(originally aired October 15, 1992)
Homer is a man of pure heart, but of horrible judgement. A fair share of Homer/Lisa episodes are interesting in seeing Homer’s attempts to feebly understand her daughter’s troubles, a girl who operates at a much higher emotional frequency than himself. Here, an unflattering caricature makes Lisa conscious about her image, and Homer’s solution is to enter her daughter into a beauty pageant. Marge rightfully points out that that’s the worst possible thing he could have done, and he’s looking at Lisa with a loving, but inherently biased, father’s eyes. Homer retorts, “Well if I could gouge out somebody else’s eyes and shove them into my my sockets I would; but to me, she’s beautiful!” He knows Lisa will win and she’ll be in better spirits again, so much so that he pays the pageant entry fee by selling his ticket to ride on the Duff blimp. When the chips are down, Homer is continuously shown to sacrifice what means most to him for the happiness of his family, and hearing this, Lisa agrees to do the pageant for her father.

In this day and age where we’ve lived through many pageant scandals and shit on TV like Toddlers & Tiaras, a show has a lot more ammo to use to mock, but here, the only real parody element to the pageant is Amber Dempsey, cutie pie extraordinaire with eyelash augmentation only legal in Paraguay. Her vacuous sweetheart persona completely wins over the judges, and despite Lisa’s crazy dance number and use of petroleum jelly (however much Homer didn’t eat), she still wins first prize. They couldn’t end the episode like this, however; as hinted at the pageant, runner up takes the crown if something were to befall the winner. So what happens? Amber gets struck by lightning, her royal scepter being actual metal rather than plastic. It’s so overtly grim, but hilariously so; part of me almost wishes she had actually been killed, but we get a good joke from Dr. Hibbert that Amber has already won the Little Miss Intensive Care pageant. And we also get an amazing quick scene where Lisa is being sworn in just like Lyndon Johnson after the Kennedy assassination, complete with Marge dressed like Jackie O. What a crazy show this is.

The third act revolves around Lisa realizing the dark side of her title; with the pageant being sponsored by Laramie Cigarettes, she is now their new spokesperson of sorts (honcho Jack Larson explains the situation: “It’s been an unlucky year for Laramie. A lot of the people who smoke our product have been… well, dying. And we need young smokers to take their place.”) Of course, this is something Lisa can’t stand for, so she attempts to use her menial power for good, vouching for causes that mean something to her, until those higher ups manage to find a loophole to strip her of her title. We end back with Homer and Lisa, in a really sweet wrap-up where Lisa tells her father that he did well entering her into the pageant (“The point is you wanted me to feel better about myself, and I do.”) This episode has just the right level of sweetness as a Homer/Lisa show should have, and plenty of great gags, from a slightly hung over Krusty hosting the pageant to a slightly effeminate Bart helping her sister out.

