There were a lot of recycled ideas, gags, and scenes in “Stealing First Base”. Besides the narrative repetition of Bart getting another girlfriend and Lisa feeling unloved, there were a few specific things as well. The most direct of these came near the beginning, when Bart walked into class to see chaos in Mrs. Krabappel’s absence. Of course, this is extremely similar to the opening of Season 2’s “Lisa’s Substitute”. In “Stealing First Base” the opening chaos in the classroom runs for twenty seconds before we have any dialogue. It includes Nelson spitting in books, Lewis putting a firecracker in the pencil sharpener, and the school snake puking up a mouse who enjoys stealing lines from space ants. Skinner finally arrives and spends the next twenty seconds telling (not showing) why Krabappel isn’t there and then expositing another fourth grade into existence. By contrast, in “Lisa’s Substitute” we move immediately to dialogue, with the kids speculating that Ms. Hoover drank drain cleaner or fell down a well. Less than ten seconds in, Hoover and Skinner appear, with Hoover crying. That prompts Lisa to say, “My god, she’s been dumped again.” (That one single line, just six words, tells us volumes about both Hoover and Lisa.) The episode then moves immediately to Skinner’s detailed description of the horrors of Lyme disease, while a terrified Hoover looks on. The entire episode set up is shot through with jokes, we are shown what’s going on instead of told, and there’s no need for improbable plot leaps. Both of those sequences take forty seconds. But when placed within the larger context of their respective episodes, the one from Zombie Simpsons looks even worse by comparison. Not counting the opening or the credits, “Stealing First Base” clocks in at 19m:5s, “Lisa’s Substitute” clocks in at 21m:13s. In “Stealing First Base” we don’t even get inside the school for more than a minute (on account of a GPS scene* that is never referenced for the rest of the episode). On the other hand, “Lisa’s Substitute” starts at the school immediately. The very first shot is of the classroom clock showing 9:15, so we know Hoover is late. Add all that up and “Lisa’s Substitute” has three and a half minutes more screen time left to play with after the initial set up. So not only is Zombie Simpsons shorter, but it has to drag its feet right from the opening just to fill its abbreviated time. Zombie Simpsons, clearly still a “writer’s” program. What we can see here, in simple terms of screen time, is the way Zombie Simpsons has to huff and puff to fill its quota. And while it’s not exactly news that Zombie Simpsons is shorter, if you subtract out the more than two minutes “Stealing First Base” spent on dialogue free montages you get an episode that’s almost 20% smaller than “Lisa’s Substitute”. (Not only is this food terrible, but such small portions!) I’ve said this before, and I’m sure I’ll say…
Tag: Stealing First Base
Crazy Noises: Stealing First Base
“Now, let’s discuss the, um, moe-tive” – Chief Wiggum In our continuing mission to bring you only the finest in low class, low brow, and low tech internet Simpsons commentary we’re bringing back our “Crazy Noises” series and applying it to Season 21. Because doing a podcast smacks of effort we’re still using this “chatroom” thing that all the middle schoolers and undercover cops seem to think is so cool. This text has been edited for clarity and spelling (especially on “gripe”). Sometimes a Zombie Simpsons episode is so sloppy and meandering, so devoid of humor, that it’s nigh impossible to have a coherent discussion of it. We started off talking about the montages, but there’s so many little things in this episode that just flat out suck that we ended up jumping around randomly, just like the episode did. And I’m sure we didn’t get to everything. The B-plot was three scenes, the finale of which was a helicopter landing at the school and three minutes of exposition. The A-plot dropped its reason for existing halfway through. The opening scene has literally nothing to do with the rest of the episode. Homer just gets into a little adventure driving the kids to school, it’s never referenced again and has no bearing on what happens once they get to school. And what few stabs at humor were contained within were, to put it mildly, clumsy. I could go on, but we did that last night. Mad Jon: Ok then Shall we? Dave: Only if we start with the first of several pointless montages Mad Jon: Fair enough Charlie Sweatpants: Yeah, that was about the worst of it. Mad Jon: Was it Charlie who was pissing on the Itchy and Scratchy episode from last week? Charlie Sweatpants: Oh