A review of "Homer Simpson in: Kidney Trouble (AABF04)"
Benjamin Robinson
I'm not of the school that claims "The Simpsons" is irreversibly
declining, but "Homer Simpson in: Kidney Trouble" provides an example
of what these folks are talking about.
As you might have gathered from the previews, Grampa suffers from a
double-kidney blowout, and it's up to Homer to donate the kidney
needed to keep him alive. He chickens out, of course, and spends much
of the show earning the wrath of just about everyone he runs across.
Now, I don't have a problem with this, but at the end of the show
Homer really redeems himself. In other episodes where Homer does
something selfish, he does get around to doing the right thing. (Or
at least a Homer-ish approximation of the right thing.) Here, he's
callous to the end, and it left a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak.
This sort of cold-heartedness can be funny, but not in a character
we're expected to sympathize with week in and week out.
"Kidney Trouble" would have been better if Homer spent more time
making a decision. Or if the first part played up the strained
relationship between his father and him (so we can see why Homer might
be reluctant to risk his neck for Grampa). Or if the transplant
happened early on so Homer could lord it over Grampa. Or something.
The show does have its humor, but a good portion of it is of the
really silly kind. This is the kind of story where Homer can
parallel-park a handcar on the street, or jump out an open residential
window in an operating room. It wasn't bad, but after "Lisa Gets an A
(AABF03)" I was hoping for some subtler, more subversive humor.
Most of the best material in the episode was in the first act, where
OFF visits Bloodbath Gulch, a ghost town and tourist trap populated
today by a bunch of amusingly malfunctioning robots. (The can-can
number was especially funny.) The (human) guides were also pretty
good; one of them, desperate to infuse the town with some excitement,
points out how mundane things like hitching posts and sidewalks might
have been used by bandits. Still, some people will notice that some
of this covers material already done, like in "Itchy & Scratchy Land
(2F01)."
Homer's had an interesting sojourn to the waterfront, and a brief, and
really strange, voyage on the ship of lost souls. The Peter Lorre (?)
type guy was cool; I'll bet we'll see him again in future shows.
Like I said, I'm not going to call for the cancellation of the show on
the basis of one off episode. On the other hand, I've gotta call them
as I see them. As for this episode, perhaps they should have called
it "Homer Simpson in: Scripting Trouble."
[The short of it]
Well, they can't all be gems. The premise is potentially interesting,
but Homer is portrayed as being too cold-hearted to be really funny.
As for the rest of the story, most of the humor was rather silly and
surreal, but I did like the scenes at the ghost town and waterfront.
Overall, it didn't quite click with me. (C-)
[DYNs]
... the Duff truck passing by as OFF leaves Bloodbath Gulch?
... a new occasional guest voice, Karl Weidergott, appears to have
joined the cast?
[References]
Doc Martens
- the pediatrics doc at Springfield Hospital has the same name as
this shoe (?) maker
[Previous Episode References]
WHAT IS IT WITH OFF AND ROBOTS?
[8F11] Cheesy automatons at Wall E. Weasel
[9F11] Bart de-pants George Washington robot
[2F01] Homer's unsuccessful experiments with robots mentioned
[2F01] The professionals aren't much better then Homer since
their robots went berserk
[2F15] Robots in 2010 much more realistic, but still a little
buggy
[3F01] Dilapidated automatons at Storytown Village
[AABF04] More flaky animatronics at Bloodbath Gulch
(other references)
[3F16] Handsome Pete seen
[4F18] Grampa mentions that newspapers (cf. Sarsaparilla) will
"angry up the blood"
[FFF]
If you like funny business signs, this was the episode for you!
At the ghost town:
BLOODBATH GULCH
"THE FRIENDLIEST TOWN
IN THE OLD WEST"
YE OLD ANIMATRONIC
S A L O O N
Rest area sign:
REST AREA
85 WONDERFUL
BATHROOMS
At the hospital:
SPRINGFIELD
HOSPITAL
DOCTORS CARRY LESS
THAN $5 CASH
On the waterfront:
BARNACLE BILLY
ANGER
MANAGEMENT
CENTER
DAVEY
JONSES'
HAMPER
CALL ME DELISH-MAEL
TAFFY SHOP
[Oops!]
I know this was artistic license, but technically your kidney wouldn't
pop from holding it in too long; you bladder might, however.
Couldn't the hospital put Grampa on dialysis long enough to keep him
alive until a donor could be found?
[Personal Comments & Observations]
>> Miscellaneous, Etc.
I liked this week's blackboard gag: "I am not a licensed
hairstylist." It's especially funny if you think about what he had to
do to merit that particular sentence....
--
Benjamin Robinson bj...@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"There are no fair fights" -- Prick
Xtratuff
gag, Doc Martens to pediatrics is not.
Also, Bloodbath Gulch is indeed of a recurring theme ala Itchy and
Scratchyland, but both are references to the sci-fi movies "Westworld" and
"Futureworld."
BT
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
"***WHAAPPP!!***...don't think....FEEL." -Bruce Lee
x t r a t u f f @ a o l . c o m
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
AcK!
bj...@freenet.tlh.fl.us (Benjamin Robinson)'s computer and wrote:
>>> Miscellaneous, Etc.
>
>I liked this week's blackboard gag: "I am not a licensed
>hairstylist." It's especially funny if you think about what he had to
>do to merit that particular sentence....
Or if you just look at his hair... ;)
TTYL
... M.A.D.D.: Modems Against Display Drivers.
krup...@yahoospa.com
remove "spa" to email
Andrew Gill
<366c5a38...@news.digital.net>...
>
> Doc Martens
> - the pediatrics doc at Springfield Hospital has the same name as
> this shoe (?) maker
Very comfortable shoes, also. In fact, Dr. Marten patented the shoes
so that he could sell them at about $150 per pair. Luckily, his first
patient really needed them...
> [Oops!]
>
> I know this was artistic license, but technically your kidney
wouldn't
> pop from holding it in too long; you bladder might, however.
Just like what happened to Brahe, right?
<http://www.urbanlegends.com/death/brahe_death_of.html>
--
|Andrew A. Gill |I posted to Silent-Tristero and|
|<fruadman_tru...@juno.com> |all I got was this stupid sig! |
|alt.tv.simpsons CBG-FAQ author | |
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Actually, it is pretty close...
Jsherman67
When I was reading through a.t.simpsons reviews for AABF04, I don't know why
someone said that was a bad blackboard gag to have. Too bad it will probably
get cut in syndication, because Simpsons episodes in syndication usually cut
out full openings(a syndication cut practice I have long HATED).
Jsherman67
Rodman-style hairdo on. I don't know why the writers have stopped doing
special effects on the blackboard gags(aka Bart squeaking chart, writing in
Olde-English font, etc.).