The Simpsons Season 17 Retrospective 

As you can see, I have mixed feelings about this season 🤣

Ah yes, the “why is the dvd so expensive now” era

Similar to what happened on Season 15 and the Spanish dub, Season 17 is a very important year for Brazilian Simpsons fans, as it is the last season of Homer's first voice actor, Waldyr Sant'anna, voicing the character. Sant'anna went from seasons 1 to 8, being replaced by Júlio César Barreiros. At season 14, Waldyr came back, but had troubles with Fox due to the usage of his voice acting at the DVD sets. Without a settlement, Sant'anna was replaced by Carlos Alberto Vasconcellos, the voice actor of Homer since then. It was specifically tough because Sant'anna did some voice acting for the Simpsons movie, including the first trailer, but all had to be scrapped. All respect for Vasconcellos, who's doing a pretty solid job as Homer. But Waldyr was able to sell both the ignorant and impulsive adult as well as the caring father, being considered a legendary voice actor in our country.

I genuinely adore the "27" joke so damn much.

The Itchy and Scratchy Musical joke is hands down my mum's favourite joke from The Simpsons. The Lion-Kingesque "Itchy scratchy, itchy itchy scratchy" gets quoted in our house constantly and it never gets old.

I want to painfully admit that anytime the number 27 comes up in conversation, my brain IMMEDIATELY defaults to 9:27

It's mixed bag of a season, but Milhouse's line "I just need your chap size. It's two more than your pant size" really kills me for some reason.

I appreciate your critique of the show's humor trying to be edgier like South Park, because I remember my younger self complaining to my parents about this season as it aired that it was trying too hard to be more like Family Guy.

Small thing I just realized, your audio editing is fantastic. It's so consistent, never peaks my speakers, and the music never encroaches your voice. I think for all the years I've watched you, I've never had to adjust the volume at any point, just smooth watching through and through. It's a thing no one would ever notice when you do it right. It's adds a layer of professionalism to your work and I truly appreciate it.

The girls school principal from that boys vs girls episode should definitely return whenever they inevitably decide to parody the Barbie Movie. In fact there’s a lot they could do if they wanted to do “Malibu Stacy The Episode”.

The Italian Bob is one of my favorite Simpsons episodes ever. The "What does Vendetta mean in Italian." Joke kills me each time. I can for sure feel want you mean by a sort of "series fatigue" hitting in this season but I still enjoy a lot of it. I think your understanding of how you start to view things differently via 'the discourse' is also very apt.

I love how I can go to the comments and people are actually talking about the video, and not sounding like bots and saying how much they're in love with the channel. It's great to have interesting stuff to read after finishing the video

Seeing 2005 Jims' first post on a forum with the *exact* same cadence you carry in your videos today is so adorable

i have a lot of memories of season 17, probably because it might be the only season i saw every episode of when they aired. the 27 joke is gold, i will never think otherwise

I enjoy the potshots at Ricky Gervais even when this season came out before everyone outside of the UK got sick of his shtick. Also yeah, while the internet can "activate" you and be a positive, some things do absolutely need to get revisited post-grass touching so you feel less conflicted about said thing. Great video as always, Jim(s)!

"Dad, stop acting like Mussolini." "I thought I was doing Donald Trump." That joke aged so well it's unnatural.

For whatever reason, my younger brother and I got sort of obsessed with that one trilogy episode about boats, it was just an easy one to watch and laugh at. Honestly there were several eps from this season I didn't mind rewatching as a kid, even if they weren't as funny as the Golden Age stuff. They were still interesting enough, with the Sideshow Bob ep and the two trilogy episodes being my faves. Also that one throwing batteries joke from the Baseball player/Pop Star ep lives in my head rent-free. I just love the delivery on "9 volt, double A, D, D, D, D, cordless DRILL!"

I'm so happy you mentioned the 27 joke. It's weirdly one of my favourites of all seasons

Al Jean destroyed the Simpsons's reputation. Him staying for 20 years is the reason why it's so hard for people to give Matt Selman a chance. It's a cautionary tale

Keep going Jim we’re with ya

Most of the jokes from the Al Jean era feel like when another show or writer (Doug Walker, for example) tries to write Simpsons-type dialogue without really understanding what made it funny to begin with, like they know the pattern of a Simpsons gag, they just can't pull it off themselves. But in Al Jean's case, these jokes are being delivered by actual Simpsons characters.

