(originally aired November 24, 1996)
This is an episode with a pretty out there plot, but it succeeds based on the pitch perfect characterizations. It shows this series can tackle just about any story as long as we stay mindful of our beloved characters. Things start off naturally enough as Lisa gets adamant about a new cause: cleaning up a sizable oil spill devastating a distant beach. We see celebrities like Rainier Wolfcastle and his buxom companion mugging for the camera in their staged publicity stunt, but we also see that a righteous Lisa isn’t much different. True, she probably cares a lot more for the cause than those Hollywood phonies, but we also see how flighty she is with her environmental activism (justified in that she’s just a child), and devastated when she arrives and sees she won’t get to clean the cute little animals. After much cajoling, Marge agrees to take Lisa to the beach, leaving Homer and Bart to their own devices. Suffice to say, the house quickly becomes a wreck. Marge had kept the boys just on the edge of civilized, and it’s great to see how low they can go, be it Bart gargling with soda or Homer answering the door wearing a grocery bag (with groceries in it.)

The main story kicks in when Bart’s horseplay leads to the destruction of a rooftop gargoyle on a house belonging to a witch (at least according to child folklore.) Homeowner Belle arrives at the Simpson house expecting Bart to be punished, and Homer, not wanting Marge to find out about this down the line, demands Bart do chores for the woman to pay off his debt. But neither of them know Belle’s actual business: the house is actually a gentleman’s club called the Maison Derriere, where Bart performs a litany of tasks from being doorman to subbing in for the unusually short opening act. It’s a pretty risqué episode, but this kind of subject matter has never stopped the series before. A particularly great scene involves Homer’s discovery of where he sent his son to work, consisting of Belle apologizing for any miscommunication whilst he is dumbstruck by a nude Princess Kashmir on stage. I like Bart’s childish naughtiness in volunteering to sort through a trunk of bras, and later seeing the slightly perverted side of Springfield’s citizens, including Principal Skinner, who brings Bart’s work to the attention of the Lovejoys and the Flanderses. The second act break is one of my favorite of the series, where Homer gets incredibly adamant in defense of his decision, then immediately deflates when he sees Marge standing there (“Now, Marge, you’re gonna hear a lot of crazy talk about Bart working in a burlesque house…”)

Reminiscent of “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,” Marge leads a moral crusade against this previously underground establishment, effectively guilt tripping the town into siding with her upon showing damning photographs of various citizens attending the burlesque house, including Mayor Quimby (“That could be any mayor!”) The town is in true angry mob form as they storm the Maison, smashing and setting fire to the area. How best to resolve this situation? Through song, of course. “We Put the Spring in Springfield” is one of the show’s hallmark numbers, incredibly catchy, entertaining, and full of overt euphemisms (those ladies sure put the “boing” in Springfield, alright…) It also culminates into a great self aware moment about these kinds of ridiculous songs, where Marge comes in late with a bulldozer and is shocked to find that a song has completely changed everybody’s minds, and that they can’t re-sing it since it was so spur of the moment. Marge attempts to come up with her own song on the spot, but accidentally rams her bulldozer into the house. One of my favorite lines from the whole series is from Lovejoy, “Thanks a lot, Marge. That was our only burlesque house.” This man of God who three minutes ago was totally against the place is now devastated to see it gone. But that’s the power of the spontaneous song. A hilarious and showstopping episode if I ever saw one.

