(S18E05)
Homer: I'm not gonna surrender. You've seen what the U.S. Army does to prisoners. How would you like to be stacked naked in a pile with a hillbilly girl pointin' at you and laughin'?
Cletus: That was our last Christmas card.
Homer: Yeah, Marge always loved your cards.
If you missed the premiere of the Simpsons Movie trailer, check it out here. July can't get here soon enough, and being in Minnesota, I mean that in more ways than one.
It looks like last week's Halloween episode wasn't going to be the last word on the Iraq debacle, and this episode doled out plenty of jabs. Looking for new approaches to recruitment, the Army decides to show the kids at Springfield Elementary a movie that makes the Army look like a fun, live-action video game:
Army recruiter: And we brought along the movie. Do you guys know where we can find some awesome kids to show it to?
Milhouse: Dearborn, Michigan?
Wooed by the idea of shooting down everything from Nazis to Bin Laden to Jason from Friday the 13th to a deadly hurricane, Bart decides to "pre-enlist" for the Army. Homer demands Bart's contract be torn up, but in the process ends up enlisting himself because, well, because he's an idiot. He soon becomes the leader of a platoon of dimwits meant to be used as target practice for the Army's war games, a plot not too dissimilar to "Simpson Tide" in which Homer becomes captain of a nuclear submarine after joining the Navy.
While seeing Homer as a military leader did bring back memories of that earlier episode, this episode was really about what happens when people are enticed by underhanded recruitment efforts and end up getting more than they bargained for. I think the entire episode can be summed up in the brief exchange between Principal Skinner and the Army recruiter. Skinner agrees that it's good to see the kids so interested in military service, but when the recruiter asks him to reenlist, Skinner answers, "how about you bite me?"
Favorite moments:
The Full Metal Jacket scene where the sarge makes Homer eat donuts while everyone else does push-ups. When Homer questions his "punishment," the sarge serves him Alaskan king salmon and gives him a foot rub.
Homer trying to imagine what a great leader would do, and after imagining Cap'n Crunch, tells his men to "stay crunchy."
The Looney Tunes-style chase scene where Homer tries to avoid the predator drone may have been a little hokey, but did anyone else catch the exchange between the two army men at the end, each of them using classic lines from Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam (i.e.: "This means war!" and "I hate you!")? Lovely.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
11-13-2006 @ 11:43AM
Chris W said...
When Homer dressed as a female predator drone, I nearly lost it. I was thinking, how Tex Avery is that? Of course, they were going with Looney Tunes, but I thought it was a great throwback. This episode was a lot (in theme) like Family Guy last week. I found that interesting that they both did an army spoof within a week of one another.
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11-13-2006 @ 11:51AM
SJ said...
I don't get the "Dearborn, Michigan?" line. Is it because there is a large Arab and Muslim population there?
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11-13-2006 @ 11:52AM
Zach said...
I agree with Chris completely, it had the feel of a Family Guy episode, complete with a "it's like that time" moment. Also i was just watching a few commentaries on the DVD and Matt Groening mentioned that the only time they did real "cartoony" things was during the Halloween Ep's and they tried to keep the physical laws and never wanted to be like the Looney Tunes. I was kind of shocked and a little put off. I know people have been saying the quality is gone down and blah blah, but for me personally, while there were a few laughs in last nights ep, it seemed for the first time that they were really reaching for jokes.
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11-13-2006 @ 12:07PM
ferley said...
Man, The simpsons blows lately, like the last five seasons. I waited weeks to see this trailer and boy that was worst then the episode.
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11-13-2006 @ 12:01PM
Anthony Lynch said...
Thanks for the Movie Trailer link.
hadn't actually seen that trailer yet.
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11-13-2006 @ 12:33PM
Justin said...
uh...am I the only one that thinks this trailer sucks?
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11-13-2006 @ 12:35PM
Marusky said...
Didn't Michael Moore filmed a scene with Army recruiters at a mall in Dearborn, Mich. and several small scenes with teens who were joining up in "Fahrenheit 9/11"?
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11-13-2006 @ 1:14PM
Chris Thilk said...
