America's Favorite Non-prehistoric Cartoon Family - The Simpsons Thread

[Johnny Unusual]

Bart Has Two Mommies

Though I've only been working in preschool for a few months, I've worked with kids for a while, watching my neice and nephew and prior to that teaching Chinese toddlers English. One thing to keep in mind is to try not to be too judgmental on how children are raised. And sometimes I am, there are some kids, wild ones, I suspect are a little spoiled at home or become worriers due to their parents concerns. But I also know that there's so much I don't know about what goes on at home that I don't really know what each family faces or what roots of misbehaviour and concerning behaviour might come from and there's no reason to think that just because they might make decisions that I wouldn't that they are doing something wrong. I mean, they might be, but I can't know. I just try to help in any way I can.

In this episode, Flanders asks Marge to watch Rod and Todd and Marge is delighted with the sweet, well-behaved kids. Marge had such a great time, Flanders and Marge agree to do it more often and Marge and Ned's kids form a bond. However, Marge notices that the boys are a little sheltered and invites some mild excitement into their lives, Meanwhile, Homer takes the kids to an animal sanctuary for old showbiz animals and Bart is kidnapped by a mother ape, Toot Toot, who misses her children and begins treating Bart as such. Homer keeps Bart's situation a secret until he can solve the problem. Marge becomes concerned with Ned's overprotectiveness and asks that she let them have a bit of fun at a family fun center. When Flanders gets upset about Rod climbing a rockwall, he causes Rod to take a fall and chip a tooth. Flanders blames Marge and with bystanders questioning her motherhood, Marge is hit with another blow when Bart's plight makes the news. Toot Toot escapes her habitat and takes Bart to the top of the church but Lisa has a plan; reuniting Toot Toot with her son, Mr. Teeny. But someone needs to climb the church to do it and Rod volunteers. A panicky Ned begins upsetting Rod but Marge encourages him to trust in his son. Rod brings Mr. Teeny to his mother, Bart is free and Ned has a little more trust in his sons.

Writing the episode description, I noticed it was almost as long as the last episode's. With the previous one, it is to be expected but I think the long description is a testament to the fact that a Dana Gould script is likely to be rich in happenstance. I feel like a lot of episodes are written with elements similar to this; a way out plot element (Bart being kidnapped by a chimp) tying into another more grounded plot. But even when it is dovetailing thematically, often other episodes kind of fall apart under the wackiness. This episode, however, is one where the writer makes it work and while not all of Gould's episodes are perfect, he has the instincts to make these things work. This episode turned out to be much stronger than the description would have me believe and even though Ned has been tragically Flanderized, Gould knows exactly how to balance things for his characters and while Flanders is a born again Christian, it doesn't dive too much into the uglier aspects they have given the character (aside from a joke about Flanders being upset his son is "gay"). Homer is being naughty but while his badness never crosses over into overt cruelty, intended or otherwise. I don't have to approve of the character's decisions, behaviour or beliefs but Gould manages to make sure whatever goes on, we are onboard with our characters.

I feel that the episode also makes sure that the show never strays from it's themes about parenting fears as they happen to Flanders (fear about safety), Marge (fear of failing) and Toot Toot (sadness over losing her children). A lot of episodes start with following the theme strongly and then stumble to create a big climax and feel like such an event sidesteps the real underlying issue. But Gould is a strong writer and he knows to put the theme in the climax and Ned's growth allows the day to be saved. I feel like the Toot Toot thing shouldn't work but it does and the while it isn't a strongly emotional episode, it is a joke heavy episode that still remembers that the plot and humour are all dictated by the characters rather than taking heavy handed shots at flavours of the month. I think Gould follows Swartzwelder's "dog Homer" philosophy even better than Swartzwelder towards the end. I love him getting excited about his chance to see gremlins or freakin out when Ned comes home as if he's a teen in trouble works well. I also appreciate that though it does overtly mention Ned's issues are tied to the loss of his wife, I feel like despite the end credits scene, it doesn't draw too much attention to Maude again and more Ned learning to be a trusting father.

I feel like my description might make it sound academic but this is a wacky-ass episode. It's couched in something real and never forgets it but Gould understands we want the humour because as much as we might want to see characters in new emotional lights, the comedy enhances the characters and vice versa. I feel almost like I've oversold the episode but there's something about this one I kind of love in a way I didn't expect. It's not revolutionary but it does feel like a jolt of life running through a show that often feels like it's gotten a little too comfortable to the point of feeling like it's on autopilot in the joke department. I feel like something is clicking in this episode though and I'm not going to say "firing on all cylinders" but it's just feels like this is the show I want to be watching week after week.

Other great jokes:

"Who knew saints had such fat heads."
"Well, it's all a scam."
"This game?"
"No, religion in general."
This is a real on the nose joke but somehow it works for me. And this is even though I tend to hate smug atheism. It's the worst atheism. It's what Bill Maher personifies.

"I wished to hard and he became real."

"There, there, the fact that you tried means everything."
"Wait, that's what you said when Bart choked in that soccer game. And we both know that he sucked."
"And how... but this is different."

The scene with Randy Johnson is wonderful. I love how unreasonable he gets to be.

"I'm a Star Wars."

"I'm my brother, Todd."
"And I'm my brother, Rod."
"....This is too scary, let's change back!"

"Old showbiz animals, eh? Do you think any of the gremlins from the Gremlins movie are there?"
"Uh, sure."
"Hehehe, I'm going to get them so wet."
I love this man's priorities.

"A chimp that size could tear your son's head right off."
"But he'll leave the rest of him alone?"

I like the sarcasm scene.

I also love that Homer's plan is too save Bart, take him home, THEN give the chimp a peach full of antifreeze.

"We interrupt this skateboard footage for a breaking news story. Local boy Bart Simpson has been taken hostage by an angry chimpanzee, who has improved both his hygiene and posture.

"She made us happy."
"And not church happy, but real happy."

Other notes:
Reminder, Dana Gould is obsessed with Planet of the Apes and made a Dr. Zaius talk show and it's wonderful.

I would eat at an all-potato restaurant.

I feel like I haven't given Rod and Todd enough credit. Hot take: they are consistently funnier than Ralph. Thoughts?

The Homer/Marge babysitter scene is cute and romantic and I love them in this role instead of making Marge a grumbling "nag"/enabler,

There's a scene of Rod and Todd grumbling as they are forced to crawl upstairs that is looped three times and it's weird.

Dave Thomas is in this episode solely to play Bob Hope in a credits scene. Not exactly Rex Banner but he's making a meal of it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife

I remember when Ricky Gervais started blowing up when people started discovering The Office. Though the American version might be more popular with audiences, which Gervais correctly attributes to more sympathetic characters, it definitely hit big in a way that they tried to make Gervais a leading man for a couple movies. He didn't crash and burn but his leading man status never quite took off and he became more known as a producer of shows in which he is usually the star. His most popular series tended to be about the uglier side of the human experience with character drenched in sweat as they as desperate to be taken seriously in ways that are often unearned and are deluding themselves. It lives in moments of extended discomfort, drawn out to painful degrees as attempts to dig out of a hole makes it deeper. I can't think of anything more removed in tone from the Simpsons, which can also be cynical about people but zips along so quickly, times of discomfort for characters are rare.

In this episode, Homer becomes obsessed with Lenny's new HDTV and Marge enters a contest to win one. The Simpsons don't win it but they do get a tour of the Fox studios and while there are offered to join a reality show that could net them the TV Homer craves. The show is "Mother Flippers", where families swap their mothers and after some hesitancy Marge agrees. The switch is with a family called the Heathbars and the Simpsons get Verity Heathbar, a curt Yale professor and Marge moves in with Charlie Heathbar, an office manager. Marge and Charlie get along and after years of being henpecked and insulted, Charlie falls in love with Marge's kindness and reads Marge's basic decency and consideration as reciprocation of love. Marge ends up setting Charlie straight and explains why she loves Homer; for all his flaws, he does stuff to prove his love. Charlie is inspired to kick his wife to the curb, only to learn she beat him to it and is dating Patty.

In a very rare (but not unique) case, this isn't just an episode guest starring Ricky Gervais but he's a guest writer. I wouldn't say I am or was a Gervais fan but I did like a lot of his humour. I like his work less now because I feel like there's a bit of inhumane punching down from him that often doesn't really work for me. It's not nearly as awful as smug fucks like Bill Maher but I feel like Gervais' style feels more appropriate to a decade prior. It doesn't help that he's involved himself in an ill-considered project like Derek, his attempt to make a more sentimental and kinder series where he plays a man with Down Syndrome which.... yeah. I believe that the movie Tropic Thunder had a word for this I won't repeat. I remember really liking this episode but I wasn't sure I'd like it as much. But the fact is, this episode reminds me about what I DO like about what Gervais does in comedy.

