Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Bart Vs. Thanksgiving

Episode Date: November 25, 2015

The Simpsons go through a quaintly familiar Thanksgiving until Bart disrupts the festivities to go live on skid row. Don’t worry, it all ends well…

Ahoy hoy everybody and welcome to Talking Simpsons where it's your fault we're old that's a reference by the way this is Bob Mackie your host of this lovely show who else is here today you think I was gonna do it again I love. I want it every time I talk. All right. I am Chris Antista, host of the Lazer Time Show. And I'm Henry Gilbert, host of Cape Crisis and a Billion Other Things. And today, by the way, this is Lazer Time's chronological exploration of the Simpsons. And thanks for joining us on this magical voyage. And today's episode is Bart vs. Thanksgiving, which aired November 22, 1990.

Very close to Thanksgiving. It was Thanksgiving. It was Thanksgiving. It was? It was. Oh, wow. They say it on the commentary, and I remember it myself. It was aired on Thanksgiving. I guess that was a Thursday, so I was probably eating some leftover turkey at this point. You probably watched a shitload of football, Bobby?

No, I wasn't. Even then, I didn't like it. Well, because there's old... I'll talk about it in the next episode. So, please, Chris, what happened on this magical day, Thanksgiving of 1990? What was going on 25 years ago, for Christ's sake? Oh, boy, Bobby. Oh, my God.

This week in Simpsons history, John Major is elected as Britain's next prime minister. MTV refuses to air Madonna's Justify My Love video featuring sultry scenes in a bed. And a little indie darling called Home Alone tops the box office. Wow. Justify My Love, correct me if I'm wrong, didn't she release that to VHS? I think so. And then it took off, like, insanely. off like insanely that wayne and garth made fun of with it yeah with the guy with the black and white uh video bob did we do madonna and karaoke i think i i sound like a prayer that's my standard by the way we know i did that with you we oh yeah thanks for remembering

our duet you'll hear that a lot when i do karaoke, by the way. Really? That's my favorite Madonna song. It's the best song she does, but I'm only speaking as a white man in his 30s. Lucky Star is pretty good, too. It's pretty good. I like it. It's pretty great. Also... Madonna's really good. According to Family Guy, that's like your gay test. If you say anything about Madonna other than her looks, then you're gay.

I've got a girlfriend, I swear. Why am I talking about Family Guy in this show? I would also fuck Madonna. Their gay gay biometer you're putting that out there sure uh is she happily married who knows we'll find out on our madonna cast she does what she wanted never been a cast member on i've never been a guest star on the simpsons strangely that's really strange weird at some with her star power but yeah this is barbara things versus thanksgiving i want to say this was written by george meyer yep his first Simpsons episode that he was credited as a writer. Sole credit.

I think he had a season one half credit. Henry, how would you describe George Meyer's attitude and writing style? I love George Meyer. He's my favorite. And one of his things is he actually had a... One of the first things I ever read about a writer on The Simpsons was a profile, I believe in The New Yorker, on him. That's right, yeah. That he was the darkest

guy from a screwed up family, and he hates the rich, he hates authority, he's not a fan of his family, and his episodes and his jokes are some of the darkest and meanest ones the show's ever had. I do feel like this episode is really about the Meyer

family more than The Simpsons. You'll learn a lot from the commentary. Meyer says that the inspiration came to this because it was a constant conversation in his home about who ruined what holiday. Exactly, yeah. You have to figure out who ruined what holiday. That's what makes comedy writers tragedy and broken homes. Or Harvard. Or Harvard, too.

But, I mean, they can combine and join forces. But David Silverman also directed this episode, and we'll see some really crazy David Silverman animation later. I think it ranks up there with The Raven in terms of ambition and just insane camera angles. Lots of pull-outs. Lots of awesome reveals done within the frame. If Brad Bird doesn't count as a director because he really only fully directed one episode, then David Silverman is the best director. I believe so. He's the MVP.

Rich Moore's great. Jim Reardon's great. Oh, for sure. Yeah, like all those original guys are on top of their game at all times, but Silverman is probably the most expressive, the most distinctive director. Bob, would you call him the glue? I think the glue is like you don't stand out, really. Stop fighting with your sister!

