Rate/Review Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore (HABF10)

[Channel Surfer]

Homer learns that the nuclear power plant is being shut down and outsourced to India. After Homer is sent to train the new employees, he becomes power hungry in his new position of authority. Meanwhile, Selma and Patty meet their Hollywood heartthrob, MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson), and kidnap him for their own obsessive worship. When Anderson discovers how exciting real-life drama can be, he refuses to leave until Selma and Patty devise their own plan to get him out.

Or from snpp

When Burns decides to replace Springfield Nuclear Power Plant with one in India, Homer is sent overseas to train the new employees, but he lets his new power go to his head; Patty & Selma kidnap Richard Dean Anderson, only to have to develop a MacGyver-style scheme in order to get him to leave.

Preview/Speculation thread

[Sarcastic Guy II]

5/5

The end was a parody of Indian movies, much like what we saw in the deleted scene from Homer & Apu, though it did go on for too long.

Patty & Selma were funny, and it was nice to see continuity with Ling, despite her presence only being for continuity.

Homer was good, particularly in Act II.

Burns & Smithers were good, except for Burns' snake entrance.

[JHutch]

wow...that episode was....diffrent...but in a good way...4/5

[That Jerk]

It was a pretty weak episode with plenty of flat jokes, and a subplot that tended to drag halfway in; but then that smashing third act started. Just awesome. 4/5

[blueguy]

Great episode, lots of funny. But that ending drags my vote down from a 5 to a 4.

[Curtis]

The Episode was pretty good. I was suprised by how funny the MacGyver bits were. The plot was solid. However, I did not like the ending at all. 3/5

[KMDSimpson]

I thought it was a pretty good episode. Richard Dean Anderson was a well-used guest star, and the main story was good, with some decent commentary on outsourcing.

Good Apocalypse Now parody too.

The mooing cow at the Indian plant was a nice joke, and Anderson's wig/mullet was funny.

[mrjeffy321]

I was somewhat dissapointed in this episide. I didnt find a lot of the jokes while Homer was in India too funny.

The video that they showed at the power plant at the start of the episode was funny.
The segment when MacGyver descirbed how he broke out of Patty/Selma's apparment was good too.
It was all down hill from there.

It was still an OK episode, but it had the potential to be much better.

3/5

[McClure]

I've gotta admit, after the second act, I was thinking that this could be the episode of the season, but as soon as we came back to an unexplained "The End" by The Doors, I knew it was probably marking the end of the possibility of best of the season.

The ending seemed anti-climatic. They hyped Homer up as being a god and it turns out he didn't think he was, then he gladly gave it up. It made little sense. The end song was VERY bad too. If they were going to do a song, they at least could have done an original one sung by the family. IS it just me, or did the scene at the Stargate convention seem like something Conan O'Brian would do?

The animation was very nice though.

The Good:
The first two acts
The fight over the bouquet
"A girl? We Must find her!"
The Nerds assuming Willie was a girl
"A Stargate must be in here! We must find it!"
The first minute or so of Homer in India
Homer searching for Apu's cousin
Homer talking about the Indian gods (and comparing one to a smurf)
Smither's arranged bride
Baby Lyng returns!
MacGyver jumping into snake basket

The Bad:
The third act
All of the mentions of Star Gate... Seemed a little weird to me
The act break with Burns floating down the river
Homer's phone call to Bart & The Bully joke
That horrible Wiggum joke in the end


And, it coul have been a classic if it had ended with Patty and Selma doing a get rid of MacGyver scheme, but instead... Nice to see baby Lyng back though.

BTW, who wrote this episode?

Rating:
First act - 4/5
Second act - 4/5
Third act - 1/5

Overall - 2/5. It had Best of Season written all over it until the family arrived in India.

