Capsule: [4F17] The Old Man and the Lisa (2/4)
Benjamin Robinson
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> Freeze frame fun
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- JA meeting attendees {mr}
- Lisa, Martin, Ralph, Milhouse, Database, Beezee, Alison Taylor
- Signs at the JA meeting {bjr}
UP... I'M HIGH ...
[air [hanglider in
balloon] business suit]
WITH ON CAPTIALISM!
BUSINESS!
- Burns' Dictionary (note phonic symbols omitted) {hl}
1115 ragamuffin o saboteur
rag-a-muf-fin n : a ragged often disreputable person; esp. a poorly
cleaned often dirty child
rah-rah adj: marked by the enthusiastic expression of college
spirit
raid n 1 a : a hostile or predatory excursion b: a surprise attack
by a small force 2 a : a daring operation against a competitor b :
the recruitment of personnel from competing organizations 3 : the
act of mulcting public money 4 : an attempt to depress stock prices
by concerted selling.
ran-cid adj : having a rank smell or taste 2 : OFFENSIVE
ran-cor adj: bitter deep-seated ill will syn see ENMITY
rattle snake n : any of the American pit vipers having horny
interlocking joints at the end of the tail that makes a sharp
rattling sound when shaken
reap vb : to cultivate with a sickle, scythe, or reaping machine
b: to gather by reaping: HARVEST 2: OBTAIN, WIN
red-skin n (1699) : AMERICAN INDIAN - usually taken to
be offensive
reign n: to possess or exercise sovereign power : RULE
reign of terror : a state of period marked by violence committed by
those in power: produces wide spread terror
rel-ic: n: a survivor or remnant left after decay or disappearance:
a trace of some past or an outdated object or belief.
re-pug-nant: adj : exciting disgust or averse INCOMPATIBLE :
HOSTILE
rogue n : a dishonest or worthless person : SCOUNDREL : SCAMP
rott-wei-ler n : a breed of black and tan dogs of German origin -
commonly used as guard dogs
ro-tund adj : ROUNDED notably plump : CHUBBY : roundness
running dog n : one who does someone else's bidding : lackey, ie.
(SMITHERS)
ru-ta-ba-ga n (1799) : a turnip that usually produces a large
yellowish root
ruth-less adj: having no ruth: CRUEL MERCILESS - ruth-less-ly
adj: ruth-less-ness n.
- Smithers' grocery list {hl}
GROCERY LIST:
CEREAL
EGGS
US MAGAZINE
MILK
CATSUP
MUSTARD
LUNCHEON MEAT
CABBAGE
GREENS
JUICE
OINTMENT
SOAP
MOP
NAPKINS
- Applauding Burns at the center's opening {jh}
- Barney, Moe, Luanne Van Houten, Dr. Hibbert, Mrs. Krabappel, Principal
Skinner, Ruth Powers, Carl
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> Animation, continuity, and other goofs
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* Lisa shouldn't object to someone finding recycling fun, as this would just
encourage them to recycle. {bjr}
= In the schoolroom, when Burns and Smithers enter the room, there is a
window above the door. When Burns turns to Smithers to find out how much
he is actually worth now, there is a bell above the door. Then when they
leave there is a window again. {tw}
= Skinner sits to Lisa's right when Burns sits down with Milhouse on Lisa's
right at the Junior Acheivers meeting. When Lisa asks a question, she is
between Ralph and some other kid. When Burns addresses her directly, she
appears to be alone. Then it goes back to Milhouse-Lisa-Skinner. {sh}
+ Mr. Burns himself has gone to church, as seen in 1F08. {ol}
+ Burns knows who Lisa is; she was mentioned in the thank you letter from the
box of chocolates in "Who Shot Mr. Burns?". {ddg}
+ Lisa already recycles; see "22 Short Films About Springfield". {ddg}
= The room with the ticker-tape disappears. {sh}
+ Didn't Monty used to be a billionaire? (See [1F21], for instance) {dga}
+ Burns shouldn't be able to pay for the cheating death procedures in 3G01.
