One can only hope he destroys your dreams as obtusely as Homer did Frank’s
Didn’t mention how much I get a kick out of the fact that Kent Brockman apparently has ant-overlord graphics at the ready.
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“Homer’s Enemy” is a weird one for me. When I was a child, I found it funny that Grimes was totally right about Homer and got screwed anyway. When I was a young man, I didn’t like it because I thought it was too mean-spirited towards Homer. As a wise old man, I find it funny again because Grimes is wrong. He’s bitter the world isn’t the meritocracy he thinks it is and keeps trying to force it to be one-- the real world isn’t, let alone the Simpsons-verse-- and his obsession ultimately kills him.
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Man, a series overview of the series and specific episodes like this would be dynamite. Young writers couldn’t touch it. You have to be old enough to speak to your experience when it first aired vs what it was like years later vs what it’s like now.
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This would be fun to do. Maybe I’ll take a run at the episodes picked already
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This season’s theme is “2020.” It will (try) to focus on events of 2020 and simpson’s episodes that roughly correlate to these events.
First episode is quite an obvious pick - Season 4, Episode 21 “Marge in Chains.” This was the episode that led people to conclude that the simpson’s “predicted” coronavirus (I personally don’t think there’s much correlation here, people are fucking weird).
Episode starts out with Troy Mclure, star of such films as “P is for psycho” and “The president’s neck is missing.” can’t go wrong there. Pimping a product for juicing oranges - by squeezing it directly into his eye. “Up until now, there was no other way!”
cuts to homer squeezing an orange with his eye socket “You mean there’s another way?” Homer says, as he frantically picks up the phone to order the product, so that he can lose weight and “won’t get chest pain from answering the phone anymore.”
Cuts to this scene in Osaka, Japan. It’s funny watching these early 90’s episodes again, there are a lot of references to Japan and how it was threatening to the US at the time. If these eps were made today it’d probably be china.
Anyway, in Osaka, cut to two workers laughing (with hilarious animation) about how they are both working with illness coughs into homer’s order, and you can see the virus spread throughout springfield.
Poor otto gets puked on by Arnie in the sky.
Bart gets his temperature taken, and it’s normal. He tells marge to “try again” and squeezes his eyes shut. Cut to a scene where the antibodies are getting orders to “lay down their arms” and the virus goes “all riiiiiiiight, let’s make some PUS!”
This comes on the tv, who does it remind you of?
Crowd chanting “We need a cure! we need a cure!” outside the dr office. They frantically search for “placebo” in a truck marked “killer bees.”
Todd Flanders is “speaking in tongues” but is just sick with fever. Flanders wonders what he did to deserve this? Cuts to a flashback of him watching married with children and laughing at a very mild dirty joke, then going “uh oh” as lightning strikes. Lol.
“Ohh, the network slogan is true, 'watch fox and be damned for all eternity!”
Bart wants some flintsones chewable morphine as marge is overwhelmed taking care of the family.
Marge arrested, chief wiggum wants her to come out with her hands up and “something with coconut in it.”
Lol flanders cuts back to his “brush with the law” and it’s just a cop asking him what his name was.
In the courtroom - “Let the record show the witness made a ‘drinky drinky’ motion!”
marge’s lawyer describes the liquor she stole and freaks out and calls his sponsor, who is david crosby.
this clip.
Lol homer. “Marge, I’m gonna miss you so much, and it’s not just the sex, it’s also the food preparation.”
Lots of visual gags in this episode I don’t feel like elaborating on.
Lol, Lisa with a rare laugh. They are complaining about not having any clean clothes because Homer’s running the house, and Lisa goes “It feels like I’ve been wearing the same red dress forever!”
Homer doesn’t have any clean clothes left so he goes to visit marge in a devil halloween costume, lol.
At the bake sale, they’re 15 dollars short. “Exactly what marge simpson’s marshmellow squares bring in!” Idk why this stuff makes me laugh.
The city erupts into riots. Hey, another 2020 reference!
They erect a statue for marge and the kids play tetherball on it. Another visual gag.
Ok, that was my first episode. Next one incoming in ~45 minutes. That took longer than I thought it would. Next one is an actual banger - I think this one was pretty decent though.
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Hmmmmmmmm.
Interesting choice.
I have a feeling I’m about to be sniped
Lolllllllllll
You baffled me with the pick but the write up persuaded me. I was laughing just from your descriptions of the gags.
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I’m trying to go with a theme here, because I think people are gonna take all the good eps. My next one is definitely considered an all time great.
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My #3 and #6 are on the board and I’m thinking of taking #6 first because I think it’s more likely to be sniped. Not sure if I’m wrong on #3 making it to my third pick, but I’m almost certain #6 won’t.
