OTH: The Simpsons- "Lisa's Sax" / "Treehouse of Horror VII"
Two episode types I struggle to write about- flashbacks and Treehouse of Horror. You've been warned.
Season 9, Episode 3
Aired October 19, 1997
Directed by Dominic Polcino
Written by Al Jean
Synopsis: It’s a hot, wistful day in Springfield and Homer wants to watch TV in peace, but Lisa’s saxophone practice is preventing this from happening. He has Bart go upstairs to stop her, which results in the two fighting and has Lisa drop her sax into the street, where it’s immediately demolished. She’s devastated, and while Homer is pleased to have the sound of her practicing gone, he feels bad and offers to tell her the story of how they got her the sax, since she can’t remember. It starts with Bart’s first day of school, where the eager oldest Simpson child’s optimism is deteriorated by the end of the day due to the cold, monotonous public school system which has already predetermined his fate. It doesn’t take long for his parents to notice, when Bart comes home with a disturbing drawing he made. Marge insists that they take him to Dr. Hibbert, who notes that he’s perfectly healthy physically, if a little depressed and of average at best intellect. Next, Marge and Homer go see the school psychologist, who simply recommends that Bart surrender his feelings of independence and embrace becoming a cog in the system. However, he’s impressed by little Lisa, age 3 1/2, and her early signs of intellect. He suggests that she may be gifted and encourages her parents to take her to a private preschool to nurture her gifts. They find a program that looks perfect for Lisa, but it’s far too expensive for her parents. Meanwhile at school, with Bart continuing to struggle to hold his own in school, he finds his calling when he outsmarts Principal Skinner and becomes the school’s top class clown. Marge asks Homer to consider at least using their air conditioner fund to buy her a musical instrument or something that would help Lisa expand her mind, but he’d rather use that money on an actual air conditioner, since they’re in the middle of a heat wave. Still, he eventually gives in when he takes Lisa out and sees her fall in love with a saxophone, which he even has inscribed- “never forget that your daddy loves D’oh!” Five years later, and despite their efforts, Bart is still miserable at school and Lisa’s gifts are still going to waste, this time without her saxophone. Fortunately, the family has a little money in their air conditioner fund again, and Homer once again elects to spend it on another sax for Lisa, with another inscription- “may your saxophone bring you many years of D’oh!”
We’ve hit that point, nine seasons in, when the show has a flashback that takes us back to when the series was already on the air. It’s a little weird that 1990 was considered five years earlier, when this episode aired in late 1997, but cartoons do take time to make.
Normally, flashback episodes leave me a little ambivalent. They can be sweet and entertaining, but also seldom feel like the show at its best. I’m not sure if I’d rather just focus on the present, or if I grow tired of episodes like this or “The Way We Was” trying to get laughs out of intentionally dated throwbacks, but it is what it is.
Yet “Lisa’s Sax” is a favorite, and I think that’s because the episode addresses character elements that I think are worth diving into, primarily Lisa’s dwindling gift, Bart’s struggle to comply, and their parents’ inability to properly address either. I think Homer and Marge’s problem with both of their children’s problem is that they don’t have the mental tools to handle these issues, leaving Marge to give up easily and put the bulk of the work on Homer’s shoulder, which isn’t a very good idea.
Normally, I find it a little disappointing when the crew think that Lisa isn’t an interesting enough character to focus on entirely and the show splits its time with Bart, but I think there’s a reason that it comes back to him, since her big brother’s disappointing start at school is the cataclysm to figure out that she has untapped potential. If anything, it’s disheartening to Bart that his parents basically give up on him the moment that they realize what they have with Lisa, like he doesn’t matter anymore.
This leads into a classic bit of sappy Simpsons material, where Homer puts Lisa’s needs before his wants, which ends up being almost entirely more memorable than any of the episode’s jokes, but that’s part of the show’s charm, how much it cares about the family at the end of the day, and how something as trivial as the origin of Lisa’s musical instrument of choice can matter so much.
And the episode ends with a sweet little montage set to Lisa playing “Baker Street” with clips from previous episodes. It’s nice, but you can tell that this is a Jean episode, since it’s clearly running short.
Season 9, Episode 4
Aired October 26, 1997
Directed by Mark Kirkland
Written by Mike Scully, David X. Cohen, Ned Goldreyer
Synopsis: The Fox censor appears to ensure the audience that this year’s Treehouse of Horror will be a safe, TV G-rated affair, but the television gods have other plans, brutally stabbing him until it rises up to TV MA. First this year we have “The HΩmega Man”, where Mayor Quimby’s inflammatory comment towards the French starts a war between the country and this one random city in America. The same day that Homer looks into buying a bomb shelter, right as he stays inside to inspect it, the French drop an atomic bomb on Springfield, seemingly killing everyone else in town. This means Homer is free to do what he wants, like dance naked in church. His dance session is cut short, though, when a group of cloaked people shock him. It turns out that a few people survived the crash, horribly mutated and hungry for normal, human flesh. He races away, steals a hearse and drives home, where Homer finds his family, who are perfectly safe thanks to lead poisoning in the paint. They stand with their hands behind their backs as they welcome Homer, and just as the mutants are willing to let the family be, Marge and the kids pull out shotguns and blow them away.