{sh}
* Slavery was abolished before Mr. Burns was born, so why would he own stock
in "Federated Slaveholding"? {jsh}
+ Skinner's car suffers no adverse affects from hitting the tree. {sh}
* If Burns said to take out "another" mortgage payment on the plant, he must
have already knew about his misfortune. {ljs}
* Burns' manor is completely isolated and thus nowhere near the Shrieking
Sheik's. {sh}
= At Burns' House, there are marks on the walls from where the pictures were
hanging, then in the next scene the marks are gone. {tw}
* Hitman tells burns he doesn't want the painting yet Burns leaves it. {sh}
* Smithers has more authority than Lenny. Why doesn't he get the plant?
{ol}
+ Smithers' apartment looks considerably different from his apartment in
[2F20]. {dj}
= At Smithers' House, when Smithers gets up to go to work, there is still a
bowl and some silverware on the table, then in the next (wide view) all
this is gone. {tw}
= In the wide shot of Smithers' apartment, the broken pieces of the cup and
saucer Mr. Burns dropped disappears. {ol}
+ Burns says he will "get these items from the food jobber," but seconds
later, on the bus, says, "Grocery store please." {sh}
+ In [2F21], Mr. Burns was shopping at the Quick-e-mart. Why does he go to
the other grocery store? [Note that Marge shops both places occasionally,
though -- Ed.] {mr}
+ Krusty should recognize Burns. {sh}
+ Why would Krusty by his cereal after what happened to him in [2F32]? {mr}
- In the establishing shot of the refrigerated-goods aisle, the milk cartons
appear to be yellow. When Burns steps out of the freezer, he's holding a
pink-and-white carton. {bjr}
+ The best way to pass the time in the retirement castle [used to be]
watching Matlock. {sh}
+ Grampa was allowed to read a newspaper before. In 7G05, he and Jasper
fight over the daily newspaper crossword puzzle. {ol}
* Burns' carousel horse caught up to Lisa's, then fell back, which is
impossible on a normal carousel. {ddg}
* Usually, it's birds and not fish that are reported as the victims of six-
pack rings. {ddg} [Shawn DeArmond adds, "The 6-pack rings get left on the
beach (and dumps) and birds get their feet tangled in them or (what I've
actually seen a few times) get their neck in the rings. (Seagulls
especially)]
+ Homer wished Ned Flanders would be ruined before in 7F23. But he saw the
error of his ways and even helped him get the Leftorium on its feet.
Besides, Ned already was ruined in 4F07 not too long ago. {ol}
+ Burns pays for a nail, yet gets a stick free. {sh}
= Grampa puts the same four bottles over and over into his recycling bin.
{ddg}
+ Mr. Burns was unable to unveil the nude painting of himself in 7F18, but he
seems able to unveil the Recycling Plant. {ol}
* You can't simply cut bottle-shaped pieces of glass out of bottles, so why
bother making the windows like that? [But see "Comments" section for a
counter-argument -- Ed.] {ddg}
= The windows of the recycling turn into plain glass after Barney's
appearance. {ljs}
- During the close ups of Lisa in the hospital, Dr. Hibbert's hand is yellow
and not black as it is during the rest of the scene. {am}
* What's to stop, say, Homer from doing everything Burns did up to the point
of adding an ocean-cleanser to a recycling plant, and making a fortune of
his own? (Certainly, Burns had to have made quite a few dollars if he
could build a recycling plant.) {ddg}
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> Reviews
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Dale G. Abersold: In a story about recycling, what could be more natural than
a recycled plot? In all, this was a not-terribly-funny episode, unless you
happen to be one of those addicted to pop-culture references. I loved
Burns' factory at the end, and the "That Girl" sequence, but other than
that, there was little to treasure. (C+)
Joseph J. Barder: Altogether, this was a pretty bad episode. Just like My
Sister, My Sitter earlier this episode, a Lisa episode starts out with her
trying to take more responsibility, but ends with a ridiculous catastrophe
and a horrible ending. Watching Mr. Burns try to shop was hilarious, but
the whole concept of Mr. Burns constantly revolving around OFF is getting
old; they all have enough reasons to avoid him like the plague. (C-)
Jennifer M. Blaske: I didn't laugh a whole lot during this episode, and the
plot didn't particularly grab me either. I thought Lisa, my favorite
character, was a bit too one-dimensional ("Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!")
and was not sure I enjoyed Burns being meek and mild. Maybe (hopefully)
this will be like "The Day the Violence Died," which I liked much much
better when I saw it again in syndication. By far the funniest part was
Moe's line, and Maggie's trigger finger and Marge's bed-head were cute too.
