(long) A review of "New Kids on the Blecch (CABF12)"
Benjamin Robinson
These days, it seems as though "boy band" pop groups like, say, 'N
Sync are everywhere these days. You can hear them in sound-alike
songs on your car radio. You can see them in slickly-produced videos
on MTV. You can read about the minutiae of their lives in "People."
You can wear their T-shirts, trade their collectable trading cards
with your friends, decorate your walls with their posters, and sleep
on bed sheets decorated with their images. And yet, something was
lacking. If you wanted to watch "The Simpsons," however, you faced a
dilemma: Watch the show and spend a half an away from 'N Sync
worship, or daydream about the band and miss the show.
Now, thanks to "New Kids on the Blecch," 'N Sync fans no longer have
to choose between OFF and their favorite band of all this month.
Thanks to that amazing Hollywood magic, the boys from 'N Sync appear
as guest stars right on "The Simpsons." Not only do you get to see 'N
Sync in their animated glory, but also live-action footage of the band
horsing around in the "Simpsons" voice-over studio. (The footage
comes courtesy of Fox Family Channel, which recently aired an 'N Sync
special. Gotta love that corporate synergy.)
Homer had his turn at musical stardom in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet
(9F21)," so "New Kids" gives Bart his shot. After pulling one of his
outrageous stunts at the Springfield marathon, Bart is discovered by
L. T. Smash, a record producer. Impressed by Bart's chutzpah, he
signs the boy up to a new band, along with Milhouse, Nelson, and
Ralph, called Party Posse. The whole boy band phenomena is ripe for
satire, and this plot could have skewered the music business.
("Barbershop" was mainly a parody of the Beatles' career, so there
wouldn't have been a problem with rehashing old material.) Alas, the
industry gets off pretty lightly. L. T. Smash throws around a lot of
supposedly hip lingo, and there's a machine that transforms Party
Posse's sound into something similar to 'N Sync, but that's about all.
Mad Magazine gets a funnier zing in the their act. Instead, most of
"New Kids'" plot revolves around a frankly silly conspiracy involving
a major government institution. It reminded me more of the ending to
"Brother's Little Helper (AABF22)" than anything else.
It turns out there's a good reason Party Posse sounds like 'N Sync.
[Insert joke about all boy bands sounding alike here. Thank you.] In
addition to appearing as themselves, the boys also provide Party
Posse's singing voices. One subtly clever decision using 'N Sync's
bass vocalist to dub squeaky-voiced Ralph's part. The
<alt.tv.simpsons> crowd may have dreaded their appearance, but 'N Sync
didn't take themselves too seriously and came off fairly well.
There were a couple of nice scenes, like Skinner's introduction of
Party Posse, but most of this show had that broad, cartoon-y feel that
probably appeals to the same demographic as listens to boy bands. In
spite of the hype, the final product is innocuous, and maybe even
forgettable. While it may be entertaining for the moment it isn't
destined to become a classic the way some more substantial episodes
are. "New Kids on the Blecch" is to the Simpsons what 'N Sync is to
the music world.
Grade: C+
[DYNs]
... the Australian runner dives after the trophy after Bart tosses
it aside?
... then the mob immediately piles on him?
... the Party Posse drinks Evian bottled water?
[References]
New Kids on the Block (boy band)
- title of episode a spoof
- there's a band called "New Kids in the Ditch"
Presidential pardon imbroglio
- blackboard punishment relates to this (See "Personal Comments &
Observations" for more)
The Olympic Games
- the soda can condensation marks on Homer's end table form the
Olympic logo
every family sitcom that ever existed on the face of the Earth
- Homer thinks Marge proposes that the two of them swap jobs, with
the aim of finding out whose life is tougher
The Flash (superhero)
- CBG dresses like him for the marathon
Roberto Benigni (actor)
- "used up all his English" in his acceptance speech at the
Academy Awards, as Bart claims to after the marathon
Sacagawea dollar coins
- L. T. Smash uses "Sacagaweas" as slang for "dollars"
Menudo (boy band)
- L. T. Smash the man behind Boynudo
"Electric Boogaloo" (movie)
- Smash's checklist has "Boogaloo: Electric" written on it
"Give Peace a Chance" (song)
- Homer thinks the chorus to this John Lennon tune doesn't mean
anything
Iwo Jima (famous WWII battle)
- Party Posse's raising of the tetherball pole initially similar
to the Marines' raising of the flag
Army recruitment poster
- slightly modified to net naval recruits
"shell shock" (psychological term)
- a store at the Squidport named, "Shell Shack"
"If I Could Turn Back Time [?]" (video)
- this video, by Cher, takes place on a battleship
- she straddles a gun the way Bart does
"Everybody Loves Raymond" (TV series)
- Mad's ever-so-clever spoof is "Everybody Hates Raymond"
[Previous Episode References]
[8F21] Bart dreams of becoming a rock star
[9F13] Skinner and his orange drink
[9F21] A Simpson forms a musical group
[AABF16] Cienega the VJ appears
[4F22] Offices of Mad Magazine seen
[4F22] New Kids on the Block parody called "New Kids on the Blecch"
[AABF19] Footage of Homer using mixing console recycled here
[FFF]
Marathon banner:
SPRINGFIELD
MARATHON
"RUIN YOUR KNEES
FOR CHARITY"
Record studio sign:
[musical staff]
CLASSIFIED RECORDS
L. T.'s boy band checklist:
MOVES: FRESH
--------
'TUDES: FLY
--------
BOOGALOO: ELECTRIC
--------
Sound-effects console labels:
STUDIO VOICE
MAGIC ENHANCER
Party Posse's video identifier:
Party Posse
"Drop Da Bomb"
Directed by: Ang Lee
Cryptic brainwashing message:
YVAN EHT NIOJ
[Better call in the NSA to decode that ...]
