The Many, Many, Many Fights of Homer & Marge
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- The Simpsons has done a lot of marriage crisis episodes.
A lot of them.
Let's see if we can learn from their (Homer's) mistakes.
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5:19 “Bossa de Moga” (Monster Hunter Tri) by Jamphibious
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20:18 "Mercenary Boxing" (Street Fighter II) by Malcos
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#thesimpsons
This started as a video about all of Homer and Marge's marriage crisis episodes.
But then I found 76 of them.
So, this project got split in half and I'm gonna cover the love triangles later. An hour long video about Homer and Marge's dysfunctional marriage would have been too depressing 😬
Comic book guy history?
Their marriage still seems less problematic then that of Peter & Lois or Stan & Francine.
I am a Brazilian Simpsons fam who is your Subscriver since 2015, and i Need to tell you that you help to increase my English Vocabulary.
By the way in theEpisode When they travel to Rio de Janeiro Bart watch a Kids TV show with a sexy Blond Host that Host realy existed. Her name is Xuxa.
I would have watched an hour long episode, gladly.
I'd love a "bart crying" deep dive. It's always so interesting and powerful when he breaks down.
It's almost as sad as when George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to the French in 1754.
Bart Sad?
No!
Bart's Ad!
do you want to break real jims? what's next, lisa depression episodes?
Yeah it would be great
Bart sucks. I hate Bart.
Once viewers got hooked on Homer's shenanigans and he became the show's star over Bart, this pattern became inevitable. As with almost every sitcom, the man of the house is childlike while his wife is the straight man holding things together in spite of him.
Boomer mythos
I mean the Simpsons are why that's been a trend since the 90s. Before that sitcom dads were like Carl Winslow or Dan Conner, maybe a bit quirky but generally normal/level headed or if anything a bit angry, while the focus was on a more zany kid or in Roseanne's case Roseanne. And before that it was more like Leave it to Beaver or something usually, where the wife usually had little personality. Like there was the Flintstones and stuff but part of why that series is well remembered over tons of failed sitcoms is precisely because Fred did Homer before Homer and Wilma did Marge before Marge.
@@tovarischkrasnyjeshi Wilma was not Marge, she was Carrie Hefferman, Debra Barone and Claire Huxtable when she would place her husband in a chokehold for the pettiest reason, aka a complete shrew. Even as a child I hated Wilma.
Yeah, Homer's the Bumbling Sitcom Husband/Dad, Marge is the Hypercompetent Wife/Mom, it was what everyone was doing in the 90s/2000s (the Simpsons got on board the trend, then perpetuated it), now they're sort of locked into these characterizations and dynamics that uh, lend themselves to a certain type of conflict.
What I did find somewhat reassuring in this video, is that a lot of those "Homer screws up and has to win Marge back" episodes seemed to be relatively early in the series, with more balanced conflicts (or even Marge messing up) later on, showing the writers trying to get away from those tropes. Because indeed, times have changed, and while Marge has always been out of Homer's league, younger generations of viewers are less inclined to be sympathetic (or laugh), and more inclined to ask why Marge stays with a guy who makes her miserable. It's just a type of humour that's gone out of style.
I've also noticed, as seasons have gone on, that there's less focus on Marge as a Hypercompetent Housewife, and more focus on her quirks and flaws as well, leading to more balanced conflicts between her and Homer.
One other element of this, is that for all of Homer's boorishness, he really does worship the ground Marge walks on in a lot of ways, which also makes it harder to Uno-reverse their usual positions in a conflict (and yes, that one episode where Homer moved in with the gay guys irritated me too, and felt massively out of character for him). Because even in the early seasons... Marge messes up regularly. She becomes a gambling addict. She starts partying with Ruth all the time. She gets caught up in a country-club lifestyle that the rest of the family isn't into and doesn't reflect their real lives. She nearly has an affair with Jacques. It's just... Homer doesn't really hold those things against her. He humours her, or he gets sad, or he still ends up apologizing. But he seems to rarely get actually angry with her.
Given Homer's conflicts with Lisa as well, I suspect the poor guy's internalized that if he's involved in a conflict, it's probably his fault somehow. So even when Marge is behaving badly, he tends to assume he's pushed her to that point and behave accordingly. It is refreshing, with both Marge and Lisa, when they have a conflict with Homer and realize they're the ones who need to make amends.
I just watched it last night, but a newer refreshing episode is season 24's "Dangers on a Train", you'd think Homer and Marge would fight when the whole sassy madison thing comes up at the end but marge explains it and its all good.
My problem is that one of their defining characteristics is that they were 'destined to be together' then we have so many marriage crisis episodes.
