Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Bart's Inner Child

Episode Date: March 29, 2017

OH MY GOD! Homer gets a free tram-amp-oline, Marge gets self-help, Bart inspires people, James Brown shows up, and other things happen in this very weird but super funny episode for this week’s podcast!

this episode of talking simpsons is brought to you by gamefly and you listeners right now can go to gameflyoffer.com slash laser time to get a free month of unlimited games i heartily endorse this event or product. I'm your host, your host, your host, your host, your host, your host, your host, your We like Roy! We like Roy! Now, the seniors in the back. We like Roy! We like Roy! Ooh, there's an early premonition of the character Roy. And this episode aired on November 11, 1993. And Chris will tell us what happened on this day in real-life history.

Oh, my God! Welcome, if you got him, Bob! It's only... Home Improvement is at the top of the ratings, and the E! Channel is finally getting a little buzz and a little attention thanks to a little program called TalkSoup, hosted by Greg Kinnear, and a young DJ named Moby is mixing disco with techno in New York City. These were the Greg Kinnear years of TalkSoup. I was on board with Henson and a bit of Sparks, then I cashed out Alicia.

Sparks was too much. I came back a little bit for Aisha but when i mean henson took senor sacco with him pretty much and i feel like uh henson's era of talk soup was really an mst3k sort of approach where you got to know all the crew members and there were puppets and it was just super super low tech from greg kinnear yeah he put everybody on camera but henson's the funniest person the most influential person i am apparently not allowed to see do anything ever again it's sad he just sort of disappeared i was like this skunk spot guy's going somewhere and then he's the he talks over video of wipeout highlight reels oh no for the

actual show wipeout which is all it is don't feel bad for him he took an abc development deal like he's fine i'm sure he's fine. Unless he made a lot of bad investments. He was probably in four pilots we never saw. Also, this episode aired on my mom's birthday that year. Happy birthday, Mrs. Gilbert. When she was, oh my god, only seven years older than me.

Really? I don't like that. Anyway. Try not to think about it. They've been on a really great streak and my theory is this is a a not great episodes

in terms of plotting but it's still a very funny episode I feel like when you have Albert Brooks on your show everything has to get out of the way because he will ad-lib his head off

and you need to build scenes around him just saying crazy shit I feel like he didn't ad-lib at all here he ad-libbed a lot this this is albert brooks or a brooks as he's always been credited it's his first appearance since season one he did he did life in the fast lane and call the simpsons he did those two hadn't been back since then and he is a

big time improviser of his lines and dave Merkin on the commentary praises slash complains that everything he does is brilliant, but each take is different, which makes editing it a real pain. Deciding which one to use, right? Yeah, deciding which one to use. Or you can't really splice them together because they just go off in another direction. And I really like the moments. There's a few of them in this episode. But actually, it's not until the Hank Scorpio episode that you really see how good he is bouncing off Dan Castle. Oh, they're great together. And there's none of that.

All right. This, I think, is the weakest Albert Brooks character. But it might be because he's intentionally subdued. He's very low-key, I think. And he's great as Hank Scorpio. He's great as Jacques. He's great as Russ Cargill. It's funny to think of how few times he's actually been on The Simpsons, maybe five or six.

I think he's like five characters. Yeah. The one thing that disappoints me, though, is I feel this episode starts with an examination of Marge's character and how she's kind of misused. But they sort of drop that to just have fun, which is fine. But I feel like we'll talk about it. Marge just steals her episode. Pretty much. She just comes back with one line.

It's a little bit of a muddled one, but I wonder if that also just comes from they handed it to George Meyer, who kind of had left and was like half out the door trying to get his own shows. Eventually he would not be able to do that and he'd come back. But this is one of the few he has been credited in writing. I think the, oh yeah, I know when the last one is,

and I'll mention it when the time is right. But I think Bob Anderson is the director. I think he is an underrated director. This is his first episode, too, and I'm sure we'll see many more of these in the future, but he does a great job here. I may share a personal anecdote why I hate Brad Goodman. I would have my friend in retail,

the electronics boutique, put aside simpsons action figures until they were put on clearance and then i would then scoop them up nice and then they stopped releasing playmate stopped releasing the series lines and then went to the celebrity series it's like hey save some simpsons figures and it's just like home alone airport music i'm running over there from my awful mall job and I get there and it's just three Brad Goodmans and I bought all of them for like a dollar. I'm sure you could buy a gross of Brad Goodmans for $20 and also the

Vacation Smithers. They look terrible. It looks like me. It looks like me now. You don't have as much of a fro, I don't think. I'm undergoing a full transition into John C. Reilly. So one last thing I want to talk about is I feel like this episode is very of its time in that, like, quote unquote, normies were finally accepting therapy and self-help. That's where Frasier sort of spun out of. And it's an examination of the anxiety over I need to fix myself.

I feel like there was this weird people didn't want to approach that. Oh, that's for people in big cities, as Marge says later in the episode. Well, I mean, that's one of my favorite episodes of King of the Hill, still kind of deals with that. It's the Christmas episode where Bill keeps trying to kill himself, and they refuse to get him mental help. And when Peggy suggests it, Hank says, come on, Peggy, he's suicidal. He's not crazy.

It hasn't come to that. They just refuse it. But I think this, too, is a thing you saw a ton in the early 90s of just, psychobabble sounds interesting. If we say these types of things of, like, I'm just enabling your life script, that sounds funny. It's very strange how little, we'll get to it later, but how little the psychobabble has changed in 20 years. Yeah, it all made sense to me now. I was like, no, I know all those phrases. None of that sounds funny. It's very strange how little, we'll get to it later, but how little the psychobabble has changed. Yeah, it all made sense to me now.

I was like, no, I know all those phrases. None of that sounds confusing. It was not jargon anymore to me. No, no longer jargon. And speaking of things replaced by other things today, Craigslist has replaced the opening bit of this. Yes. Yeah, and none of it's free. No, there's a for free.

That's true. That's actually the only way to get rid of furniture in San Francisco. You have to put it out. You have to take a picture, put it on Craigslist, like just come get it before my landlord sees it. Or rock band instruments, right? Yeah, I've done that twice now. I'm going to build a homeless man's cabinet of rock band drums.

It's going to be amazing. When I moved here 10 years ago, I got 11 years ago, I got a – my first couch was a pair of couches a love seat and a longer couch they matched and it was just this couple in walnut creek like we're moving we're getting rid of it and then when i moved to a smaller place then i got rid of it on craigslist back yes and you just take a picture and put it up like look it it's a free couch. I actually use the free real estate line from Free Real Estate.

The reality here is that you know car and you can have the trash people come and pick up furniture once a year and then it is an astronomical fee. That's why there are so many free range couches roaming the hills of Berkeley. It's more expensive to just throw it on the street for free than to pay to It's more expensive to just throw it on the street

for free than to pay to get rid of it. Just dump it on the street and run away. It's not my problem. Just from a land of landfills. It's so easy to get rid of shit. Homer fulfills the dream of all people looking for free things. And this is so weird because for some reason I knew

it was going to happen, I just didn't know it was going to happen in this episode. And I'm going to pull back from the microphone and try my best not to yell, oh boy, Bobby. I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know it was going to happen in this episode. And I'm going to pull back from the microphone and try my best not to yell, oh boy, Bobby. I heard it. The Daily Newspaper. Ooh, the Springfield Men's Shelter is giving away 60 soiled mattresses. Why do you read that free column, Homer? They never have anything good.

