The Simpsons 96-100

Deep Space Homer

This episode premiered on February 24th 1994. It ran in its usual time slot and was followed by a repeat of The Simpsons. It ran opposite a repeat of Matlock (Missing Persons had been cancelled and the replacement show wouldn't start until the next week), The Winter Olympics and Mad About You.

There is no chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of the really obese guy.

Homer is excited because after waiting until everyone else won the mandatory Worker of the Week he is finally due, but is passed over for an inanimate carbon rod. Bart writes "insert brain here" on the back of Homer's head (this joke will come back around). At home Homer almost watches a space launch but Bart unplugs the TV just in time. As ratings, and funding, falls NASA considers telling the public that the space chimps came back super intelligent but one of the monkeys tells them no. NASA decides to send a blue collar slob into space, they plan on doing an extensive search just as Homer calls them to complain about not being able to get Tang. They show up at Moe's in search of Homer but he claims that it was Barney who made the call. When Homer finds out that they are looking for an astronaut he confesses and NASA decides to take them both, one of the guys knocks out Barney and Homer with a blackjack, shanghaied as it were. When NASA presents Barney and Homer to the press the reporters ask "is this a joke?" Homer answers a question about the dangers of space he says the only real danger is if they get sent to The Planet Of The Apes, and figures out that it was a future Earth, he does the Charlton Heston Damn You dialog, just then Barney passes out and NASA declares the press conference over. Barney sobers up and becomes the best astronaut. The other two astronauts for the mission are Race Banyon and Buzz Aldrin (who does his own voice over work). NASA chooses Barney to go into space but he drinks some non alcoholic champaign, steals a jet pack, crashes into a pillow factory roof and then gets run over by a marshmallow truck, NASA choses Homer by default. Homer starts to worry about the fight but then remembers the time he failed to meet Mr. T and decides to go through with the mission. During the launch when Homer starts to complain the astronauts want to sedate him. Homer opens a bag of chips that start to fly around the ship, he starts to eat them 2001: A Space Odyssey style, but crashes into the ant farm. NASA has James Taylor sing a song to the astronauts (he does his own voice over and singing). Kent Brockman cuts to the ship just as an ant flies by the camera. This is the famous speech "I for one welcome our new insect overlords" quote, complete with a graphic of an ant whipping a guy on the ground. To clear out the ants and chips NASA listens to James Taylor and blows the door sucking all loose things out, however Homer prematurely releases his seat belt and is almost sucked out. Homer breaks off the door handle and Banyon decides to kill him, Homer tries to bash him with a rod but gets it jammed in the doorframe, thus sealing the hatch. The shuttle craft crashes into the News Reporters Convention. The rod Homer used to jamb the door becomes a hero complete with magazine cover photos and a ticker tape parade. the joke goes full circle. Bart writes Hero on the back of Homer's head and then throws the marker in the air, where it becomes the Fox satellite and hits a space baby Homer in the head. 

The show is a spoof on the movies Apollo 11, The Reluctant Astronaut (starring Don Knotts), The Right Stuff, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Trek (both original and Next Generation).

There is an x-ray scene that is a spoof on the arriving on Mars scene from Total Recall. Workers are carrying a pistol, an Uzi (couldn't get away with that joke in the modern world), two kids disguised as an adult and Homer with a chimp skeleton.

Burns speaks from the balcony like a South American dictator. 

The space launch is beaten in the ratings by A Connie Chung Christmas. Eye To Eye With Connie Chung ran on an opposite network on the same nights as The Simpsons.

NASA checks out the most popular personalities on TV, Home Improvement (1991-1999) There's a Back To Jail joke referring to when Tim Allen was arrested for drug dealing. Married With Children (1987-1997) The show followed The Simpsons at one point. 

Homer calls NASA and Bill Clinton in the White House looking for Tang. The mix is still available but mostly sold in South America.

