if it means that they will be able to live a good life in the future, just not nearly to the extent that Marge went earlier in the episode. This way, it shows that Homer is at least aware that Marge was only looking after the family, and at least willing to try to make an effort to ensure that his family has a bright outlook in the future. I'm not sure how well that these changes would improve the episode, but that's just my two cents on the matter.
The one thing I remember from the episode was the part where homer was loudly complaining about the nest egg money in front of the money, and boy did that remind me of certain ways my mom acted
The reason you don't hear people talk about it as the worst of all time is... because it isn't the worst of all time. It's just a mediocre one. The 'worst' episode in a series like The Simpsons is the one which highlights a nadir of the decline (The Principle & the Pauper) or if it's so painfully bad for obvious, in your face reasons (Lisa Goes Gaga.) 'Mobile Homer' is neither; it's just a mediocre, post-Golden Age episode that is of no particular note whatsoever. As an aside, your group of friends not laughing at the rake joke unfortunately is a very strong indicator that your opinion on this is an outlier.
for me the indication on if you're in for a good episode is if Maude Flanders is still alive. It's not that she's a great character, but the episode where she's killed off is particularly bad (just compare it to Hurricane Neddy and you'll quickly see how flat the episode falls). You're right that the drop-off in quality wasn't instantaneous, but this episode did to Ned Flanders what The Principal and the Pauper did to Principal Skinner.
That's a good point. Always feel slightly elated when Maude makes an appearance. I do like the ending to the episode where Maude dies though with the Christian rock band. It's a catchy song and, as Carl says, "She's good looking, shut up"
@@kcreviews8161 He also makes a valid point in comparing "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" to "The Principal and the Pauper", or what I'd would've called it "A Tale of Two Skinners". In fact, RowdyCMoore did a "TV Trash" review on "The Principal and the Pauper", talking about the major continuity snarl it gave itself, why the episode is the worst "Liar Revealed" story ever, how the plot of the story was rushed in the 3rd act, and how the jokes wouldn't be enough to salvage a doomed narrative. There's also the fact that Harry Shearer, the voice of Seymour Skinner himself, says how taking a character that people were taking interest in for 8-9 years, and then throw it in the trash like nothing, is very disrespectful to the audience..
Honestly, Sideshow Bob's rake gangbang is one of the funniest Simpsons bits ever. It goes on until it stops being funny, then continues until the absurd length itself is funny. It's like the Spam sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. My least favorite episode is Heartbreak Hotel, a slow, painful episode that wallows in discomfort with Marge ditching Homer for a hot guy. I didn't laugh once and felt like I was watching a murder on LiveLeak.
this was a suggestion I saw someone else make, but a better route for "co-dependents' day" might've been marge having actually been the one drunk driving and homer swapping into the driver's seat (framing himself for the DUI) bc he's afraid marge will stop drinking w/ him if she realized what she did. it's rlly bad homer would enable her to keep drinking like that but also kinda sweet he would take the fall for her crime so he can keep spending time w/ her. I can imagine marge would be conflicted abt it if she found out the truth, and the resolution wouldn't be as forced. bc yeah that'd technically be a bad thing for homer to do, but it'd be easier to forgive than him framing her for smth she didn't do
In "My Sister, My Sitter", Bart tortures Lisa partly for the sheer hell of it, because he's a terrible brother and has more than a few issues with his behaviour. He's also insulted and humiliated that his younger sister has been put in charge of him. In his mind, she's subordinate. So there's plenty of reason for him to be a complete relentless dick to her. Eventually he goes too far, because he's a kid and isn't great at thinking ahead or being responsible. That's a problem Bart exhibits in almost every episode. So his behaviour is completely in character. He's a nasty, spiteful dick to Lisa in line with his feelings and motivations. He does terrible stuff to her all the time, for no reason at all. You can't have a problem with Bart being horrible to her, especially in that context. It's exactly what he'd do. In line with every other time we've seen him.
This exactly. We've seen Bart literally mock Principal Skinner's PTSD. Why are we expected to view his jerkass treatment of Lisa as any different? Besides, it's natural for older siblings to dislike their younger siblings and enjoy getting a rise out of them, especially at Bart's age.
I don’t want to dog pile on with a bad comment because you’ve clearly put a lot of cogent thoughts into this video. Just for next time, please cut the script down. I’m 10:30 minutes in and I still don’t know why you picked this episode.
The golden age is typically said to end with Season 9. On my last watch, I stopped at Season 15 after I realised I hadn't laughed for about 7 episodes.
6 месяцев назад+2
Not the point but the Star Wars prequels politics are a bunch of nonsense and the movies do suffer from it. The criticism the Simpsons made with "Cosmic Wars" was beating a dead horse at worst because literally everyone who had at least a bit of critical thinking when those movies came out already could tell that those movies are extremely mediocre and made the same joke already. So please, lets stop with this "the prequels are good actually" bit of revisionist analysis.
I agree with everything except the last part about Star Wars. It's not a criticism of the Prequel Trilogy. It's a criticism of the Phantom Menace. The OG films start off with the obviously Fascist empire pursuing obviously decent people, killing them, overturning the last vestiges of democracy, and then when our protagonists are just on a simple mission to help someone sympathetic, commits an act of mass murder and genocide out of spite. Great groundwork for the series. You know the bad guys are bad, and you know why people are fighting. You have to question nothing. The Phantom Menace starts by talking about Trade Franchises for a planet we've never heard of, and how because a Trade Franchise has been revoked, the Trade Federation has blockaded a planet. Which is all stuff we don't know or care about. Our first indication of what things are right and wrong is that we support the Jedi from the OT, and they don't like it, and then the Federation occupy a planet-but it's not shown as mass murder. Then our protagonists spend over half the movie trying to get to Coruscant, a planet we haven't heard of, to beg the Galactic Government to organise a military response to this. The government says "we want to defer this action and form a commitee to investigate these claims" and our ridiculous protagonists say "we will not defer"(direct quote) and insist on the government (that we don't know or care about) providing a military response. Then making a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor's leadership (we don't know him or care about him, this is pointless politics to establish Palpatine). Then after this, the protagonist get nothing, so 80% of the movie was dedicated to politics and podracing that were pointless to the story. Our protagonists simply return and it turns out like 20 people could stop the droids anyway. A literal child (fair play, a magical child) is able, with like 10 other people, to do a knockoff of the end of the original film which magically stops the occupying droid forces (they have to remove this weakness after because it's so silly) while like 6 other people capture the neimodians and our jedi finally fight the Sith Lord. It is too much politics. I was a kid watching these: I enjoyed it well enough because it was pretty, cool fx. But I had no clue about the plot. These are movies about space wizards for children, and half of this film is dedicated to neoliberal politics, realpolitik, and that does hurt it. Sure, as the films go on, they are all spectacle: but that's what people remember fondly. The mustafar fight is garbage, but it is pretty. The grievous fight on Utapau created a bunch of memorable memes. Nobody remembers the romance in the middle of TCW fondly. Nobody remembers the drama between Anakin and the Council and Palpatine fondly, though they did meme them, because Palpatine is obviously evil and the Jedi are obviously stupid. People remember Greivous, "so uncivilized", Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, some memes about Podracing and sand, and the battles. We at least understood the underlying plot of the OT: empire bad. autocratic, and genocidal. willing to destroy whole planets to kill a few rebels. And we understand the politics of them pursuing the rebels: rebels represent threat to their rule, and the political stuff is good, like how Vader is killing off subordinates as they fail him, and they are establishing the emperor as the architect of the dark side. The rebels have an obvious motive: they are not trying to oppose a blockade by a trade organisation over a trade franchise, but actually this is all our protagonists being misdirected by the machinations of the dark side. They are trying to blow up planet-destroying superweapons the empire is using to kill millions of people to preserve their dictatorship. It was a key part of criticism of the prequels, especially the first one, at the time.
A good example of the idea you discuss where a character acts evil / selfish but then is sort of karmically punished by the narrative is the early seasons of Archer. Archer is very sleazy and selfish but most episodes end with everything blowing up in his face so it makes his jerkassery even more funny as opposed to him just getting away with everything.
Nobody talks about Mobile Homer because it's not just bad, it's forgettable. Outside of the spoof of Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere" being sung by one of the other RVers that camped out in The Simpsons' backyard, there's nothing remotely worth recalling about it. However, I do have to agree that the episode did feature #JerkassHomer at his peak.
