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.