Well if you think about it that actually strengthens the concept because despite all the crap both of them are no matter how dysfunctional they are they stick together because they were meant to be together
idk, for me it shows how strong their love for each other is when its done right.
there are couples that never stop fighting but stay together forever
my fathers aunt is in her 80s and still with her husband and they fight so bad they break dishes and sometimes her husband sleeps on the weekend home
This shows that this is toxic
Right, the thing that people in actual abusive relationships often tell themselves. The "destiny/soul mate" stuff is manipulative bullshit that people should stop putting out into the world.
I noticed in your list at 0:54, there were no season 7 episodes. Another reason season 7 is king, Homer and Marge felt like they were chill with each other all season
However, Milhouse bought Bart's soul, Ned & Maude tried to convert the Simpson kids, and Marge stopped loving Bart while Milhouse refused to even share his ultra-popular game.
In short, there were other unfair misfortunes.
@@NorthSutherland Let's not be dramatic, Marge did not "stop loving Bart" and literally never would, she's a good mom and good moms love their kids. She began to see him a different light in that episode, not viewing him as her "special little guy" anymore because he appeared to be growing up (but not in a good way)
Yep, that is why Season 7 rules. Closest marriage crisis episodes are King Size Homer and the country club episode.
The only other one that didn't have a marriage crisis was Season 12, oddly enough
@@TheRealJims I think season 6 would also count
@@Iggy_Dogg As if _that episode_ was the first time he screwed up royally. Anyone remember the first "wake up call" from Season 4, Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie? Bart was always a trouble kid (I Married Marge, and Lisa's First Word), but he was never Nelson, Dolph, Jimbo, Kearney, Weasels 1 & 2, Jessica, Adil, Michael D'Amico, Gino, Diggs, *Gina* .
This isn't Timephoon.
But yeah, "stopped loving Bart" was a poor choice of words, but how else do you describe leaving Bart out of family activities that were suddenly relevant during that second half of the episode.
There were other crappy things that happened in that season, but these are the ones I recall from memory.
I think the real issue is that there aren't enough episodes of Homer and Marge being totally on the same page and having a good rapport to balance out the marriage crises. Every couple fights, but every couple has days where they're just in synch and it'd be nice to get more notable examples of that. To be honest I feel like this is a problem the show inherited from the early seasons, because Secrets of a Successful Marriage is such a messed up episode if you really think about it. Homer doesn't even have a grand gesture in that one, the episode just runs out of time so she has to forgive him.
And that's what I'm saying how can they make fun of the Cosby show for being trite they love cliches too lmao
The ending of Secrets of a Successful Marriage is practically a parody of the "grand gesture leads to forgiving" trope that they had already done several times by that point. It works much better than, say, the catfish ending from The War of The Simpsons because it's self-aware on how unsatisfying the "solution" to Homer and Marge's problem is and turns that into a joke. At the time it was a fun subversion (and a slight mockery) of the already clunky formula. Of course no one knew that the show would continue for 30 more years.
There's loads of episodes where there on the same page
My favorite square up between them is in Springfield Connection when Marge is faced with having to address her husband's tomfoolery BS as a professional with standards. It's not the first time she's been embarrassed by Homer but that's as his wife. In this moment, she's in a position of authority over him and sees his behavior as anyone else might see it. It's one of the most revealing scenes of the series. You can't look away or stop thinking about it. At least, I can't.
you did what!
i just borrowed your nail clippers. what's the problem?
they fight and bite and fight
fight fight fight, bite bite bite
and bark
Woof woof woof
They fight AND bite?
they love, and share, they share and love and share
One of my favorite marriage crisis moments is actually a screw the audience moment.
Homer walks in on Marge and Flanders getting close. He looks at them in this BIG MISUNDERSTANDING moment, as he wonders if Marge would cheat on him with Flanders!
Nah, he knows she wouldn't do that. Episode goes on.
Which episode?
@@byronritchie5449 "The Devil Wears Nada"
@@byronritchie5449 The Devil Wears Nada
@@wallygropius4451 thanks
I love when Marge is upset with homer and goes “I’ve put up with a LOT over the years.” And before homer can open his mouth for any kind of response the kids just shake their heads and scowl at him 😂😂
And this is why Bart and Lisa need to mind their business and focus on their own B-plots (which are usually more interesting than any of Homer/Marge's VS _BS_ ), while Maggie is asleep or sucking a pacifier somewhere.
It's all grossly one-sided.
@@NorthSutherland It is grossly one sided, because the show writes Homer as a subhuman ape.
@@shorewall 1) it's all very bigoted imagine if Marge was different race to homer and they were co workers instead of married and one side was exclusively right and the other wrong ...how would that not be hatespeech ? Sincerely ? Remove men and women and make this a Racial issue ...wouldn't fly ..wouldn't fly ..wouldn't make it to television
2) all the negativity surrounding the nuclear power plant and the environmental stuff in general makes it seem like they had an agenda looking back on it, you can't claim all those just stop oil nutters didn't watch this show growing up ....
