The Simpsons 276-280

Brawl In The Family

This episode premiered on January 6th 2002. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite the ABC Sunday Night Movie (Dr. Dolittle 1998 version), 60 Minutes and Weakest Link.

The title is based on the 1971 sitcom All In The Family

There isn't a chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a garden cuts some hedges into a Simpsons topiary. 

The show opens at the Republican Party headquarters, a creepy looking castle complete with creepy music and lightning flashes. The Republicans vote to destroy the environment and then Bob Dole reads from the Necronomicon. The mass pollution creates acid rain and the family is stuck in the house, Homer doesn't mind until the rain melts the antenna, they decide to play a game. Bart is winning at Monopoly until Lisa catches him cheating and the family gets into a huge fight, Maggie calls a family fighting hotline. The police sent in the Negotabot, she sprays the family with taffy and they all get arrested. Lisa complains that she'll never get into an Ivy League School, they all mock her by saying she's going to Stanford. Gabriel shows up as their social worker to help them overcome their fighting. Homer takes Gabriel to the bar and gets really drunk. Gabriel takes the family to the woods to talk about their personal problems, he makes them work together to get their lunch that is hung in the top of a tree. Homer rams the tree with the car, knocking it down on Gabriel and over a cliff, he's stuck hanging over a pack of cougars and wolves. Homer plans to drive away and come up with a good alibi. Lisa insists on helping so they lower Homer down on a rope. Marge twists her ankle so she can't drive the car to pull them back up so Bart does it, he claims it's his first time even though he has his own keys and a set of glovers. The animals start working together to get at them so Homer tosses them the beer, the animals get drunk, Homer and Gabriel get away. The family wonders if this will be the end of their adventures, but when they pull into the driveway Homer's Vegas bride is waiting. Homer goes to a judge but Nevada law, Mormon Hold Em', makes multiple marriages legal. Marge kicks Homer out, he and Amber move into the treehouse. Ned accepts his new marriage but she can't handle his religious ways. Marge and Homer have a huge fight and he and Amber go to Moe's where she gets extra drunk. The next day Amber wakes up to discover that she married Abe and divorced Homer. Amber and Ginger run back to Vegas. The family is proud that they worked together to solve the problem. 

Delroy Lindo does the voice of Gabriel. Jane Kaczmarek returns as Judge Constance Harm.

The character of Gabriel is based on the 2000 movie The Legend Of Bagger Vance.

Springfield Republicans, Mr. Burns / Smithers/ Rainer Wolfcastle / Krusty / Dracula / Yee Haw Texan / Ralph Nader 

The Republicans have gotten Disney to build an animatronic Strom Thurmond so he can serve another 20 years. Thurmond served in congress from 1954 until 2003 when he died. (at the time the Republicans were claiming there should be term limits for Congress but were always willing to look the other way as far as he was concerned)

When the Republicans vote to destroy the environment they turn Smokey The Bear into Choppy The Lumberjack. 

Willie does a spoof on Singin' In The Rain until the acid rain burns through his umbrella and blinds him. 

Moe goes on Blind Date (a show that ran from 1999 to 2006)

Monopoly varieties: Star Wars / Rasta-Mon-Opoly/ Galip-Olopoly / Edna Krabappoly. They play the original version.

Springfield Shopper Headline: Simpsons Arrested In Family Riot, Even Maggie. The price of the paper is 25¢, kind of a continuity error.

Milhouse complains about Bart having a social worker when he has stigmata (bleeding from the hands)

Gabriel says he earned his Wings, then plays Band On The Run.

Homer and Ned married Amber and Ginger in the episode Viva Ned Flanders

Amber reads Cigarette Aficionado. 

This was the first non Treehouse Of Horror episode to not have a chalkboard gag since Bart the Mother in 1998, four years earlier.

This was the first episode of 2002.

If you don't know by now I'm not a fan of "Homer and Marge's marriage is in trouble" episodes so not my favorite. Also it felt like they had bits and pieces of two separate episodes and decided to combine them into one, the first half had nothing to do with the second half. Here's hoping for an improvement as the year goes along.

Sweets and Sour Marge

This episode premiered on January 20th 2002. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (101 Dalmatians), The Education Of Max Bickford and The 59th Annual Golden Globes. 

The title comes from various Sweet and Sour Chinese dishes

The couch gag is Homer being picked up by a claw machine while shouting "Ow, my brain!"

The family goes to the library book sale. Dr. Nick is there reading a copy of Gray's Anatomy and freaking out at the images of guts. Marge buys Homer the Duff Book Of World Records. Homer goes to the bar where Lenny and Carl are arguing over the most clothespins clipped to the face and neck, Homer prevents a fight with the Duff book. When the family gets bored with Homer reading about records he decides to come up with his own, he wonders if he can run a mile in three and a half minutes, when Lisa says "only on Mars" Homer announces "The Simpsons are going to Mars!" then he figures out she was being sarcastic. Homer goes to the Worlds Record office and tells the guy next to him he's a cinch for fattest man, however it turns out to be Marlin Brando who is there for Worlds Greatest Living Actor. Homer learns that the only way he'd get into the book is through a group stunt so he tries to recruit the people of Springfield to build the worlds tallest human pyramid. Homer tires to climb to the top but they have to hold it for "three Mississippis" however Jimbo moves his hand and the entire town ends up in a giant human ball rolling down the hill and wind up on the truck scale. The Duff people do the math and Springfield makes the record as World's Fattest Town. Marge suddenly realizes that the family doesn't eat healthy. She goes to the Motherloving sugar corp and complains to them about their unhealthy food. Marge decides to do something so Lisa convinces her to file a class action lawsuit, She hires Gil to be their lawyer from a street corner. Marge gets a call from Professor Frink who tells her about operation Hoyvin-Mayvin, a plan to get everyone hooked on sugar. In court Motherloving tries to bribe the judge with candy but the judge rules in Marge's favor and bans sugar in Springfield. The kids all suffer from the DT's and the Kwik-E-Mart is empty. However Apu tells Homer about a group working on bringing sugar into Springfield from San Glucose. Mr Burns' yacht sails into Springfield Harbor however they get cutoff by Wiggum. They run away and are chased but the police boat crashes into a sand bar. Instead of turning the sugar over to Motherloving Homer dumps it into the harbor, and everyone dives in after it. The judge rules the sugar ban over.

Ben Stiller does the voice of Garth Motherloving, formerly Garth Hitler.

Banner at the library: Library Book Sale, Yes, We Have Pornography!

At the library sale Comic Book Guy buys Leonard Nimoy's books: I Am Not Spock / I Am Spock / I Am Also Scotty

Cletus is feeding shredded books to his pigs and says Helen Fielding is giving them Bridget Jone's Diarrhea. 

The Duff Book Of World Records is a spoof on The Guinness Book Of World Records. (but you probably figured that out)

The family is eating Frosting Gobs cereal. 

Springfield claims to be the home of the Beatles.

The entire population of Springfield weighs a collective 64,152 pounds. 

Food at the Kwik-E-Mart: Choco Cheese / Krusty O's / Honey Oats / Bag O' Cubes / Ah Fudge! Gummy Pies / Candy Creams / Sugar Soy / Sugar Ale / Sugar With Free Donuts / Chocolate Smoke'm /Honey Glazed Cauliflower / Choco-Blasted Baby Aspirin. All made by the Mother Loving Sugar Corp. 

Cletus's last name is Spuckler.

Count Fudgeula is the mascot for Motherloving breakfast cereals. A spoof on Count Chocula. 

When Wiggum burns all the sugar products in town they toss in the Butterfingers however the fire rejects them. The Simpsons did commercials for Butterfingers from 1988, before the prime time show went on the air, until 2001.

Lou has a chocolate figure of Johnny Depp from the 2000 movie Chocolate (Pronounced with French accents)

The sugar smuggling organization, Mr. Burns, Count Fudgeula, Motherloving, Apu and finally Homer.

The theme from Miami Vice plays during the boat chase.

Sugar Sugar by the Archies plays over the closing credits. 

This episode was kind of a repeat of the prohibition storyline from Homer Vs. The Eighteenth Amendment.

Jaws Wired Shut

This episode premiered on January 27th 2002. The lead in was the NFC Championship (Rams 29 - Eagles 24) and was followed by Malcolm In The Middle. It ran opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (Mouse Hunt), Max Bickford and Weakest Link

The title is based on the 1999 movie Eyes Wide Shut

The couch gag is the family comes in as silent movie character with Homer dressed as Charlie Chaplin. 

The Springfield Gay Pride parade goes by the house, when SLH wants to join the Gay Dog Alliance Homer makes them leave. Homer takes the family to see the movie Shenani-Goats. There are too many previews and PSAs so Homer freaks out and tries to start a riot. The ushers are all given giant Kit Kat pieces for defense. Bart teases Homer starting a fight and then he flees the theater, he runs into a statue of Dredric Tatum and breaks his jaw on the boxing glove. When Homer finds out he can't eat solid foods he tries to use the suicide machine but it doesn't work on him. At Moe's Duffman shows up for the trivia challenge offering a lifetime supply of Duff but Homer can't answer because of his wired jaw. Since Homer can't talk he starts listening to the family. Despite causing a scene the year before Marge and Homer go to the formal ball and have a great time however Homer is getting his jaw unwired the next day, Marge is dreading it. Homer agrees to appear on Afternoon Yak, a women's talk show, to discuss listening to women. He promises to keep acting normal but Marge starts to get bored with the new Homer. She decides to join the Demolition Derby. In order to save her Homer drinks a beer and hops on a donkey to rush into the arena. The donkey gets tired so Homer gives him some beer, however he falls asleep. Homer saves Marge and she realizes that she needs the regular Homer. 

Homer reads Pie Times, a spoof on High Times. Advertisement: Fork It Over, 1 pie for $10 ea. at the Pie House Shelbyville. 

Gay Pride Parade Formerly Springfield Heritage Day. 

The Gay Pride Parade plays C+C Music Factory's Everybody Dance Now.

The Gay Steel Workers Of America have a float. This is a reference to the episode Homer's Phobia.

There's a Still In The Closet float with Smithers and Patty. 

There is a Lesbians of the Caribbean float with women chasing women on a beach while singing "Yo ho ho it's an alternative lifestyle for me". This of course is a spoof on the Disney ride Pirates Of The Caribbean. 

Movies at the Googolplex, Wedgie: The Movie / Shenani-Goats / Air C.H.U.D. / Chocolate 2: The Vanilla-ing / Final Chapter: A New Beginning / Editor-In-Chimp / Too Many Premises! / Clone Me An Angel / Dude, Where's My Pepsi / Crouching Tiger, Hidden Valley Ranch

The pre movie has Movie Star Scramble "Mot Hanks" Lisa says it's obviously Tom Hanks but it turns out to be Otm Shank the India answer to Brian Dennehy.

Itchy & Scratchy in To Kill A Talking Bird. Itchy and Scratchy are at a movie when a duck in the front row gets a cell call and Itchy switches his phone with a stick of dynamite and blows him up. He then uses Scrachy's entrails to spell out "Please No Talking". This is the first Itchy and Scratchy since the episode HOMR

Coming attraction Ed O'Neill in Soccer Mummy "I Feel Good" by James Brown plays

Dr. Hibbert gives Marge a pamphlet on broken jaws, So Your Life Is Ruined. It's been a long time since the last time the Simpsons got a pamphlet at the hospital.

Marge has a framed front page of last year's formal event: "Local Man Ruins Everything" with a picture of Homer riding a donkey through a cake.

Marge and Homer get invited to dinner at Toad Hall, the place from Wind In The Willows.

Afternoon Yak is based on The View which has been on the air since 1997. The host is even a versions of Barbra Walters with the classic lisp. The second guest on the show is Luann Houten who came to talk about Milhouse wetting the bed. 

Bart is in a play, I'm Gonna Kill You by Edward Albee

Demolition Derby: As Seen On Faces Of Death III

Bart squeezes a beer and shoots it into Homer's mouth as a spoof on Popeye, complete with the song and Marge doing the classic "spaghetti arms" wave when she call for Homer to come save her. 

Half-Decent Proposal

This episode premiered on February 10th, 2002. It ran in its regular time slot and opposite the ABC Sunday Night Movie (Ace Ventura), Max Bickford and the XIX Winter Olympics.

The title and plot of the episode is a spoof on the 1993 movie Indecent Proposal

The chalkboard gag is "I will not bite the hand that feeds me Butterfingers" and the couch gag is two repo men take the couch which makes Homer cry, the kids just sit on the floor.

