Thursday, August 30, 2012

Simpson and Delilah (S02, E02-015)

Livin' the bald man's dream.
Plot Summary
Learning of a new miracle breakthrough in hair growth known as Dimoxinil, Homer makes haste in acquiring some.  Without $1000 to purchase the drug, though, Homer has to use shady insurance dealings to acquire it, but when he does, its works wonders, somehow growing his hair to hippie-like lengths in just one night.

Its just in time for the nuclear plant's mandatory promotion from within!  Mr. Burns is impressed with Homer for some reason, and promotes him.  In Homer's search for a secretary, a man by the name of Karl pushes Homer to be more self-confident, to take pride in what he's doing, and that he deserves everything he's got.  In a meeting, Homer suggests that worker's will be happier if they had more tartar sauce at lunch, and upon getting tartar sauce, productivity is up and accidents are down (coinciding with Homer's departure from the working sector, hmm).  Homer is given the key to the executive bathroom, which is the last straw from the increasingly neglected Waylon Smithers.

Looking into matters, he finds that Homer charged the company for the Dimoxinil and goes to fire him over it.  However, Karl takes the fall, allowing Homer to keep his position... just in time for a big speech the next day.  What's worse, Bart's dreams of a beatnik goatee causes him to accidentally spill all of the Dimoxinil.  Just as quickly as it grew, Homer's hair falls apart by morning.  Karl tries to keep his spirits up by giving him a phonetically correct speech and a man kiss, but the speech doesn't go well as people are unimpressed by a bald man's ramblings.  Mr. Burns, somewhat understanding of Homer's baldness, lets Homer regain his old job afterward.

Quick Review
I really enjoyed this episode.  Karl, voiced by Harvey Fierstein, did wonders for Homer's confidence and career and was a true to him up until the end.  We also get to see a defensive Smithers for the first time as well, willing to do whatever it takes to remain Mr. Burns' right-hand man.  You had to feel for Homer as well, who was as happy as can be when he got his hair back, only for it to fade as quickly as his hair did after Bart's mishap.  Simpson and Delilah was the first truly great episode of Season 2.

Final Score: 8.3

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Bart Gets an F (S02, E01-014)

Admit it, you were the same way when you earned D minuses, too.
Plot Summary
In this episode, we see the struggles of a young boy.  A boy whose carefree attitudes towards his education has grand consequences.  A boy who could be held back a grade for his lack of knowledge towards the past, a threatening loop that could continue until his own son reaches that same grade as well.  A boy who needs both miracles and his own efforts to just graze the line of pass.  These are the struggles of one Bart Simpson.

After failing his book report, Bart tries to get it together for an upcoming history test, but keeps getting distracted.  Desperate, he fakes getting sick to escape, then gets answers for the test from Milhouse, a decent plan.  Except, Milhouse did terribly on the test, and now Bart did even worse.  This latest F creates an ultimatum from Bart: should he fail another history test, he'll have to repeat the 4th grade.

Dedicated to avoiding this fate, Bart recruits Martin Prince as a tutor, promising to turn Martin into one of the cool kids as payment for the services.  Things seem to go well, until Martin becomes too enveloped in being cool, and brushes Bart off.  Hardly any closer to passing the test, which is now the next day, Bart prays for a miracle, and gets it with a snow day.  However, Bart still can't study as now the snow and all the people having fun with it prove a distraction.

At last, Bart finally takes the test, and receives a 59%, a high F.  Devastated, Bart breaks into tears, comparing his situation to when George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity to France in 1754.  Mrs. Krabappel, impressed with that display of applied knowledge, bumps Bart's score up to a 60% - a passing D-.  Bart is thrilled, and everyone is happy.

Quick Review
The premiere to the 2nd season of The Simpsons is a strong one.  Whether it was Homer and his large gorilla programs, Martin's devolution into one of the cool kids, or Otto's "commitment" to "driving" his bus, this episode has plenty to offer in terms of comedy.  Bart might've gotten a D- in the end, but this episode gets... uh, whatever letter grade is the equivalent to a 7.9.

Final Score: 7.9

The Simpsons: Season 2 Episode List

Season 2 was a vital season towards the future success of the series.  There are a lot of episodes in here that strong define not just family members like Lisa, Homer, or Grampa, but also a lot of the supporting cast as well, like Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner or Wayland Smithers.  There's also a distinct change early on where the humor shifts from the observational type seen in Season 1 to the more character-driven kind seen in later episodes.  In all, it begins a steady rise for the series, and its not going to fall any time soon.

