A week late so doing two in one this week.
Week 4 and almost halfway through Season 2 already! A few more memorable episodes so let’s into them.
Week 4
2×09 – 022 – “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge” – 7F09
Watched date – 22/01/24 / Original Air Date – 20/12/1990
We start off with Homer offering to build Marge a spice rack as he has the tools in the garage that he intended to use but never got around to. The kids are watching Krusty with another over-the-top violent Itchy & Scratchy which Maggie seems to be transfixed by. We jump to Homer in the garage consulting a handyman’s guide to building a spice rack. A mess of wood and nails later and Homer constructs something that vaguely resembles a spice rack. In the background, Maggie creeps down the stairs and attacks Homer with a mallet knocking him unconscious. At first, Marge is clueless as to why Maggie would do such a thing then sees an episode of Itchy & Scratchy which Maggie was observing and Maggie imitates the stabbing in the cartoon towards Homer.
Outraged Marge writes several letters to various people involved with the making and showing of the show only to be told one person can’t make a difference insulting Marge who plans to teach them a lesson. Marge also bans the kids from watching but they find other ways to watch at their friend’s houses. Marge forms a small mob which grows and eventually, she is “heard” and the cartoon is toned down to a loving cat-and-mouse show. Marge lets the kids watch but is disappointed when it is beyond tame. This leads kids to give up watching TV and going outside to play for once.
Later an art exhibition is announced to visit Springfield with the famed “David” statue, the mob Marge formed asks if she would join them to protest due to it being offensive and unsuitable but Marge advises she likes the “David” being an artist herself and that it should be proudly displayed. In an interview regarding the protest against the statue, Marge puts forward her opinion and is called a hypocrite for censoring one form of art and not the other and the cartoon is reverted to how it was. Homer and Marge go visit the statue and Marge seems annoyed as she thinks the kids should see it but Homer says not to worry as the school is forcing them to see it.
A more serious episode that looked at censorship issues and allowed the writers to add more Itchy & Scratchy episodes which fans had been clamoring for.
Fun fact: The first appearance of Roger Meyers Jr and Sideshow Mel
2×10 – 023 – “Bart Gets Hit by a Car” – 7F10
Watched date – 23/01/24 / Original Air Date – 10/01/1991
While out riding his skateboard with reckless abandon, Bart is hit by a car driven by Mr. Burns. While Burns and his assistant Waylon Smithers, Jr. bicker about what to do about him, his soul floats out of his body and he ascends a luminous stairway to Heaven. He watches the rest of the Simpsons’ ancestors, including Great-Grandpa Simpson strangling a young Abraham. When Bart spits over the edge, the stairway turns into a chute and Bart descends directly to hell. After the devil looks over his case history on his computer, he sees that Bart is not due to arrive in hell for nearly another century. As he begins to regain consciousness, the devil tells him to continue to sin. Bart wakes up in a hospital bed with Homer, Marge, Lisa, Maggie, and a strange man hovering over him. Asking the strange man who he is, he introduces himself as Lionel Hutz, an attorney at law. Lionel presents Homer with his card and tells him if he wants to make a lot of money to give him a call. Marge quickly rejects Hutz’s offer, stating they’re not interested in suing anyone and demands he leave at once. After he leaves, Dr. Hibbert arrives to give out his prognosis and that Bart’s injuries are minor. He advises Marge not to over-mother Bart too much and Homer is hesitant to sue Mr. Burns. Acting on his lawyers’ advice, Mr Burns offers Homer money to ensure he does not take legal action against him. But he only offers Homer a paltry $100. He turns it down because it barely covers the medical bill. Burns takes this as an attempt by Homer to make a fast buck, so he angrily throws him out of his office. Shaken from that encounter, Homer wipes himself with the business card Hutz gave him at the hospital, which is a trick sponge. Homer decides to take Lionel Hutz up on his offer.
After learning that Homer is going to sue him, Mr. Burns becomes furious and prepares to fire him. After Smithers reminds him that firing a man whose son he hit with a car would be bad for his image, Burns’ option is to settle the lawsuit in court or talk the Simpsons out of it.
