# Simpsons 1/16/05

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 17, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119 "2005-01-17T01:20:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/1 "2005-01-17T01:20:31Z")

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Best episode this season. The couch gag was hysterical, “What can’t we just sit on the couch?” And the slam on the pharmacutical industry was priceless!

“I’m coco for contraband!”  
“Since no one gives a rat’s ass about you.”

Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/2 "2005-01-17T01:21:43Z")

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Crap! Crap! I screwed up the year! Could a passing mod be so kind as to fix that for me?

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**Author:** ![PigBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/97f17d/32.png) [@PigBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigBoy)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/3 "2005-01-17T01:25:21Z")

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I really liked Flanders meeting his Canadian counterpart.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/4 "2005-01-17T01:28:58Z")

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> [@PigBoy](#):
>
> I really liked Flanders meeting his Canadian counterpart.

“They warned me Satan would be attractive.”

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**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/5 "2005-01-17T01:30:11Z")

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I missed the first twenty minutes or so. I quite liked the last two lines.

Burns:From now on, I’ll give medical coverage to all my full time employees!  
cut to scene in simpson house  
Homer:Good news marge! Mr. Burns made me a freelance consultant! Hey, what’s this lump? 😃

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**Author:** ![caphis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19adc/32.png) [@caphis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caphis)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/6 "2005-01-17T01:30:38Z")

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I wasn’t laughing that much until the border gag with Apu. Oh wow, I almost spewed liquid.

“Thanks to the Xanax, I’m not anxious about being a Simpson anymore… but I am a little anxious about being on the Xanax, but the Zoloft takes care of that!” or something

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**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/7 "2005-01-17T01:44:46Z")

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For some reason, I thought the return of the Los Souvenier Jacquitos gang was pretty funny. “We give you this _Operation Dumbo Drop_ jacket. For some reason, only three were sold.”

And “Gimli” _does_ sound like it should be a Canadian town name, doesn’t it?

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/8 "2005-01-17T01:52:08Z")

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I also missed the first half (“phone calls from friends” now take precidence over “TV,” much to my chagrin sometimes), but I did scream out loud at “_Katharine Hepburn!!_”

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**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/9 "2005-01-17T01:56:28Z")

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Um … normally I love the Simpson’s. I never agree with the critics who say it’s sucked for the past several years. However, that said, I thought this episode looked like they aren’t even trying any more.

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**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/10 "2005-01-17T02:19:57Z")

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> [@Wile E](#):
>
> Um … normally I love the Simpson’s. I never agree with the critics who say it’s sucked for the past several years. However, that said, I thought this episode looked like they aren’t even trying any more.

Which proves once again that one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

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**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/11 "2005-01-17T02:23:14Z")

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Some good lines in this episode:

Apu: Shiva save us!

Flanders: Oh why don’t you just call for hawkman.  
Katherine Hepburn!

My problem with the episode though was that they were far too overt in bashing the drug industry. They usually try and be subtle but there was none present in this episode.

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**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/12 "2005-01-17T02:33:09Z")

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A little poke at The Aviator as well:

“…then we discovered water causes [The Plywood Pelican] to catch fire…then the Fuerer fired me…”

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**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/13 "2005-01-17T02:37:58Z")

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I thought it was a pretty lame episode, but then, I wasn’t able to give it anywhere near my full attention.

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**Author:** ![Ms\_Macphisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b487fb/32.png) [@Ms\_Macphisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Macphisto)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/14 "2005-01-17T06:52:12Z")

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> [@mobo85](#):
>
> And “Gimli” _does_ sound like it should be a Canadian town name, doesn’t it?

[Gimli](http://timelinks.merlin.mb.ca/communit/gimli.htm) _is_ a Canadian town. It’s named after the home of the Norse gods, not LotR, since it predates the books by a good 80 years. It’s best known for the [Gimli Glider](http://www.elchineroconcepts.com/Technology%20Folder/gimli_glider.htm) incident, in which an Air Canada pilot successfully landed a 767 that had run out of fuel.

As for the episode, it was all right. Probably the best one I’ve seen this season, but I don’t always remember to watch it anymore, so I know I’ve missed some.

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/15 "2005-01-17T06:59:35Z")

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> [@msmith537](#):
>
> A little poke at The Aviator as well:
> 
> “…then we discovered water causes [The Plywood Pelican] to catch fire…then the Fuerer fired me…”

That was actually the one thing that bugged me. They’ve done the Mr. Burns-builds-a-giant-plane-a-la-Howard Hughes thing before. Still, “then the Fuhrer fired me…” 😃

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**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/16 "2005-01-17T07:25:57Z")

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> [@Marley23](#):
>
> That was actually the one thing that bugged me. They’ve done the Mr. Burns-builds-a-giant-plane-a-la-Howard Hughes thing before. Still, “then the Fuhrer fired me…” 😃

Likewise, they’ve done Mr. Burns-manufactures-weapons-for-the-Nazis. ("[Schindler and I] both made shells for the Nazis, but mine worked, damn it!")

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**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/17 "2005-01-17T07:37:00Z")

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> [@NDP](#):
>
> Likewise, they’ve done Mr. Burns-manufactures-weapons-for-the-Nazis. ("[Schindler and I] both made shells for the Nazis, but mine worked, damn it!")

True. That didn’t really stick out to me, since it seemed like a less specific joke. I mean, spoofing the Spruce Goose twice is a little more unusual.

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**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/18 "2005-01-17T14:22:23Z")

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I nearly laughed myself unconcious at Apu’s line - “The Janitor - in - the - Drum won’t come out anymore - and I don’t know what that means!”

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**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:** [January 17, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/19 "2005-01-17T14:26:46Z")

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I’m going to have to agree with a few of the previous posters in that this episode was far too heavy-handed with the political satire (as was last season’s Bart-Mangled Banner). Still, this one had its moments. The “Girls of Phizer” cracked me up.

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-1-16-05/285119/20 "2005-01-17T14:37:56Z")

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> [@Eve](#):
>
> Which proves once again that one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

B. Kliban cartoon: ‘One man’s mate is another man’s person.’

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