Image bloodied by Dave, as always.
For the final new episode of 2011, Zombie Simpsons is trotting out two ideas that have been done multiple times before, Christmas episodes and future episodes. Get ready for bad cliches and potential spinoff characters galore:
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the Simpsons flash-forward thirty years to find themselves in a tech-savvy, futuristic Springfield. Bart and Lisa have children of their own and decide to spend the holidays as one big family at Homer and Marge’s house. Lisa and Bart turn to Homer and Marge for parenting advice and begin to realize that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
The episode is set in Christmas 30 years in the future, where Homer and Marge are empty nesters and Bart, Lisa and Maggie bring their own kids over to see Homer and Marge for Christmas. Bart is now a lousy, deadbeat dad who actually lives in the school, which is now condos, and Skinner is his landlord. Bart has had two kids and is divorced and Lisa is married to Milhouse. Adult Bart and Lisa get drunk in the Treehouse, talking about their family.
Get drunk? What a good idea.
Dead Homer Society 
41 responses to “Sunday Preview: Holidays of Future Passed”
It was sounding pretty good until “actually lives in the school.” I might check this out for the sake of morbid curiosity.
I agree. With a few tweaks, this is a premise that might (read: might) have worked in the good old days, but I don’t have high hopes for this one.
I wish they’d just left it at the future in which Lisa was President.
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As always I’ll watch the new episode because evidently, I’m a glutton for punishment
30 years later. Stick to this and stay like that… Please. I still have hope for this show.
Lisa married to Milhouse? She is a very smart girl…she can do so much better than him.
Agreed. With Nelson, she could have had some man-power, if the system were to put down her beliefs yet again.
Simpsons lifting something from Squidbillies. Didn’t see that coming at all.
All in all, far from the best Christmas episode, but a pretty good Time Skip episode. The heart in this one was all forced, but this episode had my favorite visions of Future Springfield since “Lisa’s Wedding.”
Too much buggering about with the timeline :/
Buggering with the timeline?? It’s THE FUTURE!
Anyway, this episode was excellent, it surpassed my expectations by a long run. One of the best, funniest episodes in recent memory. I couldn’t stop laughing when Burns released the hounds.
Gotta love Burns still alive 30 years in the future. They must’ve found a cure for 17 stab wounds in the back after all (and re-attached his lower half). It only took them 15 years to find the cure for 15 stab wounds, so the other two must’ve come soon after.
After unusual amounts of praise from No Homers, I checked this one out. A believable look at future Simpsons I suppose… but no real… jokes. And why the fuck, for all these future episodes, does Nancy Cartwright NOT use her adult Bart voice from “Lisa’s Wedding”? He’s in his mid-forties and still sounds ten. Even Yeardley matured up Lisa.
On another note, the Ralph clones still sounded the same, but I think you can chalk that up to the cloning.
“No real jokes”
WTF? Come on, seriously? This is just as worse as the mindless praise for all the crap Zombie Simpsons episodes. There were PLENTY of jokes through this episode, and many of them were hilarious.
– Mr. Burns releasing the hounds
– Ralph Wiggum clones
– Lisa going through a lesbian phase… very unexpected, but quick and funny
– Homer’s “that’s when the new penis gets here” joke
– Sharia Law (controversial? meh, it’s funny)
– Octuplets
– The jokes at Milhouse’s expense
– Patti and Selma’s robot lovers running away with each other
– Lenny and Carl switching brains
Probably some others I’m forgetting right now, but those were all pretty funny jokes… I don’t remember any flat ones.
Also the whole airplane/teleporter joke was epic.
Wait, technology progression mockery – that’s one, religious/sexual/race views – that’s two, character depreciation (very lame one btw) – that’s three. All the jokes? Dude, I’m gonna watch American Dad just right now, and whether their synopsis was, believe me – I will be laughing.
If those are the jokes, then excuse me while I go hit my tv. “Stupid tv, be more funny!”
I wouldn’t say those were jokes. More like just a bunch of stuff that happened. Jokes require laughter. These characters have been on way too long for anyone to have not tuned them out by now. I know I have. I only watch Zombie Simpsons so I can better appreciate the post show analysis on this blog the day after.
