[The long of it]
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply doesn't work."
Springfield's own Kent Brockman said that in "Bart's Comet (2F11)," after Congress struck down legislation that would have saved the town from an oncoming comet. If Mr. Brockman found that disillusioning, he'd probably join the Communist Party after watching this episode. "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" is a funny, pointed indictment not of one person or political view, but of the system as a whole.
The episode takes some time getting there. Quite honestly, "Mr. Spritz" gets off to a slow start. The local aviation authorities re- route the approach to the airport over the Simpsons' home, and soon jetliners are flying seeming inches over their roof. We get a lot of jokes about how intrusive jet engines are; plaster cracks, the toilet bounces across the living room floor, and nobody in the family can get a good night's sleep. I sympathize, but the jokes were broad and silly to me. (It might not help matters that I lived near an Air Force base for nearly ten years, and didn't find the plane noise all that bad.)
The airport won't listen to them, and their Congressman dies in office [*], so the Simpsons encourage someone to run and take up their cause on Capital Hill. That person is ... Krusty, because celebrities make the best politicians. Yeah, just like we should send Jerry Seinfeld to Congress, now that he's available. Come to think of it, the Simpsons should know by now that, offscreen, Krusty has an abrasive, aloof personality that would turn off potential voters. Sure enough, his campaign predictably falters.
[*] Probably shocked to see someone in his office who isn't a professional lobbyist.
About halfway through the show, Lisa gives Krusty some useful advice -- try to connect with the voters as regular people. At almost exactly this moment, the episode connected with me. Krusty gains enough momentum to appear on Fox News in a debate against his opponent. The writers skewer Fox News's reputation as a mouthpiece for the conservative movement in the comic highlight of the episode. The news crawls at the bottom of the screen are hilarious, and definitely worth a look. (They appear during the closing credits, as well.) Lately, it seems like every episode, no matter how lackluster, has one killer sequence like this. You get the idea that they think of the good scene first, and then build a show around it.
Anyway, the show becomes its most inventive when Krusty is elected. Instead of forgetting "the little people" like we expect, Krusty tries to pass a bill that would re-route the planes away from the Simpsons' home, only to be stymied by his relative lack of clout in the government. This is so surprising, it almost rates as a spoiler. "Mr. Spritz" morphs at this point into a satire of the workings of government itself, where new Congressmen are trapped in feckless, irrelevant committees, and the only way to get things done is through skullduggery. Good stuff, if you ask me (uh, I mean the show, not he skullduggery).
A wise man once said that you shouldn't see how laws and sausages are made. I can't speak for the legislative process, but I can say "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" is watchable -- provided you are patient enough to wait for it to get going.
[The short of it]
You can think of this show as the Comeback Kid. The beginning isn't notable, with broad jokes about what happens when jets fly over the Simpsons' house on their way to the airport, and Krusty's faltering attempt to run for Congress. The show takes off when Krusty learns to connect with his audience, and we get good satire not just of a political point of view, but of American politics in general. Having Krusty make an honest effort at bucking this system was an imaginative move. Don't miss the news crawls during the "Fox News" part of the program -- they're a hoot. (B)
[DYNs]
... there's a Channel 6 news chopper in the air traffic stacked up over the house? ... Cletus's boy picks his nose at the debate? ... the picture of Krusty and Sideshow Bob on the mantel in his commercial?
