(long) A review of "Homerazzi (JABF06)"

[The long of it]

Watching "Homerazzi" put me mind of "When You Dish Upon a Star 5F19)." That tenth-season episode touched upon the tension between celebrities trying to keep their private lives from public view, and their fans eager to see every detail, even the sordid ones. (Okay, *especially* the sordid ones.) As I recall, "Dish" wasn't that warmly received; people complained that it seemed to exist mainly as an excuse to have some A-list Hollywood guest voices on the show. If you think about it, it's kind of odd to criticize a show about celebrity relations for focusing too much on celebrities, but there you have it.

Anyway, "Homerazzi" largely sidesteps the guest-voice problem. Aside from a funny cameo by Betty White, most of the celebs with speaking parts in this episode are native to Springfield: Ranier Wolfcastle, Krusty the Clown, and Gabbo being the most prominently featured. Exploiting the show's "home-grown" celebrities allows us to focus on the story itself.

For this episode, that story is fairly straightforward once you get past the convoluted setup in the first act. One of the Simpsons' family photographs happens to have a scandalous celebrity act in the background. Homer sells it to a tabloid, and the prospect of becoming "moderately wealthy" (in a nice fantasy scene, by the way) inspires him to snap more pictures of famous people behaving badly. And that's pretty much it. Most of the rest of the show is Homer annoying the glitterati for fun and profit. There are a few twists toward the end. The embattled celebrities hire their own paparazzo to capture Homer's most embarrassing moments for posterity. The bit with Homer suspending Maggie from the rear-view mirror was pretty cute. Toward the end of the third act, Homer makes some interesting assertions to the effect that actors could be a little friendlier to their fans. It's too bad the writers didn't explore this theme further, since it's certainly less predictable than the usual "the press should leave celebrities alone" message that most stories about the subject have.

Instead, there's a string of pleasant, but not particularly memorable, jokes. The title, "Homerazzi," is emblematic of the show: It's practical, it explains quickly what the show's about, but it's not in itself particularly funny. It gives the impression that the writers just ran with the first thought that popped into their head and called it a day. By comparison, the couch gag shows more wit in tracing Homer's evolution from a single-celled organism to the Homer we know and love today. I liked the way "Homerazzi" tackled its subject matter more substantially than "When You Dish Upon a Star (5F19)," but I wish it had been a little more original in doing so.

[The short of it]

The title, "Homerazzi," is emblematic of the show: It's practical, but gives the impression that the writers didn't try very hard to come up with something more original. The show itself focuses well on its subject, but doesn't produce much that you'd call insightful. The jokes that *are* there are decent, though. The best part of the show is probably the elaborate couch gag showing the evolution of Homer, so don't tune in late for this episode. (B-)

[DYNs]

... Lenny dressed as "Voyager's" Seven of Nine?

[References]

"Scent of a Woman" (movie)
-	name "Scent of a Wookie" cologne inspired by this film (or
	perhaps the other way around, since the cologne was apparently
	out first)

"Spider-Man" (comic book series) - "Inquisitor" editor similar to J. Jonah Jameson

Paris Hilton (celebrity partygoer) - Paris Texan obviously a parody of her, in name, appearance, and attitude

Paris, Texas (city) - Paris Texan's name a less-obvious parody of this city

"Superman" (radio series) - Homer adapts Superman's "up, up, and away!" catchphrase from the Man of Steel's radio incarnation

Britney Spears (singer) - caught trouble when she was photographed driving without having her child properly belted in his car seat

[Previous Episode References]

[5F19]   Homer exposes celebrity secrets
[HABF19] J. Jonah Jameson-like editor appears
[9F19], [BABF13] Gabbo puts in a substantial appearance
[BABF20] Pillowmint Hotel shown (although it's "Hotel Pillowmint" in
           the earlier episode)
[7G10]   Bart develops photos in a darkroom
[7G10]   Also, isn't that Shawna Tifton in the nightclub?
[BABF14] Barney pilots a helicopter
[7F06]   Lance Murdoch appears
[8F19], [9F10], [3F10] Lurleen Lumpkin seen
[EABF08] Sara Sloane appears

