Rate and Review: “The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants” (PABF01)

How would you rate this episode?


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Oh that's raspberry!

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November 27, 2011: Homer becomes an account executive at the plant, but soon begins to neglect his family. Meanwhile, Bart begins reading classic novels. Discuss!
 
Rehash of Old Stories

Terrible. This episode was not original but that isn't exactly new with regard to the Simpsons. I felt like I watched it before. Homer and Marge facing marital problems has gotten so old that I did not have any interest to care. The only reason I gave this episode a 2 is because of the Bart and Lisa story but that was only a minor subplot. I feel that Al Jean is starting to lose interest in the show and is letting Matt Selman take the helm. I hope next week's episode is a lot better. I liked the Krusty introduction but I only wish he had more involvement in the rest of the episode. Again with no opening is troubling but I don't really care about that right now.
2 out of 5. D+.
 
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honestly don't know how to grade this.

+Bart having to read to the bullies

+Dolph naming his fists

-Burns saying he survived the Titanic (and the way he did it)

+The guy saying that if Homer's mom was a secretary, he probably would be Homer's dad

nothing else really stood out. i'm torn between a 2/5 or 3/5. I was gonna go with 3/5 for the first couple acts but somewhere along the line i just lost interest. so probably 2/5.
 
Not offensive, but not great. Pretty middle of the road 'sode. Felt like Simpson and Delilah minus a good hook. Lots of obvious lessons: family comes first, being an exec is hard. I would have actually preferred if Homer discovered some terrible secret about the Power Plant or some goofy situation than what we got.

Still, positives:

• Krusty stuff was great, love seeing new horrible products and Krusty's show's intro
• Bart's subplot
• Seeing the SNPP featured prominently in an episode
• Drawing smiles on Lenny and Carl, and Carl being impressed
• The name of the exec offices
• The views of Springfield from the office windows
• The many gears in Homer's head, Flanders gear getting the boot
• Family vacation clothing change reminded me of Call of the Simpsons
• The Mad Men fan in me liked the homages, especially the lawnmower bit. Just wish it was set in the power plant and not the Mad Men offices

3/5
 
Really liked this one. The Mad Men reference with Smithers probably made for the biggest laugh of the night. I don't think I caught any more Mad Men references, but there probably were. Both stories were far from original but they played out nicely. The guest did an alright job given his character but wasn't really fantastic or anything. The bullies' critique of Bart's reading(that entire scene really) was also really fun to watch.

Opening act was easily the weakest part, all the stuff with Krusty was boring with two notable exceptions: his freakout when Mr. Teeny tried giving him his own liquor(great line reading), and Kirk with the kids and Sideshow Mel. Other stuff I enjoyed included Quimby's amazement at a sports analogy, Moe falling asleep waiting for Homer, Maggie re-enacting Co-Dependent's Day, Homer commenting on how he should really look at the picture of his family longer, and Homer drawing the faces on Lenny and Carl. There were actually several other nice little gags in this episode, some of which I've already forgotten but then that's what re-watches will be for I suppose. Again by Season 23 standards, but I'd still feel comfortable giving this a 4/5.

PS: I'm beginning to wonder if we'll ever get a full opening again...
 
Not great, not terrible.

"He Hasn't exactly set the world on fire as safety inspector, although he has come close a couple times" is about the only memorable line. I did like Burn's choice of Karaoke, though. There was very little to inspire comment in this episode. Overall, entirely forgettable, and mediocre. At least it's better than "Replaceable You" and "The Falcon and the D'ohman."
 
1/5

This episode was too sleep inducing. Many conversations with the characters linger aimlessly. The party at the Simpsons house was dumb and why wasn't Lisa in the basement with Bart and Milhouse. Homer's reliance on alcohol was ridiculous and Bart's subplot was just two scenes and screeches to a halt. Worst joke was Mr. Burns saying that he was a Titanic survivor when in reality, the last titanic survivor died over two years ago.
 
