Original airdate: May 22, 2022
The premise: Bart gains a newfound respect for his father after coming to work with him, resolving that he’d like to have a job and a lifestyle like him one day. However, a wise musical janitor (voiced by Hugh Jackman) throws cruel reality in his face, singing about the death of America’s middle class and the sorry future prospects of the younger generations.
The reaction: The creative inspiration for this episode was an Atlantic article from 2020 examining the lifestyle the Simpson family leads, and how, financially speaking, it was slightly exaggerated in the early 90s, but now a complete fantasy in our modern day. Homer Simpson, a man without a college degree, is able to hold down a job that pays well enough to be the sole breadwinner, living in a nice-sized house and is able to support his three children on one income. That sort of living situation isn’t so easy to come by in modern day America. It’s yet another example how core elements of this show that were once a potent social satire feel so outdated three decades later, but crafting an episode examining that fact is a novel idea. Before we get there, though, we get half the episode setting the almost too elaborate groundwork. After an extensive first act culminating in Homer’s shock that Bart doesn’t respect him (this is news to him?), he takes the boy to work with him in the hopes he’ll see him in a new light. Bart is pretty quickly won over by the power plant’s complimentary snacks, free office supplies, and Homer’s ability to boss around interns to do his work for him. The morning after this visit, he comes down to breakfast dressed as his father, openly stating not only does he immensely respect Homer, but he wants his exact life when he grows up. This feels… off. Bart has always felt like the toughest Simpson to write for in more recent times. He’s not as easy to turn into a broad stereotype (Lisa the liberal scold, Marge the worrywart, Homer the insane maniac), since he’s a snarky bad boy, but also an ignorant kid. I feel like Bart could have been easily enamored by seeing how little Homer does at work each day, yet his position is held in high regard and he gets a substantial paycheck from it. That framework of doing very little for big returns would be very appealing to Bart, and also set the satire in motion of commentating on the comparatively cushier jobs once held by boomers and Gen X’ers. Instead, Bart is in awe of Dr. Phil playing in the break room and Homer’s moronic ploy of cashing his paycheck in singles to create a money shower in the car. Bart comes off as too naive to me. The back half of the episode is the all singing, all dancing portion, as Hugh Jackman’s magical mystical janitor character appears to regale Bart with the tale of the death of the American dream, from the post-war boom to the awful, awful present, care of unchecked capitalism’s boot firmly on the neck of the working man, preventing poor commoners like Bart from having any kind of future like his parents once enjoyed. It’s a musical opera, with material that feels like warmed over leftovers you might have seen on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, especially one of the final numbers where the elderly of Springfield sing about how they listen to FOX News and vote for the GOP because of their fear-mongering. None of it feels like very inspired satire, and none of the songs are very memorable, despite an admittedly strong performance by Nancy Cartwright. It feels kind of pointless, given the show isn’t going to change to reflect any new reality this episode is illuminating, and there’s no real answers the episode can give, since there’s no attainable solution to this issue. The best they can do is highlight “firefighter” as an evergreen job, since the world will never be not on fire, literally or metaphorically, which is kind of cute, but I guess for Bart, that means he’s going to be a fireman? It’s a glaring non-ending, but I don’t really know what else they could have done. In the end, this feels like it could have been better off as a YouTube short “response” to the Atlantic article, but as a whole episode, it doesn’t really hold together, and again, holds up a greater magnifying glass to how this series is so bizarrely out of time.
Three items of note:
– Homer originally lucked into his power plant job in the early 80s, but now thanks to our floating timeline, and if the events of “I Married Marge” and “I Love Lisa” are still considered “canon,” Homer started working there in 2012, and they bought their home a few years later, well after the housing bubble collapse and Obama bailed out the banks rather than help any of the customers they fucked. These aren’t really criticisms, since I’ve bitched enough about the out-of-time thing, but more horrifying reminders of how much closer and closer I’m getting to Homer’s age. I’m already uncomfortably close to his original age of 36, so thinking of him getting hired by the plant and Bart’s birth occurring a year after I graduated from college and a year after I started this very blog is pretty frightening to me.
