Scullyfied Simpsons: "Lisa Gets an A" (Season 10, Episode 7)

This grade is wrong, but not for the reason you might think...

Airdate: November 22nd, 1998

Synopsis: Lisa falls ill after being stuffed in a freezer to try and get some ice cream (no prizes for guessing who did it). Rather than study, she gets sucked into a video game, "Dash Dingo". She gets so hooked into the game, she forgets to read The Wind in the Willows... and comes back to a quiz on the book. ("Game over, mate!") Bart gets Nelson to hook her up with test answers, and she passes the test at such a level that the state no longer considers the school absolutely pathetic, and is willing to give them money.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned fridge-stuffer gets a pet lobster at the same supermarket. By "gets a pet", I mean Homer prevents Marge from cooking Pinchy, a lobster that the family brought for dinner.

Review (SPOILERS): Lisa Simpson is one of the more divisive characters in the Simpsons canon. This stems from the trend during the "double digit" seasons to have Lisa as the mouthpiece for the generally leftish writers, with little reasonable dissent or critique of said positions. While I see where they come from, my opinion of Lisa stems from the early seasons of the show - as it should. And while she did have moments where she seemed overtly opinionated, they were just part of her role as a wiser, more mature eight-year old, who still fell victim to the same weaknesses that eight-year olds have.

"Lisa Gets An A", surprisingly, has her fall victim to a trap that students tend to face - that of cheating. Not a bad idea, although does this episode execute it well?

Almost.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "D'oh-in' in the Wind" (Season 10, Episode 6)

Airdate: November 15th, 1998

Synopsis: While tracking down his middle name, Homer comes across a farm run by two former hippies, Seth and Munchie. Upon learning his middle name, and learning more about his rebellious mother and her interactions with said hippies (she painted a mural with Homer's full name), Homer takes an interest in the carefree lifestyle of hippies, and becomes one... not understanding that Seth (Martin Mull) and Munchie (George Carlin) have moderated their practices, even embracing the capitalist aspects of the 90s.

Review (SOME SPOILERS, POSSIBLY FOR OTHER EPISODES): In hindsight, maybe the 60s counterculture was too good to be true. Intended as an anti-establishment movement meant to get humanity more in touch with Earth and the fellow man, as well as generate social reforms, ironically, not only has it become the defining image of the 60s (to the point of cliche), but arguably became absorbed and moderated by the mainstream itself. Not that this was a bad thing, though. However, there is an irony here.

In many regards, The Simpsons was a counterculture in and of itself, or at least represented a counterculture. After the seemingly conservative, politically and socially stolid 80s, where American morals and archetypes were reinforced, came this show that managed to lampoon (if not subvert) every single aspect of Americana. Unfortunately, episodes like "When You Dish Upon A Star" seemed to represent the show becoming mainstream. Here's where the absorption of the counterculture in the mainstream proved to be detrimental - modern Simpsons episodes seem to run on cliche plots and hackneyed dialogue, attempting to be trendy and cool, and just coming off as a pathetic show that needs to be axed. Soon.

Now that that's out of the way, "D'oh-in in the Wind" is, in all honesty, quite an improvement over the aforementioned last episode. (That's not a hard feat, but still.)

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: Season 9, Episode 25: "Natural Born Kissers"

Nothing like your 11th anniversary to realize you have old cake in the fridge.

Airdate: May 17, 1998

Synopsis: It's Marge and Homer's 11th anniversary. However, recent events (such as having their anniversary dinner at a family restaurant) have them fear that the zest in their marriage has run out. While trying to get a motor for their freezer, the two get stuck in a muddy driveway in the middle of farm country. Hiding out in a farmhouse, the risk of the farmer catching them inside reignites the fire in their relationship, and the two realize that their relationship reignites when the risk of being caught in compromising situations increases.

Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa find Abe's old metal detector. After finding tons of junk, the two eventually locate a copy of an alternate ending to Casablanca. Let's just say, the ending isn't what one would consider a classic.

Review: Shorter review than normal here, because there isn't too much to dissect. Earlier episodes did the "zest in love life" plot better, added more pathos, more character development, and were funnier. It seems like this episode was just done to appeal to fanservice, as well as see how far the writers could "push the envelope", and didn't really bother to make that many other benchmarks in terms of quality.

It's amazing that, by the standards of the show, this was one considered one of the more "risqué" episodes. Remember- around this time, "South Park" was stretching the boundaries of what a cartoon could show. It seems like this episode was constructed as a response- a more risqué, envelope pushing episode. Nowadays, it's a relatively tame episode. Strip away the more "edgy" content, and what you have is a rather pedestrian episode- Marge and Homer have a marriage crisis, a plot point which would be a cliche of the Al Jean years. If you want to be "edgy", at least have substance.

I don't know- maybe 12-year-old me might have liked it because it was "edgy", but with years gone by, I just feel like it's a typical Scully-era episode- decent situation, zany buildup, zany ending. It's far from the worst offender- it's still a bit funny, and characterization was pretty decent, if milquetoast - but it's not the most outstanding thing I've seen this show do.

The message of the A-plot? Don't break the law. It's too much trouble for everybody involved.

Strangely enough, I found the B-plot a bit more interesting than the A-plot. Bart and Lisa finding an old movie actually could've made for a decent A-plot in and of itself- sort of a remake of "Three Men and a Comic Book" meets "Lisa on Ice" meets "Day the Violence Died". We could've seen some great character interaction between the two- something we really haven't seen all season. Here, finding an alternate ending to Casablanca only allows for enough material for a B-plot, and with what little time it's given, it's executed very well.