[References]
"Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (movie) - title a spoof
Curly Joe (actor) - one of the replacements for the original Curly; "Curly IV" may be a replacement for *him* (see "Personal Comments & Observations" for more)
"Mafia Staff Car" novelty bumper stickers - not to be outdone, Fat Tony has a "Mafia Staff Plane" banner
"Citizen Kane" (movie) - Quimby's girlfriend has an unflattering voice, like Susan Alexander from the movie - Quimby tries to launch an opera career for her, as Kane did for Alexander
"When a Man Loves a Woman" (song) - words to Krusty's campaign commercial sung to this tune
Bill Clinton campaign slogan - he was billed as "The Man from Hope"; Krusty is "The Man from Funny"
the Apollo space program the flag-raising at Iwo Jima man resisting tank at Tienamen Square assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald - images doctored for Krusty's campaign
Best Western (hotel chain) - OFF and Krusty monitor election returns from Second-Best Western
the Lincoln Memorial - the Drinkin' Memorial bar's logo has Honest Abe sitting drunkenly in the Memorial's famous chair
~Dan Rostenkowski/Congressional Post Office scandal - Modesto's Congressman guilty of some mail-related offense (see "Personal Comments & Observations")
Foghorn Leghorn (cartoon character) - Homer says, "My groin! I says, my groin!"; Leghorn had the same verbal quirk
[Previous Episode References]
[8F16] The family still has the swear jar [2F02] Springfield's Republican party headquarters seen [2F02] Less-favored opponent in a debate treated to unflattering electronic "enhancement" [DABF20] The Second-Best Western in Capitol City seen [2F11] Rider attached to popular bill
[FFF]
Title card for Three Stooges movie:
in
BRITTLE
BONEHEADS
Directed by
JULES WHITE IIBanner flying from Fat Tony's plane:
MAFIA STAFF JET -- KEEP-A YOU HANDS OFF
Complaint Department sign:
COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT:
SARCASTIC GRIEF COUNSELORS ON DUTYCongressman's door:
REPRESENTATIVE
HORACE WILCOX YOUR MAN
OF TOMORROW
SINCE 1933Photograph on the evening news:
HORACE WILCOX
[head shot]
TITANIC SURVIVOR
Bart's hat:
KRUSTY'S
THE KURESpringfield's GOP HQ:
SPRINGFIELD
REPUBLICAN
PARTY
HEADQUARTERSKrusty campaign sign:
KRUSTY
for
KONGRESSAt the town hall:
SPRINGFIELD TOWN HALL
---------------------
BIG DEBATE TONIGHT
KIDS BORED
FOR FREENews crawls during the "debate" on Fox News:
POINTLESS NEWS CRAWLS UP 37 PERCENT ... DO DEMOCRATS CAUSE CANCER? FIND OUT AT FOXNEWS.COM ... RUPERT MURDOCH: TERRIFIC DANCER ... DOW DOWN 5000 POINTS ... STUDY: 92 PERCENT OF DEMOCRATS ARE GAY ... JFK POSTHUMOUSLY JOINS REPUBLICAN PARTY ... OIL SLICKS FOUND TO KEEP SEALS YOUNG, SUPPLE ... DAN QUALYE: AWESOME
Disclaimer in Krusty's ad:
Photographs have been modified to include Krusty
Hotel sign:
SECOND-BEST
WESTERN MOTELBar sign:
THE DRINKIN'
MEMORIALHomer's sacred document:
HELP
YOGINews crawls during the closing credits:
ASHCROFT DECLARES BREAST OF CHICKEN SANDWICH "OBSCENE" ... HILLARY CLINTON EMBARRASSES SELF, NATION ... BIBLE SAYS JESUS FAVORED CAPITAL-GAINS CUT ... STAY TUNED FOR HANNITY AND IDIOT ... ONLY DORKS WATCH CNN ... JIMMY CARTER: OLD, WRINKLY, USELESS ... BRAD PITT + ALBERT EINSTEIN = DICK CHENEY ... RIGHT WING OF CHICKEN // [cut off at this point]
[Personal Comments & Observations]
If you've watched a series on Fox, you've undoubtedly seen them. (It's not like you can miss them!) They're the animations superimposed on the bottom of the screen, promoting such upcoming Fox fare as "Married by America" or "Joe Millionaire." People who thought the little "Fox" bug in the corner was annoying must have gone ballistic when they saw this. The technical name for these is "bottom thirds" because they take up the bottom *third* of the screen.
Even the producers who supply shows to Fox are upset by this new advance in self-promotion. Supposedly, Linwood Boomer ("Malcolm in the Middle") was able to wrangle a promise from the network to keep his show free of these animations. The producers of "The Simpsons" apparently don't have as much clout. Anyway, Homer turns a problem into opportunity by eating the promo letters. Pity we can't do the same.
Even people who have never seen them can name the Three Stooges: Moe, Larry, and Curly. But, in reality, there were *six* Stooges. Moe and Larry were constant members, but that third Stooge position changed hands almost as much as Spinal Tap's drummer seat. One of the replacements was Joe DeRita, who resembled the original Curly Howard. He even was billed as "Curly Joe" in the credits, although he tried to bring his own comic sensibilities to the role, rather than just imitate what Classic Curly was did. DeRita remained with the act until it broke up, so there really wouldn't have been an opportunity for a "Curly IV" to take over the role.
[The above information taken from "The Story of the Three Stooges."]
One popular conservative pastime is naming things in honor of Ronald Reagan, who is the most successful Republican President since Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower. Some of the urgency may be driven by the fact that many prominent public works are already named for pre-Republican political figures (the Washington monument, for instance) or even -- egad! -- Democrats (like Kennedy Space Center). Alas, the push to name things for Reagan coincided with a lack of appropriate things to name. An effort to put Reagan on Mt. Rushmore fizzled in the face of Democratic opposition, and a rule that someone has to be dead for several years before getting a national monument. The Reaganites did get a massive federal building named for him; ironic, since Reagan fought against large government and the sort of boondoggles that the building came to represent. On top of that, the Reagan building houses some of the bureaucracies that Reagan crossed swords with while in office. Things are looking up for Reagan fans, though. A nuclear aircraft carrier, CVN-76, was christened in his honor -- a fitting tribute for a President who believed in a strong and technically advanced military.
