The Simpsons 216-220

Homer To The Max

This episode premiered on February 7th 1999. The lead in show was The World's Funniest! and it was followed by That 70's Show. It ran opposite the NFL Pro Bowl (AFC 23-NFC 10), Touched By An Angel and the NBC Sunday Night Movie (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls)

To The Max was a popular slang term of the 90's.

The chalkboard gag is "No one wants to hear about my sciatica" and the couch gag is a repeat of the clothes line.

Homer sees a show about a cool cop who just happens to be named Homer Simpson. He lets the fame by association go to his head, until the show changes the character to be a bungling idiot. Marge tries to cheer Homer up by saying the character is comic relief like Marlin Brando in Apocalypse Now. People start spying on Homer to see him do something stupid and hounding him to say the tv characters's catchphrase "Uh Oh Spaghettios". Homer tries to hide from the town but Marge convinces him to have a talk with the producers. Instead of changing the character they take the stuff Homer told them and work it into the show, for laughs, Bart says that now the character is unfunny and whiny. Homer tries to sue the producers for $20 million but the judge throws the case out, so Homer changes his name to Max Power, later Burns compliments him. Homer meets Trent Steel (a 90's pony tail wearing scumbag), he invites Homer to a fancy garden party, Woody Harrison is wearing Hemp pants (marijuana leaves). Ed Begley Jr. shows up to promote solar energy to Bill Clinton and George Stephanopulos, later Clinton tries to seduce Marge. Loren Michales tries to talk to Homer but he pretends he doesn't see him, Brian Grazer is also there. Trent wants the party guests to join his protest against deforestation by chaining themselves to trees. The police show up with swabs of mace. When Eddy tries to swab Homer he tries to run away, but since he's chained to the tree he can only go around it, the chain cuts through the tree causing a domino effect and knocking down the entire forest. When Homer celebrates being free he throws his chain in the air and kills a bald eagle. The falling trees crash into Wiggum's car, he says it was only two days away from retirement. Max decides to change his name back to Homer, but he had changed Marge's name to Chesty LaRue. 

Ed Begley Jr. does his voice in this episode.

Self Aware Joke: Fox is having a countdown to their mid season replacements (The Simpsons were a mid season replacement premiering in January). The new shows: America's Funniest Tornados / All In The Family 1999 (Archie is living with a Black guy, a Hassidic Jew and a Feminist) / The Laughter Family / Admiral Baby / Police Cops.  Homer makes a comment about animated series and how they don't have to pay actors squat, just then Ned walks by to say they can replace actors and nobody can tell the difference, in a different voice. Lisa is talking about how shows change or drop characters, or even push them into the background, just then Mr Largo and the Capitol City Goofball go by the window. (The joke would have been better if it had been Ruth Powers, who later appears in the mall crowd laughing at Homer)

At the end of Police Cop there is a message: Blood Provided by American Red Cross Give Blood Today

One of the subtle jokes in this episode is that Matt Groening named the Simpsons after his own family, except for Bart.

Springfield Shopper headline: It's War! With a photo of a mushroom cloud. (The only thing Carl is interested in is Homer's name in the paper.)

Banner at Moe's: TV Sensation Homer Simpson Drinks Here!

The show is produced by By The Numbers Productions. They were working on a show that was Titanic Meets Frasier but NBC was working on a similar show staring Annie Potts and Jeremy Piven. When Homer asks who Jeremy Piven is they said they don't know. (He's that guy from Entourage)

Homer's potential names: Hercules Rockefeller / Rembrandt Q. Einstein / Handsome B. Wonderful. Names for Marge: Chesty LaRue / Busty St. Claire / Hooty McBoob

Marge has Homer's name tattooed somewhere private. 

Homer sings a Max Power song to the tune of Goldfinger. 

The Larry David Trio plays the garden party, they've dropped the drummer.

Officer Eddy uses Mace, Hippy Strength. 

In the episode Bart After Dark the beach clean up supervisor drives an electric powered Begley 2000, in this episode Begley drives a buggy powered by his own sense of self satisfaction.

Brian Grazer appeared in the episode When You Dish Upon A Star but he doesn't have a speaking roll in this episode. 

I'm With Cupid

This episode premiered on February 14th 1999 (Valentine's Day). It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The title comes from the novelty t shirt "I'm With Stupid".  Rod Flanders wore one in the episode Hurricane Neddy.

The chalkboard gag is "Hillbillies are people too" and the couch gag is a repeat of the family under the hair driers.

Homer is telling a fairy tale but it's about how he went to the alley at Moe's to "use the bathroom" and  passed out, eventually being woken by a raccoon. Bart is suppose to make a working model of the digestive system that is due tomorrow, Marge ends up doing it for him. Marge goes to the Kwik-E-Mart for craft supplies, she says she wants to invite Apu and his wife to dinner but Apu says it's his turn since the Simpsons hosted his wedding. On the bus Nelson wrecks Bart's project. At dinner Apu and his wife get into a huge fight when she finds out Americans don't work 18 hours a day/7 days a week. To make up to Manjula Apu puts a poem in the Sunday paper and then does 7 days of Valentine's stuff. The rest of the women in town get jealous of Apu's romantic gestures. Homer tries to stir up the crowd at the bar, they all say they only have themselves to blame but Homer convinces them it's Apu's fault. Homer and the bar crowd follow Apu around town to find out what his Valentine's Day gesture will be but mostly they can't figure it out, until he goes to the airport. Elton John shows up at the airport and the guys think Apu hired him so they kidnap him. It turns out that Apu's plan was to have a skywriter put a message in the sky. Homer jumps into the plane and kicks the smoke canister loose and all the women think the message is for them. Apu saves Elton John and then pulls a bunch of puns about his name. The pilot tries to kill Homer by flying low through a rose patch and then kicking him out over his house. Marge thinks coming from the sky covered in roses is Homer's grand gesture. Elton John plays for Apu and Manjula in the secret rooftop garden at the Kwik-E-Mart. 

Elton John does his voice and singing in this episode.

This show has a lot of culturally insensitive stereotypes of Indians. I can see why there were complaints. 

Apu has a Duff calendar with Surly driving a car.

Apu gets a parrot to sing a version of I Love The Nightlife by Alicia Bridges.

The candy delivery truck is Baron Von's Munch House. A spoof on Barron Von Munchausen.

Best line of the episode: Homer is talking about all the other marriages that are falling apart "The problem is communication, too much communication"

Apu goes to Tiffany's but comes out with a croissant. Wiggum says they have breakfast now and Homer comments "only until 11:00". This was a spoof on the movie Breakfast At Tiffanys but in 2017 Tiffany and Co opened The Blue Box Cafe and you can actually get breakfast there.

Homer, Moe, Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert and Ned follow Apu. 

When Ned starts talking about all the things they could do for their wives Moe throws him out of the car, but Ned gets a hunk of his chest hair. This is a spoof on the scene in the 1972 movie The Way Of The Dragon when Bruce Lee pulls out some of Chuck Norris' chest hair. 

The skywriter is Fantastic Dan. He first appeared in the episode Bart Carney as the guy living in the Wack-A-Mole game.

Apu's secret garden on top of the Kwik-E-Mart first appeared in the episode Lisa The Vegetarian. Paul and Linda McCartney hung out there. 

This episode has a Drop The Cow moment. The premise is set up by Bart needing a working model of the human digestive system and Marge staying up all night to do the actual work. Later Nelson causes it to blow up on the bus and....that's the end of that story. It just didn't go anywhere or have any real effect upon the rest of the episode. This is a problem that will start to happen a lot more.

Marge Simpson In: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"

This episode premiered on February 21st 1999. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Mr. Holland's Opus), Touched By An Angel and NBA Basketball.

The title of the episode was suppose to be the title of the road rage movie Wiggum shows the class.

The chalkboard gag is "Grammar is not a time of waste" (get it?) and the couch gag is a repeat of the roller coaster.

