A review of "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair) (HABF22)"
[The long of it]
Quick plot summary: Marge feeling a bit lonely and hemmed in by her house-mom duties, seeks a creative outlet. She finds one, and her efforts earn the town's attention. Meanwhile, Homer loses his job at the plant -- again -- but finds a productive, if quirky, new job. Things go smoothly until Homer manages to screw things up for Marge.
Funny thing is, I wasn't describing tonight's episode, but rather "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife (FABF05)." The comparison isn't a perfect one, but there are enough parallels to make "Ice Cream of Margie" seem like a "remake" of the earlier show.
This time around, Marge's release from suburban monotony comes in the form of folk art. After losing his gig at the plant, Homer inherits a new job driving an ice cream truck. As you might suspect, he eats a lot of his goods himself, leaving Marge with a pile of used Popsicle sticks. She fashions these into statues of people she knows, and viola, a new talent has burst upon the local art scene.
Perhaps my expectations were lowered after a string of so-so episodes, but I liked this one. Marge as an artist wasn't quite as interesting as Marge as a romance novelist, but Homer's ice cream truck job makes up for the slack. I guess the writers (led by Carolyn Omine) noticed this too, since the Homer subplot is more prominent here than in "Diatribe." Not only do we see Homer getting his new job, but losing his old one in a funny sequence involving the new sport of office- chair hockey. The subplot even gets two spiffy animation sequences in a row: One where Homer shows off his new "pimped out" truck, and one where he gets dressed "in a most unusual way." Marge's stick art, on the other hand, is handled almost too quickly to register. She goes from constructing one statue, to being discovered by the town, to getting her own show in almost no time. When Homer accidentally damages her work (ironically, by trying to do the right thing by her), we don't really feel Marge's loss.
On the other hand, I liked Homer's apology to Marge at the end of the show. It was one of his better ones, and his gimmick of illustrating it with sad-faced Polaroid pictures of himself both rings true to his character and is effectively heartfelt. The actual ending was a bit of a letdown. It tidied up most of the plot threads (although Homer never gets his old job back), but felt rushed, as if the writing team suddenly realized it had run out of time. (And yet, there was enough time left over for a coda set hundreds of years in the future.) Looking over my review for "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife," I notice it, too, had a pat ending. Here's a hint to anyone wishing to recycle an old plot: Try not to remake the original's weak points, as well.
The semi-flat ending doesn't mar the episode as a whole, though. I may have liked the original incarnation a little better, but "Ice Cream of Marge" isn't bad. You could say it's more ice cream than stick.
[The short of it]
Arguably, this was better as "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife," but this new version isn't bad. More attention is given here to Homer's subplot, which turns out to be the more entertaining half. I liked the chair-hockey game that led to Homer's firing, and Homer's new ice- cream truck job leads to some funny jokes. Later, his apology scene is sweet, and has enough humor to keep from getting bogged down in sentimentality. Marge's Pop(sicle) art isn't quite as entertaining has her romance novel efforts, and the ending is a bit rushed, but this episode is a pretty good treat. (B)
[DYNs]
... Carl wears phone-books as padding for the chair-hockey game? ... the Rich Texan promises a "fancy-schmancy" art show, but it's held on Marge's lawn, as opposed to, say, an actual gallery? ... Jimbo has a child of his own (seen at the jamboree)?
[References]
Lucky Charms (cereal) - Krusty has his own knock-off, cleverly titled Krusty Charms - the box shows Krusty wearing a leprechaun hat, like the cereal's leprechaun mascot
"Pimp My Ride" (TV series) - Homer claims to have done this to the ice-cream truck
"Oprah" (TV series) - "Opal," and its eponymous host, similar to Oprah Winfrey and her daytime talk show
[Previous Episode References]
[DABF06] Greta seen at the divorced dads' picnic
[FFF]
Krusty Charms marshmallow bits:
- red clown heads
- yellow "K"s
- violet bow ties
- green six-pointed stars (Stars of David, perhaps?)Rulebook:
CINCINNATI
TIME WASTE
RULES AND
REGULATION [Carl's hand covers the final character]Feminist book cover:
L I F E B E Y O N D
W I F E BY
PROFESSOR STEINBanner at art show:
MARGE SIMPSON
PRESENTS:
PEOPLE FROM THE STICKSGeneric label for Krusty statue:
TV
CLOWNBanner at picnic:
DIVORCED DADS'
VISITATION JAMBOREE[Personal Comments & Observations]
Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" appears on the soundtrack.
After another one of Lenny's sexually questionable sayings, Carl says, "Statements like that are why people think we're gay." Perhaps the writers have seen all the "Are Carl and Lenny a couple?" posts in internet forums.