OTH: The Simpsons- "Simpsons Bible Stories" / "Mom and Pop Art"
"Le grille? What the hell is that?"
Season 10, Episode 18
Aired April 4, 1998
Directed by Nancy Kruse
Written by Tim Long, Larry Doyle, Matt Selman
Synopsis: On a particularly hot Easter Sunday, the family is suffering in church, especially when an agitated Reverend Lovejoy starts reading the Bible from the beginning after receiving a chocolate Easter bunny in the donation box. Marge dozes off and imagines herself as Eve to Homer’s Adam, as the two meet in the Garden of Eden. A benevolent God (whose voice is eerily similar to Flanders) offers the two anything they want in paradise, on the condition that they stay away from His forbidden fruit. Eve heeds His warning, but Adam starts noshing on the apples from the tree after being tempted by Snake as a snake. God doesn’t notice Adam’s appetite, but when he convinces Eve to try a bite, He arrives and banishes her away from Eden. Adam feels bad that he didn’t stand up for the woman made from his rib, and decides to dig her out, using God’s unicorn to dig a tunnel. Unfortunately, as Eve comes back into Eden, God notices, and sees that his only begotten unicorn has died from exhaustion digging a tunnel. He decides to banish both her and Adam from Eden, barring them paradise.
Lisa then falls asleep and imagines herself as a slave of Principal Skinner’s Pharaoh. Bart portrays an instantly exiled Ben-Hur, while Milhouse takes on the role of Moses, as he and Lisa scheme to trick the Pharaoh into freeing the slaves. Unfortunately, their attempts at plagues don’t intimidate the Pharoah, which only ends in Moses and Lisa’s arrest. They escape, and plan an escape, but need to find a way to drain the sea blocking their path. The two convince all of the slaves to flush every toilet in town at once, which does the trick as it parts the sea. And things look good for the Israelites, except they’ll cross the desert for forty years. But things will look good for the Jews after this, right?
And then it’s Homer’s turn, where he briefly portrays King Solomon. That doesn’t really go anywhere, aside from Homer getting a pie, so Bart gets a chance and imagines himself as King David, who had already slayed Goliath in the form of Nelson. However, Goliath II (also Nelson) has slain Grampa’s Methuselah in retaliation for his father’s death, so David must face him. However, this time, David cannot find a rock to smite Goliath II, so this doesn’t go well for the King. He’s catapulted from the city and loses his rank as King. David then meets Ralph as a shepherd who proclaims that he can kill Goliath. We then cut to Ralph’s tombstone, which yeah. David attempts to climb the Tower of Babel to reach Goliath II, where he throws a lantern down Goliath’s throat. That doesn’t do the trick, but instead, Ralph proves to have not actually died and hits Goliath with his tombstone, killing him. However, it turns out that Goliath II was a better ruler than David ever was, paving roads and offering more jobs than he ever did, so rather than warmly welcoming him back, David is arrested.
The episode ends with the family waking up and noticing that everyone else has left. They think that the rest of the churchgoers have just gone about their day, but it turns out that the apocalypse is nigh, and the family walks into Hell.
It’s funny, a rare Easter Sunday full of new episodes begat a new tradition for The Simpsons, where the show will embrace non-Halloween-oriented short stories. Unlike Treehouse of Horror, not every season will feature an episode like “Simpsons Bible Stories”, but we’ll see plenty more of these kinds of stories in the years to come. Or we will when I return to The Simpsons, as I’m almost done with this phase.
And you know, there’s definitely merit to shaking up the formula. As my recent reviews have been noting, while the show’s foundation is still built on strong jokes and memorable characters, pieces are still starting to crack in terms of structure and its limitations. The characters can’t truly grow, aside from the odd permanent change like Lisa becoming a vegetarian, so everything returns to the status quo by the end of the episode. That’s not true with the Treehouse of Horror segments, and that may be why these episodes tend to be the ones that distant fans will still go out of their way to watch every season. I can see the appeal of trying that out with non-spooky themes, and the results are pleasant enough with “Simpsons Bible Stories”.
