[7.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This episode has everything I, and Simpsons fandom writ large, came to hate about the show’s lesser years. There’s a random celebrity guest star appearance. We go through no end of throat-clearing before we get to the plot. The gags are cartoony and ridiculous. The plot is implausible. The characters do terrible things. There’s insensitive jokes that have aged terribly. It’s penned by fan hate magnet Ian Maxtone-Graham. It’s no wonder that “Dude, Where’s My Ranch?” became known as one of the show’s worst episodes ever.
But god help me, I like it. It’s funny! I laughed out loud no fewer than twice! I cannot remember the last time that happened for a Simpsons episode this far into the double digit seasons. The humor is very absurd to the point of being unhinged, with much more in the way of Looney Tunes-style bits than anything wry or down to earth. But by god, it tickled my funny bone, and it’s hard to look askance at that, even in one of the least-loved episodes of the series.
I enjoyed the mishaps with Our Favorite Family’s attempt to go caroling. I love the absurd escalation of Homer writing an anti-Flanders song that gets picked up and produced by David Byrne. I like all the silly caricatures and ridiculous happenings at the dude ranch. God help me, I even love those damn beavers. (One of my “legit LOL” moments came when one the beavers accidentally took a picture of another.)
The one part I definitively did not like was the jokes involving Native Americans. At first, I was on board with this episode’s gags on the subject, with Lisa in particular noting the hypocrisy in how ranch-esque resorts valorize cowboys and ignore indigenous people who died in far greater numbers. But the routine about the local tribe being squeezed out by the beavers, who they can’t stop because beavers are their gods, gets to be downright offensive. It’s a stain on this episode, and Maxtone-Graham and company could surely have found some other excuse for Homer and Bart to have some Looney Tunes-esque antics with the beavers.
I know a lot of people hate it, but I actually like Lisa’s storyline here too. She’s against the dude ranch until she meets a boy, goes too far when she thinks she has a romantic rival, and laments what love can do to a person. It’s not the greatest rendition of the tempestuousness of young love there’s ever been, and I get the people who complain about Lisa’s misdirection of Clara going too far, but I’m willing to buy it as a believable, if outsized take on youthful crushes. I particularly like the swerve that you think Luke is going to be touched that Lisa went so far for him, only to go “That’s despicable.”
On the whole, this episode is really just a gag-fest. The plot’s there, with some vague cause and effect between the parts. But it’s mostly an excuse to do reams and reams of jokes. The humor diverts from The Simpsons norms, get into very cartoony territory, but it still made me laugh. At the end of the day, if you can compartmentalize the Native American material, this one is far better than it’s reputation.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-06-14T19:57:20Z
[7.7/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] This episode has everything I, and Simpsons fandom writ large, came to hate about the show’s lesser years. There’s a random celebrity guest star appearance. We go through no end of throat-clearing before we get to the plot. The gags are cartoony and ridiculous. The plot is implausible. The characters do terrible things. There’s insensitive jokes that have aged terribly. It’s penned by fan hate magnet Ian Maxtone-Graham. It’s no wonder that “Dude, Where’s My Ranch?” became known as one of the show’s worst episodes ever.
But god help me, I like it. It’s funny! I laughed out loud no fewer than twice! I cannot remember the last time that happened for a Simpsons episode this far into the double digit seasons. The humor is very absurd to the point of being unhinged, with much more in the way of Looney Tunes-style bits than anything wry or down to earth. But by god, it tickled my funny bone, and it’s hard to look askance at that, even in one of the least-loved episodes of the series.
I enjoyed the mishaps with Our Favorite Family’s attempt to go caroling. I love the absurd escalation of Homer writing an anti-Flanders song that gets picked up and produced by David Byrne. I like all the silly caricatures and ridiculous happenings at the dude ranch. God help me, I even love those damn beavers. (One of my “legit LOL” moments came when one the beavers accidentally took a picture of another.)
The one part I definitively did not like was the jokes involving Native Americans. At first, I was on board with this episode’s gags on the subject, with Lisa in particular noting the hypocrisy in how ranch-esque resorts valorize cowboys and ignore indigenous people who died in far greater numbers. But the routine about the local tribe being squeezed out by the beavers, who they can’t stop because beavers are their gods, gets to be downright offensive. It’s a stain on this episode, and Maxtone-Graham and company could surely have found some other excuse for Homer and Bart to have some Looney Tunes-esque antics with the beavers.
I know a lot of people hate it, but I actually like Lisa’s storyline here too. She’s against the dude ranch until she meets a boy, goes too far when she thinks she has a romantic rival, and laments what love can do to a person. It’s not the greatest rendition of the tempestuousness of young love there’s ever been, and I get the people who complain about Lisa’s misdirection of Clara going too far, but I’m willing to buy it as a believable, if outsized take on youthful crushes. I particularly like the swerve that you think Luke is going to be touched that Lisa went so far for him, only to go “That’s despicable.”
On the whole, this episode is really just a gag-fest. The plot’s there, with some vague cause and effect between the parts. But it’s mostly an excuse to do reams and reams of jokes. The humor diverts from The Simpsons norms, get into very cartoony territory, but it still made me laugh. At the end of the day, if you can compartmentalize the Native American material, this one is far better than it’s reputation.