G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)

The Simpsons are on a carwash conveyor belt; they get washed, blasted with wax, scrubbed with prickly brushes, resulting with Marge's bushy hair and Maggie with a fresh pacifier.^[1]

Guest star(s)

Kiefer Sutherland
Maurice LaMarche

Season 18
September 10, 2006 – May 20, 2007

"The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer"
"Jazzy and the Pussycats"
"Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em"
"Treehouse of Horror XVII"
"G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)"
"Moe'N'a Lisa"
"Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)"
"The Haw-Hawed Couple"
"Kill Gil: Vols. 1 & 2"
"The Wife Aquatic"
"Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times"
"Little Big Girl"
"Springfield Up"
"Yokel Chords"
"Rome-old and Juli-eh"
"Homerazzi"
"Marge Gamer"
"The Boys of Bummer"
"Crook and Ladder"
"Stop or My Dog Will Shoot"
"24 Minutes"
"You Kent Always Say What You Want"

List of all The Simpsons episodes

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"G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)"^[1] is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season and first aired November 12, 2006.^[1] Homer falls prey to a couple of Army recruiters and lands himself in basic training. Homer, of course, treats it like summer camp and infuriates his hard-nosed colonel (Kiefer Sutherland) when he is unfazed by the constant hazing and humiliation. Homer is assigned as the enemy of the Army's war games, but when the war games get out of hand and Springfield becomes the battlefield, Homer and the Springfield community must join forces. It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Nancy Kruse,^[1] while Kiefer Sutherland makes his first of two guest appearances this season. Maurice LaMarche does additional voices.^[1] In its original run, the episode received 11.43 million viewers.^[2]

1 Plot
2 Cultural references
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

At the Springfield Mall, two Army recruiters fail to recruite Jimbo, Dolph and Kearney, prompting them to realize even the dumbest teenagers wouldn't want to join the army. They then realize that in order to convince young people to join the Army, they’ll just have to start recruiting kids at a younger age. The next day at Springfield Elementary, a surprise assembly is held in the auditorium, and the two Army recruiters make their way on the auditorium stage. The two quickly delve into a recruitment pitch by showing a short movie, deceitfully depicting the Army as some sort of high-tech video game, in which the kids would get to fly around in helicopters destroying evildoers and perform rock concerts in front of thousands of screaming fans. All the kids in the auditorium are easily swayed by the Army propaganda film and quickly pre-enlist for the Army.

An excited Bart comes home from school and shows Homer and Marge his pre-enlistment form. Marge is instantly appalled at the idea of Bart joining the Army when he turns 18; this prompts her to send Homer down to the Army Recruitment Center to make them cancel Bart's pre-enlistment. At the Army Recruitment Center, Homer forces the two Army Recruiters to tear up Bart's pre-enlistment contract, but in the process, the Army Recruiters prey upon Homer's lack of intelligence and convince him to join the Army instead. At the post Homer infuriates his new hard-nosed colonel (Kiefer Sutherland). While the majority of recruits are assigned to the infantry, Homer is assigned to a different group, with other stupid recruites. During the Army's war games, the Colonel's side is against Homer and the other stupid recruites. When the live ammo is to be tested on them, Homer, thinking it was Chinese New Year, accidentally exposes his unit's location by launching a flare. The flare blinds the soldiers, who were all wearing night vision goggles. Homer and his unit soon escape into Springfield with the Army close behind.

That night, the Colonel and his troops patrol Springfield in search of Homer. Homer sneaks back home, alarming Marge, but as they speak, a toy helicopter (adorned with a remote controlled camera) is soon following Homer, and Homer realizes it's the Colonel spying on Homer's location. He attempts to avoid it, running through the entire house, but eventually, Homer leads the helicopter into the downstairs closet that is full of TNT and dynamite. He locks the door behind the drone and it meets its demise as the closet explodes. To avoid having the army spy on him, Homer hides out at the Retirement Castle. Marge rallies the Springfield community with a phone tree to coordinate resistance to the occupiers, in order to make a plan. The citizens spike the town reservoir with alcohol, intoxicating the occupying force. The colonel's resulting hangover is so great he reluctantly surrenders to the townsfolk, stipulating only that Homer finish his enlistment. Homer does so by becoming a recruiter at the Springfield Mall.

In the end credits, a militarized version of the Simpsons theme plays and the Colonel voices "frontline infantry" assignments to the cast and crew, as the credits roll over a black background.^[1]

[edit] Cultural references

The episode title is a reference to G.I. Joe.^[3] Homer mentions Stripes when heading for Moe's basement,^[3] while the scene with Homer being chased by the mini helicoptor parodies the style seen in many Looney Tunes cartoons.^[3] The scene mades a nod to Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner and Tom and Jerry.^[3] The scene ends with a computer monitor showing the "That's All Folks!" end title card.^[3] Homer is made to eat doughnuts while his fellow recruits do push-ups; later, Homer wonders when the drill sergeant will ask him "what his major malfunction is". Both pay homage to the 1987 military drama film, Full Metal Jacket.^[3] The army video game shoots down Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler, and Jason Voorhees.^[4] The episodes' plot is similar to an earlier episode, "Simpson Tide".^[4] Homer imagines the greatest leader as Cap'n Crunch.^[4]

[edit] Reception

In its original run, the episode received 11.43 million viewers,^[2] and gained gained generally positive reviews.^[5]^[4] Adam Finley of TV Squad praised that the episode was entirely random, and enjoyed the parody of Looney Tunes.^[4] Dan Iverson of IGN however, hated the episode, calling it "painfully unfunny", and "the show's attempt to satirize the state of the U.S. military simply crossed the line of good taste". He concluded that it was "by far" the worst episode of the season, and "quite possibly" the worst episode in the entire of The Simpsons history. He does, however, enjoys the Loony Tunes parody and Sutherland's guest voice.^[6] Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin criticized the episode, writing, "the mockery of Army recruiters and enlistees is absolutely disgusting."^[7]