Every Man's Dream (The Simpsons)
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 It was expected that the writers would have learned their lesson from the previous instance of manipulating their audience. However, it appears they have not.
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Every Man's Dream is the first episode of Season 27 of The Simpsons. It aired on September 27, 2015.
Plot
Homer is diagnosed with narcolepsy, but instead of getting his prescription medication, he comes home drunk. Homer and Marge visit a marriage counselor and have a trial separation, during which Homer begins dating a twenty-something pharmacist, something that he soon regrets.
Why It's Every Man's Nightmare
- Similar to the previous season's premiere, "Clown in the Dumps," this episode was a significant ratings ploy, utilizing misleading advertising to manipulate the series' audience and boost viewership. The promotional materials suggested that Homer and Marge would divorce and pair up with different partners; however, this scenario did not materialize as it was all revealed to be a dream.
- The idea of Marge and Homer getting a different spouse is not the worst idea for an episode, but the execution ends up being terrible.
- Homer is extremely unlikeable in this episode, especially near the beginning, as he refuses to do anything because of his narcolepsy.
- The rationale behind Marge's decision to divorce Homer is portrayed as rather foolish, considering she does so solely on the therapist's advice rather than her own judgment, despite Homer's history of egregious behavior towards his family. Furthermore, the therapist exacerbates the situation by worsening Marge and Homer's relationship instead of helping to mend it.
- The plot is not only depressing, but it is also confusing and is hard to understand, it just consists of random stuff happening without a reason, much like Saddlesore Galactica and Kill the Alligator and Run.
- Due to its contrived and outlandish plot, it resembles an episode from Season 11, which is notorious for its outlandish episode concepts.
- Many attempts at humor fail to hit the mark, as the prevalent jokes about marriage and divorce tend to be unfunny, often coming across as depressing rather than amusing.
- The extremely disgusting scene where Maggie sleeps in vomit and with her diaper showing.
- Atrocious and confusing ending:The episode overuses the clichéd "it was all just a dream" trope, revealing that the events were not only a figment of Homer's imagination but also part of Marge's dream and a tattoo illusion. While this indicates that the episode is non-canon, it also creates confusion and renders the entire episode seemingly pointless.
Redeeming Qualities
- As mentioned earlier, the concept of Homer and Marge splitting up and finding new couples isn't the worst idea for an episode and it could've been a decent concept here, even though the execution is abysmal.
- The Beatles' album covers with the Simpson family couch gag, just like some couch gags, is more enjoyable than this entire episode.
- The part where Maggie sings "What a Wonderful World" is beautiful.
- Fortunately, this episode is considered non-canon.
Reception
This episode was met with a heavy amount of negative feedback from fans and critics of the show because of the depressing nature of the episode, the rushed ending and also the fact that this episode was a gigantic rating trap, it is often considered to be one of the worst episodes of The Simpsons. The episode currently sits with a 5.5/10 rating on IMDb.
This is also William Angell's least favorite episode of the series, being the only episode of the series to receive his 0/5 rating, mainly because of the ending. This was the first episode of any television show where he gave an episode a 0/5 rating, the second being the Family Guy episode "Brian's a Bad Father".
Videos
External Links
Every Man's Dream at the Internet Movie Database