Monthly Archives: March 2017
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Game: Pokemon Trading Card Game
Start Date: March 21st, 2017
End Date: May 25th, 2017
Videos: 27
Pokemon fever was running wild during the Late 90’s and with an anime and video game gaining popularity…naturally a trading card game was needed to further capitalize on it’s domination. And with a new card game, why not have a video game iteration of the card game as well? Sounds like a swell idea to me!
This was a game that I’ve owned for the longest time, but was never able to complete it until recent years (thanks to the encouragement of Puddle Plains HD). I’m happy to show this game in full, because it’s honestly a lot of fun once you have a grasp on how to play it effectively. Let the card memes begin!
SSR #8: “The Telltale Head”
Introduction:
If I had to pick the most iconic episodes of Season 1, or rather, the episodes I feel like are the most well-known of the season, I’d probably have to give my vote to the Christmas episode and the episode we will be looking at today; The Telltale Head. In this episode, we will live (or relive) through one of Bart’s most notorious pranks in the show’s history. How will it all go down? Let’s find out! The Telltale Head aired on February 25th, 1990 and was the seventh episode written for the show, and the eighth one to air in the Simpsons first season. It’s kind of odd when you look at that fact, considering this episode was written before the previous episode, but it aired afterwards. I guess something must have held up this episode up or something. The chalkboard gag for this episode is, “I did not see Elvis,” and the couch gag is actually a repeat of the couch gag that showed in “Bart the Genius,” where Bart is sent flying into the air, coming down in front of the television screen while it’s showing the producer credits.
Homer: “You know, Bart, when I was your age, I pulled a few boners. But I think you’ll find out that people are pretty decent if you give them half…”
Townspeople: “Look! There it is! The Head! KILL HIM!”
Plot:
This episode actually starts with what will ultimately be the conclusion of this story. Bart and Homer are walking down a sidewalk at night while Homer is trying to console Bart. Apparently Bart has done something very bad and it’s very apparent that they have the head of a stone statue in their possession. Before Homer gets very far with his talk, a mob shows up and starts to chase them through town. They ultimately get surrounded, but before the mob can rip them apart, Bart decides to explain why they have the head of the town’s founder, Jebediah Springfield, and starts telling his story of the events that led to this moment.
The story starts with The Simpson family attending church on a Sunday morning. The kids attend Sunday school and the adults listen to a sermon given by Reverend Lovejoy. Although the church scene doesn’t really have much to do with the rest of the episode, it’s good for a few laughs as the kids continually stress out the Sunday school instructor with way too many questions that she doesn’t know the answer to. And then Homer, who is listening to the football game broadcast on a radio, starts celebrating when his team makes a last-second push to win the game, not realizing that his shouts of jubilation are heard through the entire church and interrupt the reverend’s prayer; which incredibly humiliates Marge. On the way home, Bart sees that the new Space Mutants movie is playing at the movie theater and he asks to see it, but Marge refuses, saying the movie is too violent. Bart gets the money to see the movie anyway from Homer after lying to him and so he skateboards to the theater.
When he arrives, he runs into Jimbo Jones and his friends Dolph and Kearney; three older kids who are known for having a bad reputation at school for being troublemakers. They ask Bart if he wants to sneak into the movie without paying and Bart reluctantly accepts. The four kids eventually get thrown out of the movies and then they proceed to go around town causing mischief. They steal goods from the convenience store and then they start throwing rocks at a statue of the town founder; Jebediah Springfield. Bart knows that what the kids are doing is wrong, but he goes along with it anyway because they start to accept Bart and think he is cool for hanging with them. They then lay down in the middle of a field and start looking at the clouds, remarking how certain clouds look like different things. Bart notices a cloud that looks like the Jebediah Springfrield statue, but without the head, and when he tells the others about it, they start remarking that it would be cool if someone did cut the head off of the statue. Bart has enough and tells Jimbo and his friends to stop, but then they start making fun of Bart for defending the town founder, and telling him to leave in the process.
Bart decides that he wants to cut the head off the statue, but before he does, he asks his father how important it is to be popular. Homer, completely unaware of the reason Bart is asking the question for, tells Bart that being popular is the most important thing in the world and that he should do anything (shy of killing someone) to be popular. Because of this, Bart goes out during the night to cut off the statue’s head. However, once the deed has been done, Bart starts to realize that there is no going back and thinks that he may have made a mistake.
The next day, the entire town is in an outrage about the missing statue’s head, including the Simpson family, but they are completely unaware that Bart is vandal. Bart hides and takes the head to show to Jimbo and the other guys, but before he can show it, the bullies remark that if they find out who cut off the head, that they would beat the person up. When Bart brings up the discussion from the other day, they claim that it was only “cloud-talk” and that they would never actually disrespect the statue of the person who founded the town and killed a bear with their bare hands. Bart continues to feel the guilt throughout the rest of the episode and at his lowest point, he decides to finally come clean. He shows the head to his family and explains that the only reason why he did it was because he got the impression that being popular was the most important thing in the world. Homer realizes that he gave Bart that thought and decides that both he and Bart must come clean to the authorities.
The scene from the beginning of the episode continues and Bart apologizes for doing what he did and is willing to take responsibility for his actions. The entire town decides that Bart has suffered enough and that he truly feels badly for what he has done, so they accept his apology on the condition that he puts the head back on. Bart heroically takes the head and puts it back on the statue, absolving him of any guilt and bad feelings he had prior. The entire town celebrates the restoration of the town founder’s statue while Homer and Bart leave; Homer remarking that Bart did a good job, but that lynch mobs are never usually this nice and Bart should consider himself lucky.
