The Simpsons Countdown

May 06 2021 51 ep. 49 mins 28

The Simpsons Countdown Podcast artwork

The podcast where we go back and watch ALL of The Simpsons...to trace its creative evolution and count down, pinpointing the exact moment the show began to suck. Along the way, we analyze its place in the pop culture landscape.

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Episode 51: Bart the Lover (but who in their right mind plays with yo-yos nowadays?)

May 06 2021 35 mins

Bolivian musician and writer Petrus Silón sits down with me to discuss one of his favorite episodes... And, really, this shows up on a lot of fan favorite lists. Not just because it's a good source of memes, but because it's a very well-written (and acted) story with a lot of real heart. And, of course, Homer and the swear jar...another one in a long line of classic Simpsons seque

Episode 50: Homer Alone (which is so thin, it looks like Robert John Burke wearing terrible make-up!)

Apr 22 2021 56 mins

Jason Pollock and I sit down to talk about this missed opportunity of an episode, which should be about Marge getting some much needed away time from her burden of a family, but is instead about Homer farting around the house and stuff while she's away. And so, since the episode itself barely generates enough meat for scintillating conversation, we find ourselves drifting...talking

Episode 49: Lisa the Greek (don't worry...she's not a clueless racist and she won't get fired by CBS)

Apr 08 2021 60 mins

Chris Prentice and I talk...FOOTBALL!!! Well kind of...and I am referring to American Football, as opposed to what the rest of the world calls "Football," though we do name-drop that one too. We kind of talk about sports in general, and the audience interaction with competitive sports. In a word: gambling. And so on. Because this is the episode where Homer discovers Lisa can always

Episode 48: Radio Bart (and pictures of starving children sell records!)

Apr 03 2021 61 mins

The Pensky File's Clay McCormack joins me this week to discuss a classic episode that pokes fun at media circuses and charity singles - like "We Are the World" and what not. Sting guest stars as himself and gets to headline a catchy tune. We talk about that, and we also talk about bad birthday experiences or crummy gifts from well-meaning adults. We even discuss Live Aid, Queen and

Episode 47: I Married Marge (...but who shot J.R.?)

Mar 11 2021 57 mins

The second in the series of Simpsons flashbacks takes us back to the summer of 1980, as we see the circumstances that led to Bart's conception and the early days of Homer and Marge's marriage. This is exactly the kind of episode Josh Fein and I tend to talk about and so here he is again, and we explore the series' approach to character development, attention to period detail, balan

Episode 46: Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk (that's German for "an underrated band.")

Mar 07 2021 51 mins

Jim Laczkowski of The Director's Club joins me to talk about this episode, in which Homer Simpsons visits The Land of Chocolate. Well... that's not really the plot of the episode, but it's probably the one thing most people remember about it. Jim and I discuss the ins and outs of this one episode, but we mostly discuss The Simpsons as a whole... Its cultural impact then and now, ou

Episode 45: Flaming Moe's (how good can one stupid cocktail really be? Anyway...)

Feb 28 2021 55 mins

This week I'm joined by Sean Malloy of I Must Break...This Podcast, which is a great show about the career of Dolph Lundgren. But he's not here to talk about Lundgren, no, we're here to discuss a classic season three episode of The Simpsons, which features Aerosmith and an impossibly amazing drink taking the world by storm. And then we go off on a tangent about Rocky IV, because ye

Episode 44: Saturdays of Thunder (come for The Simpsons, stay for Michael Jackson grabbing his crotch)

Feb 14 2021 71 mins

Saturdays of Thunder is probably a minor classic, with more than one memorable gag, and a heartwarming story about Homer connecting with Bart. But, for Chris Prentice and I, it's an excuse to go off on several adjacent tangents about Henry Winkler, Joel Silver action films and - of course - Michael Jackson... The thing is, his famous (infamous?) "Black or White" music video (or sho

Episode 43: Lisa's Pony (where an 85-dollar ice cream is actually cheap compared to real life)

Feb 04 2021 52 mins

Arianny Pilarte sits down with me this week, and we discuss Homer's very questionable parenting - which involves gross overcompensation after disappointing Lisa (again). It's a sweet episode that doesn't forget to be very funny as well. We discuss our favorite gags... We talk about neglectful, emotionally distant parenting. We also talk about The Crown, because we both like t

Episode 42: Treehouse of Horror II (Is world peace really such a good idea?)

Jan 28 2021 59 mins

The Pensky File's Clay McCormack sits down with me to discuss the second Treehouse of Horror special. We both agree that it is superior to the first. But, is it as widely celebrated as some of the more famous ones? It seems that maybe this one has somehow slipped through the cracks. Or maybe it hasn't. In any case, we go into detail as to the episode's best qualities. A good story