The most interesting of the three stories has to be Bart playing David to Nelson’s Goliath (er… Goliath II), as this turns the classic tale of man vs giant into an action movie spoof, with the crew namedropping Jerry Bruckheimer in the commentary. I can see the influence, even if it never quite reaches that level of bombast. Still, I appreciate the intentional level of silliness here, especially as the story goes off the rails from the standard story.
The other two segments are more traditional Bible adaptations, although Lisa and Milhouse playing Moses does at least stand out by lifting some deliberate nods from The Ten Commandments. I also enjoy getting to see more of the children in their ecosystem, since they’re compelling characters in their own right. Additionally, taking Bart away from the action shows us more of the kids without him playing leader, which is a welcome change of pace. Milhouse, of course, is no leader, but Lisa does well with taking the position on herself.
Homer and Marge as Adam and Eve is a little more traditional, but I think it’s still a charming story, and I like hearing Flanders as the voice of God. Their segment also allows for some of the more creative imagery, so I can’t call it a wash in any way.
“Simpsons Bible Stories” features the first directorial work by Nancy Kruse as well as the first screenwriting credit by Tim Long, the former sticking around for the next decade before moving to Disney, while the latter continues to write and produce to this day. Despite being given such unique material, Kruse largely sticks to the show’s general aesthetics for the majority of the episode, not drifting beyond its usual shades… until the ending where it appears that the family are the last survivors of the apocalypse. We get some pretty red there!
That last bit is an undeniable highlight, with even Groening himself considering the bit where Homer pulls Lisa down from her ascension to Heaven, like Mary Poppins trying to prevent Jane and Michael Banks from floating up with giggles, his personal favorite joke in the series. Good taste, Matt! The show was even able to get “Highway to Hell” blasting at a hefty discount, and despite its oversaturation on classic rock radio, you couldn’t ask for a better ending.
I look forward to seeing some of these later experiments when I return to The Simpsons in a few years, but for now, we’ll leave off with a fun first attempt here,
Season 10, Episode 19
Aired April 11, 1999
Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Written by Al Jean
Synopsis: Marge encourages Homer to spend his weekend being productive, so he goes to a hardware store to prepare to work around the house. While there, he sees a commercial for a new grill, and is convinced to buy it to build himself. However, Homer continues to be a giant moron and fails spectacularly at building the grill, turning it into a hot mess after a bout with anger. He ends up trying to return the terribly-constructed grill to the hardware store in a wheelbarrow, but they rebuff him. Homer ties the wheelbarrow to his bumper, and the bumper falls off from his car, crashing into a car on the street. Rather than accept his responsibility, Homer drives off, but the owner of the car he wrecked finds him, but she isn’t angry. Actually, the wheelbarrow hit the car of one Astrid Weller (Isabella Rossellini), an art critic who appears inspired by Homer’s “art”. She considers Homer to be what is considered an outsider artist, someone who makes non-conventional art while not being part of the community. Even accidents like Homer’s can make great works, and she welcomes him to join an art show that evening, where his grill disaster becomes the hit of the show and is bought by Mr. Burns. Now that he’s considered an artist, Homer decides to work on further pieces, and recalls Weller’s advice to channel his anger to delve further. After a couple of days, Homer builds a couple of new art pieces, all largely similar to the grill he “deconstructed” earlier. However, lightning doesn’t strike twice, and the various art lovers in Springfield consider Homer’s later work derivative. Marge, who has always dreamed of a career in art but has never come close to the success her husband has found in the past few days, doesn’t feel too sorry for Homer’s inability to find further success. But noticing how badly he feels, Marge decides to take Homer to the local art museum to give him inspiration. Although he has a memorably weird dream including various paintings, complete with Andy Warhol throwing cans of soup at him, Homer doesn’t find the inspiration he craves. Instead, Lisa gives her dad her own suggestion as she namedrops Christo and his elaborate stunts, which gets Homer to thinking. Over the night, he and Bart steal all of the neighborhood’s doormats and throws them in front of the sewers, so they won’t drown away the water that bursts from the fire hydrants Homer opens, flooding Springfield. Weller and the rest of the town are impressed with Homer’s new project, and it even allows Marge a chance to practice her art skills for the first time in a long while.