In fact, that plot showcases the satire aspect of The Simpsons more than the original. In trying to find treasure, Bart and Lisa come across an ending to Casablanca that is far, far happier than the one in the movie. It's pretty clear that the ending is a spoof on the strict standards set for movies well into the 70s- movies like All that Heaven Allows, for example, had to slip their depressing messages under a thin cover of "happiness". Casablanca is well remembered because it's ending wasn't happy, and it's characters didn't just stick themselves within archetypes, and the movie was more than just a simple romantic drama.

This episode also reveals, rather ironically, that a bad ending can erase a lot of goodwill that a piece of media built up prior to the climax. If there actually was an ending like that, and it got slipped in, I doubt Casablanca would be as popular as it is now. Hear me, Simpsons writers? Finish strong- otherwise, you will encounter the wrath of geeks! (Ah, who am I kidding- they stopped caring years ago.)

The moral of that story? Metal detectors are time sinks, and cliches are awful. (Al Jean musn't have paid too much attention to that last point.)

Game, set, match for season 9. Next up for our trashing? Season 10.

Tidbits:

• I'll admit right now- the setup to the A-plot is pretty funny. Marriage in a rut, plus old cake, plus forgetting to close the freezer? Brilliant. (Just wondering- why was the fridge also open? Ah, never mind.)
• Gil's back! Remember- he used to sell shoes? Now he sells cars... and can't do that well at all. Methinks that's going to be Gil's character- an utter failure at everything he does. He probably wouldn't have been used as much in later seasons if Phil Hartman hadn't been shot. What a shame.
• I just love the look on Maude's face when she notes Ned's obvious golf advice. It's the face that shows, as happy as their marriage is, there's still some small differences between the two of them, rather than Maude just being a female Ned. I love those subtle moments of character... when I catch them.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5- even with the ending, the episode is still relatively grounded.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1. In fact, I think Homer is a bit milquetoast here. Calm before the storm? I hope not. (Hint: it probably is.)

Favorite Scene: Nothing too outstanding in this episode, but I found the "Casablanca Alternate Ending" brilliant enough to get this award.

Least Favorite Scene: Let's face it- the second half of the A-plot was just an excuse to push the envelope. Oh, and Homer gets hurt a lot during that.

Score: 7. Barely. 

Now, to end the season (and other seasons of Scully's era of The Simpsons), I'm not going to do a traditional "wrap-up". Rather, I'm going to include that in a "Not Another Top (X) List" post. That post? The 9 worst episodes from Season 9.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 21: "Girly Edition"

"K-I-D-Z. Z for Zap! It's a programme for ALL KIDS, made by ALL KIDS, and concentratin' on all the subjects that ALL KIDS are into today!" (Damn you, Ben Elton.)

Airdate: April 19th, 1998

Synopsis: With the FCC cracking down on educational TV, executives convince Krusty the Clown to add a ten minute news program hosted by kids to the end of his shows. Lisa and Bart are appointed as anchor and sports anchor, respectively. Bart's goofy delivery impresses the executives more than Lisa's straightforward delivery, and he is promoted to co-anchor. After hearing Lisa's complaints about him, and after a brief consultation with Kent Brockman, Bart decides to go into more of a "sentimental" route, much to the chagrin of Lisa.

Meanwhile, Homer adopts a helper monkey, Mojo, to help him with his busy life- that is to say, getting food and sleeping. Marge is not amused.

Review: Now THIS is what "Trouble with Trillions" could've been: a satirical look at a particular organization or institution. In this case, the writers decide to take a huge bite out of the modern news media and traditional media in general, and it's brutal enough to obscure any flaws that this episode has.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 18: "This Little Wiggy"

Airdate: March 22nd, 1998

Synopsis: After noticing that Ralph is constantly bulled due to his "off" character, Marge arranges a meetup between Ralph and Bart, much to the latter's chagrin. As Bart realises the power his father lords as the chief of police, such as having the master key, Bart begins to use Ralph to break into various places, like a toy store, a bakery, and a local jail.

Review: If ever I were to pick the best "valentines day" episode of any show ever, it would probably have to be "I Love Lisa". Not only does it have a simple yet compelling story between the ditzy yet soft-hearted Ralph and the intellectual yet occasionally aloof Lisa, but it also showcased that Ralph was more than just a prop character, a "kid in the back". He was a loner, ostracised because of his ditzy behaviour, yet was an utter savant when it came to the stage. It's probably my favourite "holiday" episode of The Simpsons by quite a margin. If ever you need proof that the classic seasons of The Simpsons were able to craft some of the most fantastic characters in TV history, watch that episode.

I bring that epsiode up because, again, Ralph is the centre of an episode revolved around him. You can feel the difference in the two episodes. One gives him natural character development that pulls at almost every emotion imaginable, whilst not being overtly sappy. The other tries too hard to be funny, and as a result, seems to reserve it's characters to joke fodder.

The Scully Era was infamous for taking certain traits that the characters had, exaggerating them, and making it the centre of their characters, if not their only discernible trait. As I mentioned before, Homer's moments of selfishness and his occasional lapse in judgement were transformed into a impulsive sociopath at the centre of the universe. However, he was merely the most infamous example: pretty much every character was either mishandled or exaggerated, and Ralph got it almost as bad as Homer. From a somewhat ditzy, slow on the uptake kid, Ralph is rapidly degenerated to outright insane levels of ditzy-ness.

