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Miscellaneous / Verschiedenes » alt.tv.simpsons » A review of "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play (HABF16)"
| A review of "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play (HABF16)" [message #271433] |
Mo, 22 Mai 2006 07:29 |
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[The long of it]
Here's a switch: In a season where Homer and Marge seemed to be in
marital trouble much of the time, we finish with an episode where they
try to save someone else's marriage. Isn't this a bit like having Moe
running a charm school?
Homer and Marge get in this position when ballplayer Buck Mitchell
sees the two kissing on the Jumbo-Tron at an Isotopes game. His own
marriage, to sultry singer Tabitha Vixx, is going through a rough
patch, so he naturally figures a couple who can kiss passionately in
public is best qualified to save it. Marge, like most people who have
watched the series for any length of time, doubts they're the best
people to be doling out marriage advice, but Homer talks her into it.
I liked the reversal here, with the Simpsons going from needing
marital help to providing it. But the writers take a pedestrian
approach. Their marriage counseling sessions consist of Marge leafing
through an advice book, and repeating some common-sense advice like
"trust your partner," and "keep communicating," while Homer cuts
things short so he can have a beer. It's plausible that the
counseling would go this way, but it's also a bit dull. The Simpson
family, pretty much from episode one, has been described as
"dysfunctional." Homer and Marge, at least at first glance, seem to
be all wrong for each other. Yet their love has not only endured, but
thrived to the point where it's hard to imagine them with anybody
else. How do they do that? Don't you think they've built up a lot of
offbeat (and hilarious) marriage advice over the years? Some of it
has to be pretty loopy, like Homer's counter-intuitive life philosophy
in "Lost Our Lisa (5F17)." That sort of advice would have been fun to
see, but we don't get much of it. Or, as another tack, maybe we could
have seen Marge earnestly repeating the standard platitudes, only to
see them backfire. But instead, the Mitchell-Vixx union rebounds,
until it's time for a crisis which itself seems contrived. (It's the
"Homer and Tabitha do something innocent that gets misinterpreted"
routine.)
A saving grace is that the ancillary humor in this episode is pretty
good. Tabitha Vixx (voice of Mandy Moore) has that "wholesome slut"
act down pat. We can see this in the opening part of her act, which
celebrates fidelity and skankiness at the same time. (Speaking of
guest voices, I liked that they went through the trouble of getting
Stacey Keach to do a cameo reprisal of Henry K. Duff VIII.) Homer's
idea to repair a rift between Buck and Tabitha is nice, even if his
execution is questionable. I also liked the closing credits of a
crime show the family watches, where Heidi Klum and Sir Anthony
Hopkins share guest star billing. And it's always fun to hear Harry
Shearer's (I *think* that's him, anyway) Vin Scully impersonation.
"Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" would have been a better episode
if they (or rather, the writers) had really explored what makes their
marriage tick. "Secrets of a Successful Marriage (1F20)" takes this
approach, and arrives at an interesting conclusion, but there's
probably room to find other reasons for Homer and Marge's continued
marriage success. After all, they've been married for seventeen
seasons -- a better track record than most of their real-life
audience. They must know *something* that we don't.
[The short of it]
Homer and Marge must have learned a lot about marriage over the years.
Some of it has to be pretty offbeat, like Homer's life philosophy.
Wouldn't it have been fun to hear some of it, as opposed to the
standard "trust your partner" advice? The latter's what we get
though, along with a contrived crisis involving Homer and Tabitha
Vixx. The secondary humor lifts the show a little above mediocrity:
I liked Tabitha's stage act, Homer's plan for resolving the crisis,
and Harry Shearer's baseball announcer. This is the North American
season finale, but either of the two repeats preceding tonight's
airing would have been a stronger closing act for the season. (B-)
[DYNs]
.... Marge reads blogs?
.... it looks like Edna's last name is spelled with two "b"s on the
championship plaque?