When the episode started, I was pretty sure this was going to be a letdown on rewatch but when the second act came on, I was all in. That's not to say the show isn't without it's Gervaisian flaws, interestingly one that is sometimes shares with the Simpsons; there's a joke where Patty is misgendered (once again the show is equating sexual preference to what gender a character should be) and Verity is a pretty one dimensional "bitch". The second act works not only because Gervais feels free to integrate his trademark style of humour into the show (which he does well) but beyond that, he understands the secret sauce of the show and who the secret best character is: Marge. Ironically, while Verity is a cold, cruel nag, Marge, who is often portrayed as a nag, is in her best mode; she is truly passionate about the mundane, is extremely enthusiastic about people and is encouraging. And while never betraying Marge, the show manages to use her in a drawn out "the Office"-type scene where Charlie poorly tells a joke that doesn't land and offends Marge. But then after the awkwardness, Marge diffuses things because while she makes clear that she doesn't appreciate the joke, at all, she points out the good points (ironically, some of which Marge projected), and asks him to tell another. It ends that supreme discomfort with actual sweetness and it is the best scene in the episode.

I also feel like Gervais does like writing Homer but his take is pretty generic and while he gets some good lines, it doesn't have nearly the spark that his Marge/Charlie scenes Gervais' excels at writing himself and Marge here and I think the show does a great job incorporating Gervais' mode. There's longer scenes and while Simpsons is known for classic subversion of jokes, Gervais is going for the tension of knowing that this is awkward. Kavner is also at the top of her game and I feel like her and Gervais are working really well together. And it's the reason why the episode greatly improves. Gervais is doing a variation on David Brent here, pointedly making him an office manager. Of course, there are differences; Charlie misreads signals badly but he's not nearly as deluded as Brent, largely because he's actually emotionally defeated while Brent thinks he's a great boss that everyone loves. Charlie is still acting gross, the way he moves on Marge (which is where he does prove to be deluded). I will also say that the show doesn't focus on it a lot but I actually do think Gervais gives something of a defense of Homer and his grand gestures; when push comes to shove, he acts, and I feel like Charlie might represent Gervais' own feet of clay, which as someone scared of confrontation, I actually relate to him on. It's not a perfect episode but I do think having a guest writer, one with a love for the show but a different type of humour, really gooses the show for an episode.

Other great jokes:

"You can see the soulless emptiness in those sharks' eyes. Oh, Two and a Half Men. You can see the soulless emptiness in Charlie Sheen's eyes."
My favourite part is Sheen glides across the shot like a shark.

"You take forever to say nothing."
I like putting so concisely what Gervais' style is vs. the Simpsons.

"Really? You manage a whole office? Does that include the people AND the furniture?"

The entire genie joke scene is perfect in terms of character and humour. I love that Marge says she could "really picture" the genie "with curly shoes and smoke all over the place," which is no way is implied by the joke.

"How long do we have to stay here."
"Till I'm sick of drinkin' these. And I'm never sick of drinkin' these...
...that's right, it just gets worse!"

"How did you think of so many rhyming words."

Other notes:
In general, I do fondly remember the guest written episodes. I believe the Seth Rogen episode is a little closer to regular Simpsons but is also Rogen speaking from his experience in Hollywood and while not strong, I appreciated that the Judd Apatow episode felt like he really wanted to do something character-driven with Homer and Bart.

There wasn't a good place for it in my review and the show never directly points it out but I do like that by comparison, the lower class Simpsons surprisingly come off a lot better from the jump.

If the only cost of riding Frito Lay's Air Force Yum was giving a terrible sales line, it would be worth it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Million Dollar Abie

When I was living in Thailand at around age 12, we lived in a suburb across the street from a family who raised chickens and pigeons. Every morning we were woken up by the roosters and would watch pigeons flying and returning home. They also held cock fights. The neighbors invited us to see the chickens and while there we watched a cock fight. It was only after me and my dad returned home that dad noticed that I thought it was fun and basically asked "but doesn't that seem mean to the chickens." And I realized he was right. Even though I loved animals, I realized it was easy for me to let cruelty happen to them when they aren't in obvious danger, even though they are being made to hurt.

In this episode, Homer spearheads a plan to bring a pro football team to Springfield, which turns out to be a success. But when the commissioner of football gets lost before the naming of Springfield's team as an official team, he arrives at the Springfield house where he meets grandpa looking to make a phone call. When grandpa begins to suspect the commissioner might be planning to rob the house, he knocks him out and ties him up costing the city it's team. Grandpa becomes persona non grata in town, he considers euthanasia and after an attempt is halting, he thinks he died and went to heaven. When he realizes this isn't the case, Grandpa realizes he was happy living without fear and vows to continue living as such. When Springfield decides to use it's new football stadium to hold bullfights, grandpa decides to become a matador, to Lisa's horror. Grandpa is popular but feels bad about Lisa being disappointed in him and frees the bull, unleashing them on the town.

After a few episodes I quite liked, we get to a more tepid episode of the show. There are definitely some good jokes but it basically looks like what I always assume this era of the show to be: a bit disjointed. That's not to say it isn't consistent in some ways. There's the joke quality, which is OKish but it also does what I do tend to ask for; keeping it's main theme in mind. The theme is about fear; grandpa's problem is caused by his paranoia, then he learns to live without fear, then he realizes he fears both losing is popularity with the crowds and his nieces love. The problem is that while it's in there, it doesn't really dig into those feelings or tie the idea of fear and popularity in a way that satisfies me.

I also think it doesn't help that a large portion of the episode is about assisted suicide and is discussed in a way that doesn't reflect what I see as the reality of the issue. Marge does bring up the concept of pain and reduced mobility but for grandpa, he considers it because he is kind of bummed. The show isn't reflecting any kind of real depression that would lead someone to contemplate suicide and I feel the show isn't prepared to discuss the issue of euthanasia with any insight or weight. It's just another plot point and while I think it is possible to discuss the issue with humour, it really isn't doing that, it's just using it as a plot point and making jokes about the callous suicide doctor.

As for the bullfighting plot, I feel like perhaps the show should have put more time into that, not because it is the stronger part (I think the episode works best in act one) but because then it might have time to really dive into what is so cruel about it and grandpa realizing that the scorn hurled on him is not too different than the cruelty he is inflicting on these bulls. Now, that's not to say you can't say that in a short amount of time but the Simpsons, as Homer said last episode "takes forever to say nothing" so maybe more time with the bullfighting is what is needed for these writers.

Other great jokes:

"Thanks to you we have a hundred million football stadium we can only use for... farmer's markets."

"Killing yourself isn't as easy as putting on a sweater as you did today."

"No, wait, wait, bullfighting's a cruel psuedo-sport."
"Lisa's right, it is a cool super-sport!"

Other notes:

So... I guess when the law is reversed, the Springfield police have some suicides planned. Huh.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore

I will fully admit, I'm not a person who is skilled in recognizing when he is being taken advantage of at work. I'm pretty amenable and it's often I don't have a proper sense that I could ask for more. This actually did come to ahead once, when I was working as an unpaid "partner" at a local ESL school and my boss literally up and disappeared for month for what was supposed to be a two week trip for a funeral. I was poorly trained (resulting in me messing up some recruiting work for overseas teaching) and I was running low on funds and eventually, I had to bail. When he finally came back, he spent hours chewing me out when I arrived for the payment he did promise me for unrelated teaching work. I took him to court and won but it was clear this person was a bad boss and I've heard worse stories of the people who followed. After I won the trial, he invited me back to work for him. It was clear that for some people, if they can get away with something they will. That's capitalism.

In this episode, Mr. Burns announces he's outsourcing the plant to India. Homer ends up with a high status managerial position in the plant and due to some poor decision making by Burns, he allows Homer to take full responsibility while Burns goes elsewhere. Soon, Homer goes mad with power and becomes convinced he's a god. Burns asks the Simpsons to come with him to talk him down while he's surrounded by what seem to be worshippers. It turns out they don't believe he's a god but the deluded Homer turns out to be a completely benevolent boss, providing the kind of benefits that Burns was hoping to avoid via outsourcing. Marge convinces Homer he's not a god and Burns returns the plant to Springfield, leaving the Indian workers with a very cushy severance package.

I feel I have a lot to complain about this episode but I don't think the problems are where I expected. There's definitely the problematic aspects, including Indians voiced by white people, but I feel like compared to some outings, it never gets as bad as implying Apu smells like curry. Still, it ain't great. Why is a plant worker dressed like a fairy tale style palace guard. Instead, the problem is it's an episode that wants to tackle an issue that was on the lips of a lot of people at the time the episode came out; outsourcing. I admit, I only have the most surface understanding of the issue but I feel like that's also to be said for this episode, unfortunately, making it lack the social commentary that feels like it should be at the heart of it.

The episode actually does have a twist ending I like and I kind of wish it was better woven into the episode. I like the idea that it seems like Homer is going to screw up because he's deluded but instead he fails because he treats his workers well. But the show feels like it has to zip from scene to scene, things don't have time to breathe and certainly none of the employees get to be characters. The episode is about treating employees like people but seems uninterested in what could have been more interesting; how does Homer stumble into bringing rights and power to the workers. I think if the episode was less surface and more substance, there's something to work with but as is, is just a bit too silly.

Speaking of, maybe time should have been taken away from the Richard Dean Anderson subplot. Or perhaps put it in another episode. It's a cure bit of business where Patty and Selma kidnap their favourite TV star but then Stockholm syndrome goes to far and they are trying to rid themselves of him. There's a surprising amount of time dedicated to this one and it's clear that writers Dan Castellaneta and Deb Lacusta relished the fun of making Richard Dean Anderson buffoonish and weird and the actor felt likewise. It's also weird to see a reminder of an era that some people REALLY cared about Stargate. It had, like, three spin-offs.