This is kind of a bad video? About half the video is you rambling on about comparisons to other episodes. If you want to state your opinion on something, then just state your opinion on something. As for your motivations for disliking the episode... they are really weird? Homer has done all kinds of selfish things throughout episodes . I also completely disagree with your view on "misogyny", that doesn't make an appearance in the Simpsons at all. In fact, Homer is made out to be foolish, not righteous for what he does. Meaning the aspect where he undermines Marge itself is a satire of a male character trait. How can you not see that? It's a cartoon for crying out loud, lol. The only thing I'd argue is that throughout the various times Homer does something negative towards his family, this seems to be one of the most sudden, thoughtless and extreme cases. You could argue that it's almost more of a sudden random Family Guy moment and that this causes some disconnect with the usual family position of Homer. Or does it? Because then again, strangling your child in front of your partner isn't exactly a family friendly image, is it? Homer is a character that can display a range of characteristics and his somewhat chaotic nature means that in one episode he can be incredibly kind and understanding that we can relate to him or feel bad to him, while in another he can make a complete fool of himself and we can laugh at him and then in episodes such as these he does something completely random seemingly to spite someone or negatively affect someone, only caring about himself. Also no way dude, the rake scene is incredibly funny. I guess that leaves just the title of your video that I can agree with because you're probably right: I don't think anybody really has a major problem with this specific Simpsons episode.
one thing that i feel needs addressing is that humor is subjective, like the mood swings joke always makes me laugh. i definitely don't dislike mobile homer, i agree its not great, but personally i think episodes like lisa goes gaga and co-dependence day are a lot worse
I admit, I actually kinda liked Mobile Homer. It’s got so many problems, but it also has a bunch of funny lines I remember and quote often. “The fishing hat means leave me alone!” “I cleaned the garage and lost 50 pounds.” “You mean when the big tuna goes belly-up?” “Woohoo, free gas!” “Dino, short for dinosaur? Remember to Ask Jeeves.” Looking back, that may be because I had the season 16 DVD when I was 10 years old and remember a lot of these episodes fondly so this is just my nostalgia talking lol
this is genuinely one of the most refreshing, intelligent, and thorough youtube videos i have seen in a long, LONG time. to be honest, i put off watching it for a while since i was so ready for it to be your typical unscripted 30 minutes of what basically amounts to "[x] thing is the best/worst ever because i personally feel that way". thank god it turned out to be the complete opposite. that said, i will parrot some other people's criticisms and say that the intro was definitely a bit too long - but i definitely personally think it was completely fine after that. i absolutely LOVE how thoroughly you described all your conditions for what makes an episode bad and why they're valid points. it made your (very admirable!) confidence feel completely warranted. i think more critical stuff like that is what the modern internet needs. it's certainly what *I* need more of, anyway! i'm sick of strawmen and people not realizing double standards in and the logical conclusions of their own arguments!
The fact that people aren't aligned at which point the show got bad is pretty much proof that there is a good era, a decline era, and a bad era. - The good era is generally considered good by everyone who enjoys/enjoyed the show. - The decline era is where it gets progressively worse. - The bad era is where the show is generally considered bad. And yes, it's a whole era of slow decline. More and more episodes are getting more and more bad, but there are still good moments and episodes. Just that those are becoming less as time goes on. A clear sign that a show goes on for long, that it overstays it's welcome. At some point you have told the jokes, made the references, developed the characters. And at that point you're done. Better to end on a high point that to slowly fizzle out.
I feel like anything just about after season 13 can be considered "the most hated" you should title it, "the most hated episode when the show was still good"
And I feel like at the time of this episode, Homer's character is still in line with the Tracy Ullman sketches. Still the worst episode of the season though, but I would say that episode where homer drives that man to suicide was worse
What if Homer just isn’t worried about death because of the million near death experiences he’s survived over the show. To be fair if anyone with Homer’s intelligence in real life had cheated death that much, they’d probably have an immortality complex.
Idk if clipshows count, but those are still the worst, and the worst one is probably 'Gump Roast', despite giving us the masterfully cynical 'They'll Never Stop The Simpsons'
A lot of people complaining about the video length, so I wanna say that I appreciate detailed videos like this. This is a good video, and it gave me a lot to think about. I didn't even remember Mobile Homer, but I totally see why it's your least favorite. Some people just don't have patience for thoughtful discussions anymore.
This episode is definitely bad, but I think characters being beloved doesn't mean they can't be immoral or unethical. A good episode would have them do something bad for reasons within their character. Homer is an emotionally driven idiot who loves his family but will make bad impulse decisions. Spending the nest egg out of spite for Marge restricting his freedom so she can create it is, unfortunately, in his character. But as you explained, the entire point of Homer's bad decisions is to create consequences and explore the ensuing "car crash" in a safe medium. Homer being "right" shouldn't be the outcome here. There are episodes where Marge is in the wrong with the moral "don't let safety nets impede your happiness", but "spend freely, it's okay to have no money left for your loved ones" is horrible.
My metric for what constitutes a “bad episode” is simply how much it makes me cringe. And no episode of The Simpsons has ever made me cringe more than that god-awful Lady Gaga one.
Hey all! This video is now over a month old, so I'm not responding to the comments as thoroughly now, but I know there have been a lot of comments from people who found the video rambly or unfocussed. I just wanted to say that while this video has done really well (thanks so much for that!) I'm not a big channel, and I'm still learning to find my own voice and communicate clearly and concisely. Just know that I'm aware of these criticisms and I'm planning on taking them onboard as I go forward with this channel! In fact, with my videos uploaded since this video I'm hoping that I've already shown some improvement with the scripting
Thanks everybody for checking the video out and helping it be so successful!
I enjoyed the video and many of the cogent points you made, however I did have to skip ahead multiple times due to the unnecessary repetition. Your tone and writing are both great. The editing in general is really good too, I just feel you could cut it down to a tight 20 mins without losing anything. Now that I've given you feedback, I feel that it's only fair I go press the subscribe button.
@@brendancskinner Thanks! Let me know if you see any improvement in the writing of my future videos if you have the time to watch them!
Not sure if you do this with other content but a little bit of background music will carry the video. even if its not music usually used by main stream media
@@tallyikroe2476 no. please. Already enough generic essay channels. The absence of music is actually a breath of resh air
If you display text onscreen to indicate the outline I think it helps these troglodytes 🤓
Homer is like a reverse Walter White, he gets an RV and alienates his wife but it's because he thinks he *isn't* going to die and *doesn't* need to provide for his family.
Holy shit lmao
holmer whiteson
Idk if it's you, but I love your comics
@@Maxipadtriplesix It's not haha, I love them too though
Shouldn't he *not* alienate his wife?
This guy lost me at "Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes isn't funny"
I knew that would be my downfall
Well it WAS funny the first time it happened... just not in that extended scene.
It’s just his opinion. it means nothing. Just because he thinks it is, doesn’t mean it is.
@@paulwoodford1984No sh†t dude, we know. But that doesn't mean people aren't allowed to stop listening to somebody's opinion if they personally think it's unsubstantiated or otherwise unreasonable.
Some people are dumb. they can’t all be as smart as me @@HOTD108_
Lisa Goes Gaga has nothing on Homer Goes Gaga
For me it was when Lady Gaga went Gaga
the elon musk one is worse
GAG is right.
@@fuckakakaka They're both pretty bad. But at least The Simpsons are in that episode. Lisa Goes Gaga is all about Lady Gaga
@@fuckakakakaThey made an Elon episode now ? I cannot emphasize this enough, but Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....!
Most people don't talk about this episode, solely because of how it sucks.
It's just so bad, I keep forgetting that it exists.
Most people don't talk positively about The Simpsons because of how much the new seasons suck. And I saw it happen so I speak from first-hand experience. It was golden for nearly the whole 90s, then it got weird once the damn boy bands invaded, and now I wish The Simpsons would just end.
@@chrisrj9871They’ve been fucking with the food supply since the 1970s and that’s when the end result became obvious. Look at George Lucas when he first made *Star Wars.* Now look at him.
@@Attmay He's a billionaire?
@@Attmay jesse what the hell are you talking about
I don’t know which episode had it first but for me, it was when Homer went from a loveable oaf with a heart of gold to the much dreaded and hated “Jerkass Homer”
Yeah I think his Jerk Ass nature evolved over time, so it's quite subjective where the tipping point is! I'd say maybe the season 12 episode a tale of two springfields is the main episode that sticks out to me as where Homer sticks out as being a massive jerk
He was quite a jerk in the early episodes and in the original shorts too.