Oh my God! What is it? Trombopoline. Trombopoline. He said what now? Trombopoline. I love that clip. I have always kind of beat myself up for not choosing a better news clip.

Oh, it's perfect. But, yeah, if you're listening to the show, you understand what that means. Oh, my God. Yeah, I mean, after... Now you're reacting to a newspaper. After hearing our listeners' compilation of all of your oh boy bobbies, I heard that in my head after Homer said,

oh my god! I did manage to find that video. Jonathan had it unlisted, so it's on lasertimepodcast.com. We can just keep it underneath every Simpsons. I hope they update it. It's already there, so just copy and paste it next time.

Awesome, I will do that. But I've been that excited of like i can't speak right like i'm so excited about this thing i just saw like drabapoline it felt very real nintendo console announcement will do that to me i think you can watch me on film do that about the announcement of dragon quest 7 and 8 getting localized then homer has a very chris peterson moment of crashing the get a life character crashing that car like no you don't that trampoline is mine that's so mean like it's callous so crusty is the one who's selling it and i think it's just kind of odd to see him in a normal residential house that's what I thought. I was asking, is this all part of the ruse?

Like, I need to rent a house to get rid of this trampoline to appear like a normal person. I mean, I think that looks mostly like his house from Krusty Gets Busted, but not from... Bart the Fink? He's in a mansion. Well, no, Bart the Fink, I'm trying to think of ones before this. Bart the Fink, he's in a mansion, but he's had to, he was in an apartment in Krusty Gets Cancelled, but you wonder if he had to move there because he lost all his money. That could be it.

This, I also think, is the first time Krusty and Homer have been alone in a scene together. They've never been, I don't think they've been together in a scene in the show without Bart, at least nearby hey that seltzer ain't free crusty that's me you here for the trampoline yeah what's the deal well i used to do a lot of tumbling in my act but i'm phasing it out for more dirty limericks. There once was a man named Enos. And I can just haul it away free? Yep. It's all yours. The Enos one was a nice spin on

Nantucket. Yes. I don't think I got that as a kid at all. I definitely didn't. Oh, the Enos one? I got that. It was such an... I thought it was so obvious even as a kid, like, oh, that's penis. I've never heard the Nantucket... I've never actually heard anybody relate that limerick, except when they're making fun of limericks. Yes. Well, because when we'd hear those limericks on TV as a kid, they couldn't say the dick so long you could suck it.

You're right. Part of Nantucket. And it keeps on going. Just the Enos thing is so obvious i didn't think it was a real name until they revealed fry's non-grandfather enos on futurama not a great name let's not use that again let's not forget big and little enos from uh smoking the bandit all right smoking the bandit so trampolines did either of you own a trampoline as a kid i did not no no no no no no no my parents were not down with that at all no mine

weren't either and then like that's because this this whole sequence is glorifying like wow look at what having a trampoline can do but like if you drive through the south like the this person will have like half of their trailer missing and still an immaculate trampoline i don't think it's an expensive item well i we had neighbors that had trampoline and i was younger than them but i feel like they were teens using it for sexy fun. And I was just like a trampoline. This is great. But it was also kind of scary, which is illustrated in this episode where you're in the air.

You could land on something on a bar on the ground. Yeah. The most I've ever hurt my I've never really gotten a fight with physical fight with one of my friends because I have no constitution. And I got double bounced like twice above my friend and just was like, just trying that Wile E. Coyote, like, stop, I'm going to land on you. And he's in the air too. And I just, I came down with my elbow, like right in his shoulder blade.

And I didn't break something, but he had to go to the hospital and his parents hated me forever. And it's like, I couldn't do anything about it. He double bounced me. It should just be a rule of like, hey, whatever happens on the trampoline, no fault.

It's a death trap. My parents thought they were dangerous. They are. They really are. They're not for just fucking around. If you were a kid who was into wrestling, it was where you could do wrestling moves relatively safely.

Trampoline's a large part of backyard wrestling. I feel like they were. I think it was the start of people's backyard wrestling. It's the go-to place to check that oil. Well, what wrestling were you talking about? Oh, God. But, yeah, I had friends who had them, and I think the other aspect to it,

or this could just have been my father, if you have a trampoline, your house becomes the kid magnet and you don't want and like now you have to deal with all these fucking kids and and possible liabilities involved with children hurting themselves the people in my neighborhood and i know i get them hating me now but it's their fault for having a fucking awesome house you have every video game console they had their house built and i thought this is brilliant if i ever am able to afford to buy a house and build it i won't um

but they were like with the excess lumber he's like could you just use the excess lumber and i'll give you like a grand and just make my kid a tree house out of it so like construction workers made these kids the greatest tree house i'd ever seen um it was amazing spoiled best lumber they'd already paid for he was just paying for the labor. Yeah, my dad never wanted his house to be the kid's house. That's why he didn't get. We were like one of the few people in Florida who didn't have a pool. He's like, I don't want a pool. It's a lot of work and upkeep.

It makes me feel so old because we were a one TV household. And occasionally I got Street Fighter and Wayne's World on VHS. A revolving door of people coming over to my house to handle the unattainable but we did have every console and so we still became the kids house uh though i also had this like i honestly had this like personal revelation while thinking about because i then remembered that one of my earliest memories as a kid is that my grandfather bought me a swing set to put up in my backyard when I was like three or four, maybe five. But my dad refused to build it because he just didn't want like it was a free, free swing set. Wow. He didn't want to build it because I think he didn't want the neighbor kid who I was friends with and he didn't like those people next door.

He didn't want them coming over. And so then I just had this realization of like, wait, I have like three things in my apartment that I have yet to build. Is this why I do this? Because my dad never built that thing. And all I remember of that swing set is just a cardboard box in the backyard that never got built wow it was it was a strong but it makes sense now because like i don't even have kids but i do they're like a magnet for

lawsuits yeah oh yeah anything in your backyard like that so if you were a dad i get i can i can empathize a little bit but my childhood And it makes this sequence all the more prescient. Oh, my arm. Wee. Ow. I bit my tongue. Each leap brings us closer to God. Catch me, Lord.

Catch me. Wee. Ow. What have we done to make God angry? You did it. I registered the pain when I saw that. I just remember hitting my shoulder blades against friends and stuff on trampolines.

You surround it with hard coils. That's just how it is. I haven't seen the new ones now. They come up with their own spirit barrier fence around everything. All the coils are covered. It's almost impossible to fall through. These injuries are a little too realistic.