Season 2 Overall Score:  8.02
Favorite Season 2 Episode: The Way We Was
Least Favorite Season 2 Episode: Bart Gets Hit by a Car

1) Bart Gets an F
Faced with the possibility of being held back, Bart stops at nothing to try and not fail his next history test.
Score: 7.9

2) Simpson and Delilah
After Homer acquires a "miracle breakthrough" hair solution that finally restores his hair, he gets promoted to a junior executive.  As he and his new secretary Karl rise up the ranks, his hair (and his means of obtaining it) may become his undoing.
Score: 8.3

3) Treehouse of Horror
The first episode of an annual tradition.  Three Halloween-themed tales are told.
Bad Dream House: a haunted house tries to either kill the Simpsons or least get them off itself
Haunted are the Damned: Kang and Kodos take the Simpsons to their home planet, feeding them along the way.
The Raven: James Earl Jones retells Poe's classic with Simpsons characters in the title's roles.
Score: 8.8

4) Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish
With his nuclear plant in hot water, Mr. Burns runs for Governor, creating a political divide in the Simpsons household.
Score: 7.3

5) Dancin' Homer
Homer tells the tale of how he became a minor league mascot who got a shot at the major leagues.
Score: 7.5

6) Dead Putting Society
Homer, angry at his apparently perfect neighbor Ned Flanders, has Bart take on Todd Flanders in a mini-golf tournament, where the loser may or may not embarrass themselves.
Score: 8.0

7) Bart vs. Thanksgiving
Bart ruins Lisa's craft at Thankgiving dinner.  After being sent to his room for a reason he can't comprehend, Bart runs away and has his Thanksgiving dinner at a homeless relief center.
Score: 7.7

8) Bart the Daredevil
After seeing a daredevil complete a jump at a monster truck rally, Bart decides to become one too.
Score: 8.4

9) Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
Seeing just how bad an influence Itchy & Scratchy can be, Marge leads a campaign to eliminate cartoon violence.
Score: 7.9

10) Bart Gets Hit by a Car
After the titular occurrence, Lionel Hutz convinces Homer to sue the car's driver: the ever rich Mr. Burns, lying about Bart's injuries to do so.  In the way: the ever moral Marge Simpson.
Score: 7.0

11) One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
At a sushi bar, Homer is told he ate the poisonous portion of a blowfish and is given 22 hours to live.  He tries to live those last hours the best he can.
Score: 8.2

12) The Way We Was
In the first flashback episode of the series, Homer and Marge tell the kids of when they first met and fell in love.
Score: 9.2

13) Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment
Homer steals cable.  Later, Lisa learns that stealing sends people to hell!  Thereafter, she tries to convince Homer to stop stealing cable.
Score: 7.7

14) Principal Charming
With Selma desperate for a man, Homer and Marge try to set her up with Principal Skinner.  Then, Skinner falls in love with Patty.  Ah well, that's life.
Score: 7.7

15) Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Homer learns about, finds, then promptly ruins the business of his long-lost half-brother.
Score: 8.0

16) Bart's Dog Gets an F
While tearing up everything in the house, Santa's Little Helper is sent to obedience school.  If he doesn't pass, he'll be given away.  The pressure!
Score: 7.9

17) Old Money
Grampa has a relationship with an elderly woman.  She dies shortly thereafter, leaving Grampa over a hundred thousand dollars.
Score: 7.8

18) Brush with Greatness
Marge's love of painting is rekindled, and then she agrees to paint a portrait of Mr. Burns.  Its time for deep artistry!
Score: 8.3

19) Lisa's Substitute
Lisa's class gets a wonderful substitute teacher who stimulates Lisa in so many ways, but you know how substitutes come and go.  Meanwhile, Bart runs for class president.
Score: 8.5

20) The War of the Simpsons
Their marriage at risk, Homer and Marge go to a retreat to work things out.  Homer wants to get in a little fishing on the side though.  Meanwhile, the kids abuse their babysitter, Grampa.
Score: 8.4

21) Three Men and a Comic Book
Desperate to own Radioactive Man #1, Bart pools together with Martin and Milhouse to buy the $100 comic book, which the three are unable to share with one another.
Score: 7.6

22) Blood Feud
Bart gives Mr. Burns some life-saving blood, but when Mr. Burns sends only a thank you note in gratitude, Homer's "reply" causes a lot of trouble.
Score: 8.3

The Simpsons: Season 1 Episode List

Season 1, in retrospect, is an odd season.  It contains much of the type of humor seen in the old Tracy Ullman Show shorts, but at the same time you can tell that the series was heading towards something really, really great.  Season 1 also had a fair share of animation inconsistencies, whether its black-hair Moe, blonde Barney or African-American Smithers, a lot still needed to be developed.  As a stand-alone season, though, it does just fine.

