Also this isn't clever or funny, the Simpsons haven't been clever or funny in 25 years.

This is indistinguishable from Family Guy.

Agreed on all points, except this is a stellar episode. Grimey was written as a real-world human being that was shoved into and later cracked under the weight of Springfield.

A Gen X'r carrying a briefcase and wearing a tie!?

*slaps OZ with a white glove stolen from JC Penny*

I agree though, this was just dumb.

If this were Family Guy, Grimes would have been raped five times by this point in the episode (each time during an overlong movie parody while Peter vomits in the background) and the entire subplot with the factory would be replaced with an 8 minute sequence where they just show old footage from Hee Haw.

This is one of the best Simpsons episodes ever because it seems cynical but it's actually the opposite. Grimes is the cynic who can't accept the convenient fun little sitcom world he's living in, insists on poking holes in everything, and ends up being hostile toward potential friends because he simply can't accept that another person who has suffered less than him gets to be happy. Homer is an ass sometimes but in this episode he's legit trying his best to be a nice person, and Grimes just refuses to accept his friendship because he's too wrapped up in his own self-important bullshit.

I know the classic interpretation of this episode is "a normal man couldn't survive in Springfield," but Grimes isn't normal. He's a self-pitying sad sack who can't stand that the rest of the world isn't as miserable as he is. The real message is "Springfield doesn't make perfect sense because our priority is to have fun. If you're not on board with that, you're gonna have a bad time."

So OZ is wrong, this episode is a classic.

But the one with Steamed Hams in it is better. Despite your directions!

"Grimes isn't normal. He's a self-pitying sad sack who can't stand that the rest of the world isn't as miserable as he is."

sounds pretty normal to me

Everyone has a Frank Grimes in their life. If you don't know who the Frank Grimes in your life is...

One thing I'd add is that this whole episode builds on itself and continues to escalate until the big finale. It doesn't work nearly as well when you take parts out and show them separately.

I believe Groening has stated that this episode should have logically been the finale to the series, although he also said that about "22 Short Films About Springfield", source of the Steamed Hams meme. There was also an internal idea that the show would end with the family driving in to the Christmas pageant from the first episode, establishing a circular narrative, but with the loss of Mrs. Krabapple, that was lost. It's just floating in Fred Flintstone cultural stasis until Doomsday.

I think the older I get, the more I like Flanders. He's not a perfect man, but he is a good man. He has a sincere faith, he follows it to it's natural logical conclusions, he sacrifices a lot in his personal ministry to the thankless Homer, and he is constantly wracked with doubt (especially as the series moves forward) and he chooses to err on the side of his faith, which is really uncommon in American pop culture. Grimes and Flanders have a lot in common, but Grimes is just worn down by life and circumstance.

The main problem with the Simpsons, especially as the show moves on, is the willingness to completely obliterate characters and change what makes them work beyond repair. Ned Flanders after the death of Maude Flanders was just the romantic comedy nice guy, and he lost what made his character interesting. I don't think the show has ever been about the quality of jokes.

MARGE, CHANGE THE CHANNEL!!! zzzzzzzzzzzz

If a person was under 18 in 2000, then it was assumed that he or she didn't have a true grasp of the world, so you'd be entering the Adult-o-sphere wearing nothing but your y2k glasses. That's what Millennial ahs always meant to me, but I just turned 36 and idunnowhatthefuck

Were you in prison again, Zesty? Next time figure out a way so we can send you a care package.

I was in jail - not prison - for a month and a half. It's been fun, guys. I'm joining team #evilhomer.



Bye.

I loved Evilhomer. I love all of you. I love your scruffy little head, Zesty. You're all my special little faggots.

Love you all too. Just a little raw, even though I get the thing expunged come May. Drugs are dumb to be on in public places, something I learned once.



Once. Peace. 🦊🦊🦊

I like you. You know how to contact me.

This was one of the best episodes because it showed how having expectations can get you in trouble. You need to learn to adapt for any job. Frank Grimes is the guy that can't let go of his notion of how things should be and just go with the flow. And it's one of the few episodes where everyone is on the same page. It's like through his mere existence, Frank Grimes brings everyone in Springfield together because no one wants to be like him.

Generation Z is even more conservative than the Millennials.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2017/08/11/why-democr ats-should-be-losing-sleep-over-generation-z/#576f80487878

Bort; “Got mine, fuck you millenials!”

SolRo: show me a single time I have advocated policies that help me (a 50-year-old white guy) and mine first. Society was built for people like me; I'm going to be fine no matter what. Every single time, I have been in favor of policies that put women and minorities first, and the genuinely poor over the "I couldn't afford the college I really wanted so I had to attend a state university" crowd. (And I will sure as hell focus on funding the HBCUs before state universities, if I have to choose one or the other.)

But yes, fuck those Millennials who have a selfish streak a mile wide and call it "egalitarian principles".

Bort; “literally every person born during a certain timeframe is a selfish trump supporter while I am a saint worthy of passing judgment”

Sounds like something a scumbag self centered gen Xer would say.

Right, because I'm the person who put the tags in this thread and then posted all the other nonsense about this generation and that. It just so happens I'm the only one who doesn't think Millennials are The Wonder Generation; deal with it.

Apparently the part about "who have a selfish streak a mile wide" means "literally all of them" in your world.

I'm not the 'got mine, fuck you' 50 year old spitting on those younger than him for wanting "outrageous" things like a living wage, costs of education that are reasonable, healthcare and workers rights.

But you're probably right, all these things are worthless to black people and LGBT people so they should be ignored while everyone in the lower classes digs in shit to build a pedestal for your favored minorities.

18-35 year olds are the largest demographic against gun control.

So much for dem childrens.

"Every single resentful white Millennial has it better than their minority counterparts".

Bort, almost everyone faces problems in their life that are very, very real, even existential, to them. If you dismiss a huge group of people's problems out of hand you will almost certainly turn that group against you. I, for one, would like progressives to get white people's votes. Selfishly, because I am a selfish white millennial, I would also like progressives to solve white people's problems. So please, quit saying stupid shit, because your rhetoric is damaging the cause we both support. Or rather, please quit saying stupid shit because it damages the cause I actually support and you claim to support in online comments.

I do not dismiss white Millennials' grievances. But I say those grievances need to be considered with some measure of perspective. Every Millennial who feels that their student loan situation is a more pressing problem than black people getting shot by cops, should seriously consider that they are a self-centered tool well on their way to becoming the Boomers they hate.

Sometimes the customer isn't right.

And again, I'm not the one who started all the generational sniping in this video. Besides how pointless it is for any generation to argue they had it the worst, the resentful selfishness behind it just leads to a worse class of "progressives".