It made me realize not to watch The Simpsons to laugh. I suppose some people might laugh a lot at this show, but I've quickly found I'm not one of them. To be clear, it's not like I DON'T laugh some of the time, it's just that in terms of my favorite comedies ever, it falls far short just by laughs. That's not really a knock on the show. It's main purpose doesn't appear to get the audience to laugh I'd argue.
The Simpsons' jokes are the variety where you watch what they are parodying, maybe laugh a little, take a step back, think about what they just parodied, and realized how close to the truth it was. It deals in harsh bitter realities where the average human being isn't smart. At this point, any time I laugh I consider it a bonus.
The Simpsons reminds me of the great comedians whose stand-up is as much about making you laugh as about pointing out funny observations, revealing how society really is, and poking fun at traditionally acceptable standards. In fact, the show reminds me specifically of Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians. The more I think about it, the more that comparison makes sense, and the less I understand why their humor isn't translating into laughs for me. (I want to reiterate that this is relatively speaking. It's not like I'm stone cold watching these episodes. It's all about my expectations.)
The season starts off fine with a weird Michael Jackson episode made weirder with time, an elaborate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington parody, and Homer being an unbelievable asshole to Flanders. Homer hating Flanders is funny because of its irrational nature, but in that episode they took it too far and it no longer became funny to me, just incredibly harsh. The next two episodes are similarly goofy - for the better in "Bart the Murderer" and for the worse in "Homer Defined" where Homer acts out of character for the service of the plot.
Then there's a four episode stretch of mediocrity. Three of them feature father-children stories making me wonder why they didn't spread that out. The other is "Treehouse of Horror II," which was solid but not any better than season two's Halloween special. It's peculiar in this golden age why they chose to essentially recycle "father messes up, father tries desperately to earn forgiveness" back to back simply switching the child from Lisa to Bart. The "Like Father, Like Clown" works because it gives some insight into Krusty's upbringing garnering sympathy from the audience.
After a serviceable Burns episode and the sappy marriage episode, there's "Radio Bart." Maybe it's because I have a weakness for mediums that parody narratives and expose them as contrived stories. Maybe it's because I find the idea of a person being a hero simply for suffering a tragedy to be a valid question. Whatever the reason, at this point, the show clicks for me. (It's a pretty ridiculously interwoven well-written plot, jokes aside as well)
Something I'm impressed about this season is the lack of filler. There's no bad episodes. The "filler" in this season is fleshing out the supporting characters. Run out of ideas for Homer? Let's develop a story around Ned Flanders ("When Flanders Failed"). Written enough stories about Bart wreaking havoc? Let's develop a story around the love life of Edna Krabappel ("Bart the Lover"). There's also full episodes dedicated to the seemingly one-note Otto ("The Otto Show"), the deliciously evil Monty Burns ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"), and alcoholic enabler Moe ("Flaming Moe's").
Besides "Radio Bart," two other episodes stick out to me. Anybody who knows me probably knows one "Homer at the Bat." I'm a huge baseball fan and that episode certainly stood out for defying conventional wisdom about players (Strawberry a suck-up; Canseco an impossibly helpful savior). Also, the hypnotist telling the players to give 110% only for them to respond that 100% is the most you can give was great.
The other episode was "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," which surprised me because the title of this episode didn't leave me optimistic. The "A-story" didn't really do much for me, except for the sex education instructional. However, every time Homer said something with a dictionary-laden vocabulary, I laughed. In fact, this episode provided the most laughs of any episode I've seen on The Simpsons. (As a side note, the finale of this season also made me laugh a lot. Maybe a sign for things to come in season four?)
Overall, it would be inaccurate to say that season three exceeded my expectations. But that's due to the enormity of my expectations rather than the quality. It came very close. The episodes were thoughtful, extremely well-written, sometimes funny, and an unflinching insight into American life. Would I like it if I found the episodes funnier? Sure, and the last few episode of season three are promising going into next season. But at this point, I've changed what I expect of the show so nevertheless I should be satisfied. (I hope I've belabored the point enough, but I don't mean this as a bad thing as a statement like that would usually imply.)
