Guilty pleasures

Wile E. the Brain

Wile E. the Brain

Enemy (Name your own)
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I don't know if such a thread was already created, and if it was, I apologize, but I thought I would be an interesting thing to discuss. Now I think we pretty much all agree that the modern seasons don't hold a candle to what many of us call the "classic era". But what is interesting about both eras is that there are episodes where pretty much everyone agree that they're great, or, on the contrary, terrible. But I also believe most of us have an episode that we consider a guilty pleasure. These episodes that are infamous but that you can't help but enjoy for personal reasons, even though you get why they're hated, and in fact, there are things in it you should normally hate, but somehow you don't.

At first I was going to say Simpson Safari, since I unironically like this episode quite a lot, but while I do get why many people don't like it as much as I do, I still don't get why it's considered that horrible of an episode. So I'd go with The Frying Game. It's one of my favorite episodes of season 13 and somehow I don't really know how to explain why. The story goes all over the place and it's completely wacky at times, and of course there's the ending, but I kinda like the story overall, I like what it does with the characters (even though it's a "all for nothing" part, Homer does something genuinely nice by saving Marge from the electric chair), and yeah, I found the whole episode very funny, when I accept it's kind of a new formula the show seemingly wanted to embrace at the time.

So, which episodes do you guys consider guilty pleasures of yours ?
 
ManuelMaiden95 said:
How I spent My Strummer Vacation is pure Scully nonsense but I find bits of it really funny.
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That one's awesome. Love Lenny Kravitz in that episode, because they actually make him the butt of a joke instead of kissing up to him. Tom Petty, one of my all time favorite musicians, is good in there as well. Some of the best use of guest stars in The Simpsons.
 
The Abominable Dr. Lenny said:
I have no guilty pleasures though. I enjoy what I enjoy and I'm not ashamed of it.
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So do I. When I call it "guilty pleasure", it's not like I'm actually ashamed of what I like, and I think nobody should. It's just the usual term to describe what I'm referring to in this case.

I enjoy A Tale of Two Springfields and How I Spent My Strummer Vacation as well. I like the satire behind the former, and I like how the latter use the guest stars, exceptionally.

[MENTION=86919]Trab Pu Kcip[/MENTION], well it looks like I accidentally missed the original thread. Well, if you think I have to erase this one then, say it and I will.
 
I actually like Mypods and Boomsticks and I cannot explain why. I can see the dumb stereotypes, the awful parodies, the stupid behavior of Homer. But this is an episode I am always disposed to rewatch.
 
Wile E. the Brain said:
I guess so. But I don't really know who's an admin here, except Brad Lascelle I believe.
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There's eric, Kupomog and Dark Homer who are admins, hutz (who's invisible), Shawnbadia and Smiling Politely are Global Mods (Dobbie is also active, but he's rarely on here), and Brad Lascelle and Tomacco as forum mods (there's also Captian Squid, but he's not been on here for a month).
 
'Tennis The Menace', probably. A ridiculous and cartoonish episode with deluded Jerkass Homer in full swing, but I still find it entertaining much as it really makes me laugh with all that silly stuff and many of the jokes.
 
I think Wedding for Disaster is an incredibly flawed episode with a Marge characterization I hate, yet Patty and Selma are so over-the-top evil and ridiculous, I can’t help but laugh at the episode.
 
I still really enjoy Homer Simpson in Kidney Trouble for some reason, even though Homer is unbelievably (and uncharacteristically) selfish. I also like season 15 as a whole, although it's a season that doesn't seem to get much love from the fans.
 
I love Grift of the Magi. Funzo is great and Gary Coleman is great.
 
Sinister Burns said:
I still really enjoy Homer Simpson in Kidney Trouble for some reason, even though Homer is unbelievably (and uncharacteristically) selfish. I also like season 15 as a whole, although it's a season that doesn't seem to get much love from the fans.
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While we're at it, I also enjoy this episode and, to be fair (now we're talking about an unpopular opinion), I never found Homer that much of a jerkass here. Sure, he left his father on his deathbed but I get the idea behind it. He's scared, mostly because his friends at Moe's talk to him about the risks in an exaggerated way (eventually dying during the operation), while he was totally willing to give his kidney at first. I think it's a way to depict people that are scared to donate organs for health reasons. And he's completely remorseful and feels guilty for running away so it's not like it was a purposely mean gesture, he was scared for his own life because of what people said about the operation (the hospital included, with the paper Homer has to sign) and that's not much of an excuse to abandon his father on his deathbed, sure, but that's at least understandable. Though I get that he kinda crossed the line at the end by running away a second time, for comedy reasons (but the ending makes me laugh personally), same goes to the fact it all started because Homer refused to stop to let Abe use the bathroom.
 
If there's one thing that I can't understand in Kidney Trouble is Homer running away. He wanted the operation in 'Triple Bypass', but he needed it. If he can handle an operation in that episode, then why couldn't he handle the operation in Kidney Trouble? It could be that he's selfish, or he thinks it's unnecessary, but other than that, I don't get it.

(I'll admit, the ending is funny.
 
I still think 'Kidney Trouble' is an bad episode and rightfully considered one of the worst of the Scully era, but it is not without its moments. I like the western town stuff in the first act decently well and Homer's apparent obsession with F. Murray Abraham is pretty funny, for instance.

Also, I do technically understand Homer running away the first time (due to his friends really scaring him with their talk), but not so much him doing so the second time.
 
Sandurt said:
People call season 15 the best "post-classic" season. Most of the time.
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Well, compared to the classic era I mean. My experience (maybe opinions have shifted in the last few years) has been that many people would consider the best post-classic season to be a distant second to the classic era as a whole, while I would consider 15 to be roughly on par with one of the weaker classic seasons (9 for example).
 
Sandurt said:
People call season 15 the best "post-classic" season. Most of the time.
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Season 15 is good, with episodes like The Wandering Juvie, The Way We Wasn't, Simple Simpson and I, Dohbot, but has duds like Co Dependents Day, My Big Fat Geek Wedding and other forgettable episodes. I personally like this season.
 
Co Dependents Day isn't forgettable, it's painfully memorable. I saw somebody on one of those media websites rank season 15 as the 5th best season.
 
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