The Simpsons - "Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life" - Talkback [11/14]

You know, judging from the title of this episode I thought it was Season 9's Lisa The Simpson for the new decade, but after seeing this episode, I was actually half-impressed.

3 great jokes and neat gags in a Simpsons episode, especially if it's about Lisa?

Now I know the current writers doesn't have the ability to have a actual semi-good episode twice in a season, but when they give it their all, it could be quite funny......again if they actually tried.
 
Why not? People still remember the Exxon-Valdez oil spill, and that's closing in on 25 years ago. It's a pretty big event, both environmentally and for Obama's presidency.
 
This was delightfully aimless. This episode seemed to be a hodge-podge of whatever and I wish the story was more about Lisa finding out earlier that Marge was working herself to the bone trying to pay for Lisa's education while Lisa was excelling at the new School, instead of a wishy washy ending we received. It's like the writers suddenly remembered what the point of the episode was two minutes before it ended.

C+ (6.5/10)
 
It was much better than I thought it'd be. I was dreading more Lisa moping, but we had some good Homer gags plus a sub plot with Bart that, while recycled, was at least pretty good with the physical jokes.

The end of both story lines was completely anti-climactic though, but I was expecting it when Lisa discovered how her mom was paying for her education two minutes before the show ended.
 
You know, this show used to be the best there was on Animation Domination. Now it seems to be losing its popularity to Family Guy. What's up with that?
 
TEXXON - Mash up of Texaco and Exxon.

Homer spent lots of money to get 10 gallons of gas each time and to get that rare figure for Maggie.

Are Bart and Nelson now about to be buddies and not enemies?
 
I actually enjoyed this episode a lot. Both plots actually. It's kinda sweet how much trouble Homer went through to get Maggie that doll.
 
I thought the Up parody "PU" was really good, so no, they're not out of gas. And speaking of gas....


People still remember the Exxon Valdez. When companies cause calamities on this kind of scale, people tend not to forget....as much as BP would want us to.
 
This episode got quite a few laughs from me. Homer wasting and buying more gas was a lot of fun, as was Nelson's attacks on Bart backfiring against him.

The main plot seemed like a good idea that just didn't pan out. They didn't even need for Lisa to go to a better school, just have her struggle not to get distracted like Marge did.

Also, Marge doesn't have a full-time job, is it really that taxing for her to do that laundry? Maggie's bound to enter preschool soon enough (I mean, from their perspective not ours), so that's one less day responsibility for Marge if she thinks about this long term.



I feel like more often than not lately they are friends. Between the Brokeback Mountain episode and Bart actually calling Nelson his "other best friend" that one time, Nelson seems to fit the "tough guy" role more than the bully one. I laughed when Marge was surprised at Nelson being the bully type.
 
Did you see how much laundry she was doing? There was literally an entire mountain there.

Beyond that, raising 3 kids and looking after man-child Homer IS a full time job. Not to mention that she also keeps the house clean, runs errands, and has to make breakfast/dinner for the family on a daily basis.
 
This episode of The Simpsons was actually pretty good. At least the next two episodes aren't focused almost entirely on Lisa but Bart instead. Homer wasting gas to get a doll for Maggie was kind of funny. Nelson's attacks on Bart hitting him instead was also somewhat funny. I did feel that Lisa seemed kind of mean to Marge but it was all fixed by the end.
 
Episode is decent with a generally good heartwarming story Lisa episodes have a tendency to utilize, but I was largely amused by the full circle ending, "Told ya, ain't no window."
 
It was a great episode, one of the best of the season! Everyone in the family played a role! This is a solid 9/10 to me! there was only one scene I didn't like: Lisa ignoring Willie in pain. I know, he told her to ignore him, but she doesn't seem like the kind of girl who ignores pain like that. But don't get me wrong, it was awesome, funny, with heart.
 
I watched this again and, uh....I have the sudden urge to slap Marge upside the head.

In earlier episodes, especially "Seperate Vocations", which aired back when the show was genuinely funny, Marge wasn't acting like a little kid who had his crayons taken away when Lisa was upset/apathetic/worried she might end up like her mom. Compare that to this S22 episode where Marge is a complete jerk. Marge in SV acted like a mom who gave a crap about her daughter and took Lisa's disdain with her trademark mom-ness. Even more disturbing, Lisa didn't even tell Marge how she felt--Marge got the news via second hand from Homer, and without seriously questioning him if he was drunk or not. Then she never even asked Lisa to her face and just acted like an ass on a mere whim. Translation: Marge was actually stupider than Homer!

Not to mention Separate Vocations wasn't filled with filler scenes with Homer buying gas in more and more stupid ways over the course of 4 minutes. It's not like the writers could've had Lisa tell the family to try something a bit more practical...LIKE EBAY, or CRAIGSLIST. (Both of those sites are ripe for satire, er, Zombie Simpsons isn't a satire...my mistake.)
 
A mountain that fits in the basement. I know I'm overthinking this, but Marge doing just a bunch of laundry doesn't compare to Homer having to work at the Kwik-E-Mart in addition to his job at the plant to pay for Lisa's horse. Maybe if they had Marge do other things for the school.
 
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