Playlist
1. "I Get Down" - Shad
2. "Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
3. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
5. "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
The Simpsons reminds me of the great comedians whose stand-up is as much about making you laugh as about pointing out funny observations, revealing how society really is, and poking fun at traditionally acceptable standards. In fact, the show reminds me specifically of Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians. The more I think about it, the more that comparison makes sense, and the less I understand why their humor isn't translating into laughs for me. (I want to reiterate that this is relatively speaking. It's not like I'm stone cold watching these episodes. It's all about my expectations.)
The season starts off fine with a weird Michael Jackson episode made weirder with time, an elaborate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington parody, and Homer being an unbelievable asshole to Flanders. Homer hating Flanders is funny because of its irrational nature, but in that episode they took it too far and it no longer became funny to me, just incredibly harsh. The next two episodes are similarly goofy - for the better in "Bart the Murderer" and for the worse in "Homer Defined" where Homer acts out of character for the service of the plot.
Then there's a four episode stretch of mediocrity. Three of them feature father-children stories making me wonder why they didn't spread that out. The other is "Treehouse of Horror II," which was solid but not any better than season two's Halloween special. It's peculiar in this golden age why they chose to essentially recycle "father messes up, father tries desperately to earn forgiveness" back to back simply switching the child from Lisa to Bart. The "Like Father, Like Clown" works because it gives some insight into Krusty's upbringing garnering sympathy from the audience.
After a serviceable Burns episode and the sappy marriage episode, there's "Radio Bart." Maybe it's because I have a weakness for mediums that parody narratives and expose them as contrived stories. Maybe it's because I find the idea of a person being a hero simply for suffering a tragedy to be a valid question. Whatever the reason, at this point, the show clicks for me. (It's a pretty ridiculously interwoven well-written plot, jokes aside as well)
Something I'm impressed about this season is the lack of filler. There's no bad episodes. The "filler" in this season is fleshing out the supporting characters. Run out of ideas for Homer? Let's develop a story around Ned Flanders ("When Flanders Failed"). Written enough stories about Bart wreaking havoc? Let's develop a story around the love life of Edna Krabappel ("Bart the Lover"). There's also full episodes dedicated to the seemingly one-note Otto ("The Otto Show"), the deliciously evil Monty Burns ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"), and alcoholic enabler Moe ("Flaming Moe's").
Besides "Radio Bart," two other episodes stick out to me. Anybody who knows me probably knows one "Homer at the Bat." I'm a huge baseball fan and that episode certainly stood out for defying conventional wisdom about players (Strawberry a suck-up; Canseco an impossibly helpful savior). Also, the hypnotist telling the players to give 110% only for them to respond that 100% is the most you can give was great.
The other episode was "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," which surprised me because the title of this episode didn't leave me optimistic. The "A-story" didn't really do much for me, except for the sex education instructional. However, every time Homer said something with a dictionary-laden vocabulary, I laughed. In fact, this episode provided the most laughs of any episode I've seen on The Simpsons. (As a side note, the finale of this season also made me laugh a lot. Maybe a sign for things to come in season four?)
Overall, it would be inaccurate to say that season three exceeded my expectations. But that's due to the enormity of my expectations rather than the quality. It came very close. The episodes were thoughtful, extremely well-written, sometimes funny, and an unflinching insight into American life. Would I like it if I found the episodes funnier? Sure, and the last few episode of season three are promising going into next season. But at this point, I've changed what I expect of the show so nevertheless I should be satisfied. (I hope I've belabored the point enough, but I don't mean this as a bad thing as a statement like that would usually imply.)
Playlist
1. "I Get Down" - Shad
2. "Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
3. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
5. "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX
No comments:
Post a Comment