Given that this thread is mostly trash and that I want to reduce my participation in the forum, I didn't think I was going to write here again. But this period of new season excites me and I will categorize the episodes according to my first impressions, since I believe giving a "preview rating" to episodes we don't even know the plots of is a bit silly (no intention to offend anyone who did it, but it's not for me).
I think they will be among the best of the season.
- A Serious Flanders. Because I think its plot can be worthy of a two-part episode and because the writers have proved in recent seasons to write funny crime stories. I think it can be a big event for modern Simpsons and a very popular episode.
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Boyz N the Highlands. Simply because it is written by Dan Vebber and produced by Matt Selman, and they have an excellent record as a team with all episodes attached to their names are among the absolute best of the HD era.
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YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ABOUT -- ACT THREE WILL SHOCK YOU!. Because Christine Neagle had a very strong debut in the last year with
Uncut Femmes, and I am confident she will stay on the right track. Besides, because it has one of the greatest titles ever and yeah, I am baiting the clickbait.
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My Octopus and a Teacher. Because it is written by the current best writer of the staff and produced by Matt Selman, so the possibilities of a hit are very high. I don't expect this to be in the same tier as
Halloween of Horror (it would be starry-eyed to think any episode to reach such a level) but I think it could be on-pair with
Highway to Well.
Episodes I am looking forward to watching and I am kind of sure I will enjoy them.
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Bart's in Jail. Because the little I know about it intrigues me. An eye-catching title, an original idea, a Family-centric episode, and a mystery to be resolved is a winner combination.
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Mothers and Other Strangers. Because it is written by Al Jean and despite his mediocre work last season as showrunner, he is a great writer and I trust he will keep up the great work. It also has Rob Oliver as the lead director, so it at least will have something worthy for sure. I would be very surprised it is not the best Jean-episode of this season.
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Pixelated and Afraid. Because it is another title that intrigues me and although
Go Big or Go Homer was a failure but I am optimistic Frink and Selman will redeem themselves with this one.
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The Longest Marge. Because it is written by Brian Kelley under Selman's supervision so this is likely going to be a strong episode, at least as strong as a modern Marge-centric episode can aspire to be.
I still need more information to reach any conclusion.
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Lisa's Belly. Crazy title, new writer. I don't have a clue about how this could turn out.
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Portrait of a Lackey on Fire. Smithers has not been a solid character during the HD era and LaZebnik is an inconsistent writer so I have more doubts than certainties here, but I can not be totally pessimistic about a Selman episode.
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A Made Maggie. Although I adore Maggie, she has been used very often the last few years and I am frankly disappointed they refuse to produce her version of Boyhood, so I am looking at this episode with certain contempt despite this feeling will disappear before the episode airs... I guess.
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Bart the Cool Kid. Ryan Koh did a terrific job with his latter episode,
The Dad-Feelings Limited, but I am doubtful if it was an exceptionally good episode or if he actually improved as a writer so, I need more details for this one.
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Meat Is Murder. Another Grampa-centric story, this time it's written by Michael Price. Both tend to be average so I am not expecting much from this.
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Poorhouse Rock. You can not say so loosely that an episode penned by Tim Long will be a success and you can not discard an episode produced by Matt Selman just because of the writer, so this episode enters automatically in this category.
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Marge the Meanie. I am very happy Megan Amram is back (I quite liked her previous episodes), but kind of unsure because Jean is behind it. Jean said some years ago there was a third episode written by Megan, and I am wondering if they pushed it back to be a season finale for some special reason.
These could be good, even great, but I hear alarms sounding.
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The Star of Backstage. I don't like Broadway musicals and this episode will be essentially a Broadway musical, so I am concerned about this season's premiere. I don't hate them by default anymore (I used to do it when I watched the show dubbed because the songs sound awful) and my opinion in episodes like
SimsponcalifragilisticExpialaD'ohcious or
The President Wore Pearls has grown with the pass of time but still, it's not likely for me to genuinely like this episode.
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Bleeding Gums Murphy in the Sound of Music. Man, episodes centered on dead characters are a very recurrent thing now. And they haven't been that introspective and reflective as they should. Judging by the title, this one might be a mockumentary or a format-bender episode, which could be great, but I fear that it could have the same problems as
Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? and
Diary Queen.
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Girls Just Shauna Have Fun. Hard to be optimistic with an episode written by Jeff Westbrook starred by Shauna. But I am hopeful because Westbrook delivered one of the best episodes of the last season, because Matt Selman's name is attached to it, and because we are in an era of backstories and it could be great to discover why Shauna is like she is.
I already assumed these are not going to work.
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Treehouse of Horror XXXII. No way they can properly write five horror stories in 22 minutes, with all that means. It will be impossible for the segments to get introduction/conflict/climax/ending in an average of 4 minutes and 24 seconds per segment. Some segments may work but there will be a lot of filling It also changes a tradition of 32 years when nobody asked for it. I can't see it working at all.
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The Wayz We Were. Joel Cohen and Al Jean is not a team that is used to get good results, to be fair.
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Pretty Whittle Liar. Exactly what everyone asked after
Yokel Hero. Another episode about the Spucklers, goddamn it. Be ready for another festival of jokes against rednecks.