Ty takes a cromulent view of "The Simpsons".

I'm a huge fan of "The Simpsons".

I've literally learned more things from "The Simpsons" than I ever did while in school. I know what schadenfreude is, German for shameful joy because of "The Simpsons". I know more about presidents, laws, famous people, etcetera because of "The Simpsons". I know how hilariously hard it is to put together a grill just like Homer found out when he became an avant garde artist. I now know who Jonathan Franzen and Thomas Pynchon are since they've guest starred on the show. I've learned that Stephen Hawking has a great sense of humor from his appearances on the show. He let the writers have Homer call him Larry Flynt in an episode. Needless to say, "The Simpsons" is very important and played a very integral part in my life. I still look forward to every episode. Season 28 starts on September 27th, and all the people out there complaining that it's not as good as it used to be are moronic. The show is just as good as it's always been and it's just as funny and witty. Hell, I'd even say it's got more heart than it's every had. Growing up is turning Matt Groening into a softie, in a good way.

Today though, I want to talk about what I feel is the best overall season of "The Simpsons". Every season is great and they all have their iconic episodes and classic moments. But, season seven of "The Simpsons", in my opinion, is the best season of all time. You can watch any episode from season seven and there is one of those iconic and classic moments in almost every single show. Starting from the beginning, you get part two of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". A great conclusion after season six's finale of part one of "Who Shot Mr. Burns". We find out that it was Maggie who shot him by accident, although I think we all thought it was Smithers. That's not what makes the episode great, it's Lisa's sleuthing and the excellent take on "Twin Peaks" backwards talking scene. Look it up, it's awesome. That episode is followed by "Radioactive Man". One of the greatest episodes of ALL TIME. It's a great take on super hero movies and all the absurd, crazy stuff it takes to make a movie. Milhouse being cast as Fall Out Boy was so well written. All his scenes are epic. Next episode is when Flanders goes nuts after losing his house in a hurricane. This episode has one of the best lines ever written in TV. Flanders flashes back to a visit with his beat nick parents and a psychologist and Flanders mom saying, in regards to punishment,  "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas". Hilarious. Next two episodes feature Bart selling his soul to Milhouse and his crusade to get it back, and when Lisa goes vegetarian. In "Lisa the Vegetarian", we the fans get a cameo from Paul and Linda McCartney. Try to tell me this show doesn't have mass appeal. The "Treehouse of Horror" episode is next, with the billboards coming to life and terrorizing the town, their take on "Nightmare on Elm Street", with Groundskeeper Willie attacking the children in their dreams and when Homer gets sucked into another dimension and winds up on planet Earth. Three really funny installments on their "Treehouse of Horrors" episodes. After that, we get one of the greatest episodes of all time, "King Sized Homer". In this one, Homer gets to 300 pounds so he can qualify for a disability and work from home. This episode features the muumuu, Homer's montage of eating to gain weight, Bart's future dream of working at home for being overweight and Homer's size saving the town from a meltdown. This is one of the classic episodes. Next episode we get to meet Homer's mom, voiced very well by Glenn Close. After that is the episode where Sideshow Bob infiltrates the air show and plans to set off an atom bomb, but as usual, his plan is foiled. Then we get a clip show, which I usually don't like, but with Troy McClure at the helm of this one, it works really well. Then the episode where Bart steals the video game and has to earn Marge's trust back. This is one of the most heart felt, sweetest episodes of "The Simpsons" ever. Next, we have Homer's bowling team, with the excellent inclusion of Mr. Burns, much to the dismay of Homer's teammates. Another classic line in this one, 'boy Moe, that team sure did suck last night. I mean they just plain sucked. I seen teams suck before, but they were the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. I gotta go, my damn wiener kids are