The teachers are putting on a talent show, Willie does Scottish jokes but nobody laughs, when he starts telling them off they laugh. Mrs Krabappal does a ballon dance. Seymour and Chalmers do a version of Who's On First, Skinner messes it up. At intermission the audience flees. Marge is driving but can't get out of the parking lot, Krusty comes up behind them in the Canyonero and drives across the playground. The next day Homer goes to car dealership, he's about to buy one from Gil but Stan comes along and steals the sale. Homer leases a Canyonero but then finds out that the F series is for women. Homer steals Marge's car and leaves her with the Canyonero so she takes it shopping. She gets stuck in traffic and the kids start fighting in the back seat so she shifts into FWD and drives home across a field. Homer finds a three chambered peanut but Marge is too busy playing with the car to pay attention to them. Marge becomes a road rage driver and gets pulled over by Wiggum and has to go to driver's school. Eddy shows up as Curtis E. Bear, Wiggum allows the aggressive drivers to beat him up. After the road rage class everyone is too polite to pull out of the parking lot. Marge decides to push her way-out of the parking lot and crashes into the prison fence, Wiggum revokes her license. Homer takes the family to the animal park but sets off a chain of events that results in the rhinos escaping. Wiggum goes to Marge to try to get her help but she refuses, until she sees the family trapped on their car. Marge herds the rhinos but one takes off with Homer, he gets trapped in a porta potty but the rhino keeps attacking him. Marge shows up but rolls the Canyonero so it bursts into flames, which the rhino tries to stomp out until the park warden shows up and darts the rhino. 

Springfield Elementary School banner: Faculty Talent Show Two-Milk Minimum

Talent show meddly Pomp and Circumstance, Fame, Shave and a Haircut. Willie plays My Bonnie on the bagpipes. Krabappal sings Fever.

When Skinner screws up the Abbot and Costello routine Chalmers calls him "a sexless freak". This is a reference to the episode Grade School Confidential when Skinner confesses he's still a virgin.

Homer goes to the OK Car-ral

Gil was a car salesman in the episode Natural Born Kissers.

The Canyonero first appeared in the episode The Last Temptation of Krusty. He drives it in this episode. 

Gil has a rotary dial cell phone. 

Series regulars at driver's school: Marge, Krusty, Agnes, Kearny, Moe

Court Ordered Productions (COP) Presents Road Rage: Death Flips The Finger. 

When Marge crashes through the fence Wiggum says the escaping prisoners were one day away from being fully rehabilitated. 

Wild Animal Kingdom "Born Free, Then Caged"

The park warden is based on the character Robert Muldoon from Jurassic Park

When the park warden accidentally shoots a sloth with a tranq dart it does the Snoopy dance before passing out. 

Homer tries to stop the rhinos by shouting Jumanji. This was the title of the 1995 movie about the jungle game. 

Self Aware Joke: Marge says she learned all she knows about rhinos from Stone Phillips and then praise NBC and all its fine programming. However during the closing credits Homer reads a statement that NBC sucks and all the programs on Fox are great, then adds that CBS rocks and you hear the sound of a gunshot and a thumping body. At the time Stone Phillips was hosting Dateline that ran opposite The Simpsons.

Make Room For Lisa

This episode premiered on February 28th 1999. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O Disney (The Little Mermaid), Touched By An Angel and the NBA game.

The title of this episode comes from the 1950's show Make Room For Daddy, later changed to The Danny Thomas Show.

The chalkboard gag is "I do not have diplomatic immunity" and the couch gag is a repeat of the firemen.

Homer is listening to a classic radio station and thinks he's travelled back in time. Lenny changes the station to The Safety Dance and Homer is glad to have returned to the present. KBBL is doing a live broadcast from P.J. O'Harrigan's. Homer sneaks out of work and wakes up the next day in the middle of the street, he won the Sir Drinks-A-Lot contest. Homer finds out that he was suppose to do Saturday with the kids, he's happy because it's Bart's turn to pick however he traded it off to Lisa for her dessert. After Homer complains about all her choices she picks the Smithsonian's traveling exhibit, sponsored by Omnitouch, a flip cell phone. Homer damages the Bill of Rights and it would cost $10,000 to repair, to cut a deal Homer lets the phone company put a tower in the middle of their house, and it takes over Lisa's room with it's main electronics. Lisa's forced to move into Bart's room. The cell tower starts broadcasting the town's phone calls on Marge's baby monitor. Lisa starts getting highly stressed and causes her stomach problems. Dr. Hibbert subscribes herbal tea but Homer wants to use harsh antacids. Lisa tells Homer off and that they will drift apart as time goes by, so he takes her to the herbal store. The new age guru suggest sensory deprivation tanks, Lisa signs them up for two hours. She has an out of body experience and finds herself in Snowball II. Bart gets the other baby monitor and pretends to be a bank robber breaking into the house. He gets Milhouse to open the front door and Marge bashes him in the head with the baby monitor. The Repo Depot shows up at the new age store and take Homer's deprivation tank but it falls off the truck, it lands in front of the Flanders and they think it's a coffin so they bury Homer. His tank crashes through a water pipe and he plunges into the ocean and washes up on the beach. Wiggum finds it and returns it to the store. Meanwhile Lisa has an out of body experience with Homer and has to see the world from his point of view where she constantly puts him down. After their trip to the herbal store Lisa agrees to go to the Demolition Derby with Homer. 

The radio station plays Benny Goodman's Sing Sing Sing, Lenny changes the station to Men Without Hats' Safety Dance. 

P.J. O'Harrigan's is based on Bennigan's

Smithsonian's traveling exhibit: the Mercury Space Capsule / the Spirit of St. Louis / Sammy Davis Jr's Eye. (I'm hoping it's the fake one) / Liberty Bell / Lou Gehrig's jersey / 18 star flag / Howdy Doody Doll / 1911 High Wheeler car / Don't Tread On Me flag / Civil War mortar canon / Soldier on horse statue (possibly the one from the episode The Secret War Of Lisa Simpson) / Lincoln's hat / Fonzie's jacket (which is under glass, surrounded by lasers and has two armed guards with attack dogs) / MASH tent / The Bill Of Rights / Archie Bunker's chair (Homer sits in it reading the Bill of Rights) 

Homer lays on the couch like Andy Capp.

La-Z-Mom Baby Monitor. 

Homer watches When Animals Attack Magicians. This is a spoof on the shows that use to lead the Simspons on Sunday Nights.

Marge's notes about the people in Springfield: Otto-Drugs? Mayor Quimby-Interns? Burn-Greedy? Krusty-Gay?

The new age store is Karma-Ceuticals 

The new age store has a Pink Floyd Hammer flag. 

In the deprivation tank Homer sings Witch Doctor by David Seville

Maximum Homerdrive

This episode premiered on March 28th 1999. The lead in show was The World's Funniest! and it was followed by Futurama. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Balloon Farm), Touched By An Angel and NBA basketball.

The title comes from the Stephen King novel and 1986 movie Maximum Overdrive

The chalkboard gag is "It does not suck to be you" and the couch gag is the family appears as different ages, Bart and Lisa are now the adults while Homer and Marge are kids, Maggie is a doll. 