Tidbits and Quotes
– The school carnival is your classic Simpsons intro set piece with plenty of gags: Skinner throwing down the Disney lawyers (“Copyright expired,”) Bart’s three-card Monty booth disappearing in smoke, Willie proudly promoting his haggis, the “Guess Your Weight & Age” booth operator’s shock toward Homer, and ride operator Otto propelling an empty ride capsule into the school, bursting it into flames.
– I like how Homer’s fantasy of riding on the Duff Blimp starts out sort of normal, with the pilot pointing out crop irrigation. That’s a good joke, you think it’s going to be a crazy dream, but it’s not. Then they fly over the Super Bowl and fans hold up cards that form Homer’s face. Hilarious bait-and-switch on a bait-and-switch.
– The pageant commercial is great, with the aged film footage of Krusty’s seal-of-approval (“I heartily endorse this event or product”) and the sweet little girl playing the winner (“I’m as happy as a smoker taking that first puff in the morning!”) Homer enthusiastically says, “That could be Lisa!”
– Homer singing the Blimpy Boy song is funny, but him mournfully singing it after he gave up his blimp ticket, miming a pickle flying as the blimp before crumpling his head into the kitchen table, is even funnier.
– We see Marge’s first celebrity crush, Jack Nicholaus, with her fantasy of him reaching down to retrieve his ball from the hole.
– I like the running bit of Homer teaching Bart how sweet-talking women on their appearance will do wonders for you, including some stuff he’ll tell him when he’s older (we see it’s suckering a wife into doing yard work). Surprisingly, Marge and Lisa are immediately susceptible to such suckery. Bart asks his father if he knows anything else about women, to which Homer responds, “No, that’s it.”
– Krusty as pageant host is hilarious: he shows up not even knowing what the hell he’s hosting (“What is this, the Republican fundraiser?”) The best part is following a long rendition of “MacArthur Park” by Apu’s niece, a truly out-of-sorts Krusty groans, “Woah, that just kept going, huh?” Also, the amazing song he sings at the end (“L the losers in her wake, I the income she will make, T is for her tooth-filled mouth, T is for her tooth-filled mouth…”)
– Great bit with Barney on the blimp. He asks if he can drive, the pilot, naturally, can’t see the harm. Barney immediately puts it into a nose dive and crashes it, bursting into flames. A reporting Kent Brockman is stunned…. but only for very briefly (“Oh, the humanity! Anyway…”)
– Nice appearance by Bob Hope (“I want to show you what you’re fighting for, if there was a war on”), with the troops quite upset that they got stuck with Little Miss Springfield.
– I feel bad for the guy in the Menthol Moose costume. He never did anything, but Lisa kicks down the giant cigarette box, crushing him.
– Great scene with the nerds at the football game, hearing that sports funding takes away funds from education and the arts, angrily chase after the football players. Cut to a newspaper sub-headline: “Nerds Pummeled in Football Melee.”
– The loophole to oust Lisa from her crown is really brilliant. Kent Brockman reports (“The father of the deposed beauty queen, Homer Simpson, filled out the pageant application incorrectly. In the area under ‘do not write in this space’ he wrote ‘OK’.”) I also love Kent’s anger over the goat footage accidentally being played twice, causing him to storm out of the studio (“Call the weekend guy, I don’t care!”)

(originally aired October 8, 1992)
The writers have talked about a good source for ideas is looking at the Ten Commandments and seeing which one of them Homer can break. They did it previous with the 8th, and here we have the 4th: observing the Sabbath day. The ideals of hard work and altruism of an ideal religious man, say Ned Flanders, are far from the mind of Homer, who would prefer a life of sloth and ignorance. This is a great character study episode, featuring Homer at his unabashed happiest, being a complete slob free of any responsibility, before his seemingly perfect life goes up in smoke (literally). Being the first of the fourth season production run, it also boasts some incredible animation, ranging from some great character acting during Homer’s best day ever, to the amazing sequence of the Simpson house on fire.

One fateful Sunday, Homer decides to skip church… and it ends up being the best decision he’s ever made. Just seeing him home alone, left to his own devices, is funny enough: he takes great joy cursing in the shower, cavorting around in his undies, making the most unhealthy snack imaginable, watching football, and to top it off, finding a lucky penny. In stark contrast, Marge and the kids end up stuck in the unheated icebox that is the First Church of Springfield. The choice is obvious for Homer: he becomes a hedonist. Most of the episode is quite leisurely, but only that the story is very introspective. Marge is very vocal of her concerns of her husband’s soul, but there’s only so much she can do. Same with Lovejoy and Ned Flanders, though the latter does engage in an insane car chase with Homer, in the sole over-the-top crazy scene of the show. While on the path of his new life style, Homer observes other denizens of Springfield’s religions and scoffs at them: Krusty goes door-to-door raising money for the Brotherhood of Jewish Clowns, and Apu points out his statue of Ganesh he keeps at his post (“Please do not offer my God a peanut.”)

