The Simpsons Season 4

Good grief I need to find an easier way to write these things.

So here we have one of my oldest DVD sets. This set came out in June 2004, and I snagged it shortly after its release. I was nowhere near as big of a Simpsons fanatic back then as I am now but this DVD made me so. I mean, being able to watch all these old episodes any time I want is pretty darn cool. 

Now let’s get to it…

“Kamp Krusty”

Original Airdate: September 24, 1992

It’s the last day of school and Bart and Lisa are excited, not just for summer vacation but also because they’re going to Kamp Krusty. Bart, however, needs a C average before Homer will let him attend. He gets all D minuses. Lisa is also frustrated due to receiving a B plus in conduct (“Everyone needs a blotch on their permanent record!”). Homer allows Bart to go anyway, because he doesn’t want the kids a home all summer anyway. When the busses arrive at Kamp Krusty, they find what can best be described as a concentration camp. Run by Mr. Black, Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney, the kids are forced to make knock-off Gucci wallets and eat imitation gruel. Meanwhile, Krusty attends Wimbledon and gets Knighted until he hears the awful news of a revolution at the camp (“Actually the bear just ate his hat.” “Was it a nice hat?” “Oh yeah.”). Krusty apologizes severely and takes the kids to the Happiest Place on Earth – Tijuana, Mexico. This episode holds a special place in my heart because we got to watch it in sophomore year English class in high school, supposedly for its references to Lord of the Flies. I only counted two, the kids taking control of the camp (which is a stretch) and the pig’s head on a stick attracting flies. See if you can spot more!

“A Streetcar Named Marge”

Original Airdate: October 1, 1992

Guest Starring Jon Lovitz as Llewellyn Sinclair

Marge auditions for the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Several women audition but the cruel director Llewellyn Sinclair dismisses them all almost immediately, but reconsiders Marge when he overhears her sadly informing Homer of the bad news via telephone. Ned Flanders is cast as Stanley, the lead role. When Maggie causes problems during the rehearsals, Sinclair informs her of a daycare run by his sister (the Ayn Rand School for Tots), which doesn’t allow babies to drink from bottles or suck on pacifiers. Maggie leads the babies on an expedition to retrieve their banned pacifiers, leading to an awesome homage to Hitchcock’s The Birds, but with babies sucking on pacifiers. Meanwhile, Marge becomes increasingly upset at Homer’s disinterest in her role, using her anger to help her prepare for her role. The play is a huge success, and Marge is surprised when Homer actually paid attention to the whole thing. This episode also features a great musical number about New Orleans which has taken some criticism after Katrina, so I don’t think it ever airs in syndication anymore.

“Homer the Heretic”

Original Airdate: October 8, 1992

Hilarious note: the chalkboard gag in the intro features Bart writing “I will not defame New Orleans” as an apology for the song from the last episode. Homer decides to skip church one frosty morning and has the greatest day of his life, watching football, being able to swear, eating fatty breakfast foods and finding a penny. At church, the rest of the family suffers through a sermon with a broken furnace, made worse when the doors freeze shut, and to make matters worse the Simpson car battery stalls. Homer decides to give up going to church, but has a dream that night where he is confronted by God, who supports Homer’s decision. Attempts by Marge and Reverend Lovejoy fail to persuade Homer to return to church. One Sunday, Homer falls asleep and drops a cigar on a pile of magazines (“Everyone is stupid except for me.”) which sets the house on fire. Homer is rescued just in time by Ned Flanders and the Volunteer Fire Department, and is convinced by everyone that his friends being there to save him was an act of God. Homer is convinced to return to church the next week where he falls asleep and learns the meaning of life from God. I usually don’t enjoy these religious themed episodes but this one was better than a normal TV show featuring religion, mainly because they didn’t try to shove anything down your throat about any specific religion.