The Simpsons arrive in Florida in the Beverly Hillbillies truck complete with Marge in the rocking chair on top. The truck from the original show was a chopped down Buick touring car. 

Cape Canaveral, Formerly Cape Kennedy, Formerly Cape Arbuckle (the last name is a reference to the silent era actor Fatty Arbuckle who's career was destroyed by a false rape allegation) Cape Canaveral was changed to Cape Kennedy in 1963 in honor of the dead President but the locals complained and refused to go along with the name so in 1973 they changed it back.

On the centrifuge Homer turns into Popeye, in the breathing test he drinks the water, then there is the fight scene between Barney and Homer from Star Trek: Amok Time.

Itchy And Scratchy: Scar Trek: The Next Laceration. Scratchy is an astronaut but Itchy bursts out of his stomach (Alien) and tosses him in the air lock (2001: A Space Odyssey). Scratchy catches him with a rover, cuts him in half on the rings of Saturn and then pulls off his helmet so his head explodes in the vacuum of space. His blood spells out The End. "Viewer Advisory: The preceding program contained scenes of extreme violence and should not have been viewed by young children." Homer freaks out after watching it.

Homer and the other two astronauts do the slow motion walk to the ship The Right Stuff style, however when Homer sees it he goes back into normal mode and runs away. 

Homer calls Marge from a payphone, this scene comes from The Reluctant Astronaut. Homer opening the bag of chips, freeing the ants and shorting out the equipment is also a take on the film where Don Knotts gets peanut butter and crackers mixed up in the guidance computer. When the ants short out the navigation system the astronauts are tossed from side to side like in Star Trek.

The shuttle is called The Corvair, the name of the car that was considered Unsafe At Any Speed. 

Mission cargo, IRS surveillance satellite, Experimental Ant Colony, Children's Letters to God "to jettison"

During the launch Homer turns into Nixon. Bart says "go Homer go", Lisa says "How doth the hero, strong and brave, a celestial path in the heavens pave" The family stares at her until she says "go Dad go" (Lisa's poem is original to the show, not a famous quote)

During the reentry the astronauts hum The Battle Hymn Of The Republic while Homer sings the Golden Grahams jingle. This is taken from the scene where John Glenn reenters the atmosphere with a loose heat shield in The Right Stuff.

Self Aware Joke: During the reentry Lisa says "Come on dad, make it" to which Abe replies "Of course he'll make it, it's TV"

Time Magazine: "In Rod We Trust" with a photo of the rod Homer used to jamb the door shut. 

The closing with the marker going into space, turning into a Fox satellite and hitting a space baby Homer in the head is taken from 2001: A Space Odyssey complete with the song.

Homer Loves Flanders

This episode premiered on March 17th 1994. It ran in its usual time slot and was followed by The Sinbad Show. It ran opposite Byrds Of Paradise (a short lived drama), The NCAA basketball tournament and Mad About You. 

The chalkboard gag is "I am not delightfully saucy" and the couch gag is there are two couches so the characters split themselves in half and sit on each one. 

