Rate/Review: Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington (EABF09)

How do you rate tonight's episode?

  • (5/5) Landslide victory

    Votes: 52 26.8%
  • (4/5) Wide margin

    Votes: 77 39.7%
  • (3/5) Too close to call

    Votes: 45 23.2%
  • (2/5) The clown is down

    Votes: 12 6.2%
  • (1/5) Cesspool! Cesspool!

    Votes: 8 4.1%

  • Total voters
    194

Andy

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What starts out as a complaint that Springfield Airport's flight path goes right over the Simpson house ends with Krusty being elected to the U.S. Congress...but he soon starts to toe the Conservative line

This thread shall open once tonight's episode concludes on the East Coast (8:30 pm ET).
 
MY COPIOUS NOTES

1st ACT

--"Mmm... promo..." Timely, yet a bit weird... may be obsolete in a few years.
--Republican Party HQ funny (except for Dracula and Frankenstein)... everything Reagan very funny.
--The plot seemed very rushed... should have been a better reason to elect Krusty than Bart just thinking about it after seeing him on TV.
--Thank goodness the Rich Texan didn't dance.
--BOB DOLE! YES!
--The airspace gags were overdone... I lived in airspace for years. It's not that bad.

2nd ACT

--BUMBLEBEE MAN SPEAKS ENGLISH?!
--No more "penis" please, writers.
--Cletus scene... very funny.
--FOX NEWS PARODY: Brillance... and the commercial: ADDITIONAL BRILLIANCE. COMRADE!

3rd ACT

--The Yogi Bear maze... heh
--More crawl: yay!

This ep had way too many Looney Tunes characters as congressmen... I was really hoping for a more realistic Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington-type ep. Instead it seemed like Animaniacs. No offense toward Yakko, but eh, that's just not Simpson humor. Well put together, and many funny moments, but it just didn't FEEL Simpsony. Not one of the best.
 
Wow, this was worse than "Helter Shelter." :( This sucked. Some great jokes (Brockman's "penis" joke, the Fox News stuff, etc.), but a terrible plot, and unbelievably bad pacing. There was also bad animation (back to the soft, rounded, sloppy work of Season Thirteen) and bad voice-talent (Hibbert especially). What was the deal with the Fox ad joke, the appearance of the Republican Party (AGAIN!), the appearance of Cookie (AGAIN!), and all of those annoying plane and Krusty noises? This was crap! 2/5.
 
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After watching the episode I'm forced to conclude the same thing as the rest of the season: Fantastic story spoiled by crappy everything else.

It's faced with the same off-planted jokes, weird parodies, over-used jokes, re-used jokes, not so good voice acting and just general stupidity (do the Simpsons have to travel as a family in the same order EVERYWHERE?) as every single episode this season. I'm sure I'll get flamed for this as usual, but it's more letdown for season 14.

The only things I was actually laughing at were the subtleties, like the scrolling text below the fox interview (this interview was done pretty well actually).

I'm being generous with a 3/5.
 
its was ok, pretty good episode. i liked the first 2 acts the best. id give it a 3\5. season is still going well. i have a feeling the next new episode, c.e.doh, wont be a suprisingly good episode. but well see. this season so far is still great. i also have a feeling this is homers last season as the center of attention, unless his character gets better. he is just getting annoying at times.
 
Not a bad episode at all. The plot was pretty good, and the humor was there. And yes the first act was very long. 4/5

Pros:
Joe Millionaire
Maggie drinking beer
Three Stooges
Grampa
Ch. 6
words they can't use
Cletus
FOX News
menu
bill
Dole
CPR

Cons:
dog hair
plane flying into the house
flying over poor people
planes flying so close
penis
 
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that was truly a great episode. not only the most i've laughed at a simpsons episode in a very long long time, but the most i've laughed in real life in a while. sheer enjoyment. swartzwelder truly is a great writer. great ending. great gags.

there was way more than enough good to overcome any flaws (there were very few), so this gets a 5/5 from me.
 
Mixed feelings...the promo thing gave me a huge laugh, since I thought it WAS an actual promo for a moment.

Most of the episode seemed fairly on-track in terms of overall plot (I liked how it got started quickly, without a rambling 1st act), and there were a few doses of continuity as well (Cookie, Swear Jar). Many of the jokes got a chuckle or laugh (the news parody!), but many others fell flat on their faces. For some reason, the voice acting on Krusty seemed a bit flat...wonder what happened there. And as usual, a few sections had flat-out weird lip-synching.

Otherwise, watchable and usually funny. 3.5/5 for me, not sure what to vote for on the poll yet.

On a side note, I caught the 2nd half of King of the Hill...very enjoyable, second best this season (behind the season premiere).
 
