The Simpsons - General Discussion

[BatmanBeatles]

"Lies make baby Jesus cry."

[Iboatedhere]

Moe: Homer stole our rock performance. That fat, dumb, and bald guy sure plays some real hardball.

 

Skinner: I'd do anything for my beloved Army.

Army Recruiter: How about re-enlisting?

Skinner: How about you bite me?

 

Reverend Lovejoy: This is very sad news and it never would've happened if the wedding had been inside the church with God instead of out here in the cheap showiness of nature.

 

Skinner: I'm not the principle of the line, mother.

Agnes: And you never will be.

 

Superintendent Chalmers: Good lord. The rod up that mans butt must have a rod up its butt.

 

Chalmers: Ugh, why will no one honor the 'ding'.

Skinner: I honor the 'ding' sir.

Chalmers: What the hell are you talking about?

[M. Darcy]

This Sunday's theme is Bart-Time Jobs. 

[radishcake]

9/21/14 (All times are EDT) Bart Job Block! 

3:30pm - "Bart the Murderer" - Bart fraternizes with a gang of mobsters and becomes the prime suspect when Principal Skinner mysteriously disappears.

4pm- "Bart Gets Famous" - Bart becomes an instant celebrity after he ad-libs a line during a sketch on the “Krusty the Klown Show.”

4:30pm - "Homer's Enemy" - A resentful, hard-working employee at the power plant makes Homer his enemy. Bart purchases an abandoned factory for one dollar at a government auction.

5pm - "Girly Edition" - Bart attempts to upstage Lisa when the pair co-host a children's news program. Homer obtains a helper monkey.

5:30pm - "Bart Carney" - A carnival worker and his son move in with the Simpsons after Homer costs them their jobs.

6pm - "Bart the Mother" - Bart tends to a nest filled with eggs after he inadvertently kills a bird with a BB gun.

6:30pm - "The Great Money Caper" - Homer and Bart become scam artists when the family is faced with the cost of a sudden car repair.

7pm - "'The Book Job" - After Lisa discovers that her favorite author doesn't exist, Homer forms a literary gang in hopes of writing a bestselling “tween” novel and raking in millions.

[JTMacc99]

Moe: "They're heading for the old mill!"

Homer: "No we're not!"

Moe: "Well, let's go to the old mill anyway. Get some cider!"

Mob: "Yeah!"

[Iboatedhere]

Bart: Now is the winter of our discontent.

Ralph: Oh no run!

 

Homer: The bee bit my bottom now my bottom's big!

 

Homer: Just poke blindly at the controls until they let you go.

 

Homer: During the exam I'll hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything will work out.

 

Homer: I always wondered if there was a god. And now I know. There is. And it's me!

 

Marge: It's so late! You kids have to go to bed.

Bart: But the floods only knee high. At least let us stay up until the midgets drown.

 

Apu: I apologize again. As a token of forgiveness please take this baby.

[Spartan Girl]

I thought I'd start a thread for Marge since 1) we need character threads on this forum and 2) I need to vent my frustration with what this character has become.

 

In the older seasons, I liked Marge well enough: a woman of relatively average intelligence and at least a little ambition.  But these days I think there are only two basic modes the writers use for her: pissed off/petty or daft housewife.  I know this might seem like a double standard given how Homer has been dumbed down over the years, but when Marge acts like an airhead, I don't find it particularly funny.  Seeing her do stuff like ironing out garbage bags or untossing a salad and acting like it's a trip to Disneyland is just...pathetic.  And I have pretty much had it up to here with her ridiculous obsession of ensuring that Lisa ends up married.  She used to encourage Lisa to be herself, but now she just wants her to be normal so she can get a man.  Ugh!

 

And I really really hate how the Homer/Marge episodes have degenerated into her basically resenting Homer for not being the ideal husband she seems to fantasize about having.  Homer hasn't done anything that jerkassy in that while, so I don't understand why Marge has gotten pissy at him for basically just being himself.  I just think the writers are overdoing this whole "long-suffering wife" angle of her character.  Yeah, Homer isn't perfect, but compared to other characters -- like oh say Peter Griffin -- he isn't that bad.

