[The long of it]
Fox doesn't hang cutesy themes on its series' seasons, but if they did the theme for "The Simpsons" might be, "Blast from the Past!" Earlier this season, Homer and Ned's Vegas wives made a surprise comeback in "Brawl in the Family (DABF01)." Now, Artie Ziff comes back from oblivion in "Half-Decent Proposal."
You might remember Artie. Marge certainly does -- he was her date for her high-school prom, and he was so clumsily aggressive with her that he essentially drove Marge into Homer's arms. Artie, as it turns out, hasn't forgotten Marge either. He may a wildly successful Silicon Valley entrepreneur, but he still carries the torch for her in a big way. She is apparently the one thing in his life that Artie reached for, but was unable to grab.
Artie gets a second chance at the brass ring, so to speak, in tonight's show. Homer, who was probably never an easy guy to sleep with, develops a snoring problem serious enough to keep Marge from getting any rest. She heads to her sisters' apartment for some shut- eye, and I loved the reaction she got when she arrived. Seeing that Marge has arrived with an overnight bag and without a husband, Patty and Selma figure that the day they've dreamt of has arrived: Marge has dumped Homer. Their enthusiasm hardly seems dampened when they learn this isn't the case, and the "girls' night out" that follows is funny to watch.
With a little help from some champale (the drink that seems to be Marge's Achilles Heel) and a lot of editorial help from her sisters, Marge sends a friendly e-mail to Artie Ziff. Spotting an opportunity, Artie rushes to the Simpson home, only to be disappointed when he discovers Marge is happily married. But all is not lost. Homer needs an expensive operation to halt his snoring, and Artie is willing to pony up the dough -- if he gets to treat Marge to a romantic weekend. Reluctantly, and after extracting a no-nookie pledge from Artie, Homer and Marge agree. Artie's plan for the weekend was clever, but I would have liked to see more scenes of he and Marge together, too build some story tension. Now, we know that Marge isn't going leave Homer, or even sleep with Artie, but wouldn't have been interesting if he made her wonder how her life might have turned out if they stayed together?
If the Artie-Marge date is a bit of a comedown, the episode itself loses a little steam in the third act. Homer has some second thoughts about his Faustian bargain, and decides that life without Marge isn't worth living. So naturally he and Lenny decide to run off to the West Springfield desert to seek death-wish jobs in the oil fields, which I think is pretty much what we'd all do in such a situation. A lot of the humor in this segment is based on the oddly close relationship between Homer, Lenny, and Carl. In the past, oblique jokes about the three worked pretty well, but the joke gets stretched thin when it has to cover most of the third act.
That's too bad, because the first two acts are funny, if not quite hilarious. The opening is particularly effective, using music and camera movements in a way that's more cinematic than you usually see in a TV comedy. When Artie asks if her marriage to Homer was consummated, Marge gestures at the children and says, "Pretty much." (Lisa's little wave was a cute touch.) And Artie's closing line put a nice finish on the show.
Some might think these trips down memory lane are a sign that the show is running out of original ideas. Maybe, but if the writers can continue mine good nuggets from the show's past, then perhaps living in the past, like Artie, isn't such a bad thing.
[The short of it]
Another figure from the Simpsons' past makes a surprise comeback in this week's show. Artie has another chance to win Marge over, and it's an intriguing concept. The execution gives it the short shrift, though, and the third act loses some of the momentum that was built up over the first two. Despite this, there are some funny moments -- Marge's sleep-over with her sisters would be the highlight -- that make this a solid if not out-and-out hilarious episode. A more than half-decent proposal. (B+)
[DYNs]
... the litter that was underneath the couch as the men took it away? ... the Springfield Shopper is 50 cents? (Or has it been that way for a while?) ... Mike Reiss is back, too? ... Kirk and Luanne were dancing together at the "prom?" ... the scoreboard read 19-74, the year of the original prom? ... in addition to the cacti, the clouds also resembled Marge's hair?