yeah. Mad Jon: Should have kept your mouth shut Look what wrath you brought on us this week Charlie Sweatpants: I’d hesitate to call this “worse” since the last one was already approaching absolute zero, but this was awful. Mad Jon: Hesitate not fair gentleman Dave: Quite. Charlie Sweatpants: Fine, you saw an artsy movie from the late eighties, I’m impressed. Did it really need to go on for, wait, let me check . . . Mad Jon: We’ll wait here Dave: I enjoy the “Qatsi” trilogy, but recognize that it’s fair game for a ton of ridicule. The I&S bit did none of that Charlie Sweatpants: One minute and ten seconds, give or take. Wow. That’s more than 5% of the episode. I’m not familiar enough with all of Zombie Simpsons, but that’s got to be up there for all time champion montage time waster. Mad Jon: I&S is not for that kind of parody. I&S is supposed to be the 15-20 seconds of pure violent humor that reminds me that I am still not completely desensitized Charlie Sweatpants: Which one next, the kiss montage or the skateboarding montage? Mad Jon: The Kiss one Dave: Skateboarding Charlie Sweatpants: Jon…
Synergy Feasts on Crumbs
When it comes to “reviewing” Zombie Simpsons, IGN basically has two tools at its disposal: low standards and positive spin. This week’s sycophantic drivel is heavy on the latter. These aren’t recycled ideas that have been done much better in the past, they’re “variations of themes”. Sarah Silverman’s character (hereafter referred to as “Girlfriend #8”) isn’t a one dimensional character who exists only to kiss and longboard, she’s a “female version of Bart”. Skinner and Willy kissing for hours isn’t wholly unnecessary filler, it “was probably funnier on paper”. It can’t be easy to suck stale crumbs off the floor and call them delicious, but IGN’s (still) on the job. As always, I’ve edited out all the synergy. March 22, 2010 – I have a soft spot particular dislike for episodes of The Simpsons Zombie Simpsons that center around the elementary school in some way. Of all the locations in Springfield, it’s the elementary school that has the highest concentration of great supporting characters should’ve changed the least. The nuclear power plant is a close second, but the variety of characters at the school edges them out in terms of sheer wasted comedy opportunities. And the kids are definitely more fun resistant to character drift than the gang at Moe’s Tavern. So when "Stealing First Base" established that it was going to be school-centric, it already had a lot going for it “massively aggravating” written all over it. And overall, it didn’t disappoint. The storylines, as can be the is often the case with The Simpsons Zombie Simpsons after so many episodes, were variations of recycled themes we’ve seen a number of times before. Bart was once again struck by love and the results were quite entertaining pretty much the same as they always are. Mrs. Krabappel’s absence forced Principal Skinner to combine the two fourth grade classes at Springfield Elementary into one class for some reason. The setting that we never saw again gave us a number of great throwaway lines from some of our class favorites characters that used to be funny, including Milhouse, Martin, the twins and Nelson. Nelson had the best only minor storyline in the episode after getting paired with a blind student in the other class. Throughout the episode, we returned to the duo and saw how Nelson was taking the kid under his bully wing acting out a particularly hackneyed after school special. And this is precisely why I so enjoy loathe these school-based episodes. There’s plenty to work with to fill the episode with extra laughs The reanimated corpses of characters I used to enjoy acting nothing like themselves pisses me off all over again. Doubling up at the desk introduced Bart to Nikki Girlfriend #8. Essentially a female version of Bart few lines of dialogue that happened to skateboard, Nikki Girlfriend #8 was the closest thing Bart has gotten to finding true love since Greta Wolfcastle. [Ed Note: I’ll take his word for that.] Voiced by guest Sarah Silverman, Nikki Girlfriend #8…
Out of Frame, Out of Mind