Bart: “But guys, come on, don’t you remember history class? Jebediah once killed a bear with his bare hands.”
Dolph: “Oh, sorry…”
Kearney: “We forgot how much you loved Jebediah Springfield…”
Jimbo: “Yeah, he’s your boyfriend! Beat it Simpson! Man…I thought you were cool…”
My Personal History:
If there was ever an episode this season that I watched before the DVD boxset came out (at least that I know of), this would probably be the only episode that would meet that criteria. This is an episode I will always remember and never forget, just because of how familiar it is in the Simpsons mainstream. I’m not sure if I would call it one of my favorites because of that, but I do know that many people I’ve talked to about The Simpsons have seen it, or at the very least, know of its plot of how Bart decapitated the head of the town founder’s statue. I guess you could say it’s a “classic” episode.
Bart: “So like, sometimes you could do stuff that you think is pretty bad so other kids will like you?”
Homer: “You aren’t talking about killing anyone are you?”
Bart: “No…”
Homer: “ARE YOU?”
Bart: NO!”
Homer: “Then run along you little scamp!”
Favorite/Memorable Moments:
I have to say, this episode doesn’t really have a whole lot of jokes involved with it. Sure, there are some funny moments in the opening act with Homer acting up in church and the children in Sunday school incessantly asking the most out-there questions for the instructor, but this is definitely a plot that is driven by emotion more than humor for sure; especially in the second and third acts. If I had to pick my favorite joke, it would probably be the very last line in the episode where Homer tells Bart, “Good going son! But remember; most lynch mobs are not this nice!” Not only is it poking fun at how easily the conflict wrapped up, but it’s also a very nice warning to Bart as well, as Homer seems pretty confident that something like this could happen again, so Bart should watch what he does from now on.
This story is a very clear parody (especially when you consider the name of the episode) of “The Telltale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe. Much like the character in the poem, Bart is living with the guilt of something bad he did, and he is constantly reminded of that guilt in the disappointment of all the townspeople and by the sound of the statue’s head talking to him; continuing to eat away at his conscious the longer and longer the prank goes on. Although The Simpsons will be known for making references and parodies throughout the entire span of the show’s history, I feel like this is the first big one, or at least the first one I recognize that focuses on an entire episode as opposed to a small scene. In fact, the episode also makes a reference (one of many over the show’s history) to The Godfather when Bart wakes up and finds the head of the statue in bed with him (a nod to “finding a horse head in your bed”). I’m sure I will definitely miss out on references as we move forward, so if there ever is a reference I don’t call attention to, and you feel like it’s noteworthy, feel free to do so by leaving a comment on this and all future posts. I don’t claim for this series to be an extensive encyclopedia to all things Simpsons; this is more so just my take and analyses of the episodes, so please keep that in mind.
“Good going son! But remember, most lynch mobs aren’t this nice…”
~Homer Simpson
My Review:
Much like “Bart the Genius,” this is a very a “lesson-learned” storyline, where we follow supposed bad-boy Bart Simpson, watch as he does something bad, and then starts to regret what he has done and seeing how the guilt affects him and how he decides to make amends for his actions. Unlike Bart the Genius though, I feel like this episode does a much better job of showing that Bart has learned his lesson; mainly because we didn’t really see the ramifications for Bart’s actions in the prior episode. In this episode, Bart is almost lynched by an angry mob, and the guilt he had for his prank was hitting him really hard as well. In fact, as soon as Bart cut off the head, he remarked, “What have I done?” so you can see Bart was already trying to fight against what he knew was wrong, which I do like to see in Bart’s character development. He’s not a bad kid by any means, he’s just impressionable and is trying to find his way, and sometimes during that journey, you will make mistakes. The key is learning from those mistakes.
So on the whole, I do think this is a very good episode and I can see why it is hailed as a classic Season 1 episode by many Simpsons’ fans. However, it’s hard for me to say that I like this episode better than other Season 1 episodes like Bart the General and another episode we will be seeing in a few weeks. I think it’s just because I’ve seen this episode so many times and have been familiar with the basic storyline for it, that maybe it has just lost its novelty for me. It would still probably rank as Top 5 for the season most certainly…just not in my highest tier. But yeah, that will do it for The Telltale Head, so thanks to everyone for reading, I’ll see you all next time, and remember…if someone talks about cutting off the head of your town founder’s statue, make sure it’s not just ‘cloud-talk’ before turning them into the authorities.
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All right, we are done with yet another episode, but before we move on to the next one, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you guys that I will be on vacation, so there will not be any posts of this series next week, and probably the following week either (and if it is the following week, it will be later in the week once I’m on schedule again). I’m honestly amazed I have made it to this point already, as I honestly figured I would be further behind, but I have to say that this series has struck a chord with me and I can see this continuing on for a really long time. We only have 5 episodes of the first season remaining and I’m itching to see how they will go. However, first thing is first…I need my annual vacation relaxation before I do anything else. Catch you guys later!
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SSR #7: “The Call of the Simpsons
Introduction:
Now that we’ve gotten through a few more individual character episodes, we’re going back once again for another family-centric storyline. Sorry Marge, it looks like you will have to wait a few more weeks before you get your first episode plot, but trust me, we’ll definitely have some things to talk about with THAT episode. Anyway, this time we’re taking a trip to the great outdoors, and based on what we have seen so far; The Simpsons mixed with the great wilderness…I’m sure that will be a sight to behold. “The Call of the Simpsons” aired on February 18th, 1990 and was the ninth episode written for the series despite being the 7th episode that aired for this first season. This is because the episodes “Some Enchanted Evening” and “The Telltale Head” (which will be our next episode) were written before this episode, but were delayed for one reason or another. In the former’s case, it was because the episode was an animated nightmare, but that’s further from the point here. The chalkboard gag for this episode is, “I will not draw naked ladies in class,” and the couch gag is…there is none. The family just comes in and sits on the couch. No gag.
