Scullyfied Simpsons: "The Old Man And The "C" Student" (Season 10, Episode 20)

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Oh, dear! Now you've done it!

          "I want some taquitos!" - Jasper. No, not that one...

Airdate: April 25th, 1999

Written By: Julie Thacker

Plot: The IOC's plan to give Springfield the 2000 Summer Olympics falls apart when Bart's comedy routine offends the entire committee. As punishment, Skinner forces him to volunteer at the Retirement Castle. He finds the environment there overly restrictive to the elderly. Lisa, a frequent volunteer there, disagrees and argues that the environment there caters to their desires. Cue a One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest parody.

Meanwhile, Homer's attempts at making a mascot - Springy - collapse with the Olympics bid. With an entire crate of springs to sell, he decides to embark on - guess what - a new career selling springs. It does not go well - particularly for Lenny's eye.

Review:

Let's be real here - the elderly aren't treated well in The Simpsons. I mean, when this show was on all four cylinders, nobody was ("nuts and gum" was not a compliment), but man, oh, man, did the elderly get the shaft. Rather than wise and learned elders, they tended to be crotchety, senile ("I SAID FRENCH FRIES!"), dumped into decrepit retirement homes where they decline in more depressing ways than ever before... even the most successful senior in the show is not only a ruthless and heartless businessman (for now, at least), but hysterically behind the times in some areas. ("I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?") It's all about waiting out the clock until they die, which knowing The Simpsons, is a long, long, long time.

Since I compared the last Simpsons episode I reviewed to a Season 2 episode, may as well do the same here - this time with one of my favorites, "Old Money". There, the Retirement Castle is dilapidated, everybody wants to take the elderly's money, their families them on token trips while ignoring their interests, etc. Should somebody ever accuse The Simpsons of being weaksauce, I will throw on episodes like "Old Money" - which manages to fuse brutal social satire with a rather sweet ending - to inform them that this show once had guts.

Speaking of which, "The Old Man and the "C" Student".

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Maximum Homerdrive" (Season 10, Episode 17)

"If you wanna be my lover
You gotta get with my friends
Make it last forever
Cos friendship never ends..."

"Don't you have school?" "Don't you have work?" "Ah, touche." - Homer and Bart, recognizing just how silly these plots are getting.

Airdate: March 28th, 1999
Written By: John Swartzwelder.
Plot: The Simpson family (bar Lisa) go to the Slaughterhouse, a steakhouse where the waiters kill the cow in front of the patrons. One menu item is a 16lb steak that only two people finished - Tony Randall and trucker Red Barclay. Homer decides to take on Red... but while Homer loses, the contest doesn't end too well for the trucker. Feeling remorseful, Homer decides to take on Red's last route to Atlanta, and Bart hops on for the ride.

Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa decide to install a new doorbell - one that plays "Close to You". Their patience to have somebody ring the doorbell wears thin, however, and eventually Lisa takes the plunge... one that will ultimately prove detrimental to the neighborhood's sleep schedules.

Review:

Oh, yeah! Set your amps to max, turn your hairdryers to Max Power, switch your radio over to Max FM, and take your son Max over to Lake Destiny, because we're in for our second Maximum episode in a row! Time to shift it into "Maximum Homerdrive!"

Through my life, the "road trip" has been a favorite pastime of mine. Thus, episodes of TV shows revolving around road trips seem to lure me in. And I have to admit it - "Maximum Homerdrive" is actually an episode I rather like. Yeah, it's silly, contains a rather thin plot, and probably the pinnacle of "Homer Gets A Job" plots that dominate Season 10. But, for some reason, I get a nostalgic feeling with this episode.

Under a critical lens, though... how does it hold up?

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Marge Simpson in: Screaming Yellow Honkers" (Season 10, Episode 15)

"Anger is what makes America great. But you must find a proper weapon for your rage." - Sgt. Crewe. Personally, I watch Simpsons episodes produced during the show's decline and complain about them on a blog. 

Airdate: February 21st, 1999

Plot: While trying to flee a variety show, Homer sees the four-wheel strength of the Canyonero. He goes to buy it, only to get the "F-Series" - a version of the car targeting women. His fear of being labeled gay has him toss the keys to Marge (read, has him hotwire her old car). Marge gets behind the Canyonero, and immediately gains some impulse. Unfortunately, this translates into road rage - one that gets her sent to Traffic Court. This proves ineffective, though, and eventually, her license is suspended... just in time for an incident at the zoo that, for some reason, requires her help. (Go on, guess why?)

