Homer wants a younger, hipper image. So he starts hanging out with Terrence and Emily, his cool new neighbors from Portland, OR. But Marge finds their trendy parenting methods extreme and Bart quickly realizes their son, T-Rex, is super-pretentious.
Oh Yay! I’ve always wondered what it would be like if they crossed The Simpsons with Portlandia! No wait, never mind, I’ve never wondered that. Also this episode probably won’t be anything like that, because Portlandia is occasionally funny.
Dead Homer Society 
20 responses to “Sunday Preview: The Day The Earth Stood Cool”
“Homer wants a younger, hipper image.” The show has now become a metaphor for itself.
Do people still bash hipsters? It seems like it got pretty old. I mean, even ‘King of the Hill’ had its hipster episode nearly five years ago.
-Marge’s naivete and enthusiasm for new things she doesn’t understand is really annoying.
–Marge: (Grave voice) “It is not annoying” *annoyed grunt*
-T-Rex has an uncharacteristically mature voice, even worse than other past kids. The kid is a jerk. Like a bad Simon/Chris McLean cross-fusion.
-Marge has a warped sense of “parenthood”. Not funny. I wish she would shut up, or at least have an episode where she is absent completely or
-Sideshow Mel has worn out his welcome. What happened to that Sideshow replacement who just used to be the butt of Krusty’s antics on The Krusty Show?
-As far as I’m concerned, Marge never had any real redeeming qualities and just keeps getting worse. At Lisa once stood for something. As for the Portland “cool” family, *floor trap opens* *they fall through* *screaming that lowers in volume* *psssssh* *hit*
Actually what amazed me the most is that Bart was the goody two-shoes kid in this episode. He didn’t bash on Homer, he liked “lame” stuff and for some reason the other kid acting all jerky a la himself in “Radio Bart” when he got lame presents, well, he pissed him off! WTF happened to Bart?
Besides that, twas a pretty “cool” episode. Huh-huh.
(yaaaaaaaaawn hipster stuff)
You seem to have an irrational hatred of Marge Simpson.
You can thank Fox for that. At first, she was semi-tolerable, with the exception of a few bad episode of the season (Secrets of a Successful Marriage), but seasons 13-14 dished out many more unpleasant episodes like this (Brawl in the Family, Brake My Wife Please, Three Gays of the Condo). During the lampshade “New Simpsons” age, the dark episodes were toned down, but the Simpsons had already landed in the age of crap (Seasons 15 to Lisa the Drama Queen). Then the HD saga began, where the writers just stopped caring altogether, and Marge became flanderized at the highest point possible
Adventures in Baby-Getting was just plain unacceptable (especially since American Dad already did it, and then Family Guy. Now the Cleveland Show is about to do the same). And it just got worse and worse. In this episode, all she did was bitch, whine, and nag some more. Never has her voice been so grating as her personality (and this woman got the royal attention in three episodes season 14, like a guest star would get in The Muppet Show).
The is just no hope for Marge in this series. She can’t even properly defend herself against her so-called “friends”. She’s better off just being pushed into the background, so at least Homer, Lisa, and especially Bart can get their episode plot of the day, without Marge abruptly halting their plans. Even Maggie can get a social link (even if it’s babies) without being her little hold item (with pretend bad-ass tenancies) all the time. At least Ling and the Octuplets would get more screentime.
The many times I defended Marge when she was at the mercy of her “friends” and Springfield (for the wrong reasons), ……I just can’t do it anymore….
They’re all like this now man, not just Marge. Her major problem is that yes she nags a lot (it was probably some wife/mother stereotype back in the 80s 90s, but today they’re much more upbeat), but Kevner’s voice really doesn’t help. She’s like an old dog which doesn’t pass away now (btw it’s a decent metaphor for the whole show, and I’ve already said that), and whatever she does is not only waaaay out of her own established character (or what’s left of it anyway), but also doesn’t even fit in with the others in regular conversations. Like, that episode about getting a new car that you mentioned (I think it better illustrates the idea than this week’s) had at least three moments at which you could close your eyes and just listen to Marge talk to another character and the whole conversation would feel stitched together from different pieces. Well, either that or some crappy TV show parody where you know there’s bound to be a laughter every 3 seconds. Anyway, like I said it’s not just about Marge, it’s about everyone but yes you do have a point and I somewhat agree with it.
Seconding just about everything you said, Stan (although it’s Kavner, not Kevner), it’s so true. If there’s a preview for Zombie Simpsons as I’m flipping through the channels or if I’m over at someone else’s house and the show is on for even a minute or two, I can hardly bear to listen to ANY of them now. They’re all so horridly out of character, it doesn’t feel fair to single out just one.
True, just one shouldn’t be singled out, but the one who bosses the loudest becomes the desinated focus of hate, especially if they keep it up for a number of episodes in a row.
I love how they took everything I like about Portlandia and Simpsonized it. Which I guess means make it unfunny like they did with the Flight of the Conchords and Tim and Eric. Can’t wait until they get H. Jon Benjamin so they can Simpsonize Archer or Bob’s Burgers.
Speaking of Bob’s Burgers. At least I have that show to wash the rotting flesh of The Simpsons out of my mouth. I honestly don’t know if Bob’s Burgers is a genuinely good show or just more competent then The Simpsons.
Bob’s Burgers is an awesome show.
Secondly the “Only one batch a day” thing I found chuckling. Since when I first went to a new donut shop I was confused by why they were $2 each and why the place closed at 12:00 Noon.
Let me second the love for “Bob’s Burgers”. I love the way it draws on the character-based humour that
was a key aspect of Classic Simpsons.
Also, there’s a specific problem with this ZS episode. “Portlandia” doesn’t air in Europe, so when this
ZS ep is transmitted here people won’t understand the references to it. I know it’s a US show, but
Classic Simpsons was a show people everywhere could enjoy (a quick “Sherriff Lobo” or
“Hollywood Squares” ref was never was a barrier to international audiences the way this
“Portlandia” crossover is).
In some parts of Eastern Europe they still air ZS, and with crappy translations and voiceovers, it still gets watched. Although I wouldn’t know who would be its audience at that point.
I don’t live there anyway, and yet I never watched Portlandia. But watching yesterday’s episode for me was more like a bash on hipster culture and everything non-conformist. And I can’t say that it was a total waste of 22 minutes of their airtime (hipster version of Springfield was kinda fresh), but as always, it dished a considerable number of thumb downs for pretty much 2/3 of the episode, making it another crappy result of bad storytelling and mediocre satire.
This episode really seemed like a waste of Patton Oswalt’s considerable talents. Then again any episode that had Patton Oswalt would be a waste unless they had a time machine.
“Thirding” the love for Bob’s Burgers! I’m glad the Network is giving that show a chance. I love the originality of the voices, and of the characters.
i also agree with you Residents Fan, that it uses character-based humour. Perhaps BBs is the reincarnated Simpsons!
Homerpalooza! Come on down! You’re the next one up to play Redeadification!
They had a whole promo campaign for this episode in an update for Tapped Out, with “Cool Homer” and “Cool Brown House”. Honestly, who’s gonna remember the episode long enough for this reference in the game to be understood or cared about?
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer’s GF called him a “Hipster Doofus”.
I scrolled through the new entries, giggling at Bart and Lisa’s bran muffin, then hit this picture and actually felt the smile slide off my face.
The existence of this just makes me FEEL LIKE I’M GOING TO EXPLODE HERE
Aw cmon man! Be cool!
MODERNIIIIIIZE DUUUUUDE!