To me, they'll never top "Homer's Enemy". It's interesting that Grimes couldn't realize that most of his grievances were better directed at Burns, because he was written by a libertarian crackpot.
War of the Simpsons. S2E20. A masterpiece. "You vile burlesque of irrepressible youth." or "I've never been so embarrassed!" "Why, what did you do?" or the unbelievable scene of Marge listing Homer's flaws at the couples retreat. And my god, the party!!! THE PARTY!! "No... not those nuts... the ones at the bottom." Go re-watch and come back at me. Maybe it's me but it's my fav episode but I never see it mentioned.
"Homer Badman" for all of the Rock Bottom stuff. "Homer's Phobia" for the Ajax Steel Mill scene alone. "Marge vs. The Monorail" for the line "Batman's a scientist." "Lemon of Troy" for pretty much the whole episode, I just cannot find one single thing to latch on to. Patrick H. Willems did a perfect meta-analysis of it already on his channel. "And Maggie Makes Three" for "Do It For Her". Hey, they don't have to be jokes, sometimes emotional gut-punches carry the W.
For me, it would be "Lost Our Lisa," because it's a great episode about the family themselves. I love the moments when Lisa and Homer bond, and same with Marge and Bart, despite the wacky shenanigans, the family moments feel real. Plus the wacky shenanigans themselves are pretty great, what with Bart gluing gags to his face and Homer trying to find Lisa with a cherry picker. Plus "don't make me tap the sign"!
Homer: "Will this episode be going to air live?" June: "No, Homer, very few cartoons are broadcast live. It's a terrible strain on the animator's wrist."
The dude popping out from behind a rack of clothes and saying, "Would you kids like to come with me?" set me and my brother off laughing so hard for several minutes that we _nearly_ pissed our pants and _did_ cramp our rib muscles.
Homer giving a heartfelt speech as Poochie was interesting since it shows that even something corporate mandated has the potential to be good if there are passionate creatives behind it. But the sad irony is that the same corporate overlords who mandated the decision have no loyalty to it and will throw it out the moment it stumbles, trashing the hard work of the creatives who actually tried to make it work.
@@MaximillianRobesphere ...Which is why I'm going to use My Nintendo points to pay for the game when it gets ported to Switch, so Microsoft doesn't get any actual money for it.
@@adamfrey4920 of course. in a scene cut for syndication, Krusty shows us a signed contract that he can never come back... so naturally, they had no loyalty to that either.
"Excuse me but proactive and paradigm, aren't these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important? Not that I'm accusing you of anything like that" ... "I'm fired aren't I?" "Oh yes"
@@capitalcitygoofball1987i retired that line after Mitch Hedberg’s joke about Kit Kat bars. “They emboss the word KitKat into the chocolate. That robs you of chocolate! I’m going to the factory an’ tell ‘em: you owe me some letters.”
Just like "boy I hope someone gets fired for that blunder" is a great all purpose response to overly pedantic criticism, the fireworks factory line is perfect for anything that's unnecessarily padded with no real payoff. This episode has some absolute killer lines.
The funny thing is this exact situation is what helped kill *Pinky and the Brain.* The network wanted the writers to add a third main character late in the show's run, so the writers did an episode called "Pinky and the Brain and Larry" as a not at all subtle dig at what a bad idea that would be. Then the network forced them to add Elmyra Duff to the show anyway and rebrand as *Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain* and everyone hated it.
So Pinky and the Brain share a new domain, It's what the network wants, Why bother to complain? The rebooted Pinky and the Brain may not have reached the heights of the 90s, but it was a damn sight better than this atrocity.
I've always appreciated how this episode put a spotlight on EVERYBODY. From the indifferent executives to the jaded and disinterested writers to the fickle and entitled fans. The fact that this episode is still being talked about almost thirty years since it originally aired is a testament to how good it is. Great stuff
I think what this episode gets right that a lot of other shows (or even later Simpsons, really) get wrong when they try to do this meta commentary bit is that even without the meta aspect of this one, it's still a really good episode. Strong jokes that stand on their own, a well-paced and solid plot, and some legitimately pretty good character writing. It still works on its own as a good episode of the show.
The thing they cut from the episode is Krusty announcing that Poochie can't even be brought back legally. That's why he's holding that scroll in a lot of reruns but it's never addressed.
You mean cut out in syndication? (I don't remember it.) It was very interesting to watch the DVDs after seeing every episode numerous times in syndicated reruns and seeing "new" scenes that I had forgotten.
I'm a Fighting Hellfish guy. It doesn't symbolize anything besides the Simpson's love of pointless lore they'll never talk about again, and the best funniest characters in the show facing off. Also it taught me what a tontine was when I was eight, so that's cool. Gotta get that logo tattooed someday.
I've been re-watching old Simpson's recently, and watched 'Bart Gets Famous' yesterday. Absolutely great send up of the fickle nature of entertainment fads, and is delightfully self aware.
Scrappy was actually a nice character that was loved when he came out..... He only became hated once the show itself sucked and was used as a scape goat to hide the bad writing that happened when the studio cheaped out on wanting to hire the rest of the Mystery Gang Voice Cast....