At Hutz’s office, he assures Homer that if he does exactly what Hutz says, he can get a settlement for a million dollars (of which he gets 50% as part of his fee). However, to succeed, Bart has to lie about the extent of his injuries. To further stack the deck in their favour, Hutz uses the legal testimony of a shady doctor, Nick Riviera, to come up with his diagnosis. Though he succeeds and puts Bart in bandages, Marge is sceptical of his medical qualifications and is convinced that this is dishonest. She decries Dr. Riviera as a quack for exaggerating Bart’s condition and quickly confronts Hutz for his actions. Marge immediately reminds Homer that Dr. Hibbert has been their family physician for years and is determined Bart will make a quick recovery. The only restitution she would demand from Burns is for him to pay Bart’s medical bills and make an apology for the accident. When Homer tries to denounce Dr. Hibbert by claiming him to be too boring, Marge sees the first warning signs of his greed and is horrified by the fact he is encouraging their son to lie.
Later on at the Simpson house, Hutz coaches Bart on exaggerating his condition to help win the jury’s sympathy. However, Marge’s suspicions don’t go unnoticed as Lisa also sees what they’re doing as wrong and dishonest. They make their objections clear that they’re against suing Mr. Burns and demand Bart tells the truth in court. Hutz quickly dismisses them, but his claims that what he does is “truth” do little to convince Marge and Lisa otherwise. They are more convinced that everything they’re doing is still lying and dishonest.
Both Bart and Mr. Burns present exaggerated, outrageous memories of the accident on the stand. Bart’s story is that he was peacefully playing when Burns in “the luxury car of death” went out of his way to intentionally hit children. Burns’ story is that “that incorrigible Simpson youngster darted out of nowhere”, and was hit accidentally, Burns cried out to God to spare Bart and take him as he is old, and the accident interrupted his plans to “deliver toys to the orphanage”. However, the civil jury is more accepting of Bart’s fabricated story and shows sympathy for him. Whereas, Marge and Lisa show their shared disgust for Hutz because they’re the only ones in the courtroom still convinced that he made Bart lie. Things seem to be looking up for Hutz and Homer. After the trial, Mr Burns is seen yelling at his lawyers for their incompetence in failing to curry the civil jury’s favour because they hate him. His main lawyer suggests an out-of-court settlement between him and the Simpsons. Mr. Burns then orders them to bring Homer and Marge to his house at once to do so.
In a last attempt to get them to drop the lawsuit, Burns invites Homer and Marge to his mansion. He offers them $500,000 to settle the case and then leaves the room to let them discuss it. Burns listens in on their conversation in the next room by looking through the cut-out eyes of a painting. Back in the living room, Marge is feeling guilty for being dishonest and lying in court. She pleads with Homer to drop the case and accept the money. Mr. Burns has a panic attack when he hears Homer openly and abrasively object to her request. He demands to know why Marge wants him to accept the settlement money and not wait to be paid the full $1 million as Hutz promised them. Angered by this, Marge reveals she and Lisa were against suing Mr. Burns from the start. She says they would’ve been much happier with settling the case with him rather than let this go to court. Marge also wants Homer to accept the generous settlement so they can move on with their lives and get Hutz out of their lives. He refuses by stating that he knows Mr Burns is going to lose the case and will have to pay them the full million anyway. Having enough, Marge admits she dislikes the situation for what it’s become including his greed, the falsified testimony, the dishonest shifty lawyers and using fake doctors with shady medical qualifications. Mr. Burns overhears that Homer and Hutz are using a quack and he gets an idea to win the case. He returns with Smithers just in time to catch Homer and Marge arguing. He maintains his stance by telling her that waiting to win the full million is the right thing to do and doesn’t care if she and Lisa are uncomfortable with this. Marge still insists they should accept the money because Hutz is a dishonest fraudulent man who will leave them with less than what he promised them. She closes the argument by saying if the decision were left to her instead of Homer: she would gladly accept the $500,000 settlement so they can pay off Bart’s medical bills and have Mr. Burns apologize for the accident so she can send Hutz on his way out with nothing. Mr. Burns announces that he has withdrawn his offer and claims they should let a jury choose in court. He then sends Homer and Marge on their way out by releasing the hounds.