Unless you’re a relatively new fan, like say in the last 10 years, you simply can’t laugh at these characters anymore. The show’s been on so long now that you know nothing they do matters. It’s just one long continuous story with no point. If I wanted a long, boring story with no point to it, I have my life.
I chalk Bart and Milhouse’s youthful voices up to plain old laziness. I don’t think Nancy Cartwright cares or pays much attention to what each script she’s reading is actually about. I’m pretty sure at this point this show is just a paycheck to pretty much everyone involved. This show has no soul anymore. It’s sold it’s soul for pogs.
And yeah, they’re were no jokes. None. There never are. Zombie Simpsons doesn’t know how to write comedy. All it has to offer are puns that take aim at contemporary culture (google, e-mail, etc). And these “jokes” pack such little punch, that they act more like advertisements for the intended target than anything resembling scathing satire.
Bart’s voice in ‘Lisa’s Wedding’ was digitally altered. But that still doesn’t explain why they can’t do that for this episode.
Well, I checked it out. Averse as I am to complimenting Zombie Simpsons in even the smallest way, I gotta say: This was a decent episode.
I think ZS’s kind of humor works a lot better in a setting like the future where anything can happen. We got some pretty good jokes, and I actually laughed out loud a few times—the reveal of the octuplets was great, and I liked Lisa’s daughter plugging into cyberspace… Neat effect there. The overly slick animation on Zombie Simpsons also seems a lot more at home in the future.
The best part, however, was that we got to see the exact opposite of Jerkass Homer. He may not have been written as brilliantly as he was in the old days, but we get to see a little maturity in Homer. He actually comes across as a genuine human being after ten years of being held stagnant by the status quo. It’s oddly satisfying to see him bonding with his grandkids.
There were some issues, of course, but mostly voice and character design things. Homer and Marge could have looked a lot older, for example… I don’t know why they didn’t use their designs from previous future episodes. The pacing suffered a bit from the typical Zombie Simpsons issues, as well. but there was enough visual interest onscreen at any time that I was more-or-less willing to follow along.
So, pretty decent. A Christmas miracle.
IMO, even when they do non-sequintur plots now they still suck at it. For a future episode, I was expecting something self-explanatory funny, like a punch in the face. They had myriad possibilities for it. Instead, they just did the standard 30 years from now shit. Like thousand times before, it was already done in the 1990s and funnier. Only those lame enough not to have watched this show’s earlier season would still laugh at refreshed material.
Same is with their Halloween specials, they might as well try different approaches – this show is fucking dead.
P.S. Frustrated by such crappy Christmas ep.
-Maggie is pregnant
-Lisa is married to Milhouse. She was much better off with Nelson, as they are much better suited for eachother. Milhouse has proven time and time again that he is far the whiniest, wimpy, fickle, desperate, needy, most lowest form of human being out there, who constantly embarrasses himself, by harboring the same hopeless
-Bart is portrayed as a loser (again). This kind of thing harshes on Bart entire rep and it’s getting quite old! He’s supposed to to be cool like Sonic the Hedgehog of the 90’s. Bart used to be so bad-ass.
-They keep the same character voices, even as adults. Honestly, would it really hurt to higher different voice actors for the children as adults? Billy West would’ve been perfect for Bar and Milhouse could have been voiced by Azaria (much like his father).
-Marge makes them take a family Christmas photo against their will. Marge is just flat out annoying. What will it take for the family to just flat out walk out on her when she’s at her most irritating.
-Maggie has no voice, since the umbilical chord is now a vocal chord (She isn’t allowed to talk). Maggie has been mute for long enough. It is some sacred golden Fox contract rule to keep Maggie silent at all times “under penalty of torture”?
-Their children have sucky attitudes. Zia is a total b**** who just emits negative vibes similar to Gina Vendetti and Nikki McKenna. As for the boys, just listening to them talk is enough to give someone a headache. All they do is whine about how Bart never spends time with them. They are worst version of Bart himself in recent seasons (“Yokel Chords”, “Homer the Father”, “O Brother, Where Bart Thou”, “Springfield Up”, “The Food Wife”)
–
-Finally, a court-mandated sincerity chip, Martin’s sex change, Lenny and Carl switching brains, Octuplets with Octuplets, Robo-Snake, just fall in the category of lame future showcase.
