s p o i l e r
s p a c e . . . .
Note: This is the second time this season that all three of the shows have been aired. Some people have gotton all three, but on the east coast we missed the first half of Futurama's Anthology of Interest 2. The funny thing about this was that all three episodes were especially good tonight, and even though the Simpsons was probably the best it has been since season 9, Futurama and KOTH were even better... Go SUNDAY NIGHT FOX. SCREW FOOTBALL!!!
REVIEW from snpp.com: 8:00 . Half Decent Proposal (DABF04) Marge, with a little help from Patty, Selma, and Jack (Daniels), E-mails Artie Ziff, who offers $1,000,000 for a weekend ("no funny business") alone with her - money they could use for an operation to make Homer stop snoring
REVIEW from tvguide.com: Simpsons Half Decent Proposal 30 min. Jon Lovitz lends his voice in a wild parody of the 1993 film "Indecent Proposal." Lovitz plays Marge's one-time prom date Artie Ziff, a nerd who turned Marge off when he turned all-hands. Now, a techno-invention has made him rich. Encouraged by her sisters, and some girls-night imbibing, Marge e-mails Artie, who responds by helicoptering onto the Simpsons' lawn and inviting the family to his yacht. There, he makes his proposition: one million bucks to spend a weekend alone with Marge. And Artie promises "no funny stuff." The Simpsons agree when they realize the money will help their marriage---by paying for an operation to cure Homer's snoring.
References: Indecent Proposal. Info on the movie can be found at: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0107211
In some ways Homer and Marge parallel that of Moore's and Harrelson's characters in the movie. They obviously have financial problems, and they have discussed having marital problems also (some good examples of this are Life on the Fast Lane (7G11), Homer Alone (8F14), Colonel Homer (8F19), A Streetcar Named Marge (8F18), Secrets of a Successful Marriage (1F20), Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy (2F07), and Natural Born Kissers (5F18).
Back to the Future: If Marge marries him, I will never be born. Similar to the under the sea dance in the movie
The Graduate: Music as Homer walks up to Artie's house
MASH: Theme from the show playing as Marge leaves with Artie.
Review: All in all, it was a good episode. Bringing back some older plotlines (Artie Ziff and the high school prom episode) is always good for old fans because it brings continuity to the show. I thought it would have been more interesting if Marge and Homer would have been inclined to take up arties offer due to longstanding financial troubles as opposed to some new development (Homer as a MONSTER snorer is believable but it still kinda came from nowhere). Still, there are many good things about the episode (sex and city ref was hilarious, cute pop references, good dialogue, laugh out loud funniness) that show that the Simpsons is going in the right direction. GRADE: B+