Preview / speculation about the upcoming episodes of The Simpsons.

Szyslak100

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I have seen that previous years have opened threads that allowed the speculation of the episodes to be released, and I find it fun to play in the preview to see what we expect from the new episodes. Personally, I have been giving my forecasts since the beginning of season 29, and the truth is that the results do not reflect reality. I want to see how you are doing.
 
Bart's Not Dead
I am in favor of more women in the creative process, and that they are accredited as writers more frequently. But an opening with Stephanie Gillis does not give me so much hope. Well, she has given us good episodes, like Midgnith Towboy or Treehouse of Horror XXV. But many others have been stuck in mediocrity and, in fact, the last one is decidedly bad (Lisa with an 'S'). I hope that your return, after three years of absence, is enhanced and gives us something of quality.

The director, Bob Anderson, is one of the ones I like the least right now. I do not want to belittle someone who worked for 26 seasons on our show, and who has had direct involvement in jewelry such as Treehouse of Horror VI or Simpsorama. But I feel that it does not manage to give a seal of quality to the great majority of its works.

The promotion of the episode places too much emphasis on the many guest stars it will have (especially on Gal Gadot, who plays herself), which is not a good sign. In addition, we know that there will be several musical moments, which is never good. I hope, on the other hand, that the episode enjoys good criticism of religion and good characterizations. In addition, the promotional images manage to transmit good vibes. I hope that we explore, once again, the complicity that may exist between Homer and Bart.

Tentative note (I wasn't sure I did this but, to the devil, this is a simple game): 3/5, acceptable.
 
Heartbreak Hotel

Heartbreak Hotel is a promising episode. It has an interesting premise, promises parodies to other quality franchises and, in addition (and most importantly), is written and produced by Matt Selman, who has received help in the screenplay of Renee Ridgeley, his wife, in the script (which I celebrate, women should be taken into account in the process). Of course, all this makes my expectations so high. In addition, we must bear in mind that the episode was designed as the closing of season 29, so there is a plus of motivation in it.

The only thing I find bad in the preview, is that the focus of the episode is on the most worn formula that the show has offered us: the marital problems between Homer and Marge. I hope that Selman achieves a quality product with it, because since the 24th season (with Dangers on a Train) we do not have a really good one. There is a lot of information about the episode, so I can not say much more.

I hope, at least, a 4/5, just for the fact that Selman is the showrunner, who has 9 consecutive episodes reaching that record.
 
My Way or the Highway to Heaven

Probably, My Way or the Highway to Heaven will be another mediocre episode of the couple Dan Castellaneta & Deb Lacusta, with the imperceptible presence of Vince Waldron. With 7 episodes to his credit, the voice actor and his wife have never managed to transcend, having in his repertoire only two good episodes, such as Days of Wine and D'oh'ses and Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore. And they are good, nothing more. I'm not talking about genius or excellence, but scripts that do not stagnate in mediocrity, unlike others.

Again, there is little information about the episode. We do not know who the director is, which could give us another clue to the quality of it. If it's Rob Oliver, it would be an interesting plus of quality. There are also no promotional videos so far. Regarding the promotional images, I decide to keep my expectations very low. They do not seem to offer anything good. They make us think that this will be an anthological episode. Unfortunately, I do not expect quality or originality. I just want the background story (and the segment) to be coherent.

As for the couch gag crossover with Bob's Burger, I imagine it will be quality, and that will be the strongest point of the episode. Although I have to admit that I have never seen that series and I know very little about it, I suppose it will be enjoyable for the staunch fans of both shows and also for those who have never seen it, just like Rick & Morty was. About that series, I decided to see it behind the couch gag of Mathlete's Feat, and it was a wise decision. I'll decide whether to give Bob's Burger a shot when he sees this crossover, so I really want him to get my attention.

The tentative note is 2/5, although it covers all ranges of this. It can be so close to a terrible 1, as a surprising 3. We'll see...
 
Treehouse of Horror XXIX

Another Treehouse of Horror written by Joel H. Cohen. The scriptwriter who already wrote 10 segments, but who did not get any of them is remarkable, and also gave us certain slags such as Homerzilla, Dry Hard or Moefinger. Of course, expectations are very low in themselves because it is their contribution. I do not understand what is the motivation of Al Jean to choose him again and again for this task. It is obvious that this will not be what Halloween specials should be. At least, this time, the director will not be Bob Anderson or Steven Dean Moore. The task will fall to Matthew Faughnan, who has demonstrated skills only when he has worked with Matt Selman.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers is the movie that will parody the first segment. This has already been parodied in one of the comics, and it was done pretty well. Of course, that was in the times when The Simpsons did absolutely everything right. The truth, I find it interesting to see how they adapt all this premise to the series. As seen in the images and the promotional video, the satire on the use of cell phones will be exaggerated and not so realistic. I hope it's short and that it does not take up so much screen time, and that it goes straight to the action, which is what intrigues me most about the whole episode. I expect something acceptable from all this.

