Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - My Mother the Carjacker

Episode Date: September 25, 2024

Now that the Halloween fun is over, it's time for the proper "season premiere" of season 15, as Homer reconnects with his mother. After we dig into the career of writer Michael Price, we discuss how this second appearance of Glenn Close on the series compares to the first. Plus, we chat about viral headlines, collectible t-shirts, the surveillance state of 2003, and the overuse of songs from the '60s in this week's groovy podcast! Support this podcast, experience it ad-free, and get over 200 bonus episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron! And please follow the official Twitter, @TalkSimpsonsPod!

This podcast is brought to you by Patreon.com slash Talking Simpsons. Head there to check out exclusive podcasts like Talking Futurama, Talk King of the Hill, the What a Cartoon Movie Podcast, and tons more. or product. Ahoy, ahoy everybody and welcome to Talking Simpsons, recorded via digital dicta belts. I'm one of your hosts, the Reacher for the Short, Bob Mackie, and this is our chronological exploration of The Simpsons, who is here with me today as always. Henry Gilbert, and I'll always remember raspberry trolley cars in this week's episode is my mother the carjacker

hey pal hey buddy wake up go on an adventure with your old man no you have no choice this episode originally aired on November 9, 2003, and as always, Henry will tell us what happened on this mythical day in real world history. Oh my god! Oh boy Bobby, The Matrix Revolutions beats Elf at the box office, Star Wars Clone Wars directed by Gendi Tartakovsky, debuts on Cartoon Network, and Art Carney passes away at 85. The man who would later be ripped off to turn into Barney Rubble. And a little bit Yogi Bear too, right? He's kind of both of those guys.

Oh yeah, wow, I forgot that they did a double dip on Carney over at Hanna-Barbera. Within the like five years of each other, that's how unoriginal they were. And if you're an Animaniacs fan, you know Art Carney is just the thing Yaka Warner screams, and Art Carney! Yeah, a parody of the Honeymooners ending where there'd be a curtain call and they'd all come out. And the funniest, this is for nobody,

but you're all comedy nerds, so I can talk about this. There was a Mystery Science Theater sketch where they did the honeymooners curtain call and they called Crow Art Crow and because of that they received a letter from a fan where a little girl or little boy thought Crow's name was Art and because of that Mrs. Forrest or the character would call Crow Art. That is how deep that reference went on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I completely forgot that's why she called him art. Wow. Thank you, Bob. You're always the bigger MST3K nerd than me.

I'm cursed with this knowledge. As far as movies go, Matrix Revolutions and Elf, my opinion is you can keep both those movies. And I want you to enjoy them because I don't. But you're free to do whatever you want with those movies in your private life. In your bedroom, it's none of my business how you watch Elf. On this release weekend I watched Matrix Revolutions twice. Once opening day by myself and then three days later friends were like hey let's go see it then cuz they hadn't seen it yet so I was like okay sure and I'll admit on

second watch I did not like it as much the second time especially the battles in Zion last so long and it's not very exciting. And were you an elf viewer in theaters? I did see it in theaters. I should also mention this was when I worked in a movie theater so these tickets were free. Okay, I guess you also just saw lots of movies without paying for them because you were sweeping up and you're collecting popcorn and putting sawdust on vomit or whatever it was that was happening back then. I also was doing that too and then closing up the place to see the last movies playing. I did see Elf when it came out too.

I came to know the ending of Elf and Matrix very well as a usher too. Elf, don't count out Elf. I barely want to talk about Elf because it has a famous comeback. The next week of episode we talk about Elf because it has a famous comeback. The next week of episode we talk about Elf is number one, the Matrix drops to like number four, and Elf gets to number one. Destroyed by Buddy and also Zooey Deschanel's budding musical career, which I think went somewhere. The movie feels like it's trying to launch her in that direction as well, and

I thought I didn't sign up for this. Soon she'll be picking up that ukulele to niche success certainly the new girl herself. I feel like a real stinker on this history segment because I don't really care her or like any of these things. Now Clone Wars I understand people like it and I know Genndy probably enjoyed doing it and he's a big Gen X or a big Star Wars fan but whenever I see him do serious things I just think oh I love his comedy so much and his serious stuff is not my bag, baby. I can also say I was a fan of this because to contextualize this for folks, this was

in between the second and third Star Wars films, the prequels. And you know, you're kind of going to let down. You thought you'd get the fan service you wanted and George Lucas isn't giving it to you. And then a big time fan who also is a great animator with a bunch of other super nerds, they give you the fan service you want which is overpowered force use, crazy abilities. It's like the Samurai Jack action except done with the Clone Wars characters who are ten times cooler than they are in the movies Especially Mace Windu. They do a five-minute silent cartoon where Mace Windu defeats an entire army of Robots without a lightsaber just using his force in ways that are entirely overpowered and contrived that could not work In the movies, but we were very entertaining in these shorts so they paid off the fan service you wanted to see.

Yeah I guess I mean this explains the popularity it's in the middle of the prequels people are looking for better versions of those stories and those characters and this is where you're gonna find it I feel like those prequels pushed me so far away from Star Wars but I will say I do like some of Genndy's action work I do like Samurai Jack what what little I've seen, because I think it does really mix comedy and action. He's able to do both, but when he leans too much in one direction, I feel like I'm not as interested. Although I'm aware that those shows are very well done, things like Primal, I know it's a great show. I

just kind of prefer him in the comedy world, although it feels like that's not what he prefers and hasn't for a while. It does seem like he more is into the action than the comedy, though also I think it's harder to make action than comedy sometimes, and so maybe he sees that as the challenge. The last thoughts I have on the Clone Wars cartoons, which someday we could do a whole podcast about, but Agendi on the third set of of them which are meant to bridge into the revenge of the Sith movie like he's told this is your plot of the movie and he's like well we want to show the scene where Anakin becomes a Jedi Knight but obviously that's in the film right and George Lucas like no no it's not he's

like what what really well okay then let's put it in our cartoon then it was stuff like that where they're like well George Lucas is definitely doing this right oh no he isn't oh wow okay well I guess we better do it then I totally get why people are way into this and I know it spawned an entire new world of shows most of which the Genie was not involved with yeah technically these are non canonical the Clone Wars is the canonical one Clone Wars isn't canonical. But anyway, that's what happened on this day that was also my mom's birthday in 2003. Happy birthday Mrs. Gilbert. Many more to come apparently. So I want to

note that of course you may have noticed there's no guests on this episode. This episode is guestless. I repeat guestless. So I just want to to say upfront that we have travel coming up, like 3.5 weeks of travel we have to account for that we can't record in. So we are doing a few season 15s, just a solo bolo or duo, true or however you want to call it. Just to get them produced a little quicker and other episodes will have guests, obviously, but just to let you know, Talking Simpsons is not disbanded, we're not changing formats, we just like to do dual episodes from time to time for the sake of production speed.

Well, have just as much fun, but yes, no guest will have to be asked about the history of the 1960s or Anita Bong hits and any of those things. Yeah, I guess we're sparing a guest the chance to talk about a not so great episode that I'm not a huge fan of, but before that, it's time to talk about the writer of this episode, a little guy named Michael Price. And honestly, so he's on Twitter, he's very active on Twitter, he's responded to Henry. I think he follows you, Henry. Yeah.

So he's a big Twitter Simpsons guy. And I really want to know what his life was like before he became a comedy writer in the world of television because he got his first writing credit in 1994 at the age of 36. So I really want to know what Michael Price's life was like for I don't know 15 to 18 years after college. What was he doing? Because apparently he got a BA in theater arts, an MFA in directing for the theater, so it's possible he was involved in stage productions for a large portion of his adult life before

he transitioned into being a comedy writer. Wow, man, I didn't know he started at such a late age. Hey, that shows you that we can still make it in The Simpsons too, assuming that we have the same background as him, right? Yeah, we're a shoe in. I do want to point out that he is 44 years old when he's hired for The Simpsons. And this really falls in line with Al Jean's

hiring strategy around this time, where he's not hiring fresh new talents right out of Harvard. He is hiring dependable people who have at least 10 years of sitcom writing experience, and that is Michael Price. I am being slightly critical because if you look back at classic Simpsons, everyone who worked on those shows from seasons one to eight, the ones you love the most, they were all around the cusp of 30. Like

I think Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were maybe 25, 26 when they were hired and by the time they're done with the Simpsons they are 30 years old. So Al Jean is hiring people much older than the golden years of the show. And of course, just because you're older doesn't mean you can't write comedy, but it is interesting that his strategy is so different than, you know, David Merkin's strategy, for instance, or even Sam Simon and MacRaining's strategy, where they're getting a lot of really young people in their mid to late 20s. Yeah. Sam Simon was hiring a lot of guys who hadn't even written their first, like full script before,

like guys from SNL and Letterman who mainly wrote for sketch and late night. Like they weren't regular sitcom writers, but Al Jean is looking for more of a experienced hand at this time, I guess. We talked about it before but like people our generation didn't get hired to the Simpsons until they were in their like 40s. Yeah I mean we're both 42 now so there's still time if we get hired in the next two years we could be just like Michael Price who's been on the show for the last 22 years of his life. It's impressive how long

he's been on the show I think I know some other stuff he's done, but I'm ready to learn. Yeah, actually, I think this is not something that we need to really focus in on, but I think he is the oldest Simpsons writer because he was born in the 50s. And if Swartzwater was still part of the show, he's 75. He would have been the oldest,

discounting, of course, Matt Groening and James L. Brooks. I believe Price is the oldest writer. I think he's 65. So he is Al Jean's elder. He's hiring his guy older than him for the show. Very slightly, but still, yeah, it's what he was into doing during his early takeover or re-takeover of the show. So we could talk about Price's history with The Simpsons. He was hired at the beginning of production season 14, and he's risen to the rank of co-executive producer during his 22 years on the series and to date he's written 26 episodes in total. So like many of the folks who were hired from the late 90s through the early aughts, he

has not left the show because again we've talked about this before, those development deals no longer exist, The Simpsons is very reliable. It's not going anywhere. So we see people just kind of stick around and do a lot of great work for decades because outside of things like SNL, there's no other place to do that in. It sounds like he's one of the many elder statesmen's on it who Matt Selman in his recent seasons has been doing like mini showrunner rooms as in while he is showrunner of the majority of the show to Al Jean doing like, you know, four-ish episodes a season, then on the Selman ones, guys like Michael Price or Carolyn Omini or Brian Kelly, they get their own episodes to show run under Matt Selman as this kind of a more, it sounds like he delegates a little

more than Al Jean did in his time. Yeah, I feel that in this era of the show, of course, discounting Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, there are probably six or maybe seven writers who have been with the show for over 20 years, some probably like closer to 25 years. So you have a bunch of people that are all ready to run their own episodes that they've just had so much experience Yeah with no place to sell shows to otherwise So you may as well put that experience to good use on the simpsons episode you're going to be producing So let's talk about his career

It began in 1994 as a writer for the extremely obscure syndicated sketch comedy show called The news with a Z. So it's the news, I guess, is how you would say it. Apparently this was the first nightly scripted sketch comedy show, but it's gone on to be completely forgotten. I watched some clips online. There's about a dozen episodes on YouTube, and it seems like, oh, this is something I really would have enjoyed if it was syndicated in my area, and it wasn't, because as a tween

I loved watching any sketch comedy I can get my hands on and this seemed like oh it's just perfect rowdy topical sketch comedy for the 90s unfortunately completely forgotten despite the little bit of groundbreaking it did. Yeah it's really too bad yes I have not heard of that either and you know I watched every sketch comedy thing that appeared on Comedy Central and elsewhere that I could watch, and I definitely would have watched every episode of this if it had been in my area too. Yeah, so after this, he enters the world

of children's programming. He writes for Classy Chupo stuff, like Santo Bugito and Ah, Real Monsters. And following this, he crosses over with the Simpsons Verse a few times because he's a writer for Homeboys and Outer Space. And we should point out, I'm not sure about the quality

of that show, but it seems like a lot of Simpsons writers were doing community service by writing episodes of it. I think they had to just get through certain contracts. So you see so many Simpsons writers with credits on Homeboys and Outer Space. They have some pride in it. When we asked Jeff Martin about it, he didn't treat it as like, oh, I'm ashamed.

But Martin also did seem to, I believe he did indicate to us that it was to finish a contract with Disney, for sure. Hey, it could be a funny show. It could be America's version of Red Dwarf, for all I know. It just had a silly title that most people were very dismissive of. So he wrote for that.

More importantly, though, he wrote for that more importantly though He wrote for Teen Angel He was a story editor and writer of three episodes and he's also credited with writing two episodes of the PJs So throughout the 90s, he's making himself very aware to the Simpsons world by being on the Simpsons adjacent projects I mean, that's like 25% of all Teen Angel episodes is writing three of them. That's an impressive amount of Teen Angel writing. And by the way last year we covered an entire episode of Teen Angel. Fascinatingly weird and bad but I believe Drew Mackey and Glenn Lakin were on that and I really had a

fun time talking about that Curse Show. Yeah you will never learn more about Teen Angel than on our podcast. I got tons of exclusive comments from Mike Reese who seemed like he was happy to talk about Teen Angel with anybody who asked. So before The Simpsons, he works a bit more in animation. He's a story editor and writer for both Teacher's Pet and for the Hercules animated series, the Disney's Hercules animated series where I think it was just called Hercules. They didn't put any kind of spin on the title, but it was about called Hercules. They didn't put any kind of spin on the title, but it was about young Hercules. Oh yeah, yeah, it's that interquel Hercules.

