The Top 10 Simpsons Season 17 Episodes

Four finger Discount. Dude, welcome to this very special episode of four figure
Discount, where if you listen to the show, you'll be well aware that
we have reviewed every single episode of the season, which means it is now
time for a season seventeen wrap up here on four figure Discount. I'm very,
very excited. I'm intrigued to see what might transfer in the next forty
five minutes to an hour. I'm Dando and I am guy. We made
it, Dando. We were a little worried. We're like that fat guy
in a marathon who's like struggling towards the finish line, but we finally got
through. We've got We might have an unseemly stain on the back of our
pants, we might have injuries that will just you know, last us for
the rest of our lives, but we're here. Were made at the very
I'm gonna say, we're a little concerned walking into season seventeen with like we're
entering the quote unquote bad patch. Are we entering the bad lands? But
I think more often not, perhaps more often than not, or more often
than we expected. We were kind of pleasantly surprised by the quality of the
episodes or the enjoyment that we derived from Now, whether that's because are expectations
were rock bottom, were bedrock low, or the show still has the capacity
to surprise and delight, who knows. That's fair. I think it's a
bit of both. I think it's expectations were very, very low going into
this season because numerous people who had been rewatching this season recently went, oh,
you're not gonna like this one, or I can't wait to hear we
have to say about these episodes. And they were working on the movie whilst
they were making this season. So though in like the post production of the
movie, when they were making this and they didn't hire extra people. They
just took on the extra workload themselves, which means that they're sort of like,
you know, burning the candle at both ends. And I think it
showed a bit in this season in the sense that, as you're saying before,
we're pleasantly surprised by this season. It wasn't terrible. There were a
couple of episodes a handful where you were just like, what is going on
here? But I think in this season, more than any we've done previously,
I feel like there was more meth episodes than any others where it felt
like they kind of checked out, or you know, there's a few jokes
there where if they just dedicated a little bit of extra time, they probably
could have come up with something a bit funnier, or the endings felt a
bit rushed because they just sort of gave up or they didn't have time to
sort of think of a solid ending. I thought that happened more in this
season and anything previously. I think this may have been better than season sixteen.
I have to go back through season sixteen, but I feel like,
oh, I'm saying that it probably was the worst season we've reviewed to date,
But it doesn't mean it was a bad season, if you know what
I mean. Yeah, I think you've got to do the aggregator where you
sort of look at the season as a whole, and you know, way
up your pros and cons and things like that. Something else we noticed was
that sometimes episodes felt like they didn't have enough in them. So you know,
you'd get the full opening credits, or you'll get extended couch gags or
yeah, other things that felt a little bit like philler or padding or drawn
out gags, kind of like the the Peter Griffin. Ah ah, well
it sort of drags out now and now now, and we've said time and
time again on the podcast out felt like fet more Family Guy Brandon humor was
sort of creeping its way into the symptons because Family Guy was sort of hitting
its hitting its peak at this point. Maybe maybe it'd already impassed this peep,
but Family Guy was sort of like the cool shit at that point in
time. You know, they're getting the Star Wars movies, and like Stuart
Griffin was so like getting quoted all the time. You don't necessarily hear anyone
really talking about Family Guy anymore. It's still I'm still doing really really well.
I'm mashinming, but I personally don't know anyone really watch his Family Guy
anymore. But at that time it certainly was. And I can understand why
that kind of eve crept into the sisens. You kind of wish they didn't,
but he can understand why, because well, if everyone's enjoying that,
maybe we'll try and find it a good blend of that. But wow,
no, Yeah, I think it's something that happens to any program that runs
a long time, or any artist who sort of works for a long time.
There's that constant balancing act that you have to walk of, Like I
want to be faithful to my own voice, to my own tone, to
my own style, but at the same time, I also want to remain
relevant and part of the zartgeist, and you know, I don't want to
be stuck in a rut. I'd like to think that I'm evolving, but
there are times when that can turn into I'm just aping what's cool at the
moment. I mean, and it's a it's not always a recipe for disaster,
but it generally regards in some pretty terrible meals. It's kind of like,
you know, in Krusty gets canceled when Gabbo comes around and everyone starts
watching Gabbo instead. Family Guy was kind of like the Gabbo at this point,
like I'm a bad with a boy. Like they were like saying,
the stuck Simpsons. We'll never say, right, but you know, by
the end of that episode, Krusty reigned supreme, and I kind of feel
like, whilst Family Guy is still on TV, the Simpsons they stuck it
out, and I feel like they've they've outlasted Family Guy and their their legacy
purely because of the Golden Ear, of course in the nineties, but The
Simpsons is still talked about where family Guy necessarily isn't and I feel like they
sort of they said, they said to weight it out. Basically, that's
very much the case. I mean, I think you and I and a
lot of other people have spoken in the past about how ye dropping a Simpsons
quote into conversation or as a bit of an icebreaker can be Yeah, an
icebreaker, we're speaking, Yeah, we're speaking the same language. Or even
if you don't, oh, I've autom it's not you may not have automatically
made a new best friend, but it's like we've got something in or you
know, this is a bit of a shared language. Now, admittedly that's
sort of in the Golden Age. I mean, I don't know if there
are too many quotes from more recent seasons where people are sort of using that
as a shared shared dialect. A couple of moments here and their threat the
laiter, like the mid teen seasons where you go, oh shit, I
didn't realize that came so late in the show's run, but it's most season
one to nine. But there there've definitely been moments in even this season where
I've gone, So that's where that's from. That comes from that, Yeah,
absolutely right. I don't recall I mean, I'm not a huge family
guy guy, but I don't recall too many people sort of using family guy
quotes or bits as the one thing thing I know now I remember now that
people still tend to use is that oh now, now, now, now,
now when Cleveland falls out of the in the bathroom, when he falls
out of the end of the house. But you don't really hear people are
saying that all that often. It might be when you're falling over or whatever
like that, but it's not like you're just quoting that willy nilly. I
think the only family guy quote I might use, and it's not even a
family guy quote, it's a South Park rip off of family Guys. You
you think there's bad, you meant at the time you remember they're turning to
Day Invaded Gary Coleman for Tea with the Queen something. We have to do
that as a bonus, like skip ahead review for going down a South Park
on Patreon. It's such a great episode. I mean, it's like a
it's a it's a fucking prison yard shanking it was like, ah, oh,
you guys think you guys are the cookies? All right, sit back
and watch this. Yeah, let me get all funds on that airs.