The second segment is another focused on Lisa, who has starred in each of the last four editions, including this one. From what I have read, it will be a story in which Lisa debates internally if she should and wants to kill her brother. I always wanted to see a segment of Halloween that stops to analyze the dark side of a character's mind, and Lisa is definitely the best option for it. I also believe that the voice action of Yeardley Smith will be positive, since I always believed that it is the one that best reflects the emotions of his character. It's your chance to show off, and I'm completely sure you'll take advantage of it. I encourage you to say that what you do in this episode may even be worth an Emmy, since Lisa is much more interesting when she is spontaneous and shows her feelings. And that's what the second segment promises.

However, after this we have the typical Cohen segment that is completely removed from the horror. Definitely, this segment has all the tickets to be the worst of the episode. And it's a shame, because I've also dreamed of always with a segment in which dinosaurs appear, but chose the easiest path (parody to Jurassic Park) and unrealistic (the elderly become dinosaurs) to execute it. I hope the opportunity is not wasted, although I do not think this will happen. Of course, I think the animation and stage work and characters have the perfect setting to show off.

Tentative notes:
Intrusion of the Pod-Y Snatchers: 3/5
Multiplisaty: 4/5
Geriatric Park: 2/5
TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXIX: 3/5 (that has serious chances to be a 2/5 if any segment rounded down)
Oh, and from the opening segment, I just hope it's not a bunch of easy jokes about Homer's gluttony and obesity. Please.
 
Baby You Can't Drive My Car

Another episode of Rob LaZebnik. Probably the most inoffensive writer of all. Reviewing my grades, I have given only 5/5 (The War of Art) which is certainly not perfect, and a 1/5 (Throw Grampa from the Dane) that is not so terrible either. It usually maintains a stable level, without highlighting for good or for bad. As the main characteristic of their contributions, I find that they all seem good ideas with several failures in their execution. And this episode I do not think is an exception, neither in the note nor in the reason of it.

According to [MENTION=24053]Brad Lascelle[/MENTION] the rotation of directors indicates that it will be the turn of Timothy Bailey, who has performed well throughout his brief history, particularly in his last two years of contributions (The Great Phatsby, Treehouse of Horror XXVIII and Homer is Where the Art isn't). There is the possibility that the work falls into the hands of Lance Kramer, who has a more disparate history, although he has known how to perform exceptional jobs. I think both are able to collaborate positively.

The premise indicates the arrival of a car company to Springfield, accompanied by a plot in which Homer loses / gets a new job. They see him? Good premise, bad execution. Promotional images have a certain quality that is appealing to me. I would like you to go back and explore the dynamics of Homer, Burns and Smithers, and I'm really interested to know what happened and what will happen to Homer. On the other hand, the promotional video of Animation Fox looks unrealistic and silly. Although, luckily, it only lasts ten seconds. I hope it's just a bad gag. As for Tracy Morgan's cameo, I hope he is not as forced as he was before.

I wait another 3/5. Although a little stronger than the previous ones. Wow, season 30 started really badly.
 
It's funny how perceptions of Season 30 skew differently between people dependent on whether they're happy episodes haven't been truly awful (this year's half-baked Cohen THOH installment comes the closest) versus those of us who are disappointed there hasn't been anything truly great or recommendable (there hasn't yet and I don't think this week will change that). Conversely, Season 29 delivered EIGHT episodes which received an average of 3.5/5 or higher on the NoHomers rating poll. And that doesn't even count the superior THOH installment which fell just outside of that bracket.

My expectations for this week (which I've posted over on Resetera) are much more subdued than yours given the litany of poor HD era efforts built entirely around technology advances ("let's do an episode about Uber", "let's do an episode about fracking", "let's do an episode about Google Glass", "let's do an episode about VR", "let's do an episode about microfinance", "let's do an episode about automation", "let's do an episode where Lisa codes her own self-aware AI", "let's do an episode where Lisa creates her own social network", "let's do an episode where Elon Musk builds a bunch of crap").

This week it's "let's do an episode about self-driving cars". This is the modern equivalent of Homer gets a new job... and hey, this week's ep features that trope as well. I'm frankly tired of it and virtually NONE of these episodes winds up any good. Maybe if the writers had interesting things to say about these technologies and their adoption it wouldn't be a bad route to go down... but invariably they latch onto the idea first and worry about coming up with any meaningful observations about them later.

Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised - but I'm not expecting to be. I have far higher expectations for next week. And then I expect the next two weeks to be a veritable dumpster fire until we get to the YABFs in December.
 
It's funny how perceptions of Season 30 skew differently between people dependent on whether they're happy episodes haven't been truly awful (this year's half-baked Cohen THOH installment comes the closest) versus those of us who are disappointed there hasn't been anything truly great or recommendable

The different perspectives on the start of the thirtieth season depend on what each viewer expects about the show. I prefer a season with 11 excellent episodes and 11 terrible, before one with 22 episodes in the middle on the road. I think The Simpsons have potential for more than what they are delivering, and simply because of that I think that season 30 did not start well.
Personally, I am satisfied with 6 or 7 good episodes per year. Last one we received 9. But the margin of error is shrinking this year. And the expectations for November are not good.
 