listening". Brilliant. "Two Bad Neighbor" is next, with appearances from George HW Bush and Gerald Ford. Next is the episode where Marge wants to fit in with the rich people. There's a great lesson in this one, saying that it doesn't matter how much money you have, it's the happiness of your family that's important. Two episodes, one featuring Bart and one featuring Lisa are next. Bart gets a fake ID so he can rent a car and he, Milhouse, Martin and Nelson drive to the Worlds Fair in Knoxville only to find out that it hasn't been there in years in "Bart on the Road". In "Lisa the Iconoclast", we get the real story of Jebediah Springfield. We find out he was really a ruthless pirate named Hans Sprungfeld and most of his stories are false. We also got the words, embiggen and  cromulent out of this episode. In "Homer the Smithers", Smithers goes on a much needed vacation and Homer takes over his duties. Homer is so furious with Mr. Burns that he punches him out cold, which forces Mr. Burns to do things on his own. He's so independent now, that when Smithers returns, he gets fired. Smithers then starts a fight with Homer, that ultimately injures Mr. Burns again and thus, gets Smithers his job back because Mr. burns is infirm. In the next episode, we find out that someone else created Itchy and Scratchy and Krustylu Studios has to pay the man millions and they have to shut down the cartoon. It's found out later that the US mail service ripped off Krutylu, so they're able to bring back the cartoon, but unlike most episodes, Bart and Lisa didn't solve the problem, it was two different kids that just happen to look a lot like them. Next, Selma ends up marrying Troy McClure, but it's a loveless marriage and Troy McClure only did it to make a comeback. The ending has Selma walking in the night with her one true love, her lizard JubJub. In "Bart the Fink", Bart accidentally reveals that Krusty is one of the biggest tax frauds in history. Krusty loses his fame and eventually fakes his own death, but Bart and Lisa realize that he is really just living on the wharf, pretending to be a fisherman. They eventually convince him to comeback to TV because everyone misses him, but he also really misses the limelight. The next episode is one of my all time favorites, "22 Short Films About Springfield". You get all kinds of different stories from non Simpsons characters. We get a Dr. Nick, Bumblebee Man, Cletus and Chief Wiggum story, just to name a few. This is a must watch episode for all Simpsons fans. Next, we learn about Grampa Simpson's history in the Flying Hellfish episode. Apparently, he was a sergeant in the war and Mr. Burns was the bad boy in his platoon. But, all the other members of their squad have passed on and Grampa and Mr. Burns are left to get a huge payday from the art they stole when the war was over. Then, Apu lives the single life for awhile, until his mother comes to town to tell him that his arranged marriage is about to happen. He's terrified of getting married, but starts to give in when he finally meets Manjula on their wedding day. The last two episodes are classics. "Homerpalooza" is when Homer joins a Lollapalooza type freak show and gets shot in the belly with a cannon. Bands like Cypress Hill, the Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth all have cameos in this episode. Peter Frmapton too. The season seven finale is, "Summer of Four Foot Two". In this episode, the Simpsons stay at the Flanders summer house and Lisa decides she's going to totally change her attitude to make friends, since no one signs her yearbook. She makes friends with her new style, but her dorky ways are found out. She fears she will lose her new friends, but they all like Lisa for Lisa. Heartfelt to end the season. These 22 episodes, in my opinion make up the greatest season of the "Simpsons". There's not a clunker or a boring one at all. All episodes are repeatedly watchable and quotable.

If you feel different let me know in the comments, but it gets no better than season seven of "The Simpsons" in my book.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing. He embiggins everyone around him, especially the smallest man. Follow him @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty encourages you to join "The Meltdown"

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Tonight on Comedy Central the second season of "The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail" premiers at12:30am/11:30pm central time.