I remember that coming up in the Hercules research I did when we covered that on What a Cartoon Movie. So yeah, needless to say, he's been very busy for the past two decades on The Simpsons, but on the side, it looks like he dabbled a bit in the many Lego Star Wars animated programs. There's a lot of shows and specials and he has contributed to those. And somehow he was able to co-create and show run the five season Netflix

series, F is for Family, without taking a break from The Simpsons. Now maybe he took a few months off here and there, but I was looking through his IMDB looking for potential gaps in which he might have left the show to work on F is for Family. And no, it seems like he consistently worked on The Simpsons while co-creating, developing, and writing for F is for Family, the Bill Burr animated sitcom. Yeah, basically F is for Family is a fun show. It is like the Bill Burr. You've watched it all, I think, Bob, or most of it. Like Bill Burr's version of King of the Hill set in Boston 70s. It's fun. I watched the Hill, set in Boston's 70s. It's fun.

I watched the first two seasons of it, all that was available at the time, and I know they made three more. I did enjoy it. It had great writing, but it was basically like King of the Hill, a version of that show that didn't love its own characters. I felt like it was a little too hateful.

And sometimes I like mean comedies, but the heart really wasn't there, although the writing and the storylines were very good. So I kind of want to go back and give the last three seasons a shot. Mark Willmore was also a big part of that show. I don't think he left the Simpsons to write for that. I think he was writing for both concurrently as well. I also think on our interview with late writer Reed Harrison, he mentioned that it was Michael Price who named a character in F is for Family after him is a tribute because they're buddies.

Oh yeah, like I think it's the violent TV cop. Yeah that's right, the Death Wish style TV cop guy, yeah. Well actually that timing of him getting on the Simpsons after the young Hercules, that definitely to me says that he had like a five year deal at Disney and as soon as it was up Al Jean scooped up Michael Price. Yeah I wonder if Homeboys in outer space. I wonder if that's a Disney, like a touchstone show. I don't know, but yeah, he was really involved

with Disney for a bit. I think it is, because that would explain why Jeff Martin did it when we asked him about it. Same with, like, I also learned from my research on the Teen Angel episode that, like, part of the overall deal for Jean and Reese was that they helped with the development of the Mighty Ducks animated series and that's where they worked with Tim Curry

and why he is a voice on Teen Angel. It was very incestuous at Disney, a place Al Gene hated working at but now loves. He can't get enough of Disney. But yeah, you're right. I looked it up, homeboys in outer space, the PJs are touchstone, and of course, obviously Teacher's Pet and Hercules are Disney. So I it up homeboys in outer space The PJs are touchstone and of course, obviously teachers pet in Hercules are Disney So I think he was just in the Disney world not the theme park, but the world of writers

That's why he was on all of those projects. But yeah, Michael Price again, he got a pretty late start So it's never too late to write for the Simpsons You could be 44 and have algae and hire you or maybe 25 years ago. That was still possible And I'm just I'm just saying it's never too late to get a start in this world That's really cool. This tells me I should follow up and see if we could interview Michael Price someday I bet we could he seems very genial and like a fun guy if he hasn't unfollowed me by now. He must like me Yes, Michael pricey. We're not insulting your age I think it's notable that you can just be on the Simpsons this long and get hired in your mid-40s and still be productive and viable and co-creating shows with Bill Burr.

It's great. Yeah. I like him on the commentary. He's very self-effacing and honest about how this is his first script and how he thinks maybe three jokes that he wrote in it are still there. So it sounds to me like his initial script for this episode is better than the final product, because I don't like the final product very much. And the ideas he had sounded better and more grounded. Maybe it wasn't in great shape, which, you know, accounts for all of the rewriting. And

maybe they didn't want to go that dark or that sincere. But I kind of want to go to the other world in which it came out the way he intended. I mean, to look back on all of production season 14, I think there is the story of Al Jean gets a first draft and then he thinks this ending isn't crazy enough and it's usually Act 3 gets crazy. I think in general, the most recent 20 years of Simpsons, a major flaw The most recent 20 years of Simpsons, a major flaw consistently is that the third act has to go to Wackytown instead of being in a more real place. Yeah, and this episode in particular feels like it should have been more grounded. It keeps veering into Wacky and it does kind of tarnish the legacy of season seven's Mother Simpson to me at least because that episode was not afraid to be sincere without being you know maudlin or

cloying it had some great moments between Homer and his mother while still including a lot of great jokes a lot of very very funny jokes here I feel like they're always so worried about it being too tender or too emotional so we're always cutting away to bits with other characters like Sideshow Mel and Wigam I feel like we don't really see Mona Simpson that much here and I think it's because they don't know what to do with her after her initial appearance and We'll talk more about Glenn Close, but looking into this character in the show's history I didn't know she appears 11 times and she dies in her third appearance. It is insane

Yeah, I also looked at that too. I was like, okay, wait, how many more times really was it? And it's like, geez, I mean, I guess we'll talk about that in a few years when we get to that episode Mona leaves. But to hear Michael Price tell the story, they were ready to kill her this episode. They're like, well, what more can we do there? But this episode is beat for beat so similar to the first one too. It almost feels like, did you just bring her back

because you wanted to work with Glenn Close? Like was Al Jean jealous that he didn't get to work with Glenn Close or tell the Homer's mom story that while it was in the rare time when he wasn't working on the show? Yeah, it does feel like he was so willing to undo all the changes that were made by Oakley and Weinstein and also Mike Scully.

But in this one, he doesn't undo the mother Simpson being a fugitive thing. He just keeps rolling with it, which it just strikes me as a return to the character, but nothing new is added. There are no new angles. Yeah. And it does end up in the same place where she is still on the run, although their parting isn't sweet and tender. It's you think Homer is watching his own mother drown and explode. Yeah, yeah. Not to skip to the end, but they- Yeah, sorry for jumping ahead so far. Instead of doing one of the most beautiful

and beloved final shots in the entirety of this series, They instead torture Homer and leave him thinking his mother is dead. This and Mona Leaves, when I watched that one and this one, they both brought me down. Like, I don't like how mean they are to Homer just to keep Mona out of his life. Like, I don't like that. This episode also, I do want to say that I think the direction by Nancy Cruz is very good for this era She's not as good as Laura McMullen who I think is the best director in season 14 But I think Nancy Cruz is doing her best with this era of the show Yeah, it's a good-looking episode and I guess we should also say it's named after the mid-60s sitcom My Mother the Car which I believe was the first sitcom that James L. Brooks ever wrote for.

And for a while you would see it in TV Guide lists and Entertainment Weekly lists as, oh, this is the worst sitcom ever made. And I think that was just because of the weird premise. But once it became more available and people could actually sit down and watch it, you realize like, oh, this is just as funny as Beverly Hillbillies or whatever else had a weird premise at the time. It's hard to get over a talking car, but we've learned there are much worse sitcoms than My Mother the Car.

I think it got by for decades on listicles because you couldn't just watch a clip of it on YouTube. You just had to go by a TV guide list that would say the worst sitcoms ever, My Mother the Car, number one. What a stupid idea. That's all they'd have to say in it instead of, well now there have been a million horrible sitcoms since then that nobody remembers. Yeah, starring nobody, about nothing. And because this sitcom came out when it did,

it has one season with 30 episodes. So My Mother the Car did just as many episodes as Mr. Show and Strangers with Candy and U candy and upright citizens brigade and so many other things in one year It is funny when they've brought it up on the commentaries before that Brooks worked on it because they're sheepish that it seems like it's something Jim Brooks doesn't like to talk about or based on his age. It makes him feel very old Again, I have heard the rumor that he has a secret age, that he's actually older than the internet will tell you he is. Ooh, maybe we can uncover that.

That could be a Talking Simpsons mystery. I heard it on a podcast of a guest we've previously had said it on another podcast that he knows James L. Brooks' secret age, but I'll say no more than that. Yeah, James L. Brooks' first episode is called It Might As Well Be Spring As Not. And I don't know who any of the characters are or what any of this means, but the description is

Dave's wealthy new client loves the porter and offers his limo and chauffeur in exchange for it. Gladys, who's smitten with the client, wants her son to make the deal. So I assume Gladys is the car who is also the mother and somebody wants to buy her. I think Ken Keeler made the remark that that episode actually is full of what's good about James L. Brooks' writing. Like it's mother-son relationship stuff that actually is well done

even for James L. Brooks writing it in his must-be early 20s at most Yeah, I assume he took all the my mother the car material and transferred it to the critic with Jay and his mom Actually, it's a one-to-one matchup with terms of endearment the same plot really well I haven't seen it so I'll take your word for it. It's on Paramount Plus right now Bob I don't have it, but it's got to be somewhere up here in the north I'm gonna finally watch I just bought the Criterion Edition of broadcast news I've not seen that one before I've been meaning to watch it because our pal Griffin Newman says it's one of his favorite movies of all time and I was

like I really should see more of James L Brooks's movies now that I've watched his worst one I'll do anything. I honestly I think I've only seen as good as it gets to be honest I'm really I think I've only seen as good as it gets, to be honest. I'm really behind in my Brooks watching. Is that as good as it gets for his film career? We'll never know, we haven't watched it all. I guess we're gonna find out with the release

of this new movie coming up. That's right, he is still making a new movie. That is insane. But this episode begins as so many do, where the, well first there's an opening bit at the couch gag of the family turning into dust which as somebody getting over a cold I was feeling it right now the turning into dust scene I've seen this on comments to say I've mentioned this a lot but there's multiple times this

episode was like wait they did this joke before but seriously starting with the family gardening this is the start of Bart Carney. Like, their outfits are even the same. They're all wearing this, like, farmer gear with their overalls and stuff. Yes, yeah. And I like how some of the old timey touches, like, Bart is whitewashing the fence. He's become Huck Finnigan as well. This episode, it begins with them all doing their yard work, but Marge actually interrupts it.

Bart takes it to mean that mom has finally stopped caring, but Homer at least think it's a trick. Homer thinks it's some sort of super chore, which is like getting the rat out of Maggie's room. I gotta think the reference to the rat in the baby's room is a lady in the tramp reference. Hmm. Oh, I've never seen it. Is something similar happening in that film? Oh man, Bob, the whole movie, a rat is trying to break into the baby's room to kill the baby. Really? Yes, yeah, and Lady knows the rat's gonna get in there,

but Lady is tied up outside, so the Tramp runs in to kill the rat. Well, it does happen behind like a curtain, but Tramp kills the rat, but then the uppity nanny thinks that Tramp tried to hurt the baby and doesn't even see the dead rat. You see, I thought the entire movie was about a nice dinner that two dogs had.

It's a story of class, really, that the lady is the Tramp good enough for the lady? I won't reveal more of it, because someday we might do it on a podcast, but yes, a rat nearly killing a baby is a key plot point of The Lady and the Tramp. On some recent season 14 episode, they also had Maggie fighting a raccoon in her crib. They really are enjoying it, though this time, her in the...instead of trying to kill the rat, she's befriended this rat. The Simpsons will be right back. On The Simpsons season premiere, meet the woman who gave birth to Homer.

Mom, you're back! Homer, you're hugging a bum. I'm working my way up to you. Give me back my wife! But when she's thrown in jail, it's Homer and Bart to the rescue. Wanna go on an adventure with your old man? No. You have no choice.

Get ready for the escape of the century. I'm gonna hide you where there's no one around for miles. Disney's California Adventure. Gleng-Close guest stars. The Simpsons season premiere next week on Fox Laugh Out Loud Sunday. Hey everybody, it's Henry Gilbert here welcoming you to this mother and child reunion of a podcast. Me and Bob always appreciate you guys listening to us explore these classic episodes of The

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and this month you're going to hear us talk about the B-movie! Yes, we're talking about B-movie Jerry Seinfeld's terrible DreamWorks film. We talk about the good and the bad of animation, and that includes B-movie. And if you sign up at the $10 level, you get almost 6 years worth of one of Cartoon movies at your disposal, all of our previous ones we've covered in each month a new one and that includes us covering films of Pixar films of Studio Ghibli all the previous Disney Renaissance film classic Disney films films like spider-man into the spider-verse and Beavis and Butthead do the universe our longest one ever even six and a half

hours about who framed Roger Rabbit in addition to all the ad free and early podcasts you get at patreon.com slash talking Simpson. So please sign up today. Marge chases the family into the house, she wants their keisters on the house. I like Nancy Cruz took Marge shooting everybody with hoses to do like a first person shot of Homer being chased by Marge. That was fun. In my notes I called out the Marge POV shots as she's spraying Homer in the face with the hose.

And after an update on a dead skydiver, which reminds me that we're nearly at the end of season 3 of King of the Hill, but then we get a news update that Marge is very proud of The irrepressible hundred-year-old skydiver will be buried as soon as his body is found now It's time for the channel six oops patrol This week one eagle-eyed viewer spotted this hilarious headline mayor unveils erection to cheering crowd. This week's Oops Patrol t-shirt goes to Whom? Whom? Mrs. Marge Simpson of Springfield.

Ta-da! Mommy, the Oops Patrol, hot damn! What? You're not at school, don't swear. I love Marge already had the shirt in the mail so she knew she was on the Oops Patrol and wanted everybody to see it. And this is in the episode because I believe Michael price's Parents were big fans of Jay Leno and his headline segment So later on there's an homage to them in one of the headlines Homer digs up

But I always preferred the Conan O'Brien parody of the headline segment where he would have these obviously Photoshopped fake headlines and ads that were completely made up and just vulgar and gross and weird. And I loved when it seemed like the audience didn't understand the ads were supposed to be fake. So Conan would always say, again, I don't know why they would print this.

