True, but I think the “You lied about what you are when what you are is all you are” (or whatever) speech from the Hispanic open-shirt gay guy made it explicit that it was Moe’s deceit that offended everybody.
He never actually lied, though, did he? He just let them assume. I dunno, I ain’t got that whatchacallit teevo thing. Or friends.
He didn’t lie in words (or in song), but he did intentionally cultivate a gay image. (Flirting, calling himself “Mama Moe,” hanging the picture of himself as a Village Person, etc.)
Did anyone else dislike the casual gag of Mr. Burns’ brain popping open? I recall hearing in some interview or commentary about earlier Simpsons, that one of the stylistic “rules” they created to set the show apart from other cartoons was to treat injuries more realistically (I think this came up in the context of explaining why Homer was so brutally injured in his fall down Springfield Gorge, relative to audience expectations at the time). They’ve been breaking that more and more outside of the Hallowe’en episodes lately, and I find it kind of gross in the context that was established earlier.
He also said he would be ‘their queen’ and turn down a bunch of dates with the macho guy for reasons other then “I’m straight.”
30 Rock did it first.
Heck, he even told that guy he was his favourite. If that’s not explicitely claiming to be gay, it’s close enough for me.
A pretty good episode, all in all. It struck me that the “Moe’s remodeling” was done in a much better way than in the season 13 episode “Homer the Moe”, when the bar is turned into a trendy place, and I think it’s a good illustration of how the writers managed to improve the show compared to the early 2000s. (I don’t remember the season 16 episode based on this concept, and looking at the synopsis I believe it’s because I’ve never seen it.) This time, the bar still looks recognizable after being renovated, we know where the money to make the renovations came from, and the new customers are the kind of working people you’d expect to see in Moe’s bar. In other words, it looks real and we can relate to it. In “Homer the Moe”, we didn’t get the impression that the events portrayed made any sense, and unsurprisingly I don’t consider it to have been a good episode.
Well, with the exception of “Homer’s Phobia”, though he starts being more accepting at the end.
I very much liked that Marge quote, it’s one of the memorable moments of the episode for me.
You’re right, but it didn’t really bother me here. Unlike in last season’s Sideshow Bob episode with the face transplant(s), which just didn’t make any sense.
A good episode, and the fact that they acknowledged the past re-Moe-deling episodes kept me from being annoyed that they had covered this ground before. I wouldn’t count the original Flaming Moe’s as one of these episodes, since that was about Moe betraying Homer and stealing his drink, not about changes to the bar (which I think consisted of adding a stage for Aerosmith and changing the sign).
I think my favorite part of this one was Burns’ full name. I also enjoyed the knockoff Ian McKellen character, and, so help me, Comic Book Gay. The Skinner subplot reminded me of an indie movie I wouldn’t have bothered seeing, and you knew how it was going to turn out, so it wasn’t very engaging. But I think the last three episodes have been the best of the season.
When the crowd at the bar asked if he’d run to become the first openly gay councilman, he didn’t say “I’m not gay” - instead he ran for office; I think that’s close enough to an open lie to offend people.
And Harvey Milk.
The ToF reference was surprising as it’s a very distinct style. Can’t imagine what the Korean animators thought of it. 
I couldn’t tell if the bear was supposed to be anyone in particular, or if the animators just grabbed Homer from the toolbox, plumped him up and added the beard.
anybody do freeze frames of the bar and crowds and make a list of characters?
Anyone want to make guesses as to whether or not ‘Comic Book Gay’ is, in fact, a new character?