The next day in court, Mr. Burns’ lawyer calls an unprepared Marge to the stand, much to the shock of everyone. After taking the oath to tell the truth, she nervously sits on the witness stand. Mr. Burns’ lawyer starts off his interrogation by asking Marge for her opinion on Dr. Hibbert. Relieved, she explains she’s proud of the fine work that Dr. Hibbert has done. Marge admits that Hibbert has been there for her family ever since she became a mother and knows he is a good physician with real medical qualifications. Soon Mr. Burns’ lawyer employs a dirty tactic in feigning shock about hearing “expert” testimony from Dr. Riviera and this makes Hutz extremely nervous when he catches people staring at him in suspicion after hearing Marge’s testimony crediting Dr. Hibbert as the Simpsons’ real family physician. When Mr. Burns’ lawyer asks her about her opinion about Dr. Riviera, Marge is hesitant to talk and this makes him very angry with her. She tries to plead the fifth by stating her mother’s advice not to talk about someone when she doesn’t have anything nice to say. Homer has hopes that what Marge said will hold up and they can still win the case. However, Hutz glumly admits to him it won’t do anything for them. He reveals his concerns about losing the case to Burns if she continues refusing to lie and testifies against them by telling the truth. Mr. Burns’ lawyer asks his question on Marge’s opinion on Dr. Riviera again and reminds her that she is under oath. In her testimony, Marge tells the truth by denouncing Dr. Riviera as a quack who isn’t a qualified doctor and outlines Dr. Hibbert’s earlier prognosis in how limited Bart’s injuries were. Overhearing this, Homer curses out in anger at her testimony as his chances to win the $1 million begin to slip away. While watching Maggie, Lisa is the only one proud of Marge for doing the right thing by telling the truth. Mr. Burns’ lawyer decides to play the sympathy card by asking Marge about Bart’s mental anguish and her opinion of her lawyer. Out of spite for Homer in going through the lawsuit against her wishes, Marge abrasively denounces Hutz as a greedy, dishonest and fraudulent man who isn’t a qualified lawyer. She reveals that he and Homer both made Bart commit perjury by lying about being in intense anguish from his injuries when he was fine. Homer continues listening in disbelief and Bart feels betrayed by Marge. Mr. Burns’ lawyer continues playing the sympathy card by asking Marge to tell the court the dollar amount for the hardships she went through with the accident. She admits to the hardships of the accident, a value worth $5 that they would have paid Bart every week to take the trash out if he had been able to. Marge admits the trouble he caused her with the three days he stayed at home recuperating from the minor injuries. As a result, Marge’s honest testimony destroys Hutz’s case and the family gets nothing, though Bart receives good treatment for his injuries. After the case, an overjoyed Mr. Burns offers Homer another check and though it isn’t as generous as his first one, he believes it’s fair: $0. Realizing they lost the case, Hutz tells Homer they should take it and he shudders in dejection.
That night at dinner, a downbeat and angry Homer mentally blames Marge for costing him the $1 million, while maintaining his composure in being polite when she asks him if he wants dinner. Bart breaks the silence by wishing to have won the money from Burns. He is silenced by Marge saying she did the right thing to stop the case by telling the truth. Bart mentions there were a lot of things they could’ve done with the money, even if what they did was dishonest, and Marge stands her ground by saying honesty is more valuable than gold. Having enough of hearing the conversation, Homer goes to Moe’s to drown his sorrows and is unwilling to return home. Marge suspects what he’s about to do from her women’s intuition and follows him.
At the bar, he listens as Moe tries to console him, telling him that rich people aren’t happy anyway. Homer ignores him, still believing that he would’ve been much happier with the money because he could’ve bought a lot of things with it for his family. He is unsure if he should come home as he continues blaming Marge for betraying him with her testimony for costing him $1 million. She arrives at Moe’s and apologizes to him for her testimony. Marge admits they had argued over the family’s financial issues in the past. However, it wasn’t up to this level it got to when he decided to sue Burns over Bart’s minor injuries. However, Homer says this isn’t about the family’s financial issues that he’s angry and depressed over. He admits it’s Marge that he is very angry with because she betrayed him with her testimony by telling the truth in court which led to her costing him his only chance to win the $1 million and better their family’s lives. Her testimony allowed Mr. Burns to win the lawsuit against him and left them with nothing. Homer is unsure if he can continue loving her after all this. She, Moe, and the bar’s denizens are shocked by it. Marge encourages Homer to look her in the eye and follow his heart. When he does, he starts at her feet and her body but he’s still convinced of his anger. Homer gulps down a beer to help his brain make the final decision, and when he reaches Marge’s head, his brain says who is Homer fooling, he loves Marge like always. As the episode finishes with the couple hugging and the bar’s customers cheering, Moe marks down the next round of beer.