Recruiting poster:
I WANT YOU
[ Uncle Sam, ]
[pointing at viewer]
for the U. S. NAVY
ENLIST NOW
Bus sign:
NAVAL BASE
Lt. L. T. Smash's chest tattoo:
[ destroyer, ]
[head-on view]
I [heart]
THE NAVY
Poster in Smash's office:
STAR
BLITZZZ
[rainbow]
[ star ]
PRODUCTIONS
Advance copy of Mad:
Mad
[Alfred E. Neumann]
[flushing the boys]
WE FLUSH THE
PARTY POSSE
ADVANCE COPY
Big switch on aircraft carrier:
COMMISSION
DE-COMMISSION
[Personal Comments & Observations]
>> Pardon me!
During his final days in office, former President Clinton issued a
number of last-minute Presidential pardons. [A pardon is sort of like
a "get out of jail free" card, for those of you outside the U. S.]
The flurry of pardons isn't than unusual for an outgoing President,
but the recipients of them were. Typically the pardons go to obscure
people who committed non-violent crimes that were considered serious
at the time, but no longer seem like such a big deal. Clinton's
generosity, however, was extended to major-league embezzlers and
refugees, the most notorious of whom was Marc Rich, a man who fled to
Switzerland and renounced his citizenship to avoid prosecution. The
common thread was that the pardoned had influential people lobbying
the Clintons with gifts or campaign contributions. The pardon-for-
hire scheme struck many people, even those who defended Clinton while
he was in office, as being a zero-class deal. Investigations were in
progress at the time the episode aired, and these probably inspired
the blackboard punishment seen at the start of the show.
>> Revenge of the boy bands
For the past two years, one of the predominant trends on the American
Top 40 charts has been what's known -- not always affectionately -- as
the "boy band." Aside from tonight's guest 'N Sync, other popular boy
bands include The Backstreet Boys, and 98 Degrees. Their music draws
heavily R&B and soul, and is sung in polished multiple-part harmony.
In performance, the band members rarely play instruments (a chore
handled by a backup band or just by pre-recorded music), but instead
show off elaborately choreographed dance routines.
Boy bands tend to strongly attract a young (under 13) and female
crowd, and just as strongly repel everyone else. Most bands form
"spontaneously" when a group of musicians with common artistic
interests find one another. Boy bands, by contrast, are calculated
from the word "go." Four or five guys who can sing are recruited by a
producer, who then hires songwriters and choreographers to come up
with an act. With such a diverse crew of people working on one
project, any artistic vision gets diluted, so that all the songs from
all the bands all wind up sounding roughly alike. It is this
mechanical lack of passion that drives most of the bands' critics up
the wall. Kids Bart's age don't care about this, of course. They
just know what they like and, judging from the sales charts, they like
'N Sync and their ilk.
>> An Olympian comeuppance
The 1936 Olympic games were held in Berlin. At the time, the city was
held by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. The Nazis decided to use the
games as a giant propaganda effort for their government. Among other
things, the performance of the German athletes was to prove their
theories of Aryan superiority. Jesse Owens, a black American runner,
must not have gotten the memo on this. Owens was one of the
contestants in the 100-meter dash, one of the Games' showcase events.