Review:

As I mentioned in my review of "Coach Steven", America seems to be the nation that runs on pure, unbridled Id. Power seems to permieate from every single thing we do - the biggest homes, the most powerful cars, the most passionate politics, etc. Granted, this is a broad generalization, but there is truth in the stereotype of the powerful American. Here, this episode takes a look at the SUV - arguably the most powerful type of car in existence - and how even the meekest of us can become power hungry. Unfortunately, it's in execution where the episode falls apart.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Homer to the Max" (Season 10, Episode 13)

Airdate: February 7th, 1999

Plot: One of the midseason shows, Police Cops, features an Ace-type detective named Homer Simpson. This gives Homer a burst of popularity because of the similar names. However, a retool turns the detective into a lout, turning Homer into the joke of the town. After a plea to the executives falls less than flat, he finally decides to sue them. After that court case is thrown out, he asks for a name change to Max Power. With that name, he gains the attention of the A-List in Springfield.

Review (SPOILERS): Can television characters become deeply ingrained in our national psyche? Of course. Can it get to the point where it affects the lives of people with similar names? Likely. This is the topic that the episode was trying to take on, I think. Unfortunately, it's execution is quite a bit wonky, leading to a rather silly third act conclusion.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" (Season 10, Episode 12)

These nutjobs have earned the prestigious honor of Smooth Jimmy Apollo's Lock-Up of the Week!

Airdate: January 31st, 1999.

Plot: Through a series of barely connected events, Homer meets up with a travel agent who manages to get him and his friends to ride a coach bus to the Super Bowl, all for free. Thing is, their tickets have a problem - they're fake. Their attempt to go to the game... well, just look at the above image and guess how well that fared.

Review: I am a fan of the New York Football Giants. I've never been to a game (because being in the largest media market gives you the right to charge $100 for a low-end ticket and god-knows-what for food and stuff), but I've been watching the team on TV practically every fall for the past twelve years. The 42nd and 46th Super Bowls were some of the greatest sports memories of my life. And even with the team's recent malaise, I won't give up hope that the Giants will reach the top of the Football Mountain once again.

What does this have to do with "Sunday Cruddy Sunday"?

...nothing! Absolutely nothing!

...I kid, I kid... the episode does feature Football. And, much like the end of the past four Giants seasons, it hurt to watch and barely held any connection to anything.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken" (Season 10, Episode 11)

Those kids may need an optometrist.

Airdate: January 17th, 1999

Synopsis: The Springfield Isotopes win the league pennant, causing a gang including Homer and his friends to vandalize the Springfield Elementary School. The next morning, the blame is pinned... on the children of Springfield, who are promptly placed under a curfew. Infuriated at this, the children proceed to set up a pirate radio show, which serves as a tabloid-esque program leaking the secrets of the townspeople.

Review (SPOILERS): "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", when I was younger, wasn't necessarily my favorite episode of the show. I don't know why it didn't like it - it really just never endeared itself to me. Strangely, though, it's cited as one of the better ones from Season 10. Now that I'm older, and have watched some really bad Simpsons episodes, has it gotten any better?

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Mayored To The Mob" (Season 10, Episode 9)

Airdate: December 20th, 1998

Those aren't Idaho Potatoes!

Synopsis: A trip to the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con goes horribly wrong when Mark Hamill doesn't talk about Star Wars at his panel. With a riot breaking out, and Mark and the Mayor's lives threatened, Homer barges through the nerds and rescues the duo. Quimby promptly fires his old bodyguards and replaces them with Homer. This, however, leads to trouble when Homer winds up discovering that a deal with the Mafia to send low-quality milk to schoolchildren went too well (read, the Mafia was using rat's milk.) With the ring busted, Fat Tony threatens Quimby's life.

Review: OK... Homer gets another job. Over the previous eight episodes, he's been a grease jockey, an inventor, a personal assistant, a hippie, and a coward on the Ship of Lost Souls (although that last one only lasted mere minutes before he got thrown out.) So, why did the writers give him another job? I think, in reality, Mark Hamill just walked by Ron Hauge at some restaurant in LA, Hauge thought of an episode where Homer and Mark met up, and before you know it, Homer's a bodyguard.