Tidbits and Quotes
– After a quick V-Chip joke, we get a really crazy, kind of dark Itchy & Scratchy, with the set up of a talk show with Scratchy as the abused victim on stage. Itchy breaks a bottle, comes out from backstage to full applause, Scratchy gets down and begs for his life and Itchy lunges the bottle at him before the show is cut off by a news announcement. How horrifying…..ly funny.
– Of all the beaches the tanker could have crashed in, of course it was Baby Seal Beach. Also great seeing a drunken Captain McAlister offering Dave Shutton a hundred bucks to take the blame for the accident on camera.
– Great animation and performance by Yeardley Smith of Lisa play-acting for her mother on how much she loves that peach tree.
– The time fade of Bart and Homer doing garbage angels to seeing them passed out on a floor is so funny and disturbing at the same time. One day has passed since Marge left and they’re literally stewing in their own filth.
– I don’t know if I buy Martin wanting to hang out with Ralph, but we do get the great Burns line when he sees the two running away from the toy plane (“I don’t like being outdoors, Smithers. For one thing, there are too many fat children.”)
– Wonderful performance by Tress MacNeille as Belle in this episode. I feel later seasons would overuse her as every single woman and child voice, but she’s had plenty of memorable performances throughout the series. Belle has a particular affectation and rhythm I haven’t heard from any of her other many, many characters.
– Classic bit where Homer drops Bart off at Belle’s saying he needs to take responsibility for his actions, then accidentally pulls up on the curb, knocking over the mailbox. He immediately screams and quickly drives off.
– My favorite scene is definitely when Grampa walks in the door, turns to put his hat on the rack, turns back to see Bart, turns back to get his hat, and then out the door. All while whistling. He then peeks his head in and asks, “Is your name ‘Bart’?” Bart only has to nod. Grampa demands if his father knows he’s working there. Bart says it was Homer’s idea. Grampa is convinced, walking back in asking for a whiskey sour.
– I love Bart on stage telling the absentee comic’s lame jokes, but the crowd laughs uproariously at them because I assume they’re all drunk.
– Homer takes a moment to observe the many pictures on the Maison Derriere’s wall (“President Eisenhower celebrates 40th wedding anniversary. Not pictured: Mrs. Eisenhower.”)
– I love how Skinner tries to cover his tracks when he realizes that Bart is the doorman at the burlesque house, and then later when the Lovejoys and Flanderses show up at Homer’s door. Helen Lovejoy tells them Skinner found out about Bart, who then pops up from below, almost like he was hiding in shame, to defend himself (“That’s true, but I was only in there to get directions on how to get away from there.”)
– The scene where Marge demands Belle get out of town is fantastic, where Belle is really just toying with Marge, who is incredibly adamant toward her cause (“Sleazy entertainment and raunchy jokes will never be as popular as sobriety and self-denial.”)
– The town hall meeting is full of great stuff, like the townspeople angrily defending the structural stability of the house in question, and the various calls of shock at the slideshow of people leaving the Maison Derriere. When no one comments on Barney’s picture, Moe steps up out of obligation, and Burns is surprised to see Smithers up there (“My parents insisted I give it a try, sir.”)
– The song is obviously fantastic, I’m sure you know that if you’re reading this. Probably goes in third after the Planet of the Apes musical and “You Can Always Depend on the Kindness of Strangers.” I also like the ending with Marge’s lame ventriloquism act, and Homer’s boisterous “Take it off!” leading to Bart kicking him out.

(originally aired November 17, 1996)
There’s been plenty of guest stars come in to play different characters. There’s also plenty of guests stars who have played themselves. Then there’s the rare occasion where it’s one and the same. Here we have Rodney Dangerfield voicing Mr. Burns’s long lost bastard child Larry, who essentially is the same character that we know from the many movies he’s been in. It seems so odd and out of place, but it’s mollified by two points: one, I love Rodney Dangerfield, and two, the character actually works for the purposes of the story. Who could be more opposite and act as a greater foil to the joyless, no-nonsense Burns than Dangerfield? Given this opportunity, the writers managed to cram this show with a ton of Rodney-style one-liners, which may not entirely fit with the comedic rhythm of the series, but dammit do I still love that guy that I didn’t mind (one in particular I use quite often, “If it gets any livelier, a funeral’s gonna break out.”) I also love his character design, a sore of bizarre mish-mash of the actual comedian with Burns-like features. He even exhibits the same extended preying arms walk at one point.

I really enjoyed basically everything in the first two acts. Having previously picked him up as a hitchhiker, Homer builds a kinship with Larry due to their mutual laziness, which makes sense. Meanwhile, Burns desperately attempts to integrate his son into high society at a fancy gala, which is a scene that basically feels ripped from one of Rodney’s movies. I can actually picture it; he’s at the finger sandwich station, but he scoops the bread out of each piece and makes this elaborate super sandwich, much to the crowd’s shock. If anyone can remember the movie, feel free to post. Again, I don’t mind this content shift because I was still amused and it worked within the story. Burns can’t even pawn his son off to Yale without a rather sizable donation (“Yale could use an international airport, Mr. Burns.”) Burns’s annoyance continually builds until he outright disowns his son, leaving Larry with no one to rely on but tag along Homer, who comes up with a brilliant scheme: a phony kidnapping.