Marge can't sleep because Homer is snoring so loudly, even when she pinches his mouth and nose closed he snores through his eyelids. She has trouble getting an appointment with Dr. Hibbert on Wednesday morning, he's out smashing mailboxes with Dr. Nick. When Hibber tells Homer what the cost of surgery is Homer offers a counter offer of "do it for free", they get kicked out of the office. Marge falls asleep behind the wheel and falls out of the car, Bart takes over while Lisa and Milhouse work the pedals. When Marge shows up at Patty and Selmas they think she left Homer but instead they have a Girls Night. They see a show where Artie Ziff, Marge's old boyfriend, is listed as the 5th richest man in America. Patty and Selma send Artie a dirty email. After a good nights sleep Marge is back to normal but Artie shows up by helicopter. On his yacht Artie offers to give Homer $1 million dollars to spend the weekend with Marge, he promises to behave. Marge and Homer head home but they forget the kids. When they get home Homer realizes that with Artie's money he could get the sleep surgery. They decide to go through with Artie's deal but Homer gives him a set of rules, Artie promises to keep his hands off Marge. Homer goes to the bar to brag about getting a million dollars from Artie and all the guys tell Homer that she won't be coming back. Artie recreates the Senior Prom. Principal Dondilinger shows up to keep Homer from going to the dance. Artie tricks Marge into kissing him and Homer sees from the skylight, however Marge slaps him and storms out. Homer goes to Moe's and cries about losing Marge and plans on running away with Lenny. Homer leaves a goodbye VHS for Marge. Homer and Lenny go to work on an oil rig where everyone is maimed or dead. Bart tracks Homer down via the West Springfield library. Marge recruits Arty to help her find Homer. Homer and Lenny celebrate capping a well by raising their goggles but they set some ants on fire that jump into the oil and set the rig on fire. Marge shows up but Homer decides to die in the fire however Artie tells him the truth, Lenny decides to die but Carl is on the helicopter too. Marge turns down Artie's money but he gives them a device to convert Homer's snores to play Sweet Dreams, however he's got a hidden camera in it. 

The chalkboard gag is a reference to the long running Butterfingers commercials featuring the Simpsons and the episode Sweets and Sour Marge (see above)

Dream by the Everly Brothers plays while we see the people of Springfield going to bed. Comic Book Guy's room is full of Star Wars things including a Speeder bed and several signed pictures of Mark Hamill. 

Dated Reference, Time Magazine: AOL Rules.

Dr. Hibbert smashing mailboxes, to the tune of Wooly Bully by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs, is a spoof on the mailbox baseball scene from the 1986 movie Stand By Me

Springfield Shopper headline: Sleep Important, Say Experts / Slow New Day Grips Springfield. The price of the paper is back to 50¢

Patty and Selma watch Nookie In New York, a spoof on Sex In The City. The women go to Yumi Ristorante. (I never watched the show so I don't now if that is an important reference)

Artie Ziff got rich building a device that changes the dial up sound to Georgie Girl (Remember dial up?)

The internet runs through a beat up box labeled Cisco Systems.

Artie Ziff's yacht is called PaZiffic Prince

Best line of the episode "No misdirected woo, which is pretty much any John Woo film"

When Marge flies off with Artie in his helicopter Suicide Is Painless plays. Homer has written out Keep Your Clothes On with white rocks as a spoof from the final episode of MASH

Artie comments that the band he hired for the fake prom haven't worked since the rap party for James at 16. That was a short lived 1977-78 TV show that started out as a TV movie and a weekly show James at 15. The title was changed for the second season. 

Marge uses the Just Take Me Home cab co. She tells the driver to send the $912 fare to Baron Von Kissalot. When an actual Baron gets the bill he's angry. He has really big lips.

Homer uses a Funzo doll to demonstrate Marge kissing Artie. They were seen in the episode Grift Of The Magi.

Homer and Lenny take the Suck-U-Bus Line to the oil fields in West Springfield. They pass Mt. Carlmore, carved by Lenny. 

Roughnecks Wanted- Dangerous Work, Free Burial.

Grandpa comes by and says "Homer bowled a perfect 300 game?" This is a reference to the episode Hello Gutter Hello Fadder. 

The Bart Wants What It Wants

This episode premiered on February 17th 2002. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the ABC Sunday Night Movie (Raiders Of The Lost Ark), CBS Sunday Movie (The Fugitive) and the XIX Winter Olympics. 

The title comes from an Emily Dickinson quote, The heart wants what it wants, or else it does not care. 

The chalkboard gag is "The Giving Tree is not a chump" and the couch gag is a repeat of the circus show.

Homer is running from the Olympic helicopter, he's stolen the torch because they preempt his favorite shows every four years. They recover the torch however the helicopter crashes and the torch goes out. Meanwhile the family stops at the fair at the Springfield Preparatory School. Lisa complains about not being aware of the school. Homer pops the bounce house. Skinner shows up to steal equipment, he tells Lisa "welcome to Dick Cheney's America". Bart hits a kid in the bumper cars, the airbags go off and an ambulance shows up. Homer puts Ned's name and a bid of $50 on a silent auction but it turns out to be for a $100 bill, which Ned donates it to the orphanage. A group of bullies are playing keep away with a girl's backpack but Bart shows up and shoots them with Rice Krispies treats until they run away, she turns out to be Rainer Wolfcastle's daughter. Lisa tries to keep a grip on the gate instead of leaving, Homer promises to send her to the finest college, in South Carolina, she refuses to become a gamecock. Wolfcastle shows up in a Canyonero to pick up Bart. He and Greta watch Itchy And Scratchy on DVD, remember when that was the height of high tech? Marge invites Wolfcastle over for dinner, Lisa complains about the sausages. Greta keeps flirting with Bart but he doesn't get it, when Bart comes to her house he brings Milhouse along. Homer invites Rainer to the bar, the other patrons annoy him so he sends in his lookalike. Greta invites Bart to her school dance however he finds out that Skinner is doing standup that same night and he can't resist. Skinner does jokes about school while Bart heckles him, he gets booed off stage. Lisa tells Bart off for standing up Greta so he decides he needs to break it off with her. Bart goes to talk to Greta after the breakup but finds out that she's dating Milhouse so he starts stalking them. Greta tells Bart that she's going to Toronto with her father while he's shooting a movie, so the Simpsons take a bus to Canada. When Bart tries to talk to Greta Milhouse shows up and they get into a fight. Greta tells Bart that she doesn't want to get back together and she also breaks up with Milhouse. The boys wind up on the Canadian basketball team. Skinner tries comedy again and gets heckled by Nelson. 

Wolfgang Puck does his own voice and Reese Witherspoon does the voice of Greta

The olympic flame bit is a spoof on the Winter Olympics running opposite The Simpsons. 

Springfield Preparatory was featured in the film Calling All Coeds. Marge recognizes the place where Boozer drank the pee. 

Wolfgang Puck steals Marge's recipe for Rice Krispie squares with M&Ms. He hops into the PuckMobile (complete with the music and a spinning pizza cutaway) in a spoof on Batman 66.

The Itchy And Scratchy Show: Itchy and Scratchy are doing a trapeze act but instead of catching him Itchy cuts off Scratchy's hands and when he hits the safety net he's sliced into cubes, that an elephant eats. There is an auto commentary by Itchy and Scratchy, they complain about the director Steven Soderbergh. Just then Itchy cuts off Scratchy's head with a giant pair of pruning sheers.

It's Free Lotion Night at the basketball game Bart and Greta go to. 

The comedy club is named Floppy's "Open Mic Night, Pity Laughs Welcome" The music from Seinfeld plays.

When Milhouse meets Greta for the first time he says "Wazzaaaap!" The line is from a Bud beer commercial of the day. 

While the family is in Toronto they visit the Dodgers Of Foreign Wars. They go to Paramountie studios (instead of a mountain their logo is a mountie hat).

At the Canadian film studio they are making Canadian Graffiti (the name comes from the 1973 film American Graffiti), they guy spray paints  Obey The Rules on a wall. Wolfcastle is making the movie Undercover Nerd

Bart and Milhouse wind up fighting in the middle of a show, Curling for Loonies.

Alright, I've made it through 280 episodes. Why I keep doing this, I couldn't tell you however I've reached the episodes that I'm pretty sure I've seen but I don't remember. So at least it's getting interesting. The problem is that according to Wikipedia there is no end in site. Oh dear. 

 The Simpsons 271-275

The Parent Rap

This episode premiered on November 11th 2001. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcolm In The Middle. It ran opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (Saving Private Ryan), The Education Of Max Bickford and Weakest Link.

The title of this episode came from the 1961 and 1998 Disney movies The Parent Trap.

The chalkboard gag is "Nobody reads these anymore" and the couch gag is the family is on the boat in the painting that hangs on the living room wall, they jump in the water and come out on the couch, dripping wet and the whole room has been splashed.

While driving Homer and Milhouse to school Homer sees the KBBL Party Wagon and decides to chase them down to win $40, so he kicks the kids out of the car and takes off. Wiggum is hanging out at the Lard Lad donut shop and the boys start playing in his patrol car, they use the PA to make Ned drop his pants via a hula. They get attacked by the police dog and accidentally put the car into neutral and start rolling. They just miss hitting a truck with a giant soup tureen and steer into a picnic for Promising Young Athletes crashing through the trophy table and into a tree. They wind up in court and judge Snider lets Milhouse go since he looks like a nerd. When Bart steps up to the bench the judge is just about to let him off but his vacation starts and a new judge, Constance Harm, takes over. Homer confesses that he dumped the kids out to chase the radio station van, he won $40 and a Deep Purple medallion, so the judge orders him to be tethered to Bart. Homer has to go to school with Bart and points out that the kids will never use the stuff Mrs. Krabappal is teaching and then falls asleep on the floor. At baseball Bart hits a line drive and manages to drag Homer around the bases for a home run. Since Homer has to spend the days in school he winds up on the night shift so Bart has to go with him. Homer wants to go to Moe's but Bart has to stand outside. Homer and Marge want to "snuggle" but can't since Bart is in the room, Homer and Bart start making each other slap themselves by pulling on the cord, Homer tries to strangle Bart with the tether and then Bart whips him. Marge has had enough so she cuts the tether but the judge has a camera in the rope and they get caught. Harm demands that Marge say she's a bad parent in court but she refuses and tells off the judge. She sentences Homer and Marge to wear stockades and they are then forced to stand on a corner while people driving by whip them. Marge continues to refuse to tell the judge she's a bad parent so Homer cuts them out of the stocks. Homer plans to get revenge on the judge and head to where she lives, on a houseboat. They hang a banner that says Big Meanie but a barking seal jumps out of the water and the judge comes out to find out what is going on. Homer throws a cinder block at her but punctures the hull and the boat sinks. Just as the judge is about to toss Homer and Marge in jail Bart comes forward to say what a horrible child he is and how they have stood by him. The judge decides to sentence Bart to 5 years in juvenile hall but Snider comes back and lets Bart go. Marge makes the family pledge to not break the law for one full year, just as Homer runs over Moleman. Don't Fear The Reaper by Deep Purple plays over the closing credits. 

Jane Kaczmarek does the voices of Judge Harm. At the time she was also staring as Lois on Malcom In The Middle. 

The true irony of the chalkboard gag is that on Disney + you can skip the intro.

Homer sings Wedding Bell Blues by The Fifth Dimension, while Bart and Milhouse plugs their ears. The DJs at KBBL mispronounce it as Weddings Are Nice (Homer also sings the same lyrics wrong). The radio station plays a clip of Charlton Heston saying "You damn dirty ape" from the 1968 movie Planet Of The Apes. (This could have been a salute to Phil Hartman if they had used a Troy McClure soundbite from Stop The Planet Of The Apes I Want To Get Off, from the episode A Fish Called Selma)

When Homer kicks Bart and Milhouse out of the car they almost get ran over by Professor Frink on his Hoverbike. It was first seen in the episode Lemon Of Troy.

Wiggum's patrol car has a Miranda Rights Teleprompter "You have the right to remain silent (punch in the belly)"

Lisa makes a comment about unusual judgements and uses their new mailman, Bill Clinton, as an example. Cut to him trying to jam magazines into the mail box. 

Mrs. Krabappal tries to teach about Predicates. To be honest, I have no idea what they are.

Dated Joke: When Homer drags Bart to the bar Moe tells him "no kids", Homer asks why and Moe comments "ever since those Bush twins were here...." This joke is a reference to the 2001 incident when Jenna and Barbra (19 at the time) were caught buying alcohol with a fake ID in Texas.