At least hes still more likable than Peter Griffin
Jerkass Homer is dead.
It was the one where he murdered Ned's wife and then was a gigantic ass to him the rest of the episode. Even as a kid I could tell the entire tone was off
"Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes repeatedly isn't funny."
Worst. Review. Ever.
agree it ws hillarious then and still is
I think they should have ended the show the moment Marge began sounding like Patty and Selma. Poor Julie Kavner (and her money) deserve a break.
The movie was almost the perfect way to end the series but those stupid fat cats doomed everything
They should have ended the show the moment Marge became as bitter as Patty and Selma.
Meh. I still like it.
I also hate Homer's behavior in this episode because Marge was trying to be responsible and he says " I work for that money while you sit around and do laundry and lounge around all day I'm at work busting my hump" when we all know he's an incompetent worker and also say he got the RV because he says " I need somewhere I can be king"
As if Marge doesn't break her back at home
@@KraylebStudiosfor real. The way domestic labor is dismissed and devalued in American society is genuinely a serious problem, especially since there's still a cultural expectation that women take care of homemaking and child rearing, even in hetero couples where both partners work. Or in hetero couples where only the man works so the woman can do domestic labor full-time, but then the man insists on making financial decisions unilaterally because "he's the one that works for the money", ignoring the fact that he's able to do that because she's handling all the unpaid home duties.
In its early years, the show was generally quite good about demonstrating how hard Marge works and how deeply necessary she is to the family. Take "Home Sweet Home, Natura-Dum-Doodily" for instance (I think I spelled that episode title right lol), where the beginning shows Marge as practically a superhero parent (that episode also gets bonus points for depicting how Marge reflexively blames herself when the kids get taken away, which I believe is quite true to the way women are socialized to generally feel more shame than men in US culture).
So in contrast, an episode about Homer feeling entitled to the money Marge has saved up, which ultimately ends with an implication that Homer is in the right, is quite disappointing. It's been a very very long time since I've seen "Mobile Homer", but based on the synopsis of this video, I'm inclined to agree that it's a pretty awful message for the episode to send
@@thunder____No, anyone with a normal amount of morality and sense of responsibility would feel horrible guilt for having their children taken away. This isn't a woman-specific thing, although it's possible women would be more openly ashamed, since men tend to be less obvious with "soft" emotions, or they might convey it as rage or anger or violence, or just remain silent entirely.
This isn't socialization, this is just gender dimorphism.
There is no need to pretend men and women are exactly the same. We know men commit most murders, so why pretend there's no difference between us?
"It's cultural."
Please name a culture, across the entire world, across the entire _history_ of the world, where women committed more murders.
I'll wait.
Because comedy cartoon family should reflect real life at all times, right? Jesus
Yeah. Homer is an ass, but not that much of an ass.
Now you've got me wanting TheRealJims to do a Simpsons Showdown between "Co-Dependent's Day" and "Mobile Homer" to see which one he hates more...
Yeah as long as he gives this video a shoutout!
@@kcreviews8161 Boys of Bummer is WAY worse then both of them, that episode is disgustingly mean-spirited and painfully unfunny at the same time.
Cartridge Family is pretty bad, too
@@pkthunder416 I thought that was a really smart episode that does not really come down on either side of the gun debate
If you watch the Extra Seconds on Co Dependents Day, imo it's quite clear Jims definitely hates that episode more than Mobile Homer. He briefly mentions that he has a family history of alcoholism that really impacts his view of Homer framing Marge for DUI, thus making the episode a particularly painful watch for him.
Everyone complains that the principal and the Pauper ruins the continuity of The Simpsons but have you ever actually watched the barbershop quartet? How is it that four of these characters knew each other so extensively but if you go back it seems like Principal Skinner barely knows Homer at all yet somehow justifies his relationship with Bart.
Yeah that's a good point. All the flashback episodes mess with continuity
@@kcreviews8161 I know of a post Season 8 Flashback that actually messed with the timeline way worse than "Homer pulling his hair after finding out Marge is pregnant". "That's 90s Show" was an episode that screwed with continuity because of how the show wouldn't stop after Season 8. The reason the episode sucks was that it was set in the late 90s, tampering with the fact the first 8 seasons were set in the late 80s and a majority of the 90s.
@@robbiewalker2831Even then the floating timeline has existed before that. Principal and the Pauper just messes with Skinner's backstory in a way that's much more serious than say Barbershop Quartet because at least in Barbershop Quartet it's just highly unlikely while in Pauper you're being told everything about your beloved Skinner is a lie.
@@PinClockFuntime yeah that's why. While events & backstories change, the characters tend to stay, well, in character, no matter the setting. The idea that Principal Skinner, the straight edge somewhat socially awkward principal, was *actually* a ruffian bike riding petty criminal that ended up deciding to pretend to be the real Seymour Skinner for decades the whole time was a real jumping the shark moment. Of course the hate for the episode I feel has gotten out of hand, especially in the age of social media, but you can't deny it is an incredibly bizarre premise.
@@robbiewalker2831 That is the lamest reason to hate an episode. Because it was set in the 90's? Pathetic.
This is the worst episode that no one talks about. It’s so much not talked about that the creator of the video didn’t want to talk about it.
Best comment ever.
OK that episode when Homer busted into Barts room with serial killer masks and said he should try the brownies because they were fresh and hot (he doesn't take one because they just laugh) and right when Homer closes Barts door he busts in with a ski mask and chainsaw. I don't laugh out loud often but THAT made me chuckles for quite a while
My biggest joke that I laugh at every time is also like... the stupidest joke ever.
Burns and Homer are hunting for the Loch Ness monster with the help of Professor Frink's "Monsterometer" and Frink is freaking out because a giant monster is coming there way! And he's really hyping it up, and then he looks down and realises it's actually a tiny frog.
And then he says the stupidest dumbest most hilarious line in Simpsons history: "Wait a minute! This isn't the monsterometer! It's the frog exagerator!"
@@kcreviews8161 hahaha reminds me of Godzilla. The Japanese people are SHORT! The real Godzilla was likely an Iguana
He just comes in with a knife and brownies then when he comes back a 2nd time that's when he comes in a hockey mask and a chainsaw
BARTYOUWANTTOSEEMYNEWCHAINSAWANDHOCKEYMASK?
My favorite line from "Mobile Homer": "The real Brenda later went to Harvard Medical School...AS A CADAVER."
JC Denton energy
I love how even the worst episodes can have funny jokes
Funniest joke the whole episode
What about my womanly needs?!?
"It wasn't just a home! It was a car I could go to the bathroom in!"
this is treehouse of horror homer in a non-treehouse of horror episode.
homer is often a jackass in those, but at LEAST it has the benefit of being non-canon and the writers be able to let loose with their stories.
"canon", what is this "canon" you speak of?
@@greenaumThe show does have some canon.
Two homers lol
this is a good point
@supersmashbro596 Great point.
Two good jokes from this episode, despite everything: "Spider poison is people poison?!" and the "I've been Everywhere, Man" parody song which was almost exclusively places near Springfield, and Homer still going "Wow, that's a lot of places."
Plus, I will admit that the point where he comes to and is mumbling incoherently, before stumbling about on the front lawn and flopping onto the bins, does qctually make me laugh.
Can't forget "What about MY womanly needs, Marge?"
“I seem to recall you asked me to get this fat” is also gold.
Ehhh he mentioned it at the end! Good stuff.
I don't disagree with the points you made, but the structure of this video could be improved. You spend an unnecessary amount of time adding context that doesn't really strengthen your arguement, It feels like you're trying to show your knowledge of critcism more than actually making critiques. When you actually start talking about the episode you compare it to one episode and repeat yourself when you could have expanded on your arguement more. It feels like Xavier Renegade Angel's response to the "Do you believe in god?" guy.
Yeah I came here to watch an episode of the simpsons instead what i got was this guys annoying voice blabbering nonstop about how knowledgeable he is and how much more important his opinions are than other folks' opinions. its one of those monotone diatribes where you actually have to try super hard to listen to it because its just that bad. as soon as this youtube video finished i felt a huge amount of weight had been lifted off my shoulders because it was like i no longer had to try super hard to convince my brain that this monologue was well put together, made sense, had structure and wasn't just a mindless barrage of 'smarter-than-the-entire-universe' tone combined with a toilet seat - level rant in terms of applied intellect used successfully. this has to be one of the most narcissistic youtubers.
