Episode 4 - Theres No Disgrace Like Home
27 March 2012
Synopsis: Mr Burns, the nuclear power plant boss has his annual employee picnic. Homer frets over his family embarrassing him and is ashamed when he sees how well other families get on. He decides to take action and books an appointment with Dr Marvin Monroe’s family therapy centre. Monroe hooks the family up to an electric generator to put them through aversion therapy.
The Good: This is another clear example of Homer setting his mind to something and going all the way with it before finding an unconventional solution to maintain the status quo.
The company picnic introduces us more fully to wealthy and spiteful boss Mr Burns. Homer tries desperately to look good including tackling Bart to the ground in order to let Burns win a sack race.
He tries to prove to his family that they are abnormal in their bickering by spying on their neighbours. The classic Simpsons humour is in place as the opposite of the expected starts to happen. First Homer assumes a boy and his father are having a pleasant conversation when in fact they are talking about shooting at the trespassers outside the window. Then the Simpsons come across a “dump” of a house before realising it is their own. You get a more complete picture of the Simpsons lexicon of humour when we see the first “Itchy and Scratchy” cartoon and meet Lou and Eddie and the local cops. Moe offers them some pretzels to which Eddie replies “No thanks we’re on duty. A couple of beers’d be nice though.”
The electroshock aversion therapy is a memorable idea which of course goes wrong. The Simpsons naturally continue to shock one another until Monroe is forced to give them double their money back. The moral of the story is that more TV, not less will bring some family unity, however fleeting. Its The Simpsons way to wrap up a story: simulating the morality of many an average real household rather than the usually lofty morals of other TV families.
The Bad: The placement of this episode is rather odd. Homer was promoted in the previous episode yet here Mr Burns has no recollection of him at all. There is no way Maggie should have been strapped to the electric generator, that’s ridiculous.
Best Joke: Homer bemoans his family as he says grace. “Did you see them at the picnic!? Oh of course you did, you’re everywhere, you’re omnivorous.”
The Bottom Line: The electro shock is a memorable image but the episode isn’t quite the classic it may be remembered as.
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