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Simpsons: Pool 31

Pool 27 and Pool 28 results are here (or just scroll down).

(See the category archive for other results.)

Pool 29 and Pool 30 are both still open.

Pool 32 will go up sometime Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. We'll be back on four-a-week if time permits, three-a-week otherwise.

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...
90: 1F07 (SI-507 / S05E09) The Last Temptation of Homer
Homer falls in love with a new female employee at the nuclear plant who is just like Homer. Homer, however, feels guilty. Michelle Pfiffer and Werner Klemperer guest star.
58: 8F22 (SI-322 / S03E23) Bart's Friend Falls in Love
Bart and Milhouse enter the age of cooties, when Milhouse dates a new girl... without her father knowing it. Meanwhile, Homer tries to lose weight by listening to a subliminal tape. Kimmy Robertson guest stars.
93: 1F11 (SI-511 / S05E12) Bart Gets Famous
After escaping from a field trip to a cardboard factory, Bart sneaks into the Krusty the Klown show, and becomes his assistant. However, Bart is launched into instant stardom after accidentally wrecking a set on live TV and uttering, 'I didn't do it.'
268: CABF16 (SI-1216 / S12E20) Children of a Lesser Clod
Homer injures himself while playing basketball at the YMCA, and needs surgery. While recovering at home, he finds he is good at caring for pets and at babysitting the Flandereses' children, so much so that he starts a daycare center which gets him nominated for a Good Guy award for service to the community. But Bart and Lisa feel neglected through all of this, and are determined to thwart his award campaign.
22: 7F09 (SI-209 / S02E09) Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
After watching an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon, Maggie bonks Homer in the head with a hammer. When this happens, Marge vows to eliminate violence in cartoons.
131: 3F01 (SI-701 / S07E03) Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily
Bart, Lisa and Maggie are placed in the care of the Flanders family when Homer and Marge are found to be unfit parents. Now, Homer and Marge must prove to the authorities that they are fit parents before the kids become too Flanders like. Joan Kenley guest stars.

My first impressions:
I've been waiting all meme for Last Temptation; if this isn't the clear #1 then we'll have a very strong bracket.

Damn. I've been waiting all meme for Samantha Stanky too. In most brackets this is a clear #1, yet I'm pretty sure it's below Last Temptation. Then again, the sex ed video...

Apparently my cruise will be bookened by two behemoth brackets. "Bart Gets Famous" is clearly only third-best so far, and yet easily at least #2 in a typical bracket.

Wow, I don't know a thing about "Lesser Clod," though the episodes right before and after it on the Season 12 page utterly fail to recommend it. NR by force but I'd be shocked if it's remotely as good as the three before it in this bracket.

Is I&S&M in the top half of episodes by quality? It's certainly in the top half by name recognition. We've had brackets weak enough that this would be #1, though it's stretched at #2 and in this bracket has to fight for #3, not even taking into account...

A very high-quality episode that I nonetheless didn't enjoy watching and will slot without much regret, even knowing that this bracket probably screws it a little. Still leaving the tough call for 3/4, which I'll resolve on gut without bothering to explain.

Preliminary rankings:
1. The Last Temptation of Homer
2. Bart's Friend Falls In Love
3. Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
4. Bart Gets Famous
5. Home Sweet Home...
NR. Children of a Lesser Clod

Pool strength metric: Two behemoths, at least four above average, at most one that truly stinks.

Posted by Matt Bruce at March 15, 2005 02:58 PM