# Simpsons March 21- "Stealing First Base" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292 "2010-03-22T01:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/1 "2010-03-22T01:27:44Z")
Another fun episode that felt a lot like a classic episode. We’ve seen Bart have relationships with women in the past, but this put an interesting spin on it, as both the overly-PC culture of today and the mysteriousness of the opposite sex- two things the previous Bart romance stories haven’t really touched on- played a role in it. Sarah Silverman happens to sound somewhat like a little girl, so she was a good choice. I loved Nelson’s relationship with the blind kid, and the montage of famous cinematic kisses was well-done and very funny. Lisa’s subplot was amusing in its own way, in that I liked the fact that Lisa became more popular the worse she did, and Angela-Bassett-as-Michelle-Obama had a few funny jokes in her appearance, especially her exit and the gag about why her username was “flotus1” as opposed to just “flotus.” ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/2 "2010-03-22T01:51:39Z")
How could I forget the school assembly scene? Homer confusing Skinner for Bart (twice) was great. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/3 "2010-03-22T02:09:54Z")
I thought it was a good episode. There was even a funny Ralph line for once: “I cheated wrong! I wrote Lisa’s name and Ralph’s answers.” What was the Itchy & Scratchy movie a parody of? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/4 "2010-03-22T02:16:15Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > What was the Itchy & Scratchy movie a parody of? _Koyaanisqatsi_ ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/5 "2010-03-22T04:23:30Z")
Excellent stuff once again. Bart has no luck at all when it comes to women - which makes me realize he’s just as clueless as Homer when it comes to the ladies, but Homer had the good luck to find a woman who loves everything about him, and Bart keeps finding Jessica Lovejoys and Darcys and Ginas and Nikkis who manipulate him and push him around. Sarah Silverman was perfectly cast. She comes off as someone who used to be exactly that kind of girl, so it worked very well. Despite all the irony and sarcasm, The Simpsons has sort of an old fashioned view on childhood. The "affection-free zone’’ story is just the latest example of it. It also makes for an interesting comparison with the first few years of the show, which were told more from Bart’s point of view and didn’t idealize youth so much. The Lisa subplot didn’t do anything for me. For a minute I thought the story was going to be that she became popular once she had a failing grade, and leaving in her a position where she either needed to cover up that A+++, or start getting bad grades on purpose to maintain her image. They’ve covered some of that ground before (like in Separate Vocations) but I think it would have worked better. Instead it turned into “First Lady Michelle Obama!” My favorite lines included “He’s our Joe Biden,” Homer strangling Skinner, Homer’s fake legs, Grampa’s memory, and even Koyaaniscratchy. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/6 "2010-03-22T06:27:29Z")
I enjoyed the ep, but for some reason, I think a High-Def signal was being sent over the regular broadcast station, because the aspect ratio was all off. Two examples: the I&S spoof read as “Yanni-Scratchy” (with the first two letters offscreen); also, when Bart’s on the roof and walks to the right and bumps into something, you couldn’t see what he bumped into. Also, there were myriad examples of characters being only partially on-screen despite being central to the action. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/7 "2010-03-22T07:28:56Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > I thought it was a good episode. There was even a funny Ralph line for once: “I cheated wrong! I wrote Lisa’s name and Ralph’s answers.” > > What was the Itchy & Scratchy movie a parody of? Wow I was surprised at the extendedness of the I&S movie but didn’t realize it was a parody of something specific. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/8 "2010-03-22T14:39:56Z")
The kissing scene montague was pure gold. I’ll br buying thi season’s DVD for it. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/9 "2010-03-22T15:19:26Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > I enjoyed the ep, but for some reason, I think a High-Def signal was being sent over the regular broadcast station, because the aspect ratio was all off. Two examples: the I&S spoof read as “Yanni-Scratchy” (with the first two letters offscreen); also, when Bart’s on the roof and walks to the right and bumps into something, you couldn’t see what he bumped into. Also, there were myriad examples of characters being only partially on-screen despite being central to the action. Weird. I noticed that, too, but I realized my TV was still on zoom after having set it that way to watch a letterboxed movie the day before. I thought it just unzoomed itself when you went back to tv but apparently not. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/10 "2010-03-22T15:32:17Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The kissing scene montague was pure gold. I’ll br buying thi season’s DVD for it. I hate to be the spelling & grammar police, but the word is montage. Montague is Romeo’s last name. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/11 "2010-03-22T16:11:04Z")
> [@Wile\_E](#): > > I noticed that, too, but I realized my TV was still on zoom after having set it that way to watch a letterboxed movie the day before. I thought it just unzoomed itself when you went back to tv but apparently not. My TV (standard 1.33) doesn’t have that option. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/12 "2010-03-22T16:12:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The kissing scene montague was pure gold. I’ll br buying thi season’s DVD for it. Nobody’s mentioned it, but this is a direct parody of _Cinema Paradiso_ (including the music). Also, I don’t even remember the last time I heard the _Midnight Express_ theme, but they used it for the skateboard chase tune. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/13 "2010-03-22T20:52:24Z")
Did they include the kiss from Princess Bride? Because if they didn’t, they missed a perfect opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/14 "2010-03-22T21:14:11Z")
No, they didn’t. Before I found out what that was, I was calling it the ‘movies Bart hasn’t seen’ montage. Maybe he’d have seen Wall-E, but I can’t imagine Bart watching From Here to Eternity or Gone With the Wind. What did everybody think of Nelson and Kevin? While they’ve done a good job expanding Nelson’s soft side over the years, they usually overplay it. It’s good characterization but it’s been done too many times to be funny on its own. I did like the way it wound up. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/15 "2010-03-23T06:53:03Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > My TV (standard 1.33) doesn’t have that option. Mine either. Didn’t happen to notice during the Simpsons, but I did notice the ABC syndicated Lost episodes on Saturday night having credits that ran way off the edge of the screen. I guess they decided to air the HD version on the SD signal? Very strange… > [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned it, but this is a direct parody of _Cinema Paradiso_ (including the music). Can anyone identify the scenes? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/16 "2010-03-23T08:39:02Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Can anyone identify the scenes? They’re listed in [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stealing_First_Base#Cultural_references), but I’ll post 'em here. However, I’ll do it in a spoiler box since the episode’s still fresh. The scenes are, in order: From Here to Eternity (the famous kiss on the beach with Burt Lancaster and Debra Kerr), Gone With the Wind (Rhett and Scarlett), The Quiet Man (John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara), Lady and the Tramp, Planet of the Apes (Taylor and Zira), On Golden Pond (Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn), Ghost (Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore), Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst), Star Trek (2009) (Zoe Saldana as Uhura and Zachary Quinto as Spock), The Public Enemy (the scene in which James Cagney pushes the grapefruit half in Mae Clarke’s face), Wall-E (Wall-E and Eve), an Alien 3 parody showing the alien and Ripley which originally aired on The Critic (for which Al Jean was a showrunner), The Godfather II (Michael kisses Fredo), and All In the Family (Sammy Davis, Jr. kisses Archie Bunker). ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-march-21-stealing-first-base/533292/17 "2010-03-23T21:57:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > What did everybody think of Nelson and Kevin? While they’ve done a good job expanding Nelson’s soft side over the years, they usually overplay it. It’s good characterization but it’s been done too many times to be funny on its own. I did like the way it wound up. I loved it! I think that was my favorite part of the show, especially Kevin showing him up at the end. Heh.