The family is eating dinner when Lisa comes in to complain about a new steakhouse restaurant (what a surprise), The Slaughterhouse. Homer insists on taking the family to dinner, the restaurant kills the cows in front of you. Homer takes the Sir Loin-A-Lot challenge, 16 pounds of meat. The champion Red tells Homer to not to do it, Homer gets insulted so they hold a race. Homer can't finish the challenge but Red does, but then drops dead. Homer decides to finish Red's semi truck delivery and Bart comes along. When a kid signals Homer to blow his horn he accidentally disconnects the trailer. To enjoy their own adventure Marge takes Lisa doorbell shopping. At the shop Nelson lights a bag of dog poo on fire and rings the bell at the demo door, Gil comes out and stomps on it. When they get home Marge won't ring the bell, she wants someone to use it first, the Jehovah's Witnesses show up but just before they ring the bell they rethink their religion and run away. Marge gets desperate and calls Luigi's delivery but the guy knocks. Marge won't open the door until the guy rings the bell so he drives away. Lisa gives up and pushes the button however the bell gets stuck and keeps ringing. Homer has to make his delivery in 10 hours so he buys a bottle of Stimu-Crank, and balances it out with sleeping pills so one minute he's wide awake and the next sound asleep. Homer falls asleep on a hill but the auto pilot kicks in and gets them to the next truck stop. Homer brags about getting to the station while asleep but the other truck drivers tell him about the auto pilot. Homer shows off the auto pilot to Bart by sitting on the hood of the truck, just as a tour bus goes by, he tells them all about the auto pilot. A truck driver sees Homer and calls all the other trucks. Marge goes to dismantle the doorbell but Homer traded his tools for M&Ms and she accidentally makes it play faster and louder. The truck drivers try to stop Homer, when he plans on running the road block the autopilot ejects itself. Homer tries to stop at the roadblock but accidentally flips over the trucks and continues on. Homer makes the delivery on time, artichokes and migrant workers. Homer needs to figure out how to get home when an engineer quits rather than haul a trainload of napalm to Springfield. The entire town turns out to complain about Marge's doorbell, Wiggum is just about to shoot it when Senior Ding Dong shows up and shuts the doorbell off with his whip. He plans on a dramatic exit but his van battery dies. 

Marge says she heard about the new steakhouse on The Red Grocer, this is a spoof on Joe Carcione, The Green Grocer who appeared in syndication.

Only two people finished the Sir Loin-A-Lot challenge, Red Barclay and Tony Randall, the challenge is based on The Big Texan challenge of eating a 72 oz steak with all the sides in less than an hour.

Red's body bag says I Died At The Slaughterhouse. 

Red's truck says Red Rascal on the door and has the image of the Tex Avery wolf. 

Homer's trucking music is Wannabe by The Spice Girls

Marge buys a doorbell at Senior Ding-Dong's Doorbell Fiesta. The new doorbell plays Close To You by The Carpenters, her and Homer's song.

Joe's Diner Now Aware Of Camp Value! (I don't get that joke)

The post card Homer sends Marge has a picture of Betty Page, the classic pin up girl.

Homer takes the semi to the Stardust Drive In movie, they see The Monster That Ate Everybody, all the other people are pissed because they can't see past the truck.

Truck stop name: The Gassy Knoll. A spoof on the conspiracy theory about the assassination of JFK.

The truckers jumping on the trailer while trying to stop Homer is a spoof on the Road Warrior scene. 

When Homer tries to run the trucker roadblock the auto pilot tells him the risk is unacceptable in a spoof on 2001: A Space Odyssey computer HAL 9000

Welcome To Atlanta: Home Of Ted Turner's Mood Swings. A little known story, when the Braves lost to the Yankees in 1996 Ted Turner hid out in his ranch in New Mexico for a week. 

On a note, Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa, appears in the film Maximum Overdrive.

Woo Hoo! I've reached episode 220, just six more to finish up Season 10.

 The Simpsons 211-215

Homer Simpsons In "Kidney Trouble"

This episode premiered on December 6, 1998. The lead in show was Annabelle's Wish and it was followed by That 70's Show. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Pooh's Christmas/Beauty And The Beast), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The title comes from the Roger Rabbit cartoon Tummy Trouble and the various Itchy And Scratchy shows that had run on the series over the years.

The chalkboard gag is "I am not a licensed hairstylist" and the couch gag is a repeat of the frogs on the lily pad.

The Simpsons are on their way to a Ghost Town when the Check Engine light comes on and they break down, right in front of the nursing home, and it just happens to be Grandpa's birthday. The town was founded as a prostitute stop. Grandpa drinks too much sarsaparilla and needs to use the restroom but Homer is in a hurry to get home to see The Actor's Studio featuring F. Murray Abraham. Because Abe held too long his kidneys explode. Homer volunteers to give Abe a kidney. The family treats Homer like a hero however the crowd at the bar tells him all the horrible things about organ donations and he starts to panic. At the hospital Homer runs away. Krusty comes to visit Abe as part of the "Last Laugh Program". Homer gets a job on a a ship, the Sea Captain calls it The Ship Of Lost Souls" even though the name on the boat is Honeybunch. The people on the ship all have stories of why they fled to sea, when they hear Homer's reason they toss him overboard. Grandpa says he's going to a better place, Shelbyville Hospital. Homer finally shows up but runs away again. He's almost hit by a truck but is crushed by one of the cars it was hauling. The hospital took out one of Homer's kidneys while working on his broken bones. Homer hugs Bart to check out one of his kidneys. 

Bloodbath Gulch "The Friendlies Town In The Old West."

The western saloon has animatronic figures including a guy chasing a woman in a circle, this is a spoof on the classic Pirates Of The Caribbean ride (before it was PC'd)

Bart has a Wanted for Lewd Behavior poster with a photo of Homer, it's not a souvenir, the town's security guard is passing them out to the customers. 

Highway sign: Rest Area 85 Wonderful Bathrooms. They drive by the World's Largest Toilet. People are sitting around the rim reading magazines.

Bart rents Homer's favorite gorilla movies: Gorilla Squadron / Gorilla Island 6 / Apes-A-Poppin'

Springfield Hospital sign: Doctors Carry Less Than $5 Cash

Hospital intercom pages: Doc Martin to Podiatry (the shoe guy). Dr. Bombay, come right away. (Bewitched, complete with how they called him).

Barnacle Bill's Anger Management Center

Homer buys his sea clothes at Davy Jones' Hamper 

Call Me Delish-Mael Taffy Shop. This is a spoof on the opening line from Moby Dick "Call me Ishmael"

The ship has a character based Peter Lorre including the way he talked. 

Dr Hibbert says he had a kidney for Grandpa but Larry Hagman took it, he has 5 kidneys and three hearts.

Mayored To The Mob

This episode premiered on December 20th 1998. The lead in show was The World's Funniest and it was followed by That 70's Show. It ran opposite the ABC Family Movie (The Baby-Sitters Club), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The title of the episode comes from the 1988 movie Married To The Mob.

The chalkboard gag is " 'The President did it' is not an excuse" and the couch gag is  a repeat of the car crusher gag. 

The family is watching The Thousand Dollar Movie, Roger Corman's Titanic. The ship tries to eat Jack and Rose just as she's getting naked. There is a commercial for the Bi Monthly Sci Fi Convention Bi-Mo-Sci-Fi-Con featuring Mark Hamill, Alf and many more. Homer says the convention is nothing but a bunch of nerds, everyone there knows Lisa. Hamill does a pitch for Sprint. When he asks for a volunteer to play Obi Wan a riot breaks out. Homer goes charging and saves Hamill and Quimby. The Mayor fires his bodyguards and hires Homer. Homer goes through bodyguard training, they use watermelon as stand ins for celebrities however nobody saves there's, but since their checks cleared they all become bodyguards. Homer uses a Vulcan nerve pinch on the family. Homer takes the Mayor to Moe's where they get a case of Duffenbraus, semi imported. Homer drives the Mayor around to collect his bribes. When Lisa starts complaining about the Mayor Homer does the nerve pinch on her again. The mob bribes the Mayor for the school milk contract but it turns out to be rat milk. Homer goes to tell off Quimby but accidentally hits the speed control on the treadmill and flings the Mayor out the window. Quimby catches the ledge, Homer promises to save him if he does something about the rat milk. The police raid the Gentlemen's Club and Fat Tony vows revenge. To help the Mayor forget about the mob Homer takes him to the Springfield Dinner Theater that is doing a production of Guys And Dolls where Mark Hamill is staring as Nathan Detroit. Homer talks to Fat Tony and delivers a message to the Mayor, the kiss of death. Homer suspects that Fat Tony poisoned the Mayor's dinner so he scarfs it all down. Hamill shows up dressed as Luke. Mobster Louie ends up on stage doing a dance number and gets a round of applause, Hamill tells him off and gets punched. Louie tries to jump off the stage and stab Quimby but Homer jumps in the way, Hamill tells him to "use the fork" and Homer pins Louie's ties to the table, meanwhile Fat Tony is beating the Mayor with a bat. The Mayor goes to the hospital and Homer has to carry Hamill through the crowd of fans while I will Always Love You by Whitney Houston plays (a spoof on the 1992 movie The Bodyguard)

Mark Hamill does his own voice for this episode. Dick Tufeld does the voice of the Lost In Space robot.

