A great achievement of John Swartzwelder's is "Freddy Quimby," who appears in "The Boy Who Knew Too Much." Swartzwelder cannot *tell* us to hate Freddy (a spoof version of a young, entitled Teddy Kennedy), so Swartzwelder subtly "steers" us one way via brilliant details:
*Freddy crashes his convertible into his own birthday party (without apologizing).
*Freddy brutally mocks a French waiter for a (perceived) mispronunciation of the word "chowder."
*Freddy ruins the communal fruit punch by tossing his dirty football into the bowl. Rather than apologizing, he makes a dumb joke. "The punch is SPIKED!'" Everyone is required to laugh.
My favorite moment involves the climactic scene. Freddy has a chance to learn from his mistakes; on trial before a jury, he can now behave in a modest, attentive way, in an effort to win fans. Instead, he becomes enraged (yet again) that a nearby colleague is mispronouncing a "Boston" word. He threatens to kill everyone in the courtroom unless a "Boston accent" is immediately adopted.
I think we all have just a touch of Freddy in our souls; this is an unforgettable character. He is forever linked with a toast from his uncle, the mayor: "May all your disgraces be private."
Top-tier "Simpsons."
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