New Kids On The Blech: Simpsons \"All\'s Fair in Oven War\" Review

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R.I.P. O.D.B. who is D.O.A.

Yay!! The official sixteenth season premiere of “The Simpsons” is here!! Now you too have a legitimate excuse for not shelling out the $35.00 on Survivor Series later. Homer shenanigans for free or paying to see Maven in a main event? Talk about your difficult choices.

Thanks to all six of you who responded promptly to my qualm from last week by identifying the song at the beginning of the show as the theme song to the abominable T.G.I.F. sitcom “Perfect Strangers”. Apparently Balky lives on in the hearts of many IP readers. You poor, poor bastards. How many of you besides Aaron Cameron and myself remember the hideousness of Meego? Let the Bronson Pinchot references fill Inside Pulse to the brim!! MWA-HAHAHAHAHA!!

“The Simpsons”, Sundays at 8:00 P.M. on Fox

“All’s Fair in Oven War”

Written by Matt Selman, directed by Mark Kirkland

Special guest voices- Reclusive author and Cornell University alum Thomas Pynchon and swinging bachelor James Caan.

The gist of it- The house is falling apart, and Marge wants to get a contractor to fix it. After doing more damage to good by attempting the home-repairs on his own, Homer gives in and after a few weeks the house looks good as new, especially the kitchen. Marge bakes like she’s never baked before, and enters an Oven Fresh baking contest. She heads to the finals at the Springfield Convention Center, but finds the atmosphere to be less friendly than she imagined. She fears losing the competition, so as a last resort she poisons the other participants’ dishes with baby ear medicine. But is it enough to win?
Meanwhile, Bart stumbles upon some Playdudes that Homer recently discarded while renovating the house. Playdudes by the way that Marge cut the naked pictures out of. The sophisticated text inspires Bart to customize his tree house into his very own Playdude mansion.

Favorite moments- The Blacula parody, Homer living next himself, bread maker maker, Home’s contractor complaint, sport fishing with Sonny Jergensen, “The blossoming of Milhouse”, Ciao Bella!! The subcontractor, Virginia Woolfe quotation, Loafarole, Apu’s new dream, Music Gordi Whitelaw would approve of, “Someone somewhere says I’m better than someone else”, Ralp’s dessert entry, The network sponors(” Taste better than a human heart”), Bart’s treehouse entry requirement, Auntie Oven Fresh and her kind words, Agnes’ real hair color, Agnes makes an impression, The Pope Quote, “Caution: Painted Keyhole”, “Blood for Cream”, Home’s version of the birds and the bees, and Bart’s reaction, Moe plans to make his move, Brandine’s new boyfriend, and James Caan’s final line.

What flat out sucked- Too much rehashing for my tastes. Marge has already gone the obsessive route several times before (gambling, weight gainers) relying on Lisa as a moral compass. The sabotaging of the other participant’s desserts was reminiscent of “Twisted World of Marge Simpson. Likewise for the Bart subplot. Instead of having a casino in his treehouse it’s a Playdude mansion, and instead of Robert Goulet dropping by it was James Caan. I know that if a show is on for sixteen years it’s bound to repeat itself a bit, but come on, this is ridiculous.

M.V.C.- Thomas Pynchon- Being in two episodes makes him a recurring character right? Right? I’m always pleased to see guests like Mr. Pynchon, Robert Pinskey and Amy Tan make appearances. Most literate cartoon ever!! And you gotta love Pynchon’s clever disguise! They even fit in a John Cheaver reference and a Norman Mailer one too. Take that Gilmore Girls.

Personal Thoughts- I’m rather torn as there were enough memorable moments and gags, but on the other hand the plotting was all “been there done that before”. The quality of the jokes are ultimately what determines the greatness of an episode, however, at least some freshness should be applied to the storylines.
Also, I imagine the Apu subplot is going to be forgotten by next week. Or at least I hope so. They’ve already done enough to damage his character by adding Manjula and the octuplets. We don’t need him leaving the show and coming back a year or two from now.

Top 3 Simpson’s Desserts

3. The chocolate puppy from Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk – When one of Home’s new German bosses proclaims that he hails from the land of chocolate, it sets his mind and stomach to wonder of a glorious land, where everything really is made of chocolate. Including the living animals. So do they crap Tobelarones?
2. La Bomba from “Guess Whose Coming to Criticize Dinner”. When an evil French chef (as if there’s any other type) wants to put Homer away for good, he whips up this deadly delicacy, too chocolaty and fattening for any mortal stomach.
1. The Gummy De Milo from “Homer Bad Man”. What if the world of gummy candies mixed with the world of Renaissance Art? You’d be given the confectionary masterpiece crafted delicately by gummy artisans known as “The Gummy De Milo”, a treat so sweet you’ll even want it after it’s been stuck to the ass of a college feminist.

And by the way, what do you think of this format? What changes would you make? Feel free to e-mail me with all suggestions and anything else not related to unfunny 80’s sitcoms.