“I have to go now, my planet needs me.” – Poochie There is a lot to dislike about last night’s craptacular Zombie Simpsons. But I’d like to draw your attention to what may be it’s most persistent conceit: the dropping of characters, sometimes right in the middle of a scene. First, consider the scene where Lisa is briefly popular before Ms. Hoover illogically shows up on the playground to hand back her corrected test. Is there any reason for Hoover to be on the playground at that moment? Was this so critical that she ran screaming out of the teacher’s lounge after realizing her mistake? Of course not, but the episode needed Lisa to get the test back then and there and so Hoover appeared as if conjured from thin air. Then this callous disregard for the audience is compounded as the other children surround and taunt Lisa. That seems like the kind of thing Hoover would’ve stopped. Was she still there? Was she helping the other kids taunt Lisa? Did she vanish back into thin air? The instant her presence was no longer required, she disappeared. This exact same thing happens numerous times in this episode. The entire “other” fourth grade shows up, and then they all vanish for the rest of the episode. Not only do we never see most of them again (including the teacher), but we never even visit the classroom where the kids are force to share their desks again. Yet another example is towards the end, Ralph shows up wearing a swimsuit so the show can attempt to make a joke out of “flotus”, and then he’s gone. No explanation, no reason, just gone. But the most egregious example are the lawyer parents. Their threat to sue the school is theoretically the point on which the entire A-plot turns, and yet it’s over in one scene. They show up in Skinner’s office . . . and then are never heard from again. We see them briefly at that clock eating assembly, but they don’t speak. We never find out if they’re satisfied with the school’s response, we never see them with their daughter again. Just like Hoover on the playground and the other fourth grade class, they’re gone in a flash once they are no longer needed. Family Guy takes a lot of flak for putting many of its jokes in flashbacks that are unrelated to the plot, or even to the scene at hand. But what Zombie Simpsons is doing here (and this is far from the only episode in which they’ve done this) is even worse than that. A flashback is a relatively well understood concept, one that’s employed in a lot of narrative fiction. It can be overused, it can be used poorly, but the concept itself is sound. But having characters appear and disappear at random? Even a comedy sketch with no outside plot whatsoever wouldn’t do that. Individual scenes should never require these kinds of desperate storytelling shortcuts. …
Just Nitpicking
“Wait, that did end in heartbreak. Thanks for opening up old wounds, Mom.” – Bart Simpson The irrelevant and drawn out couch gag is a good indication of the lack of comedy invention within. The comedic growth of this show cannot even be charted. It is treading water in a sea of recycled plots and derivative montages. The numbers continue to be awful, with this week’s shit sandwich watched by only 5.69 million people. That’s not as bad as last week, but it’s still the fourth lowest number ever. Unfortunately it’s looking more and more likely that Season 21 will eek out above Season 20 in terms of average rating. Stupid 20th anniversary hype.
Sunday Preview: “Stealing First Base” (Reprise!)
“How many times can you laugh at that cat getting hit by the moon?” – Marge Simpson “It’s a new episode.” – Bart Simpson “Not exactly… they pieced it together from old shows, but it seems new to the trusting eyes of impressionable youth.” – Lisa Simpson “Really?” – Bart Simpson “‘Ren and Stimpy’ do it all the time.” – Lisa Simpson Note: We posted this last Sunday, but “Stealing First Base” finally is on tonight. Recycling the post seemed appropriate and further, laziness isn’t a crime. The mercilessly unfunny Sarah Silverman guest stars on tonight’s next Sunday’s tonight’s “Stealing First Base,” which Simpsons Channel describes for us: Lisa’s classmates ostracize her for being an overachiever but the First Lady Michelle Obama (guest voice Angela Bassett) comes to Lisa’s defense. Meanwhile, Bart’s crush Nikki (guest voice Sarah Silverman) sends him mixed signals when she surprises him with a kiss. So faux-First Lady, love interest number 8,000,0005, and a humdrum plot. Sounds riveting. Get the popcorn ready.
Sunday Preview: “Stealing First Base”
The mercilessly unfunny Sarah Silverman guest stars on tonight’s next Sunday’s “Stealing First Base,” which Simpsons Channel describes for us: Lisa’s classmates ostracize her for being an overachiever but the First Lady Michelle Obama (guest voice Angela Bassett) comes to Lisa’s defense. Meanwhile, Bart’s crush Nikki (guest voice Sarah Silverman) sends him mixed signals when she surprises him with a kiss. So faux-First Lady, love interest number 8,000,0005, and a humdrum plot. Sounds riveting. Get the popcorn ready. Correction: Looks like I jumped the gun a week early, but I still stand by everything else I wrote. Also.