Now the last act is a bit strange. The fake kidnapping didn’t seem too inspired, but I did find myself going along with for the most part, as it wasn’t that out of left field and there were plenty of great gags thrown in. It’s the very ending that doesn’t entirely sit with me. Larry admits that they faked the kidnapping, leading Homer to come to his defense, giving some rigamarole schmaltzy speech about how much he values the love of his children or something. Nothing really built to this epiphany on Homer’s end, so it didn’t really make much sense coming from him with no set-up. This leads to Burns and Larry’s not-so-reconciliation, which is at least better than them making up when we know we’ll never see Larry again (and I do like the dumb revelation that he has a wife and kids, “Oh, that reminds me. They’re probably wondering where I went! I told ’em I’m going for coffee, that was a week ago!”) And then we have the dancing party ending, aping 80s movie conventions, many from movies Rodney’s been in like Caddyshack. While I at least appreciate that they pointed out how dumb it was, it just didn’t sit right. After all the Rodney-isms and silly third act twist, I feel like it needed something of a grounded ending that sort of made sense, but instead they just went for broke in all out craziness. But on the whole, I enjoyed it. I feel if you don’t like Rodney Dangerfield, you’d hate this one, but luckily for me, that’s not the case. If that is the case for you, then I don’t want to know you.

Tidbits and Quotes
– I love Flanders’s spiel at the cider mill, proudly flashing his annual pass (of which he’s the first, and possibly only, member). He instills Homer with great wisdom regarding the difference between juice and cider (“If it’s clear and yella’, you’ve got juice there, fella! If it’s tangy and brown, you’re in cider town!”) Homer’s brain can’t take much more, literally abandoning the rest of his body, leaving his mortal self to nod a few times, then collapse in a heap. The animation of him falling is hysterical, he just sort of crumples to the floor. Compare this with that shitty pulled frames cycle of people falling down that Family Guy does all the time. What garbage. But I don’t want to open this Pandora’s Box…
– I like Marge’s apple souvenir hat atop her hair, and the little running gag of her mispronouncing words and Lisa correcting her, much to her chagrin (“It doesn’t take a nucular scientist to pronounce foilage.”)
– Great animation when the train screeches to a halt, thrusting Burns and Smithers forward and all the pool balls spill into one pocket.
– I like all of Larry’s horrible tchotchkes, like the googly eyed walnut and rocks, and the stretched out Pepsi bottle (“If this stuff is too nice for ya, I’ve got some crap!”)
– Homer’s initial reaction to Larry on the side of the road with a “Springfield” sign is hilarious (“Can’t they get a pole for that sign?”) Also great is his bickering with Marge whether they should pick him up, culminating in Homer declaring they are picking him up. At that point they’d already pulled into the driveway at home, so he backs out and drives the other way.
– I like the rhythm of the bit of Grampa sitting on the pie. It’s a wholly contained joke with Marge almost narrating it, “Don’t sit on the pie,” “Are you sitting on the pie?” And Grampa’s “I suuuuure hope so…” is hilarious.
– Nice winking nod to Rodney’s constant riffing, as he rattles off a few one-liners walking up Burns’s estate (“Hey, who am I talking to?”)
– The history of Larry’s conception is truly a great one: at his 25th Yale reunion, Burns ran across his unrequited love, and managed to see past her slight wrinkles and gray hair… to her 21-year-old daughter. Their arousal was heightened by seeing Gone With the Wind and Clark Gable’s reckless use of the word “damn,” then they snuck into the Peabody museum, and expressed their love physically, “as was the style at the time.” Larry is impressed (“Well, how do ya like that? I have been in a museum!”)
– Cheap joke with Burns’s “play room” actually hosting a play, but I love the one actor’s intensity in an unknown production (“You can’t just eat the orange and throw the peel away! A man’s not a piece of fruit!”)
– I like all of the Rodney-isms, but my favorite is probably his reaction to the rather homely, recently outed debutante (“Woah! Put her back in! She’s not done yet!”)
– We get a joke where Moe talks about what happened to the last guy foolish enough to charge a beer to Mr. Burns… who of course is Barney. Pan over to show him covered in garbage, saying it was worth it. I’d comment how silly it was that he still would be covered in filth from what we assume is a past event… but it’s Barney, so it still works.
– I think it’s sweet when the Simpson kids make their own Rodney-style jabs at their mom, but it’s all in good fun. Marge’s slight annoyance is overtaken by a shyness as she thanks their applause.
– I like Burns on the phone with Homer using a disguised voice, who is trying to get Burns to admit he misses Larry, but to no avail (“Do you miss your son?” “Yes, I am missing one son! Return it immediately!”)
– Homer and Larry are on the run from the cops. They first try and hide out at the old abandoned warehouse, only to find it’s up and running (“D’oh! Stupid economic recovery!”) Then they go to a costume shop, and we later see two men dressed as an organ grinder and monkey leaving the store. The shopkeep then goes to the bathroom and tells Homer and Larry they need to beat it. The two then find the perfect empty hiding place: a movie theater playing “Too Many Grandmas,” starring Olympia Dukakis and Bo Dereck. Based on the brief bit we hear, I want to see that movie (“Drive faster, Grandma! Grandma’s gaining on us!”) The two are basically safe until they make the mistake of heckling Hans Moleman. I love the timing of him slowly walking up the aisle with Homer and Larry laughing, cut to the cops surrounding the building.
– God, I love the simulation of Homer getting shot to death. Why would they waste money on doing that? And producing it so quickly? Jokes like these don’t make much sense, but that’s why I love them (“A bloody end for Homer Simpson… is just one of several possible outcomes according to our computer simulation.”)
– I like the end where Larry asks if his father can accept him for who he is and pops a cocky smirk, followed by Burns’s uneasy noises under building music. It’s not an easy decision, and he eventually goes against it (“Oh, I can’t do it, it’s just not me!”)