 

Am I the only that feels this way?

Edited September 24, 2014 by Spartan Girl

[Kel Varnsen]

I always loved this one:

 

Homer: Well, crying isn't gonna bring him back ... unless your tears smell like dog food. So you can either sit there crying and eating can after can of dog food until your tears smell enough like dog food to make your dog come back, or you can go out there and find your dog.

 

Bart: You're right, dad! [leaves]

 

Homer: Rats! Almost had him eating dog food!

[BatmanBeatles]

Homer: I always figured my wife was my soul mate, but if it's not Marge, who is it? Where do I begin looking?

Furniture salesman: This really goes beyond my training as a furniture salesman.

[radishcake]

Sunday's Block Party : It's all Krusty! :D

9/28/2014 (All times are EDT)

4pm: Krusty Gets Busted - When Homer positively identifies Krusty the Clown as an armed robber, Bart attempts to clear his idol's name.

4:30pm: Like Father, Like Clown - Bart and Lisa scheme to reunite Krusty the Clown with his father, Rabbi Krustofsky, who disowned him for not carrying on the family tradition.

5pm: Krusty Gets Kancelled - Bart, Lisa and a group of celebrities help Krusty turn his career around after his television show is cancelled.

5:30pm: The Last Temptation of Krust - Krusty shuns his old routines in favor of edgier material-and suddenly becomes the hottest comic in show business.

6pm: Insane Clown Poppy - Krusty discovers that he fathered a child during the Gulf War.only to gamble away his daughter's precious violin during a poker game with Fat Tony.

6:30pm: Today I Am a Clown - When Krusty takes the Sabbath off so he can study for his bar mitzvah, he chooses Homer as temporary guest host. But when Homer's career unexpectedly takes off, Krusty finds himself out of a job.

7pm: Once Upon a Time in Springfield - Krusty ends up playing second fiddle to Princess Penelope, a new character on his show, only to end up falling in love with the actress who plays her.

7:30pm: The Ten-Per-Cent Solution - After being fired from his popular kids' show, Krusty stages a comeback with help from an agent who's also an old flame.

[honeywest]

Krusty: "I gotta sit up now? What am I, Baryshnikov?"

[Galileo908]

26 seasons already! From SNPP:

Krusty retires when he is offended by a televised roast of him; a character "for whom the actor won an Emmy" dies.

 

 

So we finally find out who dies (FYI: They're not even trying to hide it anymore that it'll be

Rabbi Krustofski

).

 

ETA: Well, that Don Hertzfeldt couch gag was amazing. The bit starting with Homer reverting to his Tracey Ullman version was a great touch.

 

"Spoiler Alert: Unfortunately, my dad doesn't die." That opening had a bunch of death imagery. And we saw Flanders as an angel right at the beginning,

 

Nice seeing Krusty get roasted. It actually parallels when Joan Rivers got roasted. She also planned to retire, but hated the roast so much she got back in the game. Sure, that was all staged, but Jeff Ross was at both roasts. (According to writer Michael Price, it more resembled Chevy Chase's. I'm gonna agree with him, that roast was just SAD).

 

Totally called Rabbi Krustofski being killed off. Jackie Mason's getting old, and really sounded old in the episode. He didn't have an undignified death, but it was still so...sudden. I loved the whole "Eh" thing at the funeral. But the ending was really sweet with Jewish heaven.

 

Appreciated seeing Sideshows Bob and Mel meet for the first time. 25 seasons and this never happened?! I also liked seeing Gabbo and Arthur Crandall's cameos. And David Hyde Pierce and Garry Marshall appeared as themselves, too.

 

Seeing Homer with sleep apnea was more sad than funny. As was seeing Krusty and his father at what I'm assuming was his mother's grave.