[Stackhouse]

entertaining at the least. Sort of a strange feel to this episode but i think it worked. at least, a different feel then most of this season. and was that ling? B

just to note, this was a dan castelleneta/deb lacosta episode

[SSBOB]

Really good. Some joke sucked, but a lot of other ones really worked. I thought Burns was hilarious in this one! The MacGyver subplot was really funny, and actually very clever. Really good stuff there. Homer was good, and I think the last line with him asking about Chief Wiggum was hilarious. It was so random and stupid. "He's funny."
The ending with all of the foreign employers taking what Homer taught them about working was great, and I felt was a smart ending.

Great episode overall. Very original.
10/10

[Little Kid Lover]

Up until this episode, MacGyer was still a running show in the world of The Simpsons. Now even in The Simpsons, MacGyer is cancelled. Also, was MacGyer always played by Richard Dean Anderson or was he ever played by MacBain?

[That Jerk]

Doodle, "the end", as well as the whole riverboat scene was an Apocalypse Now parody. Hardly unexplained. And the song at the end was pure Bahliwood. Very well done.

Two jokes that really pissed me off were Homer and the cow (that was a pretty tasteless, and not funny at all really), and that ultra grim scene with Bart and his bully, and Homer not caring.

[moed'oh]

i really enjoyed the Apocolypse Now reference. i also like the scene where macgyver explained how he escaped the first time. the SG1 convention jokes with the girl was funny (often a Conan O'Brien joke for those who watch it regularly) I couldnt give it a 5 though cause it had some low moments. the bollywood ending was just ok. nice to see castalanetta (spelling?) co-write the episode.

[breadharrity]

Great Episode, but not as good as last weeks'. Like Mostly everyone else the ending really robbed this episode 5/5 status

4/5

[Hooray For Everything!]

The Bollywood ending was kinda funny, but entirely too long. The MacGuyer burgers were hilarious.

[coltonwiggum]

5/5 We saw Selma's baby! Apocalypse now parody was hilarious. The animation blew me away, holy crap!

[The "Urban" Lenny]

Not a terrible episode, it had it's moments, but it was not up to parr with the last two episodes. I thought the main plot, was well done, but the Macgyver secondary plot was really dissapointing. Although, I loved the scene Stargate SG-1 scene when they all crowd around willie and say that he's the closest thing that he'll ever get to an actual woman.(Both of my roomates are huge Stargate fans). Anyway it was for me, it was just an average run of the mill episode, with a few good laughs but no real extrodinary jokes. 3/5

[moed'oh]

oh yeah, anyone catch that they had patty and selma's new baby in there. anyone else get the reference that burns made when he said "untouchables" someone else had to tell me but it is a reference to the caste system and the untouchables were the lowest in society.

[coltonwiggum]

oh yeah, anyone catch that they had patty and selma's new baby in there. anyone else get the reference that burns made when he said "untouchables" someone else had to tell me but it is a reference to the caste system and the untouchables were the lowest in society.

Saw 'em both!

[Jims]

Very strong showing tonight, in my opinion. I didn't think it would be that great, based on the episode description, but it was pretty solid. Best episode of the season thus far. I'm quite impressed.

Outsourcing is such a hot topic in today's business world that it was a great story concept. The concept could have gone bad in so many different ways... For example, the people of India could've been depicted as unskilled, lazy, and working for pennies. However, they made a nice twist by having Homer introduce flextime and other corporate perks. In the end, the people of India were the cleverest of them all. Nice story.

The MacGyver story was just wrong on numerous levels. But, again, it was a funny little twist that Richard Dean Anderson actually enjoyed staging those crazy escapes. And then Patty and Selma's subsequent boredom and annoyance. Richard Dean Anderson's role reminds me of Mark Hamill's in Mayored to the Mob. He comes off as really needy, which is pretty hilarious.

I liked the musical sequence at the ending. It was just something fun to watch. I wasn't bothered by its pointlessness at all. Sometimes, it's nice to watch a silly little Bollywood montage like that. In a sense, that's what the series loses at times: the sense of fun. The last minute of the episode was basically the characters hanging out, just having fun... Kinda like the "Jammin'" voiceovers in Season 8's The Canine Mutiny.