“Lisa the Beauty Queen”

Original Airdate: October 15, 1992

Guest Starring Bob Hope as himself

At the Springfield Elementary fair, Homer wins a raffle and wins free tickets for a ride on the Duff Blimp while a cartoonist draws a caricature of Lisa which causes her to think that she’s ugly. Trying to boost her self-esteem, Homer sells his Duff Blimp tickets to pay for an entry for Lisa into the Little Miss Springfield beauty pageant. Lisa enters and ends up having a great time. She wins second place behind a parody of Jon Benet Ramsey. During a lightning storm, the winner is struck by lightning, and as runner up, Lisa becomes the new Little Miss Springfield. However, she upsets many people when she refuses to become a spokeswoman for Laramie Cigarettes. Lisa decides to advertise the dangers of cigarettes in order to prevent kids from smoking, and also targets the crooked Mayor Quimby. Quimby and Laramie officials are able to oust Lisa from power when they find out that on Lisa’s application, Homer wrote “okay” in a space that said “Do Not Write in This Space.” Homer is mad and tries to fight to get Lisa reinstated as Little Miss Springfield, but she declines his offer and thanks him for helping her to regain her self-esteem.

Disc 2

“Treehouse of Horror III”

Original Airdate: October 29, 1992

A Halloween party at the Simpson’s house leads to three scary stories being told.

Clown Without Pity: Homer forgets to buy Bart a birthday present and heads out to the House of Evil, Your One Stop Evil Shop. Homer finds a talking Krusty the Clown doll, but the shopkeeper warns Homer that the doll is cursed. That’s bad. But it comes with a free frozen yogurt, or frogurt. That’s good! The yogurt is also cursed. That’s bad. But it comes with your choice of topping! That’s good! You get the picture. Grampa Simpson warns that the doll is evil, just like all the other presents are, but nobody believes him until the Krusty doll tries to kill Homer. The problem is that the doll is set to “evil” and only wants to make love to Lisa’s Malibu Stacy doll.

King Homer: A Simpsonized version of King Kong sees Marge answering Mr. Burns’ ad for an expedition by boat. Smithers, however, thinks women and seamen don’t mix. Turns out the expedition is going to Ape Island to capture a giant ape. Island locals are chanting for “Homer” who is a giant ape that gets bitten by dinosaurs. Homer grabs Marge and the two share a connection, but Mr. Burns’ gas bombs knock him out. Homer is taken to Springfield where he is put on Broadway with the Chubbiest Kickline in Town. Homer escapes, of course, and rampages through downtown Springfield, eating Shirley Temple and taking Marge hostage. However, he only makes it up three stories of a skyscraper before passing out. He weds Marge and they live happily ever after, despite Homer eating all of Marge’s relatives.

Dial “Z” For Zombies: Bart’s book report on Baby’s First Pop-Up Book doesn’t go over well, and he has to do another one. Bart finds a book about magic spells in the occult section and uses a spell to bring Lisa’s dead cat Snowball I back from the dead. Unfortunately he also resurrects dead humans! They want brains, and this gives us the great line about Homer shooting Zombie Flanders (“He was a Zombie?”). Cameo from Kang and Kodos laughing at how they’ll soon be able to take over the world. The Simpsons must return to the library, fighting their way through famous zombies back to the occult section (“Is this the end of Zombie Shakespeare?”). Bart is able to reverse the curse, but the Simpsons still turn into mindless zombies thanks to a man falling down on TV.

“Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie”

Original Airdate: November 3, 1992

It’s Parent-Teacher Night! Homer weasels his way into speaking with Mrs. Hoover, who praises him for reading to Lisa at an early age, while Marge is stuck speaking with Mrs. Krabappel, who shows Marge evidence of Bart’s horrible deeds. When Bart destroys Grampa’s dentures, Homer decides to start punishing Bart, wanting him to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court rather than a stripper. None of the punishments stick. When it’s announced that Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie is hitting theaters, Bart buys a ticket. But when Maggie escapes and goes on a joyride under Bart’s watch, Homer forbids him from ever seeing the movie. Bart tries various methods to try to see the movie, but none of them work. Forty years later, Homer and Chief Justice Bart go to a “Classics of Animation” film festival featuring Itchy and Scratchy: The Movie and Beauty and the Beast, where Bart finally gets to see the movie. So much goodness from that episode that I can’t even quote all of it. See this episode, by any means necessary.