And if you enjoy south Park, check out out going down to south Park
Podcasts. You can find only for that in description of this as well.
But yeah, I am with south Park, right, I'm watched this.
We've been watching season three now, South Park season three. Yeah, and
man, I just forgot how great that show was. And it's whilst it's
been going for like what twenty three years, I want to say now started
ninety seven, twenty six years. During the pandemic stuff, they only had
like a couple of episodes, so they're not pubbling them out like the Simpsons
do. But you know, the south Park remained quality, but they weren't
pumping out as much as the Simpsons. The Simpsons are closing in like eight
hundred episodes. So like the fact that they've been able to sort of just
keep going. And you watch some of those new episodes now and they're like
decent, you know what I mean, They're actually enjoyable, they're pretty they're
pretty good. I haven't watched many of the season twenty two to three to
like twenty seven era, but like the last couple of seasons, I've been
watching a lot and it's just it's it's amazing when you really think about it,
how they've managed to just pull out like eight hundred episodes of a television
show that are still enjoyable to watch. Oh absolutely, yeah, yeah.
I mean you've got to pay respect to the king. I mean they'll always
be thinking, you know, south Park will always be has. It has
its own thing, and it's it's funny for its own reasons. But as
like a show that you can sit down and watch with your family, Simpsons,
no one will ever beat it. I don't think animan and it's a
it's akin to Saturday and Art Live, I think in that regard. I
mean it also it works as its own thing, but it also works as
an incubator for good talent as well. And I think a lot of people
it still has that rep of I want to write comedy or I want to
write a situation comedy for TV. This is the thing. This is you
know somewhere I will go to to learn my chops, to show off my
stuff, and you know, maybe become skilled enough to go off and do
my own thing. Yeah, having the Simpsons on your resume is definitely a
massive tick. Absolutely. But we're here today to go through our top ten
episodes of season seventeen, and if you listen to our previous our season wrap
ups, what we do is I give my top five and Guy gives his
top five. But the fun little game we'd like to play is that I'll
predict what guys five favorites of beat in no particular order, just he's five
favorites, and he'll try and do the same for me, and we'll see
at the end how much we actually know each other. So what I'm going
to do is I'm going to mute you. You give me the thumbs up
right when you have finished telling the listeners what you think my top five are
going to be, right, I'm gonna give you the three two one countdown
and you're gonna be muted. I won't be able to hear you, I'll
be able to see you, And once you give me that thumbs up,
I'm going to mutate you. Ready, three two one, you're muted?
How about they're DANDU Oh my goard, they get six. He knew he
knew that I was going to do something like that. I'm sure I can.
Anyway, here's what I think Dando's top five, and I'm gonna throw
away a bit of a wild card humorous one just to you know, get
his goat. I think I've done that in the past as well. Anyway.
Top five, in no particular order, Homer's Paternity, Coot, My
Fair Laddy Tree, House of Horrors, sixteen, The Monkey Suit, and
Homer Simpson, This is your Wife? Okay. That's Dando's top five according
to a guy. I'm going to give him the thumbs up and get unmuted.
All right. He's giving me the thumbs up. That means he's you
finished. I'm assuming you finished. I am indeed. Alrighty. Now,
what's going to happen is I'm going to give you the three two one countdown.
You're going to push mute on my channel, which means on that little
road cast I thing you've got in front of the USB one, just hit
that little red button down the bottom there and you'll see the mute. So
I'll say three two one mute, and then I'll say it and I'll give
you the thumbs up when it's time for you to un mute me. Are
you ready, mister Davis? Can you handle this? It's too much technical
stuff that I'm trumba bey two one, mute me, okay, so you
can't hear me, he can't hear me, okay. Cool. So basically
this is this is a guy's top five in my opinion. I think he's
gonna have the Italian Bob. He really really enjoys Side show Bob and what
doesn't really like Kate Fear, which is odd. But he really liked the
Italian Bob. I remember him enjoying that one. And Homer's Paternity Coot,
which is the one that you know, I was getting a lot of attention
recently with the whole submarine that that imploded, unfortunately, but Mike Reesel was
on there, and Homer's paternity Cooper. Homer has the new Father, the
man he thinks he is his father. I think you like that one.
I think he'll also have because I've got in mine. I actually almost spoiled
that. I have the seemingly never ending story that's gonna be in my top
five. I think Guy Devils I had that as well, so I think
it's a great, a great episode. He also he doesn't like Willie,
but I think he was a big fan of My Fair Laddie, and I
think you'll have that in his top five. And finally a recent one,
the Monkey Suit, because he was a fan of the court Case and The
Man Father. I believe he's from Kentucky wherever. He was just the the
lawyer of the of the prosecutor. I think he'll have the monkey Suit in
there as well. All right, so guy Davis thumbs up and meet me,
sir. You are unmuted, all right, I'm not making fun of
my genitalia. Oh I did I new this occasion, I learned something new
about the roadcast, and that's great. I can mute you, So I
might just do I might do that on going's like, oh my god,
he's still going on. Okay, So you kick off with your number five
four season seventeen. My number five was Treehouse of Horror sixteen. Oh see,
I always leave those ones out because they're like, oh, it doesn't
matter. Yeah, that's fine. Trees you throw it in there, okay,
cool, yep. What did you like about it? I'd never look
into it. What would you tree house? To borrow? What was the
stories for this one? There was artificial Intelligence. Yes, Uh, Survival
of the Fattest which was kind of like the most game one and I've grown
a costume on your face or someone the costume one. I really like that.