Anyway, this episode was better than "Kidney Trouble". Then again, a test pattern would've been better than "Kidney Trouble".

Scullyfied Simpsons: "When You Dish Upon a Star" (Season 10, Episode 5)

This is as close to a mockery as Alec Baldwin gets. It's all downhill from here.

Airdate: November 8th, 1998

Synopsis: While parasailing at Lake Springfield, Homer literally crashes into Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin's house. Rather than call the cops or the paramedics, they befriend the idiot. Apparently, the two hang out at the Summer house to try and escape the press. Homer quickly becomes their personal assistant, yet has to check his impulses that could expose them to the media.

Review: While we have seen Homer's character begin to slip over the past season, in my opinion, Season 10 had three key episodes that cemented the change in character from "lovable everyman" to "obnoxious Creators Pet/Jerkass Homer". These include "Homer Simpson in Kidney Trouble" (cementing his callous actions as practically normal), "Viva Ned Flanders" (cementing his omnipotence and role as centerpiece in the town of Springfield), and today's example in how to tarnish the legacy of the most treasured sitcom in American history, "When You Dish Upon a Star". Here, we focus on Homer not only meeting up with celebrities, but also becoming their assistant... despite damaging their house.

And that's just the start of the episode's problems.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" (Season 10, Episode 2)

Airdate: September 20th, 1998

Synopsis: Reaching a midlife crisis, Homer becomes despondent on life. After a projector breaks down, Homer rhetorically asks "who invented this thing?" Lisa responds, and Homer has a new goal - be the new Thomas Edison. He becomes obsessed with the man... and, when it turns out that Edison invented something that Homer seemed to invent - a chair with an extra set of legs on hinges - Captain Wacky becomes hellbent on destroying Edison's chair.

Review: Sounds like a Scullyfied Simpsons. Ain't been reviewed onto nigh for two months.

Tsk, tsk, tsk - trouble a brewin!

Homer's sorta pitiful life is the centerpiece of the greatest Simpsons episodes. Even when he is involved in something landmark (such as going into space), there's this tinge in the writing that he got there by the thinnest of margins (aka, Barney going insane and falling off the top of a mattress factory). Despite this, he almost always maintained a love for the simple things you'd expect a 40-year old to love - TV, Duff, all that jazz.

Indeed, deconstructing his simple life by putting him in a midlife crisis seems like tough ground to tread. It doesn't seem like Homer would be the one to encounter that, but I'd be willing to excuse that somewhat as a deconstruction of what his life has been.

Then Lisa brings up Thomas Edison, and the episode becomes... a tad bit more haphazard.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "Lard of the Dance" (Season 10, Episode 1)

Airdate: August 23, 1999

Synopsis: At the dawn of a new school year, Lisa has to meet up with a transfer student. Unlike the previous transfer student, this new transfer student, Alex Whitney (Lisa Kurdow, Friends), is a fashion-oriented, modern "adult"-like child in the same grade as Lisa, who still enjoys the pursuits of childhood.

Meanwhile, Homer gets the first of many, many, many jobs this season when he realizes the market value of grease. He and Bart try and usurp grease from various sources... including the school.

Review: The tenth season premiere is, in some ways, a bit of a "Deja Vu" moment. By which, I mean, it's all but a remake of "Lisa's Rival" - Lisa meets a new girl and has a rocky relationship with her, and Homer enters a money-making scheme.

It's how these two episodes execute their plots, though, that differs vastly, and in the case of the "Homer" plot, makes this episode weaker in comparison.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 22: "Trash of the Titans"

CURSE YOU, RECYCLING CALENDAR!

Airdate: April 26, 1998

Synopsis: After OFF celebrates "Love Day" (a second Valentine's Day meant to make more money for big business), there is a heap of trash. Failing to get the trash out in time, Homer insults the garbage men, causing service to be cut off. Weeks and piles of trash later, Marge finally writes an apology letter. Rejecting this claim, Homer goes straight to the top - Sanitation Commissioner Ray Patterson (Steve Martin), and after getting thrown out, decides to run for Sanitation Commissioner himself. Running on a populist platform of "can't somebody else do it", he wins in a landslide... and his policies threaten to bring down the town.