She took my glue! It's not yours, Bart! This is family glue! Stop it, you two! This is Thanksgiving, so glue friendly or I'll take your glue away and then no one will have any glue to glue with. I appreciate your segue, Chris,

but I feel like Mark Kirkland is the glue of The Simpsons director. He is the most reliable and not the most... The Phil Hartman. Pretty much, yeah. He does his job,

but he doesn't really rise above anyone else, really. I'm so excited to get to Phil Hartman's first appearance. Oh, when is that happening? Soon, right? I'm not sure.

It's this season. I think it is the... Barking by a car, right? Two episodes. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, the Lionel Huss comes to the first place. I'm so excited for that. I was thinking of the first Troy Mc It's My Car, right? Two episodes. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, the Lionel Hussons. Oh, it's coming. I'm so excited for that.

I was thinking of the first Troy McClure, but that's not until the... Is it the Soapbox Derby Racer? Oh, God. Or is that just the first Dr. Troy McClure showed up in... I thought about the Nuclear Power Plant educational film. Oh, yeah. He's in that one.

He was in that too? Okay. No, wait. No, that's the isotope guy. He's not in that. He's in that too? Okay. No, wait. No, that's the isotope guy. He's not in that. He's in the chocolate factory. I'm going to drag you back to the Thanksgiving episode. Please help me.

Please help me. I don't have plenty of time to talk about this. Yes. So the first act is just like really super observational Thanksgiving things. Like there is no plot. Just like here's what happens on Thanksgiving. Homer watches football. Marge cooks.

There's family members that show up. It's a lot of very specific holiday jokes without a lot of guidance I think which is fine because there's a lot of observational humor in the early Simpsons

and like I've said I've commented a couple things the Simpsons have done as Rockwellian and at the same time the President of the United States

is slamming the Simpsons as a bad example of television I find situations like this something I am nostalgic for football on television on Thanksgiving that doesn't happen anymore. No, not really.

No, I mean, there's a game each year. It's not one of two channels and the only thing taking over everything. Now I put on Turkey Day on YouTube with Joel Hodgson. Or my family just put something on Netflix. Even like a fake fire log next to a real fireplace.

I love those fake fire logs. This doesn't happen anymore. The men and the women aren't separated for Thanksgiving. The kids are helping. So they have a normal Thanksgiving. Then Bart ruins something and doesn't care. Runs away and then the family chases after him and then he

finally comes out. And this is also just, again for me, I've told you the I was Bart scenario before, but this finally comes out right and this is also just again for me i've told you the i was bart uh scenario before but like this this i feel like happens to me to this day i am bart all the time and yes never mind we'll get more like lisa in this episode yeah even though lisa i think like watching it now she's she's less redeemable than i remember because she was very like wrapped up in her own problems without realizing the scope of how little her problems matter. Yeah, though she's used to being ignored all

the time and this is just another moment of that. That's true. It really punctuated her life of being just ignored. But were there any moments in this first act which is really just like observational Thanksgiving things where they're preparing food and watching TV. I've always never liked

the Thanksgiving Day Parade but still watch it. It still happens, doesn't it? I love it. It absolutely still happens. I've always never liked the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but still watch it. It still happens, doesn't it? It absolutely still happens. You know what? I was forced to research it recently, somewhat recently, for the Every Aladdin reference. Every genie impression in Aladdin, and the whole internet thinks it's Mary Hart

in Aladdin during the Prince Ali sequence. She never hosted this part. Then I'm, she never hosted this part. He says, do you... And then I'm in message boards disputing. But the internet thinks... This is not important. This is not important.

So, look. Yeah, okay. The clip of this, this is my favorite clip of two on-screen... Is this Phil LaMarty? It's so good. This is my quote of the episode. It is so good. I love it.

We want me to play the clip. Please play the clip. It's also my quote. I don't know if it gets any better than this. I will not talk. It's a good. This is my quote of the episode. It is so good. I love it. We want me to play the clip. Please play the clip. Also, my quote. I don't know if it gets any better. I will not talk. It's a secondary quote. But this is the line of the show. That's the joke.

Uh-oh. Here comes our friend, Bullwinkle J. Moose. Bullwinkle's antler sprung early. Uh-oh. Looks like old Bullwinkle's kind of got a taste of his own medicine. He certainly did, Bill. Wait. What did that mean? Did what I say make sense his own medicine. He certainly did, Bill. Wait, what did that mean?