Marge: “Homer, I’m telling you. This is not the interstate”
Homer: “Pfft…maps!”
Plot:
When Ned Flanders comes home with a brand new, top-of-the-line RV for his family, Homer’s “hidden” jealousy for his neighbor’s wealthy possessions kicks in, as he decides to get an RV for his family as well. At the RV dealership, he finds an RV that he really wants to get, but when Cowboy Bob proceeds with a credit check on Homer, he discovers that the vehicle is way out of Homer’s price range. Instead, he hooks Homer up with a much cheaper model that looks incredibly run-down and sounds like it is in bad shape. Despite the warnings from Marge, Bob convinces Homer to purchase the RV and Homer decides to take the family on a camping trip with their newest purchase. However, during the road trip, Homer gets lost and drives the vehicle to the very edge of a giant cliff. The family escapes the RV just in time for it to fall over the cliff, stranding the family in the woods, away from civilization.
The family sets up camp and Homer and Bart decide to go out and look for any signs of civilization and help, while Marge and Lisa stay back at the camp. Baby Maggie starts to follow Homer and Bart, but when the two mistake Maggie’s pacifier sucking for a rattlesnake, they run ahead and leave Maggie by herself. Maggie eventually meets up with a bear which at first roars in Maggie’s face, but quickly calms down when she sticks a pacifier in its mouth. Maggie travels with the bear and goes back to its family’s den, where the entire bear family takes care of Maggie like if she were their own and brings her stuff from other families camping in the woods. Meanwhile, Marge and Lisa find out that they are quite adaptable when it comes to living outdoors as they manage to make a campfire and some decent shelter for the night.
However, Homer and Bart are not having the same amount of good fortune. They stumble into a raging river, lose their clothes, and have a really hard time adjusting to life in the great outdoors. This is incredibly ironic considering Homer is supposed to be an experienced woodsman (at least according to him), but he seems to run into difficulty at every step. When Homer tries to drink honey from a beehive, the stinging of angry bees cause Homer to run to what he thinks is a watering hole, but ends up being a giant puddle of mud. Homer is completely covered in mud and is babbling incoherently from all the bee stings, and during this state, he runs into another camper who mistakes Homer for the legendary “Bigfoot.” The camper gets Homer on film and runs off before Homer can start talking properly again.
With news stations reporting on the discovery of Bigfoot, the camp rangers start evacuating families from the premises, including Marge and Lisa who have been found and warned of the Bigfoot sighting. After seeing the tapes, Marge recognizes “Bigfoot” as Homer and tries to talk some sense into all of the reporters, but the reporters start treating her as a crazy lady instead. Homer and Bart eventually find the bear cave that Maggie has been staying at and reunite with their youngest daughter/sister. Maggie bids a sad farewell to her new bear family and then they start heading back to where their campsite was.
When Homer is located, the camp rangers tranquilize Homer, still mistaking him for Bigfoot, and take him in for extensive tests and analyses. After testing, Homer is let out and is able to go home, where he and Marge watch the test results being broadcasted on TV. From all the testing, it is determined that the results are “inconclusive,” meaning that Homer could very well be the intelligent creature known as Bigfoot, or just a human being with below average intelligence. Homer is incredibly humiliated by the program, but Marge tries to console him with kind, loving words as the episode ends.
“The Simpsons have entered the forest…”
~Lisa Simpson
Personal History:
Much like the episodes “There’s No Disgrace like Home,” and “Moaning Lisa,” this was always an episode that I was very well aware of, in terms of its existence, but could never really recall when I first watched it. I think once again it has to do with the fact that a clip from this episode was used in “So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show,” where it basically showed a scene of Homer and Bart in the woods from this episode. The first time I remember watching this episode in full was on the Simpsons Season 1 DVD, but if I had seen this episode prior to that, I honestly couldn’t tell you.
Lisa: “Remember, the handle of the Big Dipper points to the North Star.”
Homer: “That’s nice Lisa, but we’re not in astronomy class. We’re in the woods!”
Favorite/Memorable Moments:
Honestly, I don’t have a lot to touch on this time around, so I’m just going to go through the episode and touch on all the major highlights. First off, I have to give a huge shout-out to the very talented Albert Brooks for his voice work in, not only this episode, but in any episode where he is featured. In this episode, he does the voice work for Cowboy Bob, the RV salesman, but most Simpson’s fans will better know him as Hank Scorpio from “You Only Move Twice” and Russ Cargill from The Simpsons Movie. In this episode, although he plays a very minor role, it’s a role that is done very, very well. He was the most excellent personification of a classic used-car salesman and the way he worked over Homer was absolutely fantastic. I have to give major props to any individual who can do that line of work, which requires a lot of stretching the truth and saying the right things, and even though this is a cartoon show, Albert Brooks gives an amazing performance here and I could really get the sense that he knew what the hell he was doing.
