I laughed harder at this episode than I have at any in a pretty long time - at the couch gag, Homer’s death penalty comment, the Batman thing, “the fat idiot’s a-talking to garlic bread,” the death beef joke and a few others. I liked the way they used Lisa to mess with viewer anticipation during the flashback portion of the episode. Solid story, too.
After the death penalty joke I think my favorite was the ripped up speech gag. When I was in high school, one of the two candidates who ran for senior class president did the same thing. Of course, he didn’t panic like Homer - he just gave a speech that he’d obviously rehearsed, without the notecards. The ‘Homer’ candidate won our election, though. Which reminds me that I look forward to not attending our reunion.
I loved, “If you could live in the sauce, don’t you think I would be living in the sauce?” Haa! Next time someone is being unrealistic, I’m going to tell them they are living in the sauce.
“Dondolinger took that life away from me, and the taking of a life is murder, and the punishment for murder is… well it varies from state to state and by race”
Because that was my favourite line of the episode.
One would think Homer should already be on that wall. What with him having been in outer space, winning a Grammy, having a fistfight with George Bush Sr. etc.
Edit: Can’t forget Homer winning the First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
The episode was fun. I watched it on Standard Def without the bars and it seemed to me that there were a few scenes that were really taking advantage of their new wide format.
Did anyone catch any of the other people on the wall? I wasn’t sure if you could read them or not. It would have been funny (and appropriate) if they had included the Inanimate Carbon Rod on one of the tiles.
I loved the Batman joke.
Even on SD it seemed like the colors were brighter and everything looked a bit more like the movie. Was that just my imagination?
When I hear inanimate carbon rod, I think of the carbon rod from when Homer went to space in the In Rod We Trust episode, not one that is nuclear powered.
My only complaint about the new beginning was that the head was chopped off Jebediah Springfield early on in the sequence (:09), then it was mysteriously back on again (1:15). It probably won’t be that way all the time though, because I doubt they’ll be chasing their sofa in every episode.
Thanks for pointing that out; I missed the pictures. I was sad about Bleeding Gums Murphy–one of my very favorite characters–being cut from the sidewalk scene; I’m happy to know he’s still in there somewhere. He was on the Wall of Fame, too.
I’ll miss seeing that one incredibly badly drawn spiky-headed kid in the background of the school orchestra scene!
I thought the episode itself was OK, neither great nor awful.
I agree this episode looked just like the movie on DVD. I especially noticed the transperancy of the glass in the cars looked different and better. I also liked that the higher resolution allowed the backgrounds to be a lot more detailed. I am sure there will be a lot of new sight gags they can slip in. My wag would be that most of this episode was drawn on computers.
What kind of carbon would be nuclear powered? My guess is that it’s supposed to be boron from a control rod drive and they draw it glowing green to represent it being hot from being inside the reactor.
If it’s a new TV, it should already have a digital tuner built-in. And you can get your local digital signals over the air, no cable or satellite necessary. They should upgrade the antenna, though. Those old beat-up rabbit ears may not do the job of bringing in the digital signals that a good new antenna would.
I thought it was a pretty good episode, and really liked the opening. The animation looks stellar, so crisp and fine. Futurama has long eclipsed The Simpsons as far as animation goes, and perhaps that’s understandable considering the latter show required more effects and gloss. I don’t usually care about gloss, myself, and I’d gladly do without if it meant we’d get the quieter, more resonant storytelling of the earlier seasons, but as long as we’re in wacky/zany territory anyway, bring on the cool animation, says I!
What I absolutely loved was the inclusion of Troy McClure in the “wall of fame.” McClure’s been gone since Phil Hartman’s death, without a mention as far as I can recall, and it was very, very nice to see him remembered at last.
(Actually I don’t mean that the way it sounds; I have no doubt whatsoever that the Simpsons cast and crew remember and revere Phil – they certainly mention him in the DVDs. I just meant that it’s a pleasure to see one of Phil’s characters honored on the actual show itself. I doubt we’ll ever see that Wall of Fame again, but at least Troy’s there.)
I’d read a few days it was another revisit to high school years, and was ready for Homer and Marge’s graduation to be reset into the 90’s. Homer did say it was 22 years ago, but “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” was the theme (and so were the clothes/hairstyles - with the addition of Lenny and Carls) and the “Larry Davis Experiment” was the band. So I guess they’re going for best of both worlds.
I lol’d at Selma’s (?) “In this reality, I’m not gay! Hubba Hubba!” at Homer``
I hope someone will name all the visible plaques on the Wall of Fame? Every time they showed it there were more.
Better still, they should have a homemade wire hanger HD antenna, like the one you can find out how to build on YouTube. Seems like that would be more in line with Homer’s craftsman ethic (Marge’s spice rack, Bart’s clown crib, the Edison-inspired inventions, etc.).
(Not that I’m putting it down; I made one of those antennas myself and ditched cable TV, and I loved getting to see the new HD “Simpsons” on my TV without having to pay for it. In fact, I probably enjoyed the episode that much more because it was free.)
And count me among those who like this episode (for story and jokes, not just resolution and proportions). I’ve been critical of the show myself for the last few years, but this ep seemed to have that “more jokes per minute” rhythm of the early seasons, such as has been missing recently. Maybe they’re experiencing a renaissance. Let’s hope.
