Pool 13 Results (my initial ranking in parentheses)
1. Bart Sells His Soul (1)
2. Lisa's Date With Density (2)
3. Trash of the Titans (4)
4. The Two Mrs. (3)
5. Treehouse of Horror II (5)
6. The Way We Weren't (NR)
Not much to say here except to reiterate: Really strong bracket! I wish The Way We Weren't had been in a weaker bracket and some known clunker in this one.
(See the category archive for other results.)
Pool 15 and Pool 14 are still open. Pool 17 will be up by Wednesday.
As usual, I let a pseudorandom number generator choose six episodes, then post my on-the-spot rankings and observation. You comment, ideally with your own rankings. A week later I post my revised rankings, reserving the right to be autocratic (though in practice I almost always go with the consensus).
Numbers...
261: CABF10 (SI-1210 / S12E13) Day of the Jackanapes
Upon learning that Krusty has erased all the archival tapes of his show from the Sideshow Bob era, Bob schemes to use Bart as a manchurian candidate to blow up Krusty live on the air. Guest starring Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob.
40: 8F04 (SI-304 / S03E05) Homer Defined
When Homer accidentally saved two nuclear plants, he becomes a hero, and is admired by his daughter, Lisa. Magic Johnson and Chick Hearn guest star.
283: DABF08 (SI-1308 / S13E14) Tales from the Public Domain
In a variation on "Simpsons Tall Tales", the Simpson family portray mythological and medieval characters. (The Odyssey, Joan of Arc, Hamelt)
151: 3F20 (SI-720 / S07E23) Much Apu About Nothing
Anti-immigration fever hits Springfield and Homer catches the fever until he discovers Apu is an illegal immigrant. Joe Mantegna guest stars.
168: 4F11 (SI-811 / S08E15) Homer's Phobia
A shop owner befriends the Simpson family, but after discovering he is a homosexual Homer fears Bart will emulate him. John Waters guest stars.
133: 3F03 (SI-703 / S07E05) Lisa the Vegetarian
A trip to a local petting zoo leads to confrontations at the dinner table when Lisa decides to become a vegetarian. Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney guest star.
My first impressions:
Wow, those last two certainly kicked this bracket up a notch. Tough decision at the top.
I actually watched "Homer Defined" last night on DVD and was surprised by how poorly it aged. It's clearly inferior to "Jackanape."
The first time I saw it I found "Much Apu About Nothing" hackneyed and grating and almost unwatchable. I love immigration myself, yet I parsed the ep as a poorly thought out anti-righty political hack job. In hindsight I was way too sensitive; this one clearly has its moments.
The Tall Tales / Public Domain eps are just bad on principle; your mileage may vary.
Preliminary rankings:
1. Homer's Phobia ("Steelworkers of Local [#], keep reaching for that rainbow!")
2. Lisa the Vegetarian ("Llllisa! I thought you lllloved me! LLLLoved me!")
3. Much Apu ("The Nymets are my favorite squadron")
4. Day of the Jackanapes
5. Homer Defined
6. Tales From the Public Domain
I'd rank the ones I've seen:
1. Homer's Phobia (by a wide margin)
2. Lisa the Vegetarian
3. Homer Defined
4. Much Apu About Nothing
This bracket will be interesting, I think (at least at the top).
1. Much Apu about Nothing -- "Let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the Homer tax!"
2. Lisa the Vegetarian -- "When I grow up, I want to go to Bovine University!"
3. Homer's Phobia -- I'm surprised to see this rank high; it has good moments but I find it a little grating.
4. Homer Defined -- I'm with you on this one, Matt, but I'd still rank it above Jackanapes.
5. Day of the Jackanapes -- Although the network executives are pretty hilarious.
6. Tales from the Public Domain -- Though this ends up at the bottom, I must object to you lumping it in with Tall Tales. Tall Tales was a heaping pile of excrement which made the life of everyone who watched it a little poorer. Public Domain was merely mediocre.
1. Lisa the Veg - I can't knock Bovine U.
2. Much Apu
3. Homer's Phobia
4. Day of the Jackanapes
5. Homer Defined
6. Public Domain - although I love the way God gets caught out on the witness stand in the Joan of Arc segment.
#1 to #3 are great. #4 to 6 are not.
1. Much Apu About Nothing: We've got "A large, bear-like animal, most likely a bear, has wandered
down from the hills in search of food or perhaps employment." We've got "One count of being a bear. And one count of being an accessory to being a bear." We've got "We're here, we're queer, we don't want any more bears!" And that's just in the first two minutes! Political delicacies aside, this one's a riot.
2. Lisa The Vegetarian: The "magical animal" that produces bacon, ham and porkchops is a good bit, the tripe-filled educational filmstrip and tripe-fuelled aftermath is a series of great bits, but Lisa's behavior at the picnic and the resulting airborne pig is a transcendent bit. Unfortunately, it didn't end there, and the Paul and Linda McCartney coda, while still funny, is a bit of anticlimax when compared with what came before.
3. Homer's Phobia: "Ultrasuede is a miracle. This is just good timing." An above-average use of John Waters, and that's a hell of a plaud given my fondness for John Waters movies.
4. Day Of The Jackanapes: Meh.
5. Homer Defined: I said, "Meh." M-E-H.
6. Tales From The Public Domain: "M." Not even worth a full "meh."
Posted by: David V. at February 15, 2005 02:40 PM
1. Lisa the Vegetarian - if this isn't a top 5 episode (it's close, then again I might've been mistaken about the Denver Broncos ep as 5 is a very small number) it's because of the bit with the McCartneys. They fit, what, 8 Beatles song names into like 2 minutes but it's just not that funny (other than "I read about you in history class.") The pigs fly and non-alcoholic beer bits, however, are hilarious. And yes, you can't forget the tripe.
2. Much Apu - "The glue that holds together the gears of our soceity"
3. Homer's Phobia
4. Homer Defined - "We prefer to call it an unrequested fission surplus."
5. Day of the Jackanapes - I normally like the Sideshow Bob eps.
6. Tales From the Public Domain - The Hamelt was OK, I guess.
1. Lisa the Vegetarian
2. Homer's Phobia
3. Much Apu About Nothing
4. Day of the Jackanapes
5. Homer Defined
6. Tales from the Public Domain
I agree with Mr. Vacca on episodes 1-3 being far better than 4-6.
Posted by: Brian Hight at February 16, 2005 08:51 AM