Now, cartoonish exaggeration of traits can be a good thing... but they have to be done well. Take, for example, Rimmer from Red Dwarf. Series 1 and 2 just showed him as a neat freak jerkass who never seemed to have moments of happiness. When Rimmer acted like a jackass from Series 3 on, he was portrayed as a madman who made you wonder why Holly never turned him off. However, that was balanced by insights into his life, which showed a childhood that was miserable in every regard. Thus, while the character was still funny, he was also very much a relatable character.

Ralph does get a little bit of development- walking into a haunted penitentiary to get the master key, and chasing after a rat do suggest a braver Ralph- yet it's but brief, and only used to lead to the stupidest episode conclusion thus far.

Every single manoeuvre, every single line... it's all coincidence after coincidence. Poor attempts at red herrings abound, and the end result is a mess. Lampshading it, at least in this instance, does not help matters. I'll give the writers that the town is stupid, but the dearth of comedy? Come on.

It's really just an episode that's not really memorable for the humour as much as it is for the potential character development it squandered. If anything, this episode is a sign- character development and comedy were slowly being replaced by zany plots, insert character here.

Tidbits:

• I've got nothing. This epsiode was really a dead-zone for comedy.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1. There was nothing really irritating about Homer here.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5. Most of the silly stuff is done based on coincidence. 

Favourite Scene: OK, I'll give the scene at the Knowledgeum credit. That was pretty damn funny.

Least Favourite Scene: It's a tie between the first half of the second act, and the last four minutes. Can't choose what irritated me more: the dryness or the stupidity.

Score: 5.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 17: "Lisa the Simpson"

Airdate: March 8th, 1998

Synopsis: After Lisa fails to solve a brain teaser that the other students got instantly, a series of unfortunate events (such as a diorama) begin scaring Lisa about the quality of her intellect. Grandpa eventually tells her of a trend that various Simpsons have, where their intellect declines over the years, calling it a "Simpson Gene". A frightened Lisa tries to fight back against the suspected decline, only to fear that she's becoming lowbrow and low class.

Review *SPOILERS*: Is it possible for one scene to make an entire episode just seem mean spirited? It's a pretty damn hard feat, but "Lisa the Simpson", which seems almost perfect, just contains one little scene that drives me spare.

Yes, it's a Lisa-centred episode. Some of the best Lisa-centred episodes focus on her relationship within the clan of The Simpsons: she's probably the most down-to-earth of the group (Homer and Bart are Homer and Bart, and Marge is occasionally spacey). Even so, she's portrayed as a bit aloof, reserved with her intellect in the dumb town of Springfield. So, an episode that seems to take her down a peg, show that she can still fall into the same traps as the rest of the town? That's a good idea. We did see her take up an angry activist moment in "Lisa the Vegetarian", where, in pushing her beliefs via pig-napping, made her little better than Homer "You don't Win Friends With Salad" Simpson himself. However, to see this normally intellectual character enter a period of self doubt, thanks to family coincidence... that makes for an entertaining episode.

And, for the first two and a half acts, it is a very gripping episode. Having Lisa deal with the fact that she might be damned to the same amounts of insolence as the rest of the town of Springfield is surprisingly emotional. You see, she was slipped up by a mere brain teaser that the rest of the kids got in seconds. Is she overanalysing the brain teaser? Maybe. It's Lisa Simpson: in a town of the average joes, she's the one who looks too deep. That's a really creative way to show that a character that's normally an ace has her human flaws.

Led on by, well, Grandpa about Simpson history, and taking on more activities with Homer and Bart (i.e. watching When Buildings Collapse on FOX), Lisa enters a state of resignation, submitting her brain to "one last meal" at the Springsonian and the Jazz Club. It's actually pretty damn emotional to see her try and fight, even going as far as to make a futile attempt to plea to the town of Springfield to increase their horizons. She knows it's futile. She just needs to be heard.

Of course, there was the ending, where Homer brought in several of his relatives. It rotates between hysterical and heartbreaking, depending on what mood you're in. The context of Lisa's worst fears being confirmed truly contrasts with Homer's relatives describing their careers as "I step in front of cars and sue the drivers" and "Jug Band Manager". It's truly fantastic.

Then the real ending happened, and I wanted to chuck my DVD out.

You see, Homer only brought in the Simpson men: the women are fantastic successes. Why? Well, apparently, it's genetic: the "Simpson Gene" is apparently only carried on the Y chromosome- thus, only men are affected.

Translated: Simpson men are damned to be idiots, while women? Raging successes.

Let's ignore that Herb Powell was a raving business success, who was only failed by the American buyer, who wanted everything in a car, yet wanted the design to take few risks (and to not have it cost $82,000). Let's ignore that Abe is a fantastic military strategist, who is held back by his senility and his desire for a more active life getting the better of him. Let's ignore that Homer has flashes of great intelligence, only held back by a weak upbringing and years of alcohol consumption. Let's even ignore that Bart could be fantastic at anything- he merely has a short attention span, and maybe some other learning disability. Nope, now all Simpson men are just idiots.

Yup, this is apparently a happy ending. Why? Lisa was validated.

Look, I'll get this off my chest right here and now: I am pretty pro-feminist (and yes, I am a male). I support equality of the sexes, I am in full support of the advancement of women's rights, the objectification of women or the reduction of them into mere tools drives me up the wall, I feel that America (and to only a slightly lesser extent, the rest of the world) has quite a way to go when it comes to neutralising sexism and objectification of women, and I feel that there is a dearth of well-written characters who are also female.

That being said, in my opinion, this ending is less a testament to feminism and more outright misandristic. Basically, Homer and Bart are openly told that, because they are male, they are basically damned to failure. Yet, this is a happy ending. Why? Well, Lisa can solve the damn puzzle.