Celebrity Parade:
[3F03]   Paul McCartney
[BABF07] Gary Coleman
[FABF01] Mr. T
[GABF02] Yao Ming
[AABF11] Elton John
[8F13]   Jose Canseco
[BABF11] Betty White

[FFF]

Non-novelty birthday candles:

    E-Z BLO
     BRAND

EASY BLOW CANDLES

     NOW     [ladybug]
    EASIER   [blowing]
      TO     [  out  ]
    BLOW!    [candle ]

Homer's cologne:

    SCENT
     OF A
    WOOKIE

        FROM THE
       STAR WARS
       COLLECTION

Settings on Bart's Krusty doll:

    OFF
    MOTHER-IN-LAW
    STOLEN JOKES
    CURRENT EVENTS

"Voyager" finale party banner:

BON VOYAGE, VOYAGER

Homer's pennant:

SPACE

Bart and Lisa's reading material:

       MAN            SUPERMAN
       AND              AND
     SUPERMAN         AQUAMAN

        by               by
    G. B. Shaw      D. C. Comics

Photo album title:

    Restaged
    Precious
    Memories

Tabloid headline:

    THE SPRINGFIELD
    INQUISITOR

       FRIENDS PRAY FOR
                LUIGI'S
                  DEATH

Tabloid ad, and home repair estimate:

         WE PAY            REPAIR
         $ $ $            ESTIMATE:
          FOR
    CELEBRITY PHOTOS        $ $ $

Upscale grocery store:

    Fancy
    Farms

Upscale cereal box:

    Health - A -
      Bitz

          100%
         NATURAL

Fancy hotel:

    Pillowmint
         HOTEL

Second tabloid headline:

    MR. TEENY'S
    COCAINE
    ORGY

Gathered at the celebrity strategy meeting:

              Ranier Wolfcastle
    Duff Man              Lance Murdock
    Dreaderick Tatum      Krusty
    Kent Brockman         Rich Texan
    Lurleen Lumpkin       Arthur Crandall and Gabbo
    Mayor Quimby          Sideshow Mel
    Sara Sloane           Bumblebee Man

Celebrity nightclub:

the SNUB CLUB

Engraving on urn:

    SECRETARIAT'S
        ASHES

Slogan on Wolfcastle's apron:

    HEIL TO
    THE CHEF

Marge's screenplay:

     "MRS. MOM"
         by
    MARGE SIMPSON

Movie marquee:

        MRS. MOM
       WRITTEN BY
    RANIER WOLFCASTLE

[Personal Comments & Observations]

"Freeze Frame," by the J. Geils Band, plays as Marge re-stages the family photos.

When OFF duplicates their New Year's Day 1987 picture, they are drawn as they appeared in 1987.

At the party celebrating Homer and the celebrities' d�tente, Marge shows Ranier her screen play only to have him apparently steal the idea. This type of situation is a concern in real-life Hollywood. While there aren't many cases of sticky-fingered screenwriters swiping someone's idea, it is conceivable that someone may submit an idea that a writer coincidentally happened to be working with. Even though no theft was involved, it might *look* that way, and it would be hard to disprove in a lawsuit. That's why Hollywood writers (and people like Ranier Wolfcastle) are trained to turn prospective writers down flat.

In other words, you can pretty much forget about submitting your brilliant "Simpsons"-"South Park" crossover ideas to the writing staff.

Betty White was very funny on the Comedy Central roast of William Shatner. She told some very dirty jokes.

So, what is the path that one takes, if one really does have brilliant ideas, and the talent to actually turn them into workable scripts, to actually have their work looked at? Obviously, there is *some* way to do it, or there would be no TV writers right now!