Rate and Review: "Blazed and Confused" (TABF01)

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Original Airdate: November 16th, 2014. Bart schemes to bring down his new 5th grade teacher, Mr. Lassen, who is a terrible bully. Meanwhile, the Simpsons go to Burning Man. Rate and Review after it airs.
 
As this is the first episode of the new production line, can somebody post if there's any changes to the writing team credits?
 
And also what the structure of the episode is, because it's been speculated that the Burning Guy stuff will end after the first act, which I disagree with.

Also: curses, foiled again. I'll remember to create the R&R for Covercraft, though.
 
The R&R will probably be created by you and 20 others. I still stand by my idea of having a designated person to make these to prevent the overflow of them.
 
Lets do this!
+ Short couch gag.
+ Dance of the Lemons.
++ Chalmskinn callback.
+"thats not fair"
++ Lassen making a scar.
- Nelsons crying sounds dumb,
+ Bart's Haircut.
++ "HEEEEEEEEres Millie!"
+ Milhouse charging his phone.
End of act 1. VERY strong. 10/10.
Act 2
+ Milhouse's speech.
+++ Willie with the Apple. best part so far.
--- Masked man scene pure garbage.
-- Blazing guy promo.
+ "Those were your father's sweatpants!"
-- Singing.
+ Homer shooting signs.
+ Cupcake cars.
end of act 2. Really going downhill.
Act 3
+ Maggie breastfeeding a statue.
++ Maggie sucking a needle.
+ Music circle.
+" His nipples are asymettrical!"
++ Drugged up marge.
+ Callback to Mysterious Voyage of homer.
+Rest of montage good.
+" Wait, how many days?
+ Another good drug scene.
-- Weird ending scene with Marge all alone.
End of act 3. Good, not great. 7.5/10.
Act 4
- Bob's voice acting sounded rough.
Overall Mediocre. 6.5/10
 
This had some cute meta humor, I think. The guy with the Flaming Tuba was supposed to be animation director David Silverman, although that wasn't his voice. I liked Marge's first tea-trip and I wished we could've had more scenes with Bart's new teacher in school.

A 3.5/5.
 
It had flaws (animation and voice acting was off at various points), flopped jokes here and there, but the Bart and Burning Man plot actually joined nicely, and built to a fairly unique episode. It's surprising the show hasn't taken on Burning Man before, but they did some good stuff with it. Bob's cameo was unexpected and fine, making for a nice ending with Bart's oldest and newest nemesis.
Pretty decent episode overall. 3.5/5
 
This was pretty good. There were worries that it would be a lot like the subplot of Black-Eyed, Please, but it went in a completely different direction. The teacher was an interesting antagonist; it did disturb me when he cut his face, though (and it looked realistic, unlike the face-cutting in The Bob Next Door, so don't point out any hypocrisy on me). I think it got a little more boring when they reached Blazing Guy, but it picked back up when Bart came up with an actual plan of something to do to foil him. The execution of it was done pretty well, and the episode had some decent jokes in it. More importantly, it didn't really have any bad scenes, besides the aforementioned face-cutting one. I didn't like the OCD joke with Database, either. Other than that, a good episode. 4/5
 
This really didn't hold my attention. The only things I found funny were the hallucinations (and the return of Space Coyote) and Sideshow Bob's appearance at the end. Instead of a mediocre Bob episode, I'd like to see more cameos like this. His cameos have been more satisfying than his episodes. The burning man parody was good, I just wish they would've done it years ago. 3/5
 
Patches O'houlihan said:
The guy with the Flaming Tuba was supposed to be animation director David Silverman, although that wasn't his voice.
Click to expand...

Actually David Silverman was listed as a guest voice in this episode, so I believe it actually was him voicing himself.
 
Writing this review a little differently.

+Kang and Kodos "You and your makeup, we missed Halloween!"
-Convoluted reason for Bart's new teacher, no mention of Edna
*ChalmSkin Productions: Merging ever closer to a singular being
-Crybaby Nelson
*If Labor Day is one weekend away, why are the kids in school?
+El Barto
-Mr. Lassen is a genuine child abuser. Even a teacher with tenure couldn't get away with this stuff.
-Dumb gag with Milhouse charging his iphone via an electrocuted Bart
-Dumb NZ filming joke
+Jason killing the park ranger and picking up the phone while Homer's trying to book a campsite
*Ok, we see where the stories are converging, Mr. Lassen is a burner and will be lighting The Man this year. Bart and Milhouse plan to trip him up and film his embarrassment. Meanwhile, Homer has brought the family to Burning Man as their camping destination
+At Burning Man, Homer and Lisa both shout "I'm home!"
+Tent blowing away
+Marge naively drinking tea from a stranger
---Homer getting a new tent from someone who ODed, thinking it's cute when Maggie' sucking on a syringe, and fliming it on his camera
+Lisa joining a drum circle
++David Silverman joining in, only to be turned away
++Marge's trip is absolutely beautiful
+Bart and Milhouse's solution for revenge, to coat The Man in fire retardant so Mr. Lassen can't light it, is pretty clever
-The payoff seems a bit weak, though
++More of Marge's trip
-So that's it? That was super quick. Stuff happens, Mr. Lassen's behavior was suddenly only now considered so bad that he get fired.
+He becomes a security guard and bonds with Sideshow Bob over mutual hatred of Bart

Edit:
+++The "space coyote" from "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer" makes a cameo!

