Scullyfied Simpsons: "I'm With Cupid" (Season 10, Episode 14)

"Both of my ears are filled with nougat!"

"You told me that it was an American tradition to work all the time and not see your wife!" - Manjula, to Apu. Give it 17 years, Manjula.

Airdate: February 14th, 1999

Plot: In 2005, in response to developments regarding Anglo-American relations, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe penned "I'm With Stupid", a satire on a theoretical romance between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush.

Whoops - this is a television episode... Patrick is afraid that his parents will mock him for being rather stupid. Therefore, SpongeBob decides to take up the role of "The Fool".

...I'm sorry, this is "I'm With Cupid", not "I'm With Stupid."

Apu's relationship with Manjula is on the rocks. Apparently, the life of a convenience store manager isn't exactly conducive to free time. To make it up to her, Apu goes all out in his Valentines Day celebrations. This, though, alienates the wives of Springfield's men. They all proceed to sabotage the actual Valentines Day celebration.

Review: 

Two years ago (because I am a lazy bum), during my coverage of Season 9, I reviewed "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons". There, my complaint lied in the fact that the episode revolved around Homer's antics, and was overall rather pedestrian. In hindsight, though, I can recognize some of the character development in that episode, even if I would've preferred more. That, and it was a pretty funny episode.

"I'm With Cupid" serves as a follow up to that episode... but it ultimately feels a bit underwhelming.

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: "Bart the Mother" (Season 10, Episode 3)

Now to figure out which one is Chirpy Boy and Bart Jr. The madness! THE MADNESS!

Airdate: September 27th, 1998

Synopsis: Bart kills a bird, raises it's babies, and it turns out it wasn't the bird's babies that he was raising.

More specifically, Bart defies his mother by hanging out with Nelson, who just acquired a BB gun at an arcade. One false move, and not only is a bird dead, but Marge finds out and decides to give up on trying to interact with him. Feeling utter guilt, Bart decides to raise the eggs as his own... and lizards wind up hatching.

Review: Ah, ZZZZZZ... oh, sorry, where was I? Oh, yeah, this episode. A pretty blasé, boring half hour... well, the first two acts, anyway. The third act, I don't know what happened.

The first part of the episode is so boring, that I don't think I'm gonna go in depth here. This might be my shortest review since I don't even know when.

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 23: "King of the Hill"

Airdate: May 3rd, 1998

Synopsis: After a disastrous outing to a church picnic, Bart realizes that Homer is pathetically out of shape. Homer, disappointed in himself for failing his son, decides to take up an exercise regiment, complete with trips to the "gyme" and eating Powersauce bars. Impressively, with the help of Rainier Wolfcastle, he manages to build up sizable muscles within two months, albeit developing a bit of ego along the way. One particular trip to the "gyme" has Homer and Bart meet up with representatives from Powersauce, and Bart convinces Homer to take up on an offer to climb the super-tall Murderhorn. The executives sponsor the trip along the way, turning it into an ad campaign... even having sherpas help Homer.

Review (SPOILERS): Watching these past few episodes has been like a pendulum. We had "Trillions" show the assassination of satire, "Girly Edition" show the brilliant satire formed over the previous eight seasons, "Trash of the Titans" show Homer get a job and act like an asshat all the way, and this episode, actually extending pathos to Homer. Is this the last we'll see of a sympathetic Homer? Who knows? (Hint: probably.)

This episode chooses to look at one of Homer's defining physical features- his rotundness, and how it contrasts to society's expectations of machismo. It's a bit strange that, given the relative zaniness of these past few episodes (Cuba? Really?), this episode actually has a somewhat realistic portrayal of Homer's health and what happens when he exercises- even though he gets muscles in two months, he's still not presented as fit. The way this episode portrays his strives to get healthier actually makes you feel for Homer through the entire episode.

Unlike future episodes, which will show Homer become macho thanks to the power of a dietician, this episode shows the fraudulence of certain "schemes" to healthy living- that is, food in "health bar" form. This actually shows a realistic viewpoint of that scheme- eating the bars seems to motivate Homer. When the rug is pulled out from under Homer (mmm... Chinese newspapers), he rejects the Powersauce Executives fears that he won't make it to the summit... only to embrace it after almost dying.

He only truly abandons his quest after he learns something about his father. Why? Eh, it's a plot arc introduced in the third act. I would've placed something a bit earlier, but it fit with the pacing of the episode. Still, he realizes that there can be no greater shame than what his father did, and that whatever he does is still more dignified. I won't spoil it, but it is a pretty dark moment.