I don't understand this. It was so good when the audience wasn't in on it. He'd always like, he would do it so big, like Leno would say, you can't make these up, but Kodo would go like, these are real headlines, you can't make these up. And then the headlines would be something and say, I pulled up one of the earliest actual items ones

to watch it, because I love these too. It was an ad for Radio Shack. And it was like a TV ad in Radio Shack that had a bowl of popcorn on the TV and then it said under the ad for it, this is the only image that appears on this television. That's great. Man I missed those so much they were so simple and now I guess that would be so easy to make but they like just knocked me out when I would watch this as a kid. Yeah I guess technically we can all just make fake headlines and tweet them all the time.

So it cheapens it. But meanwhile, the Leno ones, it's like, you know, part of the fun, I get why people liked them. I also thought it was like easy comedy. Though that is so the Leno versus Conan difference. Like Conan challenges himself to, and his writers, to come up with an awkward, da-di-ist, weird kind of statement in a headline.

While Mima Oleno wants to be in this position of like, look how stupid these people are. Can you believe they wrote that in the headline, folks? Yeah, I think his reaction would just be kind of like a raised eyebrow and, you know, a smarmy murmur. Mm-hmm. Basically, Homer does a worse version of it in this episode, too. Though Marge has been working on this for a while because in Lisa the Treehugger,

that's where she has her ketchup truck hits hamburger stand headline. Oh yeah. That was going through my head and I forgot where it ended up in. I had to double check that one like, wait, they did this not that long ago, right? So Marge has been working her way up on the oops patrol.

Though of course I did have a prize t-shirt I walked around in that I won as a kid, which was my Doug promotional t-shirt from the launch of Nicktoons. I told the whole story about that on a retronauts a couple months ago. Henry had his choice of three t-shirts and he said, one Doug please.

That this is the horse to bet on for Nicktoons. I could try to act cool and pretend that I got a Ren and Stimpy one, but no. I wrote in to the contest was what's your favorite Nicktoon? Tell us and you might win a free t-shirt. And I sent in and said, Doug is my favorite of the three and I won a Doug shirt. Maybe I won that Doug shirt because nobody else sent in those letters. We got a whole warehouse full of Doug's. We send these out to anyone. You know, Ren and

Stimpy was a, just a mega hit, but Doug had longer legs, Doug had two series and a first movie. Though now they're both, well actually Ren and Stimpy will be back any minute now, based on current leaks. It's already back if you know where to look, and I assume it will never air, so if you like a bad reboot, well it's out there and it's free if you want to find it. So Marge, walking around town in her wonderful shirt. I just love like, now you can just print to order any shirt. So I feel like you can't even really show off like, oh, I was on this TV show because we all got a free t-shirt at it. Actually, I'm wearing one of them right now. I went to a theme park and bought a t-shirt. I'm wearing my Mr. DNA shirt right now. I'm wearing a t-shirt of my own podcast and not this one. So. But it's fitting because we recorded this on Friday the 13th.

Yeah. By the way, my teacher has Jason Jason Voorhees on it. Though this did take me back to around when this episode aired. I worked at a movie theater in Florida and somebody came in wearing a shirt that said, you've been X'd like they were on the Jamie Kennedy experience. And when you get pranked on it, you've been X'd. And I was like, whoa, you got X'd by Jamie Kennedy? And they sadly revealed to me that they simply bought it at a gift shop in Las Vegas and they did not appear

on the show. Loser I'll say, I'll declare them to be a mega loser. You know, that show only, I think, is it experience or is it experiment? Oh, maybe it is experiment. I just remember the X on it? Oh, maybe it is experiment. I just remember the X. Yeah, the X is the important factor,

and it lives on forever because it is a part of one Arrested Development episode in season two or three. It lives on forever, immortalized in a much better program. That's right, I totally forgot that that was, I just remember seeing that shirt, that it was like, apparently they did a season of it in Las Vegas. That's where they pranked people, which I would bet it's because it's easier to get permission.

That's why I learned they did taxicab confessions in Las Vegas, because at least back then you could film people without consent there apparently, which seems crazy. Yeah, I guess once you enter Las Vegas, you can just be filmed doing whatever you're doing as long as you're outside. I feel like we as a society rejected Jamie Kennedy around 2005. We said, no more. We tried to make this work.

I don't think it's happening. And then we were like, Nick Swartzen, hmm. Jamie Kennedy, I feel like we're totally done with him or he just appears. I think he did appear in one of those right wing movies that only Chapo Trap House watches to parody. Yeah, something about abortion. I think he was in one of those.

That's right. Not that he did it for even political reasons. He just was like, hey, I got an offer. Nobody offers me to act in anything anymore. Though he has to be so pissed that they killed him off early in the Scream series. When they started bringing back the Scream films for five and six, he's like, how dare you kill me off in two? I should have been in all of the Scream series. When they started bringing back the Scream films for five and six, he's like,

"'How dare you kill me off in two? "'I should have been in all of these Scream movies. "'They'd be my only paycheck.'" Yeah, whatever the 2022 film is, I think it's just called Scream. Is that six? Or did they just stop using numbers? No, that's five.

Okay, I see he's credited as party guest, voice uncredited. Yeah, because they watch like a video of themselves in it, I think. They bring him into it in a very strange way, but they killed him off in two, which did piss me off then, because obviously, when I was a teen watching the Scream movies, the video store nerd was my character. I was like, oh, yeah, if I'm anybody in a Scream movie,

it's the guy who's not having sex and is obsessed with working at a video store. I think it was Wes Craven trolling the audience by killing the character you identify with in the film. Freaking Skeet Ulrich, he gets to come back as a force ghost in these Scream movies. Why can't Jamie Kennedy? You see, I didn't know this, but I'm not surprised. I don't want to spoil too much more of it, but yes, you will see a CGI D-age Skeet Ulrich

in one of the newer screen movies now I'm sorry that we're going so far off track here We talked about Jamie Kennedy based on a t-shirt story But I just saw the trailer for scary movie for the first time in 25 years probably because our local theater is playing it and I forgot that so much of the movie is what if the ghost face guy Got high and that's just that's the premise for so many of the jokes. He's like, oh whoa, his mask would change to look like a high guy.

Oh man, well I guess unless it's a Red Band trailer, they can't show most of the like the jizz and dick jokes that are in the trailer. Oh sorry, one other thing. Unrelated to The Simpsons, please bear with me. I saw the trailer for The Sixth Sense for the first time in 25 years and I forgot that the, I see dead people. That is not the end of the quote. The entire quote is, I see dead people walking around like regular people.

That's the entire quote. People forget that it cuts off there in a lot of the ads, so they think that is the entire quote. But no, walking around like regular people, if you're going to quote the movie, make sure you say that. I forget that and I've seen that movie a bunch of times I totally forgot he says more lines than that. Did you know that Haley Joel is getting a lot of acting right now? He is regularly on Jimmy Kimmel playing JD Vance for this election cycle. Okay well hey good for him. Yeah. Back to the show yes Marge proudly walking around with her shirt. I love

with it when she's offered the Prozac Topec. She turns it down by saying like she's wearing her cure for depression. You know, this is very observational because when you're a doctor, of course you're courted by a lot of pharmaceutical companies. They come in, they give you merch and they try to sell you on their medications. Because my mom was a nurse for so long, she would end up getting a lot of these notepads and pens and other things like keychains and she would give them to us. So for a long time in grade school and high school,

I had notebooks with like herpes medications emblazoned on top of them and pens that looked like syringes with some other medication on the side. It was like a bounty of pens and notebooks for me as a kid. Oh, that's awesome, man. Prozac would be a great one to walk around with. Well, I don't know, I buy just as many T-shirts as tote bags on vacation.

I do like a good tote bag. I have more totes than I tote, honestly. You gotta use those tote bags, Henry. Maybe you could stitch them together into one giant bag. To one mega bag. My Mario one I got from the Nintendo store in Tokyo is just too good, like it's too well made. I don't want to put like ice cream or whatever in it.

Well, when you die, they can tilt your ashes away in it. Ah, bury me, bury me in my Mario tote bag. You can be buried like an Egyptian king, surrounded by all of your tote bags. So Homer then is so jealous he bites his knuckles and wishes he was never born. Then we cut to him trying on the shirt himself. He says bless the loom that fruited you, a reference to Fruit of the Loom. Oh, and you know on the references page, I have to say another Simpson's Wiki blunder.

I sometimes check it just to see, did I miss anything? But they get things wrong. They said that when Lisa says, don't go in there, it's a trap, that it's an Admiral Ackbar reference, no fucking way. No, no, no. Yeah, I saw that too, actually, and I just rolled my eyes. If they wanted it to be a reference, she would have said it like the character. You can say it's a trap without referencing that movie at all.

It's possible, especially at this point in time. And Michael Price has written many Lego Star Wars things, so if he wanted to reference it intentionally, he woulda. And this is where there's the first of three deleted scenes in the episode. Two of them are hidden on the DVD, but I've got them all here. Instead of bless the loom that fruited you, instead Homer acts out a different thing in the mirror, him talking to the Queen of England. What a handsome shirt! Oh, thank you, your majesty. Homer! Win your own t-shirt! She's right, Homer!

Find your own amusing headline and you'll win a t-shirt! Oh, Your Majesty, you're as wise as you are beautiful. Uh, do either of you want to sign my report card? And Homer is going to meet the Queen very soon, right? Yeah, maybe that's why they cut it out. They're like, wait, this fantasy is not crazy enough because he will soon have a lot of scenes with the Queen of England. So they cut it down to just the bless the loom that fruited you. Though that's also why in the next scene they have to start with Homer off-screen saying, gotta find a headline. He says, gotta win that shirt, gotta win that

shirt. Because they lost the bit of Homer deciding he needs to have his own headlines. Okay. I think also too, there's a minor animation flaw in it, so maybe that's why like Lisa's nose moves in a weird way. Yeah, with the one that's not hidden, the one that I actually saw while doing notes, I noticed, okay, this has an animation error and this is why it's not in the episode,

because they didn't want to buy a retake. That one that's on the DVD, that's the one I would have kept, I think. Yeah, me too. Then Homer decides he's gonna do his own Jay Leno routine. He's got headlines to laugh at. Gotta win a t-shirt, gotta win a t-shirt. Okay, get ready to laugh. Okay, get ready to laugh. Ranford Man missing. What's he missing?

His pants? A train? Give me a break. Too soon, huh? All right, Trout threatens to turn West into dessert. Yum yum, I think I'd like some whipped cream on my Wyoming. Dad, the word's desert, and those farmers are suffering. From what?

Too much hot fudge? Huh? Yee-hee. Come on Bart, show me some love. Don't drag me down with you, old man. And yeah, Cranford is a city in New Jersey where I believe Mike Price is from or his parents lived there. By the way, Michael Price did not go to Harvard, so there you have it. It's possible. So again, it's more possible for us. We're gonna be 44 in a

few years. Neither one of us is a Harvard grad. Michael Price proves it's possible. We look to you, Michael Price, and you know what? I need to ask him for tips. I'm gonna send him a DM. Ask him for a reference. There's a funny bit on the commentary where it seems like they're making it clear that they do think Jay Leno isn't funny and that his headlines are bad, but then I think they realize that's in poor taste or they don't wanna be that mean,

so they go like, which we think are funny. I think they try to make it seem like they're not making fun of Jay Leno's headlines. Matt Sillman is not in this commentary, is he? I don't think so, no. Okay, because I feel like if he was, he would make jokes about that and them trying to save face in terms of looking bad for making fun of Jay Leno. And Bob, did you learn the mnemonic in school about why the difference between spelling

dessert and desert? It sounds familiar, but I completely lost it. This I always remember, two S's in dessert because you want a second helping. That's what I was taught. That's teaching poor eating habits. Well, you don't have to have two helpings of dessert, but that's how you know that same with principal,

who's in charge of your school, is spelled with P-A-L at the end because he's your pal. Depends on the principal, honestly. Those are the only two mnemonics I remember for spelling in school, but they stick with me to this day. And then we get a parody of A Beautiful Mind, a movie I refuse to watch because I despise Ron Howard and all he stands for and his movies are boring

and very mid, but it's very limited to just a few scenes. But have you seen this film, Henry? I feel like you have seen it in the past. Henry Slaughter Not since its theatrical release. And it was only because I wanted to see this was at the time when my mother and I would watch all of the Oscar nominated best picture films, which this was one of them. So I did see it. Yes. Tim Cynova Yeah, to be fair, I saw the Grinch in theaters because I still had residual Jim Carrey love and that destroyed my love for Ron Howard and Jim Carrey at the same time. Yeah, no, the movie, I mean, it is such an Oscar bait biopic. You compare it to Oppenheimer,

Oppenheimer is like a million times better than it in the biopic of guys, of PhD super mathematician guys. It basically is, you know, mental illness as a superpower kind of movie too. It's full of corny things. I also remember my mom telling me soon afterwards, oh I read a whole article about how much of this movie is like bullshit. There's this whole like pen presentation thing that they do for Nobel Prize winners that is not a real thing. There's a bit of him taking medication. It's like, no, he actually stopped taking medication at a certain point. Also, it's about his love story. In this story, they cut out his

numerous homosexual affairs that happened in his life. There's a lot of lies in it, apparently. Yeah. In recent years, Ron Howard propped up JD Vance. I mean, the book was already a hit, but I think he is partially responsible for making him a public face and making him sellable, that vile, vile man to the general public. So, I mean, quickly, this episode is going live soon, so I don't think any of these things are going to happen. But it was revealed very quickly that he is a disgusting lizard person who no one takes seriously and cannot simply interact with people without seeming completely out of touch and weird. He's a truly despicable guy that

JD Vance and that Ron Howard helped legitimize him more should be more shameful than anything in Ron Howard's background though yeah I think now Ron Howard doesn't make movies like this anymore because I guess because he won his Oscars I forget what he finally did win it for but it wasn't a beautiful mind I don't think though I remember liking Jennifer Connelly's acting and I believe Jennifer Connelly fell in love with Paul Bettany on the set of this movie and Russell Crowe does an okay job in it I think so no he did win the Oscar for this film oh okay well never mind actually he won two Oscars for this film.

