Worst Episode Ever #10: The Skinner Labyrinth

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Worst Episode Ever #10: The Skinner Labyrinth

S09E02 – The Principal and the Pauper

Our 10th anniversary episode! No? Ok, just our tenth episode…ery. We bend our rules to watch an infamous 90’s episode, Season 9’s “The Principal and the Pauper.” Many think this began the end of an era, an era that continues for 17 more years (and a movie) with no signs of stopping. It’s a strange story with secret impostors, shocking revelations, and America balls. But is it as bad as its reputation? We overanalyze this episode’s symbolism, speculate how badly this plot would be done in the HD era, and wonder if it would be better with a B-plot where Marge goes to space camp. Is this the start of shoehorning in the Simpsons at every possible point in a story they have no stakes in? Did they miss out by not making the real “fake” Skinner more different from the fake “real” Skinner? Does anyone named Tamzarian listen to this show? Who cares? Do any of you care? Hopefully the answer is yes, yes you do. Plus, Quantum Leap talk because we are not nerds! (Though you probably are…) Enjoy!

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Worst Episode Ever #9: Lady Gaga Like Iron Man

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Worst Episode Ever #9: Lady Gaga Like Iron Man

S23E22 – Lisa Goes Gaga

The rumors are true, we are a NEW and NOTEWORTHY podcast on iTunes. Suck it, Mr. and Mrs. Money Cast! Today, Lady Gags comes to Springfield?! Is it true?? AND special guest Dan Ozzi from the VICE music blog “Noisey?” That must mean it’s time for season 23’s finale, “Lisa Goes Gaga.” And boy does she, in a “joke” filled episode where there’s no time to feel anything. Because, damnit, we must reference every outfit Lady Gaga has ever worn, then cram in a few musical numbers. We discuss the evolution of celebrity appearances on The Simpsons, wonder what the show might look like if it started today, and extensively compare this episode to its much better predecessor, “Stark Raving Dad.” Do you really need to have Flanders meet Gaga? Why wasn’t this episode just a remake of the seminal Chuck Norris classic, “Sidekicks?” And how come no one has seen Michael Jackson’s body lately (#wheresthatbody)? All that, plus fetal moonshine, the many deaths of Moe, and (ugh) “Homer Face.” Enjoy “Worst Episode Ever” although maybe we should have cut all of this…

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Worst Episode Ever #8: Bang Clunk

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Worst Episode Ever #8: Bang Clunk

S18E15 – Rome-Old and Juli-Eh

This week on what some have called “the ‘Serial’ of Simpsons podcasts” we expect a horrible trainwreck and instead find a slightly less worse one. Must mean it’s time for Season 18’s “Rome-Old and Juli-Eh,” an infamous episode where Grampa marries Selma, his son’s sister-in-law. Took 18 years, but finally that sexual tension gets addressed. We examine scaling back freeze-frame gags in newer episodes, perform “episode alchemy” to see what older episodes combined to get this one, and talk Jane Kaczmarek with Jack, our resident Kaczmarekspert. Is Gandalf better than all of “Star Wars?” Are you sick of us talking about the over-sexualization of Marge? Do you also create fantasy sound design jokes in your head? All that, plus Popeye’s chicken, dark jokes about senility, and a literal dragon. If you read all of this without listening first, you are very confused. Enjoy!

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Worst Episode Ever #7: Shoehorned In

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Worst Episode Ever #7: Shoehorned In

S24E05 – Penny-Wiseguys

This week on an over-stuffed “Worst Episode Ever,” it’s Season 24’s “Penny-Wiseguys” starring Steve Carrell, the Thanksgiving of actors. Carrell plays a mafia accountant who gets put in charge, an okay story idea that makes a fairly terrible Simpsons episode. We examine the fanboy-ization of modern era jokes, tackle the disturbing over-sexualization of Marge, and prove how little we know about TV professionals by reverse-engineering the modern Simpsons episode writing process. Why does the Simpson family barely appear on their own show? When did Bart become an actual criminal and not a mischievous scamp? And did they really bring Alex Trebek into the studio for this? All that, plus insectivorians, bogons, and a brand new feature where Dan reads his old Simpsons fan fiction. Either listen to WEE or enjoy getting coffee for Roy Disney III…

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Worst Episode Ever #6: Back to the Sexual Thing

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Worst Episode Ever #6: Back to the Sexual Thing

