Dingo and the Baby
Sep. 18th, 2006 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatLast week's Simpsons episode was a good start for the season, but last night's was a not-so-good continuation. I thought the premise was interesting, and it's nice to see Bart actually stick with something and get good at it for a change, but the way it all worked out was pretty lame. There were some pacing problems, with some scenes (like the White Stripes bit and other musical interludes) dragging on, yet the ending still coming across as abrupt. The Lisa subplot was really far-fetched, and unoriginal to boot. The Simpsons having an unusual pet was already covered in "Bart Gets an Elephant," which was both a lot funnier and more realistic. It also didn't help that the jokes based on the professional jazz guys seemed strained. Their building up and then dashing Lisa's hopes was based on a classic Simpsons formula that's worked many times in the past, but here it fell kind of flat. Same basic deal with their constantly forgetting about the benefit concert. What DID I like about this episode? Well, Chief Wiggum riding the ostrich was cute, and the long list of jazz musicians was funny (although Krusty actually CALLING them "funny names" kind of spoiled the joke).
Family Guy was better this week than last, although still hardly of classic status. Peter going through a second childhood with a new parental figure was pretty much the same thing that was done with Homer and his mom in "My Mother the Carjacker," but I think it actually worked better with Peter. I could see someone thinking the radio sound bite segments went on too long, but I don't think it would have been as funny otherwise. It struck me as a pretty accurate parody. I mean, I don't listen to the radio much, but I've occasionally come across stations where they would simply repeat their call letters over and over for about a minute. Still, the episode probably could have done without repeating that same basic joke so many times.
Hmm, anything else? Well, I bought tickets to see Jenny Lewis and the Decemberists (not together) in Philadelphia, so that should be fun. I understand there's a new Decemberists album coming out in October, which is cool. I was beginning to think that Weird Al's new album would be the last one I would have to look forward to this year.
Family Guy was better this week than last, although still hardly of classic status. Peter going through a second childhood with a new parental figure was pretty much the same thing that was done with Homer and his mom in "My Mother the Carjacker," but I think it actually worked better with Peter. I could see someone thinking the radio sound bite segments went on too long, but I don't think it would have been as funny otherwise. It struck me as a pretty accurate parody. I mean, I don't listen to the radio much, but I've occasionally come across stations where they would simply repeat their call letters over and over for about a minute. Still, the episode probably could have done without repeating that same basic joke so many times.
Hmm, anything else? Well, I bought tickets to see Jenny Lewis and the Decemberists (not together) in Philadelphia, so that should be fun. I understand there's a new Decemberists album coming out in October, which is cool. I was beginning to think that Weird Al's new album would be the last one I would have to look forward to this year.