I'm just hoping that the scientist that told Lisa about the truth about the gene was just lying to save Lisa's sanity. Even then, the fact that the men are presented as idiots yet the women are presented as successes still comes off as a bit sexist, eh?

It's a sign of things to come: later seasons of The Simpsons have had troubling gender-related politics, trying to present itself as a feminist, progressive show, when in reality, creating female characters that were little more than props or satellites for other characters.

I don't really know what to think about the main plot. As good as most of it was, the ending just threw me. Even the very last two lines in the episode can't really save the ending for me. It's a major dent in the quality of the episode.

Oh, and Jasper gets trapped in a Kwik-E-Mart freezer, and Apu and Sanjay turn the mart into a tourist trap. It's a pretty good subplot.

Tidbits:

• This is the last episode not produced by either Mike Scully or Al Jean in some form (until Season 22-ish), and the second to last one for four years to not have Scully at the helm. Eh, can't always end on a high note.
• This episode was also written by Ned Goldreyer. He did some work on the UPN's adaptation of Dilbert, one of the most underrated animated sitcoms of all time.
• Give Dan Castellaneta credit: the fact that he can do all of the voices of the male Simpsons? No wonder why he's getting about $300,000 a year as of late!
• Oh, and I apologise for the long hiatus/vacation. For some reason, I just couldn't motivate myself to put something down on paper... that, and there was that Simpsons marathon on FXX.
• Also, Gravity Falls will be back in September. I might be able to put down a few more Scullyfied Simpsons episodes... or, I might return to Red Dwarf. Maybe.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1

Zaniness Factor 1.5. Having an old guy survive a freezer? Eh, not stupid.

Favourite Scene: Lisa's plea to the town of Springfield really shows the power of the writing this show once possessed. It's gut-wrenching, funny, awesome... it's just sublime.

Least Favourite Scene: The ending, though, just left an awkward taste in my mouth.

Score: 7

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 16: "Dumbbell Indemnity"

Airdate: March 1st, 1998

Insert joke about remembering when The Simpsons used to be good here. (Image stolen from Wikipedia).

Synopsis: Moe has been entering into something of a depression: he has no companionship. While initial attempts at getting Moe a girlfriend at a local discotheque ultimately prove fruitless, he winds up meeting Renee (Helen Hunt), a local flower seller, and the two hit it off. When Moe wants more money to keep treating her to the finer things in life, he decides to commit insurance fraud... with Homer as his "guinea pig".

Review: The Mike Scully years of The Simpsons featured some awkward character development. As our primary characters were either phased into the background or turned into wacky, centre-of-the-universe type characters, the secondary characters were seemingly fleshed out to try and show more than just their identifiable features- Mr Burns and Ned Flanders, for one, were seemingly transformed into characters with hidden hearts of gold, or ones that had deep-seated "white-bread" lives. However, the scripts were haphazard, and the characters lost a lot of their humorous traits. In effect, the characters flattened as the show slowly transformed into one that wouldn't be out of place on a cheesy saturday morning cartoon. (I kid: at least some saturday morning cartoons around this time had well-written characters!)

It didn't hurt Moe Syzlak as bad (initially): it would be understandable to see his deep-seated loner tendancies, and try and show why he keeps failing to make friends or find romance. Again, this would degenerate as the scripts became more haphazard, but it's more tolerable here.

This episode's main hangup is that, for all it tries to paint Renee and Moe in love, this episode's heart is still connected to Homer. He starts the episode with the unnecessary water heater incident, and is the right-hand man for Moe, through the rest of the episode.

The problem with this is that it does not lead to a whole lot of development for the character that's supposed to be in love with Moe, Renee herself. What is her character, anyway?  Sure, she pity-dates Moe, then falls in love with him on a more genuine level. Apparently, it's his "insecure, sweaty charm". It's implied a few times that she's only in love with him because he spends money on her, yet also has standards on how said money is procured.

However, as an individual, we learn little, if anything, about her. Her character pretty much revolves around Moe. We don't learn anything about her as a character, what her background is, what her quirks are. She's just a prop- she's the raison d'etre for the insurance fraud scheme that Moe and Homer commit.

I think, to provide an accurate comparison, we have to take a look at another "love interest" for the show: Jessica Lovejoy, from "Bart's Girlfriend".

Ah, when one-shot characters had deep character development in the span of 22 minutes. (Image taken from Wikisimpsons).

In that episode, Jessica begins something of a relationship with Bart over their skirting of authority- in this case, the church. That episode gave us a look at some aspects of Jessica's past, her present standing, how she is able to manipulate anybody and everybody, and how she pushes Bart to her limit. Given that she's a one-off character, she's given as much depth as the time allows.

Here, Renee just exposits the relationship between the two. (This will be a problem in later seasons: exposition will trump actual storytelling). Again, she has no backstory, no flaws... she's just there.

Now, Homer and Moe's scheme, I can buy. While some would criticise a paring like this as just another example of "Homer buddies up with some character to get him into the centre of the plot", I can see why Homer became Moe's right-hand man. Homer always seemed just a little bit closer to Moe, compared to the rest of the patrons at the bar. In a more immediate sense, Moe's sense of self-doubt could explain why he felt he needed to throw money around to keep Renee happy.

Homer is, well, something of his jerkass self. He gets into the centre of the plot, winds up as part of a zany scheme, survives the impossible, and winds up in a violent rage (for a few seconds). It's a bit more tolerable here: he was pressured by Moe into the zany scheme, and Moe's betrayal would drive anybody a bit loony. Still, it was a bit over the top.

