Rate and Review: "Hardly Kirk-ing" (RABF05)

How would you rate this episode?


  • Total voters
    119
Yeah [MENTION=10762]Cartoonnetwork[/MENTION], I knew you were from Spain, and as I said before, your English is great.
 
You're from another country man? far more articulate and enjoyable to read than many others on here.....

Thanks, I'm better at reading and writing than I'm at speaking english. In fact it's a long time since I've taken any kind of classes, I just read comics and stuff in the internet or watch series and movies in english.
 
About the first half of the episode was great by modern Simpsons standards. The basic idea behind the episode was one of the freshest things i've seen in the show for a long time, and the amount of funny jokes were way higher than usuall. Sadly though, i felt the episode started to lag eventually, and the writers didn't quite seem to know how to give the story a climax. All things considered though, this still just might be the best episode of the season so far.
 
Also I didn't read the name of the tablets at time and that's what I didn't get the urine enhancement thingy.

The bottle reads:
E-Z PEE-Z
URINE FLOW ENHANCER

Most likely a prostate health medication... and the prescription is under Kirk's name, so Kirk's got some plumbing problems!

Honestly, I did laugh at that name!

EDIT: I searched for an image of "E-Z PEE-Z URINE FLOW ENHANCER," but got a bunch of images of some Jonas brother instead. LOL!
 
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This episode was fun. After the "Love Is a Many-Splintered Thing" disaster I really needed a reasonably good episode, and this fit the bill. A coherent story, where all the plot elements fit together, some character-based situations and a good percentage of the jokes worked for me. It's not as good as classic era: there's never as much genuine emotion and you don't recognize yourself in these characters, but still it was quite entertaining.

Rating: B+
 
Wow, this episode actually wasn't too bad! I'm surprised! Milhouse posing as his father is something only an animated show like the Simpsons can credibly pull off, and it could've been incredibly stupid, but in this episode, the writers take advantage of it pretty creatively. They could've made everyone gullibly believe Milhouse was Kirk until something went wrong, following the trite 'liar reveal' story that Doug Walker mentions a lot, but while it does end in a few cheesy moments (the condo lady trying to hook up with Milhouse, especially), it's not overplayed to the point that it's incessantly annoying.

One aspect I really enjoy about this episode is that even though there are two minor subplots, they're both relatively funny and integrate fairly smoothly with the main plot, giving the story a proper direction. We've all come to know Homer as somebody who'll invest in anything, even if it's completely stupid, but his children's search books is admittedly pretty clever and makes for quite a few laughs, especially when it comes into practical use in real life. You see, this is the type of satire that worked brilliantly for the staff throughout the 1990's. It's not just some fraudulent scheme to make a few extra bucks and a lot of noise; it's a unique angle that takes something absurd and creates a comical story out of it.

After the abomination that was last week's episode, Hardly Kirk-ing is a more-than-welcome return to the type of material that I've come to hope for. It may not be a masterpiece or anything, but of everything we've gotten so far this season, this offers one of the strongest plots and easily the most humor. My favorite episode of Season 24 thus far.

8/10
 
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Fairly solid, I'd say. I'm a sucker for anything Milhouse frankly, but it was a charming enough episode. Lisa seeing straight through it wasn't unexpected, but still very funny. The scene with the condo agent seemed a little off, but other than that, very solid episode.
 
Liked the episode just as much, if not more, upon a rewatch (cutting out the commercial breaks always helps an episode). The whole bit at the children's bookstore complete with Homer misplacing the kids and then finding them reminded me of the same sort of thing that happened in "Homer Goes to Prep School". The family goes to a kid oriented place, the kids briefly go missing, Marge asks Homer to find them, Homer looks around and finally spots them. Though Hardly Kirking does the whole thing a lot better.

Also, I gotta say that the animation and quality of the art was good this week. I didn't feel that the show lowered its budget. Nice shadow effects, detailed backgrounds, lots of thought went into Milhouse's funny walk and they were even consistant with the tie and the Kirk voice. The bit where Homer was driving to the timeshare meeting was especially solid.

I think the shorter time helped this episode as well. No drawn out intro, no gags that were stretched for time. Had this been 21 minutes, we probably would have seen Milhouse/Kirk-voice recite the full alphabet.
 
Definitely one of the season's high points!

Surprisingly enough, they were able to come up with a very original idea, and execute it with near perfection. While impersonating another character is a known sitcom trope, having Milhouse pass off as Kirk felt quite refreshing. In order for this to work, the animation had to rise to the challenge. Fortunately, it did in spades! Great poses and layout, especially when 'Kirk' was walking on tin cans.

This episode managed to hit all the right notes, both in terms of comedy and pathos. Very tight and focused story, with plenty of room for jokes. Fortunately, it didn't take itself seriously. If it had, it wouldn't have worked nearly as well. Lightweight, but definitely entertaining, which is something I always appreciate when it comes to primetime animation. I was quickly invested in seeing how this prank would play itself out. Definitely one of Bart's smartest ideas to date.

Also, Homer always shines whenever he's a supporting character. His eyesight subplot was quite the diversion from the main plot. My only regret is that more could have been done with this. In fact, if there's one sin against this episode is that it was WAAAAY too short. Fox really should be ashamed of getting nearly 11 minutes worth of commercials. I imagine this'll be the episode with tons of deleted material on the season 24 Blu-Ray set. Structure-wise, this episode felt quite packed, despite running at only 19 minutes. I can only imagine how complete it would be, if it regained those other 90 seconds.

