The Simpsons (TV Series) Yokel Chords (2007) User Reviews

Interesting use of parody

[MidnightDreary · 24 February 2008]

This episode was a very interesting one. It opens with a potential storyline - Homer actually taking care of his kids for once - but then cuts to Bart at school without a lunch. The story he tells to discourage other kids from eating - Dark Stanley - was simple brilliance: the old-fashioned animation, the ghostly music; all of it enraptured me. I was quite sorry when the sequence ended.

Then, after the children have fled the school, we see the first musical number (parodying "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria"). It took me a while to figure out that this was a parody of The Sound of Music, because the actual tunes were different than the original. The episode sags ever so slightly in the middle, but picks right up again when Cletus' kids, the ones Lisa had been tutoring, are signed to Krusty's show and Stephen Sondheim (my all-time favorite composer) makes a cameo. Bart's meeting with a psychiatrist (Meg Ryan) is almost equally memorable, although the two feel almost like separate story lines that require separate episodes to cover.

Overall, I was impressed with this episode. It was hilarious at times, with the wit and wonder of the Simpsons of old creeping back in.

A Musical Gem

[mideleon · 10/10 · 29 August 2014]

The musical episodes of The Simpsons may not appeal to everyone, but among this genre of episodes, "Yokel Chords" is one of my favorites. While the musical numbers are limited to Lisa's story of trying to educate Cletus' yokel offspring, even Bart's story about Dark Stanley has an incredible fantasy/horror sequence with beautiful animation and a terrific Astor Piazola inspired musical track.

Of course, for musical theater geeks, this episode features the ultimate guest appearance by Stephen Sondheim who gets abused by Krusty and then composes a peppy Buzz Cola jingle. It's a nice guest spot that breezes by quickly but is more than a throw-away (unlike Andy Dick's mercifully short walk-on).

Overall, the episode is very sharp, has a good pace, and features some edgy lines such as a not-quite Jewish insult and a 9/11 line that perfectly encapsulates the justification for the Iraq War and is all the more biting because it comes from Cletus.

Annoyed by the singing parts

[santifersan · 5/10 · 5 May 2023]

This episode has always annoyed me because of the singing parts, and the plot simply revolves around the Spuckler children working on Krusty's show, which doesn't interest me much nor do I find it funny. If I approve of this episode, it's because of the subplot of Bart going to a psychologist after scaring his schoolmates with a horror story. That subplot is interesting to me. Nevertheless, it's an episode that can't be said to make you laugh, and I only like the psychologist subplot, although I do enjoy the Spuckler children's plot until they start working for Krusty, then it starts to drag on for me.