(originally aired May 17, 1998)
Finally, what we all came here to see… hardcore nudity! Talk about your season finale. I bet the promos for this episode were pretty bombastic (“Homer and Marge NUDE! Tonight on FOX!!”) It ultimately is pretty low on the risque factor, and has a few bits that kind of drag (woooo!), but there’s enough good stuff here that kept me satisfied and smiling (wooooooooooo!). The first act features Homer and Marge discouraged that their sex life is in a bit of a rut, something that ultimately feels like a lite version of “Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy.” But I appreciate the effort, and there’s some genuine-feeling moments. I love the ad-libbing by Dan Castellaneta and Julie Kavner in attempting to initiate obligated anniversary sex, and their relief of the dog entering the room to break the awkwardness of their inability to do so. Though perhaps with not as much emotional heft as the show used to have, but you still feel for these two, stuck in a natural rut that they can’t seem to get around.
The spark in Homer and Marge’s marriage is reignited thanks to one thing: dirty sex out in public. Sounds pretty questionable, but it’s mainly played for laughs, especially when you consider the final act. Although I have born witness to some disturbing Simpsons porn pictures on the Internet that have caused my mind to fill in a few blanks of the dirty deeds committed in this show… I can’t say that I’m proud of it, but here we are. The two lovebirds return to their most sacred place: the windmill on the mini golf course where Bart was conceived. But when they’re almost caught inside, they knock it over and escape, leaving them out and about the city completely nude. It’s a conceit that leads to a few good parts, like a pretty funny Gil scene, but it kind of felt too silly. There were plenty of ways the bit could have logically ended, but instead it just kept going to its over-the-top conclusion.
There’s a B-story here that feels a bit more satisfying. Bart and Lisa uncover Grampa’s old metal detector and decide to go treasure hunting. Ultimately they discover an incredible find: an unseen alternate ending to Casablanca. Now, aside from the fact that The Critic did something incredibly similar, it’s a pretty amusing concept, an incredibly lame, tacked-on Hollywood happy ending to appease stupid film executives. One of said executives turns out to be the Crazy Old Man (“We tried to hack that happy ending on the picture ’cause back then, studio execs, we were just dopes in suits, not like today.”) This little Bart and Lisa story serves as a nice break from the main story, and is pretty cute on its own. All in all, there’s a fair share of good stuff in this one, but despite the more mature content, it’s not extremely memorable. But it’s not bad either. Maybe it’s just the season 9 malaise. It’s been a little bit rough.
Tidbits and Quotes
– I love Bart and Lisa sword- fighting with Hot Wheels tracks (“Ow! That had a guide pin in it!”) and Grampa repeatedly asking kids to cut him a switch… whatever that means.
– The Up Up and Buffet is a nice set piece, a perfect family-oriented high concept theme restaurant from hell (“Okay, folks, this is your pilot speaking. If you look to the left side of the aircraft, you will see Homer and Marge Sampson, who are celebrating with us today their eleventh air-niversary. So hang on, while we dip our wings to this happy couple.”)
– It’s nice that the dumb joke about Homer trying to catch the miniature bride and groom in action in the freezer pays off, as he left the door open and that causes the motor to short out. It’s not even emphasized, this is the first time I’ve really made the connection.
– Again, great job by Castellaneta and Kavner in the bedroom scene (“Do you want me to…” “No, don’t do that.” “But we used to do…” “I know, but I don’t like it.”)
– Great brutal exchange between Bart and Grampa at the retirement home (“Are they pulling the plug on anybody today?” “Nope, everybody’s paid up!”) And the flashback to Abe’s poor usage of the mine detector in the war is pretty excellent too.
– Inspired observation from Homer (“When you think about it, mud is nothing but wet dirt.”)
– I don’t know why, but I love the disgruntled farmer and his shotgun-pitchfork, vowing to dole out some serious ass-forkin’. He then leaves to go check the media room. Amazing.
– I like Bart’s dream about pirates, where the captain shoots one of his crewmen for suggesting they buy things with their treasure instead of bury it. But then it lingers too long with the bit with the map drawn on a cracker, which isn’t really funny.