Being a fan of stand up comedy, especially alt comedy, I'm very excited for this show to be back. It's a simple premise. Jonah Ray(from his podcast "Jonah Raydio") and Kumail Nanjiani(from his two podcasts, "Indoor Kids" and "The X Files Files" and the TV show "Silicon Valley") host a standup show in the basement of a comic book store. This is a great showcase for comics that aren't on the level of a Louis CK or even a Nick Swardson, both I'm a big fan of, but for comics that are contemporaries of Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani. That's not to say that pretty famous people don't appear on season one. One episode ended with Weird Al Yankovic doing a pretty awesome and hilarious music medley. Nick Offerman, you may know him as Ron Swanson from "Parks and Recreation", shows up and works on his standup. Marc Maron, the podcaster that just interview President Obama, did two sets on season one. Those are some big time names in comedy. But, while having these famous people on, this show is more for up and coming alt comics. People like Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate did their routine in season one. Neal Brennan CRUSHED during his five minute set. Garfunkel(Riki Lindholm) and Oates(Kate Micucci) did their comedy music on an episode. I'm a big fan of all these comics and this was the perfect showcase for them.

The Meltdown has been going on for a decent amount of time, but Comedy Central decided to make it a TV show last year. That was a great decision by them. Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani make a great team hosting the show. They're both great standup comics in their own right, but the two of them hosting this show as a pair is phenomenal. They have a great back and forth and their "yes anding" is top of the line. They're so funny.

Another cool thing about the show, you get to see the comics hanging out backstage. One episode last season had Doug Benson on and while he was performing, Jim Gaffigan was backstage giving Doug Benson a hard time, totally throwing him off his timing while doing his set. It was hilarious. Backstage, we get to see Nanjiani's wife, Emily V Gordon doing her thing. She basically runs the whole show. She gets the comics on stage when they're up and keeps things fun and loose backstage. She's pretty great at her job. This season has pretty great lineup from what I've seen so far. Comics like, Ron Funches, Brett Gelman, Cameron Esposito, Kurt Braunholer, the girls from "Broad City", and one of my personal favorites, Hannibal Burress. This show is really awesome and it's an excellent showcase for these comedians. Everybody needs to get on board with this show so that Comedy Central will continue to air it. I highly recommended watching it.

It's fantastic.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He practices his stand-up in the basement with his three year old. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty looks to the future of HBO with a look at two new shows

HBO premiered two new shows this past Sunday night. "Ballers" and "The Brink".

I was excited to watch both shows. "Ballers" seemed like a good idea. It is about an ex football player that becomes a financial advisor for current players. It stars Dwayne Johnson, some of you know him as The Rock, as said ex football player. The show started out okay. A flashback scene to his playing days, hitting a receiver after the catch, they both get dinged up and flash forward to present day and he's taking pain killers, literally eating them like candy, and he has pain in his joints as he exits his bed. Typical stuff to show you that football can cause future, lingering injuries. No duh, thanks for the insight writers of "Ballers". Then we see the building that Dwayne Johnson works in. He's met there by his colleague, played by the hilarious Rob Corddry. They have a decent scene together, but that's all we get in the pilot between the two stars of the show. One scene. They seem to have pretty good on screen chemistry so I hope in the future episodes they have a lot more scenes together. According to the preview of the upcoming season after the pilot episode, that seems to be the case. During the episode, there's a scene with another ex player speeding down a dangerous highway in Miami with his mistress. They get into a fight and during said fight, the guy takes his eyes off the road and gets crushed by a semi truck. Smash cut to a funeral and Dwayne Johnson talking to the widow. She explains to him that the now deceased athlete didn't save any money because he had no financial advisor. See the irony. Later on, a current football player/bad boy gets into a fight with a fan at a bar, knocks the guy out cold and gets cut the next day by his current team. He gets signed by a new team in the next few days and calls Dwayne Johnson to tell him that he needs someone to help him keep his money straight. This couldn't come at a better time for him because, right at that moment, he is unable to withdraw 200,000 dollars from his bank account. At the ATM! How can he take so much money out at one time at an ATM?! This show seems pretty ridiculous and probably won't last for more than one season unless the writers and directors put Rob Corddry in more scenes with Dwayne Johnson. That's about the only thing that worked for me in the pilot. I will continue to watch since it's only been one episode, but "Ballers" is on pretty thin ice.

