Simpsons Did It!: “Extreme Makeover: Homer Edition”

So, apparently, there were three direct-to-streaming Simpsons episodes this past summer.  It thought the one I covered before was the only one.  It was not.  It wasn’t even the first one.  The third just dropped, and I’ll probably have the write-up for that one tomorrow.  But in the meantime, there was a double-length episode I somehow missed.

And it…is something, that’s for sure.

Can I start with the guest stars?  Setting aside that the avaunt-guard art group Meow Wolf did the very bizarre couch gag–that I liked, to be honest–but then there’s Jon Hamm as himself, but not in the section of the episode that acts as something of a Mad Men parody.  There’s Betty Gilpin as Lenny’s latest girlfriend.  I honestly thought it was one of the regular cast members, and while I am vaguely aware of who Betty Gilpin is, I don’t think I have ever seen her in anything.  Meanwhile, there’s Laufey, singing a song, and Tegan and Sara, singing a song, and I have no idea who any of those folks are nor which song was sung by whom.

But the episode itself is largely fine, at least in the framing sequence.  Homer and Marge are going out for a couples’ date night with Lenny, Carl, and their respective girlfriends.  The babysitter can’t watch Bart, Lisa, and Maggie, Marge goes on ahead to the restaurant while Homer tries to find someone else to watch the kids.  And you know what?  Homer legitimately tries.  He ignores that Ned Flanders might be dying of internal bleeding while pinned under his own car, but this is Homer, and the only reason he even checked was the hope Ned could watch the kids.  He calls everyone he knows.  He finally just sets the three in front of the doorbell cam with the idea that he can check them from time-to-time on his phone.

Like, that seems to be a legit Homer solution, and it’s not like he left them completely unwatched.  It’s not responsible, but it’s a solution Homer might legitimately try.  And yes, Marge gets upset when she finds out, also because she was actually making progress at being the life of the party for once until Homer showed up and did the Homer thing by overshadowing her.

As such, Marge then drinks too much and imagines Homer as different versions that might be more attractive to her.  The first is Homer-as-Maverick in Top Gun, where he’s a top notch fighter pilot who keeps getting his wingmen killed–including guest star Jon Hamm as himself at one point–while getting results.  Marge is there to help him be better through therapy or something.  Homer has a full head of hair, and he’s noticeably shorter than Marge because, hey, Tom Cruise reference.  Marge does her work too well.  She has to fly along in her own jet to ensure Homer focused enough to finish the mission.

Oh, but that makes her a wingman and she dies.

The second is a Mad Men kinda thing.  Homer works in a soulless corporation in the city and takes the train home to his ambitious suburban wife…Hellen Lovejoy.  But Helen seems to have eyes for hunky single man Kirk VanHouten, and Homer doesn’t seem to notice his kids look like little Kirks.  But then Homer meets beatnik Marge at a party, runs off for a fun day in the city, and then doesn’t meet her again to run away together.

Man, Homer sucks in every universe!

The last one makes the least amount of sense because it imagines Homer as the Joker.  Not the one from the Batman comics.  The one Joaquin Phoenix played.  Imagine an emaciated Homer in Krusty make-up.  That’s what I see here.  Now, parodying the first movie makes a certain amount of sense.  It was a popular movie, got a few Oscar nominations and even a win or two, but there’s no love interest for Homer/Arthur Fleck/Joker unless…they bring in elements from the sequel nobody liked.  Not even me.  That means Marge is there as Margeley Quinn, and now when they kill talk show host Krusty, Homer’s mob of admirers (more of a sequel thing there too) turn on Homer because he’s not an incel.  Why does Marge want this Homer?  Probably because she’s drunk enough to go drink at Moe’s.  Even Moe thinks she’s had enough.

Anyway, Marge goes home to find Homer, locked out of the house, is cuddling with the kids in Bart’s treehouse, and that warms Marge’s heart and she loves Homer again.  Not exactly a surprise in the end.

But not the worst I have ever seen.  At least I don’t wonder what the whole point is.

I might think that about the next one because someone working on the show thought it was a good idea to be a Black Mirror parody.