NHC Weekly Episode Club 2.0

[Financial Panther]

Who picks next?

[CousinMerl]

Here's the list of participants as it looks like right now:

Financial Panther- Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious
Percy Wellington- The Lastest Gun in the West
D'ohmer- The Computer Wore Menace Shoes
Oh, that's raspberry- Treehouse of Horror III
Squeaky Voiced Teen-
Darren.Erg-
Comicshow Molemanbob-
Zartok-35-
NumberZone-
The Wiggs-
Nauru-1-
Veganpunk-
Zombies Rise from the Sea-
hughes-
hammster-
cinco-
Blobulle-

Seems like it's Squeaky Voiced Teen's turn now.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

I've been in contact with Squeaky Voiced Teen and he has told me he won't be able to pick his episode until Friday. I really don't like waiting that late, but everyone please be patient. I have confidence he'll pick on Friday and even if not Darren would be next and he's the type who I think would have no trouble giving us an episode on short notice.

[Squeaky Voiced Teen]

Homer Goes to College

[zartok-35]

Couldn't have picked it better myself. I just watched that one, actually.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

It is officially Saturday where I live so I'm gonna say that the current episode up for discussion is now officially Homer Goes to College. My review will be up a bit later on.

[zartok-35]

NEEEEEERRRRD!!!

Directed by Jim Reardon, assistant directors Bob Anderson and Klay Hall -Passing the baton.

This is one of those special lists that I mention from time to time. Lots of interesting people, most of them "Mr. Plow" alumni. What follows is probably one of the homeliest episodes of The Simpsons ever made;

...from a design standpoint, anyway. It takes the term 'off model' animation to new and dangerous extremes, which have only been exceeded by '$pringfield'.
I can't think of anything that would be more fun to breakdown! This is gonna be a pretty hefty piece, so get ready.

Istvan Majoros animated lots of scenes towards the start. Homer corralled in the basement with the other dumb guys, and most of Homer in the simulator truck.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Istvan also handles the ‘wallet inspector’ bit, seen later in the episode.

[zartok-35]

Another significant player is Mike Fontanelli, a former Ren and Stimpy animator with a style that is nothing short of bizarre, compared to standard Simpsons fare. HUGE EYES!


Fontanelli handles the “Curly, straight! Curly, straight!” scene.

Bart and Lisa watching the 'epic finale' of Itchy and Scratchy.

Then he does the bit where Homer plans to save the dean with the front of his car.


Nancy Kruse does a lot of work on this episode as well, complete with her dinner plate eyes. Mostly driving scenes. Her work includes Homer’s arrival on the college campus.


And the college road trip- to the petting zoo.

[zartok-35]

Tibor Belay did not regularly work with Jim Reardon, but he contributes a few scenes in this episode. Most of that constitutes Homer planning with Bart and the nerds, where he is obsessed with rolling the dean in carpet and tossing him off a bridge.



Matt Nastuk work is scattered all across this episode. He does Homer’s mail scene, Homer loading up the car with beer, and Homer reminding the nerds to ‘party down’ at the end of the episode, among others.





Tommy Tejeda animates “School of hard knockers”, seen on TV.


Michael Marcantel does the bit where Homer and Bart fill out applications with the gluttony photo.

He also does Mr. Burns dealing with the admissions board.


Bob Logan does the scene where Homer tries to show up his professor with the proton accelerator.


Lance Kramer comes on when Homer takes the nerds back home, including the scene with Marge phoning in the nerd’s dial up signals.



I'm not sure who did this, but it looks absolutely ghastly!

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Goodness Zartok, you're just an absolute well of knowledge! Way too many of those images look absolutely horrific to me personally! I haven't watched the episode yet but your enormous contributions have already ensured that my meager entry will likely....suck....

[zartok-35]

Horrific indeed! I don't know what prompted so many people to draw in this new style, but alot of these animators were actually very tame in other episodes.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Homer Goes to College

We begin David Mirkin's tenure as showrunner with the last episode of the show written by Conan O'Brien. The idea for the episode began as Homer going to college but expecting his college experience to be similar to the ones in movies such as Animal House and its several rip-offs. What follows is a solid half hour of comedy mixed with several wacky moments for which the Mirkin Era is currently known.

