Pygmoelion
I've never been happy with my looks. I don't think I look "ugly" but I don't think I look "handsome". On rare occasions I have been complimented on my looks (mostly by students) that makes me feel good but when I look in the mirror, I mostly just see the flaws. I feel a little better now that I've lost around 60 pounds but regardless, I'm not terribly confidant in myself all around. I'm sure its not uncommon feeling, not unlike not liking the sound of one's own voice (I also don't like that, either). Frankly, I don't know if it matters that I am "handsome" so much as I wish I knew people liked what I look like.
In this episode, Moe wins a bartending contest and the prize is his face on a calendar. Unfortunately, when Moe gets the calendar, he finds a sticker on his face, covering up his ugly visage. Sensitive about his looks, Moe decides to get plastic surgery. The surgery is successful and Moe finds himself incredibly handsome for the first time. He decides to get revenge on the people who wronged him which leads him to a soap opera producer who called him ugly. Moe arrives only to get cast in a key role and ends up becoming popular and following his long held acting dream. Moe is happy until he reads that he's getting killed off and decides to spoil a years worth of stories. Moe is kicked out but not before learning the death was merely a dream sequence. An accident returns Moe's face to normal and he returns to his old life.
I won't go as far as to say Pygmoelion isn't about anything but it feels "about something-lite". The gags are paramount, though we are given a lot of sympathy to Moe in the episode. That's what I like about a lot of Moe episodes, that while he's in many ways pretty scummy, Hank Azaria and the writers can do a good job at making him somewhat sympathetic when they want to and his deep sadness can strengthen an episode. I think it helps here, in an episode that is light on insight in what it means to be "handsome" and "ugly".
Not that there isn't none. Carl talks about "look good outside/unhappy inside" but that's not what we see here. What is inside is a lifetime of bitterness from Moe, which ends up poisoning his dream job (and ironically lands him the job in the first place. Moe is moved to like what he sees in the mirror but right after, he's eager to rub it in the faces of those who wronged him. It can be an understandable instinct but living well is the best revenge and there's every indication that, at least for a while, Moe could have lived well thanks to the confidence and popularity of his looks. So it isn't the deepest episode but at least there is some character insight into Moe's tragic flaw that goes beyond his looks and even his gruff demeanor; that he's still living with a lot of vitriol in his heart that causes him to burn some bridges when he could have been using the opportunity to move to a new job.
Overall, Pygmoelion lacks depth but it is funny and after two episodes that have made some critical errors, it is nice to see an episode that where the mistakes are much more small scale by comparison. The strongest element in the episode, aside from Moe's sadness at his looks and occasional joy (again, Azaria and the writers do well with this) is definitely the soap opera itself. Its wonderfully ridiculous and strangely not far off from what soap operas were in the 80s and 90s. Aliens, demonic possession and all sorts of weird crap wasn't uncommon, to the point where eventually one writer famous for adding all that stuff in soaps went onto make "Passions" a show full of witches and dolls come to life. What little we get is hilarious and while the Simpsons had often done some great soap jokes before, there's lots of comedic value to be wrung from the show on the Simpsons "It Never Ends". Frankly, its my favourite part of a perfectly cromulent episode.
Other great jokes:
"Now, fresh from his appearance before the house subcommittee on teenage alcoholism... DUFFMAN!"
"Duff Beer is brewed from hops, barely and sparkling clear mountain... what?"
"Goat!"
"Uh... close enough."
I love that Milhouse's dad is just pushing a laundry cart... where to exactly?
This is more for the first bit of this...
"I died on the operating table, didn't I?"
"Yeah, but only for a minute. Its a funny story, I'll tell you about it sometime."
"Oh, shut up you windy old hack."
"And that's another thing, you have to stop calling me that."
"with Gabriella DeFarge as Gabriella St. Farge
Allegra Hamilton as Sister Bernadette and Roxy Monoxide..."
"Cleo, Cleo, you've brought music to my heart, but this relationship can never work. I'm a doctor and you're a 5,000 year old mummy I brought back to life."
"But I love you, Tad, and together we can burn all the cities of the Earth."
"It's against hospital regulations, dammit. And Clive Dancer's just waiting for me to slip up."
"As a child I was bitten by the acting bug. Then it burrowed under my skin and laid eggs in my heart. Now those eggs are hatching and the feeling is indescribable."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Our dog has that."
"Then I get in a sky diving accident and have to be rushed to the... graveyard!?"
"... And only then do we discover Prof. Galloway's half-sister is plotting to take over International Perfume and Wine."
Other notes:
Oh, and there's a subplot about Maggie's balloon. Yep. It sure is in the episode.