Seeing Otto land on his spine is painful. His spine is shattered. He didn't dislocate his arm. Yeah, they kind of paved that over with, like, pop my arm back into place. But he did land on his spine. I love the animation of when Homer's on it, the zoom in and out of art. That's really good. First thing, I don't think this is a very good idea. And that Homer's imagination

of trampoline world was a lot of fun, or his amusement park, and a great callback to those soiled mattresses. I know I... No, it doesn't. That's my favorite denial

is that she's like, no, it doesn't. Like, just friendly, like, no, it doesn't. They don't do a lot of cutaways in these seasons, but this is a very good one. It's so fast,

and they just jump right back to what they were doing. Yeah, but they do a cutaway here. I thought it was pretty nuts. Like, well, this is... So he's got to get rid of that trampoline. Yeah, it's a magnet for children. And they have that scene of the backyard that's gone with the wind. It goes right from Gone with the Wind into Looney Tunes.

It's great. These parodies from Gone with the Wind into Looney Tunes. It's great. These parodies are all over the place here. But I love him referring to Old Man Simpson because I believe Homer's younger than me at this point. Quiet! Wake up, Old Man Simpson! Hey, no more trampoline! Let's jump on the car instead! Okay, the trampoline was a bad idea.

But you know what? At least I'm out there trying new things. If it were up to you, all we'd ever do is work and go to church. That's not true. Name one thing you've done in the past month that was fun. I can name ten things. I made sloppy joes. Well, I think you just had sex, sex marge because this is the first time

we've seen it's new in bed marge well i mean she was that in say the blowfish episode yeah mark this is a mark kirkland touch but he did not direct this episode but deliberately sexy yeah it does undercut the thing like you're no fun like she's sleeping in that whole scene they're both they're both lying in bed staring at the ceiling wide-eyed yeah before the kids get there so this is the i mean i love this episode but i feel like again it doesn't really track well in terms of plot where they need to get into the story so they set this up but it doesn't make sense because you know homer's you know bagging on march not being fun but it was proven the trampoline was the worst idea that hurt thousands of

children. She was correct. Yeah. This is the beginning of me. Like, like name your favorite family guy episode. Like what plot matters or, but,

but when same, I saw this as Bart's inner child, Brad Goodman, I didn't expect the trampoline episode. Cause they seem so disconnected. It's sort of like a shotgun blast of jokes. Yeah. Uh,

like crusty shotgun. He points at Homer. This is not me complaining. It's just, like a shotgun blast of jokes. Like Krusty's shotgun he points at Homer. This is not me complaining. It's a lot easier for me to nail down what's in what show. We'll get to it, but the ending isn't great either. I feel like they can't really elegantly move into the actual story and out of it. But this was when I'd watch it on the tapes as a kid. I think at least three times we'd watch it and it was like, trampoline, right?

Oh, it's this one! Okay. I just remember the fun trampoline stuff. But as a kid, the Roadrunner reference, I loved it so much. The animators... One of those things you can't not get. And now as an adult, like, if this were a cartoon, this cliff would break. And then,

what might be the star of this season, the wolf howl to suggest nothing, no one. I'm thirsty. The time cut is like, I'm thirsty. And then that's like a double Merkini F you. A first of just like, he's going to tell you we're not going to break off the cliff because that's what you'd expect. And then when you think like, well, I guess Homer's just going to die of thirst here. Then the cliff breaks off. And it's a just gonna die of thirst here then the cliff breaks

and it's a departure from season two where falling down the cliff really hurt homer this is fine he just appears in the next scene he's cool homer's rust laughter also is pretty good in there though not i it's it's hard to come back from the craziness of treehouse of horror like even his rust laughter here is not as crazy as his dogs playing poker. What do you think about, like, this is the first crazy cutaway, though, where I didn't want to, like, quiz everybody. Name whatever episode that's from, because it clearly goes back to a bunch of season one things. I take on this challenge gladly.

Let's hear it. Am I no fun? Do I just nag all the time? Well, uh. You should have called. I was very worried. I're on a tight budget here bart watch your language you are not going to perform that operation yourself that one's easy well actually those last okay none of the hymns i won't do that but

you are not going to perform that uh yourself. That's the twisted stomach one. Yeah, dog of death. Dog of death. What's the – we're on a tight budget. We're on a tight budget. It could be the one with the lottery maybe or – I think they're all from – well, because the lottery is also the twisted stomach one. Oh, right, right.

They're right. And it's also when she says, Bart, watch your language. That's also from that because he's upset they're going to kill the dog. You're darn right I'm upset. That's why I didn't like that one being in there. Oh, you're right. It emphasizes a true nagger. Why did I do that?

You're not allowed to say that, Chris. Unless you're actually a person who nags. And I was very worried one, that is from him being drunk on FUD and coming back late. Yeah. that's from the lurleen episode all right i believe budget here boy that's because it's we can finally introduce but i think that okay but the introduction of brad goodman i think that thing was a needed

thing for the writers to identify all we may all we've done with margin 90 of our episodes is make her the one who complains we don't do enough with her all we've done is havege in 90% of our episodes is make her the one who complains. We don't do enough with her. All we've done is have her say, I don't think we should do this. We shouldn't have fun. This thing's too crazy. That was all her job was and all those things.

So when they clip them together, it's easy to see how poorly they've kind of used her. And it really is them sort of putting themselves down. Like we did not do enough with Marge, but again again they don't really follow through with that i don't i know it's this starts with anything of just like well we'll we'll do more with marge and they just dump her at the uh into the second act but the it's the brad goodman show after that i also like that lisa pretty much projected her memories to Marge in the way Homer goes, See? Yeah. So did the kids repeat those lines to her, or were they just thinking about it?

They could have been just like, remember the time when this happened, and this happened, and this happened, maybe. I don't know. But I like seeing Marge with her sisters. It's always nice. Because they make her worse. They're like bad enablers. They're kind of, not maybe in this season, but like my favorite characters right now.

They're used so sparingly. Yeah. They're so negative. They were so awful. They were so great in seasons two and three and a little four. I don't like this urine sample. From the first episode, why is there a birdhouse in it? I just love Patty and Selma.

Blood pressure is off the chart, and I don't like this urine sample one bit. You're headed for a nervous breakdown. You need Brad Goodman. His infomercial plays round the clock on Channel 77. Thank you, Martha Quinn. There you have it. Unrehearsed testimonies from important celebrities. Martha Quinn.

She's one of my favorites. I loved her in the thing I saw her in. You know, my course can help you with every personality disorder in the feel bad rainbow let's look at the rainbow what's in there depression insomnia motor mouth darting eyes indecisiveness decisiveness bossiness uncontrollable falling down geriatric profanity disorder or gpd and chronic nagging nag nagging, nagging, nagging. Sorry, it does that sometimes. So that doesn't make a lot of sense.

It's fine. They had a lot of television. Can't skip. Yeah, but it's a funny joke. He is being very low-key, but I just love how he's underselling all of this crazy shit. I loved her in the thing I saw her. Martha Quinn was an MTV VJ who did Noxzema commercials, I guess, at some point, and now does nothing. Not the Medicine Woman.