Horrible, horrible episode. Just another Al Jean ADD Adventure, featuring an incomprehensible plot and a stupid, unbelievable subplot. Even after it's over, I am still trying to understand what this episode is about. The very idea that a low-level worker like Homer could throw a great party that would earn him a promotion that quickly was just unbelievable, as was Bart's subplot. They both reminded me of Bart's Roosevelt obsession from earlier this season. The wacky adventure just jumped from one point to another with one shitty joke after another rearing it's head in. Just plain abysmal. Worst of the season so far. F
 
I thought it was pretty good. It actually had some pretty good jokes in it. 3.5/5
 
meh.. nothing made me laugh throughout the whole episode. I felt like the plot had a lot of potential if the writers could have put more effort into it. Nothing memorable..Watching this episode makes me feel like the writers are just writing episodes for the sake of it...no fun in the process, nothing clever..2/5...
 
Really liked this one. The Mad Men reference with Smithers probably made for the biggest laugh of the night. I don't think I caught any more Mad Men references, but there probably were.
Are you kidding me? The entire episode was a Mad Men reference / parody! (or rip-off... however you want to look at it.) Homer's office? Marge meeting at the door with a cocktail? John Slattery guest starring as a dead-on parody of Roger Sterling? The constant drinking and smoking? You really haven't seen much of Mad Men, have you? I didn't catch it, but it wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Burns was just wearing socks while he was in the "Executive Building." If he did have shoes on, I don't see why they didn't just go all the way with the joke and make him Bert Cooper.

Also, second parody episode in a row this season. (Not to mention the second Mad Men parody of the series.) The horrible Ocean's Eleven thing last week was bad enough... but two freaking parody episodes in a row? Now they're just insulting me. This show is just getting more and more lazy as this season drones on.

However, as a Mad Men fan... it made it less painful to watch, and it had better jokes than last weeks episode. Still gets the same rating as last week. 2/5 for some funny jokes, but still a lazy attempt at an episode. In a word: "meh."

I said "MEH."
 
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After last week's good episode, I had high hopes for this one but how disappointed I was. You know what the main problem I had with this was? TOO DAMN SLICK! Everything about this episode: animation, the "jokes", the way Homer and his other alcoholic executive douche acted, it was just slick but NOT ONCE did I laugh throughout this episode. The plot was basically about Homer being an executive and err drinking and neglecting his family...conclusion? He decides to jump on a raft that his family are on, rather than the one that has a bunch of people he hardly knows and Mr Burns, shocka! Seriously disliked this episode, 1/5, 2/10 and a F if there ever was one.
 
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Big long-winded review of the episode on my blog, but here are my thoughts in a nutshell:

I thought the Mad Men parody didn't really work with Homer as the lead character. There is a certain comedia dell'arte kind of thing with The Simpsons these days - it's part of why the "three stories" sorts of episodes work, but you can only stretch the characters so far. Homer is not Don Draper, and rather than doing a lighthearted parody of Mad Men, they did a grim, cynical episode of The Simpsons. It just didn't work. Maybe if I got more of the references I would have appreciated it more, but I just thought it was ill-fitting.

That said, I loved the subplot! Should have been its own episode!
 
I don't know about anyone else but the subplot was just as bad. I mean Lisa helping Bart read and then he reads a 'girl book' to the bullies? Far too wacky to even be considered funny and it wasn't. It was so rushed also, that it wasn't even really a subplot, just a filler or something.
 
I don't know about anyone else but the subplot was just as bad. I mean Lisa helping Bart read and then he reads a 'girl book' to the bullies? Far too wacky to even be considered funny and it wasn't. It was so rushed also, that it wasn't even really a subplot, just a filler or something.

I agree. Like I said before, the subplot felt just like Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts.
 
Are you kidding me? The entire episode was a Mad Men reference / parody! (or rip-off... however you want to look at it.) Homer's office? Marge's outfits? John Slattery guest starring as a dead-on parody of Roger Sterling? The constant drinking and smoking? You really haven't seen much of Mad Men, have you? I didn't catch it, but it wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Burns was just wearing socks while he was in the "Executive Building." If he did have shoes on, I don't see why they didn't just go all the way with the joke and make him Bert Cooper.