"The Brink" on the other hand, I enjoyed. The show takes place between a Washington D.C. war room, with Tim Robbins playing one of the President's right hand men in matters related to war, and in Pakistan where Jack Black plays a lower level US Ambassador that has a driver played by Aasif Mandvi. Mandvi is excellent in his role. Tim Robbins character is a sex crazed booze hound, but he's also extremely intelligent in all matters involving when to strike and when not to in war situations. He's playing the role with gusto. Jack Black is playing his typical buffoon. He is a little stupid, but a little smart and he likes to ogle women and get stoned. It's basically Jack Black playing a clean shaved Jack Black. He's still pretty funny because he's a good actor. But, the real star of the show is Mandvi. Like I said earlier, he's a glorified taxi driver for Jack Black, but in one scene we get to see his home and his family. This was great. He lives in a beautiful home, equipped with a pool and many comfortable rooms. His dad is a distinguished doctor and his uncle, that lives with them, is a well respected psychiatrist. He also has a smoking hot sister that, of course, Jack Black wants to hook up with. The topic of war is brought up during unrest in Pakistan over a political vote gone bad. There's a evil dictator type person that wants to get people on his side and the militants are more than willing to help. Jack Black finds out that the uncle has worked with this dictator and declared him clinically insane. Black feels that this info will get him on the good side of the president and they will relocate him to Paris. Mandvi's family catches him trying to fax this stuff over and end communication immediately believing that he works for the CIA and housing a CIA agent will get them in worlds of trouble. Back in DC, Robbins is trying to convince the president to wait on sending missiles because he doesn't want to start World War Three. I know this all sounds serious and dramatic, but it's quite the opposite. The pilot was very funny and doesn't take it's source material too seriously, in a good way. I hope the rest of the episodes follow the same direction as the pilot. That would be great.

Of the two new shows that premiered this week, I have more hope for "The Brink" than I do for "Ballers". Time will tell.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He is shocked the political show is more interesting than the sports show (so far). Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Goodbye Reggie Watts, this fan of Comedy! Bang! Bang! will miss you

Last night marked the end of the Reggie Watts era on The Comedy Bang! Bang! TV show.

They gave him a pretty fitting send off. The episode opened with an aged Scott Aukerman giving an interview in the future about his old best friend Reggie Watts. Flash back to present time and the show started like it always does, with the theme song, intros and the guest coming to the couch. Judd Apatow was the guest last night, but he was only in the first five minutes of the episode. I appreciated this because this episode needed to be about Reggie and Scott's friendship and what it's like for a close friend to leave for higher profile job(Reggie Watts is the band leader for the new Late Late Show with James Corden).

Throughout the time Apatow was being interviewed, many jokes were made about how great a comedy team Scott and Reggie are and how it's great that they will always work together. During the interview though, US Army soldiers raid the stage and say they were sent to capture Reggie Watts because he's an alien and his race was coming to destroy Earth. I felt this was a good way to send him off. It wasn't sad or corny, it was a typical CBB bit. Reggie's alien race, made up of three different versions of himself, proceed on Earth, but Reggie and Scott come up with a plan to film a video saying that Earth was covered with water and this is very poisonous to their race. The video worked and the aliens retreated. Everyone was very happy and you thought that things would go on as normal.