This episode is by far one of the most abysmal forms of writing that has ever had the dishonor of plaguing the current season, the entire series, and the holiest holiday of the year. It’s painfully obvious that the Simpsons writer suck hard at future tales more than the current episodes. It’s also painfully obvious that the holiday season is extinct and nothing can restore it (certainly not the Simpsons). And even people are said to learn from their mistakes, these writers intentionally do the exact opposite and make things worse, just to corrupt the minds of the neutral/current viewers and piss off more serious fans (not the raving bias Star Trek-fandom-esque ones *shudder*, but the one who keep score). It’s always, always, always a good idea to review your old work.
Maybe it’s high time that they start going into episode remakes. In this case, “Simpsons Roasting on an Opening Fire” should make a grand return and show the currently brain-dead viewers what a true Simpsons holiday consist of. That’s right folks! It’s time to bring it all back to the 90’s. Not just old shows and old episodes. It’s time for the return of 90’s-esque writing, because this crap is out of here like ’09. No stupid future jokes. No Bart whining about how his father doesn’t spend with him, they’re not supposed to be stereotypically father and son! Homer has a life of his own at work and at Moe’s Tavern and Bart a breakout character in his own league (and age group). That’s right! Bartmania is coming back at full force! The Bartman shall rise again!
But this holiday bombshell gets a Z (far worse than an F). Everything just kept happening too fast. And we’re talking about BS events! To everyone who hasn’t seen this episode yet, CAUTION: This episode is migraine-inducing. It makes the banned Pokemon Porygon episode seem like a bigger cult favorite than all of SatAM combined. I honest cannot see how people can enjoy or even call this “the most well received episode”.
But the only good thing I can say is PRAISE THE GOOD LORD THAT NONE OF THESE FUTURES ARE CANON! HALEJULLAH!!!!!!
Let’s just pretend that this entire Sunday night never happened. And the end of the series’ run is looking pretty good about now…….
“Maggie has no voice, since the umbilical chord is now a vocal chord (She isn’t allowed to talk). Maggie has been mute for long enough. It is some sacred golden Fox contract rule to keep Maggie silent at all times “under penalty of torture”?”
There was an episode a few years ago where she gave an entire speech while voiced by Jodie Foster. Needless to say, she’s better off being mute.
This is indeed a disturbing universe.
She’s better off with a voice of an actual Simpsons universe character (someone who doesn’t sound like a complete one-timer). Foster made her sound pretentious for a play on drama (like The Great Debaters) (Maggie would never sound like that, not even as an adult, let alone a baby). Elizabeth Taylor is the ONLY one who ever got her right. Maybe someone more contemporary (like a cast member from Friends, or Jessica DiCicco) would have been more passable.
One thing I always say and hold on to is that, put aside the 90s Simpsons, this show isn’t so bad. Today it has its followers, no matter who those lost souls are, it practically writes itself off of miserable early 21st century life events, pop culture refs and, sometimes, simple work team e-mail jokes (denunciation, protest, dire satire are parsecs from it now). Yes, this could work. And even better, this works, because today’s audience were probably still breast fed in the 90s and don’t know, or care to know, shit about this show.
But those like me, those who remember, and believe whatever they see by associating today’s monotone wrappings of characters with the real deal of times past, well, it just god damn sickens me. And btw, watched that AD ep – was totally worth it. This one – don’t even remember half of it now.
So are you for or against this episode/current series? Because the language in your comment is really confusing.
Copied and pasted my review from NHC. Incidentally, i’m pretty sure 3/5 is the joint highest rating i’ve given to anything Jean era:
Lisa and Milhouse?
The umbilical cord is a vocal cord?
Homer giving up beer permanently?
Irritating
Really obvious, signposted or just lame jokes (“I just like to dress up to eat my carrots and smoke” “You know we can hear your thoughts?” “They make me wear the veil”, Ned marrying Maude, the ‘irony’ of Lisa the rude daughter, The British guy switching off the nurse to watch football, the invisibility cloak joke, the inn/manger joke, The Lenny/Carl thing dragging, Bart acting a 20 year old, Homer repeatedly freezing Abe where one might’ve worked)
Just so much lame nonsensical tripe passing off as jokes as to crowd out the good ones, mixed characterisation (Bart as a deadbeat good, Grandpa wanting to die bad, Bart wanting to be like Lisa – bad. This is the boy who thought being a drifter or monsterism were cool rewards for his lack of effort). And how did the ultimate half-assed dad Homer get so good at looking after kids? And why do they leave the Lisa-Zia/Bart and nameless kids ‘tense’ part when we all know what’s going to happen? We all know this show doesn’t do cynicism about the parent-kid relationship anymore.