 

I'm gonna agree with Rabbi Krustofski, I give this episode an "Eh." It was okay, but some parts were just SAD and I'm referring to Lisa's plot there. I went through a couple of deaths over the summer so that hit me pretty hard.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Galileo908

[radishcake]

Just in case someone hasn't seen ANYTHING I'm spoiler tagging that. :) 

[Galileo908]

Good call. Sorry about that.

[radishcake]

I'm hugging you Galileo908, I had a rough year too and this was a little sad for me. Especially since I just watched Lisa's Substitute yesterday with my daughter. 

[TVSpectator]

This episode wasn't bad, imo. Although, I did enjoy seeing Krusty trying to find his way after the death (and is it okay now to not use any spoiler tags?).

[Twilight Man]

When they said that a major character was going to die, I just figured that it would be a character

that appeared in more than 10 episodes out of 552.

Heck, I think he has had more appearances in the comic books than he has on the actual show.

 

Still, Hymie the robot only appeared in seven of the 138 episodes of "Get Smart", yet everyone remembers him.

He even made a brief cameo at the end of that remake movie.

 

I suppose "major character" is ultimately in the eye of the beholder.

[futurechemist]

I didn't know the animator whose style they were spoofing in the couch gag, so it wasn't that funny to me.  And I have a grudge against long couch gags since it takes away from the episode and story.  There was some heart in the episode, better than other recent episodes for sure.  Basically I didn't get nearly as much emotion and humor from this episode as the one where Krusty and his dad reconcile in the first place.  A version of O Mein Papa at the funeral would have worked better than a song spoofing the Itchy and Scratchy theme.

[Maelstrom]

Lisa: I am the Lizard Queen!

[Lugal]

Since I'm watching "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming"...

 

Col. Hapablap: Hell, not the Wright brother's plane! The Smithsonian's gonna have my ass on a platter.

And after the tank runs it over, the guy opens the hatch: "Sorry! We don't normally drive these things in the air force."

[Kaboom 2.0]

I've given up hope years ago that the show would return to the level of what I consider its best seasons but I thought the premiere was ok, not "eh," to quote Rabbi Krustofski, but not unfunny either, despite Sarah Silverman's cameo (I cannot stand her). I had to rewind the couch gag and I'm glad I did, I liked it even more the second time around.

 

Mel and Bob finally meeting actually made me smile!

[HyeChaps]

Is Eh worse than Meh?

[mtlchick]

I thought they were killing off the rabbi because I thought Jakcie Mason was dead.  Whoops. 

[radishcake]

Spoiler tags no longer necessary. I just didn't want to spoil anyone befor the show even started! :)

[opus]

Al Jean talks about the episode:

 

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/09/28/simpsons-character-death-premiere/

[Galileo908]

IMHO, The fact that this death was hyped up for two year really let down the episode when the death actually happened.

[KHenry14]

Pre Season 9 we love Homer's Barbershop Quartet. So many good things there, including a George Harrison cameo. Post season 9 it's the Regina Monologues where they go to England and create havoc. "Sorry Mr. Macbeth"

[TVSpectator]

I didn't know the animator whose style they were spoofing in the couch gag, so it wasn't that funny to me.  And I have a grudge against long couch gags since it takes away from the episode and story.  There was some heart in the episode, better than other recent episodes for sure.  Basically I didn't get nearly as much emotion and humor from this episode as the one where Krusty and his dad reconcile in the first place.  A version of O Mein Papa at the funeral would have worked better than a song spoofing the Itchy and Scratchy theme.

 

Here is the song:

 

 

 

IMHO, The fact that this death was hyped up for two year really let down the episode when the death actually happened.

 

Yeah, I was expecting someone like Krusty or Chief Wiggum to die in this episode, but seeing Krusty trying to find himself (and also still trying to get his dad's approval/praise, even after death) made the episode good to watch. Although, I also didn't like the funeral song but I guess, (imo, in a weird way) kinds of blends in the fact that Krusty was also having a moment of crisis with his career as well as a personal crisis, and that to me kind of explains the funeral song. 