Yeah. Yeah, So, I mean I thought this was a not
a top tier Treehouse of Horror, but I thought a pretty good episode.
I like Artificial Intelligence myself, but I thought they were all pretty good.
So look, you're right, it probably is cheating to put Treehouse of Horror
in a top five, because they're invariably pretty enjoyable, you know, even
if you've sort of got to judge them by their own stand as opposed to
the rest of the season, don't you. I'll give you to the end
of this podcast to think of another one. By the end, you can
go through your at the end of anyway. Number five while you're doing that
is regarding Margie. This is the one, if you remember correctly, where
the episode was really really good and at the very end they screwed it up.
They had like home and say, oh, you're enabler for my alcoholism
or something like that, and I was just like, why did you do
that? Yeah, I had it landed. It the plane had landed.
Why did you then crash into the build. Why did you turn the engine
back on and crashing into that building? You know? It was just like
one of the episodes where I was furious at the end, but the ending
aside, I thought, we just got the best version of Homer. Heres.
This is the one for those who can't remember. Where Marge loses her
memory. She remembers everybody else except for Homer, and it's to try and
remind her why she why she why she loves him. And I just thought
that, yeah, in this episode, we it really showed why Homer and
Marge as a couple work. We didn't get any shitty Homer in this episode.
It was just all Homer trying his best and giving Marcho space and things
like that. And I just thought this was just, yeah, a really
simple story that showed us the best version of Homer. And I'm a big
fan, as you said, no of Drew Barrymore and she's being canceled at
the moment apparently for starting a shop again. But that aside, I'm a
big fan of fifty First Dates and this episode reminded me of fifty First Dates.
See my You've made a very eloquent case for it and quite an understandable
one. I mean, I like to think that I know some things about
the episodes that you enjoy. I do remember, however, that you're disdained
for them. This episode was so great it almost outweighed every thing else which
is wired and put it in your in the top fives that I thought for
you, But I don't know. I mean, you've you've given very very
good reasons as to why it would be in your top five. I was
like, twenty one minutes and thirty seconds were good enough except for the final
thirties. So I'm like, I've gotta give credit with question as we're setting
the past. If you don't stick the landing, it can really yeah yeah
the rest. Yeah, So what is your number four? I think my
number four? Again, I sort of put mine in no particular order,
but I'm gonna do a little red jigging here. I'm going to say the
last of the red hat mumments. Okay, then, yeah, I mean,
we did discuss the highest aspect of this one. We both love a
good heist. I thought this episode would have been better had it focused on
the highst But like, what what what got into the top four for you?
What was it about that you're like, look, two words, primarily
Lily Tomlin. I mean, I think she just did a really good,
really gave a good a good guest performance and no fit into the Simpsons in
the it was pretty well. I mean that something that can happen with performance,
but especially comedians who have been around forever, you tend to think you
can almost discount that they're good or you you've you forget about what makes them.
Refresh my memory. Bob Newhart was in this season, wasn't he showed
up? No, Bob Newhart was in we reviewed it this season, but
he was back in season seven when Krusty died. But we did it with
sorry. But you tend to think that certain people are part of the furniture,
and it was like, oh, okay, yeah they're good, but
then you forget why they're good. And I think Lily Tomlin did a really
good job of reminding us that she's you know, a very inventive, very
weird comedian. I mean that all not all that came to the four and
last all the red up mammers, mammas, mummers, but remindless is what
she's known for. What has she been in? I will Look, she
was a stand up a comic, and not even so much a stand up
comic more like a solo sketch performer. Yeah. I did a lot of
shows like that, Rages, and moved into movies. Was sort of hit
and miss in terms of the products of the projects that she that she chosen
she was attached to. But she was part of the original Castle like nine
to five with Jane Fonder of Dolly Parton, which is really pivotal in the
early eighties. Look, people mainly know it these days from Grays and Frankie
again with Jane Fonder. They've just gone on for a few years on Netflix
and they've proven very, very popular with a you know, a really wider
range of people. My sister loves it, My wife loves it. I
was like, what is what my sister's like, Louisa's young son, Yeah,
who's like twelve, loves it. Yeah, Yeah, I've ever watched
it, but like so obsessed with it. They really enjoyed it absolutely.
Yeah, and then you've got sort of like the B plot as well,
where yeah, Lisa wants to study abroad in Rome and she hides the tutor
to learn Italian and it's Millhouse and it's Millhouse as a boss. Yeah,
with the chicken his name. Liza gets angry at it. She has jealousy.
That was funny. Yeah, yeah, so that was kind of funny.
I enjoyed both aspects of that. So yeah, that's why the last
of the Red Hot Mum has made my list. What my number four?
Kind of cheating similar to like Trios of Horror, but I thrown it in
anyway, was Simpson's Christmas Stories kind of like a Christmas version of Trios of
Horror. This to me, I looked at the title of it, this
has disaster written all over it for me because I've never been a fan of
the ones like Simpsons Bible Stories and the one where they were like with the
hoe bowl on the train, Simpsons Tall Tales. I think it was because
I was like, oh, they just feel like you just and we're the
stories ever told in this one as well, this feels like you're just checking
out, you know, like just no good. But the Simpsons Christmas Stories
I thought was really really fun and really encapsulated the vibe of like a Simpsons
Christmas special, like the like the seventies and the eighties version of like a
TV Christmas Special like a variety of our kind of kind of feel. The
first one was kind of like, yeah, whatever it was about, you
know Mary and like that. Yeah, yeah. But the second one with
the Santa Claus with Home with Grandpa and Burns on the Island of Santa I
thought it was really really fun. But the final segment was the one that
sold it for me, was the Nutcracker medley where they're all singing the various
songs and things like that, and it ends with margin Homer giving a present
to each other. Homer forgot the present, Marge gives her present and the
present is a present to herself from Homer, which in a self sort of
sort of showcases at Homer is not a good husband. But also to me,
it more focuses on how they're just in sync with each other. But
I just thought just that the last two segments in particular, really felt like
a classic old school variety of a Christmas special and I really really enjoyed it.
