Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Homer The Heretic

Episode Date: September 21, 2016

Season four of The Simpsons truly begins with Homer The Heretic. It’s such a great episode — truly a religious experience! So join in on this week’s podcast whether you’re Christian, Jew, or m...iscellaneous …

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Starting point is 00:00:00 today's talking simpsons is brought to you by little bits the easy to use electronic building blocks talking simpsons listeners can go to try little bits.com slash laser time and get 20 off your first order Ahoy, ahoy, everybody. Welcome to Talking Simpsons, where we celebrate the feast of maximum occupancy. I am your host, Bob Mackie, and this is the Laser Time Podcast Network's chronological exploration of the simpsons who else is here with me today uh proverbial pancake chrysanthista nice and i'm whizzing with the door open and i love it henry gilbert and i was born a snake handler and i'll die a snake and today's episode is homer the heretic which aired on october 8th 1992 chris will tell us what happened on this mythical day in history. Oh, boy.
Starting point is 00:01:06 Oh, my God. I mean, you just won't believe it. Steven Seagal's Under Siege beats the box office into submission. Nintendo and Sony announce a collaboration on an upcoming video game technology that should blow minds. And sitting President George H.W. Bush airs this campaign ad. To pay for his increased spending in arkansas bill clinton raised state taxes and not just on the rich he increased the sales tax by 33 imposed a mobile home tax increased the beer tax he assessed a tourism tax created a cable tv tax supported the tax on groceries and now if elected president bill clinton has promised to increase government spending $220 billion.
Starting point is 00:01:47 Guess where he'll get the money? We all know how well that ad worked. And I'll end my news voice. I like the subtle hillbilly theme, even though that is sort of the persona he would adopt for the 2000 election. But isn't that the incumbent Republican appealing to, like, look at this redneck asshole. He wanted to put a tax on trailers. Sorry, H.W. Bush, not W. Bush. I was confused for a second. I was like, why would a governor or a future governor be having that ad?
Starting point is 00:02:09 It's funny to see H.W. saying he's going to put $220 billion in spending. His son laughs at that. Laughs at that much government spending. He's like, he spent trillions, trillions. Oh man, we're going to piss off any right-leaning person in this. I mean, this episode's about religion, so...
Starting point is 00:02:26 And I will say, why don't you just back away if you're very sensitive to a bunch of, like, left-coast... Religious types, mostly. Left-coast lefties. Religious types, mostly. But also that the Nintendo PlayStation thing... If you don't know, the PlayStation... How do we say this quickly? The PlayStation is...
Starting point is 00:02:44 I can sum it up. Please, Bobby. Okay, Sony and Nintendo make a deal to make this. Sony wants to take a cut of the software profits. Nintendo says no. They don't say no to Sony. They go to Philips and announce they're working on a thing together and betray Sony. Sony goes up on their own.
Starting point is 00:02:57 What's that? In public at a major event. Yeah, at like a CES, I think. Yeah. Consumer Electronics Show. So then Nintendo doesn't make anything. Philips makes a CD-i, and then Sony makes the PlayStation three years later. Yes.
Starting point is 00:03:09 That's essentially the... Which should have been the new Nintendo console. Instead, Nintendo paid for its own competition. Exactly. And please listen to the Retronauts episode we covered that on. It's the SNES episode, which is a fairly recent one. Yes. I need to get back.
Starting point is 00:03:21 I want to get back to the Adventure Island episode. That is just for me. It's a deep dive, Chris. Good. But this episode here... Again, Chris, to get back. I want to get back to the Adventure Island episode. That is just for me. It's a deep dive, Chris. But this episode here, again, Chris, you're right. If you're a religious person, I respect what you do. But this is not the episode you probably want to listen to because I think this episode comes down on religion pretty hard. It's a George Meyer episode. Knowing who he is, I think it makes sense.
Starting point is 00:03:41 And as a 10-year-old boy, this helped me deal with religion, I think, in a profound way. It showed, like, I was, I was, what, I was attempted to be drowned, the Catholic tradition. That one, yes. Where the priest says, get dunked!
Starting point is 00:03:56 We're gonna drown the God into you, yes. That's what happened to me. I went to a lot of churches. I grew up with a lot of neighbors and friends going to their churches. My parents, not so much. But I was very religious. And the more i questioned the nature of everything the more guilty and self-loathing i felt and this episode was sort of like well you're not the only one with these
Starting point is 00:04:15 questions like that can point out these inconsistencies so it's you're not you're not an evil person and you can find some humor in it i I'd never seen entertainment do that before. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I grew up in the South, too, which is a very religious place. The Bible Belt is a real thing, especially 30 years ago. But in Arkansas, like, my cousins and my dad's only sister who lived with us lived in the same town as us in Arkansas. They went to church all the time. But my dad didn't. But my dad is conservative in that he definitely is like, oh, he's a Christian and Christianity is the number one thing.
Starting point is 00:04:54 But I think he's also lazy to the extent of like, I don't want to go to church. Though it could also, my dad's taking a beating on this. I'm sorry, dad, if you ever listen to this. But I also think it's because he's cheap and he like, he doesn't want to tithe. No, he doesn't want to tithe. No, he doesn't want to tithe. He doesn't want to give money to the church. What did George Cullen call church?
Starting point is 00:05:12 A place where white people go to compare clothing? So I think my dad just didn't want to compare. He didn't want to give up money. The closest thing I did to going to church was uh i actually went for about six six months to a year it's hard all the time feels weird when you're that young but when it was like seven i didn't get to hang out with my best friend in first grade because on certain days because he'd go to church he was he was in catholic school which was very different in the south like catholic schools is close to like going to temple because you're a
Starting point is 00:05:45 baptist in the south you are not a catholic but so i went with him to his catholic things until until it involved too much work to prepare for one of those things like oh wait i'm too lazy for this and my parents are forcing me to do this so bye bye religion and that was the last time i really i've never explained like i my parents i guess I can say now, were not that religious. My grandparents were. That's why I was baptized. So we didn't go to church on a weekly basis. So what I would do is stay over at friends' house on Saturday night because I wanted to go to church.
Starting point is 00:06:17 And my parents didn't go. So I went to Methodist churches. I went to Baptist churches. I went to Catholic churches as much as I could because I wanted to be I don't know, forgiven, loved. When you're that young and you hear the Christian stuff about guilt and what you owe
Starting point is 00:06:34 and how you got to make good on it. And how a man died for you, Henry. Yeah, and that guilt shit, I won't say it works on all children, but it really worked on me. I was really susceptible to that stuff. I was just thinking like, oh, but when will Jesus love me? What will I do? I hate bullshit.
Starting point is 00:06:50 I hate it. Well, I don't know. It doesn't matter if it's bullshit. It's about what meaning you derive from it. I don't mean to make fun of people of faith. I will say I went to Catholic church for the absolute last time when my grandfather died. For grandfather, he wore a cross around his neck every fucking day. for the absolute last time when my grandfather died. He had like one, like for grandfather,
Starting point is 00:07:06 you know, he wore a cross around his neck every fucking day. So like, let's go to, let's go to this Catholic church. And I'm there with my evangelical aunt and uncle who like, and then,
Starting point is 00:07:15 and so we're in this Catholic church and just like, and like they're laughing and I'm laughing because they're kind of, not necessarily scary church, is at least up to date. Yeah. And like this is Gregorian.
