Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass Capsule Submission

After a Super Bowl that�s filled with complaints from me (i.e. the WWII tribute happening during the kick-off show instead of the pre-game show; Fox demonstrating its conservative side with the lack of commercials during the 4th quarter), we come to the other part of the night that I�m waiting for: the Super Bowl episode of the Simpsons. No review here, but still it was a fun episode.

S P O I L E R

S P A C E

DYN�s

Marge has her left hand on her face during the couch gag? Comic Book Guy�s name is finally revealed (it�s Jeff Albertson)?

Refs.

Lightsaber Kid -Homer�s dance on the Internet (see Comments)

Donkey Kong -Mario throwing trashcans at Mario

The Passion of the Christ -The Passion of Cain and Abel -The bloodiness of the film and Tales of the Old Testament spoof the bloodiness of the Passion (see comments)

Columbia Pictures -Logo for Mr. Burn�s film company

Sportscenter -Jock Center

Star Trek II -�The wrath of Kwan�

Super Bowl XXXVIII -Homer�s halftime show results in complaints in deceny (a la complaints of indeceny over Janet Jackson�s boob)

Goofs.

Ms. Pac-Man wasn�t around when Super Bowl XVI took place.

Comments:

Music cue: Gonna Make You Sweat by C&C Music Factory (celebration music)

Homer�s dance reaching popularity on the Internet is based on the Lightsaber Kid. The story goes is that one day, the Lightsaber Kid recorded a video himself pretending that he swinging a lightsaber crazily. A few of his classmates got a hold of this tape without him noticing and decided put the video on the Internet, which quickly became a hit online (with someone even adding lightsaber animation to the stick the Lightsaber Kid was welding). While the boy did become popular (with him even making a cameo in Tony Hawk Underground 2), the incident was an embarrassing experience, and his parents filed a lawsuit to those who put the video online.

Ned�s Bible films are inspired by the Passion of the Christ. Directed by Mel Gibson, the film depicts the final hours of Jesus Christ, one of the centers of the Christian religion. While the film was a huge hit in the box office, it wasn�t without any controversy. One of the things on top of the list of controversy (besides the question of how Jews are depicted in the film) is the fact that the film depicts Jesus�s death in a very bloody in very gory manor (which garnered the film with an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup).

Ned comparing himself to Micahel Moore refers to the trouble he had in releasing Farenheit 9/11, a documentary depicting the incompidence of United States President George W. Bush. The film was financed by Disney, with the film originally planning to be released under the Miramax label. However, when the company found out about the film�s topic, Disney, which had some ties with the Republican party (including Jeb Bush, who, as governor of Florida, affected some of Disney World�s financing), refused to release it. However, after the film was the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Farenheit 9/11 finally was able to find a distibutor with Lion�s Gate Films.

Joe Klemm

Oy! Listen to Joe Klemm's latest shpiel!

I enjoyed the WWII tribute. I figure it's about time a pommy show us some gratitude. Then, in 2072 (sixty years after they bail out *our* asses in WWIII), we can send over one of our decrepit old actors (I'm thinking either Pauly Shore or Dick Clark) to do a tribute at a World Cup match.

Wrong. Ms. Pac Man was released (to arcades) in 1981. Super Bowl XVI was played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan on 24 January *1982*, making it quite timely. (Forget about the "unforgettable spring of 1983" in 9F08 when "Ms. Pac Man struck a blow for women's rights.")

Actually, it refers to the fact that G-d indeed hates that annoying fatass. And like all of Moore's pop trash, it's a *mockumentary*, not a real documentary like _This_Is_Spinal_Tap_.

First off, it was more a commentary on The Passion Of Christ by Mel Gibson, not F 9/11, the 99.9% factual documentation of events leading up to the quagmire in Iraq.

2nd., off, notice it was the CHRISTIAN, Flanders that recorded the video that made it around the world????

Stan

I'm well aware that Ned's plotline is inspired by the Passion of the Christ (and I did mention it in my commentary). With the Michael Moore commentary, I included it there because there's a scene in which Ned compared himself to the F 9/11 director in how he's unable to find someone to distribute his Bible films.

Joe Klemm

I guess I missed that stuff, sorry.

Stan, www.thesequencers.us "Make your own cross Make it to the otherside of hell." - Flash and the Pan +- +- +- +- "Joe Klemm" wrote in message news:[email]...

Okay, I give you credit on that that I probably goofed up here (with me checking KLOV, a web site about Coin-op arcade machines to check the date of Ms. Pac Man's release). When I was watching the episode, I thought that the game didn't come out until 1982 (and then after the Super Bowl).

As for the Michael Moore commentary, while it's obvious that he stretches the truth somewhat in his films, I still feel that Ned comparing himself to Moore is more of a reference to his problems getting F 9/11 released instead of him being despised by "the man upstairs".

Joe Klemm

On Sun, 06 Feb 2005 23:36:21 -0500, Joe Klemm wrote:

<snip> Shows that MG was right, he's running out of ideas for Homer. Hopefully the show will go out with a bang rather than fading away. Too bad Futurama was cancelled. That was the replacement for The Simpson's that Fox was looking for.

Now THAT'S comedy! Neutrodyne

Joe Klemm wrote:

in

Disney,

Grand

Moore had even more problems getting Fahrenheit 9/11 on television. He originally planned to air it as part of a three hour election special on November 1st (the day before the 2004 election), but iN DEMAND, the cable pay-per-view company that was supposed to air it, backed out at the last second, due to "legitimate business and legal concerns". Moore, desperate, offered to let any network that wanted to air it, do so free of charge. However, no network stepped up to offer the controversial film a media medium, so it didn't air on TV before the election.

"Joe Klemm" wrote in message news:[email]...

I thought it was Homer throwing trashcans at Mario??

Somehow, the fact that you knew this was funnier than all the gags in that ep...

Joe Klemm wrote:

<snip>

Michael?