– Great scene after work where Lenny and Carl find out about Homer’s jump-starting of his marriage. The two try to give innocuous pleasantries to Marge when she shows up, who promptly calls them perverts.
– Homer covering his shame, or his nipples, rather, with two teacups is great, as is the maid’s “I’m so sorry! I saw everything!”
– I love every bit with the Flanders family golfing: Ned telling his wife the secret of the windmill hole (“Not to hit the blades?” “Bingo”), commenting the ball never came out the rear end, and Maude telling Rod to fish it out with his girlish hands. I like how ridiculous it gets how everyone’s shoving their hands in there, then perhaps pushed too far when Moe shows up with his car on the green somehow aiming to gas the obstruction out. Homer and Marge make their escape, leaving their clothes behind. Ned is mortified (“It was people! People soiled our green!”)
– The Gil scene is pretty great. He’s so desperate to make a sale, he doesn’t even skip a beat in mentioning that Homer and Marge are naked, and he immediately defends himself to the police for living in the hot air balloon. It’s just until things pick up, you know?
– Homer and Marge in the balloon is just extended bits of Homer getting hurt, but I love the slow drag up the church’s glass ceiling, and the pastor’s quick cover to his flock (“Gaze down at God’s fabulous parquet floor. Eyes on the floor… still on the floor… always on God’s floor.”)
– I love the Sideshow Mel line as the balloon enters the crowded stadium (“Dear lord, look at that blimp! He’s hanging from a balloon!”)
Season 9 Final Thoughts
So there it is. One Mike Scully season down, and boy, he’s not wasting any time doing a number on this show. The series is steadily losing its ability to tell focused stories with an emotional resonance, seeming to rely more on gag humor and the more exaggerated comic side of characters rather than be more subtle. We saw the emergence of the dreaded Jerkass Homer, as he began his descent from mostly honest average family man to bombastic, inconsiderate cartoon character. But through it all, one thing the show still has going for it is its humor, and I give lots of these episodes a pass because they made me laugh throughout. This season also had a fair share of strong B-stories, from the Freak-E-Mart, CompuGloboHyperMegaNet, and just now the treasure hunting story. They can pull off these smaller plots, but longer ones have a bit more difficulty to them. I can’t exactly say I’m hopeful for season 10 since I can already think of plenty of episodes I’m dreading to watch, but maybe there’ll be some funny stuff in store. Though four of the five episodes on the best list this season are technically not in the ninth production season, so… yeah. Make of that what you will.
The Best
“The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” “The Joy of Sect,” “Lisa the Simpson,” “Simpson Tide,” “King of the Hill”
The Worst
“Realty Bites,” “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace,” “Bart Carny,” “The Trouble with Trillions,” “Lost Our Lisa”
Me Blog Write Good 
This is the season where cutting jokes for syndication starts to actually help the episode—I’ve never seen that second pirate joke.
I love the timing on the radio ad for divorce, by the way.
I have to laugh because some of the episodes you mentioned as your favorites (Joy of Sect and SImpson Tide) are two of my least favorite of the season. I do agree on “Bart Carny” and “The Trouble with Trillions” though, but I enjoyed “Lost Our Lisa.” My favorites are probably “Das Bus” and the NYC one.
My picks for best and worst of season nine (even though this is the season where the show begins to fall apart):
Best: Bart Star, Trash of the Titans, Girly Edition, Simpson Tide, This Little Wiggy, Bart Carny, Lisa the Simpson, The Joy of Sect, Lost Our Lisa, Realty Bites, King of the Hill, Treehouse of Horror VIII
Worst: The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson (not because the 9/11 attacks soured the jokes, but because Homer was an interminable asshole. The “I’m Checkin’ In” rehab musical and Homer’s flashback of the last time he went to New York were the only good parts), Lisa’s Sax, Lisa the Skeptic, The Last Temptation of Krust, Miracle on Evergreen Terrace, All Singing All Dancing, The Cartridge Family
Now you’d expect “The Principal and the Pauper” to be on the worst list (and I was gonna put it there), but, after listening to the commentary on the DVD, I, at least, have a good idea on why the writers would want to do an episode like this, even if it meant Matt Groening, Harry Shearer, and the show’s more rabid fans would hate it.
