Notes for HABF02 (The Italian Bob)

Ah, the smell of a fresh production season. And with a Sideshow Bob episode to boot! This is a fairly good entry, and avoided getting stale (the change of scenery may have helped greatly in this). I liked the way the nemeses were brought together by fate, and Bob's family's dedication to revenge (though his son grew a little tiresome); Bob also had several choice lines, some of which no doubt are courtesy of Kelsey Grammer. A few things seemed a little forced, like Marge's sudden use of Bart's last name when introducing him to Bob's family, and the prison uniform (which made no sense at all... wouldn't something like a prison tattoo be better?). The abrupt ending at first struck me as odd, but in an ongoing saga such as this it works better than, for example, CABF10's. On the whole, pretty fun with a few "meh" moments, and the SSB plot was dramatic enough.

DYN: ...the PBS logo has a Groening overbite? ...Lisa gets to Italy without the program she was going to apply for in GABF22? ...the soccer ball trick Bob does fits in well with his old job? ...both of the first two acts end in screaming?

Previous episode references 7G12, 8F20, 9F22, 2F02, 3F08, 4F14, CABF10, EABF01, HABF02: The main Sideshow Bob canon so far (plus minor ones like 8F03 and CABF05) 7G12: Framing Krusty specifically mentioned 9F22: Two callbacks to the rake scene (didn't that also happen in a recent SSB episode?) 7G13: Stomping of grapes 9F04: Lisa spills wine (or blood) on herself

Other references Like this episode, Seinfeld's "The Opera" featured a crazy killer donning clown makeup and trying to exact revenge; I haven't actually seen "Pagliacci" but I believe that is an element of the story there too.

Goofs -Near the start of act 3, Homer's muzzle suffers some coloring glitches when he tells Lisa she has a hangover. -Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't it be impossible for Homer's note to Burns to be caught on camera?

Other notes Martin tells Burns that his new car should be an Oldsmobile. This is splitting hairs, but didn't Oldsmobile stop manufacturing cars recently (i.e. there wouldn't be any *new* ones)? Again, I'm probably missing something: is there a particular reason Homer talks about his "impersion" of the Phantom of the Opera?

Meta-reference corner -Another production code sighting: Bob's inmate number is this episode's code (HABF02). -The book of criminals lists Peter Griffin (Family Guy) as a plagiarism, and Stan Smith (American Dad) as an even further ripoff. Maybe it's more of a comment on the superficial similarity of AD to FG (it's not like Seth MacFarlane knew FG would be coming back when he developed AD) than the accusation that Family Guy is a Simpsons clone... but whether it's all in fun at this point or not, there's still a fair amount of cross-referencing going on; most recently, Family Guy's "PTV" (11/6/05) featured a reference to the Simpsons driveway scene in its opening. -Bob mentions that he should deserve a seventh chance. Maybe this number is just used as it sounds like "second," but I suppose one could argue that only six of his previous episodes featured criminal acts by him (excluding 4F14 and EABF01 - to a point).

Matt Garvey wrote:

No, the "pagliaccio" is a circus clown who learns his wife is fooling around with someone, a short summary (Canio = Pagliaccio and Nedda = Canio's wife):

No sooner has Tonio gone off than Silvio appears. He is a young villager with whom Nedda has been having an affair. He wants her to leave her husband and run away with him. Nedda at first refuses, but finally she gives in to Silvio's impassioned pleading. Tonio, on his way to the tavern, catches sight of the lovers and, seeing the opportunity for revenge, runs off to fetch Canio. The enraged husband arrives just in time to hear his wife promise to meet Silvio later that night. At Canio's approach, Silvio escapes unrecognized into the woods. Canio demands that Nedda reveal the identity of her lover. She refuses. Canio, beside himself with rage, is about to kill her when Beppe, another member of the troupe, stops him. He reminds Canio that the villagers are assembling for the performance and tells Nedda to get dressed for the play. There follows Canio's famous cry of despair: He must go to the stage as Pagliaccio --- the clown --- and make people laugh, even though his heart is breaking.

The aria VESTI LA GIUBBA:

LYRICS Canio

Recitar!... mentre preso dal delirio non so pi� quel che dico e quel che faccio! Eppur... � d'uopo... sforzati! Bah! Sei tu forse un uom? Tu se' Pagliaccio! Vesti la giubba, e la faccia infarina. La gente paga e rider vuole qua. E se Arlecchin t'invola Colombina, ridi, Pagliacco, e ognun applaudir�! Tramuta in lazzi lo spasmo ed il pianto, in una smorfia il singhiozzo e'l dolor - Ah! Ridi, Pagliaccio, sul tuo amore infranto. Ridi del duol che t'av-velena il cor.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION Perform! In the throes of delirium? I no longer know what I'm saying or what I'm doing! Still... I must... force myself! Bah! Are you a man or not? You're just a clown! Put on your costume, and cover your face with flour. People are paying, they want to laugh. And when Arlecchino takes away your Colombina, laugh, you clown, and everyone will applaud! Turn into jest the spasms and weeping; into a grimace the tears of pain - Ah! Laugh, clown, at your broken love. Laugh at the pain that poisons your heart.

In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Notes for HABF02 (The Italian Bob)" thread, Matt Garvey wrote:

Now that you mention it, this could also count as a previous episode reference to "See Homer Run (GABF22)." He performs a similar trick of balls coming out of his posterior at a political rally.

That's right. Production petered out in model year 2003 or 2004.

I just figured this was the only "opera" that Homer would be familiar with.

Benjamin Robinson wrote:

That's a good point... but my question is why he pronounced it that way. Sort of a combination of "impression" and "impersonation," or maybe effecting a character's accent?

Did anyone else flash on "The Incredible Hulk Melon-Baller" that CBG gave to presumptive newlyweds Skinner and Krabapple?

And he vamped the character, complete with cape and half-mask, in "Flaming Moe."