(originally aired February 13, 2000)
In 1999, Maggie Roswell had a falling out with FOX regarding a pay dispute. This left the show in a minor pickle. While it’s not as devastating as losing one of their big six cast members, Roswell still voiced her fair share of memorable characters, including Helen Lovejoy and Maude Flanders. But her roles were at best tertiary, and keeping them mostly silent with a recurring replacement guest voice every now and then wouldn’t have been too difficult to pull off. Instead, this gave the writers the opportunity to pull off a big fat gimmick episode and kill off Ned’s beloved wife. I distinctly remember the promotion for this episode, making a big deal that someone on the show was going to die, and that it could be anyone. Rumor had it it was going to be one of Marge’s sisters, but it had already leaked that it was Maude. There’s something about this episode that’s terribly misguided, perhaps linked to the circumstances that led to its inception. It doesn’t feel like a story they particularly wanted to tell, and it’s certainly clear they can’t handle the heavy subject matter. All in all, it’s just incredibly clumsy.

Let’s start with talking about what killing off Maude means. Though his role has shifted slightly over time, Ned Flanders has always represented everything Homer is not. He’s got a wife and kids who adore him, is well-off financially, and things always seem to go his way. Ned always has a smile on his face and a kind word to say to his neighbor-eeno, as Homer toils away at a job he hates, with kids who don’t respect him and always finds himself at the butt end of fate’s cruel, cruel jokes. But in killing Maude, Ned is cut down a peg, his happy life burnt to cinders. He can no longer play this role anymore, and must be reborn in a way. This gave the writers the opportunity to build on this character in the future. …they didn’t, but that’s news for another time. So this could have been an interesting role reversal story, where Ned in his time of need takes solace in the dysfunctional Simpson family, who need to work together to get him on his feet and help him move on. Instead we get bonehead Homer making him a dating tape and hiding out in mailboxes.

Things feel so haphazard here, and the way in which they deal with Maude’s death is so crass. I don’t mean to bring the tone down, but this blog is about my specific reaction to each episode, and having not seen this one in years, re-watching it now struck me in a different way. My mother passed away last fall, and seeing this definitely brought up parallels. Some of Ned’s behavior reminded me of my dad, struggling of what to do with his life and how he could move on. But with stuff like the “Let ‘Er R.I.P.” T-shirt and Homer’s jerky behavior throughout, the episode felt so wrong, like it didn’t even try to blend the jokes with the serious story. I felt offended with how terribly out of place some of these bits were and the tonal clash they created. Now, don’t get me wrong, any subject is fair game for comedy. Hell, this show has done fabulous shows about death in the past. Episodes like “Old Money” and “‘Round Springfield” were thoughtful portrayals of how the death of a loved one affects us, and how we can go on with our lives without them, and on top of that, communicated all that in a funny way. What does this episode communicate? I haven’t a clue. If there’s any episode I can point to that truly shows how far the series has fallen, it may be this one. Sure, “Saddlesore Galactica” is absolute shit, but this is what the series now considers to be a meaningful, emotional episode. Play this one back to back with one of the episodes I just mentioned, and the differences could not be more stark. The former is a brilliant show, and the latter just has no idea what the hell it’s doing.

