Hello, once again! I lost (again, I should be better organized) my full review for the sixth episode of The Simpson’s 23rd season, titled “The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants,” but to sum it up in a few words:
The Man in the Blue Flannel Pants (aired November 27th, 2011)
This episode came off as bland, per the usual, and a cheap reference to Mad Men (was it meant to be a reference to Mad Men at all, though? I presume so since John Slattery, who stars in the show, guest starred). “The Diversity Kitties of Meltingpot Mountain” was a joke I enjoyed, along with the subsequent joke of ‘apples-and-oranges-make-pears’. The “sub-plot”, featuring Bart’s blossoming interest in classical literature, was as uninteresting as the A-plot, and seemed to fizzle out even before ten minutes were over. Overall, I’d give this episode a low B-, 3/5.
As for the following episodes, titled “The Ten-Per-Cent Solution” and “Holidays of Future Passed,” respectively, I still (luckily!) have the full reviews for those individual episodes. Without further adieu,
The Ten-Per-Cent Solution (aired December 4th, 2011)
Before I start this episode, I want to say that it reminds me of a simple rehash of “Krusty Gets Kancelled,” but less funny (unfunnier? is that a word?). Nevertheless, roll the tape.
Why is there an abundance of shortened intros lately? In the classic era, there was an occasional shortened intro, but not every episode after another. The reference to “The King’s Speech” was unneeded, not pertaining any revelance to the episode; the accompanying ‘joke’ of Maggie doing the Bellamy (Nazi) salute was in poor taste. Despite not containing any relevance, the “The King’s Speech” reference was partially made up for when they made fun of their own complaints, with Krusty saying that ‘his show looks ‘dated’ and ‘hacky,’ because the references to movies (TKS, “The Social Network,” among others) take so long to animate. A ‘clever’ joke at their expense, I guess. The Hulu reference was another self-aware gag, albeit out of nowhere. The reference to “King of the Hill” was funny; however, the “The Honeymooners” cop-off “The Adventures of Fatso Flannigan” was unfunny, but again there was another self-aware joke, with Marge dismissing “TAOFF” as a “The Honeymooners” rip-off. The callback to Krusty’s superfluous third nipple and bovine birthmark was interesting, although I didn’t notice his pacemaker scar.
There wasn’t anything worthy of note for the rest of the episode; it went here and there, nothing very funny. I’d give this episode a C+, 2.5/5.
Holidays of Future Passed (aired December 11th, 2011)
It’s Xmas (Christmas is an archaic pronunciation) time again! We are given yet another future, post-“Lisa’s Wedding,” episode. The plot seems generally uninteresting at the most; but who knows? Roll the tape.
I enjoyed the couch gag, featuring the family as gingerbread, accompanied by a hand putting a note with “For Santa” written on it, and Homer taking a bite of himself. Marge’s Christmas sweater, which she unveils after Thanksgiving dinner, was a subtle, meaningless thing I enjoyed more so because I see myself wearing such a thing.
Lisa’s flocked spiked-hair, as seen in the photo montage, was a nice (was it even meant to be so?) callback to her ‘do in “Lisa’s Wedding.” Lisa’s marrying of Milhouse and later having children with him is a (semi-) cop-out, because I don’t really see Lisa consider marrying Milhouse, but it’s not that much of a bother. Still in the montage, I notice Jenda? Isn’t she Bart’s (didn’t she become ex-) girlfriend who admitted she bedd’d Rod (or was it Todd?) in Futur-Drama? Anyway, air travel becoming the subway compared to teleportation was somewhat funny, along with the “Dr. Suess’ birthday” reference to Google; however, the jokes that followed afterward weren’t very funny, and I didn’t really get (or didn’t really care for) the “Ralph’s clones” joke.
Overall, this episode was not very outstanding (not surprising?) with jokes, and the entire episode reminded me of a “The Simpsons” fan fiction I once read on an obscure “The Simpsons” fan site in the mid-2000s. Anyway, I’d rate this episode a 3/5, with a “so-so” B+.
Thanks for reading,
Judy
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