– The opening bit involves Marge inviting her lady friends over to watch a “very classy historical British streaming show,” of course meaning Bridgerton. Oh, sorry, I meant “Tunnelton.” Get it, because it’s the opposite of a bridge… Sigh. Honestly, can they just not show the shitty “parody” titles for these things? Just don’t even show them. They namedrop Netflix, you give enough context clues, we know what you’re doing. The show did plenty of TV and movie parodies in its heyday where they were just watching the shows, or if they did shake it up, it was some absurdist variation of it, like “Knight Boat.” But “Tunnelton” is just Bridgerton, so who fucking cares? Just call it Bridgerton. You already said Netflix, so what’s the difference? Also, Miss Hoover is among Marge’s guests, which felt like a weird addition. Have they ever hung out together? Also present are more usual suspects Luann Van Houten, Bernice Hibbert, and Sarah Wiggum, still voiced by Megan Mullally, which is currently causing one No Homers poster to go mental (“I heard Sarah speak as Megan, I got up and seriously screamed out ‘FUCK’ and threw my remote at my TV.”) Who knew there existed Sarah Wiggum fans?
– The couch gag features character designs by Spike R. Monster, a Venezuelan fan artist who has gained some Internet fame for his depictions of the kids of Springfield as teenagers, including in webcomic form in the aptly named Those Springfield Kids. They’re a very talented artist with a fun take on the Simpsons style. I follow them on social media and was very surprised to see the announcement about his involvement with the show officially. The show has had guest artists do couch gags, but they’ve always been by famous animators, and they’ve also featured already completed fan works, like the 16-bit couch gag or that potato ink thing? (sorry, I’m a bit tired writing this and I don’t feel like looking it up) But this feels like a first, where they got an actual fan artist do character designs of their fan fiction to depict on the show itself, and honestly, that’s pretty damn cool to me. Spike and their girlfriend “Meatgirl” are both great artists and big fans of the show, new episodes included, as clearly shown in Spike’s thread of artistic tributes to every episode of this season. It feels like a wise move to reach out to the fans like this, and honestly, they’d be smart to continue doing stuff like this. I’m sure the show has always sought out fan feedback, but I feel like now more than ever, they should take heed to whatever the hardcore fans are really responding to and run with it. It doesn’t matter what a grumpy curmudgeon like me thinks of this show, people like these two artists are the real true and loyal fans, and it was honestly really cool of the show to make this guy’s day by offering them this opportunity.
So once again, we’ve reached the end of another season. Hot diggity damn, can you believe it? I can definitely say this has been the most interesting year the show’s had in a good while, with a number of more experimental episodes (“A Serious Flanders,” “Pixelated and Afraid,”) and character exploration shows (“Boys N The Highlands,” “Girls Just Shauna Have Fun.”) They even “officially” filled the fourth grade teacher slot with a new character, though what they do with her remains to be seen. The success of these more non-traditional episodes will vary on who you ask, but it’s certainly admirable of the show to try something different than just settle for the same old stuff. Of course, some of these efforts were spectacular failures, as this season had its fair share of truly awful episodes (“The Wayz We Were,” “Mother and Other Strangers,” “Bart the Cool Kid,” “Pretty Whittle Liar,” “An Octopus and a Teacher.”) But fan response, from what I can gauge of it (mostly from random Twitter comments and lurking around No Homers out of curiosity) seems to really be keen on these more ambitious efforts, and you know what, good for them. I’ve long been perplexed as to who this show is being made for and what people are getting out of it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want people to enjoy this show. It comes from a place of non-understanding than any sort of scorn. If the fans actually watching this show are actually excited about these new chances the show is taking, then hey, that’s just lovely. And honestly, it’s making me a little curious if they’ll continue doing weird new stuff like this in season 34, and that’s something I’ve never, ever said about an upcoming season. While there’s only one episode in the past year I can look back on with any kind of real fondness (“Portrait of a Lackey on Fire,”) that’s definitely one more than usual. So smell yah later in September, losers. This blog’s gonna go down in flames only when this show goes first!
Me Blog Write Good 
Well, I never thought I would be saying this but season 33 was actually not as eye-gougingly bad as the dozen seasons that came before it.
Of course, it still wasn’t good, but a big chunk of this season’s episodes actually felt like they had some effort and thought, thanks in no small part to Matt Selman, who appears to be taking Al Jean’s place as showrunner as he ran over half the episodes this season.