Season 1 Overall Score:  7.13
Favorite Season 1 Episode: The Call of the Simpsons
Least Favorite Season 1 Episode: Bart the Genius

1) Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
In this Christmas special, the family loses its entire fund for Christmas shopping.  Its up to Homer, also Bart at some point, to find some way to save Christmas!
Score: 7.9

2) Bart the Genius
Bart swaps his aptitude test with Martin, making people believe he's a genius!  Turns out, being a genius is hard stuff.
Score: 5.9

3) Homer's Odyssey
After getting fired for incompetence, Homer eventually finds a new calling: putting up safety signs wherever possible.
Score: 6.8

4) There's No Disgrace Like Home
Afraid of how dysfunction his family is, Homer seeks professional help, nearly ruining the town's electricity in the process.
Score: 7.5

5) Bart the General
Tired of being attacked by the school bully Nelson, Bart seeks help in combating this threat.
Score: 7.1

6) Moaning Lisa
Depressed about life, Lisa finds some comfort with some jazz guy.  Also, Homer's struggles in beating Bart in video boxing.
Score: 6.5

7) The Call of the Simpsons
Homer buys an RV in an attempt to one-up Flanders, then takes the family camping.  Then they get lost.  Also featured: the pork-chop lovin' Bigfoot.
Score: 8.1

8) The Telltale Head
Faced with an angry mob, Bart tells them how and why he decapitated the statue of Jebediah Springfield.
Score: 7.0

9) Life on the Fast Lane
Marge makes use of Homer's "gift" of a bowling ball, only to become enamored with Jacques.  Is the Simpsons marriage in trouble?
Score: 6.6

10) Homer's Night Out
Bart takes a picture of Homer dancing with a lady at a bachelor party, now Homer has to set things right by showing Bart that women aren't objects to stare at.
Score: 6.6

11) The Crepes of Wrath
As part of a student exchange program, Bart goes to France to do menial labor for shady wine makers, while the Simpsons bring in an Albanian spy.  Yay!
Score: 8.0

12) Krusty Gets Busted
Our first Sideshow Bob episode, Krusty the Klown is framed for armed robbery.  Try to guess who set him up!  Try!
Score: 7.9

13) Some Enchanted Evening
While Homer tries to keep Marge content with a night out, the babysitter he hired is actually a notorious thief!  What can Bart, Lisa or even Maggie do to stop her?
Score: 6.8

Some Enchanted Evening (S01, E13-013)

I could use this image for a number of episodes.
Plot Summary
The episode begins with a slightly tuned out Marge, who feels unappreciated.  She calls Dr. Marvin Monroe's radio program, and upon telling him that Homer doesn't care enough for her, the doctor suggests that she confront him, and that if he's unwilling to change, she should dump him.  Homer overhears the program at work and, instead of making a commitment to change, mopes for the rest of the day.  At the bar, Moe suggests Homer counterattack by taking Marge out to dinner and then a hotel, and that they don't check out until the next morning.  Heeding his advice, Homer buys some chocolates and a single flower and returns home, where an angry Marge quickly cools off from Homer's quick gesture of love.  Homer's plan is working, but to go out, the couple needs a babysitter for the kids.

Enter Ms. Botz, a rather creepy type of babysitter.  Once Homer and Marge leave, Ms. Botz gets to work, distracting Bart and Lisa with The Happy Little Elves, but Bart soon changes it to some kind of America's Most Wanted parody, where they learn that, gasp, their babysitter is actually a notorious thief!  They get captured by "Ms. Botz" before they can do anything, but Maggie soon frees them, and they subdue the "Babysitter Bandit" in no time.

Then Homer, in his usual poor timing, comes home as the kids summon the authorities, lets Ms. Botz go, giving her extra money for the trouble, and gets made fun of on the news for letting the criminal go.  Keeping a guy's wife happy has never been more difficult.

Quick Review
We've reached the end of Season 1 with the first episode to be produced.  Quality concerns forced its release to be delayed, so much so that this episode, once slated to be the season premiere, got pushed all the way back to the season finale.  While most of the animation was redone, you can still see some of the older animation shots in the episode.  The episode itself is slightly under par to Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, but there are some laughs to be had.