And it's mine and before that's a great way of putting it as well,
because yeah, you can really sort of stack up against one another the
wetter stories ever told and Simpson's Christmas Stories because yeah, wetter stories ever told
is kind of it's garbage. It's a wet sandwich. Yeah, it's not
garbage in the sense that it's like it's bad television, but it's just boring.
It's just numb, a lazy. Yeah, yeah, which is unfortunately,
get it. We get a little bit of that through season seventeen years.
Something I was going to say earlier was, you know, it felt
like I had a lot of placeholder gags in there, or they put in
the line that was like not insert gang here, but this will do until
we get up with a better gag. You know, this is this is
where the laughs are, and they never sort of got back to it or
couldn't come up with reallymore. My number three is I'm going to say kiss
Kiss Bang Bangalore. That's one number three as well. Hey, we do
know each other a little bit. Yeah, so you well I didn't have
it in your top five days. That's all right. I think I'm zero
for zero right now. I think I am as well. But so kiss
Kiss Bang Bangalore. What did you like about it? Because I've got something
to say as well. Look, I'm a bit of a socker for this
is going to sound very very wet gay. But I'm in a bit sort
of exoticism. But I'm I like Indian culture. And I thought this episode,
even though you know, The Simpsons has sort of run into a bit
of slack war, it's misrepresentation of culture on occasion, no, no,
I thought this was a funny set up for an episode and a good reason
to explore a new culture or explore a foreign culture, which you know,
the Simpsons does a fair bit of and sometimes it's more successful than others in
doing that. I don't know. I just had a lot of a lot
of fun with Homer in this new environment, the way he adapted to it,
didn't adapt to it, reveled in it, all that kind of stuff.
Yeah, I just had a bit of fun with it. Yeah.
Of all the Simpsons go to stories, the best ones and this one is
a perfect example, are the ones where they focus more on the story as
opposed to just doing parodies and taking the piss out of the stereotypes of said
country, like barbased Australia. The main story like there are you know,
piss takes of Australia in there, but the story is but is you know,
has to apologize to the plate to the country of Australia, so it's
focusing on the story as opposed to just psyche gag. Psycho gag. Now,
example of the worst version of it is like when they go to England,
I feel it's just Simpsons go to this place and insert celebrity cameo and
Simpsons this case concert celebrity cameo. The Simpsons go to the airport and all
of a sudden, the Prime ministers there for no apparent reason at or with
a with a jet pack. It's like, it's just it's all a bit
silly to me, a bit sort of nothing. Where this one here,
I thought it was good because the focus on the story. It does still
have the cliches, but it used them sparingly and it did them really really
well, Like had the telemarketed gag where he's using the different accents of the
voices and things like that. You know, he's trying to find a guy
with black hair and whatever, and he finds him straight away. I really
really enjoyed that. But I also liked the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom references
that we've got at the end as well. Whilst it didn't really make a
lot of sense. They don't really explain how this all came about. I
still just appreciated it anyway. It just it just seemed to fit because that
that story, that movie has always had an Indian vibe to it for some
reason, because it's not set in India, is it. It's not set
in India. Temple of Doom? Is it? I believe it is?
Isn't it is? Is it? Because I've always just assumed it feels Indian?
Maybe it is, but I don't know whether the like Temple of Doom.
Let's have a look. Let's do a little Google. I'm pretty sure
looking it up here, so I'm opening up the wiki page this story.
The plot and an archaeologist advised a murder tep from Shanghai crime hawd to achieve
the remains of Nerky Indie flies from the city in the company of the young
orphan. I wonder where British him layers? Okay, yeah, yeah,
yeah, right, yeah, okay, so it isn't India, Okay,
but yeah, I just thought I really appreciate it, the sort of just
the home of the way he looks like the you remember his name with it?
Who's the bad guy? And temple? I believe. Yeah, Yeah,
scary man, scary scary man. I think it's doing a bit of
a combo of Temple of Doom and Apocalypse Now at the end, which is
yes, Pocalypse Now is another one of course, yeah, where they're floating
on the water and stuff like that. But I also enjoyed the end where
it all gets wrapped up because of the workers rights, because it's like they
snuck in sort of like a political statement but did in a really funny way.
It's something we need right now. The writers dragon a pro union.
There's something else, of course, I dug was I mean, it's good
when you know you've got good A and B plots and the whole thing with
Richard Dean Anderson Akay mcguiver. Of course, yes, yeah, I could
believe. Forgot about that as well. Man. That would have been higher
on my list, I think, because that was that Actually this probably should
have been my number two because that B plot was unbelievable, so the perfect
use of a of a guest star. It was really Yeah, I mean
it's great work by by Julie Kavner doing Patty in Summer, but also yeah,
just a very very game Richard Dean Anderson becoming everything that he always hated.
Yeah, but paying tribute to and poking fun at his career and yeah,
and and and his fan base as well. So yeah, yeah,
there's no secret that he has a disdain or at the time he had a
disdain for mcguiver. He wanted to get away from being mcguiver. I didn't
like it. But for him to sort of just go full mcguiver and this
and become mcguiver, I thought it was just Yeah, it was perfec and
honestly could have been an episode in itself. It was. Maybe that's why
it was so good, because it didn't overstate it's welcome. I don't know,
but it felt odd that any negative of that episode and It's had a
real negative. But the odd thing was that the two stories had absolutely nothing
to do with each other, which is why it felt like, where's the
link here? Usually there's a link of some kind, but there wasn't.
