Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily

Episode Date: February 7, 2018

After a series of unfortunate events, Bart, Lisa, and a stupid baby gets more attention at their new foster home with the Flanders. While the kids deal with weird religious stuff, Homer and Marge need to learn parenting skills all over again. It's a really fun episode that also marks a new era of The Simpsons, and we explain it all on this week's podcast! 

this week's episode is brought to you by patreon at patreon.com slash talking simpsons not only you get access to every episode a week early and ad free but we have tons of extras including our two newest interviews we chat with mike scully about his time executive producing the show i ran it through seasons 9 through 12 which I always characterize as the four most consecutive seasons of the show. And we talked with writer Mimi Pond about what it was like to write the first episode of The Simpsons. You know, and I get to be the turd in the punch bowl every single time I tell this story,

because nobody wants to hear anything bad about The Simpsons. You can find all that and more exclusively on patreon.com slash talking Simpsons. I heartily endorse this event or product. Ahoy, ahoy, everybody. Welcome to Talking Simpsons, where stupid babies need the most attention. I'm your host, old painy can Bob Mackie, and this is the Lazer Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of the Simpsons. Who else is here with me today?

I'm Henry Gilbert, and I read Newsweek instead of nothing. And who else? Old painy can Chris Anteasden. There's two of us. And today's episode is Home Sweet Home Diddly Dumb Doodly. Check to my phone. Check to my phone. And today's episode aired October 1st, 1995.

And as always, Chris will tell us what happened in this mythical day in Simpsons history. Oh my God! Diddly diddly diddly. Bobbly! A little site called Auction Web goes live just before changing its name to eBay.

Paul Rudd is hunted by Michael Myers in Halloween 666, The Curse of Michael Myers. And this week, more than 150 million people tune in to see the O.J. Simpson verdict.

Oh, wow! The answer at the end of this program. They played that live in my 8th grade classroom. Me too. You know, we didn't get to see it live. I just got to see the teacher write on the board, not guilty.

Which should have trolled us by writing guilty and then not on top of it. As a 13-year-old, or a 12-year-old, it was the introduction to racial divisions in America. Did you really recognize them? I wasn't ready. I was like, what? I was a white suburban kid. I didn't have to recognize it until that point, probably. Well, the feeling was just like, this guy got away with murder, which probably did.

There's almost no other person who could have done it. But, you know what? Fuck the police, man. That's what I say. I love that song. We talked about it on another show. it but you know what fuck the police man that's what i say i love i love that song oh we talked about in another show like the the biggest form of injustice that everybody was okay with was the sentencing he got for stealing his own shit back yeah that he went to jail for 20 years and all

the world was like that is not fair it seems fair yeah we're down and now he's out and i'll propose it again we did it to neil berkeley when henry and i talked to uh neil berkeley director of gilbert somebody please make sure you're following around O.J. Simpson with a camera for the first couple months of his release. It's called that movie Suicide Watch. Yeah, I just want to see how people treat him. I'm shocked he could even walk around anywhere without being like... Does he have like a spit detector for his food? Oh, God.

Oh, man. I would think he just makes his own food all the time. I don't know. But eBay, meanwhile, that was a magical thing, eBay. My mom signed up for eBay in 1997 to get her own classic toys she had as a kid to buy back her childhood as we do now. I then used it pretty soon after to buy video games, VHSs of anime, and toys. MST3K and Mr. Show Bootleg. Yeah, all the bootlegs were on there.

It was beautiful. I've had the same eBay account for 18 years, and I'm still using it. Me too. Not to get techie, but have you noticed yourself using it less with everything else that's out there? Yes, because... Craigslist, the Facebook shop.

Buyers have never had more power, and that's awful for sellers, because they can just fuck you over completely. That's more than I calculated it as. It'll cost me $50 to $100 to get me inside a post office. I just don't want to do that. Stamps.com. Bob and I just sold a bunch of stuff on eBay in the last year.

I made a profit, but when I look back on it, I'm like, boy, that was a lot more time than I wanted to give to it. I say it was worth it. That's why the kids were telling me about Let Go. Just have someone pick something up at your house.

They'll shave off a couple bucks you might get on eBay. Like, just take it, dude. Fire is the first eBay ever invented. So today's episode is technically the third episode in Season 7, but it is the first episode of the production Season 7 that Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein ran. It is quite a new era. This looks gorgeous. It's beautiful. It is beautiful. In a much different tone than the Merkin episodes that

preceded this. This is a very, very domestic episode, and as Bill Oakley told us, every showrunner starts with the idea, let's get back to the family. Then in eight episodes they get bored of that and do crazy things, and we'll see that next season. Mike Scully told us the same thing too, and yes, this is a major change

in style though you don't i guess if you when i watched it as a kid seeing it right after radioactive man it didn't feel that different but now looking at it with a hyper analytical eye i definitely see the differences worlds away i'm seeing these characters at angles i have never seen them before susie dieter great director yeah and oakley weinstein who he's interviewed bill oakley twice for this show and he's he's a real friend of the show great guy oakley weinstein started as season four writers on the simpsons and they were i think the first true simpsons nerds hired in the writing staff and they think oakley at least has gone to record saying that season three of the simpsons is the perfect season of any tv show and he and weinstein really wanted to recreate that with season seven of the

simpsons they wanted to pattern it out in like we'll have this type of episode here then this type of episode here and on and on and on and another thing they really wanted to do was get things more realistic, especially Homer. They were big, big haters of Homer getting a job at NASA. They did not like that. They all but say they hated the him becoming an astronaut episode. It was contentious among the staff. And they said they didn't want Homer walking around with a ray gun anymore, which basically could happen at any time in a Merkin thing.

So this rejected a lot of the Merkin insanity, though the show was no less meta, I would say, in season seven and eight. It just wasn't as aggressively hateful towards the four, I'd say. That's true, that's true. And Homer was not the indestructible crazy person. In fact, seeing this episode, the big differences I see in homer is that he loves his kids he appreciates marge and what she does for him he has some zany schemes

but not that zany and he is not indestructible and he's a little nicer yeah he's a bit softer and for this episode they really wanted to start strong so this episode was pitched by simpsons heavy hitter george meyer written by john vd responsible for this episode was pitched by simpsons heavy hitter george meyer written by john vd responsible for most of the best early simpsons scripts in season three and four and two and one at least a substitute burns for coffin or craftwork radio bart mr plow cape fear john vd is a great comedy writer and in fact he did a few scripts for the critic too because they were like just get john vd his best his episodes were some of the best critic ones ever i think the duke phillips disease episode all no not all the dukes men but dr j dr j i think it's still my favorite critic episode it could be mine

i'm pretty sure and also he went on to write some great king of the hill episodes too so john vd great comedy writer don't hold that chipmunks movie against him he made a lot of money and he swears the first draft was much funnier. And he did the Angry Birds film, too. Yes. And I say he's a very rich screenwriter now, as he deserves to be. We did an episode of Laser Time

about video game movie adaptations, and according to Rotten Tomatoes critics, Angry Birds is far and away the best performing video game to movie adaptation ever. I'm sure it's wildly offensive at best. I got to give Rovio credit then. They put their money where their mouth is and made a better movie than fucking Ubisoft.

Right as their brand was dying. And who do you hear talking about Angry Birds now, huh? They made their billions. So this episode, we're talking about how season seven is patterned after season three. The beginning of this episode feels a lot like Homer alone in which Marge is the super mom. In that that episode she's extremely put upon and weary in this episode she's happy to be of service now keep the lettuce separate until 11 30 that way the lettuce stays

moist and the bread stays dry huh huh mom you fuss over us way too much enjoy it now because when you're a grown-up you'll have to take care of yourself! Marge! There's a spider near my car key! You did the right thing by telling me. Shoot! Get out of here! Marge is the perfect mom. She has made McDLT-style packaging

for her kids' sandwiches, and she won't even kill a spider that's near Homer's car key. She shoos it away. I don't know why, but that's my favorite sequence in this episode. Every motion that Homer makes and that we don't see what Marge is doing, you just see his little scared baby face leaning in and looking.

