Nobody has mentioned “Spider Pig” in the couch gag. In fact that whole begining sequence was different.
Overall, I wasn’t a big fan of the episode.
I like clue-less, un self aware, blissfully ignorant Homer.
I didn’t like this Homer at all. Although, I liked his interactions with the Texan, and the Chicago stuff was good. The makeover to Ferris and Cameron was funny.
The opening was great, most of the episode was great, but did they have to recycle the old plot devices of someone hiding the fact that he doesn’t have a job from his family, AND Homer getting his job back from Burns yet again?
Homer doesn’t seem to actually quit very often, although he does take a lot of other jobs. I don’t remember a lot of pretending-to-be-employed stories - which did you have in mind?
One of my favorite Homer lines of all time is the one where Marge says, “Well, at least you can go get your old job back.”
Homer: “Not the way I quit!”
Homer quits a lot IMO. Took a job at the bowling alley, became a tomacco farmer, went to astronaut school, went to work for Hank Scorpio, etc. And he always gets his job back. In the early episodes he had to beg Burns for his job back, now either he doesn’t have to beg any more or they just don’t bother showing it.
As far as hiding his unemployment, I don’t mean The Simpsons used that device a lot (if any), I just mean it’s been done to death in other shows/movies.
That’s what I was saying - he takes a lot of other jobs, but it seems like he blows off work more often than actually resigning. Since a chicken can do his job, it doesn’t seem like anybody minds much.
Somewhere he has an exchange with Marge that goes “And how will this affect your employment at the power plant?” “Negatively, I assume.”
And in the one where Maude dies, Bart asks him if he even has a job anymore. Homer says, “I think it’s pretty obvious that I don’t.”
Did he even quit this time? I thought Smithers just put the phone on voicemail. How would they check the messages, anyway?
I think my favorite joke of this type was when Homer becomes a trucker. Homer asks Bart “Don’t you have school?” and Bart answers “Don’t you have work?”
The power plant was really one of their best settings, it’s a shame they don’t use it too much these days. I’m sure they could come up with some new work-related plots- maybe they could do one about a company softball team!
We’re talking softball
From main to sandiego
We’re talking softball
Manning Lee and Ken Sego
Ken Griffy’s grotesquely swollen jaw
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law
We’re talking Homer, Ozzie and the Straw
Still one my my top 10 Simpsons shows.
We’re talking softball
From Maine to San Diego
We’re talking softball
Mattingly and Canseco
Ken Griffey’s grotesquely swollen jaw
Steve Sax and his run-in with the law
We’re talking Homer, Ozzie and the Straw
Fixed that for you. Donnie Baseball needs his name spelled right, even Yankees haters love him, so he deserves it.
“I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life: boxer, mascot, astronaut, baby proofer, imitation Krusty, truck driver, hippie, plow driver, food critic, conceptual artist, grease salesman, carny, mayor, grifter, body guard for the mayor, country western manager, garbage commissioner, mountain climber, farmer, inventor, Smithers, Poochie, celebrity assistant, power plant worker, fortune cookie writer, beer baron, Kwik-E-Mart clerk, homophobe, and missionary, but protecting people, that gives me the best feeling of all.”
Heck, a brick stood in for him, once.
I don’t want to spoil the circle jerk 
, but I thought the episode was pretty shitty with zero intelligent/witty jokes. When the episode writer has this as his resume, though, what do you expect? And a cameo by Lionel Richie- are they serious? It’s bad enough when they have pointless current celebrity cameos, but Lionel Richie? What’s next- Bull from Night Court? Didn’t Simpsons writers used to need a background in quality comedy writing- Evan Almighty is what passes these days? Jesus.
Wait…so that wasn’t one of the Coen brothers? Well, that explains how underwhelmed I was.
He worked on Toy Story at least…
Extremely weak for me. Only one laugh (Semper Fudge). I don’t recall a time in recent memory in which I watched both The Simpsons and Family Guy and Family Guy was funnier. Family Guy blew it away.
“Untitled Larry the Cable Guy Animated Project”?
Urge to kill rising…
A quick IMDb and Wikipedia look show me that you are confusing two different people. Joel Cohen, born in California, is the writer you are blaming for this episode. Joel H. Cohen, born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is the true writer of this episode, and has only written Simpsons episodes as well as consulted on the movie. (The IMDb listing crediting no-H. Cohen with consulting on the movie is in error). To make matters worse, both Cohens are represented by the same agency, according to the WGA’s website. (There can only be one person with a certain name as a member of the WGA, hence the use of the initial “H” to differentiate Joel Cohen from Joel H. Cohen.) This has been another installment of Know Your Simpsons Writers.