Talking Simpsons - The Joy of Sect With Conor Lastowka

Erin MacAllister

I looked into it and cleaning clothes with gasoline was a thing. it was a situation where “we have this new thing but no idea what to do with it” somebody discovered it could dissolve stains from oiL and grease and it became a cleaning product until they realized you can power shit with it and that pristine linens aren’t worth the risk of burning to death

I think Neil Gaiman's family back in England was stuck in Psychotronogy, and it was a point of discussion in a story.

All hail Duke!

SomeBloke

Yeah, I recently read "Going Clear" and I'd say my only issue with this episode is that parts of it are too nice. Which sounds impossible, and yet...

Frank Grimes

This should be a fun topic for the next talk to the audience: <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/11/18307079/simpsons-disney-plus-hulu-streaming-fox-exxclusive-launch" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/11/18307079/simpsons-disney-plus-hulu-streaming-fox-exxclusive-launch</a>

Dylan (batmanboy11) Freitag

God this episode is so good, especially as I've gotten older and learned to really despise Scientology. Homer being repeatedly hit by the bat and refusing to be knocked out &amp; the kids being knocked out of brainwashing by the "hover bikes" are some of my favourite jokes of the season

Andrew Bouvier

What a Duketastrophe!

This episode is pretty good but you gotta admit it's no Fun With Jane and Jane (King of the Hill's cult episode)

To Boldy Joe... Moore

Aw, shucks. Thanks for the kind words, Kiefer. ^_^

Alex Irish

In a comment that has nothing to do with Scientology, Scientologist Nancy Cartwright seemed to use her Scientology power and Hollywood connections to recruit some big-name voices for the infamously bad 2002 special Rapsitte Street Kids (jump to 16:32 for more of her Scientology involvement, and watch the whole thing) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJaLdQMw87I" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJaLdQMw87I</a>

Callum Roper

Oh man, I could hear the commercial Conor mentioned exactly! We had that in Maryland as well!

Kiefer Fulsom

As someone who plays Lego games and loves stuff like this, THANK YOU

To Boldy Joe... Moore

Great episode, guys. I hope you have Conor back again. He really knows his Simpsons. ^_^ I like the term "Jerkass Homer" because of how universally understood it is but you're right to note its origins are not in this episode. I think Homer being mean CAN be funny if used carefully (against deserving targets, etc) but it became a crutch for the writers in later seasons, especially when they attempted more "random" or shock humour. Finally, even though I worked on the LEGO Batman 3 game for WB which contained the 60's Batman theme, I still have no knowledge of who owns the song or what the exact deal is. However, that didn't stop me from paying tribute to the "Leader" song: <a href="https://youtu.be/Tyg7ZSNpJuU" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/Tyg7ZSNpJuU</a> Keep up the awesome work. ^_^

ShyRanger

Hearing you guys briefly talk about if movies with in the past 10 years could be referenced or parodied and easily understood that reminded me of something funny. I was shocked a few months ago when I saw that the current series of Danger Mouse did an episode of that was a parody of Frozen. It was called Melted, it was about a super villain trying to overheat the world, complete with their attempt at Disney style musical numbers. I was very surprised to see an episode like this based around something that recent.

Joe Hodgson

On the subject of "Jerkass Homer" and the decline of the show, I always use that term and apply it retroactively to Homer, even though it technically originates here. He was a jerk in prior seasons, and he returned to that persona in season 9 in a very obnoxious way. And I think season 9 is probably the first season in which Homer is pretty consistently awful and mean-spirited in virtually every episode, as opposed to just smatterings here and there. And I think most logical Simpsons fans can agree there is no cliff for the show. I think the show did start to fall off in the second half of season 8 actually and the show probably did need a creative injection in season 9. It has a new flavor here, though I think it's more vapid and not as dense with easier jokes and meaner characters that ware on me a bit. Mostly though, I think a lot of the original fans started to drift off around now simply because the show had been on for nine for freaking seasons. We know the show's fanbase was primarily adolescents and for those with the show from the beginning they're now becoming teens and going through their rebellious phases and probably finding other outlets. It's also repeating itself at this point which is a problem that won't go away, and probably can't if we're looking at current Simpsons. Mostly though, it would have been really hard to keep the show at the season 6-7 level and a decline was expected. The show is still fine, so no one cancel their pledge!

Ron Sterling

Duke Phillips is the only megalomaniacal billionaire for me. Duke is life. Duke is life.

Frank Grimes

Probably my favorite episode of this season. Homer being highly resistant to their brain washing until they utilize 60's Batman always makes me laugh....Na na na na Batman! I mean the Leader!