Best case scenario is that From Russia With Love winds up to expected Selman standards for episodes he doesn't write and the YABF production run kicks off solidly with Daddicus Finch (Jean) and 'Tis the 30th Season (Frink/Oliver). Would leave us with 3 solid episodes prior to the annual football / Oscars crawl. That's kind of imperative as the four episodes airing during that stretch don't sound especially promising.
 
From Russia Without Love

Generally, the first data we get from an episode is its title and its production code. "From Russia Without Love" sounded like another frustrating episode in which the Simpson family travels abroad for an absurd circumstance. I mean, my first impression was not good.

However, with the passage of time, we obtained the second data. The writer is Michael Ferris, who only made a contribution to the show, and that was surprisingly good. I mean Paths of Glory, possibly the best normal episode of the Jean era in recent years. In addition, investigating about him, I found out that he has an interesting history, being the the Game writer, of two post-classic films of Terminator, and of an episode of Married ... with Childrens. Definitely this is a point in favor for the preview and for the series, so I celebrate his return.

A week ago, we got the third data: the synopsis. Go that sounds good. Apparently, this episode will keep the same format as the previous one written by Ferris. He begins to briefly narrate one of the plots, which is surely the one that refers to the harshness of Bart's jokes, to give rise to a fact that is transcendental for the episode, which would be the joke of Bart a Moe, giving rise to to the exhaustive development of the main plot, that is, Bart's jokes, and the subplot that, I hope, is closely related to Moe. This not only sounds consistent. It also sounds interesting. The main role of Bart and Moe is always well received.

Then the assumptions began. The first is that the director would be Matthew Nastuk. Considering that Omine confirmed Polcino as director of the next episode, it is likely that Matthew is, in fact, in charge of this. He is not the best for me, but in his extensive career he has several notable works, such as Flanders' Ladder, the last of them. The second, and most important, is that Matt Selman would be the showrunner, which makes what sounded good, sounds great. If this is true, I put all my hopes of an excellent episode. And I hope you know, because Werking Mom and Krusty the Clown sound really bad. On the other hand, there are still no promotional images of this, although we have a very charming video

I'm going to venture, and I'll wait for 5/5, as long as it's an episode of Selman.
 
No guarantees that this will be a Selman ep. That's simply been assumed based on how the ep was announced.
It's not like he's been actively hyping this episode up on Twitter or anything.
 
Werking Mom

The most threatening episode is approaching in a long time. One that can reach the maximum level of "what the hell is this?" and establish new parameters of "The Simpsons no longer have ideas". What we know about Werking Mom is exasperating.

Let's start with the writer. Carolyn Omine. A woman who has talent, but who only shows it when she has a partner that exploits it to the fullest. (Read his co-writer, William Wright, or the showrunner that motivated her to write one of the best scripts in the show's entire history, Matt Selman). Solo (or, better said, accompanied by Mike Scully or Al Jean) has not been able to show her talent, and has left behind mediocre, bad and even terrible episodes, such as Treehouse of Horror. In this case, it is accompanied by the showrunner Jean, which is a bad sign, and the co-writer Robin Sayers, of whom I have no references and no good vibes.

I have problems with the director. Many problems. For me, Michael Polcino is, by far, the worst the show has had. He was in that role 31 times, and only did well in four (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star, Revenge is a Dish Best Service Three Times, Waverly Hills 9021-D'oh and Fland Canyon). The rest of their jobs are, usually bad. And the worst thing is that he does not raise his head and continues to participate actively in the show. His presence is almost synonymous with mediocrity.

The synopsis seems to have been taken from a fan-script done with little care. Especially the main plot. Really, I do not know where they're going with the whole drag queen thing. Seeing Marge and Homer like that is disturbing. Especially Homer. It makes me uncomfortable. And from now on, it seems to me that it will be totally out of character. I hope that at least the story, however horrible it may be, is not centered on the guest star. Not in the horrible character of Julio. On the other hand, I have a little hope in the subplot. I'm interested in what Lisa can do in that role. I want to see why he does good deeds and why he will stop doing them. I guess the minimum potential is there.

To conclude, I leave a hopeless statistic: see the quality of the seventh episode of the last seasons.
S27: Lisa with an 'S'
S28: Havana Wild Weekend.
S29: Singin' in the Lane.
All three have been 1/5 material.

For this week, I also expect an 1/5. And I think it will be able to fight for the worst of the season, probably against an effort by Koh, Long or Westbrook.
 
Daddicus Finch

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So I just finished watching To Kill a Mockingbird in order to prep for this Sunday's screening of Daddicus Finch and, based on the film, here are plot elements that Al Jean may elect to carry over into the episode...

- Opening narration by Yeardley Smith voicing a much-older version of Lisa reflecting on the events that are about to unfold in that night's ep. To Kill a Mockingbird opened this way with a much-older Scout doing the exact same thing.

