Just a quick note, I ended up having to work an extra shift last week so I was too tired to do The Simpsons plus I had all my weekend chores. So, that's why there wasn't a post last week. 

The Simpsons 346-350

On A Clear Day I Can't See My Sister

This episode premiered on March 6th 2005. The lead in show was Malcolm In The Middle and it was followed by Arrested Development. It ran opposite Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Cold Case and Dateline NBC.

The title comes from the 1965 Broadway musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever

The chalkboard gag is "Beer in a milk carton is not milk" and the couch gag is a repeat of the Powers Of Ten.

The students are heading to the Springfield Glacier, at 3 in the morning. Nelson is wearing a Glaciers Suck shirt. Bart trips Lisa and says "see you next fall". Skinner tries to get back with Edna but she rejects him. The bus starts sliding on the ice so Skinner busts out the chains, basically chains he uses to make the kids pull the bus up the hill. The glacier is now a puddle with a small chunk of ice in the middle, Lisa complains while the government official explains that there is no global warming and the glacier is just fine. Homer and Marge discover that Abe is a greeter at Sprawl Mart. While trying to get them a cart Abe loses control and crashes into a stack of gnomes, he asks Homer to take his place as the greeter. Bart carves "Lisa Smells" with a stick figure of her into a rock at the glacier park. Skinner tries to compare a glacier age mummy that froze and died alone to Krabappal so she makes out with the park ranger to prove how over Skinner she is, he in turns makes out with the mummy. Lisa complains about the melting glacier while Bart makes it sound like she's passing gas with a walkie talkie. Lisa falls into the lake and Bart mocks her so she files a restraining order against him, the first time he violates it he winds up in jail. Gary Busey stars in the restraining order video. To make sure Bart stays 20 feet away Homer gives Lisa a pole he built out of a broom, baseball bat, fishing poll, toilet bowl brush and screwdriver. Bart has to leave the school building because of the order and winds up in Willie's shack. Lisa starts harassing Bart. Homer gets promoted to executive greeter, which means he gets to work overtime for free. Marge goes to court to get the restraining order lifted but Bart insults the judge and she extends it to 200 feet. Bart winds up living in the back yard in a tent. He starts to like living outside. The manager locks the employees in the store overnight and shocks them with "compliant chips" the company put in their heads. when Homer finds out the other employees have been stealing from the company he crashes through the front door with a forklift full of plasma tvs. Bart starts running with a pack of feral dogs. Marge asks Lisa to reconsider the restraining order but she complains. Bart builds a straw figure of Lisa so she figures he's changed, but he was planning on torching it to break her curse. She sets it on fire and burns her poking stick and restraining order. The family comes out to play Spanish Flea while Bart chases the cat. 

Gary Busey does his own voice.

Uter says pulling the bus up the hill makes him feel like he was in the movie Fitzcarraldo, Nelson calls it flawed and punches him. Fitzcarraldo is a 1982 German movie about a rubber baron in Peru who has his workers haul a riverboat over a mountain.

Sprawl*Mart "Not a parody of Wal*Mart" / "Don't watch 60 Minutes this week" / "If you worked here you'd be poor by now"

In the episode The Fat And The Furriest Abe was working as a greeter at Sprawl*Mart.

Skinner has a beach towel that says "I got wood at Sequoia National Park" He was unaware of the double entendre.

Instead of a pamphlet they have a video tape on how to handle restraining orders. Get Out Of My Dreams And Also Out Of My Car: A Guide To Your Restraining Order. (I miss Troy McClure) Gary Busey shows up in the video and puts another video into another VCR and plays another video So You've Got A Restraining Order.

To force Homer to work overtime the management of Sprawl Mart make up a fake passport for him: Name Homer Sanchez / Nationality Mexicana / Date of Issue 20 March / Authority Mexico

Springfield Family Court: Meet Curtis The Custody Kangaroo

With Bart out of the house the family plays Little Spanish Flea by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

While Bart is peeing outside the 1966 song Born Free plays.

This is another ever changing view out the Simpsons back yard. In this episode it's all woods and open fields.

This was another episode that reached a point and they just kind of said, "well, it's over". 

Goo Goo Gai Pan

This episode premiered on March 13th 2005. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite Extreme Makeover, Cold Case and The Contender.

The title is based on the Chinese dish Moo Goo Gai Pan

The couch gag is a group of eyeballs enter the room, when the family rushes in the lights go on and they all shout "Surprise!", Homer falls over from a heart attack.