Did what I say make sense? Well, no, not really, Bill. Boy, now I know how to pilgrim spell. What are you talking about, Bill? That's one of, like, four moments in this episode I feel like Dan and Harry are just... Yeah, they animated it. Or they're making fun of me in all the game streams I do

because I feel like those are the exact things I say. Just to fill an air, baby. What is that joke I just said? Does that make any sense? Does that make any sense? Let's just forget about it. Let's move on. Yeah, no.

Well, as a kid, I definitely... I love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade because it was... I love seeing the balloons. The balloons. I was waiting for the Spider-Man balloon. I was waiting for the Bullwinkle balloon. But the like,

oh man, here's the touring company For Annie Doing their famous Like no Change the channel That's what's gone wrong With NBC's coverage Of the Macy's parade Which is that

It was first like Okay 30 minutes Of Broadway productions Then an hour And then it really Turned into like 90 minutes of Broadway And then you'll finally

Get to see I just want to see Big balloons Also one of my favorite clips From this entire episode One thing I think Marty questions Bill later Where he's like, now I know how the pilgrims fell. He's like, that still doesn't make any sense. Sorry.

Please, please continue. This of the parade balloons, a great joke and a great in-joke on the popularity of the Simpsons. Again, right after the t-shirt line from Dance and Homer, we have this one. Just to give you some context, at the very end of this clip, when they're not looking at the television a bart macy's day parade balloon floats by which was in the macy's day parade it was that year after one year of popularity what the hell is that bow ankle who wait a minute who's that underdog don't you know anything well i know it wouldn't hurt him to use some cartoons made in the last 50 years. Son, this is a tradition. If you start building a balloon for every Flash in a Pan cartoon character,

you'll turn the parade into a farce. And then we immediately see Bart floating over. And I'm sure, like, in the commentary, we're like, oh, here comes Bart Simpson. He's up to some trouble, isn't he? Oh, what's he going to do now? Do you realize this is my second favorite Simpsons parade float, balloon float joke? Yeah.

What's the other one? The absolute scratchy 75th. No. It's them being, the parade in Springfield, like, oh, we always get like the fourth rent cartoon balloons in the Simpsons parade. Like, Marge is like, what? What do you mean? There's Funky Winkerbean.

Hey, Funky. He's like, over here, Funky. I think I remember Duckman's father was killed by a Bullwinkle balloon. That's canon, by the way. Look forward to our Duckman podcast when I can get that off the ground. That's a really hard clip for me to hear because I know when I watched it, I definitely knew who Bullwinkle Underdog is. But I do feel like Homer now. Like, you don't know who the fuck these people are?

So what if they're not the kid from How to Train Your Dragon? I think Marge also points out annoyed balloons. that's the noise he steals pizzas yeah and not to harp on it like uh i said i taped every episode of the simpsons starting this season and watch them every day uh i missed this episode oh and it probably because it's thanksgiving wow and because it's thanksgiving it never aired again. Right. It never aired again. That is crazy. I never saw it in syndication. It was not rerun throughout the course of that year. Chris, in the first like 17 years of The Simpsons, I remember the one episode I missed. Which one?

Itchy and Scratchy Land. Oh, that sucks, Bobby. Yeah. I eventually saw it again as a rerun, but it always just haunted me. I missed the first one, Simpsons? How did I do this? Because I'd seen the promos. I knew there was a Thanksgiving episode.

I knew that it involved Bart, especially, and that was really important to me. Right. Yeah, it sucked. It did not air again that year. I didn't see it until syndication. Yes, missing a holiday episode was a big deal back then. This is a good setup to what's going to happen later. I don't know why, as I grow older, I connect more.

Whenever Lisa is being Lisa, a little kid, I just get really melty. She's making a centerpiece for the Thanksgiving festivities. Maggie, I'm about to unveil my centerpiece to the family. It's a tribute to the trailblazing women who made our country great. See, there's Georgia O'Keeffe, Susan B. Anthony, and this is Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. I'm sure you haven't heard of her, but she worked her whole life to preserve the Florida Everglades. As one of the Simpson women,

would you like to contribute something to it? Oh, thank you. That is not only a cool Lisa moment, it's a cool Maggie moment. Maggie never gets any cool moments. It's funny that Maggie buys into it too. Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, I've still never heard of her. Growing up in Florida, living with a...

Oh, so you guys have heard of her. You guys are both Floridians. My father is the district attorney for the Game and Freshwater Fish Commission. I spent a lot of time in the Everglades. Being coerced into doing a lot of reports on the Everglades. I absolutely have heard of her.

