The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 20: Bart on the Road

Principal Skinner creates "Go to Work with Your Parents Day." While Lisa goes to the Nuclear Plant with Homer, and Bart is sent to be with Patty and Selma at the DMV. While Patty gets several licenses laminated, Bart takes the opportunity to create a fake license. Using it, he, Nelson, Milhouse, and Martin do stuff only allowed for people over 21.

They soon rent a car and go on a Spring Break road trip with Martin's $600 from stocks, and the children tell their parents that they are going to a National Grammar Rodeo in Canada. The lie seems to work on everyone, except Lisa. Meanwhile, Lisa has found that her time with Homer is actually fun, and they end up doing lots of activities at the Power Plant. With everyone gone, Marge finds her life to be very boring with little to do.

On the road trip, Milhouse asks where they are going. Looking at a brochure in the car's glovebox, they find out about a World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, and decide to go there. But when they arrive, they find that the fair was actually in 1982, just how old the brochure was. They spend their last of their money on wigs (from an outlet store in the fair's Sunsphere, now called the Wigsphere), and an Al Gore doll. To make things worse, Nelson throws a rock at the Sunsphere, and it collapses on their car, stranding them in Knoxville.

With no other options, Bart calls home and talks to Lisa, confessing what happened and where they are, and asks her how they can find some way to get home. Lisa suggests that Bart become a courier. This leads him to making all sorts of deliveries around the world, but does not get him any closer to getting home. Bart claims he needs to find something that can be shipped to Springfield, and be big enough to also fit Nelson, Milhouse, and Martin. At the power plant, Lisa tells Homer that Bart is stranded in Knoxville.

Homer is at first upset, but then decides to help. Noting the control console at his workstation, the two figure they can get the courier service to deliver a new one to the Power Plant. They spill soda on the console, Homer makes a call for a replacement in Knoxville, and the boys make it home. Later that evening, there were several phone calls: one from Principal Skinner asking if Bart has ever been to Asia, another telling of a smashed rental car under the Sunsphere, and a request for Bart to deliver a human kidney to Amsterdam.

My thoughts:

How many times have I watched it: 6 times.

Storyline: I loved this episode a lot. It's a very relaxed episode. I think if this story premise were previewed to us today we'd all be like "OH MY GAWD Bart's getting a driver's license and driving across country and he's ten years old!" It's pretty far fetched, but who cares though? It worked because the episode was just very fun to watch. I liked the Radio Love song in the start of the second act when the camera goes around the car they rented.

You rarely see the kids hang out together this casually in the series, and now especially it's pretty much as rare as you can get which is another reason this episode was nice. The guys have funny chemistry, and Homer and Lisa's B-plot was laid back too, it showed a side to both characters you don't see often together during this time in the series.

There's enough humor in there to keep that end going too. From "Bart, can we have ice cream?", to Homer's prank call to Moe, the family from Winnipeg, and Skinner seeing Bart in Japan, they were all great. The Andy Williams scene was interesting, and that NELSON out of all people liked him was odd. Must be Andy's biggest fan.

Overall, an excellent story, and in my top 5 Simpsons episodes.

My grade: A+

The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 19: A Fish Called Selma

Chief Wiggum pulls Troy McClure over for dangerous driving. He asks McClure to wear glasses, but McClure doesn't want to. So he goes to the DMV to get his license changed to remove the requirement. He offers to take DMV employee Selma Bouvier to dinner if she lets him pass the eye test, to which she agrees. The next day, Troy's agent, MacArthur Parker, calls and says that he can get work again if he continues seeing Selma. As Troy continues to date her, his career starts to recover. His agent tells him to marry Selma, and when Troy asks Selma for a marriage, she says yes.

At Moe's, Troy tells Homer he doesn't really love Selma and plans to use her as a sham wife to help his career. At the marriage, Homer fails to tell Selma, but when Marge and Patty tell Selma, she accuses them of being jealous. She confronts Troy, who admits that their marriage IS a sham. Troy explains to Selma that even though their marriage is a sham, she has everything she wants.

Selma accepts the situation only because she fears being alone. Meanwhile, Parker thinks he can get Troy a great role upcoming famous movie, but says he will have a better chance if he has a family. Unfortunately, Troy and Selma feel comfortable with their situation, and Selma leaves after deciding that bringing a child into a loveless family is unsuitable.

My thoughts:

How many times have I seen it: Once.

Storyline: This is a rare episode that focuses on two secondary characters in The Simpsons (although there were some involvements from Homer and Marge). The plot especially on wrongdoings of Troy, heavily satirizes on the celebrity lives and the ways that one would do to promote their image as fresh as possible, and it's satirized well through his actions (he being fond of Selma in his private sense, yet trying to look as lovely as possible in front of public) and converted into the flow of the overall plot of the episode. My only concern was that the plot was a bit slow.