Ooh, yeah. Best picture and best director for this movie. Barb, this movie. Yeah, yeah, I thought, oh, there's no way this could have possibly, I think 9-11 just scrambled our brains because there's no way in hell this should have won. It was up against Godfrey Park, In the Bedroom,

Fellowship of the Ring, and Moulin Rouge. I will give that to two movies over this that I haven't even seen in the bedroom. In the bedroom is my pick of those. I saw all five. In the bedroom rules. It is so good. It is full of like perfect acting.

It is an amazing story. Like I love In the Bedroom so much. It is such a great movie. It is 10 times the movie A Beautiful Mind is. The only reason people remember Beautiful Mind is because of the scene they're parodying in here of his magic crazy brain that is seeing patterns that don't exist in newspapers because he thinks the CIA is talking to him through the newspapers and though now that has been completely erased by the picture from Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

That's the only thing you think of of newspapers on walls. Oh yeah, absolutely. And the music even parodies James Horner's score from that scene. I looked up the scene and actually in the scene itself, very little time is spent with words coming out of the papers. I think the Simpsons episode does more with that than the actual source material. I do respect Nancy Cruz for being able to do, I think I got double turnaround on Homer, though I guess in the digital era,

they at least, it's easier in the background, art design perhaps, but still, that is a big ask on the full spin around on Homer. I was impressed, I don't even think the movie does that, kind of camera move. And the whole writers room like spent time writing all those headlines, and then they even do write some body to a couple of the articles they have to zoom in on.

Yeah, I transcribed the one at the very end and we'll cover it then. But yeah, for usually just the first column of the piece, they will write original text that is kind of funny. And it turns out they spent a lot of time on that. There was a separate room just to write that material. But all of this J Leno headlines thing is just to set up Homer getting secret messages which are actually real, not the crazy ones that Russell Crowe thinks he is getting in a beautiful mind

from the CIA that is being sent to him by the secret agent Paul Bettany. But in this case it is fake or it's real being sent by his mother, though he doesn't know that yet. Though I love that Marge just has the reaction. Jennifer Connelly doesn't believe him at first but she'd have been better off in her movie if she just says, I'm sure it's just your brain going crazy. I wish. And then Homer is told to listen to his brain, which they cut to his brain, and it's Claire Balcao playing the ukulele, which it's just the turkey in the straw joke again. Like this is the same joke. Yeah.

What was the turkey in the straw joke from? Was that from the Sherry Bobbins episode? I think so. yeah, yeah. He's like, I'm giving you all my mental energy, and then, ne-ne-ne-ne one of those jokes where it's just a monkey toy with symbols smashing them together. Yeah at least in that one it comes alive and tells Homer to pay attention to Mars. There's an extra step to it. Yeah I guess it's elevated a bit but they really couldn't top the initial Homer imagining a 30s cartoon in his head. And then Homer instead decides see that's why I'm gonna listen to my gut and said,

and away we go! Which, that's just him being a silly cartoon character and knowing he is that. And speaking of our Carney, he just is using Jackie Gleason's catchphrase. You're right! That's just him being the honey pooter is here. In a clever gag, they reveal that he's actually kidnapped Bart. You think he's waking up Bart in bed, but actually he carried him all the way to the car and is waking him up from the car seat which it's laid out very good to not blow the joke. This is where they catch on the commentary, I wouldn't have caught it myself, that it's at four minutes and 45 seconds they finish the credits on this. When I was

taking notes I thought well this episode is taking a very long time to get through and I'm looking up and I'm like oh more credits? How many minutes am I into this? And I saw yeah it was close to five minutes. My guess is that it's because they had so many text jokes on screen that they never wanted when the text for like a news headline appears on the screen they didn't want to have a credit next to it to draw focus from it. So that then punts the credits almost five minutes into the episode. Oh yeah, I totally bet that's what's going on here for sure. I also like that they brought Bart along. I think it makes it if Bart wasn't there, then Homer meeting with Mona again would just be a complete repeat of their first meeting in Mother Simpson.

So by having Bart there, they at least get to write a couple new jokes of Bart being present. It's nice to see her interact with her grandchild that she doesn't get to see at the same time. But also, Lisa gets no time with her in this, which I feel is deeply unfair. I think Lisa has one line of dialogue with her maybe and that's after she dies. There could be some other stuff, but I remember this being very light on the Lisa Mona interactions I remember that they're having very sweet interactions during Mother Simpson because obviously Lisa would really idolize her grandmother knowing her past Yeah, Bill and Josh recognize that like Lisa would feel most connected to or at least equally connected to Mona

feel most connected to, or at least equally connected to, Mona, which they follow through in this episode with Bart, that Bart likes Mona because she is a bad girl, like she is a wanted criminal and he thinks that's cool, while Lisa thinks it's cool that it's for political reasons and left-wing political causes. But here, Lisa does get to voice the injustice that's happening to her grandmother, but for like one joke and is then ignored. She has to remind Homer of the plots and why he should be outraged.

Homer and Bart are waiting in an alley. Homer is talking to Bart while actively urinating as well while waiting in that alley. I was like, oh yeah, Homer is pissing on screen right now. That's a new one for him. Looks like he's peeing on his own car in that scene. Yeah, Homer's very crazy in this episode, though they at least explain it's because he has been

horribly hurt by the loss of his mother multiple times that have driven him insane. And you know, personally speaking, I'd rather smell fresh urine. I've lived in cities before and nothing is worse than just like an alley or a corner that is just reeking of weeks or days old piss and it desperately needs to rain.

Oh yeah, hey, I've come upon a guy peeing on a car in an alleyway in San Francisco and it does smell better fresh than old, I'll tell you that. That's the cleanest your pee's ever gonna get when it's just in stream form. We've done the research people. So Homer though is shocked, shocked by a voice out in the darkness and it leads to him screaming several times and I think Michael Price says that the Pet Boys joke was the only joke of his that survived his original script. Don't scratch them heads, fellas.

I credit the writer or the art team who must have seen we already made parody Pep Boys so we don't have to make them up. We can just reuse the Zip Boys from the Treehouse episode we did. I love the Zip Boys, they're great. And great screaming by Dan in sequence there of seeing it all. And funny that this was at the same time the Matrix

Revolutions was out in theaters because they sort of do a Matrix thing of Bart doing a super karate kick towards this assailant and being Deflected into a sweater. Oh another thing from that scary movie trailer that I just felt so quaint Another joke was you know that thing they do in the Matrix? What if someone else did that? How about that? That's pretty funny. I still think they make these types of movies to this day, but it does feel like they're unnecessary when people on the internet can instantly parody a movie

instead of doing it like nine months later. Yeah, honestly, that's what I feel about a lot of movies lately, including a movie I enjoyed, partially enjoyed, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. No spoilers, Henry. Henry has not seen it. He will see it soon. I felt like I had a good time, but this could have been like a Jimmy Kimmel sketch or a Jimmy Fallon sketch.

Whatever those reunion sketches happen on are like a Funny or Die sketch and I'd be fine with it. Same with the Weird Al movie, which I guess was a Funny or Die sketch. Clerks 3 as well, I thought like, oh, the intro is fine. This feels like a funnier die sketch. Like, what are Randall and Dante doing today? And it would have been eight minutes long and it would have been fine. Well, but then he couldn't have like tried to pull your heartstrings with a crazy ending.

Yeah, it was crazy. Kevin Smith debuted his new film in Canada, in my town, and he was in my neighborhood. So I was within a stone's throw from Kevin Smith, although I would not throw a stone at him. You would get stoned with him. I don't know, he's sober now, right? Oh, that's right, he is sober now.

I take that back. But I mean, I would be polite, although I'd be thinking, God, I don't like your movies anymore, sir. You You know that trailer for 430 movie looks at least okay ish in that He is setting it back in his childhood. So at least it will feel more grounded though Then I found out that the lead actor in the film was of course his daughter's boyfriend Like that's why he's in the movie Well, at least he's no longer selling movies in NFT form. That was a real low point for him.

Though did you see he just started a new podcast with his daughter as well? That's very cute. Do you know what the subject matter is? Just bullshitting around, that kind of podcast, just hanging with his daughter. I got nothing against her because at this point he's basically just making trauma movies, so Godspeed.

She's not acting in other stuff, she's fine. Like we have literally known about her her entire life. We both probably read the View-A-Skew blog update when Harley Quinn Smith was born. Yeah, once an obscure reference, now one of the most popular comic characters of all time. And yeah, I remember watching the extras on the Dogma DVD and Kevin Smith is holding his baby, telling you about what's on the DVD. And remember watching the Jay and Silent Bob strike back and that she is playing baby Silent Bob in it? Oh that's her? I think so.

Okay I guess it would have to be her. But enough you askew memories here. So yes we hear Glenn Close's wonderful voice. I do think Al Jean really wanted to work with Glenn Close and that's why it was Jean's idea to bring back Mona for another story. And he recorded with her personally in New York for it, which I assume is because she was doing Broadway at the time. At the time she was doing this based on her resume

I looked at, she would be saying, "'Look at me, I'm Blanche Dubois' because she was playing that character in Streetcar at the time. The famous line from a streetcar named Desire, yeah. I mean, she's good. We just covered Tarzan for What a Cartoon Movie Look at me, I'm Blanche Dubois because she was playing that character in Streetcar at the time. The famous line from a streetcar named Desire. Yeah, I mean, she's good. We just covered Tarzan for What A Cartoon Movie on our $10 level at the Patreon.

She does a very good job as, what's her name, Kala? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Tarzan's ape mother. And yeah, I didn't even know it was her when I initially saw it, but she does a great job there. Also too, sadly, she is attached to the JD Vance shame rock as well by playing Mima in that horrible Ron Howard movie. Hey, she was just doing her job. I'll give her that at least. More people should have been mean to JD Vance like that old woman was.

Honestly, Mima's failure was not being mean enough to that dork. But yes, why don't we hear Mona's return to the series? Grandma! Oh, Bard. Are you still a little hell raiser? Yes-um. Mom, you're back! Just like you were back before. Then you left me again.

I love you so much, but it's so hard for me to trust you. Oh, what the heck. Give me a hug, you. Homer, you're hugging a bum. I know, I'm working my way up to you. Hey, give me back my wine That's the James L. Brooks hobo they reuse there See this is what I'm talking about though. This is a funny joke and I like the joke itself

But I feel like whenever they start getting into let's sit down with mom and talk and have like a scene about the characters it's immediately a joke has to interrupt them and I mean they did that before in Mother Simpson to much greater effect where Homer is talking with Mona and that's when what the pelican drops the fish into his pants. Yeah Yeah, and then she goes like it's okay, honey. Like she comforts him. It's sweet It's a better version of adding a joke to an emotional scene I feel like this the camera just like shifts away from Mona to have an interchange between Homer and the unhoused guy.

Every time we're about to do more with Mona, I feel like here's a side character, here's a bit, here's Sideshow Mel talking for a minute about the amenities at the Equality Inn. Yeah, this maybe isn't fair to compare it to one of the best episodes ever, but they're the ones who chose to make a sequel episode to it. And I think of while Homer has the scene with Marge where he's like, well, then why did she leave me? It's just played sad. And I mean also, too, it's directed by David Silverman,

who I think got to take more liberties than Nancy Cruz is getting to with it as well for better posing and storytelling. I just feel like whenever we get to sit down with Mona, there's always a bit up next. We have the cut like family guy cut away of the FBI guys reading the letters Homer wrote. And I feel like Byrne should be more actively invested because after Byrne's interacts with her and does what he needs to do, he's out of the story

completely. And I feel like he should be in the third act as well, because Byrne's is so important to the Mona Simpson story And it's great that Oakley and Weinstein tied it into Burns I think they at least in the sequel to this one Mona leaves They connected better to Burns in the end like they at least make burns like the axe free wacky villain But yeah, I'm glad you said Bob that was a like a family guy cutaway the bit of Homer writing letters to movies It's a family guy cutaway just in staging but also it is such a Peter Griffin thing for him to like like diehard I just not that Homer wouldn't like diehard

But I feel like Homer should like obscure 70s movies like I don't know Gator or Death Wish a diehard feels too recent Yeah, I like the premise of the joke. Honestly, it does feel like something Peter Griffin would do and probably a funnier on Family Guy because it's more true to that character. Yeah, Peter Griffin, not that Homer wouldn't talk about how much he loves some movie, but he should have worse taste. Peter Griffin liking Die Hard. Well, I guess this shows maybe they think Die Hard is just a crappy movie, even though it is a beloved movie. And also when we did our Simpsons table read, we got to see the real Nakatomi Plaza.