[Aprilshowers]

Am I the only one who enjoyed the B plot of Lisa upset about  Homer possibly dying due to his lifestyle more? They should have kept that as the main story as Lisa being worried about Homer makes sense and I find H/L episodes really touching and usually well written.

 

Eh well...

Edited September 30, 2014 by Aprilshowers

[Iboatedhere]

Troy McCLure:  That's right, boys! Troy's back from the gutter and he's brought someone with him!

 

Bart: I never heard Maggie laugh like that before.

Lisa: Well when was the last time Dad gave her that kind of attention?

Bart: When she swallowed that quarter he spent all day with her.

 

Groundskeeper Willie: Oh leave me be! I don't want to live if I have to clean up this mess!

[jonesingjay]

I really enjoy all of the future episodes, as well as the glimpses into the past. I've been saving those on the DVR after viewing them. 

[jonesingjay]

 Homer hasn't done anything that jerkassy in that while, so I don't understand why Marge has gotten pissy at him for basically just being himself.  I just think the writers are overdoing this whole "long-suffering wife" angle of her character.  Yeah, Homer isn't perfect, but compared to other characters -- like oh say Peter Griffin -- he isn't that bad.

 

Maybe, it's built up resentment after the decades of dealing with all of the dumb things Homer has said or done over the years. With that said, if she's truly unhappy with him and their marriage, she could leave because Homer isn't ever going to change. 

Edited September 30, 2014 by jonesingjay

[Princess Sparkle]

Pre Season 9 we love Homer's Barbershop Quartet. So many good things there, including a George Harrison cameo. Post season 9 it's the Regina Monologues where they go to England and create havoc. "Sorry Mr. Macbeth"

I love the Regina Monologues.  It cracks me up just thinking about it; there are so many good quotes:

 

"Press the brick in the back of the fireplace."

"OWWWW!"

"*sigh"....Put out the fire first!"

 

"Wow!  I can't believe we met Mr. Bean!"

 

"He rear-ended the friggen Queen!"

[rubaco]

Bart & Homer stories, according to:

 

https://twitter.com/EverySimpsons

[radishcake]

Belated block info! Thanks rubaco for the link! 

Homer & Bart Sunday 10/5 (all times EDT)

3pm: Saturdays of Thunder - Realizing he has not been a good father to Bart, Homer aids his son in building a soap box racer.

3:30pm: Brother from the Same Planet - Bart tires of Homer's lack of interest in him and chooses another father from the Bigger Brother program. Lisa struggles to kick the habit of dialing a 900 number.

4pm: Homer's Phobia - Homer grows homophobic after he realizes the family's new friend is gay.

4:30pm: Lard of the Dance - Homer thinks he can net a fortune by recycling grease. Lisa helps organize a school dance.

5pm: The Parent Rap - A stern judge rules that Homer and Bart are to be tethered together, and later, Homer and Marge are declared bad parents and placed in old-fashioned wooden stocks.

5:30pm: I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot - Homer builds a fighting robot for Bart, but finds he must hide inside the device to make it work; Lisa searches for a replacement for Snowball II when the cat is run over by a car.

6pm: We're on the Road to D'ohwhere - After Bart gets into trouble at school, Homer drives Bart to Oregon, where he'll attend a behavior modification camp; Marge inadvertently becomes a popular drug dealer after she sells some of Homer's expired pain medications during a yard sale.

6:30pm: Homer the Father - Homer uses plotlines from a 1980's sitcom to deal with Bart when the boy grows obsessed with obtaining a cool mini-bike; Bart attempts to trade nuclear secrets to the Chinese government.

[Galileo908]

Homer and Bart try to patch up their differences on a "Relation Ship" cruise; meanwhile, Marge takes over Homer's fantasy football team.

 

 

Guest starring Nick Offerman! That's what I'm positive about.

 

ETA: Itchy & Scratchy in the couch gag! That one got a little weird.

 

You know, if Bart entered his real birth date (approx 1981), he'd be easily able to see that red band trailer.