There's tons of great little hand motions in this episode. I wish it was more articulate about it, but it's the kind of thing that I don't think you've seen this much motion and articulation in the comedy. Her and her team did an amazing job on this, and I think too it's a real difference that

Marge is an underserved character so often, and she still will be in season 7 and 8 as well, but for production season 7 to begin with a Marge scene and her getting all the lines, it is her being a homemaker, but it's showing that she's great at being a homemaker and and it's

also unlike saying the stampy episode the joke isn't that she's being taken advantage of or overlooked and that no one appreciates her the kids love her they appreciate all the work she's doing even going to the dump to get a bunch of newspapers even though some men have mental problems i talk about how you might not know how the scene is dated but it made me think of it having like to travel back to florida no car keys you guys probably haven't had a car in about a decade and neither have i but i go back to florida and like uh can you hand me my keys like i don't see any keys uh what are key and keys now are like fobs star trek phaser they Star Trek phaser. It all happened while we were in San Francisco

and not driving. Every time we rent a car, I had to rent a car. So I just hit a button? Keys don't exist is what I'm saying and you might not even know that. You come off as some aboriginal person. I have to tell people in Florida, can you open the car? I don't know how. I've never had a car with

keyless entry in my life. Though, as a kid, I was surprised Marge didn't have Ziploc bags. Like, in my lunch bags, I always had Ziploc bags on my sandwiches and stuff. The best for our hanky. But too poor for that hanky. I know. You can't afford a Ziploc? Jeez.

And I did like that this episode, I like it when they show how poor the Simpsons are. Yeah. Well, I've never heard of Melba-fy. I've never had Melba toast before. Like, why would you have twice-cooked toast? Toast is crunchy as it is. It's always in, like, Chex Mix and stuff like that. Those little tiny squares.

Oh, those things. Those are, like, tiny Melba toasts. Stale rye bread? Yeah. They are, yeah, stale rye bread. But she gives it to Maggie. I didn't realize it was a thing you gave infants, teething infants at the time. You do. Do your research. I like the little karate chop Maggie gives it. Maggie. I didn't realize it was a thing you gave infants, teething infants at the time.

You do. Do your research. I like the little karate chop Maggie gives it. It's very cute. Very, very cute. And right after she's been found guilty of shooting a man. That's a good point because this episode is some of the funniest Maggie bits maybe ever. Well, there's great stuff in here for Maggie, too.

And also the newspaper about Ted Kennedy. America loves Ted Kennedy. What does that mean? Well, it shows how dated it was that Ted Kennedy could not lose an election in Massachusetts, but he could never be on a presidential level after the 1968 Chappaquiddick incident

where... Ah, you drove my car to Lake. Yes. With a woman in it. With a woman in it. She drowned. And his stance was that he failed. All he did was fail to tell the police in time. Not that he thought he could get away with murder. And he said, did nothing untoward with this woman.

And he wasn't drunk driving. And it wasn't his fault. Ted Kennedy never lost an election. Was this in the immediate afterglow? Kennedy is not going to lose an election in Massachusetts. I found the joke confusing because it didn't seem dated at all. He was really a walking joke at this point, though, in terms of what to point to when you want to point out a bad Democrat.

Like, look at that fat idiot drunk. Look at him with his big head. Big head Ted. There were 18 different Ted Kennedy jokes on The Critic. On The Critic. Yeah. And pretty much most Quimby jokes are Ted Kennedy jokes. Yeah.

Because he lived, unlike the rest of them who died before their scandals could humiliate them. He lived long enough to die of cancer. Exactly. Yeah, but he'd be alive another like 10 years after this joke. But still, always elected. That's why the joke confuses me, because I remember the Chappaquiddick thing. Kennedy's not going to lose in Massachusetts.

But that was the 60s. 68 was Chappaquiddick. It's why he would have been the next president had it not been for Chappaquiddick probably. So Homer test drives a very fancy car. Yes. A train. Now that we're alone, Papa Bear has a little honey for his mama bear. Good for a three-hour getaway at the Mingled Waters Health Spa.

Mineral bath, facial massage. How did you afford these? Oh, never you mind. What advantages does this motor car have over, say, a train? Which I could also afford. Well, you'll notice how the heated gas pedal warms your feet well. And massages your buttocks. Well, Count Homer,

shall we discuss the... No, we shan't. In a very subtle way, I feel like Oakley and Weinstein are also resetting the budget of the Simpsons. They're now like lower class people. This is the best Homer can treat March to is a free three hour session at a spa

that he gets stolen in a way. I still admire the sweetness of it. It's very sweet. Going out of his way. It's a more realistic portrayal.

It's like a very season three Simpsons. They're back to their very limited budget and limited means. Something we should all do for our significant other.

I believe I test drove a Kia to get a free Lord of the Rings DVD because that was a campaign which you can still find commercials for. The official car of Gandalf.

And I did pretty much... We found out we were in college and we would skip school. You are allowed to test drive any car you want no matter how expensive. And just ask. You can always do it.

I imagine they have the right to refuse any customer. Probably, but it's like we weren't going to buy a Corvette. But we drove it. But I also see that joke as kind of in contrast to a

Merkin era joke in that that's a scheme Homer's done in other ones too, but Homer would have had a more involved costume. He might have vanished. There might have been more cartoony stuff instead. All Homer did was put on a monocle and sit in the car and then you just

see him run out of the car and the monocle spin is such an awesome time i do love the animation on the monocle he's putting on a voice for the benefit of no one this man doesn't know who he is either and that guy deserved to be tricked if he thought he was count homer and whenever i'm whenever i am shown something at a fancy place i think it's too fancy for me and i'm like why am i buying stuff here i definitely think in the homer why like which i could also afford why would i buy this expensive jacket if not for a another jacket which i could also afford oh it's beautiful it's it's it's one of my most headlines but again homer appreciates marge he says you work yourself stupid for this family

he didn't even fuck up. It's just like a sincere appreciation of Marge. He got through stealing in a way, but still sincere. This is not the angry monster, food monster that we've seen Homer is. And he's also had his IQ turned up a little bit because that plan actually worked. So I also love a scene when Marge and Abe interacts too. And all the little things that have to go wrong for them to lose the kids. Like, first off, Marge is a good mother, but she didn't take out the trash yet.

She didn't do the dishes because she was doing breakfast for the kids. One day she took for herself. That's Grandpa's fault. Leaving a demented old man in charge is a sign of some negligence. Like, this crazy old man will take care of things. By this point, they should know not to leave Grandpa with Maggie. Yeah. Like, it's just, it's not safe.

And I've never had a spa day. Has anybody else had a spa day or gone to a spa? That'd be nice. I get laughed at when I tell anybody not from San Francisco, but I have gone to the bathhouse to take advantage. And when my back is hurting and I didn't have health insurance, I would go to the hot tubs, which you can rent for 25 bucks an hour and totally see how a lot of gay sex happened in here at one point.

I had heard a funny story. Luckily? I had read this article about a guy going to a spa where their thing is like, we scrub off all the dead skin cells on you. You'll be shocked how many dead skin cells there are on you. So he stripped down completely and then a very severe Asian woman, like, scrubs your ass hard all over your body.

And you're like, the realization the guy had of like, well, I'm finally clean now. But now I realize I am never clean after a shower. And I'm disgusted with myself at all other times. So yeah, Bart is going to, it's picture day, which this also feels like a nice not just marge making breakfast or the lunch for the kids but also just school picture day is a nice observational regular life thing for the kids to go through and tighten those braids missy hoist your flag duly nelson you look adorable i feel like punching myself bart stop. You're messing up your hair. Ah! Lice!

How on earth does a boy get head lice in this day and age? We bought a wicker basket from Pier 1, and he was passed out inside. Hey, how come I get lice and nothing happens to Milhouse? So cold. So very, very cold. Struck me upon re-watching this. That's an Outbreak joke, isn't it? Yes.

It is about a monkey. I mean, the monkey is drawn to be the Outbreak monkey, too. And that's Frank Welker doing monkey voices. I don't think Outbreak was out just yet. The trailers would have been out, maybe. We did a Talking Critic where that was one of the trailers. Dangerous monkeys were definitely in the news. Oh, no. I brought it definitely in the news of spreading disease. I brought it up in the news of Talking Simpsons last year.

Duh, I'm conflating all my stupid podcasts together. I love the Edna animation of her hand, like, eww, lice, when her hand shakes like that. The extra shaming of the child is something a teacher should never do. Like, who gets lice? Who gets lice at this age? I've never had lice.

I wanted it so bad there was an outbreak in our elementary school. I did have to go through lice checks at school, just like Spill-O-Li-O-S-E tests. And one day, all the kids got sent home, and there's like four kids left in every class. This would have seemed like such a big deal. Like, oh, it would be so great to get out of elementary school four hours early. But there's other things about this reference. Well, so this line here, yeah. Crazy.