Starting point is 00:07:30 They weren't singing in Latin, were they? It's not a pre-Vatican 2 church. It was so boring and irrelevant until the preacher actually got up and like started to talk, which is interesting. But like the audience and like I always call on the Simpsons them going to church is one of the more dated aspects of the show. Because when the show was out, everybody I knew other than me was going to church. And now I don't know anybody, not one person, who goes to church on a regular basis. So I do want to tell my story. I want to hear Bob's.
Starting point is 00:07:57 I did not grow up in the South. I grew up in a town in Ohio that was literally forsaken by God. It was a God-forsaken town. And my family was not anti-religious. They just didn't have time for religion. It's like, we're a working-class family. I want to sleep in on Sunday. Church is too much work.
Starting point is 00:08:11 We'll be fine. Let's just have fun and be a nice family together. So this changed for me when I was moved from public school to Catholic school at age nine. And all of a sudden, I was encountering religion for the first time, really, hands-on. And it was church that really disturbed me in a profound way because this episode speaks to me because I didn't go to church on Sunday. I went during school. Like every week there would be a school mass.
Starting point is 00:08:34 And when I first started going, I'm like, what are we doing? Like why are we doing this? Like we could be doing anything else but this. Why are we doing this? This is such a waste of time. It's boring. I could be reading my book at my desk. Like the existence of church and how boring it is and how it serves no purpose for all people, Why are we doing this? This is such a waste of time. It's boring. I could be reading my book at my desk.
Starting point is 00:08:49 The existence of church and how boring it is and how it serves no purpose for all people, this is what this episode speaks to. It's not anti-religion. I think it's anti the shit that goes along with religion. Ceremony. Church does not look good in this episode. There is no good view of church. The act of going to church is viewed as universally bad in this episode. For me, it was.
Starting point is 00:09:04 It was really boring. Oh, for me too. When there was a sleepover, I made sure to not sleep over at my religious friend's house on a Saturday because it meant I would have to go to church with them on Sunday. I did not want to do that. I begged to go to Southern Baptist Camp because that camp had 40 Nintendos.
Starting point is 00:09:20 That's pretty good. And a water slide and a gym and projected movies on a big... Holy crap, religion is big is what I'm saying. And a water slide and a gym and projected movies on a big... Holy crap, religion is big is what I'm saying. And then I went through puberty. Women. Women kept me going to church. Women, women, women.
Starting point is 00:09:33 Because you literally have to hold their hand. Yes. In like several times. You can hug them sometimes, Chris. But it got to the point... I'm fascinated to know if... Do a lot of your friends go to church? Do you still go to church? I don't want to... You don't have to answer that in the comments. I'm not judging anybody do a lot of your friends go to church? Do you still go to church?
Starting point is 00:09:46 You don't have to answer that in the comments. I'm not judging anybody. I just dislike church. I don't know. That's the thing. I was talking to my cousin about his evangelical church and he's like we were laughing at the Catholic church and also with you
Starting point is 00:10:02 and like why are they still doing this? There's nobody under 50 in this church and there never will be again. Well, Chris, before the 60s, it was all in Latin. Do you know that?
Starting point is 00:10:11 Yes. And he said, my church literally has dubstep drops. Wow. Yeah. So like, we had like a cute lady
Starting point is 00:10:17 with a guitar that would come in sometimes. Or Bible man. That's pretty hip. Yeah. But again, like this episode really spoke to me
Starting point is 00:10:23 because I got to the point after a year, like I knew how much time there was left in church. Like, oh, we're at the homily. 20 more minutes. Yeah. But again, this episode really spoke to me because I got to the point after a year, I knew how much time there was left in church. Like, oh, we're at the homily. 20 more minutes, then it's sweet, sweet, no church. Yeah. You just seem like an eternity as a little kid in Catholic church.
Starting point is 00:10:33 Baptist and Methodist, I way prefer. I mean, we're going on a bit, but I think it's important to know where we come from to know that we don't personally hate religion. For me, it's just the ceremony of it, that forcing it upon children who don't understand it, I think, is kind of wrong. I'm not the biggest fan of religion, but i also have come to hate dogmatic atheists most of all i'm an atheist and i hate those assholes yeah i don't wear a fedora by the way well now that's the thing it's just like why like i stopped even saying i'm an atheist because like
Starting point is 00:10:58 because you think that means oh i'm i'm such a logical egalitarian atheist and if anything you're a fucking fool for believing in this demon with a pointy tail like I fucking hate those guys it's okay to go through Richard Dawkins' face you should eventually stop though at like age 20
Starting point is 00:11:16 or something that guy's bullshit too and Hitchens too man fuck that guy I used to say it's not interesting to be an atheist we are all
Starting point is 00:11:24 born atheists. Because you would not automatically make up a religion as a baby. Unless you slide onto a baptism pool. So we're all born atheists. And then I said that in front of my friend from Tanzania. And I said it at a party. Everybody giggled. And then he came back to me 20 minutes.
Starting point is 00:11:39 And she's like, you know how hard it was for me to renounce my Muslim heritage? Like saying we're all born atheists? I just don't say that anymore. No, I actually did hear that from a fan of ours who was very critical of me shitting on atheists because I am used to like, there's no cost to being an atheist here. And I did forget what it was like where I grew up.
Starting point is 00:12:01 It was subversive. This episode was subversive. And I remember in my 20s, in my early 20s, where I grew up like even it was subversive this episode was subversive yeah and when like I remember we in my like 20s in my early 20s I was working at a blockbuster I was working blockbuster and one of my co-workers she was just like you don't really believe all that Harry Potter stuff right that's a devil and I was like really we're having I also worship Jigglypuff yeah and I also told her like I don't go to church at all and And she couldn't believe it. She's like, what? I was like, yeah, I don't believe in that.
Starting point is 00:12:27 And then I was like, I got to step back from this because I'm going to get, like, witnessed here. She's going to try to save me. Though I could point out to her that, like, the other person I worked with there who was also super religious, she was also a huge Harry Potter fan. Uh-oh. How do you reconcile that? I don't know. Dude, check out the Golden Compass if you want to be pissed at magic. I mean, when the second...
Starting point is 00:12:47 That guy really hates you. Oh, yeah. He wants you to die. When the second Harry Potter film came out, it was one of my first nights working at my job before Blockbuster AMC Theater. And this is in northern Florida. And so a kid gets their meal that comes with Harry Potter jelly beans.
Starting point is 00:13:08 Bernie bots every flavor bean? I remember two parents saying, don't give me that. The beans of the devil. We don't get that Harry Potter stuff. That's not for our kids. Whoa. I think that's why we have a distaste for religion in general. The Harry Potter
Starting point is 00:13:24 thing being the best example. Harry Potter thing being the best example. Harry Potter is not the best target. Yeah. It was just the most relevant. Yeah. I encourage people to look up videos of preachers denouncing Pokemon as tools of the devil. Ridiculous. They want to become the master of the Pokemon.