Homer wants to go to the big football game, Bart tricks him into buys a coupon for a free wig with the purchase of a wig. Homer skips 8 days of work to be the second in line to buy tickets, however the guy ahead of him buys 30,000 tickets with the promise to pay the $950,000 for them later. That's almost $32 a ticket. The radio station is giving away two tickets but Flanders wins them. Homer prays for tickets to the game just as Ned shows up, "why do you mock me Lord?" Homer plans on robbing Ned but decides to go with him instead. Mr. Burns tells the team there's a little crippled boy wanting them to win the game, a boy he crippled himself, it turns out to be Milhouse and Burns threatens to come back and finish the job if the team loses. Homer tries to get an autograph from the quarterback but is ignored until Ned calls him over. He's a friend of Ned and offers him the game ball, Ned says Homer is the big fan so the quarterback gives it to him. Ned invites Homer to check out his new pool table but he breaks it and then tries to changes the channel,  Ned has 230 channels but they're all blocked except the religious one. To pay back Ned Homer takes him to Moe's, Ned recognizes Moe as the guy who reads to the children at the hospital. Homer invites himself to dinner at Neds and then joins him in his charity work. At the homeless shelter Homer gets a new set of clothes and then starts hustling the people through the soup line, the paper report see him and puts him on the front page of the paper. Ned suggests Homer goes to Moe's but he says they are always closed on Tuesday, over in the corner of the shelter Moe is reading Little Women to the homeless crowd. Marge says that Homer has been spending too much time with Ned, Homer suggest the Simpsons and the Flanders spend the weekend together. At the lake Bart introduces Rod and Todd to Pixie Sticks, they go sugar crazy and start fighting. When Ned decides to leave early Homer takes his boat out for a spin and manages to crash it into Ned's car. Ned has a dream about shooting Homer. When Ned tries to get away from Homer he gets pulled over by Wiggums, just then the church bus passes by and the Chief says Ned is high on goofballs. During a silent prayer at church Homer is whistling through his nose, Ned freaks out and tells him off. When everyone turns on Ned Homer stands up for his defense. Lisa thinks it's the end of their wacky adventures but the next week Homer inherits a haunted house that they have to spend the weekend in and then Homer tells Ned to go away. 

Continuity error. Homer throws away their wedding photo to put his football on the mantle, Marge isn't pregnant in it. 

Eye On Springfield: An expose on The Army or as Kent Brockman calls them "The Kill-Bot Factory". And The Pigskin Classic between the Shelbyville Sharks and Springfield Atoms.

The radio station plays Two Tickets To Paradise by Eddie Money after giving away the football tickets. 

Helter Shelter: Father James Helter, Founder (a spin on the Beatles song Helter Skelter)

Springfield Shopper headline Big Fat Man Has Big Fat Heart (photo of Homer with soup) Little Thin Man Accused In Robbery.

Homer has a Rappin' Ronnie Reagan tape. (It's just Reagan saying "well" over and over)

Welcome to Lake Springfield: No Mercury Dumping Without A Permit.

Ned's boat is named Thanks For The Boat Lord II

The scene where Ned shoots all the Homers from the tower is a reference to the University Of Texas tower shooting in 1966. (before mass shootings were a daily thing). In the dream a postal worker pulls out an uzi and starts shooting back. (In the days when mass shootings were known as Going Postal)

Homer passes through the hedge and then fades back into them. This will become a popular internet meme in the future. 

Ned tries to escape Homer who comes after him with golf clubs, a take on Terminator II. When Wiggums arrests Ned he says "where's your messiah now?" like Edward G. Robinson in The Ten Commandments (Wiggums voice is based on the actor)

First Church Of Springfield: Loosest Bingo Cards In Town

Self Aware Joke: "The Following Thursday 8:00 PM", the time slot The Simpsons ran in at the time.

Bart Gets An Elephant

This episode premiered on March 31st 1994. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programming. 

The chalkboard gag is "Organ transplants are best left to the professionals" and the couch gag is a repeat of the eyeballs floating in the dark. 