He calls out Pier 1 there, and that is how it is on the DVD and on the FXX app. Yeah, check Simpsons World. But on the syndicated version, you'll hear this. We bought a wicker basket from Trader Pete, and he was passed out inside. What the hell? Wow, I didn't realize that. Yeah. Yes, so Pier 1 got mad.

Pier 1, which is a real store, at least was a real store. I triple-checked. It miraculously still is. Unbelievable. So Pier 1 imports. They sell you crates and barrels. It's a furniture store that's faux-fancy, world-style furniture. Things are constantly made out of wicker.

Yeah, and you'll get a wicker basket there. And so it is presumable you would buy a wicker basket there and so it is presumable you would buy a whisker wicker basket a trader at pier one and maybe a monkey would be inside and then attack you that that is what it is but pier one got mad at that so in reruns and syndication wow they changed they re-recorded the line with millhouse to say trader pete a fake A fake store. But in re-releases of it, they then have put it back to Pure One. In the UK, and I think all outside of America,

since Pure One isn't a brand outside of America, they didn't change the line. But yeah, you wouldn't believe the work it took to find a streaming version of the syndicated version of the show to get that Pure One. Oh my God, nice job Henry. The UK people should have their minds blown at this point.

I don't think we have any comparable example of a Again, one more listen to that. Nothing. We bought a wicker basket from Trader Pete's and he was passed out inside.

You can just tell that the actor is in a different place. I gotta say, word of the wise, there's no comfortable, sorry, no furniture more uncomfortable than wicker furniture.

Yep, sucks. My mom bought a wicker chair once and it's like, not only does this hurt you, it audibly protests when you sit in it. Like, no! Crack, crack, crack.

Yeah, it always reminds you how good sitting inside is. Yeah. I think I had a Papasan chair I liked okay, which is the kind of like concave, like, half shell of a thing.

Not me. A good chair should audibly hide the fact that you're masturbating. Always. Gotta have high armrests the sentence will be right back when you really care about someone you shout it from the mountaintops. So on behalf of Desjardins Insurance, I'm 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? Jeez. Jesus. We've had a good time on Talking Simpsons recently. Did you know that we had our first two ever live shows? Once on January 18th and another time on

january 28th both in san francisco's sf sketch fest they were tons of fun but do you want to hear them for yourself where you can a week early and add free on the talking simpsons patreon at patreon.com slash talking simpsons they'll also be available on the free feed very soon but if you want them early and hear us talk to dana gould and also give our presentation on who the most pathetic man in springfield is and what homer's best jobs were while you can hear it all in our recorded live shows that are available patreon.com slash talking simpsons alongside a ton of other extras including our entire episode by episode deconstruction of the critic the entire first season of Talking Simpsons only available there,

our Futurama X-Men special and coming soon, our Futurama Season 1 deconstruction as well will all be exclusively on the Patreon. Do you see how much stuff you get just for $5 a month? And at $10 a month, you get access to even more cool stuff, including our monthly premium video content you can check all that out and so much more patreon.com slash talking simpsons sure it's fun to wear a burlap sack but you know what's even better a talking simpsons t-shirt that

you get at tiny.cc slash talking shirts the talking simpsons t-shirt is a beautiful sky blue and designed in the style of ion springfield and i saw tons of cool cool folks wearing their talking simpsons t-shirt to our live show that we did on the 28th. It was so awesome to see everybody wearing their shirts and I love to love you as much as I love the people who wore those shirts there. So you just got to go to shirtsickle.com and check it out or tiny.cc slash talking shirt. It starts at $19.99, comes in tons of different styles and ships somewhat internationally. So you might be able to get it even if you're not in North America. Hey, this is Hank Azaria.

You're listening to Talking Simpsons on Lazer Time. I didn't know that was a thing. Is the world of today getting you down? Well, then why not check in on some of the good stuff that happened this week in movies, TV, games, and more 30, 20, and 10 years ago this very week with our show 302010. Here's a clip from 1987. For Kiefer Sutherland. Some people, they just seem to know exactly where they're going. Meg Ryan. You dragged me out here, and now you they just seem to know exactly where they're going. Meg Ryan.

You dragged me out here and now you're saying, I don't know what you're saying. Road Ahead seems to lead back home. Back to the promised land. It's the end of January. This is a Christmas movie. Who fucked up that bad? Yeah. The only notable thing about this one is it's the first film

produced out of the sundance film festival oh okay yeah because it's cool it's release date is 87 technically but i guess it's hitting mainstream releases being dumped in 19 early 1988 you know that keifer sutherland around christmas never goes well. What does he say? But he was like, look what I'm about to do. You're amazing, sir. I love you. It's the best. Never stop doing that. Any other person, you'd be like, what an asshole.

But him, you're like, what an asshole. That was awesome. Jack Bauer just said he was going to jump a Christmas tree, and he did. In a hotel. Some guy. Jump into the past with 302010 every Thursday on LasertimePodcast.com or iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. Five, four, three, two, one.

So that's the story behind Bart's lice. So they're fixing him for lice, but Lisa also has some problems. See you in hell, you wingless bloodsuckers! What kind of parents would permit such a lapse in scalpel hygiene? Well, you better check out his sister. She could be right with them big steeps. Keep away! Catch him!

Come on! Hey, come on! Those are prescription shoes. I need them. You have cooties. You have cooties. No, I don't. Lisa Simpson, report to the principal's office for head lice inspection.

Ow! My tongue! Principal Skinner, I need some soothes. Sweet Georgia Brown, something is rotten at the Simpson house. Love the way he triumphantly says, head lice inspection. Head lice inspection. And I love also the posing on the girls taunting her. It's just like the perfect look of mean girls.

Great reaction from Yardley Smith upon biting her tongue. Yeah. My toe! And it just perfectly captures just the intercom, something I haven't had to deal with in 20 years, but something you simultaneously desired to hear your name come over and feared all the same. So much anxiety.

And, of course, if you don't know what seymour's exclamation is you heard this in crust uh hold me the clown he's spinning the ball on his finger just take it it's a friggin ladder uh i it took i was trying to google that for a podcast a long time ago and i could not find harlem globe with trotter's theme song and it's sweet georgia brown so i just love that exclamation, like, Sweet Georgia Brown! Also, another VD staple is his love of Batman 66. Yes!

Wonderful. So when they call Child Protective Services, it is the was also seen in Dr. J when it was Dr. Krikorian not Dr. Krikorian. The Deathmobile. Again, the Batman song and music. And then, of course, Adam West in Mr. Plow. And that makes sense because Hank Azaria's child welfare board character sounds a bit like Adam West.

He gives very Adam West-style readings to things. He and the Adam West beekeeper should hang out together. Oh, you're right. Is, too. You, you're right. Is to. You're right, yeah. Pause it for the Springfield Crest. That just is not just another state.

That's their motto. Yeah, the classic one. I wondered why the squirrel looked so bad. I was like, oh yeah, it's the old design. It's from like 62. It's also not Springfield. It's the whole state wherever they are. Well, this will come up a little later,

but the county of Springfield is under some contention. That's right. I just love this scene. I've also never been to a sauna. Have you guys ever been to a sauna? It just seems too hot. No, it's uncomfortable. I hate it.

I've been to one, but it was not like one with a bunch of people in it. It was like, here's a room you get into. It is too hot. Unless it's in pornography, I don't want to see saunas. I went to one in an old folks home and saw so many shriveled ball sacks. Man, those old dudes, they love just going in the nude. This is so relaxing. Homie, this was a wonderful idea.

Yeah. If that mafia guy weren't staring at us, I'd take off my towel. Oh, don't mind me. Look, I do it first. That's the last spoken performance of don vittorio right who was seen he's seen other places like with the mafia but he never talks again that's it because i have to it has to be a reference to him because that's of all the stereotypes around the mafia are do any of them involve a sauna i, there's meetings in saunas in other films. It seems like a thing in general older men of no matter Italian or Jewish background.

