REVIEW: Fraudcast News

[Sheana_Molloy]

SUMMARY: When Burns buys up all the news companies in Springfield to make himself look better, the only free newslet left is Lisa's small self-published newspaper, resulting in a war between the two.

Hmm...this episode see-sawed a bit. Several jokes, like the mother mole, were just blah and stupid/fell flat. Other jokes, like Burns' League Of Evil and the ant were brilliant. Overall, though, I thought it was a pretty good episode, some nice evil Burns, good Lisa bits, and rather interesting/meaningful plot. I liked it.

BROCKMAN: Here at Geezer Rock, where teenagers have come for years to have sex and commit suicide.
SQUEAKY-VOICED TEEN: [jumping] Why'd they cancel 'Futuramaaaaaaaaaa'...

[Tony_Baritone]

Something tells me that Dana will now claim to be Homer's neighbor.

[gkscotty]

BROCKMAN: Here at Geezer Rock, where teenagers have come for years to have sex and commit suicide.
SQUEAKY-VOICED TEEN: [jumping] Why'd they cancel 'Futuramaaaaaaaaaa'...

LOL etc. :-)

[Dana]

LOL...you got that right, Tony!

I couldn't believe they dedicated so much time to our beloved "Old Man"...not the best episode ever, but it had its moments...especially for us New Hampshire folks.

By the way, here's an article about some dude who rides around for a living and happened to catch a glimpse of someone very familiar looking...landed in a Statewide paper that Tony knows very well. Hopefully the link works...

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=25537

[Sheana_Molloy]

I thought the 'Futurama' joke would go down well...nice that it's sibling still pays tribute to the show.

Oh, you know, I just remembered something. Is it just me, or did Willie get away with saying 'sh*t' on national TV?

And as the resident Skinner fan of the board, I'd like to say how proud I was of Skinny-boy in the bit he had. 'Bout time something good involving him happened again.

[Tony_Baritone]

Well, only if you consider "shite" to be the equivalent. Evidently the FCC doesn't.

[gkscotty]

Seen it. It's not bad... some good jokes and some touching bits, but overall the whole ep felt strangely aimless. And did anyone else think a few of the voices seemed quite off? Bart and Marge stood out...

[Jon]

Guess what?

I'm actually giving this one a good grade.

Yeah, that's right. First time this season (I've missed about six episodes, though).

This one gets.....

B.

[capadde]

Definitely one of the better episodes this season. It's been a long time since Burns had such a big part.

Grade: B+

[Sheana_Molloy]

I dunno about Bart, but yeah, you're right, Marge did sound off.

[Stretch_Dude]

I really enjoyed this episode. Any episode focusing on Lisa and Burns is great. A couple of jokes fell flat, as Sheana said (namely, the mother mole and Burns's brain falling out), but it didn't really detract too much from the episode.

The episode itself was quite good. Burns being over-the-top evil is always fun, and this was no exception. The propagandistic I&S cartoon was a riot, as was Burns plastering the falsified Milhouse/Lisa romance all over town, and the League of Evil was probably the best over-the-top-evil Burns joke in years. The ending was a terrific way to circumvent Burns's media control.

All in all, a great way to end the season.

Favorite parts:
"Why did they cancel Futurama?!"
"I have been '89' for a while now."
Lisa's poem and its readers
Nelson the TV Critic
Selling Channel 6
Principal Skinrash
"What's Nuked, Pussycat?"
Attempting to Bribe Lisa
"My God, are you always on?"
"And by the way, that story I filed from Baghdad was made up. I was actually in Basra."
Ralph in the Chicago Tribune
"Nonviolence never solved anything!"
The League of Evil
Interrogating Homer
"Way to go, Moon Milhouse!"
Crushing An Ant
"I reviewed the new tractors. They're all shite!"
Burns and Smithers's Brownnosing

Season 14 was better than Season 13. Season 15 was better than Season 14. Do you follow me, Pinky? Grade: A

[Tony_Baritone]

Also, Kearney sounded like Ralph in one scene. And--is this the first OFF episode to share a title with an episode of "Darkwing Duck"?

[djwhitaker2004]

Good episode, I like it. Including the ending part when the characters make their own media, like taking Patty or Selma test to see if you are Patty or Selma. I give it an 8 and the half.

[FunkyMonk]

Oh, you know, I just remembered something. Is it just me, or did Willie get away with saying 'sh*t' on national TV?

And as the resident Skinner fan of the board, I'd like to say how proud I was of Skinny-boy in the bit he had. 'Bout time something good involving him happened again.

Yeah, I could have sworn he said s**t, or something very close to it. I was like "Did he just say what I thought he said?" And, I also agree with you about the Skinner bit of the show. He's my favorite character so I always pay the most attention to the parts of the show with him in it.

I thought that "Fraudcast News" was an ok episode. I laughed at the part in the beginning when Homer says that little 'poem':

"Here's a poem for you! You better run fast or you'll lose your ass!" or something like that. Anyway, I think I'll give this episode an A-

[skajme]

yes this was a good episode, a good end to the season. yeah i thought marges voice was off too, barts seemed okay.also im thinkin that willie saying shite will be edited out when this episode is shown in the uk