“Marge Gets a Job”

Original Airdate: November 5, 1992

The Simpson’s home is sinking as the foundation needs repair, but the family can’t afford it. When a Nuclear Plant employee is forced into retirement, Marge decides to apply. She gets the job and excels at it, although Homer is upset at having to be around his wife at home AND at work. Meanwhile, Mr. Burns falls in love with Marge and tries to seduce her, but fires her out of jealousy and rage when he finds out that she’s married. The B-plot involves Bart faking illnesses so he doesn’t have to take a test. He is accused of crying wolf, and doesn’t get help when a wolf actually invades the school and attacks Bart. Not a great episode, but nothing inoffensive.

“New Kid on the Block”

Original Airdate: November 12, 1992

Guest Starring Sara Gilbert as Laura Powers

A single mother named Ruth Powers and her daughter Laura move in next door to the Simpsons. Laura is a hellraiser like Bart, and he starts to take a liking to her. He is devastated when he finds out that she is dating his bully Jimbo Jones. Bart tries to find a way to separate them, leading him to revealing Jimbo as the prankster who keeps calling Moe’s. Jimbo outs himself as a coward when Moe comes to cut him. Bart and Laura remain friends, and continue to prank call Moe. The B-plot here has Homer suing the Sea Captain’s all-you-can-eat buffet for kicking him out of the restaurant before he had all he could eat. It’s the worst example of false advertising Lionel Hutz has seen since The Neverending Story!

“Mr. Plow”

Original Airdate: November 19, 1992

Guest Starring Linda Ronstadt and Adam West as themselves

OH BABY. Homer wrecks both the family cars during a snowstorm and purchases a snowplow to replace them. To pay it off, he opens a snowplow business called “Mr. Plow.” Things are going great until he encourages Barney to be his own man. Barney starts his own snowplow business, “The Plow King.” Barney steals all of Homer’s business until Homer tricks him into plowing Widow’s Peak in the Springfield mountain range. Barney becomes trapped in an avalanche but Homer has a change of heart and saves him. The two friends decide to work together until God swerves them and melts all of the snow. Homer’s plow is repossessed, but he still has his friendship with Barney. Fun Fact: I actually used to be allowed to watch The Simpsons at the tender age of 3 but I saw this episode and asked “Who the hell is Robin” (a Bart quote from this very episode) when I watched an episode of Batman: The Animated Series several days later. This upset my loving parents, who banned me from watching the show until roughly the third grade. NOW YOU KNOW. Oh yeah, the episode rules. “Call Mr. Plow, that’s my name! That name again is Mr. Plow!”

“Lisa’s First Word”

Original Airdate: December 3, 1992

Another flashback episode! As everyone tries to get Maggie to speak, Marge recaps the tale of Lisa’s first word (since Bart’s first word was uttered when he walked in on Homer and Marge doing the nasty). It’s 1983, Return of the Jedi has been released in theaters, a young Joe Piscopo was teaching us how to laugh, and Homer, Marge and Bart lived in east Springfield in a small apartment. When Marge becomes pregnant, the family moves into a new house on Evergreen Terrace with the help of Grampa, who is thanked by being kicked into a rest home. Homer and Bart are instantly irritated by their new neighbors the Flanders. Lisa is born during the 1984 Summer Olympics, and changes Bart’s life forever. Bart is forced to give up his crib, and Homer replaces it with a horrific clown bed. Bart tries his best to get rid of Lisa, performing acts such as leaving her at the Flanders’ house and shaving her head. Bart gives up and tries to run away until Lisa speaks his name. Bart is her first word. She thinks he howls at the moon! Bart and Lisa promise to never fight, but back in the present they fight again. Homer puts Maggie to bed and tells her he hopes she never talks; as he leaves, she says “daddy,” becoming the only one of the Simpson children to call Homer “dad.” Bawwwwwww. Great stuff.