Other great jokes:

"People are going to know I'm missing. There's a liquor store I go to every morning."

"Ooh, the cereal's just a metaphor!"

"A bra kadabra!"

"Both doors have tigers."
"One of those tigers is named Homer Simpson."

Other notes:

So... is Bart's new bully Sluggo from Nancy?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Wettest Stories Ever Told

My dad used to love sailing. He had a little yellow Laser, which he used to sail around the bay near our summer cottage. I didn't take to it so much and though I joined him a few times, I usually found it a little more scary than fun and wasn't into it. Still, I did get to steer it a few times and did find it fun, if a bit awkward. The boat got a lot of use and even when my dad started to lose his mobility to MS, he tried to keep with it as long as he could. Eventually, we sold it and I believe whoever is using it now is still enjoying that piece of my past.

In this episode, The Simpsons are waiting for their dinners at the Frying Dutchman and tell tales of the ocean to pass the time. In the first tale, Homer is on the Mayflower as an uncouth cad having to deal with puritans. Then, in the second tale, Skinner is Captain Bly, who's cruelty towards his crew ends with the crew (played by the Springfield elementary boys) engaging in mutiny. And the last tale, a parody of The Poseidon Adventure, features the Simpsons and various Springfielders escaping their overturned ship.

I do like the idea of anthology episodes that aren't Halloween but I feel like out of all I remember seeing, this one is probably one of the limpest. It's not even awful, it's just not very memorable and the linking theme doesn't lead to any particularly interesting jokes and ideas. Which makes it a bit hard to write anything on these short stories when there's so little substance or strengths or weaknesses to note. The first tale has a few good jokes but watching Homer trying to woo a prudish Marge is means a lot of this is "Marge won't put out" gags. Still, I feel like this tale has characters instead of speed-running a well-known tale.

The next one is a bit better with some silly little gags that work for the most part. But it's also a story that's not really well-structured. I feel part of the problem is one I've had with some of the anthology segments in the past, with as a story it not holding together pretty strongly without knowing the films adapting this historical tale. Skinner is the MVP of the episode here with some wacky cruelty that makes a lot of this one work. I think this probably my favourite simply because the gag hit rate, despite it's awkward feel.

The last story is more consistent but maybe my least favourite. It feels very Mad Magazine, in that a lot of the jokes are on the nose complaints and jokes about the source material. It doesn't all flop but a parody of "The Morning After" is one of the weaker bits and Lisa pointing out an "interesting cross section of people" reminds me that despite the fact that the Simpsons is a show steeped in irony, often using it masterfully, sometimes it spends a bit too long being ironically cheesy that it's just... cheesy. There are worse overall anthology episodes to be sure but I feel like most of them, even the weaker ones, are more memorable than this.,

Other great jokes:

"Man, that guy sends my humours from sanguine to bilious. That's the way we talked back then. Weird, right?"

"And I can assure you there were cookies in there. Good cookies. The kind only a loving mother or Milhouse's father could make."
"My father's alive?"
"No, he died while baking. It's all in the letter."

"I'm telling you, I don't like that. Do it again."
"Yes, Lord Uglyface."

"I love the sea, Smithers. No earthquakes, towering infernos, China syndromes, Apple Dumping Gangs..."

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Man, I wrote that over 24 hours ago and just forgot to hit "post reply".

 

[Octopus Prime]

Wow it really isn't a memorable episode

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Girls Just Want to Have Sums

As much as I try to overcome the trap of "gender norms", I must confess I still fall in every once and a while. I have to remain vigilant but as recently as a week ago, in my afternoon program, I asked if the kids wanted to be seated for snack time by gender. This was because they were basically hanging out in those groups anyway, but heck, I could have said "sit were you want" and gotten the same result. But I do try to watch my language and assumptions and trying to be corrective of such things. But there is a big difference between not making assumptions and assuming some sort of "blindness" to differences, a weird take that the right has often either assumed or projected on people who want progress and understanding.

In this episode, Skinner makes a public fool of himself in stating that women are inferior to women in math and "the real subjects". After digging his own grave in a diversity forum, Skinner is replaced by Melanie Upfoot, a women's educational expert. She immediately segregates the school into boys and girls, which Bart and Lisa are excited about. But Lisa discovers that her classroom is replacing real math with emotional empowerment of little substance. Lisa sneaks onto the boys side and realizes that they are getting a better education and disguises herself as a boy to do boys' math. Lisa loves the math but has difficulty with the culture of the boys. Bart discovers Lisa's secret and helps her out until Lisa gets a math award in a school assembly. Lisa reveals herself but Bart implies that Lisa only succeeded in math by becoming a boy but Lisa states she is proud to be a girl and of her math skills.

Boy, was this a misfire. I feel like Skinner sums up the writer's insecurity when he says "All I know is that no one is better than anyone else, and everyone is the best at everything." And though Skinner is clearly supposed to be a big buffoon who is deeply in the wrong about handling discussing gender, I feel like his frustration and claim that he "doesn't have opinions anymore" is pretty much the complaint assholes give when people call them out on shitty comments. They don't want to learn to do the hard work of re-aligning their understanding and re-considering anything. Yes, sometimes it's a journey that can be thorny and full of embarrassing missteps but it is far easier to give up and say nothing. The episode even ends with an "idunno" shrug combined with "I had to stop being a girl to be good at math" that feels like it is a shadow of the show's infamous response to the Apu controversy.

There's so much going on wrong in the episode that I'm going to miss some interesting bad takes in this one. There's two notable transphobic gags and a sexual harassment gag that says "she's into it actually" that looks ugly no matter how much irony is slathered on it but these are things that could have been easily excised. It's biggest problems lay in it's core, the implication that a feminist's solution (Upfoot is never referred to as such but it's clear that's what she is intended to be) is segregation and what I'm sure the writer refers to as "hippy-dippy, touchy-feely bullshit". It makes very little sense and since the writer seems more interested in his frustrations than his lack of understanding than trying to understand. It's clear he has some ideas since he challenges a lot of them into Skinner's disastrous responses of "we're all the same except we aren't" but after that he seems to have his own diarrhea of the pen.

Though I think the episode is wrong-headed from the get, there are ideas in here that could have made for interesting ideas: a dive into the "world" of another gender, particularly ones with a toxic narrow view on the issue and learning to code switch into it until you somewhat forget it is toxic. But instead of a story that is about the artifice of traditional gender identity, he have Lisa naïvely learning boys are meaner than girls, which I don't buy. Sherry and Terry would totally start calling Lisa "Toilet" if they thought of it. If it was about how differently the two groups bully or other or bond in a toxic way, but nope, this is just a load of nothing masquerading at a look at boys and girls.

Other great jokes:

"That was my eating food!"

I love this gag A LOT.

Other notes:
This was a waste of Frances MacDormand.

FEMINISM!
Also, why did the kids immediately start dancing when asked questions... and each one waited to be asked a question? What is this?

 

[Octopus Prime]

This was one of the episodes I’d say stabds head and shoulders alongside Homer vs. Dignity.

Maybe even worse?

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I feel like Homer Vs. Dignity has an interesting idea at it's core but decided Homer assaulted by Panda would be a funny centerpiece. I'm not even saying which is better or worse but I feel like HVD: Dawn of Cringe has more going for it outside of it's black hole of "oof".

 

[Octopus Prime]

Yeah that’s about where I’m at; that was one bad joke that completely torpedoes the episode; this one is wall to wall bad.

IN THE FUTURE; there was a kiiiinda similar episode with the premise of “Colleges are too darn politically correct these days” but that one at least had a bunch of solid jokes orbiting a bad premise

 

[Lokii]

27 is pretty good tho

 

[Octopus Prime]

i believe that was a 28-er, which is another surprisingly good season but more uneven

 

[Johnny Unusual]

I think he was referencing the gag from Girls Just Want To Have Sums.

 

[Octopus Prime]

You know?

You might be right.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Regarding Margie

"How did I get here?" David Byrne once sang. "This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful wife." Often I feel like a completely different person than the one I was in the past. Probably unhealthy but I often look at him with derision. He's the jerk who made transphobic jokes and said stupid shit and not thinking anything of it. People grow and that's great. But often it also means I overlook the good person who got me where I am. The good person who managed to make good friends, get work they like and a respectable career history. Sometimes I don't feel like the man who got me where I am, both in good and bad ways. But I am the same man. I'm same man plus (and in some cases, minus), but I'm that person, even if I'm a ways off from the decisions that got me there.

In this episode, Marge knocks herself unconscious in a cleaning accident and loses her memory. Eventually, she is able to recover all her memories, except for those of Homer. She sees him as a stranger and though Homer tries to jog her memory and win her over romantically, she can't see him the same way. When Homer shows her where the two first made love, Marge is aghast at it being a castle on a mini-golf course. Patty and Selma take advantage of it to set her up for speed dating in hopes of facilitating the rift between them and finding someone better for Marge. On the date, Marge hits it off with someone. Lenny and Carl call Homer when they see it but when Homer arrives, he sees that Marge is with what appears to be her dream man and can't bring himself to intervene. As soon as the man learns Marge has three kids, he leaves and Homer explodes at him for being stupid enough to leave Marge, listing her virtues. Marge overhears this and sees the beauty in Homer and on the ride home, Marge regains her memory of Homer.

