[The long of it]
It's a couple of days before Election Day, and you know what that means: Time for Fox to air the "Simpson" Halloween show!
Installment XVII (is it just me, or do the lengthy Roman numerals put one in mind of the Super Bowl?) opens with some tricky visual animation. A point-of-view tracking shot enters spooky Burns manor, heading down a scary hallway before tumbling down stone spiral staircase. Scenes like this require the entire screen to be animated, not just the foreground, so they're impressive to watch. The payoff at the bottom of the stairs is pretty good -- Burns as The Cryptkeeper (hey, he's got the physique for it) introduces the show, and dispatches Moe in an iron maiden. Moe accepts his fate surprisingly well, all things considered.
The opening story, "Married to the Blob," has Homer terrorizing America by doing what he does best -- eating. After eating a glowing, and apparently sentient, "space marshmallow" that fell to Earth in a meteor, Homer transforms into a huge blob-like monster, eating everyone in his path. The story has plenty of good moments, like when Homer stumbles across a group of teenagers at the beach. At first he resists eating them, but he snaps after they get into a barbecue sauce fight, and one of them obligingly falls in a campfire "sealing in his own juices." Later, Homer goes on a rampage to a cleverly re- engineered version of "Baby Got Back." (The producers even went to the trouble of getting Sir Mix-A-Lot to sing the new version.) The end even has some nicely disguised commentary about how cities try to deal with their homeless population.
"You've Got to Know When to Golem" draws its inspiration from an unlikely source -- medieval Jewish folk tales of central Europe. In this story, Bart discovers Krusty's golem, a giant man made of clay who does his master's bidding. Bart commands him to come to his house at midnight, and promptly puts the golem to work avenging himself on his dad, his bullies, and his principal. Eventually, Lisa commands him to speak, and he does -- in Richard Lewis' voice, and it turns out the golem is a nice guy at heart. Lewis isn't bad, and the choice is certainly more creative than the usual borscht-belt Jewish comic stereotype, but there's some drama missing here. The golem never seems that menacing. Nobody tries to track him down. Bart's family seems okay with Bart having his own pet monster. Even the police don't try to track him down. (Well, considering Springfield's police force, that's perhaps not such a surprise.) Despite this, the sketch ends pretty well, and I liked the lady golem the Simpsons whip up out of Play-Doh.
The stories conclude with "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid," which looks at how the famous hoax broadcast of "The War of he Worlds" scared the pants off thousands of people in 1938. The best part of this story was the way Springfield was re-imagined in 1938 terms. Here, SNPP is actually SCFPP -- Springfield Coal-Fired Power Plant, since atom power was still a decade in the future. The 1938 Apu runs Kwikee & Sons General Store, an evident predecessor to Kwik-E-Mart. Another highlight was Maurice La Marche's excellent impression of Orson Welles dramatically resonant speaking voice. (I know, I know, it's the same voice he used for the Brain, but that character was also a tribute to Welles.) There's also a funny scene with Welles's sound effects guy.
The hoax paves the way for an actual invasion from outer space. Like the boy who cried, "wolf," nobody believes Welles when he tries to warn them, even as Kang and Kodos's ship clearly is seen decimating the city. The story -- and the evening's episode -- ends on a faintly downbeat note, as the aliens' invasion is contrasted with the American fight in Iraq. As political satire, it rings truer than "The Bart- Mangled Banner (FABF17)."
One thing that interested me about TOH XVII wasn't just that all the stories were good, but that they were all *equally* good. Usually, I have a clear favorite, and usually one of the stories is weaker than the other two, but tonight showed a remarkable consistently. Granted, none of the three had the zing of classic "TOH" segments like "Dial 'Z' for Zombies," "Fly vs. Fly," or "Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off." In this way, the show resembles the series as a whole (at least this season), consistently pretty good if not at its creative peak. Certainly, it's good enough to scare up viewers for the XVIIIth show next season. See you there.
[The short of it]
The XVIIth "TOH" is consistently good from start to finish, making a contrast with the usual pattern where one story outclasses the others. The tracking shots in the opening showcase the animators' talents well. "Married to the Blob" has plenty of good bits, and a nice remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back." "You've Got to Know When to Golem" draws inspiration from an unexpected source, although it lacks something in the way of dramatic tension. The 30s version of Springfield is one of the high points of "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid," along with Maurice La Marche's voice work. The end has a creative and effective dig at America's fight in Iraq. Nothing classic tonight, but a consistently high level of quality earns points from me. (B+)
[DYNs]
... the episode number and the "TOH number" are in sync? ... even though he was a two-story blob, the Hawaiian shirt store had a shirt in Homer's size? ... Bart's alarm clock reads 4:02, suggesting that Krusty wraps up taping (or a live broadcast) at 4:00? ... Dolph knows what a golem is? (Which makes sense, since "See Homer Run (GABF21)" suggests that he's Jewish?) ... either Krusty never figures out where his golem went, or he never bothers to search for him? ... nuclear power wasn't around in 1938, so the old Springfield power plant ran on coal? ... the Springfield Shopper sold for two cents in 1938?