The convention features a fight between The Mighty Battle robots from Battlestar Galactica vs. The Gay robots from Star Wars (Classic Battlestar btw)

Science Fiction Convention Set Phasers On Fun!

Autographs: Gort (The Day The Earth Stood Still) / Doctor Who (Tom Baker version) / Godzilla / Neil Armstrong (nobody is getting his autograph) / Dr. Smith and the robot B-9 (Lost In Space)

When Mark Hamill comes on stage he uses his light saber to knock over cardboard cutouts of the Stormtroopers, and Wonder Woman. 

Comic Book Guy sees a woman and the Star Trek seduction music plays. 

Homer goes to Leavelle's Bodyguard Academy A Division Of Ray-Ban (This is a spoof on James Leavelle, the homicide detective who was escorting Lee Harvey Oswald when Jack Ruby jumped out of the crowd and shot him)

Celebrity names on the watermelons, Sting, Madonna, Al Gore, Ann Landers (Homer eats his)

Berating Room Session In Progress

The mob sells Squeaky Farms Brand Genuine Animal Milk. With a picture of Fat Tony holding a pitchfork. This is a spoof on Squeaky Fromme, a member of Charles Manson's "Family"

Continuity error, Lisa is drinking milk despite being a vegetarian. I guess the rules were a little more lax in the 90's.

When Homer thinks the Mayor is dead he starts to plot a Weekend At Bernie's plan. 

The Mayor's doorbell plays Hail To The Chief. 

Signs at the dinner theater: Mark Hamill IS Nathan Detroit, Pepper Steak IS The Entree.

The previous show at the dinner theater was Othello with Peter Marshall. 

The cast sings Guys And Dolls to the tune of Hooray For Hollywood. "Luke be a Jedi tonight"

This was the last episode of 1998. the series was starting to show its age and the individual plots weren't as good as they use to be, would 1999 be any better? I guess we'll find out. 

Viva Ned Flanders

This episode premiered on January 10th 1999. The lead in show was The World's Funniest and it was followed by The PJs. (a claymation sitcom featuring Eddie Murphy) It ran opposite The W.W.O Disney (The New Swiss Family Robinson), Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The title of the episode comes from the Elvis song Viva Las Vegas. 

The chalkboard gag is "My Mom is not dating Jerry Seinfeld"  and the couch gag is a repeat of the family being spun. 

Kent Brockman is reporting on the implosion of Burns' casino. The construction worker says "Implosion? But I thought you said Explosion" just as the building blows up, Don Rickles goes flying out of the top of it. The Simpson's car gets coated with dust so they go to the car wash, Homer is pissed that it costs him $10 and then Ned gets a senior discount. At church Homer exposes Ned as a fraud however Ned confesses that he's 60. He claims his youthful appearance is due to his clean living, everyone puts him down for never having really lived. Grandpa and Jasper pull up next to Ned in a car full of women and wave at him, Ned thinks they're having fun but the truth is they are being carjacked, the women want to go to Dress Barn. Ned tries to go wild by not trimming his mustache or sitting with a chair turned backwards. He looks out and sees Homer on the roof smoking a turkey using the chimney. Ned goes to Homer got learn how to be wild, Homer insists on $5 a day fee. Homer decides to head to the Monty Burns Casino, forgetting that they just blew it up, so they head to Las Vegas instead. Ned gets overstimulated and jumps out of the car but he's confronted by Joan Rivers who is trying to get an audience for her informercial, he dives back in the car. They stay at Nero's Palace, where Lance Murdock is trying to make a jump on his Suicycle. Homer tries to get Ned to be the volunteer Lance is jumping over but he won't so Homer does it instead. He asks where they want him and Lance says On the X, which is a skull and crossbones covered in blood. Lance makes it through all the obstacles but Homer sits up at the last minute causing Lance to lose control and crash into a wall. Ned doesn't feel right betting in a casino so he prays to God and hears a voice saying "keep gambling", it's the security guard watching the camera feed. Homer bets all of Ned's money and loses. Homer convinces Ned to try drinking so he orders a white wine spritzer, the next day they wake up in a trashed suite and discover they married the cocktail waitresses. Ned tells the women that they are already married but the women won't give them up without a fight. Homer has a fantasy about his two wives doing all the work. He decides to run off and Ned joins him. They try to grab two workers and steal their uniforms, but get beat up. Gil is at the casino, betting the companies payroll, and rolls craps, Ned and Homer are hiding behind his chips. Along with security, Gunther and Ernst, Dredric Tatum and The Moody Blues stop Homer and Ned, they jump into a prize 64 Corvette but the mob gets them. Ned and Homer get thrown out of Nevada and their new wives ditch them for Gunther and Ernst, who look confused "wink wink". They start walking home while making up a story about being abducted by aliens.  Viva Las Vegas plays over the closing credits which are seen on a Vegas marquee. 

The Moody Blues do their own voices.

Entertainers at Burns' casino, Little Timmy and the Shebangs / The Shebangs / The New Shebangs featuring Big Timmy.

Self Observation jokes, when Marge talks about Burns' casino she says "remember how excited we were went it was opened, and then a week later we just forgot about it" ($pringfield) Lisa wonders why they moved it when they moved the town. (Trash Of The Titans). Homer is about to explain when they blow up the building. 

Stickers on Comic Book Guy's car: My other car is a Millennium Falcon / The Truth is in Here / I break for Tribbles / My child is an honor student at Starfleet Academy / Kang is my CoPilot (self aware joke since Kang is a character on The Simpsons) / Keep honking, I'm charging my phaser. His plate number is NCC-1701

First Church Of Springfield message board Today's Topic: He Knows What You Did Last Summer. (A spoof on the 1997 film I Know What You Did Last Summer)

When Grandpa pulls up in the car Anyway You Want It by Journey is playing. Ever since Caddyshack it's the official party song. 

On the way to Vegas Homer and Ned pass the Ralph Steadman images from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. They are complaining about Vegas having too many kids. In the 90's Las Vegas tried to become more "family friendly" with rides, family shows and so forth. It didn't last. 

Vegas Casinos: Dupes "Nudes On Break! / Lucky Lucky Casino / Nero's Palace / Peacock / Golddiggers Casino, Cirque du Buffet, Loosest Craps In Town / Newark Newark (it has a rat mascot) Presents: Legends Of Cleavage, Turnpike Lounge featuring Rip Taylor Negron / Rivera's Presents Okla-Homo / Snowshoe Casino Arctic Circle Showroom Presents Klon-Dykes! / Quicksands The Satin Knights Sing The Moody Blues, Opening Act: The Moody Blues / Safari Casino (with zoo animals riding the roller coaster)

After finding out he's married Ned has a panic attack and shouts "And then there's Maude!". This is a reference to the theme song of the 1972 tv series Maude.

When Ned and Homer are fleeing the casino Viva Las Vegas by Elvis plays. 

Gunther and Ernst show up, they were first seen in the episode $pringfield. Daredevil Lance Murdock first appeared in the episode Bart The Daredevil.

Continuity Error: In the episode Hurricane Neddy, Ned had been treated for his childhood aggression 30 years earlier, which would have been the mid 1960's, not to mention his parents were Beatnicks, a social movement from the late 1950's-early 1960's. However if he's 60 in this episode that means he would have to have been born in 1939. 

Note, this episode ran 10 years before the movie The Hangover but featured many of the same elements, guys waking up in a trashed out hotel room after being black out drunk, a tiger, a heavyweight champion, a marriage to a strange woman. 

On a side note, The Sopranos debuted on this night on HBO

Wild Barts Can't Be Broken

This episode premiered on January 17th 1999. The lead in show was World's Funniest and it was followed by That 70's Show. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Selma, Lord, Selma), 60 Minutes and Dateline NBC. 