So she was one of the first star VJs of MTV. Bigger than Adam Curry. Her biggest films were Eddie and the Cruisers 2. Couldn't even make the first one. And Problem Child 2. That movie's amazing. Jack Warden drinks piss. She played Impatient Nanny. I'm one. And Problem Child 2. That movie's amazing. Jack Warden drinks piss. She played Impatient Nanny.

I'm guessing. I don't know. So those, she did a couple films after those. But if this was 1993, then those would have been the films he saw her in at that point. But Brooks, I think, is doing an amazing job. Like, his character is a soft-spoken con man. That's basically what... Though, at first, he seems like a guy who wants to help people and actually does.

He's a better, more effective Lyle Landley. And I think the plot just goes off the rails because he's very slow in terms of delivery. So they have to build a lot of show around these speeches he gives. And just like, the feel-bad rainbow. What's in there? Let's take a look. I mistook this upon this viewing as being a rigid adherence to a script, but I

see what you're talking about now. Off mic, I was like, that is the most boring Albert Brooks role. And I mean, look, Hank Scorpio is the best and he is so bombastic and Russ Cargill is half Hank Scorpio. Tough, tough, soft, tough, tough.

You try to go crazy without power, so what? No one will listen to you. That's great, but it's basically Hank Scorpio. This is him doing a character. There's a reason his hair looks like a poofy little brush, and he's kind of doughy and has a beige sweater. He's a softer guy. He's kind of like a Stuart Sm smally-ish character uh just very

touchy-feely and full of platitudes yeah yeah just a lot of whispers and he's also friends with the greatest simpsons star yes yes let's just oh hi i'm troy mcclure you might remember me from such self-help videos as smoke yourself thin and get confidence stupid well now i'm here to tell you about the only real path to mental health that's right it's the brad goodman something or other can i go outside and play a few weeks ago i was a washed up actor with a drinking problem then brad goodman came along and gave me this job and a can of fortified wine. Sweet liquor eases the pain. I'm going to give all that.

I've got to give it line of the show. All of it. That's the joke. That was adjusting your self-o-stat. Yeah. The Brad Goodman tape. That's the something or other. Yeah. I feel like they gave Lionel Hutz's drinking problem to Troy McClure for this episode.

Marge on the Lamb was just the last episode with Hutz at his rock bottom, and now they're like, no, Troy also has a drinking problem. Everybody in The Simpsons is at their rock bottom. Apparently he was drinking 100 cans of fortified wine a day. But you're 50. You are seeing the show get meaner. It really is, yeah. Everyone is at their lowest sometimes. So have you guys done it?

Like I have of drinking before drinking alcohol saying sweet liquor. Oh, yeah. This is the pain. My go-to line is like, what's that? You want me to drink you? Brownest of the brown. Yeah. And I didn't know.

I never wanted to look up exactly what fortified wine is. I think I have drank it, but it's just it is. It is a can be a canned wine but it is it is wine that then has spirits added to it like extra liquor to strengthen like brandy or whatnot i mean like uh thunderbird and ripple i think are the uh are the go-to fortified wines i'm pretty sure and they're very low cost and i think they can be sold to stores without a liquor license yep now it's just mad dog yeah but yeah that was bum wine i knew thunderbird because it's from the classic stone cold steve austin promo about uh he went under bird his famous one where he's saying like what you had yourself you talk about your psalms talk about your uhms. What? Talk about your John 316.

Austin 316 says, I just whooped your ass. In the next line he says, so why don't you go back and get yourself a bottle of Thunderbird so you can think you're as good as you were back in your prime. Wow, that's a good one. When Homer enters on What Up, that's a little tip of the hat to their Thursday night Fox friend, Martin. He's got a very jivey walk going on there. I mean, that is Martin. What up?

Martin became my second favorite show very fast, all because of The Simpsons. Yeah, I think my family would just switch the channel to Seinfeld. Something whiter. I don't care much for the shenanigans character. It is a tragedy that this is the only time ever on The Simpsons Phil Hartman and Albert Brooks were in. Fuck me.

You'll never get it again. Fuck me. They put SNL together. That's a dumb set. I think everybody knows. SNL's original format as Lorne Michaels wanted it. Albert Brooks, you will be the permanent host. You will come out every single night, give the monologue, and you might be in some sketches,

but we'll have utility players. It'll just be you, Albert Brooks. That's nuts to think that. Albert Brooks wasn't into that. And it didn't happen because Albert Brooks said no. But he did a bunch of short films that were some of the funniest stuff in the original seasons.

So this video really encourages Marge to be more proactive and less nagging. Yeah. Yeah, I could play that clip. That video really encourages Marge to be more proactive and less nagging. Yeah. Yeah, I could play that clip. That video really opened my eyes. I can see that I'm just a passive-aggressive co-culprit. By nagging you when you do foolish things, I just enable your life script. And that sends me into a shame spiral.

Exactly. So from now on, I'm going to quit nagging and have more fun. Set it off That all makes sense to me honestly It's just like yeah by complaining we're just falling Into the same patterns we always have And I need to disrupt that pattern That all makes sense to me

The internet is almost solely based on Being ritualistically upset Yes The outrage culture Is at it again. You against outrage culture? Is that what you're... No.

It's everybody, though. It's everybody, though. The internet, when I got it, it was a place to share, like, oh, you like that? I do, too. That's so weird.

And now it's just like, why do you like that? Well, now it's all hot takery. Yes, exactly. Yeah. I'm not... Shut up. Don't peg me as one of those dudes,

but it's on every single side. I mean. It's a very cynical place. Oh, yes. This conversation makes sense, but then later we see people are using psychobabble as a way to not be responsible for anything. Yes. Well, I mean, that's just how this type of episode goes of a good thing taken too far. Right. The Simpsons will be right back.

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Did I mention that we care? Thank you fine folks for listening. Hope you're not too bored. You know what the perfect solution is for being bored and always has been? Goddamn vidya games. That's why this episode is brought to you by Gamefly. And just so you know, you listeners can go to GameflyOffer.com

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time you like laser time shows then you might like bonus time laser times weekly bonus show exclusively on patreon.com slash laser time here's a taste of what you've been missing like what happened netflix used to be like this oh a fucking new documentary about this thing i've never heard of will do click and i haven't seen one in fucking months yeah i watched the herzog volcano documentary where on net On Netflix? Netflix. Holy shit.

It was good. I love that guy. It was like really long. They do not understand blue skies. I mean, you know he has an anime documentary out there. You did know that, right? I've heard it. I think it's about the internet.

I don't know any details. But he goes to an anime convention. I just wanted to see what this attack on Titan thing was all about. We're all battling some kind of Titan or giant. I'm a big fan of Chobits.

The Titan is our own ego. Just pretend you're a sad Arnold who lost his weightlifting championship and now has to return to the sea to lay his eggs.

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patreon.com slash lasertime, starting at just five bucks. You'll help us live, and we'll do our best to help you never be bored again. Homer, did you eat my whole pan of brownies? Uh-oh, you're in for it now, Dad. Marge, I'm feeling a lot of shame right now. I'm hearing that you feel a lot of shame.

