[The long of it]
Next Sunday's show is a repeat, and most of October is given over to the baseball playoffs, so it looks like the mini-run of new "Simpsons" episodes ends with "Please Homer Don't Hammer 'Em." Oh, well, we might have to go through "Simpsons" withdrawal again, but at least the network sent us off with a good episode.
A Simpson family member gets a new job, but this time around it's Marge. After reading some do-it-yourself books and discovering she has a knack for carpentry, she decides to go into business for herself. Or at least, she tries to. I guess most of Springfield is still stuck in the '50s, because when her customers see she's a woman, they find excuses to cancel the job. Marge soon enlists Homer into "fronting" for her; he deals with the customer, and she does the actual work.
In his "upcoming episode" posts, Don Del Grande dinged this show as a retread of "The Front (9F16)," with Marge, Homer, and carpentry standing in for the kids, Abe, and screenwriting, respectively. There's been a lot of complaining about recycling plots, but while watching "Don't Hammer 'Em," I didn't get the feeling that this was stuff I'd seen before. This episode focuses more on the strains of keeping the ruse alive, as Marge grows gradually disenchanted with the way Homer snags all the credit. The tension provides some nice comedy as we see Marge at first desperately try to avoid getting caught, and then Homer exercising his nonexistent carpentry skills on his own. It's also funny to see that Marge never loses her sense of righteousness. When it looks like Homer might finally kill himself, Marge says that "he'll never hear me say, 'I told you so.'"
There's a decent subplot where Bart learns about Skinner's "kryptonite," which is a violent allergy to peanuts. Armed with this knowledge (and a peanut on a stick), he orders Skinner around like a slave. It's funny, but not quite as fulfilling as the main plot. Bart spends most of his time tormenting Skinner with stunts that look like they came from last night's showing of "Fear Factor." Not bad, but it's also fairly obvious. The subplot might have been even better had the writers came up with something more creative -- declaring SES a no-homework zone, or transferring Lisa to another school, or something other than just humiliating Skinner. That said, I enjoyed the fight that concluded the subplot, and the episode as a whole.
The show beginning, when the family visited a run-down Springfield mall, was great. Having visited three different malls in their death throes, I can say the writers really nailed the forlorn, empty atmosphere of these places. Bart's visit to the arcade of ancient videogames (featuring a boxing game with Rocky III and Clara Peller) was a highlight. So were the titles of the books in the off-price bookstore. Perhaps most noteworthy, this part segued into the main plot in a reasonably quick manner, rather than taking up the first third of the show.
"Please Homer Don't Hammer 'Em" is, overall, a solidly-constructed episode. Perhaps it's true that, in a broad sense, most of the plausible story ideas have been done before. But, it's nice to see that they can still seem fresh with a creative new approach.
[The short of it]
We may have seen this general idea before (one Simpson "fronting" for another), but the writers find a fresh new approach. This episode focuses on the tension that Marge and Homer have in maintaining the ruse, and from this tension comes good comedy. The Bart-Skinner subplot could have used some more of the same creative thinking, but it's still funny and has a good ending. The opening scenes in dilapidated Springfield Mall are just about perfect and capture the run-down mall atmosphere well. We may be without new "Simpsons" for a while, but at least the network sends us off with a good episode. (B+)
[DYNs]
... SLH seems to prefer his old doghouse? ... when Homer takes the call in bed, the phone cord gets caught up on Marge's upper lip? ... how easily dentable the big tool cabinet is? Lenny and Carl kick huge dents in it, apparently without much effort.
[References]
"Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em" (album) - title a spoof of this MC Hammer opus
Centipede (videogame) - Capt. Blip's has a "Unipede" game
"Star Wars" (movie) - "Triangle Wars" similar in name, and written in a similar typeface
Rock Bottom Remainders (rock band) - the bookstore is named after a novelty act made up of prominent modern writers [See "Personal Comments & Observations" for more]
"The Absent-Minded Professor[? I think that might be the title. It starred Fred McMurray] (movie) - Homer tells Frink to "go stir your flubber"
Home Depot (chain of home-improvement stores) Builder's Barn is similar type of store, and even has a similar logo
Planters Nuts (brand of nuts) - Skinner has nightmares where he's attacked by Planters's spokes- mascot
Splash Mountain (amusement park ride) - Homer lifts his shirt for the camera while riding down the roller-coaster [There's more about this in the "Comments" section of the capsule for "Simpsons Tall Tales (CABF17)"
[Previous Episode References]
[FABF05] Copy of "I, Scoundrel" is at the bookstore [CABF17] Someone flashes an amusement-park camera
[FFF]
Shopping opportunities at Springfield Mall:
1987 YESTERDAY'S PUPPIES DUKAKIS
CALENDARS!!! CAMPAIGN H.Q.Persian album:
Nabil
[man holding a bouquet]
[in his right hand and]
[ a burning American ]
[ flag in his left ] Uma Shang Shang
The Flower SongToothache cream:
Sunni
SmileArcade sign:
Captain
Blip's
ZapateriaGames in the arcade:
K
L C REMINGTON ROCKY CLARA
C I C A UNIPEDE STEELE vs.