The title of the episode is a reference to the 1991 film Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken

The chalkboard gag is "Sherri Does Not "Got Back" and the couch gag is the family, wearing cowboy hats, straddle the back of the couch, just then the bomb bay doors open and they are dropped on Springfield.

The family goes to an Isotopes game, Homer heckled them because they broke his heart. After the first pitch Homer goes to the car to wait, the team lost by two runs. Six months later Homer goes to Moe's and discovers that the Isotopes are in the championship because of a sniper at the all stars game. Homer runs out to the car to get his Isotopes gear and gets interviews by Kent Brockman. The Isotopes win with a bottom of the 9th home run. Homer and the gang drive home drunk and trash out Springfield Elementary including crashing into the Puma mascot and the empty trophy case. Lisa asks Homer what he did last night, he remembers in a series of silent movie clips. He goes to the bar, scene missing, dancing around the May pole, scene missing, the end. An Ethanol Picture. Bart is happy to discover the school has been trashed, Wiggum declares that it must have been the work of no good kids so he imposes a curfew. When Homer goes outside and discovers his car crashed through the back fence he blames the punk kids. The kids are all outside enjoying the summer when Wiggum shows up and orders them all to go home. The bullies defy the curfew so Wiggum arrests Jimbo and Dolf but lets Nelson go because he has Dr. Hibbert's ID (he even does the Dr's laugh). Bart and Lisa are upset that they are stuck in the house on a summer night, just then Homer breaks in to tell them the carnival is in town for one night only and there are no lines because all the kids are stuck at home, he then runs back to the carnival without them. The kids watch prime time tv, it's a goofy Friends style sitcom but they see a commercial for the movie The Bloodening, they decide to sneak out and go to the drive in to see the movie.  The movie features creepy kids who read the adults minds and have telekinetic powers. The kids get to excited and get caught by Wiggum, they are forced to clean his curfew billboard. Bart decides they need to stand up to the adults, Lisa points out they know their parents secrets. They go around and steal electronic equipment from town. The kids get the adults to listen to the radio, the kids speak in a creepy British voice and spill the secrets. They threaten to continue to spread stories until the curfew is lifted. Frink helps Wiggum find the kids who are using the police billboard for their broadcasts. A musical argument breaks out between the kids and the adults. Grandpa and the senior citizens show up and tell off everyone for keeping them up with all the noise. The seniors vote to impose a curfew on anyone under 70, because they are the only ones who go to the polls. The show ends with the the seniors out in the street playing while the Old Jewish Guy complains. 

Cindi Lauper does her own singing of the National Anthem at the ballgame in this episode.

The movie The Bloodening is based on the 1960 movie Village Of The Damned.

The chalkboard gag is a reference to one of the series' twins Sherri and the 1992 song Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-Lot, the couch gag is a reference to the scene in Dr. Strangelove when Colonel Kong rides the nuclear bomb to the target site.

On Miss Hoover's Second Grade board is a drawing by Ralph of Chief Wiggum, his mother, him and a baby. There has never been a mention of another member of the Wiggum family.

The Puma mascot first appeared in the episode Separate Vocations. The empty trophy case was in the episode Lard Of The Dance.

Homer, Carl, Lenny and Barney sing We Are The Champions by Queen in the Boys Shower Room.

When imposing the curfew Wiggum tells the kids "Achtung Babies". This is a reference to the U2 album Achtung Baby.

Native American Ice Cream, Formerly Big Chief Crazy Cone. The truck first appeared in the episode Itchy And Scratchy: The Movie.

Simpson board games: Citizenship / Energy Shortage Game (with a gas line on the cover) / Hippo In The House / The Game Of Lent

Billboard sign: We're Watching You Kids, Cops Never Sleep. There is an image of Wiggum drinking coffee. 

Sitcom: Don't Go There. Marge gets tired of the show so she wants to watch Talk To The Hand, staring David Faustino (best known for playing Bud on Married With Children), instead. 

Milhouse is watching Teletubbies and later is seen wearing underwear with their images on it.

Kids who break curfew, Bart, Lisa, Milhouse, random kid, Martin, Janey, the Black kid, Nelson. 

Skinner and Krabappal with Chalmers and Agnes go to the drive-in. Luanne Van Houten and Chase are making out at the movie. The kids later reveal she's been cheating on Chase, aka Gyro with Pyro. 

When the kids are hauling their stolen stuff to build their transmitter it's a spoof on the Our Gang comedies complete with Milhouse wearing clothes and his hair like Alfalfa, they even have the dog Petey. 

While trying to find the kids broadcast Lisa turns the dial to the A Date Which Will Live In Infamy speech by Franklin Roosevelt. 

Homer threatens to spank Bart back to the stone age. This is based on Curtis LeMay's threat to bomb Vietnam back to the stone age. 

The fight between the kids and the adults turns into a version of the song What's The Matter With Kids Today from Bye Bye Birdie. 

The end of the show with the seniors playing in the street is based on the 1962 episode of The Twilight Zone, Kick The Can.

Sunday, Cruddy Sunday

This episode premiered on January 31st 1999. It was Super Bowl Sunday so the program ran late. It's lead in show was Family Guy and it closed out the night's schedule. Since it was an hour after prime time it ran opposite local affiliates programming, probably the local news.

The title of the episode comes from the U2 song Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not do the Dirty Bird" and the couch gag is the living room is flooded, the family jumps on the couch but it hits an iceberg and sinks. Only Maggie is saved when she floats up on a cushion with the remote. 

The school goes on a field trip to the post office but they're bored since they went there the year before. Nelson asks the postmaster if he's ever gone on a shooting spree. When they check the employee lounge the postmen are opening cards looking for cash. The kids are allowed to grab a letter from the dead letter pile. Ralph finds a package for Otto, it sets off the drug dogs. Milhouse finds his letter to Santa, Bart gets a coupon book that he gives to Homer as a birthday present. Homer goes for a free balancing but is tricked into buying four new tires. He runs into Wally Kogen, they met before in a pyramid scheme. Wally runs a tour service and has a charter bus going to the Super Bowl. All the guys let their guts out since no women are going on the bus, until they see that the driver is a female and then they suck them back in. Rudy shows up but they don't stop for him. Dan Marino throws a spiral at Bart but at the last minute Homer intercepts it, Bubba and Hacksaw tackle him. (Bubba Smith and Jack "Hacksaw" Reynolds). At home Marge and Lisa are doing an egg decorating kit but discover the legs are missing, Marge calls the company even though the kit was made in 1967. A recording from Vincent Price (who died in 1993) tells their to leave their name and address at the beep. At the Super Bowl they find out that their tickets are fake, and printed on graham crackers. Homer goes to a scalper but he had just insulted the guy. Homer sees a rack of halftime costumes and knocks the guards over with it, everyone rushes into the stadium, cut to the stadium jail where everyone is taking turns kicking Homer. Dolly Parton comes and it turns out Wally knows her, she helps them escape with her extra strength makeup remover. The guys run around lost until they find a luxury box and swarm on the buffet, however it's Rupert Murdock's skybox. The guys finally find a way to the field but it's where the team is running back into the locker room and they end up there. Homer answers the call from Clinton. The guys all steal Super Bowl rings and Homer steals the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Pat Summerall and John Madden do a review of the episode and then Vincent Price shows up driving a bus. An image of Homer in the tire shop waiting room with The Little Spanish Flea by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass play during the closing credits.

The couch gag is based on the 1997 movie Titanic.

Troy Aikman, Rosey Grier, John Madden, Dan Marino, Rupert Murdoch, Pat Summerall and Dolly Parton do their own voices in this episode. Wall Kogen is voiced by Fred Willard.

The Post Office is offering the Legends of Comedy stamps, Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Ben Turpin. Krusty is complaining and says "What has Arbuckle done that I haven't done?" He was accused of having an illegitimate child and it ruined his career.

Didn't age well joke: Nelson asks if the post master ever went on a shooting spree, Skinner says he's glad he works at an elementary school. 

One of Homer's coupons is for a colonic, he heads out singing Do You Like Pina Colonics? It's a spoof on the song Escape by Rupert Holmes. Bart got a birthday coupon book in the episode Radio Bart. 