And I feel that you hear my shame. I'm feeling annoyance and frustration, but also tolerance. I feel validated by that. Good. I'm glad we had this talk. Me too. And the kids are horrified. I'm glad we had this talk. Me too. And the kids are horrified. They don't know what to think. Well, so then they just decide to go to the Brad Goodman thing.

Yeah, and they discuss it. And then there's a, this is another great line. This was my line in the show. But Chalmers had already done it better. Yes. And it would have made more sense if they were coming in from commercial break. That's true. Which they clearly weren't. I wonder if that was was the plan didn't chalmers have the exact same

line what an odd remark or not yeah okay so i guess uh lisa's was wasn't what an odd thing to say or bart yeah yeah it's usually like what do they call the rejoinder well this no this is a more specific thing than the chalmers thing the chalmers thing was him just saying like you just said a joke what a strange thing to just say a joke yeah this is merkin again merkin's hate of sitcoms when sitcoms always start with will we did agree to do this the studio audience won't know we've left the house unless we say this well i mean this is the first thing that happens after the commercial break so it's like well here we are but it's a thing but it wasn't though the what up was the leading commercial for the commercial break. But I wonder if they originally planned it out.

Yeah, maybe. I bet you're right. I bet you're right. But that wasn't coming from the commercial break. But then again, though. It still works. It would have been perfect if just a fade in front of it. But it's something I've heard the, let's hear the clip.

Well, here we are at the Brad Goodman lecture. We know, Dad. I just thought I'd remind everybody. After all, we did agree to attend his self-help seminar. What an odd thing to say. I just thought I'd remind everybody. After all, we did agree to attend his self-help seminar. What an odd thing to say. It's something I've heard Al Jean bring up on the commentaries, too, just in a sitcom.

Really think about it in a sitcom where a scene will end in a bombastic fashion or whatever at one set. Then they get home, and when they open the door, you know, on Full House or perfect strangers or whatever they'll say i can't believe you threw that pie be like i can't believe you left a junior mint and al jean will point out like what did they say in the car right where they just silent very awkward right there yeah it became activated exactly we had a vow of silence and that's just one of their obvious things of like, this is how sitcoms lie to you, or here's how sitcoms are bad.

I think we get like a whole eight minutes of Brad Goodman up next. Everything gets out of the way and I love it. You get every response from like all the Springfield town folk. And I only captured this one because it fascinates me. Moe's accent. Hey Moe, what's the matter? You no talk with your accent no more.

Mama mia. Moe has every biography yeah yeah it doesn't really got a polish name italian descent like wasn't a little rascal this is like polish yeah i think so but he's also but they so they created syslack so he could be ms as as a clue oakley and weinstein and uh before that, in the Marge becomes a police officer one, he is a MoMar. MoMar. And that he has a different ethnic background than Italian. And the unnamed female bartender in Flaming Moes calls him Morris. Yeah, Morris. Jesus Christ.

And then, of course, he was one of the original Little Rascals. In 1920? Yet he grew up with Homer in the blunder years? I don't think so. No, thanks. But so that inner child stuff, that, though not in character or not in impression, the writing is taken from real life then popular speaker, therapist, John Bradshaw. I knew you'd do this.

I was going to be like, is this Tony Robbins? I'm not doing this research. It's not Tony Robbins. Well, I think the hard selling is kind of Robbins-y, but they're all the same type of huckster. But John Bradshaw, his thing was especially the inner child, which this is when, for Goodman, the inner child takes over. That's the one part of the psychobabble you don't hear that much anymore.

Hey, your inner child, what makes us human and strive to be better is by ignoring that. Yeah. Well, also, your inner, that impates some sort of innocence on children. It's like, no, children are horrible. They're the worst. And I do feel like they don't name check him in the commentary. I couldn't find anything about this online. But the infomercial where they're on a beach sitting in like deck chairs wearing Hawaiian shirts.

I feel like that's a reference to this infomercial I would see in the 90s of a guy with slick back black hair. And his entire scheme was you buy 1-800 numbers. Yes. And you profit from them. And he was always like on a beach wearing a Hawaiian shirt talking about the things he's bought with all of his money. I don't know his name. If you're in the comments, please let us know. I couldn't find it.

He did some of that stuff, too. But let's hear a little bit of John Bradshaw now. And so when children get no time from parents, and that's what they need from parents, children need time, attention, and direction. When children get no time, then they get it that they're not loved. They're worth less than the parent's time. So you could have a daddy there who isn't there.

He's there, but he's kind of a shadowy figure in the family. He goes to his room. He goes in the living room, drinks beer, watches TV, but nobody gets to talk to him. That is so televangelist. It's the same type of con man. It's just a different direction. But no, not to say that he doesn't have good points there, but the answer usually is like, so buy my book,

and then you'll get more of those answers. Yeah, answers keep coming to these things. It's almost like they're peddling easy answers. And how. I'm getting ahead of our quotes here. We're inching closer. Bob mentioned it on The Treehouse of Horror, and we're inching closer to Agnes Skinner

being the force she is. Oh, that scene is ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, we hear Skinner screaming, which I love. We don't hear it enough in the show. Run my own life! I'm a grown man, yeah and just is stabbing her and tearing her head off with his teeth i think yes he's ripping her stomach out but then him

saying we're still going into still on for antiquing right she's not talking though right a year later agnes would have said you could have done that better or you're a failure she would have had she would have gotten the end of that joke they kind of make her into an antagonistic character instead of just this um this kind of mystery who we assume is running skinner's life but we don't we have no evidence of it i mean it's oakley and weinstein who are in love with agnes yeah like they really built up agnes agnes will truly become the spitfire we know her as in the hundredth episode sweet seymymour Skinner's Badass Song. Right. Then Bart kind of does his thing, and you got to give it to Goodman that he is able to-

He turned into a skid. He is thrown off by this kid interrupting him. You see, folks, we're all trying to please someone else. And as soon as you're not a human being, you're a human doing. Then what comes next? A human going! What? What?

Son, that's wonderful. Come here. Come up here. What made you yell out that remark? I don't know. You just wanted to express yourself. Yes? I do what I feel like. That's marvelous.

I couldn't have put it better myself. I do what I feel like. People, this young man here is the inner child I've been talking about. What? I think he's just good at spinning anything

into a mantra. Totally. This is the new philosophy, and we did miss a few things. Food goes in here. It sure does. So many residents have a great line. Yeah, and we like Roy, as we heard before. Just everyone gets a chance. Stay in the course, Nettie. You're doing super.

I wonder what Apu's problem was because he gets interrupted. By Lenny? He doesn't work hard enough. I'm always interrupting people. And Lee says, what? That was a great cut to Lee Stetson. When she realizes this is all fake. It's a great read.

Only as a dumb cartoon nerd, it is almost the exact what Jafar gives in Aladdin. That is so true. What? This predates Aladdin by about eight months. No, it doesn't. Wait, no. Aladdin was 92. We're in 93.

Oh. Deaves! Wait, oh, Jafar, I thought you said scar. I'm sorry. I'm wrong. Chris finally got Bob on it. That's Bob steering into this kid. You see that?