The episode begins innocently enough at the Plant, with everyone sleeping, even Mr. Burns. A surprise inspection from employees of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission finds Homer being tested on how to handle an emergency situation. Naturally, he manages to cause a meltdown despite the absence of any nuclear materials. An of note gag here is Homer's "bee bit my bottom" line. Homer must go to college to get the proper training he needs for his job. Unfortunately he isn't accepted anywhere, due in no small part to a poor picture choice on his entrance application. Luckily though for Homer, Burns has a seat on Springfield University and manages to get him in. We are treated to several great gags here, including Burns' failed attempt at bashing a man with a baseball bat, and Dan Castellaneta's ad-libbed "I am so smart" joke. This joke in particular remains one of the most popularly referenced from the show, and its nice to know that it happened by accident.

I Love the Design of this Chair


Completely Accidental Television History

Homer arrives on campus fully prepared to taunt the nerds and pull pranks on the stuffy dean, only to discover that nothing is what he envisioned. Dean Peterson, voiced by Hank Azaria(I'm assuming) is anything but a rigid, stuffed-shirt old man. He is young, hip, and relates to all the students...except Homer. At his class Homer acts like he's seen it all...only to cause another meltdown. A nice callback gag which gets Homer a visit to the dean's office. He gives Homer the names of some tutors and sends him on his way. The resentful Homer tries unsuccessfully to get back at that bastard and gives us one of several very strong window gags. The window gags are pointed out by Jim Reardon on the episode's audio commentary and while my favorite is probably the one of Homer with the squirrels, this is pretty good too:

Homer's tutors turn out to be three nerds(who occasionally reappear on the show over the years). Homer doesn't actually seem to notice this however until his family tells him while he brags about a night of playing Dungeons & Dragons. I particularly like Dan's reading of the line "You take that back!" as Homer is wielding a butter knife directed at Bart. Instead of learning what he needs to from the nerds for his job, Homer decides to help their social lives by pulling a prank. Bart suggests they kidnap Sir Oinks-a-lot, the pig mascot of another school. Homer with the pig has to be some of the craziest animation on the show to this point, I mean just look at this:

Look at Homer here!

The dean finds out about the prank and expels the nerds as we end act 2 with another classic joke, the wallet inspector. The nerds move in in act 3 but quickly manage to get on everyone's nerves. We're treated to one of my favorite Itchy and Scratchy episodes where Scratchy finally gets Itchy, only for it to be ruined by one of the nerds. The animation on Bart and Lisa during this scene is really great. The family tells Homer that the nerds have to go and we are given one of the worst little pieces of animation in the show's history, that weird picture of Homer holding the toast. Season 5 as I remember actually has quite a few bad pieces of animation. That one Grandpa scene where he suggests calling Matlock in "Cape Feare" is also terrible. Homer makes a plan in which the nerds will save the dean's life which should get them reinstated at the college...but it ends up with the dean in the hospital. The nerds are reinstated anyway and help Homer cram for his Final Exam...which he promptly fails anyway. He uses a computer to change his grade but Marge forces him to retake the class as we end the episode.

My opinion on this episode may cause some controversy as I'm really not too crazy about it. Admittedly this is one of those episodes that I can understand why people love it, but it never really clicks with me for some reason. The gags are great but the story just seems unoriginal, even though it isn't. Maybe not unoriginal, but rather boring? I just don't care much for the main story. I guess I just was never really interested in this episode and its pretty low on my list of episodes in the classic era. I probably actually prefer several post-classic episodes to this, but that's just me. Burns does have several solid jokes here, and as I mentioned it does have some of the all time great moments. I think this episode actually speaks as something of a microcosm for Season 5 as a whole though: almost every episode is really funny, but at least to me, there are far too many that come off as either overrated or underwhelming at least from a storytelling standpoint. Plus the animation here is alright, but pretty terrible at points. Still, I can't deny that in regards to humor this is a fantastic episode. Strong 4/5

PS: I forgot to mention it but Richard Nixon's cameo here(I believe while he was actually still alive) was also really great and may be my favorite part of the episode.

[CousinMerl]

Great going, zartok-35 and raspberry. I haven't really thought about the odd animation before and I have to agree with you judging by those screenshots; it looks really wierd with those huge eyes and some of those with Homer look off-model, perhaps especially these two:

And speaking about inconsistency, here their eyes are of a more normal size (especially in the first screenshot) :

But still, I do recall that there were a couple of pretty good bits of dynamic animation so the overly cartoonish style of the episode's animation isn't so bad. Anyhow, I will rewatch and try to do a review of it tomorrow.

[Jesse Pinkman]

In this memorable and classic episode, Homer is forced to go to college after he causes an accident. That right there, is a fine opening to the episode. Homer must go to college, and it is actually for a reason. It's not like homer randomly decides one day to go to college, for the hell of it, he actually has a reason for going. I think it is a creative and unique plot.