Homer’s aptitude, or should I say lack of aptitude, for being an experienced woodsman is also a very humorous part of the episode, even if I feel like it can be a bit overdone at times. There is just something funny about how Homer can be so confident about his plans and zany schemes, even though they are so clearly lacking in substance or careful thought. He literally granbs a honeycomb and starts chugging the honey out of it, not even giving a second thought that bees may be around in some way. And honestly, perhaps my favorite joke of the entire episode, is when Homer tries to catch a rabbit with a snare trap, and the trap just flings the rabbit many, many miles away and Bart and Homer just watch the rabbit landing so far into the distance. In fact, I think I’ll include a link to that scene just to show you how great it is. As I said, I’m not too much of a fan of when Homer gets “overly” depicted as a bumbling idiot who can’t do anything right, but in this episode, I think it works because the entire situation was Homer’s fault to begin with. He bought the cheap RV, he insisted on taking the family on a camping trip, and he decided to drive the family through a dangerous wildlife path that was completely off the road map. In other words, he kind of reaps what he sowed.
And finally, special mention to the return of the humorous newspaper headlines when Marge is trying to explain to the reporters that Homer isn’t Bigfoot. I always enjoy jokes of that nature and I always remember these one in particular. I think the one that really gets to me is the headline that says “The Bigfoot Diet: Pork Chops Aplenty!” just because it clearly shows that the reporters do not care at all about what Marge is trying to explain and just want to get more shock value or information for the Bigfoot articles, which is just classic humor at its finest.
TV Reporter: “Although the creature was ultimately released, the question remains, ‘Who was this Homer?’ Was it a man or was it, in fact, the legendary missing link known as Bigfoot?”
Homer: (on footage) “Could I have some applesauce?”
My Review:
So before the retrospective, I honestly thought this episode would probably be one of my lowest rated episodes from the first season. Watching this back, much like Bart the Genius and Moaning Lisa, I was surprised I actually enjoyed it a little more than I thought it would. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, or incredible or anything, and I would still probably rate it as one of the least enjoyable episodes from this season, but it’s not unwatchable, which I guess is the most important thing. It just feels like there could have been more jokes. Homer trying to adapt in the woods is the most engaging part of the episode, but they cut away from it a lot to focus on the other parts of the story, which, I do agree are necessary parts of the story, but it’s such a shift in tone that I almost feel like it starts to lose me a little.
I think the biggest problem though is that I just don’t really like the “Bigfoot” development of the story. Again, I understand it’s a cartoon show and is not meant to be realistic or logical, but there’s just something about that part of the plot that seems to be “too much” of a stretch, at least for me. And it’s a stretch in the sense of where the episode ends up, because like Homer’s Odyssey, it feels like three different mini-episodes. The first episode is about Homer being jealous of his neighbor’s RV, the second is about getting lost in the woods, and the final is about Homer being mistaken for Bigfoot. It’s just really interesting how the episode gets to that particular point and I almost wonder if it could have been done in a different way; a more enjoyable way that could have flowed together better. I think an ending where Homer and Bart get saved by Marge and Lisa, who have discovered how to be quite efficient at living in the woods, could have been a more engaging conclusion, and one that would have focused on the entire family a bit more as opposed to the Bigfoot shenanigans.
That’s just my take though. I’m sure there are individuals who may defend this episode a bit more than I would, but at that point, it all comes down to personal preference. I definitely don’t think it’s a bad episode by any means, but there are many other episodes I would choose to watch over this one, including episodes in this same season. But yeah, I think that about wraps it up for this episode, so let’s not ignore Lisa’s advice on how to find the North Star and head on home and back to civilization.
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And with this episode taken care of, we are officially more than halfway through Season 1! We only have 6 more episodes left and…my god, we have some interesting ones to come! Next week we’ll be taking a look at what many Simpson’s fans consider to be a classic Simpsons episode; The Telltale Head. After that, I may be taking a small break since I’ll have a vacation coming up, but when I return, I’ll be hitting the remaining 5 episodes hard because I would like to finish this season before we get to the summer months. Thanks for reading everybody!
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SSR #6: “Moaning Lisa”
Introduction:
During the first five episodes of The Simpsons; we’ve had two Bart episodes, one Homer episode, and two family episodes that you could qualify as Homer episodes. However, as far as the Simpson females are concerned, we’ve not really had much of a look at Marge, Lisa or Maggie yet. All of them provided relatively small supporting roles in the previous episodes and roles that could arguably be seen as unnecessary in moving the story forward. However, those times are a thing of the past as we have our very first Lisa episode today! “Moaning Lisa” debuted on February 11th, 1990 and was the sixth episode written and aired for the first season. The chalkboard gag is “I will not instigate revolution,” and the couch gag involves the family sitting down on the couch with Maggie popping out and Marge catching her as she is falling.
Teacher: “Lisa, we are playing dodgeball here. The object of the game is to avoid the ball by ducking or weaving out of its path.”
Lisa: “In other words, to dodge the ball.”
Plot:
The episode starts with a very glum Lisa Simpson. She’s very slow at getting ready for school, doesn’t seem very amused in her family’s morning antics, and lets her father and brother eat the last of the remaining cupcakes; claiming that one cupcake will not bring her any happiness. Later at school, when trying to express herself through her saxophone playing, her music teacher, Mr. Largo, scolds her for not following the instructions. Then to top everything off, during gym class she doesn’t seem to be in the mood to play dodgeball for the sole reason that she is ‘sad.’ Lisa’s teacher sends a note home telling her family about Lisa’s sadness.
The family doesn’t seem to understand why Lisa is feeling this way, and tries everything they can to make her feel better. Even Bart tries to cheer Lisa up with a prank phone call to Moe’s Tavern. However, all of their efforts don’t seem to lead anywhere. The only thing that seems to put her mind at ease is music and playing the ‘blues’ on her saxophone. While practicing, Lisa hears another sax playing in the distance and sneaks out of the house to follow the sound. This is where she meets a fellow sax player and jazz musician “Bleedin’ Gums Murphy.” They exchange words and then start playing together into the night. Meanwhile, after having dreams about how to help Lisa, Marge notices that Lisa is missing from her bedroom and follows the music to find her at the bridge and take her home.