Mr. Burns has to take a driving test but Selma goes through a series of hot flashes and opens the car's roof, causing it to act like a sail, they lose control and almost run over Milhouse. Selma finds out she's going through menopause. She's upset that she won't have children Patty suggests adopting a child. They go to the adoption center but the only child is Cletus's and he comes to get it back, Lisa suggests adopting a Chinese baby. China will only allow her to adopt a child if she's married, she tried to use McGyver but they know who he is so she put's Homer's name on the application, which also means he has to go to China with her. She flies the entire family to China, they get Homer drunk and tell him about the scam, he's not happy but agrees to do it for Marge. The adoption will take a couple of days so Homer and Selma has to pretend to be married for the adoption agent. The family visits the tomb of Mao and the Great Wall (Mongolian invaders are trying to get over using pogo sticks). They go to a Kabuki performance of Death Of A Salesman. Homer claims to be an acrobat however at the show the main acrobat suffers from a bout of "free will" and is shot so Homer has to do the stacking chair stunt, the chairs collapse from under his weight and he winds up in the hospital. Selma gets Ling Bouvier. Marge and Homer "snuggle" in the hospital but Madam Wu sees them and comes to take the child back. Lisa has a plan to get the baby back, they disguise Homer as a Buddha statue. They put him in the orphanage so he sneaks in to steal Ling but the room is full of babies, he finds the one who reacts to him. Madam Wu shows up in a tank to stop the Simpsons but Selma talks to her about breaking the rules for the hopeless. Madam Wu lets them keep the baby and they sail off on a Junk while Chinese Dragons sing a song about the American jerks. David Silverman shows how to draw Bart during the closing credits. 

Robert Wagner does his own voice. Lucy Liu does the voice of Madam Wu

Regulars in the couch surprise, Kent Brockman, Willie, Smithers, Agnes, Ned, Dr. Hibbert, Carl, Moe, Wiggum, Krabappal Barney, Sideshow Mel, Ralph, Professor Frink, Reiner Wolfcastle, Mr. Burns, CBG, Moelman Nelson, Dr. Nick, Apu, Krusty and Bumblebee Man.

Mr. Burns drivers license / No 000044 / Expires 1909 / Height 5-10 / Color Eyes Blue / Sex Male / Weight 85 / Hair Gray / Department Of Motor Vehicles Springfield.

Dr. Hibbert has a VHS on menopause, hosted by Robert Wagner. (did I mention that I miss Troy McClure)

Marge says she didn't realize Selma wanted to have children but that was the plot of the episode Selma's Choice.

Booberella shows Son Of Satan

Consulate of China: Russia's Wacky Neighbor

The Chinese memorial to General Gao is a take out container. 

Exports from the Chinese airport: Maine Lobster / Heartland Oatmeal / America's Choice Apple Pie

The family visits a Krusty Fried Chicken stand. 

Acrobatic Theater "The show ain't over 'til the thin man in drag shrieks

Homer's fortune cookie says They will take Selma's baby. (Note, fortune cookies aren't a Chinese thing, they came from San Francisco)

The Chinese are spying on Lisa with a fake Bart, he says "Don't have a cattle, dude" He also tells Homer "Feast on my shorts stupid father man"

Beijing Orphanage "Great Deals on the 2004's"

Tien An Man Square: On This Site, In 1989, Nothing Happened.

Selma standing in front of Madam Wu's tank is a spin on the Tank Man who defied the Chinese military during the Tiananman Square standoff.

This episode is banned in China and Hong Kong.

One of the ways to tell a show has run its course is when they add a baby to the cast. And yet the Simpsons continues 19 years later.

Mobile Homer

This episode premiered on March 20th, 2005. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programs.

The title is based on the term Mobile Home

The couch gag is the family runs in and sits down until Homer rips off his mask revealing himself as Sideshow Bob, he pulls a knife and chases Bart around, knocking over the TV. The music from Cape Fear plays.

