Bart's practical joke backfires bigtime after he fools the town into thinking there's a little boy trapped in a well. Sting joins Springfield celebrities for a fund-raising song and video entitled ``We're Sending Our Love down the Well''. Title sequence Blackboard :- `I will not carve gods'. `I will not carve go' at cutoff. Lisa's solo:- upbeat with a funky rhythm. Driveway :- Homer says `D'oh!' when Lisa scoots past. Homer says `Waugh!' when the car closes in on him. Couch :- The family leap onto the couch and bounce on the springs. At each bounce, the relative position of the family members changes. Didja notice... ... Sting voiced himself? Other guest voices were Pamela Hayden (Martin), Russi Taylor, and Maggie Roswell. ... Maggie fell only once? (When the townspeople rush past with shovels.) Though she did crawl to the door, suggesting that there was an unseen fall shortly before. ... the freezer was in SERIOUS need of defrosting? ... Jimbo sticks his head into the camera frame and waves during Kent Brockman's live report? ... Chief Wiggum consistently wore his badge on the wrong side of his chest? ... one of the policemen looks like Wiggum's son! ... Maggie was playing with the foil after the prayer? ... in the interview with Krusty the Klown, they kept cutting back to Kent Brockman for a shot of an attentive nod? {thf} ... Sideshow Mel's headset goes INTO his hair? ... McBain wore his gun to the recording session? {jrd} And was `Sing sing sing' a reference to Sing-sing prison? ... people were wearing little well-hats? Merchandising strikes again. ... the oil spot in the driveway is back? ... Marge's hair is a bit askew once Bart's well crisis begins? ... the acorn by the Lincoln squirrel's head? (I.e., a top hat.) Dave Hall {dh}: ... Homer was eating while Bart opened his gifts? Nelson was slurping on a drink. ... Bart placed a ``Property of Bart Simpson'' label on the kitchen ceiling and the Play/Rec. room floor? (Bart's labels are gone from the kitchen throughout the rest of the episode.) ... the freezer contained nothing but ice cream? (The freezer even has a light. Compare the fridge light, which has burnt out.) ... Homer threw a loaded rifle to the floor to grab at Bart's throat? ... the pacifier hook on Maggie's crib? ... the dinosaur skeleton was nearest the surface, followd by the treasure chest, then the flying saucer? You'd think the dinosaur would be buried the deepest... Rave Reviews John R. Donald {jrd}: I give it an A. Ric Dube (dube@milton.u.washington.edu): This was just about my favorite episode since Bart The Daredevil. Or Flaming Moe's. Jamie Ide {ji}: I thought it was a classic! One of my favorites, anyway. Shane P. Faulkner {spf}: A great episode, Bart was at his devious best in this one. Ted Frank {thf}: All-in-all, a good episode. Homer tackled his second rock star, and we got to see Sideshow Mel and the Capital City Goofball. Eric Jablow {ej}: I didn't like the episode much, although I&S were great, and the playground scene with Lisa and the jump-ropers was superb. Notice the really fast turnaround time from the I&S animators? Marc Colten {mc}: Really a terrific episode. Lawrence A. Schwimmer {las}: Overall, a fully-packed episode! I'm amazed they managed to stuff so many things in (I&S, McBain, guest voice, Krusty, TV commercial snaring Homer, media events, etc...) Alan J. Rosenthal {ajr}: A great one! Sting was kind of bizarre; it's funny how unkind they are to guest stars! The measuring of Bart's height was probably the best part. Ron Carter {rc}: Great episode! Scott Amspoker {sa}: Absolutely! Yours truly {rjc}: Lots of little laughs. Bart's ``Uh huh'' while Homer's hands are still around his throat. ``He fell down a well, and... he can't get out.'' Not a classic, but still a strong showing. Movie (and other) References Soul Train and its host Don Cornelius {mc} Milli Vanilli - Funky-See Funky Do's lip-sync'ing - Note also Funky Do's hairstyle. + Chuck E. Cheez - The `Wall E. Weasel' pizzeria/entertainment center.Real Genius- in the movie, `our heroes' trick a guy (named Tod) into believing that God is talking to him by wiring his braces. {rc} + Jessica McClure, the girl who fell down the well - the plotJaws- the man with the fishhook and chocolate bar is the character Quint (Robert Shaw) {spf, wab} + We Are the World (and its imitators) - a big production to raise money for a needy cause - everybody swaying back and forth while singing Cat Scratch Fever (song) - The I&S cartoon is titled `Cat Splat Fever'. {dab} + the song `Axel F' fromBeverly Hills Cop- the music as Bart descends the well {hot, sg} I Think We're Alone Now (pop song) - the new #1 hit, `I Do Believe We're Naked'. {dab} + Popeye - I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more! {dab} + Canary