Krusty, as a freshman Representative, doesn't get named to a prestigious committee. Instead, he gets a truly thankless task: Coming up with the design for the next dollar coin. Every so often, the Treasury tries to introduce these coins as a way of saving money. (Coins last longer than bills, and hence save on replacement costs.) Unfortunately, we Americans are very conservative in money matters, and we're used to dollar bills. So Krusty's committee is working on a task that it knows in advance is doomed.
Representative Hayes's scandal (he was the man Bart was blackmailing) reminded me of the trouble Rep. Dan Rostenkowski landed in. In addition to his Congressional duties, Rostenkowski administered the Congressional Post Office. He was accused of illicitly profiting from his position, and resigned from office.
Rep. Hayes didn't do anything quite that illegal, but did run afoul of the law. Members of the House and Senate have something called "franking privilege." Instead of paying postage to send outgoing mail, they merely have to sign the envelope (or have envelopes printed with their signature). This is so your Representative can mail flyers to the folks back home explaining what he or she is doing in Washington. (Note that this communication works only one way. Congress doesn't really want to make it easier to hear from *you*.) Congressmen are only supposed to use this privilege for official business, which is why the flyers read, "Penalty for Private Use, $300." Of course, the political fallout from being caught can be worse than the fine. Hayes, after all, was worried about how his seemingly minor offense would play back in Modesto (California, presumably the district he represents).
One way of sneaking through legislation is to do what Lisa did -- attach it as a rider to another bill likely to pass. Ideally, the main legislation should be politically impossible to vote against (like flags for orphans), or something so complex that a new clause can be tucked in unobserved. Occasionally, it gets caught and the amended bill is voted down or vetoed, but it works often enough to merit a try.
* CCR -- The abbreviation for Credence Clearwater Revival, the "swamp rock" band popular in the late 60s and early 70s. Homer tries to revive Rep. Wilcox by singing some lines from one of their hit songs, "Bad Moon Rising."
* Jesse "The Body" Ventura -- Former Navy SEAL (I think) and professional wrestler who, against nearly all expectations, won the race for governor of Minnesota.
* Sonny Bono -- One half of the Sonny and Cher singing duo, Sonny bounced back from has-been to Congressional Representative. Sadly, he died in a skiing accident. I think his wife was appointed to serve out his remaining term, which probably accounts for Lisa's mention of the name "Mary Bono." More recently, Sonny Bono's name was attached to a controversial copyright-extension bill, which survived a Supreme Court challenge.
* Gopher -- Well, that's not his name. (It was Bernie Koppel, if I'm not mistaken) but he did serve for a while in Congress, representing Iowa.
* Rupert Murdoch -- Head of News corporation, which owns both Fox and (naturally) Fox news.
* Dan Quayle -- Vice President to the first President Bush, and punching bag for the Democrats and their allies.
* Martin van Buren -- The eighth President of the United States. In what would become a recurring political story, the economy takes a dive during his term, he catches the blame, and becomes a one-term President.
* Walter Mondale -- Vice President to Jimmy Carter, Mondale became the Democratic candidate in the 1984 election. Bad news: He was running against Ronald Reagan, enormously popular despite the handicap of having nothing named for him. Mondale had his head handed to him, winning only one state (his home state of Minnesota) in the electoral vote.
* John Ashcroft -- Controversial head of the Department of Justice. Ashcroft's critics consider him a prude, and there's evidence to prove it -- he once covered a topless statue of Justice on decency grounds.
* Hillary Clinton -- Wife to President Clinton, who drew nearly as much conservative bile as her husband. She won a Senatorial seat from New York state, so she'd still be a popular target for Republican ire.
* Jimmy Carter -- "History's greatest monster." Also the guy Reagan defeated in his 1980 Presidential run.
* Brad Pitt -- Actor, best known for being "People" magazine's "sexiest man alive."
- Albert Einstein -- Oh, come on, you really don't know who this is?
- Dick Cheney -- Current Vice President of the United States.
The ads for this episode showed a trio of uniformed guards subduing Homer and dragging him away. As he is dragged off, Homer rants about how there is no North Dakota, "but they won't admit it!" Presumably, this was intended to a part of Homer's "distraction" on the House floor, but it didn't make the cut for the actual episode.
Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing the ads' other major scene, where Krusty tries to perform the political ritual of baby- kissing. He tells parents to "wipe the crap" off their infants' faces, and pass them up to the podium. The parents are naturally horrified. The producers must not have been thrilled, either, for the scene was cut.
You don't need the DVDs to watch deleted scenes -- just pay attention to the commercials on Fox!