- Lisa may start referring to her Dad by his actual name as a term of endearment. Oddly enough, Scout picked up this habit because her brother Jem referred to their father as "Atticus" from the day he first started talking so this is literally a behavioral tendency already mirrored by The Simpsons. It'll just come off as odd (if they go this route) seeing how Lisa is an established character who has only referred to Homer as "Homer" as a plot device or joke punchline.

- One element we've already seen in the preview for this episode that has been co-opted from the movie is Lisa wearing overalls while she watches TV with her father in the living room. Oddly enough, they might actually be watching To Kill a Mockingbird itself in this scene as Al Jean has already confirmed that live-action footage of the film will be in this episode.

Scout customarily wore denim overalls all the time as a tomboy and shunned the idea of wearing dresses or feminine attire. While the Scout depicted in the movie wore shoes, the Scout in Harper Lee's book preferred to go barefoot as Lisa is depicted here. She hung out only with boys and tended to roughhouse them quite a bit as somewhat of a crusader for moral justice so look for Lisa to do the same.

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- Another homage we've already seen from a promo shot for this ep is Lisa wearing a pork chop costume for a nighttime pageant being held at Springfield Elementary. Scout dressed up amusingly as a giant ham for her pageant and was forced to walk home wearing it after the fact as her change of clothes and shoes had been misplaced during the performance. This incident appears to have been recreated almost exactly.

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- The Homer-Atticus comparisons are going to be a bit more of a stretch. Homer is a far cry from a sophisticated lawyer - although he has served as a champion and hero for his daughter's ideals on more than one occasion. Homer is also not a widower; Marge is very much alive and well. And her involvement will likely serve as a break between the inspiration offered by this classic source material and its Simpsonized retelling.

- I'm not expecting much of the Boo Radley, courtroom drama or racial intolerance plots to carry over into this ep at all.

- I think we may see this scene and line echoed in the end as Lisa and Homer come to terms with Bart feeling neglected...

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It actually applied to Scout's reaction to quarreling with her new teacher at school about her upbringing in the above instance but it could work here in a different context as well.

- I would be shocked if we don't hear any of Elmer Bernstein's movie score at some point in this episode.

Finally, here are my episode preview comments from my S30 ResetEra OT...

Finally, we have an episode that I can be enthusiastic about that should (based on historic track records) deliver and be well worth seeking out this Sunday.

Al Jean's track record as a showrunner might be spotty but he remains one of the most accomplished and skilled writers on staff. While not making the Top 50 post-classic era list at the start of this thread, both of Al's solo writing efforts during the HD era (I Won't Be Home for Christmas and Mr. Lisa's Opus) have been exemplary and this will be his first Lisa-Homer centric episode since Season 12's HOMЯ which DID make the cut.

The often-fractured relationship between Homer and Lisa has proven to be the cornerstone of many stalwart episodes of the Classic era - kicking off in Season 2 with Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment and Lisa's Substitute - yet it has remained rather neglected in recent years at least as far as a central episode theme is concerned. This one also promises to broach new territory as it will highlight Bart's anxiety over the strength of this bond and his feelings of neglect over being the spurned son who is merely there to be derided and/or strangled.
 
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The premise is promising, and as you noted, Bart feeling envious is a new twist on a familiar theme we've seen in some of the best episodes in the series. I'm cautiously optimistic as it's a premise that could easily be flubbed by modern characterisation or the tendency to cram a joke in where one isn't necessary, but I'll try not to get ahead of myself in expecting the worst. I've felt generally positive about most of Season 30 so far - at least by modern standards, I certainly don't mean to say it's on par with the classics - so hopefully I'll end up feeling good about this one as well.
 
[MENTION=24053]Brad Lascelle[/MENTION] your observations are unreal, much respect to you!
 
The premise is promising, and as you noted, Bart feeling envious is a new twist on a familiar theme we've seen in some of the best episodes in the series. I'm cautiously optimistic as it's a premise that could easily be flubbed by modern characterisation or the tendency to cram a joke in where one isn't necessary, but I'll try not to get ahead of myself in expecting the worst. I've felt generally positive about most of Season 30 so far - at least by modern standards, I certainly don't mean to say it's on par with the classics - so hopefully I'll end up feeling good about this one as well.
Really the only angle I'm not entirely won over by yet is the whole lotto fever gimmick they've played up in the episode teaser. It's all fine and good to seek out inspiration from the classics but incorporating said inspiration into a Simpsons storyline in a way that makes sense is somewhat of a daunting task. We saw earlier this season how things can go south when you go over-the-top with it in Heartbreak Hotel's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf recreation. You've got to have subtle nods without betraying the spirit of your characters.

I can guess how certain scenes will play out and point out the references but I'm still entirely without a clue as to how the episode as a whole will come together and whether it will do so effectively and that's probably a good thing as it gives me something to look forward to tomorrow night. Mainly I just wanted to stamp out any confusion in advance one might have over why Lisa would be dressing up like a hillbilly or like a meat product.

