And funny. They didn’t close that episode with a few minutes of Homer talking earnestly about the sanctity of the First Amendment.
So how come Homer was green when he was destroying the city, but went back to yellow at the end? 
I thought the allegory was way too obvious with the ‘weapons of mass disintegration’ and ‘liberators’ lines. The cut line made me laugh because they were acknowledging this lack of subtlety. But either way, I enjoyed it.
The first two segments didn’t do anything for me (Homer eating and re-eating the space blob was WAY too gross), but I loved the third segment. It was a treat to see Maurice LaMarche, and it’s kind of amazing that he’s never had a big part on the show before, seeing as how he’s in practically everything that’s animated.
As far as politics on the Simpsons: are you guys serious? This show had Bill Clinton saying “I’m a pretty lousy President” eight years ago, then later had him serving as a mailman as punishment for an unnamed crime; got really vicious with George H.W. Bush long before that (Bart’s classic “We’re just like the Waltons - we’re all praying for the depression to end”); called the Star-Spangled Banner “a hymn to war” a few years ago and had the characters join hands in the shape of a maple leaf and sing “O Canada;” had Skinner say “Welcome to Dick Cheney’s America” while stealing textbooks from another school… I bet I could keep going if you like. The Iraq thing didn’t bother me, I thought it was funny. It wasn’t groundbreaking in any way, and I thought it was intentionally unsubtle. But it made me laugh, and I liked that it got a little dark.
Right. They used humor to make a point. Think how different it would have been if instead of those jokes, they just ended the episode with a character saying “Bill Clinton has disappointed us all with his lack of morals and self control. Please vote Republican… [slow fade out over a field of grain blowing in the wind].”
No joke, no clever satire, just a political statement tacked on to a comedy show. That’s what you had with this episode.
So noting that it’s foolish to think you can destroy a country and expect to be greeted as liberators has no point? I grant you it would have been just a little braver if they’d said it three years ago, but there’s obviously a point.
I disagree that there’s no joke here. It’s not groundbreaking, like I said, but there were jokes. The last couple of seconds (with no dialogue) were the only serious part.
Itwould have been fantastic if they had ended this episode of THoH with that exact phrase.
But, I agree. The end of the War of the Worlds sketch seemed completely tacked on. I saw a leaked copy on the internet a week or two ago that still had the “This is just like Iraq will be” line still in it, and I’m glad to hear that they cut it. It just fell completely flat.
I loved the ending. And since when is the Simpsons not political?
I wonder if those who are shocked . . . shocked! . . . that the Simpsons are suddenly getting all political are those who support the war.
I was all set to vote Republican* but that episode turned me around completely and I voted for all the Green candidates on the ballot**, despite the risk that they would eat me.
-
- Untrue
** - True. We had a couple Democrat losers on the ballot so I was glad to see a way to waste my vote and send a message at the same time and I wasn’t alone. Now the Greens are a real, official, recognized party in Illinois.
- Untrue
Geez, how much more do I need to spell it out?
Yes, the Simpsons has always been political.
Of course.
No dispute.
No surprise there.
I understand that.
Yes indeedy the Simpsons has always been political.
They do political stuff.
Sure do.
Yep, they’re political, always have been.
No doubt about it.
The Simpsons has done political stuff in the past.
Lots of it.
For sure.
From the very start.
Not just one episode but many.
They’re political.
Nothing new there.
The Simpsons, political? YES!
The show has always been political.
Let me make one thing perfectly clear: The Simpsons has always been political.
But it was funny, or at least attempting to be funny! They did it as a joke, something to laugh at, even if there was some real political message in it with piercing criticism of someone or something! They didn’t just tack on a serious political statement to the end of the show. That’s what I’m talking about.
But it was a joke. Having aliens invading Earth quoting Bush’s line is no different from the show where Kang and Kodos impersonated Clinton and Dole, and spoke lines by then-current politicians (e.g. voting for Perot was “throwing your vote away.”)
Well, if that was supposed to be funny, it REALLY fell flat. (And I’m talking about that last moment, not the whole episode, though I didn’t like the whole ep much either.) It fell so flat that I couldn’t even tell that that they were trying to be funny.
I still say it was a “very special episode.”
Another one: When Lisa starts hanging out with the college girls, she runs into Ralph, who through his usual stupidity almost reveals she’s really a student at Springfield elementary. As the car she’s in speeds away, we see simple Ralph wondering aloud “Why do people rrun away from me?”
That would have been fine right there, but before breaking away fro commercial we see Ralph’s crotch grow dark as he pees his pants, his face still locked in an ignorant smile. A kicker that just ruined it.
Since Kang and Kodos have been watching our planet since it’s creation…5000 years ago…by God!
I thought the gollem was pretty funny. Like who creates a monster then gives it a shotgun?
And “hey Milhouse!” had me chuckle.