[References]
"Tales from the Crypt" (TV series) - Mr. Burns as the Cryptkeeper, emcee of this horror anthology
"Married to the Mob" (movie) - night's first short is "Married to the Blob"
"The Blob" (movie) - premise of the first story similar to the movie: A giant blob of protoplasm oozes through a city, absorbing every living thing it touches
"Alien vs. Predator" (movie) - one of the writers credited as "Matt Warburton vs. Predator"
"House of Wax" (movie) - another one is, "'House of Wax' Pross"
"Twilight Zone" (movie) - one scary credit is, "'To Serve Man' is a Cookbrook," referring to a famous episode of this series
Vlad the Impaler (historical figure) - animation director is, "David 'The Impaler' Silverman"
"La Femme Nikita" (movie) - casting director is La Femme Bonita
"Baby Got Back" (song) - as Homer rampages (if you can say "rampage" about a blob) through Springfield, we hear this hip-hop hit with new lyrics
"The Gambler" (song) - "You've Got to Know When to Golem" echoes a line from this Kenny Rogers song: "You've got to know when to fold 'em ..."
the golem of Prague - second skit based on this legend [See "Personal Comments & Observations for more]
"The Bride of Frankenstien" (movie) - woman "created" to be bride for a monster - one staff member is credited as, "Nali'Bride'Sky of Caplanstein"
"The Nanny" (TV series) - golem's bride (the golemette?) based on lead character from this series - indeed, she's voiced by the same actress: Fran Drescher
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (movie) - third act titled, "The Day the Earth Looked Stupid"
"Lucky Strike" (brand of cigarettes) "Chesterfield" (another cigarette brand) - Springfield Elementary children offered "Chester Strikes" cigarettes
President Roosevelt's "nothing to fear" speech - Mayor Quimby reads a less reassuring version of this speech in response to the "invasion" - come to think of it, his glasses look a bit like FDR's
"Little Orphan Annie" (comic strip) - Lisa's 1938 dress looks similar (and the strip's spunky heroine would probably have appealed to her)
"Citizen Kane" (movie) - chance hearing of, "nose, bud" inspires Welles to think of Kane's cryptic catch-phrase, "Rosebud"
the Chrysler building - the KBBL building bears a strong resemblance
the American-Iraq war - closing scene with Kang and Kodos has many obvious parallels: - invasion effort bogs down after three years - high command thinks, mistakenly, that the invading forces would be considered liberators - one of the justifications for the fight was that the Earthlings were developing "weapons of mass disintegration" -- which later turned out not to be true - battle devolves into an effort to win "hearts and minds" (although the aliens interpret this one literally)
"CSI: Everywhere on the Face of the Earth" (TV series) "Barnyard" (movie) - Yeardley's Halloween name is, "CSI: Barn-yeard"
Coney Island (amusement park) - one of the production staff is, "'Boney Island' Polizzi"
"The Ring," "Dark Water," "The Grudge," etc. - all of these films, which are American versions of successful Japanese horror flicks, are what they had in mind when crediting, "The Less Scary American Remake of Daniel Chun"
"Snakes on a Plane" (movie) - casting by "Bonnies on a Plane" [It's official -- Bonnie Pietla had not one but two of the funniest Halloween names this year]
too many horror and science fiction films to count - the Halloween name for the lead sound effects person is, "Travis Mysterious Powers"?
[Previous Episode References]
[4F04], [5F11] Arby's dissed [7F04] "To Serve Man" spoofed [DABF19] Homer threatens to eat his way across the nation [9F18] Anti-Irish sentiment in Springfield's past
[FFF]
THE FACTS OF LIFE REUNION TOUR
KRUSTY'S
PROP MUSEUM
ADMISSION
$50
NO REFUNDS BULLIES
HOSPITALIZED
NERDS, DORKS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC Open
Pickle JarPower Plant sign, c. 1938:
WELCOME TO
SPRINGFIELD
COAL-FIRED
POWER PLANTApu's store, "back in the day":
KWICKEE & SONS
GENERAL STORE
TODAY'S
SUPER-LOTTO
JACKPOT:
$18Standing in line at the Salvation Army:
[back to front]
Cletus, Kirk, anonymous [*], anonymous, Jasper, Willie, Crazy Old
Man, Ned Flanders, Mr. Largo, Carl, Lenny, Abe, Geeky-voiced
teen[?][*] Or at least, someone I don't know
Cigarette carton:
CHESTER
STRIKESSound man's kiss-off:
SCREW
YOUPost-"invasion" headline:
Springfield Shopper
--------------------= * =------------------
DAILY NEWS October 31, 1938 TWO CENTS
-------------------------------------------
B R O A D C A S T F O O L S
N A T I O N, S P R I N G F I E L DAlien saucer signs:
PEACEFUL ATTACK
OBSERVATION[Personal Comments & Observations]
"I Don't Want to set the World on Fire," by the Ink Spots [?], plays over the closing scene of the last story.
Al Jean's Halloween name is Al "July 27, 2007" Jean, which is the planned release date for the "Simpsons" movie. He's one of the people in charge of producing it, so no wonder he's got it on his mind!
