C & C The Simpsons " The 90's Show " ( 1/27/08)

[AdamYJ]

Wow. I think a lot of people are taking this show too seriously.

I thought it was really funny. Then again, maybe it's because, despite some fond memories of that decade, I realize that the '90s are as ridiculous a period of time as any other. The grunge stuff, the TV references, whale songs, the professor with the overly "politically correct" worldview. Good stuff. Okay, maybe it is a little weird thinking of Homer and Marge as members of Generation X (er, the actual generation, not the Marvel Comics teen mutant group). And the LotR Comic Book Guy gag wasn't that great. Then again, as a comic book fan, I think it would have been funnier to see him buying up hundreds of copies of Youngblood #1 in the belief that it would make him rich someday.

 

[mobo85]

I actually thought this was an entertaining episode. The '90s jokes were rather silly and telephoned, but they somehow were still funny. As for the show's continuity, they poked fun at this fact in the very episode. And as Homer himself once said, cartoons don't have to be 100% realistic.

What Sonic billboard? Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the fast food restaurant? What Back to the Future phone gag?

During Hategasm's first performance, there's a spoof of a famous line from Back to the Future: "Hey, Kurt? It's Marvin. Marvin Cobain, your cousin! You know that new sound you were looking for? Here it is!"

Homer and Marge decide not to have sex until they're married, following the lead of famous celebrities- we then see a billboard reading "Sonic the Hedgehog says save it 'til marriage."

 

[Joe]

There were a few funny bits like Moe's Bar and the Seinfeld reference, but overall I found myself both becoming uninterested in the story it was trying to tell and confused at how much Simpsons backstory was being rewritten in one fell swoop. The latter wouldn't have bothered me that much had the love triangle story had more meat to it and would find a better balance between being a farce and seriousness. The instructor was really too silly in his new age philosphies to really get me to believe that Marge would find him "objective" much less appealing.

Also, I agree that most of the 90s references didn't really fit organically in the story they were trying to tell. That Clinton joke was indeed a real lowpoint, mainly for how long they stuck with it.

Overall, I would have rather heard the gas man's story.

 

[TnAdct1]

I'm taking it that I did a smart thing in skipping this episode due to the Royal Rumble.

 

[Annie-Mae]

"Those who tire of Weird Al are tired of life". Words to live by.

There was some good parts but I give it a 3 for effort. I hate it for messing up the timeline so much, though it seesm more like a time epic parody peice then an acaul peice of the characters history. The Bill Clinton joke came to me as being a stab at Bush much like the LOTR joke where someone could never imagin something horrible happening but in the 2000s it did.

 

[G1Ravage]

What Sonic billboard? Sonic the Hedgehog or Sonic the fast food restaurant?

Sonic the Hedgehog, in classic cartoon form, on his knees, "proposing" to Amy Rose with a gold ring from the games.

 

[FGfan]

I have to say I find it rather annoying how this messes up continuity established by several episodes, such as having it suddenly take place in the 90's, so when DOES the show take place now anyways? The jokes about there "never being a worse President" were funny tho, as was the LOTR gag.

 

[HomeMoviesFan]

Awful. Just a terribly thought-out retcon filled with nothing but cringe-worthy 90's jokes. Almost beats "Rome-old and Juli-Eh" as the worst episodes of the Jean era. The worst ever episodes go to a couple in the Scully era. Those episodes know who they are.

1/5...

 

[ToOn~g@l]

I'm really not sure how I should feel about this episode. If you ignore continuity errors, its actually not a bad episode but if you also consider the episodes that happened years before then it sounds so confusing and stupid.

Other than that, I really liked Marge's hairstyle and the Lord of the Rings joke.

 

[sdp]

Well I actually enjoyed this episode but I couldn't help but feel it was crapping all over the classic simpsons, I hate the fact that now Marge and Homer were young in the 90s. I know it was probably a tongue in cheek joke for people who always ask why they don't age, and I'm fine with them not aging but not to errata stuff a la comic books...the parody was alright even though the simpsons didn't really need to reference the 90s since the older simpsons episodes already represent everything about that made the "90s", "the 90s".