That's true. This is when we find out why Mona has decided all of a sudden to reconnect with Homer. Sorry about all the cloak and dagger, Homer, but the government is still after me for what I did in the 60s. They're probably tapping your phones and reading your mail I think the government has better things to do than to read my mail

most people write letters to movie stars the Simpson guy writes to movies dear diehard you rock especially when that guy was on the roof. P.S. Do you know Mad Max? To reach you, I called up my friends in the liberal media and planted that story about the giant pizza. You sure know me, Mom. Pizza was the first food he choked on. Aw. So why are you back in town?

I saw this macaroni pencil holder Homer made me, and I realized how much I missed him. I made this when I was five. I had to do something. Your pencils were all over the place. Hey, it was the 60s. That's a good line. I do like that joke.

Apologies for being too cranky about this episode, but I also feel like the motivation for her to come to town is just weird in a way that is jokey, but I feel like they should – to bring this character back, you should make a big important story or a meaningful The motivation for her to come to town is just weird in a way that is jokey, but I feel like they should, to bring this character back, you should make a big important story or a meaningful story. And her story is, I was looking at a macaroni pencil holder and it made me miss you.

And that is it. And that's all that brings her back. In the original story, written by Rich Appel, by the way, great episode, we love it so much, she comes to town because she thinks Homer is dead. She comes to visit his grave and that's the only reason she comes out of hiding. Here it's like, Oh, I missed you. Hello.

I'm here again. Yeah. And to make it a joke, at least it's a funny joke to make it a joke. It does cheapen your story. Like many things doing this, it cheapens an emotional story to bring it back. If you're going to bring back Mona for a story, have it be worth something instead of just, well, we want to go in it back. If you're gonna bring back Mona for a story, have it be worth something instead of just, well we want it going close back. Yeah I want big stakes for something like this, which is why this episode irritated me at the

time and irritates me now. I do like they show that she has friends in the liberal media, which that was a joke that worked you know 20 years ago. I do feel like now the liberal media thing you would say, you wouldn't think they'd be friends with weatherman-style 60s radicals. Reporters now are just friends with the military. That's all they care about. Yeah, things are sliding to the right of it. The Jake Tappers of the world,

they only want to be friends with the military, not with Mona Simpson. They totally narc on Mona. Absolutely, yes. You're so right. I forgot to mention, Richard P friends with the military, not with Mona Simpson. They totally narc on Mona. Absolutely, yes, you're so right. I forgot to mention, Richard Pell wrote the episode, she's named after his now ex-wife, Mona Simpson. That's right. Who what, is also the sister of Steve Jobs, right?

Ah, Jesus, I forget, there's something going on there. She's in the Jobs family, but yeah, Mona Simpson, the ex-wife of Richard Pell, but. Yes, she is the brother of Steve Jobs. Wow, Steve Jobs is her brother. That's crazy. Even Al Jean has to admit on the commentary of like, oh, her going on trial is inspired by, you know, this 60s radical arrested, but then riff from the headlines. But then it's like, oh, no, he has to admit, Bill and Josh, that was why they did that with Mona Simpson

before. So it's not even original for their idea for her. They just did the trial instead of the hunt down. Yeah, actually, when he referenced that somebody was found in Minnesota and they were part of the left wing radicals, is the weather underground? Is it the weather? Weather underground, that's it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I want to get the name incorrect. But it turns out the person he was talking about on the commentary, I mean, just offhandedly, I'm not blaming him, but I looked it up

and it was someone from the group who kidnapped Patty Hearst in the 70s. So way different from the other group. Oh, okay. So while they're having their sweets reconnection, this is when Wiggum and the boys show up and I, not to moan again about this one, but they remember all these other things

for the sequel episode. They totally forget that Chief Wiggum likes Mona Simpson and wouldn't arrest her. Yes, that's very vital to how the episode Mother Simpson is resolved because Chief Wiggum helps her. It's so weird they would ignore that. That's one thing that irks me about the sequel episodes is they don't watch the original ones or maybe they just disregard them entirely.

Things like the Pin Pals sequel and the Camp Crusty sequel, I feel like they don't get why people like those and they completely ignore elements that we super nerds think are important. I feel like there had to be super nerds in the writers room who would have said, well wait, Wigum wouldn't do this because, and you then get shouted down because you're a dork. Like they're like, it's funnier if Wigum arrests her. Like let's just have Wigum show up and do gay stuff.

Dana Gold hits you in the face, throws hot coffee on you. He'd be very funny in making fun of you for caring about that, I'm sure. But yes, Wigam arrives. First we have a joke about Tokyo Rose, which Bob, you did a whole history on her for some podcast. Yeah, for our Talking on the Hill episode about the final Shinsault, because Dale calls

Hank Tokyo Rose. I did a history on her and she basically, to sum it up here, but check out that episode on our Patreon. She was an American citizen who flew to Japan before the bombing of Pearl Harbor to help a sick relative. And because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, she was stuck in Japan and they had to make her do something for the war effort. So she could not leave and she was part of the propaganda effort in which she would host a radio show where she would actively taunt American GIs overseas and play music and they all like kind of fell in love with her and her bits and then she had a hell of a time reintegrating back into American society it's it's a shitty story but it's worth looking into if you want to understand

this reference. So that's why she's taunting Wiggum that your girlfriend is dating Tyrone Power. Yes a very of the World War II era insult. Well, meanwhile, very 2003 insult is that Wiggum is making Eddie and Lou kiss each other more than once. Yeah. I guess the union only allows one forced kissing session among your subordinates. So Homer is trying to escape. He is told where to leave after he upgrades his tip from 9%, which is pretty

crappy, like at least 20% folks. You you gotta tip. At least if in your America, it is very freeing to be in places where you don't have to tip, where the people who work at places are paid correctly. I just went to a restaurant at Disney world and, and we tipped like 25% at it, but the wait staff there was being so overly friendly. And I feel like they're doing it to compensate for people who either don't tip because they're not American or

they're cheap tourists. It made me feel really bad for the waitstaff. Yeah, 9% is inexcusable. I feel like 15% was conventional wisdom for the longest time, but now I feel like post-COVID or at least at the beginning of COVID, everyone was just like, please tip 20%, we need this money to survive. And then that has been my natural response

is to jam that 20% button. And then if I buy a coffee and a 25% tip is like 80 cents, I'll jam on 25. But I feel like we've all adopted 20 as the going forward, the standard tip. That thing where the difference between 20 and 25 is like a dollar, I usually will just go like, eh, whatever, 25.

You know what, I'm a great man who tips him well, is what I'm saying. Yes, please serve us, everyone. Homer then drives off but gets caught because while promising on her eventual grave, which is coming sooner than you think, Homer, he's gonna save her, he then crashes into the police station, which should send him to jail

for the rest of his life as well, especially because he does kill someone. Yes, he does kill someone, and I don't like that Homer is the cause of her being found out. It stinks. Yeah, it makes Homer guilty for it. I don't like that he did it.

I also don't like that they cheapen the emotions of the scene with a near tree treehouse level joke of Homer killing someone and that nobody cares he's dead because he's a lawyer, which also it's like a cheap lawyer joke like, oh, a dead lawyer joke. How quaint. This joke is very divorced guy coded. Yes. Yeah, it is. I like lawyers, I need them, we need them. Mona needs a lawyer to get her out of jail. Yeah, and they get Gil, I bet Gil's worse than the man Homer ran over.

And then he says, oh, remember me as a drain on society, and that's the joke they leave you with. I was like, oh man, I really wish they had a little better than that. And also the lawyer design is very bland, if I can complain one other level about it too. They could have done better. He should have been sleazier, I think.

Yeah. But Homer doesn't go to jail for some reason for this. Well, I guess actually Wigam does say the only thing you hurt was like building material and a lawyer. So apparently that doesn't count for anything in Springfield. We come back from the commercial break for Kent Brockman to explain the backstory for any new viewer who doesn't know Mona's 60s radical background But this feels like it's again killing time

We could be spending with Mona learning about her learning what she's up to and I think This is a funny thing to do in live-action is to do your 60s Stock footage montage of all the iconic 60s things. My issue is, A, you're asking animators to just roll this stuff and B, you're not adding jokes to any of it. You have to wait through a lot of iconic imagery, basically just drawing the images you saw in real life like Woodstock, the protest during the 1968 Olympics, things like that, the moon landing. And then at the end you get a original joke, but I feel like you have to wait through so much material

and you're kinda like, I get it. You spent a lot of money to license All Along the Watchtower. I think this episode has four expensive songs in it. Ah, I know, he spent so much money, which is funny too, because he mentions how expensive song rights are different to this, including, Al Jean says,

all along the watchtower in particular is unaffordable now because of its overuse in stuff like this that they're making fun of. And I guess John Wayne was on laughing. I don't know if he ever said, you bet your sweet Bippy, but I think the Richard Nixon appearance is just so powerful.

I forget about every other stiff, awkward, old man appearance on the show. But we get that montage of the stock 60s stuff. And then we get like another long list style montage of Mona's various jobs. I feel like they're just killing so much time in this episode. Which you've got a great guest star.

Like don't give up all this time you have with writing new scenes with Mona and Homer together. Instead, they're walking away from it to put in at least an accurate Bat-toosie, which I remember as I said, palms out. Palms out. But then Mr. Burns gets involved, and I'm excited. And I love this joke about,

here he is seeing terrorizing children on a 19th century woodcut. I love that joke. And it's a great art design too, very well drawn. And yeah, as soon as Burns is involved, I involved I'm like okay we're back to the lore, we're back to Burns, a funny character who goes underused in this era, let's see what's going on. He's mostly good except again like I said he's only just here in this act and then he drops away. Let's hear what Burns has to say.

You bet your sweet Bippy. What a shrill, pointless decade. During her years on the lam, Simpson led an exemplary life, working as a crossing guard, oral historian, reader for the blind, listener for the deaf, and reacher for the short. Yet local villain Montgomery Burns, seen here terrorizing children in a 19th century woodcut, insists that she stand trial. Kent, I want everyone in your radio picture audience to know that this woman is a menace

to decent people and germ warriors everywhere. End communication. That's what slick Willy says always with the smooth talk in Treehouse. That's true, he does say end communication. I do like how he falls asleep in the middle of his appearance. Mithers, who has nothing to say in this episode, gently wakes him up to complete his appearance on the news. And also credit to the animators, when they needed to draw three blind people listening to her talk, they reused the blind man

who owned both Santa's Little Helper and Lattie. Oh, great, I didn't notice that at all But then we get this big court segment, which again Mona doesn't say anything during this it's all characters doing bits, which can be funny Of course, we know that but you're bringing her back after eight years We want to spend more time with her But we get all these character bits. Bart's on trial, Homer's on trial, Mel, I like the Mel stuff, but it's taking up space in an episode where I want to see more of this character.

That is a fantastic point, Bob. I didn't even think of what a waste it is that one thing they didn't do with Mona in the previous episode was that she, you know, had her day in court or spoke publicly about why she did it. She only spent time with the Simpson family. If she got to, you know, testify on her own behalf, that's a big acting scene that you can give Mona. Give her the big speech that gets her off, not Homer's big speech.

Yeah, like I said, we learn more about Homer's crimes burning down a blood bank. Bart is suddenly on trial, is allowed to hurt Lisa by verdict of the judge. And then we learn about Judge Snyder's personal life, where he's just like, I'm sorry, my wife left me this morning out of nowhere. And it's funny, but it shouldn't be here.

I think it also is them, much like Hibbert offers Marge a free heart to exchange for it. They're just making characters who used to be the normal person or the straight man. They have to make them insane because they're going crazy. In this case, Judge Snyder going, I'll allow it. Like, wait, no Judge Snyder, you're not supposed to be the crazy judge.

You're supposed to be the good judge. So he has to reveal he's having a nervous breakdown basically, because his wife just left him. Yeah, I guess that's why he allows a small boy to hurt a small girl in front of an audience. I did also like Michael Price on the commentary, admitting that as a newbie, he didn't know that Burns had a consistent lawyer. He's like, oh, Burns has a lawyer.

Like he didn't write in his script. Burns is lawyers as for Blue consistent lawyer. He's like, oh, Burns has a lawyer. Like he didn't write in his script. Burns is lawyers as for Bluehead lawyer. Yeah, I guess maybe internally, like with Jailbird, Bluehead lawyer is Burns's lawyer as necessary. But yeah, this bit here of her being on trial for the crime and everything, they really could have done more realness with it. Have Mr. Burns and Mona on the stand instead of just Lisa, Bart, and Homer. Those are the jokes and then we're done with the trial scene. Like, you're right, Bob, they took up so much time with that montage. Like, over a minute that could have been spent in this courtroom scene with your big guest star.

But they're moved by the words of an arsonist to let Mona free. Also speaking of killing time, which I won't include in the clip here, Homer wastes 10 seconds of screen time silent on screen. I timed it. Yeah, what does he say like, I'm not a man who's good with words, and then he stops talking, and then we get shots of him being silent

and the audience watching and him being silent like back and forth. Like literally nothing for ten seconds of television. But that's when Gil convinces Homer that he actually needs to say words. I barely know my mother, and every time I see her she's taken away again. And when a man doesn't have his mother, he winds up like me. I mean I'm due back in the same courtroom three times today. Hell, I torched a blood bank!

One cookie my ass! Please, please give me back my mommy! Your Honor, there is no way we can find this defendant guilty. Although I will miss the jury room cold cuts and the quality inn more than lived up to its name. Case dismissed. Business center, workout room, an honor bar I was honored to use. That's enough. And Peggy in the coffee shop, what a pistol, a mere nod in her direction, and the refill was in the mug.