I'm easily more optimistic about this ep's prospects than I have been about any episode since Gone Boy. And I've been especially harsh on my preview prognostications of late. So take that for what it's worth. Motivated Al Jean is almost always a good thing... and the evidence already on the table clearly shows he was motivated for this one.

The main thing that can't be easily conveyed in a teaser is acting quality. This is the second time in just over a month they've had Yeardley's Lisa pay tribute to an Oscar-nominated performance... or, at least, it would be if her THOH segment didn't track sideways into her doing a riff on James McAvoy's Kevin in Split.

We've had snippets of top-shelf acting performances in I Won't Be Home for Christmas and Mr. Lisa's Opus and I want to have the same emotional connection here but on a bigger level. I'm not asking for Simpsons Season 2-calibre acting chops but I want to be moved by a voice performance in a similar way and I think both Al Jean and this crew of voice talent are capable of delivering on it and giving us a Homer-Lisa episode (without a Lego gimmick or a Halloween theme) that we can hold up to the classics from 20+ years ago.
 
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Very good job done with the comparison analysis, [MENTION=24053]Brad Lascelle[/MENTION].

As for me, I've seen 'To Kill A Mockbird' a while back (maybe a year or so, I think; real good film, btw) so there oughta be a bunch of references in the episode that I will get. Also, I have to wonder how much they will reference that story in this, though; the Homer-Lisa plot does come off as kind of a whole plot reference judging by the promo pics or if it will be just a few scenes.

Either way, with the premise of both the main and the subplot it does seem like it can be a pretty good episode.
 
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One last element about tonight's episode that I haven't tackled that I believe merits some discussion is how meta this episode is likely to be with regards to its source material.

We've had episodes pay tribute to classic movies and plays before - Citizen Kane and A Streetcar Named Desire being two perennial examples - but tonight's episode is different in that the characters are going to have an awareness of what they're referencing. Homer is shown reading To Kill a Mockingbird to Lisa in her bedroom. They're both shown watching the movie adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird on television. Lisa is shown dressing up like Scout. The play incident is tricky because Lisa is clearly upset and yet if she has familiarity with Mockingbird, she should have seen this outcome coming.

So my thought on this in order to have everything make sense is that the play comes first. Lisa gets stuck walking home dressed like a giant pork chop. Homer remarks how this incident reminds him of Mockingbird. Lisa, intrigued, bonds with her father over both the book and the movie. This subsequently fuels Bart's feelings of neglect and jealousy and this serves as the pre-eminent crisis for the episode to resolve (which falls in line with the plot synopsis).

As for how the lottery factors into things... well, I still have no clue about that.
 
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The Winter of Our Monetized Content
Another season, another attempt to give life to this thread. Season 31 starts with... wait, a Ryan Koh episode? Ugh, that can be hard. He wrote Krusty the Clown last year, which was a pretty enjoyable episode, but that was showrunned by Matt Selman. Together Al Jean, he has written two episodes, and both are in our Bottom50 Consensous. So, why I should have hope with this one?

Well, I am optimist with the plot. Not to be great, but it shouldn't be horrible. Last season's Baby You Can't Drive My Car and E My Sports did a good job about new technologies. The entry of Bart in Youtube (or Mytube) is something I was waiting for since some years ago. And I think they could do something interesting with Homer together him. There will be conflicts about the channel's domain? About the content? Against MyTube? Apparentely, according to the promotional video, Homer will use the space for comment random things, meanwhile Bart will take advantage for play pranks against his father. If that's the case, I am waiting for Bart's role in the story. His joker facet is one of my favorites, and this is an unbetterable oportunity to explore it. Also, MyTube will be the focus of the satire or just a tool to tell a recycled story? Well, Youtube is a complex universe, and they can be whatever they want in their first plot rounded it. There's a one-time character in two promotional images who probably will be the nexus with MyTube and the satire of how it works. I wait he won't take much time of the episode; because I'd like to see the dynamic between Homer and Bart. It's a delicate oportunity to explore a good story with a interesting parody, but I doubt that they could do it.

The subplot is a sign that they couldn't (or didn't want to) make an entire episode about Youtube. Frankly, I don't see many potential here. Dad Behavior and Singin' in the Lane had a subplot, and both were brief and insignificant, with a minimun link with the main plot. In terms of quality, both were pretty terrible. The potential is totally in A-plot. But, who knows, maybe the execution make of the B-plot better. I am sure this won't be worse than the one with Grampa believing he would be father again or the other in which Bart is servant of billionaires. But also I don't think it could be more than forgettable.

I wait a 2/5 for this episode. I will be satisfied if the main plot is just ok. But hey, I have a bit hope here, and maybe Ryan Koh shows us he learned how write a Simpsons episode. But I prefer keep low my expectations.