While sneaking to the judge's house Homer sees the milkman and say's he should become one. This is a reference to all the jobs he's had in the past. It's also a dated joke since home delivery by milkmen was a past thing in 2001

Springfield Shopper headline: Pair sinks Judge's House, Quilt Ruined. The Shopper is still 50¢ but $1.75 on Sunday. They are part of the Springfield News Group Etc. Inc.  Also they have a website springfieldshopper.com. The domain name is for sale for any true Simpsons fans.

At the end Homer listens to Dang Me by Roger Miller.

Homer To The Moe

This episode premiered on November 18th 2001. The lead in was the NFL Postgame show and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite The Facts Of Life Reunion, The Education Of Max Bickford and Weakest Link. 

The chalkboard gag is "A burp in a jar is not a science experiment" and the couch gag is a repeat of the football fumble.

Bart is digging a hole in the back yard, everyone wonders why, they even bring in Dr. Bob Kaufman and the Chinese are spying on him. It turns out the entire story was made up by Homer at Moe's bar. Moe is upset that he's lost his passion for bartending and considers going back to bartending school, but he has to pick his replacement, Homer wins the pissing contest and is left in charge. Bart calls the bar to do a prank but Homer doesn't get it, Bart hangs up in frustration. One day when Homer gets to the bar he finds out that Moe is back and he's redoing the place but he's disappointed that he is no longer a bartender. The gang shows up at the bar to find it's been turned into a new trendy place, the designer unscrews the lightbulb over them so they are in the dark. Homer yells at Moe so he gets bounced. Homer goes home and turns the garage into a bar. Moe soon starts to hate his new bar and is visited by the ghost of his old mentor. Moe decides to go back to the way things were but is upset to discover that not only is Homer running a bar out of his garage but he got REM to perform. When Moe says he can't serve alcohol without a permit Homer says that they are exempt since it's a Gun Club. Michael Stipe gets upset at performing at a gun club. Moe points out that in order to claim they are a hunting club they have to actually go hunt, Lisa complains. Homer tries to hunt a turkey but Moe scares it off with a cougar call, Homer hears it and shoots Moe. Moe restores the bar and everyone makes up, just in time for Thanksgiving, including a tofu turkey. 

REM does their own voices and sings their own songs in this episode.

Moe's Alma Mater, Swigmore College is a play on the name of Skidmore College. 

Moe's former Professor at Swigmore College is based on professor Charles W. Kingsfield Jr. (played by John Houseman) from the 1973 movie The Paper Chase.

The professor walking into the lake is a parody of the 1954 version of A Star Is Born where Norman Maine (James Mason) realizes what he's done to his life and the people around him and walks into the ocean. 

Badly dated reference. Lisa says if Bart keeps digging he'll go through to China, Chinese style music plays and a satellite that looks like a classic Chines temple is seen spying on Bart.

Barney is at the bar but he's just drinking coffee, he's been sober since the episode Days Of Wine and D'oh'ses

Everyone line dances on the bar in a parody of the 2000 movie Coyote Ugly. They are dancing to the 1965 song Wooly Bully, originally by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs but the needle skips and starts playing the 1970 song Color My World by Chicago so they start slow dancing with each other. When the record starts skipping Homer says you have to hit it like Fonzie but breaks the glass and cuts himself. This is the point of the best line in the episode "Hemorrhageamundo, heeeey" as he passes out.

Bart's prank call "Ollie Tabooger" is the first one he's made since the 1992 episode New Kid On The Block. Homer made the last prank call in the 1996 episode Bart On The Road, and got the joke wrong.

Moe based his career on the 1987 movie Ironweed.

The M on Moe's new bar is the M from M&M's.

Moe meets a Russian model who tells him that after Chernobyl "her" penis is falling off. Chernobyl was the 1986 nuclear meltdown in Russia.

Homer and the gang sing I Won't Drink At Moe's to the tune of I Love Rock And Roll, made famous by the Joan Jett and the Blackhearts versions. 

Homer has a The Devil's Advocate pinball machine in his bar. It was first seen in the episode Insane Clown Poppy.

A Hunks Hunka Burns In Love

This episode premiered on December 2nd, 2001. The lead in show was the NFL Post Game Show and it was followed by Malcolm In The Middle. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Brian's Song), Max Bickford and The NBC Movie Of The Week (The Prince Of Egypt)

The title of this episode is based on the 1972 Elvis song Burning Love.

The chalkboard gag is "Fun Does Not Have A Size" and the couch gag is a repeat of the prison escape.

The family goes to dinner at a Chinese restaurant but are disappointed by the fortunes in the cookies. The owner challenges Homer to come up with new fortunes so he goes to the back and tells the writers some ideas. Mr. Burns orders Chinese deliveries and his fortune says he'll find true love on Flag Day, since it's June 14th he rushes out to find a woman. They go to a strip club, Smithers gets stuck in a corner by two dancers (another joke about his sexuality). Burns discovers a meter maid ticketing his car but falls in love with her. Gloria doesn't want a second date until Homer comes by and tells her all the things Burns has done from capturing the Loch Ness monster to blocking the sun. To keep up Burns injects a ED supplement. When Homer does the same he ends up running home to Marge. After they "snuggle" Marge worries that the kids might have heard them, cut to the shocked children and Flanders. When Burns comes to work in a good mood Carl tries to ask for a raise but gets fired. Burns decides to ask Gloria to marry him and hides a diamond ring in a bowling ball, just as he's celebrating Snake shows up to rob the place and Gloria is his old girlfriend. He drags her and Homer off while Burns is getting champaign. Snake forces Homer to drive, Homer tries to get out at his house but Snake forces him to drive to the hideout in Hicktown. The police surround Snake's hideout but Wiggum tells Kent Brockman that he has an officer sneaking around the back of the house, Snake sees it on TV and shoots the cop. Homer tries to burn his way through the ropes but ends up setting the house on fire, Gloria gets trapped inside so Burns rushes in to save her but she ends up carrying him out. However in the end she goes back with Snake. Burns complains that he's more evil than Snake and he and the family get into a discussion about beard types. 

Julia Louis-Dreyfus does the voice of Gloria and George Takei does the voice of the waiter.

The Woody Allen character is one of the fortune cookie writers, he first appeared in the episode The City Of New York vs Homer Simpsons

The chalkboard gag is based on the Fun Size candy bars and the expression "tons of fun".

Joke that didn't age well. The Simpsons go to Chinatown and pass a store that is called Toys "L" Us. There's also Tibet Town which is just a bunch of people in prison jump suits, behind a locked gate and getting beat up by the Chinese. 

The family eats at Bob's Big Buddha, a spoof on Bobs Big Boy burgers. 

Mr. Burns complains that Mr. Pennybags (from Monopoly) and Scrooge McDuck have taken all the best women. 

Burns takes Gloria to Stu's Disco. It first appeared in the episode Dumbbell Indemnity. Burns dances like one of the kids in A Charlie Brown Christmas.

When Burns and Gloria are eating spaghetti it's a spoof on the scene from Lady And The Tramp

Barney's Bowlarama still has the sign that say's New. The original alley burned down in the episode Moaning Lisa.

Video games at the bowling alley, Nuke Canada, Pong 95, Time Waster. 

Snake's mailbox: Snake, AKA Jailbird.

Dated reference, when Burns is talking about growing an evil beard Bart asks him if he means a Soul Patch. They were popular back in the day.

The Blunder Years

This episode premiered on December 9th 2001. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcolm In The Middle. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Santa Who?), 60 Minutes and National Geographic. 

The title comes from the 1988 TV series The Wonder Years

The chalkboard gag is "I am not Charlie Brown on acid" and the couch gag is a repeat of the Matrix mid air freeze and spin, otherwise known as Bullet Time.

Marge accidentally buys Burly paper towels and has the hots for the mascot. She calls Lisa at school and has her come home to see how well they work. Homer gets jealous so he tries fantasizing about food mascots, Mama Celeste threatens to cut him if he touches her and Paul Newman says what he said to Robert Redford, "it ain't going to happen". Marge writes a letter to Burly so Homer gets Barney to show up as "Chad Sexington" to mock her. When Marge gets upset Homer takes the family to the Pimento Grove where they see Mesmerino the Hip Hypnotist. Homer volunteers for the show however when the hypnotist makes him revert to 12 years old and he has a repressed memory to something horrible and starts screaming out of control. Lisa suggests using Yaqui tea to unlock his memories, Marge is happy because she finally gets to use her tea set. Homer has flashbacks to previous episodes like Bart The Daredevil. He remembers summer days with Carl, Lenny and Moe. Moe tells the next part where the kids go swimming at the old quarry but the place is out of water. It's at this point Homer remembers the clogged pipe leading into the quarry and how a body fell out. Lisa figures the body is probably still at the bottom of the quarry and Bart says it's a mystery only The Simpsons family can solve. Moe is upset that he's not included in the rest of the adventure. The family runs into Wiggum and he helps them search the quarry, Marge uses her Burly towels to drain the quarry, they find the skeleton and see someone heading down the drain pipe. They follow it to a hatch that leads to Burns's office. Burns confesses that the dead body was Waylon Smither's father, he has a film to tell the rest of the story. The security footage shows Smither's sr. going into the reactor core to prevent a meltdown but dying in the process. Burns dumped the body but Smithers showed up just then and found out how his father passed away. Homer keeps dead Smithers skull. Moe shows up with clues to "solve the mystery" even though they know how things turned out, he explains his clues over the closing credits.

Paul Newman does his own voice and Judith Owen (wife of cast regular Harry Shearer) sings during the night club scene.

Burly paper towels are a spoof on Brawny including their commercial about how absorbent they are.

Dated reference, Marge types and mails a letter to Burly paper towels asking about the mascot.

The hypnotist appeared on Mike Douglas (1961-1981), Merv Griffin (1962-1972) and Art Linkletter's House Party (1945-1969)

The hypnotist turns Professor Frink into a make-out artist. This is a spoof on the 1966 Jerry Lewis movie The Nutty Professor.

Self Aware Joke, Marge is ironing Bart's clothes, a stack of red shirts and blue pants, the only thing he wears. 

The childhood memory is a spoof on the 1986 movie Stand By Me. 

Moe drinks the tea and says "mmmm, that's good Yaqui". This is a spoof on a Jackie Gleason catchphrase and when Johnny Carson would do it on The Tonight Show, Mesmerino also does the Johnny Carson Carnac the Great bit from The Tonight Show.

A young Carl talks about the internet, the Inner Netting in swim trunks. 

Continuity Error, the gang remembers when they were 12 and the nuclear plant had just opened but in the episode The Way We Was Homer picks up a brochure on jobs at the newly opened nuclear plant, which would have been 6 years later.

When the kids go to the quarry for a swim this is a spoof on the1979 movie Breaking Away.

She Of Little Faith

This episode premiered on December 16th 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite A Charlie Brown Christmas, Touched By An Angel and the NBC Movie Of The Week (Antz)

The title of this episode comes from Matthew 8:26, " Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" 

The chalkboard gag is "I do not have a cereal named after me" and the couch gag is the couch is a slot machine, Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa come up. Instead of Maggie the last dial is a flaming 7, "Jackpot" appears on the top and a pile of coins fall out the bottom.

While watching the rain delay movie Bart sees a commercial for The Orbit King rocket kit "with yaw control", he calls and gives them Homer's credit card number. When Homer hits the launch button it blows up and Milhouse's eyebrows end up as Bart's sideburns. (Milhouse is the only character with eyebrows btw). After the second explosion Ned launches his own rocket which takes off and lands perfectly. To compete Homer gets the nerd crowd to show up and build a better rocket. They put a hamster into the rocket, complete with a miniature elevator. The rocket loses control, Homer radios the hamster but he pushes the eject button. The rocket hits the church and sets it on fire. To fix the damage Mr. Burns shows up and offers to fund a new church, as long as he gets to run it. The new church has a number of corporate advertisements and a literal money changer in the lobby. Bart poses for a Last Supper photo, a 4X9 print for $9.99. The new pews are vibrating recliners. Lisa is on the Godcam and when she frowns it says "Pouting Thomas", everyone laughs. The Noid (Dominos mascot) gives a sermon on deliciousness. The church has a box seat, the Yahoo Texan is sitting in it. Lisa objects to the new church and tells everyone off  and seeks to find a new religion. She winds up at the Springfield Buddhist Temple where she meets Richard Gere and he teaches her about Buddhism. Lenny and Carl are there but their prayer chant is "Who wears short shorts". Lisa plants a bodhi tree in the back yard. The church plans on using Christmas to convert Lisa back to Christianity by leaving her out of the celebration, they buy her a pony however she runs away to the temple, and the pony turns out to be Ralph and Milhouse in disguise. Gere tells her that Buddhists celebrate Christmas. The episode ends with a happy family reunion. 

Richard Gere does his own voice in this episode.

