I, (D'oh)-Bot (S15, E09-322)

Now why didn't robot fighting last longer than it did?  Why, I ask!

Technically the episode name is "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" but who would actually call it that, really.

Plot Summary
Bart finds his bike to be incapable of keeping up with the 10-speed bikes the cool kids are using.  Homer explicitly tells Bart that he'll only a new bike when his old one no longer functions, no questions asked.  Bart sets up a ploy where his bike gets run into by a passing-by car, Dr. Hibbert's car, and Hibbert also agrees to pay for the new bike in apology.  However, as he begins to drive away, Lisa cat, Snowball II, leaps from Lisa's arms and ends up being run over by Hibbert's car, dying in the process.  As Lisa mourns the departure of her second cat, Homer get Bart the new bike, though he refuses to pay to have it assembled.  Homer decides to build it himself, and at first seems to actually do it, but it turns out he didn't, and the bike falls apart just as Bart attempts to show it off.

Bart is extremely disappointed in Homer and his inability to build things.  Homer decides to prove Bart wrong and tries to build a robot after noticing Bart likes to watch one of those robot fighting shows that were popular at the time.  However, he's unable to, and seemingly gives up.  The next morning, though, Bart is greeted with a hammer-wielding robot Homer seemingly built, having it smash a six-pack of beer to test its might and stability.  As Bart rushes off to show off his robot, its revealed that Homer is inside, having just built a metal casing to pose as a robot.  Bart enters the 'robot' into a robot fighting contest, calling his robot "Chief Knock-a-Homer".  In the first fight, against a saw-wielding robot, Homer gets a deep cut on his arm, but is able to defeat the robot anyway.  Homer continues fighting in the competition, keeping the truth of the robot - and his wounds - secret from Bart and the family.

Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa go to the pound to get a new cat, and Lisa finds one she calls "Snowball III".  However, a short time later she finds the new cat having drowned in the fish tank.  Saddened, Lisa tries to get a new cat, and finds one called "Coltrane", named after the jazz musician.  Lisa brings Coltrane home and tries to play some Coltrane for it, but the cat can't stand it and jumps out the window to its death.  Feeling unlucky, Lisa laments her situation when that crazy cat lady throws a cat at Lisa, a cat that looks just like Snowball II.  Lisa tries to push it away, afraid it'll die like the others, but after seeing the cat avoid death, she decides to keep it and call it Snowball V (even though she never called Coltrane 'Snowball IV'), but then decides to call it Snowball II to save money on a dish and avoid confusion, a rather odd continuity reset Principal Tamzarian Skinner points out as he walks by.

Chief Knock-a-Homer makes it to the robot fighting championship, but its up against Smashious Clay, a rather terrifying robot built by Professor Frink and boy that looks like Frink that may or may not be his son.  Despite the high probability of death, Homer tries to keep his ruse going, but after one round's worth of a beatdown, he stumbles back to Bart who finally discovers the secret.  However, Bart is even prouder of Homer now, as he risked his life to beat up robots.  The second round starts and Homer is beat up even more, being forced out of the casing.  Frink's robot stops fighting, following its directive to only serve humans, and everyone becomes disgusted with robot fighting after 'man' is declared the champion.

Quick Review
The main storyline with Homer and Bart had its moments.  It was nothing spectacular, but it held its own and I had no problems with it, really.  I didn't really have any problems with the cat subplot, not even to take away points from the episode's score but I still found it odd.  In all, three cats died in Lisa's care, and in the end Lisa gets a fourth cat that looks just like the one she started with and with the same name as well.  That, combined with the lack of jokes in the subplot kinda makes the whole thing pointless.  It doesn't detract from the episode, like I've said, but it doesn't help it any, either.

Final Score: 7.2

The Principal and the Pauper (S09, E02-180)

"Armin Tamzarian's reign of terror is over.  Now let us welcome our new
Principal Skinner... Principal Seymour Skinner!"  *pause*  "Uh, him."

Plot Summary
Principal Skinner is given a surprise party for having been principal at the elementary school for 20 years now.  As the celebration gets underway, an unknown man is driven by the school (where the party is being held), and requests to go there.  As Skinner states how proud he is to be Seymour Skinner, the man barges in claiming to be Seymour Skinner himself.  Principal Skinner immediately recognizes the man as the real Seymour Skinner, revealing himself to be an impostor.

The real Skinner reveals that he wasn't killed in combat, but rather captured and put to work in a shoe factory until a week ago, where the UN shut it down and rescued him.  The principal reveals that, much to Bart's amusement, his real name is Armin Tamzarian.  As a teenager, Armin was a wild, rebellious type.  He gets caught stealing an old lady's purse when he accidentally crashes his motorcycle into a judge.  He is given three options: jail, the army, or apologize to the judge and old lady.  Armin chooses the army, unaware that the Vietnam war was occurring.  Its there that Armin meets the real Skinner, his unit commander, who gives his life meaning.  Soon, though, Skinner is lost in combat, missing but presumed dead.  Armin once again feels lost, but decides it should be him that informs Skinner's mother of what had happened.  When the two meet, Agnes mistakes Armin as her son.  Armin, unable to find it within him to tell her the truth, decides to play along, and assumes Seymour's identity which gave both Armin and Agnes blissful contentment.

Armin tries to resume his duty as Principal, but the weight of everyone knowing the lie is too much.  He resigns as principal, offering the spot to the real Skinner (who says that if a man pretending to be Skinner can do it, then therefore the real Skinner must be more than capable as well).  He then decides to 'leave town forever', fully resuming his life as street punk Armin Tamzarian.

Although the real Skinner isn't bad per se, Mrs. Krabappel (who got into a relationship with Armin not that long ago) isn't fond of the new Seymour, and Agnes absolutely can not stand how independent her real son is.  The two share their annoyances with Marge, who comes up with the idea to bring Armin back.  The three of them alongside Homer, the kids, Grampa and Jasper for various reasons, all find Armin in Capitol City, and as Agnes reveals that she considers Armin her real son, Armin decides to come back.

The group comes back with Armin declaring he'll happily resume being the school's principal, however the real Skinner steps in, unwilling to just be pushed away and demands respect as a war veteran.  Homer quickly comes up with a compromise: tying Skinner up on a chair on a train and give him an honorable salute as he is sent out of town.  Homer then has Judge Snyder officially give Armin the name Seymour Skinner along with the past, present, future, and mother of that name.  Snyder also forces everyone to forget these events ever occurred, and that any one who brings it up will be disciplined with torture.  With that, the status quo is kinda sorta back to normal.

Quick Review
There are some people who do not like this episode.  People who don't like that a likable character for so long had been revealed as a fraud, but then suddenly its all "oh hey forget about that, its legally non canon, we good now"?  Even series creator Matt Groening finds this episode less than enjoyable, to say the least.

Personally, I don't care.  Even when this episode came out, the show had been around for nine seasons and though there were many things that carried over from certain episodes, like Skinner and Krabappel's relationship, its hard to say that a show where nobody ages can have some kind of rock-solid canon for nine seasons.  Besides, when something screwy happens to another character for an episode, how often does it get brought back up other than a quick reference joke?  That same has been true here, only having been referenced twice since, and really the show has done far more enraging things than say Skinner was a fraud but was legally not a fraud anymore.

Now, as for the quality of the episode's humor, it does alright.  It slows down during the middle of the episode when Armin explains what happened, but there's plenty of jokes and such around that which makes this another strong episode in terms of humor, even if you don't like the premise.

Final Score: 8.9