I like that bit too because it feels like the kind of george meyer uh joke that's a very under the radar joke of like bring up these forgotten feminists that nobody's heard of whose names have probably never been said on a sitcom ever like it's like getting away with something yeah maybe maybe like dick cavett show during super week, like when no one else is watching. Also, this scene and Bart's response to Lisa made me see certain parallels to online video game ethical conversations. Because let me just get this out of here real quick. Henry, I did write, she has a very SJW centerpiece. Lisa is making a centerpiece that celebrates feminists. It's in no way stopping Thanksgiving.

Bart doesn't get it and destroys it and is like, who cares? And then I just saw the peril. No, no, no. It's just like... It's hard to not miss them. I was going to bring that up again. Only at the end does this show reveal... Because again, I see a lot of myself in Bart.

I wouldn't have intentionally destroyed the centerpiece. And I thought he didn't either, but he kind of cops to it at the end of the episode. He kind of did. We'll get to that in a second. Yeah, no, he says he does. And he doesn't really understand himself, but before we get to that point,

I do want to talk about the family members that we see. So we have Patty and Selma showing up, and they bring their own dish. Can I play the clip? Oh, please do. It's the grossest dish I've ever heard of. Trout almondine? Definitely didn't get it the time.

Okay. You brought food. Just a few things. Swedish meatballs. Mm-hmm. And my trout almondine. You knew that I was cooking a turkey. Which is fine.

More power to you. It's just that some people find your turkey a little dry. Mm-hmm. And if they want an option, they'll have it. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'm sorry I don't have a clip of her, but is this the first appearance of Miss Bouvier? I think so, yes. It was an event for me of like, this is Marge's mom.

We've never seen her before. That's what made it so irritating that I missed taping this episode. I'm guessing it was probably in Ocala at my grandparents' being introduced to Mystery Science Theater 2000. That's probably what was happening. That's a great time to be alive. Seriously.

Why does 2015 suck so much? Jesus Christ. Help us. We want to be back in 1990. And I guess I'm mistaping this.

The promos promoted that. It wasn't so much. It's a Thanksgiving episode. You get to meet Mrs. Bouvier and there's a minor moment

where she gets like the star treatment as in a build up. Well you see her hair first and then her. Well you see a cab stop and a guy get out and let her out of the car. I don't think the Bouvier thing is introduced until the way we was because that's a very Kennedy joke. Do we even learn her name, that her name is Jacqueline?

No, it's just her mom. It's just Marge's mom. But this also showed that this was the first time Marge and her sisters ever disagreed on the show, too. They hate Homer, but she never got mad at them. This was the first time Marge and her sisters ever disagreed on the show, too. That's right. They hate Homer, but she never got mad at them. She was always like, be nice to my sisters, Homer. But in this one, she's like, even they have tension on this episode of them doubting her ability to make a good turkey. Which, proven, Marge can't make a good turkey because they are basting the shit out of it.

That is such a gross scene. At the time, I thought it was the most fart jokes I've ever seen in the sentence. Three Bouvier members basting the shit out of a turkey. Also, when I was a little kid, I don't want to make a Bukkake joke there. But when I was a little kid, I definitely thought I was helping in the way Bart helps Marge as well. That is very observational. The kid that asks for every minute, granular step of the process. I'm nominating this for my line of the show.

That's the joke. It's broken, Mom. Mom, it's broken. Mom, it's broken. Mom, it's broken. Mom, it's broken. Mom, it's broken. If there's no good remixes out there of that,

there's nothing I'd like the show to influence more than someone to do a remix of Mom, It's Broken. That is a great little line from Bart. Just the very impatient child attitude. I'm going to turn this into a song because I just need an answer. It's wonderfully symbolic of who Bart is, and it's also very good evidence of who I was. Oh, and it's also, before we get to when actual drama happens, this is another big signpost

of a George Meyer script. Gambling on football. Oh, for sure. This is the first time it's been introduced. It'll happen a lot. They come to love it so much as an entire episode

is gambling on football. That was a really funny line that I meant to go back and grab. It's your daddy's favorite team and I hope they lose by five points. We did miss one thing,

which again is a very George Meyer thing. It is the personification of Marge's mom. One of her two lines is, I have laryngitis so it hurts to talk. So I'll just say one thing. You never do anything right. And then she just goes into the house.

