The Simpsons 416-420

Papa Don't Leech

This episode premiered on April 13th 2008. The lead in show was American Dad and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite Oprah's Big Give, 60 Minutes and Monk. 

The title comes from the 1986 Madonna song Papa Don't Preach.

The couch gag is an artist brush paints the family onto the couch while cartoonish music plays.

Homer is letting Grandpa drive. Abe tries to find a song he likes and clips Patty and Selma coming the other way. Homer and Abe go over the side of the road and roll down the hill eventually landing in the middle of the highway, where Grandpa once again drives off a closed road and crashes. When Grandpa says he'll have to live with the Simpsons Homer strangles him, however it's Homer dreaming, while he's driving Lisa to deliver Gal Scout cookies. When Lisa goes to Quimby she discovers that the town is broke. The Mayor offers to pay Lisa double next year however she refuses. Quimby threatens to pass a bill requiring the Gal Scouts to hire Gay leaders, Lisa supports that, after a brief tussle Lisa runs away with the cookies. At an emergency budget meeting Homer gives a Jimmy Stewart style speech and proposes the town fake a disaster to get federal relief money. FEMA shows up and offers $10 million, as soon as they fill out some forms and submit a $2500 processing fee. It turned out to be a fake FEMA official and stole the money. Lisa goes through the old tax records and discover there is a list of people who owe back taxes. They collect all the money except from Lurleen Lumpkin, Bart does a recap of the episode Colonel Homer. Lurleen owes $12 million in taxes but hasn't been seen in a while. Nelson tries to set a "free Grammy" trap but catches Krusty. Lurleen has been hiding in the back of Homer's car. Homer brings her home but Marge kicks her out. When Marge finds out Lurleen is living under a bridge she brings her home. The cops show up and arrest Lurleen. Since Lurleen is broke the judge rules she must pay a $100 a month. Lurleen went broke because of all her ex husbands, they all look like versions of Homer. Lurleen takes a job at Moes as a waitress. She writes a song about her deadbeat dad. Lurleen's dad turn out to be Royce, they make up. Homer is jealous of Lurleen's relationship with her father. That night Royce sneaks out. The Dixie Chicks sing a song about giving in to the right wing to the tune of Lurleen's song, her father sold it to them. Lurleen tells the Chicks that Royce stole her song, The Chicks beat him up and Lurleen goes on tour with them, although the roadie looks like Homer. 

Beverly D'Angelo returns as the voice of Lurleen Lumpkin and The Chicks (Formerly Dixie Chicks) do their own voices.

Grandpa listens to Tommy Dorsey's All White Orchestra.

Lisa was in a Girl Scouts (Gal Scouts) meeting in the episode A Star Is Burns.

Gal Scout cookies: Slim Mints / Don't si Don'ts 

Springfield's new slogan "Springfield: Good"

Lisa's badges: Apple Polishing / Skepticism / Vegetarianism 

City hall sign: Emergency Budget Meeting, Hospitals or Firemen: You Decide

Delinquent Taxpayers: Mr. Burns / Comic Book Guy / Duffman / Gil / Helen / John / Kelly / Lenny / Milhouse / Mayor Quimby.

Dated references: Grandpa listens to a CD player in the car / Lisa uses a dot matrix printer to get the list of delinquent taxes.

Lurleen Lumpkin sings her Homer song to Kermit The Frog.  Miss Piggy shows up and beats up Kermit. 

Continuity error, Lurleen was from Spittle County, not Springfield so she wouldn't owe any taxes to the city.

Lurleen Lumpkin was last seen as a member of the bowling team The Home Wreckers in the episode Homer's Team. And somewhere in the background of The Simpsons Movie.

Courthouse sign: Today's Judge is Nonsense / No Nonsense (it looks like a motel sign). The "No Nonsense" is lit up.

The court bailiff announces the next hearing in a "The People's Court" fashion because it's his dream, the judge rules he can't dream. 

Homer tries to get a photo with the kids for a t shirt but it ends up taking a photo of his butt, Daddy's Special Pair. 

The Chicks record at White Trash Records 

Apocalypse Cow

This episode premiered on April 27th, 2008. The lead in show was a Simpsons repeat (Husbands and Knives) and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite Extreme Makeover, Big Brother and Monk. 

The title comes from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now

The chalkboard gag is "A Person's a person no matter how Ralph" and the couch gag is a repeat of the Medieval  tapestry. 