In a place where there's no bugs, no guns. Yeah, remember in Big Pussy was getting tested by Paulie Walnuts. Come on, take a schvitz with me. When it comes to backs. No, my doctor says my condition can't do it right now. When it comes to backs, nobody knows anything. My theory is the lip syncs a bit off on this scene i bet the original uh line was it was an old jewish man in there but they're like let's do a different stereotype let's do a different see that's a theory i can get behind yeah i like that but also just that

he just flings his dick out there you know we're like i do it first i do it the first and i also love just the little glow on them to make them look sweaty from the sauna. They look like a painting. Then there's a real weird, like, I never noticed that the headline about Poco, like 40 Trampled at Poco. There's a headline of

40 Trampled at Poco's concert. Concert, yes. That I never heard of Poco, that they're the unfamous members of Buffalo Springfield. They sang Baby Come Back. Oh, okay. And this is a reference to a 1979 The Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, where improper admissions caused 11 people to die by trampling.

Whoa. Yes. Okay, I do remember that. And the joke is, of course, no one is getting trampled at a Poco concert. No one is rushing. No one is killing people to get into a Poco concert. And you see that joke for maybe nine-tenths of a second. Oakley Weinstein, even more than their predecessors,

were famous for staying late to make up every possible joke they could. But in this scene, I absolutely love how all of the minor problems pay off into major problems for these Child Protective Services people. Get ready, gamblerslers for the world series of dog raising a disheveled and malnourished man found sleeping in his own filth seems confused and dehydrated where's the baby well that's her ain't it? Kids love that water. Oh my lord. Stupid babies need the most attention.

I love it. I love it. That's my favorite line. Is that a line for the show? For me it is. For me it is. That's the joke. Not just the fact that they say that line.

The fact that they thought the parents put a note on their baby that says, I'm a stupid baby. Yeah, it was established earlier. It was a sign Bart put on Lisa. And then they took it as earnest they're like oh this is a warning that this is a stupid baby and you need to be careful so in all of my bios like on my gamer tag my that has always been my quote and for no reason i just love the line it's great and then i went to go be the community manager of big video game publisher

and i'm like i'll just port over my profile and somebody to point out to me like you can't manage a community and have your your motto being stupid babies need the most attention your capcom i'm the father of a stupid baby no i mean that is like you have to take care of a lot of stupid babies in community management that's true that's like all the oh the most and they definitely need the most they require the most attention they don't need the most. They do need the most attention. They require the most attention. They don't need it. They demand it. This was the first time I really appreciated the line, World Series of Dog Racing, because

if you were branding it, you would call it the Kentucky Derby of Dog Racing. You wouldn't make up a second other sport. That's great. You would say this is the Kentucky Derby of Dog Racing. A World Series of Dog Racing has no real, it's, are they playing baseball? Maybe they're chasing baseballs. And that Abe just doesn't even get it, that he's just like,

kids love that water. That's like his parenting advice. Let the kids drink the dog water, it's fine. There's a cute little joke of the turntape over gag. I did like that. Which is hella dated, because nobody would do that now. They'd just be playing it off an mp3. Yes, everything's falling apart

at the Simpsons' home. Where are your parents? I don't know. They should be here. Yes, they should be here. Those parents better have a good excuse. Oh, I love getting away from this dump.

It's like I'm on some wonderful drug. What's going on here? Child welfare, ma'am. Here's a little bedtime reading. Squalid hellhole? Toilet paper hung in improper overhand fashion? Dogs mating on dining room table? I agree about the toilet paper thing.

So the PSLH is fucking dogs all the time. Bitches, please. Was she the fastest there? I don't know. They maybe have gotten rid of she's the fastest by this point. My toilet paper holder in my bathroom, my current bathroom, is a vertical one. So it just sits on it that way. So there's no proper way to flip the toilet paper.

I don't support this. I'm sticking outside the box. I'm sticking outside the box. I'm wiping outside the box. Go back to Russia, Bob. Just doing more work. Gravity could be helping you out. I don't know what you're thinking. Well, actually, I never, I kind of alternate between the two. I don't have a specific one, but every time I replace toilet paper, I'm

usually thinking of this lie. Me too. I don't use toilet paper at all. I lie down in the shower like a knocked out victim in Metal Gear Solid and open my asshole into the shower head. I mean, the days... When I get that bidet,

I can't wait. The days are better, man. We should be washing our butts after every time. Like, paper doesn't really do the job, guys.

No, take a full shower and change your clothes. I got a man's shit. Yeah, so, but how does... I would like to know

in comments, like, are you an overhand or underhand? I think I normally prefer overhand. Come on, people. I do like the very

unprofessional note squalid hellhole on their government forum. Squalid hellhole? Child welfare being very, uh, very judgmental in this one.

Why not pee-pee soaked heckhole? So, yes, it sounds like the Simpsons kids are doomed. Oh, I love this. Now, just relax, kids. All we're doing is taking you to a foster home.

Yay! Hey, Lee-ho! Welcome to your new home, Neglector darinos that was what my other name choice was i didn't notice you had old pain you can't bob oh it's okay i love that opening this episode is one of the best versions of a first act completely unrelated to the second act because the premise of this episode is the flanders raise the simpsons but you don't see that coming like you just hear, oh, foster home, what's it going to be?

Then immediately, it's the Flanders. So two things about this. Matt Groening on the commentary said he pitched the line, abuse-erinos, and the entire writers' room groaned at him. And he still wants that line in the show. Neglect-erinos is funny. The joke where they pull out of the Simpsons drive

and right into the Flanders drive reminds me of a very similar joke. I'm not going to say they stole it, but on Str strangers with candy, when Jerry blank went to live with Mr. Noblet, Stephen Colbert to be, he was going to teach her how to play the violin or the cello.

Such a fucking good episode. He backs out from her driveway into his and the house across the street. It's even, it's even better. It's even better just because it's live action. Yeah, man. Well,

there's also the great joke of them beating her up, putting a sack over her, beating her up and putting her in a van and then driving the van four feet to the store it's a great show school the flanders being the foster family is great like the foster home thing is because like foster homes get a bad rap because it's the idea of like well they're not going to take care of your children like foster parents are horrible abuse happens at those all the time like if you see a foster home in like a movie and in fiction it's usually a horrible thing happens there like but in real life it's where nice people take in possibly damaged children to take care of them yeah i think so there's one of the best night nicest representations of fosters is in the very gay show the fosters on abc family or whatever

that channel's called now where it's about a lesbian couple that fosters a bunch of kids and one of the kids is becoming gay on the show we just we we totally miss choosing to be we grew up all of our entertainment had orphanages in them but i don't think they existed when we were this age that's because of abortions chris ah good that's true good we're putting the burden on individuals instead of having a state yeah no more no more children who are just dropped that's because of abortions chris ah good that's true good we're putting the burden on individuals instead of having a state yeah no more no more children who are just dropped off at an orphan at uh convent because the kid orphanages look awesome i sleep in a room with 20 of my best friends this rules but as funny as these scenes are i do think they kept track of the emotion in

this like you see marge's pain at losing her children. I'm glad that... I won't let you! I'm glad it goes on as short as it does because it's convincing and real. It's pretty painful. It actually makes it slightly less painful for them knowing they're at the Flanders as opposed to some stranger's house

or in some town they have no clue about. Them being next door kind of removes some of the darkness to it. Yeah, and they don't make Ned a bad person. I think Maude is probably the worst person in this because she just wants God to punish the Simpsons. But Ned is doing his best with what he has, I think. We love you!

Please don't hug me. It sickens me. I don't judge Homer and Marge. That's for a vengeful God to do. All we want to do is give your kids a good home until they get their act together. You don't understand. Mom and Dad take good care of us. That was a baby tooth. It was loose. Don't you worry, little girl.

We'll get you some nice county dentures. Oh, county dentures. And I love, you notice even more in audio that lisa just whistles twice there i've never noticed that before it's really good i just love that ned ned and maude going like that's for a vengeful god to do uh-huh yeah but it just that they they accept they are definitely judging marge and homer they just are saying like no god's gonna do that but because they're definitely in the wrong, and they will be judged. And we've seen the weird wholesomeness

of the Flanders living situation in, I believe, was it Lisa's First Word, where Bart goes to stay with them? Yeah. Iron helps us play. And we're going to see a lot more of that in this episode. It's a big taste of it, and this also feels, all of these scenes at the Flanders house

feel reminiscent of, like, my childhood. If you spent the night at someone else's home and you're like well my mom and dad don't do that or we don't do that at my house whether it's even weirder when they're extra religious growing up in the south being at oh your family's religious

you know I'm on board I'm a fan of God and the Bible my parents just don't ever take me to church unless grandma's in town but it's surreal because I had a lot of friends like that and I got involved with a lot of churches via sleepovers like this. But it does seem weird now and I don't know any of

my friends' children who go to church or anything like that. I don't have children, but I feel like I would be mad if my child was taken to church by someone, by a stranger. I remember they made me call my parents and ask permission. That was something I experienced on Twitter where people were talking about,

this is not a gross generalization of white people, but stuff that white parents did that other parents maybe don't do that was shocking to non-white people. Like, what, your friend's parents just took you to their church without asking your parents? Or like, they were about to have dinner

so they sent you home? That's weird. It's like, I guess this is a white family thing. I was trying to drive over the holiday break through a nativity scene that wasn't there

and then I realized, oh, if you wanted to play basketball or be in Boy Scouts, you spent time in church growing up in Florida. You just did. It was your access.