After last weeks great episode "Mr. Spritz" seemed very blah and middle of the road. While nothing about this episode was too bothersome, there wasn't much great stuff either. The first act was too long and tedious. I can only take so many minutes of airplane noise jokes. The second act was probably the best, I mainly enjoyed how Krusty bumbled along and the FOx News bit. THe 3rd act was a little better than the first, but the whole resolution wasn't funny and lacked haevy satire. FOr an episode I was hoping to be great, this one is a disapointment, still theres nothing too terrible about it to bring it down to the level of "Helton Shelter" or "Strummer Vacation". 3.5/5
 
i really enjoyed it.

FOX News was awesome. The scroll bar on the bottom was hilarious. 89% of all democrats: gay. Brad Pitt + Albert Einstein = Dick Cheney (i think this one was at the end).

During the C E DOH commercial they had more of the scroll bar stuff. It was on top instead of bottom. Both the in-show one and one during the ad/credits were awesome.

Ah... Man... making fun of FOX News is awesome.

Trent Lott.... BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Promo thing... i'm glad it made fun of all those crappy promos riding across the screen.

Republican Party HQ returns. Good to see Bob Dole talk about Bob Dole.


The plot was a little sketchy, and some jokes failed. 4.5/5 for now.
 
Also, there were a LOT of Fox jokes tonight. Not necessarily good or bad, just something I noticed. Also, there were a few too many sex jokes, I thought. I also didn't like how the family got involved with Krusty in Washington...this has happened SO MANY times before. I did like the courtroom scene with the paper clip and Homer/North Dakota. Good to see Burns again, too.

C.E.D'oh looks pretty wacky...I'm a little worried.
 
8.5/10, I thought it was great (for a silly episode).

Pros
-Pretty well paced, the 1st act didn't last 3 minutes
-Joe Millionaire crawl
-Krusty was his usual wacko self
-Cookie Kwan is my mom
-FOX News crawl, great stuff
-Rich Texan had his mouth shut
-Cletus and Ralph were funny
-No obtrusive appearances by Moe or Carl & Lenny
-The portrayal of Republican politics

Cons
-The Simpsons moving out of the house again? *yawn*
-Kent Brockman saying "penis", utterly stupid and disgusting
-Ending is once again a bit rushed, but at least it was full circle

A pretty darn good Krusty episode, yes it was silly, but it had a straightforward plot and didn't go off on any wild tangents.

Mark
 
I need to rewatch the episode, but didn't the plot descriptions say Krusty would start to fit in with the governors?

I liked it, many past references (swear jar, Second Best Motel, etc.), but I also thought the governors were WAY too cartoonish and cliched. But watching this, then Olvier Beene made it seem so much better. Oh well.
 
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In the absence of my long winded reviews and checklists of good and bad things, ill just leave you to wonder one thing.

Why has Cletus been in every season 14 episode?

I began noticing this a while back, but he is WIDELY used.

4/5. Solid ep.

(Beep)
 
where was Dubya? Perfect oppurtunity to see the show's first Dubya impersonation.

I've also been counting cletus appearances. Every week, I see him. I started counting at Strong Arms though.
 
Ehh... no sir, I didn't really like it. Normally, when I complain about an episode, its because its too weird and wacky or something. This time, however, is because this episode was really dull. Absolutely nothing in it was memorable, and I think the plot wasn't thought out at all. There was absolutely NO reason for them to have Krusty run for office. It was so random, it was basically like "Hey! Lets have Krusty run for office for lack of a better plotline!" There were a lot of political jokes, but most were just cheap shots at best, nothing close to the political satire they used to do.

What I liked:
Everyone was in character, no one was annoying.
Krusty's commercial
Fox News/CNN thing in the episode and in the credits
A couple of really good jokes, but I forgot what they were.

What I didn't like:
- I guess the chalkboard gags are gone, as well as a new couch gag each episode.
- Three Stooges Beginning - it was funny, but starting each episode with a TV spoof is getting old now. Almost every episode starts like this these days.
- Another appearance of Cletus this season (hes overused lately)
- The Simpsons already went to Washington DC.. in a much better episode with a much better plot and political humor.
- They want to/have to move out of the house AGAIN???
- The airplane thing dragged on for too long, while the rest of the episode was rushed. They shouldn't have wasted time with them trying to sell it.
- The voice acting was off for pretty much everyone, and all the acting sounded forced. Especially Marge.
- The Joe Millionare joke. Joe Millionare is over! This won't be funny or wont make any sense in a month! Real smart to include this joke, writers!
;-/ I hope they edit this for syndication.
- WAY TOO MUCH TASTELESS SEX JOKES!!! I don't want to hear Simpsons characters say Penis! When will the writers realize that their main audience is not immature kids? I'm sorry, but these sex jokes / shock jokes are really beginning to piss me off, especially when theres about 10 of them in each episode. They used to do them every once in awhile, which would actually make it be a shock. Now, when I hear one of these jokes, I just groan and say "not another one." Is it really THAT hard to write a joke with integrity anymore?? Not that hearing sex jokes offends me, but its not funny and I don't want to hear cheap ass sex jokes on what used to be such an intelligent show.

