Another day, another box of stolen pens.— Homer
Another day, another box of stolen pens.— Homer
Homer is committed to a mental institution, where he meets up with an overweight white man who thinks he is Michael Jackson.
Lisa wins a essay competition in Reader's Digest, and the family get a free trip to Washington D.C.
Ned Flanders announces that he is opening a left-handed store. Homer, however, wishes that Flanders would fail.
Bart gets a job at 'The Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club', which is actually mafia headquarters. However, when he shows up late at work and blames Principal Skinner, Skinner disappears.
During a meltdown, Homer saves the plant by pressing a random button, and is subsequently praised as a hero.
When Krusty comes to dinner at The Simpsons' home, he reveals he is Jewish and estranged from his rabbi father.
Homer, Bart and Lisa eat too much candy, and have nightmares: Lisa's Nightmare: Homer buys a monkey's paw that gives the holder four wishes, but with bad side effects. Bart's Nightmare: Bart has evil powers, and everyone in Springfield must act happy or bad things will happen. Homer's Nightmare: Homer is the subject of Mr. Burns' Frankenstein-like experiment.
Homer buys Lisa's love with a pony, which the family cannot afford.
To be a better father, Homer helps Bart build a soapbox racer. However, Bart jumps at the chance to ride in Martin's superior machine when Martin breaks his arm.
Homer gives Moe the recipe to his own cocktail - the 'Flaming Homer'. But Moe steals his idea and the profits when it becomes a huge success.
Homer is fired from the plant after Mr. Burns sells it to German businessmen for one million dollars.
After Marge thinks she may be pregnant again, Homer tells the kids the story of how Bart was born.
Bart tricks all of Springfield into thinking that a little boy named Timmy O'Toole has fallen down a well.
Lisa's football predicting skills brings about a closer relationship between her and Homer.
When stress caused by the family causes Marge to have a nervous breakdown, she takes a solo vacation at 'Rancho Relaxo'.
Mrs. Krebappel takes an ad out in the personals, however, it all goes wrong when Bart answers it for a joke.
To win a million-dollar bet, Mr. Burns replaces the company softball team with professional players.
Bart finds new respect for the law after a test shows he is suited to be a police officer. Meanwhile, Lisa hangs out with the bad kids after her test says she should be a homemaker.
Santa's Little Helper runs away after the expense of an operation for him leads to budget cuts and low morale for the family.
Homer becomes a manager to a beautiful country and western singer, much to Marge's disapproval.
Sideshow Bob gets paroled from prison, and marries Selma. However, Bart suspects an ulterior motive.
Bart invites Otto to live with the Simpsons when he loses his job and is kicked out of his apartment.
Milhouse falls in love with a new girl at school, and casts his friendship with Bart aside. Meanwhile, Homer tries to lose weight by listening to a subliminal tape.
Herbert Powell (Homer's half-brother) returns, and asks Homer to fund a new invention of his.
The third series (1991-1992) is widely considered to be the start of "The Golden Years" of the show; by this time The Simpsons had well and truly established itself as a pop culture phenomenon.
Again, improved animation and funnier plots helped it to become one of the most successful television programs of that year, with merchandise selling like crazy. Now the show was not just for kids, as is the impression you get from the first two Seasons - this was the start of the multi-layered humour and storylines that makes all the great Simpsons episodes so good.
Among the many classics, we see Homer get committed to a mental institution for wearing a pink shirt (with the guest voice of Michael Jackson); a new drink called the "Flaming Moe" take Springfield by storm; Mr. Burns selling the power plant to Germans; the story of Homer and Marge's marriage and Bart's birth; and Homer managing a beautiful country singer (one of his many lifelong dreams).
Pardon me if I sound a little emotional in this introduction, but when I come home after work and turn on the TV and gaze at all the old reruns of The Simpsons, I get a bit choked up. When I see those yellow-skinned, overbitey cartoon characters I love so much running through their sweet, innocent paces in some almost-forgotten adventure from more than a decade ago, my eyes start to water. As I watch their high jinks and snappy retorts and merry mix ups, I find myself stifling a sob or two. But don't get me wrong. I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm crying because I'm filled with rage. Do they really have to hack up the syndicated episodes of The Simpsons so poorly, butchering them to the point of near incomprehensibility? Just to squeeze in several more commercials for heavily salted snack treats? Is this how TV repays our years of slavish, unquestioning loyalty?
What I'm trying to say is that if you're hip to the whole recycled Simpsonian merchandise thing, then you're really going to dig this little baby: the whole uncut third season of the show, with all the jokes, credits, and original animation glitches intact. We've continued the acerbic audio commentaries by the writers, animators, and actors for every single episode - although by the end of this season you'll notice we've run out of things to say and have filled the soundtrack with a lot of quiet scuffling and squealing. (Just some foolish horseplay, I assure you. Won't happen in the next boxed set).
This is the season in which The Simpsons found love. We see Homer and Marge getting married at Shotgun Pete's Wedding Chapel (just over the border from whatever state Springfield's in). We leer at Homer's near romance with country singer Lurleen Lumpkin. We recoil at Marge's sister Selma's marriage to the ever-conniving Sideshow Bob. We stare in disbelief at Milhouse falling in love with someone other than Lisa (Samantha Stanky, to be precise). Plus we get a gander at the 1971 sex-education film "Fuzzy Bunny's Guide to You Know What," not to mention Homer's psychedelic ride in the SpineMelter 2000 massage-chair or his unforgettable rhapsody in the Land of Chocolate.
All in all, not a bad batch of shows. I actually think this makes Season Two look like Season One.
Your pal,
Matt Groening
