I don't agree that it's the "beginning" of her Flanderization, but it's certainly a jarring shift in the show's perspective. It's the first time I can think of when the show has laughed *at* Lisa—-when "she's such a shrill little cause-chaser who doesn't even know what she's talking about!" has been the punchline.

Not quite as prevalent as the "car hold" people, but certainly more prevalent than the "'sleep is where I'm a viking' means 'I'm very good at sleeping'" people, are the "Luann was saying 'Goucher'! Kirk went to Goucher College! Which means Springfield is probably in Maryland, unless we are to believe Kirk moved to a…

And we didn't get to see Marge's hot, hot body at all!
(Sorry - after last week, I will never be able to think of Doc Quack as anything but the 'wants to fuck cartoon characters' guy.)

No, you won't!

I always thought the joke was that Milhouse was rooting for Bart to miss the apple, which is funny because the likeliest consequence of that would be Bart shooting Milhouse in the eye or something.

I disagree. Homer doesn't walk at all if he can help it.

Do not touch Willie. Good advice!

I love that bit so much. Why would Chalmers even know what "make way for Willie" was supposed to mean?

Their idea of wit is nothing more than an incisive observation humorously phrased and delivered with impeccable timing. I'm sure you'll be a smash at the ball and I just know you'll have a lovely new outfit.

What Bleary seems to be missing is that the joke isn't that this game will determine who's the greatest nation on earth *at soccer*; it's that this game will determine which of two countries Americans don't care about is *the greatest nation on earth*, period, at everything, *based on being good at a game Americans…

That man never liked a comment in his life!

I liked it when it aired, because I didn't get the "Bewitched" reference. Remove that, and it's a pretty good Simpsons-misdirection joke—-"Oh, just like Maude Flanders's name is 'Goody' in this alternate universe, Homer's name is 'Derwood'! …wait, no, Patty or Selma is just being a jerk, as usual." But throw in the…

I'm with you. I couldn't get past the second minute of the first episode for the exact same reason.

Yumpin' Yimminy!

Well, according to my computer aging program, in 25 years, you should look about 25 years older.

I was so excited to read a "100 Episodes" about American Gladiators. Then I found out it was a "Very Special Episode" and wondered how they would pull that off, given how interchangeable its episodes were. It turns out they pulled it off by writing a "100 Episodes" and making occasional references to one episode that…

Ludvig Borga was so out of left field. The WWF was so topical in the '80s and early '90s with its racialized villains, and then all of a sudden here's a Finnish guy? I was convinced (I was eight or so) that this meant the States would be at war with Finland in six months.

I disagree about Al Bundy, but still upvoted for your criticism of the random shoehorning-in of a second American Beauty reference. Is American Beauty really that relevant?

When I read in various reviews that the book-within-a-book was most notable for spawning a profane, implausible-seeming catchphrase, I was immediately reminded of the part in "Carrie" when King describes every kid in town as having called Tommy Ross "a hell of a good shit". "Carrie" is a great story, but that remains…

Early in this book, King devotes a paragraph to talking about how fucking stupid that dialect was, and how the kid has outgrown it and thank fucking God because it was so stupid, and awful and etc. I was really impressed with him for being that self-aware and shoehorning that in—-the slight fourth-wall-break was…