And you can really tell the difference between a Jean show and a Selman show– the Jean shows (The Wayz We Were, Mothers and Other Strangers, A Made Maggie, and Marge the Meanie) are the same old lifeless trash we’ve all grown accustomed to over the last two decades.
Selman shows, on the other hand, are somewhat competent (barring a few exceptions, like the terrible “You Won’t Believe…”, “Pretty Whittle Liar”, and “My Octopus and a Teacher”).
They at least kept my attention most of the time, and I could tell that unlike Jean’s slop, they did have care and effort put into them, even if they weren’t good overall. Mediocre is still better than awful.
I think Selman should just replace Jean altogether, because this season’s Jean-run episodes were the same brand of television tedium as when he was running full time, while Selman’s content is by and large at least somewhat interesting and well written.
If season 34 is once again mainly Selman-run, then I’m totally on board. And if it’s COMPLETELY Selman-run, then I’m definitely on board! Almost anything is better than Jean’s material.
See ya in September, Mike!
Jean ran ‘Pretty Whittle Liar’ just to note.
Ah, no wonder that one was so bad. But I know for sure that YWB and Octopus were Selman-run, and those were absolute garbage.
“still voiced by Megan Mullally, which is currently causing one NoHomers poster to go mental”
I’m sorry, but why are people upset about her having the same voice actress?
Anyway, it’s odd reading you be so positive about a Simpsons season. It kind of makes me want to check this season out when it hits Disney+, but I know that will mean my brain will also want to sit through 32 if I do so. I’m not sure I’m ready for that type of committment again.
If there is one episode you recommend watching for this season, which one would it be though?
BTW, no idea what Bridgerton is, so the parody Tunnelton would be lost on me.
“Still voiced by Megan Mullally, which is currently causing one NoHomers poster to go mental”
I’m actually “That guy”, and Its not about going mental, its criticism that is being twisted as a “mental breakdown” by all of these people which is ridiculous. And yes, there is people that do like her, just like there is people that like Helen Lovejoy. Is that a problem to like a certain character and point out the fact that a recast is BS when Pamala Hayden has been doing the role and can still do the role perfectly fine? That’s pretty much drilling her into the ground by “replacing” her with no logical reasoning.
That’s where I’m drawing the line. Its logical criticism, not “mEnTaL”
Miss Hoover appears to have taken over for Manjula in Marge’s circle of friends. I guess they didn’t want to reignite the Apu “controversy” by giving her a speaking part.
Even so, Miss Hoover is an odd choice for a replacement? Why not Selma? We always see her getting horny at guys anyway.
DAY 22 THE FINAL DAY AT LAST!
Feeling at least relieved that the finale wasn’t at least forgettable
Well that was a finale alright. As poor as the execution and writing were, once again I have to give credit to the writers for actually trying something new for once even though it has so many hallmark ZS problems and exposes how this show should not be making new episodes in the year of twenty-twenty-two (Or two-thousand-twenty-two, take your pick) I basically see this as a modern version of “Homer’s Enemy” except now Grimey’s replaced with Hugh Jackman. At least the legendary “Homer’s Enemy” was made with the intention that the show was going to end very soon (Which it should’ve because of how infamous that episode became in greenlighting yours truly, Jerkass Homer) but we’ve still got one more full season to go for this show until the next renewal (I will cry internally when that happens). Which means Season 34 is probably going to feature tons of pathetic attempts to try and me more relevant to our modern era but just show why The Simpsons belongs in the ’90s. Homer getting his job at the plant in 2012? Even “That 90s Show” is pointing its finger and laughing at this episode. But imagine what the Simpson family would look like if the show took off in 2021 instead of 1989. I won’t give it a description because that is something best left to the imagination.
Aw, no Season recap? Darn, guess I’ll do my own .Anyway, I journeyed through Season 33 and the good news is, it’s a huge step up from the godawful last two seasons. “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire” is easily the token good episode of the season and shows how LGBTQ+ humor is the only thing the show seems to be good at nowadays. And though they weren’t neccesarily “good,” I will give the following episodes honorable mentions for at least trying stuff that felt fresh and new: “A Serious Flanders,” “Pixelated and Afraid,” “Boyz N the Highlandz,” “Poorhouse Rock” And as for the five worst episodes, to be honest it’s pretty difficult since a lot of these were empty nothingness that got no reaction out of me. “Treehouse of Horror XXXII,” (Just for the Tiktok segment alone) “Mothers and Other Strangers,” “Bart the Cool Kid,” “Pretty Whittle Liar,” and “My Octopus and a Teacher.” Anyway, we’re done now! Time to cool off ’til late September when “That 90s Show” has already started high school.
