Worst Episode Ever #20: Nerdy Canon Game

/
Worst Episode Ever #20: Nerdy Canon Game

S13E17 - Gump Roast

Our twentieth episodery already? Time flies at WEE Studios... To celebrate, Jack and Dan endure the season 13 clip show "Gump Roast," which features a timely "Forrest Gump" parody, clips from much better episodes, and the damned catchy "They'll Never Stop The Simpsons." Does every episode of "The Simpsons" take place in Homer's mind? Does all of television take place in the mind of a small boy? And why has this show not done another clip show in the past 13 years? Find out, plus Dan talks about the worst X-Men power, Jack ties "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" with Empty Nest, and together they get more gongs than the breakdancing robot that caught on fire. And, because you tolerated it, another installment of Dan's awful teenage Simpsons fan-fiction.

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #19: Burnsify It!

/
Worst Episode Ever #19: Burnsify It!

S16E12 - Goo Goo Gai Pan

It's Chinese New Year this week, so The Simpsons are going to China as WEE watch Season 16's Goo Goo Gai Pan and Selma attempts to adopt a Chinese baby. And it actually starts out really great in a funny coherent first act... which quickly devolves into overly complicated plots and troubling racial humor. Are cartoony gags worth breaking the reality of the show? Is Robert Wagner the real-life Troy McClure? And was Jack's first car powered by squirrels, or cartoon wolves? All that, plus Dan bamboozles a pandamonium pun, Jack loves menopause, and we feel old and bad about ourselves. (We actually mention mimeograph machines in this episode, ask your parents kids.). And Hank Azaria is Sephardic Jewish, not Italian as we ignorantly assume in this episode. Thanks Wikipedia!

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #18: Angry Dishes

/
Worst Episode Ever #18: Angry Dishes

S21E21 - Moe Letter Blues

WEE has a big announcement this week: we're getting married! Oh, and the introduction of the Dave System. And the waiter has been brutally beaten. But first, we dive into the miasmas of season 21's Moe Letter Blues with special guest Dave Dormon, all while slandering Bing Crosby's corpse and discussing that hot new app, with a film adaptation starring Seth Rogen as The Cup. Why are there no good married couples in Springfield? How did the writers settle on rehashing a semi-obscure movie from the forties? And is everyone caught up on the hit sitcom How I Met Your Valley? Plus, the real origin of Game of Throne's The Mountain, comparing penises to the Wicked Witch of the East's feet, and not being good at math or boobs. 

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #17: Crazy Make 'Em Up Playland

/
Worst Episode Ever #17: Crazy Make 'Em Up Playland

S26E10 - The Man Who Came to Be Dinner

Not a "what if?," not a Halloween episode, not a dream, but a real-life fictional cartoon show where The Simpsons go to SPAAACE! Yes, they "break reality" (but really it's long broken, thank you "Saddlesore Galactica") as the family goes to Dizneeland only to wind up taken away to Rigel 7 by Kang and Kodos in an extended rehashing of other episodes. Remember Kang and Kodos' first appearance in Season 2? Remember Itchy & Scratchy Land? Remember Homer eating potato chips in space? Well, get ready for them AGAIN, only slightly different and now in HD! And how does "Star Trek" factor into the ending? It just does! Don't ask questions! All that, plus our Jokes 101 course for preschoolers, terrible Dalek impressions, and those hot rodding teenagers from Dimension X. This was our most requested episode, but is it as good as those Brian Setzer Orchestra parody films? Our answer may surprise you... 

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #16: The Glass Balloon Ceiling

/
Worst Episode Ever #16: The Glass Balloon Ceiling

S14E04 - Large Marge

Things get serious (well, not that serious) as WEE, and returning guest Brice Canedo-Pullan, discuss Season 14's problematic "Large Marge". Marge accidentally gets breast implants, the citizens of Springfield sing a song about how they make her better, and lazy gay jokes get made in a muddled episode that makes no larger social commentary and has no moral. Remember, this show tackled homosexuality in a thoughtful progressive episode just six years prior! We weigh the heavy issues of sexism, feminism, and body shaming as three white heterosexual men (and we welcome listener input on it, male, female, or otherwise). Plus, Batman! Who is the worst Jack ever? Who will literally blush themselves to death? And who left the milk out?

