Bart's Not Meant To Have A Girlfriend

The Simpsons, S24E12

Bart didn't have any idea of how neglectful he was being of his girlfriend who was finally back in town.  Despite all the signs, Bart was dumped and later sent out of the house with Homer when the two upset Marge.  Finally the severity of the situation dawned on Bart and he and Homer arranged a grand gesture for the ladies in their life at the bachelor apartments.

It was a surprise to see Zooey Deschanel back on the show in what seems so soon.  I felt like we closed the chapter on the relationship between Mary and Bart in New York, but apparently not.  It's evident that Bart is nowhere ready to have a girlfriend since his dating history has been about the same throughout the years.  It was a little sad to watch Bart show once again that he doesn't know what to do with a girl he likes (with reason, as he is just a kid).  I kept hoping that Bart would come to his senses before it was too late, but I guess he has indeed taken after Homer and only notices he's fallen off the cliff when he's already hit the ground.

It was almost funny that Marge tossed Bart and Homer out of the house when they were acting like thoughtless men, but it didn't amount to much.  It was more creepy and pathetic that they were in this apartment complex with other guys who didn't know how to keep their women happy.  I did find one thing that made me laugh before the story ended, but it hardly made up for the story on a whole being a bit depressing.

This was when they were watching the movie "Love, Indubitably" and Snape from Harry Potter popped out randomly to say:

Love is more powerful than all my magic.

That really caught me off guard.  Even for them to be spoof Love Actually that was so ridiculous.  It's strangly one of my favorite parts from this season so far.

I'm sort of glad that Bart didn't end up with Mary in the end.  It wouldn't have made any sense otherwise.  Bart doesn't appreciate her, and he just never will.  I don't think Bart is capable of loving a girl right or smart enough to understand when someone isn't happy with him.  Mary would have been a moron not to walk off with another boy.  I felt bad for Bart, though, but at least he could still stalk her online.

Oh, I did also like Mary's song about Bart after they broke up.  The lyrics were really hurtful to Bart, but I liked the samba beat to it and Zooey has always had a beautiful singing voice.  It doesn't have the charm of the songs heard earlier in this show's history, but I feel like if I hear the song enough times it's going to grow on me (like many of their songs have).

Lastly, I thought it was cute that Bart was dressed up like Woody Allen, I guess.  Then at the end Bart didn't even know who he was, at least not in his most famous capacity.  That joke wasn't too bad--it made Bart's outfit and narration throughout the episode more ironic.

This episode was too downbeat for my tastes.  I don't really want to see Bart have his heart crushed whether it's his fault or not.  There weren't any saving graces for this story even with the hilarious Snape bit and Zooey's song.  If I had to put a positive spin on it, I think I can say this is the real end of the Mary and Bart story.  It would be torture to see Bart mess things up with her for a fourth time.

Surprisingly Not Awful

Family Guy, S11E08

Peter told the family the story of the first Christmas, starting from the first meeting of Joseph and Mary.

When I saw the promos for this episode, I was really wary.  After all, I wasn't sure how badly they were going to spoof this story, nor how inappropriate they would make it.  But I have to say that it wasn't that bad at all.  It's not my favorite (it reminded me that The Simpsons had done the same thing a while ago, although it wasn't great either), but I don't think it was too offensive.  I feel like they mostly poked fun at how primitive life was back then and how harsh it was (such as Peter sneezing blood and Lois claiming she had to poop in the open streets).

Before Peter got into the story, there was a really good joke about Northwest Airlines.  They basically said that if you didn't want to see your family during the holidays, then their airline is the perfect one to use.  I really liked the guy's line at the end of the joke:

Thanks, Northwest. I hate my family.

Another joke that I liked was when Joseph was at the inn with Mary, trying to convince the innkeeper to give them a room:

But, sir, please, my wife is with child and about to give birth.  And I am with burrito and about to do the same.

The last joke I found pretty funny was when the Wise Men arrived at the stable and explained how they got there:

[Wise Man] Hello, we are the three wise men.  We came here following a star.
[Joseph] Those two statements contradict each other.

I did also enjoy that the Southern guy (can't remember his name) was the angel.  He's just an all-around funny guy no matter what he's doing.  Apparently, thanks to him offering God some "cheeses" is why Jesus got his name.  Not funny enough to make me laugh, but a good try.

