The Simpsons 186-190

Lisa The Skeptic

This episode premiered on November 23, 1997. The lead in show was The World's Funniest and it was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite The Wonderful World Of Disney (The Santa Clause), Touched By An Angle and The NBC Sunday Night Movie (Legends Of The Fall).

The chalkboard gag is "I will not tease fatty" and the couch gag is the family runs into the (sauna) living room wearing towels but there are three guys already on the couch so they turn around and walk back out.

The Springfield Police department is holding a "Boat Giveaway Today" however it's a sting to catch people with outstanding fines or warrants. Despite the family's warning Homer shows up. Snake is ahead of him and even though you can see him being arrested Homer still goes through the door to the back room. He owes $175 dollars in unpaid fines and writes a check (remember writing checks?) but still wants his boat. On the way home they drive by the construction of the new mall, naturally Lisa complains about the potential destruction of fossils. She hires Lionel Hutz to go to the mall contractors, they tell her the place was fully excavated by the museum but they decide to let her do her dig. She goes to Skinner and forces the school to sponsor her dig, the smart kids are going on a field trip and the bad kids are going for detention. After a day of digging they find nothing and plan to give up but Lisa uncovers a skull, upon further excavation they find a skeleton with wings. Lisa tries to explain it away but the people think it's an angel. While the town is trying to figure out who owns the fossil Homer loads it in his car and drives it home. First Ned asks to pray at the angel, then Agnes wants to rub her foot on it before going in for surgery. Pretty much all of town shows up, Lenny offer to pay a buck so Homer gets the idea to charge 50¢ per person. At night Lisa sneaks into the garage and chips off part of the angel to take to the Natural History Museum. The next day Dr. Gould comes running up to the house to tell Lisa the results were inconclusive, and he needs to use the restroom. Everyone mocks Lisa so she goes on to Smartline and pretty much insults the entire town, they turn into a mob and ransack the Museum and Robotics Lab, they also burn down the Christian Science Reading Room. Lisa decides the only way to end the madness is to destroy the angel but when she goes to the garage it's gone, Homer is upset because he has 10,000 souvenir ashtrays. The police arrest Lisa and she goes to court for destruction of a historical artifact. Just as the trial starts Lenny spots the angel on a nearby hill. On the base of the angle is a message "The end will come at sundown" so everyone prepares for the apocalypse. At sundown the town gathers on the hill, Smithers kisses Burns. The sun goes down and nothing happens, Lisa starts mocking them when a voice cries out "Silence, prepare for the end....of high prices." The angel rises up and then rolls down the hill on a guide wire to the Heavily Hills Mall, then entire thing had been a publicity stunt. Lisa is angry but everyone else is in a hurry to check out the new mall, Wiggum is excited that they have a Pottery Barn. Marge tells Lisa that she was right, but noticed that Lisa had a tight grip on her hand. 

Stephen Jay Gould Ph.D does his own voice. 

While driving to the police station Homer sings Up Up And Away by the 5th Dimension but swaps out balloon with boat.

In the excavation scene they do a spoof on the road gang from Cool Hand Luke and the sun bearing down from Raiders Of The Lost Ark. 

Valuables in Homer's closet. His fishing hat and bag (Call Of The Simpsons), Bowling trophy (Team Homer) Mr. Plow jacket (Mr. Plow) Town crier hat and bell (Lisa the Iconoclast), Billy Beer 6-pack (The Otto Show), Boxing Gloves (The Homer They Fall), Farmer Homer's Sweet Sweet Sugar bag (Lisa's Rival), Cowboy Hat (Colonel Homer), Mr Sparkle box (In Marge We Trust) Itchy robot heads (Itchy And Scratchyland)

Natural History Museum sign: Now Hiring Stuffers.

Lisa appears, for the 13th time, on Smartline. 

At the Vatican the Pope is reading La Stampa, which translates to The Print. 

The fake skeleton is based on other such fakes like Piltdown Man and the Cardiff Giant.