Disc 3

“Homer’s Triple Bypass”

Original Airdate: December 17, 1992

Despite constant warnings from Marge, Homer continues to eat unhealthy. After turning down oatmeal (“There’s a bug on it.”) for bacon and eggs (“Dad, there’s a bug on that.” “Meh.”), Homer hears an irregular thumping on his way to work. The good news is that it isn’t his transmission! The bad news is that he accidentally destroys the birthplace of Edgar Allen Poe. At work, Mr. Burns calls Homer into his office, where he has a heart attack. Dr. Hibbert tells Homer that he needs open heart surgery, but the operation will cost $40,000, which the Simpsons can’t afford. Homer is denied medical insurance and all looks lost until he sees a TV commercial for Dr. Nick Riviera, who performs any operation for $129.95. Brain surgery comes with a free Chinese Finger Trap! Of course Dr. Nick is incompetent, so Lisa guides him through the surgery via the hospital amphitheater. The surgery is a complete success, although Dr. Nick still has to deal with the man with a leg for an arm and an arm for a leg. GREAT STUFF.

“Marge vs. the Monorail”

Original Airdate: January 14, 1993

Guest Starring Phil Hartman as Lyle Lanley and Leonard Nimoy as himself

Yes! This is quite possibly the greatest episode of The Simpsons ever made. Written by Conan O’Brien. Coincidence? Mr. Burns is caught dumping nuclear waste in a park and is forced to pay the city of Springfield $3 million. At a town meeting to decide what to do with the money, Marge convinces everyone that the money should be used to clean up the dilapidated Main Street. Enter Lyle Lanley, who has sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrooke, and by gum it put them on the map! Through song, the town is convinced to build a monorail. After an intense three week search for a conductor (where trainees only learn that mono means one and rail means rail), Homer is chosen at random. But as Marge finds out on a trip to one of the “Monorail towns,” Lanley cuts corners everywhere when building the monorail. For example, a circuit board contains a family of possums. Homer calls the big one bitey! The monorail speeds helplessly around the city until Homer, with some help from a scientist that isn’t Batman, is able to save the day. Greatest episode of the Simpsons ever? I’d give it my highest recommendation.

“Selma’s Choice”

Original Airdate: January 21, 1993

Before the Simpsons can get to Duff Gardens, a new theme park, Marge receives word that her Great Aunt Gladys has passed away. At the reading of her will, Gladys wishes for Patty and Selma to raise a family and not die alone as she did. These words hit Selma hard, and she decides she wants a baby. On the day the Simpsons can finally attend Duff Gardens, Homer falls ill due to the consumption of a rotting sub sandwich, in one of the funniest random gags ever, which blows anything Family Guy has ever done completely out of the water. Anyway, Selma takes the kids to the theme park and has difficulties controlling them. She decides that her newly inherited pet iguana Jub Jub is more than enough to keep her happy. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Selma trying to start a family.

“Brother from the Same Planet”

Original Airdate: February 4, 1993

Homer forgets to pick Bart up from soccer practice one day, and as a result Bart signs up for the Bigger Brother program. His “Big Brother” Tom (played by Phil Hartman) is a dynamic dude who rides a motorcycle, works out and goes hang gliding. When Homer finds out, he signs up for the program to get revenge on Bart. His “Little Brother” Pepi is a destitute boy who is very appreciative of Homer’s teachings, even if they are inaccurate. Both Homer and Bart bond with their brothers. One day, both sets of brothers visit the Springfield Aquarium where Homer and Tom get into a huge brawl. Homer hurts himself, but regains Bart’s love. Bart also introduces Pepi to Tom, and the two bond immediately. The B-story for this one involves Lisa trying to break an addiction to the “Cory Hotline” where she can “talk” to teen heartthrob Cory. It’s plots like these that make me wish I had tried to call the WCW Hotline just once as a kid. But $1.99 a minute adds up.