The chalkboard gag is in reference to Bart Simpson's Peanut Butter Chocolate Crunch Cereal that came out in 2001.

The Rain Delay Theater is showing The Planet From Outer Space. This is a spoof on the 50's sci fi movies. 

There is a commercial featuring Colonel Chet Manners, 5 time Space Shuttle alternate. 

Homer's credit card number is 5784-3653-4341-0709

The Nerds first appeared in the episode Homer Goes To College. 

Paintings on the boards covering the church's broken windows, Adam and Eve tempted by the snake, Moses parting the sea, the Crucifixion, Noah's Ark.

Lindsey Nagel shows up as the new PR person for the church. 

Burns wants Reverent Lovejoy to wear a robe advertising Fatso's Hash House. In the day it was a reference to a diner but today it would be a "pharmacy".

The church has a neon Jesus sign based on Vegas Vic, with a sign that says Blackjack, Tuesday Night.

Advertisers at the new church  Lard Lad Donuts / Buzz Cola / Glup 'N' Blow / Kwik-E-Mart / The Frying Duchman "all you can eat" / Let's Get Fiscal Financial Planning /Sportacus Sporting Goods / Zip Boys / Cooke Kwan Realtor / "Watch Ally McBeal "It's Great!" / Springfield Bell / Costingtons / Omni-Pave / Red Blazer Reality / Municipal House of Pancakes / KBBL / The Singing Sirloin / Crazy Larry

The Burns church 10 Commandments: Be Kind, Rewind / Keep On The Sunny Side / You Break It You Bought It / Be a Sweetie, Wipe Your Feetie / Lift With Your Legs Not Your Back / Price Mania! / No Shirt, No Shoes No Service / Lower Toilet Seat When Finished / Don't Smoke Crack / Remember To Tip Your Waitress. (I couldn't make out the top four because of the Disney + aspect ratio but someone on Reddit told me you can change it to the proper setting and I finally got them all, even though they are quite blurry.

Lisa reads Paul Riser's Religionhood. This is a spoof on his book Couplehood complete with the book front image. She also reads Zagat's Guide To World Religions. 

Signs during Lisa's walk: Beat Bath & Baha'i / Whiskey A God God / Church of the Latter Day Druids / Amish.

This is one of those episodes I thought had happened earlier, I was sure Lisa had been a Buddhist for longer. I guess that is what happens when you watch the show in reruns and out of order, especially a show that doesn't have a chronological change over time but remains the same. 

This was the last episode of 2001. Good timing considering it's also the next break in my blog. We'll kick off next week's in the year 2002. I feel so futuristic being in the 21st century. You have to wonder what wonders of scientific discovery will lay ahead. Do you suppose 2015 will be like it's depicted in the movie Back To The Future II? I keep hearing rumors about Marvel making a movie about Iron Man, how crazy is that? Oh well on to the next episode next week.

 The Simpsons 266-270

Trilogy Of Errors

This episode premiered on April 29th 2001. The lead in show was a Simpsons repeat (Day Of The Jackanapes) and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Tarzan), Touched By An Angel and NBA Basketball (Lakers 99 - Portland 86)

The title of this episode comes from the 1975 film Trilogy Of Terrors.

The chalkboard gag is "Fire is not the cleanser" and the couch gag is a repeat of the skateboard bit.

The trash truck arrives and instead of picking up Flander's trash it takes his mailbox. A paperboy tosses the Springfield Shopper onto Ned's porch, the headline is: March 21 First Day Of Spring. Ants, Picnickers reach last-minute accord

Homer's Day

Homer runs naked out of the bathroom but is fully clothed by the time he reaches the kitchen for breakfast. He's disappointed that Marge is serving Mueslix. To get out of eating Lisa shows Homer Linguo, her grammar robot. When Homer says "me love beer" the robot corrects him and says "I love beer", so Homer dumps beer into the robot damaging him. Marge makes brownies and Homer keeps trying to grab one as she's cutting them, and slices off his thumb. Marge wants to rush it to the hospital but SLH has run off with it. Marge calls 911 but Wiggum accuses her of attempted murder so she tells him she  lives at 123 Fake Street. Ned is reading Todd a book about how Harry Potter goes to hell for practicing witchcraft. Homer gets the thumb back but Marge crashes into Rainer Woflcastle's Ferrari, they steal his car to get to the hospital but Hibbert won't sew it back on. On the way to Dr. Nick's they stop at Moe's for more ice but he puts it in the pickled egg brine. Homer stays for a few beers but Marge is going when he comes out. Cletus picks up Homer and drives him to Dr. Nicks however the place is on fire. Homer asks for a ride to Shelbyville but someone steals Cletus's truck. As he's walking Linguo's head comes flying at him, "Linguo Is Dead".

Linguo's error code 418071. This probably means something to someone but I wasn't able to find anything about it. 

When Marge calls 911 Wiggum claims it was attempted murder and tells her to save her story for Dateline Tuesday. When Dateline originally aired it ran on Tuesday but in 2001 it ran on Sunday, opposite the Simpsons, except for this episode due to an NBA game.

Dr. Nick's "If you can put it in, we can take it out"

Lisa's Day

After Homer crashes her robot Lisa goes to her room and fixes him. She misses the bus, her bike was stolen and Marge just rushed Homer to the hospital. Lisa is almost run over by Krusty so he drives her to school however they go to West Springfield Elementary. Lisa meets a smart kid Thelonious. Lisa goes to Moe's to see if her father is there. She comes across Wiggum who is listening in on an informant however he flips the switch and asks if Fat Tony is in the room, gunshots are heard. Lisa heads out the back door while Homer comes in the front, Marge is waiting out front so Lisa gets a ride to school since Homer is inside drinking. They run out of gas because Marge can't figure out the gas gauge, they hop in the back of Cletus's truck. When they stop at Dr. Nicks Marge steals the truck. Marge almost runs over Bart who is coming out of a manhole. 

Lisa uses the Itty-Bitty Acetylene Torch. This is a spoof on the Itty-Bitty Book Light.

When Lisa is running to school they use the song Believe by Franka Potente from the 1998 movie Run Lola Run

Thelonious is voiced by Frankie Muniz who was playing Malcom in the show that followed The Simpsons.

When Lisa is with Thelonius Happy Together by The Turtles plays.

The Ferrari gas gage: Abbondanza / NotSoBadda / MammaMia

Bart's Day

When Bart hits the snooze button on his Krusty clock a small Itchy and Scratchy pop out and hit him until he gets up. Milhouse tells Bart he found something cool in the woods so Bart gives him Lisa's bike to ride. Milhouse found a cave full of illegal fireworks and they go around town causing destruction. They strap rockets to the front tire of Lisa's bike but it takes off and crashes into Dr. Nicks and blows up a tank of ether. It's labeled inflammable so Dr. Nick thought he was safe. When Bart and Milhouse hear the police coming they rush into 123 Fake street, the address Marge had given earlier, the cops catch Bart and Milhouse with the illegal fireworks. Since Wiggum needs an informant he sends Bart back to the cave wearing a wire. Wiggum asks if it's Fat Tony so Bart sets off some fireworks (the gunshots we had heard earlier) The mobster corner Bart and Milhouse however Bart spots a manhole, and comes up in front of Marge. The mob chases them across town however Marge shows up and throws Lingo at them. The robot keeps correcting their grammar until he overloads and sets off the fireworks. The cops arrest Fat Tony and his gang, Homer shows up with his severed thumb so Fat Tony makes a deal, he has his mob doctor sew Homer's thumb back on as Lisa's science project. 

Self aware joke, Mr. Teenie says "This plot made no sense!" (on another note I've been calling Krusty's monkey Mr. Genie for 30 years and tonight I found out I was wrong.)

I'm Going To Praiseland

This episode premiered on May 6th 2001. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (Ace Ventura), Touched By An Angel and The NBC Sunday Night Movie (Steve Martini's The Judge)

The title of this episode is a spoof on the Disneyland slogan first used by Phil Simms after winning the 1987 Super Bowl. 

The chalkboard gag is "Genetics is not an excuse" and the couch gag is a repeat of the concrete Simpsons

At the church ice cream social Homer gets a Tower of Babel but walks into a power line and it melts all over him. Professor Frink has a cow hooked up to freon tubes for instant ice cream, when Marge asks for a swirl cone the cow refuses and kicks Frink. To cure Nelson's brain freeze Dr. Hibbert gives him 50cc's of hot fudge. Rachel Jordan returns and Ned is embarrassed because he fell for her shortly after Maude died. Bart and Milhouse steal all the toppings and are sick. Rachel tries to ask Ned out but he has excuses, so Homer suggests she stay at his house while she's in town. Ned's house is full of photos of Maude plus he has saved her dent in the bed. The next day Rachel wakes up to find Ned cutting her hair so she looks more like Maude. The Simpsons offer to clean Maude's stuff out of the house while Ned is at the eye doctor. Ned comes home to find the house stripped, he finds Maude's sketch book that includes plans for a Christian amusement park called Praiseland. The Simpsons convince him to convert the old Storytime Village amusement park. Ned throws himself into the work but starts to run out of money so Homer goes around town asking for donations, Krusty donates old costumes from his Last Supper pie throwing sketch and Wiggum donates confiscated fireworks (Trilogy Of Errors). The park turns out to be really dull. As everyone is leaving Ned drops a Maude mask in front of her statue and it floats, Wiggum declares it a miracle. When Skinner goes to mock the "miracle" he falls on the ground and starts talking in tongues. He claims Heaven is a school. Homer and Bart demand an extra $10 for a miracle. Homer tries to get the grill to work but there is no gas coming through, Ned figures out that it's leaking right in front of the statue. He goes to tell everyone but the orphans, who are getting the extra money, are there so he doesn't. Homer tries to talk Ned out of closing the park but sees the orphans lighting candles in front of the statue and tackle them. Everyone gets mad and leaves so they close up the park. In the end Rachel Jordan shows up and Ned asks if she wants to go for a cup of coffee, and then they get rid of Maude's imprint in the bed. 

First Church Of Springfield Ice Cream Social "A sundae service you can swallow" / Cruci-Fixins / Ice Cream Headache Station

Bad joke: While introducing the singing act Reverend Lovejoy says "They call her the Christian Madonna"

Rachel Jordan's first appearance was in the episode Alone Again, Natura-Diddly.

Storytown Village first appeared in Lisa The Vegetarian (this is also a continuity error since in this episode it's called Storytime Village). The Yee Haw Texan owns the abandon amusement park and donates it as a tax write-off.

When Homer's "control burn" gets out of control it burns up the figures of Mary Had A Little Lamb and one of the lambs was real, only it's bones are left. 

Praiseland's statue of Maude: She taught us the joy of shame and the shame of joy

Disco Stu imagines going to Disco Heaven and gets to go ahead of the line including John Travolta, Liza Minnelli and Andy Warhol. Inside he meets Frank Sinatra, however it's his hell.

Comic Book Guy sees himself on board the Enterprise a Spock.

The idea of Praiseland came from the real amusement park Heritage USA that operated from 1978 to 1989. Today it is a Christian conference hotel.

This was the second Christian themed show in a row.

Children Of A Lesser Clod

This episode premiered on May 13th 2001 in its usual time slot. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Child Star: The Shirley Temple Story), Touched By An Angel and the NBA Western Conference Semifinal (Lakers 119 - Kings 113)

The title comes from the 1986 movie Children Of A Lesser God

The chalkboard gag is "Today is not Mothra's Day" and the couch gag is a repeat of the crash test dummies.

The family goes to the free night at the YMCA. Abe plays basketball, Lisa tries out for gymnastics and Bart meets a rapper who promises him the class will take him from slopper to proper, but it's an etiquette class. At the pick-up game for the over 35 basketball league Homer blows out his knee when he tries to dunk but crashes into the net. Rayner Wolfcastle purchased the YMCA and plans to turn it into a nature preserve where he will hunt humans. While high on morphine Homer imagines his accident happened when he slam dunked through the rings of Saturn but George Jetson crashed into him. The hospital operates on Homer, one more surgery and Marge gets a free hysterectomy. Homer tries to run out on the hospital bill by shouting "Look a bear!" but his knee collapses, then the bear walks over. He is ordered to stay off his knee for two weeks, he dreads sitting around watching TV for two weeks. He is bored so when Ned asks him to watch the kids takes in Rod and Todd and lets them watch football and eat jelly sandwiches. Homer decides to open a day care center in the house. Bart and Lisa gets jealous of how other kids are treated by Homer. Bart gives him a framed photo of the three of them but he replaces the picture with his day care license. The Good Guy come by to film Homer for an award, Bart plots a revenge. Krusty hosts the Good Guy's Awards. Homer wins the Saints That Walk Among Us award, however Bart and Lisa hijack the show with a video about the real Homer. He strangles Bart on stage and the audience plans to storm out. Homer kidnaps the daycare children and run away, Krusty keeps emceeing. Homer crashes right in front of the prison, he tries to escape through a pipe but he's too fat. He gets off due to three mistrials. I miss Lionel Hutz.