Leave me alone. I'd really like to think, I didn't grow up in a hyper nice family, but I'd like to think Simpsons conditioned people to not be this rude to one another. My family is not like this. Well, there was a facade of pleasantry until people had too much to drink on Thanksgiving. I think there's definitely a message in this episode of like, you see the parents, the grandparents who handed down bad behaviors to their kids that's true yeah and then

homer and marge are then passing that along to their children like there's the bit with grandpa telling homer he's lighting a fire wrong too like it's bad parenting all the way down i and i do like the brief visit to the springfield retirement palace where it's like the following family members wish they could be here today yeah and then it's just like uh depressing as heck i can't like not to harp on my my grandfather recently died i'm 35 years old and up until 18 months ago had three out of four of my grandparents you were totally out of grandparents now right no i have one left you have one left okay i have one left but she has no facilities and is in this old folks home and this is where I spend every holiday. I see.

And I definitely get that because we don't take them out of there because we got steps and no ramp. It's impossible. I wrote that I think that old folks home is the most depressing thing ever in a Simpsons. Dude, it's so real. And the Instagram I put up.

Because there's no extra joke to it. There's no hype thing. No, and I put an Instagram up of the old folks home on Christmas Eve. Someone volunteering to play Christmas themes flatly on a clarinet to people slumping over in their wheelchairs. Wishing there was a TV on.

And they wouldn't forget. And I went out to a bar and people I haven't seen in years were like, that was pretty awful what you posted on. This made me feel really bad. Is this the first appearance of thank you for not discussing the outside world? That's what I was just about to ask. I think it might be the first appearance of that sign in general.

That has to be a George Meyer joke. It feels like one. It's the only time the camera dwells on it, but it's been in the background again and again. Also when Homer says the hell with this, that also became a motto for me. The hell with this. But back at the Simpsons house,

I just had this clip. It's called Bart is Awful. Bart! You don't even care. You don't even care. All right, Bart, that's it. Go to your room now. Okay.

I'll take some white meat and stuffing to go and send up the pumpkin pie in about 20 minutes. I said no! Mom, do I have to? Yes, you do. I hope you're happy, Bart. How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner and greener. At Electric Ireland, we can help guide you there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels, and much more.

Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our Net Zero Hub at electricireland.ie. You ruined Thanksgiving! It's a very stagey line, but it reminds me of talking to adults and authority figures. I learned very early on that no matter what society has told you, you don't actually have any

authority over me and you can't starve me. You have to keep me alive. I don't have to apologize and I don't have to do what you ask me to and you're still going to feed me and I still get to do whatever I want. As a kid, I was on both sides of those things. I actually like I felt like fuzzy emotions when Lisa says you don't even care.

I do now. That hurt. That hurt to hear but obviously as a kid I definitely was like oh I'm going to say something snotty to my parents when they think they're disappointing me. I thought that was the best thing I could do. Be funny. I'll just be clever at you. I'm having a breakthrough on the mic. I'm invincible. One thing I noticed in this episode is uh musically like um they play the one thanksgiving

uh carol i know which i only know from the mystery science theater promo like we gather together to watch cheesy movies you can hear that song playing in the background of this episode i know it's like it's like a standard like a thanksgiving standard if there's one of them but like it keeps popping up as like a like like a late motif or something like that i like that so lisa and bart are not at the table anymore bart has burned lisa's centerpiece that she worked very hard on uh because it's sjw and doesn't deserve to exist that's clearly what we do with other people's opinions um and homer's prayer is the most pathetic thing I've ever heard in my life. And Lord, we're especially thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest, safest energy source there is,

except for solar, which is just a pipe dream. Anyway, we'd like to thank you for the occasional moments of peace and love our families experience. Well, not today. But you saw what happened. Oh, Lord, be honest. Are we the most pathetic family in the universe or what? Amen.

