Homer the Moe (S13, E03-272)

Yep, being a bartender must be fun made out of fun.

Plot Summary
Bart is digging a hole for some reason, and Chinese spies are starting to suspect Bart is trying to dig his way to China.  That's the lame story Homer is trying to tell at the bar, which frustrates poor Moe.  Tired of Homer's stupidity, Barney's current sobriety, and whatever annoying things Lenny and Carl do, Moe has gotten worn out on bartending.  He decides to go back to his old bartending school, Swigmore University, and has Homer tend to his bar in the meantime.

As Homer garners the praise of Barney, Lenny and Carl for his carefree style of bartending, Moe returns to Swigmore and meets with his old professor.  Moe is informed that the reason behind his fatigue is that his bar is, as Moe put it, a craphole, and that remodeling the bar could reinvigorate him.  Just like that, Moe returns to Springfield and begins sprucing up the bar with the help of some ultra hipster designer named Formico.  Formico transforms the bar into one full of post-modern decor and the bar is renamed to simply "m".  Homer and his bar mates give the new bar a try but its just too weird for them.  Homer confronts Moe and tries to get him to change it back, but Moe instead has him thrown out.

Homer, still upset at Moe, decides to build a tavern in his own garage, forcing his family to help refresh him and his bar mates.  Meanwhile, Moe has trouble getting along with his new patrons, as their snobby, hipster demeanors doesn't mesh well with Moe at all.  The ghost of his now late professor somewhat mocks Moe by telling him that even though the bar has been spruced up, Moe has cost himself his regulars, and the tip jar is still as empty as ever.  Moe regrets what he's done and goes to make amends with Homer and the others, but overhears them enjoying themselves at Homer's house and investigates.

Moe finds them at Homer's new bar enjoying a live performance from R.E.M. (whom Homer had duped into playing there), though Homer avoided legal troubles by proclaiming it as a "Hunter's Club" instead.  Moe, now mad at Homer, points out that hunting clubs must go hunting regularly and Homer, still mad at Moe, does just that.  Homer goes out to hunt a turkey.  Lisa tries to stop him, but Homer won't listen.  Moe and Lisa meet up and the two agree to stop Homer from shooting a turkey.  They do so, but Homer accidentally shoots Moe in the leg as a result.  Afterward, Homer and Moe make up, Moe's bar returns to normal thanks to the quick handiwork of professional contractors, and Moe and the Simpsons as well as R.E.M. have some kind of tofu-gluten slop shaped as a turkey to appease Lisa and the alternate rock group.

Quick Review
This episode has its moments.  Moe in episodes where he's the focus usually works out pretty well, and this episode, mostly, is no exception.  I've heard people bring up similarity between this and the Season 3 episode Flaming Moe's, but other than the fact that Moe's bar gets popular, there's hardly any similarities at all.

Unfortunately, what was a pretty good episode gets dragged down with the appearance of R.E.M.  Their lines weren't funny at all, and the scene where Homer is jamming to a song of theirs was the low point of the episode for me, as is the line "that's not the R.E.M. way".  They return for the episode's conclusion but they're hardly any better there (I would say 'funnier' but that would imply there was something involving them that was funny in the first place).  They bring down this episode pretty hard which is a shame because the episode really didn't need them at all in the first place.

Final Score: 7.0