Another day, another box of stolen pens.— Homer
Another day, another box of stolen pens.— Homer
Homer helps Mel Gibson edit his latest movie.
When Bart is diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, he must take Focusin, a new drug which boosts attention spans.
Homer becomes a food critic for The Springfield Shopper newspaper, but angers restaurant owners by panning their cooking.
I Know What You Diddily-Iddily Did: Ned Flanders returns from the grave seeking revenge after Marge accidentally runs him over. Desperately Xeeking Xena: Bart and Lisa become superheroes and must save Lucy Lawless from The Collector. Life's A Glitch, Then You Die: The Y2K bug takes over Springfield, turning all electrical appliances evil.
After Homer's empty threats of a duel are taken up, the family move to Grampa's old farm, where Homer comes up with Tomacco, an addictive cross between tomatoes and tobacco.
After Homer bowls a perfect game, he becomes an overnight celebrity. However, he becomes suicidal when his fifteen minutes of fame are over.
Apu's wife Manjula gives birth to octuplets. But when they turn out to be a handful, Apu gives them to the Springfield Zoo.
After Homer wins a motorcycle, he forms a bike gang, the Hell's Satans. But another (tougher) gang show up, also called the Hell's Satans, and take off with Marge.
Springfield Elementary is taken over by a toy company due to a lack of funds. However, as Christmas approaches, Lisa suspects they have a sinister motive.
After Marge breaks her leg in a skiing accident, Lisa takes over running the household.
Bart becomes a faith healer, while Homer builds a homecoming float for the upcoming big game.
After Mr. Burns receives an award for being the oldest citizen in Springfield, he goes for a health check, leaving The Simpsons in charge of his mansion.
The Simpsons acquire a racehorse after its owner is arrested for animal cruelty.
The Simpsons help Ned Flanders cope with the death of his wife, Maude.
Homer becomes a missionary on a remote island after pledging a large sum of money to PBS.
Feeling down about his looks, Moe gets plastic surgery and becomes a hot new soap opera star.
An Indian Casino manager shows Bart a glimpse of the future: he is a failing musician with Ralph Wiggum as his roommate, so he seeks help from President Lisa Simpson. Meanwhile, Homer searches for Lincoln's gold.
After seeing a videotape of himself drunk, Barney quits drinking and takes helicopter lessons. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa take up photography.
To relieve Homer's depression, the family take a holiday in Florida, but become fugitives after accidentally killing Captain Jack, the state's beloved alligator.
Lisa takes up tap dancing but has no coordination. Meanwhile, Bart & Milhouse escape from school camp and spend the week hiding out at the mall.
After Otto ditches his fiancé, Becky, at the altar, Bart invites her to stay, forcing Marge to compete with her.
This special explores the 'actual', off-stage lives of the Simpson family, including how the family was torn apart by fame and money.
One thing that is apparent in these later Seasons is that while there are still great episodes, there are more and more bad ones - and in fact the gap seems to get bigger with each Season. Season Eleven (1999-2000) brought us more of the same humour as Seasons Nine and Ten, however here there were noticeably more wacky stories: the family relocate to a farm and conjure up 'Tomacco', a cross between tomatoes and tobacco; Maggie miraculously saves Homer from drowning; fights with motorcycles; a mad chase with Teletubbies shooting lasers; jockey elves threatening Homer; and a Florida vacation that soon turns into a farcical running-from-the-law debacle.
Something else I noticed about the "Scully years" is that the character designs were quite different from the older Seasons. Comparing the fourth and eleventh Seasons, it's easy to see that the characters generally look more "human", in that the classic Simpsons features (huge eyes, massive overbite) have been toned down. This is most apparent in Homer - in earlier episodes he always looked as though he had some kind of childlike innocence about him. Of course it was not all bad, and even the worst episodes had the classic elements we've all come to know and love.
ATTENTION DEVOTED FANS!
Welcome to the wee mini-booklet that accompanies Season Eleven of The Simpsons, in which I prattle on for a few goopy sentences about the wise purchase you have just made. Indeed, what an absolutely-no-refunds collectible this is: here are some of the best, or at least most disturbing, episodes ever, including the ones in which Bart and Homer end up in a leper colony, Apu and Manjula have octuplets, Moe gets a facelift, Homer annoys Mel Gibson, Maude Flanders gets killed, Bart goes beserk and plows through Springfield in a tank, Lisa grows up to be president, and Homer is abducted by evil horse-jockey trolls. Not to drop names, but this season we exploited the voice talents of Lucy Lawless, Gary Coleman, Kid Rock, Dick Clark, Edward Asner, Charlie Rose, Jan Hooks, Penn & Teller, and Britney Spears. I could go on and on. So I will: Tim Robbins, Shawn Colvin, John Goodman, Parker Posey, Don Cheadle, Butch Patrick, Jay North, Ron Howard, Henry Winkler, The B-52's, and Willie Nelson. All this and the usual bonus detritus: deleted scenes, animation showcases, a tribute to Krusty the Clown and jabber-filled audio commentaries for every episode. It's a nifty little package.
So on behalf of everyone at the Simpsons Creative Unit, thank you for the pure joy of your ongoing enthusiasm, which we find truly inspiring as we endeavour to keep on amusing and surprising you. The money helps a little bit too.
Your cartoon chum,
Matt Groening