While Homer does dip in a little bit of "Jerkass" territory here, it's relatively minor and somewhat excusable- with the pathos built up, it's understandable why his ego inflated a bit after gaining some muscle. Likewise, the resolution of the plot is a bit... strange. Still, somewhat alleviated by Homer's pathos.

Getting back to the macho part, this episode does take some shots at society's expectations of macho-ness via Wolfcastle. The muscles. the feats of strength. Yet, he won't do the impossible in real life- climb the Murderhorn. Granted, his reasoning is justified, but still. The Gravity Falls episode "Dipper Vs. Manliness" did a similar episode 15 years later- one that criticized masculine stereotypes. Being that "Manliness" happens to be one of my least favorite Gravity Falls episodes, I find it strange how an episode from the waning years of The Simpsons can best a similar episode of a show which might be my all-time favorite.

Not much to say here, really. A good episode, albeit relatively unmemorable (except for "gyme"), probably the last before Scully's brand of Simpsons fully takes over.

Tidbits

• The mockery of advertising is brilliant. The Powersauce executives are annoyingly hysterical- they're more callous about death and danger than Mr. and Mrs. Valentino! 
• This just in: Powersauce is amazing!
• Note to self: always use "gyme".
• Apologies for being out these past couple of weeks. Writers block, plus new blog, plus a new semester, does not motivation make.
• One last note: this will likely be the last blog post under the current URL. At the latest, as of the posting of my review of the next Gravity Falls episode, "Northwest Mansion Noir", the URL will change to starbug1729.blogspot.com. I would preemptively bookmark it, if I were you.

Favorite Scene: Every scene with Abe and McAllester is brilliantly done. Nothing says character development like those scenes.

Least Favorite Scene: Eh... can't name a scene that stood out for it's weaknesses. All of them were necessary to the plot.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 1.5. Homer gets a bit more aloof and callous when he gets fit, but it's immediately balanced out by the pathos in the episode.

Zaniness Factor: 2... mainly for the last three minutes.

Score: 7.

Update- 2/2/15: Not related to The Simpsons, but I've just learned/realized that Geraldine McEwan, who played Cassandra in Red Dwarf, died recently. In tribute of her, I post this quote from "Cassandra":

Cassandra: All of the Canaries will be dead within 1 hour, except for Rimmer...

Rimmer: YES!

Cassandra: ...who will be dead in 20 minutes.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 20: "The Trouble With Trillions"

Bloggers note: FX Now showing every episode of The Simpsons isn't too bad. The crop job, on the other hand...

Airdate: April 5th, 1998

Synopsis: The IRS notes some minor discrepancies in Homer's taxes. (Read: Homer waited until the last possible second, made egregious claims, stuffed them into a manilla folder, and tried to sweeten the deal with mint candies.) Threatened with five years jail, Homer instead accepts a plea- work for the IRS to capture tax cheats. One such tax cheat is Mr Burns, who the IRS alleges took a trillion-dollar bill meant for European reconstruction post WWII. However, Burns's critique of the government resonates with Homer, and the two (plus Smithers) flee. Forced to escape the country, they decide to hang out on an island... one called Cuba.

Review (SPOILERS): The IRS here in the States is a government entity that is ripe for comedy. Americans have always had a skepticism of taxes, and that lends credence to the IRS being the least-liked bureaucracy of the US government. Mocking them by being a bunch of crooked spies who manipulate the system for their own gain would've made for an awesome episode.

Unfortunately, this episode let's that potential go to waste.

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 14: "Das Bus"

Airdate: February 15, 1998

Synopsis: While on the way to a trip to the Model UN conference in Capital City, the kids from Springfield Elementary wind up in a jam after a grapefruit-related brake failure drives the bus off of a bridge. With Otto floating away ("ZEPPELIN RULES!"), the kids wind up trapped on a deserted island. A combination of the island's lack of resources and their lack of survival skills scuttles their attempts at civilisation, and the kids have to live off of the snacks from the bus. All the while, the kids become suspicious of one another.

Meanwhile, Homer, inspired by Flanders's internet enterprise, decides to start his own internet business... despite knowing nothing about the internet. Thus, we take a look at the rise and fall of Compu-Global-Hyper-Mega-Net.

Review: I had to read Lord of the Flies during High School. (Thank you, New York State.) For those that haven't read the book in a long time, the book focused on a bunch of British students getting trapped on an island after their plane goes down. Their connections to civilisation falter, and the kids become more and more savage.

I have to say, watching this episode after thinking about the book, I was a tad bit underwhelmed.

"Das Bus" seems like it was trying to be more of a send-up to Flies, which is alright, except, as others have pointed out, it tends to play to the beats of the novel a bit too closely. The Simpsons is best when it adds twists to the source material. Outside of the ending (which I'll discuss below), the episode tended to match word-for-word the novel. Kids try and form own civilisation after getting trapped on island, yet wind up becoming more and more savage and brutal.

