Scullyfied Simpsons: “The Blunder Years” (Season 13, Episode 5)

Homer: “There have been so many classic Simpson moments. I remember that time I tried to jump over Springfield Gorge…”
(flashback to “Saturdays of Thunder”)
Homer in Flashback: “I’m gonna make it!”
Lisa: “No, dad! Everyone’s sick of that memory!”
– Lies, damn you!

Airdate: December 9th, 2001

Written By: Ian Maxtone-Graham

Plot: While going out to dinner with the family to make up for an unfortunate paper towel mascot incident, Homer finds himself in the clutches of a local magician. His tricks manage to dredge up a haunting memory from his past that results in him screaming through the night. One tea ceremony later, he reveals that at the tender age of 12, he discovered a dead body blocking an inlet pipe heading out to the local quarry. But who was he? And how did he wind up in the inlet pipe?

Review:

We have reached endgame.

While I have two other episodes and a movie to go, this is really the last dance of Mike Scully’s tenure – the last episode to be aired before Al Jean took the helm indefinitely. One other episode that was produced later was aired weeks earlier. He would helm another episode at the start of Season 14. But this, my friends, is effectively the end of the most controversial era in Simpsons history.

Kind of moving, in a way. Even with a lot of the clunkers that I’ve reviewed, you can’t deny that the end of any era is going to be rather poignant. Reminds me of the last few seasons of Eli Manning’s tenure at the New York Giants – his play got rustier, the team didn’t play up to par, and yet when he was benched for Daniel Jones, I was still rather moved. He played a few more games before hanging it up, but it was still a changing of the guard. Still my QB, forever and ever.

But enough about sportsball, we’ve got The Simpsons to take care of. And this time, we’re flashing back to the late 60s/early 70s! Let’s get some mood music going, and dive into “The Blunder Years”.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Bye Bye Nerdie” (Season 12, Episode 16)

Lisa: I just don’t understand Francine’s motivation. Why does she only go after the smart ones?
Nelson: That’s like asking the square root of a million – no one will ever know.
Lisa: Someone will. I’m gonna crack the bully code.
– The genesis for all great scientific discoveries. Or plot twists in post-classic Simpsons episodes. Take your pick.

Airdate: March 11th, 2001

Written By: John Frink and Don Payne

Plot: A new kid has arrived at Springfield Elementary, Francine. She finds herself ostracized by her new schoolmates. Accordingly, Lisa tries to strike up a friendship with this new face… only to find herself facing Francine’s more vicious side. While trying to deal with the problem, however, she comes to a scientific hypothesis related to the behavior of bullies towards nerds. Meanwhile, shaken by a baby-proofing saleswoman, Homer decides to become a campaigner for baby-proofing the whole of Springfield.

Review:

Well, the last Simpsons episode that I covered was decent, right? “Hungry, Hungry Homer” had a solid plot, a rather sympathetic protagonist in lieu of Jerkass Homer, quite a few funny lines, and all it needed to achieve greatness was some more solid pacing at the front and back of the script. My hopes were raised that this season can be salvaged further and we could end on a high note.

Let’s just say, it was good while it lasted.

Sort of.

Most of the Simpsons episodes I’ve reviewed over the last couple of years have either been straight-up mediocre or just downright insipid. Today’s episode, however, is a bit different. Sometimes, you come across something that you don’t know how to respond to. It has some intriguing elements, but the execution is very scattershot. The animation is brilliant, but it’s in the service of a half-baked script. And even then, the script isn’t totally horrible, but it’s in the service of a plot that’s less than interesting at best and utterly moronic at worst.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the great conundrum of “Bye Bye Nerdie”.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Worst Episode Ever” (Season 12, Episode 11)

“Well, if this is valuable, then back to the leaky basement it goes!” – Mrs. Prince, rejecting an offer for $5 for priceless merchandise. A few years in a leaky basement, $5 will be an absolute gold mine.

Airdate: February 4th, 2001

Written By: Larry Doyle

Plot: Comic Book Guy’s ornery behavior has reached a fever pitch, particularly after he boots Bart and Milhouse from the store for interfering with an attempted acquisition of priceless memorabilia. It culminates in him exploding at a Tom Savini meet-and-greet at the Android’s Dungeon, whereupon he has a heart attack. By sheer luck, Bart and Milhouse save his life. As a token of his reluctant gratitude, he allows the duo to oversee the store during his recovery.

