Very good episode. Opening sequence is an immediate classic. Wise guy with the dingleberry line; Moe having a Jon Lovitz only night; there was a good Wiggum line that I’ll have to rewatch for.
I started my tape after the googleplex shot. Little help?
You’re curious about the film titles, I presume?
The Fashion of Christ
A Matrix Christmas
You’re in the Matrix, Charlie Brown
Eating Nemo
The Unwatchable Hulk (LOL!)
There were one or two more I can’t remember.
Now someone help me. What were the other incarnations of Lovitz in the bar from, other than the Critic?
I saw Llewelyn Sinclair (theatre director), Mr. Seckofsky (Homer’s shop teacher), Aristotle Amadopolous (rival nuclear plant owner), and Jay Sherman.
I loved the line, and I’m approximating, “Terrorizing my children is one thing, but NOBODY PLAYS MY THEREMIN!” It’s just the kind of brainy humor the show is known for.
That was a great joke. I thought this was one of the best this year (maybe tied with The Harpooned Heart). Props to Dan Castellaneta, who co-wrote it.
Jokes about the Matrix, Blair Witch, Enron & the tech bubble? Blair Witch? Not exactly timely humor. Seems like the script spent some time on the shelf.
Some great one-liners. Best bits:
“Nobody ever takes the car.”
and;
“I lost all my screw-you money”
“I’m sorry, Willy.”
“SCREW YOU!”
“That’s some nice spelunking, Lou.”
What was up with the Rosemary’s Baby theme during the Re-Deadening? It was almost identical to the Fantomas version (and I don’t know how close that version is to the original.).
What was the blackboard quote?
Shamefully, I missed it.
This is the third Simpsons episode written by Dan Castellaneta and his wife Deb. The others were Days of Wine and D’ohses, in which his character Barney quits drinking, and Gump Roast, a rather bad clip show (in my opinion) whose only saving grace was a very funny We Didn’t Start The Fire parody at the end.
“Can I use my time towards a future crime?”
“You can either steal a car or kick me in the crotch.”
(Does the latter)
“No one ever chooses the car.”
Loved Artie reading The Corrections to Lisa.
There was no blackboard gag, but there was an extended couch gag that zoomed out from the Simpsons’ house to Earth to the solar system to the galaxy to the universe, which became an atom, a collection of atoms, a molecule, a cell on Homer’s head, and finally settles on the typical couch scene, where Homer says, “Wow”. It was pretty amazing.
Maybe in your neck of the woods, but on my TV, the gag was: “I will not speculate on how hot teacher was.” (IIRC)
I thought the blackboard gag was “I will not speculate how hot the teacher used to be”
The couch “powers of ten” gag was prerry cool IMHO. Notice that it put Springfield somewhere in the middle of the US.
I guessed but wan’t sure that the other bar chars besides Jay Sherman were voiced by Lovitz.
Brian
Movie titles on the outside marquee and above box office:
- Return to Ape Valley
- The Fashion of The Christ
- Ghost Frat
- Eating Nemo
- From Justin to Kelly 4
- The Unwatchable Hulk
- The Pianist Goes Hawaiian
- Freddy vs. Jason vs. Board of Education
(5. makes one shudder.)
On box office window:
The Wild Dingleberries Movie. Running time 47 minutes. (Poster shows kids feasting on a zebra.)
Others read off by Homer:
Diet Coke, The Movie.
President Airbutt, Tail to the Chief
My Big Fat Greek Salad. (Not a movie)
Offered by the box office clerk:
The Redeadening
Teenage Sex Wager
“Coming soon” posters.
Matrix Christmas. (Neo with a Santa hat.)
You’re In The Matrix, Charlie Brown. (CB as Neo)
Quote fixes:
“That’s some good spelunking Lou, mighty fine spelunking.”
“That’s it. It’s one thing for a ghost to terrorize my children, but quite another for him to play my Theremin.”
Blackboard: “I will not speculate on how hot teacher used to be.”
My comments. Great couch gag. Very good first half. Second half just sat there.
“Never leave the dayroom. Never leave the dayroom. Never leave the dayroom.”
“Copyright Big (??) 40 Productions. Visit us on the web at lisathemovie.com.” (Not a real site.)
Pink Pony Productions.
Hey, didn’t the opening finally reveal the location of Springfield? Or did it?
Nope, it revealed the location of the Springfield inside Homer’s brain. Let us call it Springfield’
Actually President Air Bud, referring to an indefatiguable line of Disney direct-to-video movies about a dog that can play sports, the title of each is a bad dog/sports pun (Golden Reciever, Seventh Inning Fetch, etc.)
According to a Whois search, lisathemovie.com is registered under “The Simpsons, Matt Selman” (a writer who also holds the rights to Homer’s e-mail address, chunkylover53@aol.com). Unlike Whatbadgerseat.com, however, there hasn’t been anything put on the site.
Newsweek, 1986: “America’s Love Affair With Saddam Hussein.” Uncle Sam and Saddam in '50s-style drink-sharing pose.