[The long of it]
Follow an a.t.s. discussion of "The Simpsons'" quality (or lack thereof) long enough, and you're likely to see someone write, "The show has become a parody of itself." This isn't literal; it's just a way of saying that the show has gone downhill. While I was watching "The Blunder Years," on the other hand, I got the feeling the show literally was spoofing itself.
Consider this: At one crucial plot juncture, the family is presented with a mystery to solve, and they launch into it with gusto. Even Marge gets in on the act, leading the family charge. In an earlier season, the adults (and certainly Marge) would probably have held back and maybe deferred to the local police. Certainly, they'd be a bit less self-conscious about their crime-busting efforts. (In "Krusty Gets Busted (7G12)," the first crime-solving episode, Bart and Lisa don't see themselves as defenders of justice.) By now, the family has solved almost as many crimes as the folks on "CSI," so of *course* they're up for another one. Why, at the climax everyone, even the kids, traipses through a rat-infested sewer, just the way your family probably did when you were young. It's funny to see the show tacitly acknowledging this theme in the family's history.
This could have read simply as bad writing, but "The Blunder Years" is saved by mainly clever humor. I liked, for instance, when a lounge- act hypnotist turns Prof. Frink into a ladies' man. That joke's been done before, but the payoff comes when the hypnotist returns Frink to normal and Frink struggles desperately not to "re-dorkulate." When it's Homer's turn to be mesmerized, the hypnotist accidentally sends him into constant screaming fits. There are some funny scenes when Homer tries to get at the bottom of his malady by recovering suppressed memories. Here, the show parodies the tendency for groups of friends in the present day to also have been groups of friends way back in childhood. The highlight of the show is probably Moe's reaction after the family cuts him out of the mystery-solving action. His sad shock is funny and even a little touching. Moe even gets a good reprise to close out the show.
I'd say the beginning of the show, which begins with another unrelated story, is another bit of self-mockery except that it seems like every episode starts this way nowadays. Perhaps the writers think this is a funny running gag in itself. This opening, where Homer and Bart set up a slightly cruel prank on Marge, is amusing. Paul Newman may have only one line his cameo part, but it's one of the best ones in the first act.
"The Blunder Years" does have some comedy blunders. Marge is funny in the opening act, extolling the virtues of a new super-absorbent paper towel, but she comes across too dotty by her own standards. While the flashback scenes with young Homer, Carl, Lenny, and Moe were cute in concept, the humor was a little pedestrian. The episode closes with a touching conclusion, but it's curiously remote. If we had known more about one of the characters involved, the scene would have been more involving.
Few people know, and probably even fewer care, that tonight marks the end of the Mike Scully's run as Executive Producer of "The Simpsons." During that time, it seemed as if the writers ran out of ideas for social or pop-culture parodies, and began to satirize the conventions of TV storytelling itself. Fittingly, "The Blunder Years" showcases this tendency in one episode. Scully is, at the moment, not a popular figure on a.t.s. Interestingly, this holdover batch of CABF__ episodes has had more consistent quality than the previous regular season. I doubt that he planned it this way, but tonight's episode gives Mr. Scully a decent send-off. Whether he deserves it, I leave as an exercise for the reader.
[The short of it]
"The Blunder Years" is filled with unlikely situations, but it seems more like a spoof of "Simpsons" storytelling conventions than like bad writing. The much-touted Paul Newman cameo is brief, but good. However, the best scenes revolve around Moe and his reaction to some of the family's decisions. Some of the humor is nothing to write home about, but overall this show is a decent send-off for Mike Scully.
[DYNs]
... Homer puts Smithers' skull in a box labeled, "Memories"?
[References]
"The Wonder Years" (TV series) - title of episode a spoof
Brawny (brand of paper towel) - "Burly" towels have similar name - both have a lumberjack logo
"Masters of the Universe" (TV series) - Skeletor was the name of one of the villains, who had a bare skull for a head
"Stand by Me" (movie) - a group of boys walk on a railroad trestle
"Benny and the Jets" (song) - Lenny thinks the gang is called, "Lenny and the Jets" [This could also qualify as a "West Side Story" reference]
"The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" (TV series) - Mesmerino does Carson's "Karnak the Magnificent" bit while reading the mail
[Previous Episode References]
[AABF17] Someone zings Burns by calling him, "Skeletor" [7F06] Homer's abortive jump of Springfield Gorge
[FFF]
Household products:
B u r l y Mama Celeste [Paul Newman]
PAPER TOWELS [Mama]
NEWMAN'S OWN
[lumberjack] Sausage Pizza Salad DressingMovie title card:
PLANT SECURITY
FOOTAGE [Bohr]
[type]
[atom][Personal Comments & Observations]
For his blackboard punishment, Bart must renounce a claim to being "Charlie Brown on acid." I'm not sure who said this, but I'm pretty sure that's how one critic referred to "The Simpsons."
To kill the boredom of a long summer day, the Homer, Lenny, and Carl sing, "Mr. Sandman" by the Andrews Sisters.
Oh, and according to a press release, the singer/pianist at the Pimento Grove is Judith Owen an independent artist in the LA scene. You heard a clip from "To Hell and Back."
To cover up Smithers's father's death, Burns told him that he was killed in the Amazon by a tribe of savage women. Everyone present sort of concludes that this probably had no lasting ill effect on him. But wait! Could this story have given Smithers a resentment of women, possibly leading to his homosexuality? Nahhh ...
Even after what seems like an eternity in Hollywood time, Paul Newman's name still has is a box-office draw. As you might expect, Fox played up Paul's guest role on tonight's show in the USA promotion campaign. What's more surprising is that, when the announcer mentioned Newman's name, they showed the Burly lumberjack, implying that Newman voiced that character. Problem is, I don't think that he did; instead, he voiced himself on the dressing bottle. This was just one line, so it would have been hard to use a clip in the commercial -- some viewers might have complained when they found out that what they saw in the ad was Newman's *entire* role.
When the Simpsons (and Chief Wiggum) need to quickly get rid of the water at the quarry, it's Marge to the rescue. She tosses in a few rolls of Burly brand paper towels, which absorb all the water. Of course, this can only happen in cartoons, but it's surprisingly close to reality (if the story I heard is true). Absorbent diapers work because they contain some sort of crystalline substance that can "grab" liquid and lock it into a gel, keeping it away from baby's fanny. During the development phase for these crystals, some jokers in R&D grabbed a small amount -- no more than a pail full -- and sneak into a coworker's back yard. They dumped the crystals into the pool and -- slurp! -- the water in the *entire pool* is promptly absorbed into a gel. I assume the gel occupies about the same volume that the water did, so Marge couldn't use this technique to clear out the quarry, but it's impressive all the same.
By the way, I have no idea whose responsibility it was to shovel all that goo out of the pool and dispose of it.