Worst Episode Ever
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"Worst Episode Ever" is the 11th episode of The Simpsons' twelfth season, aired on February 4, 2001.
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[edit] Plot
Bart and Milhouse (joining the elite ranks of Sideshow Bob, Nelson Muntz, and Matt Groening) are banned for life from Comic Book Guy's store, The Android's Dungeon, when they talk Martin Prince's mom out of selling Comic Book Guy Martin's rare Star Wars items. When Comic Book Guy suffers from a heart attack when witnessing Tom Savini's work he gives Bart and Milhouse the duty of running his store since he does not really have any friends to ask for help from. The store becomes wildly successful under the management of the two boys, only to lose much of its newfound prosperity after Milhouse goes overboard in ordering a shipment of comics depicting a superhero with coke-bottle glasses, which flops spectacularly. After a brief argument and scuffle between the two boys it is unintentionally revealed that Comic Book Guy owns a secret stash of illegal video clips, and Bart and Milhouse charge admission for viewing such clips as a secret government plan to use Springfield as a testing zone for allied countries' nuclear missiles and Ned's complaint to the police that Homer released a radioactive ape into his house. The scheme works well until Chief Wiggum conducts a police raid on the store. Despite this, they manage to come away with the profits of their time managing the store.
Meanwhile Homer helps a recovering Comic Book Guy look for a friend and attempts fail until he meets Agnes Skinner. They become romantically involved until Chief Wiggum comes to charge Comic Book Guy for his illegal videotapes and Agnes says she is too old to wait until he gets out of jail.
As for Bart and Milhouse, who no longer own the Android's Dungeon, they said to themselves that they had a fun time together and that they have missed a lot of school. Poor Ned, though, remains firmly under the clawed thumb of Homer's radioactive ape.
[edit] Trivia
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- A brief dialog between Homer and Comic Book Guy was edited out in later reruns of the episode where the Comic Book Guy tells Homer "Thanks for the tip off," right after he pulls the coat off of Homer, Bart, and Milhouse who were pretending to be Shaquille O'Neal.
- The syndicated version of this episode cuts out the last part of Homer's flashback of when he was banned from Gallagher's comedy show for eating his watermelon just as he was about to smash it. Originally, it ended with the teenaged Homer sobbing on the sidewalk, then it faded to the adult Homer sobbing and lamenting that he never saw Gallagher after that. In syndication, the flashback ends with Gallagher throwing a teenaged Homer out, then goes straight to Lisa reading the paper about Tom Savini's appearance at the Android Dungeon (the Comic Book Guy's place of employment).
- The salesperson for Plan 9 Comics/Biclops who hoodwinks Milhouse is named Eric Reynolds, a reference to the long-time Fantagraphics Books editor and promoter of the same name. The character was named after Reynolds by then-producer Dana Gould; Reynolds is a friend of Gould's and was also the only actual comic book "salesman" Gould knew in real life, hence the homage.
- Comic Book Guy's annoyed take on the sunrise — "Could it be any more orange?" — mimics the way Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) talked on Friends when he was being pointedly sarcastic. In Season 13's Treehouse of Horror episode, Perry did a voice cameo as a computer running an automated house, where he sarcastically said, "Could I be any more of a house?"
[edit] Cultural references
- Milhouse is wearing My Little Pony underwear when he and Bart are washing their clothes.
- The publisher for Biclops is from Plan 9 Comics, a reference to Plan 9 Publishing, which itself is a reference to the movie Plan 9 From Outer Space.
- Bart says that LensCrafters created the Biclops character. LensCrafters is a national chain that makes eyeglasses and contact lenses.
- At the end of act two, Bart and Milhouse are portrayed in a comic-book art style.
- Milhouse got himself banned for life in the Simpsons comic too, after accusing Comic Book Guy of price gouging.[citation needed]
- When Comic Book Guy is showing Bart and Milhouse a copy of Radioactive Man #1000 he pours his drink on it to demonstrate how it bounces off onto "lesser-comics." The comic the drink bounces off onto is titled Bongo and shows a rabbit on the cover, which is a reference to Matt Groening's comic strip Life in Hell.
- While eating the baking soda, the lines in Homer's flashback are
- "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit," a line used by Johnnie Cochran in the O.J. Simpson murder case
- "Therefore, I shall resign the presidency," said by Richard Nixon in his television resignation
- "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" - Neil Armstrong's description of the moon landing.
- The episode title is a line occasionally used by Comic Book Guy. He says it in this episode in reference to his cardiac 'episode'. This in turn is a likely reference to the frequent use of this phrase by critical Simpsons fans.
- When co-owner Milhouse is approached by Lisa in the store, his dream is similar to a crime fiction film noir scene. Then, his "Hachee-machee!" imitates Jay Sherman from The Critic.
- The door to the secret room filled with video tapes is hidden behind a poster of She-Hulk, which is a reference to the film, The Shawshank Redemption where a prisoner has a secret escape tunnel behind a pin-up picture of Rita Hayworth.
[edit] External links
- "Worst Episode Ever" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
- "Worst Episode Ever" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Worst episode ever"