in a Coal Mine (song by The Police, incl. Sting) - the, well, you know {spf} Freeze Frame Fun The lucky birthday kids Anna Goodwin Reagan Gray Paul Grenville Jim Greigor Harriet Hartman [any relation to Phil?] Mike Himes Julie Hirsh Janet Hopkins Cara Hunter Gracie Jensen Loretta Kangas Marilyn Katz Ken Keeler John Lanzetta Lorna Lefever Marie Lichterman Iris Lowe Kim Madrigal Cammie McGovern Bill McLain David Moulton [I know this guy!] Mary Myron Nigel Nelson J. P. Patches [see below for explanation of this inside joke] Ted Phillips Randy Plot Brady Reed Kevin Reilly Pete St. George Casey Sanders Matthew Schneider Patrick Semple Emma Shannon Bart Simpson Larry Stone Beth Summerlin Kate Sunberg Dale Thomas John Travis Eric Van Buerden Patric Verrone Lee Wallace Jay Weinstein Chris White Jay Wiviott Henry Yeomans At $8 a pop, that's $360, and probably more, since we didn't get the entire list. Bart's coupons Phineas Q. Butterfat / 5600 Flavors / Ice Cream Parlor 1 Free / Birthday / Sundae (``Eat it and get out.'') Jake's Unisex Hair Palace / Free birthday shave Free Tango Lesson Wall E. Weasel's We cram fun down your throat Maggie was in the ball pen. Martin was just standing there. Milhouse was shooting a basketball. Wendell was playing Skee-ball. Nelson held his Skee-balls in his hands, walked up the alley, and tossed them all into the center target. Kids playing `Whack the Weasel'. [Scott Amspoker {sa} points out that this is our second masturbation reference. Marc Colten {mc} notes, though, that there is an actual arcade game called Whack-a-Mole, which looks exactly like the game in the show.] Video games Larry the Looter (Bart plays this one) You (Larry) break the window of an electronics store, and score points for each item you steal. But watch out for the shop owner carrying a shotgun! Time Waster Coffee Fiend Touch of Death Comic Shop Bart's presents A label maker from Patty and Selma. (Bart makes the label ``This bites'') A pair of socks The book, ``Dr. Marvin Monroe's Guide to Etiquette'' A tiny potted cactus A Superstar Celebrity Microphone from Homer A grey cap and blue jacket from Martin. (``Now we can be twins!'') Lisa's magazine Non-Threatening Boys pictures, all captioned, ``Corey''. ``A dreamy photo fantasy!'' Rod and Todd's room `Springfield #1' pennant over Rod's bed. We're Sending Our Love Down the Well [front row] Troy McClure Scott Christian The Channel 6 weather girl (Kent Brockman's girlfriend) {dh} Bleeding Gums Murphy Diamond Joe Quimby Krusty the Klown Princess Cashmere [second row] Sting Sideshow Mel (singing operatically) McBane Dr. Marvin Monroe Captain Lance Murdoch (not in a body cast) The Capital City Goofball ?unknown man? The things around the well Man selling ``I survived Timmy O'Toole's Getting Trapped in a Well'' T-shirt. Man hawking ``Timmy's Baby Teeth'' ($6 a bag). Bernard the bouncer, ushering people with a flashlight. Two cops (not the regular two cops) standing guard over the well, as people file past to look down. A sign on the well reads, ``Admission $2.00'' A giant Ferris wheel. Hot dog stand. Stand labelled `Games'. Pizza stand. Beer stand. Things brought for Bart when he is trapped down the well Homer brings Krusty doll (which Homer throws down) an alarm clock (with only one bell. How does it ring?) plastic bag containing a goldfish, and an empty aquarium. (Homer looks like he's about ready to throw this down, but doesn't.) baseball bat baseball glove football Marge brings oversized sweater (knit it herself) other stuff a Krusty picture. Or is it some other picture and a Krusty doll on top? Digging Bart out Things in the soil A dinosaur skeleton A treasure chest A flying saucer with a one-eyed space alien's skeleton People helping Herman acts as foreman (since he can't dig) Groundskeeper Willie (and Agnes) Moe Krusty Principal Skinner Apu holds a lantern Sting Animation and continuity goofs Homer was standing in the doorway between the TV room and kitchen while Bart was watching TV, but when Marge stuck her head into the TV room, the kitchen disappeared and was replaced by a hallway. Also, the telephone cord would have to be really extra long to reach from the wall next to the fridge all the way to the TV room entrance. {dh} The lip sync during Homer's speech in bed was way off because the animation was stolen from `Saturdays of Thunder' [8[FG]07]. The scene where the two cops tell Homer and Marge about Bart's fate might have been taken from `Bart vs. Thanksgiving' [7[FG]07]. When Bart opens his gift from Patty and Selma, there's an ashtray in front of them. But when Homer gives Bart the microphone gift, the ashtray is gone. When Homer opens the freezer door, we see three rectangular boxes of ice cream. But Homer only inspects two