Starting point is 00:13:37 Ridiculous. They're not the most demonic parts of media. They're just the most popular. I think I could be more relevant if we get together as a community and sacrifice what is relevant. But we are talking about The Simpsons, right? Oh, yeah. We're all naked and wet. Yes, we're all naked and wet.
Starting point is 00:13:54 Homer, it's time for church. I don't want to go. It's church. You have to go. Too cold out. There you go. I do think Homer the Heretic gave me the language I needed as a kid to understand what I didn't like about it.
Starting point is 00:14:07 It said to me, this cool thing you like says it's okay to not like church. And from then on, I felt comfortable. Like, I'm not wrong. The Simpsons is right. And I like The Simpsons. And I have way too many clips of everything just because I love this episode. Wait, this is the first film Roman episode. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:22 Let's talk about that. Let me burn this one off. Hey, where's Homer? Your father's resting. Resting hungover. Resting got fired. Help me out here. In terms of pacing, this episode is just like, bam, like it starts.
Starting point is 00:14:33 There's no wasted time. So funny. Like, this is, could we call this legit the first four-season episode for real? Yeah. It's the first production, fourth season, first Film Roman episode, too. It's no more Klasky Chupo Rugrats people working on its Film Roman. It is not just breakneck in terms of its jokes and gags. It is perfect.
Starting point is 00:14:50 Well, for The Simpsons, it's perfect animation. Not too much, not too little. But doing things you can only do in cartoons over and over again. I love... Homer feels like a pile of goo in this episode. I feel like Matt Groening probably hated this these first few years. But yeah, this was... So the Film Roman thing Groening probably hated this these first few years. But yeah, this was the Phil Roman thing.
Starting point is 00:15:08 We talked about this some in the previous episodes. They dropped Klasky Chupo. Now they're working with Phil Roman, who had mainly worked on Garfield specials at this point. Which were great. Excellent. Those Garfield specials, again, all written by Jim Davis, a guy we now hate. Those Garfield specials are amazing. They're kind of
Starting point is 00:15:23 beautiful. They are awesome. Garfield and Friends was not a bad show. No, it's a funny show. It was pretty smart for a kid's show. Yeah, it's run by Phil Roman. So it's his wife's name after him. He was a longtime animator in the American animation business. He had even worked on How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Starting point is 00:15:43 Oh, that's right. And peanut specials, too. Again, if I can ever get the site back up, CartoonChristmas.com. I'm saying this because I write about Christmas specials and not a fan of Garfield, and I was just like, this is amazing. The Garfield Christmas special and the Halloween special.
Starting point is 00:15:57 Oh, there's only a couple more weeks left and I can start watching it again. I'm excited. Yeah, but this episode is so... I think they were really firing up. They also made Bobby's World. And King of the Hill. Yeah, Bobby's World was great firing on this one. They also made Bobby's World. Yeah. And King of the Hill.
Starting point is 00:16:07 Yeah, Bobby's World was great. Why'd you go, ew? Yeah, you're right. Bobby's World was awesome. I don't think of the animation as the best. But did you notice... I wonder if it was intentional that this episode begins with a birth, and so is this the rebirth of the series under a new animation studio? After we last saw Sperm.
Starting point is 00:16:23 Interesting. You're right. We saw Sperm. Oh, my God. They we last saw Sperm. Interesting. You're right. Oh, my God. They go out on Sperm, come in with a berth. Yeah. So, yes, I mean, there are so many great lines in this episode. Like, immediately Homer is home alone and just indulging in being, like, taking a sick day from church.
Starting point is 00:16:38 Right off the bat, I have one of, like, seven lines of the show. That's the joke. I'm whizzing with the door open, and I love it. Okay, I still say that every week. I say this every day. I do it all the time. I work from home, and I always pee with the door open, and I always think of that line when I pee with the door open.
Starting point is 00:16:59 See, that's not the one I think of. I think of being in bed and just saying, like, I'm a warm, toasty cinnamon bun. To be totally honest, more than anything, re-watching this now, I grew up in Florida, as we said. The snugness of a really, really cold outdoors. In Florida, I loved it. It's pouring rain. Great.
Starting point is 00:17:18 An excuse not to do anything. I don't have to leave or fulfill any responsibilities but like being able to snuggle up in bed and just watch TV or like a nice robe and slipper like all of that was romanticized for me especially when I have to take a pee like should I get up to pee oh god I'm too comfortable
Starting point is 00:17:36 but eventually your bladder will force you up just like with Homer so him in the shower I had to look up two parts of this so first the song he's singing is the Tom Jones song, Delilah. Oh, Delilah. And then
Starting point is 00:17:52 his radio says No Soap Radio, which I had to look this up because even the commentary doesn't fully explain what it is. It's a reference to a joke prank you can do. So, say Bob and i are in this in cahoots on this and you're the innocent person sure okay so i then say a joke i was like hey guys
Starting point is 00:18:13 i got a joke the elephant and the hippopotamus are taking a bath and the elephant said to the hippo please pass the soap the hippo replies no soap radio now bob is my confederate would laugh at that acting like it's a hilarious joke even though the punchline makes no sense and then it would wait to see if you would laugh along and pretend that you got it and then if you started to pretend that you got it they'd be like haha fuck you that wasn't a joke that joke doesn't make any sense. You're trying to pretend you're smart. You're stupid. Yeah. It's to shame you. It's a short con.
Starting point is 00:18:48 Yeah. It's a short con. I only remember Bugs Bunny saying, no soap, doc, in one cartoon. It is a 1940s prank. Yeah. But he said it in regards of, like, I didn't do anything. No soap is an actual expression, but no soap radio is meaningless. But it has nothing to do with, like, soap operas, like, soap opera free. The soap is an actual expression, but no soap radio is meaningless. But it has nothing to do with
Starting point is 00:19:05 soap operas, like soap opera free. The joke is it's nothing. And if you laughed at it in the prank, then it proves you're stupid. Or that you're trying to be friendly with your friends. Oh yeah, they said that joke. This is why I don't like pranks.
Starting point is 00:19:21 Pranks are horrible. 90s was peak asshole. The joke is like, you trusted me, you asshole. So there, that explains no soap radio. To punch for flinching, we were really mean to one another. Have any of us ever had moon waffles before? Moon waffles?
Starting point is 00:19:35 The perfect chance to make my patented space age out of this world moon waffles. Let's see here. Caramels, waffle batter, liquid smoke, waffle runoff. Oh, this is, I feel like Homer toked up in the 70s and ate a lot of moon waffles. That's what they feel like. The animation on this sequence in particular, which should be boring and Homer adding ingredients to something is so, it's not lavish. It's very expressive, even if it is a bit
Starting point is 00:20:05 off-model, which is what I like. It's just so, but very slightly off-model in terms of The Simpsons. I like this, I wish every episode was like this. No, I love the slight off-model look. I love when their eyes get really big, their pupils get big too in these episodes. And if you want to see if my bias is showing, I've said how much I like season two and three.