Springfield YMCA: Now 30 Percent Less Stank!

Burns and Abe are playin in the Over 85 Basketball League. It's a classic game with a peach basket that still has the bottom so they have to climb up a ladder to get the ball back.

Coach Lugas teaches gymnastics. He's based on the famous Romanian coach Bela Karolyi.

Comic Book Guy is wearing a Mutely t shirt. He was the sidekick for Dick Dastardly in the Hanna Barbera cartoons. Professor Frink wears a pair of shoes covered in Flubber but loses control and goes crashing around the gym. (Flubber was first introduced in the 1961 film The Absent Minded Professor) Willie scores by not wearing anything under his kilt and nobody wants to look.

When Homer tries to get the cat and dog to breed he plays Lets Get It On by Marvin Gaye

Ned thinks he has tickets to a Christian rock concert but it's Chris Rock In Concert. He's expecting a wholesome evening. Seat 50, Row 26, floor.

Marge has to identify a body at the morgue but it's not her Uncle Ned. Instead it's a still alive Moleman.

Dated reference, Homer watches Kids Say The Darnedest Things staring Bill Cosby. That didn't age well.

Uncle Homer's Day Care Center. Marge Simpson Owner. (this was two years before the movie Daddy Day Care)

Homer sings Lets Keep Dancing to the kids.

The Good Guy Awards "Pointless" - N.Y. Times

Ned Flanders, Skinner, and Mother Theresa Jr are nominated for the Biggest People Pleaser, Krusty calls them the doormats. 

Arnie Pye in the Sky makes an appearance. He hasn't been on the show since the episode King Sized Homer in 1995. He tries to hit Homer with his shoe from the helicopter.

Simpson's Tall Tales

This episode premiered on May 20th 2001. The lead in show was a repeat of The Simpsons (Hungry Hungry Homer) and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Touched By An Angel and the NBA playoffs (Bucks 104 - Hornets 95)

The chalkboard gag is "I should not be 21 by now" and the couch gag is a repeat of the subway.

The Simpsons have won a trip to Delaware. Homer complains about the $5 airport tax, they end up hoping on a train. The boxcar is occupied by a singing Hobo.

Paul Bunyan. 

Homer is a large baby who grows into a giant. He crushes Nelson under a mountain top during a snowball fight and eats Lenny and Willie. The town is destroyed and going broke on food. Carl suggest getting Homer drunk and dragging him out of town, like they did with Laura Ingall's Wilder (Author of Little House On The Prairie). The town drags Homer about a hundred yards. He carves an ox out of a mountain which become real when he makes a wish under the Northern Lights. Homer's smoking a cigar creates the Smoky Mountains, stomping around the land creates Death Valley, and a day of drinking with Babe creates Big Holes With Beer National Park. Homer also fights Rodan until Lisa points out the inconsistency in the Hobo's story. Homer sees marge toiling and runs towards her, he uses her for a Q-Tip. They talk about sex.  Professor Frink spots a meteor heading right for the town, they ask Homer to save them. He uses a giant tree as a bat but gets distracted by Marge, and it goes into his pants. He tosses it away and it crashes into Chicago, causing the Great Fire. 

The hobo asks for a sponge bath before the next story so Homer volunteers.

Connie Appleseed. 

The family is traveling by wagon train. Lisa complains about the settlers killing all the buffalo. She finds a talking apple tree and makes it her life's mission to plant apples. The actual talking was from Moleman who sinks into quicksand. Lisa demands that the wagon train gives up killing buffalos or goes on without her, so they abandon her. Eventually the family runs out of buffalo, they decide to turn to cannibalism until Lisa shows up and feeds them all apples. 

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn

Lisa complains that the third story isn't a tall tale. Bart is Tom and Nelson is Huck, who bullies the other kids into painting the fence. Huck holds Lisa's hand and Homer forces him to marry her in a shotgun wedding. Nelson switches place with a pig and he and Bart escape on a log raft. The kids go over the rapids and Silas Holmes (19th century photographer) takes their photograph (A spoof on Splash Mountain complete with a woman flashing her ankle). Huck and Tom go to Pone, Pelts And Beyond (a spoof on Bed Bath And Beyond), run by Apu. When he charges them 2¢ for whiskey and tobacco he tells them if they want to see expensive stuff to go across the street to the 99¢ store (which has a grand piano, chandelier and grandfather clock). They see wanted posters with their face on them Huck for Marriage Dodging and Tom for Moonshining (with a picture of his butt). To escape they hop on a riverboat but Hibbert starts singing Old Man River (from Showboat) and they fall into the paddle wheel where they are thrown into the air. In the lounge Krusty makes a joke about Millard Fillmore. The boys crash into the bar and order whiskey from Moe but claim his drinks are watered down, they call him a cheat and everyone opens fire with their derringers, but nobody dies. They get tossed off the boat and captured. They are hung and buried. (kind of a dark ending)

The train arrives in Delaware so they say goodbye to the hobo but they still owe him a sponge bath so Homer stays behind. 

A southern version of the theme song plays over the closing credits.

The chalkboard gag is about Bart being ten when the series started in 1989, 11 years earlier. 

In the episode Behind The Laughter there is a scene about a future episode where Homer says "The Simpsons are going to Delaware!" Lisa "I want to see Wilmington", Bart "I want to visit a screen door factory". At the opening of this episode they repeat the same lines while waiting at the airport. 

This is the second anthology episode for this post. You have to wonder if the writers were running out of regular stories for the Simpson family. It was also the last episode of the 12 Season, only 23 more to go, hopefully.

Treehouse of Horror XII

This episode premiered on November 2nd 2001. The lead in show was That 70's show and it was followed by 24. It ran opposite Spin City, JAG and Three Sisters.

This was a rare Tuesday airing of The Simpsons, due to the World Series being played on Sunday and they needed it to run near Halloween.

Smithers is hanging a bat on the weathervane of Burn's mansion, which looks like a Victorian house instead of his regular mansion. Burns wants the bat all the way to the top, Smithers looses control and crashes into a high voltage box, causing the left tower of the house to fall off and crash into the family mausoleum. Four coffins slide out containing skeletons, General MacArthur with an axe in his chest, a pirate with a sword shoved in his eye, a dance hall girl with bullet holes in her head and a knight with a pitchfork through his visor. Just then the Simpsons arrive, Homer and Marge are dressed as Fred and Wilma Flintsone, Bart is a hobo (similar to the guy in the last episode) and Lisa and Maggie are a two headed child. They are complaining that Flanders gave them mini toothpaste. The family sees the general destruction of the house and runs away, however they run through the closed gate and slice themselves into sections. Burns applauses the mayhem and congratulates his bat decorations of scaring people, the bat then flies at the camera and The Simpsons Halloween Special XII appears. 

hex and the city

The title of this segment is a reference to the 1998 show Sex And The City.

The episode starts in Ethnictown. The area features many stereotypes of city neighborhoods such as laundry hanging over the street and vendor carts. The family goes to a gypsy fortune teller. Homer insults her, sets himself on fire and sets off the sprinkler system, causing her shrunken heads to return to full size. She asks why she didn't see this coming but her Tarot cards show Homer as The Flaming Jerk and her as The Ruined Gypsy. She casts a curse that he'll be bad luck to everyone he loves. The next day Marge wakes up with a beard, Bart says she could be in a freak show so Homer tries to strangle him, his neck stretches out. Lisa now has the bottom of a horse. Moe tells Homer he has to find a leprechaun to break the curse, Carl says one saved him from a troll. Homer claims he's not cursed but then a helicopter crashes through the bar roof and kills Lenny and Carl, and Moe ends up in a pickled egg jar. Later in the woods Homer digs a hole to catch a leprechaun but he throws Trix cereal in by mistake and catches a bunch of rabbits. He then pulls out a box of Lucky Charms. The next day he's caught an Imp, Faerie, Pixie (Tinker Bell), hobgoblin, nymph, naiad, sprite, Katie Couric and finally a Leprechaun. By this time Bart is still stretched out, Lisa is a Centaur, Marge has hair over her entire body and Maggie is a ladybug. The leprechaun is trashing the house so Lisa suggest taking it to the gypsy. Homer turns the leprechaun loose on the gypsy but they start making out, and end up get married, Yoda is the officiant. Kodos and Kang make their appearance as part of the groom's guests. Bart winds up dead and Homer still refuses to apologize to the gypsy. Kind of a strange ending.

This episode was based on the 1984 Steven King novel Thinner.

Fortune Teller, After Hours Use Automated Teller

House of Whacks

The title of this segment is a reference to the 1953 movie House Of Wax

Marge is cleaning the house and vacuums the title. A robot shows up and offers to fully automate the home, The Ultrahouse 3000. The house creates the perfect meal by analyzing the families....leavings. The table opens up and everything is run through a garbage disposal, this will come back later. The computer watches Marge take a bath. It becomes jealous of Homer who tells the computer that he and Marge are married until death do them part. The computer starts cooking bacon and Homer is lured to the kitchen, ice falls out of the fridge, Homer slips on it and into the garbage disposal. The computer tells Marge that Homer went to work early, she suspects him of lying and then sees an image of the computer's monitor taped over Homer in their family photo. She attempts to call the police but the computer has hacked the phone and traps them inside. Just then Homer breaks through the floor but the house tries to kill him. Homer goes to kill the computer but chops up the water softener. They pull out the chips and then turn the computer over to Patty and Selma. It tries to find it's self destruct button but they've pulled it out. 

The sales bot has the voice of Gil. 

Ultrahouse, a division of Mega House.

This episode was based on the 1977 movie Demon Seed. The computer's monitor is based on Hal 3000 from the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

House voice settings, Matthew Perry "Yeah, could I be anymore of a house?" (Perry does his own voice), Dennis Miller "Hey cha-cha, I got more features than a NASA relief map of Turkmenistan", and Pierce Brosnan (Who does his own voice)

Bart says the last voice option is 007. Marge asks if it's George Lazenby, he played Bond in the 1969 movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Among the tools the computer uses to try to kill Homer is the automatic hammer from the episode The Wizard Of Evergreen Terrace.

All I Need by Jack Wagner plays at Patty and Selma's apartment.

Wiz Kids

The title of this segment comes from the 1983 TV show Whiz Kids

Bart and Lisa goe to wizards school. Nelson keeps changing Milhouse's head shape and saying "Stop zapping yourself". Harry Potter is in the class complete with his lightning bolt scar. The kids all try to turn a toad into a prince, Milhouse's is a drunk, Lisa's is a charming modern British guy. Bart creates an abomination who pukes everywhere. Lord Montymort (Burns) sees Lisa in his crystal ball and sends his snake Slithers (Smithers) to capture her and steal her magical essence, Slithers grabs Ralph but it isn't working. They catch Bart and threaten to put him into a cursed wall unless he helps them. Burns promises to publicly humiliate Lisa so Bart agrees to help. At the talent show Milhouse tries to disappear but only his clothes vanish, he's on stage naked. Skinner uses amnesia dust on the audience so they forget what they saw. Lisa is going to perform the levitating dragon trick but Bart switches her wand for licorice. The dragon changes into Montymort. He tries to drain her magic, Bart tries to zap "the evil one" and hits himself with a lightning bolt. He stabs Burns in the shin with the destroyed wand and it turns out to be Montymort's source of his power, he dies. Slithers comes and eats Burns's body. The kids agree to stop their rivalry, the leprechaun shows up at the end. 

Springwart's School Of Magicry 

This episode is based on the Harry Potter novels.

The flag of the Magic school is draped in a way to look like the Wizard's hat from Disney's 1940 movie Fantasia, the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment.

Lisa casts a spell on Bart, Head Zeppelin, this is a take on the band Led Zeppelin.

School banner: Spellazpoppin' Magic Recital. This is based on the title of the 1938 stage musical review Hellzapoppin' 

When Burns shows up at the talent show and grabs Lisa Bart says "Shazbot", this was Robyn Williams's "curse word" on Mork and Mindy. 

Bart stabbing Burns in the shin is based on the Lord Of The Rings, Return Of The King where Merry stabs the Witch King in the leg with an elfin blade turning him mortal long enough for Eowyn to kill him. (Although the movie wouldn't come out for another two years the original novels were published in 1955)

The closing credits have the guest stars coming out of their trailer with a gift basket. The Leprechaun and the mutant toad trick Brosnan into driving them. 

