“Radioactive Man” has what might be the fastest pace this show has had up to this point. Pace in storytelling is actually something really easy to quantify: the shorter the distance between action and its consequence, the faster the story … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Seven, Episode Two, “Radioactive Man”

So, yeah, the baby did it. If “Part One” was all buildup, this is all winding down – the consequences for all those actions. I’ve always been struck by the elegance of the plotting of this episode. Each act has … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Seven, Episode One, “Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part Two)”

You know, having gone through this whole series, breaking down each episode in eye-bleeding detail, “Who Shot Mr Burns (Part One)” feels like something momentous in a way catching it on reruns or seeing it on DVD didn’t. I missed … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Four, “Who Shot Mr Burns? (Part One)”

It honestly awes me that an episode of TV this good was allowed to happen – if you asked me to write down my top five, this would easily make it – hell, if you asked me to make my … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Three, “Lemon Of Troy”

It’s been a long time since we’ve had a ‘first’ anything on this show. I stand by my belief that the Golden Era is seasons four to eight, with the first three seasons being the show’s Experimental Era, where it … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Three, “The Springfield Connection”

I shouldn’t be as astounded by how this show constantly finds new depths to its protagonists at this point. ‘Character development’ can mean one of two things, and it’s not often immediately clear which version people mean when they use … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-Two, “‘Round Springfield”

It’s been noted before that The Simpsons’ satire is less about specific problems (like how The Wire is a brutal point-by-point takedown of structural flaws in the Baltimore police, school, and newspaper systems) and more about general principles. This, I … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty-One, “The PTA Disbands!”

I wonder how many sitcoms before this had a plot centered around a horny dog. This show has cycled through a lot of showrunners, so it’s fascinating to me how the show feels like it’s always building on what came … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twenty, “Two Dozen And One Greyhounds”

This is the first, best, and arguably only good future-set episode of The Simpsons. This is one of those concepts that can only work in either animation or extraordinarily goofy live-action comedy. Our favourite four-fingered freaks are perpetually frozen in … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Nineteen, “Lisa’s Wedding”

This episode is the biggest example people use to say that Matt Groening isn’t necessarily right about everything Simpsons, because he famously hates this episode to the point of taking his name off it and refusing to do the commentary … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Eighteen, “A Star Is Burns”

The relationship between Homer and Marge’s two sisters is a cultural cliche that’s taken on a life of its own. It’s the cliche of a man hating his mother-in-law transferred to his sisters-in-law, and I often find it’s a reflexive … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Sixteen, “Homer vs Patty and Selma”

Ordinarily, my Australianishnessism is something I lean into in these essays to mark myself as someone commenting on America from the outside; my conception of America largely comes from shows like The Simpsons, making me a true test of the … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Sixteen, “Bart Vs Australia”

“Krusty was originally supposed to be Homer’s secret identity” is one of those facts that every hardcore Simpsons fan is completely unsurprised to find in one of those “25 Things You Never Knew About The Simpsons” videos on Youtube, alongside … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Fifteen, “Homie The Clown”

If you wanted to make a collection of Simpsons episodes themed around the town of Springfield as protagonist, this would absolutely have to be part of it. Bart is our initial window into the problem of the week, but technically … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Fourteen, “Bart’s Comet”

I have what I like to call a Cowboy Bebop sense of pacing. I like it when an episodic work – most obviously TV, but also music albums or comics or to an extent books – studies one idea with … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Thirteen, “And Maggie Makes Three”

It’s amazing how we keep getting further and further out of reality and yet still hit not only some great commentary on America but some great universal themes. The Stonecutters, as a parody of institutions like the Freemasons, seem almost … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Twelve, “Homer The Great”

This is remembered as a mediocre episode with a great first act, and I am deeply frustrated that I can’t go against the grain, because that’s an accurate assessment of it. I never expect this show to have anything specific … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Eleven, “Fear Of Flying”

The thing I’ve really grown to like about this show while doing this project is how good it’s gotten at flowing from one theme to another without feeling totally disconnected. One of my first complaints about the show was all … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Ten, “Grampa Vs Sexual Inadequacy”

Oh dear. I wasn’t looking forward to this episode. Last time I watched this episode was a few years before the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and even then it was weird and uncomfortable not in a way that challenged my beliefs … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Nine, “Homer Badman”

How is it this show could keep finding more nuances and new emotional depths to these characters after so long? This episode digs further not just into Bart and Lisa, but into their specific relationship. I’m actually curious how people … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Six, Episode Eight, “Lisa On Ice”