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In a way, the synopsis feels a little odd. Like the A plot could be workable as a short B plot but the actual B plot feels like it'd need more room to breathe to be much good. The B plot is meant for some kind of commentary on for-profit prison systems but given a little expansion could be something that'd comment on criticisms of prisons/law enforcement in general, and the school isn't a bad setting for that. For instance one could have Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney & possibly Francine being appointed hall monitors/given authority to dole out detentions and I dunno, a war on candy or something and their appointment leads to a lot of policies and profiling that disproportionately targets nerds and other popular bullying victims while cooler kids, their friends and celebrities (like Bart at the time) can get away with nearly anything.

But with just being a B plot, it'll probably be very barebones.
 
Going just by the description and the promo pics, 'The Winter Of Our Monetized Content' comes off as a middle of the road, mediocre 3/5 episode to me and nothing really outright bad, but we'll see.
 
Go Big or Go Homer
It's the moment for the first Matt Selman's contribution, I guess. Because there's nothing more than speculations about who will be the showrunner of this one. Anyway. This could be the first time in which John Frink is the head writer with Selman as executive producer. A couple that should be succesful. The callback to The Town in one promotional is exciting for me for obvious reasons. And he recently retweeted a image of the episode, so...

John Frink had an awesome performance in season 29, one of the best seasons for a writer in a long time. One of the few acceptable Treehouse of Horror in the HD era, the Emmy-nominated Gone Boy, and the surprisingly good Left Behind (teleplay with Joel Cohen) were his latter efforts. And now he's back after a season without contributions. Frink is a writer and producer since many time ago and is one of the most prolific among them. He have had serious ups and downs. In seasons 20 to 22 did a great job, but he can't repeat it until season 29. So, it's question to see if he's still on the rise or if his good level started and finished in season 29. Matt Selman is characterized for potentiate his coworkers, so I am really expecting Frink will be able to be still on top form.

I am optimistic about how they will manage Mike's character. I want to see how they will mock about millenials. Matt Selman already have done an episode about hipsters, but this is an unexplored terrain for him. I haven't got idea who is Michael Rappaport (the guest star who will interpreted Mike). And as to Fat Tony and Springfield Mafia, they will be involve in the episode. That's always a good sign, because they often have done a good use of those characters. I hope to see more interactions between Fat Tony and Louie, they compose one of my favorite dynamics of the show. I wonder about Homer's role here. Why he was demoted, why he'll have problems with the mafia again, how will be his relationship with Mike. There's no much information about that. In two promotional images seem that Marge and the kids are angry with Homer for some reason. Maybe he put too much attention to Mike? I don't know. It's an enigma so far. If I had to risk what will happen between they, I'd say Mike will see Homer as a idol for his experience, and Homer will see Mike as a guide to do things that millenials do. I mean, I think it will be a reciprocal relationship in which none will come out well (although there will be affect between they when the moment of the farewell come on)

On a side note, the animation looks wonderful in the scene where the family under the snow. Is Rob Oliver the animator of this episode? Probably so.

I was waiting for The Fat Blue Line more than this one. But actually I am more enthusiastic with this one. For Selman, especially. I wait a 4/5.
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The synopsis for Go Big or Go Homer sounded bland and forgettable at first, but you're quite right that Frink had a good run in season 29 and with Selman possibly running the episode, we could be in for a treat. Who knows. I think Selman was very hit-and-miss in season 30 so we'll see.
 
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The synopsis for Go Big or Go Homer sounded bland and forgettable at first, but you're quite right that Frink had a good run in season 29 and with Selman possibly running the episode, we could be in for a treat. Who knows. I think Selman was very hit-and-miss in season 30 so we'll see.
Yeah, it sound as the Penny-Wiseguys remake, and that don't sound good. With my first impressions I'd say The Fat Blue Line would be the better one. But with Matt Selman at the middle I am more optimistic with Go Big or Go Homer. Also, I was waiting for a Frink/Selman episode since I knew that Selman is a showrunner.
 
I have to say that the plot of 'Go Big Or Go Homer' doesn't sound like anything all too exciting or interesting to me, but then again it's a Selman episode which could change that.
 
The synopsis for Go Big or Go Homer sounded bland and forgettable at first, but you're quite right that Frink had a good run in season 29 and with Selman possibly running the episode, we could be in for a treat. Who knows. I think Selman was very hit-and-miss in season 30 so we'll see.
Selman has been routinely hit or miss for his own showrun scripts. He's delivered two great episodes (Sky Police, There Will Be Buds), two decent episodes (The Food Wife, The Day the Earth Stood Cool) and 5 mediocre efforts.

But his track record show-running other people continues to largely be exemplary... giving us the best HD era scripts from Vebber (The Book Job), Warburton (A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Will Never Do Again), LaZebnik (The War of Art), Westbrook (The Wreck of the Relationship), Garza (Opposites A-Frack), Cohen (Cue Detective), Omine (Halloween of Horror), Long (Springfield Splendor), the late Kevin Curran (Homer Is Where the Art Isn't), Koh (Krusty the Clown), Amram (Bart vs. Itchy & Scratchy), one of the best from Burns (Steal This Episode) and his semi-annual solid ep from Kelley (Brick Like Me, The Marge-ian Chronicles). He's had the occasional dud showrunning someone else but they've been largely few and far between.
 