High Pressure Tire Sales. Waiting room, Trout Fever magazine, broken B&W tv.

When talking about the Super Bowl the characters hold a glass up to their face every time they say the team so the names can be dubbed in at the last minute. They also dub in Bill and Hillary's name. This is also a joke about the potential of future syndication where they can dub in the names of the teams and President. 

Guys going to the super bowl, Wally, Homer, Bart, Sea Captain, Lawyer, Sideshow Mel, Krusty, Dr. Nick, Larry, Barney, Carl, Lenny, Ned, Dr Hibbert, Bill, Reverend Lovejoy, Kirk, Jasper, Moe, Wiggum, the Jewish Senior, Bumblebee Man, Pimple faced teen, Comic Book Guy, Apu

When Rudy tries to join the gang on the bus they leave him behind, it's a spoof on the 1993 movie Rudy.

On the bus they listen to Wild Weekend by NRBQ.

In the activity closet, The game of Rat Trap and Monopolize, Leather Craft, Clay Play, Li'l Leonardo Art Set (Lisa complains about this one), Vincent Price's Egg Magic. (another Lisa problem, she complains about the leather craft kit but doesn't object to the egg kit)

In the Super Bowl parking lot: Rosy Greer's PortA-Chapel / Football Trading Cards / Jerry "Lightfoot" McGee (the NFL's oldest surviving player) / Take a Leak With NFL Greats (Plunket and Waters at a urinal) / Caricatures By Troy Aikman!! / Catch a pass from Dan Marino

There is a Super Bowl commercial for the Catholic Church where a group of hot women come out and gas up a guy's car, with a lot of sexual innuendos. Voiceover "We've made a few changes". This is based on the video for Gimme All Your Loving by ZZ Top complete with the song. 

Dolly Parton is performing a medley with Rob Lowe and Stomp, she jet packs in while wearing a Snoopy head. Stomp was a popular Broadway show.

When the gang escapes from the stadium jail they run around to the tune Song 2 by Blur. 

When Clinton calls to congratulate the winners Al Gore is in the background measuring for new drapes in the Oval Office. If only. (also chalk this one up as a Simpsons prediction miss)

In this episode we find out Carl is married and his anniversary is Jan. 31st. 

The 1999 Super Bowl was between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons 34-19. In the Episode You Only Move Twice Hank Scorpio gave Homer the Broncos but at the time they were still losers. 

Normally the episode would be preempted for the Super Bowl but the plot line had to do with the big game so they had a special late showing.

Well, I've reached episode 215. I'm closer to being done than when I started. 

Note, my last post got a restriction warning. It either had to do with the episode where Bart shoots a bird with a BB gun or where Homer mixes psychedelics in the Hippie's all natural juice. Either way, there isn't anything really bad in the blog.

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 The Simpsons 201-205

King Of The Hill

This episode premiered on May 3rd, 1998. The lead in show was The World's Funniest and it was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite the ABC Family Movie (Babe), Touched By An Angel and the NBC Sunday Night Movie (The Long Island Incident)

The title of the episode comes from the kid's game and the show that followed The Simpsons.

There isn't a chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of the snow globe.

Homer and Bart are watching a McBain movie, he's flying a plane for UNICEF and comes under attack by Commie Nazis. Marge makes the family goes to the church picnic. Ralph tags Burns in his limo, so he has Smithers try to run Ralph over. The kids play capture the flag, Bart wants Homer to join in, he doesn't want to until he finds out Ned is on the other team. Bart uses Homer's underwear to trick the other team, they almost win but Homer can't run across the finish line, the kids pelt him with deviled eggs. Homer decides it's time to get into shape, Marge mocks him because it isn't the first time he made this vow. Homer sets off to secretly jog, he makes it all the way to Flanders mailbox. He stops off at the Kwik-E-Mart for a health snack, he tries the PowerSauce bars, as endorsed by Rainer Wolfcastle. Homer discovers the all night gym, where Wolfcastle offers to shout at him while he works out. The PowerSauce bar guys ask Wolfcastle to climb the Murderhorn mountain in Springfield, when he turns them down they decide to recruit Homer instead. Abe tries to talk Homer out of climbing the mountain, he and a guy named McAllister tried to climb the mountain in 1928 for the Butter Baby Flapjack company. Abe says that McAllister pushed him off the mountain and was never seen again. Homer and two sherpas set off for the top of the mountain, about 10 feet up Homer is already using the oxygen. Secretly at night the sherpas are dragging Homer up the mountain. One night he wakes up and is upset that nobody believes in him so he fires them, they are more than happy to leave. The PowerSauce guys finally admit that the bars are nothing more than combination of apple cores and Chinese newspapers. To cover their butts they claim Homer has switched to the Vita-Peach Health Log. Homer starts running out of oxygen and hallucinates while sliding down the mountain. Homer thinks he's reached the top but it's just a ledge, then he finds a cave. Inside he finds the frozen remains of McAllister and his notebook, Abe stole the supplies and bit a chunk out of his arm. Homer decides to plant the flag where he is at but causes the top of the mountain to collapse thus making him on top. Homer rides the corpse of McAllister to the bottom of the mountain. Marge spots Homer's wallet on top of the mountain, "D'oh!"

Brenden Fraiser and Steven Webber do the voices of the PowerSauce guys, Brad and Neil.

PowerSauce Unleash the power of apples! A bushel of apples packed int each bar: plus a secret ingredient that unless the awesome power of apples. "The bar with applecasueicity"

A carton of cigarettes is $10.35, today a pack of cigarettes costs that much, and people still buy them.

Self aware joke: While insulting the families physique Homer comments that Maggie doesn't seem to be changing at all.

When Homer finds a piece of a Chinese newspaper in his bar he comments that Deng Xiaoping had died. He was the leader of China and had died a year earlier in 1997.

During his hallucination Homer sees the Abominable Snowman, the Bumble, from the 1964 TV special Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. 

In the episode Mountain Of Madness Burns accuses Homer of wanting to ride his frozen corpse to the bottom of the mountain, in this episode Homer does just that with McAllister's corpse.

Lost Our Lisa

This episode premiered on May 10th, 1998. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O. Disney movie The Lion King, Touched By An Angel and Dateline NBC.

The chalkboard gag is "I am not the new Dalai Lama" and the couch gag is a repeat of Nelson pulling it back.

Bart and Milhouse are out enjoying a weekday morning due to Teacher's Conference Day, the teachers are at the amusement park btw. Barney is sober as as he walks into Moe's he's greeted by Homer. Bart buys some face jokes, a faucet, toucan nose, neck bolts and fake teeth, however they won't stick properly. The boys go to visit Homer at the nuclear plant where he has some industrial glue. Lisa wants to visit the Isis exhibit at the Springfield Museum however Bart shows up with the gags stuck to his face, Marge rushes him to the emergency room. Lisa suggests taking the bus but Marge tells her no. Lisa decides to call Homer to ask if she can take the bus to the museum, Lisa lies about what Marge said, she suggests taking a limo for $200 so Homer agrees to the bus. Lisa annoys everyone on the bus. She was suppose to get on bus 22 but got on 22-A and wound up in the middle of nowhere. While trying to walk back to town Lisa comes across Area 51-A (see, it's a running joke). Lisa runs into Cletus who offers her a ride, in the back of his truck with his road kill. At the hospital Dr. Hibbert tells Bart that he needs a series of painful injections to make the objects fall off and comes at him with a strange looking multiple needles device. Bart panic sweats and it melts the glue, the device is a button sewer. At the power plant Carl is wearing a pyramid hat, it's what the ancient Egyptians call a "souvenir". When Homer brags about Lisa taking the bus Lenny and Carl are shocked and he panics. Lisa winds up in little Russia, she tries to call Homer at work but he's on his way downtown to try to find her. Homer rushes into the museum and comes out wearing a King Tut style hat with a pyramid shaped ice cream. Homer decides he needs to get up higher so he buys a bunch of balloons, then gives them to a guy to use his cherry picker. He spots Lisa but when trying to bring the basket down he knocks the truck off its block and rolls down a hill. He goes under a draw bridge so Lisa has the guy close it, his head gets stuck and several cars run over him. Lisa says she'll never take another stupid risk but Homer tells her that stupid risks are what makes life worth living. She still wants to see the exhibit so they break in to the museum. At home Marge thinks Lisa is in her room so she makes Bart go and apologize. He knocks on her door but there is no answer so he gets mad. Homer tries to get a closer look at the Orb Of Isis, he knocks over the rope stanchions causing a domino effect and one knocks the orb off its pedestal, when it pops open it turn out to be a music box. Homer tries to remember the song but whistles the Old Spice song. They set off the alarm and get chased by dogs. 