Marge takes the kids for a Sunday drive, Lisa complains about terrorism and ecological damage. Marge imagines a hunky Homer cleaning out the garage while they are gone, meanwhile Homer is getting drunk and goofing off. While trying to kill a spider Homer falls on Bart's skateboard and is crushed by the garage door, Bart did a drawing and gave Lisa a sealed envelope with a note, "This is what will happen." Lisa gives Homer CPR and saves his life. Marge insists on Homer buying life insurance. Homer honestly answers all the questions at the insurance company and is labeled uninsurable. Marge watches a movie about a rich woman who's husband drops dead and she ends up on the streets. "The real Brenda later went to Harvard Medical School....as a cadaver". Marge panics that the family has no savings. Homer gets mad at Marge saving money, he mocks her since she doesn't have a job, she points out how lazy he is at work. They have a fight over money so Homer steals Marge's savings jar and buys an RV, Marge kicks him out of the house. Homer turns the back yard into an RV park in exchange for beer. The RV fumes flood Ned's house, he sees Jesus and passes out. Marge locks the outside plug and the RV crowd leaves, Homer gets mad and he and Marge get into an all night fight. Bart and Lisa go to the motorhome to escape the fight, Bart steals the RV and tries to drive it back to the dealership. When trying to find their way they end up on the freeway. Marge chases them down but they get stuck behind a line of SUV's, however they come to a curve and they all roll over the side. Lisa demands that Homer and Marge kiss to prove they made up but when he demands an increase in his allowance Homer tries to strangle him and they wind up on a downhill run. The kids aim for the runaway truck ramp but it's still under construction and they crash onto a Turkish freighter. The ship starts to leave with the kids but Marge convinces them to return in exchange for a budget soup meal. Homer unloads the RV but drops it in the ocean and can't return it. Marge handles it well but the Turkish sailors felt she was a little uptight so they mixed a little "hash" into her food. 

When Homer cleans out the garage I looked for Easter eggs but there doesn't seem to be any. There is a stack of old TV guides and one has Alf on the cover. "Why Alf Hates Victoria Principal. The next one has Tubbs from Miami Vice. 

To kill the garage spiders Homer uses Charlotte's Dead Spider Poison, with Wilber on the label. 

Marge's Vacation album: Homer being beaten up by Goofy and Mickey / trapped in Lincoln's nose at Mt. Rushmore / stabbed with a bread loaf in Paris, Vacation by the Go-Gos plays while they are flipping through the book, Marge has it in a cassette player. 

Merry Widow Life Insurance: Denial, Anger, Acceptance, CA$H!

Wifetime TV Presents: From Homemaker To Homeless. 

Marge buys Budget-O's cereal "Great Frugal Taste"

Lisa wears a goodwill shirt from Hooter and Bart's says ERA Now, Nelson mocks them.

Columbia's Shame Discount Coffee

The RV tire cover says Klassy Krib.

To lure the kids into his RV Homer plays Welcome To The Jungle by Guns N Roses

The RV dealer has a gorilla in a t shirt that says No Payments 'Til 2008. That was three years in the future for this episode and 16 years in the past for us.

Homer got the RV at Bob's RV Round-Up. It was first seen in the episode Call Of The Simpsons in 1990, 15 years earlier. 

Bart's Note "Dear Mom And Dad, we don't want you guys to split up, so we're driving the RV back to the dealer"

Homer says Bart and Lisa stole a car and are home alone! When he says the second half he make the Kevin face from the 1990 movie. 

Homer's driving map is the Flintstone's Fun Map. He wrote on it "Dino, short for Dinosaur? Remember to Ask Jeeves" Ask Jeeves was a search engine that ran from 1997 until 2006. The site was shorting to Ask dot Com.

The Turkish Freighter is carrying a cargo of DVD's of Northern Exposure. The show ran from 1990 to 1995. The ship is heading to Kahramanmaras. 

Istanbul, Not Constantinople by They Might Be Giants and I've been Everywhere by Johnny Cash plays during the credits.

This was another Marge and Homer's marriage is in trouble episode. Not my favorites. 

The Seven Beer Snitch

This episode premiered on April 3rd 2005. It ran in its regular time slot and opposite the regular programs.

The title is based on the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch.

The couch gag is the family sits down but suddenly a skewer comes out of the wall and stabs through the couch while the floor roos back revealing a fire, they are slowly rotisserie roasted.

