“The ‘garage’? Hey fellas, the ‘garage’! Well ohh-la-di-da, mister Frenchman.” – Moe “Well, what do you call it?” – Homer Simpson “A car hole.” – Moe
Month: January 2013
Compare & Contrast: Parental Substitutes
“Who wants to be the first to enter God’s good graces?” – Ned Flanders Zombie Simpsons has a well established track record for wild plot twists, nonsensical stories, and characters behaving so strangely that one wonders whether or not they’re still supposed to be human. “The Changing of the Guardian” valiantly upheld that reputation, particularly in the way it took its main conflict, scrambled it beyond even a semblance of coherence, and then awkwardly jammed it into just the last two minutes of the episode. Consider, for a second, the enormous inhumanity this episode expects you, the audience member, to…
Quote of the Day
“To my sister Jackie, I leave my pet iguana, Jub-Jub.” – Gladys Bouvier “Why didn’t she just leave me the bowel obstruction that killed her?” – Jacqueline Bouvier
Quote of the Day
“Watch this, Ned, they don’t call me Springfield Fats just because I’m morbidly obese.” – Homer Simpson
Permanent Record: Burns Manor
“There it is, kids, stately Burns Manor, heaven on earth.” – Homer Simpson Watching Season 1 episodes with the knowledge of what the show was going to become can often blur out just how well formed many of the show’s ideas were, even before the voices and the animation had developed. Burns, and the palatial estate on which he lives, illustrate that well. “There’s No Disgrace Like Home” is the first time we get to see Burns Manor, and while it would be revised and updated in Season 2 and later, the fundamental ideas of it are all right here.…
Quote of the Day
“But now it’s time to say good bye. Please get off my property until next year. I suggest you don’t dawdle! The hounds will be released in ten minutes.” – C.M. Burns
Sunday Preview: The Changing of the Guardian
After surviving a tornado, Marge and Homer seek out guardians for the kids, in case the worst should happen. They first turn to friends and family, including Homer’s half-brother, Herb Powell with whom to entrust their kids, but when Bart and Lisa fall in love with a super-cool couple, Mav and Portia, Marge starts to question their potential guardians’ true motivations. Rashida Jones is a guest voice tonight. I guess she must be Portia. I also guess I’ll never find out because I am going to catch up on Justified instead.
Quote of the Day
“Lisa, come back before everyone finds out what a horrible father I am!” – Homer Simpson
Quote of the Day
“Well, sir, Homer’s illness is either caused by ingesting spoiled food or by some sort of voodoo curse.” – Dr. Hibbert “Hey, we’ve just been working the eyes.” – Patty Bouvier
Reading Digest: Personal Inspiration Edition
“You’ll never go broke appealing to the lowest common denominator.” – Lisa Simpson “You’re going to miss your brother’s antics.” – Mr. Bergstrom “When?” – Lisa Simpson “When? When your life takes you places the rest of us have only heard about.” – Mr. Bergstrom “Places where my intelligence will be an asset and not a liability?” – Lisa Simpson “Yes, there is such a place.” – Mr. Bergstrom [Quick Note: Sorry for the erratic posting this week. I actually have three concurrent excuses: work, weather and illness, feel free to accept or disregard any or all of them. I’m…
Quote of the Day
“Welcome to the chocolate factory, I’m Troy McClure. You probably remember me from such films as The Revenge of Abe Lincoln and The Wackiest Covered Wagon in the West.” – Troy McClure
Animation Alley: Homer’s Odyssey
Make no mistake, there’s a lot of really weird and wonky animation in the first season. I used to find it really off-putting, but now I’ve learned to accept it, and it actually makes these shows all the more charming to me. Just as the show was trying to find its footing with the writing, the same could be said about the animation. There’s a lot of weird shit in this show, a few moments in particular I want to highlight. I love the execution of Nuclear Energy: Our Misunderstood Friend; the designs, the limited, jerky animation, the scratched up…
Quote of the Day
“Ah, there’s nothing better than a cigarette . . . unless it’s a cigarette lit with a hundred dollar bill!” – Krusty the Klown [Note: Sorry for the late QotD.]
Quote of the Day
“She says you’re a bad influence.” – Milhouse van Houten “Bad influence my butt! How many times have I told you? Never listen to your mother!” – Bart Simpson
Permanent Record: Sherri & Terri
“We’re gonna make you sing, Bart Simpson.” – Sherri “Yeah, Bart Simpson, we’re gonna make you sing.” – Terri When “Homer’s Odyssey” was first broadcast, and The Simpsons was considered just this side of Satanic cults by much of mainstream culture, one of the best things about it was the way it mocked success. People who did well in Springfield didn’t always deserve it, and even the ones who did were often portrayed as insufferable jackasses. The most glaring example of that is easily Flanders, who is a genuinely nice guy but who is also grotesquely inhuman in the way…
Quote of the Day
“Oh, these look good, guilt free steak-fish fillets.” – Marge Simpson “Nah, nah, lemme level with you, Marge. That’s just our name for bottom feeding suction eel. You don’t want that.” – Moe
Quote of the Day
“Any new tattoo’s Otto?” – Bart Simpson “Oh, funny you should ask, man. This morning I woke up with this one.” – Otto “Cool. I want one.” – Bart Simpson “Not till you’re fourteen, my little friend.” – Otto
Quote of the Day
“I keep telling you, lady, your husband and son have to be missing for a week before we can start searching. I’d like to help sooner, I would, but we’re very, very busy down here. Yeesh. King me.” –Chief Wiggum
Quote of the Day
“Uh, excuse me?” – Marge Simpson “What, what, what, what, what, what what? This better be about pizza.” – Chief Wiggum
Reading Digest: Imaginary People Edition
“Any words for the Christmas thief, if he’s watching?” – Kent Brockman “Uh, yes, Kent. Hello, jerk, we may never find you, and we should probably all stop looking. But one thing’s for sure, you do exist.” – Homer Simpson “Strong words. Strong, bewildering words.” – Kent Brockman The American media is having a small meltdown at the moment over the fact that it got rolled by one or possibly two not very bright football players at well documented bullshit factory Notre Dame. As usual when something bizarre happens, there’s a way to connect it to The Simpsons, in this…