Tidbits and Quotes
– A lot of the set pieces in these later episodes are kind of hard to talk about, since there’s not that much there that’s funny or memorable. Lisa is shocked to find that part of the nature reserve has been gutted to build a new racetrack. So, they proceed to cross the road while race cars are speeding down it. I can see Homer doing this, but the rest of the family? The animals adapting to their new environments, racer Clay Babcock, the stuff at the actual race itself… I got nothing. It’s only offensive in that it’s not funny. The only good bit at the race was this exchange between Ralph and Chief Wiggum upon seeing Homer shirtless (“Mommy has bosoms like that!” “Yeah, I wish.”)
– Okay, so Maude’s death. I guess I don’t have a problem with the ridiculously absurd circumstances of her demise. I do take issue that Homer is indirectly responsible, but only in that it’s another sizable example of them setting something up and doing nothing with it. Even someone as thick as Homer has to realize that he was accidentally responsible for someone dying (don’t bother bringing up “Homer’s Enemy,” as that context is totally different). As such, you’d think this would affect him in some way. Maybe make his overenthusiastic desire to help Ned is a response to this sense of guilt. But instead Homer remains locked in jerk mode, where even at his nicest, he still feels like a creepy weirdo. Plus we get the high-larious joke about Homer parking in the ambulance space at the hospital delaying resuscitation that could have saved Maude’s life. That may be the worst line in the history of the series. Homer is basically a reprehensible monster at this point.
– The funeral also feels so wrong. Instead of being meaningful, it just becomes a big meta commentary about how Maude was a minor supporting character in life, and is one of the few major changes that has happened to the series like Apu getting married and having kids and the Van Houtens breaking up. It felt pathetic, like the writers crowing, “Look at all this stuff we changed! Aren’t we innovative!” Also the Fandamonium girls being there felt really wrong. They made a joke about it being part of their settlement due to the accident, but how inappropriate. It’s a cruel joke that maybe would work if it were geared toward a dislikable character, but Ned? The people indirectly responsible for his wife’s death are at her funeral, shooting off the very shirts that killed her. And Homer finally gets his fucking shirt with a fucking crass slogan on it and is oh so satisfied. UGH.
– There are glimmers of Homer being a nice guy here, like when he tucks Flanders in the first night, but it immediately flips back to him wanting to chuck rocks at him (and pocketing some in case he needs them for later).
– One of the few, few laughs here is the zoom-in on Ned’s pin number during Homer’s dating video. Which is then ruined by the next scene, Ned in the shower with pixellation obscuring his seemingly large genitals. A completely tasteless scene.
– I guess we get some foreshadowing to the whole Nedna thing with seeing the two of them on a date. …wait, what the hell am I saying, foreshadowing? That implies it was planned that they would get together, not another gimmicky ass pull. The scene’s not funny anyway.
– Ned’s crisis of faith and falling out with God is another interesting plot turn that could have happened in this episode, with the senseless death of his wife being the thing that finally breaks Ned, turning his back on the Almighty, and the citizens of Springfield needing to bring him back. But no, we’ll just make a quick joke out of it. No sense in doing a show about actual character development when we can have more silly Homer antics.
– So if this is the boat we’re in, Ned could do worse than Rachel Jordan. She reappeared next season in a disposable episode, so she doesn’t have much in the way of character, but she could have. In any case, we get our “hopeful” ending (“My name’s Ned Flanders, and I’m here every week. Rain or shine,”) with the writers hoping to garner some sentiment, but all it does is remind me how little there actually was.

(originally aired February 6, 2000)
This is a pretty infamous episode, and if you’re a fan, you know why. In fact, I can feel your blood boiling through the computer screen right now. But don’t worry, we’ll get to it. And to dispel any mystery up front, yeah, this episode blows. Even before we get to the controversial third act, this show is pretty limp, with fragmented acts, jumbled characterization and plot turns, and spits at the face of the audience for “daring” to point out that part of this story has been done before (and so, so, so much better). We open at the state fair where Lisa is competing in a school band competition, whose award is swiped by Ogdenville and their use of non-approved glow sticks in their performance. Her outrage and seek for reprisal is played out through the episode, but there’s really not much to pick through here. The fair is your typical Simpsons set piece, except with none of the jokes really work at all. Instead we have Homer acting like an dickhead, screaming at BTO and bemoaning having to sit through his daughter’s recital.