And so all the stuff Rod and Todd say and the things in their house are like, it's just weird pangs of memories because I did kind of grow up with that minutiae around me everywhere but my house and i do like this little exchange between homer and abe which just lets get abe out of out of being very very bad for the family here we leave you to kids for three hours and the county takes them away

oh bitch bitch bitch he just walks away off to the retirement castle yeah i mean he has reason to hate the family too it's like oh you only use me as a babysitter like fuck you like i can see abe thinking that way yeah or also abe just doesn't care then homer strangles a house plant just because he's mad the house plant died on him but it's also i like in that scene too homer takes the blame of like march tries to say this is all my fault. Mike Homer's like, no, no, no, I'm worse than you. Which cut to Homer just four episodes earlier in Lemon of Troy saying, if it's anybody's fault, it's that time you let him wear bathing suit instead of underwear.

That's right. And let's not forget that speech. He held madness. He was blaming her a ton there this time. Much softer, much nicer, Homer. I agree. And here's blaming her a ton there this time. That's true. This is a much softer Homer, much nicer Homer. I agree. And here's another line I say all the time. Go with it!

Here you go, Todd. The city edition. Bart, I don't know if this should be an extra. Is your source on this reliable? Oh, I hate this place. Yeah, it seems like our house, but everything's got a creepy Pat Boonish quality to it. Hey, kids! Nachos

Flanders style! That's cucumbers with cottage cheese. I think Henry and I, when we worked in a squalid hellhole together, we would go back and forth on those lines at least once or twice. Oh, yeah. On Slack or something. I would, well, in many working situations when somebody would ask me to

to approve doing with something i would always say go with it i just love that it's such a nice way of approving something like go with it uh that that pat boone comment is a little too old for leith coming out of lisa's mouth but i like it i mean at best i would say pat boone wrote sock hop music it's like it's sort of like lawrence welke super white super wholesome music i tried to find a clip of pat boone the The most recent one I saw, he's still alive. I saw a clip of him on Fox news before Trump was elected. And they're in Pat Boone is a Trump supporter. It might surprise you. And they're like, Mr. Boone, Trump says he wants abortions. He doesn't, he doesn't hate all foreign people. And Pat Boone's like, well,

you know, he's just getting used to this politics thing. Let's give him a chance. Like he'll learn to be racist. He'll learn to hate foreigners., you know, he's just getting used to this politics thing. Let's give him a chance. Like, he'll learn to be racist. He'll learn to hate foreigners. And you know what? He did. He sure did, man. God bless America. He was an easy go-to punchline for fuddy-duddy.

Oh, yeah. And rightly so. Very sweatery, very loafersy. So much so, by the time I was, like, cognizant enough to, like, look at shit around me, there would be jokes like, that's like Pat Bo boone doing heavy metal so i think he leaned into that later in his career and started covering heavy in our childhood yes yes but he was also famous as like the punchline i saw him was of him was that little richard's big hit song he did the cover of it in the 50s and it was just to show like this is how racism works then that they're like like, well, we can't play Little Richard on the radio. He's too black.

So we have to get the whitest guy ever to tone down this sexiness and make it much more like D-Fang. People will drive off the road in a sex jury if they heard that music. If they hear that, they'll start lighting up a jazz cigarette right there. A-bop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bop-bop. Lootie-frootie. Oh, root-bop Doody-fruity, all rooty. Doody-fruity, all rooty. Doody-fruity, all rooty.

Doody-fruity, all rooty. Doody-fruity, all rooty. A-bop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-lop-bop-bop I have to say, I... Nachos Flanders style sounds disgusting. I will eat wintergreen ice milk if it's real. It sounds pretty tasty. I would have that.

Ice milk? Yeah. But yeah, that's more of a Gen X viewers type thing. Oh, yeah. Honestly, we need another Vietnam to thin out. Now, Flanders wants to soften things for Bart, and so he offers to let him watch whatever he wants. Why?

Why? Why? My only son. Daddy, what's the red stuff coming out of Kitty's ears? That's just raspberry jam. Dad, should I poke Rod with a sharp thing like the mouse did no son no sirry bob it's funny that not i mean not only does the itchy and scratchy cartoon relate to the situation it's also inappropriately maudlin and dark yeah my only son never had scenes like that before but also like the cartoon complainy pants this is like visualizing what people accuse cartoons of causing children to say whereas you grew up with cartoons that would never occur should i do what bugs bunny does no when you really care

about someone you shouted from the mountaintops so on behalf of deja vu insurance i'm 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? I saw that reading more as like if you protect kids from this kind of imagery, they won't know how to handle it.

So they'll want to imitate it if they see it. They'll never grow up to love RoboCop. They protected Todd for so long that once he finally sees it, it breaks him or exposes him to something that he wasn't ready for. They get a lot of, there has been a number of Todd jokes like that before. Just like, if you give Todd a little bit of the sin he's never allowed, he goes crazy. I don't want any damn vegetables. Exactly.

So him reacting to the stabbing with like, I should stab people. It was something, too, that I didn't get until they mentioned on the commentary that this was the first time It did a crime on top of murdering scratchy that's right all his tv that's right oh my god he didn't even do the trick to just kill scratchy he did it to steal his television and we also have the return of the chick on the bench as we saw in psycho bob roberts who was the pre-constance harm female judge i I love this sequence. We've always tried to be good parents. Please, I'm begging you, one mother to another. You must have a family. No, I don't care

for children. No, wait a minute! Okay, I'm not going to win Father of the Year. In fact, I'm probably the last guy in the world who should have kids. Wait, wait, can I start again? Fathering children is the best part of my day. I'd do anything for Bart and Lisa.

And Margaret? Oh, lady, you got the wrong file. It's Mark. Oh, Maggie. I got nothing against Maggie. I can see you sincerely want your children back, but you have a lot to learn about being parents. Before I can return your children, you'll have to complete a course called Family Skills. It parents to listen to their communication gotcha but it's important

listen yes i know but there's more to it than i have listening skills mr simpson would you please i love that i love that shut up judge listen tonight are my favorite courtroom moments that shut up thing i feel is a leftover from the mercenary where you just end a scene with someone saying shut up not not it's not clever it's it's barely funny but it's just so blunt it makes you laugh i just love kiss my butt homer needs so much from that judge and instead he's going like he should be found in contempt for that and though that joke there and also the constant joke, now that I know that family court is a thing that a divorced man really hates, I now see these characters as kind of like a parody of the mean women who force men to pay child support and family court. That's the only explanation I can think of.

Why isn't, what's his name, the judge there? Oh, Snyder. Well, Snyder, it's usually a woman in charge of family court. They're somehow establishing this is a different, they need to establish this is a different kind of court? Well, I mean, Marge is making a plea like you must be a mother because she's a woman. So I think that's why they have the woman judge in. All right, that makes sense.

Though, I mean, traditionally in family court, which constant harm is such a characterization of that, it's something Hollywood writers got very in contact with the more they got divorced and had children. I recommend Mike Thurnovich if you want to learn more about family court third of it he's got the gorilla mind set there's also a scene a little cut to a schwartz welder statue in front of the courthouse right that's actually a fuck up by them and simpsons nerds they thought simpsons springfield is in schwartz welder county it is not so youons Springfield is in Schwartzwelder County. It is not. It is in Springfield County.

This was revealed in Dog of Death. On the dotted line map. It is next to Schwartzwelder County, but they remembered it as being Schwartzwelder County, so in front of the Schwartzwelder County courthouse is a statue of General Schwartzwelder named after

the Simpsons. I prefer it to be in Schwartzwelder County. I think it's funnier that way. I don't think we'd ever heard Maggie's name was Margaret. I don't know if that's always the case. I think that is the first. I don't think so. It's another runner where from the very beginning of the show, Homer forgets Maggie exists.