Lisa's trial is based on the Scopes Monkey Trial aka Religion vs. Science.

In the episode Lemon Of Troy Bart says "This town ain't so bad. Good friends, lots of lemons, numerous angel sightings"

The Boat Giveaway was based on real traps the police would set for people with outstanding warrants. It was also in the movie Sea Of Love where the police catch a number of criminals by telling them they've won a chance to meet the New York Yankees.

This was another episode in which Lisa was extra annoying. It reminded me of why she's my least favorite character.

Realty Bites

This episode premiered on December 7th 1997. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (1994's Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book), Touched By An Angle and All Star TV Bloopers.

The title of this episode comes from the 1994 movie Reality Bites.

The chalkboard gag is "There was no Roman god named Fartacus" and the couch gag is the family sits on the couch and then the entire room is spun to make a mixed color image (Matt Groening's real hand is in the scene)

Homer is enjoying a lazy Saturday when Marge reminds him that it's Wednesday so he has to rush to work. Cut to the real Saturday where Marge is bored with her life. In order to make her happy Homer takes her out, to the police auction. Homer buy's Snakes car L'il Bandit, when he drives like a maniac Marge insists on getting out. While walking home she runs into Lionel Hutz who is selling homes, she decides to get her real estate license. To help her learn the laws Lisa has Marge learn through song, Camp Town Ladies and The Old Folks At Home. Marge passes the test and when she gets home Bart is holding a sign that says "Better luck next time" but he flips it over to "congratulations".  Marge goes to work for Hutz but she's too honest and can't make any sales. Homer is abusing the car so Snake escapes from prison to get it back. Marge tries to sell a house to the Flanders but has trouble telling lies, she ends up selling them the Murder House (many states have laws that require a real estate agents to disclose murders or suicides). After the Flanders move in Marge has an attack of conscience and goes to tell them the truth. She finds them laying on the floor covered in red, it turns out to be paint. Meanwhile Homer and Snake get into a fight on the car. The Flanders don't mind that they are living in the murder house but that's when Homer crashes into the house, followed by Wiggum, the entire house collapses. Hutz gets mad at Marge for returning the check so he fires her. Homer drives her to the unemployment office where she gets $300 a week.

Marge's job at the real estate company is based on the 1992 movie Glengarry Glen Ross. The character of Gil is based on Sheldon who was played by Jack Lemmon. Gil was meant to be a one and done character but after the death of Phil Hartman he became a replacement for the everyman character.

This episode introduces both Gil and Cookie Kwan, Number one on the west side. It also introduces Barbara, Sideshow Mel's wife. 

Real Estate Test: $75 or best offer.

Simpson regulars taking the real estate test: Luanne Van Houten, Helen Lovejoy and the Sea Captain.

Red Blazer Reality "The 6% commission people" This is a spoof on Century 21

The prison gate, which is unlocked, has a sign that says "No Escaping Please"

Newspaper Clipping: Gruesome Murders At Socialite's House. Mrs. Astor Safe. (This is a take on the Titanic headline after the iceberg disaster)

When Snake ties a wire across the road to decapitate Homer it's a spoof on the Roadrunner cartoons complete with Acme Piano Wire. It's also a take on when Steve McQueen gets a motorcycle in the 1963 movie The Great Escape. Kirk Van Houten drives by and cuts off his arm. 

Ned uses a U-Break-It Van Rentals for moving into the Murder House.

Homer sings Luka by Susan Vega. 

In the memo blank on his check Ned wrote "For making our dream come true"

When Marge finds the Flanders laying on the floor covered in red paint Todd Flanders says "red room, red room" while wiggling his finger, this a spoof of The Shining. 

Wiggum reports a 318, waking a police officer.

People at the unemployment office. Lurleen Lumpkin, Larry Burns, Jimbo, An animator from Itchy And Scratchy, Kirk Van Houten (with his arm sewn back on), George Bush sr. 