Overall, it was a fine episode, a good 'first' effort for what ended up being the thirteenth episode aired.  There wasn't too much to laugh about, but there wasn't anything particularly bad either.  It was a good episode for Maggie too, who provided a good laugh or two while helping Bart and Lisa capture the bandit.  Still, like I said, not a lot of laughs, which is reflected in the score.

Final Score: 6.8

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Krusty Gets Busted (S01, E12-012)

I'm going to post this face in every episode he makes it in.
Plot Summary
Beloved TV icon Krusty the Klown is seen robbing the Kwik-E-Mart, and is quickly arrested, and his trial amazingly goes back quickly.  With Homer as a key witness, Krusty is found guilty, and he's sent to jail.  In the meantime, Sideshow Bob, who had previously only communicated with a slide whistle, gets control of the show and turns it into a more intellectual program, which somehow succeeds.

Bart, of course, can not and will not believe Krusty committed a crime, and recruits Lisa to help him figure out the real culprit.  While leads at the Kwik-E-Mart dry up, its suggested they ask Bob for help cracking the case.  On the program, Bob invites Bart to talk about it, and as Bob shoots down Bart's leads on the case, Bart realizes that, during the robbery, Homer stepped on the robber's large feet.  However, Krusty's feet are normal-sized while Bob's feet truly are large.  Bart figures out that it was Sideshow Bob who robbed the Kwik-E-Mart, and is arrested shortly thereafter.  Krusty is freed, and all is well.

Quick Review
While both Krusty the Klown and Sideshow Bob have made appearances in earlier episodes, this is the first real half-hour episode where both take center stage.  Yes, we've reached the first of several Sideshow Bob episodes, and this one in particular is one of the better episodes not just in that set, but also in Season 1 in particular.

Krusty Get Busted was a great episode overall, though there wasn't a real classic or memorable scene.  Kelsey Grammer, who voices Bob in this in all other speaking appearances, was great here as well when Bob finally got the chance to speak, and Apu, who first appeared in The Telltale Head, really got a chance to shine here too.  A fine start to a fine series of episodes featuring Sideshow Bob.

Final Score: 7.9

The Crepes of Wrath (S01, E11-011)

Ah, yes, France.
Plot Summary
When you hear a tagline for this episode, say, "Bart goes to France!", you'd probably think "Oh man he is gonna raise some hell over there!" not unlike the episode Bart vs. Australia.  Bart, whose acts of terror plague both Homer and Principal Skinner in this episode, would seem primed to destroy poor ol' France.  Except, well, France fights back.  Kinda.

Speaking of those acts, Bart's uncleanliness allows Homer to slip and hurt his back.  A short time later, a cherry bomb Bart throws into a school toilet throws the whole system into dismay, which adversely affects Skinner's mom.  (As an aside, this marks the first appearance of Agnes Skinner, but in this episode she's a kind old lady who calls Seymour "Spanky".  Neither that name or her demeanor are part of her character later on.)  Skinner inquires with Homer and Marge about sending Bart to France for three months as part of a student exchange program.  In return, the family would host an Albanian boy for the same time period.  Everyone agrees, and Bart is on his way.

The episode then splits into two halves.  It turns out Bart's adopted "family", an shady wine maker and his nephew, also their donkey, intended to have Bart do all the menial work of wine making, allowing the two of them, also their donkey, to rest and relax.  Meanwhile, the family greets the Albanian boy, Adil, and things start off great, with Lisa and Adil getting into somewhat heated political arguments which passes as dinner conversation.  However, Adil is actually "Sparrow", a spy for the Albanian government who acquires information from the nuclear plant, which Homer is more than happy to provide.

Bart's troubles reach a climax after being forced to drink down wine mixed with anti-freeze, then being told to go buy more anti-freeze.  He attempts to inform a nearby police officer about the shady men, but only does so after miraculously learning French right there and then.  The two men are arrested and Bart's last month in France goes by wonderfully.  Meanwhile, the Adil is tracked down by the feds, and is returned to Albania in exchange for an American kid spy.  Bart returns home and all is well.

Quick Review
This is among the best episodes of Season 1.  The beginning of the episode in particular, both Homer's peril as well as Skinner's, brought a lot of laughs.  Homer giving all of that top secret information to Adil was funny as well.  Bart's story, once he was in France, wasn't too funny, but as Bart says, he did meet one nice French person, so it ended up being a great episode.