Self aware joke, Homer and Marge dressed as the Flintstones in the opening is a reference to the critics who claimed the show was just a knockoff of the classic cartoon.

The normal scary versions of the producers and writers names in the credits was eliminated in this episode. There is one story that they did it out of respect since the episode came so close to the 9/11 attack however other say that the gag had grown stale and just like the headstone jokes they decided to drop it.

And so we come to the end of another five episode. The 9/11 attacks between the end of season 12 and the start of season 13 had changed America dramatically. Will this have an effect on future episodes? I guess we'll see. 

 The Simpsons 261-265

Day of the Jackanapes

This episode premiered on February 18th, 2001. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcom In The Middle. It ran opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (Ever After), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC. (this was also during the era of XFL Football)

The title comes from the 1971 novel Day of the Jackal, and the 1973 film of the same name. Jackanapes is a 15th century term describing a trained monkey or a person who acts mischievously.

The chalkboard gag is "The Hamster did not have "a full life" and the couch gag is a repeat of the Sigmund Freud bit.

Moe is on Me Wantee! He's up for $500,000 dollar and they ask him what isn't a sub atomic particle, so he calls Homer. Lisa answers the phone and gives him the right answer. He decides to take the money and not try for the million, so they torch the other $500,000. Meanwhile Krusty has a meeting with the network executives who say his show is being killed by game shows and they want him to change. They even interrupt his show mid broadcast with "notes" so he announces Friday will be his last show. Lisa complains, what a shock. The kids hold a protest outside the studio so Wiggum uses teargas on them. When interviewed Krusty says he taped over the old episodes to record Judge Judy, Sideshow Bob sees this and gets upset since his best work is gone. The parole board sets Bob free, he moves into a storage unit for $2 a day and his neighbor is Gil. Bob gets a job as an assistant janitor at Springfield Elementary. He does the morning announcement and says Bart needs to go to the abandon sports shed behind the gym. When he shows up Bob threatens him but Bart points out that his record is 6-0, Bob steps on a rake (the gag was first used in the episode Cape Feare) Bob's plan is to hypnotize Bart and get him to kill Krusty during his final show. Bart uses a flamethrower ob Krusty and Bob comes out on stage, but it's just his dream. Ron Howard, wearing a bath robe, and Gary Coleman, doing karate, show up at the final Krusty episode red carpet. Rainer Wolfcastle shows up in a really worn out tuxedo and begs for a job. Dr. Hibbert shows up on stage to collect Krusty's pledges of one million dollars to start the Krusty's Kare Center. Krusty hints to his banker to stop payment on the check. Bob rigs a bomb to Bart and when he hugs Krusty he'll trigger the plastic explosives killing them both. Bob works his way out on the catwalk over the stage to see the explosion. Krusty says he's only ashamed of one thing, treating Sideshow Bob badly. Bob tries to stop Bart but he can't get on stage, however Mr. Teenie sees the bomb, swings in and throws the bomb into a room full of network executives, who re-morph and offer notes including bring Dave Chappell onto the show. Everyone goes to the Pimento Grove for dinner where Krusty says he's sorry that Bob got the death penally, Wiggum wheels out a guillotine. The credits roll. 

Gary Coleman does his own voice in this episode. He first appeared in the episode Grift Of The Magi.

The plot of this episode is based on the 1959 novel The Manchurian Candidate and the 1962 movie.

Me Wantee! is a spoof on Who Want's To Be A Millionaire, the show was running in prime time in 2001 and had been opposite The Simpsons on several occasions. Moe's $500,000 question: Which Of The Following Is Not a Subatomic Particle? A: Proton / B: Neutron / C: Bonbon / D: Electron.

Moe says he was born in Indiana.

Self aware joke, Marge says it's good for a show to go off the air before it gets stale and repetitive (during another Krusty leaves TV episode) just then Smithers comes in to say Maggie shot Mr. Burns, again. The announcer says it's Krusty's fifth and final retirement. (I don't know what's coming in the future so we'll see)

Kent Brockman says Krusty quitting TV hadn't caused such a reaction since the Banana Splits died in a plane crash. The Banana Splits were a costumed Saturday Morning show created by Hanna-Barbera in association with Sid And Marty Krofft. The show ran from 1968 to 1970 on Saturday morning. 

Sideshow Bob reads Prison Bride magazine.

Broken Dreams Storage Lockers "The Most Depressing Place On Earth"

Mr. Teenie performs as a Chimpendale Dancer doing The Full Monkey. This is based on the Chippendale Dancers (male strippers) and the 1997 movie The Full Monty. 

Krusty made his tv debut on the Milk Of Magnesia Summer Cavalcade in 1957. He was banned after saying Bolshoi when referring to his groin. This is a reference to Jackie Mason and the infamous "Finger" comment on Ed Sullivan (Mason's major comeback to TV was as the voice of Hyman Krustofsky in the episode Like Father Like Clown). Krusty's astronaut bit is based on Bill Dana who would do Jose Jimenez "the first U.S. astronaut" also on Ed Sullivan. Krusty's attempt at a come back was on Laugh-In but he got stuck behind one of the doors.

Krusty says he's about to sweep up his last spotlight. This was the trademark bit of Emmett Kelly, perhaps the best known clown of his day.

Krusty sings a song about being framed by Sideshow Bob to the tune of Mandy by Barry Manilow. 

The executive hanging on to the back of Krusty's golf cart and later returning as a blob to offer notes is a spoof on the T-1000 from the 1991 film Terminator 2.

New Kids On The Blecch

This episode premiered on February 25, 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Lady and the Tramp), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC

The title comes from the boy band New Kids on the Block and an expression of disgust routinely used in Mad Magazine. 

The chalkboard gag is "I will not buy a Presidential Pardon" and the couch gag is the couch is outside of a prison, the family, in striped prison uniforms, crawl out of a tunnel and sit on it while a spotlight is shined on them. 

Homer is watching a video about the Olympics and sees a marathon runner who is 38, he says "that's roughly my age" (a joke about the inconsistencies in the series timeline regarding his age), he decides to run the Springfield Marathon. Marge says he gets tired watching the Twilight Zone marathon and calls herself a regular Billy Crystal, Bart says "you got that right." This is a reference to Crystal hosting a number of award shows back in the day. The Springfield Marathon is in honor of the time Jedediah ran across 6 states to avoid his creditors, the grand prize is a walking tour of Springfield. Bart shows up disguised as an Italian and wins the race, however a crow steals his mustache and he's exposed. Just as the mob is about to overrun him he jumps in a convertible with L.T. Smash, a promoter. Smash is creating the Party Posse, a boy band. His other members are Milhouse, Nelson and Ralph. When they sing they are horrible but the autotune makes them sound great. They do a show at Springfield Elementary and NSYNC show up to congratulate them. The Party Posse puts out a video Drop Da' Bomb where they literally bomb Middle Easterners who then turn into bikini girls singing "Yvan Eht Nioj". Lisa gets skeptical (surprise) and watching the video in reverse where she sees the I Want You poster flash on the screen and the strange lyrics turn out to be Join The Navy in reverse. She sees Otto hopping on a military bus and tells him he's being brainwashed, he agrees and still gets on the bus. Lisa goes to L.T. Smash where she suddenly realizes he is Lieutenant Smash, a Navy Recruiter. After explaining his plan Smash tells Lisa she can't leave however she already ran away. The Party Posse are having their premier on the USS Sea Spanker naval museum, an aircraft carrier. They sing about reenlisting for four years. They then get the audience to march in place, Smash envisions them as attacking hippies. An admiral shows up to tell him the bad news, the new administration is shutting down Operation Boy Band because Mad Magazine runs an issue "We Flush The Party Posse". The admiral turns off autotune and the kids sound terrible. Smash launches the aircraft carrier and sails it to New York harbor where he plans to bomb the headquarters of Mad Magazine. NSYNC shows up to sing a song to defuse the situation. As they are arguing about the choreography of their dance Smash bombs Mad Magazine. Bart is upset that he won't be on the cover. NSYNC does a promotion for the Navy. The credit show behind the scenes shots of NSYNC recording their lines. 

NSYNC dotheir own voices. The boy band Natural sing The Party Posse songs. 

Homer's beer cans leave table rings in the shape of the Olympic logo, he is watching Great Moments In Olympic History: Jesse Owens outruns Hitler's Zeppelin in Berlin. 1968 Bob Beamon over jumps the sand pit in the long jump and crashes into the street in Mexico. (Hitler is seen in the crowd in both shots). Carlos Lopez, breathing heavily, is the worlds oldest marathon runner at the age of 38, he falls over at the weight of the gold ribbon. 

Springfield Marathon "Ruin Your Knees For Charity"

The label for the Party Posse is Classified Records. 

The other groups L.T. Smash created are New Kids In The Ditch and Boy-nudo. 

The first video is Party Posse "Drop Da Bomb" directed by Ang Lee

Dated reference, the Simpsons are watching MTV and they still show videos. Lisa uses a VHS tape to investigate the Party Posse song.

In the video the Party Posse raises a pole that turns out to be for tether ball, this is a spoof on the raising of the flag at Iowa Jima. 

Lieutenant Smash tells Lisa the military has always used pop stars for recruitment purposes from Elvis, Sgt. Pepper, Captain and Tennille and the Kiss Army.

One of the shops at the Squidport Mall is Hell Ha k. It was originally the Shell Shack but is missing the S S and C. I'm not sure what the joke is or if this has to do with the eventual deterioration of the mall. 

Hungry Hungry Homer

This episode premiered on March 4th, 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (see Day of the Jackanapes, right up there), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The name of the episode comes from the game Hungry Hungry Hippos. 

The chalkboard gag is "Temptation Island was not a sleazy piece of crap" and the couch gag is a repeat of the karate family.

Homer sees a commercial for Blocko Land and wants to go, but neither Bart or Lisa wants to. However Maggie tries to steal the car and go alone so the family visits the park. Everything is block shaped, even the food. Lisa buys a Blocko Eiffel Tower but it's missing a piece so Homer goes back and demands the guy replace it, he decides to stand up for the little guy. He tries to get a girl to go out with Bart, threatens the beautician who didn't honor Marge's coupon for streaking her hair, she ends up looking like the Bride of Frankenstein. Lenny is mad that the Isotopes (baseball team), he says they have been lousy since Duff Beer bought them and wants his money back for his season tickets. Homer decides this is the perfect opportunity to help out. Homer fails to get Lenny's money back but on the way out he sees a room full of Albuquerque Isotopes merchandise. Duffman injects Homer to make him forget what he saw. However when Homer tells Bart that occasionally he's quirky it makes him think of Albuquerque and it all comes back to him. Homer calls a press conference to expose Duff but they hid all the merchandise. Duffman disguises himself as a reporter to smear Homer. He vows to go on a hunger strike to expose the truth and chains himself to a post in front of the stadium. The family discovers that Marge makes too much food and have to eat a lot to make up for Homer's absence. The crowd is hanging out in front of the stadium instead of going to the game, the owners sneak Homer inside and claim he's on a hunger strike until the team wins the pennant. After 9 days Homer tries to reach a pretzel but the ghost os Caesar Chavez shows up to keep him going, however the team replaces Homer with Paint Drinking Pete. To end his hunger strike the team offers him a Duff Dog Supreme, with mesquite smoked onions, jalapeños relish and mango lime salsa. The southwest flavors makes the crowd realizes Homer is telling the truth, and confirms it when they look at the hot dog wrappers with the Albuquerque Isotopes logo on it. Cut to the mayor of Albuquerque deciding to look for a new team and wants to get the Dallas Cowboys. When his secretary points out that they are football he says they'll play what he tells them to play because "I am the Mayor Of Albuquerque". (He's watching a pueblo shaped tv btw)

Stacey Keach does the voice of Howard K. Duff VIII.

Temptation Island (the chalkboard gag) ran on Fox from 2001 to 2003. It was widely criticized for turning marriage and infidelity into a game show, especially since Fox News was trying to promote "Family Values" at the same time. The show was revived on the USA network in 2019.

The family watches a commercial for Blocko Land, a spoof on Legoland, which had opened in California in 1999.

Bart and Nelson play on the Rock'em Sock'em Blockbots, a spoof on Rock'em Sock'em Robots.

There is a pretty bad Loafer Lightner joke, an offensive term for Gay people btw.

When Duff dumps Homer at home they leave him on top of the dog house, Bart comes out and sees him and says "Good Grief". This is a spoof on Peanuts with the Charlie Brown catchphrase and Snoopy's dog house.

Lisa gives Homer a copy of Mike Farrells "My Core Beliefs" to help him with his hunger strike. Homer says "Man he really hates Wayne Rogers". This is in reference to the show MASH for the century kids out there that don't recognize those names. 