It was a little messed up that Peter told that story and then sent away a pregnant woman and her husband at his door.  It was predictable, though.  I knew once Lois was talking about people coming together and such that someone would pop up to show how the Griffin family could do the opposite.  But I wondered why that couple didn't just run to another house?  They have so many neighbors.  I know she was going into labor, but they had the opportunity to knock at everyone's door they could.

It's nice to see that even if I expect the worst of this show, they might surprise me and not go too overboard.  Although, I think anyone who would really be outraged with this show's version of the first Christmas shouldn't be watching this show in the first place.  It pokes fun at everything and everyone, so it's not the best thing to watch if you're sensitive.  It was a little funny overall, but not incredibly funny.  I don't think this would be one I would be able to laugh at again if I rewatched it, but I also wouldn't put in my list of "never watch again."  In general, it was still a much better Christmas story than any other sappy stories they try to shove down people's throats during the holidays.

The Simpsons Redo The Big Apple

The Simpsons, S024E01

To start off their 24th season, the Simpsons returned to New York City so that Bart could find Mary.  He was determined to find at least one of his ex-loves who still liked him after getting to know him.  Lisa and Marge also tried to see a play in the city, but eventually had to settle with doing a play themselves.

Well, I didn't like much about this episode, especially since it was sort of a repeat story in a way.  I mean, we already had a story with Mary not too long ago, while the Simpsons going to New York isn't that exciting (although, we have to give them a little slack with that because they've traveled a ton of places already).  They did have the opportunity to do the town a new justice, but it fell flat with few jokes that made it seem like they couldn't have just done the same thing anywhere else.  It was nice to see a story about Bart that wasn't about his mischief but him wanting to find acceptance instead, but that aspect wasn't enough to save the story for me.  And the side story where Marge and Lisa were searching to watch a play didn't do much for me either.

Despite my complaints, there were a few moments that I liked.  In particular, I enjoyed when Homer was explaining to Bart about how drunk dialing allows one to express feeling,s and he later drunk dialed him.  Later, when Bart is revisiting his past girlfriends and such, that wasn't entirely unfunny either.  I forget the girl's name, but I liked the part where he saw the black-haired girl who sends Bart mixed signals.  She might be one of my favorites even though she was quite bipolar in how she would treat Bart from second to second.  I also was a little tickled by Homer's recollection of what happened the last time he went to New York, and it showed him in some jazz bar or something playing a xylophone.  It was referencing something I didn't get, but I just like how it went totally against what I thought Homer would picture.

Besides these moments, my favorite was when Homer and some random people from the subway were in the cab and the driver told them:

Anything you leave in the cab, you'll never see again.

and Homer was trying to leave Bart in there was he was still sleeping.  I expected him to do this, but it was still funny that he was sneaking out of the cab before Bart woke up and saw him.  Wish there were more jokes like that.

Finally, I also think that Homer helped me enjoy the episode a little better when he talking to Bart after he arrived at Mary's apartment but she wasn't home:

You've learned a very valuable life lesson, boy.  Which is that love doesn't exist except briefly between a man and woman before marriage.  After that it's just hanging out with someone who kinda hates you but you can't get it together to leave .

As far as Bart's romance with Mary, I found it surprisingly very boring.  I'm not sure why, but it might have to do with the fact that Mary just so easily accepted Bart for who he was.  I dunno.  I guess I didn't feel their connection.  Nor was I thrilled or amused that Zoey Deschanel was a guest actress.  Her song, too, was terrible.  I long for the days where I loved the songs on this show.  But I gotta accept that it's a new era of this show.

I'd say this premiere was a little of a let down.  Since I watched it instead of Once Upon A Time (which I was thoroughly looking forward to), I feel like it was a mistake.  However, I'm just so used to spending Sunday nights watching the FOX cartoon lineup that it just seems wrong not to tune in.  However, if this is an indication of what season 24 is going to be like, I might have to catch up on this show the following day instead.  Next time they are showing Treehouse of Horrors already.  I'm thoroughly surprised, considering that sometimes we don't get to see it until November!  The previews don't look that promising, but I'll still hope they manage to have a decent Halloween special this year.