Capsule submissions for "Hunka Hunka Burns in Love"

Did You Notice...

the "El Barto" graffito at the Springfield Police Station?

the "Nuke Canada" video game at the bowling alley?

Lisa can read Chinese ideoglyphs, but she can't tell different types of beards apart?

Chinatown is apparently in an entirely different part of Springfield from Ethnictown? [Then again, Ethnictown *did* appear in the non-canonical THOH XII.]

Flanders didn't seem disturbed by Homer and Marge's apparently loud sex?

Continuity error?

The beginning of the show is apparently set at Chinese New Year, which begins in late January or early February. However, Burns gets his fortune cookie on Flag Day, which is June 14. (Or was Homer working as a fortune writer for four-plus months? God knows he never works at the nuclear plant any more.)

Review:

Surprisingly good, considering it's a CABF episode and presumably a hold- over from Season 12. Homer didn't seem like too much of a Jerk*ss -- after all, everybody complained about the odd fortunes in their fortune cookies, and this is the sort of thing I could see people commenting upon. The satire on the 24-hour news networks (Kent Brockman arriving at "Minute 2" of the hostage situation, and the "Insta-Poll" which is all that seems to pass for "news" these days") was understated but on target, and Homer and Marge's implied sex scene had me laughing out loud! I'd give this episode a B+; one of the better episodes in quite a long time, with the exception of "Trilogy of Error".

She was having *trouble* reading them.

Don't you mean Thailandtown?

[Then again, Ethnictown *did* appear in the non-canonical THOH

He did, but was too in shock.

from

Don't you mean *Block*-o-land?

Ted S. wrote:

Maybe he's gotten more liberal since Maude's death? What had me laughing out loud was Snake's checklist for robbing the bowling alley.

And when Lou got shot....."Kent, we have an officer sneaking around the back of the house...unless they have a tv or can hear my loud voice.......ow ow ow"...That, and the "I wonder if the kids heard us" after Homer tooks burns medicine....John

Greg Bair wrote:

On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, Chief John McGriff wrote:

Also good laughs: the pie sequence, which seemed like a subtle poke at all the "so-and-so materialized out of thin air" threads, and the couch gag, which was the best I've seen in a while. By the way, the whole "cop and criminal in love" bit can be explained by Stockholm Syndrome, a phenomenon in which a hostage falls in love with the captor. Snake probably has done this before...or maybe the writers just forgot she was a cop.

"david nathaniel werner" wrote in message news:[email]...

Hmm..Was she a cop, or just a meter maid? It's only in big cities that the Police Dept and Parking Enforcement are different entities. If she was a cop, isn't Wiggum her boss?

Elson wrote in message news:JCDO7.6499$m%[email]...

"cop

And in that case, you'd think he'd be more interested in saving her from a burning building. Then again, he is a lazy pig.

Wiggum: Haha look at it's nose!

Meter monitors don't work at 11:59 PM where I live.

Elson wrote:

On Mon, 3 Dec 2001, Greg Bair stated this considered view. Waking from my doze, I hastily scrawled -

Is he still dating that Christian Rock singer, I wonder?

CABF18 contained an obscure criticism of the legitimacy of the Bush administration. As it has become increasingly dangerous to criticize Bush, it is understandable that the writers would choose a cryptic yet unmistakable reference to election fraud.

Let's examine the reference. The love story that ultimately matters in this episode is that of Gloria and Snake (and yes, the characters themselves were the inspiration for this love story). Now, with a bit of West Texas drawl, "Gloria-Snake" becomes "Glorious Neck", or the description of Shrikantha, one of the many names of Shiva. Shiva, in fact, has 108 names. The 108th Simpsons episode aired was Sideshow Bob Roberts (2F02) in which Bart and Lisa expose the election fraud that carried Sideshow Bob into office.

Foreshadowing of this reference was achieved when Apu said, "Shiva H. Vishnu!" in Bart the Fink (3F12). "H", of course, is the middle initial that separates George Herbert Walker Bush from George Walker Bush. The former was legitimately elected, while the latter, the writers would insist, was not. That's an "H" of legitimacy. In that episode, Bart reveals more dirty dealings (financial, this time), such that Krusty decides to fake his own death. Of course, just as George W. Bush was mysteriously AWOL from his Air National Guard airplane, Krusty is not in his airplane when it explodes. The Apu quote was in fitting response to seeing Krusty in his airplane.