This episode has a lot of great jokes; the two people coming in to solve the problem homer causes being so used to being called in, for instance. It also has one of the most random lines ever. "Hello, that sounds like a pig falling!" even though that makes me laugh, one can't help but think "ok... he knows what a pig falling sounds like... right..." it's such a weird line but it works well in the episode. other humorous things, to name a few: homer's line to marge about there only being two college types: jocks and nerds. and him talking to that guy he thinks is a jock and then he goes "Pardon me?" homer not laughing when the professor is trying to be funny, with his jokes, and then laughing when the professor drops his cards, like it is the funniest thing. Homer calling the Dean and saying "You are a stupid head" and dean knowing it is homer because he is right outside his window. And who can't help but laugh a little when homer explains the 'running you over prank' was a prank, and the Dean, in the hospital, weakly goes "Prank?" And Snake's "Wallet inspector!" and homer realizing "Hey... that's not the wallet inspector!" And Homer's "I am so smart, I am so smart, I am so smart, I am so smart, S-M-R-T. I mean, S-M-A-R-T. Dan Castellaneta ad-libbed that or whatever. Pretty funny moment right there. In terms of humor this is easily one of my favorites. I find myself laughing at so many things in it. It's pretty much laugh a minute for me, which is nice. And it doesn't really go down in multiple viewings. I watch this episode and i still laugh at all the things i used to, and it is really nice. I also love the ending credits.

anyway, the plot. Homer going to college. It's such a simple plot yet it works well. And him hanging out with those three nerds- Gary, Doug and Benjamin. Him hanging out with people he really does not like, and actually becoming friends with them. It's kinda like how he becomes friends with Flanders in Homer Loves Flanders; hanging out with someone he does not like and actually starting to warm up to them. I liked when they took the rep for the pig prank, and when they moved in with the Simpsons. There was a deleted scene on the s5 DVD where it shows them walking Bart to school, and when they get there, they were attacked by Nelson. I liked this moment because it goes along with how big of nerds they are (that and how most people, even non-nerds, would be scared of Nelson). I like Homer's way of trying to get the nerds back into college, by running over Dean, but admittedly, i do think that's on the verge of being 'jerkass Homer.' I understand he wants the nerds to 'save the dean's life', which they obviously fail at, but attempting to run him over with a car? seems a bit too cruel for me. But i still thought it was admittedly funny, so i can't really complain a whole lot.

the first couple times i saw this the end always got me. when the professor for homer's class fails him, i always felt let down and surprised. but then i realized it made total sense because this is homer we're talking about, and obviously he couldn't have passed when he wasn't trying hard, except the last like day or two before the exam. common knowledge; pretty much no one, except someone who is really good in the class, could do this.

and i like the end credits, showing more hi-jinks in college and showing homer graduating.

all in all, this is a great episode. 5/5 in terms of humor, maybe 4/5 in terms of plot, but i'm going to make it a 5/5 for the episode as a whole

[Nauru-1]

It sounds strange calling a season 5 episode a guilty pleasure, but Homer Goes to College is one of those ones where I can recognize the faults people have in it while somehow managing to like it so much partially because of those same elements. It's an episode where the story is pretty basic and is padded by a pool of funny gags and exchanges, and it's an episode where the main character is neither smart nor all that nice, usually a requirement for a good episode. That all being said, it holds these things all in just the right balance that somehow it works for me. Whereas a few other episodes in season 5 I feel face similar issues and are only moderate successes (Homer the Vigilante being the first that comes to mind), there's something about the comedy and the feeling I get from this one that has it emerge as one of my favourites of the fifth season.

The comedy is certainly important for this one to work. If you don't buy into the humour, the episode isn't going to offer much. It's got a lot of memorable bits in my mind. Homer somehow causing radiation, S-M-R-T, laughing at the professor dropping notes, the squirrel outside, Homer calling the dean on the phone booth, "Pardon me?", the wallter inspector. All great, great stuff that always makes me smile.

Having seen this one numerous times over the years, it allows me to really sit down and figure out what the appeal of this one is. On paper this one had potential to be a mess as Homer is really written obnoxiously, but there's something about this particular execution that makes it rise well above that.