3) with the above and other stuff I haven't touched on yet in mind ...liea is a vegetarian where do they get off dissing the Cosby show ? Bill Cosby the entertainer is morally leagues above the Simpsons all he wanted to do was make people laugh ... Simpson's wants to push it's religion on you ...that's way worse bro ...
@@shorewall The show is a reversal of the traditional sitcom where the head of the household is the all-knowing patriarch and everyone else is an idiot. The Simpsons did it first, then it became the norm for all animated sitcoms.
Watch "Maggie makes three" and "Bart gets hit by a car" and say thatf again. If Marge would have just stook one of her many jobs, Homer could have gone back to the bowling alley job. Marge also literally cost Homer 1 million dollars. Both of those things ares infeintley worse than anything Homer did, and should have been reasons for Hommer to divorce tge parasite
0:14 that background carl face
"excellent" 🫱🫲
I started to hate marriage crisis episodes when I awoken from childhood to reality and realize just how many times there is such episode. Like multiple in same season.
13:05 I misheard cause I thought Marge was upset about Homer dating Lukas and I was like "well, that's reasonable of her"
Dark Simpsons territory, there.
@@familygash7500 (Insert that one Mr Plow clip)
Have a seat right over there Homer...
The show fell off after Homer's Night Out
The show was never the same after Homer met Michael Jackson.
They really jumped the shark when homer went to space
It's a shame the show ended when they all got roasted on an open fire in the first episode
@@samsmabbington1237 Them's the breaks.
@@samsmabbington1237 honestly that was disturbingly graphic
The shot of Homer in the treehouse looking down at the kitchen always kills me.
Next to disheveled Homer coming in to find Moe there
Great meme template
Eat the pudding, eat the pudding, eat the pudding @@TheBfutgreg
You didn't just cross a line you threw up over it. Is a brilliant line.
Personally I have a lot more fondness for the "Homer has a falling out with Lisa and/or Bart" episodes
You should do a video similar to “Ralph the Viking” but with “Ever see someone throw a shoe?” “Yes, once.”
Also, it would be great if you did a video on the debate over whether Skinner says “egads” or “ye gods” when he discovers his roast is ruined.
Since “egads” and “ye gods” have such similar meanings and pronunciations, this may sound like a really dumb topic for a debate. Yet, I’ve seen this debate quite often in the comment sections of Steamed Hams videos and even on r/simpsonsshitposting. There was even an edit war on the Trivia page for the episode on TV Tropes.
Even the official sources seem to disagree. The season 7 DVD subtitles say “egads”, whereas Frinkiac says “ye gods”.
I'd love to see it but I think it could only be like 3 minutes lmfao...
@@jacksonsay37 TEAM EGADS
"Throw a shoe"? I only remember "say good-bye to a shoe".
@@jacksonsay37 Personally, I think it's ye gods, and that homer was referring to a different time when he said "yes, once"
The Simpsons Marathon challenge takes a shot after time marge, and Homer gets into a fight
I hope those are sips of something light, otherwise it will get dangerous.
Pretty sure you’d die not even a quarter of the way through
For 5 minutes. Could you not have a marriage crisis FOR 5 MINUTES?!
Man , it feels like the writers have a hate boner for Homer with how often they make him do the same blunders obsessively .And Marge is never allowed a flaw within her marriage
Homer must lay some IMPRESSIVE pipe if marge hasn't left him fully by now
According to Julie Kavner, this is true 🍆
@@TheRealJims That's our Homer!
@@TheRealJimsoh my goodness
They call him Mr. Plow for a reason
@@pastagod2219Underrated joke.
My god just Jims saying outloud "hey there have been 76 Marrige Crisis episodes of some kind" where the focus has been on Homer and Marge's marriage having issue just hits for me even harder on a trope I have been done with for.... like 20 years. I'm someone who says there is still a lot of light in the Simpsons and they can do some great fantastic episodes that are not only worth still being on but are the kind of episodes you COULDN'T do like the golden era because of how things have changed, but those episodes have annoyed me for a long time. And quite frankly after "Pixilated and Afraid" that showed just how strong the two's connections are and made conflict not about Homer just being an idiot but about how outside forces can try taking away that connection and the lengths they'd go to save one another, just made me done with the idea they are STILL trying to push.
Because sadly The Simpsons is one of those "we want to have our cake and eat it too." It WANTS to keep the characters modern and young thus why they keep pushing when they were born and grew up in... but still wants them to act and not evolve past let's be honest a very DATED mindset that worked back in the Ullman era and early seasons in the late 80's and 90's but just doesn't anymore. Like the bumbling husband and exasperated wife were already tropey by then but pushing it as an adult animated series where characters could have legit gripes you wouldn't see on say The Flintstones did work and make sense to make jokes on but also take seriously. But yeah it's the flipping 2020's now and that's not really how most anyone else writes characters. It's a big reason why people still vibe with Bob's Burgers and why that feels so refreshing. And hell even on Family Guy they know at this point to treat that marrige and issues as a farce that is past the point of really being able to take seriously. But still having Homer and Marge issues especially ones where Homer is at fault is outdated and stagnant and something they really need to push past.