(originally aired November 10, 1996)
In unusually close proximity to “Homerpalooza,” we have another episode hinged around Homer’s incredible tolerance for pain. After witnessing him stand his ground in a bar fight (literally just stand there dumbly), Moe cooks up a scheme to make the dumb oaf champion of the underground boxing circuit. The strategy? Have Homer take as much abuse as his opponent can dish, then lightly tip them over when he exhausts himself. It’s an absurd, but amusing concept, with Dr. Hibbert revealing that Homer is literally too thick in the head to register any pain he suffers. As Homer’s popularity builds, Moe has a run-in with Lucius Sweet, his former boxing rep and blatant rip-off character (“He’s exactly as rich and as famous as Don King, and he looks just like him, too!”) Sweet now represents heavyweight Drederick Tatum, and he needs someone he can fight that can sustain three rounds (“The fans are weary of fights that are over before they have an opportunity to even get drunk.”) Moe now must choose between being a somebody in the world of boxing again, and seriously endangering the life of one of his best customers, and possibly his friend.

One of the biggest issues regarding the show’s tumbling lapse in quality is characterization, most particularly Homer. I was surprised to find in this particular episode how much he had been warped. Dragging Marge into the gadget store with her saying he’s hurting her arm, and him replying, “No I’m not!” is such a small gag at the beginning of the show, but is incredibly telling about a dark direction the writers would take with his character. Later, upon seeing Bart return home brutally beaten, what is his advice? To squeal on the bullies to everyone he can find. What? Whatever happened to the Code of the Schoolyard? The show is peppered with odd moments like this of Homer being far too stupid or careless, but for some reason it doesn’t feel too egregious because of the plot. Lucius tempts Moe with a future glory in exchange for writing a death sentence for his talent, leading to the next scene where Moe tells a blissfully ignorant Homer he’s fighting Tatum. Now, a blue collar slob like Homer has got to know who Tatum is, but he’s none the wiser. However, it sort of works in the context of this episode that this big dumb loyal idiot is playing at Moe’s lack of a conscience.