Humour is really a mixed bag. Most of the jokes that work are the quick comic gags, such as Snake trying to rob Homer's car, everybody's reaction to the bar tabs being called in, and of course, "Hail to the Chimp". The good character comedy is more sparse, although I think this is because one of the characters is practically a prop. Even then, Renee gets one or two decent lines. ("Yes, Moe. I'm going to find corpses.") There were also jokes that dragged on for just a bit too long, such as the "car drowning" scene. Once was fine. Twice, enough. Three times? A bit too much.

I don't know: it's not really a memorable episode. It's got the good, it's got the bad, it's got the Jerkass Homer, it's got some Moe character development, but it's really just... alright. Maybe it's just dragged down by Renee's bland character, but still.

Tidbits:

• It's worth noting that, around the time of this episode's production, Helen Hunt and Hank Azaria were dating. The two were even married for about a year.
• While the disco scene was alright, I was thrown off by Otto being there. What, was he reluctantly there on a date? Did he get roped in some other way? 
• This episode was written by Ron Hauge, who wrote "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" (which was also not memorable) and would later write "Mayored to the Mob". My expectations aren't exactly high.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2, but only for his getting into the centre of Moe's plot and surviving seemingly impossible injuries. He's actually relatively mild: it's the more outlandish tendencies that got to me. Who knows: maybe I'm preparing for the worst.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5. The only thing remotely zany in this episode was the car's plummet in the ocean.

Favourite Scene: A great bit of physical comedy occurs when Homer has to bail out of Moe's car. He rolls out, and thanks to a rock, winds up back in for....

Least Favourite Scene: ...the plummet into the ocean. Went on way too long. Second place is the infamous boiler incident. Cut both of these down, and the writers could've put in some good Renee character development.

Score: 7, mainly because of the quick comedy. I'm feeling generous.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 11: "All Singing, All Dancing"

Airdate: 4 January, 1998

Synopsis: Homer claims to hate musicals, revealing his disdain after renting a musical that Homer thought was a Clint Eastwood western. The rest of the Simpsons note the irony of this, stating the mere fact that the family (and the entire town) tend to break into song on a semi-regular basis. Meanwhile, Snake tries his hand at robbery... and reveals his distaste for musicals.

Review: This will be a short one; it's meh. It's a clip show; what more do you expect? I'm not really going to go into depth here, though.

First, let's get this out of the way; the clips themselves are sublime. The first eight seasons of the show featured some damn good music. My favourite would have to be a tie between "In the Garden of Eden" from "Bart Sells His Soul" and "We Do" from "Homer the Great".

Now the original material. It starts out great: "Paint Your Wagon" was pretty damn funny. However, by the start of the second act, it runs low on gas. While most of the characters are, well, in character, for some reason, I just can't see Snake backing off as easily as he does. Maybe it was an attempt at character development. Maybe they just realised they needed something to keep the plot moving. Who knows?

It's also worth noting that not even the writers wanted to do this episode; the ending makes this pretty clear. Worth noting that this episode came out shortly after the release of the CD Songs in the Key of Springfield. Thus, I blame FOX executives for the dryness of this episode.

That's really how to sum it up: it's just a largely forgettable episode. I'll give it a pass, but only because it wasn't as nonsensical as "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace", and it reminded me of more entertaining episodes. If you want to watch a good clip show, watch "So It's Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show", "Another Simpsons Clip Show", and "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular".

Tidbits: Just two.

• At the end, a shotgun is fired during the credits. Two blasts are heard on one occasion. Said occasion is when Phil Hartman's name comes up. Five months and change after this episode aired, Hartman's wife shot him dead before turning the gun on himself.
• David Mirkin was credited as the executive producer. For once, Mike Scully is absolved of blame.

Favourite Moment: "Gonna paint your wagon, gonna paint it good..." SING ALONG!

Least Favourite Moment: Snake leaves because he figures that the family would not make good hostages... because they sing. Just seems a bit off for him.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5, mainly for the singing.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1. (That's a first, I think).

Score: 5.5.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 10: "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace"

Airdate: December 21, 1997

So apparently, burning a plastic tree turns it into a solid with presents still sticking out from it, possibly intact. Did Ron Hauge pay attention in Chemistry?

Synopsis: Christmas has arrived yet again for Our Favourite Family. This time, Marge wants to ensure that everybody wakes up at the same time (7:00 AM) on Christmas Day to open their presents. Who else but Bart would sneak down to play with his gifts? One problem, though; he burns down the tree.

He manages to hide the tree under the snow, blaming thieves when the family wakes up to an empty den. The townspeople rally around the family and give them a whopping $15,000, which they promptly blow on a sedan (which wrecks). When Bart confesses about the tree, however, the town turns the family into social pariahs... again.

Review: As I've mentioned before, the fine folks at Dead Homers Society are not exactly fans of Season 7's "Marge Be Not Proud". They argue that it was schmaltzy, sitcom-ish, clumsy, and quite slow. I am willing to agree with that; it does feel somewhat more like a "special" episode than anything else, and one that's quite formulatic to boot. However, Dead Homers also points out that "Marge Be Not Proud" is, at least by modern standards, comically efficient and funny. I'll take it a bit further- "Marge Be Not Proud" is almost as funny as the rest of the episodes of that season; it's just dragged down by the overt emotion and slower pacing. Maybe it was a parody of the "very special episode", or maybe it was genuine. Who knows?

Why do I bring up that episode? Well, "Miracle" is essentially "Marge Be Not Proud"... with the schmaltz cranked up to "wham-o", a good 50% of the comedy siphoned, and the cynicism turned up to outright unbearable levels.