All it takes to shake Homer’s beliefs is a mere raging fire that nearly turns his home to a pile of ash. Luckily for him, Ned and a motley crew of volunteer firefighters, Apu and Krusty included, manage to rescue him and his house. As mentioned before, the sequence of Ned saving Homer is gorgeous, from him nearly falling through the floorboards into a fiery inferno, to the animation of he and Homer falling onto the mattress outside and smashing through the bottom window. One of the best things about the episode is the handling of its themes of religion, divine retribution, relations with others beliefs… it doesn’t go anywhere near being preachy or moralistic, but allows the characters, and the audience, to make what they will of the situations that occurred. For Homer, he believes God Himself saved his life, so he owes it to Him to go to church, and next week, he’s there front and center… snoring loudly. But that’s Homer, and this episode is perhaps his greatest characterization.

Tidbits and Quotes
– The first scene is so great, featuring a peaceful prenatal Homer desperately attempting to prolong his stay in his comfy womb, just as a post-natal Homer attempts to stay in his comfy bed.
– I’ve always been tempted to try Homer’s Moon Waffles: caramel, waffle batter, liquid smoke, all wrapped around a stick of butter. Then I realize I’d probably go into cardiac arrest immediately upon eating it.
– I love how Lovejoy’s vivid depictions of the fires of Hell manage to warm up his freezing audience (Bart contently sighs, “I’m there…”)
– Homer calls into Bill & Marty’s radio contest and manages to fumble his answer (but still wins) even though he’s looking right at the record jacket (“This Things I Believe.” “Can we accept that?”) Also, a wonderful Homer observation upon watching the Three Stooges (“Moe is their leader!”)
– “I… found… a penny!!” Such incredible enthusiasm; I always quote it when I find a cent-piece. I also like his thinking back of previous best days ever: marrying Marge and running joyfully under a sprinkling of beer from a ruptured tanker truck.
– Homer’s logic for not going to church is worded poorly, but still contains nuggets of truth (“And what if we picked the wrong religion? Every week, we’re just making God madder and madder!”)
– The showcase of this episode is Homer’s dream of meeting God, who has five fingers, as if He transcends the crude four-fingered animated characters beneath Him. I love His disappointment with Lovejoy, apparently not knowing whether St. Louis has a football team or not, and His parting words to Homer (“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to appear in a tortilla in Mexico.”) Also immensely quotable is Homer’s description of the Almighty (“Perfect teeth. Nice smell. A class act, all the way.”)
– Homer tells Lovejoy of his dream of meeting God (“He appeared before me in a dream, and I knew that was special because I usually dream about naked… Marge.”) I also like his attempts to swap Bible verses with the Reverend, which fails immediately.
– The car chase is so ridiculous, but hilarious for that very reason. The ending cracks me up: “Where’s this thing headed?” “Garbage Island.” [ship horn]
– We haven’t seen an Itchy and Scratchy in a while, but this is one of the best ones. I love how nonchalantly Scratchy looks out the window, and how he thinks hiding in the closet will protect him from the moon falling to crush him.
– Classic Homer quote talking to the kids (“Let me tell you about another so-called ‘wicked’ guy. He had long hair and some wild ideas. He didn’t always do what other people thought was right. And that man’s name was… I forget. But the point is… I forget that, too. Marge, you know what I’m talking about. He used to drive that blue car?”)
– I love how Marge’s last plea to Homer to go to church is instantly dismissed by a special on TV on how to make your own ladder.
– The fire spreads to the basement, right to two boxes, conveniently labeled “Oily Rags” and “Blasting Caps.” Maybe should’ve kept them in a safer place.
– I love fire chief Apu racing down the street, only to be stopped by a long line of ducks crossing (“You ducks are really trying my patience! …but you’re so cute.”)
– It’s still funny, but a little horrible that after Ned has just risked his life to save him, Homer has a delightful vision of himself on a hammock laughing while Ned burns alive in his house.
– If I can make one complaint about the show, the run of gags following Homer’s rescue seem to go on a while. Barney chopping the mailbox, the insurance agent, Kent Brockman; they’re funny bits, but I feel that they should have kept it moving to the emotional climax after all that. The only thing that is crucial is the great bit of God seemingly having a hand in instantaneously saving Ned’s house, complete with a nice rainbow.

