Simpsons: Winter of his Content...parodying something?

[Sir_T-Cups]

The shots and the plot of this weeks Simpsons seemed way too deliberate and familiar for it NOT to be a parody. I just don’t know what it is.

Any help?

[ZipperJJ]

Ah, thanks for the reminder. I meant to look this up today but forgot. I knew that the AV Club review of the episode would have the answer:

Regardless, it’s all just an excuse for Bart to get sucked into the bullies’ plan to attend a bully convention so the show can make a lot of gags about Walter Hill’s 1979 gang-on-the-run cult flick The Warriors.

Don’t get me wrong—I like The Warriors, which remains equal measures goofy and entertaining. But in this case, the homage raises several questions. One: Why, exactly? Sure it’s sort of fun to note the particular references (Tress MacNeille does a creditable impression of the late Lynne Thigpen’s unnamed DJ character, while Kevin Michael Richardson does the same for messianic gang leader Cyrus), and the bullies’ ordeal hits all the right plot points (they even sprung for some Joe Walsh). But there’s nothing inherently funny in the homage (the Capital City Goofball-led mascot gang the “Baseball Furries” is the one genuinely humorous touch) apart from playing spot the reference. I hate to bring up those who must not be named, but it’s the same “making reference to something the audience will recognize equals joke” approach to comedy that Epic Movie, Date Movie, etc. mavens Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg keep trotting out to the delight of the undiscriminating. It’s just not interesting here, nor worthy of the franchise.

[Intergalactic_Gladiator]

The stuff with the bullies was very obviously a riff on The Warriors.

[Sir_T-Cups]

Just what I needed!

Thanks

[Hail_Ants]

I knew the film, any Gen-Xer had to have watched *The Warriors *on HBO a dozen or so times, but I agree as to: Why?!

Why were they parodying a 35 year old movie? Plus the parody itself was, pretty lame. The guy doing the Luther character didn’t do anything funny with it. Would have been at least kinda neat of they got the real actor, David Patrick Kelly, to do a cameo (though I get the impression that Kelly never revisits that role, not wanting to be known as a one-hit-wonder). Plus including the actual Joe Walsh song over the credits added nothing (other than to fulfill the obligatory ‘famous song cameo’ that has plagued nearly every episode of The Simpsons for like ten years now!)