Bear in mind that Comic Book Guy was barely in the first 6 seasons, only a handful of minor appearances and cameos. For most of that time he didn't even have any name at all, he was just the owner of the comic store. It was not until season 7 that he was promoted to a "regular" character and became more familiar. If I recall, that's when he was first named "Comic Book Guy".
Poochie didn't die on the way back to his home planet. Disney picked him up and now he's consulting on how many of his relatives can continue to be inserted into Star Wars to expand the franchise.
I really think that Season 8 was the best ever season of the Simpsons. So many classics from that year. It feels like the writers were at the peak of their creativity. Almost every story they told that season gave us something unique and inventive or took the characters to new places. Excellent season of television all around.
Since Itchy & Scratchy is obviously a parody of Tom & Jerry, I always thought that The inclusion of Poochie was a stab at the inclusion of the dog Spike later on in Tom & Jerry (especially since he is the only "main character" who frequently talks)
The jokes about fans were funny in this episode. Later on they tried and failed to do this. E.g., "Saddlesore Galactica", yet another episode where The Simpsons get a horse. Instead of throwing the script out and doing something new, they just have Comic Book Guy point out they're doing the same idea again, and then have Homer ask a crowd, "Does anyone care what this guy thinks?", to which they all shout, "NO!" Regarding the amount of time The Simspons has been on the air, they only hold the record in America. Japan's Sazae-san has been on longer.
There was a great video from Super Eyepatch Wolf that addressed the online criticism of the time, where he shows several quotes from extremely negative online reviews of episodes with the implication being that they were reactions to post-season 20 Simpsons, only to reveal that they were for a now beloved episode from sesson 6 during the peak of the golden age. It's really fascinating to see how harsh the most vocal, and therefore visible, fans were back then, and really puts this episode in perspective.
yeah this guy is a great reviewer, I'd love to see him cover that I didn't even realize until recently, the babysitter gets off without so much as a wrist-slap. for destroying a man's life and abusing his son in a previous scene just for being male.
@@DoctorPhileasFragg indeed. I pray for the day that episode becomes as quaint and outdated as... you know I was trying to think of a simpsons plot that would never make sense today, and all I could think of is situations where using a cell phone to call 911 would have prevented some problems. Most simpsons plots are still relevant in some way.
One thing to note when Scrappy was introduced was that he was actually popular and DID revitalize the show. But when the show started getting worse by removing the Mystery Gang, studios used Scrappy as a scapegoat and removed him to say the show was fixed...
I don't know if this is true, but I hope to God it isn't. I despise Scrappy. The idea other people liked that punchable little bastard makes me just a little more misanthropic.
This episode made my top seven all time episodes right when it aired so I really enjoyed your video about it. And glad you brought up that West Wing episode!
Skateboard and backwards cap are the universally understood signifiers of pandering to "the youths", whether you're a 90s kid or not. And I bet thanks to the "how do you do, fellow kids" meme it will stay that way forever!
Excellent video! This is absolutely one of my favorite episodes of the show as well. It just has so many fun moments, and as you said, is one of the most quotable. I think my favorite is always going to be "A Fish Named Selma", but Poochie firmly holds the second spot to me. This era of the Simpsons just hit different.
Ok, I love your video! ❤ I’m a professional writer and I was first published at 11-12. I am 34 now. I include this fact because I wanted to establish how long I’ve been working as “a creative”. Anyway, the zinger quipped by the gentleman in the “Genius at Work” shirt is quite literally, my most feared and dreaded comment from my editor/s over the years 😅 I daresay that most creators of media/content would agree with me lol 😂 so even at a young age, when Homer shot this guy down so effectively and brutally- it’s SO satisfying like ice/aloe vera on a sunburn! My fave episode of “Simpsons” is either “Marge v.s. The Monorail” or “22 Short Films About Springfield”. Far too often, when I’m burnt out or struggling with writer’s block, I turn to the snappy, hilarious, and downright fricking clever writing from this beloved cartoon!
I really love the ending, cause it has the take that no matter what you do, things just aren't meant to last. Everything has it's expiration date. Tap out when the time is right, or risk becoming a noise in the background.
This episode should have gotten the praise Homer's Enemy gets. This was the episode where the Simpsons were being satirical of their popularity, relevance and very existence and did it brilliantly. Homer's Enemy was a great episode as well, but I gets too much credit on a once iconic and popular Series doing a deep dive on itself. This episode did it 1st and did it better in my opinion
In 1997 the Simpsons was firing on all 8 cylinders but one fuel injector is a little dirty, now its firing on 2 cylinders and has a fouled out spark plug
One of my favourite facts is that Roy was going to appear in the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment Time & Punishment as Homers eldest son in an alternative timeline that he visits thanks to his time travelling toaster.
If you watch The Simpsons during the golden age you can count the seconds between each joke or gag and it's literally somewhere between four of five seconds. It's really a testament to the superb writing during the golden age of this once great show.