Final Score: 8.0

Homer's Night Out (S01, E10-010)

Dear God, that jiggling.  Not even talking about the lady.
Plot Summary
Homer attends a bachelor party of his supervisor who was formerly his assistant six months ago.  For some reason its at the same restaurant Marge and the kids go to, but in a mostly private room.  Bart, having acquired a spy camera earlier in the episode, catches Homer dancing with the party's "entertainment", and the picture slowly but then rapidly spreads the next day.  Marge eventually catches wind of it, and throws Homer out of the house for the night, then the next day realizes that she's mad mostly because Bart was the one who took the picture and Homer was giving Bart a bad message by objectifying women.  So she has Homer go apologize to the lady in front of Bart so he can learn that women are people too, which involves hijinks of its own.

Quick Review
So in the previous review, the one for Life in the Fast Lane, I mentioned how there have been a lot of marriage-themed episodes throughout the series history.  This episode almost qualifies for that, but not quite.  Oh sure, Marge gets extremely upset at Homer, but the marriage itself wasn't in danger.  Probably.

Like Life on the Fast Lane, this episode doesn't really have too much humor going for it opting instead for the lesson.  The ending was a bit weird too (somehow Marge was at the last place Homer went to look for the dancer and saw Homer dance but then apologize for it and give the lesson).  In all, it was an okay episode, but nothing spectacular.

Also, for those of you who love continuity, at the beginning of the episode, Bart scrounges up money to buy the spy camera.  He does so by busting up his piggy bank for change.  That piggy bank, previously busted by Homer in Homer's Odyssey, is seen here all taped up back together.  It leads a hard life...

Final Score: 6.6

Life on the Fast Lane (S01, E09-009)

Won't be the last time we see this.  No, really, its in a clip show episode too.
Plot Summary
Marge, frustrated that Homer "gave her" a bowling ball for her birthday, surprises Homer by actually keeping it and putting it to use at the bowling alley.  While there, she gets bowling help from a rather suave man named Jacques, and his aggressive moves escalate the relationship.  While both Homer and the kids realize something is amiss, Marge eventually has a tough decision to make: meet Jacques at his apartment to really get things going, or stick with Homer.  She decides on the latter, meeting Homer at the nuclear plant, and the two respark their relationship, in the back of one of their cars in a ten minute span.  All's well that ends well.

Quick Review
There are a lot of episodes on The Simpsons which delve into the marriage of Homer and Marge Simpson, and how things like an attractive man, an attractive woman, or Homer's general stupidity can put that marriage at risk.  For awhile, it seemed like there were one or two such episodes per season.  There are even flashback episodes which have their relationship tested.  Its one of the more common types of episodes in the series, and with but a few exceptions most aren't really that great.

Such is the case for the first of these episodes, Life on the Fast Lane.  In terms of humor, the episode didn't have much going for it.  There were a few good jokes here and there, which does include the ending, and the introduction of Reverend Lovejoy's gossipy wife Helen was excellent.  However, it was just too little for the episode to really be considered great.

Final Score: 6.6

Monday, August 27, 2012

The Telltale Head (S01, E08-008)

He killed a bear with his b-a-r-e hands!
Plot Summary
A lot of Simpsons continuity was established with The Telltale Head.  First off, the statue featuring the aforementioned head is that of Jebediah Springfield, the man who founded the town and supposedly killed a bear with his bare hands (or the bear killed him, reports are apparently sketchy).  It also introduces Sideshow Bob in a minor, non-speaking role, as well as Jimbo Jones and his pals Dolph and Kearney.

The episode establishes that the latter three are the "bad kids" in town, who have no problems stealing or sneaking into movies for free.  Bart attempts to join the bunch by partaking in these events, but feels bad each time.  It all comes to... ugh, a head, when its mentioned that it'd be cool if somebody decapitated the head of the Jebediah Springfield statue, that it'd anger a lot of people.  Bart, desperate to be part of the clique and given indirect approval to do so from Homer (who says that being popular is the top priority), Bart does the deed late at night.  With the town crushed in grief the next day, Bart then learns that Jimbo and pals didn't really mean what they said and that they'd pound whoever actually took the head.  Bart, desperate for a way out, tells his parents about it, and when its found out that Homer gave Bart the encouragement, the two go off to put it back.  On the way, they are found by an angry, bloodthirsty mob, who Bart is able to calm down by explaining what had happened.  Suddenly its a-okay and the head is back on and everybody is happy.  The end.

Quick Review
This episode was alright for the most part, with some good jokes throughout.  A part early on where Reverend Lovejoy and the football game audio from the radio Homer was secretly listening to sync up was among the best parts of the episode.  However, I really found the ending to be a bit awkward, like as though there was no good way for the town to get off Bart's back after he stole the head, so the story, followed by adding the head back onto the statue magically makes them happy again.  It put a bit of a damper on what was otherwise a solid episode, but there's still a lot of good to be had here.