Also at the fair is Duncan the diving horse, an act that is swiftly cancelled when his owner is charged with animal cruelty and flees the scene. Bart, who has taken a shining to the animal in all of fifteen seconds, guilts his mother into taking in the horse. So, “Lisa’s Pony,” right? Except with none of the realism. We get a scene where Marge tabulates how expensive it will be to keep Duncan, which is absolved by Homer’s insistence that he can be a lightning fast race horse. And Bart can be the jockey, for some reason. Duncan is intimidated by the other horses at first, until Bart and Homer give him a new punk identity, rechristening him as Furious D. We haven’t even got to the third act and I already feel like I’m watching a stupid cartoon. The horse has a goddamn nose ring and is glory hogging on two legs at the finish line. The relationship between Bart and Duncan could have been something somewhat emotional to be developed, but a large amount of this episode is focused on Homer as Duncan’s “trainer,” reaping in the awards and being an overall asshole while doing it.

Okay, so here we go. The jockeys are annoyed about Duncan winning race after race and confront Homer about it. In their underground lair. Where they live in trees by a chocolate stream. And they’re elves. Elves. But this is a trick, right? They see how thick and gullible Homer is, so they concocted this ruse to scare him into forfeiting the next race. That would make some sense, right? Nope. All jockeys are elves, and if Homer doesn’t throw the race, they’ll eat his brain. Do I even need to comment? We’ve seen some pretty improbable and impossible things over the last two seasons, between sword fighting with motorcycles and the Loch Ness monster being real, but this just takes the cake. At least Burns seeked out Nessie for a purpose and it had a pay-off. Here, Duncan races and wins anyway, the elves chase after Homer and Bart with swords, and they’re subdued by a garden hose. And thrown in a garbage bag. It’s like the writers could care less. And yes, I just used “Monty Can’t Buy Me Love” as a favorable comparison. A completely bankrupt episode with an inexcusable third act. This is complete garbage, one of the worst episodes ever, for sure.

Tidbits and Quotes
– I like Mr. Largo’s close-mindedness at the beginning (“Very well, Lisa, what rousing Sousa march would you have us play?” “Well, I thought for once we could play a song that wasn’t written by Sousa.” “You mean something… just arranged by Sousa?”
– All the fair stuff is crap: Homer being a dick posing as a veteran to get out of paying fifty cents (though I did smirk at him saying he was stationed at “Margaret Cho,”) and a useless appearance by Bachman Turner Overdrive with Homer yelling and screaming at them like an asshole. There’s also a bit that is so unbelievably lazy. Lisa bitterly comments, “I can’t believe those idiot judges were impressed by glowing plastic tubes.” What’s the punchline? Can you guess? Homer mesmerized by a bunch of glowsticks on his neck. Cutting edge comedy. Indicative of how low the standards of this show have gotten.
– Comic Book Guy appears to act as the viewer in observing the Simpsons sheltering a horse has been done already, and he is promptly ridiculed and demeaned. It’s like the writers realized they were treading over old ground, then said not only fuck it, but we’ll mock anyone who informs us of this. It’s kind of like “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show,” but way worse since that was an amazing episode. They’re telling us the viewers to shut the fuck up, and then turn around with this steaming pile of shit? That takes some brass balls, fellas.
– More cartoony crap as we see Moe’s heart literally jump out of his chest like an old Tex Avery short. They make a joke about it, but it’s just fucking ridiculous. That shit shouldn’t happen in a show like this, period.
– I do think it’s kind of cute that Bart rides Duncan wearing his Krusty pajamas. And instead of a riding crop, he has a toilet brush.
– The few good lines come from the racing announcer (“It’s Chock Full O’Drugs followed closely by Stalker, with Old Levis fading fast!” “In a bizarre twist, a horse is abusing a jockey! Might this be the start of a terrifying Planet of the Horses? In this announcer’s opinion, almost certainly yes. And away I go!”)
– Shouldn’t Duncan be disqualified for viciously knocking other jockeys off their horses? Oh wait, I guess the joke is that Duncan might beat them up too, so give him the prize and make him happy before he kills us. There’s way too much human consciousness out of this horse. As Matt Groening’s mantra goes , animals are a lot funnier when they act like… animals.
– A perfectly good Cake song is tainted by being featured in this episode. Quite a shame.
– Jockey elves, jockey elves, fucking jockey elves… even after 23 seasons, it’s still one of the lowest points of the series. And, really, there’s no point to them. The threat is absolved immediately, and out of nowhere. And even though they’re still pretty big, like maybe hovering under five feet, they all manage to fit in a trash bag. And that’s the solution? They can’t break free of the bag? The garbage men will come, notice there are living things in the bag, tear it open, then the jockeys will escape and kill Bart and Homer. That would be a more satisfying ending than this. And also the Bill Clinton thing, which would be funnier if it actually made any sense. Also his outro line, “Hey, I’m a pretty lousy president” stings even more now knowing who would come after him…