The next morning, Marge tells Lisa some advice her mother once gave her; to smile and never stop smiling, even if she doesn’t feel like it, as it will be the key to making friends and getting other people to like her, thus making her more happy. Lisa tries this, but the other kids start trying to take advantage of her and her smarts by asking her to do their homework, and Mr. Largo makes a very demeaning and sarcastic comment in regards to her musical outburst the other day. This upsets Marge and she immediately pulls Lisa back into the car. She tells Lisa to forget everything she told her to do a few minutes ago and that if she wants to be sad, than she should be sad and let her mother do all the smiling for the both of them. This finally strikes a chord with Lisa and she starts to smile, saying that she finally feels like smiling.
Meanwhile, while this is all going on, Homer has his own little story for this episode. Yeah, you could call this the first Simpsons episode that has a “B-Plot” of sorts, or a story that complements (or just featured alongside of in some cases) the main story of the episode. In this particular B-plot, Homer is on an amazing losing streak with Bart on their “Video Boxing” video game. Homer’s constant losing is starting to affect him to a large degree, mainly with him having nightmares of Bart beating him up, so he decides to pick up some tips from the local video game arcade. He trains with a kid who teaches him everything he needs to know and challenges Bart to one final match.
During the match, Homer finally starts to do well and is about to knock-out Bart for the final blow, but before he can perform the final move, Marge comes into the room with Lisa, unplugs the video game system, and tells Bart and Homer that Lisa wants to do something the entire family will enjoy. Bart takes this instance to announce his retirement from Video Boxing with an undefeated record while Homer sobs that his golden moment was taken away from him. The entire family goes to the Jazz Hole where Bleedin’ Gums Murphy is performing the song that he and Lisa played the other night, ending the episode.
Marge: “Bart’s such a handful, and Maggie needs attention. But all the while, our little Lisa is becoming a young woman.”
Homer: “Oh, so that’s it. It’s some kind of underwear thing.”
Marge: ” *murmurs* Good night, Homer.”
Personal History:
I had to have seen this episode at some point in my life, but I can never recall if it was from a clip show or the actual episode. I was very aware of the Bleedin’ Gums Murphy character and his relationship with Lisa, how Lisa looked up to him and how he was one of Lisa’s biggest inspirations when it came to music and playing the saxophone. However, I might be thinking of “Bart’s Dog Gets An F” in Season 2 where Lisa stiches an image of Mr. Murphy into the family quilt. Regardless, that is a plot point that has always stuck with me regardless, which I guess makes this episode a little iconic, in a sense.
One thing I would like to point out though is that, as a kid, I did own (and still probably do own) “The Simpsons Sing the Blues” album. This was basically a CD that features around 10 or so songs sung by Simpson’s characters. Most of the songs were original songs made for the characters, and some of them were actually used in animated music videos for the show as well, like “Do the Bartman” and “Deep, Deep Trouble.” A longer version of Lisa’s song in this episode, from her jam session with Bleedin’ Gums Murphy, is actually on the CD, and that was something I always enjoyed about watching this episode; finding out where that reference came from. I think at the end of this post I’ll include a link to the song or something, but yeah, I felt like mentioning that.
“The blues isn’t about feelin’ better. It’s about makin’ other people feel worse and makin’ a few bucks while you’re at it.”
~Bleedin’ Gums Murphy
Favorite/Memorable Moments:
This is definitely an episode that relies more on emotional responses and character development than on jokes and humor. However, there is definitely some humor that can be found here still. Whether it’s the return to the Moe’s Tavern prank call joke, where Bart uses the name “Jacques Strap” (for jock strap), or the silliness of the sub-plot of Homer going to an arcade to get tips for beating his son at a video game, there were definitely some laughs to be had in this episode. The fact that Homer is becoming so scared of his son because of the video game is priceless, and the scream he makes when waking up from the nightmare is probably one of the best Homer screams of all time. I also think this episode features a really good Maggie joke where while Bart and Lisa are trying to get Maggie to choose which sibling she likes best, and in what will be classic Maggie humor, she chooses the television over the two family members. I think my favorite joke though is at the end of the episode when the family is listening to the song Lisa wrote. The family is just sitting there, listening to and enjoying the music, and when the song gets to the line about Homer acting like he belongs in a zoo, Homer just pauses for a second, realizes what was just said, and exclaims, “What?” in just a hilarious fashion.
I think the greatest individual moment of the episode though is when Marge finally realizes what she needs to do to make her daughter happy, and it’s by letting her daughter express herself in the way she wants and needs to, and by not trying to fix or change her. The advice she tried to give to Lisa; about smiling no matter how you feel…I never quite understood what the writers were trying to go for with that until very recently, and a large part of that realization is due to this retrospective series, where I’ve started analyzing these episodes a little more and seeing these things in different ways. At this point in the episode, the family has tried numerous times in trying to get Lisa to feel better, all of which have not been successful. The only thing that has been successful is Lisa’s expression through music, something the family has not really understood yet. So at this point, much like her teachers, Marge and Homer are telling Lisa what to do and how to feel, which just doesn’t work and is, if anything, the root of her sadness in the first place. When Marge sees how badly her suggestion is doing, she realizes that she was wrong and tells Lisa that it’s fine to feel sad if she feels that way, and that makes Lisa happy because she has that control now and she can use that sadness to further develop her music, in which she is very much invested in. It took me way too many years to realize that, but I am glad I can finally understand it now, because it does increase my overall appreciation for this episode.
