Anyone else really dislike When Flanders Failed?

Mister_Jacobs

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It's easily my least favorite episode from the classic era of the show. It's so contrived that everyone in Springfield just happens to be left-handed for the purposes of the plot, and the It's a Wonderful Life ending is so damn cornball and saccharine. It feels utterly uncharacteristic of The Simpsons. It's as if the writers of The Brady Bunch took over the show for this episode.
 
I don't really agree with you, the whole "its a wonderful life" ending doesn't hurt the episode too much, its more to represent that Homer feels bad for his actions earlier this episode, and the scene with Flanders and Homer crying and hugging is a very underrated emotional moment IMO.
 
I don't really agree with you, the whole "its a wonderful life" ending doesn't hurt the episode too much, its more to represent that Homer feels bad for his actions earlier this episode, and the scene with Flanders and Homer crying and hugging is a very underrated emotional moment IMO.

It felt very forced and over-the-top in this episode, as opposed to something like say Marge Be Not Proud where the emotion flowed very naturally. Like I said, the ending to this one felt like it was straight out of The Brady Bunch or something to me.
 
(with) tongue in cheek
phrase of tongue
1.
speaking or writing in an ironic or insincere way.
"one suspects that he is writing with tongue in cheek"
 
I don't know for sure bout the others, but Bart's always been a lefty.
chalkboard gags, scenes in classroom, Bart graffiti)

i always beleve the plot of a store for leftys is a shout out to Matt Groening
(Groening is left handed.)

ah well. I'm not a fan of Flanders eps in general. When Flanders Fail was just average for me.
 
Anyone else really love When Flanders Failed? When I was little I thought people would be big fans of the episode, and got baffled when I found out that many even disliked it.



I'm STILL baffled. It's one of the funniest and most touching episodes of season 3. Has gone vastly under the radar.
 
I have always hated When Flanders Failed. Much like you, It's always been my least favourite episode of the classic era. In fact, it may even rank in my bottom 50 worst Simpsons episodes. So mean-spirited, so cringey and lacking of humour. The plot is so unfocused and ridiculous. The whole thing leaves me feeling cold and indifferent.
 
I don't think When Flanders Failed is meanspirited at all. Homer is no worse than in Dead Putting Society, and it's just another case of jealousy. Homer had no idea Flanders depended so much on his store he would be rendered homeless if it failed. As soon as he realizes the consequences of his actions, he feels a stone going down in his throat. It's not like Co-Dependents' Day where Homer intentionally did something which he KNEW could have ruined Marge's life, drunk or not. He only wanted Flanders to have something less to brag about, not live on the streets.

Another difference between those episodes is that Homer actually does something to redeem himself. While in Co-Dependents' Day he just waited for Marge to crawl back to him (not to mention he did something more unforgivable), he felt so ashamed that he did something which not only put Flanders back in business, but resulted in him making more money than ever. The ending is not Brady Bunch esque (whatever the heck that means), it's a heartwarming ending which was earned since we rooted for Flanders and feel thankful that Homer did something actually nice for his neighbor.

I also disagree about the lack of humor. I laughed so hard at this episode, Homer's stubborn naivety made for some very funny one-liners, and the scene where he chokes on a hamburger is one of the greatest visual gags ever.

When Flanders Failed is a top 50 episode, not bottom 50.
 
It's really good though, and that scene with Homer and Flanders in the middle of the night outside his house is great. It's not teary-eyed kind of emotional, but still sweet.
 
Yeah, that's one of my favorite Homer/Flanders moments. Homer actually starts crying for how horrible he acted against Flanders. When is the last time we even saw him do that?
 
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Plus this joke is hilarious. Well, it's not really a joke, but the delivery is hilarious.
 
Just wanted to show the animation since it adds to it, making the 'joke' funnier. I just chose the second the shot begun from the second it ended.
 
The scene where Flanders and Homer are both crying is so fucking corny.

My usual reaction to it.....
02-12d-bartgag.gif
 
its about 10 times better than marge be not proud
 
the episode is actually good, so uh?? i mean, it's one of the most human episodes, which is usually when the show is at it's best. and the ending is obviously gonna be convenient for this situation because if it was realistic, flanders would be forced to leave and wouldn't be in the show anymore after that point. i much prefer the happier ending, don't you?
 
Marge Be Not Proud > When Flanders Failed

One problem I do have with this ep is how Homer managed to single-handedly make Flanders fail all because he told a few people that no Leftorium existed. Surely, people would have discovered the store anyway and Flanders would have been successful anyway. A little nit-pick I know
 
When Flanders Failed is so damn bad for season 3, it's incredible, but eh it's still a pretty goodass ep.
I really love its subplot btw.
 
Marge Be Not Proud is in my top ten, so...

I like When Flanders Failed but I'm not over the moon about it. It hits the hard extremes of bitterly cynical and sappily sentimental that Sam Simon episodes tend to do. It has a couple of jokes I really like ("Remember last month when I paid back that loan? Yeah, well now I need you to do a favor for me."), and I think it would have been better if it ended at Homer's toast instead of having everyone sing... but it doesn't ruin the episode for me.
 
I don't think "When Flanders Failed" is one of the worst episodes ever. However, I think it is the worst 3rd season episode.

I found it to be mean spirited in a bizarre way. The subplot with Bart ditching karate class was filler. The song at the end of the episode is terrible.

The only part of this episode that I thought was funny was Homer raising a big stink to Mr. Burns about all those apples in the vending machine and Mr. Burns reaction to Homer.

On a side note, the Leftorium is something that is rarely featured in later episodes.
 
The only part of this episode that I thought was funny was Homer raising a big stink to Mr. Burns about all those apples in the vending machine and Mr. Burns reaction to Homer.

Meh, even that I didn't like. I thought it felt out-of-character for Burns to suddenly be really sarcastic in that way as if he was the comic book guy.
 
On a side note, the Leftorium is something that is rarely featured in later episodes.

Apparently it wasn't mentioned from Seasons 4-7. It then gets the occasional mention/appearance from Season 8 to now. Sometimes I do forget it's what Ned does for a living though.
 
When Flanders Failed is a pretty good episode which I don't really have any real issues with. I don't think it's an fantastic episode or even one of the best that seaosn 3 has to offer, but it is still a good one overall with an good story, enjoyable (if pointless) subplot and nice humor. I can see how stuff like Homer being an gigantic jerk and the climax & ending can throw some off and it's not incredibly funny, that exciting or even very memorable, but to me it still completely works as an episode, very likely much due to the writing.
 
The feeling of the episode makes me want to have that same animation style to go to season fucking 11
I didn't really care for the episode.
 
I'm sure all the characters in The Simpsons have always been left-handed anyway; as has been said already, Matt Groening is left-handed so that probably has something to do with it.
 
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