*WARNING: SPOILERS IN REVIEW" Review: Great. Right out of one of the better episodes of the season, we get an episode that showcases probably the most blasted aspect of Scully's era- mischaracterization of Homer Jay Simpson. And this is the two hundredth episode. That's a good sign, eh?

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 15: "The Last Temptation of Krust"

Airdate: February 22, 1998

"I just read the Season 15 DVD Review! THEY WERE RIGHT!"

Synopsis: At a comedy festival organised by Jay Leno, Bart convinces Krusty the Clown to do some of his standup. However, in contrast to the rest of the material, Krusty's material is, well, outdated at best. Embarassed, he goes into an emotional spiral, culminating in him passing out on Flanders's lawn. While announcing his retirement from comedy, his rant on modern life manages to make the press laugh, and Krusty is back in business.

Review: There's a nagging feeling I have about the episode... no matter how much I want to like it, it still seems... off.

I've taken Krusty to be a deconstruction of the typical kids show presenter: he was washed up, his material is trapped in the 50s, he's callous off the stage, and only in the business for the paycheque. (Insert Zombie Simpsons joke here.) So why are we explicitly taking an episode out to deconstruct Krusty? It seems a bit expository, like "Hey, this is Krusty's character!" Besides, as some pointed out, "Krusty Gets Kancelled" already deconstructed Krusty's character, by having new, more organised competition blow Krusty out of the water. That episode, though, was one of the best in the history of the show. This episode... isn't terrible, but it doesn't live up to the heights of "Kancelled". After all, stand-up comedians doing their schlock may provide the chuckles, but gags like Worker and Parasite and "Old Grey Mare" are timeless.

The art of selling out as mocked here is also pretty ironic. The Simpsons used to relentlessly mock the celebrities that guest stared, or at best, portrayed them as suffering from human flaws. This episode gives Jay Leno a relatively light treatment, one that would be repeated for almost every other guest star since. Oh, and he goes into the house of Our Favourite Family, and helps Krusty. No questions. Remember when it was a town-wide event to see Michael Jackson come to town?

Now, some may be thinking: didn't the Simpson kids talk with celebrities in "Kancelled" to try and salvage Krusty's career? However, not only did every one of those celebrities had some form of development, or at least some awesome lines, but they actually tracked every celebrity down, interacted with them like most unfamiliar with celebrities would, and still made the episode a biting satire on it's target (TV competition and comebacks). Here, Leno comes to the house just because Bart called in a favour, despite barely knowing him.

This episode is the second one to feature Gil Gunderson, a character whose main joke is that he is a complete and utter failure at life. Outside of the "sock" joke, I really didn't find the scene with him funny... and it was at the beginning of the episode. Kinda drags the first act down a bit. Of course, it got better by the second half, with Krusty getting wasted and on Flanders's front lawn and his failed comeback with his same old shtick. The third act was pretty decent, but still, there's a nagging feeling that they were a bit soft on the modern stand-up circuit, that they were almost embracing them. Sure, "out there" stand up might be alright, but why not try and take them out on the negatives rather than the positives? Krusty quickly sells back out, however, thus cementing a theme that, no matter what, some people are just in it for the cheque. Hey, status quo is god!

I did like this episode taking a bit out of the utter devotion that some fans have: they'll buy anything with a face on it, even if it doesn't work. However, it sort of backfires when you realise that the rampant sale of merchandise keeps the show on the air, even when it's well past it's prime. (Ad revenues are down, though. There is a shot!) Hypocrisy, much? Eh, I don't think even Scully had any idea that the show would be alive enough to see the 2010s.

There were some decent gags that buoy the episode... strangely, few of them are in the stand-up routine:

• Kent Brockman filling in for Krusty. Boy, what a cheap station KBBL is.
• Marge watching Spanish telenovelas, and Lisa translating them.
• Krusty using one of his licensed swabs... which burns on contact.
• "IMPEACH CHURCHILL!"
• "Don't you hate pants?"
• "Here's $42. It's everything I have. Run home and bury it in the yard!"
• Ah, the Canyonero ending. All of it. I would've put the last part at the beginning of the episode, in lieu of the Gil scene, though.

Sadly, this episode, outside of those gags, largely felt like it needed something else. It just didn't feel full, or memorable.