Before there were "And Knuckles" or "Featuring Dante from The Devil May Cry Series" jokes everyone I knew would make "And Poochy" jokes. Even if this episode isnt THE BEST to people, it most certainly is the most memorable.
My favorite is the one about the clown school, but this one is also pure gold. You had to be there to see what Simpsonmania was like, it was out of this world.
5:45 Certainly explains why I loathed Scrappy so much. I casually watched Scooby cartoons as a kid. Scrappy felt like he was obnoxiously trying to steal the thunder of the show as much as possible.
Remember kids. Always recycle. *TO THE EXTREME!!!* edit: didn't know you were going to end the clip with that quote 😄 I miss TWP. I haven't found anything that matches that kind of snarky recapping.
The number of times I've referenced Poochie in media discourse is directly proportional to the increasing relevance of Poochie references in media discourse.
i still think Bush didn't mean the _show,_ but the _family._ because that was the same message the show was giving. like 'don't be these people, but if you are, at least try your best to improve' As for the show, I totally believe Fox was trying to push a new character on them. WB was doing the same to Pinky and the Brain, and they even made an episode mocking that idea.. but in the end, they had it forced on them. As far as I know, Phineas and Ferb is the first time a show pushed back against executive notes regarding new characters being pushed in and they actually listened
This episode is a good one & has some excellent moments. Homer’s speech as Poochie is probably one of Dan Castellenta’s best as the well meaning dunce plus me and a few coworkers often quote the jokes during the Android Dungeon scene
When I was a kid this was my favourite episode and I can actually remember the day it was broadcast for the first time. I don't know if I'd call it the best episode ever, but it definitely holds a special place in my heart.
The way you talk about Comic Book Guy reminds me of Whizzkid in the Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show In The Galaxy. He was also created as a direct response to fan criticisms of the show it aired as a part of.
Always hilarious that the writers' were representing themselves in the episode. Like there's the episode where Bart and Lisa write an Itchy and Scratchy episode, and one writer is a Harvard graduate. I always thought the joke was in the absurdity of having having someone with a high education write a cartoon, but no, it's actually true.
The funniest thing to me is that their solution involved killing Poochie off, despite the show's core appeal being killing the main characters off. Killing Poochie regularly probably would have fixed his character and they couldn't even do THAT right. It really symbolized how the character was not designed at all from the same mindset as anything else in the show and the writers were utterly blind to how to use him properly. He was doomed even if he WAS a good concept because no one wanted to be bothered with him and just turned off all creativity when using him.
@@DavidLLambertmobilea lot of the same writers.. If they went too smart Fox would have cancelled them decades ago. Murica don't want to think much, especially Fox viewers
To answer the Lindsey Naegle identity question: Marge: We’ve met you many times, Ms. Naegle. Why do you keep changing jobs? Lindsey: I’m a sexual predator.
1:24 I was very surprised to see that the episode was written by David "S." Cohen since I was familiar with David X. Cohen's work on Futurama. TIL that both names refer to the same person and his middle name is "Samuel." He changed his credited name for Futurama because of WGA rules and IMDB uses the newer name for The Simpsons retroactively. I guess there must some other writer named "David S. Cohen."
This actually explains how Hollywood works. I feel like the Mary Sue girlboss characters are the Poochies of current year. Characters that Hollywood think the kids want, but nobody actually want them
You should definitely look up the real Jims! His channel does the very best Simpsons videos and I would strongly enjoy seeing the two of you do a collab project someday! Also he did a recent video on the history of Lindsay Nagel which I’m sure you would really enjoy! This is indeed one of my favorite Simpsons episodes and it does feature a lot of good humor and commentary on television. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and please look up therealjims very soon!
Best episodes are homer at the bat, 22 short films, treehouse of horror 5, maggie makes 3, bart sells his soul and cape fear. This episode is pretty awesome so is deep space homer, $impsons(casino). Seasons 3-8 ie comedy writing gold. Clever jokes every couple of seconds unlike family guy random laugh out loud humor. Classic simpsons was so well written.
I will admit this might be the most influential episode of Simpsons in my household. Somehow, almost daily, my wife or I will ask "do you want A or B?" And the response is always a stupid high pitched, raspy, "DO YOU!?"
One thing is Homer’s suggestion that “Whenever Poochy isn’t on screen all the other characters should say ‘Where’s Poochy’”. James Cordon took this to heart as in ‘Gavin and Stacey’ whenever he’s not on screen all the characters say “Where’s Smithy” etc…
The cartoon of Albert Einstein in your promotion shows him balancing a spinning shape on his finger that is quite clearly physically impossible. I mean, what, are we to believe that this is some kind of magic finger or something?
I think season 8 began the silver age of The SImpsons. Still good, but the fall had already begun. The true beginning of that fall was "Homer's Enemy", where the writers stated that killing a man in a markedly cruel way would be mined for a joke. This episode is fun, and makes a good commentary on television itself.