The joke shop is called Yuk-ingham Palace

Itching Powder / Heart Attack Powder / Impotence Powder (adult joke there)

Stuff in Homer's junk drawer, nuclear rod, cards, peanuts, chips, half eaten sandwich, wrapped candy, dice, lottery ticket, hand gun, cup, pencil, comb, and glue which is stuck to the drawer. 

Marge loads film into her camera, accidentally exposing the roll from Carlsbad Cavern. This is a dated reference because average people in the modern world don't use a 35 MM camera.

Etern-A-Bond Now with Death Grip, Warning: In case of accidental ingestion consult a mortician. 

Bus Stops: Sycamore Avenue / Little Newark / Crackton / Industrial Access Road / Airport Refueling Way / Rural Route 9 / Army Proving Ground / End Of The Line

Springfield Hospital; Quality care or your autopsy is free. 

Map at Area 51-A You are here, we are not.

OK, a not so funny joke, Lisa asks a Russian guy for directions to the museum, he shouts them at her in Russian and she runs off. If he understood what she was saying then he probably speaks English and could have just told her. Maybe I'm the only one who was bugged by this joke. I mean I get it but I just didn't think it was funny.

Lisa sees the Khlav Khalash guy from the episode The City Of New York vs Homer Simpson.

Homer and Lisa break into the museum by climbing up a Calder Mobile. 

The explorer that discovered the tomb of Isis was Sir Dudley Winthrop. 

At the time I found this episode to be very cartoonish and a little repetitive. The bus trip was just names being shouted out and the driver tapping his sign. Homer getting his head trapped in a draw bridge and walking away unscathed was a stretch of the suspension of disbelieve. When I first saw this one I began to think that if they didn't come up with better story lines the show would soon be cancelled. Boy was I wrong.

Natural Born Kissers

This episode premiered on May 17th 1998. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite The W.W.O Disney movie (Miracle At Midnight), 60 Minutes and The NBC Sunday Night Movie (Bridges Of Madison County)

The title of this episode came from the 1994 movie Natural Born Killers

The chalkboard gag is "I was not the inspiration for Kramer" and the couch gag is a repeat of the frogs on the lily pad.

Homer and Marge are getting dressed up for their anniversary. Grandpa comes to babysit but winds up at the Flanders. Since they have to take the kids they go to the Up Up And Buffet, a restaurant in an old airplane, instead of The Gilded Truffle. Marge finds a piece of their wedding cake in the freezer, Homer tries to catch the plastic couple throwing a party, and leaves the freezer door open. When Marge and Homer try to "rock the casbah" they fumble about until SLH comes in. The next day Homer slips in a puddle of water and finds out that because he left the freezer open the fridge motor burned out, now they have to go to the repair shop in the outskirts of town, however Homer gets stuck in the mud. At the nursing home Grandpa is watching the kids, they find his old mine sweeper metal detector and set off treasure hunting. Homer and Marge get caught in the rain and head to a barn, while up in the hay loft a farmer shows up and just misses them with the pitchfork. Due to the thrill of almost getting caught they get frisky in the hay. Marge and Homer go to a bed and breakfast for the weekend but just doing it in a bed is kind of boring, the maid accidentally walks in and they suddenly have an idea, they do the nasty in the game room of the hotel. After digging up a lot of trash Bart finds an alternate ending to Casablanca. Marge and Homer go back to the putt putt golf course, where Bart was conceived, to fool around in the windmill (I Married Marge). In the alternate ending of Casablanca Louie tries to shoot Rick and then Hitler pops out of the piano, Lisa parachutes in causing Hitler to be blow up by his own grenade. The film ends with the two getting married while Sam plays Heart And Soul. The old Jewish guy comes up and tells Lisa that he made the film and offers them $20 to bury it again along with It's A Wonderful Life (Killing Spree Ending). The Flanders are playing mini golf and their ball gets "stuck" in the windmill. To clear out what's inside the windmill Moe runs a hose from his car to gas it. Homer knocks over the windmill and he and Marge run off, naked. When Helen Lovejoy tells Wiggum he has to catch the naked people Moe steals her line "Think of the children!" Homer gets horny running around naked but Marge isn't in the mood. They hide in the basket of a hot air balloon ad at a used car dealer. The police show up Homer pulls the rope and they take off. Homer almost falls off, while hanging on a rope he's drug across the windows of a mega church. They end up landing in the middle of a football game where thousands of people take their photo. The next day they try to explain it to Bart and Lisa and then head out for a round of mini golf, but they leave the kids behind. Rock The Casbah plays over the closing credits. 

While putting on his suit Homer finds the funeral program for Frank Grimes from the episode Homer's Enemy, he asks "whatever happened to that guy?" 

The name of the airplane restaurant is Up Up And Buffet, a play on the song Up Up And Away by The Fifth Dimension. Interestingly enough the song is about a hot air ballon and that's a plot line in the episode.

Marge brings home leftovers from the airplane themed restaurant in an Arf Bag. 

Continuity error, Marge finds a piece of their wedding cake with the plastic married couple in their freezer but in the episode A Milhouse Divided Homer gets Marge a cake from Carvel's Ice Cream shop, there's no figures on top. 

When Marge hints around about sex she says "Rock The Casbah", later after their roll in the hay Bart asks them if the Rocked The Casbah (he made the same comment in the episode Some Enchanted Evening when Homer and Marge are heading out for the night. ). The Clash song then plays over the closing credits. People misunderstand the song, it's really about the oppressiveness of Shira Law.

While driving in the country Marge and Homer hear a commercial for a divorce lawyer, the song The Little Spanish Flea by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass plays. 

Ester's Motor Shop, Nightcrawlers, Fudge.

Homer kisses Marge's arm and says "Cara Mia", this is a reference to The Addams Family. 

Homer and Marge go to the Snuggle Cove Bed and Breakfast. 

Sir Putt's-A-Lot Merry Olde Fun Centre: -Ye Go Karts -Her Majesty's Batting Cage -Merlin's Video Dungeon -Skee Ball

When the ball doesn't come out of the windmill Ned says "That's odd, it didn't come out the rear end", This is a joke about where the ball hit Homer. Later he's hit in the same spot by a punted football.

People at the mini golf, The Flanders / Skinner, his mother and Mrs. Krabappal / Wiggum and Ralph / Reverend Lovejoy and Helen / Moe

When the gas clears from the mini golf Ned says "It was people, people soiled our greens". This is a reference to Soylent Green and the film's revelation (spoiler alert)

Adult joke, Naked Homer stands in front of a wind powered lawn ornament, crotch height, of two guys sawing a log, he says he doesn't trust them. 

Gil is working at the used car lot and living in the balloon.

Naked Homer is drug across the Crystal Cathedral while Robert Schuller is holding mass. Shuller tells everyone to look down at the parquet floor.

The scene where Marge lands the ballon on the football game is a spoof on the 1977 movie Black Sunday. The Atoms are playing The Sharks 12-14, The Atoms miss the two pointer thanks to Homer going by the goal post. 

Springfield Shopper Headline: Local Couple Bares All! Police Dog Clings To Life (after sniffing Homer's underwear)

On a side note, in the episode, Another Simpsons Clip Show (1994) Marge was reading the book Bridges Of Madison County and complaining that the magic had gone out of their relationship. Now they were having another marriage crisis and the movie was running opposite the episode on NBC.