The jets in the whirlpool anticipated my every move when it was working. And three dollars for a local call! These should be the ones on trial! Look at the solid minute of Sideshow Mel. Funny bit, I do like how he turns on the hotel suddenly while thinking about all the ways he likes it. He realizes like, oh, this was broken and the cost for a call, Jesus Christ.

If you give him enough time, he will turn on them. Though also this, you know, that's the boy who knew too little as well, the perks of being a juror bit that Homer goes through. Though they were really into sideshow male speeches at this time. Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's always been a fixation ever since Ned says, I like to hear from Sideshow Mel.

God, that's good. Though, man, Homer torturing a blood bank for only getting one cookie. That is actually pretty insane. Though they've got the excuse he is a chronic alcoholic broken by being abandoned by his mother. Then they kill some more time outside by meeting with other mothers, including one who's being kidnapped to go to Mexico, which we also just heard Snake say that in Margin Chains. Yeah, they're bringing back the let's go to Mexico runner from like 10 years

previous. Enjoy this joke about go hug your floozy, he says, Agnes. Mother, she's right there. She knows I'm kidding. I'm not kidding. Enjoy that because they're soon to be broken up these two and forever Unfortunately, I'm savoring any Edna Skinner jokes me too Hey If you don't like me being cranky you might not enjoy me talking about my big fat geek wedding because boy I love that and skinner so much together in that episode breaks my heart I only pulled it up recently and felt sad all over again

because though it was to show my husband, I was at D23 a couple years ago and that is where Matt Groening just is naturally walking by me and of course I am not going to bother him. I left him alone. But then I joked to my husband, hey, I should do the thing from the episode.

And then my husband goes like, what do you mean? And then I pull up on Disney Plus, you see like, air, I should ask for thing from the episode. And then my husband goes like, what do you mean? And then I pull up on Disney Plus, you see like, hey, I should ask for a tuft of his beard. And call him Mr. Groaning? Yes, yeah. I just heard some interview with somebody talking about Simpsons where they still called him groaning. I'm like, oh, how do you let this happen

on this officially released interview with somebody? His name has been known for 40 years. I feel like that should be the first thing you nail down. Graning rhymes with complaining. That's always easy to remember, guys. He was doing jokes about that in Life and Hell comics in like 1986. It's a good device. Then we hear Burns cursing that groovy granny, which I did laugh at.

This is America. Justice should favor the rich, that gave me a chuckle. We've seen Burns huffing on Aether before. Is him calling it E, a reference to ecstasy, the then somewhat new designer drug? I guess so, he's also doing the Johnny Carson Art Fern character like,

mmm, that's good, that sort of cadence. Though Harry Sheeran not going for it as hard as Hank Azaria would when he's given an Art Fern line. Keeping that character alive in the 2000s. I swear there have been six times we have talked about Art Fern in the last like three months of podcasts. They seem very tickled by that voice. They're talking about how Carson did certain jokes with it on the commentary for this one as well. They love Art Fern. Also Abe thinks he's gonna get to reconnect with her as well, but he testified against her, which I am assuming he had just recently read The Game or The Concept

of Negging, because he says, I heard girls like guys who act like jerks. Was that out at the time? The Game? The Game didn't come out until 2005, but I swear it was getting like chronicled in newspapers and stuff before that. Like the game book was just, it was the story of a guy going rogue while reporting on those pickup artists things. And he's like, oh, I actually fell into the pickup artist community afterwards. And it's the tale of doing it. So I want to think that at the very least, Pickup Artist game was publicly known by 2002 when they'd be writing this. Is it Neil Strauss? Is that the guy?

That's the guy who wrote the game, I think. The game, yeah. Yeah. I forget the guy who he based it on. The mystery? The guy who... Sorry. Is it mystery?

The guy's name is Mystery? That's right. Okay. He's the guy who taught us all about peacocking and negging and all of those horrible things. I'll be wearing my giant fluffy hat tonight. I peacock with fighter man hats. That's how I got me a guy. Well, hey, Bob, you mentioned a montage.

We're only on our second one here of the episode. Yes. This one is set to the song Mother and Child Reunion by Paul Simon, a song I have never heard because I'm not that into Paul Simon. It's from his 1972 self-titled second album and I was reading about this song because you know I haven't heard it before I want to know what it's about. Apparently it was named after a dish on a Chinese food menu. It was a chicken and egg dish so has a jokey title like Mother and Child Reunion. That's the name of the food item. And the origins, if this is true,

he wrote it because he thought about his feelings when his pet dog was run over when he was a kid. And he thought, oh, what if my wife was killed? Well, I'm gonna write a song about how it would feel if my wife was killed. And that's where Mother and Child Reunion came from? I don't know. Yeah.

That's shocking. I did not know this about that. I just know that it's like a radio hit you hear. I never looked into it, man. If you look at Japanese and Chinese food menus, I'm sure other nationalities have this going on as well. When there's a chicken and egg dish, they'll have a cutesy name like mother and child or whatever. And actually, if you think about it, it's kind of sick, but that exists. Oh, yeah. Is that like Oyako or something for Oyakodon?

In Japanese food, there is a similar, like jokey title for chicken and egg food. In this we get a few jokes that Homer is fast tracking all of these mother and son things that he was screwed out of, including being a tree in a child's play and then you know getting instead of a sweater she sews him a bunch of hair that he puts on his head. Though Homer's forgotten how to ride a bike, even though he was taught to ride a bike by Bart in Take My Wife Sleaze.

Very similar montage, actually. Though in that one, Mike Scully paid his favorite band, NRBQ, to write a new song, like a joke song for it, about a father and son falling in love. And this one, Paul Simon got a big fat check for ripping off people of color in their music. Ha ha ha.

This is where the big deleted scene that's on the DVD is, which I clipped it out here because I like that they at least got more of Glenn Close making Homer-like sound effects. A screaming comes across the sky. It has happened before, but there is nothing to compare it to now. It is too late. The evacuation still proceeds, but it's all theater. Me sleepy now. Thomas Pynchon, you are a tough rude. And then they snore for like 10 more seconds. Well yeah, I mean they're just doing more of the Mother Simpson thing in which they're

more similar than you would think. They moan over food the same way, they both say dough, they both snore very loudly. So Homer has adopted her own bad habits, I guess. She's reading him Gravity's Rainbow that puts them both say doe. They both snore very loudly. So Homer has adopted her own bad habits, I guess. She's reading him Gravity's Rainbow that puts them both to sleep. It's funny they actually got permission to do it from previous Simpsons guest star, Thomas Pinchon. That's one of those stunt books that I haven't read. Fred Very Little Pinchon, I think I've only read The Crying of Lot 49 and it was for a college class. So I don't think I'm

going to be climbing that mountain anytime soon people. I'm still slowly reading the comedic book The Dog of the South. I still haven't finished that yet so. Gravity's Rainbow a little far off. Getting back into trying to read. I read a lot of nonfiction mostly for research. I need to be reading more fiction. I can see why they cut it one because I think there's like an animation error in it too right? Yeah because there's a shadow layer on the characters and at a certain point, like a line is drawn where the shadow on Homer's eye is. So it's something I'm sure they could have retaken, but they thought this montage is long enough and we can not spend money on this scene. Also, it's like dialogue on a montage show. They'd have to cut the song anyway But though that cuts into Homer and Mona time like it's like oh you don't even get one of these scenes with Homer and Mona

instead and This then goes to the gang at the bar which believe it or not This is the first time we learn a character's name. Hey guys. I brought my mom Lenny Leonard, I haven't seen you since you were this high. I brought my mom. Lenny Leonard? I haven't seen you since you were this high. I could jump off the high dive. Carl Carlson, I remember when you, Lenny, and Stevie McGregor were like the three musketeers.

Yeah, poor Stevie. They never found his head. Mrs. Simpson, when you took off, you left a hole in Homer's heart that he's been trying to fill with alcohol for 20 years. God when you took off you left a hole in Homer's heart that he's been trying to fill with alcohol for 20 years God bless you Yeah, that's Lenny Leonard. Carl Carlson was set up in pigmolean Because Moe goes like Carl Carlson I could kiss you when he thanks him for the facelift idea

But they didn't commit to Lenny Leonard until this episode Yeah, I forgot we had hit Lenny Leonard at this point But I guess not and I liked hearing about this other mysterious third character that his head got chopped off Somehow they don't tell you more to it. You just have to imagine how was he decapitated? Was it a car accident? They just never found his head. Was he like murdered by somebody they never found his head What's going on though Mona? She doesn't even get brought down to learn that this little kid she knew was murdered. There is one little joke that we missed

that I do wanna circle back to because it's so disturbing. It's the one where Marge has to reenact giving birth to all the children. Just a smash cut to Marge on the couch, seemingly giving birth and you don't know what's happening. When I was rewatching this episode, I was like, oh my God, are they watching like a video or something of this? But no, she seemingly giving birth and you don't know what's happening. When I was rewatching this episode, I was like, Oh my God, are they watching like a video or something of this?

But no, it she's giving birth to Bart's and he pops out from under this blanket and with like a cord wrapped around his stomach and he's like, wow, wow, wow. Ain't I cute? You owe me a dirt bike. At least they explained why he would do something so insane. But it is like, I know Mona says you don't have to bother with this Homer, but it's a bit too crazy, I would say. Oh well. Bart would only do it for a dirt bike. I get why they jumped to getting her arrested again because they're like, Oh, there's only so

much we can do with Mona moving back in with Homer, or at least they can only think of so many things. I do like this upcoming joke, but it is insane because when they opened the door to Mona's new room, you're like, where, where did this room come from? And you know, they're going to make a joke about it, but where it goes is very unexpected. And just, it doesn't make any sense. So I kind of have to give it up for this one. I like it. It's a Swartz welder level gag of yes, they have stolen the entire room from Ned and Ned reflects on it like, Oh well you you snooze, you lose, but could I have my photo albums back? Which Homer reluctantly gives up and tells him to beat it after that. And there's an

entirely different joke on the deleted scenes after it's revealed that Homer stole an entire chunk of Ned's house. You stole this entire room from Ned Flanders' house. Do you know how crazy that sounds? Are we in heaven? Why is Jesus fat and bald? Go ask your father. Ahhhhhhh! I think I might prefer the simpler joke of him asking for his photo albums back and Homer just shoving them into his hands saying, Get out of my house. The Ned takes such a horrible thing done to him as well you snooze you lose anybody can steal my house if I sleep on it. Rod and Todd thinking somebody is Jesus I mean that's always funny

but I prefer Ned being so accepting of it that he takes this destruction of his home in stride as long as he can get his photo albums back. This is where Michael Price says after this scene, this is where in his original script Homer would then come upon Mona in the morning sitting in a chair and realize she had died and that the rest of the script in the third act would be Homer grieving the death of his mother who he just got back in his life and now he's sad all over again. That takes them into a darker but realer place and it lets them do something new with Mona

but I'm honestly glad they didn't do it in this episode and I wish they didn't do it six seasons later when they do do it. Yeah, and they use that exact same idea that Michael Price had and I feel like they wouldn't have killed Mona in 2009 I I believe, or 2008, whenever that happens. Lay dots, if they had known the show would continue for 15 plus more years, because they clearly liked her and they keep bringing her back and finding reasons to bring

her back. We had an episode in I think 2021 or 2022, where it was an entire flashback with young Homer and Abe and there were Mona elements to that story. And they just keep having to use flashbacks or dream sequences to bring back Glenn Close for it. She's always game for it also because it's just now a tradition. I feel like almost every season,

they do a Mother's Day episode of Simpsons that airs around Mother's Day. I think Mother's Day is on a Sunday sometimes, whatever. But they do a Mother's Day episode of Simpsons that airs around Mother's Day. I think Mother's Day is on a Sunday sometimes and whatever But they do a Mother's Day episode that usually brings her back but honestly, I wish the episode where they killed her was spent dealing with the grief instead of also becoming a wacky plot of spreading her ashes on Factory, Mr. Burns owns. Yeah, I recall not liking that one either. I don't know which one I dislike more,

but yeah, she appears eight more times after she dies, and I assume more to come. Though in that case, the way it's used, it sounds like it was used in Price's original script, would have been Homer is happy, and then she dies unexpectedly, and he just has the grief of, but I just got her back and I'll never see her again.

That is a sad place. I feel like it's even meaner what they do in the real episode where he gets in a fight with her and when she's back in his life, he says he's not gonna talk to her because she'll just leave again. And so his final words to her are like a fight and it leaves him in an even sadder place.

Like, I don't know, mom's stuff always fucks with me on the show, I'll admit, but that's such a mean thing to do to Homer. Well, we'll talk all about it in 2029. Stay tuned. Instead, they make it Byrne's wacky town, as Byrne's even seems to have let go of his grudge. And so, in the spirit of fence mending and grudge not bearing, I hereby rename the Bernd Jermorfer Lab, the Grandma Simpson Peace Museum,

and Kidteractive Learnatorium. Grandma Simpson, will you be the first to sign the museum's guest book? It'd be a real pleasure. You know, when I was on the run, I always had to sign a fake name, like when I visited a state park. Indeed. How about a national park?

Why, yes. I've got it all on this Dicta belt. Move in, boys. What's going on? Supplying false information on a national park register is a federal offense, which you've committed at every national park from Acadia to Zion. You're going away for a long time, Mrs. Simpson. Should I call you Anita Bonghit?