Oh the contrary my friend. The Army was still planning on capturing Reggie and taking him away. Scott refused to let them do this, saying that they'd have to kill him if they wanted Reggie. Well, the lieutenant said okay and fired at Scott. Reggie stepped in front of the bullet and was hit in the chest and yellow goo oozed out of him. Seeing that they had taken care of Reggie, the army felt they did their job and left Scott to grieve over his friend. After the soldiers were gone, it was revealed that Reggie was okay, stating that bullets are like Viagra to his race. Seeing that his friend was alive Scott was relieved and thought the show would go on as it always had, with Reggie as his band leader.  Reggie pointed out that when the Army found out he was still alive they'd come back for him and he didn't want to put anyone in harms way. Scott asked him what he would do and Reggie said he would roam the Earth like a nomad. Scott and Reggie hug, say their good byes and Reggie walked out the stage door. Flash forward, back to old Scott Aukerman and he's doing a crossword puzzle and the clue is, someone who misses and loves his friend Scott dearly and they pan to a picture in the paper and it's an aged photo of Reggie Watts, the crossword puzzle author(a call back to a joke earlier in the episode). This was a great way to say good bye to a guy who's been with the show since its infancy. Very goofy and silly. Exactly what you'd expect from CBB. Reggie Watts wrote the theme song for the podcast, he wrote and performed most of the songs that are used for games and segments in the show and podcast. He did pretty much all the music stuff for Comedy Bang! Bang! He was an integral part. Kid Cudi will be the new band leader when the show comes back on July 9th and while I enjoy his music, he's no Reggie Watts. It will be interesting to see if Kid Cudi has the comedic chops Reggie Watts has.

You will be missed Mr Watts, but you are on to bigger and better things. And for all the alternative comedy fans out there, I'm sure he will still show up from time to time, so he's not really going away, he just got a new opportunity.

Good for him.
 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He thinks one day people will leave network late night shows to join Comedy Bang Bang as a better opportunity.  Give him a twitter follow @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty has a few issues with critics proclaiming the Mad Men finale as great television

If you have not seen the Mad Men series finale DO NOT READ(come back when you are ready). This review is full of episode spoilers

Last night was the much anticipated series finale of Mad Men and in my opinion, it fell completely flat. Lots of spoilers coming, so beware. 

This particular episode of Mad Men was like any other episode in the series, not a finale. Most of the episode took place in a hippie commune where the people there all talked about their feelings, it was very boring. There was also the three phone calls that Don Draper(Jon Hamm) made to the three important ladies in his life, Peggy Olsen(Elisabeth Moss), his daughter Sally(Kiernan Shipka) and his ex wife Betty(January Jones). This was interesting, but it came and went. I felt like you got little to no closure with these calls and then it was done. Then back to the boring hippie commune. There was also Joan's(Christina Hendricks) closing story. Very fast and very unexplained. First, she took the buyout from the new company, goes on vacation with her much older boyfriend(Bruce Greenwood), does cocaine for some unknown reason and then starts her own production company. Very unfulfilling. Then Peggy and Stan(Jay R Ferguson) fall in love with each other very predictably. Pretty lame. Pete(Vincent Kartheiser) and Trudy(Alison Brie) got back together and he took the job that Duck(Mark Moses) offered him in the previous episode. Who cares. Roger Sterling(John Slattery) and Marie(Julia Ormond) stay together and presumably get married and live happily ever after, because now Mad Men is apparently a romance show and not a hard drama. And poor Betty, smoking a cigarette just waiting for the lung cancer to kill her. I felt the worst for her, in fact she was the only one who I felt any feelings for in the finale. But the icing on the crap cake that was this finale was the final shot of Don Draper sitting in the hippie commune meditating, close up on his face and then pull back to the show the famous "If I Bought the World a Coke" commercial. Of course Matthew Weiner decided to give Don a happy ending because what does every drunk, wife and girlfriend cheating, workaholic a hole deserve? Apparently a happy ending. The fact that Matthew Weiner said, prior to the finale, that he doesn't owe anyone anything was very apparent watching the finale. He only cared to stroke his own ego and say look how smart I am and how dumb all of you are who don't get it. He's an a hole as well. 

Reading the reviews the day after made me even more angry. Publications like the AV Club and Uproxx saying how genius it was, come on, you didn't get it either, you just want to sound like a pompous intellect and spoiler alert, it's not working. You sound like a bunch of wannabes. This was an emphatic thud of a finale and real fans of the show deserved better.

Let's just say, Matthew Weiner owed us more.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He enjoys good television, and does not enjoy indulgent series finales.