Later in the show, he wishes he had something to miss about her. So Maggie's very much a non-entity in Homer's world still. And it's great that they then cut to Ned playing with her which i gotta say his peekaboo looked pretty fun yeah he's wiggling his mustache like again big credit suzy dieter and the animation team like they didn't need to wiggle his mustache at the peekaboo icu but it should look fun that should be like oh ned's good with babies too yeah even though bart and lisa are weirded out by the changes maggie is adapting very well yes i also love them being grossed out at honey on pancakes i've never had honey on pancakes jam i've had on pancakes not honey and same with news the news week instead of nothing lying is great because it should be news week instead of time at the time it would

seem like well you had one of those two weekly magazines that were the most read in America, Time Magazine or Newsweek. Now no one reads anything. That's true. But the joke was that at The Simpsons, they don't read anything either, but you're supposed to think Lisa's going to say they read Newsweek instead of Time here. Homer did read U.S. of A.

Today. That's true. Number two is number one. And also, he loved reading Digest. That's true. For one episode. I think And also, he loved reading Digest. That's true. For one episode. I think that's when he stops. If he has to pay for a periodical, then he won't. I also think Maude's character is very well summed up in wanting unflavored ice cream.

Unflavored for me. Unflavored for me. This episode did make me miss Maude. I miss her. Meanwhile, the Simpsons are in family skills class. Mrs. Skinner, why are you here? The county is threatening to take my Seymour away. me miss mott i miss that but uh meanwhile the simpsons are in family skills class mrs skinner why are you here the county is threatening to take my seymour away oh we had another fight over the inflatable bath pillow i kept screeching and screeching at him all right very good now who knows how the skinners could have resolved this problem without resorting to violence or childish name calling

anybody okay that's okay because making a happy home isn't like flipping on a light switch the lights are a lot of little tricks to it things you should have learned a long time ago such as if you leave milk out it can go sour put it in the refrigerator or, failing that, a cool wet sack. And put your garbage in a garbage can, people. I can't stress that enough. Don't just throw it out the window. This is so humiliating. Garbage in garbage can.

Hmm, makes sense. Congrats to the Foley artists who convincingly made the sound of people raising and lowering their hands. Yes. I was just thinking about that. Like, wow, that's a sound effect. The last guy to lower his hand is the boss fight in the Simpsons arcade game. Like, you never see him again. They had to dig deep for more white trash designs in this.

Wow. Flubb should be Cletus' best buddy, too. I wish they'd have brought that guy. I love Flubb. Duh, light switch is my third favorite line from the show. If you've ever watched me game stream and I'm overlooking something, duh, light switch is my facepalm. I think of the line cool wet sack and garbage in the garbage can whenever I'm talking to people who should know what they're doing but don't.

It's like how stupid do I need to be to explain this to you? Or failing that, a cool wet sack. It's like you were too poor and stupid to have electricity, so find a wet sack, keep your milk in. And also, as a callback to just the fairly recent Springfield Connection, the Skinners are still having fights over that bath pillow. We quarreled. We quarreled. I can't believe that's the one thread that Skinner gets.

Vietnam and a bath pillow. We are edging closer to modern Agnes. Her voice is still too nice. We heard that she was screeching, but she's still too much storybook grandma voice. Though they also, I guess they were afraid that it wasn't obvious who she was a parent of, so she had to hold up the photograph of Skinner.

Just so, you know, like, trying to take my Seymour away. I think they weren't counting on the nerds to be nerdy enough in the viewership to know. Then they sing Sonny and Cher's We Got You Babe to them, which is really cute. It's a very cute version. Almost seems too current for Ned. It's the second

best version right after Cher and Beavis and Butthead. Oh yeah. I don't know if all that's true You got me Butthead I got you Whoa Babe

I got you babe I got you babe Or the classic Cher-Sunny reunion on David Letterman, which we talked a ton about on the david letterman special of later time i also love like marge's humiliation it kind of reminded me of what i thought would be on the other side i've never i've never gotten a dui so i haven't had to take the classes you have to take when you're i only took the classes once that you take to get your driver's license as a kid but when i took those there's at least two older people in there that i later

realized like oh you got your license suspended and you're having to take these classes with children and whenever i think of their humiliation and i think of how marge was so humiliating i'm just like i shouldn't be in this class like i'm not this bad uh but uh homer homer marge are seeing the pain that they have to go through, but they got to do it. I don't love saxophone. I don't think it's particularly funny. Dude.

The opening quote of him singing into the saxophone is pretty cute. I knew a guy who was dating my girlfriend's roommate. Beautiful man. Not a lot going on upstairs. He found two things in the world funny. Jim Carrey's reaction to Black Babies and Me, Myself, and Irene. We just watched that scene over and over again in Saxophone. Only that scene, he's like, oh, The Simpsons, Saxophone.

I'm like, what? That's all he liked about it, ever. Saxophone. I know it's a comedy classic and we've all seen it a thousand times, but what is that scene? I've never seen this movie. Jim Carrey's wife gives birth to three black children. Oh, okay. And the joke is that he can't possibly be the father.

But he has to pretend he is the father. Okay. And he says wow like nine times. Yeah. It's like, wow. And he raises those kids, all of which grow up to be giant black men who treat him as a father. And it's really sweet, actually.

Like, Anthony Anderson is the only of the famous of kids I recall. The father is the little person from Bad Sam. Oh, that's right. Yes. Yeah. Me, Myself, and Irene is the only of the famous of kids i recall the father is the little person from bad sand oh that's right yes yeah me myself and irene is not a bad movie it's a good movie but anyway the i also like that compared to previous seasons this act break ends on real emotion of them missing their kids and getting the uh the letter from i like homer's disappointment at the todd smells headline i already know that i know that and i also like the bit of like i wish there was something I knew about the baby I could miss. Yeah. And then

the way, though, I took it as another joke of March saying, you mean Maggie? And Homer goes, yeah. Like, the one thing he knows now, like, oh yeah, it's Maggie. Now I remember something that I could miss. It's beautiful. So Homer, this was almost my line of the show. This was also a very historic moment in the

show's view. Okay, let's see if we've learned anything. I want you two to simulate a typical household problem. Go. Papa, I cut myself on a screen door again. Why, you cut and pick and... No, I gotta pass this class for my kids. Son, let's stop the fussing and the feud him i love you paul i love you cletus that's great and yes cletus for the first time we hear his name although he sounds even more inbred in this one I cut myself on the screen if you think of modern Cletus against uh hey

look at that point until it's oh yeah like it's such a different character on the commentary that he forgot how to do his cleats he had done it in a little bit so this this sequence made me google too many things because another thing that simpsons has given to us is the shorthand for any redneck being cletus and i was like that can't be there's got to be some other basis for his name and i'm guessing it's cletus hog boss hogs familiar on on dukes of hazard because other than that there aren't redneck e cletus is there there are athletes and liberal politicians and macedonian leaders cletus has no basis as a redneck other than like boss hog jr or cletus a spunkler spuckler spuckler i don't know when that came along but

it was probably like eight or nine probably another couple years but in the uh in it always been slack chod yokel in the scripts just like how snake had always been jailakjad Jokul in the scripts, just like how Snake had always been Jailbird. And so that's why later in this season, it'll be Cletus the Slakjad Jokul, just to marry together the ideas, like to keep his name the same. Did anybody else bother to look up the derivation of cotton picking? No. Because the phrase reads differently now. Yes. When Homer says it,

it just sounds like a Looney Tunes, like cotton picking, rats are fast and barmy. In some of my research, Bugs Bunny helped popularize the term because it definitely had a shitload of racial connotations there. I think picking cotton

has a certain context in America. But not... Anyone can pick cotton. Yeah, like something... It made me remember this thing I think the South did to children to help realize the horrors of slavery. We would have to go pick cotton. And it was fucking hard as shit.

And it hurts like a motherfucker. And it takes for fucking ever. And you have to bend down. And it hurts like a motherfucker. And it takes for fucking ever. And you have to bend down. And it hurts to... The plant will hurt you. It's got thorns on it. It sucks. And so they would make us do that.

I think once in elementary school, all the kids had to go pick cotton. But I think it did become in movies synonymous for hard worker or low... Like hard work. Well, if you're in the field, you are a lesser skilled hand. Like anybody can pick cotton. It's just, yeah, it's definitely a lower class connotation too.