(originally aired January 23, 2000)
Like “Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder,” this is a relatively new breed of episode, one we’d see often in the future. It’s a “stuff just happens” show; there’s a lot of different tenuously connected set pieces, and things definitely do happen, but none of it is cohesive or has a consistent theme whatsoever. Also the actual point of the story is unclear. What exactly is this episode about? If it’s about Homer desperately wanting to cling to this billionaire high life, they sure did a poor job communicating it. We open at the Springfield Pride Awards, hosted by Kent Brockman and… Britney Spears. Now, many celebrities have appeared at hometown events in the past (Leonard Nimoy, Barry White, James Brown, and so on), but all of them either were somewhat related to the subject of the event, and were really funny. As preposterous as it was for a big star to be at a local festival, you accepted that they were there. But megastar Britney Spears hosting this? No way. Just more bullshit stunt casting.

At said award show, Mr. Burns realizes he’s the oldest man in Springfield, and decides he’s due for a medical check-up. So who will watch his spacious mansion when he’s gone? One of his many servants, cronies, or business friends? Nope, let’s just get that big dumb idiot to do it. This is more sanitized Burns, he’s stuck in his helpless old man mode we saw in “The Old Man and the Lisa.” His ruthless nature appears to have evaporated. His reaction to the doctor’s bad news feels so pathetic, when I feel he should be irritated in some way. But anyway, the Simpsons take residence at Burns Manor, where, as I’ve said, stuff happens. It’s a bunch of isolated scenes at first, then seem to be gearing towards Homer planning a big party before Burns returns. Homer’s a blind moron here, driving drunk in the house, swishing Brandy over his daughter’s face, and just being a generally irresponsible man child. This idea of Homer living the high life and not wanting to give it up feels like it had potential, but it appears none of it actually made it to the screen.

When he finds out booze can’t be sold until 2pm on Sundays, Homer holds his party on international waters, where they can drink all they want. Having everyone go out to sea for the third act kind of divorces yourself from your main story. You know what else does that too? Fucking pirates. The ship is attacked and taken over by pirates. What exactly is the point of all this? And what the fuck is happening? We get an unwelcome return of dumb action sequence endings that occurred in every single season 10 episode, even though we’re on a boat and Homer has no place he can hide or get away to. It’s all just clumsy filler, and I’m busy checking my watch praying it will be over soon. So we end on improbable and moronic reasoning for their escape, Burns returning neutered as ever, and a tacky hokey resolution to the main “story.” To some degree, I don’t even feel I can hate an episode like this or “Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder.” They don’t even seem to try to be about anything or make a point, so at least they didn’t fail at their mission. But still, this is what the series has become? Aimless non-stories with unrelated sequences and an ending with goddamn pirates? Not The Simpsons I know…