Never been a big fan of the “people are unnecessarily cruel to OFF” episodes-- there are two more from the classic years I’m thinking of-- and “Marge in Chains” kinda turns me off for that reason, although there are a lot of good bits and a substantial Lionel Hutz appearance. (The mayor of Austin literally did the Mayor Quimby thing in that clip.)
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Leggo
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1 incredibly obvious fan favorite that I’m stunned hasn’t been picked yet
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my next writeup may have to wait til i get back from the gym, around 9:30 MST or so. should have the pick ready though.
Season 7, Episode 7 “King sized Homer.”
This is a no brainer for my 2020 theme. It centers around homer getting disability and working from home. Not surprisingly, WFH didn’t go well for him.
Immediately hilarious. Homer hiding in the bathroom and screaming hysterically as he is dragged out by some goons. “I’ve never seen anyone so desperate to get out of 5 minutes of calisthenics.” HOMER FAT jokes always make me laugh hard.
Homer tries to get on disability. “Stupidity, ehhhh?”
“Look at it my way, sweetie - all my life I’ve been an obese man trapped in a fat man’s body.”
Dr. Nick “Heyy, did you go to upstairs hollywood medical college too?”
The test for whether homer should eat something to gain weight is if he rubs it on a piece of paper and the grease makes it see through.
Homer thinks he lost weight until he removes his gut from the towel rack. Lmao
He finally hits 300 lbs and achieves his “dream”, “work from home”
Homer sinking all the way into the bed and marge falls on top of him. “Hello honey!” Funnier when you watch the scene.
Homer weighing himself and is just shy of 300. Maggie hands him some playdough and Homer is dismissive, but Bart tells him it’s non toxic. “Oh, that’s a relief!” Homer says as he is already halfway through eating the play “D’oh!” We find out he had the stomach on the towel rack issue again and is actually 315. His giggling after that made me laugh. “Oooh, hoo hoo, oh my, hehe”
They install a remote work terminal in Homer’s living room.
Lmao as he walks into a big and tall, the salesperson notices homer’s girth. “Work, huh? Let me guess, computer programmer? Computer magazine columnist? Something with computers…” I resent this stereotype.
Homer settles on a mumu, probably the funniest visual gag of this entire series.
“8:58, the earliest I’ve ever been to work! Except for all those stupid daylight savings days. Stupid farmers”
at his workstation - “Press any key.” “I don’t see the any key!” as he looks everywhere for the “any” key. This is something I’d do. Calls the pg up key “Pig up.”
“All this computer hacking is making me thirsty!” Presses “tab” expecting tab soda. This whole scene cracked me up.
At the end of a triumphant speech - “AND WHERE’S THAT CAKE?” LOL
He finds out he can just press Y instead of typing out yes. “Hey, ms doesn’t find me sexually attractive anymore, I’ve just tripled my work productivity!”
Eventually figures out he can just type Y repeatedly and get his job done. Quickly gets bored, then the mailman comes. “THE MAIL! THE MAIL IS HERE!” and gets super excited. This one cut a little too deep, I have felt that exact sentiment this year.
Homer hitting the Y key with a broomstick handle as he watches tv reminds me of me at work sometimes trying to hit my keyboard to prevent my computer from sleeping.
He then automates his job with a woodpecker toy that hits the y key repeatedly.
“I just came here to see ‘Honk if you’re horny!’”
“The fingers you have used to dial are too fat”
Burns leading the calisthenics is pretty funny.
Homer stops a core meltdown by falling into a hole and getting stuck.
“You’ve turned a potential chernobyl into a mere 3 mile island!”
“For once dad’s butt prevented the release of toxic gas!”
Visual gag - homer’s dangling naked legs being decontaminated below by guys in hazmat suits.
Ok that’s it for me. Hopefully these picks weren’t too boring.
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Not what I expected but “King Size Homer” fucking rules, just so many great bits and jokes in it. “I warsh myself with a rag on a stick,” and Bart chasing Lisa with the imaginary rag is such great little-kid humor.
@mjiggy are you here? I’ll leave my pick here if you are since I won’t be able to write it up in full for a couple of hours.
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I might be able to kick together something like this eventually. Not sure how long it would have to be or how many episodes I’d write up specifically vs. my general impressions of the show then vs. now. I’ll put some thought into what it would look like and how long it might take me-- I’ve been taking a little break the last couple of weeks because I did a ton of writing in December to publish some stuff right at the end / beginning of the year.
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Yea, we could use a running list of episodes picked. I’m following the thread, but I ain’t gonna remember.
so far picked I have (not in order)
Last Exit to Springfield
Deep Space Homer
Marge vs. the Monorail
Homer at the Bat
Cape Feare
King-Size Homer
Homer’s Barbershop Quartet
Homer’s Enemy
Marge in Chains
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Those are all the picks, not just mine. I’ve only picked “Deep Space Homer.” We’re on round 2, pick 2 right now, me on the clock.
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