On a note, when Homer and Snake are fighting in the car the animators do the background trick in which they repeat the same image over and over. The show was becoming more cartoonish at this point and you could feel the effort to be clever slipping. 

Miracle on Evergeen Terrace

This episode premiered on December 21st 1997. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney ( Flash), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The title is taken from the 1947 movie Miracle On 34th Street.

The chalkboard gag is "Rudolph's red nose is not alcohol-related" and the couch gag is the family is in a giant snow globe that someone shakes up. 

Homer waits until Christmas Eve to go shopping. Instead of fighting his way through the crowds he pretend to open a register and takes other people's toys. He falls off the roof while trying to put up the lights. Marge takes everyone's alarm clocks so that nobody can get up early to open presents, Bart drinks 8 glasses of water so he'll have to get up. He has a dream about wet things and cheerleaders saying "Give me a P", he's up at 5:04 AM. He gets a remote control fire truck but sprays water on an overloaded wall socket and sets the tree on fire, it and all the presents are melted into a giant blob. He drags the mess into the yard and buries it under the snow, then tells the family a burglar broke in and stole everything. Seeing everyone else enjoying their Christmas makes the family miserable. Kent Brockman does a report from the Simpson's house about the "burglary". Everybody in town shows up donate money to the family it comes to $15,000. The family buys a new car (imagine being able to buy a car for $15k). On the way home Homer loses control and the car spins into the middle of a pond, sinks and then blows up. Bart confesses what really happened, the family gets into a giant fight but just then Kent shows up to do a follow up story, however SLH finds the melted tree and the family's lies are exposed on TV. The family goes to Krusty Burger but everyone leaves, Homer is happy because they are at the head of the line. Mrs. Hoover refuses to teach Lisa and makes her turn her desk around. Homer rushes into the break room to warn everyone of a disaster but they think he's just out to steal their snacks, as toxic gas comes pouring in. The family gets a stack of hate mail. To get the money back Marge goes on Jeopardy but ends up at           -$5200, Alex Trebek demands the money so they have to run. When the family gets home from the show the mob, including Trebek, is at their house and have forgiven the family, after taking all their stuff. (The Simpsons run into the living room to find the couch gone, a second couch gag in the episode) In the end the family fights over the last washcloth. Santa's On His Way by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys plays over the closing credits.

Alex Trebek did his own voice for the episode. He passed away in 2020.

Best line of the episode Bart taking about Homer's Christmas lighting job "It's crap-tacular"

After going to the restroom on Christmas morning Bart says "How sweet it is", this is Jackie Gleason's catchphrase.

Homer is wearing a nightcap. This is a reference to the 1823 Clement Clark Moore poem A Visit From St. Nicholas

Eddie the police officer is wearing a Santa hat while he shoots crime scene photos and Lou is wearing a Christmas tree tie.

Milhouse gets a Tickle Me Krusty doll. This is a spoof on the Tickle Me Elmo doll which became the holiday craze of 1996. "Hey kid, get your finger out of there." Homer hits Milhouse with a snowball.

The scene at the nursing home features the seniors hopped up on pills and dancing, it's a spoof on the dancing scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas. Jingle Bell Rocks by Bobby Helms plays in the background.

The scene with the town showing up to donate to the Simpson's is a take on It's A Wonderful Life, complete with Homer yelling at Lisa for playing Hark The Herald Angle Sings on the piano.

Barney is driving his Plow King snow plow from the episode Mr. Plow

Springfield Shopper headline: Simpsons Scam Springfield. Angry Mob Mulls Options.

Someone wrote I Keell You on the Simpsons car. This is a reference to a wiffle ball bat in the Simpson's writers room.

The first time I watched this episode it felt like a slight miss, something was just off. Little did I realize that it was a premonition of things to come. There is an expression from Monty Python, Drop The Cow, it refers to a sketch that goes on for too long and they need to end it, so they drop a cow on someone. This episode felt that way, like the writers had gotten in deep but didn't know how to end it, so they came up with the raiding the house followed by the washcloth gag in order to wrap up the story in the shortest way possible, aka Drop The Cow. Hang on, because there will be more episodes like this coming up.