If my username is too risque for the episode capsule, you may attribute this work to Crabby Mae Suggins.

--Punkass Crab

Homer: This is going to be sweet. Two hundred bottle rockets and George Bush doing toe touches by an open window!

Bart: You get one up his butt, it's a million points.

(What was that about a camel?)

Punkass Crab wrote:

How hard did you have to work to find that connection? The more reasonable explanations for these lines:

Gloria-Snake = Glorious Neck--If the writers, who can't seem to figure out what the characters are actually doing, were actually trying to do wordplay like this, I'd be very, very surprised.

Shiva H. Vishnu--More a reference to the common profanity "Jesus H. Christ!" that many Christians use than any political reference.

The numerology--way too far-fetched.

There's a difference between subtle political criticism and no political criticism--there was none here, and that you had to strain that hard to find it says something.

Brian

"Brian Beck" wrote in message news:[email]...

<snip>

It fell into my lap as I reclined in the bathtub. Am I to be an Archimedes or a Marat?

If you're suggesting it's more likely that this is a reference to vampirism or reverse-vampirism, you've got a lot of explaining to do.

That "H" also stands for Herbert.

I once watched my 101 Dalmations video every day for a week. 101+7=108.

Humor is dead?

--Punkass Crab

Punkass Crab wrote:

<snip>

</snip>

Shouldn't that be 101*7=707? And wasn't Air Force One a 707 at some point? OOoohh, another capsule submission for ya...maybe...?

Ok, maybe not.

Andy(atuc.com), loved the thought, but the original idea is WAY off base...

"Andrew Hall" wrote in message news:[email]...

While it is certainly difficult to tell them apart, they were the same 101 dogs on seven separate days. ;-) j/k

Thanks. I guess when some people (not you) scan a document prior to executing their indignation program, if there are no emoticons or j/k flags, the program is allowed to run for a number of cycles determined by:

# of indignacycles = (p/c)^s

where p= # of perceived slights, c=correct state of the universe(TM), and s=self-satisfied smirk ;-) j/k

--Punkass Crab ;-) j/k

While we're on the topic of hidden meanings, if you play Maybe I'm Amazed backwards, there's a recipe for a really rippin' lentil soup.

Drunk and full of pie, Punkass Crab wrote:

Apparently, "the writers" don't pay attention to the news. Last month, a FINAL Florida recount was done--apparently by the AP News service. Bush still won the election.

A funny post, unless you were being serious.

"The Rack" wrote in message news:[email]...

Actually, if you read the fine print in those NORC stories, Gore would have squeaked out a win in Florida if all legal ballots had been correctly counted.

Thanks and I wasn't.

--Punkass Crab

Drunk and full of pie, Punkass Crab wrote:

The legality of the ballots could be argued for years. "Legality" is a very subjective thing in this case. Associated Press, a neutral entity, did the counting. It changes nothing, and would have changed nothing had the outcome been different.

These comments are out of context with the ballot counting stuff; of course, we're referring to your discovery of subtle commentary using the phrase Shiva "H" Vishnu. Seemed funny and contrived... that's all.

I thought a very funny part was when Mr. Burns was "courting" the woman and they played that song as Homer tagged along. Does anyone know the title and artist of that song?

"Baker Street." :)

DJ MaNiAk

Put on ya leather pants/and do the isolation dance/like some stupid-ass Goth kid that didn't stand a chance against me

The Four Horsemen: Kicking the shit out of people with baseball bats and tire irons in parking lots since 1985.

it wasnt set at chinese new year at the beginning go back and watch it they see that big dragon creature that looks like something that would be in a parade and marge says "ohh it must be chinese new years" and then we find out that it really is a big dragon meaning that it is not part of a parade meaning that marge's assumption was wrong

On 3 Dec 2001, Bucky Jones wrote:

Besides, Lisa probably knows what day Chinese New Years was, and would have said something like "It's the year of the dragon" after hearing Marge's remark, had it actually been the Chinese New Years. And yes, I know that the year of the dragon was last year, not this year. Then there's the question of where the big dragon came from to begin with...I'll say a wizard did it.

"Ted S." wrote:

Devils Advocate was there too, 3rd time this season. Sincerely, Little Girl