In this era of the show, it's not too surprising for the show to fall back on some pretty standard sitcom tropes. And I could think of nothing more generic than "uh oh, amnesia!" I was expecting another weak episode, maybe not as aggressively ill-considered as Girls Just Want to Have Sums but perhaps cringey in it's cliché formula. Instead what I got was just an OK episode with a few bright spots that take real advantage of what it means to lose their sense of what their life is. It isn't nearly as "really, we're doing this?" as the prince and the pauper story in the next season and I think while it is yet another manufactured marital crisis for our favourite family, I liked it more than I didn't.

Now, in a lot of ways., it goes how you expect. Homer is such a boor, it makes sense that an amnesiac Marge would question her marriage (including yet another Homer strangles Bart joke... who are these even for?). But I think the part that I think is the smartest is Marge questioning her marriage when Homer takes her to the place they first made love. Marge now sees it as a low in her life from a distance but unlike a lot of what Marge sees, this isn't her correctly identifying Homer's flaws, it's her seeing the details without the specifics. We know as viewers this isn't a low for her as we've seen the moment and even them recapturing the giddy thrill of it. She's missing the context though, and without it, it doesn't sound that great (smartly, the script also sells this aspect even if you haven't seen the show yet).

The other parts of it are mostly serviceable and we end once again with Marge being OK with Homer being an alcoholic. That said, Homer's speech is not much different than ones we've seen before but it works. I love that while it is a "grand gesture", it isn't a desperate play to win Marge over, but rather his disbelief that this guy would pass up Marge. It isn't directed at Marge but it's all about Marge and while most of the episode Homer is trying to win over Marge by having her remember him, she is won over when Homer talks about her. The only other time was when they were making love and even the details don't effect her when the feels aren't shared. What's more, this isn't an episode where the writer (Marc Willmore, who did some imperfect but interesting episodes) decides "time for Homer to stop acting like a jerk", Homer's been... pretty good through the episode (Bart strangling aside... somehow) but Marge finally seeing that the details are what stick out in love and happiness.

Other great jokes:

"My head feels like it was punched by a boxing man."

"Yes, the insurance company said you're as well as they're going to pay for."

"See that ball of fire? That's the sun. It goes by many names: Apollo's lantern, day moon, old blazey. The important thing is never to touch it."
"I know what the sun is."
"Yes, now you do."

"Hi Ned. Isn't this your cat's birthday? I remember because she shares it with Patty LaBelle."

"Oh no, this is terrible."
"We've got to tell Dad."

"Oh no, Bart and Lisa are going to tell me something terrible."

The second of Marge's speed dates is funny but also feels relatively real for a Simpsons joke. I feel like some of the women in the writer's room have seen creeps like this.

"I think he's a male gay."
There's something about that phrasing that tickles me.

Other notes:
Another small implication that Homer is bi and/or pansexual. I'd be down if they got a good writer to actually dig down on this but the show's attitude always seems to be "will the gays turn Homer/Marge gay and break up their marriage?"

The gender swapped Patty and Selma look like Cousin Larry from Perfect Strangers to me.

I love the use of two 74 Oakland A's for a cameo.

Marge going clean crazy before the cleaners came feels similar to what my mom would do when she hired a cleaner (eventually, it became my job)

TIL: Marachino isn't a kind of cherry, it's a way of preserving them.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Monkey Suit

Though my mother is somewhat religious, in that she believes in a thing, our family didn't have much exposure to creationist beliefs. Frankly, evolution was always a thing in our house and I guess it can be hard for me to appreciate that there are entire communities where it is scrubbed from the schools. And with what little I know about education in the US, it seems like due to some weird fuckery, it is not difficult to get some backwards believes into educational texts, such as messages of how slavery wasn't so bad. It must be frustrating that even in an age where information of such injustice can spread easily, actual dealing with it is still very hard.

In this episode, Flanders is aghast at a evolution being taught in the local museum and decides to try to do something about it. Eventually, he inspires the Lovejoys to create a pro-creationism crusade, blackmailing Skinner into having it taught in class. This rankles Lisa who tries to fight against it, only to inadvertently inspire Springfield only to teach creationism. Lisa tries to rebel and is arrested and taken to court. The jury is against her but Marge, who has been wishy-washy in choosing a side until the trial, decides to read Darwin's On the Origin of Species and comes around with a plan. While Flanders is on the stand denying any relation to humanity and the apes, Marge gives Homer a beer and as he tries to open it, he infuriates Flanders, who refers to him as an ape. Flanders concedes defeat and Lisa states while she admires his commitment to his belief, it doesn't belong in school and peace is made.

The Monkey Suit is a fairly weak episode with elements that could have made a stronger one. So the elements I think that could have added up to something I like; Lisa fighting for a proper education in a Kafka-esque nightmare, dealing with strategies to teach when the system won't do it, having Marge deal with her faith and her desire to support her daughter and be open to new ideas, the idea that the problems begin with Flanders feeling threatened. I can see with a lot of reworking a stronger episode coming out of this. And while the Monkey Suit isn't offensively awful, it's both a snooze and a wasted opportunity.

First of all, I think it hurts the episode a lot by still having a more unlikable Flanders. Evangelical is a hard sell, now more than ever, and I don't like making the character xenophobic/homophobic as it often does. There's less of that here but I feel it still stems from a similar place where Flanders is no longer the counterpoint to the Simpsons, he's the stand in for Christian Conservatives. The character just doesn't work as well in that mode, a shift that happened organically enough but it's a ship that should have been righted some time ago. And despite this episode starting with him and his decisions coming from a sense of fear, his decision to concede doesn't come from an interesting place of character.

And I think that's my problem with much of the episode, the show needs to be stronger in character and emotion to work. There's a point where Lisa gives up where Marge picks up the metaphorical baton. It's a pretty basic screenwriting decision and one that would have more impact if there came a specific blow or series to blows to Lisa beyond "this is hopeless." I think there's definitely an argument to be made simply that Lisa gets no support from within her community but I don't feel like the episode sells it in a properly focused way. Similarly, I feel Marge's plan was pretty dumb and spurious and I feel like a plan to discredit Flanders should have been couched in his own values, perhaps making him realize he's become a bully or speaking to his empathy, something the character used to be known for. Unfortunately, many of the main turns in the episode are frustratingly flimsy so by the time Lisa gets her win, I just don't care.

Other great jokes:

I did enjoy the punchline of Todd praying to a stork.

"Homer's son's sister is right!"

Other notes:

The writers are really into the running subplot of the church's rivalry with the Episcopalians.

I'm not particularly familiar with the work of Larry Hagman but he's great as the southern lawyer.

I appreciate odd non-sequitor bits but Nelson in disguise never quite lands the way the writers intended. Nice try, though.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play

I like a lot of trivial things but I guess I never got the interest behind the marital strife of stars. There are occasional times it will bum me out, like when Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman got divorced (though apparently they are closer as exes, if Rhea is to be believed and I hope she is), but generally unless it informs the art in an interesting way, I guess I don't see the appeal. I guess it's because people love drama but it is a kind of drama that holds absolutely nothing for me.

In this episode, the Simpsons go to a ball game where player Buck Mitchell is humiliated by his girlfriend, pop star Tabitha Vixx, the result of which is bad ball playing. When Buck sees Homer and Marge on the Kiss Cam, Buck decides to get marital advice from the Simpsons. Homer and Marge act as counsellors and after a rocky start, they eventually work through things and Buck is playing fantastic games. But things turn around when Homer is caught giving Tabitha a massage, resulting in Buck beating up Homer and returning to bad plays. Marge is also upset about it and refuses to do any more counselling. Homer tries to give Buck a fake message from Tabitha to cheer him up but ends up crashing a blimp. When Buck realizes the deception, he attacks Homer until Tabitha arrives with Marge to patch things up with Buck.

It's weird, going into this one, I wondered if I missed this one back when I watched the show religiously. But I recognized the jokes (despite many of them echoing similar jokes) and slowly the show came back to my mind. And it's a pretty bad one. Now I can thank goodness for small favours that the problem isn't problematic or the characters are just too shitty to enjoy the show. It's mostly bad in a way I can still look directly at and it's a rare case I'm happier to be bored and engaged, considering how many transphobic jokes are in this era. I do have some problems in terms of bad takes, mostly in mocking sexy pop stars, comparing them to strippers. Quite a bit. It's pretty eye rolling stuff and a waste of guest star Mandy Moore, who is a pretty great actress (for better usage, I recommend the Snowflake Day episode of Clone High).

The main problem in the episode is that... I really have no idea what it's trying to say. There's no emotion to it, nor is there a trenchant observation about love or celebrity. The couple get together because Tabitha remembers Buck said a nice thing about her once. Marge says it's hjard work worth doing but the episode doesn't really demonstrate this in any considerable way. The episode is a weirdly hollow series of events a "just a bunch of stuff that happened" and some shots on sex in music. Specifically it also seems like a slam on Britney Spears which, like most Britney jokes, not only seems bad in retrospect, even then it feels about 5 years too late. And there could be something to be said of the idea of having to work through the fact that one's spouse is very publicly presenting their sexuality in a way that makes them uncomfortable but this is an episode that doesn't explore any idea it has.

