[7.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] It’s hard to judge this one. The first act was quite good, the second one certainly had its moments, and the third was a pretty meh-at-best conclusion. The humor was fairly good throughout, but the different segments didn’t have much to do with each other. It’s a hodge-podge of an episode in terms of quality, which makes it really hard to evaluate.
The first segment was likely the best, with some nice gags from Burns not only on academia and college life but on the world of for-profit colleges. The satire was potent and getting some solid Burns material was nice. (Plus I enjoyed the gag at we TV recappers.) The second segment suddenly shifted the focus to Homer, and more of an “inspiring teacher” parody. The bits weren’t as strong, but there were still some very good moments (predominantly Lisa’s disgust at her dad being professor), and some good laughs like Homer seeing a billboard for Burns University before realizing it won’t solve his problems.
But the third turns into the laziest latter-day Simpsons tropes – a crazy conspiracy that requires sci-fi suspension of disbelief and an onslaught of celebrity cameos. While some of the meta stuff with McKee and screenwriting gags were amusing, the whole robot/safe space resolution was lame all around.
Overall, it’s an episode that has some great and not-so-great constituent parts, but which don’t link up well together. Still, the above average late era-humor helps cover for some of it.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-04-06T00:50:32Z
[7.8/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] It’s hard to judge this one. The first act was quite good, the second one certainly had its moments, and the third was a pretty meh-at-best conclusion. The humor was fairly good throughout, but the different segments didn’t have much to do with each other. It’s a hodge-podge of an episode in terms of quality, which makes it really hard to evaluate.
The first segment was likely the best, with some nice gags from Burns not only on academia and college life but on the world of for-profit colleges. The satire was potent and getting some solid Burns material was nice. (Plus I enjoyed the gag at we TV recappers.) The second segment suddenly shifted the focus to Homer, and more of an “inspiring teacher” parody. The bits weren’t as strong, but there were still some very good moments (predominantly Lisa’s disgust at her dad being professor), and some good laughs like Homer seeing a billboard for Burns University before realizing it won’t solve his problems.
But the third turns into the laziest latter-day Simpsons tropes – a crazy conspiracy that requires sci-fi suspension of disbelief and an onslaught of celebrity cameos. While some of the meta stuff with McKee and screenwriting gags were amusing, the whole robot/safe space resolution was lame all around.
Overall, it’s an episode that has some great and not-so-great constituent parts, but which don’t link up well together. Still, the above average late era-humor helps cover for some of it.