I don't have a problem with your comment but I don't really agree with you: this is his presentation style, it could have been improved by his visual presentation being modified or more rflective of what he was presenting and by mentally dividing his essay and giving it sections, subtitles or areas to work on rather than a huge monologue, but still, this is his style and it's what flows with him.
If you really don't like it that's more of a 'you' problem and you can find quite a few ""review"" (using the word review very loosely) or recap channels summarizing and giving an overview of the plot or tge story of Simpsons episodes all over the place, and for the next guy, there are plenty of those AI read or script read by a monotone guy's videos on YT shorts and short RUclips videos all over the place, even on other platforms.
I really don't see what's the big deal with this video.
@@ProfDanielVargas I don't think the commenter's criticism is based off a subjective dislike for the "monologue" style of presentation. His criticism isn't invalidated because of the fact that it's a monologue so it's "supposed to be that way". I agree with him, the times spent on each section of his argument were very uneven. He spends a LOT of time just talking about The Simpsons in general and not getting to the point about "Mobile Homer", and when he finally does, he does spend a lot of time discussing counterarguments rather than taking more time to discuss *his* argument. I personally love the "monologue" style and I think it should be more common in the modern RUclips landscape, but I agree with the commenter's opinion, especially because it's about the content and distribution of the argument rather than the style of video. The commenter's opinion would still be valid even if the person who made the video had fancy-looking graphics.
@@Syndiate__ I agree with your comment, and I can get behind it, I am not sure the original commentator had these ideas behind his original comment or wanted to express what your interpretation of it is.
I myself read his comment as a shell of a critique in which, like a Russian doll, he was not fully explaining his critique on why this video critique wasn't fully explaining the author's points.
To be honest, I just read his comment as a criticism on how "long and boring this video was," and I accept it, could also be totally wrong, as you might also be.
There is always room for improvement and I agree on that respect with the first person, the distribution and structure of the information is not the best and it's not logically the best line of thought, especially when the title is so concrete (one would expect for the focus to be on that particular subject, the why's and the how's), but still it's a salvageable format and content.
For sure, this person could perfectly play with his presentation style and format and even out his segments by organizing his ideas better or leaving out all the tangents off of it. This is certainly something that can be polished out and, over time, tends to be naturally done by a lot of people presenting or developing content.
There's also the fact that there are presentation styles and literary ideas for creating chapters, characterized by the use of misdirection or the conscious effort of playing off of a topic as a jumping point to discuss a broader one by skipping from one idea to the other or going down a dialectic or semantic path mapping out the lay out of the central idea or ideas around a discussion (which if this was the case, could still be improved and made more clear that was the intention). Still, these could have been the intentions of the author, and these are very valuable examples of essays to learn about them and study them, for all the positives and negatives and to diversify as you say.
I don't see anything particularly wrong with the video, other than the layout of the content/information. His takes are nice and specific, I could see myself agreeing with most of it, and as a piece of recreational media to consume in a spare time, I see it as something that does its job.
I am not particularly fond of this content in specific, this video, and I just came across this channel and this video a few hours ago. I am fond of particular constructive criticism and formative exchanges. I am not fond of shallow, void criticism, though.
I really don't appreciate mean-spirited commentary or pointless negative reviews. That's about it all.
And lastly, when I was talking about the visual presentation, I didn't necessarily meant "graphics", but maybe improving background video with something that was more representative or reflective of what he was saying in a active way, as opposed to a passive literal way the clips are used, like he was doing with so many clips, maybe use the same Simpsons clips in a more creative way, because it can get tiring and boring just to listen to a critique with background Simpsons to it, like a Tom and Jerry chase with the same background on and on, or a Flintstones car scene with the same scenery going past in the background, it's mentally disengaging and tiring. There's really no need for fancy graphics or cinematographic video editing, and a simple title card and smart cuts suffices most of the time.
I also read a lot of personal sensibilities and subjectivitids permeated in their first two comments, maybe I'm wrong but I saw it as kind of not very objective.
No one talks about it because no one has seen it. Most people stopped watching the show years before it aired.
100%. The show was bad well before this episode
I watched it, but after watching 30 seasons it's hard to remember some specific episode
jesus christ get to the point.
dat viewer retention
Tik tok kid discovers videos longer than 15 seconds
@@furyleferret2288 Dude there is a difference big difference between setting up your point and just talking in circles. Most of the stuff that he is saying in the beginning is understood in the first 5 to 10 seconds, but he feels the need to repeat in and drag it out to 30 to 50 seconds. It is so frustrating to listen to. The floor of comedy example is especially annoying because its easily understood and needs little explanation, but he feels the need to drag it. It does give me a deeper understanding of what he is talking about.
bri is speaking yappanese
@@furyleferret2288 are you joking right now? I don't watch tiktok you dunce. Look up what brevity means. It will blow your mind. I'm not going to listen to someone talking in circles for 10 minutes, constantly repeating himself before getting to the damn point of the video. Let me guess, you like modern simspons? I can usually tell just for the immediate stupid crap people say.
well the video title is correct. But right when you are admitting to padding the video fir time is when I want o play the Monty Python "get on with it" clip
Cut the fat in your script. At times you need 5 sentences for a point that could fit into just 1.
Gotta pad the ads, buster!
@@4jp no one should open youtube without an Adblock
Unfortunately I had to dip after 10 mins
@@gustgost3937 Same here, it's painfully dragged out, it's so frustrating.
Apparently this guy really likes the Star Wars prequels and thought the politics were interesting. No wonder why this video is so meandering and boring. He likes that kind of stuff.
When the teacher says your video has to be 29 minutes
I am clicking away from this video after 6 minutes of nothing. I looked for time stamps in the comments to when the guy gets to the point, but couldn't find any.
I'm clicking off at 18mins in. It's over 11mins before the episode is really addressed and it's with constant comparisons to another worst episode that aren't necessarily relevant to this one. It's frustrating to listen to. To its credit, the points in the video are articulated well but the content needs to be more succinct.
Man I thought it was just me. The first third of video felt like a Perd Hapley style verbal meandering. There’s definite effort and I give it props, but agreed, needs to really trim down the bloat and get to the meat, with the deeper nuance later on.
@guyjobs1518 my brother can I just share my opinion without an internet stranger hitching up his pants?
Why does "Homer does not consider his family in this episode" need 15 minutes to explain?
@@benb9151 im just sharing my opinion too! that opinion being Your opinion sucks. dont try to use that tactic against me, it's annoying as hell
the points made here are salient and well-considered but I feel like you state essentially the same things multiple times in a row? the runtime of the video could have been cut by at least a third and I feel like nothing important would be lost
I uploaded a new video that's shorter. I'd be interested to hear if you think the pacing and scripting is better for that one? Thanks for the feedback
I think your video would be a lot better if you went on less tangents and didn't explain every concept in detail. We all know what being unfunny is
Dude, you kept dragging out this video with so many tangents that I lost interest. This didn't need to happen. Focus on the topic at hand.
Yeah I'm 12 minutes in and considering giving up. I've paused to scroll the comments to see if anyone else got frustrated with the fact that half the video doesn't even talk about the actual episode.
@@LaurenJD I hate it when RUclipsrs do this. Padding out the runtime for no reason. Get to the point!
100% this.
People are so impatient,
he's a RUclipsr not a scientist, cut the man a break. I think he did good, this probably took him a long time.
@@ADeadbirdsanimate He also should take constructive criticism to heart. I wish him no ill - unlike the Comic Book Guy I don't think he "owes me" for the "worst video essay ever." It's just the truth this video is unfocused.
The cape fear moment with sideshow Bob stepping on the rakes is one of the funniest scenes ever in the show.
Yeah I unironically love this scene.
I agree! It was a running gag because of his big feet.
Do you also like it because "Frasier Crane" is Sideshow Bob?
I thought it was a good gag too, I also like how it cuts to another scene and you can still hear him in the background.
Yeah it's a kind of self-aware moment. What makes it is that after he steps on two or three rakes, it cuts to an overhead shot which reveals dozens of rakes strategically scattered across the yard, and the show is like, "yep, we're really doing this, we're gonna make him step on every single one of them."
The other thing I hate about "Homer's Night Out" is the fact that it's a few episodes after "Life on the Fast Lane" (the episode where Marge almost cheated on Homer). It makes the episode look hypocritical.
That's a really good point! Quite the double standard
@@kcreviews8161 I actually thought the Homer Moodswings thing is funny. It's better than the Turkish Captain not knowing of the kids until after Homer insulted him, and the Captain says he's keeping the kids and raise them "Coptic Christian".