Fun facts: The first appearance of Lionel Hutz and God’s Voice
2×11 – 024 – “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish” – 7F11
Watched date – 24/01/24 / Original Air Date – 24/01/1991
It is meatloaf night in the Simpson home and Homer is excited. Lisa however talks about how their food choices are so predictable and asks if they could try something new to eat. They decide on Friday night they will go out and eat, though Homer points out that it’s Pork Chop night. They ask Lisa where they could eat and responds by saying anywhere that doesn’t have burgers, pizza, or fried chicken, which Homer says they can go to Mars. Marge says the family could go to the new sushi bar, The Happy Sumo. At first, Homer refuses but after Lisa’s constant insistence, they go.
The family gets great seating and orders their food, Bart and Lisa even check out the Karaoke bar singing the them from Shaft. After sampling most of the items on the menu, Homer orders sushi made from the fugu. Before placing his order, Akira tries to give Homer a minor warning but is shooed to the kitchen as he is hungry. Knowing that the fish could poison and kill Homer if not cut properly, one of the apprentices goes to fetch the master chef. Unfortunately, he is busy having sex with Edna Krabappel and yells at the apprentice to leave him alone, so his apprentice has to slice the fugu himself. The apprentice tries to do it carefully, but Homer starts yelling impatiently, disturbing the apprentice and forcing him to serve it quickly and sloppily. Homer considers it a treat, but the master chef soon returns and finds that the fish has not been prepared correctly and tells Homer that he may have been poisoned. Homer and Marge go to the hospital. After being filled in about the situation, Dr. Hibbert informs Homer that given the story Marge and the chefs had told him, it was very likely that he had accidentally consumed the poison of the blow-fish and if so he has twenty-four hours left to live. At night with Marge by his side, Homer plans not to tell his kids about the bad news and makes a list of all the activities he wants to do before he passes on.
On his last day, after oversleeping, Homer attempts to do all the projects on his list. He has a man-to-man talk with Bart, listens to Lisa play her saxophone, and borrows Flanders’s camcorder to make a video for Maggie that she can look at when she is older. Homer finally reconciles with his father, which takes up far more time than he expects and forces him to give up doing some of the tasks on his list. After trying to catch up on the time he lost doing these accomplishments, Homer gets arrested for speeding. He calls Barney, who is asked to pay $50 to bail him out. Leaving jail and with not much time left, he tells off Mr Burns and has one last drink at Moe’s Tavern with his friends, causing him to miss dinner with his waiting family. He then hurries home in time to say goodbye to the kids and make love to Marge.
At midnight, Homer quietly gets out of bed, visits each family member, who is all asleep, and says goodbye. Feeling glum, he goes to the living room and listens to Larry King read the Bible on tape. The tape plays out to which suddenly his head drops and it appears he has succumbed to the poison. Marge awakens the next morning and panics when she notices that Homer is gone. She runs downstairs and finds Homer, collapsed in the armchair. As she mourns, she realizes that his drool is still warm. She wakes him up and drums in the fact that he is alive, thus he hasn’t consumed the venom of the blowfish. Homer then prances around in an overjoyed state and vows to live life to its fullest.
The episode ends with Homer watching a bowling tournament on television while eating pork rinds.
Fun facts: The first appearance of Akira played by George Takei Also first appearances of the Master Chef and Toshiro. Larry King appeared as himself
2×12 – 025 – “The Way We Was” – 7F12
Watched date – 25/01/24 / Original Air Date – 31/01/1991
When the TV shorts out, Marge tells the kids the story of how she and Homer first met. The setting is a flashback to 1974 when they were in their senior year of high school. Homer was barely a responsible student, contrary to Marge, but when she attended a feminist rally and burned a brassiere on the school grounds, she was sent to detention for one day. Homer and Barney were also sent there for three days for smoking cigarettes in the boys’ restroom. Observing Marge enter the detention room, Homer is smitten and wants to ask her to the prom but gets bullied by Artie and the teacher.
To be around her more, Homer joined the debate team that Marge is on. However, Marge was more interested in the smart and articulated Artie Ziff. As a next strategy, Homer pretends to be a French student so that he can be tutored by Marge. However, when the time came for Homer to ask Marge to the senior prom, she initially agreed, but then revealed that he didn’t take French. Angry, Marge slapped him and stormed out of the house. Despite this breakup, Homer still thought that he was taking her to the prom. The next day, due to her lack of sleep, Marge was not prepared for her role on the debate team. Afterwards, Artie asked Marge to the prom, which she gladly accepted.
