Board 8 > I am watching the episode of The Simpsons where the real Skinner shows up

(+) Yeah! (+)

He was apparently held in Wuhan working in a sweatshop

I paused and went back because it was such a random coincidence in timing

also what a great episode that i totally forgot about

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I've never heard anyone refer to this episode as great, or even good.

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Yeah I've noticed this episode gets crapped on a lot by the internet nowadays, but it's still on the fringe of classic simpsons. I really like it.

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I'm sorry, you guys are insane.

edit by you guys i mean that one guys

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...I agreed with you

edit: foiled by the edit

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According to this guy it was the day The Simpsons died

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA

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This and the Frank Grimes episode both give me the same vibe of the writers trying way too hard to make a controversial episode (and it worked!). The Grimes episode is at least making a point, but it's still so cynical from both perspectives. Principal and the Pauper just felt kinda...dumb.

Still an essential episode, just divisive and I'm personally not a fan

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people don't like the grimes episode?

what on earth

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Grimes is a polarising episode. Some think it's one of the best ever, others think it's too dark at a time before dark comedy was as mainstreamish and readily available.

Principal is pretty universally panned. I thought it was fine but I have a higher tolerance for season 9-13 Simpsons than most.

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There not even today

I feel like people have gradually softened about The Principal and the Pauper. It used to be the punching bag episode of the series. But now, much of the hate is directed towards Lisa Goes Gaga, That 90s Show, the Moe's bar rag episode, etc.

Personally, I don't mind The Principal and the Pauper. Wouldn't say I'm fond of it, but there are far worse episodes indeed.

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GTM posted...

Grimes is a polarising episode. Some think it's one of the best ever, others think it's too dark at a time before dark comedy was as mainstreamish and readily available.

That's crazy to me. The Simpsons was already a show that had classic, supremely dark jokes like Bart laughing because he can't remember his own short-term memory loss.


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Principal and the Pauper is a bad premise/story with great jokes in it. Hard to really "hate" it imo but I get the symbolism.

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In my humble opinion simpsons didn't die until "large marge"in season 14

I can think of like ten jokes off the top of my head that were brilliant in PatP and I haven't seen it in years. The idea of watching Large Marge again fills me with genuine anxiety.

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"Up yours, children!"

TheCodeisBosco posted...

But now, much of the hate is directed towards Lisa Goes Gaga, That 90s Show, the Moe's bar rag episode, etc.

I thought That 90s Show was pretty widely accepted as a bright spot during the dark times. It's a little silly but actually clears up some of the timeline stuff that never made sense.

Marge got pregnant in high school but Homer is 35 and Bart is 10? That never made sense

Also PatP is a good episode but like other people said the premise is what turns people off. Saddlesore Galactica and the The Lastest Gun in the West are the main punching bags I've seen. Never seen people dislike the Frank Grimes episode, maybe the 2nd one where they shoe-horn in his son as a villain.

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People hated That 90s Show because it applied a sliding timescale to The Simpsons and people hate change like that. The complaints were so much that later episodes put that time period back to the 80s, which makes no fucking sense.

I liked the episode for my take. It was at least funny.

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I disliked Homer's Enemy. There, I said it.

But I only stopped watching after Bye Bye Nerdie. You can laugh at Lisa Simpson, you can call her names, you can even shove her into the mud, but you do NOT punch her out.

I haven't seen that episode in like 15 years but I still remember Homer's "continue looking shocked and move slowly toward the pie" joke. Killed me.

Regarding Simpsons in general, I watched a good handful of classics on Disney+ last year, and honestly... even lionized episodes like You Only Move Twice with Hank Scorpio kinda pale in comparison to most eps from the earlier seasons. The quality of writing from what I re-watched in Seasons 2-4 was incredible, even better than I had remembered.

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Great_Paul posted...

According to this guy it was the day The Simpsons died

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-TS-92KVDA

I didn't find his explanation very compelling, it was basically just "they changed a character people cared about", but they resolve it by the end of the episode to where nothing is changed.

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Marge never got pregnant in high school

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

That's crazy to me. The Simpsons was already a show that had classic, supremely dark jokes like Bart laughing because he can't remember his own short-term memory loss.

It's not the dark humor, it's the utter nihilism. It's subverting its own premise at the same time it's subverting that subversion which is clever but comes across as very angry and purposeless.

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Heroic Bigpun posted...

Marge never got pregnant in high school

Yeah you're right I don't know what I was thinking. That 90s show clears up other timeline stuff but I don't remember what it was off the top of my head.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Principal and the Pauper is a bad premise/story with great jokes in it. Hard to really "hate" it imo but I get the symbolism.

This is a pretty good way to sum it up.

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Nelson_Mandela posted...

Principal and the Pauper is a bad premise/story with great jokes in it. Hard to really "hate" it imo but I get the symbolism.

This is the only correct take in here. It was a subpar episode, but I don't think you can pin the failure of the series on any single episode. It was more if a gradual decline as everyone with talent left the writing staff and were replaced with people that just had no idea what made the Simpsons good.

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TheCodeisBosco posted...

much of the hate is directed towards Lisa Goes Gaga

now that's an episode there's no coming back from

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Kill the Alligator and Run was my point of no return

Even though there are still a decent enough of great episodes today, those mid-teens seasons are rough
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GTM posted...

now that's an episode there's no coming back from

People do say the show is much better now than it was at its worst and actually watchable again but I have little desire to verify this for myself

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HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

People do say the show is much better now than it was at its worst and actually watchable again but I have little desire to verify this for myself

One of these days I should curate the top 25 episodes from season 20-29

Holidays of Future Passed is #1 by far if you want something
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