The kids are watching a cartoon that is just a commercial for cereal so Marge makes them watch golf. When they want to buy a putter Marge has Lisa make banana bread and sends Bart off with Homer to get the beanbag chairs fixed. They drive by a hale baler and find out Martin is running it as part of 4H. When Bart finds out it can be dangerous he wants to join, Homer finds out that parents don't have to be involved so he drops Bart off at the 4H center. They let Bart drive a hay bailer, he runs over a clothes line and the shirts come out folded. He gets a Farm Subsidy check for $50,000. Each of the 4Hers get a calf for the summer however the runt is the only one left so Bart has to take it. Bart meets Mary who teaches him how to take care of a calf.  Bart's cow wins the county fair, that's when he finds out they are taken to the slaughter house. He can hear the cow calling, Lisa tells him that it's his conscience telling him to stop eating meat, however it turns out to be a CD that Lisa put under his bed. Bart agrees to stop stirring his lemonade with a sausage in exchange for Lisa's help getting Lou back. Lisa's hippie friends show up to help. Lou is super fat and stuck so Bart uses a forklift to get him out, they take him to Mary's farm. Cletus, her father, thinks that giving the cow to Mary means he wants to get married. When Lisa goes to the parents for help Homer punches Flanders to make sure they don't hear any stupid comments. Marge shows up to stop the wedding but Cletus ships the cow back to the feedlot, however it's Homer in a cow suit heading straight to the slaughterhouse. They put Lou on an airplane to India. Homer is almost dropped into a sausage grinder but Marge shows up at the last minute and saves him. 

Zooey Deschanel does the voice of Mary Spuckler

The chalkboard gag comes from the Dr. Seuss book Horton Hears A Who "A person's a person no matter how small"

Krusty's Korean Kartoon Kavalcade: The Trans-Clown-O-Morph. It's a knock off of Transformers. The show wants the kids to buy cereal with the secret code to save the Clown-O-Morphs 

Homer tells Bart that Dean Martin would show up late and change the script. Bart mentions that Wikipedia says Martin was passionate about rehearsals. Homer plans to go home and change Wikipedia. The search engine started in 2001 and became well known for getting facts wrong. 

Cheddarbarrel Farm And 4-H Center. 4-H: It's Still A Thing.

When Bart drives a bailer over a pile of manure Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 comes out the back end. At Worlds End came out in 2007. It would be another 3 years before On Stranger Tides and 9 years before Dead Men Tell No Tales. 

Regular cast members in the 4H: Ralph / Martin / Nelson / Terry / Sherry / Janie / Bart

Bart has Lou (the cow) punching a side of beef in a spoof of the 1976 film Rocky.

Springfield County Fair / Warning: Funhouse may have Christian message.

Ralph's calf is a sawhorse with a face painted on a bucket.

Lisa's CD is Anguished Animals III / Tress MacNeille (she's a voice over artist on The Simpsons)

Lisa's protein alternative pills are Dr. Hippie's Fungus Yums

Abattoir & Costello LLC. "Where cows go from moo to you"

Bart gives Lou the Casablanca speech about getting on the plane. 

This show is full of horrible stereotypes aimed at rural people. If it was any other group Woke would be up in arms. 

Any Given Sundance

This episode premiered on May 4th 2008. The lead in was a Simpsons rerun (He loves to fly and it d'ohs) and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite Extreme Makeover, Cold Case and Monk

The title of this episode comes from the 1999 film Any Given Sunday.

The couch gag is the family are on the couch in a pop up book.

Homer takes the family to the big college game, but mostly for the tailgate party. Homer and Bart go around stealing food from other people. A fight breaks out between the fans. Lisa isn't having fun so she starts filming the parking lot for her school project. When the film gets a three out of five from the teacher she goes to complain to Skinner who supports her. Skinner tells Lisa that she should make a documentary about the drama in her life and her family. Chalmers shows up and insists that Skinner encourage Lisa in order to show up the Springfield Art Academy, Chalmer wants to enter Lisa's film in Sundance. The entire school gets involved in the project. While watching Lisa's film all the Sundance judges pass out when they gasp too much. Homer says he wants to meet Jim Jarmusch and ask him who he is. Skinner and Chalmers try to sneak in to Lisa's film but the bouncer sticks them on a toboggan and shoves them down a hill. They end up crashing through a Mormon church with multiple marriages however it's just a hallucination and they are really passed out in a snowbank. Everyone loves Lisa's film but the family gets mad because it makes them look bad. Lisa says nobody will watch it since it's a documentary but CBG does an online review. Chalmers and Skinner sell Lisa's movie. Nelson also made a documentary about his life. Nelson's documentary knocks Lisa's out of the spotlight and people stop harassing the family. John C. Reilly wants to star in Skinner's movie Ghost Willie.