boxes before he quits. Moreover, the side angle of the freezer shows cylindrical cartons of ice cream! (Though I did like how Homer muttered, ``Mmm... Chocolate'' three times.) Bart raised his desk lid, which has nothing on it, to hide/throw the micro-phone in, yet in the next scene, the top of his desk appears to be full of stuff. {dh} Rod and Todd's radio antenna appears to change positions. {dh} Both door mats are missing from the front door as Homer asked `What's up?' {dh} The stump that Bart looped the rope around appears and disappears from scene to scene. {dh} The I&S cartoon is interrupted by a special report from Channel 6 News, where Kent Brockman gives the report. Except that in `Krusty Gets Busted' [7[FG]12], Kent says that the Krusty the Klown show is on a rival network. In the establishing shot of Homer bringing stuff to the well, he brings a baseball bat. But when we move in closer, the bat is missing. Not a goof: In the same shot, Quimby appears to be to the left of his security guards, but is between them when he tells the cops to take Homer away. This isn't a goof because he's actually standing in front of them; he merely seems to be to their left because of the camera angle. And, of course, a real radio microphone doesn't have the range that Bart's did. Dave Hall asks what brand of batteries Bart's radio used. Sure lasted a long, long time. Dave Hall points out that Bart use a fake ID. In ``Bart vs. Thanksgiving'' [7[FG]07]. Groundskeeper Willy opened his flask, threw away the cap, downed a drink, then placed the (uncapped) flask back into his pocket. {dh} Comments and other observations References J. P. Patches Bill Baker {wab} explains this inside joke. His story is so well-told that I include it in its entirety: J.P. Patches was a clown character played by Chris Wiedes who had a morning kids show (much like the Krusty the Klown Show) on Channel 7 in Seattle. He even had a daily shtick where he would look through his ICU2 TV set to divine the names of kids who were having birthdays that day (he didn't charge $8). J.P. was beloved figure to a generation of Seattle kiddies.... The parallels get really weird if you remember Bart's disillusionment with Krusty this season. One of the things Krusty does off camera is smoke. Well, my dad used to work at Channel 7 and share an office with Chris Wiedes. One day my Dad brings me in early to hang around the set while they're shooting the show. He drops me off in the cafeteria with (Yes!) the idol of my youth, J.P. Patches. Up close in person, I see that J.P. is an old, tired guy in makeup and a mop wig slumped over a cup of coffee. He gives me a desultory hello and then pulls out a coffin nail (J.P. Patches keeps cigarettes in his pockets?) and lights up. There went the last of my childhood innocence. Then I sat through the show and discovered, through the off-camera banter, that a lot of the seemingly innocent running jokes and shtick, the catch phrases repeated by thousands of Seattle tykes, were actually very adult inside jokes. Oh well. The more that I think about it, the more parallels I see between J.P. and Krusty. J.P. had a number of sidekicks like Sideshow Bob and Corporal Punishment, and he played a lot of cartoons. Of course, this is a much-copied formula. However, I did get a great picture of me at 14, long hair down past my shoulders, with J.P. Patches standing with his arm around me. The Harvard Lampoon Many of Krusty's Birthday Buddies wrote for the Harvard Lampoon. David Mirsky @{dm3} has met Ken Keeler (who went on to write for Late Night) and Patric Verrone (who also went on to a career in television). Bill Oakley further names Ted Phillips as a Lampoon member. When I @{rjc} mentioned the appearance of his name to David Moulton, he responded, ``Cool, it worked!'' Alas, I didn't have a chance to press him for details. Jessica McClure Some years ago [can anyone give a year?] a young girl named Jessica McClure fell down a well, the aperture of which was too narrow for a grown-up to fit down. She became the focus of media attention for several days until her rescue, upon which she immediately faded into obscurity. Garry Shandling also spoofed this news item on his program. Garry `fell' down a well, hoping that the media attention would boost his show's ratings. Chuck E. Cheez Chuck E. Cheez is a combination pizzeria/kiddie entertainment center on the West Coast (though outlets have allegedly been spotted on the East Coast and abroad). It is a popular site for kiddie birthday parties. The similarities with Wall E. Weasel were unmistakeable. - the guy costumed as the mascot - the cage full of plastic balls (for the youngsters to frolic in) - Skee-Ball alleys ...
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment