I have this idea that a great protagonist is someone caught between two completely contradictory drives, and from this perspective, Krusty is one of the best side characters on The Simpsons. On the one hand, he has a compulsive need … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Twenty-Two, “Krusty Gets Kancelled”

Part of the fun of this series is tracking the evolution of the show, and this deftly combines two things we’ve already discussed: the occasional forays into riff-heavy plotting, and the development of the town of Springfield. This episode finds … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Twenty-One, “Marge In Chains”

“Whacking Day” is the most direct and pointed satirical statement in the entire show. More accurately, it’s a pair of statements: ‘doing things out of a sense of tradition can lead to you committing evil’, and ‘mob justice is fickle’. … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Twenty, “Whacking Day”

I confess, last week’s clip show was a bit of a struggle to write about to the length I’m usually satisfied, obviously because it was low on new #content. This week, I have the opposite problem – there’s so much … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Nineteen, “The Front”

As far as I know, the only person still thinking about clip shows in the year 2018 is Dan Harmon, and he’s more interested in parodying the various setups for clip shows than in ever delivering the real deal. Nobody … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Eighteen, “So It’s Come To This: A Simpsons Clip Show”

This is the first episode where, as a filthy foreign non-American, I almost don’t feel qualified to write about this episode. It feels so rooted in a specifically American (and specifically working-class American) perspective that I’m certain there are nuances … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Seventeen, “Last Exit To Springfield”

After dealing with Homer’s eating problems, this episode delves into his drinking. Once again, we’ve seen all through the show how Homer can be a little *glug glug* – I recall the flashback of Homer getting Barney into alcohol as … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Sixteen, “Duffless”

Once again, The Simpsons is setting out to develop a minor character by using romantic interest as a plot device. But this time, like a football to the groin, “I Love Lisa” works on so many levels – as an … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Fifteen, “I Love Lisa”

As we work through what I consider the Golden era of the show – seasons four through eight – we’re gonna see episodes that are controversial, and we’re gonna see episodes that I personally find difficult to watch because the … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Fourteen, “Brother From The Same Planet”

I will confess that Selma episodes have never been my favourite. In general, I like Marge’s sisters in small doses, dropping some barb about Homer to punctuate a scene (e.g. “Homer’s Triple Bypass” has a great gag where they’re completely … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Thirteen, “Selma’s Choice”

I’m sure few people will think I’m overstating things when I say that this is not only one of the greatest episodes of The Simpsons, it’s one of the greatest episodes of any half-hour sitcom ever made. By my weak … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Twelve, “Marge vs The Monorail”

“Homer’s Triple Bypass” is a culmination. Even throughout those first couple of seasons, when the show was gradually pulling itself together and building a world, it never really went in for continuity. At the risk of sounding massively pretentious (The … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Eleven, “Homer’s Triple Bypass”

A few weeks ago, beloved commentor Ruck Cohlchez observed that the run from “Mr Plow” to “Marge Vs The Monorail” is the best run The Simpsons would ever do; what I love is how we’ve jumped straight from one of … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Ten, “Lisa’s First Word”

Well, here we are, an all-timer episode that has some of the most quoted lines in the show. “Mr Plow” doesn’t reach for any particular satirical or emotional heights, but everything in it snaps together; the underlying plot functional enough … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Nine, “Mr Plow”

Way back in the first season, I suggested that part of the Classic era of the show was giving up the riffing in favour of fast-paced plotting, and I’m going to formally concede that I was as wrong as I … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Eight, “New Kid On The Block”

Sometimes an older episode of a show feels like a subtle dry run for the later, more ambitious episodes, and sometimes an older episode feels like an extremely obvious dry run. As the title implies, “Marge Gets A Job” is … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Seven, “Marge Gets A Job”

Usually, when I think of heartwarming Simpsons relationships, I think of Homer/Lisa, then Homer/Marge, then Bart/Lisa. And usually, my line for Homer and Bart’s relationship is that where Homer and Lisa don’t understand each other, Homer and Bart understand each … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Six, “Itchy And Scratchy: The Movie”

The “Treehouse” episodes are incredibly fun to watch, but by their nature, there’s not much emotional content to analyse. They’re like holidays in themselves, very silly knockoffs where the crew throw in some reality-breaking element to destroy the world they’ve … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Five, “Treehouse Of Horror III”

There are two things (which it can be) that I’ve been preoccupied with in this show: the ever increasing energy of the jokes due to an increased pacing, and the way it builds on old ideas as it moves forward. … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Four, “Lisa The Beauty Queen”

I’ve repeatedly said that Golden era Simpsons isn’t so much leftist as it is bitter with conservatism, fundamentally getting why we turn to family and such but understanding that it’s a lot harder and a lot less happy than it’s … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Three, “Homer The Heretic”

At least one of the first few episodes of any given season of this show tend to feel like a throwback to the previous season; this one feels like it reaches all the way back to season one. This is … Continue reading The Simpsons, Season Four, Episode Two, “A Streetcar Named Marge”