This was also the last episode of 1997. There is a dark cloud on the Simpsons horizon but we'll be getting to that when it happens. Meanwhile we are heading into 1998, a year I made a major change in my life and started drifting away from being a regular viewer of The Simpsons. 

All Singing, All Dancing

This episode premiered on January 4th 1998. The lead in show was The World's Funniest and was followed by Ask Harriet (a short lived sitcom about a fired writer who pretends to be a woman to get a job writing an advice column. That wouldn't go over well in the modern Republican Party) The program ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Principal Take A Holiday), Touched By An Angel and All Star Bloopers.

There is no chalkboard gag and the couch gag is the living room rug is a treadmill. Everyone but Homer gets on the couch but he falls down and yells "Marge stop this crazy thing".

The title refers to the pitch line for the 1929 movie The Broadway Melody.

Homer goes to the video store to rent Waiting To Exhale but there is a waiting list, Lisa wanted Emma but they didn't get that either. Instead they get Paint Your Wagon because Homer thinks it's a shoot-em-up western but, if you don't know, it's a musical. Homer gets mad and the episode turns into a singing show with clips of other musical scenes in past programs. Halfway though the show Snake shows up with a gun and starts singing along but runs away because they are too weird. He shows back up and plans to kill the Simpsons in order to stop singing but he's out of ammo so he leaves again. Snake comes back but the family tells him they are done with their singing so he leaves again. When Marge starts humming he takes a shot at her. He also threatens the closing credits and the Shhhh lady.

Clips on the show:

Baby On Board (Homer's Barbershop Quartet)

The Spring In Springfield (Bart After Dark)

Springfield Springfield (Boy-Scoutz 'n The Hood)

Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart (Homer and Apu)

Send In The Clowns (Krusty Gets Kancelled)

See My Vest (Two Dozen and One Greyhounds)

Monorail (Marge vs. The Monorail)

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. (Bart Sells His Soul)

We Do (Homer The Great)

I can't believe they skipped perhaps one of the best original Simpsons songs, I Hate Every Chimp I See from A Fish Called Selma.

The couch gag is a reference to the opening of the Jetsons, complete with the flying car sound, where George gets stuck on Astro's walkway and calls to Judy to "stop this crazy thing".

The Simpson version of Paint Your Wagon features Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef (who wasn't in the musical but in plenty of other westerns) and Lee Marvin. They sing and dance while painting a wagon.

Self aware joke, the family sings the only thing worse is "when a long running series does a cheesy clip show"

Banner: The Simpsons Clip Show #4 5F24

This episode would spark an argument among Simpsons fans but that wouldn't be for another 23 years. Be sure to mark this one for when we refer back to it.

As far as the Simpsons go there are shows I love, like and have mixed feeling about. When this one comes on I skip it. It is, to date, my second least favorite. Perhaps the worst part is the repeated appearance of Snake for no real reason. There is an episode I consider at the bottom of my overall list but it hasn't come up yet. I only watched it this time around because I said I was going to watch them all. Why did I say that again? 

Bart Carny

This episode premiered on January 11th, 1998. The lead in was the NFC Championship (Green Bay 23, San Francisco 10) and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite The Wonderful World Of Disney, Touched By An Angel and The NBC Sunday Night Movie (The Fugitive)

The title of this episode is based on Art Carney, the actor best known for playing Ed Norton on The Honeymooners. 