(originally aired October 1, 1992)
This show is as multi-layered as they come, not just in its story and characters, but in its jokes. I’m referring to how intelligent some of the gags in the series can be, referencing classic literature, old films, anything that the writers think would be funny to some percentage of the audience. I don’t remember when I first saw this episode, but it must have been some time in middle school, and I had never read, or really even heard of, A Streetcar Named Desire. I still enjoyed the episode regardless; the play was funny on its surface. A song bitching about New Orleans, Apu’s solo, Flanders’ passionate “Stella!”, they were all funny instances by themselves. In high school, when we all were assigned to read the play in English class, I knew I had to rewatch this episode, and when I did, it was a completely different experience. The episode reached a new level for me having known the source material, but the jokes and story were so solid it still worked without me. Then even later, learning a bit more about Ayn Rand gave it another layer. It’s the show that keeps on giving.

In a feeble attempt to escape her marital servitude, Marge goes out to audition for a community play, a musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire. Homer is less than responsive, and his boorish, insensitive treatment of his wife is what ends up not only getting her the lead role, but riling her up with the rage needed to play a convincing Blanche. The key here is that Homer is never intentionally mean to anyone. The first act features him and the kids watching TV, where Marge tells them about the play and then leaves, with none of them being any the wiser. This seems to be TV’s function in a lot of these shows, to just drown out other members of the family, usually at the start of an episode. But the telling scene is later in bed when Homer admits he doesn’t care about Marge’s play and he can’t fake an interest like he had in other activities of her past. When Marge asks him why he never told her any of this, he responds, ever-so sincerely, “You know I would never do anything to hurt your feelings” and promptly goes to sleep. Homer is completely oblivious in how his behavior is hurting his wife, and that’s the important thing: he doesn’t realize he’s an asshole. When called out on such a thing, like being a bad father or an overall jerk, he goes into overdrive to fix things. Watching Marge’s play strangely touches Homer, and Marge is equally touched when her husband feebly attempts to explain it to her.

The musical itself… is genius. Firstly, we have Jon Lovitz as the acerbic director Llewellyn Sinclair, which is probably my favorite of his characters (maybe tied with Artie Ziff). He’s loud and demanding, a true nightmarish artiste (his best line is in response to Marge’s weak read for Blanche: “If you set out to push the bile to the tip of my throat, mission accomplished!”) He also voices Sinclair’s sister (who is nearly identical to him), who runs the Ayn Rand Daycare Center (“where A is A”) where Maggie is left at. We get a great subplot involving her attempts to relinquish her fellow toddler’s pacifiers in a Great Escape-esque sequence, culminating in a great Birds reference as Homer tactfully tiptoes through a sea of suckling babies to retrieve Maggie and slowly back out. Again, these references are funny due to their context within a story, not because we recognize them as references. The same goes for the play, which already is a joke; the idea of making an upbeat musical of the dramatic play is funny already. The opening number, riffing off of the opening number of Sweeney Todd, is hilarious, as is Apu’s ballad as the paperboy, and the ridiculous over-theatrical laser light show depicting Blanche losing her mind. But the crown jewel is the finale: “You Can Always Depend on the Kindness of Strangers” is the best song ever written on the show. That’s a bold statement that I may take back (the Planet of the Apes musical may rival it); it’s just so, so, so wrong in terms of what happens in the play, and ultimately the point of the story, but it’s absolutely hilarious turning the depressing ending into a showstopping final production number (randomly ending with “Streetcar!”) There had been songs in the show previously, but this I felt was really the first musical episode, one that prepared us for the bevy of wonderful, memorable songs soon to come.