[References]
"Sex in the City" (TV series) - "Nookie in New York" a spoof, with same setting, similar characters, and the like
Home Box Office (premium cable network) - "Nookie in New York" airs on the BHO network
"Georgie Boy" (song) - modem connection noise converted to this song, with appropriate lyrics
Hollywood sign - Silicon Valley has a similar sign in the nearby hills
Andy Warhol (painter) - one of the paintings in Ziff's office -- the one on the upper left, divided into quarters, with Marge a different color in each quarter -- is done in his style
"Sweetest Taboo" (song) - Homer says unclaimed breakfast is the sweetest taboo
"M*A*S*H" (movie) - Marge's leaving in the helicopter with Artie is similar to Hawkeye's leaving B. J. - Homer spells a message for Marge with rocks, has B. J. does for Hawkeye
"The Graduate" (movie) - as acoustic guitar music plays in the background, Homer runs to interrupt a romantic event
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (song) - Ziff's new invention converts the sound of snoring to this Eurythmics tune -- with ominous lyrics
[Previous Episode References]
[7F12] Marge's first date with Ziff
[9F16] Ziff appears again, and even admits he'd trade a large amount
of cash for some personal time with Marge
[BABF07] Bart has apparently kept his Funzo doll
[BABF02] Abe mentions Homer's 300 game in bowling[FFF]
"Time" magazine cover:
TIME
AOL
RULESHomer's counter-offer to Dr. Hibbert:
DO IT FOR FREE
Morning paper headline:
SLEEP IMPORTANT, SAY EXPERTS
SLOW NEWS DAY
GRIPS SPRINGFIELD [ picture of ]
[ quiet street ]Patty's nightshirt:
SEXY
AUNTThe name of Ziff's yacht:
PAZIFFIC PALACE [The "Ziff" is printed in red, and larger
than the other letters]Sign on taxi door:
JUST TAKE
ME HOME
CAB CO.Highway sign:
NOW ENTERING
WEST
SPRINGFIELD"Help wanted" sign at the oil fields:
ROUGHNECKS
WANTED
DANGEROUS
WORK,
FREE BURIALSign on bus:
BUCK-U-BUS LINE
[Oops!]
Marge's wedding ring only appears when the Gruesome Twosome offer to snip it off.
Ziff should know Marge is happily married -- he saw her and Homer together at their high-school reunion.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
Most people know that the Simpsons also appear in commercials for Butterfingers. Tonight's blackboard gag, an apparent atonement for dissing the candy, is interesting for another reason. A recent episode, "Sweets and Sour Marge (DABF03)," slammed Butterfingers. Perhaps tonight's gag was to let the sponsor know that the show didn't mean any harm?
The episode opens to the Everly Brothers' "Dream."
"Wooly Booly" plays while Drs. Hibbert and Riviera smash mailboxes.
The band at the retro prom plays "Precious and Few."
The much-hyped and much-anticipated prequel to "Star Wars," "Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," drew an unexpectedly critical reaction from fans and (especially) the media. The loudest complaints were reserved for Jar-Jar Binks, a new computer-generated character in the movie. Most people were put off by the Jar-Jar's nonstop Jamaican-tinged chatter and clownish behavior. Not only did CBG apparently tolerate him, but he even sleeps with a little Jar-Jar doll. (And he took it out of the box! Now it is no longer a collectible!)
Time-Warner Magazines and AOL recently merged, in one of the largest corporate pairings in history. The idea is to produce a bonanza of corporate synergy, although in something more subtle than an "AOL Rules" headline on "Time" magazine. For instance, an article in the magazine might prompt the reader to log on to an AOL-owned web site "for more information."
If, while reading your copy of "Time," you decided to check out the related website, chances are your browsing requests were sent through a router made by the Cisco Corporation. These machines are responsible for directing data traffic on the internet to its final destination. Cisco's financial performance has been underwhelming of late, as most sites now have more router capacity than they really need.
When Marge says she got used to saying "Courtney Cox-Arquette," she was referring to the former Courtney Cox. Famous mainly for playing Monica Gellar on "Friends," Ms. Cox married David (?) Arquette a couple years ago. When famous actresses marry, they often keep their maiden name, which has box-office name-recognition value. Cox- Arquette, apparently decided to compromise a bit.
- From the " Where is Springfield?" Department: The map of "West Springfield" bore a suspicious resemblance to Texas.
- You know you're a computer nerd when ... the modem connection noise doesn't really bother you.