Rate/Review "The Italian Bob" (HABF02)

How would you rate tonight's episode?


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Mike Scully

and now i have slapped a king
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Sideshow Bob returns after 3 years, and the first look at the HABF season!

HABF02 - The Italian Bob - Written by John Frink
After Mr. Burns crashes his Stutz Bearcat, he sends Homer and the family off to Italy to pick up his new fancy sport car. While on their Italian adventure, the Simpsons end up stranded in a small Italian village where a rehabilitated Sideshow Bob (Kelsey Grammer) reigns as mayor. Sideshow Bob impresses the Simpsons enough so that they keep his sordid past a secret until one of the family members, in a wine-induced state, spills the beans.

Preview/Speculation thread
 
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This was a very good episode, I loved Bob as always.

The Picture of Peter had me cracking up so much that I didnt see what it said under Stan's name, Does anyone know?

Also it was nice to see Bob step into the rake. It was also a nice twist to see that Bob had a child. Very Good! 5/5
 
The jab at family guy and american dad made the episode. It was already apretty good episode but that part had me laughing out loud for a bit.

Curtis the Jackass said:
The Picture of Peter had me cracking up so much that I didnt see what it said under Stan's name, Does anyone know?

Plagirismo di Plagerismo

LOL
 
I liked this episode. The Family Guy and American Dad jokes were really funny! Alos, I liked a lot when Homer says : Lazy Romans!

It was a good episode, the plot was good. The only thing I didn't like is the end with Krusty. But it still a good episode

8.2/10
 
burn and a half at family guy and american dad. i love it

pretty much the only good part of the ep. nothing memorable and nothing really hilarious. 3/5
 
stro said:
The jab at family guy and american dad made the episode. It was already apretty good episode but that part had me laughing out loud for a bit.
Yes, me too. I loved that joke (plagiarism / plagiarism of plagiarism).

This was the best new episode I have seen in quite a long time. Very funny, I laughed out loud several times.
5/5
 
Other great ones, the guy at the end singing about how Homer doesn't deserve Marge. Krysty's line "I know you're out there, I can hear you being greasy" and Homer's line "I'm the gayest supervillain ever, scented candles...." lol. Great epsode.
 
It was good, but there were too many loose ends.

Computing score...
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Continued:

It gets a 4/5, or 8/10 if you will. Some very good gags include the anti-Bush jokes in the first act (SHOCK AND AWE!), the Family Guy/American Dad zingers of the second act.

Homer suckling the meat grinder was really bad though.

What happened with Mr. Burns? Instead of Krusty swooping in, it should have been Burns & Smithers.

Homer was really into crying in this episode.

Homer: Do I have to take my family?
Monty: It would be nice.
Homer: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

It was good though and surpassed my expectations. With this, though, I really do hope they stop making SSB episodes.
 
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THE GOOD: The book of Criminals, the goat's "look" at the old lady, Sideshow Bob's son, the Opera scene and the animation in the third act...WOW!

Overall, this was nice refreshing change of pace, but the only problem is that there was too much story to cram into 22 minutes. The solution is the writers should've made this a 2 parter with the first two acts being the first part, and the Bob and family gettting their revenge the second part.

GRADE: B+, or an 8/10 (That's by all-Simpson seasons standards)

Jake
 
5/5 - A

It was truly a great episode. The conclusion was absolutely perfect.

What was the name of Sideshow Bob's kid?
 
A really good episode.

Some of my favorite jokes:
-The engine falling off the plane
-The tolerence video
-Homer unknowingly saving the meltdown by pressing buttons while singing the charge theme
-I liked when he got hit by the rake
-The town drunk
-Homer's don't go away sign he put up over the car monitor
-The family guy/American dad thing
-The pacing and the story were mainly good

The only things I really didn't like was yet another strangling joke and the thing with him wearing the prison uniform was kind of a dumb way to reveal it, but I can look past it.

Also, great choices for the poll descriptions! Overall, this episode was a non-claptrap that never made me want to wretch (4/5).
 
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The premise of the Simpsons visiting another foreign country, and bringing Bob back again had me worried, but they pulled it off pretty well. Thankfully, most of the gags were not just a series of stereotype jokes about Italy like past Simpsons trips to foreign countries . My only real complaint is that the way Bob's true identity was revealed to his town was really stupid and lazy... I mean, why would he just happen to still have his prison uniform on under his normal clothes? They could have come up with a better way to reveal his identity than Lisa being drunk. Other than that, it was good, and the finale at the Coliseum was great stuff.