I don't think the episode really had much of humor, but several scenes were memorable (Planet of the Apes musical, for example), and I laughed so hard with Homer's brain. "Da-da-da-da-hey! (x2)" Troy was funny enough, he had good jokes with Wiggum, Parker, and a waiter. The episode was not a gagfest, but it was fine.


Overall, a good episode with minor flaws.

My grade: B/B+

How to Win at Thumb Wrestling

One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war! It's a simple game, but there ARE tips on winning this game. Here are a few tips to victory.

1. Have a quick attack. Counterclockwise is the more powerful direction for right handed thumb wrestlers. If it is well executed, you are likely to win.

• If you miss, getting out of the attack fast. However, you are open to quick counterattack.
• Getting out of the attack quickly is more important than being able to score a fast win.
• If properly executed, the attack should look like a semicircle mostly vertical yet slanted a bit away from your body.

2. Know the 2 main types of pin-downs.

• Being pinned on the joint in the middle of the thumb.
  • The one who is pinned forces their thumb downwards, and then a quick jerk directly toward him/herself.
• Being pinned down behind the joint in the middle of your thumb.


• If you get in this type of pin, look where the thumb has an opening, on the side where it is not connected to the hand.
• That is the most difficult pin to escape. Push down as you make your escape, and quick jerks always beat constant outward pressure.

3. Have a chant. 

• After the one, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war chant, continue the chant. Make up something to have your opponent laugh, then do a quick attack, and you will almost always be successful.
• If they use joke chants, they may look for your reaction or possibly laugh themselves, and they put them in a vulnerable position.
• You will look more mature if you do not react to their joke.

2 more quick tips: Keep your hand as still as possible (it actually gives you and advantage), and don't do a fast count. They may ask for another game.

Funny Moment in Survivor: One World (S24)

So right now, I am re-watching a season that first aired 5 years ago. I was watching the fourth episode, and they were playing a reward challenge. How does the challenge work? 


Well, behind a curtain are items that you need to memorize. When Jeff lifts the curtain up, the one person from each tribe needs to memorize the order of the items. If you think you are ready to go, close the curtain with a lever, and the memorization is done for both people. Set up your items and reach the mat first to be evaluated by Jeff first. The first one correct wins a point for their tribe, and the first tribe to 5 points wins the reward. 

So the game begins, and after three rounds, the women's tribe lead 3-0. Then comes the forth round, Kat vs Troyzan.

KAT

VS.

TROYZAN

So in the fourth round, both Kat and Troyzan are ready. Then this happens:

Troyzan pulls down the lever in half a second, Jeff says "What??", and his voice sounded like a girl, Kat questions "What is that?", and the other woman, Sabrina, says to Kat, "Don't worry about it..." So funny. They go on to play SEVEN rounds, which Kat finally wins and rejoices as they get their fourth point and eventually win 5-0.

Watch the original video here. Time-stamp from the Kat vs Troyzan game at 3:16-4:42.

The Simpsons Season 7 Episode 18: The Day the Violence Died

Bart and Lisa watch an Itchy and Scratchy marathon, and the next day there is an Itchy and Scratchy parade. Homer and the kids stake out spots on the sidewalk, but Bart gets away from them and meets up with a bum, Chester J. Lampwick, who claims to have created Itchy. Bart believes him and they watch his old film, but it burns up after the viewing, leaving no proof.

Bart wants to get the bum the celebrity status that he deserves, so first Bart brings him home with him. They both go to Roger Meyers, the presumed creator and ask him for all the money he is owed, which is $800,000,000. They are kicked out of the office, but Homer and Marge agree to help them out by paying for a lawyer, Lionel Hutz.

Unfortunately, the case is not going well, so Bart gets a drawing from the comic book store to prove that the bum is the creator. The court finds in his favor due to plagiarism, so every cent Itchy and Scratchy makes now goes to the bum. However, because of this ruling, Itchy and Scratchy Studios have to close for good.

Bart feels badly about what he did, especially since now a stupid educational cartoon has replaced it. Bart has to come up with a plan; after all, he and Lisa had done it so many times before. When they figure out how to do it, they discover that Lester and Eliza, lookalikes of Bart, have already solved the problem. It looks like Bart and Lisa have a little competition.

My thoughts:

How many time have I watched it: Just today.

Storyline: It's a good episode, even though the plot has some problems and it's quite unbelievable. Really though, the bum just appears from nowhere and says he was Itchy and Scratchy's creator. The ending is questionable, I did not like the Lester and Eliza scene. It was bland but it was unexpected. The plot was also slow as it took over the whole episode with no side-plots. Also, How pointless was Bart and Lisa helping Krusty with his problems from recent episodes (Bart the Fink), and then he forgets who they are?


Was this funny? Yea.. sort of, but other episodes from this season dominate this one in the laugh department. Itchy and Scratchy cartoon early on in the episode was great. Chester asking 800 million dollars in claim at court was funny but absurd. And after Bart watches the old 1919 movie to have Chester win the claim, the movie catches fire. Lionel Hutz's business card was hilarious.

Overall, a interesting episode, but below average for season 7.

My grade: C+