Starting point is 00:20:22 I bought season two and three on Amazon's digital video service and I watched them like that I really can't be bothered nowadays to put in a DVD unless it's absolutely necessary so I haven't watched season four since for about fuck maybe five six
Starting point is 00:20:37 years and suffer through those awful awful they're the worst yeah they're the worst here's a terrible animation watch it nine times yeah I remember like I made my selection and I'm watching it on my computer, and it's like, it's 11 seconds before anything's going to happen. We were taught in this animation, Chris. There's 15 more seconds of animation to be played. I never made moon waffles, but I definitely, whenever in my 20s, I was like, I'm just going
Starting point is 00:21:01 to lounge around and make pancakes for a long breakfast this morning. I definitely had Homer's lackadaisical, like, let batter splatter everywhere. Mmm, batter. I have to explain this to my girlfriend every so often. One time, it was pouring rain, and I just decided to get drunk by myself and watch Donald Duck cartoons until my eyes bled. And so I didn't want to go out and get anything to eat. I ordered Pizza Hut online because I wanted my ultimate comfort food. Bring it to me.
Starting point is 00:21:29 I want a Pizzone, bitch. Did you go to pizza.net like Sandra Bullock did in the net? Love that reference. It really happened. It's so good. It became our future. It really did. And I hate pizza.
Starting point is 00:21:39 It's the worst pizza ever. There's a great pizza place right downstairs, but they don't deliver. You've got to walk 100 feet for that. And I hate it. But I ordered once five years ago in Pizza Hut. Every once in a while, we'll send you like a earth-shattering coupon that you're like, it would be stupid.
Starting point is 00:21:55 You're not a franchisee. It would be stupid not to buy pizza at this price. For $3, just get a pizza, please. Yeah, about two times a year I order like dude a like a bounty of Pizza Hut for just me because I'm embarrassed for people to see the boxes
Starting point is 00:22:09 I we're in San Francisco and everyone's a foodie so I like I like shred them up and run them out of my house the Simpsons will be right back
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Starting point is 00:24:35 platform and it's just like i hate the city i hate it here not to defend this person but like i mean if i had look if i was outside and i had diarrhea was it you dave i would just literally spray it everywhere because it's like what what's your other choice all right you have such a terrible opportunity for splashback it's like containing how closely do you squat to the ground then dave are you talking don't squat because they don't get on my shoes are your shoes nice i'm literally nobody wants poop on their shoes i'm downward dogging it onto some wall i'm sorry i've heard a really good story really good story that this girl, like in a car ride home, is just like, I've got to go, I've got to go.
Starting point is 00:25:10 I'm going to eat something bad. I'm going to die. You get in the garage, and it's like not going to make it, like puts your back against the wall, like inner squatting position, and just lets it all go. And it's like. Does it drop Shroud or no? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:22 Okay. Man, how far was she from a bathroom? Close, but it's still like, dude, there's just a point of no return sometimes with Batman. You're just like... I mean, I've never done it in my pants. I know that feeling when you're running, and you're like,
Starting point is 00:25:33 that was a photo finish, man. Yeah. Like, you could have had the thousand frames a second camera to watch how close that came. It wins by a con. Get bonus time, Laser Time's weekly, full-length, uncensored,
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Starting point is 00:26:00 never be bored again. Lazer Time! best to help you never be bored again. So, yes, the Simpsons are all suffering in church without Homer, and something I remember watching this originally, my mom... That was my other line of the show. Oh, okay. Mmm, fattening. Nice. Yes.
Starting point is 00:26:21 The, uh, this is a throwaway line, but Reverend Lovejoy talking about the card table for sale, my mom cracked up over that, and she was reciting that over and over for at least a year. If you've read a church newsletter... Not badly damaged, missing a leg. But I love that. It's juxtaposing Homer being home and not in church with how terrible, not only church is normally,
Starting point is 00:26:40 but how bad it is today. Validating that he made the best decision of his life. And he was cast into the fiery cauldron of hell the searing heat the scalding rivers of molten sulfur oh i'm there i didn't set that up well that's that's there's no there's no ac or heat in the church long version uh there's no AC in the church. Everybody's freezing. So Reverend Lovejoy talking about fire, brimstone, and sulfur. He's like, yes, it's so evocative. I never noticed.
Starting point is 00:27:12 You heard a crash there. He throws his hands back and hits a bush in the background that is frozen so solid it shatters like glass. I noticed that this time. I never noticed that before. But again, that's why there's so many throwaway things, like blink and you'll miss it. There are icicles coming off the pulpit. It must be like 20 degrees in there.
Starting point is 00:27:30 Jesus, my other line of the show. Let's keep doing this. Oh, yeah, so many great lines. You must be the three chiropractors I sent for. Now start manipulating my spine. Hey, Moe, we don't know nothing about manipulating. You heard the lady. Grab a spine and get cracking. Moe is their leader. I mean, I think of that every time I see the Three Stooges.
Starting point is 00:27:56 As a kid, Moe is their leader. I like that Homer's takeaway, like, he tells them what to do. I loved the Three Stooges so much as a kid. I had a stupid Just Say Moe shirt. I lightened up on the Three Stooges so much as a kid. I had a stupid Just Say Mo shirt. I lightened up on the Three Stooges. I actually didn't like them as a kid. Oh, really? I was a Marx Brothers guy. I thought the Three Stooges were dumb and too mean.
Starting point is 00:28:15 As an eight-year-old? As a fucking five-year-old? No, I mean, I guess, well, I probably first hated the Three Stooges because I played their NES video games. That's terrible. But then, yeah, when I saw the Marx Brothers at like a 10-year-old, I saw the Marx Brothers, I thought they were funnier. They played the Three Stooges with the Looney Tunes on
Starting point is 00:28:31 my TV. Well, I also, when I saw the Looney Tunes, I was like, well, these guys are in color and can stretch around. They're more fun than middle-aged men who are in pain all the time. Can we just get together and at least it wasn't the Little Rascals? Yes. Oh was it was always stratified above that
Starting point is 00:28:46 if I had that to pick but I think I always come back to the Andy Kidler joke that also turned me on them he said this is him on
Starting point is 00:28:53 Dr. Katz which is you know I think I figured out why women don't like the Three Stooges they're not funny they're not funny
Starting point is 00:28:59 do you think they ever rejected a script I've warmed to that when I talk about romanticizing things in this episode, bundling up on a cold day and watching Three Stooges, which I don't normally watch, but every time I do see it,
Starting point is 00:29:12 I'm like, this is fucking great. And the Three Stooges, that's great observation of what was Sunday morning programming in the 90s. Exactly, yeah. Because you'd either get televangelists who were basically shouting at you for not being in church. One of your uncles or something?
Starting point is 00:29:27 Or the cheat. I do have a third cousin who is Kenneth Copeland. He's one of the very predatory evangelists who take advantage of people's beliefs. One of the things that we see that Sunday morning programming is that really boring news program Homer has on. This is great. Come on, TV. Give me some of that sweet, sweet pep. What's to find our terms, gentlemen?
