# Simpsons: 03-04-2007 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610 "2007-03-05T01:19:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/21 "2007-03-05T18:27:50Z")
Ok, perhaps it was well done, and had arcane references, but I don’t see anyone quoting funny lines- did they forget this is a comedy? Compare this ep to the two early musical episodes, which had actual jokes in them, and it pales. Episodes likes this are like spitting in the face of the fans of early episodes- sort of a big “fuck you- we’re as popular as ever, why try and capture the earlier magic?”. There were more funny lines in The War at Home than this crap. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/22 "2007-03-05T19:04:34Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Ok, perhaps it was well done, and had arcane references, but I don’t see anyone quoting funny lines- did they forget this is a comedy? [/QUOTE] Eh? I quoted one, **mobo** quoted two, and **What Exit?** said he thought there were several. One thing that did disappoint me with this one was that there wasn’t a serious Cletus/Kevin Federline joke. Maybe Cletus was dressed like him and I just didn’t get it, but it was right there. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/23 "2007-03-05T19:31:52Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] Maybe my Offend-ometer was set too sensitive last night (Family Guy shocked me too), but I was rather :dubious: when the show’s upshot seemed to be how horrible it was to stereotype the hillbilly kids and trade on the offensive prejudices against them, when the show had named them Incest, Crystal Meth, etc. [/QUOTE] You were offended by the names, but didn’t say anything about Cletus hanging a ‘coon’ from a rope in the tree? ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/24 "2007-03-05T19:42:00Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] You were offended by the names, but didn’t say anything about Cletus hanging a ‘coon’ from a rope in the tree? [/QUOTE] You know, that didn’t even register. I saw Cletus doing something with a racoon, and filed it under “random weird shit,” didn’t even think to parse it out. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/25 "2007-03-05T19:43:44Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] You were offended by the names, but didn’t say anything about Cletus hanging a ‘coon’ from a rope in the tree? [/QUOTE] Og, I did not get the joke last night. I am actually glad I did not. I had no clue what he was doing to that poor racoon. Bad taste, very bad taste. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/26 "2007-03-05T20:01:41Z")
We’ll see if the writers have to say anything, but for the moment I need a lot of convincing that that was supposed to be read that way. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/27 "2007-03-05T20:07:19Z")
When I saw it, the raccoon made no sense- I also took it as random stupidity. But after reading the above, I too would like to hear the writers explanation. Unless there is a logical specific reference, this is really out of bounds- perhaps a witty writer thought he could sneak something past the average viewer? What else could that be a reference to? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/28 "2007-03-05T20:15:45Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] When I saw it, the raccoon made no sense- I also took it as random stupidity. [/QUOTE] It makes much more sense as a “Cletus’s family eats roadkill” joke. They’ve never set Cletus up as a racist, and a random lynching reference isn’t funny - or even a joke. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/29 "2007-03-05T20:53:08Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] It makes much more sense as a “Cletus’s family eats roadkill” joke. They’ve never set Cletus up as a racist, and a random lynching reference isn’t funny - or even a joke. [/QUOTE] Exactly right; it’s a much more plausible explanation that the idea that the writers are closet racists sending coded jokes to the KKK. And yes, that ridiculous notion is exactly what you would have to believe if you thought this was a lynching joke. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/30 "2007-03-05T21:00:43Z")
[QUOTE=CJJ\*] Exactly right; it’s a much more plausible explanation that the idea that the writers are closet racists sending coded jokes to the KKK. [/QUOTE] The Krusty Komedy Klassic? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/31 "2007-03-05T21:06:20Z")
So it’s standard for a person eating raccoon to kill it by hanging it by a rope from a tree? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/32 "2007-03-05T21:13:41Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] So it’s standard for a person eating raccoon to kill it by hanging it by a rope from a tree? [/QUOTE] Is their a raccoon-eating SOP that, as a vegetarian, I’m not familiar with? They could have had him trying to hold the raccoon down on a chopping block, but it wouldn’t have been as weird or visually interesting, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/33 "2007-03-06T01:41:11Z")
I don’t think Cletus hanging the racoon was meant to be racist- just that he was killing it for dinner. Although I’m guessing Cletus has unusual thoughs regarding Jews, based on the children’s comments towards Krusty (as quoted earlier) and the fact that Cletus says he teaches the children himself. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2007, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610/34 "2007-03-06T15:51:18Z")
I’ve got a feeling that we’ve just stumbled onto the best example of subtle Simpsons humor since “Sneed’s Feed & Seed - Formerly Chuck’s”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-03-04-2007/394610.md?page=1)