Jim Jarmusch and John C. Reilly do their own voices

The Big Game: Springfield U. vs. Springfield A & M. Homer went to U. and Lenny & Carl went to A & M

Lisa's video camera is a My Little Sony (with a rainbow) This is a spoof on My Little Pony. It's also a dated reference since everyone in the modern world uses the camera on their phone. 

Skinner's screenplays: When Edna Met Seymour / Ghost Willie / Killing Seymour's Mother / The Principal Who Sold A Screenplay.

Seymour is banned from the Universal Studios Tour in Florida. 

Marge's favorite documentary is So You Bought A Toro, even though it was pro lawn mower.

Homer wears a toupee for the Shia LaBeouf movie. In 2008 he hadn't gone full weird yet. 

I Turn My Camera On by Spoon plays while Lisa films the family.

The Springfield Art Academy building is made out of modeling clay, they reshape the place to look like the Guggenheim Museum.

Sundance Film Festival. Do Not Feed Ben Affleck / Where Parker Posey Meets Parka-ed Posers

The drive to Park City Utah is a spoof on the opening scene from the 1980 movie The Shining

Sundance Films: Regularsville / Candyland / Chernobyl Graveyard / Capturing The Simpsons / Life Blows Chunks by Nelson Muntz.

Variety, Sundance Edition: Sundance Loves Little Backstabber. (with Lisa's photo)

Self Aware Joke: Marge says "No more Simpson's movies, one was enough"

Mona Leaves-a

This episode premiered on May 11th, 2008. The lead in show was a Simpsons rerun (Midnight Towboy) and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite Extreme Makeover, Survivor and PGA golf

The title is based on the da Vinci painting Mona Lisa

The chalkboard gag is "This punishment is not medieval" (written in illuminated script) and the couch gag is a repeat of the evolution one.

Moe is hanging out in the mall parking lot holding his key just so people will stop and ask if he's leaving and he can disappoint them by telling them no. The family goes to Stuff-N-Hug, a Build A Bear type of shop. Bart records a bunch of Homer insults on the stuffed toys, Homer goes nuts and destroys them. When the family gets home they find the front door open, Homer goes in with a cinder block on a chain, it turns out to be Mona Simpson. Mona says that the government thinks she's dead so she can stick around but Homer rejects her. When Homer decides to make up with his mother she really has died. Homer wants to know what happens after you die, Apu and Ned get into a fight about religious interpretation. Mona leaves a video will, she leaves Bart her Swiss army knife, Lisa her rebellious spirit, a hemp purse for Marge and wants Homer to go to the highest point in Springfield Monument Park at 3:00 PM and scatter her ashes. Halfway up the mountain Lisa wants to give up and scatter the ashes there. Homer dumps the ashes but they go into a secret bomb base inside the mountain and destroy the guidance system thus halting a launch. Homer tries to run away but falls on the missile, the guards shake him off and then beat him with their clubs. Mr. Burns is using the missile to launch his nuclear waste to the center of the rainforest. Bart shows up with Mona's knife so Homer cuts himself loose. He finds a cinder block and a chain and rebuilds his home defence weapon. Marge sets her purse on fire and shoves it in the ventilation system getting the guards stoned. Homer defeats the guards with his chain brick but sets it on the self destruct button. Homer parachutes to safety with his mother's ashes in a vacuum bag, he thinks he can rehydrate her. Instead he dumps them into the wind again. There is a flashback of Homer and Mona.

Glenn Close returns as Mona Simpson. Lance Armstrong does his own voice.

Mall store: Itchy and Scratchy's, Sweaters, not the fun cartoon / Lead Based Toys /Stuff-N-Hug

Homer says "You keep disappearing and reappearing and it's not funny, you're just like that show Scrubs" Scrubs ran from 2001 to 2010.

Homer watches the ESPY awards with presenters Lance Armstrong and Fozzy Bear.

Homer says "I'm really glad you corrected me Lisa, people are always really glad when they are corrected". Sounds like a typical day on the Socials.

One of the missile guards bases the direction the ashe came from and the time of day, he determines that they came from where Homer is standing. The other guard tells him he's not Monk. The show was running opposite The Simpsons on NBC at the time.