Again this week, there was too much story and not enough time. I'm inclined to rate this a bit more favorably because it was a visual delight. I also appreciate that, despite lots of speculation and whining, it was NOT just a rehash of the B-plot from "Black-Eyed Please".
 
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Good episode Willem Dafoe was okay as barts new teacher Mr. lassen but i thought his character was quite and needed more personally, the simpsons go to Blazing Guy but that's the set up for barts real attempt to sabotage his new teacher for bullying him, in conclusion this episode was trippy good, it was nice to see sideshow bob and the space coyote again. 5/5 ;)

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was milhouse's boyscout jamboree line from the promo in this episode? because I thought that's a great joke.
 
I forgot to add how excited I was to see the coyote from "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer"!!! Editing that it as a MAJOR plus.

I didn't hear the boyscout line, there are probably a good number of deleted scenes from this episode.
 
This episode kinda sucked but it's not as terrible as Opposites-a-frack. My biggest problem is that the plot of this episode wasn't that interested. I was bored throughout except for a few moments. Funniest was Marge high on tea. 4/10
 
Nameless said:
As this is the first episode of the new production line, can somebody post if there's any changes to the writing team credits?
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Aside from Jon Kern now being credited as executive story editor, pretty much none. Same staff as before.

There was an interesting change on the animation side, though. Matthew Schofield is now a supervising storyboard director.

Jim Reardon, David Silverman and Mike Anderson all used to be storyboard consultants, if that serves as reference to Schofield's new position. He could become a supervising director himself some day (a far more likely choice than the likes of Steven Dean Moore or Bob Anderson).

And, of course, we had Silverman doing voiceover work, which I don't recall ever happening before.

As for the episode, now that's how you do a season opener! Outstanding animation, some very funny moments, good character work, and a very interesting plot to say the least. Entertaining on all accounts. Not sure if it's on an El Viaje Misterioso level, but it still delivers (the Coyote even had a cameo appearance).

5/5 - one of Carolyn's better ones, along with To Cur with Love. She always nails the scenes involving children, Bart especially. The A story and B story joined together pretty smoothly.
 
I have to say that this episode had some high points, not the least of which being the superb animation direction (despite some slightly off character models at points) and the sound / music mixing. I would say the best part had to be the Bart / Milhouse dynamic, of all things: Milhouse wasn't overplayed here, and the material between the two characters never got too weird or off-kilter. Millie was even characterized well as the repeated voice of reason in an episode where Lisa didn't fill that role. It would have been nice to see more interaction between Bart and Lassen in order to better legitimize the "bully" relationship, and the exchange between Homer and Marge at dinner went on way too long but, otherwise, the pacing was fine. Even the couch gag had some restraint.
 
This was a good episode that looked like something out of Bob's Burgers for some reason. I don't know. Did any of you guys felt this episode was kind of similar to Bob's Burger's creative expression. You got the Simpsons just being there normal selves for once and then later it transforms into a anarchic party that sounds a bit Bob Burgish.

Also this is probably not the right wording to say this, but I feel Lisa is becoming more and more of a sellout compare to her classic-self. Was she always a liberal adult-thinking girl with teenage melodrama issues? Last time I check, she was a tomboy in the Simpsons shorts and a smart but sweet immature normal girl in the classic Simpsons with normal kid issues...
 
Santa Shoz said:
Also this is probably not the right wording to say this, but I feel Lisa is becoming more and more of a sellout compare to her classic-self. Was she always a liberal adult-thinking girl with teenage melodrama issues? Last time I check, she was a tomboy in the Simpsons shorts and a smart but sweet immature normal girl in the classic Simpsons with normal kid issues...
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Lisa's been written terribly for most of this season so this is par for the course really. She's been utilized effectively in a supporting role in the past even when the plot doesn't revolve around her (Hardly Kirk-ing being a recent example) but I can't think of one original or meaningful moment from Season 26 and we're now seven episodes in.
 
ACT ONE:

Wow, did they actually reference a season 19 episode? That's pretty rare for them to reference an episode that late into their era.

I like them keeping the scar instead of just having it be a gag.

Hmm... I kinda enjoyed this act.

ACT TWO:

Okay, what the fuck was that New Zealand joke?

That Jason Voorhees gag was pretty lame as well.

"Jack Lassen?" Wasn't he John Lassen in the first act?

I hated Milhouse explaining Bart looking like his Dad, but it was saved by him saying how lucky he is to look like his mom.

ACT THREE:

Marge's tea subplot felt vaguely similiar to her subplot in You Only Move Twice.

Sideshow Bob seems to be making a lot more cameos this season.