Throughout this episode they've kind of established this college mythos Homer follows based on 70's sex comedies he's seen, and in spite of all the differences in the reality, he sticks to these stereotypes. Everyone around him is the straight man to his ridiculous antics, and Homer is completely oblivious to it all. He's not a mean guy trying to get what he wants, he's an immature buffoon off in his own little world, and I think that's key. This whole setup really allows the episode to bring out some hilarious dynamics whether it be the dean being an amiable, incredibly understanding guy overHomer's idea of the cruel, out-of-touch persona or Homer becoming friends with the nerds and coming up with all these half-baked schemes. There's something so light-hearted about the whole thing as if it's touching on this pop culture idea of young adult life and having a ball with it.

So that's my best explanation for why I love this episode. It achieves exactly what Scully was often trying to achieve but failed miserably due a disdain for the characters and a plot that was visibly lazy. I totally buy the story and the context for a very juvenile Homer, and the comedy is gold, so I have to give this one full marks despite understanding completely why this one won't work for everyone like it does for me. 5/5 (A+)

[cinco]

Another significant player is Mike Fontanelli, a former Ren and Stimpy animator with a style that is nothing short of bizarre, compared to standard Simpsons fare. HUGE EYES!

Oh yeah, the form of the eyelids...

[CousinMerl]

Written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Jim Reardon, 'Homer Goes To College' is a really fun and classic episode from the fifth season. The plot about Homer having to go to college to get a degree in nuclear physics so that he can continue working at the power plant is not a too complicated story and yet, it's a perfectly good one with a lot of hilarity that makes it a clear winner. It was some time since i last saw it and I can still say that it is about as funny as it was then so I'd say that the humor is the star of this early season five episode which is one of the most memorable episode from the season, at least how I see it.



As for the animation in the episode, it is very cartoony and at many times goofy with big-eyed Simpsons, but still, it is pretty nice and fun even though it isn't at all times perfect with off-model errors here and there; I think the best part of the animation is that it allows for some fluid character movements, such as the shot of the dripping corridor where Homer chases down the bee (the radioactive fluids dripping adds to the atmosphere and Homer's jumpy running is very cartoonish and flexible), the part when Sir Oinks-A-Lot rapidly turns around and viciously bites him is another nice bit of animation (the very briefly shown sharp teeth on the pig as shown in the screenshot in zartok's review is a fun addition) and the bit when Homer hands in his first completed test to the professor is perhaps the best example of the flexible animation this episode has (when Homer moves it looks really cartoony and funky so if you haven't noticed, go back and check it out).



The characterizations are mostly pretty spot on in this episode even though it is a goofy one, albeit Homer has a questionable characterization (the only major one in the episode); he is portrayed as something of a mean jerk, but he is one in such a childish and playful fashion so that it's near impossible to dislike him and I think it's just that characterization big reason why Homer is so darn funny in this one; he symbolizes the typical prank-loving college guy so well. i admit that was pretty over the top there near the end when he thought that he could actually get the nerd trio to save the dean from getting run over by him in the scheme he cooked up, but it doesn't detract at all from the episode and it's a pretty funny moment in a dark sort of way. There is no pacing problems so the story and the humor flows smoothly throughout and I have no real nitpicks about it either.

As a Star Wars fan, a bit which I really liked was when Burns' escape pod gets launched; the first shot of the pod being launched is almost an exact copy of the shot in 'Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope' where the escape pod containing the droids launches out into space (also, the design of the pod in the episode is a pretty close match to the one in the movie):




Now on to the humor which is where I think the episode shines. There are many nice gags and jokes throughout; the dog that has been trained to stop eventual meltdowns
Homer's classic line about the bee that bit his bottom, Homer actually managing to initiate a meltdown during the simulation with a fake console and no radioactive components, Burns not letting Smithers share the escape pod with him because he'd like to put his feet up, the bit about the jade monkey and Burns commenting that everything is falling into place, the crazy photo of Homer eating the cake which he uses for the college application, the TV show "School Of Hard Knockers" segment, Burns evil-looking chair/throne at the Springfield University and the bit with him being unable to beat up a guy with a baseball bat, Homer happily setting his high school diploma on fire and starts his "I am so smart" chant while the house is catching fire (one of the greatest part of this episode), The line "I wish my father was alive to see this" and then Grampa pops up from the back seat after apparently having been back there for three days, "Hey pal!, did you get a load of the nerd?!""Pardon me?", Homer laughing his ass of when the professor drops all his notes, Homer ignoring his studies to run outside and chase some squirrels (His childish laughter is icing on the cake), the prank call to the dean by Homer being spoiled when the dean sees him on the payphone outside, The pig fainting due to his drunkenness and the dean overhearing it ("Hello, that sounds like a pig fainting!" its a great random line to accompany that scene), Bart grinding the knives together and saying "Dad, start digging some nerd holes", "Actually, I've been working on a plan; during the exam I'll hide under some coats and hope that somehow everything will work out" and the last shot shown during the end credits in which Homer apparently flashes everyone during his graduation (since it's such a goofy episode, it's also what you could expect).