And this year it's just like, I wish Homer had picked a different word choice because it's not so much synonymous with rustic living to me. I always took it as just Looney Tunes swearing, like of just which perhaps Mel Blanc meant something different. Maybe they'll replace that with Razafraken. Yeah, Razafraken. But just the interaction between Cletus and Homer is so great that Cletus is very much into it as well.

He's like, yeah, I'm your son. I'm like, got my thief on the screen. And the way he puts his finger on his knee, it becomes so sexual they just like the second he's like i love you paul they just hug each other it's a beautiful stupid scene it's weird parenting that homer wants to abuse cletus for hurting himself yes it's a very strange thing so i want to talk about bombardment of bible questions i've never played bombardment bombardment is a dodgeball style game which is why they they're excited. Like, yeah, we're going to play

something cool at the Flanders house, and a Bible questions is like, oh, now it's a trivia game. So this is super personal to me because as a secular nine-year-old, I walk into a Catholic school and they're like, oh, we all know this stuff, right? Like, I don't know any of these prayers. It felt insane. Like, you have that huge book, you have

passages memorized. Yeah, exactly. And you know where they are. And you know the difference between all these scriptures. You know all of these songs offhand. No one bothered to sit me down and teach me any of this. I had to be like, I'm just going to mouth along to our father. Eventually, after a few years, I figured it out. But this episode, probably because John Vitti, based on his name, grew up Catholic, the Flanders are suddenly super Catholic. It doesn't make any sense because, of course, Ned goes to the church.

Rev. L. Joy has a wife. They're clearly some sort of Protestant that's never defined but there's a lot of Catholicism in this episode including a baptism which does happen in other religions but there's a lot more Catholicism wrapped up in these scenes so they're choosing a Bible to use for the Bible trivia game

and they choose the Vulgate of St. Jerome that was the Catholic Bible, the Latin Catholic Bible that was the standard Bible, the Latin Catholic Bible that was the standard Bible. There was a conference of Catholics called Vatican II in the 60s which determined we need to modernize Catholicism because people are falling behind.

We must use an English language Bible. So that was the last time they modernized Catholicism. So Flanders is using a Latin language Bible for this trivia game. Wow. Well, that's... I only know about Vatican II because I had heard about it with relationship to Mel Gibson when they talked about how old school his Catholicism was, that his family was one of the families that were like,

no, fuck this, we're not leaving. Vatican II, we don't respect that. We do it in Latin. We're all old school. Say, feel free to hate Mel Gibson, but if you want to know why he got that way, Google interviews with his father. Oh, his father is unbelievable.

A horrible nightmare of a human being. Oh, for sure. So Catholicism, Chris, I think you were baptized. I got dunked. I was baptized as well. No way. And other religions do do it, but I think Viti had Catholicism on the brain when this happened

because of just sort of setting up, like, Ned is Catholic to the Simpsons Protestants, and, like, why would they be offended by them being baptized? I mean, they go to the same church. Yeah, they all go to the same church. They worship the same God. Yeah, that's true. You know what? Yeah, this does foist Catholicism upon Ned when he really is such a Protestant.

Like, I think he actually has anti-Catholic jokes in some later episodes. Yeah, and it's like, as a Catholic kid growing up, or as a kid who went to a Catholic school growing up, I assume the Simpsons were Catholic, despite the Revlin Lovejoy thing, until Marge, one episode, says, no one's going Catholic. Three kids is enough. Which is like, oh, they're not Catholic. I get it. But yeah, that

always confused me, and in case you're wondering, the three references Ned pulls up at the end, like, you don't know these things? The joke is that they're all fake, but they sound so convincing. Big juice. The bridal feast. I can't even say this. Sebru had Derrida or whatever?

There's such funny names. Sebru, well, we'll hear it in a second. Oh, okay, I didn't know you had a clip. Well? I know! No, son, we gotta let Bart and Lisa get one. Come on, this one's easy. We give up.

Well, guess. Book of Revelations, fire-breathing lion's head, tail made out of snakes. Who else is it gonna be? Jesus? Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Don't you kids know anything?

The serpent of Rehoboam? The well of Zohasadar? The bridal feast of Beth-Chadru-Harazem? Wait, that's the kind of thing you should start learning at baptism. Um, actually, you see, we are never baptized. Nettie! Nettie! Nettie! No, that ain't gonna do it. I want to say, like, the Simpsons are just, like, they never define what Christianity they are,

but it feels like they're more, like, Lutheran or Episcopalian or Methodist. Definitely not Southern Baptist. Yeah, but, like, I grew up in, like, mega-Catholic world in my neck of the woods, so all of this stuff really spoke to me. That was only really in this episode. I do know that Rehoboam is a place in Israel. Did anybody else look up the Bible quote on the wall? No.

There's a Bible quote when he calls Reverend Lovejoy that's in the back. 1-C-O-R-6-9-11. I thought it would be like a license plate fucking pixar or corinthians or as the president would say one corinthians um because he knows his bible oh he knows it so well it's his favorite book and i looked up the quotes and i find this a much more bizarre joke now unless it's totally random and maybe maybe i got my research wrong what are the verses it was one corinthian corinth Oh, man. No, 6, 9 through 11. I forget how this all works.

Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor the drunkards, nor slanderers, nor the swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of fire God. It sounds like a reference to baptism?

It is, but it's one of three specific controversial passages in the Bible that make reference to homosexuality. Ah, I see. And that's why I was like, I don't think people were talking about that. And the other one being Leviticus, which is popular men lying down with another man. That's a book of rules for like desert.

I'm not here to shit on you. Leviticus is a shitty book. I'm not here to shit on your religion. The passage, the best explanation I saw of this, especially defend, I'm defending the Bible against people who would call it anti-gay. So we keep that in mind. Leviticus is a passage about hygiene. The parts about man lying down with other men is in a passage with leprosy and menstruation.

And it refers to how you treat patients or hospital. When you really care about someone, you shout it from the mountaintops. So on behalf of Desjardins Insurance, I'm 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? Visits.

Yeah, and it's like none of the science is very sound being yes when it was written it's like a woman is menstruating make her live on a rock so this is also full of rules of how to own slaves yeah as well and this this passage specifically is i didn't know about this till a couple years ago men who have sex with men is a direct reference to the hedonism of the romans Because homosexuality was not a sin, not a bad thing, but it defined the aristocracy who was oppressing pretty much everybody else.

That's just an example of one of the hedonistic things. Is it New Testament? That's New Testament, bros. New Testament. What I'm also trying to point out, the Bible doesn't hate gays. Odds are your church does yeah i mean the bible is just vague enough you mean it to me you can make that mean anything but like this this is

who they're talking about the sexually immoral the people having sex with fucking children which that's what they were doing the idolaters building all these idols of different gods that's who they're referring to okay it's Sorry, I just... But yeah, no, I mean, all this stuff, like, yeah, like, slavery, all these horrible things were supported by readings of the Bible. Like, it's a book. Yes. The few of you who aren't dead are not allowed to use the Bible as an excuse to oppress or, yeah, gay people.

That's not happening anymore. All right. But so, yes, this is another thing they brought back in their seasons, like the panicky call from Ned to Rev Lovejoy, which we really hadn't seen in seasons five and six. It's the first appearance of Lovejoy's trains. I believe it is. Yeah, I love it. I love it. Both of these would pay off into the Listen Lady episode, which always gets overshadowed by Mr. Sparkle from the same episode.

Jeepers ain't crackers. I better call a reverend. Ned Flanders is on the phone. Hello, Ned. Reverend, emergency. It's the Simpson kids. Baptism. Doodly doodly.

Ned, have you thought about one of the other major religions? They're all pretty much the same. Damn Flanders. Looks like I'm gonna have to baptize you myself. So great. I want that on my soundboard so bad. Yes, probably stepped on a worm.

My fourth favorite scene in the whole thing. Yeah, it's... It's like when he's freaking out on the boat Yeah, it is very similar Just that he can't And also the Jeepers H Crackers I love it I think I've said that a lot of times It made me notice when the Simpsons

Bart and Lisa kept thinking Jesus was the answer Ned can't yell Jesus Because that would be blaspheme. He can't do it in a blasphemous way, but he's so close to say it. But it's how they can get away with him wanting to say, like, Jesus! Instead, he's like, but he's questioning, like, why would you say Jesus? It's not, Jesus! He's like, he's watching. It could be confused.