Like it's clear the writers do have a soft spot for Marge and don't want to really ever blame her even in situations they could easily blame her or she is at fault. Which I'd get in like maybe the first decade but come on, we're kind of past that view point on how this relationship works and it really needs refreshing. I do appreciate Jim going over these facets to point out how much it's an issue and how even when Marge seems at fault she technically isn't and how these arguments work best through unique narrative view points but that doesn't change how obnoxious this trope is. We can hope it changes in the future but sadly part of me realizes "look even if the show ends in a few years we're going to have at least 80 marrige crisis episodes somehow because the writers just aren't going to stop beating on that dead horse."
What about Marge's gambling addiction?
Or do we place that blame on Gamblor?
This was the toughest call on whether it is a "marriage crisis" and I almost included it. I ended up leaving it out because it's framed more as a family problem because the main blunder is with Lisa's costume. Marge isn't there for her kids. The ending definitely feels like a marriage crisis ending so I went back and forth a lot when deciding.
A lot of Marge flaw episodes are more like family stories (like the country club ep) rather than being about her relationship with Homer. The Marge steroids ep could have been on here too, but doesn't focus on the relationship much (bafflingly)
@@TheRealJims Hey, I 100% get your reasoning after you explained it now.
And I also just like referencing Gamblor where possible
4:52 In Homer's defense, it was Marge's idea for Homer to take the credit, granted he goes overboard with it, but it's not like she's innocent in this fight either.
That's what I kinda hated about that episode. Homer's painted as the bad guy for taking all of the credit despite it literally being Marge's idea because they didn't accept women as carpenters.
I’d rather a Marriage Crisis episode that turns out not to be one with both the citizens of Springfield and the audience thinking they’re having a fallout because we hear them having a shouting match and flinging insults at each other... Which turns out to actually be them rehearsing for a play and it was all taken out of context.
For added hilarity, Homer and Marge are oblivious to the fact people misunderstood that moment as a sign of them having another crisis with everyone else outside of the Simpsons assuming they’re just trying to downplay the situation until they clear things up in the end. All leading to a big screw the audience joke.
Basically lampooning the whole marriage crisis formula Season 5 & 8 style.
Would especially be fun if that was in Season 7, since it's the only season to not have it as a main plot point, though I would prefer if we, the audience, know early on that their marriage is actually not in trouble.
I could see it starting with Bart and/or Lisa hearing their parents practice and automatically assume the worst, with plenty of misunderstandings happening (like both Homer & Marge use money they earn from the performance to get some nice things for the kids, further cementing their fear of a possible split-up) and don't want to tell anybody except for their closest friends, like Milhouse, who blurts it out either to appease bullies or to not get in trouble with his parents, causing the rumor to spread.
Would also make for some fun character interactions between Homer & Marge and the rest of Springfield, like Patty & Selma congratulate Marge for making a great decision with her life (i.e. they believe she's finally divorcing Homer), causing Marge to believe they're celebrating her performance in a play, and Mrs. Krabappel & Homer have a scene similar to Mr. Burns' failed attempt to bribe Homer in "Last Exit to Springfield" where she tries to hit on Homer and promising him to help out and be a good mother figure to Bart, causing him to think she's hitting on her son and leaves because of that.
For me, one of the biggest problems with these episodes now is the movie. Why do them after Season 18 when you’ve done the most cinematic break-up scene possible? And they happened so much after the movie that the grand gestures felt more phoned in by default. The question stopped being “How is Homer gonna get out of this one?”, and started being “How is Homer gonna screw up again in a couple more weeks?”
23 and a half minutes of Jims despising that fish.
The one where Homer finds out Marge hated their date and she planned to dump him, he thinks Marge only stayed with him because of Bart. And when he brings it up, her response is not exactly reassuring. For someone who already feels he doesn't deserve Marge, I felt it was accurate for it to cut him deep.
He truly believed Marge never loved him, and they had wasted their lives together. That she had lied all their marriage.
Sure it is a little stupid, but I feel the way Homer reacted was very true to his character and Marge's response was definitely wrong. Heck it only resolved when Doctor Hibert showed him evidence that she did love him despite the bad date and that Bart wasn't the reason she stayed with him.
It should have led to Homer feeling insecure and doing some introspection though, there was no reason for him to get mad at Marge.
The issue with many of these episodes is that they struggle to justify why Marge should forgive Homer. It's hard to sell the idea that Homer deserves her when we know he sucks and will never change.
That's how you get the big gesture endings, or Homer's dependence speech. Because what else can you do? They want you to care about their marriage, but you're not supposed to think too deeply about it or ask too many questions.