It is really funny if anyone understand the idea.
[QUOTE]I bet the promos for this episode were pretty bombastic (“Homer and Marge NUDE! Tonight on FOX!!”)[/QUOTE]
They were, and in the UK, they temporarily banned it because of the nudity and the whole “Marge and Homer can only have sex in public” premise, as the UK has laws against that (stricter ones than what America has, anyway). Despite the hype, this was yet another “Homer and Marge’s marriage is in crisis” episode, only with nudity added because this was the point when “South Park” was becoming popular (“Family Guy” and “Futurama” wouldn’t be on until 1999) and the show had to do raunchy stuff (like the nudity here, the farting on “Beyond Blunderdome,” and the overall miserable attempts at current events humor) to keep up with the Parkers and Stones.
A switch is a stick for hitting people with.
And spanking bad kids. The switch is popular in a lot of older generation families and those who think modern parenting has gone to hell.
Just like some of the previous episodes of the season, I was amazed to find this episode much better than I recall. Again, I’ve also only seen this one four times, but I really didn’t remember it being so funny. My favorite moment is when Homer is sliding up the glass church ceiling. Comedy gold!
I also like the B plot and I really want to see the “Killing Spree” ending to It’s a Wonderful Life. On the other hand, I do agree that some of the episode drags on, like the pirate scene and the bed and breakfast bit.
Season 9 as a whole was just a giant mixed bag. Things were already getting shaky during Season 8 as the episodes started to rely more on laughs over plot, and this season really exacerbated that issue. However, this season also featured several episodes that were just flat out boring to sit through as they contained very little laughts to plotlines that were done better before. Or their endings were utter crap.
My top five favorite episodes of the season include: The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, Treehouse of Horror VIII, The Joy of Sect, Lisa the Simpson, and Simpson Tide.
My top five least favorite episodes are: The Last Temptation of Krust, All Singing, All Dancing, Lisa the Skeptic, Bart Star, and Principal and the Pauper.
Well, that brings an end to what I own on DVD. I’m unsure as to whether or not I will continue watching additional episodes in season order or if I will just skip around here or there. I do know I will be watching “Behind the Laughter” sometime soon, I’m just not sure if it will be with the rest of Season 11 or on its own. I’m honestly not sure I want to watch anything beyond the episodes that will appear on some top 10 lists I have planned for my Youtube channel.
Oh, other than the movie, because I am looking forward to rewatching that again this week.
“The Joy of Sect” actually was in the ninth production season, but your point still stands because 80% of your top five is either holdovers from season eight (“The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson,” “Lisa the Simpson”) or episodes produced by others (“The Joy of Sect,” “Simpson Tide”).
Season nine is a really weird season. You can tell there were a lot of transitions they were going through because Bill and Josh were leaving along with some other writers so at times, it doesn’t really have a consistent tone. But at the same time, it’s actually the perfect bridge between the classic years and what the show would turn into. There isn’t anything as terrible as “Kidney Trouble” or “Sunday, Cruddy Sunday” here, but the cracks are really starting to show. It would have been a great way to wrap up the series, after nine seasons and more than 200 episodes. Because in all honesty, this was the last season you could consider good, or try including in the golden age.
But then it just kept going……..
Fantastic episode and a great way to close off season 9 which while still a good season marked the official beginning of the decline for the series.
For the first time in the show there were stupid, inconsistent, lame or just boring plots/episodes that popped up, reducing the overall quality of the series. Jerkass Homer was born this year and the more grounded nature of the early series was starting to crumble.
It only falls off a cliff next season and into an oblivion of decline…
Finally finished the full season so I can comment (it’s gonna be long lol). So wow, that was very bittersweet to watch. I’d say about a third or so of the season is actually up to previous standards, but even then most of those ‘good’ season 9 episodes are I’d say up to the ‘average’ level of season 8. Something like “A Milhouse Divided” or one of the other slightly less memorable episodes from that season. I commented individually on the episode post, but “Realty Bites” for me marks Zombie Simpsons’ official debut, the first Simpsons episode where everything about it just sucks and it’s completely disposable.
