My Favorite The Simpsons Joke Is Hidden In One Of Its Most Hated Episodes

Though The Simpsons season 9, episode 11 options certainly one of my favourite jokes the present has ever carried out, that didn’t cease the outing from turning into infamously unpopular amongst viewers. The Simpsons is formally the longest-running scripted primetime American TV present in historical past, so it’s hardly a shock that not all of the present’s episodes work. I’ve some points with the fashionable humor of The Simpsons, despite the fact that seasons 34-36 have seen an enormous enchancment on their predecessors in lots of regards.

Nonetheless, as The Simpsons season 37’s renewal approaches, it’s value trying again on the episodes that followers actually couldn’t stand. Even the Golden Age of The Simpsons has a handful of outings that viewers despised, regardless of how comparatively inoffensive they could now appear. The Simpsons is among the most influential reveals in TV historical past and a significant precedent for later hits like Bob’s Burgers, Household Man, Rick and Morty, and South Park. Nonetheless, even this traditional sequence misses the mark occasionally.

Why The Simpsons Season 9 Episode 11 Is So Hated

The Simpsons’ Musical Clip Present Proved Extremely Divisive

Homer, Apu, Skinner and Barney singing in The Simpsons

More often than not, episodes of The Simpsons that earn low rankings on IMDb normally have apparent, well-known flaws. There may be the notorious season 9, episode 2, “The Principal and the Pauper,” which retconned Principal Skinner’s whole character instantly. There may be season 13, episode 17, “Gump Roast,” the final clip present that The Simpsons produced and essentially the most negatively obtained of the 5. Then there are episodes that relied closely on cameos from well-known visitor stars and didn’t present a compelling plot to again up their presence.

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Outings like season 26, episode 12, “The Musk Who Fell to Earth,” and season 23, episode 22, “Lisa Goes Gaga” have been reviled by the fan base for failing to really feel like greater than mere celebrations of their visitor stars. Whereas a number of the darkest episodes of The Simpsons have additionally been criticized for taking issues too far and episodes like season 11, episode 13, “Saddlesore Galactica,” earned opprobrium for being too foolish, season 9, episode 11, “All Singing, All Dancing,” is a standout when it comes to the present’s reception.

The fan base’s overwhelmingly detrimental response is weirdly excessive contemplating how humorous the episode is.

With a ranking of 5.0 on IMDb, “All Singing, All Dancing” has a worse essential reception than each different infamously unhealthy episode exterior “Lisa Goes Gaga.” That is hanging contemplating how common and acclaimed season 9 is as a complete, and is seemingly on account of the truth that “All Singing, All Dancing” is a clip present and a musical, each of which might be divisive. Nonetheless, the fan base’s overwhelmingly detrimental response continues to be weirdly excessive contemplating how humorous the episode is.

The Simpsons Season 9 Episode 11 Options An All-Time Nice Gag

“All Singing, All Dancing” Is The Simpsons’ First Musical Clip Present

A lot of the episode “All Singing, All Dancing” is sung via, consisting of Marge and Lisa reminding Bart and Homer that they love musicals, whereas the duo attempt to deny this. This dialog units up the numerous flashbacks to earlier musical numbers that make up the episode’s clips. Nonetheless, close to the beginning of the episode, the whole battle begins as a result of Homer picks up the fallacious film on the video retailer. Whereas many traditional Simpsons gags like Sideshow Bob’s rakes depend on cartoonish slapstick, my favourite one-liner from the episode is a verbal gag.

Homer apologizes for getting a Western for a household film evening as an alternative of a melodrama as a result of, “Properly, they put us on the Ready to Exhale ready listing, however they mentioned don’t maintain your breath.” This layered pun is a testomony to the present’s Golden Age writing and the extent of effort The Simpsons put into even the present’s clip reveals throughout its prime. There’s the “Ready to Exhale ready listing” joke, the “Don’t maintain your breath” punchline, and the inherent comedy worth of picturing Bart and Lisa watching such a distinctly mature melodrama with their mother and father.

Why “All Singing, All Dancing” Really Will get Higher Upon Rewatch

The Simpsons’ Musical Episode Is Virtually Completely Sung Via

Homer smiles while reading cards at a microphone in The Simpsons season 36

The “Ready to Exhale ready listing” gag alone proves that “All Singing, All Dancing” is much from a low-effort clip present like “Gump Roast.” Nonetheless, once I re-watched the episode for the article, I used to be struck by simply how a lot effort went into the outing. “All Singing, All Dancing” is completely sung via save for a number of strains of dialogue in the beginning and finish of the episode, which is a wild achievement for any sequence. What makes this much more notable is simply how few reveals had tried musical episodes earlier than this level.

Within the a long time that adopted, the musical episode would turn out to be a TV staple because of the likes of Gray’s Anatomy, Scrubs, and, in fact, the enduring Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode “As soon as Extra, With Feeling.” Nonetheless, it is important to notice that “All Singing, All Dancing” predates that seminal Buffy the Vampire Slayer outing by years. Virtually the whole episode is a practical musical and the clip present arrived three years earlier than “As soon as Extra, With Feeling” grew to become arguably essentially the most acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode within the present’s historical past.

Can The Simpsons Replicate “All Singing, All Dancing” in 2025?

The Cultural Shift In Attitudes Towards Clip Reveals Makes This Onerous To Pull Off

“All Singing, All Dancing” isn’t excellent, and its songs admittedly aren’t as memorable as these present in different present’s musical episodes. When seen as a musical episode, it’s an undeniably low-effort affair in comparison with “As soon as Extra With Feeling,” or Scrubs season 6, episode 6, “My Musical.” Nonetheless, when seen as a clip present, it’s honest to say that “All Singing, All Dancing” is among the greatest clip reveals ever, and one of the vital unfairly maligned episodes of The Simpsons.

I can’t see how The Simpsons season 36 would replicate the episode in 2025, even when the present’s creators have been keen to face the identical poor reception as earlier than.

That being mentioned, I can’t see how The Simpsons season 36 would replicate the episode in 2025, even when the present’s creators have been keen to face the identical poor reception as earlier than. The Simpsons season 36’s Disney+ specials show the present isn’t averse to taking inventive dangers, however there’s a purpose the sequence hasn’t tried one other clip present since 2002.

Clip reveals fell out of vogue within the early ‘00s and by no means returned to recognition, almost definitely because of the perceived low effort of their manufacturing. This wasn’t helped by Rick and Morty season 3, episode 8, “Morty’s Thoughts Blowers,” Group season 2, episode 21, “Paradigms of Human Reminiscence,” and Sit Down Shut Up episode 4, “Again in Time,” all parodying the very premise of clip reveals and mocking their obvious laziness. These reveals would make it even tougher for The Simpsons to discover a contemporary tackle clip reveals a long time after the underrated “All Singing, All Dancing.”

Supply: IMDb

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