Tidbits and Quotes
– On TV, Troy McClure hosts the Miss American Girl Pageant, which opens with the contestants singing “At Seventeen” (unironically). Again, only Phil could have hosted this event (“If you ask me, they’re all winners! We’ll be cutting our first 40 contestants right after this.”) There’s also a Mr. Blackwell expy commenting on wardrobe, who amuses Bart (“He’s such a bitch!”)
– Ned is a great addition to the cast; first in his admission that he played Blanche back when he attended an all-boys school (later he comments, “not to be an armchair Blanche” in teaching Marge how to properly break a bottle). Him playing Stanley is a wonderful contrast, and one Ned doesn’t shy away from. I feel Ned in the later seasons would be taking notes on all the offensive material in the play like a media watchdog, but here, he’s a normal guy playing a role. He takes direction, responds, “Rodger dodger!” and proceeds to throw Marge onto the bed… and his heart melts when Maggie takes his glasses. It’s completely in character, and makes Ned more like a real person than the Christian extremist he would later become.
– Lovitz goes big as Llewellyn, and he’s hilarious from his first scene (“While directing ‘Hats off to Chanukah,’ I reduced more than one cast member to tears. Did I expect too much from fourth-graders? The review ‘Play Enjoyed By All’ speaks for itself.”) Also great that his first order is for the potential Stanleys to immediately take off their shirts, and that we see Apu’s various bullet wounds from the back.
– Marge’s reservations about her character gives us a classic, telling line (“I just don’t see why Blanche should shove a broken bottle in Stanley’s face. Couldn’t she just take his abuse with gentle good humor?”) The build-up of Homer’s obnoxiousness in the background, ramming into a vending machine and honking the horn outside, is a great sequence in building Marge’s anger. This is turned humorous later when Marge rehearses at Ned’s, and Homer’s wailing winds her up further: “Let’s rehearse the bottle scene!” as she smashes another one. Ned, already with a bloody mark on his chest, worriedly suggests, “Let’s not and say we did?”
– The family talking in different accents at the dinner table gives us a Homer line I still quote today: “I’m living in a cuckoo clock!”
– Homer’s summary of the play is perfect, poorly worded, but still understanding (“The poor thing gets hauled to the nuthouse when all she needed was for that big slob to show her some respect.”) The ending as Homer realizes he’s similar to Stanley and Marge’s mollifying of him is very sweet.

(originally aired September 24, 1992)
So we begin our fourth season with the final episode of the third production run. The writers and producers have talked about how in the early days, they ran themselves ragged making the show, and by the end of a season, they felt incredibly burnt out. How they managed to keep the quality of the show so high despite their tiredness is astounding; “Kamp Krusty” is of the same ilk of “Dog of Death,” where it’s not focused on a solid, emotionally driven story, but how many gags they can cram into twenty-odd minutes, and by God does every single one get laughs. Making this the season premiere is sort of a sign of the show’s entering into goofier territory, which some may not have liked at the time, but I’m all for it. The series is certainly richer and more meaningful due to its realistic characters and ideas, but above all, The Simpsons needs to make me laugh, and some of the best episodes are the most insane ones.

Our September premiere begins on the last day of school, where Bart is, for once, nervous about his impending failing grades, knowing without a C-average, his parents won’t let him go to Kamp Krusty, a summer camp run by his beloved idol. Bart’s nervousness leads to a classic conclusion where Homer lets his son go to the camp anyway regardless of grades (“I didn’t want you hangin’ around all summer anyway,”) making our first act seem all for naught. Anyway, the excitement for camp dissolves immediately when they find Kamp Krusty is truly Hell on Earth: run by the school bullies, the kids sleep in rundown, snake-riddled cabins, live on Krusty Brand Imitation Gruel (9 out of 10 orphans can’t tell the difference), and are forced to stitch fake Gucci wallets for Hong Kong scalpers. It’s a little disconcerting to see the kids in this much despair, but the exaggeration is so high that it remains funny. The best joke in the show depicts the bullies and their boss, Mr. Black, in their luxurious cabin, with celebratory brandy and cigars all around. Black toasts, “Gentlemen, to evil.”