 

So Homer tried to be a responsible parent again, even entrusting Marge with his Fantasy Football team. As established before, Marge doesn't understand football (then again, neither do I). I probably would've picked 5 kickers. I've played Fantasy Football exactly once, and it was for a school assignment. And I really loved that documentary that took over during the third act. "Proving once and for all that Fantasy Football is mostly luck."

 

Lakwande Whatshisname being kicked out by his wife for buying her the wrong color convertible is definitely a much simpler unfortunate incident compared to some other players lately.

 

Homer and Bart were lucky to be shanghaied by Nick Offerman. He was definitely the bright spot in the episode. The Sea Captain showing up at the end wondering why he wasn't in this episode was a perfect capper.

 

Apparently Lewis has a father. Who knew?

 

All in all, really liked this one!

 

ETA 2: Loved the return of the Tom Landry hat! Complete with autograph (that's usually left off when we see it)!

 

"Your RB is worse than Arby's" - Rev. Lovejoy for yet another slam at Arby's.

Edited October 6, 2014 by Galileo908

[futurechemist]

Overall, I liked this episode.  It was good to see some heart in the Homer/Bart relationship.  I liked the mutual respect angle.

 

But Homer should have had Lisa manage his fantasy football team, she's pretty good at picking the winners.

[peeayebee]

I thought this was a good one. I think my favorite part was the montage on the ship, where we see Homer jump in the hammock over Bart and then squashes him, then he jumps into the bottom hammock and goes thru the floor, which causes the ship to flood, and then Homer up in the rigging, his underwear causing the ship to race thru the ocean.

[Kaboom 2.0]

"Today I wear the vest" followed by Nelson's patented "ha ha!" made me cheer, as did seeing Tom Landry's hat again.

 

Loved Nick Offerman and Cletus and Gitmo, almost everything else was just meh for me. So did I miss something or did Apu have just one octuplet with him?

[Galileo908]

Yeah, five of Apu's octoplets are boys (Gheet, Anoop, Sanddep, Napendu, Poonam). I guess they only wanted to animate one of them?

[Twilight Man]

Oh man, I love the X-Files episode of The Simpsons. Especially this part:

[Homer is sweating and running on a treadmill.]

Mulder: Scully, what's the point of this test?

Scully: No point, I just thought he could stand to lose a little weight.

Mulder: His jiggling is almost hypnotic.

Scully: Yes. It's like a lava lamp.

http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/246745/slide_246745_1427541_free.gif

[xander874]

 

Apparently Lewis has a father. Who knew?

I wasn't 100% sure that was him, so I'm glad someone else confirmed it. His skin seemed lighter than usual and since he had no lines, I couldn't tell. It was also nice to Arnie Pie in The Sky and his little one.

 

The episode had its moments, although it reminded me of the rafting trip Homer and Bart went on with Ernest Borgnine and the Flanders' many many seasons ago.  Same issue between them too.

[Iboatedhere]

Homer: It's the rapture! Quick! Get Bart out of the house before God comes!

 

Homer: Let's make a pact. This is gonna be the best vacation ever or we'll all agree to disband and join other families.

 

Homer: Oak Ridge, this is Springfield Nuclear. We need to order a T437 Safety Console.

Oak Ridge: Springfield, my computer shows your T437 is fully operational. (Homer casually pours soda on the console) I suggest- oh my god. Oh my god, no! This can't be happening. You're operating without a T437 Springfield! Oh sweet mother of mercy! I mean, my god!

 

Marge: I can't believe how many manatees we saved today.

Caleb Thorn: And the ones we couldn't save we put to good use. (Takes a bite of a manatee roasting over a fire.)

Marge: (disapproving groan)

Caleb: What am I supposed to do? Bury them at Arlington?

 

Farmer: Oh no my corn. Paul Newman's gonna have my legs broke.

 

Marge: I wonder if the dog thought about us while we were gone.

 

Moe: Let's take her out hunting tomorrow. Make her into a man.

Homer: She'd never go. She's a vegetarian.

