It was nice to see Maggie play a little bigger role than usual. (Same for Snowball II, for that matter.) You sometimes almost forget the Simpsons have a baby.
vanilla, I thought the “no outside Eucharist” was refering to signs at movie theaters that say “no outside food or drink”. The Eucharist is the communion wafer.
Best episode in a long while. I assumed that Ruth had been in jail due to the “Thelma and Louise” parody episode. But she has been a background figure in a lot of episodes, including the re-run afterwards where she’s in the restaurant.
Wasn’t the scene where Marge beats the crap out of the mugger from Goodfellas?
I, too, thought it was Godfather (where James Caan busts his sister’s husband’s nut), but someone I know insisted it was Goodfellas…
I didn’t have time to consult my DVD collection…any clues?
Ruth went to jail after she and Marge went on their “Thelma and Louise”-style road trip, starting off at Shotkickers and ending up at Springfield Gorge. Marge was also convicted of malicious destruction of precious antique cans and ordered to pay 50 cents restitution.
And I thought I was the only one who remembered the necklace ball. I also wondered what happened to the pearl indentations that were in Marge’s neck the last time she lost her necklace.
No, I have a clear memory of that episode, and when they did the Dragnet style ending there was no mention of Ruth going to jail. Just somehting about her having to return the car and her ex being ordered to pay her the back child support.
Yeah, the Thelma & Louise episode was one Thursday or Friday (?) in syndicate (of course).
She was imprisoned briefly for the theft of the car and eluding police in that episode; however, her ex-husband was ordered to sell the car and she received the money as back child support.
It was definitely that very scene in The Godfather, down to the tenement apartment street scene, Marge’s beating on him with the garbage can lid and leaving him in the gutter. I don’t recall an open fire hydrant in the movie, though I’m sure that was part of the scene too.
I don’t recall any beatings in Goodfellas that took place on the street at all.
Oh, you’re right!
The beating the Ray Liotta administered was outside his girlfriend’s ex’s house.
He pistol-whipped him and proceeded to kick the crap out of him…
I just remembered it…
The mailman stuck under the car scene reminded me of the case in Texas where a woman struck a homeless man and left him in her garage stuck in her windshield for a couple of days.
actually, I really like the way they did it on The Drew Carey Show (which was done before either show).
It’s the Y2K scare episode. Drew built a fallout shelter in his basement. There’s chaos on the streets, but Drew is safely locked up alone in the shelter, full of piles of porn mags. Drew bends over to pick one up and the glasses fall of his face. He of course ends up stepping on them. You of course need to ignore the fact that reallife Drew Carey has had LASIK and his glasses are only a prop.
Can you cite that? That story has made the cover of an Urban Legends book!
Sadly, it actually happened, last March; a woman in Fort Worth hit a homeless man with her car and left him to die in her garage. Here’s a CNN article:
http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/03/08/texas.hitandrun/index.html
What always bothered me about the Twilight Zone episode was that, if you’re myopic, you can probably read fine without your glasses. You need the glasses for distance vision. And, of course, breaking the glasses is another stupid, unnecessary “twist” ending.
I can only give that Simpsons episode a 5.5. The show just seems to have lost its spark for me.
I liked the rerun episode (which I hadn’t seen before) about Marge’s breast implants much better. The satire was sharper and the script was generally funnier.
Perhaps they just did too good a job portraying Marge’s agoraphobia. It was real, rather than funny.
BTW, Entertainment Weekly just rated the top 25 Simpsons episodes. I see exactly one episode made in the last five years on the list, so I guess that they agree the show isn’t what it once was.
the thing about that episode was that for devoted simpsons fans, it had far too many plot holes and inconsistencies. (plus, other than the tetris bit, it wasn’t that funny). many people already mentioned the ball of necklaces, but how about the fact that marge has already been mugged before, and reacted to it with a rush of adrenaline, beating off her attacker? it just didn’t seem right…
The Godfather bit was priceless.
Favorite line:
Moe: Lemme think of a way to put this lightly, Marge…There’s not enough booze in this place to make you look good.
Just like a movie theater saying “No outside food”. In other words, you have to take the Communion wafer from Rev. Lovejoy and not bring in your own.
I just wanted to say that both me and my grandmother got a big laugh when Homer was placed in Wolfcastle’s big baby carrier thingy for the stomach. And a great explanation too about the Rob Schneider / Ranier Wolfcastle movie.
I hope they show a bit of that on the Simpson’s TV in the near future. I mean the jokes practically right themselves.
It is good that Groening realized, after all these years, that the best character on the Simpsons is by far Marge.
Now, write some great plots that would honor her character!!!