Hovering throughout the show is Bart’s unwavering faith that Krusty will show up and save them, almost like the coming of the Messiah. When Mr. Black tries to pass off a drunken Barney in a cheap costume as the clown himself, that’s the last straw for Bart, and the kids proceed to take over the camp. There’s great side stories running alongside the main plot, featuring Homer and Marge’s love life being better than ever without the kids, and Krusty being obnoxious at Wimbledon, as well as being knighted (even though he’s an American). It’s strange how it still works that Krusty is so horrified by the conditions of the camp, but we’ve seen him approve plenty of clearly malfunctioning and dangerous products with his face on it (regarding the camp, he wails, “They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house! I’m not made of stone!”) Lastly, I will say that these sillier episodes are normally less memorable than ones with more of a emotional punch; I didn’t remember this episode being this funny. But it’s still a classic episode with an enormous bevy of laughs. Welcome, season 4. I’m gonna like you.

Tidbits and Quotes
– Bart’s dream of destroying the school is a classic sequence, with “School’s Out for Summer” playing as Skinner runs about trying to find someone to torch the permanent records.
– Great Homer bits at the breakfast table: his promise to the children (“When you’re 18, you’re out the door!”) and his fatherly advice to Bart (“Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.”) The first three missed numbers elicits a three “D’oh!”s. He actually gets the fourth number, prompting a “Woo-hoo!” Like it matters at that point he gets one. Last number, no match, and of course, another “D’oh!”
– A bit shocking to say, but Miss Hoover may be less enthusiastic a teacher and sadder a person than Mrs. Krabappel (“I have nothing left to say to any of you, so if nobody minds, let’s just quietly run out the clock.”) I also like that she seems to have given Lisa a B+ in conduct out of sheer spite (“Everyone has a blotch on their permanent record.”) A wigged out Lisa then proceeds to crush her hand for it.
– I love Bart’s attempts to sweeten Mrs. K by telling her all of his textbooks are being returned mint, some in their original wrapping. Edna is not swayed, of course (“Have a D-lightful summer.”)
– Great Kamp Krusty ad, especially with the fat kid turning skinny, and Krusty slapping his cheek. I don’t know if this show invented this gag, the completely shocked and speechless cheek slap, but it does it better than anyone.
– I like even someone as dull as Homer can figure out Bart forged his grades, probably since he probably pulled the same trick with his dad (“You know a D turns into a B so easily. You just got greedy.”) Also his continued good fathering of asking Bart to reach inside the lawnmower blades to recover a roller skate, only to have them fire back up right before his hand is under them.
– Bart and Homer’s mini-war with the pickle at dinner is a great sequence, with a rare moment of pure reverence from Bart to his father (“Always thinking two steps ahead.”)
– I love Homer’s follow-up advice off of Marge’s “Leaves of three, leave them be”: “Leaves of four, eat some more!” Not sure what it means, but I love that Homer amused himself so much with such a stupid expression.
– The Kamp Krusty song is classic, of course, blending its funny lyrics with funny sight gags (particularly the kids running from Mount Avalanche).
– I like this exchange between Bart and Lisa, shivering in their cabins (“I feel like I’m gonna die, Bart.” “We’re all gonna die, Lis.” “I meant soon.” “So did I.”)
– Gotta love the Ben Hur reference where Kearney beats the drums as the kids stitch wallets.
– Barney posing as Krusty is great of course (“I am so Crunchy the Clown!”) as is a panicked Mr. Black yelling at the bullies for not breaking the kids’s spirits (“You broke nothing!”) They worked really hard to abuse these grade schoolers, for reasons that escape me, but dammit, they did their best.
– I want to see more of “Sadrodin Muraradad’s Yoga Party.” That’s it.
– I love Kent Brockman’s opening to his “Krisis at Kamp Krusty” segment (“Ladies and gentleman, I’ve been to Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and I can say without hyperbole that this is a million times worse than all of them put together.”)
– We get a glimpse at Krusty’s three identifying body marks: his pacemaker scar, his cattle skull birthmark, and his superfluous third nipple. Of course they’re never seen again when he’s shirtless, except for “Bart the Fink,” where Krusty’s identity needs to be proven once more.