That '90s Show

This episode was cute and funny for a satirical period piece but becomes the first in many a string of obnoxious canon disrupting timelines of the simpsons history so carefully curated over nearly 20 years. In my personal experience, I'm fine overlooking continuity errors such as the use of new technology despite no aging of the characters; but when flashbacks happen with Homer and Marge specifically, it's so frustrating for newer episodes to completely change what we know about their history rather than supplementing it with storylines that fit what we know and accept.

Still I love Homer and Marge love story episodes, but this is one I like to pretend doesn't exist canonically speaking

I admit this episode contradicted the Simpsons history, but come on, the show is set in a floating timeline, you don't seriously believe that Bart would still be 10 years old, when the show started in 1989?

OK, maybe the writers should have scrapped this idea, but in my opinion, the episode turned out pretty well. Their was some hilarious references and parodies (such as Homer's parody of 'Nirvana - Rape Me', with a song called 'Shave Me', which Weird Al parodied in the episode), the Back To The Future reference with Marvin Cobain, a parody of Marvin Berry.

This was criticized an awful lot by fans and critics alike, I am a passionate fan of The Simpsons, I have watched nearly every episode, and I can honestly say I enjoyed this episode, it wasn't great, but it was a lot of fun.

8/10.

This truly is the "Worst Episode Ever". If, in the end, we had found that Homer had been hit in the head with a brick, or had drunk some bad eggnog, and hallucinated this whole thing, all would be forgiven. Previous episodes have gone far off the reservation, and all have been redeemed by over-the-top, far fetched explanations (the "real" Principal Skinner being run out of town on a rail comes to mind). However, this apparent attempt to "update" the history of the family without, ultimately, returning us to the traditional timeline is unprecedented. Anyone who DOESN'T understand what a big deal this departure is cannot claim to be a true Simpsons fan. I believe The Simpsons was a on a rather short list of shows that had never Jumped the Shark. I fear that the streak has ended. Hopefully this does not signal a desire to "modernize" the show in a broader sense.

I wonder if those that detest this episode were meant to take it seriously. I really didn't take it seriously, we know Bart is 10 in 1989 and is 10 in 2008. The entire city of Springfield has been stuck in a rift in the Matrix, where the space-time continuum is stuck in a loop.

This episode is merely a throwback to the 90s, I can't see how anyone that has watched more than a dozen episodes would assume this is part of the history of Simpsons. Every season has an episode or two that have no relevance on the history, ie, Simpson Bible Stories, and Tales from the Public Domain.

Relax people, the episode was far from great, though it had moments, but it hardly caused the series to "jump the shark."

I really don't see how this episode could get such a bad rap. What's made the Simpsons so great throughout the years is how it continues to change with the times to stay relevant and although most of the foundation has remained relatively untouched throughout the years there are plenty of examples of really good content that deviates from the original story. If it hadn't, Bill Clinton would still be president instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Obama. I really think that weather or not you take it as cannon or not, this was a good episode that modernized the characters in a funny parody of the 1990s. Keep in mind that unlike the children (as far as I know) Homer actually has a set date of birth in 1954 making him 54 years old by the time this episode comes around and makes it hard to keep them all timeless. Also you don't have to take this episode as canon if you don't want to since unlike the original story, I doubt there will be reference to any of the characters in it since what they really wanted was to make a 90s parody and I think they did that very well!