Review:

Back in Season 11, The Simpsons debut the episode “Pygmoelian”. It was a look at one of Springfield’s local smarmy business proprietors, Moe Syzlak, and was an attempt to humanize what had long been a comically callous character.

It’s an episode I like, albeit more on its own merits rather than how it works as part of the Simpsons canon. On a broad scale, it did a number on Moe’s character, accelerating his transformation into a less amusing personality. But the execution as a one-off was coherent, rather well-executed, and still somewhat amusing. It was one of a select few episodes from Season 11 I would be willing to go back to, and from what I’ve read, most fans – even those that (like me) consider the show after Season 8 to be an insurance write-off – tend to agree. In retrospect, it feels more like a second run at this sort of plot, given that the first one, dealing with Mr. Burns, sank into the Loch Ness.

This actually seems to be a trend with the Scully seasons. Each of them has one episode that tries to humanize a repugnant character. Besides the aforementioned outings, even Season 9 had “Dumbbell Indemnity”, also with Moe Syzlak. It’s kind of peculiar to see this attempt all while the main characters became more and more cartoonish and less sympathetic. Besides, even the “humanized” characters became less interesting as time went on.

Season 12 breaks with the trend in one way. It does have an episode focused on a character that was rather odious from his first intro. But instead of trying to make him sympathetic, they embrace the obnoxiousness, pair him with an equally acerbic character, and move him into the background in favor of an A-plot.

The end result is… an episode title that’s actually inaccurate.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “HOMR” (Season 12, Episode 9)

“Point out your plot holes elsewhere!” – Theater usher, after kicking Homer out of the Aztec. It’s actually a lesson I’ve taken to heart, as the existence of this blog and the reviews of this decaying series demonstrates.

Airdate: January 7th, 2001.

Written By: Al Jean

Plot: The Simpsons are broke yet again. This time, instead of pathetic spending habits or a fish falling from space, Homer made a daring investment in a startup company that promptly goes under. To try and recoup his losses, he goes to a testing facility. There, doctors discover that he has a brain lodged in his crayon. Removal of said crayon causes his IQ to jump up quite a bit.

Review:

This is gonna sound weird, but a part of me actually expected Season 12 of The Simpsons to be better than Season 11. I mean, the bar was so low as to be easy to walk over, but my memories of Season 12 had involved more positive ones of, say, “Insane Clown Posse” and “Skinner’s Sense of Snow”. But only “Lisa the Tree Hugger” has lived up to my nostalgia, and even that would struggle to make my “Top 200 Simpsons episodes” list.

Otherwise, this season is shaping up to be on par with its predecessor. The only difference I can tell is that any attempts at emotional resonance (bar “Insane Clown Posse”, sort of) have gone straight out the window in favor of embracing the sheer insanity that Mike Scully’s tenure believes to be acceptable for The Simpsons. Then again, given the attempts to pass a certain middle finger of an episode off as emotionally riveting, it might just be for the best. Let’s just say that if that is to be considered a positive, it’s canceled out and more by the overall comedy nosediving to depths of taste and timing.

Inclusive of this episode, I have eighteen Simpsons episodes left to cover – maybe nineteen, given that I’m thinking of reviewing a Season 14 episode helmed by Scully (for some reason). To put it simply, I am ready to bring this project to an end. I just ask for a few, a few decent episodes from now until then to make the denouement that much more bearable.

Thankfully, this one… well, it’s quite a way closer than “Homer vs. Dignity”, at least. It has some major flaws with pacing that impact the rest of the episode, but there is an improvement within.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Homer vs. Dignity” (Season 12, Episode 5)

“Ow – my eye! I’m not supposed to get pudding in it!” – Lenny. Unfortunately, compared to what else happens in this episode, he gets off relatively easy.

Airdate: November 26th, 2000

Written By: Rob LaZebnik

Plot: The Simpsons are broke again! Their credit cards are no longer accepted at restaurants, the car is being stripped to fund gas, and the family is so in the hole that they face extreme bankruptcy. Homer must humble himself to try and make some extra cash. Unfortunately, Mr. Burns is in a rather jester-ish mood, and his idea of comedy consists of watching Homer humiliate himself for large amounts of cash. Again. And again. And again.