Now, keep in mind, The Simpsons is in and of itself a rather dark series. However, it managed to set the tone at the right amount to not only make it hysterical, but also allow for character development and sweetness. Here? It's just depressing and cruel.

I don't think it would be as bad if the characters weren't so screwed up. Blast "Marge Be Not Proud" for sapping up the characters and making Bart a bit too sensitive, but not only were the sappy moments still filled with funny lines, the rest of the characters were perfectly crafted for the plot. In this episode, not only do you have the entire town becoming just a bit too cruel to OFF for a lie Bart told, but the second the family wakes up on Christmas morning, Bart's character just seems off. I mean, it's alright to show some character development to try and not make Bart one-note, but the problem here is that it was controlled by the plot. Characters no longer control the plot; plot controls the characters.

Not to mention the first minute of this episode is dedicated to making Homer as much of a law-skirting buffoon as possible. There's him kicking the heater (which spits out snow, not kidding there), parking across three handicapped spots (stolen from "The Springfield Connection", only there, Homer's jerkassery lands him in jail), masquerades as a cashier to steal gifts for Christmas (which I suppose might have been there to set up the irony of him blasting the "thieves" when he himself stole the Christmas presents, but was more likely there to show Homer acting reckless), and he falls off of the roof (stolen from "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", only dragged out).

I also loathe the "Liar Revealed" cliche; I've mentioned it several times before. This episode embraces that cliche, for the most part.

I do think the plot makes a little sense. Of course, people are going to be irrational if they find out about potential theft of cash. I do, however, think that going to Los Angeles to go on Jeopardy was a bit much (as well as done simply to get Alex Trebek on the show). At least they kept the Jeopardy bit relatively short (and decently funny).

The ending with the town "reimbursing their losses" is admittedly a decent idea, and fits in with the show's tradition of mocking TV cliches. Too bad there were few laughs, and it required a good chunk of the characters to act, well, out of character (again, irrationality, but still).

It's a shame, since this episode did have some funny lines. There's Patches and Violet, the family buying an ill-fated car for more than it's worth only to have it wreck, damn near every scene with Brockman ("Little Homer's sausage?"), and anything with Alex Trebek. Still, it's not enough to save this episode. The trope of "Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy" is in full effect (the episode tries to come off as a "very special episode" when everybody is close to being unlikable), there seems to be little sense of timing, and the show was just too dry. It's a pretty empty episode, to the point where it's almost unwatchable.

In other words, this is the first Scully-era episode that gets a failing score. And it won't be the last.

Tidbits:

• Just one, really. This episode seemed to eschew logic and physics when the tree caught fire. For one, the rest of the den should've caught fire. There's no smoke coming from the tree, either. And instead of totally disintegrating, the tree melts into a wheel, with the presents merged inside. Also, how the smeg was Bart able to dig in one spot to cover up the remains of said tree and barely leave a dent in the snow?
• Oh, I forgot. I know Homer is an idiot, but wouldn't insurance have covered the car? Look, I know that's a very minor point, but still. Bugs me a bit.
• Flanders also says "there goes Christmas dinner" when seeing OFF after the truth is revealed... despite this being well past Christmas.
• I did like the Springfield Shopper headline; "Angry Mob Mulls Options".
• This was written by Ron Hauge, responsible for one of my favourite Season 8 episodes, "Homer's Phobia". Kinda tragic that he can veer between that and this boring mess.

Favourite Moment: In an episode as dry as this, the Jepoardy bit was pretty funny.

Least Favourite Moment: I just can't bring myself to even remotely smile for the entire first act. I can't bring myself to do so. I can't pick one moment in that first act that's worse than the other; it's just dull and stupid.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5

Zaniest Moment: Note the demise of the Christmas tree above. Nothing in there makes sense.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2.75. I'd give it a 3, but Homer's jerkassery mostly evaporates by the second act.

Jerkass Homer Moment: While not the worst act he committed in the episode, I pick him parking across three handicapped parking spaces. Why? Well, as mentioned above, Homer did that in "The Springfield Connection", wound up starting a conflict with Marge, and Marge wound up arresting Homer. Here, Marge just goes along with the zaniness.

Score: 4.5. This episode just bored me.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 8: "Lisa the Skeptic"

Airdate: November 23, 1997

Synopsis: Lisa organises a school trip to try and dig up fossils at an excavation site before it's turned into a mini-mall. At said site, a human skeleton with wings is found. The people of Springfield are convinced that it is an angel. Homer decides to take it and charge people to see the angel, turning the house into a tourist trap overnight. However, Lisa is sceptical about the whole thing, and has a scientist preform results... which come up inconclusive. In response, a mob forms to try and destroy "scientific" artifacts. Lisa goes to destroy the artifact, only to find out it is gone. She is promptly placed on trial for destruction of the skeleton. However, during the trial, the skeleton appears outside the courtroom, with a message about "the end" coming "at sundown".

Review: First, let's do a brief review to get the basics out of the way. It's not going to rank amongst the greats. Characterisation is slightly off (Homer, Marge, and Lovejoy come off as more irrational and jerkass-esque) and inconsistent (Bart first questions the "motorboat prize", then asks where the "motorboat" is), the plot jumps around a bit, the humour is a tad bit weaker than what you would get from, say, season 8, and the episode makes no bones about it's bias.