Final Score: 7.0

The Call of the Simpsons (S01, E07-007)

"Avenge me, son.  Avenge my death."
Plot Summary
Homer is jealous that neighbor Ned Flanders bought a new, state-of-the-art-for-1990 RV.  Not wanting to be upstaged, Homer attempts to buy an impressive RV of his own, only to have his apparently awful credit get in the way.  Upon finally getting something that was once considered an RV, Homer immediately takes his family camping (after rubbing in his new purchase to Flanders).  Some bad driving later, Homer ends up losing the RV - and a whole lot of camping equipment - leaving the family stranded in the middle of the woods.

While Marge and Lisa just hang out with little problem, and Maggie has a whimsical adventure with some bears, Homer's experience as an "expert woodsman" leads him and Bart into a lot of trouble.  One such encounter leaves Homer covered in mud with a mouth full of honey, having a guy with a camera nearby mistake him for Bigfoot.  Controversy ensues, and as the family separately finds their way out of the woods, Bigfoot hunters capture Homer and, upon further study, can not tell whether the guy is actually Bigfoot or even a human.

Quick Review
In Homer's Odyssey I noted that Homer hadn't really become his trademark self yet, and that episode was perhaps one of the last few chances viewers had to see Homer as the lazy but well-meaning oaf he once was.  The Call of the Simpsons, however, takes Homer's character into territories that have since become entire planets.  ...that didn't make much sense, did it?  What I meant was that this is the first real episode to show the kind of Homer Simpson that we'd be seeing for years to come.

The Call of the Simpsons is one of the best episodes of Season 1, with plenty of jokes and humorous circumstance to be had.  Homer's adventures in the wild, including his being mistaken for Bigfoot, are among the episode's highlights.  Indeed, Homer's character has taken a change with this episode, ultimately for the better.

Final Score: 8.1

Friday, August 24, 2012

Moaning Lisa (S01, E06-006)

"You play pretty well for someone with no real problems."
Plot Summary
Lisa starts off the episode depressed at the world, finding everything to be pointless, and failing to find meaning in things.  I'm sure most of us have gone through that at some point.  At one point, she overhears someone playing some mean jazz and runs, at night, to find out who is playing it.  The man, who refers to himself as Bleeding Gums Murphy, gives Lisa some tips about jazz, including the all important one: its not about making yourself feel better, its about making others feel worse!

Marge finds Lisa and, the next day, relays the advice given to Marge from her mother: always smile, so that people can see how good your mom raised you, but then Marge sees how big a tool it was going to make Lisa so she quickly set things straight and told Lisa to be herself.  These actions somehow cheered Lisa up, and the whole family went to see Bleeding Gums play at a cafe.

Quick Review
In the Tracy Ullman shorts and I guess a couple of the early episodes, Lisa had been portrayed as a somewhat tamer Bart.  While she would sometimes show an intelligent side, or at the very least play a straw man to Bart's crazy antics, there would be other times where she would join in, though to a smaller degree.  Moaning Lisa essentially defines Lisa's character going forward.  Instead of just being a Bart lite, she would be her own character, a smart, sensible young girl with intellectual pursuits.

Despite that, this particular storyline just was not funny.  There was hardly anything to laugh at when Lisa was the focus of the episode.  Instead, the side-story featuring Homer's harsh quest to finally best his son in video game boxing, only to have Marge literally pull the plug when Homer was one punch away, was pretty much the key source of laughs and where the episode got most of its points.  That side story pretty much saved the episode, because otherwise it wasn't much.

Final Score: 6.5

Bart the General (S01, E05-005)

That's a lot of people Nelson found the time to bully.
Plot Summary
In Bart the General, we are introduced to Nelson Muntz, the "beat you up" bully archetype who rules the schoolyard with his iron fist.  Bart gets himself on Nelson's bad side, and is "forced" to get beaten up by Nelson every day after school.  Homer tries to teach Bart dirty fighting, but to no avail.  Bart then goes to see Grampa, who refers him to Herman Larson.  Herman, who lost his right arm by sticking it out of the bus as a child (which references a similar tale in Homer's Odyssey, boy a self-reference just five episodes in!).  Herman understands Bart's plight, kinda, and agrees to help by instigating a full-blown war against Nelson and his cronies.  Bart recruits practically the whole school it seems, and they "saturate" Nelson and pals with water balloons until he submits.  Upon the threat of pain upon Nelson's release, Bart has Nelson agree to a 'peace treaty', which makes Nelson a figurehead bully in essence.