OVERALL:

Notice how miniscule all my notes were? That's because this episode was so sterile, I couldn't say anything about it. 3/5 (C)
 
The sad thing about this episode is that might have actually been "good" if only Mr. Lassen was developed more. It never explained how he got that position at Blazing Guy, he just had it for some reason. Why would someone who seems to be so uptight to go to a place like that anyway? I really would have liked to know why he was there. That was bothering me throughout the episode; I might have otherwise enjoyed it a lot more. The basic plot had potential, but it failed on the details. I also don't understand why they didn't just use Mrs. Krabappel's death as a reason for Mr. Lassen to become the 4th grade teacher. We instead got something that didn't make much sense. I normally love hallucination scenes, but I didn't like Marge's. They were too cartoony (and I didn't like the music that accompanied them; it seemed inappropriate for a hallucination). A lot of the other visuals were quite nice though. This was probably funnier than the average Season 26 episode so far, but there was still a lot of forced "humour" (such as Mr. Lassen appearing out of nowhere to steal Nelson's money; why was he there?). Overall, this episode was less forgettable than most of the other ones this season, but still suffered from poor writing. 3.5/10
 
Tonight's episode felt a little like The Day the Earth Stood Cool in how it focused on a more radical subculture (or maybe it's popular, but I'm just an uncultured swine; either way, not good for me), in this case, the whole Burning Man Blazing Guy angle. (Sidenote: What is the point of making a slight alteration of the name like this? It is parodying the same thing, so why not just be straight with it and say Burning Man? Same goes for stuff like Mapple, Funtendo Zii, etc.) As a result, a lot of the atmosphere during the Blazing Guy scenes felt "weird for the sake of weird" to me. However, the main plot involving Bart's rivalry with Lassen provided a solid anchor to keep the Blazing Guy material from getting too out-of-hand. I almost wish that the Bart/Lassen plot stayed at Springfield Elementary, since there's a great supporting cast of kids to be used there and therefore, Springfield Elementary episodes have typically been solid even in the HD era. Regardless, I'm glad they brought Milhouse to Blazing Guy, because he provided a lot of the best jokes tonight ("Here's Millie!" and him staring at a caricature of him made up of Blazing Guy people and quipping, "Pathetic."). They touched on an interesting subplot with Nelson about how Lassen is to Nelson as Nelson is to Bart and Milhouse that could have been an excellent use of wuss Nelson, but it wasn't expanded on, so we ended up with a couple of wuss Smellson jokes. Lassen was an interesting character in how evil he was (his interaction with Sideshow Bob was a solid use of the fourth act), but I feel like we didn't see enough of his rivalry with Bart because of all the Blazing Guy stuff. Bart ruining Lassen's greatest moment was quite good, as was Lassen's attempt at retaliation, but the statue just collapsing followed by everyone emerging unharmed felt rather anticlimactic. Props for the animation in Marge's second dream sequence (Bart's head warping, Milhouse's nose expanding, Lisa the saxophone, David Silverman tuba) and the cameos of Chalmskinn, the Space Coyote and David Silverman and his flaming tuba (which was even used in the climax). SIdenote: Here's David Silverman at Burning Man. Homer and Marge's small marriage crisis over the camping trip was filler, but it progressed nicely throughout the episode. All in all, a decent Bart story that was brought down with some oddball but decent Blazing Guy scenes, plus Milhouse in top form for the HD era. A generous 6.5/10. Worst of the season so far, which is saying a lot about how consistent the season has been so far but isn't a good sign for the TABF production run. (Despite mostly decent to good episodes, I'm still looking for the first great season 26 episode.)
 
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At the meeting, there are 19 principals, but only 10 teachers.

Bart is wearing his Lucky Red Cap.

Bart's haircut is not of "uniform length".

Apparently, Springfield Elementary starts school in August. Then again, what schools don't, nowadays?

Lisa and Bart's classrooms are on the same floor; usually, they are on different floors.

Bart's report card has three D+s and a C-; this is better than the straight Ds he got in "Kamp Krusty".

Bart's "Krusty Klub" card has his name as just "Bart".

The wind that blew away Homer's tent didn't touch the other tents at all.

The "freak" in the drum circle was playing a flaming Sousaphone (which some people confuse with a tuba). David Silverman is credited with a speaking part (presumably, that was him), and he once suggested that Lisa play the tuba (instead of the saxophone).

Written by Carolyn Omine & William Wright
Directed by Rob Oliver
No billboard or blackboard
Couch: The couch is a ski lift chair; when it returns, everyone but Maggie is injured
Special Guest Voice: Willem Dafoe, Kelsey Grammer
Also Starring: Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Chris Edgerly, Maggie Roswell, David Silverman, Russi Taylor
Overseas Animation: Rough Draft
TV Rating: TV-PG-DV
 
It is indeed a Sousaphone, but David Silverman calls it "flaming tuba," hence why I referred to it as that in my review.

Regarding any writing staff changes in the TABF production run, there are no additions to my knowledge. Ian Maxtone-Graham and Valentina L. Garza are gone.
 
@pkkao
As a result, a lot of the atmosphere during the Blazing Guy scenes felt "weird for the sake of weird" to me.
Click to expand...

It was actually kinda tame for a Burning Man parody. Burners spend all year on their costumes, tents, and cars, it's a huge artistic celebration and you will see some weird and wonderful works.
 
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