Marge wakes up to find that the house is a mess. Bart plans on going to the ravine to look for a dead martian. Lia is going to jam with the Little White Girls Blues Quartet. Homer is off to a beer drinking contest. When they go to leave Marge makes them stay to help clean up the house. Bart tries to escape but finds that they are locked in. Homer uses a leaf blower on the basement but just makes a bigger mess. Homer uses the cleaner but has hallucinations from its fumes, the cleaning product mascots attack him. After an entire day the house if finally clean until the mess it up in about two minutes. The radio station calls the police station for their contest but the cops have been taken hostage by Snake who proceeds to shock them with the stun guns. On the next call they get Bart who says the winning phrase "KBBL is going to give me something stupid", they offer him $10,000 in cash or an elephant, he takes the elephant. In order to keep their jobs the DJs bring an elephant to the Simpsons, Snowball and SLH run off and hide. The elephant tries to eat Bart and then rubs on the house. Homer chains him in the back yard so it gets mad and destroys everything. Homer takes the elephant to the bar for free peanuts and then to the arboretum where he strips all the trees. Kids show up wanting to pay to see the elephant so Homer puts up a sign that says "go away", Bart puts up a sign charging a $1 to see the elephant and $2 to ride it. When the money coming in doesn't cover the costs Homer raises the price to $100 and $500 and tries to retroactively collect from Milhouse's parents. Homer tries to sell the elephant, the only one who wants to buy it is an ivory dealer. To save the elephant Bart unchains him and he takes off. Homer follows the path of destruction until a tornado hits. Wiggums gets calls about the elephant but laughs them all out, including one of a liquor store robbery with an officer down. The elephant storms through the Republican convention to cheers and then the Democratic convention to boos. When the elephant arrives at the peanut factory the supervisor tells them to get ready but is so busy pointing out that he was right he gets run over. Homer still plans on selling the elephant until it saves his life from the tar pits so they take him to the animal refuge. 

Bart cleans to the song 16 Tons and Take This Job And Shove it. He wipes off the painting of American Gothic and underneath it says "If you can read this, you scrubbed too hard. Signed Grant Wood. 

Homer reads a TV guide that lists an episode of Gomer Pyle USMC "Gomer upsets Sgt. Carter" "Gomer! Shazam!"

The Aztec head from the episode Blood Feud is still in the basement.

While cleaning Lisa sees the White Girl Jazz Quartet go by with President Clinton playing the sax, which he did in real life. Moe drives by and shouts at him to get back to work to which he replies "make me"

Cleaning products: Terrapin Wax, Bubble Off, Knight Cleaner, Mr. Cleanser "Only use in a well-ventilated area"

Springfield Shopper headline: KBBL Cheats Straight-A Student !!!" (the space is in the headline)

When the elephant arrives Marge looks out the window to see its eyeball. This is a take on the T Rex looking into the car in Jurassic Park. 

The first appearance of Cletus, the slack jawed yokel. 

Self aware joke: the ivory dealer was also a whale hunter, seal clubber and president of the Fox network. 

Patty and Selma are riding rocking chairs in the tornado, a take on the scene in The Wizard Of Oz. 

Two guys are trying to carry window glass across a street in a classic joke from old movies. First they dodge the elephant and then Bart on his skateboard. When they get to the other side of the street they toss it in the dumpster. 

Republican convention banners: We Want What's Worst For Everyone and We're just Plain Evil. Democratic convention banners: We Hate Life And Ourselves and "We Can't Govern!

Bart calls for his elephant with the Lassy song playing in the background.

When Homer shows up at the tar pits he runs into a deer statue and said "D'oh" Lisa says "A Deer!" and Marge "A female deer". This is the song from The Sound Of Music. 

Burns' Heir

This episode premiered on April 14th, 1994. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite Byrds Of Paradise, Christy and Mad About You

The chalkboard gag is "The pledge of allegiance does not end with Hail Satan" and the couch gag is the family comes in shaped like balls and bounces into place on the couch, except for Bart who keeps bouncing until Homer grabs him and makes him sit down.