Starting point is 00:29:51 Are we talking about redistricting or are we talking about reapportionment? Oh, well. Can't win them all. We interrupt this public affairs program to bring you a football game. Yes! I love the logo for that program. It's like two businessmen battling on a cliffside. One's holding up a briefcase,
Starting point is 00:30:08 the other one's swinging a mace behind him and striking him. So I just, for the Olympics, my girlfriend was really in the Olympics, I bought one of those digital antennas and a connector to my Xbox One. So I'm rediscovering over-the-air television. It has not changed. Really?
Starting point is 00:30:24 No. Do you want to watch the local news followed by Mama's family? You can over the air. It's still happening. It is fascinating and, again, romanticized. When I turn it on, I can't actually sit through a lot of this stuff.
Starting point is 00:30:38 It's all public affairs. Well-researched, smart people talking about local politics. I don't know. I love it. I honestly think that's why Nicktoons chose Sunday mornings to premiere, because what else was happening on Sunday morning? They had everybody, every child watching after church.
Starting point is 00:30:52 And so the Homer dance animation, there's so much great little animation here. The Homer dance animation is great. I love his bear slippers. His bear slippers. But I also really love, it's a little thing, but when he's eating the chips and then he pours the last of the chips on his stomach and then picks them up like it's so well observed like lazy fat guy chip eating he's at his most hedonistic here like this is like homer in his element just just indulging
Starting point is 00:31:16 in every id in every id fantasy he has and when he imagined that this was the best day ever i do remember my mom was somewhat offended that Homer put it above his wedding day. My mom did not like that. He put it above dancing in an overturned beer truck fountain. I mean, come on. Was there a lot of controversy surrounding this episode? Surprisingly, no. I heard nothing
Starting point is 00:31:38 about this. I guess the show was already controversial on everybody's hit list, so it just would have seemed like Crying Wolf. It was the naughty show for like three years, so I assume that if someone hated this show they would assume it would sink this low churches hated them already
Starting point is 00:31:48 yeah and then though it does feel like such a reverse if they made this episode now the plot would be not this episode in the Simpsons
Starting point is 00:31:57 but if a sitcom made it now the plot would be more about somebody going from secularism to going to church not about becoming more secular and not going to church because to going to church not about becoming more secular and not going to church because like going to church is is the out of the ordinary thing for modern television characters now yes and that's that's when i do see recent newer simpsons
Starting point is 00:32:15 episodes when they go to church in the beginning it was a the joke was usually about man we have to go to church and you only see reverend Lovejoy now when they're making a joke about religion or advocates or moral high ground people. So church is not just a natural part of their activities. No, it's to make a joke about a certain kind of people, in my opinion, because they don't, they do it in the movie. And I remember like even in the Simpsons movie,
Starting point is 00:32:38 like they're sincerely going to church still? That's still happening? Yeah, but meanwhile, like if they did it on the Big Bang Theory, if somebody said you're not going to church or uh another popular sitcom there is no god bazinga yeah well because they're scientists actually i do know from watching one episode of big bang theory that uh sheldon's mom played by laurie metcalf uh she's actually great uh she's still above that show though she's his she's his super religious mom, and everybody's like,
Starting point is 00:33:05 oh, is this why you became a scientist? Because your mom is super religious? So far this year, my favorite show is Horace and Pete, if you haven't seen it. Because you can, most of you. It's fantastic, and she's amazing on it. I think the only other show where they go to church a lot where it's not about religion is King of the Hill.
Starting point is 00:33:20 Church factors into their lives. Yeah, but you still don't see it that much. They don't have a famous pastor character. There's Reverend Stroop. Yeah, they you still don't see it that much. They don't have like a famous pastor character. There's reference Stroop. Yeah, they're Luke Fisk. All right, all right. But whatever, Homer makes a decision to never go again. This is where the blasphemy comes in.
Starting point is 00:33:34 Ah, my beloved family. How was church? Oh, I guess that you'll find me. What did he say? I, on the other hand, have been having the best day of my life and I owe it all to skipping church. That's a terrible thing to say, kids. Your father doesn't really mean that.
Starting point is 00:33:49 Like fun I don't, Marge. I'm never going to church again. Homer, are you actually giving up your faith? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, yes. I love that fucking line. Did Bart say get get Betty you old bastard yeah
Starting point is 00:34:05 it sounded like you don't fuck I have no idea what he said it's beautiful this was another bad pause by me on our tape
Starting point is 00:34:12 my pause ended in the middle of no no no and then it just goes next scene it was so sad but Marge's devotion to
Starting point is 00:34:19 Christianity almost seems makes her look like too spiritual in this episode she's like we have to go to church. You're going to go to hell. I have to tell
Starting point is 00:34:28 the children you're going to hell, which if she said that now, she'd look like beyond Flanders level. March has to be more religious for this plot to work. That's an excellent point, actually. Because to say this now, you would have to be like hyper, hyper observant. But we didn't question it then.
Starting point is 00:34:45 So then Homer has a dream. Well, I have some of this. I have a bunch of this because I never heard anything like this on television. This all makes so much sense. Homer is right, actually. I can't believe you're giving up church, Homer. Hey, what's the big deal about going to some building every Sunday? I mean, isn't God everywhere?
Starting point is 00:35:02 Amen, brother. And don't you think that the Almighty has better things to worry about than when one little guy spends one measly hour of his week? I can see the bearded face of George Meyer speaking these lines. Walking from between his long hair. Because George Meyer came from a very religious family. A Catholic family. And a very unhappy one. And so he hates religion and he comes through with this. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:35:32 Oh, man. What was the last George Meyer episode? Something else he really hated. Oh, it was cops. Yeah, it was separate vocations. It's not a fan of cops. So Homer meets God. And I think if you're like me you kind of forget
Starting point is 00:35:46 their Sheldon dream sequences they do clearly label them as dreams yeah that's important because they didn't want to infer that God is actually talking to Homer because that's what I that's how I remember it and I think it was either a book or maybe a website that included God in the Simpsons tertiary
Starting point is 00:36:02 character section because he does come back and I do love and I have to point this out that God in the Simpsons tertiary character section? Because he does come back, and I do love and I have to point this out, that God and the devil are both Harry Shearer. I don't think they're saying anything by that. And this is his first appearance. This is God's first appearance in the series.
Starting point is 00:36:17 Phil Hartman is a heavenly voice when Bart's in heaven, but that's not technically God. I don't think it's supposed to be God, yeah. It's God's PR. And he has five fingers. That's true, yeah. Except in the last shot where they screwed up. Yes. Paul has forsaken my church.
Starting point is 00:36:34 Well, kind of. But what? I'm not a bad guy. I work hard and I love my kids. So why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I'm going to hell? Hmm. You've got a point there.
Starting point is 00:36:49 You know, sometimes even I'd rather be watching football. Does St. Louis still have a team? No, they moved to Phoenix. Oh, yeah. You know what I really hate about church? Those boring sermons. I couldn't agree more. That Reverend Lovejoy really displeases me. I think I agree more. That reverent lovejoy
Starting point is 00:37:05 really displeases me. I think I'll give him a kecker sore. Give him one for me. I will. So I figure I should just try to live right and worship you in my own way. Homer, it's a deal. Now, if you'll excuse me,
Starting point is 00:37:20 I have to appear in a tortilla in Mexico. That line really confused me as a kid. It's ahead of its time. My parents had to explain to me the idea of people see religious figures in things. It's like the money-eating statue of Mary from Mr. Show. I love that one. I forgot that. So some sports facts here, which I'm sure I will be corrected on.