And that's the issue. Can we not have a misunderstanding plot or can we not have a plot where Homer is being an idiot
This topic was long overdue.
I remember getting tired of marraige crisis plots long ago. When the big emotional gut punch of the movie was Marge recording her goodbye over their wedding tape, I felt nothing. No matter how they decide to raise the stakes, it'll always be just going through the same motions for the umpteenth time before a third act reconciliation.
I had the same experience with the wedding tape 💯
I love how they still have that tape, it's just now relabelled "Wedding/Alaska".
Julie kavners performance as marge in that moment was outstanding. Where she told homer she could not take it anymore on tape and she was taking the kids and leaving. Homer was on his own in the cabin.
A complaint I have about episodes that make us question the foundations of their marriage, especailly later ones that reference previous crisis episodes. is if you start bringing factors outside the episode in you have to remember Homer is severely mentally challenged, which can put the whole marriage in a very dark light. This doesn't forgive his actions, just something I noticed makes the amount they make everything his fault sometimes uncomfortable .
Ultamitely i think this and the marraige crisis skew to Homer being the problem is a side effect of it's sitcom parody roots where they were making fun of the idea of these terrible, dim witted or sub-par men somehow ending up with the perfect stay at home wife.
Yeah Marge is the saint when she made Homer loose 1 mil, didn't wear propper protection causing Maggie to be born, didn't consider putting Maggie up for adoption/ aborting her, could never stick a job so Homer could go back to the Bowaling ally. If Homer gets anything good through a morally corrupt method, Marge ruins it because it doesnt work with her idiotic CONservative beliefs.
I feel like Homer and Marge's arguments were interesting at first but i feel like some of them are so pointless its like its filling a B-Story a lot. I think its lost its impact tbh. It just makes Homer a awful husband cause even when shes in the ''wrong'' she really hasnt done anything too bad
Yeah and that is absolute hypocrisy on Marge as one of those episodes are definitely out of his hands
I‘m sorry, but „Brake my wife please“ is absolutely NOT anything close to „on equal terms“, because for all of Homers faults, I don’t recall any time he ever tried to murder Marge with his car. The absolute nerve of the episode to say that „he put her through things so he is actually the bad guy in this situation so he has to make it up to her“ is just baffling. No framed DIU is anywhere near as bad as what Marge did to him in that episode.
Now imagine instead of gender this was about race, gets uncomfortable doesn't it ? Seems like the show has a agenda
Yeah that episodes always made me upset.
Marge literally tried to murder Homer for the pettiest reason possible, and now HE has to make it up to her.
@@gtt8428 Same difference, really.
This may come up in the love triangles video, but one thing that tilts the scales in Homer's favor (YMMV how much) is how he and Marge are treated by the narrative. When he messes up, he needs to prove himself, but whenever Marge is clearly in the wrong the issue just gets pushed under the rug. For example, in some "minor" marriage crisis subplots like the three-eyed fish one: Marge and Lisa both treat Homer like dirt for helping Burns run for governor when it's obvious he's doing it out of fear of being fired. And whenever there's a love triangle, Homer is consistently shown to be loyal to Marge, while she's all too happy to dump him for the guy of the week (or Ned) and it's usually some contrivance that changes her mind like driving through a street of pro-marriage shops on her way to see Jacques, seeing her wedding photo in Ned's glasses and so on. Heck, for the longest time I thought people hated "That 90's Show" because how selfish Marge was, not because it made fun of the floating timeline!
This is part of the show's bigger issue with not allowing Marge and Lisa to ever be in the wrong, but I think it's still worth bringing up when weighing how much these two mess up with each other.
You could say that Homer & Marge had a *FALLOUT* ...76.
Nah, they had a FALLOUT ...(2024 TV show)
(Although they did go to vegas and boston and washington and specially alaska)
Brotherhood of Stonecutting
Boo urns
One more person needs to upvote this comment and NO MORE. (My upvote was 75)
I have the honor of being the 7️⃣6️⃣th person to like this comment.
0:41 Based on this graph, three quarters of the marriage crisis episodes come from the Al Jean era alone. And half of the pre-Jean ones are on the first three seasons. So they did these more frequently in the really early phase and then less frequently on seasons 6 to 12. It seems that during the Oakley and Weinstein and the Scully eras the writers reduced the amount of this stuff to avoid redundancy, but Al Jean dialed them up again after he took over. I guess he was running out of fresh story ideas. I think the Jean era is also when these really started to feel tiresome and annoying and most fans got completely fed up with them. (Matt Selman seems to have done a few so far.)
Have you thought of doing a Simpsons Showdown of the Thanksgiving episodes? I think it's interesting that we've only had a few Thanksgiving episodes despite the show being on for over three decades.