Moe: Oh jeeze. Homer, jeeze. You and Marge ain't cousins are you?

[BatmanBeatles]

Moe: Homer that's the worst story I've ever heard and I've read all the Sweet Valley High books.

[radishcake]

This Sunday's Block Party is Marge Is In Charge. 

Follow the multiple careers of Marge Simpson tomorrow at 4 PM on FXX:  http://youtu.be/io4JsZ8oJN4

Sunday October 12, 2014 (All times EDT)

4pm: Marge Gets a Job - When the foundation to the Simpsons' house is need of an expensive repair, Marge takes a position at the power plant where Homer works.

4:30pm: The Springfield Connection - Marge decides to enroll to the police force when she finds such an experience exhilarating after having chasing Snake and having him arrested after a conned Three-card Monte game. She is then qualified as an official police officer after taking training.

5pm: The Twisted World of Marge Simpson - After being expelled from an investment club, Marge starts her own pretzel franchise.

5:30pm: Realty Bites - Marge gets a job with a realty firm, but her honesty costs her lucrative sales. Homer purchases a 60s hot-rod convertible at a police auction.

6pm: Mommie Beerest-  Homer mortgages his house to save Moe's bar, but Marge ends up taking control of the business—and spends so much time with Moe that Homer fears his marriage is in trouble.

6:30pm: Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em - Marge starts her own carpentry business, only to discover that men don't trust a woman to do the job; Bart discovers that Skinner is allergic to peanuts.

7pm: Husband's & Knives - After Marge launches a gym for “regular women” and becomes a successful businessperson, Homer decides to have his stomach stapled so she'll find him more attractive.

7:30pm: Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes - Homer and Flanders team-up as bounty hunters; Marge makes confections for an erotic bakery.

[radishcake]

Marge opens a sandwich franchise store after her sandwiches become a huge hit at Springfield Elementary. But running day-to-day at the store proves challenging, especially when the same franchise opens another location across the street.

[Brandi Maxxxx]

Lisa: I don't think the real Radioactive Man wears a plastic smock with a picture of himself on it.

Milhouse: He would on Halloween!

[Galileo908]

"Family-licious."

 

"My one weakness: my third 'really.'

 

Heh, Flanders finally confronted Homer on his "borrowing" of his stuff, like his freezer. And his electricity.

 

I'm with Homer, I take free soda refills as a challenge.

 

Burns falling in love with the Mother Hubbard standee was a really weird bit. And is the only other person on TV besides Craig Ferguson to use the term "mouth organ."

 

Man, was this a boring one. Even that bit at the end with the giant sloth.

[futurechemist]

Maybe Marge would have more success if she baked some pretzels to go with the sandwiches.  

 

And at least Homer didn't have to take on a 3rd job to cover for the sandwich shop losing money.  He might have had to work the night shift at the Kwik-E-Mart or something.

 

This episode felt really derivative.  And the satire was toothless at best.

[Peace 47]

I love "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer": it's got "the Merciless Peppers of Quetzlzacatenango" [thanks for the spelling assist, Wikipedia!] (grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum), Marge's soulmate-worthy deduction of Homer's location, Bart eyeing Homer's silhouette and noting that it was either Homer, "or Batman had really let himself go," chilli boots, hot pants--I could go on all day. Plus, I stan for Johnny Cash, and his space coyote, er, I mean spirit guide, was hilarious. "What should I do? Should I get rid of all of my possessions? // If anything, you should get more possessions! You don't even have a computer!"

Also, "Duffless." I talk about the scene where Marge gives Homer the alcoholism quiz from the pamphlet all the time, but I swear it took me at least 5 watches of that episode before I could watch that scene without laughing so hard that I cried. "Do you hide beer around the house? // Do I!!" [fishes beer out of toilet tank]. Plus, the Kennedy-Nixon Duff commercial, Lisa's "That'll teach 'im to bust my tomat'r" and Bart going catatonic when Marge asks him to fetch the cupcakes. Comedy gold.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Peace 47