I talk a lot about Simpsons sacrilegious jokes, but I do like the sincerity of Homer just forgets. I'm talking to God here. Everybody shut up for a second. I think later there's a line that's like, Homer, no gossip. He's gossiping with God. I didn't mean to cut it out,

but it's Patty or Selma saying, worst prayer ever. Yeah. Well, and so then Bart goes to, there's a nice little interlude after Bart runs away that he, with Santa's little helper, which they mentioned on the commentary that that was a choice of theirs that let's, Santa's little helper was involved in their previous holiday episode, Christmas, so they get him involved in the Thanksgiving. And I think he's also kicked out of the house for trying to steal a turkey leg or whatever you hear that like adr

line before he's kicked out of the house and give me back that turkey leg but yeah so then they go to uh burns's place and i wrote this down and i think this is the first time you visibly see the releasing of the house he said he'd release the hounds on his previous one but this time you see it's visually i considered synonymous with releasing the hounds even though i again i've not seen this episode as much as every other one the hounds on his previous one, but this time you see the hounds released. And it's visually, I consider, synonymous with releasing the hounds, even though, again, I've not seen this episode as much as every other one. The hounds are like these sleek killing machines that just dive at you. Yeah, they did a great job. They look like fucking World War II bombers at some point.

And that overhead shot of them just dwelling outside of the hedges is really amazing. David Silverman, again, is fantastic. And also, I forgot that, you know, we all remember Evergreen Terrace as their address, but I forgot that Burns was on the corner of Croceus and Mammon, which are deities of greed. That is true.

I only knew about Mammon. Croceus, eh? Is that Greek or Roman? I don't know. I should have looked that one up. I'm sure a commenter will let me know. I just have this quick clip because, again,

I connect more with, I want to be more Lisa now than I am Bart. So I connect with her a lot. Jesus Christ, when we get to the mr bergstrom episode i have no idea what i'm gonna do um but like i love this sequence you saw me melt and moaning lisa when marge march has a good rapport with lisa and this is another instance of that lisa i'm very sorry about what happened mom i poured my heart into that centerpiece. Things like that always happen in this family.

I've noticed that, too. Well, when you feel like coming down, we'll be there. I like that sentiment, and I like just her playing the frets on those. Lisa is writing a parody of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, named Howl of the Unappreciated. I saw the best meals of my generation destroyed by the madness of my brother. My soul carved in slices by spiky-haired demons. Meanwhile, and this is also evidence of me learning nothing,

Bart is off having the greatest adventure of all time. By the way, they mentioned on the commentary thatinsburg heard about that and did appreciate it i guess he was still alive back then yeah he held on for another he was farting around for another like this is true so one of my favorite throwaway jokes i never noticed as a kid um what bart goes i actually did this too because i was a bad kid like fuck you i'm not getting a job i'll go give some blood and bart does that to make 12 fucking dollars that is true like i gave plasma once and it was such a depressing experience that i never did it again like yeah there was one guy reading the same page of the bible for like three hours while i waited i'm like oh i don't like these people

a couple of my loser friends like yeah we don't even have to go to school or ever get jobs just give blood every day and like yeah that sounds great i don't think i have that much blood in me blood once a month i know we were just speculating right and we were trying to be losers the blood market was much more uh burgeoning there were so when barco's on the other side of tracks it had one of my favorite sign gags to date which is it was called massage parlor but massage was in quotes on the side oh i missed that. Totally. Wow. Awesome.

But he goes to get blood, and I love this exchange. Hey, you've got to be 18 to sell your blood. Let's see some ID. Here you go, doll face. Okay, Homer, just relax. Ow! I don't know who that voice actor is. Me neither.

Me neither. Secretary or something. I don't know. Okay, also they mentioned there's two things they cut on the commentary. It wasn't clear on the commentary if they had cut it from the script or they cut it from animatics or even animated it. But they said there was supposed to be a full scene inside the blood donation place. And then when Bart passes out, there's supposed to be another dream sequence where Bart's at the first Thanksgiving. And they cut both of those things.

Oh, wow. I forgot about that. Conceptually there. Though I also wrote down a kid passing out on Skid Row that is a horrifying, like that horrifies me. It's pretty dark. Like if you examine like Bart is found by two homeless men who like don't. Who are nice.

Yeah, they are very charitable. They're TV nice homeless men. Though I do like that they take his money without, you know, any kind of reservations. Well also, like Bart ends up at a homeless shelter and his family finds out where he is because of television. If you're new to the show or didn't hear the first season on Patreon.com

slash LazerTime, exclusive there because they made it happen. We talk about there was an inside joke with the writers that didn't really, the audience didn't get is that Kent Brockman is always out. That's right,'s always another christian or there's always another guy is this the first kent brockman it is not the first kent brockman on camera because he definitely for example he's in the crusting is busted episode yeah but this is i get her down fine his first

on location this is the first time they have occupied the same space as kent brockman and he isn't just on television he's talked about by the Simpsons family. I love this awful fucking overindulgent news piece. Oh, we have lots of names for these people. Bums, deadbeats, losers, scums of the earth. We'd like to sweep these people into the gutter, or if they're already in the gutter, to some other out-of-the-way place. Oh, we have our reasons.