Fr, a video like that has potential. I can’t remember the name, but the show runners made a Thanksgiving anthology episode which released a few years ago. I remember that one being entertaining.
Probablemente porque el día de acción de gracias solo se celebra en EEUU y no en el resto del mundo
@@williamdaviddiazcuchimaque7511 it's an American show about an American family written by Americans 😂😂 wtf are you talking about
Partly why I enjoy episodes like the Pizza robots or Jaws Wired Shut or that weird fat pride episode (and ofc Pixellated and Afraid) is the getting Marge’s feelings of “ohhh that’s why she likes him despite the obnoxious”.
10% of the series dang. I wonder what plot takes up the most percentage of the series!
Bart vs skinner Bart vs sideshow bob lisa against the world Bart and milhouse
Homer gets a new job
@@dwaynejpeterkinI don’t think Bart vs Sideshow Bob takes up more of the series considering that Sideshow Bob only has 14 episodes plus two Treehouse Of Horror segments where he serves in a major role, nowhere near the amount of Marriage Crisis episodes
“That music always sends chills down my spine”
Yeah, I'm not a fan of most marriage crisis episodes either. They're way overdone and repetitive. We always know that they're going to get back together at the end of the episode and how they'll play out.
I'd much rather see episodes like Natural Born Kissers and Pixelated and Afraid.
All these Homer and Marge fights are reminding me that I wanted to nominate Mom And Pop Art for an Extra Seconds sometime. It caught me off guard when I was working through season 10; yeah, it has LE GRILLE, but I also found the Homer and Marge conflict to be super compelling. Of course Marge is pissed at Homer's success in art, she has a history with art and she doesn't get modern art. The thing is, neither does Homer, but once his new artwork fails at the end of act 2, they don't give Marge a big "I told you so" moment... instead she reaches out to Homer with the museum visit and genuinely tries to help inspire him; despite his jerkassery in the episode, she realizes how much he genuinely wanted to create something. It's a seriously underrated moment between the two of them, arguably one of my favorites of the entire series. I don't know how many people feel the same about that episode, but I hope if you read this comment that you might start to see it this way.
EDIT: Also worth mentioning is the ending, which I love how the setup seems nonsensical on your first watch, but on a second watch you realize exactly what he's doing. It's also just so great to see Homer finally understand what makes art "art", seeing his passion and determination to make his vision come true is honestly inspiring.
I remember sometime ago, that there was some dude under a youtube short being like "the show hates homer and bart while marge and lisa are the real villians" or something wack like that and i ended up just like, listing off episode after episode moment after moment as if i was talking to someone whos literally never seen the show before.
Im happy now i have a video to directly point to explaining in detail how ppl like this are wrong without having to type an essay
Out of all the things that Homer has done wrong, I think the worst one was framing Marge for the DUI.
Genuinely my least favourite aspect of the entire show, not just because half of them are painful to sit through with little variation, but in general the cliche is just played out and gets in the way of actual good episodes.
He’s such an ass the early seasons. Was rewatching it with my wife and did not remember him being that much of an ass, especially towards Marge
Not as much as he was during his jerkass years, but he definitely had his moments
It was the episode ‘Brake My Wife Please’ that finally made me stop watching the show as religiously as I used to … interesting to see how the marriage crisis episodes were handled since.
If it was peter and lois, the video would be a hour long.
Their marriage still seems less problematic then that of Peter & Lois or Stan & Francine.
It is. It's a real relationship that is flawed. Peter and Lois and Stan and Francine are all facsimile. A big cynical joke.
Well Lois and Peter lives in a much more cartoonish world
TBF: Stan and Francine are still a full landslide better than Peter & Lois/Beth and Jerry/and several others. They have plenty of episodes of being whacky together.
True, but that's not exactly a high bar to clear.
Francine is a special kind of bitch, which is why I haven't watch that show in over a decade.
Lois is a pain too, but at least the show is zany enough where she knows how to have fun. And rather than look like a sad pathetic punching bag like Homer, Peter can easily break reality and stick it to Lois.
I once actually went through every episode of the simpsons to make a list of every time Marge and Homer fight. It was to answer a question someone asked, turns out all I had to do was wait 2 years for this video.
23:04 Haha why is Marge so small here? She's like a child.
The show can never decide if their relationship is part of the overall progress of the story or if it is subject to the status quo. Well, they try for it to be both and that makes it so unrealistic. Marge would have dumped Homer in season 3 and not forgiven him, if this wasn't a status quo series. But then the kids and Marge keep reminding the audience how often Homer makes mistakes, and so the audience sighs to a universal "here we go again" knowing already how it'll end.
My issue is the show constantly praising Marge FOR enduring Homer. Marge is often portrayed as capable and talented but this is always framed through the context of her marriage. Her conformity to the domestic role is seen as a noble sacrifice on her part. Even in modern episodes like the Lizzo one- sure, she has her own money but she’s using it to uphold her husband’s pride.