One thing I was thinking as I watched the episode was maybe this is a new timeline were all the post-classic Simpsons seasons take place in with young homer/marge int he 90s while the older simpsons seasons can live in their own timeline with 40 year old homer/marge.

 

[Joe]

One thing I was thinking as I watched the episode was maybe this is a new timeline were all the post-classic Simpsons seasons take place in with young homer/marge int he 90s while the older simpsons seasons can live in their own timeline with 40 year old homer/marge.

I was sort of wondering that myself. I'm guessing we'll prabably see an episode with Bart being born in 1999 next season.

 

[Dee]

Homer's quote -- He who is tired of Weird Al, is tired of life--- is now my new motto.

 

[Animelee]

 

[Jave]

Might I add, the redesigned Amy Rose didn't exist in America until late 1999.

 

[Lutochris]

Best episode of the decade. I've often wondered about how Homer and Marge would no longer be Baby Boomers any more and if they'd ever reference that fact, and sure enough they did it the funniest way possible. The Simpsons is truly better than it's ever been right now. No other show in existence could adapt itself this well across generations to the changing world. If this honestly ruins Homerpalooza or The Way We Was for you, you should have stopped watching the show 8 years ago. In fact if you're honestly that worried about the timeline you probably should have stopped watching a lot earlier than that, because there's been plenty of contradictions loooong before this episode, going all the way back to what some of you would consider the best seasons.

I loved the references and the only problem I had at first was the lazy Kurt Cobain/Back to the Future joke. But the more I think about it, it might have actually been a really subtle direct jab at the recent Family Guy joke. The lines, vocal inflection, the way it was delivered, and even the guy on the phone's name (Marvin) was exactly the same as it was in Family Guy. Most likely they were making fun of Family Guy for being lazy themselves (and everyone else who's done this joke).

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Thanks for that; I was about to ask for a screencap.

Redesigned Amy or not, it's still a rare example of The Simpsons actually doing its homework when it comes to something from our generation. From what I've grown to expect, I thought they'd make up another nonexistent female hedgehog to put there.

Of course, it's Amy that's interested in Sonic, not the other way around, but I'll take what I can get.

By the way, I agree with everyone else that this ep blew donuts. You can't really make fun of the 90's as well as the 80's, since it doesn't look as bizarre. I think they had to make some things up. WHAT the heck was Homer wearing in that scene where he read Madison County? Nobody alive dressed like that!

 

[momotroniuity]

"Those who tire of Weird Al are tired of life". Words to live by.

The only good thing from this episode, I know that this 90s flashback is due to the sliding time scale, but, for an show that was on for the entirely the decade of the flashback episode and actually does it, what were the writers thinking?

 

[FidoMcCokefiend]

I
Here's a question: When was the character of Amy introduced in the US? I swear it wasn't the 90's. I knew she existed in Japan then, but... when was she brought to the US? Seems like Princess Sally shoulda been their instead, but that would have been too obscure.

Amy was introduced in the US in November of 1993 in Sonic CD. However, she didn't get the character redesign until Sonic Adventure in 1999, when People started to notice her in the US. She'd only appeared (to my knowlege) again in America before SA in the Game Gear game Sonic Drift in 1994, and in Sonic the Fighters (Sonic Championship in the US and Europe) in 1996. So, yeah, she was around in America prior to 1999, just mostly overlooked and ignored.

 

[Aldrius]

When was the character of Amy introduced in the US? I swear it wasn't the 90's.

It was the 90's. In Sonic CD. I should know, I had the game in the 90's.

They just called her Princess Sally in the states for continuity reasons and localization reasons. Even though... she looks nothing like Princess Sally.

Might I add, the redesigned Amy Rose didn't exist in America until late 1999.

Might I add there were no such things as Sonic abstinence boards until 2008 in the Simpsons?

 

[veemonjosh]

This episode officially supports my theory of every post-classic Simpsons season taking place in a different timeline each year.

And, yeah, the only good parts were the Weird Al scene and the Sonic the Hedgehog billboard.