Tidbits and Quotes
– The whole Springfield Pride Awards idea bothers me. When we’re at the point where we’re showing Lenny and the other characters getting awards, it’s getting closer and closer to everyone in town knowing everyone else. Everyone in town has their own little separate social circles, like any major town, but soon Barney will know who Cletus is, or the Sea Captain will acknowledge Milhouse. This is a town full of pride for good ol’ Jebediah and their history, but I’m not too sure they have much pride in each other. Plus there’s no good jokes in the scene whatsoever. I smirked at Cornelius Chapman taking a bullet for Huey Long. And oh, Britney Spears’s kiss kills the old man. Hilarious. And Brockman acts so cavalier about it, nudging his corpse aside. Feels more cruel than funny to me.
– “Who’s that fellow who always screws up and creates havoc?” “Homer Simpson, sir?” “Yes! The way I see it, he’s due for a good performance!” I hate, hate, hate this bit. It’s not enough that he’d trust Homer, but that he acknowledges that he’d fuck shit up at his house. Why would Burns do this? It’s just a clumsy wink-and-nod about how of course he’s going to pick the Simpsons, but they could have done it in a way that was funny (call back to Smithers’s database search in “Homer the Smithers.”)
– We see Marge’s painting of Burns from “Brush With Greatness” in the hallway, with his genitals obscured by a nearby flower. Just makes me wish I were watching that episode instead.
– Pretty crass and out-of-character joke of Marge scratching her ass with the supposed ass-scratching fork.
– I like the animation of when Homer collapses from the brandy, the glass shifting around and hitting his head with a “tink” sound.
– One of the few parts I liked was Homer’s call to Thailand, where he “uh-huhs” once or twice before commenting, “That’s some language you got there. And you talk like that 24/7, huh?”
– I kind of like the explanation of Burns’s condition (Three Stooges syndrome), but it does feel way too dumb. Burns’s callous reaction to it doesn’t help much either.
– I really don’t have much to say about the boat stuff. Just the characters acting like idiots and pirates show up. And as if we didn’t have enough physically impossible things this season, the net full of people floats. Any explanation for this? No. Whatever. Fuck you.
– Dan Castellaneta does an amusing ad-lib over the credits, screaming and whining about how everyone is rich. An adequate way to end an abysmal show.

(originally aired January 16, 2000)
Some of these episodes are getting harder and harder to write about. I liked a few parts of this one, and the core idea is something that could have worked… maybe, but by the third act basically everything collapses into empty tension and stupidity. A lot of it just felt very vacuous overall. We start with Homer returning to Springfield University for an alumni party, which is dangerous territory, given the inevitable comparison to one of the greatest episodes ever, “Homer Goes to College.” His old nerd buddies return, but they feel more like generic nerd characters than they did before. Dean Peterson is gone and replaced with an actual crusty old dean, and having Homer’s hatred and pranking of him actually be justified is a lot less funny than him being misguided. This is one of the first times the show has attempted to go back to the well, mining old characters and set pieces to try and either have lightning strike twice or get petty recognition points from viewers. It would get more egregious as time went on, but here it’s not so terrible, since it’s only part of the first act. It’s more a harbinger than anything else.

Homer’s prank backfires and he ends up with a bucket glued to his head, with no hope for removal. His salvation comes when the family winds up at the service of Brother Faith, a faith healer showman who claims he can expel Satan’s hold from the afflicted. He has Bart remove the bucket from his father’s head, and informs the boy that he has “the power.” Bart takes this to heart, and starts his own faith healing charade in his backyard. I felt this story would have worked a lot better starting smaller, then building from there, like maybe have Bart’s sermons just be for the kids, then expand into gullible adults. It kind of does this with Bart using his new “skills” at the schoolyard, but then right after that he does some kick boxing moves in church and everyone (even Flanders) wildly applauds. Next thing you know everyone’s going to Bart’s “church,” leaving Lovejoy a shepard without a flock. If the show really wanted to be about faith healing, why not make it more about Lovejoy’s response to this more upbeat, in-your-face sermonizing? The title of the show is “Faith Off,” after all, and it would have made more sense.