Yeah, you've smushed these two together. But at the same time, I
think, and I think it's something we talked about when we recorded our episode
on Kids Kids bang Bangalore. Was neither of these plots feel quite strong enough
to hold up an entire episode by themselves. Yeah, maybe, so they're
just enough together to make an enjoyable episode. I mean to the point where
as you said, I mean you forgot that this was the Richard Dean Anderson
episode. I mean, the title alone indicates that that's going to be about
Bangalore rather than rather than the guy. Ever, so it's almost easier to
get that he is in there. But it's a really good, a really
good B plot. I think it's because because I had nothing to do with
the what we call the A plot with the Indian story, maybe that's why
I didn't associate with it. If there was some sort of link there,
I would have gone, oh, yes, the one with mcgiver because mcgiver
does something in India with Homer All or something like that. But I think
the Simpsons Go to Aspect really benefited though, from having the B plot in
there as well, even though I had nothing to do with it. It
meant they didn't have to focus more time on just home it goes to some
sort of Indian monument and does something silly. Home it goes here and does
something silly. So it was just a couple of a couple of quick gags
bas stereotypes but they focus on why Homer is there and the meanwhile we have
this b plot A spars So I think the two they benefited from being in
the same episode. But I also would have liked to have seen more mcgiver,
I think. But you know, what we got was still really really
good. I actually would I wouldn't want to slap this to my number two
because my number two IM looking at it now and I'm like, I enjoy
KISSI Bangalore a lot more. Well, speaking of that, when you when
did you tell us what you've got next? Oh, you tell me your
number two because that was my number three as well. You tell me your
number two. Oh okay, no worry, My number two is the Italian
Bob. I go one, Hey, I was just like guy it whilst
he doesn't really like Kate fear like Sysho Bob, but he just really enjoyed
this episode. So you take it away, why did you like this one
so much? Well? Again, you know, I mean it's not by
this stage, you're sort of it's Homer and marginal that again, the core
cast is continue to do good work, and you know, for the most
part, you still enjoy being around the main characters. But guest stars are
a little bit of secret source, a little bit of you know, limit
edition for this week only. Check out your new Kelsey Grammar editions like oh,
Kelsey's coming back, you know, and it's hard to be disappointed when
Kelsey Grammar shows up and just about anything. Bob's not really a cameout at
this point. He's more of like a tradition, isn't he very much?
So Yeah, I mean it's almost to the point where it's like, Okay,
it's been you know, a year or two years or whatever, you
know, let's get let's get Kelsey back and see if he wants to work,
wants to you know, kind of hang around the studio for all.
Well again, I mean not wanting to sound like I'm staking gelong and I
wish I could go somewhere else on a holiday, but no, you just
got back from California. What are you winging about? It's a very good
point, but no, No, it's twenty five minute visit to Italy and
spending time in what's the what's the village that they go to Imber It's actually
called Salicia, which is which is tailing for sausage. Yeah's the man.
He's got a new family there, So it's a whole new holy version of
Bobby gar here, isn't He's not a bad guy at all. Yeah,
this this almost sounds like the plot of Equalizer three, which is in this
right now, because Denzel Washington ends up in this small town in Italy and
everyone's like, Denzel Washing, then we love you. Wait a minute,
is the marketing goes, I'll take care of him. It's a little bit
of a flipping reverse there, but yeah, just great, great work by
ca. I mean, look, the inciting incident that that gets the Simpsons
of Italy is you know, a bit of a bod one in terms of
like mister Burns is the Homer is the only person that mister Burns trusts to
pick up his new expensive Italian sports car. Similar to the episode regarding Marjie,
though, because everything that comes after it was so enjoyable, kind of
give it us a bit of a pass, don't you like that? I
know, the end of regarding Maje was terrible. For everything letting up to
it, I really really enjoy so I was willing to give it a pass.
I think it's the same. The same could be said for the Italian
Bobby. The beginning for the first like two minutes is kind of like they're
going to They're going to Italy? Why and the family you going with him?
Why? And if you get about that. But by the time you
see Sacho Bob be like, Okay, it's a Sacho Bob episode. Who
cares? Yeah? Yeah, Look the ending isn't all that top not either
and quite family. You could do without Sacho Bob's and Gino who gets all
very stabby and murder murder and Vendetta vendetta. But in the middle you've got,
I think, just a lot of good fun and hopefully I'm not going
to mispronounce the actress's name too badly. But Maria Grazzia Good Good, You're
not as as his wife Bond Girls or something. She was a Bond girl,
I believe. I think she was in either. I think she might
have been in the World is Not Enough or Tomorrow Now does one of those?
Yeah, but yeah, good gives yeah, throws herself into the performance
as well. Yeah. I just had a bit of fun with the Italian
Bob. I really enjoy it. This is one number two. I think
I'll probably have Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore as my number two. Never can swap
them. But Marge's son poisoning is what I've got there. Okay, So
this is the episode where Marge and home. Marge and Bart spent some mother
and sometime they go and they find a little village has the tea, the
tea place and things like that. They go on that bike rides out a
tandem bike. I related to this in a sense that now that I'm a
dad, you know you want your kids to always be your friends. But
you know there's gonna be a point when you know you're they're too cool to
hang out with you for a while there. They usually you go through it
when you're like, you know, ten through fifteen, sixteen or whatever,
you're too cool to hang out with your parents. Eventually, in most cases
they come around. Teachers of school. When you're a kid, teaches at
your enemy. By time you get to like year twelve, teachers are your
best friends without helping you actually get somewhere if you want to, if you
want, if you got your head screwed on. But I just thought that
the episode here. We've had episodes where Bart's done something horrible to Marge.