I could blaspheme here. People have to be careful. But Ned has a self-control that Homer doesn't have. Yes. Yes, that's true. And also, in that trivia scene maggie apparently got a question right oh i love that there's one star on maggie yeah but maude only got two does she suck or she just generous with the children i think yeah oh i've had many stars in my time but the kids are really well the kids are really upset but they apparently can't stop themselves from being

baptized and this is a very creepy scene that I forget is officially the second word she's ever said. Oh, relax, Bart. Your sister Maggie isn't scared. That's because she can't talk. Daddily doodily. Where are we going? Where are we going? Okay, okay, don't panic. To panic to find flanders i just have to think like flanders i'm a big four-eyed lame-o and i wear the same stupid sweater every day in

the springfield river that's my last show i'm sorry i have to veto the other one go for it that's the joke i once read a blog post about how this is the most complex And funny Simpsons joke just because of the levels it works on It's like Homer has to think like Ned Ned would not think that about himself And then that information would not Lead him to the river It's like all these great things that just pay off at the end And yet it is correct about where they are

And that he's right about it The exact place where they're at in the river too That brilliantly solves The dilemma for the writers of how to get Homer and Marge to the exact spot at the back. And we mentioned John Vidi in Batman. This feels like a Batman. Batman's solving a Riddler puzzle. Like, wait a minute, old chum. To the blank.

Yeah. So that's how it would seem at first, old chum. But actually, that's so true. Oh, man. That shows that Homer is actually an amazing profiler. I can think exactly like him. And he did. And he wore a stupid sweater.

Same stupid sweater. And Daddly Doodly also reminded me of what we found out from interviewing Bill Oakley that they had done a joke before of Maggie saying a word in Mrs. Bouvier's Lover. She says spaghetti. And the joke is that, oh, sorry. And nobody cares because it's like, you said your first word already. But then it was cut from the airing,

which Oakley was even surprised to hear it didn't air. But perhaps Groening had veto power on them in season five, but now in season seven, they're like, no, we're keeping this in. Yeah, I don't think that was animated. That's not in the deleted scenes of that season. Yeah, I know. Even though Oakley said he was sure it was still in there.

He was shocked to hear from us it wasn't. I bet it was recorded. That's probably why. A nice little Exorcist reference. Yeah. And I just went to the wiki to check and they credit

Yordley Smith as the voice of Maggie here and I hear Nancy. That's wrong. That's Nancy Cartwright. Yeah, he really sounds like Nancy. That's why we're here, people. As a Simpsons mega nerd

who does this show, I am so mad when I see a mistake on the wiki. I will not correct it. That's too much work. I'm like, no, you're wrong, sir. Tsk, tsk. What if they paid you?

Yes. Oh, they used to. Whoops. So then they're about to baptize them, and Homer arrives just in time. And so you do get some classic Homer taking injury, but it's a little more realistic than other times. That feels a lot like the Springfield Gorge fall, especially the close-up on his head as he hits everywhere on the way down yeah and then we get homer i my favorite animation the whole episode is the overdone like horror movie that's what's really bugging me because i feel that's too specific and i know it's not creature

from the black lagoon because I watched that recently. I mean, it feels like one of a million MST3K movies I saw, like even Bloodwaters of Zachter Z, which it definitely is not a reference to that. No one saw that film. The Holy Water Burns Homer, too. I want to believe it's a very specific monster movie reference, and I would love to find that out,

but I'm also very happy with it just being overdone and silly. Just the overacting on both Homer's reaction to being touched by it and then just the extra look on his face. You can hear some of it in this clip. Wow, Dad, you took a baptismal for me how do you feel oh bartholomew i feel like saint augustine of hippo after his conversion by ambrose of milan wait homer what did you just say i said shut your ugly face flanders fair enough it is fair enough because like you said about taking yeah kids to church how dare you baptize another group?

That's so weird. Letters cross the line, yeah. This is unforgivable on the Simpsons part. It's like the worst thing that's done. They kind of have to run away from it, because instead of walking away from the Flanders, this scene should end with Homer and Marge going like, what the fuck is wrong with you? You can't baptize our children. They're just too happy to have the kids back.

And I have to say, St. Augustine of Hippo and Ambrose of Milan are real, but they're from the 5th century, so I say old news. I don't remember any hippos in that Chinese Disney movie. So then it's between the – Bart and Lisa immediately come back to the Simpsons full, but Maggie has a moment of questioning. It was close, man. I love that shot of Homer with the frog jumping out of his pants

and all the dead trees behind him. That's great, yeah. It's so beautiful. Is there a sunset when Marge is looking off to Maggie or something? It's beautiful. Yeah, Oakley and Weinstein point out a lot of their shows end with the sun setting. Which I love in Orange Simpson Sky. It doesn't happen a lot.

Well, it's also cute to see Marge's arrival and when Maggie chooses her really reminds me of in the Rancho Relaxo episode, Maggie's excitement at seeing Marge. It all feels very retro in that way, which is weird to think in season seven there being a retro episode of The Simpsons. So yeah, it opens with a Homer Alone reference and closes with a Homer Alone reference. It's true. Or like, I guess, borrowing or reflection. Oh, Maggie, you're a Simpson again. Eh. Hey, Oliver.

Oh, my. So what was it like at the Flanders house? Yeah, give me all the dirt. Let's see. Dirt. Dirt. Well, there wasn't really much dirt. There was a bunch of old paint cans in the garage, though.

Ha ha ha ha! Old painy can that. Ha ha ha ha! I always knew he'd keep his old cans of paint. Ha ha ha ha! How do you like that? I love that last Marge line.

How do you like that? And then Marge gets the first and last words of the episode. Yeah. Pretty rare thing for Marge, but I just love that. How do you like that? So, man, just a great kickoff to the Oakley and Weinstein reign of the Simpsons, and it's going to be hard because I love season six so much now just coming fresh off of it, but we're getting into their tone, their jokes, and I'm feeling at home again with this kind of humor.

I really love this episode. It feels so different after, really, you had a two-parter that was basically a Simpsons movie. Then you have Radioactive Man, which is Hollywood comes to Springfield, so also major stakes. This is so much smaller. It pretty much doesn't leave Evergreen Terrace. Those two houses on Evergreen Terrace. That's right. It doesn't leave the block, except for two houses that's right like doesn't leave the block except for the spa yeah it's like it's a very small episode world altering but doesn't yeah it doesn't leave evergreen terrace but emotions are what matter most in this it brings

emotions back to the forefront which not to say like merkin had some real emotional episodes but more often he was into insanity which was amazing like in say homie the clown like that episode has no emotion to it but it's hilarious throughout this is a really good balance though yeah they found a better balance in this episode and i think definitely they were smart to get john beattie back oh for sure he did as a ringer john beattie only other stuff he'd been writing at this time is the clip shows under duress where they're like you signed a contract beD you're this great clip show writer we'll see you next year and though I mean this season is also home to the best clip show

138th episode spectacular so much better can't wait for that so I'm looking ahead at the list a really great season I some of them I mixed up with like I thought that was season 8 like I thought 22 shorts was this next season oh 7 is so good I'm so looking forward to doing the rest of

these everybody. So thanks for listening folks. I've been your host Bob Mackey. You can find me on Twitter as Bob Servo. My other podcast is

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slash TalkingSimpsons, where we have, oh, so many exclusives and more to come to Bob and me and we're working on tons of extra stuff. Just finished off the Critic, Talking Critic. You can listen to all of that and more are coming soon. Oh, hi! I want you to listen to Laser Time.

That's all I want. Listen to Laser Time or Vigigame Ap game apocalypse our weekly video game show or 30 2010 our weekly look back 30 20 and 10 years ago to that week in history which occasionally has the Simpsons in it it would

be 98 so that'd be season 9 9 hmm it's I need to triple check that there are some good season 9 episodes in there season 9 is great yeah and but every season is great Chris

we're doing this forever you can find all that and more on laser time podcast.com We do occasional game streams I think you guys closed out 2017 with us We did the awful itchy and scratchy game I know a ton of people like that video

Watching Bob struggle with a terrible Super Nintendo game I feel a great sense of achievement over what I've done You got to almost the third level on a game that's impossible And poorly made No one should ever play it So thanks for listening folks We'll see you next week with Bart Sells His Soul.

Wow. Infotainment.