As the self-proclaimed "biggest fan of the 4:3 Jean era", I am very excited for this video

I appreciate that you're still analyzing the seasons. I don't think the internet poisoned you. The internet allowed you to keep caring. Without the internet, people would just stop watching and caring.

I always have a new perspective on the seasons you make retrospectives on. So after finishing the video, I'd say I agree with the thought that season 17 has great ideas and uninspiring execution. It feels like the status quo is more of a detriment then ever in this season. I vaguely remember seeing the previews for these episodes, as a kid, and thinking how the plots might have a long lasting effects on the characters. Only to watch them and come to the realization that nothing ever really changes, by the end of an episode. Obviously, there are some exceptions and sometimes an episode can still build up to future plots, without any major changes within itself. But still, I remember watching episodes like the Italian Bob and thinking "Wow! Sideshow Bob has a wife and child now? And, they're also murdering psychopaths!? I wonder how they'll utilize these characters and dynamics in future episodes?" Just to have them rarely appear at all afterwards.

"No more Rice Krispies. We are out of Rice Krispies". One of my all time favourite jokes

This season holds a special place in my heart because is one of the reasons I fell in love with the simpsons. I remember watching most of it on tv when I was a pre-teen and I thought it was so edgy, critical and non-sense that I simply loved. To this day 'Kiss kiss bangalore' is still my go-to episode everytime I need some simpsons to cheer me up. Great video! Can't wait for the top10!

I actually have fond memories of this season. Some really strong episodes that feel classic to me. In highschool, at the peak of my depression and very sedentary, sad existence - I was watching 'Girls Just Want To Have Sums' with my brother, and that damn '27!' broke what felt like a year of me not laughing genuinely at anything. I just couldn't stop, and then it became funny that I couldn't stop and I kept laughing. I must have laughed for 10 minute straight. In a weird way, it brought me and my brother closer together after a lot of icy awkward silence while we both privately struggled with our sadness and cruel teen years. I haven't laughed that hard at anything since a 'laughter battle' I entered, and some I Think You Should Leave sketches.

I'm really excited to see you cover this season. This season was the only Simpsons DVDs my family had when I was young. So aside from the classic episodes that everybody knows these are the Simpsons episodes I have watched the most. I'm not sure if this season still holds up but it holds a lot of nostalgic value for me.

'Jimbo: Tough on nerds, tougher on dorks' is probably my favourite joke from the entire season

Bravo for another incredible retrospecticus, Jims.❤ One of my biggest hot-takes is that I'd take any episode out of Season 15, 16, or 17 over anything from 18 thru the 20s. I have such strong nostalgic feelings towards these episodes. And I'm glad to see the community seems less harsh on these seasons than they used to be.

Kirk Van Houten is a underrated Simpsons character 😂😂

The best thing about most simpsons is it's always a fun time no matter the quality.

I honestly feel that the team simultaneously working on the movie around about this time is probably the reason why the episodes feel like repeats. I think this season is an example of why I look back at the Scully era a little more fondly. There's an energy too his era where the choices may baffle me sometimes, but I'm never bored. It's as you say, even though they try to transform the characters, they don't commit. The stories just feel too self defeating and uninterested. If the characters don't care about what's going on in the story, then why should we care? Season 17 is just too tired for my liking.

the episode Regarding Margie has one of my biggest bugbears I wish it was revealed that Homers cousins they stayed with where either Mona's nephew or neice but them being related just because of their dog being Santa's Little Helper's brother was a very infruiating twist.

Homer's Paternity Coot gained traction this year due to people thinking it was predicting the submarine incident.

I watched this season as a young teenager when it was first airing. I have absolutely no nostalgia for a single episode or joke in it.

seeing jims go from calling this season one of his least favourites to realising he might treated this season too harshly is an unexpected but welcome arc.

10:13 I recall mentioning the outhouse joke from Manatees to a friend and she was sure it was from a different episode/context, so good to discover we were both right and neither of us were being Mandelad, bad that it's due to the Simpsons recycling a joke.

I had been religiously watching episodes as they aired up until season 15 when I stopped watching altogether. I got back on the wagon in season 20 and eventually watched what I had missed, so maybe I have a bias too, but 15-19 will forever be a blur of sameness to me. Every season has a couple good if not great episodes, but I just can't think of any of them in 17, even after watching your retrospective.