I was actually referring to blatant scenes from specific episodes, the stuff you pointed out was obvious general things from the show that I assumed didn't need to be pointed out. I haven't watched Mad Men in awhile, but was a consistent viewer the first few seasons or so...
 
I didn't care for it. The main plot has been done so many times before, and what's with Bart suddenly getting all these scholarly interests? This is not consistent with his character at all. Pretty much a boring and predictable episode. 2/5.
 
Tired, boring, rehashed with both Bart & Homer acting out-of-character to support a hackneyed Mad Men parody that barely tried to be funny?
Yeah, that's about what we wound up with here.

This season has already filled its enjoyable parody quota for the season with Avatar and the Ocean's heist movies.
If you're not going to execute them at that level, then try telling an original story with these characters please.

Jeff Westbrook is now 0 for 8 when it comes to writing good episodes.

On the plus side, I did enjoy Steven Dean Moore's direction. Consistent quality all the way through - gets the PABF line off to a strong start.
Not expecting much from next week, either... holding out for Holidays of Future Passed to close out the year in intriguing fashion.
 
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Let's stop with the 'joking' death of the writers, please?

First, Jean's not leaving, so deal with it. Second, this episode was not up to snuff, because of how boring it was and because of that reused jokes, like the "Little Women" being read to a group. this wasnt a bad episode but it was probably the most unoriginal simpsons episode in the past 5 years and that is very hard to accomplish.
 
Written by Jeff Westbrook
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Special Guest Voice: Kevin Michael Richardson, John Slattery, Matthew Weiner
Also Starring: Chris Edgerly, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille
Overseas Animation: Rough Draft
TV Rating: TV-14-DLSV

This isn't Fox's only show not to have a "Viewer Discretion Advised" screen for its TV-14 episodes; every episode of "Glee" is TV-14, but very few of them have one.
EDIT: "Terra Nova" does not, either
And what about the episode made it TV-14? Bart's brain being eaten in a fantasy sequence? All of the liquor drinking? "Auto-erotic pleasure"?

"Absolut Krusty Presents: Celebrating Friendship with The Stimsons" (although Mr. Burns's invitation says "Vodka Party at The Simpsons!").

Most of the family paintings are in the basement, although there's one of Maggie still upstairs.

When Burns shows up, Krusty starts drinking "Non-Krusty Brand Vodka".

Homer's box of stuff when he moves includes one of Bart's report cards.

Lisa wears her slippers to bed, and has a Bongo doll.

Bart read "Johnny Tremaine" just fine; why would he have problems with "Little Women"?

At the end, Homer is "it," but Bart and Lisa are chasing him instead of the other way around.

Presumably, Homer found fools good, as the real thing would have been far too heavy for him to lift like that.
 
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I was actually referring to blatant scenes from specific episodes, the stuff you pointed out was obvious general things from the show that I assumed didn't need to be pointed out. I haven't watched Mad Men in awhile, but was a consistent viewer the first few seasons or so...

Understood. Sorry, this episode peeved me a bit. You should enjoy this then:
SimpsonsMadMenParodyCORRECT.jpg


On a second viewing, I'm willing to up my rating to 3/5. I laughed more the second time around, that's for sure. This one may grow on me, but I'm still upset about the two parodies in a row. Lazy ass writers....

Bart read "Johnny Tremaine" just fine; why would he have problems with "Little Women"?

That's been one of my major qualms all this season. Nobody seems to give a shit about canon anymore. Oh well.... :-/
 
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^Quite alright, that is the episode-specific scene I was referring to as I assume you know.
Poor Lois. Got taken off the switchboard only to run over some guy's foot with a John Deer 110.

As soon as I saw Homer on the "Lawn Deer," I perked up and watched like a little kid!
By the way, did anybody else notice "Lawn Deer" is spelled backwards? Oooops.
LawnDeer2.jpg
 
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haha the lawnmower thing had me laughing more than i have at a simpsons episode in years, pretty good Mad Men homages. If I didn't watch Mad Men I definitely would not have enjoyed this episode
 
but two freaking parody episodes in a row? Now they're just insulting me. This show is just getting more and more lazy as this season drones on.

Yeah, if the next 4 are parody episodes as well it will be season 5 all over again :mad:
 
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