Tidbits:

• The network censors actually had a problem with Krursty's act. The writers had to put it in context to get it through. 
• There was actually a scene planned that had Bart try and meet up Leno. That actually would've made some lick of sense. No, they just go to Leno just being at the Simpson house.
• Strangely enough, there was a later episode (as in, Season 23) that actually had a decent idea reminiscent of this episode. In "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution", Krusty, with his agent/lover Annie Dubinsky (Joan Rivers) decide to relaunch his show on cable to target an audience that wants to love things they enjoyed as children. Again, I liked the idea: Krusty deciding to relaunch his show to target a new audience, and mocking the "flashback" cycle that 30-somethings tend to have nowadays. Again, though, they wasted the potential, and made it more about Krusty and his relationship with his agent. End result? This is a better episode.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2

Jerkass Homer Moment: He burns all of his money. How? He throws matches on the table. Nice one, idiot.

Zaniness Factor: 2

Zaniest Moment: Leno showing up to 742 Evergreen Terrace after barely meeting Bart is certainly a bit... off. 

Favourite Scene: CANYONERO!!!!! Canyonero!

Least Favourite Scene: I just couldn't really laugh at the shoe shop scene. Utter canyon of joke-ness. (And I don't care if I'm making up words at this point.)

Score: 6.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9 Episode 9: Realty Bites

Airdate: December 7th, 1997

Truly brings new meaning to the term "open-air" house.

Synopsis: Tired of either being cooped up in the house all the time or dragged on one of Homer's outings (such as a police auction), Marge decides to take a career as a realty agent. Working for Lionel Hutz's Firm, Red Blazer Realty, Marge's career instantly goes south due to her brutal honesty. Fearing that she may be sacked, she realises she might have to lie, up to and including lying about haunted houses to the Flanders clan.

Meanwhile, at the aforementioned police auction, Homer buys a convertible, loving every second of it. However, the convertible belonged to career criminal Snake, who vows revenge.

Review: The bad news is that Homer is turned up to "Jerkass" through the first and last parts of this episode. The good news is that the A plot is pretty good... when it involves as little Homer as possible.

The plot of "Marge wants to take a second job" is tragically nothing really new; "Marge Gets a Job" did it first (duh) and did it best, taking on a critique of the relatively misogynistic workforce that still exists (to an extent) today. "Realty Bites" is not as relevant, but I can still get the critique of the real estate market; in the late 90s and early-mid 2000s, property owners would do anything to try and move homes, just to make profit. Of course, this wound up collapsing in 2008, causing the property/financial crisis in (among other nations) the US, Greece, and Ireland.

Phil Hartman produces a bittersweet role here as Lionel Hutz, who has taken a break from the legal arena to concentrate on property. It really fits his role as a snarmy, desperate man out for a quick buck despite being incompetent. The "bitter" part comes in here... this was Hutz's final speaking appearance. Five months after this episode aired, Hartman was shot dead by his wife, who proceeded to commit suicide. It's ironic that one of the funniest actors in the show died as the show was slipping in quality, yet it makes the circumstances of his death no less sadder.

Anyway, back to the review.

This episode's A-plot is almost good, if somewhat pedestrian and rehashed. The B-plot, tragically... isn't. The reason? Homer.

He literally does nothing except act like a complete and utter maniacal idiot during the entire episode. He buys Snake's car, drives on the sidewalk (amongst other things), and gets into a long, boring car chase with Snake (who manages to walk out of prison.) Crazy crap happens, and the car single-handedly destroys a house... by crashing into the front, not damaging anything that might be a support beam. Reality? What's THAT??? Nobody is arrested, and you can take a guess at the person that suffers from it. Here's a hint; it ain't Homer.

In the end, it's a watchable, somewhat funny episode, dogged down by Homer being far too annoying... which would not get any better anytime soon.

Favourite Moment: As Lionel is showing how house flaws can be spun by realtors into positive traits, he shows Marge one particular house.

Marge: "That one's on fire!"

 Hutz: "Motivated seller!"

Least Favourite Moment: Am I the only one who didn't care for Kirk Van Houten's arm getting sliced off? The worst part? According to Scully, that scene, when suggested, caused mass laughter in the staff room due to how unexpected it was. It just seems unnecessarily dark and THOH-ish.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 3

Jerkass Homer Moment: Homer drives on the sidewalk while his family is in the car. Yeesh!

Zaniness Factor: 2.5

Zaniest Moment: The car chase. All of it. It's. Just. Stupid.

Score: 6.5