After a Fat Tony episode, season 31 continues with... a Fat Tony episode. Well, they should manage better this type of affairs. Last season we had two trilogy episodes in a row (My Way or the Highway to Heaven / Treehouse of Horror XXIX) and now the same happened with these ones. I say between Go Big or Go Homer and The Fat Blue Line, we'll got a great episode and an average one. Apparentely, according to some reviews, the one written by Frink was bad (I haven't got the chance to watch it yet) so, my logical should say me this one should to be the good one...

The Fat Blue Line is written by Bill Odenkirk. I think he only have had two outstanding contributions over his 14 efforts: the recent Forgive and Regret, and season 18's The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer, which, as the one that belong us, is an episode centered in Joe Mantegna's character; and it was completely funny and it developed a history for the recurring guest character, becoming in one of my many favorites episode of the mafia. Before that one, he wrote The Seven-Beer Snitch. A below-average episode for Fat Tony's standards. So, his record shows he's not a high or down guarantee.

Bill Odenkirk's brother, the awesome actor Bob Odenkirk, will have a guest appearence. I thought he was interpret his fantastic character of Breaking Bad, Saul Goodman, but this is not what will happen, and I am frankly a bit dissapointed for that. Instead, they created a new character for him, also a lawyer, whose principal grace don't seem too funny: his character talks slowly. With the trend of Simpsons' writer of extend the gags more than the neccesary, it could be a complete waste of time. An advantage: it surely will help me to learn the pronunciation of some English's words. But I don't think it could be useless for the episode. On the other hand, I failed at the show. I haven't watched any episode of Better Call Saul series, so I can't speculate and I am going to lose some references surely. I'm worried the presence of a fantastic guest star like Bob could be throwed away, but I am optimistic, if they don't extend his monologues. There will be an appearence of Jason Momoa too. I am sure he will have a few lines at the start but his appearence will be forgettable.

The premise is striking. The role of Chief Wiggum could be a highlight of the episode. It was pleasent to see him as a competent cop in Pranksta Rap, and I always wish for another episode like that. Also, if there is a mystery of who was the pickpocket, could be funny to follow the clues at the par of Wiggum. A Wiggum/Fat Tony/Homer episode can't be bad. Can't it, right? Oh, and I'm not a Queen's fan. But I think the couch gag could be nice. That concert is historic. But could adapt it at the Simpsons universe? Hard to imagine. We'll see.

Well, since I thought this would be the not as good Fat Tony's episode of the season, I was thinking in a 3/5 range. But after the apparentely failure of Go Big or Go Homer, and since nothing here sound bad, I'd say this will be actually a 4/5
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Since we don't have enough information for the second segment of Treehouse of Horror XXX (it not even appeared in the preview clip) and since I want to rewatch The Shape of Water before write a preview about the segment that will parody it, I'm going to share my extenseive preview for Stranger Things' parody and then, closer to the airdate of the episode, I'll write the second part of my preview with the second and third segment, the opening sequence and my general perspectives about the episode. So...

DANGER THINGS
The first segment (according to the order established in FutonCritic's premise) will be Danger Things, a parody of Stranger Things. For first time since I read something about an episode before it's airdate (around the middle of season 27), I'm a declarate obsessive fan of the show will be parodied. So, this will be the most exhaustive preview I have ever done. I am usually worried that their parodies could be enjoyable for Simpsons fans principally, but in this special case for me, I expect a good adaptation, and then a good segment. Stranger Things is made up for 25 episodes of aproximatelly 50 minutes eachone, and Burns have 7 minutes to build a parody. And this is the reason for what I wait a simple story.

I think everything could work if they take the estructure of the first season of Stranger Things. I think it will start with a fast scene of the kids playing in Bart's treehouse, and inmediatelly Milhouse dissappears. Then, Luann discovers what happened (probably with Gorgory, maybe with Marge) thanks to Milhouse messages through the lights, meanwhile the kids do their work and reachs the truth thanks to Martin's deductions and Lisa's knowledges and powers. Frink is the responsable of the aperture of the portal with the upside-down. And I suppose Lisa will close the gate thanks to her powers as Eleven did in season 2. In the middle of the story, we could watch how Lisa get her powers, a scene in which the kids fights against a demorgogon, Lisa locating Milhouse through her telepathy, and obviously the rescate of the boy handled by Luann.

Obviously, Stranger Things has other characters, other antagonist, other stories and many explanations that I'm ignoring and they obviously will skip for the lack of time. So maybe we see others things that I'm mot talking about. Nancy and Jonathan are really important in the series, for example. But I doubt they could include them.