The family goes to see Song Of Shelbyville. One of the characters is Springfield Billy, everyone hoots at him. The family is upset that the city is insulted. Marge goes to the meeting of the Springfield Cultural Activities Board to point out how they've been insulted and call on the city to be more culturally relevant. The Springfield Philharmonic plays at a basketball court and keeps getting hit by stray balls so they decide to build a concert hall. Marge writes a letter to Frank Gehry to ask him to build a concert hall, he crumples it up and throws it away but it inspires him to design the Springfield concert hall. Homer can't get the cat off his pants because she has gotten so fat. Everyone is disappointed in the first concert, Carl thought they were going to play the soundtrack to the movie Beethoven, not music from the German composer. The hall is abandon and the city is broke, Burns suggests they turn the hall over to him and he'll assume the debt. Burns converts the concert hall into a for profit prison. Homer applies for a job as a prison guard but he has to pass a drug test, Otto knows he'll fail so he switches labels with Homer's sample, Homer doesn't get the job. Lisa decides to follow Snowball to figure out why she's getting fat, Bart says he'd rather follow SLH to figure out what he's up to, just then the dog flies by in a biplane, ala Snoopy. It turns out Snowball has a second family. Burns is mad that his prison is losing money so Wiggum digs up some old laws to enforce. Homer kicks a can 5 times and gets arrested for the illegal transportation of trash. Snake tries to escape in the garbage truck, Homer thinks he fell in by mistake and alerts the guards, so they promote him to prison snitch. Homer rats out Dredric Tatum for having a tattoo and gets a plasma TV.  Lisa confronts the other family but Snowball likes them better, even doing tricks for them. Snake tells Homer there's going to be a prison break but it's a set up. Bart goes to the new house to find out why Snowball likes it better but when he comes out he has a pocket full of cookies and learned to dance. All the guards go outside the prison to catch the prisoners when they try to escape however the prisoners set up the distraction in order to kill Homer. He doesn't hear them coming because he's watching Booberella while wearing sound cancelling headphones. He tries to escape on a Segway and crashes through a balcony railing. Marge shows up to save Homer, they hide in the gas chamber. The guards break in and save Homer, Burns plans to make the place worse but Homer rats him out to the governor for the way he treats the prisoners. The governor moves all the prisoners to a garbage barge to fight it out to the last prisoner. Homer sneaks out of the house to go to Moe's and runs into Snowball. Cut to a scene of Homer rushing in to the concert hall to warn people that the hall is a death trap, Bart points out that he fell asleep in front of The Towering Inferno. 

Frank Gehry does his own voice. 

The Springfield Concert Hall / Burns State Prison is based on the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

The Shelbyville Merchandise Mile "Our street performers won't bother you anymore"

Rich And Tall Men's Suits. 

The theaters in Shelbyville are showing Equus starring Sideshow Mel / The 3 Dollar Bills in Gay, Gay, Gay / Song Of Shelbyville

Shelbyville clams to be the birthplace of button fly pants. 

Springfield Shopper headline: God Steals Sun, Mayor offers sacrifice. 

Concert Hall Weekly headline: So Good It's Gehry. 

Springfield was the first city in America to abandon the metric system.

The Springfield Symphony plays Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. 

The concert hall sign,  Orchestra Tonight: Tickets Half Price! / XXX Movies All Day / An Evening With David Brenner. 

Prison Guards Wanted. Must know Microsoft PowerPoint, Sadism. 

When Otto is looking at his drug test sample In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly plays. 

Oh man, bad line of the night: Burns "I haven't seen this many drugs in a wang since I ran a Chinese Opium den." In the episode Treehouse of Horror XV Moe runs an opium den and Burns is a regular customer.

The cat food Lisa feeds Snowball is Bing and Purr

Wiggum finds laws to enforce in Loony Laws, Silly Statues and Wacky War Crimes.

In prison Homer reads the Montgomery Warden catalog.

Prison food: Shrimp casings / Pickled eyelids / Tendon Loaf / Churchill Downs Mystery Meat

Mary Bailey shows up as the Governor. She was first seen in the episode Two Cars In Every Garage And Three Eyes On Every Fish.

Future-Drama

This episode premiered on April 17th 2005. It ran in its usual time slot and opposite the regular programs.

The title comes from the series Futurama, which was also created by Matt Groening.

The couch gag is the family shows up as vehicles and transforms into humans, ala Transformers. Homer is a semi, Marge a Jet, Lisa a Jeep, Maggie a VW Bug and Bart is a sports car.

