Question: After Smithers rejects the job offer from Globex, the associates speak to the "next most senior" employee at the plant - Homer. If I remember correctly, isn't Carl a supervisor over Homer?
Bishop73
2nd Mar 2024
The Simpsons (1989)
19th Oct 2023
The Simpsons (1989)
Homer's Triple Bypass - S4-E11
Question: Bart and Lisa say they don't feel highs and lows because their generation watches MTV. Can someone explain more?
Answer: I think Lisa and Bart are actually referring to Generation X and early Millennials. People of these ages are also known as "the MTV Generation." They dealt with the political, social, and economic issues that were happening in the '80s and '90s. Many were also "latchkey kids" who had to be independent from an early age. They are known for being apathetic or even cynical, after growing up the way they did.
Answer: They probably mean that MTV has little to do with real life, and viewers became numbed and emotionally detached from reality by watching the contrived idealized images almost non-stop. It prevents them developing empathetic feelings toward others in their lives.
This episode aired Dec 1992, and given that it took 6-9 months to produce an episode, the writing took place early or mid 1992. MTV's first reality show, "The Real World", didn't air until May 1992. "Road Rules", MTV's 2nd reality TV show didn't air until 1995.
But that's all equally applicable to watching endless music videos, shortening attention spans. The fear is/was that constant "input" like that would slightly numb people to the real world, with exciting music/images being the only thing that generates an emotional response, in comparison to the more "boring" real world.
6th Apr 2022
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: The Stonecutters' song mentions that they hold back the electric car. Why do they want to do that?
Answer: The idea probably being they're in the oil business, or at least in the pocket of Big Oil. There's been a long time conspiracy that oil companies killed the electric vehicle, so they could keep making money off gasoline.
25th Feb 2022
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: I, like Marge, don't know much about football. Why is Homer disappointed to own the Denver Broncos team? I know his first choice was owning the Dallas Cowboys, but he seems to especially dislike the Broncos.
Answer: I don't think the writers had anything particular in mind when choosing the Denver Broncos to be the butt of the joke. But I wonder if it's meant to be a clue where Springfield is. But, while this episode did air late 1996 when the Broncos had a winning season, given the amount of time needed to produce the episode, it was written when the Broncos were a mediocre team at best. From '92-'95 they had a 32-32 record and never finished higher than 3rd in their division. And the Cowboys and Broncos are in separate conferences, so they're not particularly rivals. But as Phaneron points out, the Broncos ended up winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the following 2 season after this episode aired, so Homer is a very lucky guy.
Probably also worth mentioning that by the time this episode had aired, the Broncos had an 0-4 record in the Super Bowl, and to this day I believe they hold the record for most Super Bowl losses.
The Buffalo Bills also had an 0-4 record at the time of airing having lost 4 straight years.
The Vikings are also 0-4 in the Super Bowl. The Patriots have 5 losses (although only had 1 at the time this episode aired).
True, and they would have been a funnier pick for Homer to end up owning, given that two consecutive of those four Super Bowl losses were to the Cowboys. Although Homer fantasizing about being John Elway in the episode Cape Feare makes his disdain for the Broncos rather funny.
13th Mar 2020
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: Looking for the episode where a parody of the Incredible Hulk is standing before a judge and requests a change of venue, arguing it "cannot get a fair trial in Springfield."
Answer: S20e01, "Sex, Pies, and Idiot Scrapes." It was St. Patrick's Day and the Nationalist Irish (dressed in green) and the Unionist North Irish (dressed in orange) people got into a fight. There's a scene where a parody of Hulk fights a parody of The Thing. Later, all the people involved in the fight are lined up to see the judge and Mulk says he can't get a fair trial in downtown Springfield.
6th Mar 2020
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: Why would Homer want his 'favorite team' to lose by less than five points? Is it a gambling thing?
Answer: Yes, it's a gambling thing. It's called "the spread." The Cowboys would have been underdogs, so the opponent (in 1990 it was the Washington Redskins) were favored to win. Homer bet money that the Cowboys would win or at least not lose by 6 points. That's why he says "five and a half points", since there's no way to score half a point, if the Cowboys lost by 6, Homer loses the bet. But if they lose by 5 or less, Homer wins the bet.
30th Dec 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: Surly Duff tells a kid to "Take a picture, it'll last longer" - just what does this expression mean?
Answer: It's just a sarcastic response people say when they catch someone staring at them. As if the person staring is trying to burn an image in their mind of what that person looks like and a picture will last longer than the memory.
Answer: Along with the other answer, it's a sarcastic thing that people say to someone who they don't want to be friends with or date. ie. a group of "cool" kids not letting a "loser" type into their group, or a woman rejecting a guy who wants to date her. They are basically saying "I want to get away from you as fast as possible, so you might as well take a picture - it'll last longer than our friendship/relationship would."
19th Jun 2019
The Simpsons (1989)
22nd Jan 2018
The Simpsons (1989)
Question: Is Shauna's dad Superintendent Chalmers?
Answer: Yes, he is.
14th Feb 2016
The Simpsons (1989)
Brother From Another Series - S8-E16
Question: In this episode, Sideshow Bob seems to no longer want to kill Bart (shown by his happiness at seeing him near the dam, and later on, saving his life, as well as Lisa's). But in episodes after this e.g. "Funeral for a Fiend" and "The Great Louse Detective", Bob suddenly wants to kill Bart again. What caused him to change his mind after this episode? It can't be because he thinks Bart is responsible for sending him back to jail because in this episode when Bob and Cecil get arrested, Lisa defends Bob and says he had nothing to do with it, and Lou even backs her up by saying that Cecil confessed to the whole thing.
Chosen answer: While Sideshow Bob does rescue Bart, he never is truly over his hatred of him. At the end of "Brother From Another Series", Cecil is actually able to trick Bob into swearing revenge on Bart, which is why Bob is sent to prison despite being innocent of trying to blow up the dam, and Bart is once again his nemesis. Although time rarely passes in the show (i.e. Bart stays 10 for the most part), it's not until season 12 when Sideshow Bob appears next, and it's clear he's been in prison the whole time, with plenty of time to rebuild his anger and hatred over Bart (and Krusty).
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Answer: "Next most senior" means Homer has worked at the plant longer than Carl, despite Carl's position as supervisor. Carl was simply promoted over employees that had been there longer (which isn't uncommon in the workplace).
Bishop73
It often happens because a more senior employee is not ideal, but they do just enough acceptable work that management will keep them around. Management doesn't want the hassle of the hiring process, and they might want to avoid unemployment pay or a possible lawsuit.