[7.5/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Current movie parodies are always a dicey proposition for The Simpsons, if only because the long lead time needed for episodes means they’re always playing catch up. As another Oscar season dawns, La La Land feels like it’s already receding from the public consciousness. That’s not necessarily bad -- plenty of spoofs just take the source material and run and don’t depend on the audience knowing the reference, but this one can’t quite rely on the same strength of execution.
The actual La La Land parody material is solid. The opening musical number has some fun animation choices and is a nice “Springfield sucks” anthem. And a number of the other little nods are on point as well. The story about Lisa being courted by an Ed Sheeran-voiced kid and Nelson has its charms as well. It falters quite a bit in the third act, but there’s a lot of good jazz jokes, and Sheeran does alright with his material (though his character feels like a retread of Colin from The Simpsons Movie).
My favorite part of the episode, though, was Bart getting into chemical engineering. It’s another chance for some good animation, and there’s a nice emotional throughline with Marge worrying about whether or not she can trust him. It’s a B-story with lots of room for humor, but also an emotional component to give it just enough heft.
Overall, I was really enjoying this one until the last act when it stumbled, but overall a good outing.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-01-14T07:33:35Z
[7.5/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] Current movie parodies are always a dicey proposition for The Simpsons, if only because the long lead time needed for episodes means they’re always playing catch up. As another Oscar season dawns, La La Land feels like it’s already receding from the public consciousness. That’s not necessarily bad -- plenty of spoofs just take the source material and run and don’t depend on the audience knowing the reference, but this one can’t quite rely on the same strength of execution.
The actual La La Land parody material is solid. The opening musical number has some fun animation choices and is a nice “Springfield sucks” anthem. And a number of the other little nods are on point as well.
The story about Lisa being courted by an Ed Sheeran-voiced kid and Nelson has its charms as well. It falters quite a bit in the third act, but there’s a lot of good jazz jokes, and Sheeran does alright with his material (though his character feels like a retread of Colin from The Simpsons Movie).
My favorite part of the episode, though, was Bart getting into chemical engineering. It’s another chance for some good animation, and there’s a nice emotional throughline with Marge worrying about whether or not she can trust him. It’s a B-story with lots of room for humor, but also an emotional component to give it just enough heft.
Overall, I was really enjoying this one until the last act when it stumbled, but overall a good outing.