There isn't a chalkboard gag and the couch gag is as the family runs in the couch is suddenly pulled back and they fall on the floor, Nelson pop up from behind it and does his "Ha-Ha"

SLH won't go outside because the back yard is a mess, the kids are suppose to be cleaning it but instead they are laying around in the living room. When they demand their allowance Marge forces them to go out and get to work. The kids give up because the work is too hard so Marge refuses to give them their allowance, they say they don't need it but just then a carnival rolls past the front window, they are in a conundrum until Homer rushes in and gives them all the money they want. At the carnival Bart climbs into Hitler's car to find the flamethrower but releases the parking break, the car rolls into a tree. The Texan insist Bart work off his debt, Homer asks to get a job too. Bart has to shovel horse poop and Homer works at the dunking booth even though the water is too shallow. They are about to do the geek show where they bite the heads off live chickens but get sent to work the ring toss where they discover that the blocks are too big for the rings. Seymour tries to win his mother a lamp but she complain so he tries to win a military knife instead. Wiggum shows up and hints around about a bribe but Homer doesn't figure it out, the booth is impounded and Cooter and his son Spud are homeless. To make it up to them Homer invites them to his house. To thank the Simpsons Cooter gives them tickets to a glass bottom boat ride, Bart and Homer tease a shark through the glass. When the Simpsons get home they discover the windows have been boarded over, the door locks have been changed and Cooter wrote his name on the mail box. Wiggum won't help the Simpsons since Homer refused to pay the bribe a the carnival. The family is forced to move into the tree house. Marge asks for ideas to get the house back, everyone suggests setting it on fire. Homer offers Cooter a deal, if he can toss a hula hoop over the chimney he gets the house back, if he fails he signs the deed to Cooter. Homer carefully lines up his shot and then the family runs inside locking Cooter and Spud out. Cooter says there's no shame in being beaten by the best, when his son objects he repeats "beaten by the best". When Homer feels sorry for Cooter and wants to let him back Marge reminds him of his ass groove in the couch so he gets to work getting it back in shape. Groove Me Baby by King Floyd plays over the closing credits. 

Jim Varney does the voice of Cooter. He is was best known for the Ernest P. Worrell character. The Simpsons had done a spoof on several of his movies including Ernest Needs A Kidney in the episode Bart The Lover and Ernest Goes Somewhere Cheap in the Cape Feare episode. Jim Varney passed away in 2000.

Colonel Tex's Traveling Carnival. The operator of the carnival is the Yee Haw Texan.

The carnival has a virtual yard work simulator. Marge gets mad when Bart wants to play that instead of doing real yard work.

Carnival Rides: The Tooth Chipper, The Screamatorium

One of the prizes at the ring toss is a Dumont TV, "The appliance everyone is talking about". Dumonts were built to receive UHF signals to get around the FCC's attempt to limit broadcasts to just the Big Three. The Dumont network ran from 1946 to 1956.

While promoting the Hitler's car exhibit the Yee Haw Texan says it was the first car to come with Fahrvergnugen, this was a word Volkswagen used to promote their cars in their 1990's commercials. The car is a spoof on the number of Bonnie And Clyde "death cars" that were on exhibit over the years. 

When Bart wrecks Hitler's car Nelson says "What did he ever do to you?" and punches Bart. 

Humphrey the talking camel is at the carnival.

Edvard Grieg's Morning Mood plays during the sunrise over the carnival. This is a take on the scene from Disney's Fantasia.

The caramel apple bucket is labeled Barf to scare off thieves. Homer tests it out by taking a drink.

Stuff seen through the glass bottom boat: Cans, shopping carts, muffler, L'il Lisa Slurry barrel (from the episode The Old Man And The Lisa), car battery, tire, nuclear waste barrel, The Athena, sister ship to the current glass bottom boat tour. The SS Athena was the first British ship sunk by the Germans in WWII.

I consider the previous episode, All Singing, All Dancing, to be the second worst Simpson episode so I had high hopes for the next one...and I was disappointed, another miss for me. Most of the jokes fell flat, the stereotype of carnival workers as criminals was cringy and again, the ending felt kind of tacked on, Dropped The Cow as it were. Yep, we've reached the dark years of the Simpsons. 

We've come to the end of another 5 episodes of the Simpsons I'm not looking forward to then next couple of decades. And the end...isn't anywhere in site since they started making more. What happened to the rumor about the final season? Someone better have some answer.