I thought the Looney Tunes-style chase might have been the best thing on TV in the last five years. I was laughing my hinder off and didn't even believe I was seeing what I was seeing until Home hid behind the tree and then the clock. Great stuff.
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11-13-2006 @ 1:17PM
jimmy said...
this is the second anti-war episode in a row. note to simpsons writers: the horse is dead, stop beating it.
did Kerry get some writer's credit? cuz it sounds to me like only morons who don't go to college join the army according to the show.
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11-13-2006 @ 1:35PM
hessian said...
jimmy -
Not only has THE SIMPSONS aired 2 anti-war eps in a row, last week the Treehouse ep was in an anti-conservative block that featured AMERICAN DAD skewering the Republican gay marriage stance and an anti-war FAMILY GUY.
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11-13-2006 @ 1:49PM
jimmy said...
hessian:
what i find aggravating about it is that Simpsons used to be a show that made social-comments kind of light and off-the-cuff. the only episodes in which the comedy took a back seat to the preaching were the lisa-central episodes (which have always been the weakest)
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11-13-2006 @ 3:18PM
mike said...
ah, troop bashing. But please, don't attack liberal hollywood's patriotism. It is aparent, they have none.
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11-13-2006 @ 1:59PM
Gordy said...
I didn't care for The Simpsons last night. I've never seen American Dad before, and I thought that show was hilarious.
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11-15-2006 @ 8:22AM
Preach said...
I love the end of the trailer, which is obviously a reference to Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns and Money" (which was also the theme for "Justice"): "... Somehow I got stuck, between the rock and the hard place, and i'm down on my luck..."
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11-13-2006 @ 2:22PM
KMF said...
I've been watching and loving The Simpsons since they were part of the Tracy Ullman Show, and I hate to say it but these last couple of seasons have been disappointing. Treehouse of Horror which I eagerly wait for every year was a big disappointment this season. Yesterday's episode felt rehashed from the Homer joins the Navy episode. And I have noticed that Family Guy will do some bit and then a little later The Simpsons will have the same joke. The trailer didn't interest me at all. My sister said she hoped that the slump was because all the good material was hopefully in the movie so now it's done they can get back to making funny episodes. I hope her theory is right because I hate to see The Simpsons run out of steam, although I think that had three seasons ago.
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11-13-2006 @ 3:16PM
Sean said...
The last couple episodes of the Simpsons seem more like "Simpsons does Family Guy" what with the obscure references, the jokes that are prolonged for agonizing effect, and the in your face commentary.
Copying is the sincerest form of flattery and all that...
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11-13-2006 @ 4:25PM
Neal said...
Us "liberals" are not bashing the troops. We love the troops. We are bashing Bush, the government, and conservatives who blindly support this war without ever questioning it's validity. Believe it or not, you can be against the war, and support the troops at the same time. I think the troops (every one of them) are heroes, I just don't want them dying for nothing.
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11-13-2006 @ 4:36PM
Jaymez said...
Political stances aside, I was actually pissed off at last nights episode. I'm so tired of people going at each other constantly over the war in Iraq. 99% of the television I watch is informational. I want the remaining 1% to be free from all the BS.
I've been consistantly repulsed by American Dad ever since it first came on the air. It's rare that I'll watch the animation block, waiting to catch Family Guy and The Simpsons on reruns, and American Dad is always a reminder why.
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11-13-2006 @ 4:36PM
J-Spot said...
I thought this episode was a lot of fun, and the best of the season so far. Of course, it was still flawed and miles away from the classic years of the show, but I laughed enough. The Loony Tunes bit was great. Anyone complaining it was too cartoony for this show should take a look at the trampoline bit in season 5, which was another great Loony Tunes homage.
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11-13-2006 @ 5:35PM
James Kabala said...
Last night's episode seemed to draw on least at five earlier episodes: "Bart the General" (Springfield becomes a war zone); "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson" (also had a stereotypical "drill sergeant" type character); "Simpson Tide" (Homer joins the Navy Reserve); "New Kids on the Blecch" (mocked military recruiters); and, good grief, "Treehouse of Horror XVII" from the previous week (attacked Iraq war). They are running out of ideas.
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