“I got a bratty brother, he bugs me everyday. And this morning my own mother, she gave my last cupcake away. My dad acts like he belongs, he belongs in the zoo. I’m the saddest kid, in grade number two.”
~Lisa’s Song
My Review:
I feel like I’m hitting the review section kind of early here, but after thinking about it, I really don’t have much else to say about this episode. To be quite honest, going into this retrospective, this was probably my least favorite episode of the six I’ve taken a look at so far. I feel I must stress that it’s not because I think this is a bad episode, by any means; this was just an episode I was incredibly neutral about. It’s nice they went for a more emotionally driven plot with this episode, but I guess for me growing up, I was definitely more about the humor than the emotional responses. These days, since I am well into my adulthood now, I can look at these episodes with a bit more understanding and more of an open mind. I’m not saying all kids are like this, heck, there were probably some kids out there who could relate with what Lisa was going through, but for me, I didn’t grasp all of that at first, and I’m glad that I do now because there is definitely a solid story here.
With that being said though, I wouldn’t say that I’m completely turned around on the subject. I definitely appreciate this episode a lot more and it’s nice to see the start of Lisa’s character development (especially after focusing so much on Bart and Homer on the episodes before this), but like…I wouldn’t be surprised if people start to lose interest during the middle of this episode. It’s kind of like “There’s No Disgrace Like Home” in a lot of respects, where it has some great moments, but they are towards the end of the episode, so you will only feel the impact of those moments if you stuck around and didn’t change the channel or turn away beforehand. And for that, I do see that as kind of a weakness for this episode despite the good moments that it does have. Also, the sub-plot with Homer and Bart, and the videogame? Although not the worst B-plot in the Simpsons’ history, it is very weak and doesn’t really complement the main plot of the episode that well. I honestly would have rather seen Homer and Bart try (and fail) to cheer up Lisa more and maybe come to a similar realization like Marge did, but in their own elements and in ways that would better benefit their individual character relationships moving forward. I ultimately feel like the writers were trying to stuff more jokes and gags into the B-plot because the A-plot was so emotionally-driven, but because of that, they prolonged the emotional moments and if anything made the episode a bit less focused on the main plot, which probably cheapened the overall experience.
However, the Simpsons will go on to do many emotional episodes in the future, particularly ones involving Lisa, and I have to say that the stories do not disappoint. For a first season episode and attempt, I will give props to the writers for going through with this story, because I do think it’s an important episode moving forward. It’s important in the sense that it helped make The Simpsons not just a cartoon show with jokes and gags being delivered every few seconds like Looney Tunes, the Flintstones, and Tom and Jerry, but also a show that focuses on delivering a good story and some emotion alongside the humor. And with that, let’s let our little girl of the Blues, Lisa Simpson, play us out as we close this episode.
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Have to admit, this was a fun episode to look at because it wasn’t an episode I truly appreciated until much later on in life. It makes me curious to watch the rest of the episodes from this season, especially in the near future, because we have some episodes coming up that I’m not the biggest fan of and I kind of wonder how I will feel about them when it comes around to this retrospective. So yeah, I’ll see you guys next week for another episode, and maybe at this rate, I may get a few more finished before my vacation after all.
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SSR #5: “Bart the General”
Introduction:
Bart Simpson may be the troublemaker at Springfield Elementary, but he’s definitely not a kid that could be classified as a bully or ruffian. He’s a fun-loving boy with a tendency to be a class-clown at times, and he may not be the smartest kid around, but on the whole, he’s a normal kid like everyone else. However, recent developments have put Bart in the crosshairs of the local school bully, and now he must find a way out of this predicament, unless he wants to have daily school beatings for the rest of his life. The Simpson universe is about to become a warzone with Bart on one side and Nelson Muntz on the other. “Bart the General” debuted on February 4th, 1990, and was the fifth episode written and aired for The Simpsons first season. This episode, alongside “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” and “Life on the Fast Lane,” did not feature any chalkboard or couch gags, probably because the episode ran a bit longer than usual.
Kid: “Nelson, you’re bleeding!”
Nelson: “Naw, happens all the time. Somebody else’s blood splatters on me. Hey wait a minute! You’re right! You made me bleed my own blood.”
Plot:
We start the episode at the Simpson household where Marge is helping Lisa bake cupcakes for her teacher’s birthday. Here we find out a little more that Lisa is the “smart one” of the family. She studies hard, tries to develop a good relationship with her teachers, and is generally just a more pleasant student than what Bart is in his classes. Bart gives Lisa a hard time for this, calling her a “butt kisser,” an “egg sucker,” and an “honor student.” However, even Bart is kind enough to take it all back and apologize when he’s gone too far, showing that he really does love and care about his sister…even if he does it for the prospect of a free cupcake.
The sibling bond is developed further when a kid takes Lisa’s cupcakes and starts eating them. Bart steps in to defend his sister, threatening to beat up the kid if he doesn’t give them back, but his threats go in one ear and out the other. Bart starts to rough up the kid, unaware that the kid’s superior, and big bully of the schoolyard, Nelson Muntz, has come to step in, leading Bart into punching Nelson in the nose accidentally. Instead of taking him out right there, because school is about to start, Nelson tells Bart that he will take care of him after school. Bart spends the entire day worrying about his fate, having a vision of him being chased by a giant version of Nelson, and even a daydream of what his funeral would be. After school, Bart tries to leave before anything can happen, but he runs into Nelson, who proceeds to give Bart a beating and then stuffs him into a trash can. Nelson remarks that this will now become a daily part of Bart’s life as he sends Bart on a wild ride down the hill, still rolling in the trash can.