I'm using this series to help figure out how far into the show's run I actually watched on TV as a kid. i thought season 16 was the last season I saw, because checking the plot synopsises of a bunch of season 17 episodes I didn't recognize any of them. But this video showed me a bunch of moments I remember, like Marge gaining her memory of Homer's beer addiction back (ironic, I know), Skinner in a dress, Bart eating the dirty fries, the museum presentation about nunchucks being cool but useless, and Ned fighting Lisa over creationism. Looking up the list of episodes again also caused me to remember several moments from the cave anthology episode. I also realised that this was the Treehouse episode with Blob Homer, which I clearly remember liking. There are still a ton of episodes I don't remember, however, so either my memory's spotty or I didn't watch the show as regularly anymore. Taking a quick look at the episode synopsies for episode 18, I don't seem to recognize them, but maybe your recap on that season will jolt my memory once again.

I’d love to see a reboot of the simpsons that’s actually story focused, like time actually passes and the characters slowly age.

I think this is the last season where I still occasionally tried to watch new episodes coming out before I gave up entirely. I remember several of these episodes, but mostly in the abstract as something I rolled my eyes at than remembering the content of them.

This is the season I have the most memories of as I would always watch it on DVD as a kid

that 27 joke lives in my head rent free

Can't wait for the top ten list!

It’s Great to see another amazing video from you TheRealJims.

Fantastic job, as always. This season was forgotten by me until I watched this, and the episode of Mr. Burns/Lisa with all of the interconnected storylines is one of my absolute favourites; I had no idea it was in this season of all things. If I'm not mistaken it's actually one of the more lauded/praised episodes of 'modern' Simpsons as well. The 'tiredness' is definitely evident in these 'teen' seasons, I'm convinced this is even more the case with all of your excellent visuals and comparisons. Thank you for all of your Simpsons content, Jims!

I distinctly remember "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" being the episode that caused me to fall off the show. I was 13 when it broadcast and I still rank it as the absolute worst episode of the show's first 17 seasons.

Season 16 was the last one I watched regularly, so it's nice seeing how things spun out afterwards.

I really enjoy this season. Probably my favourite from the middle years

Season 17 has quite a few bangers.

There's alot of memorable plots and jokes that I can remember from this season that's actually surprising cause I'm sure I haven't seen these episodes more then once

i feel season 17 is definitely the place where you can REALLY feel the tiredness of the show, to the point where it feels sort of reflected in the writing don't wanna give off the impression that i think the writers are lazy or don't care, but i feel everyone knew that the show was just never gonna end so they feel it's best to play it safe and not really try to venture in new and different directions. even in episodes where they do ask big questions, they don't really commit so it feels hollow. then again i was in kindergarten when this season was airing so i obviously ate it all up like any kid would so my criticisms mostly come from hindsight

Interesting to hear how your expectations of this season were influenced by your perspective at the time and your experience on forums. I have pretty fond memories of these episodes because I was 7 when they aired, maybe 8 by the time they made it to the UK idk. That was the time where Simpsons was the fun cartoon I’d watch with my family while we ate dinner on the sofa. So it’s very nostalgic. I remember enjoying the episodes a lot, it was always exciting to see a new Simpsons episode I hadn’t seen before. We watched the show every weekday at 6 o clock back then, so we saw a lot of repeats. I liked the Lisa episode about maths and gender, I think 7/8 was the age I became a bit more aware of the different ways men and women are treated, like Lisa I was a kind of curious kid very interested in big issues and the wider world. I remember enjoying the story of Lisa pretending to be a boy and the cultural differences that went a long with that. I didn’t know Lisa was a controversial character among at the time, I liked that she was passionate and cared about things, I admired that she spoke out about issues she cared about even when others told her to be quiet. I also really enjoyed the episodes where the characters travelled to Italy and India. I found travel episodes super exciting as a kid because I loved to see the characters out of their normal setting. I enjoyed the musical numbers too.

You have been talking about the Simpsons on the internet for 18 years that amazing.