The other thing worth noting is Buck Mitchell fucking sucks. He's incredibly possessive of her and wants her to end her career for him. The way he constantly threatens to beat up Homer makes it clear he's a violent jerk and that Mandy Moore's character's ending would be happier if she broke it off with him. These two getting together not only fails to say anything about the Simpsons but it seems kind of like a bad ending no one thought through. Again, it's another bad episode that could open itself up to ideas about celebrity and what goes into a marriage and expectations versus reality and what is it like to be romantic in the public eye (which was the episode we saw with Ned a season or two back), The whole episode's manufactured new job for Marge and Homer seems flimsier than usual and this show has had flimsy excuses to set up some fun. Though I think it's easier to notice when it isn't fun. As it is, it's just a hokey-ass episode of re-hashed gags and tepid farce.

Other great jokes:
"Hunch" is a cute little sketch but it's also a reminder we are a long way from Magarnagle.

"Hey Buck, howsit feel that your wife's turning on a creep like me. Weird, I bet."

"Remember when we used to kiss like that, Carl, with our respective girlfriends."
"Yeah, I wonder were Jill and Kelly are now."
"Jill is dead. Kelly, I think, is a prostitute."

I love Marge calling any sports player the _______ing man.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Mook, The Chef, The Wife and Her Homer

I'm over the event horizon. I think it's safe to say that I'm half way done the series at this point. I could have said it halfway through 17 but season one only had 13 episodes as opposed to the usual 20-something. This is were even Frinkiac fears to tread. I'm sure a lot of people would have been content to stop in the golden age. It's no secret the quality goes down here. But I don't buy "it's all shit now" because while I've seen some deeply misguided episodes and the show is coasting on old joke structures, it's not without merit. The acting is still decent and there's often some good jokes and even some good episodes. I'm rarely interested in reductive takes, though I certainly sympathize with anyone who is out even long before this. All the same, it's interesting to see the errors of this era but more than that, what the show tries to do in telling new stories with these characters and where they actually succeed in this regard.

In this episode, Bart's mischief results in the school bus service on a temporary halt and the students having to carpool. When it turns out one of the kids being carpooled, Michael, is the son of Fat Tony, he finds himself an outcast based on fear. Lisa sees that Michael is a sensitive kid and makes friends with him, learning that he has a passion for cooking. Lisa encourages Michael to show his father, who expects him to follow him in his footsteps, to show him his gift but it turns out to be ill-timed, as Tony is hosting a meeting with his rivals the Calabresis and his son's cooking makes him look weak. Tony is wounded in an assassination attempt and Michael is asked to step up but he is reluctant. Homer and Bart do instead and when Michael sees them becoming more corrupt, he decides to kick them out and deal with the Calabresis himself. Michael invites them for a dinner to offer surrender but ends up poisoning them in what he claims was an accident but was clearly an assassination.

I think there's a lot to criticize in this one. There's so much in the plot that makes little sense. The show doesn't even bother to do much putting a hat on or lampshading the fact that an 8 year old boy is being asked to take over the mob for a time. Nor the fact that Homer and Bart straight up join the mob and commit crimes. And it's not that Bart and Homer wouldn't but the show would usually at least take time to point out how weird it is or that Marge would do more than look the other way. It's not that it's "too wacky", it's just a very nonsensical series of events based on what we know of the characters. Yes, we are always going to have the kids acting somewhat beyond their years (especially Bart... but especially Lisa) but mob boss child is just a step away from Admiral Baby.

Despite this, my opinion of this episode is higher than you might think based on the previous sentence. Here's the thing, the episode is often fairly funny that while it doesn't make me forget it's weird choices, it makes it easier to see the episode less as a story and more as a joke vehicle. And in that respect, Bob Odenkirk's script is completely fine. There's not a lot of insight to character or themes but sometimes that's OK. I constantly complain about that because the episodes I do are rarely funny enough to make me not worry about it. That's not to say it's a fantastic episode, but it is fine enough and one joke made me laugh out loud. I mostly had a good time when the joke and bit streak kept going.

The episode was written by Bill Odenkirk, brother of Bob Odenkirk, whom I think of primarily as a Futurama episode, even though he's written only five of those and had written a baker's dozen Simpsons. Really, the episode feels like one of the looser Futurama episodes but it's interesting looking at Odenkirk's Futuramas that his episodes were usually character forward episodes that feel a lot tighter. This, meanwhile, is a broad Godfather parody where Homer and Bart skew more toward being very Bender-y. I enjoyed watching a lot of it but it becomes a reminder how the reality of the show has mutated perhaps too much for it's own good and how the show having something to say becomes more and more infrequent and to offset that, it needs more jokes, something it can't always deliver.

Other great jokes:

Somehow it feels like it shouldn't work in writing, I kind of like the read of "I'm a million years old and I drive a school bus." No idea why.

"Milhouse, may I borrow your three-ring binder?"
"Garfield or Love Is."
"Hmm, I'll take the cat. He hates Mondays. To this, we can all relate."

I love the exploding car gag. I more or less saw the ending coming but it really does sell it.

The Homer/Moe shakedown bit seems like Vaudeville comedy sketch writing 101 but it still works.

"It fell off a truck truck... truck."

Other notes:

I didn't even notice it's been a decade since we've heard Lunchlady Doris, as actress Doris Grau died a decade prior. She's been replaced by Tress MacNeille and is now named Dora.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Jazzy and the Pussycats

Looking after kids, you realize how high a hump maturity is. Many of them have an excess of energy that needs to be focused into something, usually through active games (tag, fishes and whales, etc). They need to be able to learn that even if something is done without ill-intent, ya still got to apologize. And that just because you have done nothing wrong, doesn't mean you can't acquiesce or let someone else have your place. It's good to aim for fairness but often the frustration is fairness not benefiting them at the moment when it should be about making right for the most people.

In this episode, a therapist suggests Bart's bad behaviour could be focused into drumming. It works and Bart takes to it instantly, so Lisa takes Bart to a jazz club where kids are allowed to play. Bart and Lisa plays on stage and Lisa is upset to learn that Bart is popular with some adult players who want Bart in her jazz trio. Lisa is mired in jealousy and Marge, seeing this, decides to refocus by getting another pet at the pound. When Lisa chooses a cuter dog over a mangy one, she starts to feel guilty and when realizing a lot of the animals in the pound are set to be put to sleep, she adopts a mess of them. Soon she finds other displaced animals and decides to home them secretly in their home. When Bart is found hanging up with them, one of the animals bites Bart in the arm, causing nerve damage that makes him unable to drum. Bart's jazz friends decide to hold a benefit concert for expensive surgery while Lisa tries to find a home for the animals before animal control will be forced to destroy them. When Bart here's of Lisa's plight, Bart feels for Lisa and decides to use his money to create a sanctuary for Lisa's animals.

This is the second episode written by Daniel Chun and I feel like he's one of the most interesting Simpsons writers of this era based on the two episodes I've seen. The last episode felt like nothing more than a vehicle for jokes and nonsense and I think it does OK but I feel like Chun's story, which is also a sort of weird yarn that goes in a lot of places, but as wild as the literal series of events are, they really are based in character it is about something, though not something super-easily articulated. It's about relationship dynamics maturing, I guess and the idea that while Bart was in no way in the wrong when he caused Lisa pain (or rather when Lisa's jealousy caused her pain because of his actions). Bart later feels empathy and while he's done nothing wrong in earning success, he can still do something and Bart learns how to use his empathy to help his sister.

The other idea is outlets. It starts obvious where Bart's outlet for his destructive energy is the creation of music and then when Lisa is jealous, she is able to utilize those feelings to help animals. She still takes her baggage with her but it also informs her empathy for the animals and her desire to help them, relating to feeling of being left behind. The Simpsons are still recognizably the Simpsons but no one is being a jerk-ass, though they make mistakes and can be thoughtless, and they get to grow within the episode. I don't see enough of this in this era and it feels like an evolution of the earlier era rather than simply echoing it. I don't want to oversell it, though, because overall, it's mostly just a good episode, not great, and the joke hit rate is mild; no real cringers or eye-rollers but only a few that make me laugh strongly. But in terms of structure, despite the wild directions, I feel like it is a strongly structured episode and one thought out.

I like this Daniel Chun, who would write for the show for a few more years before moving onto The Office, and I wish that his tone was the direction the show continued in rather than the one formed by Al Jean. I do like the humor and humanity of the episode and it remembers the characters care about each other even if they have to wait until push comes to shove. It is always a tricky balance because we also like these characters are trouble-makers but far prefer the growing of the show as different emotional angles for these characters rather than bigger broader troubles. I don't mind when things get real wacky (the Wife Aquatic is in this season, I believe, which is some quality wacky to my memory) but sometimes the outsizing of events means de-humanizing our characters, which is my biggest gripe in the post-golden age.

Other great jokes:

"We are here to mourn the loss of Amber Pai Gow Simpson, a gifted cocktail waitress who hoped one day to learn computers."

"She said she would never let her 8th grade education stand in the way of achieving her dream. And yet it did."

"Bart, you're so steady on those skins, we're going to call you Tik Tok."
"Aw, I always wanted a jazz nickname."
"OK, then we'll call you Downbeat, because you're brining us down."
"Ugh, that is the most unfair--"
"Downbeat, Downbeat, please, we're shooting the breeze with Tik Tok."