This episode does take quite the stab at the United Nations, as, at the meeting, we see the kids bicker over the relationship between each other, setting the tone for what they would do without supervision from adults. Once they get stranded on the island, they begin looking at their self interests. Fighting Milhouse for the "food" is a collaborative effort, but in the end, the kids want their own instant gratification. Meanwhile, Millhouse, one of the remaining "civilised" students, winds up acting like a jerkass to Lisa and Bart, asking them to carry him to safety, and repaying them by abandoning the two after crossing the cliff. Is it symbolic of international relations within the UN, and providing a message about the flaws of the organisation? Or am I looking too much into this episode? Given Scully's legacy amongst the general public, I lean somewhat to the latter.

Either way, I think if the episode focused more on UN satire and less on ripping off Lord of the Flies, this might have been more enjoyable... a little bit.

The ending of the plot is actually pretty decent. While the reveal of "the monster" is a bit too in step, it actually does lead to a very interesting twist- one that plays off of the kid's instant gratification and one that is a direct stab at Lisa's vegetarianism. I also think the ending ending was a bit of a stab at the ending of Lord of the Flies. Normally, I hold Simpsons episodes that have haphazard-esque endings in a low light. Yet, here, I kind of liked it, given the source material.

Character in the A-plot seemed a bit uneven, yet I can somewhat pass it off, given the stressful situation they're in. Some of Lisa's dialogue might seem off given her normally intelligent nature, but it also helps reinforce that she's still a second grader. Bart's dialogue also seemed to show that there are flashes of brilliance in him, yet it is also balanced by his naiveté.

Plot "B" mocks the dot-com bubble just around the time it was, well, bubbling. Homer sets up a business with no knowledge of the industry, acts like an idiot, is somehow able to buy advertising (albeit on, apparently, Voyager fansites), and, when it comes time to sell, he gets trashed... rather literally, in fact. ("I didn't get rich by writing a lot of cheques!"). Sure, it's a prototype of the "Homer gets a new job and acts like a jackass" plot that would become the centre of season 10. However, I must admit, it was pretty damn funny. By far my favourite piece of dialogue would have to be between Comic Book Guy and Homer, as CBG wants faster internet.

Comic Book Guy: "I'm interested in upgrading my 28.8 kilobaud internet connection to a 1.5 megabit fibre optic T1 line. Will you be able to provide an IP router that's compatable with my Token Ring Ethernet LAN connection?"

Homer: [Stares for a few seconds] "Can I have some money now?"

Overall, while a bit of a disappointment compared to what I was expecting, it was still a pretty decent episode. Maybe my expectations were too high. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

Tidbits:

• Some fans on the internet have complained that Bill Gates, who briefly appeared at Homer's business, voiced himself, claiming that celebrity guest voices helped kill the show. Hank Azaria actually voiced Gates.
• This episode was written by David S Cohen. It would be his third-to-last script under the title: after the Writers Guild unionised, he was forced to drop the S from his title, and instead put an X for his future scripts, including the pilot to Futurama, which I think is surprisingly underrated in the science-fiction world.
• The resolution to Otto's C-plot is pretty damn funny... it involves Chinese fishermen and slave labour. "I think I'm gonna like it on this boat!"
• Worth noting that the Model UN was also given a brief shoutout in "Lisa the Drama Queen", where the meeting goes awry due to the lack of certain representatives... in that case, Lisa. Strangely enough, that episode was also a parody of another piece of media- there, it was the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures. Much like this episode, it's less of a parody and more of a beat-by-beat retelling. It was a pretty weak episode, especially by the standards of the classics.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2

Jerkass Homer Moment: Homer came off as quite a bit of a jerk to Marge, between stealing her ideas without giving her credit, ignoring her, and telling her to get out when Gates arrives to make himself look good. It's a bit annoying.

Zaniness Factor: 2.5. An episode of this calibre was always going to be "out there". It does pull back on the slapstick, however.

Favourite Scene: LOVED CBG's attempts to boost his internet speed... via Homer. Pretty much sums up Telecom companies.

Least Favourite Scene: Milhouse abandoning Bart and Lisa after swinging over the ditch rubbed me the wrong way. Milhouse is many things, but a jerkass he is not.