I don’t know if they’ve brought poochie back at all since I haven’t seen the simpsons in years. But bringing him back NOW that he’s beloved nostalgia would be even MORE symbolic. This thing that was supposed to be a throw away and never seen again , now being a fan favorite and brought back
The most tragic part of this episode was that they never got to the fireworks factory. I also loved how Krusty introduced the episode comparing it to the moon landing.
Keep in mind the whole Genius at work T-shirt guy is a throwback to the SNL skit with Shatner at a mock Trek convention. In Shatner's own words to the Trek Nerds: What is wrong with you people, Get a life, Kiss a girl!
I love this episode overall, but Bart's little speech to Comic Book Guy was absolutely obnoxious and completely devoid of self-awareness. "Free" entertainment my ass. It's not a coincidence that the show went to shit VERY quickly after this. And that same attitude/thought process is what brought us the unmitigated disaster that is The Principal And The Pauper a year later. God forbid anyone get emotionally invested in their favorite show. Instead we should be happy with whatever liquid shit they happen to fart out and be thankful for it. Like I said, obnoxious.
What's your favorite episode of The Simpsons?
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To me, they'll never top "Homer's Enemy". It's interesting that Grimes couldn't realize that most of his grievances were better directed at Burns, because he was written by a libertarian crackpot.
The one not on Disney+
War of the Simpsons. S2E20. A masterpiece. "You vile burlesque of irrepressible youth." or "I've never been so embarrassed!" "Why, what did you do?" or the unbelievable scene of Marge listing Homer's flaws at the couples retreat. And my god, the party!!! THE PARTY!! "No... not those nuts... the ones at the bottom." Go re-watch and come back at me.
Maybe it's me but it's my fav episode but I never see it mentioned.
"Homer Badman" for all of the Rock Bottom stuff.
"Homer's Phobia" for the Ajax Steel Mill scene alone.
"Marge vs. The Monorail" for the line "Batman's a scientist."
"Lemon of Troy" for pretty much the whole episode, I just cannot find one single thing to latch on to. Patrick H. Willems did a perfect meta-analysis of it already on his channel.
"And Maggie Makes Three" for "Do It For Her". Hey, they don't have to be jokes, sometimes emotional gut-punches carry the W.
For me, it would be "Lost Our Lisa," because it's a great episode about the family themselves. I love the moments when Lisa and Homer bond, and same with Marge and Bart, despite the wacky shenanigans, the family moments feel real.
Plus the wacky shenanigans themselves are pretty great, what with Bart gluing gags to his face and Homer trying to find Lisa with a cherry picker. Plus "don't make me tap the sign"!
Homer: "Will this episode be going to air live?"
June: "No, Homer, very few cartoons are broadcast live. It's a terrible strain on the animator's wrist."
I cried at this line as a kid
Ralph crying and turning his dial to red after being yelled at in the focus group is one of my favourite all time jokes
Top tier
It's a great gif to use at any cursed post.
😂 that and the speedo man bit with Nelson and Millhouse. " One kid loved the speedo man!" Still good now
"My knob tastes funny."
The dude popping out from behind a rack of clothes and saying, "Would you kids like to come with me?" set me and my brother off laughing so hard for several minutes that we _nearly_ pissed our pants and _did_ cramp our rib muscles.
Homer giving a heartfelt speech as Poochie was interesting since it shows that even something corporate mandated has the potential to be good if there are passionate creatives behind it. But the sad irony is that the same corporate overlords who mandated the decision have no loyalty to it and will throw it out the moment it stumbles, trashing the hard work of the creatives who actually tried to make it work.
Ironically, Poochie made a few more appearances after this episode.
Hi Fi Rush.
@@MaximillianRobesphere ...Which is why I'm going to use My Nintendo points to pay for the game when it gets ported to Switch, so Microsoft doesn't get any actual money for it.
@@OtakuUnitedStudio Oh yeah fr fr, me too actually. Just need micropsoft to do the thing.
@@adamfrey4920 of course. in a scene cut for syndication, Krusty shows us a signed contract that he can never come back... so naturally, they had no loyalty to that either.
"I have to go. My planet needs me." :::Captain Midnight shuffles upwards off screen::;
[CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT DIED ON HIS WAY BACK TO HIS HOME PLANET]
Boy I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
@@planescaped what am I supposed to believe this is some kind of MAGIC youtube video?
CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT IS DEAD huhehehue
"Excuse me but proactive and paradigm, aren't these just buzzwords that dumb people use to sound important? Not that I'm accusing you of anything like that"
...
"I'm fired aren't I?"
"Oh yes"
Next shot his chair is already empty. 😂
@@baxtronx5972 I had to go check it out and wow he is as well.
@Timewarpiaman Family Guy made a similar gag about NBC & the way sooo many prime time sitcoms were just young single women working in magazines. 📺
That whole scene is probably my favourite in all of the Simpsons.
They like Captain. They like Midnight. One kid seems to love the Speedo man.
I always quote the milhouse line: "When are they gonna get to the fireworks factor?"
I think I said that line like 15x while watching the last Mortal Kombat movie.