It's a charity started in the 30s, which aims to collect money for birth defect research and prevention. I think they do have a fundraiser where people go from house to house, asking for donations rather than candy, on Halloween. (Then again, I more personally associate the holiday with the UN charity UNICEF, which also has a Halloween fund drive.)
"The Facts of Life" was a sitcom that followed the lives of four girls who attended a fancy prep school in the early 80s. (Well, they ended up with four; originally it had a larger ensemble, but the cast was quickly pared down.) I don't know about today, but the only one who had weight issues when the show aired was Mindy Cohn (Natalie in the series). The producers evidently felt she was getting too heavy for the role and were constantly nagging her to shed some pounds. In one of those "behind the scenes" specials, she admitted that the pressure wasn't very good for her emotionally as she was growing up.
Dr. Phil McGraw -- Popular psychologist known for his folksy manner and blunt (some say brusque) advice. He got his start on Oprah Winfrey's talk show, and then graduated to his own series. Shortly before that happened, he spent a year or so focusing on a people struggling to lose weight, arguing that emotional baggage was hampering their efforts. Apparently, that's still a key theme for him, which may explain why he was called in to help stop Homer.
Amos 'N' Andy -- Briefly mentioned in the third story, they were of course not real people but characters in a radio and TV series of the same name. The show featured a bunch of shiftless and simple black people, which as you might imagine didn't earn it many friends in the black community. The show ran for 31 *years* on radio, starting in 1929, but protests in the black American community [*] cast the show in a very unfavorable light. Today, most people consider it an embarrassment, making recordings difficult to find today.
[*] And elsewhere. According to "The Complete Directory To Prime Time Network TV Shows," CBS syndicated the show in Kenya and Western Nigeria in 1963. They didn't appreciate the joke, and Kenya went so far as to ban the program from the country. CBS withdrew the TV version (which ran for two years in the 50s) from circulation in 1966.
The Golem of Prague is an enduring Jewish folk tale. Krusty's retelling is pretty much the way I remember it: A rabbi in Prague fashions a big man out of clay and brings him to life. He uses the golem to protect the Jewish community and take revenge on Prague's anti-Semites. There is one difference between Krusty's version and the one I heard. As I heard it, the rabbi animates the golem by writing the Unknowable Name of the Lord on a piece of paper and putting *that* in the golem's mouth. After that, he ordered his golem about in the usual way, by just telling him what to do.
Incidentally, the story of the golem lives on in today's culture. Supposedly, the story of Frankenstein's monster was partially based on it.
Right before HDTV started to become widely available, actors and makeup personnel began to worry. The high-definition format might bring breathtaking detail to landscapes, scenery, and backgrounds, but it also would highlight every physical flaw on every actor. With standard definition, minor skin blemishes and the like get blurred away, but not so with HDTV. Makeup also looked less realistic, and certainly less attractive in the new format. I haven't heard as much about this problem now, so perhaps Hollywood's makeup artists have figured out a way to deal with it. (Maybe the same way the do in the movies, which have always had better resolution than TV, and huge screen sizes, to boot.)
Orson Welles did not really mean to panic the nation with his Halloween 1938 broadcast. No, really, he didn't. The mass panic was brought about by a confluence of things, including a factor that would be familiar to TV producers today: channel flipping.
Welles's version of "War or the Worlds" aired on the "Mercury Theater of the Air," a dramatic anthology show that broadcast a different story each week. The radio version of the H. G. Wells story clearly identified it as a work of fiction, presented as part of Mercury Theater of the Air, etc. (I know, because I heard a recording of it in grade school.) Research done soon after the show revealed that people who tuned in from the beginning weren't frightened, or at least weren't more frightened than for any other scary tale.
The problem was, not everyone was tuned in from the start. "Mercury Theater of the Air" was scheduled opposite the "Charlie McCarthy" variety-comedy show. In 1938, this was the equivalent of airing opposite "American Idol;" relatively few people were listening to Welles's story, preferring instead to hear a ventriloquist on radio. (Go figure.) One of the show's guests that night was an opera singer. Opera wasn't much more of a crowd-pleaser then than it was now, so listeners decided to see what else was on for a few minutes. Some of them happened upon "War of the Worlds," getting the faux-newscast part, but missing the opening disclaimer. Enough of them bought the "invasion" to flood police lines and go running around to escape the Martians. Reportedly, a few people even died of heart attacks. About halfway through the show, someone tipped off Orson Wells and his crew, and he read a speech reassuring his audience that what they were hearing was indeed just a dramatization. (The audience might have realized that anyway; the second part of the show switched from the "newscast" format to narration by one of the "invasion's" few survivors.)
Here's an interesting side story. Jack Paar, who would later become Johnny Carson's predecessor on "The Tonight Show," was one of the people initially fooled by the broadcast. He ran into the lobby where some people were listening to a different show on their radio. Paar quickly realized he'd been had, reasoning that if the world were ending, it would probably get coverage on more than just the one radio station.
(One minor difference between Springfield history, and real-world history: "War of the Worlds" aired at night, but it looks like it's still daylight out when Springfield's version aired.)
Otto was driving along in his Model T Ford when the "invasion" happened.