I was thinking about lions. I'm sorry. You talk about wasted opportunities in the script. This is another one. Lisa going, what? And then also we're saying he's just peddling easy answers it seems that she has seen through brad goodman and there could be a plot of her defeating brad goodman or her her facing off against him but that's pretty much

dropped to brad goodman disappears right he's not seen again outside of his golden statue surrounded by women yeah it's messier the more you think about it because then now it just turns into an episode about springfield being under a spell yeah there's many episodes like that which are great people love easy answers and as we can see with current events they'll fight for them yes they love them i love them uh but i love brockman here a new mood is in the air in springfield as refreshing as a pre-moistened towelette. Folks are finally accepting their feelings and really communicating with no holding back. And this reporter thinks it's about time.

Of course, all these good vibes can be traced to one feisty little scamp who taught us that if it feels good, do it. Two cans At least today I am a god Is that why you're sitting on an ice cream sandwich? One of my favorite images from this season Is a dog licking Bart's ass The couch cushion has to be totally fucked up too Yeah

The next episode we'll find even more How would you not know you're sitting on an ice cream stand? It was just cold. Yeah, and greasy and slippery. Yeah, I mean, we also hear about the Do As We Say Festival started by German settlers in 1946. Yeah, they got to sneak in Nazis again. Another Nazi joke.

It's so great. You'll never, ever get in trouble by making fun of the Germans. That's what happens. Specifically old Nazis. I don't think I did it as a kid until I saw Brockman do it of pouring the whipped cream

can into your mouth. I had a whirlwind whip it's phase which did involve going to supermarkets and not tilting all you have to do is not tilt it up and you'll get that high. I mean it's just like it's similar to paint huffing right? It Depriving your brain of oxygen? Is that how it works?

I don't exactly. But it is. Jesus, this is a terrible place to say it. Tell children. Tell listeners how to do drugs. It's the best high I've ever had. But in terms of the bad it does to your body, it's like five seconds. And which is for, you know, I got ADD, so it's a great.

I'm high. Oh, wait, sweet. Let's move on. Let's move on let's move on but the damage it does to your brain is like pretty fucking terrible yeah I think it doesn't does not good things to it I've seen people like mentally hung

over from too many whippets and I'm talking like the the fucking like hobby carts cracker kind of things I think oh yeah doing that shit at a fucking 1997 rave. CO2 cartridge. You listen to a Saint soundtrack. So Bart thinks he's a guy, but things aren't as cracked up as they're cracked up to be.

The wireless was an invention by Guglielmo Marconi. Who can tell me what his first message was? I want a change of my name. Good one, Milhouse. Anyone else? The first message by Wireless. It was, Our tenth caller will receive tickets to Super Tramp.

Oh, jeez. Everybody's a comedian. I do love Barton referencing Super Tramp. Super Tramp. Super Tramp. I love Milhouse's satisfied laugh. I've done that a lot. Like, it was funny.

Though that scene is pretty much just what it is to be on a podcast. Yes. Like, no, I've got a joke. Me, I do. It is kind of weird in this episode. It's always weird in a sitcom or a piece of written fiction where you have to write a character to be funny and be laughed at within the context of the scene. It's just like, those jokes aren't great. I think Bart could do better, but it just sort of set off by the fact that people are laughing at context of the scene. It's just like, those jokes aren't great. I think Bart could do better,

but it just sort of set off by the fact that people are laughing at them in the scene. But if everyone's a class clown, then nobody is. Yeah, Bart could be a good-natured doormat. And meanwhile, Lovejoy tries to play the entertainer, which is either... Now, instead of my boring old sermon, I'm going to take a page from the book of Bart

and do something I've always wanted to do. Take five, Mrs. Fish. Wait, wait, I can do this. Wait, wait, hold on. This is kind of mean, but I want to say this reminds me of the end of every Marc Maron podcast where he plays the guitar. And none of you snitches fucking tag him. I know who you are, but just like, now I'm going to play the guitar for a bit, guys. He's like, I didn't want this.

I just wanted to hear the comedian. So this guy, Bob Mack, talking all this junk. He doesn't want to use stamps.com. Well, look, I'm one of the Marin listeners who's just like, an eight-minute skip? Okay. There's no other voice yet. Okay, keep skipping. Okay, here's Kevin Nealon.

Yeah. Well, I mean, they're pretty good with at least cutting in different music. Like, all right, I skipped to that point. Though don't skip ads on this podcast, people. No, no, no. Very poor. This isn't exactly financially worth it But this makes all Bart sad Please

Everyone in town is acting like me So why does it suck It's simple Bart You've defined yourself as a rebel And in the absence of a repressive milieu Your societal niche has been co-opted I see ever since that self-help guy came to town you've lost your identity you've fallen through the cracks of our quick fix one hour photo instant oatmeal society what's the answer well this is your chance to develop a new and better identity may i suggest good natured doormat sounds

good sis just tell me what to do. So good. I didn't get that line for the longest time. Me either. That was awesome. That was great. He adapted so fast. But, I mean, just tell me what to do is such a great, like, double-meaning thing of just tell me what to do. If she said anything, you could have said, like, just tell me what to do.

But just tell me what to do is what a doormat would want people to do. Yeah, you're right. It's great. It's an underrated, clever line. I think we missed it because it's – or I as a kid missed it because, like, Lisa doesn't say funny things. I missed it until right now, actually. See?

But I relate to – This is what this podcast is for. I relate to it so hard I've leaned into the – in the past of the role of the rebel and the rapscallion. And someone who's motivated more on like a, what do you call it? Not angst, but like, you can't do that.

Oh, fuck, yes, I can. Yes. Antagonism. Yeah, now nobody really tells me what to do. It's just like, I have an idea. Do you guys like it? I don't know. I don't know.

Does that mean more work for us? But Willie has an idea About the town itself If elected mayor My first act will be To kill the whole lot of you And burn your turn to cinders Mike's on I know it's on

I did hear Mike's on I really like Skinner I guess I think this is Someday I want to Start calling it out The shit that was in the promo

For the episode Oh yeah I heard this line a lot. Skateboards? You copycat wannabes. Ow! Eat my shorts, young man. How's the world gone topsy-turvy?

And then we also get a line that, like, is maybe Smithers' gayest line of just saying, like, the boathouse was the time. Like, what was this boathouse? Him and Burns were at. I think they assumed a boathouse was where a lot what was this boathouse him and burns were at i think they assumed a boathouse was where a lot of gay experiences would happen for the first time i could see why the toadies are a whole song about it that's true and uh homer's do as you feel it seems like he's just stopped showering and grooming he's wearing a robe and slippers

well so his relaxed outfit this is the thing i said I'd get back to later. Excellent. His relaxed outfit looks just like how he dressed in Homer the Heretic, the last episode written by George Meyer. That's right, except his hair is a little longer here. He's let those two strands grow out. But even you didn't get to see Homer in previous scenes embracing him being gross. So it's just like this feels like a missed opportunity. Yeah, and Marge is wearing overalls, and I associate that with my mom. I feel like a lot of moms were in overalls in the 90s.