No! I can't lose my mother again! I guess a funny little twist, but it is weird that both acts end with her being arrested. Yeah, you're right. They break Homer's heart at the end of all three acts of this episode. I mean, I just think Burns livens this up so much. I love him saying kid-teractive learn-atorium. Yes, and also Dicta-Belt for the recording device. And also a great From Arcadia to Zion. That's another great Burnsism there. And it's all because Mona needed to sign the guestbook at all the national parks she visited. That also feels like classic Simpsons that, oh, the strong arm of the National

Park Service is used against her. Like, that just like how the EPA is the powerful governmental body enforcing things on Homer, in this case it's the National Park Service arresting Mona for a technicality. The poor Homer loses her again, though he like just forgives Burns. Like he doesn't even think about it. Like, oh yeah, Burns, you just took away my mother from me again. And basically, as far as Homer knows, killed her. Yeah, yeah. That's why I feel Burn should make another appearance in the third act, just to kind of close the loop on his involvement in the storyline, because I guess he thinks she's dead after this. And he ultimately thinks he succeeded in whatever revenge he needs to get. The driving off to taunt Homer thing it's only funny because it

does last so long. It also is a time killer joke like other jokes in this episode but I like that they do it even another time after they say it's the last time. Yes the guy eventually is won over by the joke he goes oh I guess it is pretty funny. And even from the outside, they still do it one more time and Homer perks up. They cut on Homer perking up on another time. Then we come back from the break and we got another song and another montage. I'm just thinking, did they have a song budget for production season 14 and they needed to spend it all by the end of the season?

This feels like a Brewster's Millions proposition. I think it was a song budget surplus. I've thought this before where Al Jead like gets a certain song budget per season and he knows if he doesn't spend it then the bean counters at Fox probably would say, oh you didn't need another $10,000 for your song budget so we're cutting it this season. You know it's crazy to think of how many licensed songs are in this because we have Mother by John Lennon right here at the beginning of the third act. And currently I'm watching the Netflix series,

Mindhunter, it's from a while back. It's the David Fincher Netflix series. It went on for two seasons. It's a very high budget series. David Fincher directs like half of it. And it looks very good, but I noticed that it takes place in the 70s, it's a period piece. They get so many details right.

But at the end of every episode, you get one song and that's it. They are not licensing another song for any other part of the episode. Wow, even Netflix on a show as big as a David Fincher project, even that, they'll keep it to one song. It could be a stylistic reason, but I noticed, oh my God, there are so many details about the 70s that are just nailed down perfectly and you're not calling attention to them. But I've noticed like, oh, there should be so much more music in this world and it's only limited

to the end of the episode. So it does feel like, God, the times change just 15 years later, you can't put in four songs, one of them being from John Lennon in your show anymore. We would try to reference that by playing the Bob Dylan song, the times they are changing, but it's too expensive We can't do it. In fact, we have to pay to quote it. I

Know it's not the same as a Beatles song as they talk about on the commentary but even a John Lennon original from when he was basically in the Beatles is Gotta be way more expensive now, though I think we've heard this from some of our creative pals that who are in charge of the budgets of licensing songs on cartoon shows because nobody makes money selling music anymore that the only way you make money is by licensing your song so everybody brings up the price because they know it's the only way they're making money is by licensing their music to a TV show or movie. Though it can make a song more popular again now

in extreme cases, but like that, the Kate Bush song from Strangers, Strange Things, Strangers with Candy Things. I wanna see that show, yeah, yeah. Running up that hill or whatever it's called, yeah. It can become popular if it's done in a big enough show. It reintroducing a song to children who have never heard of these songs from the 80s.

Or like a prayer from the Deadpool Wolverine trailer. Is it in the movie? You've seen the movie. Well, I guess you'd call it an old boy hallway fight scene, but it's not half as good as the one in old boy. But yeah, it's basically that. Though also they've made, not that that song is unpopular normally anyway, but they also

I think repopularized Bye Bye Bye because that's the opening tune to the Deadpool and Wolverine film. Can you believe Deadpool dances to an NSYNC song, Bob? It's crazy. What a wacky character. I can't get enough of him. What will he do next is what I ask myself as I get out my wallet. Yeah, John Lennon's mother though,

I think they could never get this song on the show now. And they use it to Homer watching photos developed, which includes him doing a flash mountain while riding a splash mountain, which we did a whole history on that on Simpsons Tall Tales. But yeah. I kept thinking of all for Silas.

But just know that when flash mountain hit the internet it's because a Disney employee posted those pictures without permission that is technically illegal porn and immoral so don't look at flash mountain anymore listeners you didn't know then but now you know you don't know the ages of some of the people doing that either so that's true could be a lot of you know yeah sorry I've just rode the updated splash mountain by the way. Tiana's Bayou Adventure. And it rides the same, except now, no more Song of the South characters.

It's fine. I like the songs from the Princess and the Frog, and I like the animatronics. They're really good. My biggest note on why I don't like it, other than, of course, because I rode Splash Mountain when I was a child, that's the one I like more but also the ramp up is not scary anymore. It's nice They're like, oh boy. I'm gonna turn you back into a human isn't this gonna be fun instead of like a friggin Animatronic vulture is saying that's right. He's getting in trouble and you're in trouble, too Oh, like it terrified me as a kid you're in trouble too, uh-oh.

It terrified me as a kid. Now it doesn't make you scared anymore. Never liked Splash Mountain, I'm sorry, Henry. I just feel like, I only wrote it as an adult, so it's always painful, and it's all for the sake of one thrill, I don't like the countdown to the thrills. And then you could be the one person who gets a bathtub full of water dumped in your crotch.

We were prepared for wetness, but we actually barely got wet. The people in front of us got very wet. We were in the last seat, which I think is your least. I think it's pretty randomized, but I think you get the least wet in the last seat. I like a one drop ride. I rode the Jurassic Park ride in Universal as well, which you turned down, Bob. I did. I don't like big drops.

And if that's the entire point of the ride I'm like I could do without that. I never got used to them over time and I've given them a chance. You denied yourself seeing Chris Pratt's Bob. I will admit I am a drop coward. I'm gonna say it here I can't deal with it. Well meanwhile I sat out riding the mummy ride with you and Nina I was like I could not do it. I'll sit on that for hours just you know give me some coffee let me flip through Twitter during some of the slower parts. There are no slow parts. That ride kicks my ass.

I just could not take it. I rode a roller coaster. I have a new high for my roller coaster level, which is the Aerosmith Rockin' roller coaster, which seriously does spin you upside down twice. I was able to do it. I was messed up. I did it.

But that mummy ride hurts. It hurts. I find that there's more padding than there is on ancient rides like Splash Mountain and the Matterhorn. So I feel like I'm more strapped in. I'm knocked around, not quite as much. And some rides have like no padding, like the Simpsons ride, for instance. We really hurt ourselves on that ride the last time, but I think it's just, it needs to be torn down or rebuilt or something because it's in such bad shape. The time is running short on that one I think. That's why I savored walking through it in Orlando as well where I had the Mount Swartz Welder apple drink. But anyway

alright so Homer's looking at sad pictures. Lisa then reminds Homer about what the plot is of this episode. Dad, I'm just as sad as you are. What happened to Grandma is an outrage. How do you figure? She was acquitted. Then they put her back in jail on a technicality. You're right. People should only be let out of jail on technicalities.

Well, they're transferring Grandma to a federal prison tomorrow. I say we hit them where they live, with a candlelight vigil. Candle-pin bowling? That's a great idea. We'll play right after I break your grandmother out of prison. I fought the law and the law won.

Now just the innocent. I fought the law and the law won. Now just the really innocent! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA HAHAHA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA I'm glad these women are free. It felt really bad for this person. Well, but Bob, as we learn here, everyone in jail is guilty and deserves to be there. It's got a real point of view, I'll say that much. And yeah, they don't play the song, but they had to pay to quote that much of the clashes I fought the law. Well, you're right. So that least is remembering who Lisa is. Though ignoring that, I'm not gonna play the jingle because Homer just ignores her

and thinks that it's candle pin bowling. He's not telling her her beliefs are bad, so I won't play the take that Lisa beliefs jingle. Yeah, no beliefs are acknowledged, so we can avoid playing that. Mona doesn't seem to be that sad she's going to prison, certainly for the rest of her life. Yeah, potentially never seeing her son again. Then Homer then re-enacts his plan to divert the bus, which is to use a warning sign.

They could try it a little harder on this. Homer's acting like a bored writer's room guy, but they should have actually pitched a little more. Yeah, I can't think of anything on the spot, obviously, but I feel like the weird narrative of a man trying to propose and then sending threatening messages through the same traffic sign, it's okay. Mm-hmm.

Go darker with it, I say. If you're gonna go with that, say that after he proposed to her, he ran her off the road and killed her or something. Yeah, yeah, they're hinting at just a petty guy giving like light death threats, but I feel like we just had the joke about the woman having fun before execution. Something as light as this doesn't really hit as well immediately in the wake of that joke. If you want to hear all our thoughts on capital punishment, listen to the recent King of the Hill podcast we did, the Talk King of the Hill on death and Texas.

So Homer's intervention though stops her from being killed because he warns them to put on their snow tire chains, which they vigilantly do. They instantly stop and pull chains out from under the bus to attach them after seeing the warning. Yeah, they're non giving up law guys. Homer then steals it. Uh, and, uh, he, he's bashful at all of the comments, including being told he's a big one, which seems to apply. That woman has designs on him. I think, I think so.

And Homer lets all of the ladies out, which also this comes not too long after we did margin change. We also have more of Simpson character designs for female prisoners. I like Homer talking to the women like they're all children because he says, I'm sure you can make it back to prison on your own and they go, We will. Yes. I love the cute, we will.

But I think it does make me sad though that his mother doesn't get to be free. Or well, I guess she does end up free. But Homer frees all these other women but not his own mother. He said that he's like the son I never killed, by again, every woman in prison is guilty. They all did it. This is where we get another mean joke about Disney. Take care ladies. I'm sure you can make it back to the prison on your own.

We will. You're alright, Donut Bread. You're like the son I never killed. Mom, I'm gonna hide you where there's no one around for miles. Disney's California Adventure! Now there are shorts where you can watch the Simpsons go to a theme park and everything there is good. Except maybe they're allowed to say, well, of course, parking can be tough,

but parking is tough everywhere at a big popular place everyone loves. These jokes about Disney's California Adventure are so funny because not just because they're future, but like Al Jean really believes in it. Like on the commentary he says, it's still true, it sucks. I was trying to look up if Michael Price ever tweeted about this episode. he says, it's still true, it sucks. I was trying to look up if Michael Price ever

tweeted about this episode and when I look that up, on November 30th 2016 when there was the Simpson 600 marathon on FX or FXX, Al Jean was live tweeting episodes and when this episode aired he, he quoted this line again saying the best place no one still goes, still Disney's California Adventure. So 2016, he still felt that way. And production season 14 kicked off with The Great Louse Detective, and that has California Adventure joke in it. I forget why they're in prison.

They're walking through the prison and Marge says, I don't think this is a great place to bring the children. And I forget who says it, but it might be Lisa or Bart. It still beats Disney's California Adventure, is the reply. That's right. Yes, when they're trying to visit Sight Show Pop. And now look, Disney's California Adventure did seem pretty terrible when it first opened.

It seemed really crappy. And Al Jean also this season did an entire thing about how Epcot sucks Which seems to in both cases I think Al Jean is a big parks fan who goes to them when they open and if he's disappointed he lets you know About it. Yeah, California Adventure. We talked about it plenty obviously had a redemption and obviously turned itself around I'm never really that excited about that park But because it's next to Disneyland when I go back there, I'll probably drop in,

just because why not? There's stuff going on here, but it's all about the classic Disneyland stuff for me when I actually go to a park. And I went to Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea last year, but I have not been to the California parks in close to five years. It's been a very long time.

I'm about to go there with my mom, much like this episode. I'm reliving childhood by going to a place with my mom where I'm taking her there She's never been to Disneyland or California Adventure. She only went to the Orlando parks a bunch So I'm excited to finally take her there. But yeah the California Adventure. I think it is improved a bit They have their own Tower of Terror. The Cars ride is pretty good There's also a lot of parts of it that do still suck and are boring, though it has a mini Epcot's worth of good food and alcohol, so it's got some good

grown-up things. Sure, sure. I feel like it's, when you're getting all that food and alcohol, it's just so expensive. For me, my wife is on the same page as me. When we're there, it's more like, I guess we have to eat something, and we find the least objectionable thing to eat.

That's our MO, but I know everyone has different reasons for going to the park. I had suggested last time you try the cheese corn dog there. How'd you like that? It's good. It is not that different from any other fried cheese on a stick I've had before, especially now that Korean hot dogs are a big thing. And when you go to the Korean hot dog store or restaurant, as they call it, you can get fried cheese on a stick in lieu of pork products.

So I usually get that and it's like, oh, it's just sort of like the Disney California Adventure thing, but yes, it is good. I gotta think now after all these jokes about California Adventure, Al Jean has been in meetings where they're pitching what if Simpsons got set up in Disney's California Adventure.

I think that's gonna happen. I've said it many times before, but I think it's happening. They can bulldoze some of the more nondescript areas and throw some systems in there, I guess. It would fit in perfectly in the shitty little Hollywood area that's next to where they've now bulldozed the Bugs Life area to make it the Marvel zone.