@@capitalcitygoofball1987i retired that line after Mitch Hedberg’s joke about Kit Kat bars. “They emboss the word KitKat into the chocolate. That robs you of chocolate! I’m going to the factory an’ tell ‘em: you owe me some letters.”
*factory
In all the reviews of Madam Webb I'm surprised none inserted this joke since the 3rd act takes place at a fireworks factory
Just like "boy I hope someone gets fired for that blunder" is a great all purpose response to overly pedantic criticism, the fireworks factory line is perfect for anything that's unnecessarily padded with no real payoff. This episode has some absolute killer lines.
The funny thing is this exact situation is what helped kill *Pinky and the Brain.* The network wanted the writers to add a third main character late in the show's run, so the writers did an episode called "Pinky and the Brain and Larry" as a not at all subtle dig at what a bad idea that would be. Then the network forced them to add Elmyra Duff to the show anyway and rebrand as *Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain* and everyone hated it.
Oh! I completely forgot about Elmyra.
So Pinky and the Brain share a new domain,
It's what the network wants, Why bother to complain?
The rebooted Pinky and the Brain may not have reached the heights of the 90s, but it was a damn sight better than this atrocity.
I've always appreciated how this episode put a spotlight on EVERYBODY. From the indifferent executives to the jaded and disinterested writers to the fickle and entitled fans. The fact that this episode is still being talked about almost thirty years since it originally aired is a testament to how good it is. Great stuff
This video is great and all, but when are we going to get to the fireworks factory?
Well, I can honestly say that was the best video of Commander Nighttime I’ve ever seen!
That’s General Dusk to you!
@@captainmidnight ok Colonel Early-Morning
"Homer Barbershop Quartet", "Bart sells his soul", "Mother Simpson" and "Bart on the road" are my favorites
"Bart on the road"...is that the episode when Nelson reaches in the car opposite and slaps the dads head !!!!
@@richardbradley2335"That’s it, back to Winnipeg!"
@@HamtaroSan85 YEAAAAAAH !...loved that scene,,RIP decent Simpsons episodes.
“Bart! Nelson hit me!”
“He sure did.”
😂
They're all better than this episode.
I think what this episode gets right that a lot of other shows (or even later Simpsons, really) get wrong when they try to do this meta commentary bit is that even without the meta aspect of this one, it's still a really good episode.
Strong jokes that stand on their own, a well-paced and solid plot, and some legitimately pretty good character writing. It still works on its own as a good episode of the show.
100% agree!
The thing they cut from the episode is Krusty announcing that Poochie can't even be brought back legally. That's why he's holding that scroll in a lot of reruns but it's never addressed.
You mean cut out in syndication? (I don't remember it.) It was very interesting to watch the DVDs after seeing every episode numerous times in syndicated reruns and seeing "new" scenes that I had forgotten.
Literally don't know what you're talking about. Only seen the episode with the scene of the lawyer showing the affidavit. Never seen it without it!
Maybe a regional thing but that's been part of it in the UK forever.
Disney plus has the cut scenes too.
Reminds me of corporations that own IP's yet choose to do nothing with them. Like they own it, just so nobody else can do anything with it.
Where's Poochie? There he is!
POOCHIE'S DEAD!!!
I'm a Fighting Hellfish guy. It doesn't symbolize anything besides the Simpson's love of pointless lore they'll never talk about again, and the best funniest characters in the show facing off. Also it taught me what a tontine was when I was eight, so that's cool.
Gotta get that logo tattooed someday.
Oxford! 👓 ... I liked the X Files cross over, spoof. Many clever jokes. David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson did VOs.
I came close, but I wasn't convinced it would look right on a skin tone that wasn't yellow.
@@capitalcitygoofball1987 I'd definitely have it tuned up. I'd add some shading too.
@@capitalcitygoofball1987 So many gags in that one. I think about Red Tick Ale a lot
Oh fengusburnt... can't you go 5 seconds without humiliating yourself?
Put a sock in it, Roy!
Sure thing Mr S
I've been re-watching old Simpson's recently, and watched 'Bart Gets Famous' yesterday.
Absolutely great send up of the fickle nature of entertainment fads, and is delightfully self aware.
Poochie may be the Scrappy Doo of Itchy and Scratchy but it acts as a grim reminder for annoying new characters in established franchises to this day.
Scrappy was actually a nice character that was loved when he came out.....
He only became hated once the show itself sucked and was used as a scape goat to hide the bad writing that happened when the studio cheaped out on wanting to hire the rest of the Mystery Gang Voice Cast....
@@TheDeathmail At least he killed Mindy Kalings Velma...
Fairly Odd Parents MULTIPLE times. Butch Hartman really knows how to piss off anyone and everyone
I didn't mind Scrappy-Doo, he never bothered me.
Nostalgia TV staple MeTV calls this Shoehorned Kid Syndrome.
When you're out of ideas, just get a new kid.
Wait this was the first use of Comic Book Guy’s Worst ____ Ever! joke? Always assumed it started way earlier
Bear in mind that Comic Book Guy was barely in the first 6 seasons, only a handful of minor appearances and cameos. For most of that time he didn't even have any name at all, he was just the owner of the comic store. It was not until season 7 that he was promoted to a "regular" character and became more familiar. If I recall, that's when he was first named "Comic Book Guy".