Blowin' Bart looks like 1990 t-shirt Bart.

"By choosing the cuter puppy, you chose looks over personality, youth over experience, no history of rabies over unknown rabies status."

"And I'm going to put old Henry here to sleep because he knows my dark secret; I like putting animals to sleep."

Clearly the writers had fun making jazz musicians and I enjoyed that nonsense.

Other notes:

One of the producers does the voice of a waitress and you can tell.

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

I LOVE that Bob is the kind of jerk who would try to correct the Italian folk on how to speak proper Italian.

This reminds me a weaboo friend I used to know.

Spoiler

He was mad at the Yo-kai Watch IP because according to him, Yo-kai is the wrong term.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em

I've never been handy. I lack precision, strength, the ability to measure well and problem-solving skills and frankly I'm not particularly interested in learning. It's a great set of skills but hey, sometimes learning is a drag, huh, especially when the early stuff will be a waste. I did make an entertainment center once for my room when I was in high school for shop class and it actually turned out functionally well but it wasn't exactly pretty. And the feeling of accomplishment was nice but frankly I'm happier to get help from more helpful sources like my sister and her partner. I'd rather trust their expert knowledge than me fucking around hoping to get something right.

In this episode, Homer buys a new set of carpentry books but he quickly loses interest. Marge, on the other hand, takes to the craft and becomes a skilled carpenter in no time. Marge decides to become one professionally but is disappointed that her clients are expecting a man. Marge comes up with a plan where Marge does the work but Homer pretends to be the carpenter. It goes well but soon Marge is tired of not getting kudos, a problem made worse when an insecure Homer doubles down on insisting he's a carpentry master. It comes to a head when Homer pushes his attitude too far then promises to fix a roller coaster. Marge refuses to help and Homer refuses to admit his failings and pretends he fixed the coaster when he did a terrible job. When people he question his work, he rides the unsafe coaster to prove his skill, only to need saving from Marge's carpentry skills.

Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em is somewhat mediocre episode that starts feeling like it could be interesting with what begins as Homer being supportive devolving into an insecure mess. But by the end, it becomes a more generic tale of Marge proving she can do the work to the town and Homer putting aside his ego. And even in that respect, it's not a particularly engaging telling of the tale. Homer ends it by saying "Marriage is the real roller coaster and you're the safety bar" and... is that even the message? The beginning doesn't feel like the give and take of marriage, it should be about Homer overcoming his insecurity about stupid masculine norms. I guess he tacitly apologizes for his failure to do that but it's not much of a focus.

There are some good gags throughout but not enough to hide that there's not much going on in the episode. I do appreciate that the episode doesn't feel like a disjointed journey, as it actually for reals begins midway through act one. I do think the episode does have a theme where Marge finds the need for appreciating more valuable than the actual money she's brining in but the money doesn't actually come up and she never really has to chose between her pride and the money or whatever else she gets out of her work. Instead it's a duller, more boring lesson with little insight into the problem of women trying to find success in "masculine" jobs and how to do it.

Still, this is all better than the b-plot, where Bart learns Skinner's allergy to peanuts and Skinner becomes Bart's plaything. Even for Bart, tormenting Skinner with something that might KILL him seems a bit too nasty and feels outside the realm of conventional mischief. Look, I would believe a kid might do that since often kids don't have a fully developed sense of empathy or what might be a crossed line in safety but this episode is more for Bart to make mischief. I also think it's weird that he's not actually doing anything about it like going to Bart's parents. And why is he keeping it a big secret? And also, it seems like a lot of those activities are as MUCH a risk to his safety as an allergy, like blunt force trauma from a full soda can launched by a tennis ball launcher. I feel like some writer just noticed "kids aren't allowed to bring peanuts to school" and made some silly nonsense about it. Which I would forgive if it was funny.

Other great jokes:

"Am I destroying these triangles or trying to assemble them."
My experience with like, every fourth NES game I rented.


I like the touch when Homer is invited to take off his shirt to wrestle, he fails to due to wearing overalls.

Other notes:

Homer eating that big thing of gummy worms is... just too cartoony for this show.

I love how happy those eels in the photo booth are.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Treehouse of Horror XVII

Another season, another Halloween special.

In this episode, three more spooky tales. First, in a parody of The Blob, Homer eats a space entity and turns into slimy cannibal. Everyone seems powerless to stop him and his insatiable appetite, but eventually he's used to "solve" the homeless problem. Then in a parody of
The Golem: How He Came into the World, Bart discovers that Krusty has access to a golem, a servant made of clay. Bart steals it and makes it his servant until Lisa allows it to speak for itself. Realizing how neurotic it is, the Simpsons decide to give it a mate, creating one out of Play Doh. The two fall in love and the Golem's crimes are ignored. Then in a parody of the 1938 broadcast of War of the World's, a radio broadcast of same causes the people of Springfield to panic, as they think it is real. When the truth is revealed, the town is unprepared for an actual invasion, which turns out to be a cosmic boondogle on the part of the invaders.

This episode is on the okayish side. The Blob story is pretty basic stuff. Of course Homer is going to be cast as the insatiable Blob, how could it be any other way. I kind of don't like the end, as it's one of those endings where it is meant to be ironic and damning that Homer's "good for the community" action is murdering the homeless but as a throwaway gag it feels less pointed and incisive and more a mean-spirited throw away bit. It also continues the show's trend of some ill-considered guest stars; they've certainly put on worse than Dr. Phil, but Phil really sucks and even as a goof, I really don't think the guy needs more visibility. One the plus side, Sir Mixalot gets to rap about cannibalism.

The second and third stories feel a little more ambitious, second one focusing on a film/lore that's somewhat more obscure than usual with a lot of humour about the Jewish people. And to that end, they use Jewish comedians Richard Lewis and Fran Drescher who are both having fun with their public image and are doing good work. I feel like Fran is keenly aware of what people think of her voice to maximize the goof, which I appreciate. The last one features Maurice LaMarche as Orson Welles, which is always welcome and feels like by focusing on an interesting urban legend (the efficacy of the War of the World broadcast to scare the nation is often highly overrated in the public consciousness), and having fun with that idea rather than a straightforward parody. The ending is a pretty heavy handed but considering it references a war America just got out of now, painting it as a forever war nightmare three years in, it does kind of work.

The episode's writer is Peter Gaffney, who would be a Simpsons writer for a while but looking at his resume, he's really been all over the map. He worked on live sitcoms but he was mostly a writer for Nickolodeon's Klasky Csupo's shows and co-created Aaaah! Real Monsters. And even in animation, he seems like a journeyman, writing for pretty much anything. And no shame on that, it's OK to just do the work as best you can and get paid, he did a decent one with this episode. It's a completely OK episode, no big successes, but no real cringe moments and occasionally it tries for some stuff.

Other great jokes:

"It's blob rule on the streets of Springfield and to make matters worse we're being attacked by a 50 ft. Lenny."
"Everyone's paying attention to Homer."
"I still like you big guy."
"Thanks, invisible Carl."

"I'm going to back stage and complain. This Krusty brand alarm clock sprays acid in your face."
"OOOH! YOU SHOWED ME BEFORE!"

"Bart, there's something I have to tell you from father to son. I passed out on your turtle and killed it. Some day you'll thank me."

"SKINNER! Just let him kill you already."
"That's the man I was telling you about."

"SKINNER! I wish we were closer."

"I never thought it would come to this when I fought in the first world war,"
"FIRST world war? Why do you keep calling it that?"
"Oh, you'll see."

"AH! CYLINDERS!?"

 

[Johnny Unusual]

G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)

It's interesting to go back to shows from the era of the second Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. Often, there were things that had bad takes both at the time and in retrospect but more than that, there was also no shortage of very heavy handed commentary on the War on Terror and the patriot act. Mostly I'm thinking of Lions for Lambs but I feel like everyone felt like they needed to say SOMETHING but a lot of it lacked insight, even the stuff that was correct. It seemed like they were coasting on the promise that you'd agree with the message rather than actually challenge any beliefs. And the Simpsons is no exception, having a patriot act episode a few seasons ago and a episode with ended with some war commentary last episode.

In this episode, recruiters convince Bart to pre-enlist in the army and Homer is sent to unenlist him. Homer does but ends up being convinced to enlist himself and is whisked away to boot camp almost immediate. There, Homer scores very poorly but a desperate need for soldiers doesn't hold the army back. Instead, they use Homer as an easy target in some war games, which Homer accidentally makes more difficult. Though the rest of his team surrenders, Homer goes underground in Springfield while the army refuses to relent and occupies Springfield. For the army it's a quagmire and for the citizens its frustrating so Marge convinces the entire town to rebel against the army and using some wit, manage to easily pacify them with no injuries.

Homer joins the army feels like the most late season sitcom premise from the 80s, completely cheeseball. And to be sure, this isn't the show at it's strongest. But it doesn't take too long for the episode to be less about "how funny would Homer be in the army" and more about what's wrong with the army today? There are some decent gags but I also feel like the episode features the kind of weak indulgences of this era, including a fairly weak homage to Looney Tunes, I mean, I do admire that they would spend that much of the episode's run time on it but I isn't particularly successful.