I don't get why people say marge almost cheated on Homer in that episode. if memory serves she was just learning bowling and then immediately cut off contact with the guy when she realized his intentions. It's far different from the episode where Homer almost cheated on Marge, where Homer was trying his best not to cheat, but still almost did it.
@@polocatfanshe was driving to his apartment, drives down a road that makes her think about a lifetime with one partner and sees her husband instead. Do you get it?
It’s less about cheating though and more about reputation and respecting women
You take 29 minutes to say something that could have been said in three.
Wow, this show might be just as bad as The Boys of Bummer which is currently my most hated episode (and the majority of people can agree). But Homer's total disregard of Marge AND his family in Mobile Homer is just next level jerkass Homer.
Plus in The Boys of Bummer you can argue there is a dark comedy in how far the town took it over such a small mistake
@@nickrustyson8124Bad comedy at that
Boys of Bummer makes me hate the town of Springfield (and Homer) cause they drove a 10 year old boy to end his own life
Mobile Homer just makes me hate Homer, our main character, i dont know what is worse, making me hate almost everybody, or making me hate the face of the show.
Same here
I never thought of this being as bad as "Boys of Bummer", but I'd still place that over this. If "Mobile Homer" ruined Homer for you, then "Bummer" will ruin just about everyone else.
The episode where Homer loses his license and then Marge tries to kill him is one of the worst episodes for a few reasons. Narratively, it takes so long to even get to a main plot that there really isn't one by the time the episode ends. The fact that Marge's homicidal rage could be taken care off by throwing her a fancy party also seems like a really desperate last second solution, which doesn't make sense in universe, comes out of nowhere, and seems to only have been used because it was the quickest way to wrap the story up.
It also has one of my favourite moments of Flanderized Marge, where at therapy, she is mad, angry and sad that Homer didn't put her on his list of favourite people, immediately after she admitted she intentionally ran him over with her car, because she actively wants to cause him pain.
And....yet she expected to be placed on that list right after and Homer is portrayed as the bad guy for not listing his homicidal wife as one of his most favourite people.
Dude, just get to the fucking point already. I had to skip several times and I still don't know why this is the worst episode.
You can't praise Patrick "Space Wizards Movie Intended For Children" Willems in same breath as you mentioning reviews where you nitpick Star Wars. Guy has an ego bigger than his forehead.
I don’t know what makes a bad episode, but I know talking for ten mins without getting to the subject of your RUclips video, sure makes for a terrible watch.
I made it to 4 minutes and him constantly repeating the word funny before I couldn't take it anymore
Then don’t watch it, smart one
Dude you took way too long to introduce this that I lost interest.
I was actually worried about that but... fortunately most people are ok with the intro. I do try to script quite tightly
@@kcreviews8161 Personally I liked it, it hammers in what we're looking for, explaining there is multiple forms of bad
@@kcreviews8161 LMAO. This is a tight script?
@@kcreviews8161Denial.
As someone who watches a lot of the mainstream "adult" cartoons, once you summarized Mobile Homer I realized the problem: It sounds like a modern Family Guy episode
I think that says enough
Yeah, it tells me the episode would’ve worked if they had done it themselves.
"modern" family guy... Family Guy was ALWAYS trash
The worst episode people don't talk about is "The Man Who Came to Be Dinner," the one where the Simpsons go to a theme park and end up on Kang and Kodos's home planet. Every single joke is painful and making Kang and Kodos canonical is a million times worse than "The Principal and the Pauper."
The Man Who Came to be Dinner isnt canon just because it isnt a THOH or three part. That would be like saying "Not it" is canon.
It's fifteen minutes before you even name the episode. I know it's important to define your terms, but that's too long to get to the point.
This is the longest 30 minute video i've ever seen
Videos like this are why I'm glad I can watch videos at a faster speed.
Classic example of how The Simpsons doesn't have to be funny to produce a good (or great) episode: Moaning Lisa
I hated that episode as a kid. I was like, "where's the laughs? Why is Lisa such a Debbie Downer?" But after becoming more familiar with depression (and the idea of toxic positivity) in my late teens/adulthood, I developed a belated appreciation for it. It's truly deserving of being one of the Golden Age GOATs.
That is a good example definitely! Season 1 tends to not be laugh out loud funny, but still has really solid episodes!
@@kcreviews8161 It's very weird looking back at season 1 and thinking "wait, *this* was the outrageously provocative material that triggered moral panics across America? It's so mild-mannered and warm-hearted, even a bit too much on the schmaltzy side to be honest."
@@alexpotts6520 That comes out in the DVD commentaries for the early seasons. Even the show’s own creators were surprised by how relatively mild and wholesome their “controversial” show was compared to the heat they got, including even from the White House!
@@RandyHawkeye I guess this is a case of hindsight. Adult animation wasn't really a thing in mainstream media back in the day so to see a cartoon do anything out of the realm of saturday morning cartoon shenanigans was provocative
@@kcreviews8161 There's a Season 6 episode called "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy", and it's a better "political view" on Barbie than the 2023 Barbie film. Whereas the 2023 film makes hypocritical stances on Barbie as a product rather than giving us a character study on Barbie as a character, "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" was based on an actual controversy revolving around a Talking Barbie Doll that was perpetuating negative stereotypes (like the inability to learn math and science), and the episode talks about the dangers of the product or how it can be improved under the right people. What's also interesting to note is that the creator of the Malibu Stacy doll within the show is voiced by the same woman who voiced Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
Considering that the worst Simpsons jokes are the ones that go for too long, I always considered that the worst Simpsons jokes are the ones that could be an average Family Guy joke.
That's a good litmus test for sure!
@@kcreviews8161 I think Jean is saying the Garage scene where Homer hurts himself by accident constantly is one of the worst jokes if you actually cared about characterization.
Except if it were on *Family Guy,* then it would actually be funny.
The Simpsons hasn't been funny in years.
Okay, Sideshow Bob stepping on rakes is the funniest shit I have ever seen and I will not tolerate slander about that joke.
Edit: I'm 10 minutes in, holy shit my man, get to the point already.
Holy shit it takes this dude 2 minutes to get to the episode he's talking about and right before he even says it he goes "I should probably hurry up btw let me shamelessly plug in my channel and elongate the suspense because im worth it"
There's something called "synthesis" and unfortunately, your video lacks that.
I understand you want to explain your point, but dragging it on and on isn't going to make a good video.
I unironically like all of those episodes you mentioned in the description, I feel like the worst episode nobody talks about is Boys of Bummer, it's just 22 minutes of the entire town of Springfield being nasty to Bart over a baseball game, that episode felt WAY too mean-spirited for a Simpsons episode and felt like it would've been way more at home as an episode of Family Guy or American Dad as that kind of mean-spirited humor works better on those shows(I could totally see Meg or Steve going through what Bart did).
When you say "it would've been way more at home as an episode of Family Guy", it reminds me of the episode where the Griffin family moves to Texas because Stewie pukes after accidentally chugging wine at church and all the townspeople are convinced that this means that he's possessed by Satan. So yeah, you have a point there!
There's one episode in the description I mentioned that I also like, and that's Kill the Alligator and Run. I just think it's a really funny episode with a lot of great lines, and I don't think Homer's that much of a jerk in it. Absolutely agree Boys of Bummer is a bad episode
Should the title of this video be the Simpsons episode I find to be the most morally wrong?
That wouldn't be a bad idea tbh. Then I wouldn't have had to explain why i think a character being morally wrong makes the episode bad, which apparently some people didn't like
The cape fear rake bit is one of the best of the entire show.
I agree. One of my brother and I's favourite Simpsons jokes. Obviously if you watch it 10 times it loses impact. But the first few times it's hilarious because it just keeps going on and on.
The rake gag has become a staple of animated cartoons
For me it's the one with Moe's dishrag cause at that point why would I care to follow a dishrag's lineage. Truly they could've just turned the episode on as a throwback like they normally do but they just needed to tie in this thing you'll never see sentient again. I mean he's there cause Moe uses it but it's an unnecessary character overall and I knew it as I was watching it
Haha that's quite a funny episode to point out in terms of the topic, but yeah I can't deny that it's pretty bad
Looking at the episode every single plot beat could be written better with the same skeleton of the episode, for example:
- Marge, being her over protective self starts saving money AND stopping homer from taking any risks so he won't die
- Homer sees this overprotectiveness as taking away his freedom and that he can't enjoy his life
- Somebody takes advantage of Homers impulsivity and stupidity to upsell him on an RV because "it'll make your worries go away" and that's what Homer wants for Marge
- Homer proves himself not as accident prone as he seems, and apologies to Marge
Boom, some dialogue and some scenes switched out, job done
Incredibly brave of you to be so confidently and publicly wrong about the rake gag. Inspirational.