'A Milhouse Divided' still holds up as the #1 Episode in my books!
Can I borrow a feeling?
There sure are a lot of people here whose favorite episodes are later ones from seasons 7 and 8. Mine will always be Cape Feare.
Reminds me a little of all the times the show runners of Teen Titans Go turned the characters into mouth peices to fire back at the haters.
Poochie didn't die on the way back to his home planet. Disney picked him up and now he's consulting on how many of his relatives can continue to be inserted into Star Wars to expand the franchise.
I think my favorite thing about this episode is just how many of the real Simpsons staff show up as Itchy and Scratchy staff.
And Itchy and Scratchy episodes are numbered like Simpsons episodes, with a fan referring to "episode 2F09".
Your channel is one of the few where I instantly watch a new video
I really think that Season 8 was the best ever season of the Simpsons. So many classics from that year. It feels like the writers were at the peak of their creativity. Almost every story they told that season gave us something unique and inventive or took the characters to new places. Excellent season of television all around.
Since Itchy & Scratchy is obviously a parody of Tom & Jerry, I always thought that The inclusion of Poochie was a stab at the inclusion of the dog Spike later on in Tom & Jerry (especially since he is the only "main character" who frequently talks)
The jokes about fans were funny in this episode. Later on they tried and failed to do this.
E.g., "Saddlesore Galactica", yet another episode where The Simpsons get a horse. Instead of throwing the script out and doing something new, they just have Comic Book Guy point out they're doing the same idea again, and then have Homer ask a crowd, "Does anyone care what this guy thinks?", to which they all shout, "NO!"
Regarding the amount of time The Simspons has been on the air, they only hold the record in America. Japan's Sazae-san has been on longer.
Good point! Though tbf I did say they held the “prime time” record which is a much more specific thing.
And then there was that other joke about the fans in the recent seasons about JJ Abrams rebooting a property that came off pretty mean-spirited.
There was a great video from Super Eyepatch Wolf that addressed the online criticism of the time, where he shows several quotes from extremely negative online reviews of episodes with the implication being that they were reactions to post-season 20 Simpsons, only to reveal that they were for a now beloved episode from sesson 6 during the peak of the golden age. It's really fascinating to see how harsh the most vocal, and therefore visible, fans were back then, and really puts this episode in perspective.
A classic. Up there with the "Monorail", "Chanel suit" and "X-Files" episodes.
Milhouse: "when are they gonna get to the fireworks factory? 😢"
Homer Badman would be my choice but I have more appreciation for the bellyaching at studio execs now as an adult
yeah this guy is a great reviewer, I'd love to see him cover that
I didn't even realize until recently, the babysitter gets off without so much as a wrist-slap. for destroying a man's life and abusing his son in a previous scene just for being male.
@@KairuHakubi It's not that the Simpsons predicts the future, it's that nothing ever changes.
@@DoctorPhileasFragg indeed. I pray for the day that episode becomes as quaint and outdated as... you know I was trying to think of a simpsons plot that would never make sense today, and all I could think of is situations where using a cell phone to call 911 would have prevented some problems. Most simpsons plots are still relevant in some way.
One thing to note when Scrappy was introduced was that he was actually popular and DID revitalize the show.
But when the show started getting worse by removing the Mystery Gang, studios used Scrappy as a scapegoat and removed him to say the show was fixed...
I'm not a fan of Scrappy but they definitely did that pup dirty. Justice for Scrappy!
I don't know if this is true, but I hope to God it isn't. I despise Scrappy. The idea other people liked that punchable little bastard makes me just a little more misanthropic.
This episode made my top seven all time episodes right when it aired so I really enjoyed your video about it. And glad you brought up that West Wing episode!
"That's why you're still kids......because you're stupid" is a top line in television history 😂😂
Wow! Another video already?? I love you stuff!
Poochie didn't go to his home planet. He moved in with his cousin Rude Dog and his dorky harem.
Skateboard and backwards cap are the universally understood signifiers of pandering to "the youths", whether you're a 90s kid or not. And I bet thanks to the "how do you do, fellow kids" meme it will stay that way forever!
One of my absolute favourite meta episodes in any television series. The commentary is as relevant as ever
Excellent video! This is absolutely one of my favorite episodes of the show as well. It just has so many fun moments, and as you said, is one of the most quotable.
I think my favorite is always going to be "A Fish Named Selma", but Poochie firmly holds the second spot to me. This era of the Simpsons just hit different.
I feel a similar way about The Principal and the Pauper. It's hated for meta reasons but the episode itself is very funny and I think well written.
Oh come on. We all know the best episode is “You Only Move Twice” featuring the best one-off character ever, Hank Scorpio.
I still wish he was a real guy. I'd work for him. Stellar human being who wants to rule the world.