This episode is really focused on Moe, a thorny area of his past and his potential chance to relive it. I love all of that stuff, including Lucius Sweet, a great performance by Paul Winfield (understandable, given he played Don King in a TV movie a year prior.) I would have loved to have seen this episode focus almost exclusively on Moe, though. As I mentioned previous regarding “Twenty-Two Short Films,” this could have been the perfect opportunity to expand on that concept. If Moe was our star, Homer’s exaggerated stupidity could have totally worked, as he would exist to make Moe feel guilty about himself and his actions. But instead, it’s sort of split between the two of them, and we get much less interesting moments of Marge concerned about her husband and beckoning Moe stop the fight. Then Moe rescues Homer from the ring as the Fan Man. Sure, why not? Not quite sure how he was able to lift up and carry a grossly overweight Homer, but whatever. Despite my grumblings, I thought this one was alright. The plot was mostly sound, it had its fair share of good gags, and I love any chance we get to see more Moe. I want mo’ Moe.

Tidbits and Quotes
– I don’t really care for the opening scene with the limited Bonanza reunion, but I do love the one Indian’s horrible attempt to curry the audience’s favor (“You know, on the series, we were always trying to kill the Cartwrights. But it looks like Father Time took care of that for us, right? Am I right, folks?”)
– Fantastic scene where Comic Book Guy meets his match with the Charles Bronson-voiced clerk (“A fat, sarcastic Star Trek fan. You must be a devil with the ladies.”) CBG is instantly deflated, and ends up selling his intended return to Bart for four bucks (“I must hurry back to my comic book store, where I dispense the insults rather than absorb them.”)
– The Ultimate Belt stuff has nothing really to do with the main story, but I do love its usage in Bart’s escapade with the bullies, fooling them with a dishonest turn signal, the incredibly loud alert button, and the Emergency Use Only button, which launches a parachuted message for a concerned patron to call the police.
– Hibbert gets a good scene, explaining Homer’s unique medical condition in his ability to take a beating (“Why, I could wallop you all day with this surgical two-by-four without ever knocking you down. But I have other appointments.”)
– There’s a lot of good Moe lines here and there, like calling Boxcar Bob as a hungry young fighter, literally fighting for a sandwich, and his signature boxing gloves with barbed wire wrapped around them, which he calls “the stinger.”
– I like Lenny’s line during the match, “Man, that tramp’s got the energy of a hobo,” as we see the fighter periodically looking back to check that his bindle is okay.
– I like the black and white montage, where Homer’s racking up the big bucks, which translates to him being able to afford slightly nicer car washes.
– Lucius Sweet is probably the best thing about this episode, an unabashed and unashamed parody, using words like “verticality” and “strategizing,” which I use too from time to time. He brings the laughs, but also works just as well in his foreboding warning to Moe about how he can either take this shot or stay a nobody forever.
– Drederick Tatum returns, with Hank Azaria doing a great Mike Tyson riff, with a fair share of great lines too (“Believe me, my God, if I could turn back the clock on my mother’s stair-pushing, I would certainly… reconsider it.”)
– Great ad for the fight, playing up the “rivalry” between Drederick and Homer. Even the title of the show is “Tatum vs. Simpson: Payback,” despite them never having met before. Also great are the T-shirts for sale, with Tatum’s fist coming right out at Homer’s dumb clueless face.
– Michael Buffer appears as ring announcer, giving his (literally) trademarked line, “Let’s get ready to rumble!” He also introduces the crowd of Springfield’s elite, including Kent Brockman, who is greatly chastised and booed (“This just in, go to hell!”)
– There really is a general flatness about a lot of the final act. It’s not too much fun watching Homer getting the shit beat out of him, and we know something’s going to happen to stop the fight. All we can do is wait. I do like Dr. Nick as the fight doctor though (“Kill him! Kill him!”)
– Sweet bit at the end where a beaten up Homer sadly comments that he forgot where they parked, and Marge consoles him (“That’s all right. We’ll just wait till everyone else leaves.”)
– I don’t know what to make of the end with Moe as an aerial worldwide humanitarian. If someone wants to make heads or tails of that, be my guest.