Next in “Fly vs. Fly”, the Simpsons go to Professor Frink’s garage sale, where Homer buys a matter transporter for 35 cents. Frink warns Homer of the dangers of misusing the transporter, but he disregards the professor as he uses the transporter for silly things, like instant beer access from the fridge or trying to use the toilet from the living room. Bart asks if he can use it, but Homer warns him about abusing the laws of science, which he disregards later to combine the cat and dog. Impressed with the results, he decides to go inside with a fly, which swaps their heads. Bart’s head and mind is now in the body of a teensy little fly, while said fly now has Bart’s body. The family is disturbed at first, but they soon embrace Bart’s new persona, but the real Bart wants back. Unfortunately, he’s too small to convince his parents, while the fly recognizes what’s going on and doesn’t want to return to his lifespan, which results in him trying to kill Bart. He flies away and is able to convince Lisa of who he is, so she helps her brother try to get her body back. It takes some tricks, but they make it inside the transporter and Bart is back to normal. To make sure this doesn’t happen again, Homer attempts to chop up his son.
And in “Easy-Bake Coven”, we turn to Springfield during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, where the town keeps burning all of their women alive, considering them to be witches. They could stop there, but Marge “Goody” Simpson is soon convicted of being a witch, and a test is conceived to prove if she is or not by throwing Marge to her death. She flies up with a broom, shoots some spells and vows vengeance to the town. First, she flies to meet up with her sisters, as Marge, Patty and Selma decide to live up to their stereotype and eat the town’s children. They arrive at the Flanders house, planning to take their children away, but Maude and Ned offer to trade Rod and Todd back in exchange for their gingerbread cookies. The witches agree to take the yummy cookies instead, and will soon come out from each house with other treats in lieu of children, starting the tradition of Trick or Treat on the 31st.
We’ve officially started the Mike Scully episode, but since this is a Treehouse of Horror, when heart and consistency are discouraged, it won’t be fair to gauge his tenure yet. But hey, it’s a fun start, at least!
My favorite of the three is probably the opening, “The HΩmega Man”, an enjoyably silly take on post-apocalyptic I Am Legend, which works as a shockingly straightforward adaptation just as well as a send up. Scully wrote the segment himself, and it feels like he has something to prove here, with some of the most audacious gags in the episode featured, right down to Homer dancing naked in church.
“Fly vs. Fly” meanwhile, does a fine job of sending up The Fly (moreso the 50’s version than the 80’s remake with Jeff Goldblum) and lays low on disturbing imagery while instead focusing on the absurdities both versions of Bart could endure. It’s a little less special of a spoof, but it does its job as a segment.
Last segment “Easy-Bake Coven” doesn’t do as much for me, however. I don’t want to do much finger-waving, but I just don’t find literal witch hunts to be amusing, especially for real-life events like the Salem Witch Trials, where numerous innocent women were murdered out of baseless superstition. They deserved better than some cheap gags… still, I do think it’s kind of amusing how this ended up as a fable of the creation of trick or treating, as demented as it sounds. Additionally, it’s noteworthy how when we see a town be as puritanical as this take on Springfield is, Flanders, who acts like his normal self, is among the least religious.
Scully does a decent job of keeping one of the show’s most reliable gag fests in check, but the real winner this week may be Alf Clausen, whose tastefully spooky score was nominated for an Emmy this year. Even by these special’s lofty standards, his work here is a notable highlight.
This Treehouse of Horror was Brad Bird’s last contribution for the series, before leaving to work on his first feature at Warner, something called The Iron Giant. I wonder how that turned out.
Homer’s Bar Tab:
Being a Jean and Reiss production means that “Lisa’s Sax” has a chalkboard gag- “I no longer want my MTV!”.
Couch Gag Wars- The family appear as a Russian doll vs. the family being strapped to electric chairs and going buzzzz. I like the buzzzz. Shiny.
Not only is this the first episode to be written by Al Jean alone, it’s also one of the episodes that was most heavily contributed by one writer. Apparently the writer’s room was understaffed for this one, although Jean’s usual co-writer, Mike Reiss offered some bits alongside David Stern.
Gonna share the All in the Family-inspired opening. I love when future OTH series show up in references.
“Tracey Ullman was entertaining America with songs, sketches, and crudely drawn filler material.”
Doris Grau had passed two years prior to “Lisa’s Sax” airing, but it was able to use one last reading from her, and it’s the last time Lunchlady Doris will speak for a decade, when she’ll later be recasted.
Over 75% of the private preschool’s graduates make it into first grade.
Museum’s should have foosball tables.
Oh god, I am officially nerdier than The Simpsons writers- they’re discussing if I Am Legend is a Ray Bradbury or Robert Heinlein novel, when it’s clearly Richard Matheson. To be fair, this commentary predates the Will Smith adaptation by about a year.
Comic Book Guy is right though- a woman without gills is from a different world than Aquaman!
“That better not be the mutants.”
This episode predicted CatDog by 6 months. I wouldn’t let my non-fly sister use my toothbrush, let alone my brother as a fly.
Next Week: Homer decides to protect the family with a gun, and Bart becomes a star football player! Sorta.
