Smithers takes a break to star in a Malibu Stacy play in New Mexico.
Burns is looking to amuse himself while Mr. My fears are reinforced when, after Homer begs for money, he gives it to him on the condition that he hurls a cup of pudding at Lenny. Now, Burns doesn’t know what a sneeze guard is. Only occasional forays into examining his age and rather dated views of the world serve as his weakness – he has money, ruthlessness, and enough power to have his birthday party end with the riot squad beating up the patrons. On a normal day, he’s a miserly, vengeful, no-nonsense kind of millionaire. Last time he did so, Burns threw him out of his office with guards in tow. Let’s see how – well, Homer tries to ask Mr. Homer mishearing financial planner as “financial panther” and going into a Family Guy-esque cutaway gag is almost the height of what we get involving him in terms of wit. ( Red Dwarf had Rimmer as somewhat of an antagonistic force early on and actually made his life a complete hell.) At the very least, they have a tendency to be “funny”. There are exceptions, but even then, they have something that makes it work. When you’re trying to make your protagonist a sympathetic character, you should take care to ensure that the lives of everybody around them wouldn’t be better if they were to die suddenly. It’s been said before, even by myself if I recall correctly, but it bears repeating. He’s made impulsive financial maneuvers before, but here, it’s taken to a logical extreme in both it’s selfishness and stupidity. Why? Well, it’s heavily implied that this round of dire straits is Homer’s doing. (Christmas wound up hanging on Bart and Homer going to the track.) Mostly, it’s more the execution of this trope that causes it to fall short here.
However, the whole idea of the family being on the edge of financial solvency has been explored from the very beginning of the series. Don’t get me wrong – the show would eventually show the family affording luxuries that they wouldn’t have been able to afford in their “golden age” lifestyle, because they have to create plots to praise celebrities somehow. Of all the Simpsons plot cliches, this is probably the least irritating. This time, we get four words… “The Family Is Broke”. It is a contender for one of the worst ever – that‘s how bad it is.Īlright, let’s get things started by going into the drawer of Simpsons stock plots. Let me put it this way – after four episodes ranging from “sorta bad” to “pretty decent”, we finally get a whammy of a trainwreck this season. But this episode is special – it might be the moment the writers stopped trying to write for The Simpsons and just used the show as a springboard for their half-assed attempts at satire, all while trying to poorly ape contemporaries such as South Park. The Simpsons has been in decline for three seasons now, and in my eyes, it’s been dead since the middle of Season 11. Dignity” over the edge into the fiery pit of despair. The sheer idea of that scene existing in this show alone is enough to put the episode on the cliff of bad Simpsons episodes, even if it was delivered in a way that was absolutely effective.Īs you can probably guess, the execution of said scene, as well as almost everything else about this half-hour of television, sends “Homer vs.
Just writing that sentence for the purpose of this review makes me wonder what the hell was going on in the writers’ room while this episode was being drafted. That one sentence pretty much encapsulates a lot that has gone absolutely wrong with The Simpsons.
Burns’ amusement at his humiliation.ĭo I have to say anything else at this point? Dignity”, Homer gets sexually assaulted by a panda while trying to make money based on Mr. Burns is in a rather jesterish mood, and his idea of comedy consists of watching Homer humiliate himself for large amounts of cash. Homer must humble himself to try and make some extra cash. Plot: The Simpsons are broke again! Their credit cards are no longer accepted, the car is being stripped to fund gas, and the family is so in the hole that they face extreme bankruptcy. Unfortunately, compared to what else happens in this episode, he gets off relatively easy. “Ow – my eye! I’m not supposed to get pudding in it!” – Lenny.
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