[6.3/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] There’s just not much here. The idea of the family going without the use of devices in order to pay more attention to Maggie (and each other) is a solid one. The Simpsons always attempted to address salient contemporary issues and over-screening is definitely one of them. But after some hit-or-miss but decent humor about device distraction and having to give it up, the episode takes a left turn into crazy land in the third act.
That third act really drags things down. Don’t get me wrong, I love Werner Herzog, and using his dry delivery to make mundane things sound funny works nicely. But the whole screen rehab center is just so zany and exaggerated that it nearly wrecks the episode. There’s something nice about the family using the skills they developed during the phone prohibition to help escape, but otherwise, it’s a spate of weak gags and overexaggerated bits of story (i.e. the conspiracy reveal).
Even outside of there, the humor is pretty tepid. There’s some decent enough gags about the family being glued to their devices, but they’re mostly obvious without any grand insight or cutting observation. The baby sign language bits are barely chuckle-worthy (outside of a brief Star Wars dig). And the other random happenings, like Moleman being under a tree or Marge getting yelled at on the phone by Luigi are tepid as all get out.
This is another latter day Simpsons episode where you can envision some version of it really working. But the humor and ability to end the story well just aren’t there to make it work. Overall, it’s watchable but missable.
With Connected (2020) on the way from Sony Animation this September, it's interesting to see a Simpsons take on the "no phones/tablets" subject in this Screenless episode :no_mobile_phones:
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-03-12T00:38:07Z
[6.3/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] There’s just not much here. The idea of the family going without the use of devices in order to pay more attention to Maggie (and each other) is a solid one. The Simpsons always attempted to address salient contemporary issues and over-screening is definitely one of them. But after some hit-or-miss but decent humor about device distraction and having to give it up, the episode takes a left turn into crazy land in the third act.
That third act really drags things down. Don’t get me wrong, I love Werner Herzog, and using his dry delivery to make mundane things sound funny works nicely. But the whole screen rehab center is just so zany and exaggerated that it nearly wrecks the episode. There’s something nice about the family using the skills they developed during the phone prohibition to help escape, but otherwise, it’s a spate of weak gags and overexaggerated bits of story (i.e. the conspiracy reveal).
Even outside of there, the humor is pretty tepid. There’s some decent enough gags about the family being glued to their devices, but they’re mostly obvious without any grand insight or cutting observation. The baby sign language bits are barely chuckle-worthy (outside of a brief Star Wars dig). And the other random happenings, like Moleman being under a tree or Marge getting yelled at on the phone by Luigi are tepid as all get out.
This is another latter day Simpsons episode where you can envision some version of it really working. But the humor and ability to end the story well just aren’t there to make it work. Overall, it’s watchable but missable.