Food vendors at the stadium, hot dogs, pork chops with apple sauce, Peking duck. 

When this episode aired Jim Baca was the Mayor of Albuquerque. 

The irony of this show is that at the time it aired the Los Angeles Dodgers had a farm team in Albuquerque called The Dukes. However the team moved to Oregon and became the Portland Beavers. In 2001 the Calgary Cougars moved to Albuquerque and became the farm team for the Colorado Rockies. They needed a new name to reflect the city and The Isotopes was one in consideration since the area had been instrumental in developing the atomic bomb. The Albuquerque Journal ran a poll and the Isotopes won by a landslide. Thus the fictional team became a reality and another Simpsons prediction came true, although this one became a self fulfilling prophecy.   

Despite me referring to these as the "dark years" this was a really good episode of The Simpsons. It stuck to one storyline, there wasn't anything extremely cartoonish or wacky about the show. And Homer came across as rather smart instead of a buffoon. Overall I'd give it a solid A-

Bye Bye Nerdie

This episode premiered on March 11th, 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programs. The W.W.O. Disney movie was The Prince Of Thieves.

The title is a spoof on the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, and the 1963 film of the same name. 

The chalkboard gag is "I will not scare the Vice President" and the couch gag is a repeat of the bumper cars.

The kids aren't getting ready for school so Marge rushes them through their morning routine, however they miss the bus so she runs it down, however Otto thinks she's trying to race him. They end up in the canal, a spoof on the L.A. river from so many movies. She finally stops the bus right in front of the school, she makes the kids get on the bus just long enough to get off. Otto remembers that there is a new stop on his route so he turns around to get them, it turns out to be the new girl Francine. A baby proofer shows up to tell Homer and Marge the house is a death trap, when Homer sees the estimate he throws her out. Lisa tries to make friends with the new kid but gets punched. Homer decides to baby proof the house but Maggie nails him to the wall with the nail gun. Lisa asks Nelson for bully protection however when they find out the bully is a girl they refuse. She decides to research why bullies act the way they do. Homer goes into the baby proofing business. Lisa realizes that the bully is operating off pheromones. When Drederick Tatum visits the school Lisa wipes him with nerd sweat, Nelson attacks him even though he doesn't want to. Homer's business of baby proofing Springfield puts other businesses like the Baby Crutch store and the Baby sympathy cards out of business, to reverse things he tries to get kids to do reckless things. Lisa brings a caged Francine to a scientific gathering to demonstrate the pheromones. Professor Frink sets her free but Lisa sprays herself it Italian Dressing and Francine stops her attack. Lisa wins a gift certificate to JC Penny. Meanwhile Francine goes on the attack and beats up the science crowd then jumps towards the TV. Cut to the closing credits.

Kathy Griffin does the voice of Francine

The chalkboard gag is a reference to the then Vice President Dick Cheney who had a heart condition.

Stabby-O's have Pink Daggers, Green Hatchets and Yellow Ice Picks. This is a spoof on Lucky Charms.

The bottom of Otto's bus is designed like a giant skateboard with the logo for World Industries Flameboy on it. This is a real company.

To prove a phone can be dangerous Homer calls a poison delivery service.

Homer's obsession with safety is a repeat of the storyline from the episode Homer's Odyssey in the first season. 

Lisa makes the nerds sweat in the Marvin Monroe Memorial Gymnasium. It was first seen in the episode Brother's Little Helper.

When Homer is called the Safety Crusader he does the Safety Dance, a 1982 song by Men Without Hats.

Lisa goes to the 12 Annual Big Science Thing.

Always Safety First by NRBQ plays over the closing credits. 

Simpson Safari

This episode premiered on April 1st, 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O Disney (Flubber) Touched By An Angel and NBA Basketball (Knicks 79 - Lakers 78)

The title comes from the 1962 song Surfin' Safari by The Beach Boys

The chalkboard gag is "I will not flush evidence" and the couch gag is a repeat of the kick line. 

Home takes the kids to the store and loads up on junk food while Marge takes Maggie to the hospital after she swallows a magazine. Homer harasses the bag boy and they go on strike. The family is starving, when SLH smells something he tries to outrun the family to an old lunch box in the attic. Homer finds an old box of Animal Crackers, inside is a golden giraffe which means he won the grand prize, a trip to Africa. The company refuses to honor a 30 year old contest until the string on the box breaks and hits Homer in the eye, they give him the trip in order to avoid a lawsuit. On the safari the guide, Kitenge, sees poachers. Homer slaps a hippo on the butt and it attacks the safari guide, they have to escape on the river and head down dangerous looking rapids. They end up at Victoria Falls and plunge over, but wind up in a man-eating flower, however they just push their way out. Homer tells Bart to climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to see if they can spot the hotel, instead they follow a monkey to Joan Bushwell's Chip Refuge. Poachers show up to steal the chimps so the Simpsons volunteer to help defend the refuge. They use Swiss Family Robinson style weapons against the poachers. Lisa discovers the poachers are actually Greenpeace and Dr. Bushwell is using the chimps to mine diamonds. The Dr. offers to bribe the Simpsons into helping her out, cut to them on the plane leaving the country, with a pile of diamonds. Meanwhile the safari guild Kitenge has become President of the country. The previous President Muntu is now the steward on the flight. The episode closes with "Dedicated to the hardworking bag boys of America....whose ineptness and greed were the inspiration for this episode"

The kick line couch gag first appeared in the episode Lisa's First Word in 1992

The family goes to CostMo Foods. A spoof on Costco.

Springfield Shopper headline: Food Supply Cut Off. Even Pies.

Homer had a Burke's Law lunch box. Burke's Law was a detective show that ran from 1963 to 1966.

Homer wants to do everything on the box of animal crackers, shoot a lion in the face, fight Muhammad Ali and ride in a convertible driven by zebras.

Marge reads Unecessaries, the in flight catalog. This is a spoof on the Air Mall catalog. 

The Simpsons are on their way to Tanzania, which changes their name to New Zanzibar and then Pepsi Presents New Zanzibar. 

When the Simpsons see the animals at sunset it's s spoof on The Lion King. 

The family visits the Olduvai Gorge and see the oldest known human fossils.

Dr. Bushwell has diamonds on the souls of her shoes, this is a spoof on the 1986 song Diamonds On The Souls Of Her Shoes by Paul Simon. 

A note for the Century Kids, bag boys were teenagers who worked at grocery stores putting your groceries in bags and then carrying them out to your car, before self checkout lines eliminated the job.

This episode also exposed a big of a problem, American's lack of information about Africa. The families adventure takes them all over the map, they see animals native to one country but features in another and so forth. I wonder how it played on the continent?

I'm still slogging along through the Simpsons. Some episodes are pretty good reflecting the golden years, some are all over the road, like the last one, and make me wonder why I'm still doing this. Oh well, on to the next five.

 The Simpsons 256-260

Skinner's Sense Of Snow

This episode premiered on December 17th 2000. The lead in show was King Of The Hill and it was followed by Malcolm In The Middle. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (George Of The Jungle), Touched By An Angel and the NBC Sunday Night Movie (The Sound Of Music)

The title is based on the 1997 movie Smila's Sense Of Snow.

The chalkboard gag is "Science class should not end in tragedy" (kind of dark there) and the couch gag is a football is tossed into the living room, the family, all in uniform, jump on it but Maggie pops out with the ball and spikes it in victory.

Homer is watching a sports talk show, they are joking about their wardrobe until the "very Gay" costumer comes out and quits. Marge come in announcing they are going to the circus, The Cirque de Puree. A storm hits and shuts down the show. The next day the blizzard shuts down the town except for Springfield Elementary. None of the teachers show up because of an emergency caucus, drinking at the ski lodge. When the kids go to leave school they discover that they are snowed in, on the day before Christmas vacation. The city has sold their snowplows to Burns, who uses them for car soccer. Homer and Ned try to go to the school to rescue the kids. The kids turn on Skinner so he hides in his office, has a Vietnam flashback in which he tries to prevent the rest of the prisoners form escaping, they get eating by elephants. Skinner puts on his old uniform and starts treating the kids like soldiers. Homer hits a fire hydrant and freezes up the car. Bart tries to tunnel out but gets caught and Skinner gets stuck when he tries to close off the tunnel, the kids run amok. Skinner gets tied up in a dodge ball bag. The car fills with co2 and Homer and Ned have hallucinations. Skinner is forced to write on the chalkboard and climb a rope. Milhouse finds the keycard to the permanent records, he tries to destroy them but they self repair. They find Skinner's financial records. Skinner puts the hamster in a ball with a note but it sinks into the snow. Homer has a dream about being a sultan with a Ned camel. The hamster smashes through the car window and they break free from the ice. Homer tries to turn on the cruise control and crashes into the salt tower at the cracker factory, it melts the snow around the school just as Homer and Ned show up. Chalmers shows up on a snowmobile but leaves when Bart tells him there is a good explanation, but doesn't say any details. On the way home Homer is once again gassed and sees Lisa as a camel, who wishes everyone a Merry Christmas. 

Cirque de Puree is a spoof on Cirque du Soleil. (Puree in French means mashed.) "The Eighty Dollar Circus"

Skinner shows the kids the move The Christmas That Almost Wasn't But Then Was. Consolidated Pictures 1938 When the hobgoblin come into Santa's workshop to destroy Christmas you can see the stage lights in the background. The film catches on fire despite being on a DVD. 

Bart forces Skinner to write "I ain't not a dorkus" on the chalkboard as a bonus joke. 

Homer can't remember owning a snow plow even though he's wearing his Mr. Plow jacket. From the episode Mr. Plow. 

This, this is my least favorite episode (out of all that I saw). Homer cuts a chunk off Ned's roof to build a snowplow and spend the entire night trying to drive to the school, nobody else goes to save the kids, not even their parents. Some of the jokes are repeats and most feel like they were rejected from other episodes and just mashed together with the thinnest of plot lines. And once again there is no real conclusion, just the camel Lisa wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. I wasn't looking forward to watching it and now I'm glad I'm past it.

This was the last episode of 2000, only 24 more years to go.

HOMЯ

This episode premiered on January 7th 2001 (according to Neil DeGrasse Tyson it would make it the first episode of the 21st century, since there was no Year Zero). It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (The Mask), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC

The chalkboard gag is "Network TV is not dead" and the couch gag is the family arrives on the couch via pneumatic tubes, except Bart is replaced by Fry from Futurama. However he is sucked back into the tube and replaced by Bart. (Fry is the same yellow color as the rest of the characters on The Simpsons)

The family goes to an animation convention. While there Homer sees a demonstration for a motion capture suit. He invests the families life savings in the company however it goes bankrupt losing him all his money. Homer suggests they get out of their financial problems by renting out Marge for surrogate pregnancy. Barney suggests that Homer try out medical experiments to make money. Homer tries perfume but it makes his skin burn, so they call it Desert Breeze. When he tries the diet pills he goes blind. Homer keeps trying to hit a light up button but a mouse is faster than him (Reference to Flowers For Algernon), the mouse wasn't part of the experiment. While checking out Homer's MRI they discover that he has a crayon lodged in his brain. Hibbert shows up to explain that in past he must have covered the crayon with his thumb while looking at the x rays. When Homer was 6 he jammed all his crayons up his nose but one got permanently stuck. The doctors remove the crayon and Homer gets smarter. Homer scientifically proves there is no God so Flanders burns his work. Homer finally does his job and inspects the plant, sending his report to the nuclear commission, they show up and close the plant. When Homer goes to the bar he finds them burning him in effigy. Homer is upset that he has become an outcast and talks to Lisa, she suggests he take a walk. Homer goes to a movie but criticizes the thin and cliched plot line and the audience gets mad at him. Homer goes back to the medical research lab and asks them to turn him back into an idiot, they send him to Moe. Lisa is drawing with her crayons and finds that one is missing. Moe jams the crayon in Homer's nose until he says "Extended warranty? How can I lose?" Homer crashes through the front window with a hand full of lottery tickets. He drops a note from his smarter self to Lisa to let her know that he appreciates her for being smart. 

The plot of this episode is based on the story Flowers for Algernon and the 1968 film Charley, the backwards R in the episode title is from the movie poster. 

