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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.
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