That's like mom jeans to the extreme. It is so weird. I find it so hot now and definitely didn't back then. Oh, okay. What if they're just wearing overalls? The fucking Aniston. Are hipsters wearing overalls now? Like, hipster girls in their 20s? I feel like it would be.

No, Henry, I'm not attracted to hillbillies. What, a girl who's just wearing overalls that's barely covering her boobs? Oh, yes. I've never seen a woman do that. But, yeah, if you want to try on some mosh gosh begosh and send me a picture, I am H-E-N-E-R-G-Y on Twitter. I've also definitely called things ice to cream as well. Ice to cream.

That felt like an Oakland Weinstein bit of miscalling something. It felt like a season 8 or 9 joke. I love the Quimby bit. The animators love drawing that mistress of his. That was so funny. It's such a great visual bit and Simpsons doesn't have a lot of visual bits that long.

That animator got the viewers a new pair of bongos. Ew. Good afternoon and welcome to the Do What You Feel Festival. By the way, this young lady is not my wife, but I am sleeping with her. I'm telling you this because I'm comfortable with my womanizing. Yay! And now to usher in this new era of feeling good is the godfather of soul, James Brown.

Ow! I feel good. Feeling good is the godfather of soul, James Brown. Ow! I feel good. I knew that I wouldn't die. So, one, I'm confident in this. Death stalks you at every turn. Here it is, death. And I'm also, that's our Simpsons death jingle,

if you're just listening for the first time, we play for every dead celebrity guest star. And he died on Christmas of 2006. And I feel like I read an interview with Dave Merkin who said he wanted to give celebrities the most awkward lines to read. Yeah. Just like him knowing a lot about bandstand construction is a great line to give James Brown. And then he says like, not just one one dab bolted, and then he goes,

when he, like, throws down the washers, like, meh. But unlike the Cape Fear episode, I can tell that it's him doing the song in the Simpsons studio. He's doing that live, yeah. Just like how Barry White did it, too. James Brown, in case you don't know him, like, James Brown was an amazing

entertainer. Amazing entertainer. And also a crazy person. He was a cuckoo crazy person. In one of these biographies of him right before he died, they were talking to, I believe it was Bootsy Collins, who had been a backing musician for him

before he got famous. And they said that James Brown was a terrible taskmaster if you were his backing band because he wanted you to be perfect every time and if he was on stage with you and he felt you were off tempo or you missed a beat when you really care about someone you shouted from the mountaintops so on behalf of desjardins insurance i standing 20,000 feet above sea level to tell our clients that we really care about you. Home and auto insurance personalized to your needs. Weird, I don't remember saying that

part. Visit Desjardins.com slash care and get insurance that's really big on care. Did I mention that we care? He would turn to you and go like, that's one, that's two. And he was like, I am fining you. That's one fine. That's two fine. I'm taking that out of your paycheck. That's amazing because Rivers Cuomo of Weezer was doing the same thing before he became celibate for two years. Whatever crazy thing he did to get saved.

He was fining his band members. Oh, my God. That's so nice. That's such a nice thing to do. But he came up in the 60s, an amazing entertainer, famous for- Inimitable. Also, he campaigned for Nixon, but he was kind of just in between. First, he campaigned for Hubert H. Humphrey in 68, and was a pretty liberal guy, as a black entertainer in the 60s you would be.

But then in 69, for the 72 election of Nixon, he campaigned for Nixon. And then he... Ah, y'all feel good. Then he had a lot of problems with drugs, and that was good. Had a lot of problems with drugs and alcohol after that. That man's never felt good in his life.

I'm sorry. And so when this episode aired in 93, he was two years out of jail on probation because he was on like a chase with the cops with a shotgun with a shotgun on pcp and so i did want to show i could there are clips of james brown uh being insane so this is him in an interview right before he goes to jail but dodging the questions about that police chase. This is James Brown clearly under the influence in a CNN interview. Well, I mean, he was doing PCP in his 60s from crying out loud. I mean.

Yeah, that is crazy. Have all the charges been dropped? Yeah, I'm out of love. He's grinding his teeth. Are you out of love or out of love? Which is it? Out of love. Alone from night to night, you find me?

Now, James, this isn't the first time you and your wife have had a problem. Are the two of you going to be able to work this out? Let's talk about some music. You want to talk about music and you don't want to talk about what happened? No, it's all over. Well, let's talk about your tour. When are you leaving? We're leaving tomorrow.

And where are you going? Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Brazil. Now, your fans will have read all about this, James. Aren't you concerned about that? No, I'm concerned because there's nothing wrong. God, he looks like if there's a deleted scene in Hidden Figures where an alien comes down. His flesh suit is slipping off.

Oh, and his fucking shop glasses. Yeah, and his little two white veneers, I'm sure they are. It just feels like those don't look like real teeth. Charlton Heston neckerchief. It's like, why did you do this interview? You think he did the interview just to be like, I'm fine. I'm the main publicist. It looks like Jordan Peele did a sketch about this for Josh.

Yeah, exactly. But it can't be crazier than that. Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. James Brown. I just want to sing. Seriously amazing. And a great take here.

Hey, wait a minute. Hold on here. This bass down wasn't double bolted. Ha! Oh, it didn't feel like it. Hey, I hear minute. Hold on here. This bass now wasn't double bolted. Huh. Oh, it didn't feel like it. Hey, I hear you, buddy. I don't want to judge the rightness of your ego orientation, but my inner critic says you should have done your job.

Hey, now, Marge, let's not should this fellow to death. Next you'll be laying a guilt trip on me for not oiling that Ferris wheel. Ferris wheel breaks off and rolls down Springfield Square. So I have a theory about this. Okay. That Bob is a consummate commentary consumer like myself. Sure, sure. You have probably heard them referenced in multiple times.

The animators feeling over demanded of animating something yes yes you asked us to do something too much and they every once in a while will say remember that time you asked to do the one of like the circus train runs into the zoo that was actually burns his air that happened during yeah that's when the hammer came down and the animators were like no more we can't do this anymore You must stop with these crazy changes at the last minute But this is also a very ambitious Scene, a Ferris wheel Run amok Well darn it, you've killed it Bob

Which if you think about it would be the most fun Ferris wheel in the universe My theory was that this was the Compromised scene of that I've wasted my life When the ferris wheel runs into the zoo i thought it was like oh they were they were told originally the circus train runs into the zoo and then it was more complicated but this is so much animation on

the commentary the director or i think it's silverman bob anderson is on this commentary uh they were complaining on the commentary like oh this was not a lot of work yeah like drawing a bunch of work like drawing a bunch of animals escaping from a zoo just for 10 seconds and then run into a crowd of thousands who then all chase bart like oh it's so easy i feel like with the chaos that merkin wants in his shows they really had to push back because he's like everything's a mob scene that's just what we do i have a cartoon now we you draw everything and it's the magic pixies do it. And, you know, when in our Oakley interview, he kind of touched on the like, you just talk to the directors mostly. So you don't get to know the art staff.