Quick Review
Bullying has gone through its share of examination in recent years.  That's... all I'll really say about it because its really taken some weird turns in that process.  The old "that guy who beats you up for one reason or another" bully archetype isn't as pervasive as some would like you to believe, but its a simple, straight to the point type that is easy to depict on TV, not like that "person who gets you by telling everyone you are an embarrassment to everyone" bully archetype that just isn't as fun and is surprisingly much more effective in real life.

Bart the General is another solid episode overall.  Homer's attempts to show Bart how to fight bullies (and his subsequent 'reaction' within Bart's thought bubble once it begins to fail) and Grampa's character coming into form were the funniest moments of the episode, and Herman's dedication to his art was also good for a few laughs.  There was no real 'classic' moment from the episode to really boost its score, but it was still a good episode to watch.

Its weird though, thinking about it.  Nelson throughout the series is considered to be "Bart's bully", and that's obviously the case in this episode.  In future episodes, though, main bullying duties go to Jimbo and his pals (who haven't been introduced into the series at this point).  Meanwhile Nelson, who still gets in a few good punches here and there, is seen more often spouting his trademarked "ha ha" at another's expense, though he doesn't develop that specific phrase for another season or two, I believe.

If only there was an episode on how to deal with those psychological bullies.  Those are the real threats.

Final Score: 7.1

Thursday, August 23, 2012

There's No Disgrace Like Home (S01, E04-004)

I bet Maggie shocked Marge.  Maggie is always the dangerous one.
Plot Summary
Homer realizes that his family is pretty dysfunctional early on in this episode, after a plant-mandated picnic at Mr. Burns' estate.  With Bart causing mass havoc and Marge partaking in punch she determines is spiked some time later, Homer and his family aren't looking so ideal at the picnic's end.  Desperate to fix this, Homer pays $250 (which he had to sacrifice a tiny college fund and the all-important TV to get) to get professional help from Dr. Marvin Monroe.  After a failed shock therapy session which set energy conservation movements back decades, Monroe has no choice but to refund the family double, allowing Homer to get a new TV with a little rack to roll it into the dining room on holidays.  With that, the family loves him again and all is well.

Quick Review
Part of the reason why shows like The Simpsons or Married with Children were so successful in the early 90s, I bet, was partly because, unlike "family" shows from the 70s or 80s, these shows presented more dysfunctional families.  Families whose hijinks were mostly tame save for the special smoking episode or what have you.  Unlike in the past, the children were more unruly, the mother wasn't always the perfect role model to look up to.  The father was still a character, but now he wasn't the only one with some.

The most memorable part of the episode is the shock therapy Dr. Monroe has the family undergo.  Meant to counter emotional hurt with the physical pain shock therapy provides, the Simpsons quickly devolve into a shock fight which causes the town's power to fluctuate.  It's a classic scene that has lost some fame with time, but its still a top moment in the series' history.  Otherwise, the episode itself had a few good laughs to be had, and you can really start to see the direction the series is going to take in the future to come.

Final Score: 7.5

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Homer's Odyssey (S01, E03-003)

Could you imagine Smithers looking like this for the entire series?
Plot Summary
Homer causes yet another in a long line of accidents at the nuclear plant.  Its the last straw for his supervisor, who fires him on the spot.  Finding that not many people care to hire a Technical Supervisor or a Supervising Technician or what have you, Homer hits a low when he tries to steal from Bart's piggy bank so he can buy a beer.  The depression is too much for Homer, and decides to commit suicide by throwing a rock attached to him off a bridge.  Along the trek, however, he has to save his family from being run over at a dangerous intersection, and finds a new purpose for his life: putting a stop sign at that intersection.  After that simple task, he goes on a sign-placing spree, placing signs for speed bumps and dips and all sorts of things, gaining a strong following.  Homer decides to finally go after the quite unsafe nuclear plant, but Mr. Burns persuades him to come back as the plant's Safety Inspector to get the heat off him.  Homer dutifully accepts the offer - and the raise that accompanies it - and all is well.

Quick Review
Season 1 of The Simpsons is kinda odd overall, when compared to the "golden years", as it were.  Besides the crude animation and inconsistent designs (see picture), the first season featured characterizations that changed quite a lot even just a couple of seasons later.  One example of this is Homer Simpson himself.  In later seasons he's portrayed as a lazy, childish oaf.  However, in Season 1 he's... well, still lazy, but not nearly the childish oaf he soon turns into.  Homer's Odyssey is a good example of the well-meaning, somewhat intelligent Homer that doesn't last much longer.

