Fancy Store-Bought Dirt

Simpsons: Pool 18 (with Pool 15 results)

By the way, welcome to David S., Dave V., and Brian H. New record for most input to a particular pool, and it looks like the next couple are already similarly well commented-on.

Pool 15 Results (my initial ranking in parentheses)
1. You Only Move Twice (1)
2. Mom and Pop Art (3)
3. Lisa the Greek (4)
4. Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie (5)
5. I'm With Cupid (2)
6. Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder (6)

The aggregate ratings (N points for an Nth place vote, lower totals are better) clearly distinguished most of these, with #3 and #4 one point apart. Comparing people's preference of only those two left them deadlocked 4-4 and I chose to break it the way you see.

Incidentally, I might as well post those point totals (10, 19, 29, 28, 37, and 45 in this case - yes, 29 > 28 but if I bound myself to that then someone could break open a close midpack race by force by artificially putting eps at #1 and #6) whenever everyone who leaves a comment also gives a full breakdown. Sometimes there's a comment like "You underrated such-and-such" that I'll figure in somehow but can't do the aggregate thing.

(See the category archive for other results.)

Pool 17 and Pool 16 are still open. Pool 19 will be up by Monday.

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...
80: 9F20 (SI-420 / S04E21) Marge in Chains
When the Osaka Flu hits Springfield, everyone suffers. And when Marge accidentally shoplifts at the Kwik-E-Mart, she spends 30 days at the local prison.
188: 5F07 (SI-907 / S09E10) Miracle on Evergreen Terrace
People throughout Springfield open their hearts--and wallets--after Bart accidentally burns the family's Christmas presents and claims they were stolen by a burglar. But when the truth is alas revealed, the Simpsons find themselves pariahs. Alex Trebek guest stars.
79: 9F18 (SI-418 / S04E20) Whacking Day
While the town of Springfield prepares for the annual snake whacking day (which Lisa dreads), Bart gets expelled from school for embarrassing Mr. Skinner during a school inspection. Barry White guest stars.
99: 1F16 (SI-516 / S05E18) Burns' Heir
Nearly drowning in the bathtub, Mr. Burns decides to find an heir. He sees it in the form of Bart Simpson and coerces the young Simpson into staying with him.
228: AABF22 (SI-1022 / S11E02) Brother's Little Helper
When Bart is hastily diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, he becomes the latest victim of "Focusin," a new drug touted to boost academic attention spans. Guest starring Mark McGwire as himself.
60: 8F24 (SI-324 / S04E01) Kamp Krusty
Bart and Lisa spend six weeks at Camp Krusty. However, the camp is not what it seems, as Bart and Lisa quickly find out.

My first impressions:
Were I to do this pool thing over again, some ground rules like "no pool should have three episodes from the same season" would make sense. But, having not specified such things in advance, I'm inclined to leave this be.

As it happens I think Kamp Krusty and Whacking Day are both a little overrated, although there's nothing here I'd place above them. (This is even a solid, though not necessarily deadly bracket, at least in my opinion. For pool parity it's a lucky break that despite having three S4's and an S5, none of the real titans came up.)

"Marge in Chains" annoys me because it requires some seriously out-of-character behavior from Apu and his colleague. That would be fine in the first season or two when characters aren't fully fleshed out yet, but... well, at least it does have a quote that I relish for purely political reasons (and incongruity).

The Christmas miracle is very cliched. It has some of the feel of the very first Christmas ep. Odd that a late(ish)-season ep would have the drawbacks of very early eps rather than the over-the-top-ness that plagues the later ones.

Despite my initial faulty memory, Mark McGwire's cameo has nothing to do with "implied oral consent" to retransmit Major League Baseball. I still love the "MLB is spying on us all" premise.

Preliminary rankings:
1. Kamp Krusty ("No, but the bear ate his hat." "Was it a nice hat?" "Oh, yeah.")
2. Whacking Day
3. Burns' Heir
4. Brother's Little Helper ("Do you want to know the terrifying truth, or do you want to see me sock a few dingers?")
5. Marge in Chains ("Jimmy Carter? He's History's greatest monster!")
6. Miracle on Evergreen Terrace

Posted by Matt Bruce at February 17, 2005 01:34 PM