Ok, I love your video! ❤ I’m a professional writer and I was first published at 11-12. I am 34 now. I include this fact because I wanted to establish how long I’ve been working as “a creative”. Anyway, the zinger quipped by the gentleman in the “Genius at Work” shirt is quite literally, my most feared and dreaded comment from my editor/s over the years 😅 I daresay that most creators of media/content would agree with me lol 😂 so even at a young age, when Homer shot this guy down so effectively and brutally- it’s SO satisfying like ice/aloe vera on a sunburn! My fave episode of “Simpsons” is either “Marge v.s. The Monorail” or “22 Short Films About Springfield”. Far too often, when I’m burnt out or struggling with writer’s block, I turn to the snappy, hilarious, and downright fricking clever writing from this beloved cartoon!
I really love the ending, cause it has the take that no matter what you do, things just aren't meant to last. Everything has it's expiration date. Tap out when the time is right, or risk becoming a noise in the background.
This episode should have gotten the praise Homer's Enemy gets. This was the episode where the Simpsons were being satirical of their popularity, relevance and very existence and did it brilliantly. Homer's Enemy was a great episode as well, but I gets too much credit on a once iconic and popular Series doing a deep dive on itself. This episode did it 1st and did it better in my opinion
Simpsons called Itchy & Scratchy stale in Season 8 yet kept using it in bits until Season 30.
4:41, Roy. What a character
In 1997 the Simpsons was firing on all 8 cylinders but one fuel injector is a little dirty, now its firing on 2 cylinders and has a fouled out spark plug
One of my favourite facts is that Roy was going to appear in the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment Time & Punishment as Homers eldest son in an alternative timeline that he visits thanks to his time travelling toaster.
If you watch The Simpsons during the golden age you can count the seconds between each joke or gag and it's literally somewhere between four of five seconds. It's really a testament to the superb writing during the golden age of this once great show.
So it's not 22 Short Films About Springfield?
Nooooot even close
That episode is pretty hilarious but it’s nowhere near the best episode. It did give us steamed hams though.
@@kaenachoo4783 that's a Utica expression ....
When I am hearing about later Simpsons seasons, I'm still thinking about season 10.
And I am always glad I stopped back then.
I’ve been waiting since the 90s for the triumphant return of Poochie. 😎🐕 to the EXtreme!
I just re-watched it and you’re so right. Great Cheap Trick reference too
Before there were "And Knuckles" or "Featuring Dante from The Devil May Cry Series" jokes everyone I knew would make "And Poochy" jokes.
Even if this episode isnt THE BEST to people, it most certainly is the most memorable.
The animated Clerks show had a scene where the characters address angry nerds.
Radioactive Man episode makes fun of Hollywood movie making process particularly the comic book franchise.
Great story! Very inside for the pre woke, me too era. I also liked the Homer as a team mascot, Marge as a Cop, the X Files spoof, cross over.
“My eyes! The goggles do nothing!”
😂
My favorite is the one about the clown school, but this one is also pure gold.
You had to be there to see what Simpsonmania was like, it was out of this world.
5:45 Certainly explains why I loathed Scrappy so much. I casually watched Scooby cartoons as a kid. Scrappy felt like he was obnoxiously trying to steal the thunder of the show as much as possible.
It's the baseball one all day !!! Ken Griffeys Gigsntism
We're talking softball
That's my favorite as well.
Trim those sideburns!!
Itchy: "Look Scratchy, it's our new friend Poochy!"
Scratchy: "What's that name again? I forgot..."
This episode was basically The simpsons predicting South park Simpsons already did it.
Remember kids. Always recycle. *TO THE EXTREME!!!*
edit: didn't know you were going to end the clip with that quote 😄
I miss TWP. I haven't found anything that matches that kind of snarky recapping.
The number of times I've referenced Poochie in media discourse is directly proportional to the increasing relevance of Poochie references in media discourse.
i still think Bush didn't mean the _show,_ but the _family._ because that was the same message the show was giving. like 'don't be these people, but if you are, at least try your best to improve'
As for the show, I totally believe Fox was trying to push a new character on them. WB was doing the same to Pinky and the Brain, and they even made an episode mocking that idea.. but in the end, they had it forced on them. As far as I know, Phineas and Ferb is the first time a show pushed back against executive notes regarding new characters being pushed in and they actually listened
The "proactive, paradigm" quote is still used in my circles, it's just that freaking amazing.
“You mean Cerberus?” is my favourite joke in the entire series. Not that I’ve seen an episode in the last twenty years.
One of the many great episodes. Sad what its become as of late.
5:52, “that specific kind of character is less relevant”. Chloe Carmichael would like a word with you
This episode is a good one & has some excellent moments. Homer’s speech as Poochie is probably one of Dan Castellenta’s best as the well meaning dunce plus me and a few coworkers often quote the jokes during the Android Dungeon scene
When I was a kid this was my favourite episode and I can actually remember the day it was broadcast for the first time. I don't know if I'd call it the best episode ever, but it definitely holds a special place in my heart.
The way you talk about Comic Book Guy reminds me of Whizzkid in the Doctor Who serial The Greatest Show In The Galaxy. He was also created as a direct response to fan criticisms of the show it aired as a part of.