Review:

In “Homer Vs. Dignity”, Homer gets sexually assaulted by a panda while trying to make money based on Mr. Burns’ amusement at his humiliation.

…

Do I have to say anything else at this point?

That one sentence pretty much encapsulates a lot that has gone absolutely wrong with The Simpsons. Just writing that sentence for the purpose of this review makes me wonder what the hell was going on in the writers’ room while this episode was being drafted. The sheer idea of that scene existing in this show alone is enough to put the episode on the cliff of bad Simpsons episodes, even if it was delivered in an absolutely effective way.

As you can probably guess, the execution of said scene, as well as almost everything else about this half-hour of television, sends “Homer vs. Dignity” over the edge into the fiery pit of despair. The Simpsons has been in decline for three seasons now, and in my eyes, it’s been dead since the middle of Season 11. But this episode is special – it might be the moment the writers stopped trying to write for The Simpsons and just used the show as a springboard for their half-assed attempts at satire, all while trying to poorly ape contemporaries such as South Park. 

Let me put it this way – after four episodes ranging from “sorta bad” to “pretty decent”, we finally get a whammy of a trainwreck this season. It is a contender for one of the worst ever – that‘s how bad it is.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Last Tap Dance in Springfield” (Season 11, Episode 20)

“Tap-a, tap-a, tap-a!” – Little Vicki Valentine. Those immortal words…

Airdate: May 7th, 2000.

Written By: Julie Thacker

Plot: While watching the movie Tango de la Muerte while out shopping with her mother, Lisa becomes enchanted with the art of dancing, and decides to take up the skill. Much to her displeasure, it turns out that the dancing school in town is taught by former child star Little Vicki Valentine, who not only railroads her into the Tap class, but whose technique also contradicts Lisa’s lack of experience… and skill. Concurrent to Lisa’s struggles, Bart and Milhouse have issues of their own, abandoning a camping trip in favor of hanging out in the Mall.

Review:

“Kill the Alligator and Run” was probably the most stereotypically awful episode of the entire series, or at least, the Scully era. I think it has everything many fans hate about the show’s more contemporary run – Homer’s beyond obnoxious and straight up odious, there’s a gratuitous celebrity cameo, the plot is unfocused at best and nihil at worst, every few seconds contain some form of insanity beyond the show’s universe put into focus instead of a light joke, the satire sucked, the list goes on and on.

I don’t know if I can call it the worst episode – “Alone Again, Natura-Diddily” gets more visceral hate from me for completely destroying the show’s soul, and “KTAAR” at least can be almost amusingly bad – but it’s pretty damn clear why it winds up on so many people’s “most hated” lists. (After all, by the time the likes of “Lisa Goes Gaga” aired, the viewership had fractioned.) From this point forward, I am honestly expecting most of the episodes (bar a couple) to be mediocre at best. I hope for the best, but I am more than prepared for the worst.

That said, this episode is part of the aforementioned exceptions. Maybe it’s because it comes after a string of what I felt were largely “mediocre to downright disastrous” episodes (“Pygmoelian” being the one good one out of the past eight to be any good, in my opinion – and three of the eight are contenders for the worst ever), but “Last Tap Dance in Springfield” felt a lot closer to the show’s classic era – specifically, the show during Seasons 7 and 8. Not quite as good, but it did feel weirdly close.

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner” (Season 11, Episode 3)

“Only your father can take a part-time job at a smalltown paper, and wind up the target of international assassins!” – Marge Simpson. Don’t worry, ma’am – at least he hasn’t become the enemy of the Federation of Jockeys. Yet.

Airdate: October 24th, 1999

Written by: Al “President for Life of The Simpsons” Jean.

Plot: While on a field trip to the Springfield Shopper newspaper, Homer winds up tracing the smell of food back to a food critic’s retirement party. His love of edibles convinces the paper’s editor (played by Ed Asner) to ask him to run a pilot. Unfortunately, he can’t write a good review, so Lisa helps him land the job. While things go well at first with his glowing analysis, he’s pressured to shift to a more critical tone. The lengths he goes in this new style not only alienate Lisa, but lead a mob of restaurant owners to plot his assassination.