It is 2024- women shouldn’t be praised for making toxic marriages “work”.
homer taught me there's a difference between a loveable character and a likeable person
Yeah these are exactly the kind of episodes I've always hated.
It's their job to be repetitive. Their job. Their job. Being repetitive is their job.
Simpsons (trying to come up with something new) : "Woozle wuzzle..?"
Audience:"Woozle wuzzle? I waited all this time for woozle wuzzle? *leaves*"
DOH
This plotline is why I think the show should have ended with the movie.
I agree I can’t even watch the early seasons anymore
I really appreciate that you add captions to every video
I was really hoping youd talk about 'Highway to Well', the episode in which Marge becomes the face of Drederick Tatum's medicinal marijuana company, resulting in Homer starting a directly competing business.... (which Marge helps take down) The resolution of that episode almost actually puts the earnest on Marge by pointing out shes never actually partaken in the devil's lettuce and is being very hypocritical in her critism of Homer
Maybe I should have put that in the video. I initially labeled it more as a business fight (and not really about their relationship). But the video expanded to a couple other more general feuds so maybe I should have gone back and thrown it in 🤔
@TheRealJims it's a personal favourite of the modern era, for obvious personal reasons, but I also think it does provide an interesting perspective on their conflict
Seeing as I've been watching your videos for about 8 years now, I think I can forgive you this time though 😅
I'm so tired of these episodes that I skip them whenever I rewatch the Simpsons. It's always the same trope: *Homer does/says something dumb, Marge leaves him/kicks him out of the house, Homer says "I love you Marge", Marge takes him back*
If she's gonna leave him, then do it and keep it that way.
"Thank god Grandpa comes along to help Homer "come along" might be your most lewd joke yet lmao.
Marriage crises are straight up the worst kind of episode, most Simpsons fans know it, and yet there hasn't been much discourse about it. Probably because El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer is so awesome.
There's no discussion about it because there's no real agreement on what counts as a marriage crisis episode
Thank you for the work you do, RealJims.
4:47 arguably marge wasn't really mad at the RV specifically, and more that homer took the money she worked hard saving IN CASE HOMER DIED SO THEY WOULDN'T BE SCREWED. and he bought a goddamn RV with that money. absolutely up there with homer putting marge in the driver seat after crashing the car in terms of how horrible it is
Talking about the episodes I mostly skip.
I just can't get my head around how intentionally hateful it all is, I know I sound like a nutta right now but I'm being completely sincere change the social dynamics of these characters and portray it the same way and you would get slammed for it, imagine a show where the minority character was always corrected kinda awkward isn't it ... Makes me think they have been serving us the prop since the day we was born ....
Oh no you don't! That first TheRealJims like is mine!
@@adamh9660 DOH
I like the Simpson's a lot but one major reason i have a preference for Bob's burgers is that i actually cannot imagine Bob or Linda having a serious issue in their marriage. It's not that it's perfect or anything but they are just so clearly into each other and not into anyone else that it makes even attempting a marriage crisis episode ridiculous and untenable. You couldn't do it. It would be too unrealistic for how their marriage dynamic works and it's just refreshing to have a marriage on tv so unapologetically positive and happy while not being problem free.
I see it as a running gag and don't take it seriously at all. Their relationship is so toxic its funny.
10:27 The resolution to this episode always bugged me because it was contingent on Marge just inexplicably showing up inside the Flanders' house for no reason. Characters just kind of showing up in a scene with little to no explanation for what they're doing there was kind of a recurring problem with the show around this time, but this was an especially egregious example of it.
There stilla better functionality married couple then Peter and Lois or Jerry and Beth
I'm still waiting for extra seconds - A Serious Flanders
I think they do beat up on homer too much. Don't get me wrong he's worth beating up on, but not this much.
You'd think this well would be well dry by now no?
Imagine if it was written by a trump guy and Marge is white and homer is black 👀 gets uncomfortable quickly doesn't it, so why is this okay ??? I don't think it is ...
My dad never liked the end of the gun episode, as he said "she ceases to be the victim in these things"
I actually quoted three gays of the condo when I broke up with my ex fiancée. She would jump to conclusions really easily and not talk things over, so when I dumped her, I told her she becomes judge Judy and executioner over the stupidest things
You’ve baited the hook and now I *need* to know how she responded!
@@LadyLeomon stood there, looking puzzled for a second, then double down on some of her toxic behavior.
For a little context, I made it clear when we started dating that I was on the autism spectrum and. Her oldest son was autistic, so I thought she would be understanding, but all she did was trash me behind my back, and there were a lot of misunderstandings that could’ve been settled, But she wouldn’t listen. There was a lot of baggage there and months later, I’m seeing a therapist because of the shit I went through
But Marge I can change
Homer is a better partner than Marge is. Generally speaking, whatever Marge does Homer rolls with it. Whereas Marge refuses to let Homer be Homer.