Score: 7.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 13: "The Joy of Sect"

Airdate: February 8th, 1998

"Special effects by Industrial Lights and Morons" - Mike Nelson, Mystery Science Theater 3000 ("Space Mutiny")

Synopsis: Whilst wasting time at the Airport, Homer and Bart meet two members of the "movementarians", Glen and Jane. They convince Homer, amongst others, to visit a film, where they promise to use praise to "the Leader" to get "access to a starship to 'Blisstonia'". Despite initial difficulties (Homer being too thick, for one), their message manages to get into Homer, and he, alongside most of the rest of Springfield, are sucked into the cult. Said cult forces it's members to move to a farm to harvest Lima Beans. The Leader is said to be living in a forbidden barn, building his ship, making brief appearances to wave to the cult members. The cult's popularity manages to take over Springfield, right down to it's media. Only Marge is able to resist the cult, and has to flee the compound to find a way to deprogram the family.

Review: FINALLY! After, what, three weak episodes, we finally get an episode that's... good.

Overhyped, though? Maybe a little.

This episode's main strength is in it's scathing critique of religious cults.  Oh, boy, is it scathing. Take your typical cult tropes and exaggerate them to the nth degree. That's the Movementarians. Let's see, all they do is guilt trip people into being brainwashed, take over entire media outlets, poison those into submission, take their member's money and property, and force them into hard labour... and it's all just empty. They spend lavishly on themselves, descend the followers into petty fights, enjoy the tax-exempt status of the government to partake in the aforementioned self-serving spending, and pander to the follower's weaknesses/battle against their strengths.

This episode was also very topical, somewhat rare for a post-classic Simpsons episode. You see, this episode has it's basis in the Heaven's Gate cult, which, a year earlier, committed suicide in an attempt to ride Comet Hale-Bopp. Also gaining media attention around this time (I suppose: I don't have many memories of the 90s) was Scientology (which even had one of it's founders write a book that was adapted into a hysterically awful movie), as well as the Unification Church.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Simpsons episode without it's characters. For the most part, this episode does well in this regard. In all honesty, this episode shows Marge at one of her highpoints. It's not really as high as, say, "Marge on the Lam", but it's pretty awesome. Through her, we see her have to take "deprograming" manoeuvres similar to those of brainwashing. It's a tough call, but sometimes, you have to stoop low to achieve a goal that you know will be heroic in the end. Lovejoy and Flanders are perfect in their role as the Christian holdouts. That, and Ned actually has beer. Maybe I just have traces of ZS on the mind, but that's a deep, more "average" side to Ned. Willie's role as the "Id" of the deprogramming operation is perfect. I'll go as far as to say that, as much as Homer did have some jerkass scenes in the beginning, most of it is excused, as his character is made more realistic by the end of the episode. The twist to deprogram him is awesome, and totally fits in with his character.

Complaints? Pacing was a bit off: the airport scene seemed to just be there for a bunch of sitcom jokes, yet the placement of the third act seemed to make it so that said third act dragged a bit. However, it's an otherwise fantastically funny episode, with wicked satire and good characterisation.

Enjoy it. These types of episodes will be rarer as the years go on.

Tidbits:

• This episode was technically produced by David Mirkin, the showrunner for Seasons 5 and 6. Much like Scully, Dave Mirkin's twist on the show (especially in Season 5) took it into more outlandish and cartoony territory ("Deep Space Homer", "Homer and Apu"). Mirkin also took on some social commentary. ("Sideshow Bob Roberts", "Homer Badman"). However, Mirkin also used more character based plots, rather than plots that caused the characters to conform to the plot. This episode feels like a Mirkin-era episode... except for art, which is somewhat more rigid.
• I personally like the twist with the loaner bikes. Goes to remind us that not only are there still holdouts for the cult, but that Our Favourite Family isn't exactly doing so well. Hear me, Zombie Simpsons? Characters living the high life is not really funny!
• LOVE the scenes with the "Lawyer Department", especially when they barge into KBBL-TV to look for Homer. "Idiots? That's slander, sir, and we have it on tape." "Alright; I'll get out my chequebook!"
• "We are watching FOX!" I love the "take-that's" at FOX.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2

Jerkass Homer Moment: Most of Homer's jerkassery is a little justified, but almost mowing down the Movementarians certainly crossed the line. This is also a literal Jerkass Homer Moment: while driving to the Movementarian Centre, Homer screams "Outta my way, jerkass!" And thus, a name for the post-classic era Homer was born.

Zaniness Meter: 2

Zaniest Moment: Rover from The Prisoner appears in the barrier between the Movementarian Campground and the town... capturing Moleman. Mmm... I swear I remember that a later episode had a more direct parody on The Prisoner.

Favourite Scene: Everything (except the road rage) at the Movementarian Centre.

Least Favourite Scene: At the airport, Homer is an idiot as to the "free film this weekend" presented by the Movementarians. This joke was done better in "Mr Lisa Goes to Washington", with the VIP gag.

Score: 8

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