All in all, it is as said a really funny episode and it's one of those episodes I've liked since I first saw it. Perhaps it has lost some of it's shine in my eyes compared to before, but it's still one of the classic episodes that I will fondly remember; it has a pretty down-to-earth plot taken to more extreme levels with wacky and goofy humor and it all boils down to a solid episode with a lot of humor. I'm not sure how I'd rank it among the rest of the fifth season episodes, but it's definitely a fun episode and a very nice last effort of Conan O'Brien's career as a writer for the show.

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

Homer Goes to College

I won't go as in depth as some of the other reviews but I'll try my best

Let me start by saying I enjoyed this episode (Nowhere near as much as the previous season five episode "Cape Feare", or even the next one "Rosebud") But I think it's a nice little episode with many great gags within. Although many of the jokes come from sight gags and physical humor than clever or funny dialogue I thought it worked well for this episode. As far as characterization goes everyone was in character and while Homer was hilarious throughout, Bart and the nerds had some great moments as well. To conclude: The story may not have many elements to it and the animation may be off but you can't grade this very funny episode down for that!

Score: 8.5/10.0

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Homer Goes to College

To conclude: The story may not have many elements to it and the animation may be off but you can't grade this very funny episode down for that!

Score: 8.5/10.0

I can and did, but nice review

[Comicshow MolemanBob]

Oh, I really should of said I couldn't grade the episode down for that but I understand, and thanks

[Squeaky Voiced Teen]

now that work and everything has kind of slowed down for me I will start posting in this. My review will be up on Monday.

[CousinMerl]

While I was rewatching the episode, I just had to pause at the bit where Bart is grinding the knives together at the table because damn, not only is he somewhat off-model, but the animators really made him look incredibly sinister there (just look at my new avatar) and I am sure they never could repeat that look in a later episode; it makes me wonder even more what they were thinking.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

That whole scene is really badly animated. As I said in my review it also has the dreaded image of cross-eyed Homer holding the toast, but also a really fat looking close-up of Marge's head.

[Dark Homer]

inconsistencies be damned, this blog post convinced me that this is one of the best animated episodes

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

I actually scanned through that while seeking out pictures for my review. It certainly is a very expressive episode allowing for genuinely cool visuals like the pig with the razor sharp teeth or Bart and Lisa's Itchy and Scratchy freak out, but its a double edged sword. That kitchen scene is all the proof you need.

[CousinMerl]

Haven't read that blog post before so thanks for posting; it did make some good points and it's pretty cool to know that the poster, like me, also really liked the bit of Homer walking in that expressive and cartoony manner to hand over his test and then doing that kick with his feet.

I never thought about this one, though (it looks almost too over the top) :

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

That's the one I was referring to. It's borderline but I like it. Looks like it came out of Season 1 almost and that it belongs in a ToH though...

[zartok-35]

inconsistencies be damned, this blog post convinced me that this is one of the best animated episodes

Thats a very interesting read! And they're right, for the most part.

[cinco]

I think this was the first episode in chronological order in which I considered Homer a real jerk, not by accident but on purpose and without solid arguments to be that way. I mean... hitting someone with his car on purpose. The man needed an iron hip afterwards. And Homer couldn't care less.
Oh yeah, we get these kinds of jokes also in Futurama's Mars University with Bender and Robot House.
Parodies of Animal House (which I never saw) I guess.
It was also weird to see a different character model for Nixon as I got used to his Futurama-version and I thought there was some consistency in character models between both shows regarding real-life based characters. (Leonard Nimoy, Stephen Hawking etc. )

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Thank you for reminding me cinco as I honestly forgot but I was going to bring this up in my review. This is a very funny episode, but I don't really care for the plot to such an extent that I actually prefer that Mars University episode of Futurama to this. I know they kinda have similar plots and this episode came years before, but I genuinely prefer that Futurama episode to this. I think that might be because Bender's plot in that episode more closely mirrors Homer's here than does Fry's. Both Bender and Homer basically end up in a conflict with the dean. In the Simpsons, the dean is all nice and Homer is the antagonist. In Futurama, the dean is the antagonist and Bender, while not innocent, is still being fairly cool at least until the end. Maybe since Bender isn't human but his behavior in that episode seems really great where as Homer's here, while very very funny, is at times unappealing.