I think it was the one where he pretended he had been kidnapped, and
he went that one step too far. He never really got ripromanded for it,
right, But this one here, I like that, you know,
because Bart says to Marge, I only hang out with you because, you
know, because you seemed lonely or whatever. Stupid bike blah blah, because
the bullies were making fun of it for being a mama's boy. Because Bart
was enjoying spending time with Marge, but he immediately regretted it and felt terrible
about it and tried to fix it. So they do the karaoke contest together.
And this is where Marge comes through for Bart because she sees Skinner and
Agnes remember, and she goes, okay, I can't let my son got
to be a mama's boy like that, And this is where he shoots the
fire ext him. She allows him to be him. But they still also
now have that extra little bond together as well, so they've sort of got
that. They've got to think it's a song they sing at the karaoke Sweet
Home Alabama. I think they'll sing like a version Sweet Hommel Obama or something
like that, because at the end of a Homer walks in and he starts
singing the song with her too. But I enjoyed that Marge and Bart now
have this sort of little dynamic here where Marge is like, all right,
we're mother and son. We're still friends, but we don't have to be
best friends. And I like that aspect of it. But I will say
the Homer story was a little random, and that's the one with us the
arm wrestling it is. Yeah, it was just it was so bizarre.
It's just sort of what was that? Yeah, See, that's a that's
a really good example of as you as we were talking about before with Kids
Bangalore, about how the mcguiva subplot doesn't feel related at all. This doesn't
feel related at all either. I mean, they try their very best to
go and make some tenuous threads between the two of them and tie them together,
but it doesn't really play on all that well for me. No,
it's kind of like we need Homer to be doing something and give him something
to do. Yeah, but the whole, the whole hymn entering a contest
that costs more than what the first prize was, it was just it was
a bizarre, bizarre think it was. I think they're trying to sort of
like have a little bit of a callback to like the Homer Day four where
more coaches in the boxing career. But it didn't work for this one,
really, but I enjoyed the margin the margin Bart story for this one.
But anyway, your number one, please, mister Davis, My number one
is Homer's paternity coot Ooh okay, I had this in your top five.
I thought it might have been right up there. So you really really liked
Michael Yorke as Homer's dad in this, I remember I did. Yeah,
I mean, I just thought it was a very funny episode in a very
sweet episode in a lot of ways. Yeah, But I mean generally,
I think when I'm choosing my top five, I'm thinking about, oh,
what episodes just really just really made me laugh? And what you know,
they felt like they had a really sort of strong foundation, solid construction around
that and then just decorated with a whole lot of really good gags and this,
yeah, to my mind, for the season seventeen felt like the best
example of that. What was the one where there's a moment's episode where he's
like, Olmer, don't do that. Well, He's like, they're putting
on the accent or somebody going the toilet, wasn't it. Yeah, he's
like I think Homer's using one of Mason Fairbanks is like many big vases or
decorative things as a as a toilet. Please Homer do that in the Loop.
In the Loop, that's Michael. Yeah, and he really was.
Yeah, you're right about about Michael Yorkan. I mean, because I think
for the bulk of his career he was kind of regarded as just this very
good looking, straight lace, kind of upper class Englishman type. And that's
who you is. He the causton the patch in Austin, Austin Powers,
that's Robert Wagner. But he's in the He's in the Austin Powers movies.
His basil exposition, Yes, and he or somebody yes. Yeah. And
he's just got terrific coming timing in that and just a wonderful presence. And
yeah, look, I haven't I can't complain. I can't claim to be
a Michael your completest. I mean, he may well have a bunch of
comedies on his resume, but I never really sort of regarded him as a
top notch comic performer. But between the stuff he does in the Austin Powers
movies and the work he does here, it's just really good. Light comedy
is very very difficult to do. You know, it sort of gets a
bad rap because you know, you're not really going for the kind of gags.
I mean, it's you've got to be sort of delicate. But yeah,
but I think he's very very good at it. And based on this
episode alone, there's just so much to enjoy in Homersturnity group. But it's
got a bit of a and I think, like a lot of the best
Sentences episodes, it's got a great, big, sort of gooey heart's yea,
yeah, it's got a nice ending. I remember with Grandpa because Grandpa
basically says because he thinks or does he fight or does he know that he's
a real father anyway, I remember the ending being a nice little moment between
Grandpa and Homer. Here he kind of feel bad for Mason Banks. Was
it Mason Banks? At his name Mason Fairbanks. Yeah, Mason Fairbanks.
It feel bad for him by the end because it's like this guy thought he
had a son, now he doesn't. Now he's lonely again. Poor man.
Hey. I am currently looking at the Wikipedia page for Homer's paternity coot
and guess what it says under reception? What's that Brendan Dando when Guy David's
a popular Simpsons podcast. Four fingered discount, there's a hype pink to that.
Will check on that. Yeah. Gave the episode a positive review,
particularly Michael Yorke's performance as Mason Fair. Okay, there you go. Someone
had added Wikian threw us in there. That's nice. We're Wicki famous.
I was looking at the fact and there we go, and we just popped
up. Sorry, I'm dying checking on my own. Not not rage,
I'm a joy here. But but Michael York Murder on the Orange Express,
Logan's Run another one. He was in Logan's Run, Man fantastic, Yeah,
Cabaret, Lost Horizons. He was in a lot of films. But
yeah, So do you think maybe his appearance in Austin Powers opened people's eyes
to his comedy? Can be timing? I think it could well, it
could well have been the case. I mean, I think it opened people's
eyes to a lot of people's comic talents. I mean, I think something
that Mike Myers did was very which was very generous, was sort of give
people who weren't automatically regarded as comic performers or just you know, really thought,
oh well, kind of really view them in that light, gave them
opportunity to do things like that. Look, I want to say Elizabeth Hurley
is a comedic comic genius in the first Doustin Powers, but she's a really
good straight perform or she knows she really does. She plays off my as
well, likewise with Robert Wagner and Rob Lowe as they're playing the various the
two generations of the guy in the Eyepatcher's name I've forgotten. I'm sorry.