Now for the positives. The animation is pretty good, the conflict between scepticism and belief has the potential to make for a decent episode (with the elements of the Scopes Trial integrated in a decent, if unsubtle, manner), and the twist at the end is pretty good, a rarity for the Scully era. I especially like something else at the end; as much as Lisa presented herself as a sceptic, she might have believed that the skeleton was divine at least once or twice. That's pretty good consolation for those who think that the episode is too biased, albeit just that; mere lip service.

Also worth noting is the overwhelming theme of "marketing" that overhangs through the episode. Pretty darn good on the writers to satirise that with some level of subtlety. It does bring up a decent topic; does marketing cruelly manipulate personal beliefs? Also, while the humour is weak, there are some pretty good jokes in this episode (a good chunk of them are sight gags, such as the "Christian Science reading centre" being torched).

This episode, however, would better benefit with a compare/contrast; two from the Golden age, and one from the Modern era.

First, let's look at "Bart's Comet". The end is very similar: people begin anticipating the end of Springfield; in this case, it's a comet. There is a lone voice of scepticism over the percieved plot device; in this case, it's a snarky remark from Homer. However, there was a lot more subtlety in that episode's presentation of religion and/or fervour, and the "discovery" and "twist" are uncovered by the most unlikely sources (Bart and Homer, respectively). This episode is not as subtle, and said discovery and twist come from Lisa. That's a bit too predictable.

Second, we should look back way earlier to "Itchy and Scratchy vs. Marge". In this case, it's morality that's at the centre of the controversy instead of scepticism. In this case, both sides are given a nearly equal amount of ammunition, and both sides get attacked on a nearly equal level. While there is an end message in that episode, the viewer is left to debate it. This episode picks sides (with scepticism), and barring an occasional line, sticks with it. There is little room for debate with this episode.

However, this episode does have a leg-up on season 18's "The Monkey Suit". Not only does it repeat the topics brought up in episodes such as this one, but "Monkey Suit" is unsubtle (the end message is explicitly spelled out for us), nonsensical (especially with Lisa disproving religion), biased to the upteenth degree (not saying that this episode is unbiased, but it's somewhat more even handed) and not really funny. It seems to be a trend for Modern Simpsons episodes; take a theme presented in a classic episode, remove all the subtlety and a sizeable chunk of the humour, add in some pointless guest star to either get a line in or be praised endlessly by the town, and when it comes to characterisation... sheesh, don't get me started!

Overall, this episode is a decent time-waster, but nothing that will stand atop season 9.

Favourite Moment: The town's reaction to Lisa's appearance on Smartline? Wreck everything related to science... even if it's only connection to science is in it's name. This is how nihilistic the show is; the townspeople will do anything because they are idiots.

Least Favourite Moment: The intro with the sting operation. Season 9 began the tradition of intros that barely had any connection to the episode (if there was any connection at all). This is a prime example of this trend.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2

Jerkass Homer Moment: At the beginning of the episode, Homer says that the rest of the Simpsons are "the most paranoid family I've ever been affiliated with." That's the first sign that characterisation would become more alien.

Zaniness Factor: 1.25

Zaniest Moment: While not too zany, the twist at the end with the skeleton is a bit "out there".

Score: 7.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 7: "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"

Airdate: November 16th, 1997:

Well, there's 1 Mrs, Nahassapeemapetilon.

Synopsis: At a bachelor's auction (think the auction from Batman and Robin, with more humour), Apu receives a wide variety of bids, and begins realising the positives of his bachelor lifestyle... just in time to be reminded of his arranged marriage to Manjula. Apu's mother comes over to remind him herself, and Apu fakes a marriage with Marge, much to Marge's chagrin and the disappointment of Apu's mother. Homer hides out at the retirement house, stealing the identity of somebody else. When Homer returns, Apu's mother realises the truth, and declares the wedding proceed as planned.

Review: One of the pitfalls of the Mike Scully era was that it tried to alter the characters and their dynamic with other characters in an attempt at character development. However, these newfound characterisations were not focused on as much because, during the Scully era, the world revolved around Homer Jay Simpson. This is not a huge problem in this episode, but you can still see the signs of Scully's era setting in with the long form changes being put on the back burner.

Really, this episode also felt like a Jean-era episode in some aspects... as in the plot. It just seemed far too close to standard sitcom fare. Granted, there still is a good twist (the wedding must proceed as planned, instead of the "follow your heart" twist that the cliche sitcom would add). Also, the plot went everywhere. It seemed like, in the second act, that Homer became the centre protagonist in a "hanging out in a retirement home" plot.

We must also mention that characterisation seemed to be a tiny bit off. Homer and Apu weren't too bad, but Marge, Bart, and Lisa seemed to not do much of anything.

Where is this episode redeemed? Well, the humour. This episode contains tons of funny lines. Even at the retirement home, there is a good amount of humour, even if the plot was resolved in a cliche way. And besides, at least there is some substance in the plot. Not something I can say for the Jean-era episodes.

Favourite Moment: Even if I thought it was filler, the idea of the retirement home plot was good, if only because it still shows the cynicism of the show.

Least Favourite Moment: The wedding scene. It seems like they could've mocked it quite a bit more rather than the "Apu and Manjula get married and live decently" ending that occurred.

Zaniness Factor: 1

Zaniest Moment: Not available. It's a rather pedestrian episode.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1.5

Jerkass Homer Moment: Why did Homer feel the need to commit identity theft to try and escape Apu's mother?

Final Score: 6.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 6: Bart Star

Airdate: November 9th, 1997

Synopsis: With most of Springfield's children rendered unhealthy, participation in Pee-Wee Gridiron Football increases. Ned Flanders starts out as coach, using his kindness and Nelson's strength as an athlete to keep the team undefeated. However, Homer's heckling from the stands causes Ned Flanders to quit and give the job to Homer.