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #15: Mom & Joe America

/
Worst Episode Ever #15: Mom & Joe America

S23E02 - Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts

Everyone's favorite tertiary school official gets his moment in the spotlight in Season 23's "Bart Stops to Smell the Roosevelts," Super Duper Intendent Chalmers. Can Chalmers succeed where a string of teachers, parents, and parental figures failed by making Bart love learning? Or will Bart just turn into a terrorist? (Or both?) Dan and Jack are joined by special guest Brice Canedo-Pullan, assistant editor of the CBS show "Blue Bloods," who helps suss out this episode's strange pacing issues, dig into these guest animator couch sequences the HD era is so fond of, and analyze jokes about operating systems. Why does the news have a children's drawing of Bart's death by hanging? Why are we deprived of a long-winded Grampa story? And what's the deal with lateness fees, guys? Also, this episode features Nelson's mother, have we seen her before? All this, plus Jack can't say "anthropomorphic," Dan makes a terrible beets pun, and deep conversation about the opening credits to "Boy Meets World."

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #14: Violence Here!

/
Worst Episode Ever #14: Violence Here!

S17E01 - Bonfire of the Manatees

It's the cold, dark, depressing month of January, a perfect time for Season 17's "Bonfire of the Manatees." Didn't this episode open with a St. Patrick's Day parade? No? It actually opens with Homer shooting a porno? And it gets worse from there...? Well. This should be a fun one. Join us, with Alec Baldwin as a manatee enthusiast, as we dig deep into the excessive violence in this episode, debate what makes a good couch gag, and question why an episode so clearly focused on Marge is really all about Homer. Why is this episode's plot a Voltron-like combination of lesser plots? Why is Homer so over-the-top unlikeable here? And what other episodes did this episode's writer pen? (The answer MAY shock you, much like a car cigarette lighter). All that, plus, hard-hitting philosophical questions about manatees, more loose analogies to Spider-Man, and our new show sponsor: Vlassic pickles (not really). 

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #13: Unwanted Bestiality

/
Worst Episode Ever #13: Unwanted Bestiality

S12E05 - Homer Vs. Dignity

What better way to break in the new year than panda-on-man sexual assault? Yes, WEE've sobered up since New Years, and are ready for Season 12's "Homer Vs. Dignity," one of our most requested episodes. Homer needs money, Mr. Burns hires him as his "prank monkey," and nothing is resolved in an episode that just kind of ends. Maybe we do need another drink... We debate the existence/goodness of Lindsay Naegle, illuminate the weird sexual undercurrent in the episode, and discuss Mr. Burns' misunderstanding of what a prank is. When did Moe become so creepy? Why does no one in Springfield mourn the great hobo genocide? And why is a Simpsons podcast in 2015 talking about hit 80s sitcom "Empty Nest?" All that, plus, Jack forgets the planets, Dan nerds out about Spider-Man, and much, much more. (And if anyone from Marvel is out there, we are available to write that "Spider-Man/Vulture: The Empty Nest" limited series...)

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #12: Bourbon, Please

/
Worst Episode Ever #12: Bourbon, Please

S23E16 - How I Wet Your Mother

It's New Year's Eve and we've put out our least new listener friendly episode yet! Yes, as promised (threatened?) we watch Season 23's "How I Wet Your Mother" but only after we knock back a few cocktails. You'd need a drink too if you watched an episode where Homer wets the bed, so the family goes inside his dreams to figure out why. Oh and also they are chased by the specter of Death for some reason. And yes, we go way off the rails talking about "The Terminator" and Jack's junior high adventures, but if you skip to 25 minutes in, we do talk about the actual episode. How did Homer become garbage made flesh? Which character voices have changed the least in 25 years? And should we ever do another drunken podcast? Plus, a new game where Dan guesses which Simpsons episode titles are real and which ones Jack made up. We expect some hate-filled emails, but we like this episode and hope you do too. If you actually listen and enjoy it, let us know! Business as usual in 2015, and thanks everyone for a great 2014!

Read More

Worst Episode Ever #11: Over-Explainy Angry Whisper

/
Worst Episode Ever #11: Over-Explainy Angry Whisper

S18E09 - Kill Gil, Volumes 1 & 2

Happy Holidays, WEE listeners! Let's ruin them by talking about this episode. Widely regarded as the worst Christmas episode, we're watching Season 18's "Kill Gil, Volumes 1 & 2," an episode that manages to include senseless violence, animal abuse, and tired gay jokes on top of its loose Christmas plot. But it's not all bad! This is also the debut episode of the Grumple. Ok, so it is all bad... We perform a deep psychoanalysis of said Grumple, dig into whether Gil works in large doses, and ponder why this episode was so intent on making jokes about Scottsdale, Arizona. Why does the show insist on beating gags to death, especially with Homer's aggressive whisper? Why can WEE not stop talking about Marge? And why aren't you spending your holiday watching "The Stand" miniseries from 1994? All that, plus, an extensive discussion about Jerry Van Dyke and the 1997 TGIF line-up, our hatred for leprechauns, and another of Dan's delightful and violent Simpsons stories from the late 90s. Enjoy our gift to you, our faithful listeners (and apologies to Al Jean, who apparently created "Teen Angel"...). 

Read More