There's there's a fair bit of that in Mindy Sterling as well, and it's
also introducing a lot of a lot of coming actors. Yeah, I mean,
of course, I think I've seen Will Ferrell before the first Austin Powers,
but oh it's that guy, yeah, because he's what does he do
in Austin Powers. Yeah, his name is like Mustaffa or something, and
I think he gets eaten by him because I always remember that moment was so
awesome where it's like you see the side of the villains that you never see
in the movies. But it's like they're going to celebrate something at there waiting
for him to get to his party. Just oh no, I think that's
the guy who gets squashed. Does he get run over? Yeah, he
gets run over for something. Yeah. Yeah, because you feel sorry for
the lackeys in in like whenever a villain, you know what I mean.
But it's like this guy had a family, had friends, Austin Powers.
I have to go revisit Theselves. I've never seen Austin Powers three. I've
never seen it. Goldmembers, it's pretty. It's what works best is the
opening gag okay, which I want to blow for you. You may already
know it, but no I don't know. Okay, Well, when you're
done here, yes, worry. Yeah, when we're done here, do
it after recording. But just go to YouTube and like gold Member opening scene,
you're gonna I'm pretty sure I will do that. I will do that,
all right. And my number one, my number one is the seemingly
never ending story. Did you have this in my five? I did not?
Oh wow, a story. I loved this episode. I've always been
a fan of the format bending ones, not the ones that are like the
trilogies, but just one sort of like Trilogy of Error and things like that,
and and I just I've always loved how whilst the main story is a
bit weak with the family trapped in the whole, I've always just liked the
story of the treasure hunt with with Burns and Moe when he starts dating missus
k and things like that, and we find out that the birth of Snake
and that kind of thing. And whilst the it's not really technically cannon or
anything like that, I've still really really enjoyed the sort of the story,
the story within a story within a story within the story, and the treasure
all being in Mo's karaoke machine and things like that. And yeah, I've
just I've always thought this was a really really fun story that I didn't realize
came so late in the show's run of always seen this as like a season
twelve, season thirteen kind of episode, but yeah, there seemingly never any
story. Yeah, I always been one of my favorites when it comes to
the format bending ones, and it is now my number one off season seventeen.
Hear you alway explained it of course makes a lot of sense. I
think one of the reasons I didn't put in I'd forgotten that this was the
whole Moe and Missus k ronees, which I mean, if I remember that,
or if I'd paid a little more intensive that it may have come close
to cracking my top five, because I thought that was very, very fun.
Yeah, whilst whilst it doesn't really keep with Cannon, it's still moan
Missus k You never would have thought it. But they worked, didn't they
the best? They really did. Yeah. Yeah, I think my problem
and not with the episode, but more the reason that I didn't include it.
I was thinking more of the storytelling sort of framework, you know,
the sort of how they got there and yeah and all that kind of stuff,
which struck me as not weak, but just like this is a bit
much. You know, you're trying. Once you get into the meat of
it, once you get into the core of the story, it's like,
oh no, there's entertaining. No, I'm into this, but yeah,
you've got to sort of get past that first bit. So you got yet
the opening and the end, and I'm like, I'm not too sure about
those. In the middle, it's all it's all tasty goodness. Yes,
Michael, So my top five were regarding Margie Simpson's Christmas stories, Kiss Kiss
Bang Bangalore, Marge's sun Poisoning, and the seemingly never ending story. What
were yours mine were home ass Pfternity Coot, the Last or the Red Hot
Red Hat Mummers, the Italian Bob Treehouse of Horror sixteen. Sorry, I've
got to come up with a new one. Yeah, kissss ban Bangalore.
Well you want to throw a semily never any story in there, I'll tell
you what I thought You're five were and see if you'll pick any of these
ones. All right, So I thought You're five were going to be the
Italian Bob home ass Paternity Coot. I thought you had a semiingly never ending
story as well. I also thought, even though you don't like really,
I thought you would have put my fair Laddy in there, the musical one.
And I thought you might have a Laddy in for you. Yeah,
oh okay, yep, I thought you might have put in the monkey suitcase.
I know you like the whole Leasa versus Guide court case. I think
I must be quite selfish because I put both me and my fair lady and
the monkey suit in yours. Someone projecting there, I really good for you.
I don't think I got anyway. But I also made one that was
a bit of a joke. One What Did You Pay? Five? I
put Homers Paternity Coop, My Fair Laddy Tree, House of Horror, the
Monkey Suit, and Homer Simpson This is Your Wife. I'm sorry. That
was just me being such high hopes for the episode, which is probably while
I was so disappointed. But man, that was so it just didn't work
that one, did it? That was almost an all time low. Yeah,
it was just you're trying to see, like Ricky Gervais, it's weird.
He feels like his comedy feels like a real time capsule, you know
what I mean. It was like a period there where he was like the
latest craze kind of thing, you know what I mean. And like,
I guess if you watched the episode at the time, it might have felt
somewhat cool and relevant, but man, watching it twenty twenty three, you're
just like, this isn't this isn't happening. This is like, yeah,
this is not salt and pepper, This is salt and something else. This
is a sault. Yeah, yeah, because I mean, I mean he's
clearly kept working and I mean a lot of people are fans of his other
staff beyond the office. I mean, people like Derek, and they like
Afterlife, and they like extras a lot, which we don't mind extra something
extra's pretty good. I mean, I can't say I've been too mad on
anything else that he's put together. But he's managed to stay in the public
eye and in the sort of collective consciousness for him a fair whack at times.
That show, that talk show he had where he got belittled, Oh
yeah, man, that is awkward television. Get the one with Gary Shandling.
