Skip to main content

The Simpsons

 "Cape Feare" is among the more famous "Simpsons" episodes.


I had thought Kelsey Grammer won an Emmy for this half-hour, but I was wrong. Grammer did win for playing Sideshow Bob--but in a later season.

A stranger comes to town. Bart begins receiving menacing letters, written in blood: "Die Bart Die," "I Will Kill You." (Homer admits to having written one of the letters; he is angry that his son has mocked him. Bart has tattooed "Wide Load" on Homer's butt cheeks.)

When Bart realizes his real nemesis is Sideshow Bob, a homicidal maniac, the race is on. The humor comes from how un-subtle Bob is; for example, Bob drives through the streets of Springfield, shouting out the names of people he does *not* intend to kill, and Bart is conspicuously absent from the list. (Maybe we're mocking Scorsese here? One thing you think, when you watch Scorsese's "Cape Fear," is that Nick Nolte perhaps drags his heels a *bit* before responding to Robert De Niro...)

The Simpsons enter Witness Protection, but Homer ruins the plan by wearing a tee shirt that says "WITNESS PROTECTION" in large letters. Sideshow Bob materializes, but Bart buys time by asking for a one-man performance of the entirety of "HMS Pinafore." And Bob says, "Fine. I'll send you to heaven.....before I drag you to hell...."

This episode frightened me in childhood, but it's fun to watch now. A highlight of revisiting Season 4/5 "Simpsons" moments is that you can recall: "I'm watching peak episodes from the seasons people have labeled the greatest...in a show that critics have often named the best comedy in television history...."

And that's a treat.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Host a Baby

-You have assumed responsibility for a mewling, puking ball of life, a yellow-lab pup. He will spit his half-digested kibble all over your shoes, all over your hard-cover edition of Jennifer Haigh's novel  Faith . He will eat your tables, your chairs, your "I {Heart] Montessori" magnet, placed too low on the fridge. When you try to watch Bette Davis in  Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte , on your TV, your dog will bark through the murder-prologue, for no apparent reason. He will whimper through Lena Dunham's  Girls , such that you have to rewind several times to catch every nuance of Andrew Rannells's ad-libbing--and, still, you'll have a nagging suspicion you've missed something. Your dog will poop on the kitchen floor, in the hallway, between the tiny bars of his crate. He'll announce his wakefulness at 5 AM, 2 AM, or while you and another human are mid-coitus. All this, and you get outside, and it's: "Don't let him pee on my tulips!" When...
3 comments
Read more

The Death of Bergoglio

  It's frustrating for me to hear Bergoglio described as "the less awful pope"--because awful is still awful. I think I get fixated on ideas of purity, which can be juvenile, but putting that aside, here are some things that Bergoglio could have done and did not. (I'm quoting from a survivor of sexual abuse at the hands of the Church.) He could levy the harshest penalty, excommunication, against a dozen or more of the most egregious abuse enabling church officials. (He's done this to no enablers, or predators for that matter.) He could insist that every diocese and religious order turn over every record they have about suspected and known abusers to law enforcement. Francis could order every prelate on the planet to post on his diocesan website the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting cleric. (Imagine how much safer children would be if police, prosecutors, parents and the public knew the identities of these potentially dangerous me...
1 comment
Read more

Raymond Carver: "What's in Alaska?"

Outside, Mary held Jack's arm and walked with her head down. They moved slowly on the sidewalk. He listened to the scuffing sounds her shoes made. He heard the sharp and separate sound of a dog barking and above that a murmuring of very distant traffic.  She raised her head. "When we get home, Jack, I want to be fucked, talked to, diverted. Divert me, Jack. I need to be diverted tonight." She tightened her hold on his arm. He could feel the dampness in that shoe. He unlocked the door and flipped the light. "Come to bed," she said. "I'm coming," he said. He went to the kitchen and drank two glasses of water. He turned off the living-room light and felt his way along the wall into the bedroom. "Jack!" she yelled. "Jack!" "Jesus Christ, it's me!" he said. "I'm trying to get the light on." He found the lamp, and she sat up in bed. Her eyes were bright. He pulled the stem on the alarm and b...
1 comment
Read more