I liked it. Interesting take. Since you asked for criticism, here it is: I skipped to where you actually started talking about the episode. The text crit stuff isn't wrong, but I got bored quick; I wanted to hear your arguement, not why your arguement is valid. Perhaps you could intercalate those sentiments in your arguement itself? It's good stuff for people to know, but once you know you don't need to hear it again.
I only say it because it distracts from an otherwise interesting thesis. The second half of the video is engaging and carries it's own weight. I liked how the repeated frames would slowly progress; it kept otherwise repeatative material visually engaging. Uh... your arguement was good, I donno. Keep making these, I love these video essays.
my nomination of the worst episode is the "lumberjack" epside, the episode where it starts off pretty good with Marge trying to not be boring and somehow turns into Marge becoming a competetive lumberjacker which is so contrived and stupid that the episode make me very upset. Part of my love of the Simpsons died that day I watched that terrible episode.
You know an animated sitcom has jumped the shark when all the episodes start to be "character becomes x career"
@@nojakthegemladbut that’s been Homes thing for years.
Mr Plow, astronaut, fireman, safety salamander. Why is it different if it’s marge for once?
I'm not sure that's the worst episode, but it's indeed one of the worst.
@@jn1mrgn other bad ones of course are the Lady Gaga one, and the "Marge Y2K class reunion musical" episode which either one and this one shown here really could be the worst three episodes of all time, it's just the Lumberjack episode made me seriously rethink if the Simpsons was worth watching anymore.
im still waiting for them to get to the fireworks factory...
I don't like homer's actions in codependents day, but i can't hate the episode over all. There's way too many funny moments in it for me. The joke with Homer singing on the phone kills me everytime.
Also the line of the episode too, "I'm drunk I shouldn't drive... Wait I shouldn't listen to me, I'm drunk" I probably butchered that but the idea is the same
And even Barts line “but the bread’s still dancing” cracks me up everytime. And Comic Book Guys response to the Gathering Shadow will not be funny for me
In order to talk about the worst episode we must first define what constitutes a bad episode. Websters dictionary defines bad as an undesireable quality that...
My favorite part of classic Simpson character dynamics was Lisa and Bart where if Bart comes up with a fun activity, Lisa will join in and have fun.
Similarly to how both love watching the same TV together
Arguably, you can't use Homer's mortality as a possible consequence of him spending the money, as he himself obviously believes he can't die. But that's a pretty big nitpick.
S18E3 "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em"
Never hear anyone talk about this one either. Homer literally just goes along with Marge's desire to be a carpenter and her plan. Then when that works the way it was intended, Marge gets pissed at Homer? Like the episode was initially based around the societal problem that women are not taken seriously as carpenters. Homer does what he can to help, a plan Marge was all for, and then the show pivots entirely and places all the blame on Homer. Homer is made to apologize and win back Marge when shes the one taking out a social frustration on her husband for no good reason. And the show never acknowledges this or attempts to subvert it. The message was apparently that Homer should have known better then to do what Marge wanted and he deserves shame for that. It's just such a lazy and unthoughtful way to tackle an idea like gender inequality in the trades. It just boils the issue down to Jerk-ass homer, without ever even establishing that he is being a jerk, and never actually tries to investigate, explore, address, do literally anything with, the very real topic they decided to write about.
I feel like you went with an essay on writing in general with regards to The Simpsons, rather than focusing on the episode you actually have a disdain for and discussing/reviewing as to why you found it worse than anything that hasn't been discussed.
Instead of announcing the worst episode and claiming you weren't, you waffled for 5 sentences like an AI or recipe writer padding the run time. It made me inordinately angry.
What the episode needed was a revision; either show more explicitly that the family as a whole is being too miserable with the savings to justify the spitefulness of Homer or plain and simple, tone down jerkass Homer's...jerkassery. Maybe have him being forced to get another job or extra shifts at the power plant so there's more money for the family. Or even a third option, have Marge getting a job to support the family and that disrupts the family dynamic so much it creates the conflict
Marge's POV is definitely the sympathetic one here but the episode seems to want the viewer to side with Homer.
Yes very good point! I think a few small changes could have made a big difference!
I feel like we all have are own little episode that prooved to us that "the Simpsons are dead". I consider the golden age to be the first 10 seasons, but I still continued watching the show after. It was only when I saw "Million Dollar Abie" (the sixteenth episode of the seventeeth season) when I officially declared that I'm done with the show. It featured an awful act 1, where grandpa does something to make everyone hate him, so he tries to get assistance in suicide, as an old person.... This feels beyond dark, and doesnt go anywhere cause the procedure doesn't work. Then the city announces that they will start having bullfighting in Springfield , and Grandpa as someone with no will to live volunteers to become a bullfighter... And now everyone loves him. Lisa is sad that Grandpa killed a bull. Que the next scene, Grandpa releases all of the bulls. The End. A stupid plot with some dark tones which serve hardly any purpose, and the story ends in a way that makes everything feel so pointless. I never would expect anyone else to feel the same way about the episode as I do, but it was what changed the way that I look at the show from that point on.
The real clue that season 16 is when I gave up on the simpsons is that this is just one season after and I don't think I've ever seen it! But it sounds pretty awful. I think I've seen pictures of grandpa in a matador outfit, but I've never seen the episode
@@kcreviews8161 I saw someone yake a look through all the episodes of all season (up till that point) and was surprised how many I recognized after that matador one, so maybe I was still catching glimpses of them here and there, and only 2 seasons later did it completely stop for me. I guess as much as I love to proclaim it as "the end" for me, it still took me a bit to completely let go and not watch a second of the episodes to follow....
Me personally, the "Worst Episode Of All Time" is the Lady Gaga episode.
Absolutely.
Definitely. I remember I saw it in 2012 with my family and we all were negatively confused at the end. Reeks like a promo for Lady Gaga and that's it. No message, no nothing. It even messes Lisa's character, which is unforgivable.
@@Snarl616 What's even worse is how Lisa basicly ragged on Homer for not supporting her music, when he was the one who gave her the sax in the first place.
You have to work on your scripts. You repeat yourself often and re-explain concepts multiple times. For example, you spend 5 minutes explaining what a "funny episode" even means. You aren't clarifying yourself, you're just being redundant.
Sorry I had to stop watching this video when you said sideshow bob stepping on rakes for far too long isn't funny. That's one of their best jokes they've ever done and now your opinion on anything else cannot be trusted.
Good analysis, well laid out argument. However, this episode does feature a joke that for some reason never leaves my head and always makes me laugh. "Bart, that's a bread compartment." "You're a bread compartment!" Classic.
Homer is a beer compartment.
My favorite episode is an early one when Bart's class goes on a field trip. They drive past a carnival, a pet store and a firework store. They end up at a Box factory. I find it funny because in 6th grade my class went on a field trip to a Clay Factory. A factory where they made Clay pipes for plumbing. Another field trip my class went on in the 4th grade was Mr, O'Niel's farm where we went into his barn and watched him milk a cow. After getting back to school I caught the bus home, to my family farm.
Oh, I can relate. When I was in 5th grade I went to a birthday party for a friend. The grown ups talked and talked about how awesome the place will be we would visit later in the afternoon. Like it would be the best trip of all time. We were hyped up and thought about something as a theme park but even cooler.
We went to the wood museum. To this day I wonder if they were intentionally messing with us. But this would be extremely messed up, because the birthday girl also had no idea what the trip would be.
I don’t have the confidence to call my least favorite episode the worst episode because I haven’t seen the ending in years so I don’t remember exactly what happens but I would rather chew glass than watch that one episode about grandpa’s kidneys again. I had similar feelings of just wanting to sink into my seat because Homer’s characterization in that episode was so unfunny and cruel it became truly cringeworthy to watch. It was also heartbreaking for me because I had recently seen the episode Homer’s triple bypass for the first time, so I was still in the headspace of organ failure/ surgery being super serious and high emotional stakes. I definitely respect your take on this one though because it seems like we agree on a lot of the same fundamental issues in the show and I really hate when Marge gets treated this way by the writers.