Starting point is 00:37:42 I meant to look it up. I'll believe you no matter what, Henry, so please. So the St. Louis Cardinals weren't just a baseball team. They were a football team. And they had left for Phoenix to become the Arizona Cardinals, which they still are. So this was 1992. In 1995, St. Louis got the Rams. The Rams left LA
Starting point is 00:38:06 and so for 20 years they had the Rams and now the Rams have left them again to go back to LA so St. Louis is now the only city to have lost two NFL football teams now you'll just have to go to the dump and cheer for rats if you want local pride
Starting point is 00:38:21 I don't understand sports go cheer for their World Series champions the St. I don't know. I don't understand sports. Go cheer for their World Series champions, the St. Louis Cardinals, the baseball team. Didn't know. They've won it a couple times. You're dating the episode, Henry. Sports is a good segue
Starting point is 00:38:32 to the next clip because I am a nerd, I guess. I don't know. I love... Look around my room. It's just a bunch of Disney duck tales, sci-fi horse shit,
Starting point is 00:38:44 video game, game amiibos uh sports people are the nerdiest people i've ever met without a doubt and so you've heard us on the show like what episode was that i can't automatically think of every episode when we describe the plot i can't think of the name of it but sports people like i ran 400 200 yards in 1976 and uh always remember but the people nerdier than that and this always seemed normal growing 400,200 yards in 1976. Always remember, but the people nerdier than that, and this always seemed normal growing up in these church communities,
Starting point is 00:39:09 being able to say an old name in four numerics, like, ah, that Bible quote. That's a Numbers 14.3. Yes. So I love this sequence because I don't hear
Starting point is 00:39:21 many people do it anymore and usually it's only preachers, but how is this ever how we talk to one another? Do you remember bob austin 316 yes yeah no i mackie 54 2069 i i actually think of that with regards to a i think it was roger ebert who mentioned this once that it's a rule in film that if one character starts to quote a bible verse the other character finishes it. They both know it. You have to, because what it's trying to do,
Starting point is 00:39:47 what it translates to immediately is not only do you know that exact passage, you know what it means. You have reinterpreted the literal nature of most Bible passages. But people don't do that in movies anymore. Now they're much more likely to say, hey, remember that scene in Star Wars
Starting point is 00:40:04 where, like, that's literally what happens in Civil War, Captain America Civil War. They say hey remember that scene in star wars where like that's literally that happens in civil war captain america civil war they say remember that scene in star wars yes we all remember the scene in star wars they could have said or remember in the bible where this happens but they don't say the unbelievable speak in an aaron sorkin show where someone's like do you remember the case of blank versus blank and like oh the case over abortion rights like that's what they but yeah i love this when they say like it's what 10 to 4 and pick them or they say that line all the time in sorkin speak and uh homer i'd like you to remember matthew 7 26 the foolish man who built his house on sand. And you remember Matthew 21-17.
Starting point is 00:40:48 And he left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and he lodged there? Yeah. Think about it. Another one of my favorite lines of the show. Now, I think this is more of a Matt Groening thing, that Reverend Lovejoy
Starting point is 00:41:04 is not evil here. He's not a negative repressive force. He's not sermonizing to Homer. He's not telling Homer, you're definitely going to go to hell for doing this. He's treated with a certain level of respect, I'd say. And I know that Groening on the commentaries has said, he didn't want to turn Lovejoy into just their repository
Starting point is 00:41:23 for mocking Christianity. Which he is now. Which he eventually became. Every character becomes this extreme. That's the perfect way to put it. It happens to Lovejoy too. In this episode, he is not that. He is a good
Starting point is 00:41:38 representative of organized religion, not just making it look all wrong. I love him talking to Moe about about Mo's religion. Hello, work. This is Homer Simpson. I won't be coming in tomorrow. Religious holiday. The feast of
Starting point is 00:41:53 maximum occupancy. Pretty slack. You should join my religion, Mo. It's great. No hell, no kneeling. Sorry, Homer. I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler. He's covered with wounds and band-aids. I just ended up looking into this, because on a recent episode of the Dana Gould Hour,
Starting point is 00:42:10 a former writer of The Simpsons, he was talking about snake handling. It was something the government had to eventually step in and regulate. Yeah, like, you're too stupid. It is a 20th century thing, though, and that's crazy. Yeah, the idea is, like, God is protecting me, so these snakes will not bite me. But lots of people died from snake bites. Yes, tons of people died from snake it turns out god is not helping you with the devil eventually picks somebody yeah i mean that's the same with christian science anyway uh yes so the the flanders car chase is pretty great yes it's it's a return
Starting point is 00:42:41 to the 70s car chase pretty much we already saw in Separate Vocations. So maybe that's just the George Meyer thing. He loves 70s car chase. I love the hubcap flying off, too. Yeah, well, this is, again, where the animation is just like at the top notch for this. I love when Homer just pounds on his wheel in the anger. And then the jump onto the boat. And it ends perfectly like the garbage island.
Starting point is 00:43:04 I was expecting the Flanders car to fall into the water. It's like teetering on the edge of the dock, you know? If this would have been season six, they would have. Yeah. They would have landed. We are watching these chronologically, and just I cannot believe how much better and better each of these gets to revisit. I hope you're listening. Is everybody listening?
Starting point is 00:43:20 There are so many jokes. So good. Like, just this one of Homer reading a Playboy. Is it Play... An interview with Lorne Michaels. Wait, that's no good. Hey, now we're talking. Our unabashed dictionary defines IUD as Love Springs Internal.
Starting point is 00:43:39 I don't get it. I got that when I first watched the DVDs, like, a decade later. I think I get it now, but I don't understand V. I got that when I first watched the DVDs, like, a decade later. I think I get it now, but I don't understand vaginas, guys. It's a intrauterine device that prevents pregnancies, the IUD. Oh, I was the IUD. Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was more on the Lorne Michaels tip. The Lorne Michaels thing I got later.
Starting point is 00:43:58 Yeah, I predate the internet, and I had to learn to masturbate using magazines with photos of women. I think we're all from that era. No longer exists. But I just wanted to point, those Playboy interviews were basically the first podcast. If you've ever read one. They're like 17 pages long of the smallest text ever. And they asked them everything. Where people would make revelatory statements was in Playboy.
Starting point is 00:44:22 I don't know how Playboy existed. Well, you'd get to read the interviews where they'd say fuck yeah too they would just be talking normally you'd see peter sellers talking about doing weed they're no shit smoke weed all the time amazing and like i discovered that after like you know i've wiped my chest off and i actually start reading the magazine this is an incredibly concise stereo review i'm sure they invited you to the mansion got you stoned and then turn then turned on the recorder. I'm sure that's what happened. Did you see the joke on the front of the magazine, Don't Laugh, It's a Car from Japan?