The third act takes place at the college football game between Springfield U and Springfield A&M, in an attempt to bridge both “plots” together. Homer has decided to make a homecoming float, of his own accord for some reason, but ends up driving it onto the field drunk and mowing down the star player. Pretty irresponsible behavior, right? Is he arrested? Punished? Nah. He’s also sober by the next scene, when Fat Tony randomly appears, who has money on the game, wanting retribution. Homer hopes to wiggle out of his by having Bart attempt to “heal” the athlete. I guess it’s supposed to be a sweet moment when Bart says he’ll do it for his dad, but when Homer caused the problem to begin with and is using his son to get him out of it, you don’t feel so bad for Homer as much as you start to get pissed at him. The episode ends in such a ridiculous fashion that it almost becomes funny (almost) and cuts to credits on a dull groaner of a line. This episode’s got a bit of a leg up (ha ha ha…) on “Little Big Mom” for having a few good jokes and ideas, but ultimately feels just as disposable.

Tidbits and Quotes
– I like the nerd Benjamin’s enthusiasm over his contribution to society: a device that downloads Internet porn a million times faster. Homer is very appreciative.
– One of the only bright spots in this episode is Springfield U’s “all-American” kicker Anton Lubchenko, football all-star with a Communications major (“Is phony major! Lubchenko learn nothing! Nothing!”)
– The twist of a bucket of glue already being over the Dean’s door, and no one noticing it, is pretty dumb, but I think it still works. It was those rascals from Kappa Gamma Tau (“Last in grades, first in pranks!”)
– It really doesn’t make much sense that Hibbert can’t remove the bucket. Again, he’s becoming less and less of a professional each episode he’s in. I do like the horrifying squish noise made when Bart permeates Homer’s eye with a drill, and also the animation of Homer’s limited POV driving and ending up in a ditch (“That had nothing to do with the bucket.”)
– Don Cheadle gives an energetic performance as Brother Faith, he did a pretty great job. My favorite part is when he searches for a “holy helper” to assist Homer (“Someone who believes!”) He turns to Lisa, who emphatically says no. Faith recovers, “Okay, movin’ on!” and goes over to Bart. I also love how violent he is in helping Cletus (“I done sprained my elby-bone, so it goes in the oppositty direction”) and Krusty, who gets his comedy “K’s” back (“King Kong cold-cocked Kato Kaelin! Hey, you Gentiles are alright!”)
– More brain dead Homer as he draws flip books of Moe in a hula skirt, and when Lisa tells him to think of something school-related for his float, he draws Superman fighting Godzilla. Homer’s funnier when he’s dim, not mentally disabled.
– “Testify” is an alright song, I guess. It fits the atmosphere of the scene and has a nice rhythm to it. But it certainly can’t stand up to some of the greats of the show’s past. It was used as the title song of the third album they put out of all the songs from seasons 11-on, and you can certainly hear the difference in quality if you want to venture and give it a listen.
– There’s a really awkward joke delivered by Milhouse at the start of the third act (“This cast is real itchy, and I tried to scratch and the fork got stuck in there and I think there was some food on the fork.”) Then we see ants climbing into his cast. It’s such a clumsy and lengthy line read for such a minor joke. We’d see plenty more of those in the future.
– Nice bit with Brockman’s frustration at his nephew repeatedly using “fever” in his report, having lost his thesaurus (“In preparation for the big game, Springfield Stadium has caught additional seating capacity fever!”)
– I like Captain McAllister approaching Bart to help him, but being turned away, having to look elsewhere to ease his crippling depression. Bart is surprised (“Man, and I thought he had it all.”)
– Homer somehow manages to build a gigantic float that has a working mechanical arm on top of it. How did he manage that? Also, I think the joke of his float being offensive and grotesque would have worked a lot better if the actual Springfield U float didn’t feature a public hanging of their rival’s mascot.
– Part of me likes how stupid the ending is. That shot of the dismembered leg flying in to kick the ball again over the goal post is so ridiculous. But why oh why would Hibbert not attempt to recover the leg? Why is he becoming as incompetent as Dr. Nick these days?