S12E10 – Pokey Mom

Our sixth episode is a perfect introdoockshun for new “Worst Episode Ever” fans. We jump into Season 12 for an episode that the hosts actually saw back in the pre-9/11 days of “The Simpsons.” Jack, Dan, and returning guest Nick Noga dig into “Pokey Mom,” the episode where Michael Keaton, a recently released criminal, moves in with the Simpsons. So, the whole town has lived with the Simpsons at some point, right? We look at the differences in the opening animation over the years, the glory of Charles Napier’s voice over work, and Jack continues his unending love of Marge. What was this episode trying to say about chiropractors? How does Snake not make a single appearance in an episode about prison? And can someone please make us a re-cut trailer about Marge slowly losing her mind? Plus, we add “Pokey Mom” to our ever-expanding list of the worst episodes ever and where it ends up may shock you. But probably not. Check it out in the latest and greatest “Worst Episode Ever” and please don’t mind the sirens and the honking…

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Worst Episode Ever #5: Playful Deceit

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Worst Episode Ever #5: Playful Deceit

S21E04 – Treehouse of Horror XX

We’re back with the hit “Simpsons” podcast that our mother’s have attempted to listen to! And what kind of “Simpsons” show would we be without a Halloween episode airing well into November? So today we watch and dissect “Treehouse of Horror XX” with our guest, Mr. Nick Noga. Three chilling tales of references to better material that almost kind of work if you ignore the holes. We’ll discuss the lazy trope of the nagging wife, whether Groundskeeper Willie has been immune to change in later years, and the intricacies of the “got your nose” game for children. Are quality jokes about religion the only constant on the show? Was the world clamoring for the two most nasal and gravelly characters to share a song? Do vampires even have their own blood? We figure it all out and make it to the safe zone in the latest “Worst Episode Ever.”

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Worst Episode Ever #4: Alf's Back... In Pod Form

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Worst Episode Ever #4: Alf's Back... In Pod Form

S15E21 – Bart-Mangled Banner

Jack and Dan look out the window at the old cemetery, then watch “Bart-Mangled Banner,” a season 15 episode that skewers post-9/11 patriotism in George W. Bush’s America. Surely mid-series “Simpsons” does political satire with deftness and subtlety, right? We discuss the show’s reliance on episode-ending musical numbers, how dark is too dark for a Moe joke, and start writing an episode called “Bart Goes Deaf at the Talent Show.” Why did we not cut out a lot of crazy nonsense about “ALF” from this episode? Does anyone else measure American history by the Harold and Kumar films? And was suspending civil liberties in a charged post-9/11 world a necessary evil to protect the American citizenship? (Why would they put a real one in with the joke ones?) Enjoy our latest “Worst Episode Ever” and see if you agree with our assessment of “Bart-Mangled Banner.”

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Worst Episode Ever #3: The Reverse-Future

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Worst Episode Ever #3: The Reverse-Future

S19E11 – That 90’s Show

Load up on guns and bring your friends to “That 90’s Show” in the third installment of “Worst Episode Ever.” Yes, Dan and Jack watch the infamous season 19 episode that changes the romantic history of Marge and Homer by adding in a bunch of 90s references. We discuss our shared love of lazer tag, wax poetic about when Semisonic was a thing, and debate the universal timelessness of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Take a startling look into the “reverse-future” of The Simpsons, without a single horse plot unlike previous episodes of “W.E.E.” Why was this a Christmas episode, kind of? Did Pauly Shore get mentioned in an episode about the 90s? Do you want us to record podcasts about “Saved by the Bell” and “A Pup Named Scooby Doo?” Check it out, and see if you think “That 90’s Show” should unseat “Saddlesore Galactica” on our master list of the worst Simpsons episodes ever.

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Worst Episode Ever #2: Gay Horses and Podern Family

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Worst Episode Ever #2: Gay Horses and Podern Family

S25E19 – What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting

We’re back for our second installment of “Worst Episode Ever” where we randomly decide to watch “What to Expect When Bart’s Expecting,” a season 25 episode billed to us as “Bart gets a teacher pregnant.” You know, like ten year old boys tend to do. We discuss how our first two episodes each coincidentally had major plot points about horses, Les Miserables parody musical numbers, and how much we love that “Modern Family” theme song.  Is it worse than “Saddlesore Galactica?” Is anything? Have we lost all of our listeners by episode 2? Check it out!

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Worst Episode Ever #1: First Episode Ever

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Worst Episode Ever #1: First Episode Ever

S11E13 - Saddlesore Galactica

It’s the inaugural episode of “Worst Episode Ever,” a podcast where we try to find which episode of “The Simpsons” is the actual worst episode ever. Listen as we struggle to make it through “Saddlesore Galactica,” a tipping point between the classic “The Simpsons” of yesteryear and the pale imitation the show became. Did we make it through our first episode without breaking into song? Do we uncover a magical conspiracy of elven jockeys? Will Duncan the Horse ever be seen again? The answers to none of these questions await in our first episode ever!

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