REVIEW: All About Lisa

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[Stretch Dude]

Spoiler (hover to show)

A good episode to end the season on.

Firstly, to answer the question "Is it a 'Bart Gets Famous' clone?" No. Well, a tiny bit at first with Lisa working as Krusty's assistant, but it totally spins off in its own direction. And I liked it. It was funny, it had some great antics (Bart's audition, Lisa's performances; some very nice animation in this episode), and it kept up a lively pace. Not even the coin-collecting subplot (which I actually liked) managed to slow things down. (Speaking of which, I liked that Homer and Bart got into it for no other reason than to kill time. Nice one.)

I liked Lisa's behavior throughout the episode. Starting out as her usual self (supporting Bart, helping Krusty out) to the slight emergence of her dark side (weaseling her way into replacing Krusty) to retreating from the limelight (and future mediocrity) by once again helping Krusty. A nice mini-character arc there. I even noted how she had already begun to show signs of Krusty's weary-yet-egomaniacal-performer tendencies (throwing away the photo of the audience, and her "Make it quick" line to Mel). I do wish we had gotten to see more of her show, though. She was damn good. I actually said that out loud while watching the show.

There were some bits that I found funny, but others might not, like some of Bart's impressions, the leprechaun, and the occasional fourth-wall jokes, although the last is softened by the fact that they come from Mel acting as narrator.

All in all, a fun episode. And the lengthiest review I've made in quite some time...

Also: Comic Book Guy joins Mel in the "Ridiculously Good Hair" category.

Season 19 Overall: We had some ups, some downs, and some medians of tedium, and I think it all averages out to a decent season. Though admittedly, "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" wrecks the curve a bit.

[Enhas]

I think the episode was pretty mediocre actually, especially since it was a season finale. The best part of it, in my opinion, was:

Spoiler (hover to show)

When Homer tricked Mr. Burns into giving him the penny.

It was alright, but just merely alright.  The mid 90's this sure ain't.

[Stretch Dude]

That part was pretty awesome, all right.

[Ariel Ponywether]

Spoiler (hover to show)

One of my favorite episodes this season - a nice, clever parody of All About Eve.  Mel's POV was a good one to explore.

Bart and Homer were surprisingly terrific too - they even managed to outsmart Burns without Homer ending up being TSTL.

The've really been exploring Lisa's dark side this season, haven't they?

It's been an up-and-down season, with only a handful of truly bad duds and some WTH moments.  All-in-all, a better season than 18, and one of the better ones since the Scully era.