They're depressing. They wear rag our reasons. They're depressing. They wear ragged clothes. They're crazy. They smell bad. Hey, listen, man. Wait, I'm going somewhere with this. So every year on one lone, conscience-salving day, we toss these people a bone.

A turkey bone. And that's supposed to make it all better. No, you won't find Freddy the Freeloader or Emmett Kelly or even Charlie Chaplin's beloved little tramp down here. Pompous bloat-dried college boy. His girlfriend is the weather lady. You don't say. Now I'm interested again.

I feel like college boy is something you can't say after the 90s because everyone has gone to college, I think, at this point. It's not a special thing. He would, of course. So one thing I found funny is that the Simpsons see this human interest story that Kent Brockman's doing. And that's how they notice Bart. But Lisa's poem, The Howl of the Unappreciated, is interrupted because it's like, there's Bart. So, again, her moment is destroyed, which I love.

Even in defeat, Lisa cannot get one moment of sympathy. And I'll never say this to my sister in person, to her herself, but she is the nicest, sweetest person ever, and I constantly, inadvertently do mean things to her. And growing up, got all the attention by being bad. Like, over her amazing accomplishments. She made a Save the Whales club in fourth grade. I'm like, yeah, pussy, save the whales. Dumb, dumb, dumb, gay, gay, gay. That was me.

And, like, meanwhile, she was doing something great. And, yes, if I ever die and I've never told her something nice, I'm sorry. I was the Lisa in that relationship with my sister. Were you? She was the Bart, yeah. She was the one who ran away. I was younger, yeah. I ran away a ton. So was this the first eddie and lou was this i think so because they're not the right voice the voices are swapped like lou has eddie's voice and he has lou's voice but

they're visiting the simpsons by the way in order to figure out what happened to bart and like try to kind of i guess press charges i don't know march had like what did you tell him and she's like i said that he ruined thanksgiving like really like yeah because like i don't know. And I like that Marge had to, like, what did you tell him? And she's like, I said that he ruined Thanksgiving. And I'm like, ugh, really? Yeah, because, like, I don't know. I understand, like, I read that break as in, like, well, they had to go to commercial. Oh, for sure, yeah. And get this across to Bart, but I like that, that they make Marge feel bad for it later on. So Bart comes back, but

I love, I have just a small clip from his again, talking about beautiful animated sequences. His The dream is a best-seller. His hallucination his hallucination of how his whole family thinks of him. This is fantastic. And this is how people like me and maybe you on the internet victimize themselves when they're really being an asshole. It's your fault I'm bald.

I'm sorry. It's your fault I'm old. I'm sorry. It's your fault I can't talk. Maggie. It's your fault America has lost its way. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. talk. Maggie. I'm sorry. It's your fault America has lost its way. I'm sorry. What's that?

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I should have gotten that clip. It's like Bart is on camera. He's like, yeah, I just want to say I still won't apologize because fuck you. Yeah. If you want to know what David Silverman's animation looks like, use this scene as your guide because the expressions, the camera angles, the movements, the fingers pointing in at Bart. You'll at least see it in the album art. I love it.

It's beautiful. They get closer and closer to his eyes. They don't do this anymore, ever. I screencapped this for Twitter. I was pulling all the most insane expressions. Because there's this great pan. It's beautiful. It's not even a straight horizontal pan.

It's like a rainbow pan across a bunch of faces. If you know me, I've been capturing animated stuff for so long for panning sequences as I did in the first episode of The Simpsons for Cartoon Christmas, but I love stitching together animation pans. I tried doing that today. It's impossible. It is impossible. It's impossible because it moves

in like a waveform. It is, yeah, because that's to go back to where Homer is like initially. So, yeah, it's like an amazing piece of animation. It really is. So then Barco's on the roof, and I also love the bit where he says like, The boy who nobody wanted just won the Super Bowl. Did you guys have a place where like balls and toys went where they were unsalvageable? I did.

They had toys that went under a couch or something. Yes, we had a – There's no basements in Florida Because it's wet And so If we had a deck And if anything fell through Like I had got the mad scientist kit You remember that shit?