Homer is complaining that nothing interesting happens at work when he suddenly wins a big prize, industrial chimney sweep. Basically they wrap him up and dunk him in the chimney. Meanwhile Burns is taking a bath but nearly drowns when Smithers leaves a sponge on top of his hat. Burns realizes that he has no heir. At the auditions Burns has a mechanical boot to kick Bart. Bart gets mad and starts throwing rocks through Burns' windows so he's chosen as the heir. At the official signing Homer tries to scare Burns into having a heart attack but Grandpa keels over instead. When Bart agrees to spend the night at Burns' house he asks for pizza delivered by Krusty the Clown, who does it for $400. Burns reveals he has cameras planted in every home in Springfield. At home Bart starts acting up and tosses his meatloaf to SLH, Homer gets mad because it's an end piece. Bart runs away to Burns' house, part of the old guy's plan. When Homer shows up he demands that Bart comes home but they go inside and lock the door on him, to get revenge Homer rings the bell and runs away. The police refuse to do anything so they go to Lionel Hutz, in court the judge rules that Burns is Bart's biological father. To make Bart happy Burns gives him a sports car which he ends up driving through Santa's Village. Homer and Marge hire a deprogrammer who takes someone to a motel, Mayor Quimby pounds on the wall because he's "killing the romance". It turns out the deprogrammer kidnapped Moleman by mistake who now thinks Homer is his father.  When Burns overreacts to a cartoon Bart wants to go home so Burns shows him a hidden camera of the family. However when Homer drops his sandwich he says "B'oh" and Bart becomes suspicious. Burns goes in the next room where a group of actors are playing the part and he gets the Homer character to say D'oh. In order to fully convert Bart Burns wants him to fire Homer. Instead Bart "fires" Burns. Homer tells Bart that the people on TV were just actors, who hung out with them for a week to get their character down. Also Homer brought Moleman home to be Bart's new brother. 

Burns' flashback on his life, Baby Burns doesn't like his milk so he fires the nanny, makes a guy dance by shooting at his feet but it's a one shot flint pistol so he has to stop and reload. He pretends to be part of Greenpeace in order to sink their boat.

On the Greenpeace boat Burns claims to be Wavy Gravy (Hugh Romney), a real person from the 60's best knows as a member of the Hog Farm commune in San Francisco and appearing in the documentary about Woodstock

Siskel and Ebert: The Movie "Two thumbs up Siskel & Ebert"

When the family goes to the movie they have the THX Sound System "The Audience Is Listening" and it's too loud. A common complaint back in the day.

When Burns announces he's looking for an heir in a movie trailer it's a spoof on the trailer for the Robin Williams movie Toys, and it ends with the Let's All Go To The Lobby song.

Burns' Heir Auditions In Lillie Langtry Theater, All Others Go To Hell. (Lillie Langtry was an actress from the late 1800's)

Kids trying out for Burns' money, Milhouse, Nelson, Martin, Lisa and Bart

Marge fantasies about Bart graduating from a fancy college and then she runs off with Lee Majors. 

Burns leans out the window and shouts What Day Is This? and a cockney boy answers "Why it's Christmas Day sir". This is from A Christmas Carol in case you didn't know.

Krusty is suppose to be on the air live when he delivers Bart's pizza, so he puts on a rerun, it just happens to be the episode where he announces the start of the Falkland Islands war. For those who don't know Argentina claimed sovereignty over the Falklands however they had been British territory since 1833. It eventually led to a war in 1982.

While spying on everyone in Springfield Burns sees Moe doing the You Talking To Me? monolog from Taxi Driver and Homer eating tulips in the bathroom. 

Wanted posters on Wiggums board. The Babysitter Bandit and Snake. 

Lionel Hutz Attorney, Also Expert Shoe Repair. His office is in the mall between The Creamatorium (ice cream parlor) and Gum For Less. Across the mall is Shoes For Tots

Bart offers his Bob Mackie original blazer if Milhouse will stick around.

This episode was the first appearance of the foreign little guy (from Estonia) he appears as both an elf in Santa's village and as Lisa in Burns' fake video of the Simpsons. 

Conformco Brain Deprogrammers, A Subsidiary Of Mrs. Fields' Cookies. Before photo of a Hare Krishna 

The Happy Earwig Motel. "Our crawl-space now body-free"

The Itchy And Scratchy Show, The Buck Chops Here. Scratchy goes to the mint but Itchy throws him on the conveyer belt where he gets chopped up into money. Itchy takes him to a rich dog's club where they use Scratchy to light their cigars.