He defeated his Aryan competition. The crowd, which was more
interested in athletic, rather than racial, superiority, roared with
delight, but Hitler stomped out of his seat in disgust. Today, the
Nazi government is gone, and one of the streets leading to the Olympic
stadium in Berlin is named for Owens.
Incidentally, for part of his post-Olympic career, Owens staged a
variety of "gimmick" races to entertain his fans. I don't think he
raced a zeppelin, but he did sometimes go up against a racehorse.
>> I buried Paul
Yes, I was meticulous enough to try to duplicate Lisa's experiment
with sound reversal. She got better results than I did. I recorded
the chorus of "Drop Da Bomb" on my laptop and digitally reversed it.
The result sounded like, "joy-YEENNN-thah-nah-VEE." If you heard it
without being told what to listen for, you'd probably have missed the
"message." Incidentally, saying "Join the Navy" normally, and then
reversing that, gave me something that sounded a bit like "Ee-nevneh
Ni-OSHJ."
>> Miscellaneous, Etc.
* Billy Crystal is a comedian and actor. He's most recently known
for his performances hosting the Academy Award Presentations.
* Car Watch: L. T. Smash drives a late-model Ford Mustang
convertible.
--
Benjamin Robinson bj...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
NOTE: This message is not intended for use as a floatation device
AcK!
wrote:
>[References]
>
>New Kids on the Block (boy band)
>- title of episode a spoof
>- there's a band called "New Kids in the Ditch"
Once again I see a reference to a Command & Conquer game (the first being the
final battle scene when Homer was quitting his job working for Scorpio).
C&C: Red Alert 2 (computer game)
- opening movie features (Russian) ships firing missiles at downtown NYC.
>Big switch on aircraft carrier:
>
> COMMISSION
>
> DE-COMMISSION
Look carefully: after that initial gag, the switch is changed to read SHIP and
MUSEUM.
>at the time, but no longer seem like such a big deal. Clinton's
>generosity, however, was extended to major-league embezzlers and
>refugees, the most notorious of whom was Marc Rich, a man who fled to
^^^^^^^^
Fugitives would be a better term, actually. :)
TTYL
... 'If one is to insult someone's intellect, it is generally considered best to spell "dumb" correctly...' - Zagadka
krup...@yahoospa.com
remove "spa" to email
Jeremy Styron
> the music world.
the bane of our society?
Zikron the Insistent
<bleh...@home.com> wrote:
>Benjamin Robinson wrote:
>>
>> The 1936 Olympic games were held in Berlin. At the time, the city was
>> held by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. The Nazis decided to use the
>> games as a giant propaganda effort for their government. Among other
>> things, the performance of the German athletes was to prove their
>> theories of Aryan superiority. Jesse Owens, a black American runner,
>> must not have gotten the memo on this. Owens was one of the
>> contestants in the 100-meter dash, one of the Games' showcase events.
>> He defeated his Aryan competition. The crowd, which was more
>> interested in athletic, rather than racial, superiority, roared with
>> delight, but Hitler stomped out of his seat in disgust.
>
>Great review, Benjamin, but I just have to correct you on the Jesse
>Owens story. Hitler never snubbed him - check out
>http://sportslegends.about.com/sports/sportslegends/library/weekly/aa080700.htm?terms=Jesse+Owens
>of course putting those two lines all in one line in your browser. I'll
>paste some of that article here:
>
Speaking of Hitler UL's, in "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"
that ditty Homer sung
Whistle while you work.
Hitler is a jerk.
Mussolini bit his weenie
Now it doesn't work.
is a UL about Hitler having only one testicle.
http://www.urbanlegends.com/sex/hitler_testes.html
Steve
> that ditty Homer sung
>
> Whistle while you work.
> Hitler is a jerk.
> Mussolini bit his weenie
> Now it doesn't work.
>
> is a UL about Hitler having only one testicle.
>
> http://www.urbanlegends.com/sex/hitler_testes.html
bet it's true.
Now here's something I just heard - is Napoleon also only a single?
--
_______________________
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\ diehard fan of NY: O UCLRM UC2CTM UCASGM /
\ YANKEES KNICKS OOOOO UCFMSMTRSHTOAH /
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\ OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO /
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RIP Dale Earnhardt - a true American hero
Ozmodiar
> - Homer thinks the chorus to this John Lennon tune doesn't mean
anything
"Rama Lama Ding Dong" (song) 1961 - The Edsels
- Homer thinks the title of this song doesn't mean anything.
also
"Who Put The Bomp" (song) 1961 - Barry Mann
asks the musical question, "Who put the Ram in the Rama Lama Ding Dong?"