On the night of the prom, Homer arrived at the Bouvier family residence to pick up Marge, much to the surprise of her family. After getting insulted by Patty and Selma, Homer realises his mistake when Artie comes to pick up Marge. Homer still planned to go to the prom, since he had already rented his tuxedo, and a limousine, and paid for the two dinners at the event. At the prom, Homer had a terrible time from having a prom photo taken only of himself without a date, to watching as Marge and Artie were crowned prom king and queen and had their first dance. Heartbroken, Homer left during the dance and cried outside in the hallway. When Marge appears to ask Homer why he is putting himself through such misery, he tells her it’s because he was certain they were meant to be together. Though Marge feels some sympathy, but firmly tells Homer that he was wrong. Later, Marge and Artie leave the prom and go off to have an intimate moment. Marge is rather unsure about this and becomes offended when Artie tries to force himself upon her. Upon her demand, Artie drove her home, wishing her good night, and asking that she does not tell anyone about his “busy hands”. Meanwhile, Homer’s limo time ran out, leaving him to walk home from the other side of town as he had very little money. Marge was about to enter her house when she heard her parents Jackie and Clancy arguing through the door, saying how uncouth Homer was, and how lucky Marge was for going to the prom with Artie. Marge then got in her car, and found Homer walking along the side of the road. Marge gave him a ride, telling him once she got home she realized she should have gone to the prom with him instead. At these words, Homer mentioned that he was a little afraid, because “Once you stop this car, I’m going to hug you and kiss you, and then I’ll never be able to let you go.” (Which he does.)
Homer finishes the story by telling the kids that he never did let go, and he happily embraces Marge. While Lisa is touched by the story, Bart (as expected) is grossed out.
A nice flashback episode with some more backstory
Fun Fact: The First appearance of Artie Ziff played by Jon Lovitz
2×13 – 026 – “Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment” – 7F13
Watched date – 26/01/24 / Original Air Date – 07/02/1991
The episode begins in 1200 B.C., when the Jews, having fled Egypt, make a camp at Mount Sinai. A Jew named Homer the Thief (who bears a striking resemblance to Homer Simpson except he has a full beard) steals from an adulterer and idolater. Moses appears, claiming the Ten Commandments. When told “Thou shalt not steal”, Homer the Thief says “D’oh”. Then the scene forwards to the present day, it all having been a dream of Homer Simpson, who was snoozing in the hammock.
After observing Ned Flanders reject an offer to get an illegal cable hookup, Homer chases after the cable man and wants to be hooked up for free. He likes the new channels he gets, which the family watches with him. However, Lisa feels anxious. Following a Sunday School lesson regarding the existence and nature of Hell, Lisa becomes terrified of violations of the Ten Commandments, the adherence to which she is assured will keep one’s soul safe from Hell, while Bart becomes amused by repeating the word “Hell” on the car ride home. At home, Lisa imagines her house melting, and the devil sitting at their couch with them. He tells her that watching television will cost her nothing but “her soul”. She fears that because Homer violated the Eighth Commandment (thus “Thou Shalt Not Steal” according to the division by the Anglican and Reformed Churches), he will go to Hell when he passes on. She additionally opposes other examples of common and harmless thievery, including her mother’s tasting of grapes in a grocery store which she has not paid for. Lisa pays a visit to Reverend Lovejoy at church, where he suggests that Lisa cannot turn her father in to the police (as she must “Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother”), and instead encourages Lisa not to watch anything on Homer’s cable hookup, setting a good example.
Homer invites his friends from the power plant, as well as Apu, Moe and Barney to watch “The Bout to Knock the Other Guy Out!”, on the pay-per-view movie channel The Blockbuster Channel. (Mr. Burns and Waylon Smithers come as well.) Meanwhile, Bart comes across an adult-only channel called “Top Hat Entertainment” and soon afterwards has set up posters on the back door for his showing of the channel for 50 cents (although his age requirement is 8), but is caught a few seconds later by Homer. Homer’s conscience eventually bothers him, more so in the form of his daughter’s distress than a moral objection to stealing cable, and he gives in to Lisa’s protests, begrudgingly choosing not to watch the bout. Marge and Maggie join them as well. Bart, on the other hand, plans to go back to watch the fight, but Homer forces him to stay in his room. Homer sits the match out and when it is over, he hesitantly (and unprofessionally) cuts his cable hookup, despite Bart’s objection. He accidentally (somehow) cuts the electricity to all of Springfield in his random wire-cutting, before finally cutting the cable wire, abruptly ending the episode with static showing onscreen.