Very nice reference to Marge's gambling problem, and with a new twist. The idea that she's sexually attracted to chips had me laughing out of control. Great framing of the Skinner/Chalmers voting booth sequence, as well.

I liked the design on the saleswoman hitting on Milhouse. Very sultry voicework. That's a scene that probably wouldn't have worked nearly as well, had they used Lindsay Naegle or Cookie Kwan on the same role.

Voice-acting wise, this was a nice showcase. Hank got a real workout, as did Pamela. I particularly enjoyed the necktie bit, where his voice goes all over the spectrum. At one point, 'Kirk' sounded closer to Disco Stu than anything else.

- I liked the couch gag. Great remix of the Game of Thrones theme.

- Haven't I heard that ending song before on the show? Reminds me of a Mike Scully episode, for some reason. Regardless, I love variety on the end credits.

A 5/5, no doubt about it. For a pair of consulting writers who rarely get to write their own episodes, Gammill and Pross sure lost none of their talent. They managed it 20 years ago, when they wrote Marty's First Date (referring to The Critic), and stilll pull it off now.
 
Generally speaking, I tend to be less critical of new episodes compared to most on here but, unlike the majority, I was really underwhelmed by this one.

In my opinion, it felt totally disposable and neither of the plots were worthy of a Simpsons episode. A lot of people are saying it had a high laugh count but, at the risk of incurring the old 'humour is subjective' argument, I really didn't find it funny. Maybe if I had, I would be less scathing of the storyline itself. Who knows.

My worry for this is that it is yet another example of a new Simpsons episode being rated highly because it was inoffensive. For my money, that is not enough and can safely say it had no redeeming qualities (IMO).
 
A rarity: an episode I LIKED!!!!!

Maggie Simpson In The Longest Daycare was also very good!
 
Also, I gotta say that the animation and quality of the art was good this week. I didn't feel that the show lowered its budget. Nice shadow effects, detailed backgrounds, lots of thought went into Milhouse's funny walk and they were even consistant with the tie and the Kirk voice. The bit where Homer was driving to the timeshare meeting was especially solid.

I gotta give them some respect for the animation this week as well. Really well done, especially the fight between Milhouse and Bart in the bus station. I watched this episode several times (because I couldn't make up my mind about it,) and every time that scene came up, I was really impressed with how natural the animation was in that scene.

Very nice reference to Marge's gambling problem, and with a new twist. The idea that she's sexually attracted to chips had me laughing out of control.
I usually pride myself with being able to pick out those little callbacks to past episodes, but I have to say, that one went right over my head! Now, that scene makes much more sense! Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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I don't even remember that callback to Marge's gambling AT ALL. Which is weird. Maybe that went over my head too.

There's two ways to look at that scene:
#1. Marge seems to get turned on whenever Homer is an actual functioning member of society or starts doing menial household duties.
#2. She really starts to swoon when he finds that $25.00 gambling chip, so maybe he pushed a button when he found it. He did say"Twenty five dollar gambling chip" in a very seductive voice, like he knew it would turn her on....

Either way, Marge gets turned on pretty easily these days.
 
I gave this episode a 4/5, it was by far a better episode than the last few have been. I had mentioned that I hoped that this episode got us (well, me) out of this stretch of bad episodes and it did! There were quite a few funny jokes and the story kept flowing! It was interesting to see an episode based on someone outside of The Simpsons clan.
 
Everybody does that, though.

I don't.


Anywhoo, idea was fairly simplistic which I actually kinda liked. Not everything has to be super-duper complicated in premise and Milhouse sounding like duffman was actually amusing. Like how I feel towards many Jean-era episodes though, the result overall is a bit meh. Didn't feel myself getting particularly bored but not particularly entertained either so I guess a 3/5 seems fair. :/
 
Did those who quit the show after Love Is a Many-Splintered Thing actually pull the trigger? Or have they seen Hardly Kirk-ing, but avoided this thread?
 
Did those who quit the show after Love Is a Many-Splintered Thing actually pull the trigger? Or have they seen Hardly Kirk-ing, but avoided this thread?

Wait, really? You're joking, right? I mean it wasn't a good episode by any means but wow. Can't say much for the show but the community is laugh-a-minute.
 
Most people does that 'double standards' thing, intentionally or not. And it can go either way, in favour or against modern episodes.

Anyway I think this episode is at least 3/5 regardless of any era.

I gave it 4/5 for modern standards but I don't think I would have consider it below average back in the day...Average maybe. A little more dull or surreal, perhaps. But I think it could have got a 3/5 even then.

Though I admit I'm a lot more tolerant towards things like Milhouse's change of voice these days than I was back then. However that's a criticism that can also go either way. I find it surreal that Milhouse changes his voice so much when he has his tie in the throat...but then again it would be surreal too that people wouldn't notice Milhouse's kid voice, so I guess it's a fairly good solution. The rest of the plot is very believable in animation cause Milhouse looks exactly like his father. In real life that wouldn't be possible but with these character designs it's completely natural that other people wouldn't notice. Even his mom/wife.
 
Most classic episodes are 5/5s for me, or at least 4/5s. The last 5/5 for me was in season 19, so any episode that's a 4/5 is better than some of the worst classics, and anything less than 4 is worse than every single episode in seasons 1-8 and 10.
 
I'm must have been on a bad mood when i watched it(actually i was a bit tired) because i thought it wasnt very good, i gave it a 2/5 because i know i mayyybe laughed a couple of times, but i am still surprised at the many 4/5. i guess i just keep forgetting the standars are really low nowadays.

PS, nooooo that was not at all like Seinfeld at all, what? why would anybody...? just please do not insult Seinfeld.
 
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