“I Love Lisa”

Original Airdate: February 11, 1993

YES. My friend Rebekah should be familiar with this one. It’s Valentine’s Day, although the local radio station only has “Monster Mash” available to play on-air. Mrs. Hoover’s class makes boxes to place their valentines inside, but Ralph Wiggum’s box remains empty. Seeing how sad he is, Lisa gives him a pity card which reads “I Choo-Choo Choose You.” Ralph starts to like Lisa, asking to walk her home (“So, do you like… stuff?”) and eventually buys her tickets to Krusty the Clown’s 29^th Anniversary Special. Lisa is embarrassed by Ralph on national TV during Krusty’s favorite segment Talk to the Audience; Ralph announces that he loves Lisa and plans on marrying her. Lisa shoots him down, admitting that she only gave him the card out of pity. Ralph is heartbroken. Springfield Elementary begins planning its annual President’s Day play, and Lisa wins the title role of Martha Washington, while Chief Wiggum bribes Mrs. Hoover in giving the part of George Washington to Ralph. Lisa is scarred that Ralph will embarrass her again but Ralph gives a spectacular performance that arouses a standing ovation from the crowd. After the play, Lisa and Ralph make up, swinging together on the swingset after Lisa gives him another card that says “Let’s Bee Friends.” It has a picture of a bee on it. Awesome stuff all around, and I may or may not have stolen these card ideas and used them in real life.

“Duffless”

Original Airdate: February 18, 1993

Homer is arrested for drunk driving when he drives Barney home following a trip to the Duff brewery. A judge suspends his license and forces him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous. Homer ridicules his meetings, but Marge asks him to go one month without beer. He does so, and finds it extremely difficult – he confesses to wanting a beer so bad that he ate dirt from underneath the school’s bleachers. At the end of the month Homer is ready to return to Moe’s, despite losing weight, saving money and other noticeable improvements to his health. When he gets there, he notices how miserable Barney and the other barflies are and decides to spend more time with Marge. The B-plot here involves Bart destroying Lisa’s HGH-riddled tomato before the big science fair, so Lisa comes up with a new experiment where she predicts that Bart is dumber than a hamster. And her hypothesis is correct! Funny stuff here.

Disc 4

“Last Exit to Springfield”

Original Airdate: March 11, 1993

Lisa needs braces, but Mr. Burns takes away dental coverage from the SNPP employees. Lobbying to get the employees their coverage back, Homer is elected head of the worker’s union. He holds several talks with Mr. Burns, but they go nowhere because Homer can’t understand anything that Mr. Burns is trying to say. Eventually the workers go on strike and Burns shuts the plant down, leaving the town without power. But the union remains consistent, singing campfire songs outside of Burns’ office until he concedes and returns dental coverage to the workers. This one gives us a quoted line “Dental Plan; Lisa Needs Braces!” and also Mr. Burns’ typewriting monkeys which write “It was the BLURST of times.” This one is a favorite of many Simpsons fans but I don’t really care for it, to be honest. Not sure why, I guess I just find workers unions and politics to be boring.

“So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show”

Original Airdate: April 1, 1993

First ever Simpsons clip show. Bart shakes a beer and gives it to Homer as an April Fool’s Day gag but it backfires when the explosion puts Homer in a coma. Clips follow. Next. This one DOES give us the “I’d have looked quite the fool, an APRIL Fool” quote that I always use on people.

“The Front”

Original Airdate: April 15, 1993

Guest Starring Brooke Shields as herself

Itchy and Scratchy episodes are becoming as bad as Simpsons episodes made after 2002, so Bart and Lisa decide to create their own script. They aren’t taken seriously, so they put Grampa Simpson’s name on it, and it is immediately turned into an episode. We also find out that Grampa’s name is Abraham, and that he doesn’t know how he can remove his underwear without removing his pants. Grampa’s episode wins an animation award, where he sees Itchy and Scratchy for the first time and hates it. In the meantime, Homer and Marge attend their high school reunion where Homer reveals that he never actually graduated; he failed to pass remedial science. And he’s a nuclear technician! They’ll do the “Homer returns to school” plot much funnier in the future.