Whilst that episode has elements of Evil Homer, there are a couple of things that I'd say stop it from going into that territory (If I recall correctly, it's been a while since I've seen it). First would be how he isn't do the operation not out of selfishness but out of a legitimate terror of doing the surgery. The second key thing would be the thing that differentiates old Homer from new Homer, in that he genuinely seems to feel awful about it. He knows he should do it, he feels bad for not being able to do it, but is struggling to bring himself to actually do it.
There’s an eastern egg in one of the flashback episodes about which I never heard anyone talk of. When Homer first meets Marge, the walls in the room, which used to be gray, turn pink. Homer is still with Marge to this day and his house, his car and most of the world are pink and purple. That refers to the fact that Marge’s existence turns homers world into a fairy tale.
I feel like, if the writers only changed Homer's motive behind buying the RV in the first place, this episode would have been much better. So, hear me out, instead of Homer buying the RV purely out of spite and defiance, have his motives play out this way (or at least one of these ways):
-First off, have Homer wanting the RV to be foreshadowed from the get-go, rather than it just being purely an impulse buy. This way, the audience will, a) want to empathize with Homer more once Marge starts cutting costs, while still understanding that Marge's side of the argument; and b) better understand why Bart and Lisa say it's the RV that's tearing the family apart and not Homer's actions in the first place, because Homer can't be happy with what he always wanted and now has because Marge is now unhappy that Homer owns it in the first place;
-Secondly, make Homer more empathetic: have him understand why Marge is trying to save money in the first place, but also see that her efforts are not just making the rest of the family miserable, but also herself. Over the course of the episode, have Homer watch Marge as she slowly degenerates into a nervous wreck, as she becomes so obsessed with saving money for the family's future that she completely forgets how to enjoy life now, with that being the final deciding factor for Homer to buy the RV in the first place, in an ill-thought attempt to remind Marge to enjoy life as it is now, while still fulfilling his own selfish desires. This way, the "lesson" that Marge learns at the end of the episode actually has a purpose: to show that Marge now understands that fretting about enjoying life in the future shouldn't get in the way of enjoying life as it is now;
-Lastly, have Homer at least try to compromise with Marge by showing that he is at least willing to lower the family's budget if it means that they will be able to live a good life in the future, just not nearly to the extent that Marge went earlier in the episode. This way, it shows that Homer is at least aware that Marge was only looking after the family, and at least willing to try to make an effort to ensure that his family has a bright outlook in the future.
I'm not sure how well that these changes would improve the episode, but that's just my two cents on the matter.
The rake step joke was actually the setup for the real punchline where he steps on a rake on the boat.
The one thing I remember from the episode was the part where homer was loudly complaining about the nest egg money in front of the money, and boy did that remind me of certain ways my mom acted
The reason you don't hear people talk about it as the worst of all time is... because it isn't the worst of all time. It's just a mediocre one.
The 'worst' episode in a series like The Simpsons is the one which highlights a nadir of the decline (The Principle & the Pauper) or if it's so painfully bad for obvious, in your face reasons (Lisa Goes Gaga.) 'Mobile Homer' is neither; it's just a mediocre, post-Golden Age episode that is of no particular note whatsoever.
As an aside, your group of friends not laughing at the rake joke unfortunately is a very strong indicator that your opinion on this is an outlier.
for me the indication on if you're in for a good episode is if Maude Flanders is still alive. It's not that she's a great character, but the episode where she's killed off is particularly bad (just compare it to Hurricane Neddy and you'll quickly see how flat the episode falls). You're right that the drop-off in quality wasn't instantaneous, but this episode did to Ned Flanders what The Principal and the Pauper did to Principal Skinner.
That's a good point. Always feel slightly elated when Maude makes an appearance. I do like the ending to the episode where Maude dies though with the Christian rock band. It's a catchy song and, as Carl says, "She's good looking, shut up"
@@kcreviews8161 He also makes a valid point in comparing "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily" to "The Principal and the Pauper", or what I'd would've called it "A Tale of Two Skinners". In fact, RowdyCMoore did a "TV Trash" review on "The Principal and the Pauper", talking about the major continuity snarl it gave itself, why the episode is the worst "Liar Revealed" story ever, how the plot of the story was rushed in the 3rd act, and how the jokes wouldn't be enough to salvage a doomed narrative.
There's also the fact that Harry Shearer, the voice of Seymour Skinner himself, says how taking a character that people were taking interest in for 8-9 years, and then throw it in the trash like nothing, is very disrespectful to the audience..
Honestly, Sideshow Bob's rake gangbang is one of the funniest Simpsons bits ever. It goes on until it stops being funny, then continues until the absurd length itself is funny. It's like the Spam sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. My least favorite episode is Heartbreak Hotel, a slow, painful episode that wallows in discomfort with Marge ditching Homer for a hot guy. I didn't laugh once and felt like I was watching a murder on LiveLeak.
this was a suggestion I saw someone else make, but a better route for "co-dependents' day" might've been marge having actually been the one drunk driving and homer swapping into the driver's seat (framing himself for the DUI) bc he's afraid marge will stop drinking w/ him if she realized what she did. it's rlly bad homer would enable her to keep drinking like that but also kinda sweet he would take the fall for her crime so he can keep spending time w/ her. I can imagine marge would be conflicted abt it if she found out the truth, and the resolution wouldn't be as forced. bc yeah that'd technically be a bad thing for homer to do, but it'd be easier to forgive than him framing her for smth she didn't do
In "My Sister, My Sitter", Bart tortures Lisa partly for the sheer hell of it, because he's a terrible brother and has more than a few issues with his behaviour. He's also insulted and humiliated that his younger sister has been put in charge of him. In his mind, she's subordinate. So there's plenty of reason for him to be a complete relentless dick to her. Eventually he goes too far, because he's a kid and isn't great at thinking ahead or being responsible. That's a problem Bart exhibits in almost every episode.
So his behaviour is completely in character. He's a nasty, spiteful dick to Lisa in line with his feelings and motivations. He does terrible stuff to her all the time, for no reason at all. You can't have a problem with Bart being horrible to her, especially in that context. It's exactly what he'd do. In line with every other time we've seen him.
I forgot that The Simpsons is drama, thanks for reminding me.
This exactly. We've seen Bart literally mock Principal Skinner's PTSD. Why are we expected to view his jerkass treatment of Lisa as any different? Besides, it's natural for older siblings to dislike their younger siblings and enjoy getting a rise out of them, especially at Bart's age.
Bart is not a terrible brother. Lisa has treated him like crap just as often. She's a terrible sister!
@@blinkowarner3117They made him worse than usual to make her look justified in her hostility, stacking the deck as usual.
I don’t want to dog pile on with a bad comment because you’ve clearly put a lot of cogent thoughts into this video. Just for next time, please cut the script down. I’m 10:30 minutes in and I still don’t know why you picked this episode.
The golden age is typically said to end with Season 9. On my last watch, I stopped at Season 15 after I realised I hadn't laughed for about 7 episodes.
Not the point but the Star Wars prequels politics are a bunch of nonsense and the movies do suffer from it. The criticism the Simpsons made with "Cosmic Wars" was beating a dead horse at worst because literally everyone who had at least a bit of critical thinking when those movies came out already could tell that those movies are extremely mediocre and made the same joke already. So please, lets stop with this "the prequels are good actually" bit of revisionist analysis.
The day the simpsons died was the episode with the Who. There wasnt a single funny joke.
I agree with everything except the last part about Star Wars.
It's not a criticism of the Prequel Trilogy. It's a criticism of the Phantom Menace.
The OG films start off with the obviously Fascist empire pursuing obviously decent people, killing them, overturning the last vestiges of democracy, and then when our protagonists are just on a simple mission to help someone sympathetic, commits an act of mass murder and genocide out of spite. Great groundwork for the series. You know the bad guys are bad, and you know why people are fighting. You have to question nothing.
The Phantom Menace starts by talking about Trade Franchises for a planet we've never heard of, and how because a Trade Franchise has been revoked, the Trade Federation has blockaded a planet. Which is all stuff we don't know or care about. Our first indication of what things are right and wrong is that we support the Jedi from the OT, and they don't like it, and then the Federation occupy a planet-but it's not shown as mass murder. Then our protagonists spend over half the movie trying to get to Coruscant, a planet we haven't heard of, to beg the Galactic Government to organise a military response to this. The government says "we want to defer this action and form a commitee to investigate these claims" and our ridiculous protagonists say "we will not defer"(direct quote) and insist on the government (that we don't know or care about) providing a military response. Then making a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor's leadership (we don't know him or care about him, this is pointless politics to establish Palpatine). Then after this, the protagonist get nothing, so 80% of the movie was dedicated to politics and podracing that were pointless to the story. Our protagonists simply return and it turns out like 20 people could stop the droids anyway. A literal child (fair play, a magical child) is able, with like 10 other people, to do a knockoff of the end of the original film which magically stops the occupying droid forces (they have to remove this weakness after because it's so silly) while like 6 other people capture the neimodians and our jedi finally fight the Sith Lord.