Fun Facts: The first appearance of Troy McClure & Moses
2×14 – 027 – “Principal Charming” – 7F15
Watched date – 27/01/24 / Original Air Date – 14/02/1991
One morning Homer’s friend and barfly Barney Gumble calls a tired Homer. Barney had gone to Greasy Joe’s Bottomless Barbecue Pit which has great food and best of all they have an All You Can Eat policy. Homer tells Marge (who is exercising) about the restaurant, while she is against the idea since Homer was supposed to cut down on his greasy food. Homer says it’ll be just like old times with them going on a date Patty and Selma babysitting the kids and staying until they get kicked out. Marge calls them at the DM, unsure if they will be available. Selma tells Marge on the phone that they are going to a wedding for their co-workers but agrees to come. Patty and Selma attend the wedding of a man that could have easily been Selma’s husband, had Patty not gotten in the way. That night after Marge and Homer come home all stuffed, Selma realizes that she needs to find a husband and begs Marge to help her. Marge enlists the help of Homer to seek one out. However, Homer fails to find anyone suitable at work or out on the town.
Meanwhile, Bart pulls a big prank by pouring the fictional chemical sodium tetra-sulfate combined with chlorophyll onto the grass. Since Bart used it to spell his name, and he is the only student at the school with that name, Principal Skinner easily catches him. In the principal’s office, Bart is told to call Homer, who is currently at Moe’s Tavern. After asking for “Homer Sexual”, Principal Skinner takes the receiver as Moe verbally assaults who he believes is his long-time tormentor. Skinner, with thinly veiled anger at the threat as well as Bart’s earlier vandalism, demands for Moe to repeat what he just threatened to do, and when Moe asks who it is in shock, Skinner screams that the real question was who Moe is and where Homer Simpson is. Moe gives Homer the phone when he realizes it is Principal Skinner on the other end of the line. Homer goes to the school to hear about what Bart did and proclaims that Skinner is the perfect man for Selma. He invites the principal to meet her, but he falls for Patty instead due to Homer mistaking Patty for Selma.
Skinner asks an unwilling Patty out on a date and she tries to get out of it by refusing. However, as they were going home, Selma told Patty to go on this date because she had not been with a man in 25 years and this would be her best chance to still have a family.
On their first date, Patty does not seem impressed with Skinner until he yells at his former student for his lack of promptness. When they get back to her apartment, Skinner tries to kiss Patty but she slaps him in response. However, her anger soon gives way to pity and she agrees to another date. As time passes, Patty begins to warm to Skinner and they go out on more dates, much to Selma’s chagrin and she realizes another decent man has just slipped past her.
Skinner enlists Bart’s help to get Patty to marry him, and Bart takes advantage of the opportunity to get out of his punishment of reseeding Groundskeeper Willie’s grass field and soon takes control of the school. Meanwhile, Homer fixes a date between Selma and Barney. When Marge learns of it, she disapproves of Barney and demands that Homer find someone else suitable to date Selma. Homer tries to convince a sceptical Marge that Barney can sober up and be romantic to Selma. When Bart tells Selma of Skinner’s marriage proposal to Patty, Selma realizes she can’t be picky and accepts the date much to Marge’s chagrin.
Skinner takes Patty to the top of the bell tower to propose. Following Bart’s lead, he wrote “Marry Me, Patty” in 40-foot letters using the sodium tetra-sulfate that got Bart in trouble. Patty, though very flattered and touched by Skinner’s proposal, ultimately declines it–she explains to Skinner that while she does love him, her love and loyalty towards Selma is ultimately more important to her. Skinner, though saddened by this, respects Patty’s decision. When they’re saying their goodbyes, Patty tells Skinner that if she ever were to settle down with someone, she’d want it to be with someone like him. After Patty leaves, she goes to rescue Selma from her date with Barney and takes her home after informing her of what happened.
In his grief, Principal Skinner sees what has happened to the school, and takes back control by putting Bart back on his punishment. Matters then return to normal as a gleeful Groundskeeper Willie takes pleasure in Bart’s misery as he replants the field seed by seed.
