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| Burns: "Are you saying 'boo' or 'boo-urns'?" Crowd: "BOOOOOOOO! BOOOOOO!" Moleman: "I was saying 'boo-urns'..." |
Its learned that Springfield is the least popular city in the nation, ranking dead last in science and culture. Worried that what little tourism the city actually has will diminish, the town has a meeting to determine how to fix this problem. Marge, much to everyone's chagrin, has a suggestion but unlike past suggestions people like this one: a film festival where Springfield's locals can submit films to judging. The town takes to the idea and soon everyone in town starts filming. Needing someone to help judge the event, Marge along with Lisa look for viable film critics on TV, finally settling on one Jay Sherman for how smart and sensitive he is. Marge writes to Jay and asks him to visit Springfield, and decides to go, if only because Rainier Wolfcastle wants his blood for insulting him on TV.
As Bart senses "another cheap cartoon crossover" approaching, he meets Sherman, The Critic, as he stays at the Simpsons place up until after the festival. Homer is quickly put off by Sherman, as he seems more capable than Homer in everything, including belching, and especially including the ability to recite the entire Oscar Meyer song. With Marge not particularly defensive of Homer's intelligence, Homer insists Marge put him on the film jury, a list that includes Marge, Jay, Mayor Quimby and Krusty the Klown. Marge relents, and puts Homer in.
As the festival nears, Mr. Burns decides to take part, as he learns profits are dropping because he's seen as an ogre-like individual. With Steven Spielberg unavailable, Burns calls upon Señor Spielbergo, Spielberg's non-union, Mexican equivalent to direct the film and opts to play the role of himself after finding no suitable actors.
The day of the festival arrives, and things start well enough. One movie, aptly named "Man Getting Hit by Football" features Hans Moleman getting hit in the groin with a football, a movie that quickly becomes Homer's favorite. Next, Barney Gumble made a film that chronicles the pain and sorrow of his alcoholism. The powerful film quickly becomes a crowd favorite, though Homer was getting a beer and missed the film. The final film is Burns' movie, a seemingly epic film that has him bringing in factory jobs from America to Mexico, filling the role of ET for some reason, and giving water to Judah Ben-Hur somehow. Everyone hates the movie, booing (or in one case, 'boo-urns'ing) the film and Burns.
During judging, though, Burns was able to bribe both Krusty and the Mayor, and thus the two of them vote for Burns' film. While Jay and Marge both vote for Barney's rather poorly titled "Pukeahontas", Homer is insistent on voting for "Man Getting Hit by Football". With the judging in recess, Marge shows disgust towards Homer, while Jay comments that there must be more to life then guys getting hit in the groin by footballs (just before getting hit by one himself). Homer decides to finally see the film, and agrees it to be the best of the festival, giving Barney the award and its prize: a lifetime supply of Duff beer. The festival is a success, and Jay heads back to New York offering the Simpsons a chance to be on his show (which Bart quickly declines). Marge notes that Burns had learned his lesson, though six months later an attempt to get his film an Oscar via bribing fails when it loses to George C. Scott's "Man Getting Hit by Football".
Quick Review
This episode is a controversial one, in that, well, its a crossover. Now, its not the only crossover the show would do (see: Season 8's The Springfield Files featuring the X-Files crew or Season 22's Elementary School Musical featuring the cast of Glee), but unlike those other episodes, this episode features a crossover with The Critic, a show that was produced by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, showrunners of the Simpsons for Seasons 3 and 4 before leaving to work on The Critic. Furthermore, its the only crossover that featured a mix between two animated comedies, which I think is the sticking point. Series creator Matt Groening was not pleased with that, so it was reported, and left his name off the credits for this episode. The Critic, funny as it was, lasted a total of two seasons, only one of which was on FOX, as the show never really caught on, so having a show that wasn't very popular crossover with the Simpsons at the time must've raised a few eyebrows as well.
Despite all of that, the episode is still very funny. Wolfcastle's new film, McBain: Let's Get Silly, featuring lines such as "Do you ever notice how men always leave the toilet seat up? That's the joke." was the best part of the episode, I believe, but many of the films or the productions thereof really gave the episode the meat of its comedy. Say what you will about the crossover, but Jay Sherman fit right into the episode (even if most of his comedic failings from The Critic didn't transfer over), and Jon Lovitz again provides an excellent voice over. Even if you're not a fan of the concept, the quality of the jokes and humor in this episode make it one of the best of the season regardless of whether the crossover enhanced or detracted from your experience.
Final Score: 10
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