Homer quickly takes over, and initially is tough on the team, cutting people left and right. However, he begins favouring Bart, after remembering how tough Abe was on Homer. The team goes down the tubes in Bart's one game, and Bart tries to get out of playing. Homer refuses to play without Bart, causing Bart to quit the team. A rift ensues between the two.

Reaction: This episode is quite good. Not "shake the world" or anything, just quite good.

Probably the worst thing in the episode is that, while Homer's behaviour in the episode is very much a satire of the typical sport family/coach, and a wonderful one at that, they also give off awkward vibes of what was to come from the character. That, and "Lisa on Ice" did it first. In second place, there was the pointless joke between Marge and the cashier, which is just stupid. Also, Lisa's preachiness about the pigskin, while still funny, is also a sign of things to come under the Jean era.

However, this episode is still pretty good by classic Simpsons standards (which means that it is utterly brilliant by Modern Simpsons standards). I loved Joe Nameth's cameo (partially because I follow New York sports), Homer is at least given SOME rhyme or reason for his callous behaviour, the plot isn't too wacky (and when it was, it was quite funny), and the episode still contains that biting satire of the pre-teen sports world in America. Are we really cruel enough on our kids that we will make snarky comments when they lose? Are we that invested in pee-wee sports? Is it too much?

I don't have a whole lot more to say about this episode. It's full of satire and has aged relatively well. Slightly weaker than The Cartridge Family, probably due to slightly more zaniness, but still, a good episode.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2. His heckling of Flanders and cut-happy persona make him more callous than normal, but his interactions with Bart are realistic enough to save him.

Jerkass Homer Moment: Cutting Sheri, but not Terri, got to me.

Zaniness Factor: 1.5. Joe Nameth giving Bart advice and Hank Hill showing up to watch the game are a bit out of whack, but not enough to be zany.

Favourite Moment: Hank Hill watching Springfield trounce Arlen.

"We drove 2000 miles for this?"

Least Favourite Moment: Read "Jerkass Homer Moment" above.

Score: 7.75 (Rounded to 8 for Labels).

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 5: The Cartridge Family.

Airdate: 2 November, 1997

Synopsis: A football (association) game turns into a city-wide riot. (Oh, Springfield, you!) Not wanting to spend a lot of money on a security system, Homer decides to invest in a gun... freaking Marge and Lisa out. Lisa cites her opinion on the 2nd amendment, and Marge feels no more safer with a gun in the house. Not helping is the fact that Homer acts like an idiot with his gun. Marge wants him to get rid of the gun, and Homer pretends to comply. Pretends is the operative word... and when Marge finds out, she bails out of the family, with family in tow. Meanwhile, Homer tries to impress the NRA, including a meeting at his house... which ends in a substandard manner for Homer.

Review: Oh, boy. Our first regular Mike Scully episode, and there are TWO signals of the things to come in the future: Jerkass Homer and Preachy Lisa.

I'll get the Preachy Lisa out of the way: it's relatively mild. She does preach a bit about her opinion on the 2nd Amendment. Granted, this is evened out later in the episode (see below), but it casts some bad vibes. Al Jean must've seen the episode, thought "Lisa should share her opinion more", and thus came "G.I. Do'h". (And no, I might not do regular reviews of the Jean Era. I'll just sum it up right now; somewhere between season 17 and 20, the episodes went from either being "interestingly bad" or "noble failures" to just being a cluster of nothingness and sitcom cliches.

Jerkass Homer, meanwhile, is placed into the episode with a bit of vigour. He acts reckless with his gun, lies to his wife, hides a gun in the vegetable crisper, and shoots a TV and his beer. However, he will get off relatively easily in my eyes this once, because this episode was trying to make a point. The message of this episode was that "Idiots like Homer should not own a gun".  And he DOES apologise at the end. Still, this episode does bring some bad vibes.

Still, it is a pretty good episode. Really, with recent incidents involving mass shootings and gun violence, this episode has become more relevant than ever before. This episode is relatively even-handed, and it does show both sides in a flawed light: the ending shows some gun control advocates as blatant hypocrites, and the other gun owners are shown in an good-guy light. On the other hand, Homer is shown as a "take that" to the few pro-gun rights advocates who are insane, using their gun for everything and refusing to listen to the needs of the family over their own selfish desire. Also, some of the gun-owners in the show are shown to be quite brash. For those wondering, the staff of The Simpsons is split on the issue; John Swartzwelder (the writer of the episode) is pro-gun, while Matt Groening is sternly anti-gun.

(And let me make this clear: I am invoking the rule of cautious commenting judgement on this article. If comments appear full of insane rhetoric and the conversation goes well-off topic and turns into flaming each other over politics, the review goes down and the comments go bye-bye for a while. This is your warning.)

And besides, this episode tackles the gun rights issue in a funny way. Most of the humour connects, like the football riot, the "potentially dangerous" joke, the Sleep-Eazy motel, the NRA meetings... without Jerkass Homer and Preachy Lisa, this would be a 9, easy. Instead, their characterisations are taken a bit too far, and it does some damage to the score.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2.

Jerkass Homer Moment: Four words. Gun. In. Vegetable. Crisper. No wonder why Marge bailed on the family.

Zaniness Factor: 1

Favourite Moment: Kent Brockman announcing that Mayor Quimby has declared mob rule.

For the next several years, it's every family for itself!

Least Favourite Moment: Not a huge fan of "The Waiting" montage. Given that montages would slowly take over the show, it is another sign of things to come.

Score: 7.5