I have to just say it, Season 9 is not part of the Golden Age like so many who appear to smoke something funny seem to say, and I wonder if people just had that much goodwill built up from the previous season to say so. I’m sympathetic to some individual episodes from seasons 11-13, but most of season 9 has a ton more in common with the shall we say mixed quality of those seasons than 1-8. Like come on now. But, I’m also disagreeing with concensus on “Principal and the Pauper”. That felt like a proper Simpsons episode to me. Tone and humour on point despite the controversial plot.
Hindsight is 20/20 I know, but there are little things that could’ve been done, characters (so many characters), sensible ideas that hadn’t been fully mined for all their potential just yet. The show didn’t need to be on its deathbed in season 9. A few better choices just needed to be made. Even “Lost Our Lisa” for me felt like a unique episode because it was one of the only besides “Lisa The Iconoclast” to feature an explicitly positive Lisa-Homer dynamic for a whole ep. Season 9 features NO Patty and Selma, and their previous episodes had always been a hoot etc. So yeah, there was still plenty of idea-room, Such a waste.
Mike Scully…plenty of season 9 episodes showed the writing crew of the time still knew what they were doing when they had a good central idea, so I think turnover is an overstated excuse. Is it fair to say he killed the show? Probably. Even if his particular juncture of fumbling the show was unintentional, he certainly birthed the knowledge that the show could sink in quality and still stay extremely popular (for a while anyway). After that? Why bother seemingly try to top themselves every new episode like they once did when they could just turn in something “OK” every week and not suffer really any consequences (I guess that’s where solo Al Jean comes in). Either way, I think the death of the show come back to Mike Scully one way or another.
The best in no order:
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”, “The Principal and the Pauper” (suck on that!), “Lisa’s Sax”, “Lisa the Skeptic”, “The Last Temptation of Krust”, “Dumbbell Indemnity”, “Lisa the Simpson”, “This Little Wiggy”, “King of the Hill”, “Lost Our Lisa”
The worst in no order:
“Realty Bites”, “The Joy of Sect”, “Das Bus”, “The Trouble With Trillions”, “Trash of the Titans”
I’m curious to rewatch season 10 outside “Mom and Pop Art” which is a *classic*. I won’t expect much. After that, I’ll have the whole first 13 years basically covered.
This episode’s fair, I think. I do like the treasure story, to an extent, but the episode overall is not very memorable or interesting. There’s a few good jokes (“Look at that blimp! He’s hanging from a balloon!”), but overall, it’s an episode I have little to say about.
So, season 9… this season is very odd, in a way. I think that just about every series that goes downhill has a season or two that has elements of the classic, older seasons, but yet the cracks are clearly beginning to show. Season 8 represented that to a lesser extent, but season 9 is really where it’s obvious. A lot of episodes this season had good ideas, but failed for a multitude of reasons, whether it be butchered characterization, thin stories, failed attempts at jokes… there’s a lot of it here. At the same time, you also have some truly classic bits and quite a few good episodes. A part of this could be the result of the hold-over episodes from other show runners (Mirkin produced an episode, Weinstein and Oakley produced 3, and Jean and Reiss produced 2.)
Season 9 isn’t an awful season, but it definitely has its flaws. Homer’s character is definitely the big one here, as from the very start of the Scully era he’s been absolutely terrible as a character. This season is also the last one wherein I bothered taping the premieres. Starting with season 10, I’d watch the premiere of an episode, and if I liked it, I’d tape the next airing I saw. If I didn’t, well, I wasn’t wasting tape space with bad episodes. It’s kind of the best place to stop, actually, as season 9 is the last season with much dignity left to it.
My top 5 favorites this season are “The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson”, “Lisa’s Sax”, “Treehouse of Horror VIII”, “The Joy of Sect”, and “King of the Hill.”
My least favorites episodes are “The Principal and the Pauper”, Lisa the Skeptic”, “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace”, “The Trouble With Trillions”, and “Lost Our Lisa”.