Review:

The art of critique is strange. The cliché “everybody’s a critic” comes from the fact that anybody can look at a work of art and deem it either sublime or subpar. And on the age of the internet, even a dork like me can rant about Steven Universe, and somebody can read it before clicking onto Roger Ebert’s review of My Dinner With Andre. Such is the brilliance of our relatively egalitarian society, as well as the beauty of the internet.

But what, exactly, makes a good critic? That’s a question that can only result in subjective responses. If on one hand, you take a critical eye to everything, then you come off as an unpleasable grouch. On the other hand, if you take a positive view of everything, you come off as a sycophant to the show. The latter, personally speaking, is my biggest fear. I’ve criticized Gravity Falls and Steven Universe on occasion, but I sometimes wonder if I was (or am) too loose on occasion because I love(d) the show so much. And many of my early reviews, man… I don’t delete them on the grounds that, hey, we’ve all gotta look back on our early stuff sometimes and wonder how far we’ve come.

The art of critique is put on display in “Guess Who’s Coming to Criticize Dinner”, episode 3 of Season 11 of The Simpsons. So, let’s critique an episode… about critique…

…this is strangely meta…

Scullyfied Simpsons: “Brother’s Little Helper” (Season 11, Episode 2)

“C’mon people – this poetry isn’t gonna appreciate itself!” – Bart Simpson, of all people. Drugs – they do weird things.

Airdate: October 3rd, 1999

Written By: George Meyer

Plot: One of Bart’s stunts during a Fire Prevention event at Springfield Elementary results in the destruction of the gym. Having had enough, Skinner concluds that Bart has Attention Deficit Disorder, and makes his enrollment at the school conditional on a prescription of Focusyn – an experimental drug meant to combat ADD symptoms. While Bart does become much more focused, there’s also the odd side effects, such as a paranoia about satellites spying on him…

Review:

Well, episode 1 of Season 11 was a bust. Next time I want to watch a satire of Mel Gibson, I’ll just throw on that South Park episode where he turns into Daffy Duck and goes full blown Road Warrior because two kids dared criticize his movie. Not even the shifty-eyed dog could save that.

Thankfully, the season does improve with “Brothers Little Helper”. While flawed, I do think it does more to capture what The Simpsons can do at its best – analyze our society, in this case, mental disorders and how we diagnose/treat them, alongside the pharmaceutical industry.

Scullyfied Simpsons: "I’m With Cupid" (Season 10, Episode 14)

“Both of my ears are filled with nougat!”

“You told me that it was an American tradition to work all the time and not see your wife!” – Manjula, to Apu. Give it 17 years, Manjula…

Airdate: February 14th, 1999

Plot: In 2005, in response to developments regarding Anglo-American relations, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe penned “I’m With Stupid”, a satire on a theoretical romance between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush.

Whoops – this is a television episode… Patrick is afraid that his parents will mock him for being rather stupid. Therefore, SpongeBob decides to take up the role of “The Fool”.

…I’m sorry, this is “I’m With Cupid”, not “I’m With Stupid.”

Apu’s relationship with Manjula is on the rocks. Apparently, the life of a convenience store manager isn’t exactly conducive to free time. To make it up to her, Apu goes all out in his Valentine’s Day celebrations. This, though, alienates the wives of Springfield’s men. They all proceed to sabotage the actual Valentine’s Day celebration.

Review:

Two years ago (because I am a lazy bum), during my coverage of Season 9, I reviewed “The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons”. There, my complaint lay in the fact that the episode revolved around Homer’s antics, and was overall rather pedestrian. In hindsight, though, I can recognize some of the character development in that episode, even if I would’ve preferred more. That, and it was a pretty funny episode.

“I’m With Cupid” serves as a follow-up to that episode… but it ultimately feels a bit underwhelming.

Scullyfied Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 13: "The Joy of Sect"

Airdate: February 8th, 1998

“Special effects by Industrial Lights and Morons” – Mike Nelson, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (“Space Mutiny”)

Synopsis: Whilst wasting time at the Airport, Homer and Bart meet two members of the “movementarians”, Glen and Jane. They convince Homer, amongst others, to visit a film, where they promise to use praise to “the Leader” to get “access to a starship to ‘Blisstonia'”. Despite initial difficulties (Homer being too thick, for one), their message manages to get into Homer, and he, alongside most of the rest of Springfield, are sucked into the cult. Said cult forces its members to move to a farm to harvest Lima Beans. The Leader is said to be living in a forbidden barn, building his ship, making brief appearances to wave to the cult members. The cult’s popularity manages to take over Springfield, right down to its media. Only Marge is able to resist the cult, and has to flee the compound to find a way to deprogram the family.