Bart and Lisa get into a fight and crash in Professor Frink's basement. He has a banner saying Welcome Bart and Lisa because he has mastered predicting the future, however there is a second banner that says "and Maggie" which he quickly yanks down. He is using astrology and an advanced computer to predict the future, he shows them what life will be like for them in the future. Marge takes a photo of Bart and Lisa in their prom clothes and it turns into a cake, because science has perfected magic. Lisa is graduating two years early. Marge and Homer are separated. Maggie sends a video post card from Alaska, due to global warming it's a tropical where the polar bear are dropping dead. Lisa is upset to find out Milhouse is her prom date. She started dating him when he saved her from a house fire, however he started the fire just for the stunt. Bart is dating Jenda, a skateboarding woman. Willie is trying to clean up smart puke, a result of bioengineered food. Nelson is at the prom with Sherri and Terri, who are both pregnant with his kid. Martin brings his robot but it self destructs to get away from him. Lisa is going to Yale on the Montgomery Burns Scholarship, his punishment for stealing Christmas. Bart hires Otto do drive the limo but he's stoned and jumps off a cliff. Bart takes Jenda to the makeout place and wants to go all the way, she thinks he means sex but he's talking about getting married. She dumps him because he's got no future. Homer is living in an underwater house, it takes three hours to decompress. Homer owns the first hovercar but it's a piece of crap. Homer and Bart go to Moe's, he has a clone to do the work. Homer hits on a couple of women at the bar but they turn out to be Mrs. Krabappal and Miss Hoover. Future Bart wishes he could tell his past self to work hard and not be such a screw up but 10 year old Bart isn't listening. Lisa breaks up with Milhouse, he goes on a roid rage. Lisa tells Bart to prove to Jenda that he has iniative, he gets a job at the Kwik-E-Mart, all of Apu's kids are his boss. Marge starts dating Krusty The Klown. Bart has to make a deliver to Mr. Burns but finds him tied up. It turns out Snake is robbing the place. When Snake takes a call on his phone Bart knocks him out with a diamond. Burns offers him the scholarship he was going to give to Lisa. Smithers goes on a date with a woman, he's taking Straight injections. Lisa is shocked to find out Bart is going to Yale, in both the future and the present. Lisa winds up having to go to Hot Dog On A Stick Management Camp. After Bart graduates Skinner tells him "You really press my cider", everyone is shocked. Sherri and Terri each have twins so Nelson goes out for a pack of cigarettes. Future Bart finds Frink's house and turns on the future machine, Lisa married Milhouse and they are broke and depressed, so Bart decides to not accept the scholarship. Just as Lisa is about to give in to Milhouse Bart saves her in Homer's hovercar. Frink tells Bart that he finds a woman who really loves him, at the age of 83, and then dies. Homer and Marge get back together after Krusty beast up Homer. They then watch VP Cletus, who is going to the funeral of the Sultan of Brunei. 

John DiMaggio does the voice of Bender, from Futurama and Amy Poehler does the voice of Jenda

Professor Frink's predictions are for 8 years in the future, that would be 2013 aka 11 years in the past today. 

The space ship at the first of the show is the alien ship from the 1982 movie E. T. It's a garbage truck in The Simpsons. 

The Larry David iPod experience plays Take On Me by A-Ha and True by Spandau Ballet. The last time the band was seen was at the Skinner-Krabappal wedding in the episode My Big Fat Geek Wedding.

Martin's robot first appeared in the episode Fat Man And Little Boy.

Gulf War 5: Find Our President's Head. 

Skinner is the principal and Kerney is now the assistant principal of Springfield High.

Chalmers is a vegetable after doing "Stim"

McDonalds owns Yale

The teen make-out site is Contraception Overlook. 

The 51st state is Saudi-Israelia

The police force are all robo-cops. 

Other futures on Frink's machine: Kang And Kodos invasion / VP Cletus / Moe Gets E-mail / Flanders' Revenge / Maggie's DUI / Lenny Super Pet

Homer's under water house is based on the house from the 1969 movie Hello Down There. 

I.G.A by Donald Fagen plays while Homer is driving his hovercar, they go through a Quantum Tunnel and end up with Bender the robot 

Plastic Surgery Center. Celebrity buttocks, nipple relocations and fluffy tails. Selma comes out with a tail. 

Give the apes the vote, you won't regret it. 

The whole city has become modern, except for Moe's. 

It's the future but the Kwik-E-Mart still sells 35mm film

Different Forbidden Zones: Radioactive / Smallpox / Eternal Midnight / Uni-Clams

Yale has banned men from taking science, Lisa is trying to figure out if she should take Femistry or Galgebra. 

Springfield High banner: Congratulations Graduates "You are no longer the future" Wow, they predicted Gen Z. Bwa ha ha ha ha.

Homer's banner: Conjradulations Hi Skool Grajauates.

Sea of Love by Phil Phillips plays when Homer and Marge are making out in his underwater house. 

We've reached another milestone 350 episode. Seriously though, I thought I would have given this up a long time ago and yet I keep going. Why? Anyhow the episodes are a a period of hits and misses, some are recycled storylines with a minor twist while others still maintain that old Simpsons charm. I guess I'll go ahead and keep going considering I'm nearing the halfway mark, an episode I liked and the movie.