It is too much politics. I was a kid watching these: I enjoyed it well enough because it was pretty, cool fx. But I had no clue about the plot. These are movies about space wizards for children, and half of this film is dedicated to neoliberal politics, realpolitik, and that does hurt it. Sure, as the films go on, they are all spectacle: but that's what people remember fondly. The mustafar fight is garbage, but it is pretty. The grievous fight on Utapau created a bunch of memorable memes. Nobody remembers the romance in the middle of TCW fondly. Nobody remembers the drama between Anakin and the Council and Palpatine fondly, though they did meme them, because Palpatine is obviously evil and the Jedi are obviously stupid. People remember Greivous, "so uncivilized", Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan, some memes about Podracing and sand, and the battles.
We at least understood the underlying plot of the OT: empire bad. autocratic, and genocidal. willing to destroy whole planets to kill a few rebels. And we understand the politics of them pursuing the rebels: rebels represent threat to their rule, and the political stuff is good, like how Vader is killing off subordinates as they fail him, and they are establishing the emperor as the architect of the dark side. The rebels have an obvious motive: they are not trying to oppose a blockade by a trade organisation over a trade franchise, but actually this is all our protagonists being misdirected by the machinations of the dark side. They are trying to blow up planet-destroying superweapons the empire is using to kill millions of people to preserve their dictatorship.
It was a key part of criticism of the prequels, especially the first one, at the time.
A good example of the idea you discuss where a character acts evil / selfish but then is sort of karmically punished by the narrative is the early seasons of Archer. Archer is very sleazy and selfish but most episodes end with everything blowing up in his face so it makes his jerkassery even more funny as opposed to him just getting away with everything.
Nobody talks about Mobile Homer because it's not just bad, it's forgettable. Outside of the spoof of Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere" being sung by one of the other RVers that camped out in The Simpsons' backyard, there's nothing remotely worth recalling about it. However, I do have to agree that the episode did feature #JerkassHomer at his peak.
This is kind of a bad video? About half the video is you rambling on about comparisons to other episodes. If you want to state your opinion on something, then just state your opinion on something.
As for your motivations for disliking the episode... they are really weird? Homer has done all kinds of selfish things throughout episodes . I also completely disagree with your view on "misogyny", that doesn't make an appearance in the Simpsons at all. In fact, Homer is made out to be foolish, not righteous for what he does. Meaning the aspect where he undermines Marge itself is a satire of a male character trait. How can you not see that? It's a cartoon for crying out loud, lol.
The only thing I'd argue is that throughout the various times Homer does something negative towards his family, this seems to be one of the most sudden, thoughtless and extreme cases. You could argue that it's almost more of a sudden random Family Guy moment and that this causes some disconnect with the usual family position of Homer. Or does it? Because then again, strangling your child in front of your partner isn't exactly a family friendly image, is it? Homer is a character that can display a range of characteristics and his somewhat chaotic nature means that in one episode he can be incredibly kind and understanding that we can relate to him or feel bad to him, while in another he can make a complete fool of himself and we can laugh at him and then in episodes such as these he does something completely random seemingly to spite someone or negatively affect someone, only caring about himself.
Also no way dude, the rake scene is incredibly funny.
I guess that leaves just the title of your video that I can agree with because you're probably right: I don't think anybody really has a major problem with this specific Simpsons episode.
I'm a pretty new channel! Let me know if you think you can see improvements in my more recent videos
one thing that i feel needs addressing is that humor is subjective, like the mood swings joke always makes me laugh. i definitely don't dislike mobile homer, i agree its not great, but personally i think episodes like lisa goes gaga and co-dependence day are a lot worse
You spent *A LOT* of time meandering in this video
That's like saying that Antarctica is chilly.
I admit, I actually kinda liked Mobile Homer. It’s got so many problems, but it also has a bunch of funny lines I remember and quote often.
“The fishing hat means leave me alone!”
“I cleaned the garage and lost 50 pounds.”
“You mean when the big tuna goes belly-up?”
“Woohoo, free gas!”
“Dino, short for dinosaur? Remember to Ask Jeeves.”
Looking back, that may be because I had the season 16 DVD when I was 10 years old and remember a lot of these episodes fondly so this is just my nostalgia talking lol
Yeah it does have some good lines still!
"It was not just a home, it was a car I could go to the bathroom in."
this is genuinely one of the most refreshing, intelligent, and thorough youtube videos i have seen in a long, LONG time.
to be honest, i put off watching it for a while since i was so ready for it to be your typical unscripted 30 minutes of what basically amounts to "[x] thing is the best/worst ever because i personally feel that way". thank god it turned out to be the complete opposite.
that said, i will parrot some other people's criticisms and say that the intro was definitely a bit too long - but i definitely personally think it was completely fine after that. i absolutely LOVE how thoroughly you described all your conditions for what makes an episode bad and why they're valid points. it made your (very admirable!) confidence feel completely warranted. i think more critical stuff like that is what the modern internet needs. it's certainly what *I* need more of, anyway! i'm sick of strawmen and people not realizing double standards in and the logical conclusions of their own arguments!
The fact that people aren't aligned at which point the show got bad is pretty much proof that there is a good era, a decline era, and a bad era.
- The good era is generally considered good by everyone who enjoys/enjoyed the show.
- The decline era is where it gets progressively worse.
- The bad era is where the show is generally considered bad.
And yes, it's a whole era of slow decline. More and more episodes are getting more and more bad, but there are still good moments and episodes. Just that those are becoming less as time goes on.
A clear sign that a show goes on for long, that it overstays it's welcome. At some point you have told the jokes, made the references, developed the characters. And at that point you're done. Better to end on a high point that to slowly fizzle out.
I like the effort you put into the video but my dude you need to get to the point quicker.
I remember the Marge DUI episode more so for how the first half was saying that Star Wars has lost it's way which is rich coming from The Simpsons.
Yeah that's a good point! A very hypocritical criticism. And now they're both controlled by Disney. A fate worse than death
I feel like anything just about after season 13 can be considered "the most hated" you should title it, "the most hated episode when the show was still good"
That's a fair point!
And I feel like at the time of this episode, Homer's character is still in line with the Tracy Ullman sketches. Still the worst episode of the season though, but I would say that episode where homer drives that man to suicide was worse
Except by the time this episode aired, the show had stopped being good for a long time
What if Homer just isn’t worried about death because of the million near death experiences he’s survived over the show. To be fair if anyone with Homer’s intelligence in real life had cheated death that much, they’d probably have an immortality complex.
Unironically, this is the worst youtube essay on the Simpsons that I have watched in a while.
Finally, someone else who thinks the whole "the prequels are bad because of too much time on politics" criticism is absurd!
Idk if clipshows count, but those are still the worst, and the worst one is probably 'Gump Roast', despite giving us the masterfully cynical 'They'll Never Stop The Simpsons'
Yeah! It is crazy that the first clip show they ever did has that incredible solid april fools opening, and then suddenly it pivots into a clipshow
A lot of people complaining about the video length, so I wanna say that I appreciate detailed videos like this. This is a good video, and it gave me a lot to think about. I didn't even remember Mobile Homer, but I totally see why it's your least favorite. Some people just don't have patience for thoughtful discussions anymore.
Oh damn, how come you unlisted this, such a genuinely interesting take i've never seen anyone talk about regarding this episode.
This episode is definitely bad, but I think characters being beloved doesn't mean they can't be immoral or unethical. A good episode would have them do something bad for reasons within their character. Homer is an emotionally driven idiot who loves his family but will make bad impulse decisions. Spending the nest egg out of spite for Marge restricting his freedom so she can create it is, unfortunately, in his character.
But as you explained, the entire point of Homer's bad decisions is to create consequences and explore the ensuing "car crash" in a safe medium. Homer being "right" shouldn't be the outcome here. There are episodes where Marge is in the wrong with the moral "don't let safety nets impede your happiness", but "spend freely, it's okay to have no money left for your loved ones" is horrible.
As promised: AAARGH!
My metric for what constitutes a “bad episode” is simply how much it makes me cringe. And no episode of The Simpsons has ever made me cringe more than that god-awful Lady Gaga one.