(originally aired January 9, 2000)
This episode has a weird presence to it, for one reason or another, nothing really felt right for the whole running time. It’s kind of hard to explain. From the opening set piece to the main thrust of the story to the random ending, it was all so off, like some novice writer took his stab at writing an episode without really understanding the series. At the start, things just feel so lazy as the show attempts to jump into the skiing opening by acknowledging how random and abrupt the transition is. It doesn’t work. The first act is pretty much laugh-free, save for the famous “Stupid sexy Flanders!” bit, which is immediately made irritating as Homer gets hit in the crotch repeatedly while screaming at the top of his lungs. Hey guys, volume does not equal funny.

So the crux of the story is Lisa filling in for Marge in keeping the house together, but realizing it’s more hassle than she thought. Now, this whole premise doesn’t work for two big reasons. Firstly, it’s an egregious example of having Homer and Bart being partners in crime rather than father and son. Call back to “Bart After Dark” and their hilarious lazy and awkward escapades at having the house to themselves. Here they’re two big kids, horsing around at the hospital and Homer laughing derisively at his daughter’s request to turn the TV down. Homer is a man child for sure, but not to this degree. Second, I feel this role doesn’t exactly befit Lisa. It’s sort of reminiscent of “My Sister, My Sitter” where she wants to be viewed as more mature, but this is a bigger leap. Episodes like “Homer Alone” and “Marge in Chains” have shown how the house goes to shit without Marge, where we see that Lisa is just as much a kid needing her mother as anyone. Lisa the authority figure just feels like her flimsy adult-child characterization she’d be saddled with later on.

To get back at her father and brother, Lisa makes them think they have leprosy by applying fake oatmeal and poster paint sores on their body. I can buy this a little bit, like you could use the joke that Homer and Bart don’t bathe to explain why the sores stay on. But when Flanders takes pity on them and sends them to Hawaii, all good will evaporates. How could these trained professionals not see it’s just fucking oatmeal? It just felt so silly, and not in a good way. This whole episode is filled with either big dead spots with no laughs, or stuff that makes no sense and feels out of character. Like “Take My Wife, Sleaze,” despite its laundry list of problems, I can’t say I hate this one, but I certainly rue and lament it.

Tidbits and Quotes
– Even the Itchy and Scratchy feels wrong. It’s way too long with too light of a payoff.
– The skiing opening is pretty much a dead zone. I like the name Mt. Embolism, but all the other material just kind of laid there.
– I hate Homer and Bart at the hospital, but I do like this exchange (“You’re wasting thousands of dollars of interferon!” “And you’re interfere-on with our good time!”) Also, what happened to Hibbert being a competent doctor? A bone in Marge’s leg piercing her brain? What?
– Homer is not only a complete child but in full idiot mode here. Having him talk into that candy phone like it was real was pretty aggravating in that’s what they felt was a great joke.
– I like Tress MacNeille’s grizzled Lucille Ball voice. The sequence was kind of silly, but it has the only few laughs in this show (“Lucy Macgillacudy Ricardo Carmichael. And I think there’s some more.”)
– I guess it’s kind of neat they got the AOL guy to voice the Virtual Doctor. Kind of. A little. …not really. Though I do like that it’s from the creator of “Sim Sandwich.”
– Apart from “stupid sexy Flanders,” the only other golden bit occurs when Bart and Homer claw through Ned’s mail slot like zombies (“Braaains… braaaiins… use your brains to help us! Your delicious braaiins…”) There’s a few other amusing bits there too, with Ned being upset Maude saw Ben Hur without him, and urging his boys to get him the alcohol-free alcohol.
– It involves more Homer screaming and yelling, but I really like the performance of Dan Castellaneta singing “Aloha Oe” punctuated with needle lacerations. And the Hawaiian version of the end theme is pretty great. At least I can give the ending that.