There are some discrepances between Stranger Things cast and The Simpsons' one
1. Eleven (Lisa) and Michael (Bart) aren't brothers. Instead, they are couple (and that's embarassing)
2. Hopper (the police) is a competent police, but Chief Wiggum isn't.
3. Homer is looked as a member of the lab in the poster but as Michael (Bart)'s father in a promotional image.
And how could they solutionated that discrepances?
1. Confronting their relationship with other perspective. They could be kind between they but not being a couple.
2. Meh, I wouldn't have a problem with useless Wiggum (in fact, he had that role in the previous episode)
3. I don't know, I don't understand what role will Homer to have.

Another things you should know before watch the segment and I think could affect the development of the segment:
• As we learnt in I'm Dancing as Fat as I Can, the story is set in 80's. So, that's the reason because the kids plays old games in the promotional images. I hope they use any song of that epoch if they find the propitious time.
• Stranger Things has many screamers, so don't worry if The Simpsons use the same style.
• The BSO of Stranger Things is a key of the succes of the series, so Chris Ledesma and Hans Zimmer have to live up to it.
• The boys of Stranger Things are always riding a bike, and The Simpsons are going to use that element.

I'm not only waiting for a 5/5 in this segment. Also, if it isn't my favorite since at least season 22 (not neccesareiy the best) I will be dissapointed.
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Good pre-airing speculative analysis for the 'Danger Things' segment. It's definitely gonna be a truncated, simplified version of 'Stranger Things' that takes a lot of creative liberties (some pretty odd like you say) considering the amount of stuff and characters the original show encompasses (some of which understandably has to get cut here) but it could still turn out good if they don't overdo it by trying to force in as many references in there as possible and by so turn it into a mess.
 
TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXX (second part)

Finally, the second most anticipated episode of the season for me, besides Thanksgiving of Horror. After 16 years being one of the best writers of the staff or, being honest, the best, J. Stewart Burns get the oportunity to write a Halloween special. He's a writer who have demonstrated to know how to write a semi-scary episode in his two last scripts, Dogtown and Flanders' Ladder, which some people called "an extended segment of Treehouse of Horror". Now, he finally will be able to show us what he can do in this kind of episodes. His record in format-bender episodes is amazing: flasbacks The Way We Weren't and Fland Canyon, future Holidays of Future Passed, crossover Simpsorama, the dreamed story Flanders' Ladder and the recap of Homer's life, Eternal Moonshine of the Simpsons Mind. And just one failure among them: Days of Future Future. In an era where Treehouse of Horror are generally a dissapointment, I'm glad to see one written by who is, in my opinion, the most qualified and talente in the staff.

OPENING SEGMENT
The opening segment will be starring by a demon Maggie, as happened in the first segment of season 29's special. Should do I be angry for that recycling? Maybe. But what can I say? I love when Maggie is a protagonist and I can't do an objection against that. I'd hope it be short and thus reserve time for the segments. But we've watched different scenes of this in promotional images, in Matt Selman's Twitter and in the clip released in Youtube, so, I doubt it will be as shorter as an opening should be. According to what I read about The Omen, is a terrific and terrorific movie able to be parodied in a segment, but well, they are going to use it in an opening. I'm glad to know they will be a satirical comment against Disney, insinuating they are the demon. The defiance is always welcome in this show.

HEAVEN SWIPES RIGHT
So, this segment isn't either an original story. It's a parody, to the apparently not-so-popular Heaven Can Wait. It managed an interesting concept as is the life after die, in a fresh way: the deceased occupies bodies of others springfieldians when they die before the correct deate. It could be a good opportunity to give a bit of protagonism to secondary characters in a kind of episode that is usually accapared by The Simpsons Family. We saw Homer backing in Mr. Teenie's body in the poster, so I think we'll got some assured laughs here. This could be a scaring concept if they find the correct way to tell the story, so I'm pretry optimistic with this segment too. I am anxious about how this story will be developed, since we have got just very little information about this one, and it generates so many questions, like Homer died and how the story will be developed.

This can be easily a 4/5 but, who knows.

WHEN HAIRY MET SLIMY
I'd say this one have all the tickets to be the weakest segment of the episode, although it already started well with this funny title. I find some pros in the potential of this segment: it will explore an inedit new perspective of a repetitive thematic as is Selma's loneliness and her passing loves; it will be focused in a Rigel 7's alien (we haven't got one of them since the awful XXII edition), and this could be perturbing, in the good sense of the word. The cons: I don't think The Shape of Water is the best choice for make a parody, since it isn't a terrorific movie but it's a fantasy -even romantic- one. It could be good if the story takes the way of the few moments of suspense the movie have had, but it could be awful if it is just a love story that involves Kang. And it could be even worse if they include a parody of the musical moment from The Shape of Water. Please, don't do it. I'd say Mr. Burns will be the antagonist of the story, playing the role of Richard Strickland.

I can't imagine this one getting a higher rating than a 2/5. If I keep more expectatives is just because the writer is Burns.


So, since I don't give a rating for a Treehouse of Horror for a strick averages of the segments, I have hope for a 5/5, if Danger Things is as good as I expect, the opening accomplish with the expectatives, if the objective of the segments is generate terror and not do flat parodies. But when in doubt, I'm going with a 4/5
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