Yeah yeah. You watch it, You're like, oh man, he
is breaking this guy. Like there was one point where you can tell he's
trying to be cool. After he's like you didn't get me one, okay,
I didn't wantin any way, or something like that, and Gary Shandling's
like, what would you say? It's like, oh man, that joke
felt real flat. It's like watching a stand up committee just bomb on stage
time and time againist you can you can feel the sweat through the screen.
The dreadful flopshet. We mentioned Jimmy Fallon a bit earlier, and there's a
there's been a clip going around because these two people have been sort of talked
about recently Fallon because you know, there are all these reports that are like,
oh he's a nightmare to work with and oh my show his dream is
rule because of Jimmy fall and the other one the other guy's Martin Short,
because there was seen a lot of talk about him, But what's actually happen?
What's going on? Online magazine Slate to publish this essay called it was
something like what's the deal with Martin Shawt or whatever? And it was basically
like two thousand words saying I'm not a fan of Martin Short and here's why.
And it had a very click baity kind of headline, and the central
premise was Martin Short any good? Really? And you know, basically everyone
sort of said, yes, he is a neuro fuck with. There were
a few people and look, I'll count myself among them. Was sort of
going into secret messages saying the guy actually had a point, and you know,
you know, if you read the whole thing, he's sort of like
he's not saying Martin Short completely sucks. He's like he made a lot of
cringe products. And and the thing of it is, for a while there,
I mean, there's a lot of stuff with Martin Short that's kind of
like ran and in a bit dude, or you're not right for this.
But he's also done a lot of really great stuff. So that's why people
were sort of talking about Martin Short. But there's other thing came up of
footage of Steve Martin and Martin Short on Fallon's Late Night Show, and Martin
Short's comedy is kind of a bit can be a bit snarky, which is,
you know, he seems like he's trick because he seems like it's a
sweet little guy, but I feel like he's he's one of those comedians where's
his stick is too belittle. It's kind of like seems like he's thing like
his fake arrogance kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean
he's got his character Jimminy Glick, who's this celebrity reporter who you know,
just insults everyone that he into views. But I think you said something like
the family is like the reason I love coming on your show is like no
one does phone in us better. You know you you're so phony, but
you're so good at it and you can't tell. I was like, is
this really how he feels about Fallon or is he just sort of doing that
thing where he's like, you suck, but yeah, we're all we're all
mates here, So anyway, I found that kind of funny but also a
little cringey in the in the in the in the Shandling Gervais kind of fashion.
Yeah, the whole thing, apparently is just that Jimmy Fallon not funny
and a horrible person. I'm just like, you know, so what you're
all about his interviewing style. I'd never get the whole They ruined my dream
of working in Cannaby and in this like get fucked, go cry somewhere I
wrote on Twins like Falon's cruel, right, it sound like, you know,
ninety percent wieners. They really, I mean a scream a screams.
I couldn't make it on my own, so I'm gonna try and bring someone
else down with me that they're the reason I never made it because they're so
mean to me. Like yeah, it's like, oh my god, imagine
if these guys have had to work with Johnny Carson or even Letterman or something
like that. Can you imagine, Like, yeah, thick skin doesn't exist
anymore. I think it doesn't and I don't want to sound like the kids
they have got it too solid, but you know, it's just it's just
now they've got the best frustrations. Where in the in the eighties and the
nineties, it was just you just shut up and did your job. Where
now it's like, I'm going to put my phone in my pocket and tell
the world what's really happening anyway. Nothing, that's actually season seventeen of The
Simpsons. I am going to give this out of five doughnuts. I'm going
to give this season passing three, Like I feel like it just sort of
scrapes into the three for me. Yeah, I think if we run the
numbers and we do the aggregation, Yeah, three doughnuts out of five sounds
about right. And maybe a little bite of that fourth, don't Yeah,
just just like a clean little bit, a few sprinkles, maybe just a
few little sprinkles here and there. Yeah, I'd love yeah, run run
your finger over the icing and well delighted. But I'd love to hear what
you guys think is the top five episodes of season seventeen. So please get
in touch with us Simpson's mailbag at gmail dot com or if you're anything else
you want to send us a message about, please do so. We do
love to hear from each and every one of you. Do rid all the
email so Simpson's Mailbag at gmail dot com. We'll get answering Nat. Now,
mister Davis, of course, it is time for us to draw out
the winner of the Guy David's New End Championship wild Card draw for season seventeen.
I've thrown all the names into a randomizer. Took me about ten minutes,
but I finally did it. And right we're gonna click here three I'm
gonna be three two one. I'm going to click at the winner, right,
three two one. It's randomizing and stop. Hey, it's our man,
Mark Boston Burgess. He's won this season. Mark Boston Burgess is the
winners and yeah, is the winner of the Did he win it last season
as well? I can't remember now I hope it didn't. We shall find
out this randomize all that random it's not randomizing much at all, but yeah,
and you know, maybe it's just his name is really long. Who
knows, Mark Boston Burgess by you've won again this season, as we say,
Luke McKay, you've done it again. Mark Boston Burgess. You've done
it again. All right, mister Davis, this has been our season seventeen
wrap up. You're about to say something. Is there anything else you want
to say to that? Those incredible listeners out there there who have been supportings
for the last eight years, thank you so very much for doing so.
We live and thrive on your support, particularly as Dandos said, and to
quote the great Ginger Mick Huck, money's too tired to mention, but you
know, we'll take what we can get. But we look a little money's
nice, But the love and support the received from you guys that we're seeing
every day via the internet is just wonderful. We really really appreciate it.
It's honestly what keeps us going because you know, otherwise we're just speaking into
the void, but knowing that there are receptive ears out there, just drinking
all in and altering Wikipedia pages on our behalf. We really really appreciated guys.
We couldn't or wouldn't do the show without you, but we want to
keep on doing it because we enjoy doing it. We're glad that you enjoy
it as well. Yes, all right, guys, we'll catch you all
in season eighteen O four Finger discount. Thanks for listening,