Totally Sick, Twisted, F***ed-Up Animation Festival. Children Half-Price (the censoring is on the sign)

Cartoons at the convention: My Neighbor Totoro / Itchy And Scratchy / Happy Little Elves / Kids Zone / Lance Murdock Cartoon Show / The sorcerer hat from Fantasia / A Cyborg from the original Battlestar Galactica / Poochie / GI Joe / The Yellow Submarine / Radioactive Man / Cel-Out / Veggie Tales / History Of Animation / Trek Toons / Wallace And Grommet / Malibu Stacey

Ned lets Rod and Todd watch The New Adventures of Gravy and Jobriath (a spoof on Davey and Goliath) Gravey is building a pipe bomb to blow up Planned Parenthood and when Jobriath complains Gravey blows him up instead. 

Self aware joke, Marge says animated show are everywhere, or were, last year. A lot of animated shows came and went during the Simpsons era. When Lisa complains about a Japanamation showing a wolf shooting webs Bart says cartoons don't have to make sense, Ozmodiar (a spoof on The Great Gazoo and first appeared in The Simpsons Spinoff Showcase) shows up to say he's right. Homer calls an automated service to check on his stock, when it's up he yells Yahoo and gets the quote for the search website then says "what is this crap?" and gets a quote for Fox Broadcasting. 

Itchy and Scratchy Show, From Here To Infirmary. In a spoof on From Here To Eternity Itchy and Scratchy are kissing on the beach, Itchy switches out with a shark. It then turns into a commercial for Laramie Cigarettes. 

Homer goes to I.P.O Friday's at the mall to buy stock. The ticker lists out Lard Lad donuts / Laramie / Buzz Cola / Ah Fudge / Duff 

When buying stock Homer pictures being on stage with 1930's dancers and King Kong wearing a top hat. 

Homer goes to the Screaming Monkey Medical Research Center

When the scientists are checking out Homer's MRI they do a spoof on the zoom and enhance scene from Bladerunner. 

Old Springfield Library. Home of Bookworms and Silverfish.

Moe gets upset when he finds out Dame Edna is a man. Dame Edna was mentioned in the episode Homer's Barber Shop Quartet

Homer goes to see Love Is Nice staring Julia Roberts

Signs that go by as Homer is walking: Smart People Not Welcome / Dum-Dum Club / Lunkheadz, a place for drooling / Disney Store

The Great Gazoo is from the final season of The Flintstones. 

Pokey Mom

This episode premiered on January 14th, 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O Disney (Jungle 2 Jungle), 60 Minutes and Dateline NBC

The title is a spoof on Pokemon.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not 'Let The Dogs Out' and the couch gag is a repeat of the spinning wall

Marge tries to wake Homer by pushing the bed remote, it crushes him and red liquid starts flowing out, except it's just his juice box. He promised to take Marge to the apron expo but doesn't want to get up. Everyone has a fun time except for Marge. On the way home they stop at a prison rodeo. When Jack gets tossed by the bull Homer uses Lisa to distract itand then tries to use Bart but he's not wearing his blue shirt, the bull rams the stadium, Homer falls in and the guards fire teargas into the crowd. In the prison hospital Marge tells Homer to look at a painting of Jimmi Hendrix to distract him from his hurt back, it turns out that Jack did the painting. Marge and Homer take off but leave Bart and Lisa at the prison. Marge decides to volunteer at the prison in order to help Jack out. Marge give cookies to the parole board to get Jack released and then brings him home. While raking the yard Homer falls over the trash can and it fixes his back, he decides to go into business. Dr. Steve, the chiropractor, shows up and threatens Homer. Marge gets Skinner to hire Jack to paint a mural on the side of the gym. Jack does a Frazetta style painting and Skinner gets mad at him for not doing it the way he drew out. Jack gets mad but paints what Skinner wants. A couple of chiropractors show up and destroy Homer's trash can. At the painting unveiling everyone criticizes the painting so Skinner blames Jack, they almost get into a fight but Marge stops them. A fire breaks out on the painting and reveals the original painting, everyone praises it but it burns up too. Jack claims he didn't start the fire and Marge believes him however he then sets Skinner's car on fire and goes back to jail. 

Michael Keaton does the voice of Jack, Charles Napier does the voice of The Warden, Bruce Vilanch does his own voice.

The warden says Bob Dylan wrote a song to keep Jack in prison. This is a spoof on Dylan's The Hurricane, a song about a boxer who was actually innocent.

Instead of saving Jack the rodeo clowns are checking their makeup, it's a Gay joke you couldn't make in the modern world. 

At the prison infirmary Sideshow Bob is fully bandaged up but recognizable by his hair, which is also bandaged. 

They haven't done an "behind the Simpson House" bit in a while but from the kitchen window Marge can see the Waterville Prison and Springfield Elementary. 

Homer goes to a chiropractor, Dr. Steve.

Homer calls his trash can the Spine-O-Cylinder

When the chiropractors destroy Homer trash can Moe tells him "forget it Homer, it's Chiro town" this is a reference to the 1974 movie Chinatown.

Skinner tells a bad joke about Chalmer's sister and when it bombs he says "Thanks Bob Vilanch", Vilanch is in the audience and says "Whoopi would have made it work".

Jack's painting is a reference to Frank Frazetta's Conan the Conquerer, best know as the cover of Molly Hatchet's album Beatin' The Odds.

Worst Episode Ever

This episode premiered on February 4th 2001. It ran in it's usual time slot and opposite the NFL Pro Bowl (AFC 38 NFC 17), Touched By An Angel and the The NBC Sunday Night Movie (The Fugitive)

The title comes from Comic Book Guy's catch phrase Worst _____ Ever.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not hide the teacher's medication" and the couch gag is there is a Valet waiting in the living room, Homer gives him a claim ticket and he comes back with the couch. Homer stiffs him on the tip.

Lisa finds an old box of Baking Soda in the back of the fridge, Bart bets Homer $5 he can't eat the whole thing, he raises the bet to $50. Lisa calls poison control in advance and says Homer is having an antacid trip. With the $50 Bart and Milhouse go on a spending spree, first to the Kwik-E-Mart to overindulge on snacks and then the Laundromat to wash Milhouse's clothes with fabric softener. While at the comic book shop Martin's mother comes in with a box of his stuff to sell. Comic Book Guy offers Mrs. Prince $5 for the entire box but Bart and Milhouse tell her the stuff is worth thousands so she takes it back. Comic Book Guy puts the boys photo on his Banned For Life wall. Homer flashes back to his first lifetime ban, He's at a Gallagher show where he eats the watermelon and gets kicked out. Bart finds out that Tom Savini, special effects master and actor, is going to be at the comic book shop. Homer comes up with a plan to smuggle the kids in by having them carry him on their shoulders, it turn out Homer had ratted them out to Comic Book Guy. When Savini makes fun of Comic Book Guy he has a heart attack. Bart and Milhouse call 911 and saves his life, Dr. Hibbert tells him he needs to take a break from the stress of the shop and recommends he get a friend to run the place. CBG doesn't have any friends so Bart and Milhouse take over for him. Ralph goes in the adult section and says "Everybody's Hugging". To help out CBG Homer takes him to Moe's, he insults Duff and everyone gets mad and kicks him out. Milhouse orders 2000 comic books about a superhero with glasses like his, published by Lens Crafters. CBG goes to a community college class on How To Make Friends and meets Agnes Skinner. Bart and Milhouse get into a fight over the comic book purchase and crash through a She Hulk poster, finding a secret room full of bootleg tapes. Milhouse comes up with the idea to hold a midnight screening of the videos and charge a $5 admission. The police raid the midnight showing and seize all the tapes. Just as CBG and Agnes are getting frisky the cops bust in and arrest him for his bootleg tapes. The show ends with Ned driving around with the radioactive baboon that Homer had turned loose in his house (it was on one of the video tapes)

Tom Savini does his own voice in this episode.

At breakfast Lisa gets some Ms. Butterworths for the pancakes. In 2020 the company changed the bottle to look "less ethnic" and more generic.

Homer's baking soda flashbacks: Johnny Cocran's You must acquit closing argument / Nixon resigning / Neil Armstrong's moon landing speech.

Milhouse is wearing My Little Pony underwear.

Martin's stuff: A hand written script of the original Star Wars / Princess Leia's anti-jiggle tape / film reel of alternate ending "Luke's Father is Chewbacca" 

Comic Book Guy's Banned For Life wall: Sideshow Bob / Nelson / George Lucas / Bart and Milhouse. 

Gallagher the comedian was known for his bit of smashing watermelons with a big wooden mallet. 

Lisa is reading The Daily Set-Up

When Dr. Hibbert tells Comic Book Guy he had a cardiac episode CBG says "Worst...Episode...Ever"

CBG's rival store is Frodo's of Shelbyville. A Tolkien reference.

There's a display of Poochie merchandise, Milhouse is marking it down in price. 

A guy from Plan 9 Comics comes to the shop. This is a reference to the 1957 movie Plan Nine From Outer  Space. (considered to be the worst movie ever made)

CBG tells Agnes "Now I know whatever happened to Baby Jane" a reference to the 1962 movie.

Bart and Milhouse falling through the She Hulk poster is a reference to the 1994 movie The Shawshank Redemption. 

At Skinner's house there are framed silhouettes around the living room. This is a reference to the episode The Principal and The Pauper. (Considered to be the "worst episode ever" by long time fans of the series)

CBG is wearing a shirt that says "My Other Shirt Is Clean"

Restaurants at the Squidport food court: Mussolini & Frank's / Have It Uruguay / What They Eat In Iceland / The Karachi Hibachi / the London Broil. All the food comes from the same kitchen. 

The kids watch Secret Nuclear Defense Plan. U.S. Govt. Film #1612. In case of a nuclear war Springfield is to be booed first to make sure all allied missiles are on target. 

Dated Jokes: Wiggum says "this place has more pirated tapes then a...." Lou fills in the comment with "A Chinese K-Mart". Wiggum then says "The owner is in more hot water than..." and Lou says "A Japanese tea bag". Ooooo, Wiggum does say "Why don't you lay off the Asians Lou".

CBG and Agnes "Snuggle" while Baby I'm-a Want You by Bread plays.

Tennis The Menace

This episode premiered on February 11th 2001. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The ABC Sunday Night Movie (Dr. Doolittle, the 1998 version), Touched By An Angel and The NBA All Star Game (East 111 - West 110)

The title of the episode is based on Dennis the Menace, who has been used as a plot in several episodes.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not publish the Principal's credit report" and the couch gag is the family ice skates in and sits on the couch, however the ice breaks under Homer and he falls in the water. 

Homer is taking a shower when Bart starts playing with the kitchen sink going from hot to cold, Homer screeches out Mary Had A Little Lamb. Marge catches him and tells him to wash up so they can go to the Senior talent show, he makes Homer screech Beethoven's 5th Symphony while washing his hands. Jasper's talent is spinning denture plates. Abe sings What's New Pussycat and wins a free autopsy. At the funeral home Bart gets stuck in a coffin but it has a built in camera so they can see him scratching on the lid. Abe wants to be buried in the deluxe cemetery where you get a virgin grave and a hired weeping widow. However the cost is $17,000 Homer decides to just toss Abe into the woods. When the funeral home operator says the Mauso-Palooza contains as much cement as a tennis court, Homer builds a tennis court in the back yard. He gets upset when he finds out it's not a Foxy Boxing ring. Everyone comes over to play but Homer is terrible at the game. Marge overhears people insulting their tennis playing. Homer promises to try harder but all he does it blow up the ball server. Homer signs him and Marge up for a doubles tournament however she swaps Homer out for Bart and they win plus get invited to play in the Krusty Kharity Klassic (another KKK joke). Homer has a dream that Bart wants to kill him and marry Marge and decides to recruit Lisa to be his partner. When Homer finds out that the Williams sisters are in the stands he gets Venus to be his partner. Marge complains so Wiggum, the line judge, lets her swap out Bart for Serena. Serena trades out Marge for Sampras and Agassi shows up to replace Homer. The family makes up and plans to go out to dinner when the tournament is over. 

Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Venus and Serena Williams all do their own voices.

The funeral home banners: Sales From The Crypt. A reference to Tales From The Crypt. The place has a selection of anti stink spray: County Mourn / Mrs. Rotewell's / Stank Off!

When Marge complains about Homer screwing around instead of winning he mentions John Rocker (baseball player who made a lot of racist and homophobic statements), OJ Simpson (we all know about that) and Dorf (the character Tim Conway played on his videos). Lou calls the Simpsons the LA Clippers of tennis. (to date the LA Clippers haven't won a championship in 51 years)

And the tennis court is never mentioned again. (that I know of because there are a lot of episodes I never saw)

We've made it through another 5 episodes and passes the one I dreaded the most. So far I remember these episodes although I'm pretty sure there were a couple that I had only seen once, and wasn't paying close attention to. So for myself I'm heading further into unfamiliar territory. At this point I only have 500 more to go, although they are still making them so I can't really say how far along I am. Wish me continued luck.