Oh right yeah You set up a skeleton And then build a Fleshy Fleshy stuff That you can then burn off And then I just Boom dropped it

And the skeleton Everything fell Like within one hour Of having this thing I wanted It fell And it's To all It's still there

My parents still live there. But there's no access to it. Future archaeologists will find out about Crescenti's stuff. What was this? They made fake bones? Oh, and by the way, the Dream Key sequence laid out by Eric Stefani. Oh, wow. Eric Stefani was still working on the show at that time.

He quit No Doubt. Yeah, he quit No Doubt to be an animator. But he still made money off of the big No Doubt hit album like he was a songwriter or something. Oh, I didn't know that. He was like the figurehead or organizer of No Doubt. He's the brother of Gwen Stefani, obviously. On a later commentary, David Silverman will tell the story

that he got shipped a gold record to work, and then he's like, I can't do this anymore. There are two notes that I have. One, that whenever they flash back to the Simpsons house and the Evergreen Terrace, there's smoke coming out of he's like, I can't do this anymore. There are two notes that I have. One, whenever they flash back to the Simpsons house and this evergreen terrace, there's smoke coming out of everyone's chimney, which is a really elegant and subtle way to convey that this is the holidays. There's a season change happening.

Even in Florida when it's not hot, you just build a fire. You just do. You do during Christmas and Thanksgiving. I love that. Also, if you're watching this, take note when Ken Brockman gets in the van, it is a different person. It is not Ken Brockman.

It is not Ken Brockman at all. Well, he transmogrifies, I guess. No, I think just somebody didn't bother. It's just a generic dude with white hair. Oh, I see. He's Ken Brockman. There's very specific things to him, and it's super close up, and it is totally not him. Well, and then the episode ends with just the same level, like 30 seconds of sweetness.

But I really like the scene where Lisa is on the roof with Bart. And it's great that Bart is trying to figure out why he's doing the things he's doing. He doesn't understand why he's impulsive. Everybody should speak out loud their situation with other people. And I think everybody can come to the same conclusion. I love this. This is my favorite clip of the whole show. Not line of the show. Bart, why did you burn my centerpiece oh come on was it

because you hate me or because you're bad i don't know i don't know why i did it i don't know why i enjoyed it and i don't know why i'll do it again just tell me you're sorry why should i but the only reason to apologize is if you look deep down inside yourself and you find a spot. Something you wish wasn't there. Because you feel bad you hurt your sister's feelings. Leave me alone. Just look. Okay, okay.

Looking for a new spot. Still checking. This is so stupid. I'm not going to find anything. Just because I wrecked something she worked really hard on and I made her... Uh-oh. I'm sorry, Lisa. Apology accepted.

I do like that Lisa forces empathy on Bart. Like, just go through this process. You need to. And he's like, I would do it again. Like, I don't know why I do these things. I'm going to do this again. I promise you that. Yeah.

And I also liked her that she blames herself for not taking up. Sorry, I wrote it down exactly. I failed to take his abuse with good humor. That's how she blames herself. That sounds like what March says about Stanley Kowalski in the Streetcar musical. Can't you take it with good humor? Yeah. I do feel like this is a very Bart gets an F persona of Bart where he's like, he doesn't

like being who he is, but he also doesn't understand who he is. So he's just trying to just go with it as it happens. But Lisa is forcing him to deconstruct Bart as a person and figure out why he does things. Like I said, this was my favorite episode to date because I think it's full of hilarious stuff it's a real funny episode but it really gets in with the family and it's him being an unhappy family that's mean to

each other but still loves each other in the end like it's full of passive aggressiveness and love yeah I like that the last scene is them eating turkey sandwiches like at midnight or whatever which is like what you do over the holiday like well now they'd be lined up for Black Friday. They'd be stomping and crushing each other

for Xbox Ones. That was the number one gift of 1990. Oh, man. Super Ninten... Nope. One more year. A Genesis, perhaps? Yeah, maybe a Genesis. Tuckle me Groucho. Nope, sorry. That was wrong. Ninja Turtles.

I love you. It had to be Ninja Turtles. So I guess that wraps up for this episode of Talking Simpsons. I am Bob Servo on Twitter. Please follow me and let me know if you like the show. I also do another show called Retronauts. It's a weekly classic gaming podcast and it's so much work but I love doing it. All these guys have been on it so please listen to it.

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Later, everybody.