I give it a 2/5. Strange, lame plot. Lots of needless offensive bullshit. 3/5 if I'm feeling generous, but right now, I'm not.
 
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Oh, My God! That was stupendous! That was the greatest episode of the Simpsons since…since…The City of NY vs. Homer Simpson.

As a political junkie, I must say that this episode had the best gag since season 9. The FOX News jokes were just *too* good. The Krusty/Armstrong discussion had me laughing, and the news crawl had me in tears.

This episode had a very well made and formulated plot, with a real resolution, and cutting-edge satire and comedy. *This* is how The Simpsons is supposed to be.

A definite 5/5, A+ episode. This could have easily fit into seasons 7 or 8 with no problem.

Now, this season’s scores:

Mr Spritz Goes to Washington-5/5
Pray Anything -4.5/5
Special Edna -4.5/5
A Star is Born Again –4.5/5
The Dad Who Knew Too Little -4.5/5
The Great Louse Detective -4/5
I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can -3.5/5
Strong Arms of the Ma –3.5/5
Bart vs. Lisa vs. 3rd Grade -3.5/5
Barting Over -3/5
Large Marge -3/5
Treehouse of Horror XIII -3/5
How I Spent My Strummer Vacation -2.5/5
Helter Shelter -1/5
 
Mafia said:
I've also been counting cletus appearances. Every week, I see him. I started counting at Strong Arms though.

I started counting at Helter Shelter.

(Beep)
 
Meh, I didn't have many good thoughts going into this episode, and I don't think I have many of them coming out either. Unlike some episodes, the jokes were fine (I'll list some of my favorites later), but what really got me was the plot. It was just way too outrageous to be entirely believeable. As Psyche said, the whole episode didn't feel very Simpsony. I mean, the whole plane thing in the first act seemed awfully rushed and not well thought out, but, obviously, the focus of the episode was on Krusty getting into Congress. Well, to each his own, I suppose...but I just wasn't very fond of the plot. The government part of it was obviously not up to "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" standards, but I suppose that's to be expected now. Also, the whole putting-the-bill-into-law part with a supposed Walter Mondale at the end was just too ridiculous for me to follow well.

On the plus side, some of the jokes didn't seem bad. Most of the Republican HQ stuff was pretty good (Reagan and Bob Dole jokes good, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster jokes bad), and I thought Fat Tony liking the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood was humorous (especially since I've seen and hated the film). The stock photo of Krusty (by a pool with a topless woman) also had me laughing for some reason. The best jokes, though, were involving the Fox News Channel. Even the news quickies at the bottom of the screen were good (and provided some excellent freeze-frame humor). It's just they way the show presented the channel...the real one actually works like that, and they usually provide a biased view on important things. It's sickening...but it's good that it was finally made fun of.

Overall, the jokes were decent, but the plot was disappointing. 2.5/5, rounded up to a 3. Heh heh..."Dan Quayle: Awesome". Just thinking about that right now.
 
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Yeah, at first I thought it was a real promo. Then I noticed that the brides were yellow and Homer was looking at it. This was surreal, but I liked it. I guess the producers were as annoyed with this as I was.

They're returning to the rapid fire joke formula that the show originally had, but they're more hit and miss here.

They continue their good use of Maggie, and I liked the Swear Jar. FOX News was sidesplitting, one of the best gags of the season so far. I had a helluva time trying to hear the jokes and read the news crawl. The most flat jokes came in the first act, with the planes flying low (but 'man the rake', and Lisa reciting the plane schedules was pretty good).

The pacing was a little off, and I WISH they would've cut the plane's flying overhead shorter and had more scenes of Krusty in Congress. Walter Mondale the janitor was nice, but like many episodes this season, it seems like the problem doesn't get resolved until the last two minutes.

And that's the only gripes I have. I missed A Star Is Born Again, but from what I've been seeing lately, it's only a steady return to true form. This is probably the most fun I've had this season. The sharpest the shows been in a while. Also the first time in a while that I've missed jokes from laughing at others.

...JFK posthumously joins the Republican Party...
 
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forgot to mention...one thing that makes john swartzwelder sucha great write is subtle messages. that pretty much made the episode. and there we a few random parts i liked. i actually thought the plane crashing into the house was pretty funny. and i really like the fox news and the campaine commercial. id have to really re watch it to catch everything i may have missed.
 
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