By the way, this review in particular may be my favorite ones from your blog. Great work, Mike! Oh, and I promise I won’t do this silly “livejournal” format again. I never even had a livejournal.
Uhhh….he did do a season recap?
“So once again, we’ve reached the end of another season. Hot diggity damn, can you believe it? I can definitely say this has been the most interesting year the show’s had in a good while, with a number of more experimental episodes (“A Serious Flanders,” “Pixelated and Afraid,”) and character exploration shows (“Boys N The Highlands,” “Girls Just Shauna Have Fun.”) They even “officially” filled the fourth grade teacher slot with a new character, though what they do with her remains to be seen. The success of these more non-traditional episodes will vary on who you ask, but it’s certainly admirable of the show to try something different than just settle for the same old stuff. Of course, some of these efforts were spectacular failures, as this season had its fair share of truly awful episodes (“The Wayz We Were,” “Mother and Other Strangers,” “Bart the Cool Kid,” “Pretty Whittle Liar,” “An Octopus and a Teacher.”) But fan response, from what I can gauge of it (mostly from random Twitter comments and lurking around No Homers out of curiosity), seems to really be keen on these more ambitious efforts, and you know what, good for them. I’ve long been perplexed as to who this show is being made for and what people are getting out of it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want people to enjoy this show. It comes from a place of non-understanding than any sort of scorn. If the fans actually watching this show to enjoy it are actually excited about these new chances the show is taking, then hey, that’s just lovely. And honestly, it’s making me a little curious if they’ll continue doing weird new stuff like this in season 34, and that’s something I’ve never, ever said about an upcoming season. While there’s only one episode in the past year I can look back on with any kind of real fondness (“Portrait of a Lackey on Fire,”) that’s definitely one more than usual. So smell yah later in September, losers. This blog’s gonna go down in flames only when this show goes first!”
The bit about what Bart loved at the power plant seems indicative of the show nowadays: everything has to be a punchline. It’s not enough for Bart to envy Homer being paid well to sit on his ass and sleep, no, he has to love these “quirky” bits like a money shower in the car and Dr. Phil!
Simpler, character-based stuff would probably resonate a lot more, but modern Simpsons feels like it needs to be wackier at every turn. I think that mindset informs a lot of the modern episodes’ writing process, and explains a lot of the more obnoxious jokes. (It doesn’t help that a lot of these “wacky” bits feel like they come from an out-of-touch or privileged place, which is antithetical to what The Simpsons started out as.)
Thank you, Mike, for another season of recaps and reviews! I come here after every new episode without fail to read your thoughts. I greatly admire and respect the time and passion you devote to this (seemingly interminable) project. Your posts are a pleasure to read even when I disagree (sometimes vehemently so). With NoHomers lacking quality voices (a handful of members notwithstanding), the silence of Dead Homer Society, and the loss of the A.V. Club reviews, this is one of the few worthwhile places still commenting on contemporary Simpsons and for that I’m grateful.
As for season 33, I was immensely satisfied. I truly believe it has been the most consistent and effortful season of the show in over 20 years. Nothing has or ever will hold a candle to the classic era, but I think this was about as good as it can get at this point and I walked away from most episodes (predominately Selman-run) feeling enriched. Perhaps I’ll look back on it in the future and goggle at myself for saying so, but not today.
For two decades, The Simpsons has been akin to Schrödinger’s cat – oscillating between life and death (the latter more often than not) – but the show under Matt Selman has started to step out of its own shadow and is no longer resting on its laurels. If nothing else, this season has provided some powerful kernels of truth – about our lives, our relationships, our fancies, our insecurities, our vices, and our anxieties or hopes for the future. Those moments (of which there were a few) mean something (certainly to me at least) and that’s more than I can say for a significant chunk of post-classic Simpsons. I can only speak for myself, but it’s exactly what I want and need it to be at this moment in time.
See you in September/October!
I love your enthusiasm.