[I always thought there was on "b" in "Krabappel"]
[References]
"A League of Their Own" (movie)
- Springfield had its own Ladies Pro baseball team
The National Enquirer (tabloid newspaper)
- Krusty shown on the cover of The Inquisitor, a similar style of
paper
Led Zeppelin (rock band)
- one of their signature tunes was "Whole Lotta Love"; baseball
announcer says, "Said zeppelin is a whole lotta love"
"Black Sunday" (movie)
- blimp crashes into stadium
The Hindenburg air disaster
- Abe (?) says, "This is the worst blimp disaster ever," evidently
forgetting this explosion that killed more than thirty people
[Previous Episode References]
[AABF19] Humorous closing credits
[AABF19] Anthony Hopkins' name attached to a project you wouldn't
expect to see him in
[2F31] George C. Scott appears
[2F15] On the Inquisitor cover, Krusty drawn like his 2010 version
[1F10] Homer dispenses marital advice
[4F18] Marge also advises people
[FFF]
Closing credits for "Hunch":
Hunch
TONY HUNCHARELLA
Written by
J. D. SALINGER
Gloria Huncharella
GWYNETH PALTROW
City of New York
CITY OF LETHBRIDGE,
ALBERTA
Bystander #2
SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS
Furious Bowler
THE LATE
GEORGE C. SCOTT
Guy Who Turned Out
To Be That Other Guy
HEIDI KLUM
Inquisitor cover:
THE
INQUISITOR
KRUSTY'S
SAD
LAST
DAYS
Marriage advice book:
MARRIED
ALIVE!
A Wife-Saving Guide
Homer's counselor "certificate":
HOMER <- "Homer" handwritten
L i s a S i m p s o n <- "Lisa" X'ed out
2ND Grade Spelling Champion <- lined through
COUNSELOR <- handwritten
Seymour Skinner [trophy] Edna Krabbappel
Homer's 10:00 appointment:
DRINK
AT
TEN O'CLOCK
Homer's session notes:
LADY PARTS
= BOOBS?
ASK DAD
LATER
Channel 6 News caption:
MORE BANGS FOR THE BUCK!
Coliseum marquee:
SPRINGFIELD
COLISEUM
TONIGHT --
TABITHA VIXX!
WARNING: FIRST TEN
ROWS MAY GET HORNY
Tabitha's stage set:
SEXY
MARRIAGE LAND >
NEXT EXIT
MONOGAMY
VOWS
HeALTH
BeNeFiTS
Attendance quiz:
TONIGHT'S ATTENDANCE:
A) 8,191
B) 8,128
C) 8,208
D) No way to tell
[The correct answer was "C," by the way]
[Personal Comments & Observations]
>> Those never-ending threads: Is so-and-so gay?
This time it's Lenny and Carl fueling the innuendo fire with Lenny's
"Remember when we used to kiss ... our respective girlfriends"
question.
>> Personality Parade:
"Hunch" has assembled quite a stellar cast for what looks like a
potboiler detective show.
J. D. Salinger -- Reclusive author of "The Catcher in the Rye."
Although the book was well-received, I don't think he ever wrote a
follow-up work. I'm sure the literary world would want to see him
writing again, but I don't think "Hunch" is what they had in mind.
Gwyneth Paltrow -- Apple and Moses Paltrow's mom. Also a noted
actress, most famously playing a woman actor sneaking into the all-
male cast of "Romeo and Juliet" in "Shakespeare in Love."
Anthony Hopkins -- Another famous and dignified actor, perhaps best
known to American audiences as the urbane psychopath Hannibal Lechter.
George C. Scott -- Actor; I think he had the title role in "Patton."
(Did he pass away? I don't remember that.) He was also in a movie
about the Hindenburg, which by coincidence was referenced in this
episode.
Heidi Klum -- Supermodel. If she was passed off successfully as a
guy, then "Hunch's" make-up person deserves an Emmy nod.
--
Benjamin Robinson bjr7 [at] freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"I'm naked, clueless, and f-e-e-e-ling good!" -- Ratbert
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