7:56, agreed
Always hilarious that the writers' were representing themselves in the episode. Like there's the episode where Bart and Lisa write an Itchy and Scratchy episode, and one writer is a Harvard graduate. I always thought the joke was in the absurdity of having having someone with a high education write a cartoon, but no, it's actually true.
The funniest thing to me is that their solution involved killing Poochie off, despite the show's core appeal being killing the main characters off. Killing Poochie regularly probably would have fixed his character and they couldn't even do THAT right.
It really symbolized how the character was not designed at all from the same mindset as anything else in the show and the writers were utterly blind to how to use him properly. He was doomed even if he WAS a good concept because no one wanted to be bothered with him and just turned off all creativity when using him.
I can almost guarantee that the writing staff of the Simpsons are bigger nerds than any of us could be.
No that's Futurama! 🚀 They litterly have PhDs, Engineers, mathematics professors on panels.
@@DavidLLambertmobilea lot of the same writers.. If they went too smart Fox would have cancelled them decades ago. Murica don't want to think much, especially Fox viewers
To answer the Lindsey Naegle identity question:
Marge: We’ve met you many times, Ms. Naegle. Why do you keep changing jobs?
Lindsey: I’m a sexual predator.
1:24 I was very surprised to see that the episode was written by David "S." Cohen since I was familiar with David X. Cohen's work on Futurama. TIL that both names refer to the same person and his middle name is "Samuel." He changed his credited name for Futurama because of WGA rules and IMDB uses the newer name for The Simpsons retroactively. I guess there must some other writer named "David S. Cohen."
This was a good-ass video. You rock, CM!
This actually explains how Hollywood works. I feel like the Mary Sue girlboss characters are the Poochies of current year. Characters that Hollywood think the kids want, but nobody actually want them
You should definitely look up the real Jims! His channel does the very best Simpsons videos and I would strongly enjoy seeing the two of you do a collab project someday! Also he did a recent video on the history of Lindsay Nagel which I’m sure you would really enjoy! This is indeed one of my favorite Simpsons episodes and it does feature a lot of good humor and commentary on television. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and please look up therealjims very soon!
Best episodes are homer at the bat, 22 short films, treehouse of horror 5, maggie makes 3, bart sells his soul and cape fear. This episode is pretty awesome so is deep space homer, $impsons(casino). Seasons 3-8 ie comedy writing gold. Clever jokes every couple of seconds unlike family guy random laugh out loud humor. Classic simpsons was so well written.
I will admit this might be the most influential episode of Simpsons in my household. Somehow, almost daily, my wife or I will ask "do you want A or B?" And the response is always a stupid high pitched, raspy, "DO YOU!?"
It's a sad thing that they never went to the fireworks factory.
One thing is Homer’s suggestion that “Whenever Poochy isn’t on screen all the other characters should say ‘Where’s Poochy’”. James Cordon took this to heart as in ‘Gavin and Stacey’ whenever he’s not on screen all the characters say “Where’s Smithy” etc…
This is my favorite episode too! So many great jokes and such clever satire.
The cartoon of Albert Einstein in your promotion shows him balancing a spinning shape on his finger that is quite clearly physically impossible. I mean, what, are we to believe that this is some kind of magic finger or something?
I think season 8 began the silver age of The SImpsons. Still good, but the fall had already begun.
The true beginning of that fall was "Homer's Enemy", where the writers stated that killing a man in a markedly cruel way would be mined for a joke.
This episode is fun, and makes a good commentary on television itself.
I accept your point but “Homer’s Enemy” is STILL my favourite episode.
I don’t know if they’ve brought poochie back at all since I haven’t seen the simpsons in years. But bringing him back NOW that he’s beloved nostalgia would be even MORE symbolic. This thing that was supposed to be a throw away and never seen again , now being a fan favorite and brought back
The most tragic part of this episode was that they never got to the fireworks factory. I also loved how Krusty introduced the episode comparing it to the moon landing.
PLEASE KNOW YOU ARE BASICALLY AND TECHNICALLY 100% CORRECT.
The best kind of correct.
You are basically and technically correct.
Always been one of my favorites. This show been around for a min min
Hurricane Neddy, when Flanders went nuts.
‘It gave us one of the best one off Simpsons creations’. It sure did. We love Roy.
"Best" is subjective, but point well taken.
Keep in mind the whole Genius at work T-shirt guy is a throwback to the SNL skit with Shatner at a mock Trek convention.
In Shatner's own words to the Trek Nerds: What is wrong with you people, Get a life, Kiss a girl!
I love this episode overall, but Bart's little speech to Comic Book Guy was absolutely obnoxious and completely devoid of self-awareness. "Free" entertainment my ass. It's not a coincidence that the show went to shit VERY quickly after this. And that same attitude/thought process is what brought us the unmitigated disaster that is The Principal And The Pauper a year later. God forbid anyone get emotionally invested in their favorite show. Instead we should be happy with whatever liquid shit they happen to fart out and be thankful for it. Like I said, obnoxious.
"I'm fired aren't I?"