Though it's not happening anytime soon, because they just announced all of their park plans for like the next five years. I also just rode the dinosaur ride for the last time, and I tell you if they close that Muppet Vision 3D I'm gonna cry like a baby. I went on Muppet Vision 3D four times because I was like what if this is my last chance? I guess it's on its last legs. I mean that's been around for 33 years? Was it 91? 91 and 92 I I'm going to say. I think so. Yeah. The rumors say it's getting replaced with a monster ink ride.

There's only so many places they can put it, but it's not official yet. Well, all the Gen Alpha kids there are saying, what the hell's a muppet? Was it only full of losers like me and people who bring their kids to it? Was Pizza Rizzo sadly very empty too? Yes. I can see why it'd be marked for deletion, but I don't want it to happen. It's the last place you can watch it and it's the last thing Jim Henson ever did. Well kids, it's Waldo C. Graphic. You know him. They bet hard on Waldo C. Graphic and if there's one problem with Muppet Vision 3D it's that,

but it's still funny. What's that name again? I forgot. So Homer is trying to save Mona. This is when he is getting cornered and Mona realizes there's only one choice to make. Homer get out now and no one will ever know you're involved. No, you're my mother and I won't leave you. If you stay here you'll be abandoning your family the way I abandoned you. Oh, yeah. That did mess me up pretty bad, but I'm not gonna leave you. I see you've made your choice. I love you, Homer.

Ah! Oh, that's lucky. Ah! Oh, brambles! Brayards! Nettles! Thorns! Grani to the man. Grani to the man.

This is the man. I think it'd be a gas if you turned that magic bus around and kept on trucking to our pig pad. I don't know what you're saying, but I am not turning back. Then listen to me, lady. The only way you're getting off this mountain is in a box or a funicular. What about a hot air balloon?

Yeah, pipe down, Jules Verne. That's funny, the exchange of Lou and Wigam, but he should like Mona. He remembered, he saved her. Like, I don't like that. Yeah, it is a big part of that episode. for whatever reason while watching this and Homer lands on the bed He goes through the thorny patch he shots out all these things that are poking him I thought he was gonna go prickers, but prickers was when he was being flown by the plane

And I'm with Cupid and he is hanging from it as it goes over a flower garden, and they're all sticking to him And he is hanging from it as it goes over a flower garden and they're all sticking to him. Wow. Thank you, Bob. There were phantom prickers there in my mind. Now you've the list of synonyms for thorns was that was cute. But then Homer seemingly watches his mother explode like poor Homer has lost her so many times.

And I also don't like how she says, you're abandoning your family like I abandon you. Which I'm like, but this has been settled in the last episode. He understood that it was either you abandon him or you go to jail. Yeah, the rehashing of this feels odd to me because that's, I think, what makes me irritated

because we've been through this and their parting at the end of that episode in season seven was a mutual understanding of we can never be together. Let's just have a moment in parts and understanding that we still love each other, but because of circumstances, I can never see you again. That kind of sweet moment there, but instead this time their parting moment is he's electrocuted by his own mother and shoved out of a moving bus, which he is very lucky she didn't kill him by doing that.

And then Homer gets to watch his mother and like they say it on the commentary, they feel really bad that Homer has to see her explode. And Price says on the commentary that it was like change at the animatic stage that they decided that wouldn't be her death, that they would at least tell you, the viewer, that she's not dead. Yeah, and I guess we circle back to the Beautiful Mind parody to sort of close the loop on whatever this was supposed to be. Al Jean is a pedant after our own hearts.

He points out that as seen on the screen, based on how you see it in the flashback, you should see her jump out of the bus from how it's timed. Like, you see her jump out of the bus right before it falls out. Homer should see her jump out, but he doesn't. I don't like the placement of the joke, but I do like the spirit of the joke, where I don't know if you have the clip of Wiggum reclarifying what mission they're going to be doing with the results of this bus. Oh yeah, here it is. They're still airing that bus, so for the next five minutes, this is a rescue mission.

Make that a salvage mission. Okay, everyone take some free time, and we'll see you tomorrow at 10. I like the spirit of that joke, like everyone take some free time and we'll see you tomorrow at 10. I like the spirit of that joke, like everyone take some free time. Their day is done. They're like, well, we can't do anything. So just chill out and we'll see you tomorrow. It's like calling it a day early at the office. It's nice.

They just walk away from a prison bus exploding and crashing down, even though she's alive right off screen, everybody. Don't worry. And then Mona's is buried. I wonder if it is in the gravesite near Walt freaking Whitman's, I wonder. It could be. And Lisa has some parting words for Mona.

Remind me, does she actually speak to Mona while she's alive in this episode? I don't think she does. No, she doesn't. Lisa speaks once per act, but not to Mona. She does speak on the stand, but Bart is the only other character that actually has, I guess Lisa speaks while she's in the room that is gifted to Mona, but she doesn't speak to Mona. It's just so weird they don't even share one scene. Marge really doesn't talk to her either? Missed opportunities here.

Sideshow Mella gets more lines in this episode than Lisa and Marge combined, I'd say. I mean, you can do different beats than you did in Mother Simpson, but in Mother Simpson, isn't she excited to have a mother-in-law? Like, she's very giddy. Well, at first she's scared because she's like,

oh, I haven't been judged by a mother-in-law all this time. Ha ha ha ha. Like, she's kind of freaked out about it. It was a fun reaction, I recall.. I mean I feel like the connection between the women is something that is really neglected here. Like no one would accuse production season 14 of having a feminist edge I would say. Well here why don't we hear them speak at this funeral. Grandma, you'll always be an inspiration to me.

You taught me a criminal can evade the law well into old age. Thanks for the meatloaf recipe. I claim it as my own. Mona, I'll always remember raspberry trolley cars, because my mind is shot. Your last act as a mom was to make me a better dad. But at least now I'll never lose you again. Look out! No! I...

They can't just let anything play. Even that joke with... We saw a similar joke earlier in the episode where the bed Homer lands on slides down a hill and then a minute later he kisses the casket and it slides down a hill and there's no punch line. It just goes off into the distance and I guess cars stop for it to pass but I feel like if you're gonna just go that far and make the joke, at least have just emotion be this scene. I know you're gonna end the show with a joke,

but just have this scene be Homer's sad. Or, Homer can be so sad, and then he kicks over Frank Grimes' tombstone. You can get a Grimey joke in there if you want then. Yeah, I guess that does save this scene where he's so mad, he kicks over a headstone, and then we get a reveal with a dramatic sting that it is Grimes' grave.

And I think they're just twisting the dagger in the hearts of fans. They're really tweaking fans with that joke. I recall a lot of people were so mad about that online. I love any reference to Grimey and Homer never letting Grimes have a moment's rest in death. It's like once a season or so, once a broadcast season, they're still reminding you of like, hey, remember the worst thing Homer ever did to somebody? Though then you find out that Homer

is getting that upset about, I mean, look, even if I had a fake casket for my mom, I would be sad that that happened and freak out. But he's acting like her body is in there, but it's not a body in there. And he knows it's full of garbage They have the excuse that Homer's brain is broken by neglect and alcoholism caused by losing his mother But still that's a bit crazy they decide that as far as Homer knows she might be alive and The family decides to let Homer have a comforting fantasy, but we learn it actually is true. I couldn't sleep because I thought there might be a sign of my mom in one of these articles.

They never did find her body. Then what was in the coffin? Last week's garbage. I missed the pick-up date. But it doesn't matter because my mom is alive, see? I am okay. Get it? I am okay. Get it? I am okay. OK, Homie. If it makes you feel better, I think your mom's all right, too.

Hey, as long as we're thinking about her, Grandma's still alive. Come on, big guy. This will help you get to sleep. Homer, your mother loves you. I escaped from the bus the moment before it plunged off the cliff. I then hitched a ride from a nice young couple. We had lunch at a lovely diner. They had clam chowder, Rhode Island style.

I never knew there was such a thing and the crackers kept on coming. And apparently Rhode Island style clam chowder uses a clear broth. It's not a cream based broth so it seems like it would be a lot lighter and I would actually like to try that because I like chowder but often it is very heavy and creamy and super high in calories and fat because it's just you drinking hot cream with clams in it. Salty hot cream. I've been light on chowder in my life, but there's a lot of good chowder places around here where I live now, you know, in Seattle. It's chowder town as well.

Yeah, you're in a real chowder town. You should develop a taste for it because I think you'd like it, especially when in the colder months. I've grown to like a little side of chowder when I go out to a restaurant, so it's definitely sometimes food in its heaviness, that's for sure though. Now I need to look into this Rhode Island clam chowder as well. And I wanted to say that I transcribed the first column of this article, the second is just gibberish. They worked too hard on this first column

where that says, Homer, your mother loves you. So there's other writing in this episode, but they worked hard on this, so I wanted to highlight this first column where that says Homer your mother loves you. So there's other writing in this episode but they worked hard on this so I wanted to highlight this little column about the world's biggest taco. Is that what it is? The world's biggest taco being built? Oh yeah that's a good callback too because she planted the previous one in a giant pizza story so Homer should have known that it was on the giant taco story not the other story he's reading.. So this one actually references the giant pizza. So there is continuity between the secret message articles. So this is what you see. If you pause, you can read all of this, but I'm doing it for you as an added service of this podcast. So this is the article about the giant taco. Here we go. Quotes, how about those amazing marvelous Mexicans? One day

they're attacking our best Alamos or manufacturing nice leather belts to sell to eager US tourists with uneventful trousers. Recently though, some students in northern Yucatan tried to make something to wear under one's belt. They ended up making history. Until yesterday, the largest taco ever built resided in LA, home of Dom DeLuise, who moved it from room to room to view as he oversaw the operation of his bustling career. That taco was now among the world's smallest. He was unavailable for comment at press time. Earlier this month, in a tension-starved Iowa, residents made what they believed would be

the largest food ever prepared, a 378-ton pizza. The Yucatan taco tipped the scales at a very impressive 413,845 tons. Iowa's feet was eclipsed and the state was again forgotten. Some in Iowa vowed revenge on the citizens of Yucatan saying, quote, if they want war, bring it on. The people of Iowa are prepared. We've used this week bulking up on American pizza. The end. And then the next column is just pure ASG JKF keyboard gibberish. Wow. That's really good.

Thank you, Bob, for reading that. I did not pause and check it out myself. They wrote an actual funny story. And I love that Dom DeLuise aside is like one of the most useless ones just to get in the letters to spell out what she is saying. That's so funny. And the other articles have some unique text, but this one had the most. And it seems like they did have to work pretty hard to make sure every letter in the left

tan column was spelling out the words, Homer, your mother loves you, which if you look at them, they're all capitalized too. So it's written in a very unnatural way. It's a wonderful story about a giant taco that is also about how much a mother loves her son and also how much he loves her own clam chowder and wants Homer to know about it, which is a great needless waste to put in that story. If you're gonna end with something,

end with a Glenn Close monologue. It at least puts you in a good head space. She should have had more lines in this, honestly. Also, Homer's alcoholism is to such an extent that they just hand him a half full bottle of whiskey that he's gonna down entirely to fall asleep. Yeah, I love Bart's swishing it around, like, come on, big guy, let's go to bed.

It reminds me of Lionel Hutt swishing it around when he's like, wanna belt a scotch? Homer, as far as he knows, Mona is dead until he will see her again in a few years. So we'll complain about that episode then, but they bring back Mona. We've said it a lot in this, but yeah, but my final thought, it would have been nice they brought her back for a better use of her instead of just doing her day in court to then kill her off maybe in case she never comes back and they can't get Glenn close

back again. Something happened at a certain point where they realized they could more dependably get Glenn close as a guest voice than they could before. They could get close, in other words. I guess that, I don't know if that works. Let's just pretend it does. I think it works, I think it works.

Yeah, I guess final thoughts on this. You heard how cranky I was throughout, and you know, we've liked season 15 episodes, we've liked season 14 episodes. We like newer, and by that we mean 21 year old episodes of the Simpsons this one though I feel like this particular staff cannot be trusted to write an episode about Homer's mother and they prove that They couldn't and Michael Price. It seems like whatever he had in mind was very rewritten I like to see what he had in store for this character. Maybe it was more respectful

Maybe it was more emotional in any case we're left with this and I find it very disappointing as I do the other appearances of her character. Mother Simpson is a hard act to follow and you either have to bring your A game or do a different topic or do a different subject in this case they should have done what if Sideshow Mel joins the army I don't know there could be another idea that is better than this one. But yeah, come on guys. And don't do this at the end of a season. You're all tired. RG I should have said that this on the commentary, Al Jean treats it like it's the season premiere. Like the Treehouse was, maybe he's just misremembering, but he's treating it like Treehouse was a special and that this is the big season premiere with their big guest Glenn Close on it, which makes it feel an even weaker choice, honestly.

I would call Treehouse the season premiere. It's the first thing that airs and it's a Simpsons episode, so it's a premiere. And it aired on a Sunday too. It's not like it was on a different day. That has been another episode of Talking Simpsons. Thanks so much for listening. If you want to support the show and get all the episodes ad free one week at a time and then access to nearly 200 full length mini series episodes, head on over to patreon.com

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And they are ad free explorations of an animated feature film. We just finished a trilogy of wonderful films. The Disney Renaissance Summer. We wrapped it up and finished the last of the Disney Renaissance films we hadn't covered before. And that would be Mulan, Pocahontas and Tarzan.. And this month it's time to get into the Drek because we are talking about Jerry Seinfeld's B-movie and it is that crappy and we have a ton of exclusive details you will only learn on his production if you are a Talking Simpsons subscriber at the Patreon. So

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No Ford Sale, Ford Festiva. I'll put that in the maybes.