Directed by David Silverman, and originally aired on February 4, 1990; this Season 1, Episode 5, of the Simpsons, was one of the season highlight for me. Despite, having no chalkboard or couch gag intro, this week, due to the episode running time. Nor the cool classic theme song. I still kinda like this episode, because it introduce a lot of new characters. One of them, is the iconic bully, Nelson Muntz (Voiced by Nancy Cartwright). It's too bad, the other well-known bullies like Jimbo Jones (Voiced by Tress MacNeille), Kearney Zzyzwicz (Voiced by once again, Nancy Cartwright) and Dolphin "Dolph" Starbeam (Also Voiced by Tress MacNeille) wouldn't appeared on the Simpsons, until the 8th Episode of Season 1, 'The Telltale Head'. It would be nice to see them, team up with Nelson to take down, Bart, rather than the generic henchmen, we got in this episode. Makes me wonder, what-ever happen to Nelson's buddies in this episode? Weasel #1 (Voiced by Susan Blu) never appeared in any other episode besides this. Weasel #2 AKA Richard AKA Lewis (Voiced by Jo Ann Harris) only appeared in a handful of episodes, as a backdrop character. I guess, the writers felt like they didn't enough appeal to make them, full-blown characters. Anyways, the way, Bart Simpson (Also voiced by Nancy Cartwright) enlist Grandpa Abe (Voiced by Dan Castellaneta) and the neighborhood children to fight against Nelson and his gang was very memorable, even though, the episode bully plot is very standard to most family drama sitcoms. Written by John Swartzwelder, the episode is probably more famous for its funny film references, than its story. The way, it used movie references as a gag, throughout this episode, ranging from parodies of the Academy Award: Best Picture of 1970 'Patton' to director Stanley Kubrick 1986's film, 'Full Metal Jacket' was honestly funny. There is also references to old school war film, like 1949's Battlefield, 1962's 'The Longest Day' & 1967's 'Cool Hand Luke', for the classic viewers. Still, the other gags unrelated to other movies, were alright for the most part. It's funny enough that, the episode was often used in college experiments to study brain activity in relation to humor, so they must had done something right. I do like the dream sequences that Bart has, throughout the episodes. Though, I don't get, why Bart would already forget that Lisa (Voiced by Yeardley Smith), indeed gave him, a cupcake in the beginning of the episode. It's seem odd that issue, whom be brought up during the 'Funeral' sequence. I guess, Nelson knock that memory out of him. Who knows! Anyways, I find it odd, how controversial this episode seemed to be, at the time of its release with its foul language and violence bloody imagery. I guess, seeing a dead kid in a coffin & having kid to kid combat would indeed raise some eyebrows. Today, this episode would now seems pretty harmless. It's even funny, when they made a joke in the episode about that with Grandpa's letter to TV advertisers. It was actually an inside joke, as a direct reference to FOX attempting to censor the Simpsons for using the phrase "family jewels" on Network TV. Wow, have times, has changed. It's also nice to see, Homer Simpson (Also voiced by Dan Castellaneta) have some interested in his kids, in this episode. His really trying to be a good parent here. It is one thing that seem to be, lacking in the later episodes, as he became more selfish. It's weird to see, Homer, being somewhat in control of himself, here. He doesn't once, plea to eat any of the cupcakes that Lisa was baking for her class after knowing that. He even try to stop Bart from being selfish. He only tries to eat a cupcake, later, when Lisa accidentally left one. Even with that, he doesn't seem, too mad about it. This episode also marked the first appearance of Grandpa Abe in the series, besides the shorts, where he show up in, January 10, 1988's "Grampa and the Kids" Series 2, Episode 12. I like, how he was given more to do, here. One character, I really wish, the Simpsons would use more is Herman (Voiced by Harry Shearer), the one-armed military surplus owner/arm dealer whom remind me of Gary Sinise in the film, 'Forrest Gump'. He was great in this episode, however the writers, barely used him in other episodes, besides his appearance in the sixth season, May 7, 1995, 23th episode 'The Springfield Connection' & '22 Short Films About Springfield', the twenty-first episode of Season 7 which aired on April 14, 1996. He often just participate in large mobs and crowds, most of the time. However, he was somewhat badly animation, here. I was always wondering, why the cigarette, he was smoking, was glued to his mouth. It was a bit jarring to see, the cigarette connect to his lips, like that. Despite that, the rest of the hand-drawn animation was alright. I like how the topic of bullying is generally treated quite seriously, except for the end, of course, as well. However, I do think, the series, dealt with it, better in later episodes like the 5th episode of season 22, "Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life'. Both are miles better than season 12, episode 16th 'Bye Bye Nerdie'. Another thing to note about this episode is how it's very notorious for the credits scene, where the shot of the Simpsons house, replace the black background. Clearly, the idea didn't work, and the credits were back to normal in the 7th episode of Season 1, 'The Call of the Simpsons'. It also been rumor that Silverman had planned to use the song "War" by Edwin Starr in the episode credits as well, but the plans were also quickly dropped, when they couldn't get the music license. Overall: Besides a few flaws, this episode is a lot of fun. It's a must watch.
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