“Whacking Day”

Original Airdate: April 29, 1993

Guest Starring Barry White as himself

Superintendent Chalmers makes his debut here as he inspects Springfield Elementary. Principal Skinner decides to hide the school’s worst students, Bart, Nelson, Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney in the basement, promising them free mountain bikes. Bart escapes and hijacks Groundskeeper Willie’s tractor, running it into Chalmers’ fanny. As a result, Bart is expelled. Bart is rejected by several other schools, and Marge decides to homeschool him instead. The rest of the town is concerned with the upcoming holiday “Whacking Day” where snakes are unleashed and then beaten to death. Barry White, the celebrity guest speaker, is mortified by the town’s actions, and helps Bart and Lisa lure the snakes into the Simpson home. Bart and Lisa then reveal the truth about Whacking Day – it was founded as an excuse to beat up Irish people.

“Marge in Chains”

Original Airdate: May 6, 1993

Infomercial fever hits Springfield, leading to a flurry of orders for a Japanese juicer. Of course a sick Japanese employee causes Osaka Flu germs to come free with every juicer, causing Springfield to be hit with flu fever! Okay that was lame, sorry. Marge escapes the wrath of the Osaka Flu but has to cater to her family. During a trip to the Kwik-E-Mart, Marge is caught with a bottle of bourbon in her jacket pocket, which she forgot about. She is arrested for shoplifting, and words spreads around town, making her Springfield’s most hated person. After a trial, in which she is defended by Lionel Hutz, who tries to cheat his way to victory, Marge is sentenced to 30 days in Springfield Women’s Prison. Marge becomes friends with her cell mates, but it’s the rest of the town that suffers. The Simpson house is trashed after only ten minutes. Without Marge’s famous marshmallow squares, the town bake sale fails to earn enough money for an Abraham Lincoln statue and is forced to settle for a Jimmy Carter statue. A riot breaks out and the townspeople realize how lucky they are to have Marge. When she is released and comes home, the townspeople welcome her by giving her the Carter statue – with Marge’s hair added to it.

“Krusty Gets Kancelled”

Original Airdate: May 13, 1993

Guest Starring Johnny Carson, Hugh Hefner, Bette Midler, Barry White, Luke Perry, Elizabeth Taylor and the Red Hot Chili Peppers as themselves

Gabbo is coming! Gabbo, Gabbo, GABBO! What’s Gabbo? I figure it’s some guy’s name, some guy named Gabbo. Gabbo is actually a puppet with a catchphrase (“I’m a baaaaad wittle boy!”) with a new TV show that is placed opposite of the stale Krusty the Clown Show. Ratings for Krusty’s show drop to the level of WCW Monday Nitro, and just like Vince Russo, Krusty’s crazy gimmicks fail to improve the ratings, and Jamie Kellner cancels the show. Okay, enough WCW references. But yes, Krusty’s show is canceled, and his money all gone and he falls into a depression. Bart and Lisa realize that Krusty knows many celebrities, such as Bette Midler and Luke Perry, his half-brother. Bart and Lisa gather these huge names to appear on a Krusty Comeback Special, but are shocked to find out Krusty has gained a massive amount of weight drinking milkshakes. The Simpsons train Krusty and help him prepare for his special. The show is a huge success, and Krusty is able to return to the air. However, despite advice from Johnny Carson, Krusty still blows through his cash. AWESOME.

THOUGHTS

The streak of awesomeness continues. A few dull, yet inoffensive episodes are surrounded by a very, very large amount of greatness. Thumbs WAY up, and we still have at least 4 seasons of amazing to go.

Coming Soon: Season 5!