A side story that features characters outside of the main Simpsons family and helps build up move backstories and see people and places we wouldn’t normally.
Fun facts: The first appearance of Groundskeeper Willie. First appearance of Hans Moleman in the main series.
2×15 – 028 – “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?'” – 7F16
Watched date – 28/01/24 / Original Air Date – 21/02/1991
After watching the latest McBain movie, Grampa suffers a mild heart attack while complaining to the theatre manager. This prompts him to confess a long-hidden secret that Homer has a half-brother.
Grampa explains he met a carnival floozy before marrying Homer’s mother, they had a son and left him at Shelbyville Orphanage. Determined to find his half-brother, Homer and his family go to the orphanage and find out that Abe’s son was adopted by a couple named Mr. and Mrs. Powell and named Herbert.
Herb Powell (who looks just like Homer, except with more hair and a little less gut) is the head of the Powell Motors car company (in danger of being taken over by the Japanese because of otherwise poor management and the use of names from Greek goddesses on cars that don’t appeal to the average American). He is very rich but is quite unhappy not knowing who he is and where he comes from. He is overjoyed upon hearing of his half-brother and invites the entire Simpson family to stay at his mansion in Detroit.
Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are enthralled by Herb’s wealthy lifestyle (although Marge constantly worries about spoiling her kids), and Herb thinks that Homer, being an “average” American, is the perfect person to design a new car for his company, which has been losing business due to foreign car manufacturers. Herb introduces Homer to his company’s design team, who soon use his lack of vehicle knowledge to try and design ‘their’ perfect vehicle. Back in the hospital, Abe is informed by Homer about Herb’s wealth and business. He laments in not keeping him over Homer, whom he knew would amount to nothing. Before he leaves, Abe warns him to behave himself and not do anything dumb that could ruin and humiliate Herb.
When Herb asks Homer how the car design is coming along Homer can’t give him a straight answer. Herb feels that Homer is not being forceful enough with his ideas, and gives Homer a pep talk. Pretty soon, Herb has invigorated Homer, who returns to the designers and begins demanding weird items like bubble domes, fins, and several horns that play “La Cucaracha”. While Homer becomes more of a businessman, Herb spends time with Marge and the kids, becoming more of a family man like Homer.
Later on, Herb gets a call from his lead engineer asking him to come down to Powell Motors at once. He voices concerns about Homer because he’s causing them trouble by asking for items unsuitable for designing a car and even ignoring their suggestions when they try to get him to think practically. The latest complaint came when he rejected one of the engineer’s drawings of the revised plans for the car by ripping it up and drawing his own monstrosity. The lead engineer demands that Herb deals with Homer at once or else the engineers will quit. He refuses to hear any of it and demands they treat Homer right because he is his brother.
At the unveiling of “The Homer”, Herb is horrified to discover that the car is a “monstrosity” that costs $82,000. Herb’s company is bankrupt and is taken over by Kumatsu Motors (a Japanese car company), his mansion is sold off and he leaves regretting that he ever met his brother. As he departs Detroit on a bus, Homer tries to apologize. However, Herb refuses to forgive Homer and angrily remarks that as far as he is concerned, he “[has] no brother”. While Marge tries to console a depressed Homer, Lisa laments about Herb’s life in how he was a successful businessman with a wealthy life until he discovered he was a Simpson. When a healthy Abe comes over from Springfield to meet with Herb in a cab, he discovers to his disgust that Homer ruined his brother’s life by bankrupting him by creating a car that is a disaster. Abe decries Homer for screwing up everything and declares he “knew [he’d] blow it”, heading back to Springfield in the same cab rather than in the car with the rest of the family. In the end, while Homer drives the family home, Bart tells him that the car he built was great. He becomes relieved that at least one person he cares about seems to like it.
Another addition to the Simpsons family that was kept hidden and a great performance by Danny DeVito, and how Homer seems to destroy most things he touches or gets involved in!
Fun facts: The first appearance of Herb Powell who is voiced by Danny DeVito.
Hopefully, I won’t get behind again writing up my recaps and be back with week 6 on schedule where we start on Series 3 and an episode removed from streaming platforms!
Percentage watched 4%
See you next week!
Link to Week 1 Here
Link to Week 2 Here
Link to Week 3 Here
The link to my schedule is below:
Simpsons 1-a-Day