L C THE GAME III PELLER
K SPACE - TAC - TOE POLYBIUS TRIANGLE
WARSBookstore:
ROCK BOTTOM REMAINDERS
Books for sale:
Wisconsin VETERAN'S DAY SMILES OF
FROM ABOVE PARADE IRELAND THE DRINK I, Scoundrel
KANSAS CITY YOUR OWN
BLOOD
Royals AND SAVE FOREVER OPRAH RECOMMEND[ED]
CHAMPIONS BUY THREE COPIESTime-Life DIY books:
[Title on box]
THE
TIME
LIFE
Carpenter's
Library[Titles of each volume]
The Basics | Vol. 1
Working with Wood | Vol. 2
Cabinets and Cupboards | Vol. 3
Tables and Chairs | Vol. 4
Decking and Roofing | Vol. 5
Finish Carpentry | Vol. 6
Floorboards and Nightstands | Vol. 7
More Projects | Vol. 8"Charlie Brown" book:
"GOOD GRIEF,
MORE
PEANUTS"[Charlie Brown]
by Charles M. Schultz
Marge's carpentry flyer:
SIMPSON
CARPENTRY
---------
YES, WE'RE
UNLICENSED! KK K
LL L
55 5
00 0
11 1
22 2
33 3Home-improvement store:
BUILDER'S BARN
TELL MOVE YOU LOVE HER -- COPY HER KEYSHomer's T-shirt slogan:
I DO ALL THE WORK
Skinner's blackboard punishment:
A BABY BEAT ME UP
Medical form:
KNOWN ALLERGIES
_ pollen _ ragweed
_ gluten _ strawberries
_ wool _ cat fur
_ mold _ grass
_ down _ dust
_ dust mites [The underscores represent small]
_ penicillin [boxes on the actual form. ]Thai food factory sign:
THAI FOOD
FACTORY
FORMERLY PETCORoller-coaster fan T-shirts:
NEWTON'S DILBERT'S VOMIT
REVENGE FLYING MOUNTAIN
CUBICLEVideocamera caption options:
VACATION MEMORIES
ANNIVERSARY FUN
HUSBAND'S PUBLIC
HUMILIATION[Oops!]
+ In the past, the Simpsons' master bedroom had wall-to-wall carpeting; in this episode, it had a trendy hardwood floor.
* Marge decides to duck out of the hospital room and see the babies in the maternity ward. That's easier said than done. In the hospitals I've seen, the maternity ward is locked to keep out casual observers (and potential kidnappers).
[Personal Comments & Observations]
Michael Dukakis -- Democratic nominee for President in 1988. He handily lost to George Bush the Elder. I wonder if he won whatever state Springfield is in ...
Remington Steele -- Not a real person, but a fictional character in a detective series imaginatively titled, "Remington Steele." The premise of the show is strikingly similar to this episode. A bright female detective is having trouble attracting clients, who apparently don't thing sleuthing is woman's work. She invents a James Bond-like male persona, Remington Steele, to calm her customers' worries. Things take a surprise twist when a suave fellow (played by Pierce Brosnan, who later would be tapped to play Bond) shows up and claims to actually *be* Steele. The two go on to solve crimes (and apparently star in one videogame) together.
Clara Peller -- The "Where's the Beef" lady. Peller was a retired beautician who starred in an advertisement for the Wendy's fast-food burger chain. In the ad, some competing chain handed her a burger that was a tiny beef patty on an enormous bun. She wasn't impressed, and yelled, "where's the beef" to the unseen folks behind the counter. The line reading was perfect, and Peller, the ad, and the catchline quickly got their fifteen minutes of fame.
"Rock Bottom Remainders" isn't just a bookstore but is also, in the words of Dave Barry, "a group of authors who discovered that, even though they head very little musical training, they were nevertheless able, with a little practice and a lot of heart, to turn themselves into a profoundly mediocre band." The Remainders was the brainchild of Kathi Goldmark, who was charged with raising money for literacy causes. She decided to round up a group of authors and have them play a charity concert at a booksellers' convention. Aside from Barry, the line up consisted of Tad Bartimus, Roy Blount, Jr., Michael Dorris, Robert Fulghum, Barbara Kingsolver, Ridley Pearson, Amy Tan, and -- take note -- Matt Groening.
Also of note: "Remainders," if I understand correctly, are unsold copies of a book that bookstores return to the publisher for credit.