No, he was in more than one – Lisa met him way back in the first season, and he had a few other cameo appearances between then and the episode in which he died.
Marvin Monroe was quietly dispatched offscreen, his passing only announced by the presence of the Dr. Marvin Monroe Memorial Hospital (and the 138th Episode Spectacular).
Oh, and a few more examples for The Tim’s theory – of continuity, that is, not TG references – Apu’s marriage and the subsequent birth of octuplets, Skinner and Krabappel hooking up.
You might find http://www.snpp.com to be an excellent research tool, as it’s probably the most anal-retentive Simpsons site in existence…
They didn’t show that episode. They showed a rerun of the one where Bobby becomes the team mascot and then finds out that it’s tradition for the other team to pound the mascot when they’re losing.
Snowball II has been the family cat since the beginning of the show, but in flashback episodes we’ve sometimes seen the original Snowball. (Why did the Simpson’s name a black cat Snowball? Because the first Snowball was white; when he died Homer tried to cover it up by getting Lisa a new cat and passing it off, but she realized it was a different color.)
Didn’t Barney also sober up (temporarily) in the Space Shuttle episode? He turned into “the very model of a modern Major General”, until the congratulatory champagne just before liftoff. He relapsed, so they had to fall back on Homer, the alternate.
D’oh! Dang you, Heath! Although I do remember the Villanova episode… 'Twas quite the talk about campus, at the time.
I would argue that The Simpsons has the highest level of continuity of any show I have ever seen. They are perfectly aware of almost every gag they have ever used; they simply ignore them when convenient. They even make a point of it! In a flashback scene, they have Lisa doing a voiceover describing Valentine’s Day: “It was an unusually balmy February 14th…” because of course you see her wearing the only dress she ever wears.
It’s jokes like that which kill me. Burns can almost never remember Homer’s name, despite their ties. At one point, Lisa shows Bart a picture form a book saying that “In a million years, humans will have five fingers”.
To appeal to people like me apparently - I found most of those scenes hilarious. The Simpsons has always understood that there is a lot of humour to be found in the suffering of others.
I noticed that, too…all the blood. And most of the time, there’s no real reason for it. AND I noticed how they’re down to repeating episodes. Let’s see…two horse episodes, two “Moe renovates the bar and a hot band guest stars.” This is getting ridiculous- what next? Bart gets an elephant…twice? And yeah, there have been an abnormal amount of TG jokes…
I have a question, at the start of the episode, Bart was digging an ‘unexplained’ hole in the back yard. Was that ever explained? Or was that just part of “Homer’s story” that he was telling in the bar? Because they sort of introduced a replacement for Dr. Marvin Monroe, “A special kind of talking doctor, Bart”. As usual, I’m confused.
He already had that once, after he won the Springfield Film Festival for his anti-drinking film. I guess if Duff can bring him back once, he could easily go back to drinking again. Though he probably won’t.
“My name’s Barney, and I’m an alcoholic.”
“Barney, this is a Girl Scout meeting.”
“Is it, or can’t you admit you have a problem?”
I agree, BA. Just about every show I’ve ever seen has characters acting contrary to their character, or introducing character elements, via flashback, that are completely antithetical. The Simpsons not only do this, but acknowledge it and revel in it.
Two episodes come to mind - “The B Sharps” episode - “What, son? You don’t remember when I won the Emmy award? No dad, television has destroyed my long-term memory. It’s a serious problem.”
The “Grimy” episode - it is pointed out that Homer, Mr. Joe Schmoe, has had beers with Gerald Ford, traveled around the world, and even been to space (“You mean you’ve never been there?”).
All that aside, this week’s episode struck me as weak. On occasion (and, unfortunately, more and more often in recent seasons), the Simpsons is afflicted with “SNL skit syndrome” - “I have a great idea, but have no idea what the ending should be.” “Let’s make it anyway, and toss some crappy ending on at the end.”
What about when they get out of school with that huge celebration in one episode? They are out for summer vacation and when they come back for school, both Bart and Lisa are still in the same grade.
In the opening scenes of “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, the first full length episode" Marge talks about the fact that Snowball is dead and has been replaced by Snowball II, so Snowball was never shown on the show except in flashbacks or perhaps in the Tracey Ullman shorts.
Snowball, incidentally, was killed by being run over by Mayor “Diamond Jim” Quimby’s ne’er-do-well son Clarence.