There, I said it.
nah, he wouldn’t let her gamble at a slot machine for a week straight. terrible husband
Even as a kid I couldn’t stand having to come across the marriage crisis episodes they always made me feel depressed and I saw the show as a silly cartoon at the time so it didn’t help lol
Idea for a similar video: Every time the Simpsons ALMOST get rich. It happens a LOT in the early years especially.
I don't think Marge was totally sidelined in Wedding for Disaster. If I recall correctly, the kidnapping plot forced her to reckon with how demanding she had been as a bride. You could argue that the bridezilla trope is hacky, that the kidnapping plot doesn't properly pay off the initial conflict, or that she didn't have much to do when Bart and Lisa started sleuthing, but they made sense from a plot-driven perspective.
That's a fair point. They do give Marge some emotional conflict over how she treats Homer. It frustrates me, though, because there is a good foundation there, but then Bart and Lisa take over that half of the story.
Yeah but it sucks that Marge's story is about overcoming a flaw we invented for this specific episode.
Homer has certainly done a lot of crummy things to Marge, but imo one horrible act is worse than a bunch of kinda bad ones, and Marge literally raping Homer is the point where I feel like their marriage really should have ended.
Yeah because it seems that their marriage is toxic and outdated
So let me ask you this, in a trump guy, if I wrote this show in reverse how long do you think it lasts ? A show where the woman is always wrong ? 👀 Think about it is all in saying they are playing you, if Marge was white and homer was black the show would be banned and you know it, @@srstriker6420
I think it depends on how the show portrays it. The rape thing is treated as a gag, whereas Homer framing Marge for a DUI is treated seriously.
@@matti.8465 remember, Marge literally attempted to murder Homer in "brake my wife please" because she was upset he was walking.
Funny how they've had many marriage crisis episodes yet they still feel like a loving couple compared to Peter and Lois
Marriage crisis episodes are probably one of my least favorite episode archetypes in the genre
Love the channel, Jim. Thanks for all your hard work.
22:40
I guess you could say repetitiveness is their job… their job… repetitiveness is their job.
Mayor Quimby bio next
I don't know if i'm the only one to have this feeling, but even as a kid, and even more now, these episodes leave me thinking that Marge IS so much better than Homer and deserves so much more than him. Feeling that consolidate with the other normal episodes. Marge is always depicted as sensitive, smart, artistic, honest and virtuous overall ; where Homer is always the dumb, alcoholic, unconsiderate. Even in his redemption, it feels superficial. As if he never means it, and these good sides of him aren't real, or not enough to balance with his flaws. Overall, it just builds the feeling that Marge deserves better than Homer, and the only reason they're staying together, it's because the show is locked into a status-quo it can't and will never escape.
Marge is hypocrite, moralising and nagging as a form of control over others. Homer is a guy who gave up on life. Over time I started to like only bart, as he never stopped to be true to himself. And often pointed out how flawed are oppinions of others. Even Lisa turned from unlucky genius to liberal prick.
I think a lot of these could be helped if the divide was more equal...
If it's all on Homer then it's just annoying
Honestly it just makes it a little too real. The shenanigans Homer gets up to are absolutely grounds for a bitter divorce in real life but it's a TV show, so we expect him to be able to get away with it. Whenever they have these marriage crisis episodes, it breaks the illusion.
I think the fact this story structure is so overdone is part of the reason why Pixelated & Afraid was so well received.
It was just refreshing to see an episode where Homer and Marge actually work together.
I get the feeling now that I'm thinking about it 'Principal and the Pauper' was actually intended to be a way to handwave the floating timeline issue. Even with Skinner's age getting bumped up a bit it was starting to get iffy so finding a way to cut that from his character without making it super obvious checked out. (The Real Skinner was the same age Season 1 Skinner would have been at that point). The episode was a flop, but even then they stopped referencing Skinner having been in Vietnam around 2000, it's not a thing in the lore anymore. In fact he was born in 1975 with his current show age of 49, the same year the war ended.
One thing I wish they did more with these is actually play on some of Marge's negative traits to create and develop the conflict. She's a bit of a doormat towards others, she cares too much what people think about her, she has a really messed up sense of morality where religion is concerned, she's susceptible to moral panics. But it almost always comes down to Homer being an unambigous jackass and having to make it up to her.
I suppose it's not so much a marriage crisis, but Marge's struggles with gambling were really interesting to me. It's the first flaw of hers that is wholely negative, and it adds a lot of depth to her personality.
Hi, can you do a video on this background character? His name is Charlie. He wears glasses and a white coat. If you can, please respond to me.
These videos inevitably make me think about the italian dub. So much subtext is lost because Homer's late dubber added such a different, assertive tone to the husband that I can't help but wonder if the average italian sided with him no matter the circumstances (they did)