Regarding recycled jokes, I remember watching a commentary track for an episode in the single digit seasons where they talk about a joke they cut because it wasn't working. Homer was watching some girls jump rope and he would gasp when it sounded like they were about to say a swear word, and then be relieved when they actually said something else. A year or two later I was watching a new episode and this cut joke showed up in it. (I don't remember what season it was.)

9:26 I've been thinking about this for ages, because the punchline being "27!" is also in the show Chowder. What is it with this number and being a punchline? I think it's considered a funny word in the same way that "duck" is a funny animal.

A new RealJims video is a great weekend present

Weird Al's 27 based humor deserves a mention in the discussion of jokes about 27.

Just want to say, thank you for making these videos! I only started watching the Simpsons relatively late, so I don't have a real sense for trends during a given season or differences between them (watched most of it out of order). Your videos are helping me to categorize everything a lot, and it's really interesting. I haven't seen any of these episodes recently, but from what I remember I thought these episodes were alright, never stood out to me in any special way, but I don't have any negative memories either. Well, maybe with the exception of some lgbt jokes around that time, which nowadays just feel very dated for the most part. But that's to be expected I suppose and (most likely) not exclusive to this season.

Am I the only one that loves the later middle years? Especially season 17-19

Season 17 is a rare case where the season after it is better.

15:34 No wonder I love the middle seasons more than most people, Krusty is pretty grating to me that its pretty refreshing to know he has less and less screen time this season!

Anorher fun fact about this season, about the Episode where Lisa learns italian, Tammy the leader of the red hat woman is voiced by Alessandro Mussolini the real nepew of the dictator(so milhouse is her cousin)

I think that the "Meh, I don't want to do this anymore" endings are what made this season so unfun to watch as a kid.

The India episode was a classic. Vote union was the best punchline of middle Simpsons.

I renember watching the "abe becomes a bullfighter" episode for the first time because a commercial said it refranced the upcomming movie

A lot of your criticisms on season 17, especially rehashing elements or reasoning jokes for stuff. I was thinking when it originally aired good video as usual, Jims

I definitely want to revisit this season more myself. I rewatched the first half of it for a while but I got a little bit bored. I think it got better towards the later part especially with the sideshow bob story and school torn in half episode. Those were always were big favorites of mine. I definitely want to rewatch both of those two episodes but there’s a lot in this season that doesn’t grab me as strongly.

Hey, real Jim's. I'm a long time viewer. And I'm glad you finally made it to season 17. It really helped me decide that season 15 DVD set was the last to collect . Season 15 had just enuff episodes for me to be satisfied With my perches. From season 16 and on, less episodes were Exciting to me. Long story short, you helped give me closer.

I think this was when I was starting to phase out on watching The Simpsons regularly growing up. I remember some of these episodes, but not all of them. And even the ones I remember, I evidently only remember certain parts of it. Like the episode where Grandpa tries to kill himself, I forgot he becomes a Matador after that. I DO really like that one Treehouse of Horror segment where everyone turns into their costumes.

At this point in the Simpsons timeline “post mortem” now feels more applicable for these look backs.

This season is pretty infamous in italy, is the one whit the most guest stars, even the football Player who winned the 2006 world championship they decided that some of the player dub some characters.

we need a simpsons histories on Mrs Pommelhorst

Thanks for the upload! 🔥 I love your channel!

For me Season 17 is actually one of my favourite seasons because growing up my mom said I wasn’t allowed to watch The Simpsons until I was 12 years old. So I always snuck watched it. Season 17 was the first season I was airing when I was finally allowed to actually watch the show and it is the first season I was able to watch every episode as the aired and in my opinion I don’t think any of the episodes in this season are bad.

I share a lot of the reticence about season 17, some episodes I really do not like. But, some I love. Road to D'oh-where and Seemingly Never-Ending Story in particular. In fact when Road to D'oh-where first aired, it dawned on me that after a few years of general disappointment in Simpsons, it had reached a point where I could again expect really great episodes. I personally tend to think of seasons 15/16 through 22-24 (ish) as a "renaissance", where episodes aren't always good, but there was still a healthy dose of clever and creative episodes. The ending scene (which I won't spoil for anyone who hasn't seen it) of Road to D'oh-where remains one of my favourite jokes, along with "Stupid horse, it's a DEER crossing!".

ricky gervais as ricky gervais lmao

Season 17 was one of those odd series where the episodes i think are either later on or earlier in the episode list

