Hardly Kirk-ing

"Hardly Kirk-ing" is an episode of The Simpsons. It is the thirteenth episode of the 24th season and the 521st episode overall. It aired on February 17, 2013.^[1]

The first time the episode aired in the USA, the opening was shortened to allow time for Fox to air Maggie Simpson in: The Longest Daycare; there was no chalkboard gag, and the couch gag consisted only of the knight cutting off Homer's head.

Plot

Marge takes the family out on a TV-free day after finding Maggie watching a DVD from the Baby Poindexter collection, which, according to the news, was pulled for being ineffective in educating children (even though Homer likes it because it is not merchandise-driven like so many kids' shows today). A flashback reveals the material in question sent a younger Bart into a drooling fit while Lisa turns the presentation's packaging into an interactive diorama. The family goes to a bookstore, where Homer becomes fascinated with hidden-object puzzles and begins using his skills to find people and common objects in the real world.

Meanwhile, Bart hangs out at Milhouse's place. While bored, Bart squirts some epoxy in Milhouse's hair. Bart gives him a haircut to remove it, but he removes most of Milhouse's hair as a result, making him look just like his father Kirk. With Bart's help, Milhouse dresses up like his dad, becoming taller with the help of homemade stilts made from paint cans and making his voice sound like Kirk's by tying a tie tightly around his neck (though if the tie is put too tightly around his neck, he sounds like Duffman). Bart uses this to his advantage, as Milhouse, looking like an adult, is now able to commit adult activities. They bully Homer, purchase items for Jimbo, Kearney, and Dolph, and participate in municipal voting.

When Lisa wishes to go to downtown Springfield, Milhouse is able to buy tickets for him, Lisa, and Bart. He collects a portion of the class action settlement being paid out to people who bought Baby Poindexter DVD's, but the money he receives is not enough to buy food for the three of them. They are forced to attend a condominium sales presentation for a free breakfast, but find that the doors have been locked to prevent them from leaving. The saleswoman, thinking Milhouse is an adult, attempts to seduce him. Homer and Marge, realizing the children are missing rush to find them. Homer stops by for the free meal, rescuing the three children by coincidence. Milhouse later apologizes to Kirk for impersonating him, and admits that he wants to grow up to be just like him.

Cultural references

The "Baby Poindexter" DVD is a reference to the Baby Einstein line of media, which has also faced controversy for its supposed effectiveness on a child's development. The music of the DVD is a child music version of Clair de lune, a song by Claude Debussy.

Ice Road Hand Fishing is a parody of Ice Road Truckers and other similar Discovery Channel reality shows.

The opening couch gag is a parody of Game of Thrones. The chopping of Homer's head at the end of the couch gag is also reminiscent of the Lithuanian puppet show segment of this episode.

"Hardly Kirk-ing" originally aired on February 17, 2013, one day after Lithuanian Independence Day (February 16). This episode reveals that Springfield is home to a surprisingly large Lithuanian Center, where Marge, Lisa and Maggie attend a rather bloody puppet show featuring cossack puppets who chop off the head of a Lithuanian girl puppet. Marge prepares to leave the show, but an usher dressed in knight's armor announces that no one can exit the theater until all of the puppets have been killed.

The popular VoIP software Skype is also featured in "Hardly Kirk-ing."

The bus station featured in the film bears a striking resemblance to First Avenue & 7th Street Entry, a nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was originally a bus station.^[2]

The Pixies song "Here Comes Your Man" is prominently featured in "Hardly Kirk-ing" and during the credits.

Reception

Critical reception

The episode received mostly positive reviews, with Robert David Sullivan of The A. V. Club giving the episode a B-, saying, "We're still a long way past Simpsons episodes with emotional resonance, but plain weirdness works better than the constant cutaways and pop-culture-dropping of last week's episode. Milhouse is not an overused character, and he still has kind of a Charlie Brown quality that allows us to see humor in his adult-like, well-articulated neuroses, so that it doesn't feel as if we're laughing at an actual little boy."^[3] John Blabber of Bubbleblabber gave the episode a more lukewarm grade of a 7/10, surmising that "laughs were there, the plots weren't, but at least we got to see 'Longest [Daycare]'!"^[4] Rob Dawson of TV Equals gave the episode a positive review, saying: "'Hardly Kirk-ing' is the kind of episode that I wish The Simpsons could pump out every week these days. It's well-constructed and funny, it is what I want late-period The Simpsons to be. It keeps itself together, plays off the larger extended universe of Springfield without seeming like a parade of 'hey, I recognize that guy', and is, most importantly, entertaining."^[5]

Ratings

The episode received a 2.0 in the 18-49 demographic and was watched by a total of 4.57 million viewers. This made it the second most watched show on Fox's Animation Domination line up that night, beating The Cleveland Show, Bob's Burgers and American Dad but losing out to Family Guy with 4.87 million.^[6]

References