The Simpsons (TV Series) The Computer Wore Menace Shoes (2000) User Reviews

Under-appreciated. It deserves a better reputation.

[zacpetch · 7/10 · 22 February 2015]

"The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" is one of the most divisive episodes of The Simpsons because of how weird it is but I like it because of the weirdness which is good as a one-off. Just don't let this sort of episode become a regular occurrence.

This episode gets off to a great start with Homer setting up mrxswebpage.com which he plagues with shock-news stories. Then he wins a Pulitzer Prize for some reason and triggers a series of events that lead him to make up the news on his site instead. When one of them (the government are controlling children with flu shots) turns out to be true he gets kidnapped and taken to The Island where he meets Number 6 and gets endlessly gassed and drugged in several weird scenes that shouldn't work but do.

There's a nice Victorian Estate aesthetic to The Island's outdoor sections with the indoor just going for a plain weird feel that creates a real sense of unease while the creepy bosses of The Island and the various inmates who "know too much" complement the scenery well and all of it comes together to make for a very unsettling feel to the episode.

Homer's escape is done by a boat of disposable forks and he gets home to find a European doppelgänger awaiting him so as to avoid suspicion from his family giving a funny fight scene at the end with two Homers duking it out in the famous living room. Then we get to the ending where the whole family are taken to The Island which is a crap ending that I like to ignore and pretend didn't happen. But if you can put that aside what we have is an episode that splits fans down the middle into those who despise it and those who love it. If you are the former then I urge you to reevaluate your opinion of it: It's actually rather good! I give it 7/10

A Must for Fans of "The Prisoner"

[NellsFlickers · 8/10 · 10 October 2019]

I thought this was a strange episode until I saw the credits... and the name Patrick McGoohan.

A little research explained the strangeness. The Island is a take-off of the cult TV show "The Prisoner", with McGoohan. And wouldn't you know it, an obscure cable station was airing that very show! Viewing ensued...

I now understand every reference this episode makes. BUT, if you have never seen "The Prisoner", you will be VERY clueless. (Incidentally, there were no flamingos in the original, not sure where those are from UNLESS maybe Fantasy Island?)

As far as I know, this was the last role that McGoohan took, and I find it interesting that a man who shunned the press and seemed to want to keep his show's secrets secret, would lend his voice to his famous alter-ego once more, in cartoon form! I only wish he had been given more lines...

Favorite Season 12 Episode

[celiawatsonanime · 9/10 · 16 January 2022]

Feel a lot of adrenaline when Homer is spying on people to get their secrets.

I like how Homer gets tricked into buying a 5000$ computer by a dishonest salesman.

It's funny to me that the 'secret' that gets him drugged and sent to the island is really just something random that Homer made up in his last ditch efforts to get more traffic when he stops telling the truth.

One of my favorites

[santifersan · 10/10 · 9 September 2023]

"The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" is an impressive episode of The Simpsons. While many praise the first half for its relatable humor, I consider the entire episode to be a gem, and I'll explain why.

The first half is solid, but it truly comes to life with the introduction of the second half when Homer gets kidnapped. At that point, the episode takes on a kind of enviable cinematic quality reminiscent of action movies. It becomes weird, but not in a bad way; quite the opposite, it's an impressively weird take on action, kidnappings, or spy films.

As soon as Homer arrives on the island, the episode's soundtrack undergoes a transformation, now mimicking the spy movie scores of the '60s or '70s. The moment when the villain descends from the ceiling, clinging to a suction cup attached to his bald head, is particularly impressive, with the music intensifying and building as he descends. This is why, my friends, I strongly recommend using my viewing method, as I've discussed in previous reviews, when watching anthological and animated series where characters don't age. It allows you to appreciate these details much better.

Of course, the episode is also filled with countless hilarious moments. As someone who watched this episode as a child, I can assure you that it is genuinely surprising and entertaining for younger viewers.

Mary Popping Comes To Springfield

[Moor-Larkin · 7/10 · 14 March 2007]

Back in 1969 a little-regarded teen movie was released called "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". It featured a youngster destined to be a great movie star: Kurt Russell. In 1969 a great actor called Patrick McGoohan had just finished making a seminal and enormously well-regarded TV series called The Prisoner. Twenty years later a strange family were an enormous success on TV. They were cartoons. They were The Simpsons.This unlikely triumvirate of entertainment history collided.

Homer buys a computer and goes on the Internet. Having exposed all his neighbours as crooks and vagabonds he is is stolen away to a Village which Time seems to have forgotten. It is inhabited by cockneys and Mary Poppins. It's very much the UK as visualised in some strange American dream - much like the Simpsons maybe are the USA, visualised in some strange Hollywood dream.

Patrick McGoohan intones deeply, if not meaningfully, as he guest-voices, "33 years a Prisoner".... Aha! 33! 3+3=6! Another clue! Another enigma! Rover bounces in from his Nemo-deep and Homer shows an unexpected turn of intellect by brandishing a suitable piece of defensive cutlery. *Pop* goes Rover as he is forked to death.

Escaping on a raft of toilet rolls and scabs, Homer thinks he is back in Springfield but little does he know.... We're all in the Village now. Madge remarks it's quite nice - once you get used to it.

The Beginning

First half was 10 out of 10

[safenoe · 6/10 · 17 March 2023]

I am a big fan of The Simpsons and yes, I really think the first 10 years are the golden years for sure. But I'm willing to expand my horizons to episodes beyond this. The Computer Wore Menace Shoes was very prescient in terms of faux news and vaxers believe it or not, along with internet gossip. It's as though the first half was a send-up (a very smart one at that) of the Drudge Report and what constitutes news.

The second half, well fans of The Prisoner (a cult British series from ages ago) would be ecstatic. But for those who aren't, well I guess you can still enjoy it in a way. But still, the first half was outstanding.

Haphazard

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 27 July 2017]

This is one of the weaker episodes I've seen. When I was going through my Simpsons re-education (I guess a better word than binge, since I was playing catch-up on a show I damn well should have been watching all these years). It attracted me for the third-act reference to "The Prisoner", and I do like that Patrick McGoohan was game for an appearance on this show. But a better spoof it could've been.

There are some decent laughs in the lead-up; the computer salesman, the gag on late-nineties Hamster Dance websites (jeez, that was a lifetime ago) and Lisa's hand-wringing over Homer's disregard of the First Amendment. But having him sent to the island for a series of wink-wink references just falls flat.

6/10

When things start falling apart for the Simpsons

[chrihern · 5/10 · 15 September 2020]

People often says older Simpsons are the better Simpsons and is true. Until 2000 the series was a long stretch of victories. This is the first episode when you feel something has changed and not for better. The episode have one of the stellar moments of the series with MR X tale: first half is flawless and very memorable 20 years after. Thing become very awful in the last part: that about that British series nobody knows. The Simpsons always made references to pop culture (i see the plot of The Shining in the Simpsons before the movie or TV serie) but always work as stand alone piece: was not a prerequisite to know what they were making reference.

In this episode simply don't work: there was a over reliance on "The Prisioner" to understand what was happening and that was a big mistake. The last part ot the episode is a mess.

Not an enjoyable episode

[studioAT · 2/10 · 14 January 2020]

Homer starts to dish the goss on Springfield life in this episode from the 12th series.

For me for all the good moments in this episode, and there are some, there's also evidence of a darker humour, which is apparent through a few of these Mike Scully exec produced episodes, and I found that off putting.