The episode wants to be commentary on the then war and I do like the inspiring message that the army has no right to bully it's people and they have the power to stop it's own army. But the episode is pretty clear the Springfield occupation is a stand in for America's other contemporary occupations. It's somewhat facile and as satire it's not particularly strong, most of the episode using fairly broad gags. I'm also kind of bothered that the episode never gives Homer a partiuclarly good reason (or a particularly bad but clear reason) that Homer would not want to just... through the war game. He loses nothing for surrendering, it doesn't get him out of the army faster and it doesn't even seem to be something to soothe his ego, which he doesn't have a lot of this episode. No, Homer is basically Clouseau, accidentally blinding army dudes and bumbling his way through it all.

Some interesting guest voices for reasons unknown. Maurice LaMarche is in this one, playing one stock player that feels more fit for a Hank or Harry. Oh, he does a good job but it never feels like it particularly calls for his talents (unlike Cap'n Crunch, who he also gets to voice for one line of dialogue. The other is Keifer Sutherland. The fact is I always get this one conflated with Mark Hamill as the body guard trainer from Mayored to the Mob both player similar types and have a particularly similar sounding voice. Sutherland (who at this time would have been in the "argument for torture" show 24) really does bring it and despite his character not being named, he gives it some real gusto. It's a shame the episode never quite rises above competant.

Other jokes

"Listen to those half-pencils scribble."

"Yes, Nelson, of course I'll help. And a haw haw to you."

"So that's the plan. We're meeting at the reservoir at 8PM."
"I flushed a potato down the table and now we have to stay at a hotel."
"OK, great, now call Lindsay Nagel."

Other notes

The show puts a hat on this being a retread of Homer joining the Navy.

Moe taking up arms against the Salvation Army reads differently knowing how anti-trans they are.

 

[Octopus Prime]

You know; it wasn’t even that long ago that I watched these episodes and I 100% do not remember them, even with the write ups.

This was not a memorable run of wpisodes

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Moe'N'a Lisa

I'm someone who doesn't read as often as he'd like. I often think about getting around to reading the classics or some of the more challenging books but I get easily distracted and often have a hard time focusing on basic prose unless I'm completely invested. Even comics I'm finding that my own paranoia about getting stuff done in a day means I rush through more than I want. There's so many books and writers I want to get around to but usually I'm slowly reading some sort of fluff or some fun fact book (I'm currently making my way through a visual history book on Mr. Rogers). But I tell ya, anytime I see an episode featuring the great writers, I want to finally put effort into reading a great book.

In this episode, Homer forgets to take Moe on his birthday fishing trip and is heartbroken. Moe sends Homer an angry note and when she reads it, Lisa realizes Moe has an artist's soul. She works with Moe to turn his intriguing sentence fragments into a complete poem. Moe is published and invited to the Wordloaf literary conference in Vermont to hang out with other writers. Moe becomes self-conscious about being perceived as smart and refuses to mention Lisa's contributions to his work, including the title and editing. Lisa's hurt and refuses to help Moe continue. when he fails to produce more great art, he confesses his failings in poem form and the two reconcile.

Moe'N'a Lisa is an episode that has a few things going for it, despite the fact that it's, like, a 3/5 on the scale of being good. On the plus side - there are some genuinely funny gags, focusing on Moe's sadness is always a good way to at least get us some emotional investment, most of the author guest stars are doing OK and JK Simmons is in it. On the con - most of the gags are a bit middling and the overall plot is like a version of "kid gets popular in school and turns his back on his friends." The episode is basically making Moe as Bukowski, which is a great idea, then letting it get standard and uninteresting.

I actually think that the standard plot amongst literati could work as a sort of meta-gag, in the same way that Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming ends on a parody of crass pop culture while spending the episode deriding it. However, I don't think that's what it's going for (save for putting some cheesy jokes in the mouth of Gore Vidal) and if it is, it doesn't come across well. Similarly, the idea of a great artist putting aside the contributions of loved ones is decent but as mentioned, it results in a standard plot rather than saying something insightful about how women in the creative arts are often ignored. And again, the idea that Moe is a great artist who doesn't fit in with the fancy types and has a hard time finding friends in the same field is another possibility that feels like it is wasted. It's a fun episode that could have been good to great rather than OK.

One other thing I'll say is one of my biggest hurdles in absorbing art about great art is to be able to accept things as good art. There was a movie called the TV Set about David Duchovny creating a TV show inspired by his experiences only to see it devolve into generic dreck due to decisions beyond him. It's a good idea and a lot of the film is interesting and smart but the film completely loses me because it is predicated on the idea that it's about good art gone bad but instead, every time we get a hint at what the show is supposed to be, it seems less like good art and just isn't good. Moe's art is... mostly like that. I know it's supposed to be comedy but I feel like even in that respect, it fails, except in one or two separate lines. Like, the writer describing a day with Mom's new boyfriend isn't exactly original but it works because it gives an insight into who Moe is. Again, I feel like the episode is on the edge of great ideas, like people loving a look into Moe's soul but can't deal with the actual Moe and it's a shame none of these avenues are the ones the show took.

Other great jokes

"I threw a javelin that barely missed Hitler, but I did hit an assassin who was trying to kill Hitler. The last time I saw Hitler we had dinner and laughed about it."

"I wonder if the dog thought about us while we were gone."
God, Marge is such an underrated provider of non-sequitors. Much better than Ralph.

J Jonah Jameson is one of the great fictional characters and while there are some great incarnations (Paul Kligman, Ed Asner), Just Kidding Simmons is still the best.

I love Tom Wolfe "dismissing" a panel with a gavel. I also like Wolfe demanding everyone's leftover garlic mashed potatoes and frankly, I don't blame him.

Other notes
Gore Vidal's bit mostly doesn't work except the last one but man that dude has a mellifluous voice.

The fact that Moe's only read book is "Superhounds - The Ultimate Greyhound Betting System" is a great choice.

This was not a memorable run of wpisodes

No but I think things might be on the upswing if memory serves. At the very least, I remember they try interesting stuff. There's The Haw-Hawed Couple where Nelson is a possessive friend, Kill Gil Volumes I and II (a christmas episode set over the course of a year) and all-time JBear favourite The Wife Aquatic. That said, the next one is about popsicle sticks and Homer running an ice cream truck and... I kinda remember it.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)

Let me tell you, as someone who looks after kids, I'm reminded of how little I like arts and crafts. I mean, "art" is fine if it's just me drawing, as I don't mind having bad art, but I am terrible with tape and glue and sticking stuff together. I did manage to do a pretty decent marble run for the kids recently but mostly all I needed to do was tape up tubes that the kids made. But I don't have the minimal precision needed to make sure everything doesn't instantly fall apart. It's very frustrating to lack a certain amount of delicacy, whether it be with objects or people.

In this episode, Homer loses his job again and buys an ice cream truck. He does very well but Marge is feeling left in the lurch without a legacy. However, she soon realizes that she has a skill for making popsicle stick sculptures. Soon she becomes popular around Springfield, even getting her own art show on the front lawn attended by the people of Springfield. Homer, meanwhile, is in the middle of work when he realizes he's going to be late for her art show. However, in his rush to get home, he accidentally destroys the show, to Marge's anger, who feels Homer only cares about his own happiness. Homer waits outside her door to convince her that he is contrite. Marge believes him and wanders off, which Homer realizes much later. Homer and the kids look for Marge and find her at city hall presenting one more sculpture - a giant Homer, as a sign she still cares about Homer.

Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair) is another in a line of recent episodes that are completely forgettable. Once again it touches on ideas the show has done before but seems to have even less to say than ever. Homer not focusing far more on his own happiness than other people's? I've seen it done better in episodes like The War of the Simpsons. Marge wanting to leave behind a legacy? I feel like this is half the times she realizes she wants something more out of life than just motherhood, particularly when she flexes her artistic muscles. And of course, there are some grand gestures (Homer waiting outside the door for what seems to be days on end and Marge reciprocating with a mammoth statue). This episode has few new things to offer.

The other problem is it doesn't entirely seem consistent on landing on what it is supposed to be about. Marge's legacy? Homer's priorities? Parallel happiness? To be perfectly fair, I do think the show perhaps wants to cover all of this in a way that ties these ideas together and it's not like it's incredible disjointed but I feel like thematically it lacks a certain glue (metaphorical glue) to hold it together. Or perhaps it is all there and proper but simply lacks a new angle to make this culmination of ideas engaging and enriching. Whatever the case, there's a lot here in theory but it all rings very hollow and dull.

I suppose it's also that the episode fees rote from the beginning. The episode begins with Bart throwing away everything but the biggest marshmallows from the cereal box and that's a joke they've done a few times already. Then Homer is quick to lose his job to move the episode along and of course he's going to get it back next week. It's a sense of repetition that isn't fun and winking but rather just...the show, but again. It's an episode that has a few good jokes but it is also the kind to spend minute on "humourously" homaging the opening to The Ali G. Show for some reason with the key difference being "Homer fat". I'm hoping I'm right that the next three episodes mark an uptick in quality, as I remember it.

Other great jokes
"Oh, yes, Max loved to talk about his work. How he bored me..."

"Does your book have any examples?"
"Yes. Eight."
*shocked expression*

"What do you want from us?"
"Nothing! We just like whipping!"