When Bart gets home, Marge and Homer learn that Bart is being harassed by a bully and give him advice on how to deal with the situation. Marge tells Bart to either tell the principal or try to talk to Nelson and try to find common ground. Homer scoffs at this advice and takes Bart with him to teach him how to fight back and fight dirty in response. The next day at school, Bart tries to implement Homer’s teachings, but is still completely outmatched by Nelson, and is once again beat up. Lisa suggests Bart talk to Grandpa Simpson, as he is the toughest Simpson alive. Grandpa is enthusiastic to help, but in his old age, is unable to give Bart the advice he needs for dealing with young blood, so he takes Bart to meet a friend of his who may be able to help.
Bart meets Herman, Grandpa’s acquaintance who works at a military antiques store. Herman is quite knowledgeable, and quite obsessed, with the subject of war and turns Bart’s plight into a war scenario. He has Bart round up a number of kids who are tired of Nelson’s tyranny and trains them to take on Nelson once and for all. What follows is a very entertaining montage of Bart training the other kids with obstacle courses, fighting exercises and inspirational march songs. Herman, Bart and his troops gain intelligence on Nelson’s daily schedule and lay an ambush for him with hundreds and hundreds of water balloons.
Nelson and his two cronies are completely overwhelmed by Bart’s assault, forcing Nelson to the ground and his two goons to surrender. Nelson is tied up and captured, but threatens to beat up Bart even more once he gets untied. Bart realizes that Nelson cannot be tied up forever and Herman suggests an alternative method for solving their conflict. Bart and Nelson sign a peace treaty; an agreement that states that while Nelson can no longer forcefully beat up Bart or other children on a regular basis, he can continued to be looked at as a physical threat and menace of the schoolyard. They celebrate their new agreement by sharing a plate of cupcakes with each other and everyone else in the room, ending the story on a peaceful resolution. The actual episode ends with Bart giving a small speech and message to the episode viewers on the subject of war and how it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be…with the exception of the Civil War, World War II, and the plot of the original Star Wars trilogy. It’s obviously not trying to be a super serious message, but I always found the inclusion to be a fun little joke and nod to those “viewer discretion” messages.
“The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street. The Greeks knew it. The Carthaginians knew it. Now you know it.”
~Herman
Personal History:
Once again, I did not see this episode until I owned The Simpsons Season 1 on DVD, but thankfully I have a little more to say than just that. When I initially viewed the DVD in its entirety, this was probably my favorite episode of the entire first season. I just really enjoyed the story, the jokes, and the epic Act 3 montage and conclusion at end. It just really rounded out to be a great episode for me and was probably one of only a few episodes I really got excited about watching in the first season. Since then, I have gained an appreciation for other episodes of this season as well, so is it still my favorite? We will just have to wait and see; not just for the final episode review, but also for the end of the Season 1 retrospective as it is.
“Sorry, Bart. You can push them out of a plane, you can march them off a cliff, you can send them off to die on some godforsaken rock, but for some reason…you can’t slap them. Now apologize to that boy right now.”
~Abe Simpson
Favorite/Memorable Moments:
I don’t even know where to begin with this one, just because there are just so many great jokes and great moments of this particular episode, so I’m really going to need to narrow things down for this particular section. And please, do not be surprised if this section is quite a bit longer than other sections in these retrospectives. The first thing I want to call attention to are the daydreams/fantasies Bart has in the first act. They just seem so appropriate to what a child would be scared of when being terrorized by a bully. It’s that scary, childhood dream where you are being chased by a monster and you try everything you can to stop it, just to find out that it’s completely unavoidable and pointless. Heck, Bart used knives and a GUN in that daydream and nothing could phase Giant Nelson. The funeral daydream is also pretty humorous too, especially when Nelson shows up to give Bart a few last punches before they bury him.
I also really like the dynamic between Homer and Marge during Act 2 of this episode, how they both try to do everything they can to help Bart, even if their advice falls on deaf ears and doesn’t work. It really shows their two different parenting styles and shows that even though they are married, they can still have conflicting opinions and they don’t back down from their respective arguments. I feel like future seasons kind of overplay the “Marge and Homer have marital problems,” plot line, and heck, we’ll be starting to take a look at some of those plots later on this season, but here, I feel like it works because they both want what’s best for their son and there are merits for both of their sides. Marge is correct in saying that fighting isn’t always the answer, but Homer is also correct in saying that people do need to learn to hold their own and stand up for themselves. Not all parental arguments need to be marriage-ending. And in response to Homer’s advice, I also like when Bart is imagining what Homer is saying to him during the second exchange with Nelson. He reminds Bart of what he taught him, Bart tries and fails immediately, and Homer in Bart’s thoughts shrugs, being out of any other ideas and forcing him to watch Nelson just take him down.
Now we get into all the war stuff, which is definitely just the best part of the episode, in my opinion. Everything during the end of Act 2 and the entirety of Act 3 is just amazing and very well written and directed. First I’ll start with Herman, who was just absolutely hilarious in this episode and who I honestly wish would have been given a bigger role in future episodes. Everything he says is just so over-the-top and hilarious and the fact that he is so obsessed with war, to the extreme of turning this childhood scuffle into one, just works so well here. “The key to Springfield has always been Elm Street! The Greeks knew it, the Carthaginians knew it, and now you know it!” That’s a line that has just always stuck with me just because it is so over the top. And the fact that Grandpa knows the guy is nuts and confirms it to Bart just makes his character even better. They need him to win this war.