17 is one of my favourite Jean seasons off the strength of its down-to-earth character motives. Marge’s Son Poisoning, Girls Just Wanna Have Sums, Bart Has Two Mommies, Milhouse of Sand and Fog, the Girl Who Slept Too Little, and See Homer Run are all great for that reason. Dare I say, they’re almost on par with some golden age episodes! Except some of the episodes I don’t like hit a very wrong chord with me, namely Million Dollar Abie and Regarding Margie. They bring up such depressing topics and don’t exactly resolve them. It’s a lot harder to laugh at Abe when you’re thinking about his visit to Dr Kevorkian. But hey, I’ll take sad episodes over boring ones. Season 17 is a good one

I like many of the episodes in this season.

15:42 At least he helped saved the The Simpson family from Sideshow Bob so he wasn't totally shafted.

its been years (I know it’s been seven months, but still that feels like a while glad that it’s here though)

Everything's comin' up Milhouse!

As long as We're on the Road to D'ohwhere is in number 1 I don't really care how you rank them. That episode is such an underrated gem.

I refuse to believe we're already on Season 17

Babe wake up a new simpsons retrospective just dropped

I was always confused why fans were so bashful about these "teen" seasons, I know first like 2-10 are golden years and then internet starts to hate simpsons for some reason. Well I can imagine todays reasons well I guess for teen seasons were always "classic" seasons I watched the most and stuff before it was great but different. It was maybe due I wasn't internet poison by then yet, maybe because I had teen seasons on DVDs and other seasons I watched sparingly on TV, or I believe in Czech dub version of the Simsons somewhere around 10ish season "old" Homer dub VA died and we had new Homer voice which also made discourse about old being good and new being bad for some time. But I am glad you see these season in more positive lights now like I do.

That Lenny sure had a crazy apartment.

Holy crap you’re still going… Welp, can’t wait for the season 23 review!

Its interesting watching detailed analysis of all the seasons I never watched. Curious to see how season 18 will be different from season 28 and so on.

Now, we need the Top 10 for Season 17. ^^

An attempt to predict what might be in the top ten: The Girl Who Slept Too Little, Treehouse of Horror XVI, Marge's Son Poisoning, See Homer Run, The Last of the Red Hat Mamas, We're on the Road to D'ohwhere, The Seemingly Never-Ending Story, Bart Has Two Mommies, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore... hmm, that's only nine. I guess Homer and Marge Turn a Couple Play based on the fanservice factor?

The modern seasons aren’t so bad, I think they’re still good

I didn't even notice it was that long since the last retrospective.

There’s so many of these episodes I’ve never seen or had time to watch but I like these videos anyways man! Cheers.

You know, I was going to say "No no, you weren't poisoned", but now that I think about it, I think I also was starting to go to Simpsons discussions online around the same time, too. I might not be an impartial judge.

Apparently after Homer wearing it for so long that safety salamander suit smelled like an old batch of collard greens.

Where to begin, this season of The Simpsons has a special place in my heart. For me, this season had a lot of heart, even if you didn’t quite jibe with the story. You have episodes about Homer wanting to show his daughter that he loves her, and wanting to show his wife that she is everything to him, even if that means letting her go. His relationship with his son is like a struggle with himself. He di not have the best upbringing. He fears for his child but instead of telling him that; he teases him and honestly acts as an older brother to Bart. For his wife, he struggles to keep her in the forethought because as a working man providing for the house; he thinks about the things that keep him going, and his wife is quite forgiving in this. Until she has enough. When he is unable to to show her that he appreciates and forgets that the others have problems bigger than the fact that when he is not at work, he just wants to lounge around or drink the numbness back into his reality as he hates his job and his son is constantly causing problems. This season shows that Homer gives a damn, just not in the way he should initially. He is a man who is the sole provider in the household. What keeps him going at work is the beer, the bar and the place where it doesn’t matter cause he will drink and he will sit down not worrying about a thing. It is actually something that a lot of working people find themselves in. You drink to numb the ideas that you either hate your life or regret it. This season shows that he cares enough to try even after failing. He keeps trying and the characters in this season keep trying. There is progress and a lack of complacency that really affects the stories.

as someone who grew up watching simpsons reruns as an amalgam of all seasons at once. i have a lot of fond memories for many of these episodes.