That said, there is a better hit-miss ratio than usual (“Time to do this the old fashioned way…Gloves, to the hospital!”, “The Monty Burns centre for extracting souls, Districts 9 & 10, The Ralph clones had their moments, “ah, I don’t see what’s great about them”, Maggie’s blank face when asked who the father was)
Enough jokes and nice touches to keep me watching in order to give a fair review, but not enough for any more than 3/5
This episode was one of the best EVER! We watched with my family and my girlfriend and we all loved it. Amazing how Simpsons is loved by everyone.
Long live the Simpsons!!
Uh I didn’t read the comments above me and didn’t know that Internet page was dedicated to rip on the Simpsons.
You guys sure have great lives.
CU
I bet these guys have never even kissed a girl!
;) haha
I think a Compare & Contrast with Futurama would be interesting for this one. This episode is built on a bunch of gags with the formula “In the future, X is Y” For example, in the future Lenny is Carl, books are holograms and the internet is the Matrix. What Futurama (and previous futuristic Simpsons episodes) did was to have those gags alongside an interesting story. Ergo, I didn’t like this episode because the story “parents have trouble connecting with children until they realize that they all love each other” was just too recycled and a little boring. Compare this to 1) the Futurama episode where Farnsworth has trouble connecting with his son/clone until the crew has to save him from living out his days in a mausoleum on life-support; 2) Lisa has trouble connecting with Homer until she is a shown a vision of the future where she is forced to choose between love and her family.
Having said that, I really liked the air travel sequence with the “pilot” and the dog food.
In response to the generally positive reviews, I will admit this episode had a few decent bits and ideas (Krusty as Andy Rooney, Distrcits 9 and 10, the Google door with Dr. Seuss’ doodle, and the Soylent Green cereal which was recycled from Bart to the Future), but the story was a mess. It mostly just seemed to be an excuse for “Oh, look what this character is doing in the future.” Not one of the worst episodes ever, but still not very good.
A very funny, crerative and interesting episde, People who hated it lost their sence of humor long tme ago and’t can’t do nothing but give cynical comments, even when they see something good
^
This.
Sorry to disagree with you fuckers but I feel this time, the hate & cynicism for this particular gem of an episode IS a little too much (& this is coming from a rather batshit insane, crazy & passionate fan of the show as myself). As Hugh Parkfield would likely say about this episode: It’s like a flower that grew out of a pot of dirt.
Chalk up another agreement from me. I knew we wouldn’t get unanimous love for any ZS episode, but the hate here is just pathetic, take it for what it is. A damn entertaining 30 minutes of Simpsons.
Have to chime in as well. I love this blog and I pretty much always agree with the overall opinion (although I usually find the requisite two funny Zombie Simpsons jokes to be different from your choices, but whatever).
This episode though was pretty damn good. It’s full of lame jokes and flawed storytelling, but there were just too many great ideas here and big laughs to not give it a passing grade. After watching it and enjoying it (it’s actually the only episode I’ve liked from the past two seasons), I dreaded coming to this site (the only Simpsons site I now visit) as I knew it would be unfairly slagged for minute, petty reasons. Give them a break guys! It’s alright to say that Zombie Simpsons has had good episodes. There’s been roughly 275 episodes from the end of Season 11 until now and out of that massive batch, there’s at least 50 solid ones. Granted, that’s a horrible success rate and most of those 50 are probably from Season 11-15, but it still can’t be denied that there’s at least been some stabs at quality along the way. Nobody is expecting a classic from Zombie Simpsons and nobody really should (has there ever even been a show that made it to Season 10 that was as strong as The Simpsons was still at that point? Or even Season 8), but we should at least acknowledge them when they make something that’s funny enough to be worth watching, even if it is ultimately forgettable.
Best episode of the season. That being said, it still wasn’t very good, but I made it to the end without being totally bored. That’s a big plus. So, like, 5.5/10.
I will say it’s a much better episode than every Futurama episode since, like, the 2nd movie.