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| Life will never be this groovy again... |
On TV, Kent Brockman reflects on the careers of the celebrated Cheech and Chong, who are going to be in Springfield for a show coming up. As Brockman reveals "Richard Marin" and "Thomas Chong" were once Channel 6 meteorologists who got their first whiff of fun from an unrelated event outside, Homer is stunned to learn his kids don't know who the two are (Bart also claims ignorance on Beavis & Butthead, even though that show has premiered, ended and recently come back throughout the entire existence of The Simpsons). Homer was a big fan of the two back when they were big, and Marge was okay with them I guess, so the family goes to see their live show. Homer and the rest of the crowd gets excited when the duo start their "Dave's not here" bit, but Chong has gotten tired of the repetitiveness, and gets into an argument with Cheech about trying to experiment and not selling out. The argument eventually reaches a head, and Chong just ups and leaves. With the show in the balance, Marge convinces Homer, who has remembered every line from the duo's antics, to go up and finish the act with Cheech, which proves to be a pot-influenced success.
Cheech is impressed with Homer's act, and invites him to tour with him across the country. As "Cheech and Chunk", Homer is excited by this at first, but slowly he comes to learn that Cheech the person is not like Cheech the character. Real life Cheech cares about making sure the show is perfect, while valuing his cultural heritage, things Homer just can not believe. Meanwhile, Chong tries to start up a new act, bringing along Principal Skinner as his new partner, as Chong believes him with the unfunniest person there is could create a mindblowing show. Calling the act "Teech and Chong", the show takes a rather deep look into the fact Dave is actually there, but the show is universally hated.
Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa take the dog for a walk, but it runs off chasing after a cat. Running into a house, the dog leads the women to the house of the crazy cat lady. Full of clutter and garbage, its quickly realized that the cat lady is a massive hoarder, and Marge takes it upon herself to clean up the mess. Sending the cat lady to a movie, Marge along with a team go in and clean up the woman's house, leaving it sparkling clean. Not only is the cat lady's house cleared, so too is her mind. As the cat lady regains her sanity, Marge starts taking an interest in some of the clutter that was cleaned up, opting to keep it for herself. In no time, Bart and Lisa return home to find the house full of garbage, and Marge has become a massive hoarder herself. Lisa tries to call Homer for help, but Cheech is forcing Homer to continue a rehearsal and he's unable to answer.
Homer does answer eventually and finds a moment to escape Cheech's iron grip to return home. Homer confronts Marge over her hoarding, bringing in the sane no-cat lady to talk with Marge. However, the woman becomes enveloped in her garbage again and quickly devolves, calling back both her cats and her insanity. Homer takes Marge out of the house, under the premise that things will work itself out with a crazy lady inside, and they leave. The two go back to Cheech, but Homer brings along another person: Chong, who has realized that people just like their classics, for better or worse. Cheech also comes to terms that its okay to go outside the box every now and then as well. The two reunite, and things work out for the best.
Quick Review
This is one of the best episodes of the season. I may be old enough to predate The Simpsons, but I'm still not old enough to remember Cheech and Chong in their prime. Even so, the pair provide excellent guest spots for the episode, and the bits with "Cheech and Chunk" were excellent. The hoarding side story has its moments, but nothing too notable, but for the most part the main plot of the episode was pretty good, though the end with Bart as the Shakespeare character Puck (referencing the episode's title) was too odd to be of any worth.
Final Score: 7.9
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