Simpsons by the Season: 4

"It may be on a lousy channel, but the Simpsons are on T.V.!"

This season can do no wrong. So many great episodes without a single miss - "Homer the Heretic", "Kamp Krusty", "A Streetcar Named Marge", "Mr. Plow", "Krusty Gets Kancelled"... it's one hit after another. While I have yet to rewatch the following seasons, I dare say this one is the champion, the holy grail of the series that is and forever will be the the greatest of the twenty-something and counting of The Simpsons. 

Oddly enough, the best stuff from this season comes through their songs - a not entirely uncommon prospect for the show, but is most prevalent in this run of episodes. First, the song they sing at Kamp Krusty. Next, the song detailing the many failings of New Orleans (for some reason the city took offense, and the chalkboard the following episode read "I will not defame New Orleans"). Then there was the monorail song, followed by Lisa's songs outside of the power plant in hopes of a dental plan, and the song to Whacking Day. Plus, Bette Midler's song for Krusty in "Krusty Gets Kancelled", proving once more that Krusty is the best animated character in the series by leaps and bounds. 

Of course, that's not the only positives in the season. They're consistently full of the best The Simpsons has to offer. 

You do, however, start seeing very subtle changes in character. While I understand that by now I must be beating a dead horse with the "Simpsons have family values" theme of this blog series, it is beginning to turn - albeit slightly. Lets not forget that in "Homer the Heretic", the crux of the show is that Homer decides to forego church. After a certain number of seasons, this is such a non-issue that you forget that the family is - at least technically - religious. 

Lets look at Homer. In "Brother From the Same Planet", Homer forgets Bart at his soccer game (he plays soccer?). This in and of itself is a small issue. In previous episodes, Bart would have been upset, and Homer would have had to work his way into his favour once more by being a genuinely good father - a fairly straightforward plotline for seasons one through three. Instead, this time when Bart lashes out and goes to find a "big brother", Homer doesn't try to help the problem but instead responds with finding a "little brother". It's petty and childish. Hilarious, don't get me wrong, but a change in approach for certain. Homer doesn't really learn much of a lesson by the end of it either - he just fights the "big brother" and haphazardly gains back Bart's respect. In fact, Bart apologizes to him. If anything, Homer comes across as a much worse parent than previous seasons, but I will admit that this is just a one episode spread. Don't worry - there is plenty of time for Homer's fall of character in the future seasons. It comes swift and savagely. 

Now, of course it wouldn't be fair to mention that Homer still finds many of the redeeming qualities he has in previous seasons in this one as well. In "A Streetcar Named Marge", he's boarish for the 

majority of the episode only to find redemption in the last few minutes. That is more like previous seasons - flaws in the character of the family, but ultimately good-heartedness shines through when needed. It's the core of the first three seasons, and still sneaks its way through to the fourth. There's also a few of the staples of the series as well; Homer almost dies twice, once during "Homer's Triple Bypass" and once during the clip show. Oh, I lied - there was one weak episode, but clip shows are typically not recognized that strongly.

Lastly, I want to comment on that while I know precious little about the time when this season aired (I would have to be about three or four years old) you can see just how popular it must have been through the guest stars in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". What show nowadays could snag as many stars - Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Hugh Hefner, Johnny Carson, Luke Perry and Elizabeth Taylor - in just one episode? That being said, it shows the age of the show a little as well. Gabbo, Krusty's rival whom he fights for viewership, is a doll. A ventriloquist act to counter a clown for the attention of children is such an old concept that it's kept alive almost exclusively through The Simpsons. 

Aside from that, though, it's hardly aged at all. It's funnier than I even remembered, and I don't think I'll ever be able to watch the "Worker and Parasite" clip without cracking up. Kudos, Simpsons, but it's a slow decline from here on out (while still at the peak for years to come, mind you).

Quotes:
"I'm whizzing with the door open - and I love it!"
-This scene when Homer stays home from church was so funny that my uncle called my father at the commercial almost in tears from laughing. It's been in the family lore for a while now.

"Bette and I owned a race horse together - Kruddler!"
-Like season four, Krusty can also do no wrong.

"Alright you balls of pan drippings, I want to see crisco coming out of those pores! We're not leaving until this Christmas ham gives us a pull up."
-The drill instructor at Kamp Krusty's fat camp

-It wouldn't be fair to have this blog without posting the entirety of the New Orleans song in all its glory.
"New Orleans!
Home of Pirates, drunks and whores, 
New Orleans!
Tacky overpriced souvenir stores,
New Orleans!

If you want to go to Hell, you should take a trip
To the Sodom and Gomorra on the Mississip

New Orleans!
Stinky, rotten, vomiting, vile,
New Orleans!
Putrid, brackish, maggoty, foul,
New Orleans!
Crummy, lousy, rancid and rank,
New Orleans!"

Best Episode:
It's a tie again. I just can't choose between "Homer the Heretic" and "Krusty Gets Kancelled". It's not fair. It's just not fair.