So you don't know how they're suffering. Like, I've I wonder if it's like what I experienced working at an office that had a satellite office far away of just like you just make these assumptions of people you don't see all the time. Yeah, and their work appears, you're like, oh good, they made this, fine, whatever. I'm sure it was easy to do. Okay, moving on. Okay, then my theory was wrong. We'll get to that more on Burns'

Era. It's still an example of the theory, but next we get a rare scene between Skinner and Moe. It's so weird, but I love it. Oh, it's the best. Excellent posture and your store-bought haircut. And the squeaky voice. He's my favorite part about it.

It's a real mix. Indy, a spirit of the occasion, I must tell you what I think. You too screwed up, Royal. You know, I really don't feel like being blamed. I feel that you should shut up. You know, you really irritate me, Skinner. What with your store-bought haircut and excellent posture. Mister, I can't stand the sound of your voice.

Oh, really? Oh, now, now. There's no need to resort to violence. Oh, sure there is. Goes back to punching Skinner. We never really saw the I didn't feel like it guy. He never came back. I just love that turn.

The turn of what he thinks he's lining up to punch the squeaky voice teen and he spins around to punch skinner instead when he said store-bought haircut is that him saying he's got a toupee or i think so good haircut i feel like there's a there's a toupee reference in the next episode say they were kind of creeping towards that kind of joke again but graining was like never a toupee joke in our show. It's too cheesy. He prevented it every time. Like, no, the principal having a toupee is too stupid. Then with the graven image or the idol image of Brad Goodman.

Throwing flower petals. Yeah. But it reminds you like, oh, yeah, Brad Goodman. That was a character in this episode. He's gone forever. And I like Bart's eep. It's very comic book-y. Eep.

Eep. Eep. And then it's a real murky cop-out of an ending. Well, I just love this part. So long, suckers! Damn, they're very slowly getting away. They're heading for the old mill. No, we're not.

Well, let's go to the old mill anyway. Get some cider. You're Barney in there yelling about cider yeah they had to play it it might be a let's go sing carols at the old folks home it's a similar giving up with mo in there too just like yeah yeah give up and and then they sort of try to decide what the theme of the episode is and they really can't figure it out i think think it ends poorly. I mean, there's a lot of great jokes, but they realize by the end, like, oh, we didn't actually tell a story with a theme. It was just a bunch of stuff that happened, as they said in Blood Feud. Holy Bart had been a better role model for everyone.

That's not fair. The lesson here is that self-improvement is better left to people who live in big cities. No, self-improvement can be left to people who live in big cities. No, self-improvement can be achieved, but not with a quick fix. It's a long, arduous journey of personal and spiritual discovery. That's what I've been saying. We're all fine the way we are. It's that new show about the policeman who solves crimes in his spare time. Break it, Homer. You busted up that crack house pretty bad, McGonagall. Did you really have to break so much furniture? You tell me, Chief.

You had a pretty good view from behind your desk. Ah, McGonagall. Eases the pain. You're off the case, McGonagall. You're off your case, Chief. What does that mean, exactly? It means he gets results, you stupid Chief! Dad, sit down.

Oh, I'm sorry. Then it ends. I feel like this ending seems like a quick fix they must have rewritten because we never see McGarnagall or any of the footage. Their mouths are so rock and roll. As a kid, I just took it as like they're watching McGarnagall, but now as someone watching it on DVD, I'm like, they paused this scene, and then they wrote the McGonagall bit.

And then Homer's mouth movement is actually recycled of it was from I'm pretty sure it's from Clown Without Pity from Treehouse of Horror. Like when he says, yeah, dogs like to do that. Oh, very old. Very old. Yeah. I feel like we should have seen McGonagall because I we him once in the, I'm trying to eat a sandwich here. We'll see him in The Boy Who Knew Too Much. I looked it up.

Oh, yeah, okay. Oh, that's where that comes from? Yep. Okay. We didn't see him before this, right? If you're a marine biologist and discover new species, please just name it McGarnagall. I love McGarnagall. Is McGarnagall their McBain replacement then?

He's Clint Eastwood to his Schwarzenegger. Right, but I feel like they couldn't use McBain anymore for legal reasons. They were still in the thing of like, we can't show McBain anymore. Because they were told the movie McBain was why they had to stop it and just have Raymier Wolfcastle, the actor there, but they couldn't watch a film called McBain. It would still be in season five that they'd get in mcgarnigal so i wonder if this was just them testing it out or they were already writing or beginning to animate mcgarnigal

in this and they're like hey we should just let's just put mcgarnigal in this one and i like the concept the concept is that a cop who solves crimes in his spare time, but it's his job to solve crimes then. So what's he doing in his spare time? It's a crappy ending, but the McGonagall joke at least lightens it. It's a nice little gag. This episode was a lot messier than I remembered. Same here. I mean, I feel like they let March down as much as they wanted to give her one act to shine and one act to analyze how poorly they've used her.

But there's a lot of funny stuff, and I can't say this is bad. It's just the plot doesn't track as well as what we've seen so far in season five. At best, they remember at the end of March saying, I should have been nagging more like, oh, yeah, you remembered this too because you totally dropped it. But there's a great mix of ideas in there. Albert Brooks doing an amazing performance and some really funny lines. dropped it but there's there's a there's a great mix of ideas in there albert brooks doing amazing doing an amazing performance and some really funny lines but it does feel like by the time you get to

mcgarnigle you have completely forgotten this started with a trampoline yeah you have no remembrance totally out of it that trampoline here it happened it's oh my god yeah it sprung the whole story into action for some reason but so that was Bart's Inner Child, and I've been your host, Bob Mackie. You can find me on Twitter as Bob Servo. I also write for Fandom, video game stuff for Fandom.com, and I write a comedy article for SomethingAwful.com every other Thursday. Let me compliment you, Bob. Oh, thank you.

Your work on Something Awful has been very good this year, and as you tweeted, it is true. They just write themselves in 2017. I think I have to give up because satire will be impossible soon because reality is the same thing. And yes, and also I do the podcast Retronauts. It's a classic gaming podcast. Every Monday at retronauts.com you can find a new episode. We've done hundreds of them.

Just go back into our archives. Find something about a game you like and listen to it. We all on the bart versus the space mutants podcast it is essentially a talking simpsons episode about a bad simpsons video game so if you're a talking simpsons fan please start with the bart versus the space mutants episode of retronauts you can find that retronauts.com in in your podcast machine as retronauts just look for us there and then if you're if you care that much about about making more fun of bart versus the space mutants we've been doing a race every monday on our youtube channel youtube.com slash laser time and we did one dave versus me two screens simultaneously the first level of bart versus the space mutants to see who can get the most purple objects in the winter no one

nobody was playing that game and a bunch more of that stuff on laser time podcast.com where you can find the show laser time 30 2010 uh where you talk about the simpsons occasionally and um uh video game apocalypse and i'm h-e-n-e-r-e-y-g on twitter you can also find my work on fandom.com mainly about video games but also if you are listening to this we want to say that you can get so much more out of Talking Simpsons by going to patreon.com slash lasertime. This entire thing is funded by listeners like you at patreon.com. Every little bit helps, but $5 a month will get you access

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