4.5/5 (rounded to 5)

[Semaj]

Outsourcing has long been a serious problem for American workers. Almost every product we use, possibly even the keys I'm typing with, are made in ANOTHER country.

The way they covered subject here was fine. Parts of the episode reminded me of Burns Verkaufen Der Kraftwerk. So it seemed a bit odd that Mr. Burns would pick Homer (of all people) to lead the overseas power plant. But it turns out that he's somehow more competent in his job than before; even when he seemingly got the ball rolling in Missionary Impossible, it eventually backfired.

The sub-plot shows Patty and Selma finally meeting their idol: McGyver. What I found more interesting than the sub-plot itself was that the writers actually remembered that Patty was mothering Ling.

Mr. Burns was much more expressive here than he has been in a long time. Either Harry Shearer is over his gripe against the show from two years ago, or he's channeling his emotions into Mr. Burns. Either way, excellent job!

"Kiss, Kiss Bang Bangalore" was one of the better economic satires seen in a while. Few jokes were a miss, but they were thankfully kept to a minimum. A lot of the Indian jabs were great, especially Homer referring to one god as "Papa Smurf". I'm probably one in a minority who actually ENJOYED the ending.

4.25/5

[Sarcastic Guy II]

So it seemed a bit odd that Mr. Burns would pick Homer (of all people) to lead the overseas power plant.

Burns didn't pick Homer. Homer just caught the boquet.

[Zilla]

What I found more interesting than the sub-plot itself was that the writers actually remembered that Patty was mothering Ling.

It's actually Selma who adopted Ling.

I got to see Patty's Chinese baby again. and I guess Selma does like dudes as long as its McGyver

Once again, it is Selma who adopted the baby and Patty who came out as the lesbian.

[Larson Something]

Meh. The main plot was servicable but forgettable, and the Heart of Darkness bit kind of came out of nowhere. I enjoyed the Bollywood ending a lot, though.

MacGyver subplot was good, but it probably would have worked better as a THOH segment. Yes, I know it covers similar ground to Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl, but that's not exactly a sacred cow, so to speak.

2.5/5

[Number 10767]

I guess this is the best we can ask for nowadays. A handful of good jokes, a couple bad ones (Willie and his kilt, the Bengal tiger joke), good characterizations, and a plot that actually makes some semblance of sense. B

[harry.john]

The Simpsons' seventeenth season originally aired between September 2005 and May 2006, beginning on Sunday, September 11, 2005. It broke Fox's tradition of pushing its shows' season premieres back to November to accommodate the Major League Baseball games airing on the network during September and October of each year.

[Zombies Rise from the Sea]

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore

Dan Castella is known as the voice of Homer and various other characters from The Simpsons, he is also known as a writer and a comedian, though he's not known widely as both for a reason. This proves that while he does have some sense of humor and an idea of how to make good jokes, it ultimately proves that Dan Castella is not that good of a writer...

The idea of outsourcing is a good one and something that "The Simpsons" would of likely done in the past; it's ripe for satire due to the fact that America is moving their workforce overseas, that they're portraying it as a good thing and that it helps them to earn more money... Of course they do do it and they do set it in India but the results are not what you expect; while it does hit some points, they come at the spots you don't expect and the ones that you do expect are played out for laughs rather then serious satire. The idea of Homer going to India would of been good back then (and they did go to India at one point) but it's ruined mostly due to the persona Homer has adopted, which is the stupid, ignorant oaf who doesn't understand foreign culture, makes an active effort not to read and just acts wacky for no apparent reason. I do admit that Homer being unaware of India does make for some good laughs but for most of the time he's just the person which I mentioned above. It was a surprise that he didn't read the book on the way to India and the way he references the book as if he's desperate is somewhat okay but I would of liked to see him at least read some of the book then pick it back up in desperation after he forgets it.