4/5
 
A very disappointing third act put a damper on what was a nice storyline. It was excellent how they hit Italy so early in the episode, and the second act developed the Sideshow Bob plot very well, but basically once Lisa spilled the beans (yeah, we all noticed the HABF02), the whole episode went downhill. Bob still has his family on his side for some reason, and it didn't seem like he was really struggling financially or anything after the revelation of his past. The car story was ultimately unresolved, which was a little disappointing, and I didn't find Bob's son very funny at all.... rather annoying actually (Tress McNeil, you have worn out your welcome on this show for me). The rake gag wasn't necessary again, or twice in the same episode. That's better expected from Family Guy, which was lampooned on this very episode (although I enjoyed the American Dad follow-up). Krusty's scenes didn't provide any laughs either.
So those are the negatives.

Positives were Burns outside the school, the luggage pick-up scene, and overall much of the second act.

3/5
Maybe a re-watch will improve my sentiment.
 
Mostly positive so far; I guess the 'true fans' are writing up their essays about how this would just be a mediocre Season Six episode. ;)

I liked this one. There were some good laugh-out-loud jokes, and Bob was fun as usual. There also hasn't been a "The Simpsons Are Going To..." episode in a while.

Only real complaint is that they rely too much on coincidences in the final few minutes: the sign on the bus, Krusty in the limo, etc.

Still pretty good overall.
 
Wow, I thought people would bash the episode because of Lisa getting drunk. But still, it was a great episode, really great Homer lines, but unfortunately poorly executed at times.

4.5/5. The voice work could have been better, which is the only marks I'll remove.
 
it was okay. i'll just steal mayo's review and use it as my own. laughed my ass off at the FG and AD jabs, but really not much else. krusty playing pagliacci was pretty funny too. overall, pretty much like every episode this season... nothing memorable, but nothing really horrible either. 3/5
 
The Italian Bob

Best Episode Ever.

Ok, not really, but the best this season. The opera scene with Sideshow Bob singing was a work of art as beatiful as any thing in the Lrouve (did I spell that right?) The best thing was how it ended to a whole new Sideshow Bob plot element what with the family and all. I still keep laughing at drinko drive-o. :lol: VENDETTA! VENDETTA! 5\5 :thumbsup
 
I liked this episode, it probably had the funniest jokes about the country I can remember. I think it was really solid, I can't think of anything that was bad, but outside of a few jokes, nothing was great. B+ probably the best Sideshow Bob episode since Brother From Another Series
 
Jake said:
Overall, this was nice refreshing change of pace, but the only problem is that there was too much story to cram into 22 minutes. The solution is the writers should've made this a 2 parter with the first two acts being the first part, and the Bob and family gettting their revenge the second part.

I agree, because they never actually finished the story arc with delivering Mr. Burns' car. But you have to give them credit for not wasting time getting to the main plot.

And I was wrong, Lisa learning Italian in "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas" had no real connection to this story.

This had a lot of great jokes, and a few weak ones, but overall, it was a funny episode. And American Dad is gonna be joining Family Guy at getting a few "rip-off" pokes starting here.

What I found impressive is how they developed Bob's character here. It's gonna be weird seeing a whole family go after The Simpsons from here on in.

Also, I'm glad the writers "surprised" us with the person who blew Bob's cover; I felt for sure it would've been Homer or Bart.

Still, I put this on the same plane as "Goo Goo Gai Pain"; the writers are actually giving a purpose for the family travelling to different countries, and they did an excellent job of bringing muti-dimensions to the cultural jokes and references, even if there were a few I didn't catch.

Great episode, though they didn't have enough time to cover everything. We'll see what happens with Roberto and family next time they show up...

4.25/5
 
Not perfect by any means, but very funny.

There were a couple of nice touches in the second act. The "Bartovia" bit seemed like a groaner, but was redeemed by the Jack Benny "Now cut that out!" (Grammer is a big fan, and once hosted a Benny tribute special). I also liked that Bob reworking "These Boots Are Made For Walking" works as a callback to Black Widower (it's a Nancy Sinatra song, and Bob and Selma sang Nancy's duet with her father, "Somethin' Stupid" at karaoke).

Yet another poke at Family Guy. I groaned at first, but adding American Dad at least put a different spin on it, so it's forgiven.

I thought having Bob revealed to the town by having his prison uniform under his clothes was a bit lazy. And that "We don't want to be the first Christians killed at the Colosseum" line came out of nowhere and dropped like a stone.

A solid B/4 out of 5.
 
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