This episode is notable for a few things.  First, the odd coloring of one Waylon Smithers, who is a black guy in this episode, but quickly becomes white in the very next episode.  Apparently, having a subservient black character who works for an old, white energy tycoon sends the wrong message, so the change happened quickly.  The episode also features the first "Moe prank call", where here Bart has Moe inquire to his customers for "I. P. Freely".  It also establishes Homer's job as the plant's Safety Inspector, something referenced more or less for the rest of the series.

So with all of that, was the episode actually funny?  It does have its moments, such as the nuclear safety video near the beginning of the episode, the mysteriously gruff yet cool "El Barto", and Homer's biggest safety accomplishment: that "DIP" sign near that dip.  Still, like most other Season 1 episodes, while the jokes are good, there just isn't really the quantity of them that really define later episodes.  Its harsh to say given this episode shouldn't be compared to later episodes like I just did, but even so Homer's Odyssey is by no means a bad or even an average episode.

Final Score: 6.8

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Bart the Genius (S01, E02-002)

You know, he ended up with Bart's aptitude test.  He must've been upset.
Plot Summary
In the episode, Bart switches his aptitude test with Martin's, and as a result is considered a genius.  He goes to a gifted school to find out that, his father's adoration aside, the life of a gifted student isn't all that great.  Especially when you don't understand that the derivative of r^3/3 becomes r dr r (har de har har!), although shouldn't that be r^2 dr?  I dunno.

After Bart blows a science experiment, he decides he has enough and 'delicately' tells Homer, who he's bonded with during his time at his new school, the truth about the switched test.  Homer doesn't take it so well, and everyone is, for the most part, relieved that the status quo is back to normal.

Quick Review
Looking back now, its easy to typecast a lot of character from the series, because, like it or not, they've become very specific parodies of their character archetype.   Bart Simpson is the prankster.  Milhouse Van Houten is his geeky friend.  Nelson Muntz is the well known bully.  Martin Prince is the nerd, etc, etc.  All of them have their little quirks, and some even have catchphrases which nowadays get spouted out without proper context or setup.  Still, none of that would come to pass unless early episodes such as Bart the Genius establishes those characters.  In this particular case, the characters of Bart as a prankster who doesn't do well in school, and Martin Prince who is a very smart teacher's pet.

While the episode had a few funny bits, including Homer's signature looking so bad a kid could've forged it, Homer and Bart's antics at an opera, and, well, not much else, there wasn't anything that really went against the episode either.  It was a solid enough episode, one that sets up Bart's character for years to come, it just didn't have very many things worth laughing over.

Final Score: 5.9

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (S01, E01-001)

I don't think Grampa was this happy ever again.
Plot Summary
The first episode to air (though not the first produced) was a Christmas special.  The first act reintroduces the world and its characters for those who hadn't been keeping up with the Tracy Ullman shorts.  Bart's trouble making at the school's Christmas show was worth a laugh.  Lisa's... lively rendition of the Santa Claus of the south seas sets her character up for years to come.  Patty and Selma are introduced as Marge's sisters who Homer despises and vice-versa.  Ned Flanders was a perfect neighbor, especially when compared to Homer and his failings.  The first act was very enjoyable as it set all of this up.  The next act didn't provide too many laughs.  Bart and his tattoo was the bulk of the entertainment, but otherwise it was mostly a plot-mover, showing that the family has no money to spend for Christmas.

The final act has Homer finding ways to salvage Christmas.  His humiliating work as a mall Santa was an enjoyable watch, and seeing him and Bart adopt former race dog Santa's Little Helper just as his previous owner dumps him was a bit heartwarming.  Who knew that it took a simple dog to save a family's Christmas.

Quick Review
It seems like such a long time ago, and that's because it has been a long time.  The Simpsons are airing episodes from its 24th season now, an unprecedented achieved for a scripted program.  There are many, many fans of the series who are younger than the series itself.  While the show's historic highs have allowed it to find the awful lows that it has seen in recent years, there's no denying that, when it is finally, finally, said and done, the Simpsons will of been one of the best programs to of ever graced the small screen.  The series, which began as a series of shorts on the Tracy Ullman Show, became popular, even more so than Tracy's show itself.  The popularity quickly translated to a standalone half-hour show, and within a couple of years, it was a big hit for the still fledgling FOX network.  Overall, it was a solid episode, and a great way to start the series.

Final Score: 7.9