We haven’t heard Marge reference her artist ambitions in a while, have we? And we certainly haven’t heard mention of her Ringo Starr portraits since season 2. I always found this aspect about her character worth exploring, how she could have received a legitimate career in art if she didn’t dedicate her adult life to her family, and it’s true. If Homer was just a little more capable with housework and the kids, maybe he could have been a stay-at-home dad while she embraces her ambitions.
However, clearly that didn’t happen. For better or worse, Marge was meant to stay at home with Maggie while Homer became the breadwinner, and despite not having an artistic bone in his body earlier, Homer somehow becomes a great artist by a fluke. I can understand her frustration, and I think anyone can. It’s not hard to recall or imagine a scenario where someone with no previous ambitions with a skill you consider yourself proud of can impress by a fluke. Sometimes I’ll see someone who doesn’t consider themselves a writer put some words down, and I’ll come out surprised and almost disappointed in myself, so I can definitely relate to Marge.
But The Simpsons is a comedy first, and it’s not as funny to deal with emotions like disappointment, at least when it involves Marge. Homer trying and failing to break into the art world is funnier, so of course that’s what “Mom and Pop Art” is going to focus on, and at least it’s a good time.
It’s nice to have Al Jean back, who returns to the writer’s room by himself, and he delivers a relatively personal teleplay. The opening act comes from Jean’s own experience working at his father’s hardware store, although I sure hope he wasn’t making out with the “Ma” at that store. Still, that personal touch allows his Reiss-less work to delve into good material throughout, arguably peaking with Homer’s failed attempt to build the grill, which Mike Scully considers his favorite set piece from his era (what an eventful week for favorite moments!)
“Mom and Pop Art” has a fine script behind it, but I think that Steven Dean Moore is the MVP of the episode, as his directorial duty requires him to combine multiple interpretations of classic art into the proceedings. From having a loincloth-draped Vitruvian Man kick Homer to Barney trying to pay Moe with his rendition of Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon, there’s a lot to appreciate here as an art lover, as many of these works were recreated by the animator’s hands rather than copied. Some insane attention to detail for just a couple of quick gags, but we’re still at a point where a lot of effort and heart is put into the series.
At least, a lot of heart and effort can be put into the series. I do ultimately think that “Mom and Pop Art” peaks early as a script, but has enough artistic merit for me to qualify it as a good episode for this point of the show’s run. I’d like to think that Jean and Reiss could have made this a classic a few years ago, but it is starting to feel like even the best are starting to grow tired.
Homer’s Bar Tab:
Chalkboard Gag Wars- “I cannot absolve sins” vs. “A trained ape could not teach gym.” Are you sure it couldn’t?
Couch Gag Wars- The family slips on banana peels right onto the couch vs. the couch dropping like a bomb and the family riding it ala Dr. Strangelove. Been there, done that.
I don’t know if I’m more curious about the butterscotch pond or the porno bush.
According to his tombstone, Ralph is only five, which doesn’t sound right if he’s in second grade.
You can see “Start here tomorrow 7/17/95” painted on Homer’s garage. That date is significant because it’s Mike Scully’s wedding anniversary. His wife is a writer, by the way, and we’ll hear from her soon enough…
First of all, Homer has a gun again? I thought after last season’s “The Cartridge Family”, this wouldn’t be a thing. But more importantly, why did he think it was a good idea to put it in Maggie’s crib?
Homer’s a little too mad about Bart being a little attracted to Milhouse… or maybe he’s mad about him flunking math. He seemed a little too excited about drawing Lenny and Carl bathing, after all.
Meme Time: “Ralph, I thought you were dead?” “Nope!” Classic.
Next Week: Bart has to help out the elderly for community service, and Mr. Burns tries to gain the approval of the public, which reminds me of another certain billionaire.