Among the things Burns offers Bart in exchange for firing Homer is a gift certificate to Blockbuster Video.  In the day there were plenty of stores in the chain but today there is only one in Bend Oregon.

Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song

The title of this episode comes from the 1971 movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadassss Song (although the plot of the movie has nothing to do with the plot of this episode)

This episode premiered on April 28th 1994. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programs.

The chalkboard gag is I Will Not Celebrate Meaningless Milestones (this was the 100th episode) and the couch gag is the Fox logo appears in the corner of the screen. Homer jumps up and tears it off, throws it on the floor and the whole family stomps on it.

Bart is taking old home movies to Show And Tell, they include Homer washing his car and when he comes over to mug for the camera the car rolls away. Then he sets his beard on fire. It finishes with Bart on the toilet so he decides to not take the video. Lisa convinces him to take a geode but everyone else on the bus has one so he brings SLH. Nelson brings an empty can of tomato paste. After Show and Tell Bart puts SLH in the coat closet but he escapes through the vent, Willie goes after him. He gets stuck in the vent in the gym and they have to call the fire department. Just then Chalmers shows up and the fire department crashes into the scoreboard, knocking it into the window and the dog drops down in Chalmers arms. He decides that the dog is too lovable and he can't do anything bad, but then he gets crushed by a greased Willie and fires Skinner. Chalmers names Flanders as the new principal. Bart starts to feel really guilty so he goes to visit Skinner, they have a good laugh at the way Ned is running the school. Skinner decides to reenlist in the army. Bart goes to visit Skinner during live mortar round practice, they have to reaim at the last second and one hits the Kwik-E-Mart's new gas pumps, a K comes crashing down into the military base. Bart and Skinner start planning on getting Ned fired. Chalmers sees the school in shambles and doesn't want to fire Ned until he hears Flanders saying "Lets thank the Lord for this day" and fires him for a school prayer. Skinner gets his job back and things return to normal. 

In the day the networks started putting what were known as "bugs" on their programs, usually the network's logo in the corner. The couch gag is a self aware joke mocking this practice. 

On Homer's birthday he gets a copy of Sebastian Cabot's Beard Book, With Foreword by Willie Nelson, then he sets his beard on fire with the birthday candles. 

Self aware and prediction of the future joke, Marge says she's not comfortable with people laughing at the family's private moments and how would Bart feel if 20 years from now people were laughing at the things he did. 30 years later....

In the cafeteria the lunch lady has a barrel labeled Assorted Horse Parts Now With More Testicles "More testicles mean more iron"

For years people have complained about Disney but when Willie goes after SLH in the air vents you can clearly see his banana sack. 

Willie going after SLH is a spoof on the scene where they track the Xenomorph in Alien. 

This is the first appearance of Leopold. A gruff guy who makes announcements . In this episode Chalmers says he's there to introduce the new principal and has Leopold makes a threatening speech to the students before he names Ned Flanders as the new principal.

Skinner's post principal plans include writing a story about a park with cloned dinosaurs. Apu tells him that is the plot to Jurassic Park. The movie had come out a year earlier. 

Skinner has a photo of him in Vietnam. He was shot in the back during a Bob Hope show when he tried to get Joey Heatherton to put on some pants. For you Century Kids Bob Hope was an actor known for his USO shows from WWII through Vietnam and Joey Heatherton was an actress/pin up girl.

Skinner wears an apron that says Principals do it 9 months a year.

Ned Flanders flashes back to his Beatnik parents.

This is the first appearance of Luigi Risotto, the stereotypical owner of a local Italian restaurant, complete with the accent. 

Introduction of the unibrow baby, Maggies arch nemesis. He isn't named in this episode.

Fort Springfield, Proud Home Of Secret Civilian Mail-Opening Project

This was the 100th episode of The Simpsons. This is a milestone in sitcoms because it means the show will now be eligible for syndication. Nobody at the time realized that the show would still be putting out original content 3 decades later.  btw, I have 650, plus whatever new ones they come out with, and a movie to go.