The Simpsons – Recap – \"Goo Goo Gai Pan\"

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Interesting quote from George Lucas on 60 Minutes tonight in regards to making independent films after Star Wars is over: “I’ve earned enough to fail the rest of my life and that’s what I’m going to do”. Very good interview overall. I’ve never cared for the movies, but I respect anyone who follows their own vision discreetly. Oh, and Andy Rooney is a genius, and should be cherished and enjoyed while he’s still alive. You’ll miss his wisdom when he’s gone soon, trust me.

Hey what’s up, ready for another week of Simpsons? Did you see South Park? I missed it originally, and someone at my local comic shop the next day was telling me how bad it was. Dismissing him as a disgruntled fan, I caught the episode my self that very night, and yeah, he was mostly right. Interesting topic, but the show wasn’t very funny. There was so much that could have been done with Kyle being a black Jew, and in one of those few moments in the shows history, I thought Trey and Matt we’re holding back big time. Is the T.V. Censorship spree expanding to Colorado? God, I hope not. I’m holding out hope that they’ll come back next week with the usual brilliance expected from the show.

The Simpsons, 8:00 P.M., Sundays on Fox

“Goo Goo Gai Pan”

Synopsis: Homer must pretend to be Selma’s husband so she can adopt a baby girl from China

Favorite Moments: Mr. Burn’s assorted hood ornaments: “At least I’m out doing things”, Robert Wagner, menopause expert, Selma gives up smoking (for chewing tobacco), “I misheard my wife, I thought she said give me back my rabies”, “Lisa: China has lots of babies available for adoption Homer: Great, another job lost to a foreigner”, , and Homer: I felt a chill go through my very soul/ Lenny: Yeah, those sloppy joes will do that.and we’re at our first commercial break

Homer’s dragon fantasy, crying rainbows and playing violins, “your sweet love is the one thing that saved my life from being an unmitigated disaster”, General Tso’s chicken memorial (“makes the Lincoln memorial look like crap), Homer angers the Shaolin monks and the results are better than all of Kill Bill, “Ah, look at him sleeping, he’s like a little angel who killed fifty million people, Mongolians on polo skits, the Chinese Death of a Salesman, Madam Wu: Soon you will have a Chinese relative even smarter than you/Lisa: I don’t know, I’m pretty smart/Madam Wu:Tibet was considered pretty independent, what do you think of that?, Homer: “You guys are Commies? Than why did I see a rudimentary free market?”, Homer Simpson: World’s Greatest Patriotic Acrobat, porcupine acupuncture, and “Wow, the fortune cookies here really are more accurate. And we’re at our second commercial break

The innocuous Chinese spy, Homer Simpson: Buddha Statue (Kind of looks like old school gold armor Iron Man), Feng shui: A crappy way to sell end tables to the west, Funny Sign: “Tien En Men Square: On this site in 1989 nothing happened Ping Pong deaths, Homer strangling a panda, and the happy dragon song at the end. Ooo, David Silverman teaches us how to draw Bart in a cool segment that syndication will undoubtedly cut. I hope they air more of these. End of show.

What Flat Out Sucked: The basic plot was a bit too Lifetime (I only say that in the way it was melodramatically done) for me, and I wish they would have had a different woman in the Selma role, perhaps Ms. Krabapple or Luanne Van Houten. Bouvier-themed episodes twice in the span of a month is a bit too much for me, but that’s probably because I’ve never really liked the sisters.

Most Valuable Character: Jub Jub- The one thing I do like about Bouvier themed episodes: Their pet iguna, Jub Jub. I could only imagine if Jub Jub and Blinky spawned. It’d probably look like Renee Zelwegger. Just a hunch.

Personal Thoughts: I’m a sucker for the “let’s travel and make fun of countries in a stereotypical way” episodes. Those have been some of my favorite shows, and China is certainly ripe for satire. Some people might call this a rehash of the Japan episode, but I’d disagree. China, at least from this outsider’s perspective is a lot shittier, and the show certainly didn’t do it any favors. A lot of clever punches were thrown at the culture. A few of the jokes missed, but most worked, and that’s an improvement. There were many moments here where I thought this show was worthy of being in one of the previous seasons. Maybe not the standard quality of season five, six or seven, but overall this show could have snuggly fit into mid to late season eight territory.

And once again they tackled another topic not getting much attention from other sitcoms or dramas. An issue that’s as important as the gay rights marriage issue, but doesn’t get enough attention because of the way this country generally treats adoption as an afterthought or last resort. Personally, it’s the only way I could see myself having kids. I think it’s because when I was younger my mother wouldn’t let us open new cereal boxes (even if they had cool prizes in them) until we finished what was left in the old ones. Shouldn’t we do the same with our children? Take care of the neglected ones here before starting anew? Isn’t that the more selfless thing to do? There’s some food for thought, and it proves that the show is still vital and good when it wants to be, if it can stir emotions like that out of me.