(B-)
Richard Bunnell: Terrific! I like almost every Burns episode, and this one
was great too! The ending was cliched (Lisa gives Burns back the money)
but Homer saved the day by fainting and going to the hospital. "Dad, that
wasn't $12,000, that was..." "CODE BLUE, WE HAVE CODE BLUE!" LOL! (A-)
Don Del Grande: The S-man is back in form with this episode, even if there
wasn't any subplot, the main plot managed to be spread out far enough so it
didn't really need one, and the bit with Homer at the end was a bonus (A-)
Jason Hancock: Another run-of-the-mill episode that could have easily been
better. I would have liked to see more of Lenny as boss of the plant and
less of Lisa and Burns, who really wasn't that funny in this episode.
Also, the "riches to rags to riches again" storyline has been done a few
too many times before. (C)
Ryan Johnson: Pretty much your Ho-hum 8th season Simpsons episode. A few
good gags thrown on top of an unrealistic plot followed by an abrupt
ending. Anyone notice that the writers things to be killing a lot of things
on the show this season? Dogs, sea life, soldiers, James Bond... Some of
it is funny because it is well done, but a lot of it seems to be done for
shock value (like tonight's episode), which isn't especially funny (at
least that's what it seems like to me). (C-)
Joe Klemm: Another simple episode of the Simpsons. The That Girl bit and the
beer bottle window joke were among the funny moments in today's episode.
However, I wish there was more scenes with Bret Hart in it since I love
professional wrestling. (A-)
Ricardo Lafaurie Jr: This was a good, albeit severely uncharacterized
episode. Even though Burns was at his best (which is his worst), there
were some funny lines. ("Re-cy-cling?" is my definite new favorite Burns
line.) As the former maintainer of the Mr. Burns/Smithers File, I can say
that this is a fine episode as long as you don't take it too seriously...
(A-)
Haynes Lee: An overdue but weak Burns episode. Bret "Hit Man" Hart is one of
the worst tacked-on celebrity cameos ever. The fish plant was particularly
gross. (C-)
Ondre Lombard: A somewhat strong showing for the eighth season. Nice
development on the inevitable tale of Mr. Burns' downfall (which was
forgivably unrealistic). Hilarious in various parts. Highlights? The
dictionary, Mr. Burns on the bus, Mr. Burns shopping and in the Retirement
Castle, Homer getting drunk, and not liking it, the "That Girl" spoof, and
the ending. It'd have been better, though, if there was a more evil finale
from Mr. Burns, so Lisa's decision to not take the money wouldn't seem so
bad. But I'll give Swartzwelder the benefit of the doubt, seeing as though
this is his first Lisa show--and it beats his failure--4F10 "Mountain of
Madness." Lastly, Bret Hart's cameo was really useless, IMO. (B)
Abhi Ray: I found this episode pleasant and entertaining, but not too
humorous. I wasn't crazy about the plot; I felt it was too lopsided. The
funniest scene was when Burns walked into the Simpson home and Maggie made
the finger gun gesture at Mr. Burns. I also liked the ending where
everyone turned into zombies. Other than that, it wasn't great. (B+)
Aaron Varhola: Solid Swartzwelder; not as reference-dense as last season's
"The Day the Violence Died", but with good character development, and rich
irony in Burns being even more evil when he ISN'T trying. The supermarket
scene had me ROTFL. (A-)
Yours Truly: Interesting premise, but less-than-stellar execution. Lisa is
characterized well enough, but this episode's setup seriously warps our
notion of Monty Burns. Still, Burns' unlikely partnership with Lisa is
carried out nicely, and I liked how Burns can turn a good thing like
recycling to his own ends. Trivia note: This is longtime writer
Swartzwelder's first Lisa-centric episode. (B-)
AVERAGE GRADE: B- (2.74) Std Dev.: 0.8917 (22 reviews computed)
NIELSEN RATING: 8.30 (Ranked 38th out of 111) {ol}
--
Benjamin Robinson bj...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"Today you will learn what truth is, and how to act on it."
-- Jesse Liberty