 

[Johnny Unusual]

The Haw-Hawed Couple

Now that I look after kids, I can see how hard it is for kids to be friends. Everything is the end of the world and if one kid wants to go off and do their own thing for a bit, the other kid will see it as some sort of affront or insult. One wants to always be together, the other wants a little bit of time alone and kids have a hard time with compromise. Some of them ask me to make them play with them and, like, no kid. Learning how to be a good friend isn't easy because it takes work and consideration and all the other things that are hard when things get rough.

In this episode, Nelson tries to bully everyone into going to his party and Bart convinces them not to go. When Marge hears what Bart did, she forces Bart to go and he and Nelson end up hitting it off. Though Bart thought of it as a mere good time, Nelson sees Bart as his best friend and Bart initially tries to back out but sees the advantages and decides to keep up the relationship. However, when Nelson sees Bart hanging out with Milhouse, he flips out and Bart decides to end the relationship, making an enemy of Nelson. Nelson confronts Bart while on a field trip to the shore, but rather than threatening him, he confronts Bart for his own selfish reasons for their friendship. When Nelson and Bart find themselves in a cave with the water rising very quickly, Nelson saves Bart and the two go their separate ways.

This episode is one I find fairly decent but has a few notable issues that make it a little weird in construction, like two good episode ideas, two that are closely related, that end up hurting each other a little. See, the conclusion the episode comes to is that both Nelson AND Bart are bad at being friends. I really like this idea, seeing that while Nelson already has a bunch of issues in being a friend, in large part that he's never really had friends and simply doesn't know how to but also seeing Bart is happy to have a friendship in service of conveniences to him. Heck, I've tried to make friends with kids I didn't get on well with simply because they had Nintendo/Sega Genesis. And that's bad friend being. I like that it examines different kind of bad friends and the two coming to realizations about this.

The problem is that the episode makes a few interesting comparisons. One is Bart joining bully society, compared to Ray Liotta in Goodfellas but the other is Nelson is like unto an abusive romantic partner. He flips out on Bart and threatens him and there's a very clear comparison in the way he behaves. And I do think this is an interesting episode idea too, with Bart realizing Nelson tries to keep his friend in a relationship with empty promises of change. But these two ideas, though closely related, really undercut each other. Nelson rightfully pointing out Bart's flaws don't entirely work when Nelson is the scary boyfriend Bart needs to extricate himself from. It accidentally comes off like "in an abusive relationship, there's two sides to every story" which isn't wrong in the most literal sense but a deeply wrong-headed approach since one of those is a victim of abuse. I like a lot of the episode, particularly in individual elements but the whole of the episode is a bit midguided.

The b-plot is a lot of fun, too, with Homer and Lisa getting caught up in a Harry Potter parody Angelica Button (which would become a recurring element). Particularly, it's about Homer coming across a character death in the story and becomes worried Lisa isn't ready for her and changes the ending for her. The parody of Harry Potter whimsy is spot on and I think it does feel like it comes from real parental fears of children not being ready for certain themes, which is turns out Lisa is. It's kind of summed up with this cartoon.

Other great jokes
"Oh yeah, this is that fantasy book even grown ups like. Lonely broken grown ups."

"Bully problem, eh? You know what they say, 'all bullies are cowards.' It's not true. They're brave because their strong!"

"Looks like you've made your choice. Make sure your affairs are in order."
"I've said up a trust. It bypasses the inheritance tax."
"Only till 2008! LOOK INTO IT!"

"Oh man, I can't believe you beat me but you did."

"I somehow escaped from the hour glass!"

"Where is Nelson?"
"I'm sorry, Nelson never woke up."
"What?"
"Never woke up because he never passed out. He's over there."

Other notes
Would be happy if the show didn't think it was funny to use a slur because there's a workaround.

 

[Johnny Unusual]

Kill Gil Volumes I & II

The Simpsons is a show that can be hit or miss in deciding which characters to expand on. Otto, sadly, doesn't work at full episode length (the Otto Show is a very funny episode that doesn't make a strong case for potential depth) but Moe, Apu and Edna Krabappel are characters who could have been stock characters who actually work well in plumbing their depths (problematic elements of Apu aside). Sometimes they go a little hard on ones that work better in the background. But some turn out to have some surprising potential.

In this episode, the Simpsons hit the mall on Christmas eve and Gil, a mall Santa, provides Lisa with the last of a particular toy in the store. Unfortunately, his boss intended to save it for his daughter and when Gil refuses to take it back from Lisa, he's fired for it. Marge, seeing him fall on his sword for the Simpsons and his decency, invites Gil to spend Christmas with them. Gil is a fun and gracious guest but it becomes clear the next morning Gil has no intention to leave. Homer asks Marge to get him to leave but seeing his pathetic stance, she can't bring herself to do it. The year goes by and Gil is still around, hanging onto a grim hope that he'll get a job in Scottsdale, Arizona. Over time, Marge realizes Gil is just a symptom of a bigger problem; an inability to tell people no. Nearly a year passes and right after Thanksgiving, Marge finally is able to gather the courage to say no... only to learn Gil's finally left for Scottsdale, actually getting the job. Marge, seeing a chance to stand up for herself denied, follows him to Arizona were it turns out he's actually successful. Marge confronts him at work were he is popular, rips him apart and denies his attempt to sell them on a home, exposing his weakness to his colleagues and costing him his job. We see the Simpsons in a new home in Scottsdale purchased from Gil out of pity where they are spending Christmas.

So we are on a run of episodes that I think are interesting. The last one was not bad but had a few misguided ideas. I remember enjoying the unique structure of the episode, a Christmas episode taking place over a year. And on rewatch, it's not just a fun gimmick, it's an actual good story. I won't say it adds bold new layers to Gil, a character who works best for minor jokes, but it does demonstrate the character has potential to carry a story, or at least acting as a strong supporting player in another story. The episode has had people staying over before and including mooches, as in the aforementioned the Otto Show. But the formula is usually "in order to get this person out of their house, we must solve their problem." In theory, Gil does have a single problem, lack of job-have, but it's not really about that, it's about being able to assert yourself. It's something I have a problem doing and when I do I tend to feel bad about it and awkward due to my fear of conflict.

I think the brilliance about using Gil is he's easily as annoying as a character like Otto or Moe but the comedy of Gil comes from a pathetic man trying to remain optimistic in the face of an incredibly bleak life. The character is inspired by Jack Lemmon's character in the film Glengarry Glen Ross, a great dark drama about a gang of real estate salesmen and the cutthroat world they live. Only good salesmen get good leads to sell and the only real success is an amoral conman who admits though he has real skills to keep success by exploiting weakness, he still feels that his success is primarily luck. Jack Lemmon's character used to be great but now is entirely flop sweat and can't close the sale, despite something worth fighting for, his daughter's health. Gil is a ridiculously more pathetic incarnation of that character, giving the writers new weird lows for him and lengths to his desperation. And it's why he's the best character for the story; it's much easier understanding having a hard time saying no to Gil. He's a manipulative mooch but he's more pathetic and passive than aggressive or sinister. It's a little trickier to deny someone if you know that doing so will make their lives worse and that he isn't malicious , even if he is sort of malignant.

So, yeah, it's a funny, interesting element of learning to say no for your own good, even if you know it could hurt someone. It's good to be sympathetic and want to care for others but you need to look after yourself to and if one is in the way of another, you need to make a very hard decision for yourself. And having it be Marge's journey makes the most sense. It doesn't make a lot of sense that Homer wouldn't initially make a decision to oust him but it being a choice to allow Marge to say no and learn to grow works for a personal journey at least. But I also like that when Marge finally can do it, it still does make things worse by the method. It's easy for a show to say a proper message but real life is often a lot messier, though ironically the ending is sort of a nice, clean full circle (I'm curious how the Simpsons lost or sold their Arizona home). There are few episodes that are truly great in this era but this episode is pretty good. I won't put it on a big pedestal but I really do think fans who jumped ship some time ago might want to give this one your time.

Other great jokes:

The entire Grumple saga is complete gold.

He makes less and less sense and I love it.

"Hey who wants some eggs a la Harold Stanton....
....
They're always running."
"Do you understand that?"
"Kinda."

"He sure has a lot of markers that don't work."

"Oh, I got something. Oh, a spider bite... or as I call it 'a Christmas kiss;'".

"And that's why I have trouble saying no to people, even Gil."
"Marge, I have no idea what you were thinking about. Why would you think I did?"

I love Homer extremely willing to buy land at the drop of a hat.

Other notes:

I actually meant to mention this in my review proper but I just couldn't find room but I LOVE a wonderful twist on Glengarry where he gives a pep talk completely counter to the famous speech by Alec Baldwin. Instead of a "get aggressive" attitude, The Simpsons gets much more winky with it's audience with Mad Magazine parodies but this doesn't feel like this, it's more like writer Jeff Westbrook really had in mind what successful Gil would look like and it would be someone more or less the same but with confidence, a positive person who believes in his work and that it can actually help people and inspires without fear or shame.

 

[Octopus Prime]

FAR AND AWAY, the most baffling episode of modern Simpsons is Homer is Where the Art Isn't, a 2019 full episode parody of forgotten 70s detective show Banacek, starring George Peppard

Who died in 1994, so they had Bill Hader doing a surprisingly accurate George Peppard impression.

I would ask "Who is this for?!?!" but I watched it with my dad, who loved Banacek (and is the only reason I know what it is), and he was laughing uproariously.

So... "Octos Dad" is who it is for.