Starting point is 00:44:49 Oh, wow. That's great. I missed that. It's a really funny joke. It's no John Updick on the martini, but it's still good. I lost focus on that, I guess, because I was thinking, like, Homer's about to jerk off. We're looking at Homer as he's about to jerk off. I interpret it at Homer as he's about to jerk off.
Starting point is 00:45:05 I interpret it as he can't read a Playboy on his couch ever. Yeah, I mean, he can't do that. Unless the kids are at church. Well, though, that takes me back to the beginning episode where Homer goes, like, you bet your sweet ass. That implies Homer ever worries about saying ass around his kids, which I don't think he does. There's too many great lines.
Starting point is 00:45:24 I love that, like, for a little tiny, tiny shred of canon that The Simpsons is keeping at this point, Krusty is still Jewish. Hello. I'm collecting for the Brotherhood of Jewish Clowns. Last year, tornadoes claimed the lives of 75 Jewish clowns. The worst incident was during our convention in Lubbock, Texas. There were floppy shoes and rainbow weeks everywhere. It was terrible.
Starting point is 00:45:49 Wait a minute. Is this a religious thing? A religious clown thing, yes. Sorry. Did Homer and Krusty ever interact before this? I don't know. No, they were at dinner together. But this is a very charitable Krusty in this episode.
Starting point is 00:46:06 Yeah, exactly, yeah. Compared to the, like, child murderer of Camp Krusty, this is a pretty good Krusty. I think this is the show or the episode bringing out, like, how many people celebrate God in a different way. Yeah, exactly. I think Krusty was their only Jewish character. Yeah, but there's one religious cloud. One Hindu character.
Starting point is 00:46:25 This would also have been my line of the show. Apu, I see you're not in church. Oh, but I am. I have a shrine to Ganesha, the god of worldly wisdom, located in the employee lounge. Hey, Ganesha, want a peanut? Please do not offer my god a peanut. No offense, Apu, but when they were handing out religions, you must have been
Starting point is 00:46:41 out taking a whiz. Mr. Simpson, please pay for your purchases and get out and come again. What a deeply offensive thing to say. And I'm glad he didn't, like, the joke is on Homer being a shitty guy. Like, the joke isn't on Apu, like, taking him. No, it happens twice with Apu. In, like, I really, in 92. The other one's better.
Starting point is 00:47:03 It's so good. We'll get to it. But this is also, this is the real line of the show. The other one's better. It's okay. We'll get to it. But this is also... This is the real line of the show. Yeah. I think of this all the time. That's the joke. Boy, everyone is stupid except me.
Starting point is 00:47:16 That is like... That should be the slogan for the every comment section on the internet. If you feel like that, if you've ever thought that to yourself, you're already wrong. You're already wrong. You've never had an original thought in your life, by the way. I bet I could have written a better thing than this.
Starting point is 00:47:35 Most comments are predicated like, why aren't you as smart as I am? That's the perfect meme. That really should be more of a meme. Everyone is stupid except me. Boy, everyone is stupid except me. I love it. So at this point, Homer does set his entire house on fire with a cigar.
Starting point is 00:47:52 Okay, so I would like to point out that the real danger here is not necessarily not going to church. But don't smoke. And fall asleep smoking. I had a friend who fell asleep smoking, burned his whole house down. It seemed like a lot of people were doing that at some point. Maybe they still are. I heard about don't fall asleep, don't smoke in bed, don't fall asleep smoking in bed. It's dangerous.
Starting point is 00:48:10 It's the double thing of a lit cigarette, duh, but couches and mattresses. The cigarette doesn't go out. It just burns further, and a couch loves fire. It wants to be your makeshift coffin. Now, I said I did a bad pause on this when I recorded it, but I did a great pause on this part because it does... It's an interrupted cut
Starting point is 00:48:35 back to the same shot of the fire. And so when I paused it on the tape, it was like fire to fire. It looked like there was no break. I applaud myself for that one. The whole place catches on fire. The damage to the house is quite extreme. And I have a hope they got fired for that Blunder comment.
Starting point is 00:48:55 Like, okay, Homer is skipping church. How is Flanders discovering Homer? What's he doing hanging around? He's part of the volunteer fire department no he's not certain callings that are higher than god no he's not with them he's separate from them they show up after him just next door he should be a church but that that the scene of him rescue george meyer irresponsible scene of him rescue i wonder if he hated how this episode resolved because it does seem to like be very pro-religion um i don't think it's pro-religion i just think it's anti
Starting point is 00:49:24 like the bullshit attached to religion. I think he, I mean, it felt more like a Simpsons-y ending of, hey, we're all, all religions are good, whatever you feel. But Blander saving his life is great, especially the animation
Starting point is 00:49:39 of him diving back into it. So beautiful. Jim Reardon, by the way. Your favorite director? I. Great, great. Is that your favorite director? I think so, yeah. Him and Silverman after him. They said it on the commentary for the King Size Homer episode he animated
Starting point is 00:49:54 that Reardon draws the fattest, funniest Homer. That is definitely true in this episode here. If you didn't hear the Patreon-exclusive season three wrap-up, I made the case that Barney is the VIP of this era of The Simpsons, and he's doing it again. And this is not so much fun.
Starting point is 00:50:12 If you listen closely, just that he burps while hitting something with an axe. Oh, yeah. Hi. What are these axes for? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:50:20 Chopping stuff. Gotcha. That's a nice chop. This is the last time Wiggum could be smarter than somebody in a scene. The very last time. He's at his most Edward G. Robinson. Nice chopping, bro. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:34 I did, by the way, the first appearance of little Jomshed, who I don't think we ever see again. No, I guess it's like a retcon into being one of Sanjay's children. I assumed he was Sanjay's. Well, Sanjay's got a wife. We's. Well, Sanjay's got a wife. Like, we do know that. Like, Sanjay's got a wife. That's true.
Starting point is 00:50:49 Just the way Chumshed pulls the shotgun. How I've waited for this day, yeah. He just pulls the shotgun, and the way, like, Kearney is, like, slack-jawed and dropping the cereal falls out of his mouth. Yes, and the shit is so well animated. It's like, this episode... We won't. I think I'm going to say this every time we do a show now
Starting point is 00:51:05 this is my new favorite episode but the next episode will also be it'll be like that for the next like five years of episodes ducks are really trying my patience also they're so cute cute uh and fucking kent brockman again killing it he'll kill it fire man's oldest foe insable, remorseless, unquenchable. Hey, it's out! Coming up next, which work better, springy clothespins or the other kind? That's a great local news, like, takedown. I love it so much. That is, that, again, that might be
Starting point is 00:51:38 my favorite line of the entire show. We do have an especially cruel Homer, like a cruel murkiny Homer, imagining Ned Flanders burning to death in his own house and him out in a hammock laughing about it. So it's kind of like a jerk-ass Homer moment like four years before it became jerk-ass Homer. It is.
Starting point is 00:51:53 And though also God does take an active case in turn in getting rid of the fire on the Flanders house. So then they're all celebrating in the kitchen showing that the house wasn't that burnt down. No, it's just superficial damage. But it's this wrap-up that I like so much. Oh, I have a feeling there's a lesson here. Yes, the lesson is...