White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane plays when Marge sets her hemp purse on fire. 

After defeating the guards and smashing the rocket control Homer says "That'll do brick, that'll do". This is a spoof on the line from the 1995 film Babe.

When Homer escapes the missile base his parachute has the Union Jack on it, this is a spoof on the 1977 James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me.

During the montage of Homer and Mona, Mother And Child Reunion by Paul Simon plays.

The episode is dedicated to the memory of Elsie Castellaneta (Dan Castellaneta's mother) and Dora K. Warren (Harry Shearer's mother)

All About Lisa

This episode premiered on May 18th, 2008. The lead in show was a Simpsons rerun (I Don't Wanna Know Why The Caged Bird Sings) and was followed by King Of The Hill. It ran opposite Extreme Makeover, The 43 Academy Of Country Music Awards and The Office.

The title and plot are based on the 1950 film All About Eve

The couch gag is a repeat of the family on a computer screen.

At the Springfield Showbiz Awards Sideshow Mel starts narrating a story about Lisa. Flashback to the family going to Krusty's 4000th Show, Drew Carey is the emcee. Krusty announces that he's looking for new Krusketeers. At the audtion Nelson does a musical number torturing nerds, Bart does impressions, Nelson's mother "snuggles" with Krusty in order to get him the job. Lisa tells Krusty that he can hire Bart as an intern but he hires her instead. Krusty gets angry at Nelson and fires him. Bart is jealous of Lisa so he takes all his Krusty stuff to CBG who offers them a Bicentennial quarter (worth 25¢), Bart and Homer start a coin collection, including stealing all the pennies from the Kwik-E-Mart take a penny tray. They even set up a fake toll booth. They manage to collect all the coins except the 1917 kissing Lincoln penny. Mr. Teenie gets stuck in traffic so Lisa has to appear as a pirate and sprays Krusty with seltzer, she becomes hypnotized by the applause. Krusty's accountant warns him about Lisa however she doesn't tell him about a rehearsal for the network executives and does an act for them. Even Krusty's agent abandons him for Lisa. Lisa gets her own show and the fame goes to her head. Krusty ends up doing the 3:30 AM show, Last Gasp with Krusty the Clown. His guest is Jimbo Jones. Bart and Homer go to an auction to try to buy the missing coin but Mr. Burns is buying them all. Mr Burns buys the penny for $10 million. Homer asks Burns for change for a nickel and get the coin. Lisa gets the Entertainer Of The Year award however Sideshow Mel shows her the former winners, all who eventually failed and were forgotten, including himself. Lisa asks Krusty to come up on stage and then he does his act. Krusty gets his show back and Lisa quits show business. 

Drew Carey does his own voice.

The 38th annual Springfield Showbiz Awards. Regulars attending: Rainer Wolfcastle / Booberalla / Arthur and Gabbo / Sideshow Mel / Krusty / Bumblebee Man / Harry Plopper / Lisa / Kent Brockman / Mr. Teenie / Lenny / Homer 

Krusty started out with the Kruskeeters (a spoof on the Mouseketeers): Jesse / CJ / Cubby (who is still owed money by Krusty) show up for the 4000th episode show.

Bart was Krusty's intern and then became famous as the "I Didn't Do It" Kid in the episode Bart Gets Famous.

Self Aware Joke, Sideshow Mel says show business is a business and the audience will find out in 3-2-1 and then the program cuts to a commercial.

Are You Fatter Than A Fat Guy, Wednesday's at 8. This is a spoof on Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

Nelson does the Flashdance water drop dance.

Krusty Kloven Baby Visker! Norway baby wipes.

In the episode Homer The Vigilante Bart collected stamps. 

During the montage of Bart and Homer looking for coins the Andy Griffith theme song plays. 

CBG has a comic book Muhammad Ali vs. Radioactive Man. This is based on the real comic book Muhammad Ali vs. Superman.

When Bart and Homer steal coins out of the wishing well the Leprechaun shows up.

Gavelby's Auction House

And so we've come to the end of another 5 episode and season 19.  The series did a reboot of the Marge and Homer meeting (That 90's Show) but then did a flashback to Homer at Woodstock (Mona Leaves-a) from the original timeline. There were some good episodes, and some bad ones. At least we're heading into an even numbered season. Let's hope they are better. 

Just a quick side note, The Simpsons 420 episode wasn't about you know what. Gotta wonder why.