I must admit... It does go into the plot rather then wasting it on something like The Simpsons going to a carnival. I mean the way it starts into that addmitingly good movie about outsourcing and then naturally transcends into the airport with Homer leaving his kids for India was nicely plotted, though the actual moments inbetween border on the stupid. Homer's (or really Dan's since he loves this kind of humor) stuff with the Dining Room where he makes stupid noises while making comments about the painted phone, even though it was counteracted by a nice scene at the dinner table and the scene at the airport didn't have as much impact as it did.

Anyways, the scenes involving Apu's brother, Burns, Mr. Smithers are all nice in their own way, even though one contained someone doing funny voices while commenting on Outsourcing, it was nice that they made a comment about that but did they have to do all of those voices. And what's with Smither's sudden dejectal about Homer, it would of made sense to reference that earlier in the episode where it could of become a focal plot point and Burn's actions would of made somewhat more sense, but instead he acts like the usual Mr. Burns we've seen (the scene with a bunch of corpses for example.) and then a tyrant at the end...

Even though the power plant plot is the main plot, it's oddly squeezed out for a good subplot involving Richard Dean Anderson (of Stargate SG1 and MacGuyver fame.) and Patty and Selma. The beginning scene did have me questioning it and Richard Dean Anderson did make for a good bait and switch gag but the Stargate SG1 convention (really, should of just called it Stargate convention.) didn't make for much of a connection, even though it does lead to him calling MacGuyver stupid. The convention (while they got some things right such as the suits and the costumes) was an equal waste as well as while we got a collective sense of the nerds stupidity, I feel like the whole thing could of been done better without me questioning why they didn't notice; hell the entire scene was marginally saved by the geeks looking around and stuff, and that's only marginally...

The rest of the plot however does encounter a bit of a wave from good to bad to good but for the most part it's mostly good. It's understandable for Richard Dean Anderson to be scared then excited as he escapes and I did like Patty and Selma's behavior as they reacted to fandom and to annoyance as he didn't leave. The way he progressed however felt somewhat unnatural though it did pay off somewhat at the end with the McGuyver burgers and him escaping. The clip shows were something that we've only seem a part of, in earlier episodes... But seeing a large part of it just ruins the magic for me you know; the magic of seeing all of these clips that they took but we never get to see them, at least he escapes in a funny way...

That subplot takes up so much time that it leads to us suddenly seeing Marge, the kids, and Burns on a boat heading towards the power plant. I don't like how it suddenly leads up to this but it does lead up to what appears to be an Indian movie parody (there was something with Two Tigers Earlier but it seemed inconsequential.), the way the power plant looked was nice and he did slip in something that seemed like it'd be in the classic era but Homer as a God just didn't work out for me. What with the whole family acting all abrasive and stuff, it just ruined the humor for me... The statement about outsourcing is crammed at the end, where the Indians learn American work ethics, Burns becomes a tyrant and they move the plant back to Springfield and fire everybody...

Then comes the scene that everybody talks about, yup, the dancing scene...

This scene is a parody of Indian movies as expected but it just lacks the liveliness or the magic needed for it to be effective. I mean we got characters dancing to unlively animation while a pre-recorded song plays in the background... It would of been nice if they managed to record a song but this is what we've got and it just doesn't match up, at least they managed to include something at the end with Burns and Smithers...

So, while this may be praised for being written by Dan Castella, it just proves that he's not that good of a writer. While he did good work on The Simpsons and he is well known for it, the work outside of the Simspons is mostly not known at all, he's had a comedy album that was mildly received, he's written episodes earlier in the season that most people don't talk about fondly, it seems like all he'll ever be known for is voicing Homer Simpson...

3.5/10

[ruggeder]

4/5 and I'm gald I can say that honestly, the only thing that broke it down was a few of the indian jokes, but very funny episode that deals with a sad problem.

[Little Kid Lover]

Apu's cousin was the best part of the episode.