Starting point is 00:52:15 No, don't tell me. I'll get it. Oh, I know. The Lord is vengeful. Oh, spiteful one, show me who to smite and they shall be smote in. Homer, God didn't set your house on fire.
Starting point is 00:52:28 Nobody was working in the hearts of your friends and neighbors when they went to your aid, be they Christian, Jew, or miscellaneous. Hindu, there are 700 million of us. Well, that's just super. That's just super. I love how patronizing it is, yeah. Now, I wikied this. Currently, it's just super. That's just super. I love how patronizing it is. Now, I wikied this. Currently, it's over a billion here. Yeah, it has to be.
Starting point is 00:52:50 I would assume so. I assume the message of this episode is it's not like the whole church part of religion that matters. It's helping people, being nice to people, pitching in and rescuing them if they're on fire. Those kind of things are what matters in terms of where we are on this earth. And no religion dictates you doing that or not because all those different religions were there. No Muslims, though.
Starting point is 00:53:11 They only had two other religions to work with, Hindu and Judaism. Apu could have gone either way. Otto was probably a Satanist. They don't say it, but he was there. Lisa will bring in the Buddhism eventually. Who knows what, was it Luanne Van Houten was the other one? Yeah, Luanne was. But I think that's the beautiful message of the show
Starting point is 00:53:28 and why I'm not, like I was please do not misunderstand me. I told you all the shit about me being a wannabe religious person the backlash was amazing. I think we explained our positions pretty well. I was the first Redditor with no internet screaming in everybody's faces that God doesn't exist and you're stupid for believing. Take the red pill dudes. Totally am not there now. If I were to
Starting point is 00:53:44 tell you in the most hippy-dippy way, and yes, we're all Californians, hey, why not once a week, why don't we all meet up together and just talk and eat and talk about life and maybe about things that we should do
Starting point is 00:53:53 and things we could do better. I think we turned that into a podcast. We kind of did. But that's essentially all church is. It's a celebration. And again,
Starting point is 00:54:01 everyone needs to be careful of this. A celebration of you and your community. And that's what it should be. But also be careful of this. A celebration of you and your community. And that's what it should be. But also be careful of that when ostracizing people and condemning others. And if you're a Catholic, you get wine. So drink away. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:54:12 Exactly. I prefer Jewish wine. It's sweet. It's sweet. It's disgusting. It is so sweet, that Minashevitz. I love it. Boy, vague.
Starting point is 00:54:20 Love it, man. Okay. And also, last bit, my mom I just remember my mom was really shocked when God says you can't wait six months. Don't feel bad, Homer. Nine out of ten religions fail in the first year.
Starting point is 00:54:37 That's game, Hendrix. God, I gotta ask you something. What's the meaning of life? Homer, I can't tell you that. Come on. You'll find out when you die. I can't wait that long.
Starting point is 00:54:52 You can't wait six months? No, tell me now. I just remember my mom had like a little gasp when we said you can't wait six months. Which means that The Simpsons has technically taken place in 1992, this entire time. Oh my god, headcanon's escaping again. So the writers were expecting there to be like a, so God says, the meaning of life is, and he trails off. The writers were expecting there to be like, up next on Martin. Like a Fox ad to interrupt the credits, as it always had done.
Starting point is 00:55:19 Martin, damn Gina, to hell. They were expecting that to happen, but it didn't happen. So God just trails off and the theme song starts up so it was kind of like a letdown if you were watching it originally. You expected the commercial to interrupt
Starting point is 00:55:29 the credits. The one time the voiceover said that. They expected the programming to make the joke for them. Yes. This is before the
Starting point is 00:55:36 credits would get squished over to the side that happened in the 90s. Yes it did. In this era it would just be an announcer butting in like
Starting point is 00:55:42 Pendulet on Comedy Central. You're watching Deceptions. Also I needed the... I needed Jimi Hendrix to be explained to me. I did not know who he was in that game. I thought that was fucking...
Starting point is 00:55:51 That's game, Hendrix! That is yet another... God, this is just... And this episode ends with Homer compromising where he's like, I'll go to church, but he still sleeps through it, which is amazing. I love that compromise.
Starting point is 00:56:01 It's like, it's still boring, and he's learned nothing, and he'll still have to go to church. One of if this would be like my I could say oh this could be my favorite episode of season four but when I know there's like four more episodes this season that I know I love more than this one every episode from here now is gonna be my favorite yeah for the next for the next like five seasons I think I'm gonna love every every single episode because the amount of time I spent digitally and lazily watching the first two, the second and third seasons,
Starting point is 00:56:27 I'm going to love. Oh, man. But again, this episode did help me grapple with faith, and I'm sorry if we went on for a little bit long about our personal experiences, but I feel like it helps ground our thoughts about this episode, where we're coming from in terms of our religion and what we believe, what we don't believe, and things like that. Hey, it's our show. Yes. Well, say we want to. You have a fast-forward
Starting point is 00:56:43 button for a reason. No, no. Don't fast-forward through the ads. Don't mean that. Your opinion is important, but also suck a dick. Yes. I respect you if you have a religion, but please suck a dick. I've been your host, Bob Mackie. You can find me on Twitter as Bob Servo. I'm sorry about that. I don't mean that. And if you want to read my writing, go to usgamer.net or somethingawful.com
Starting point is 00:57:00 and listen to my other podcast, Retronauts, every Monday at retronauts.com or usgamer.net. it's a classic gaming podcast I just cracked everybody up if you can still tolerate me after this fucking indulgent episode uh K&T's on Twitter lasertimepodcast.com we do a bunch of other shows including laser time which is a topic based
Starting point is 00:57:15 pop culture show 30 2010 a look if you like the new segment we do we have a whole show that's kind of just that a look 30 years ago 20 years ago and 10 years ago of that week in history it's really really fun and it's because of how many things we cover it's guaranteed to to nail one of your demographics and it's kind of old at this point but i recommend the uh earnest episode of blazer yeah i was i was annoying my girlfriend with earnest trivia for roughly three or four days so thank you very much because. Brett's such a fucking earnest hipster.
Starting point is 00:57:45 Jesus Christ. I love Ernest Goes to Jail. I'll be there for your movie. Will you? Yeah, I will be. Maybe not in person, but I'll be watching it at home. Well, you have the invite.
Starting point is 00:57:52 I can come. Oh, my God. And I am H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G on Twitter, and you can follow my work at Fandom, where I am the senior games editor and I write about games
Starting point is 00:58:00 all the time there. And also, I'm part still of the Lazer Time family. You know, I did a comic book podcast. You can listen to an episode of that, Cape Crisis. And I've been on episodes of Vigigame Apocalypse as well. That you have.
Starting point is 00:58:13 But really, you should go to patreon.com slash Lazer Time to listen to classic episodes of Talking Simpsons that you can find nowhere else. The first season, as well as our season two and season three wrap up specials. Just five dollars a month for access to that. Patreon dot com slash laser time. Thanks so much for listening.
Starting point is 00:58:32 We'll be back next week with Lisa, the beauty queen. See you then. Wow. Infotainment.

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