The chalkboard gag is a reference to the character Kramer from Seinfeld. The show had run on the rival NBC when The Simpsons were on Thursday night. The Simpson Shorts had run on Tracey Ullman a year before Seinfeld but both programs had their sitcom debut in 1989.

This was the last episode of the Ninth season. At this point the show was starting to show its age. We were overly familiar with the characters, a lot of the plots felt like the just weren't up to the standards of the classics and the jokes were hit and miss. As for me there would be a change in my life and my viewing habits. I will cover that later.

Lard Of The Dance

This episode premiered on August 23rd 1998. The lead in show was Holding The Baby (a short lived sitcom) and it was followed by the premier of That 70's Show. It ran opposite The W.W.O. Disney (Garbage picking field goal kicking phenomenon), Touched By An Angel and Dateline. 

The name comes from the Irish performance group Lord Of The Dance. 

There isn't a chalkboard gag and the couch gag is a repeat of Nelson pulling it back.

After back to school shopping Homer goes to the Kwik-E-Mart and finds out that the rendering plant buys used grease. He goes home and fries up all the bacon and takes Bart out of school to help him in his new grease business. Skinner gets Lisa to give the new student Alex a tour. At the rendering plant Homer finds out his 4 pounds of grease is worth 63¢ and he spent $27 on the bacon. Alex turns out to be very popular and Lisa gets left behind. Alex brings Lisa earrings but they are for pierced, she's embarrassed because everyone else got theirs done. Skinner wants Lisa to head up the annual Apple Pick but Alex suggests a dance instead and Lisa is put in charge. Bart takes Homer to the Krusty Burger to get the grease but Acne Grease and Shovel Company takes it all. While getting supplies for the dance Alex takes the girls to Dingo Junction. Lisa finds out that the girls all have dates for the dance. Homer is just about to give up on the grease business but Bart asks to go after one last big score. Lisa shows up in a dress and makeup trying to get one of the boys to ask her to the dance, even Milhouse. Marge convinces Lisa to go to the dance even if all she does is collect tickets at the door.  Homer and Bart go to the school to clean out the grease traps, Homer gets his face stuck in the hose. Willie catches them stealing the grease however it's his retirement fund, they try to escape through the vents. Skinner asks Lisa to keep an eye on the dance however nobody is dancing. Just then the grease hose explodes and sprays down on the dance, the kids think it's snow and everyone ends up playing in it including Alex.  

Lisa Krudrow does the voice of Alex Whitney

Catch Back-To-Schooliosis!

Krusty's Speak And Say "S is for Shiksa"

When Alex uses Pretension by Calvin Klein she tells Lisa "don't be such a Phoebe", she also like's Lisa's name. (Phoebe was the character Lisa Krudrow played on Friends)

Self Aware Joke. Milhouse is flirting with Lisa but Skinner tells him to lower his eyebrows. He is one of the few characters that has eyebrows.

Simpson and Son Grease Co. This is a spoof on Sanford and Son.

Donner's Party Supplies "Winter Madness Sale!" Kind of a twisted joke there. 

Dingo Junction, this is a spoof on chain clothing stores like Forever 21 and The Banana Republic. The mascot is the character from the video game Dingo Dash. Positive Vibrations by Mark Hailey and Ray Flowers plays when the girls do a clothing try on montage. 

Lisa says she just wants to bake cookies, play hopscotch and watch The McLaughlin Group. (a conservative talk show that ran from 1982 to 2020)

Marge does a version of Gonna Make You Sweat by C+C Music Factory. 

Willie comes in the school kitchen to bathe in the sink, he whistles The Bonnie Banks O' Lomond.

A joke that didn't age well, while playing in the grease Nelson says "Here comes the grease ball" just as Luigi the Italian chef shows up with pizza. 

The Wizard Of Evergreen Terrace

This episode premiered on September 20th 1998. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programs (Toothless was the Disney movie of the week)

The title of this episode comes from the nickname for Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, which relates to the plot line.

The chalkboard gag is "I will not file frivolous lawsuits" and the couch gag is a repeat of the crowd in the living room.

Homer hears that the average life span of the American male is 76.2 years. He says he's 38.1 and wasted half his life. He becomes depressed and eats raw flour. To cheer him up the family throws a "Welcome to Your Life" party. On the film about his life Bart includes a greeting from K.I.T.T. The film catches on fire and Homer wants to know who invented the movies, Lisa tells him it was Edison. Homer goes to the school library to read up on Edison, because he banned from the public library. Lenny is getting to the interesting part about a woman who loses her bathing suit in the ocean when Homer interrupts him to talk about Edison. When Carl points out that James Watts invented the steam engine Homer accuses him of boring everyone, meanwhile Lenny has forgotten the end to his story. Homer decides that he is going to be an inventor and quits his job. He puts up a chart of Edison's inventions and starts trying to come up with something, Marge suggests something electrical. Homer falls over when he leans his chair too far back. He gets frustrated and goes to visit Professor Frink who loads him down with text books on science. Frink tells him to think of things that people need but don't exist or things that do exist but can be improved. Homer thinks of the hamburger earmuffs and runs off, Frink already has a pair and is preparing to market them. Homer has several scientific equations on his chalk board but every change causes an explosion, he finally figures out it's the dynamite in the middle of the equation. When Homer shows off his inventions Marge tells him they are all terrible. At dinner Homer almost falls back in his chair but he put extra legs on it to keep him from hitting the floor, the family praises it. Homer goes to advance his invention chart when he notices that there is a set of extra legs on the back of Edison's chair in his photo. Homer plans to go to the Edison museum to smash the original chair. While driving he gets drowsy and sees the ghost of Edison begging him to not smash the chair but he runs the ghost over. Just before smashing the chair Homer spots Edison's chart of his inventions vs. da Vinci's. Homer realizes that Edison saw himself as second and decides to not smash the place up but wants to smash up the da Vinci museum instead, when Bart tells him it's in Italy Homer decides to go to the Eli Whitney museum. Homer sees a news story about Edison's chair and the electric hammer, that Homer left behind. When Bart points out that Homer is taking the loss pretty well Homer says he's sitting in the right chair, his toilet recliner. 

William Danials does the voice of K.I.T.T. 

Homer's dream about the Graveyard Of The Future: Tamzarian headstone (Skinner's real name), Homer's grave is visited by Barney who has four oscars, Robbie The Automaton, Lenny is President, Ned is a Cardinal, they just dump Homer into the hole, Heckle and Jeckle (the cartoon crows) call Homer a "sack of crap". 

The Welcome To Your Life party is based on the 1950's show This Is Your Life. 

Homer's accomplishments: Astronaut, eating beer paste (Deep Space Homer) / fighting Dredric Tatum (The Homer They Fall) / having kids.

Books Homer reads at the school library: Thomas Edison Our Greatest Living Inventor / A Child Garden Of Edison / The Hardy Boys The Smugglers Of Pirate's Cove. 

Homer asks Lisa and Bart to say words to give him ideas "Automatic-Butt, Fluorescent-Booger" Homer gets mad when he reads them back.

Frink has a book on Microcalifragilistics. A spoof on the Mary Poppins song. 

Homer's four inventions, the electric hammer, the makeup gun, the Everything's OK alarm, the Lazy Man Reclining Toilet Chair. 

Highway Exit: New Jersey, Michigan, Oregon and Texas (part of the long running joke about the location of Springfield)

The Edison Museum: No Gang Colors. 

T Shirts in Edison's Gift Shop: Screw This (with an image of a light bulb) / AC/DC / Don't Mess With Texas (the lightbulb has a Texas shaped filament)

On a note, Homer works on his inventions in the basement. In the past there would be several Easter eggs from other episodes, especially the Olmec head from Blood Feud. All that is in the basement is a stack of boxes and two barrels of toxic waste from the plant. Kind of disappointed in that one. (And yes, I realize the toxic waste was from the episode Hurricane Ned but I miss Xi'tapalatakettle)

And so we come to episode 205 and the 10th season. A big change was coming in my life and it would affect my TV viewing habits. Even if my life hadn't changed I was already fading away from The Simpsons, they were no long a must see but I was still watching every week. But like I said, changes were coming.