Review: FINALLY! After, what, three weak episodes, we finally get an episode that’s… good.

Overhyped, though? Maybe a little.

This episode’s main strength is in its scathing critique of religious cults.  Oh, boy, is it scathing. Take your typical cult tropes and exaggerate them to the nth degree. That’s the Movementarians. Let’s see, all they do is guilt trip people into being brainwashed, take over entire media outlets, poison those into submission, take their member’s money and property, and force them into hard labor… and it’s all just empty. They spend lavishly on themselves, descend the followers into petty fights, enjoy the tax-exempt status of the government to partake in the aforementioned self-serving spending, and pander to the follower’s weaknesses/battle against their strengths.

This episode was also very topical, somewhat rare for a post-classic Simpsons episode. You see, this episode has its basis in the Heaven’s Gate cult, which, a year earlier, committed suicide in an attempt to ride Comet Hale-Bopp. Also gaining media attention around this time (I suppose: I don’t have many memories of the 90s) was Scientology (which even had one of its founders write a book that was adapted into a hysterically awful movie), as well as the Unification Church.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Simpsons episode without its characters. For the most part, this episode does well in this regard. In all honesty, this episode shows Marge at one of her high points. It’s not really as high as, say, “Marge on the Lam”, but it’s pretty awesome. Through her, we see her have to take “deprogramming” maneuvers similar to those of brainwashing. It’s a tough call, but sometimes, you have to stoop low to achieve a goal that you know will be heroic in the end. Lovejoy and Flanders are perfect in their role as the Christian holdouts. That, and Ned actually has beer. Maybe I just have traces of ZS on the mind, but that’s a deep, more “average” side to Ned. Willie’s role as the “Id” of the deprogramming operation is perfect. I’ll go as far as to say that, as much as Homer did have some jerkass scenes in the beginning, most of it is excused, as his character is made more realistic by the end of the episode. The twist to deprogram him is awesome, and totally fits in with his character.

Complaints? Pacing was a bit off: the airport scene seemed to just be there for a bunch of sitcom jokes, yet the placement of the third act seemed to make it so that said third act dragged a bit. However, it’s an otherwise fantastically funny episode, with wicked satire and good characterization.

Enjoy it. These types of episodes will be rare as the years go on.

Tidbits:

• This episode was technically produced by David Mirkin, the showrunner for Seasons 5 and 6. Much like Scully, Dave Mirkin’s twist on the show (especially in Season 5) took it into more outlandish and cartoony territory (“Deep Space Homer”, “Homer and Apu”). Mirkin also took on some social commentary. (“Sideshow Bob Roberts”, “Homer Badman”). However, Mirkin also used more character-based plots, rather than plots that caused the characters to conform to the plot. This episode feels like a Mirkin-era episode… except for art, which is somewhat more rigid.
• I personally like the twist with the loaner bikes. Goes to remind us that not only are there still holdouts for the cult, but that Our Favorite Family isn’t exactly doing so well. Hear me, Zombie Simpsons? Characters living the high life is not really funny!
• LOVE the scenes with the “Lawyer Department”, especially when they barge into KBBL-TV to look for Homer. “Idiots? That’s slander, sir, and we have it on tape.” “Alright; I’ll get out my chequebook!”
• “We are watching FOX!” I love the “take that’s” at FOX.

Jerkass Homer Meter: 2. Most of Homer’s jerkassery is a little justified, but almost mowing down the Movementarians certainly crossed the line. This is also a literal Jerkass Homer Moment: while driving to the Movementarian Center, Homer screams “Outta my way, jerkass!” And thus, a name for the post-classic era Homer was born.

Zaniness Meter: 2. The zaniest moment: rover from The Prisoner appears in the barrier between the Movementarian Campground and the town… capturing Moleman. Mmm… I swear I remember that a later episode had a more direct parody on The Prisoner.

Favorite Scene: Everything (except the road rage) at the Movementarian Center.

Least Favorite Scene: At the airport, Homer is an idiot as to the “free film this weekend” presented by the Movementarians. This joke was done better in “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington”, with the VIP gag.

Score: 8