Speaking of Grandpa, another line, or speech rather, that I always remember from this episode is during the montage when Bart starts punishing a kid for not wanting to fight. Grandpa stops Bart immediately with a lecture, saying “Sorry, Bart. You can push them out of a plane, you can march them off a cliff, you can send them off to side one some godforsaken rock, but for some reason…you can’t slap them. Now apologize to that boy right now!” That may be my favorite quote of the entire season, just because of how it starts to set up some kind of important message for Bart, before Grandpa just forgets the message, and just tells Bart that it’s wrong to slap someone and to apologize. I remember for the longest time, I actually had that quote as my signature on message boards just because of how silly it is. I also like the following exchange where after Bart apologizes, the kid just remarks, “it’s cool,” when the kid was terrified and scared beforehand, so it wasn’t even a big deal anyway.
The training montage is honestly just a really solid scene to begin with though. It has the classic cartoon humor of watching kids trying to perform obstacle courses, and generally not performing super well (because they are only around ten years old here). It has a scene where you watch the kids beat up on a sandbag, while Herman absolutely destroys the sandbag, stabbing it with a bayonet, and ripping it apart saying, “Die! DIE!” And I don’t know what it is about Bart’s military chants, but it’s just so endearing to watch a 10-year old boy try to mimic an army general, and his march rhymes are pretty catchy as well, with most of them being about how he is a subpar student in school and various other child comebacks and sayings (like the “We are rubber, you are glue” saying). Then, the war with Nelson itself, despite being incredibly one-sided, is just worth the entire build-up of the episode. The kids, just being through with Nelson’s bullying, much like us being tired of seeing Nelson beat up on poor Bart, just get complete satisfaction from watching him get paid back, in full, with the wrath of hundreds of water balloons.
And finally, the last thing I want to point out, actually goes back to a little nod that was written in the second act when Bart is being introduced to Herman. The Simpsons is definitely a show where once an episode ends, it’s very rare that they will call attention to that particular episode or storyline again, almost like each episode is starting new without any memory of the previous episode. There are some very obvious exceptions, like when a character is written into the show and has a big connection with another character, or very important lifestyle choices and changes (like Lisa becoming a vegetarian in Season 7). For the most part though, everything seems to find a way back to the status quo. This is why I found this particular moment kind of funny though, because when Bart asks Herman about his missing arm, Herman gives a speech saying, “When your teacher tells you to leave your arm inside the bus at all times, YOU DO IT!” This is a nod to the 3rd episode, “Homer’s Odyssey,” when Mrs. Krabappel tells the children to keep their arms inside the bus at all times because of some kid losing his arm that way. I always thought that reference was cool, especially when considering the prospect of Herman being the kid Mrs. Krabappel was alluding to, just from many years ago. So yeah, I felt like sharing that little reference before moving on, just because I’ve always been fond of it.
Herman: “Got the water balloons?”
Bart: “200 rounds, sir! Is it OK if they say ‘Happy Birthday’ on the side?”
Herman: “I’d rather they say ‘Death From Above,’ but I guess we’re stuck.”
My Review:
As I said before, when I first watched “Bart the General,” it was definitely my favorite episode of Season 1. And honestly, even after many years have passed, it probably still is my favorite Season 1 episode. I do like a lot of other episodes a little more than I used to, but this one definitely hasn’t lost any favor with me either, and if even possible, I like it even more, now that I can see why I like it so much. It’s a good story that doesn’t have to rely on any other plots to keep it fresh, and unlike many of the other episodes so far, I feel like the main point of this episode is dropped on us pretty much from the get-go. In the first act we get introduced to Bart’s plight and actually see some substance to it and how it’s affecting him. In the second act we watch him try to deal with it from a variety of different angles before deciding on a final measure. And finally, in the third act, we watch the final conflict unfold in a very exciting conclusion that keeps you on your toes, wanting you to know how everything is going to go down. Some could argue that the ending of the episode seems very forced and nonsensical, making you wonder if a conflict and rivalry that heated could end so peacefully. But, for the purpose of the show, I can see the logic being used here. They didn’t want to send the message that “all you need is strength in numbers, and you can take down anyone with no consequences,” and they didn’t want to just get rid of or permanently disable the trademark “bully” character either, just because they could definitely use him for future stories and episode plots down the road, which is definitely true considering the future legacy and popularity of the Nelson Muntz character. His “Ha, Ha!” laugh clip is probably one of the most famous Simpson catchphrases, after all the Homer and Bart ones anyway.
So yeah, overall, just a very exciting episode. It has great moments, great jokes, a great story…just everything that makes a great Simpson episode, and this early in the first season as well…that’s not too shabby. I have to say, I’m really pumped now to see what the rest of the season will bring as well, now that I’ve set the bar pretty high for the rest of the episodes to beat this one. I think once I’m done with all the Season 1 episodes, I’ll try doing a post where I personally rank all the episodes of the season in order of my favorite to least favorite. That should be fun in determining, at least, what my favorite episodes are from that particular season, and maybe then, sometime in the future, I can use that list to help determine a much grander ranking if I ever decide to rank all of the episodes (of every season). For now though, I think it’s time to bid farewell to “Bart the General,” and I give my salute on a job well done!
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This episode really was so much fun to watch and look at for this post and I think it will put a lot of things in perspective when we start getting to some of the following episodes…for reasons I won’t quite reveal yet. Anyway, as you may have noticed, I’ve stopped doing these once per week and have been kind of on a “one entry per week and a half” pattern as of right now. Things have just been really busy as of late and I’m trying to do as much as I can without stressing myself out too much. Not to mention, I do have a vacation coming up soon, and I want to make sure a lot of my Youtube stuff is taken care of beforehand. That vacation starts on March 31st, so I’m hoping to have the next two entries done before then, but as usual, if stuff comes up, it comes up and the next post will be delayed by a small bit.
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