All Movie Guide
When Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) makes the sobering discovery that his current age put him at the halfway point of a normal human life expectancy, he becomes deeply depressed and is convinced he's wasted his life. Hoping to lift Homer's spirits, his family puts together a reel of home movies documenting some of his more remarkable exploits; unimpressed, he asks who invented movies in the first place, and when he discovers Thomas Edison dreamed up moving pictures as well as the light bulb, the phonograph, and dozens of other useful items, Homer is inspired to become an inventor. Quitting his job, he sets up a workshop in the basement in hopes of creating useful new items. However, Homer's first batch of new products -- including a make-up gun, an electric hammer, and a combination toilet and easy chair -- fails to impress, and he thinks he's washed out again until he comes up with a chair that has extra hinged back legs which keep it from tipping over backwards. The family is convinced Homer's finally come up with a winner until someone spots a photo of Edison with just such a chair; determined to avoid being branded a failure again, Homer and Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) head to the Edison Museum in Michigan in order to destroy the great inventor's original chair so Homer can claim it as his own. Featuring a voice cameo from William Daniels (reprising his role as K.I.T.T., the car from Knight Rider), The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace first aired on September 20, 1998. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
Lisa Simpson (voice of Yeardley Smith) develops a bad cold and has to stay home from school; without much to do, her mother Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) wheels a television and a videogame setup into her room which to her brother Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright). While Lisa is resistant to the game at first, she becomes a master of "Dash Dingo," and by the time she returns to school, for once in her life she's behind on her homework and unprepared for a test. Lisa postpones the test by pretending to fall ill again, and Bart offers to help her by introducing her to scheming Nelson (also voiced by Cartwright), who can provide her the answers for the test -- for a price. Against her better judgment, Lisa buys the answers and ends up getting an A+ on the test. While this isn't anything new for Springfield's youngest intellectual, Lisa is a bit embarrassed by the fuss over her grade, especially when it kicks Springfield Elementary's grade average into a higher category, making the school eligible for increased funding. Lisa is torn -- should the school profit from her ethical lapse, or should she tell the truth? Meanwhile, Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) has a taste for shellfish, and buys a small lobster in order to fatten him up for a proper feast. However, once Homer names the crustacean "Mr. Pinchy," he no longer has the heart to eat it, and makes the lobster into his pet. Lisa Gets An 'A' first aired on November 22, 1998. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and his family check out Springfield's Bi-Monthly Sci-Fi Convention (The BiMon SciFi Con!), and the fans are buzzing in anticipation of an appearance by Luke Skywalker himself, actor Mark Hamill. Always looking for a photo op, Mayor Quimby (also voiced by Castellaneta) stops by to have his picture taken with Hamill, and when a scuffle breaks out, Homer comes to the rescue, escorting the mayor and the actor to safety. Quimby promptly fires his staff of bodyguards and hires Homer to take their place; after taking a crash course in the art of protecting others, Homer is now the mayor's first line of defense against enemies. Homer is on hand when Quimby makes a deal with local crime boss Fat Tony (voice of Joe Mantegna) to provide milk for town's schools, but he soon learns that the milk comes from rats, not cows, and Homer forces the mayor to expose Fat Tony's dirty dealings. This earns the enmity of Fat Tony, and the gangster is determined to take Quimby out of the picture as the mayor enjoys a dinner theater performance of Guys and Dolls, with Hamill cast as Nathan Detroit. Mayored To The Mob first aired on December 20, 1998. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
After his class takes a field trip to the Post Office, Bart Simpson (voice of Nancy Cartwright) gets to take home one piece of undeliverable mail as a souvenir, and he's given a coupon booklet, which his father Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) embraces with no small enthusiasm. While at an auto repair shop for a free wheel balancing, Homer is talked into buying four new tires, and while they're being installed, he chats with fellow customer Wally Kogen (voice of Fred Willard). Wally runs a travel agency, and is organizing a charter trip to the upcoming Super Bowl. Wally offers Homer a free trip in exchange for help rounding up customers, and he enthusiastically agrees. However, once the busload of Springfield's biggest football fans arrives at the stadium for the big game, they discovers their tickets are phonies ("The hologram's missing, and there's no such team as the Spungos, and finally these seem to be printed on some sort of cracker"), and now the guys have to come up with a way to sneak into the biggest professional sporting event of the year. Meanwhile at home, Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) and Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) pass the time with a craft kit they got as a present years ago, "Vincent Price's Egg Magic," which leads to a curious telephone encounter with the late actor. Sunday, Cruddy Sunday features voice cameos from football stars Troy Aikman, Rosey Grier and Dan Marino, sportscasters John Madden and Pat Summerall, Fox Network mogul Rupert Murdoch, and country music legend Dolly Parton. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
Youthful vegetarian Lisa Simpson (voice of Yeardley Smith) informs her family that she wants to organize a protest against a new restaurant in town called "The Slaughterhouse," which serves only meat dishes and features menus made from flattened chickens. Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) and Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) predictably think this sounds like just the sort of place they'd like to dine, and the Simpsons have dinner there that evening. While considering a steak called "Sir Loin-A-Lot" that's the size of a surfboard, Homer is goaded into an eating contest with long-haul trucker Red Barclay (voice of Hank Azaria); Red wins, but the victory rings hollow when he dies a few minutes later. Not wanting Red to spoil his perfect record on the road, Homer offers to drive his rig to Atlanta and see that his final delivery arrives on time. Homer finds trucking isn't as easy as he imagined, even with Bart on board to help, but a fellow gear-jammer lets him in on a secret -- eighteen wheelers are fitted with a special automatic pilot device that can do the work when he driver is too tired to do it himself. Warned to keep this a secret, Homer (of course) tells everyone he knows about the gadget, earning the immediate enmity of truckers everywhere. Meanwhile at home, Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) and Lisa visit Senor Ding-Dong's Doorbell Fiesta to buy a new doorbell for the house; while they're excited about their purchase, the novelty wears off once they try the new bell and it refuses to stop ringing. Maximum Homerdrive was first aired on March 28, 1999. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
It's an uncomfortably hot Easter Sunday, and as Rev. Lovejoy (voice of Harry Shearer) drones on with his sermon, the Simpson Family drift off to sleep in their pew, dreaming they're part of famous stories from the Bible. Marge (voice of Julie Kavner) dreams that she and Homer (voice of Dan Castellaneta) are Adam and Eve, and that his appetite for snacks of all kinds leads them to sample the forbidden fruit of knowledge, despite the warnings of the Almighty . . . who sounds a lot like Ned Flanders (also voiced by Shearer). Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) dreams that she and her friends are the Israelite slaves of ancient Egypt, Principal Skinner (voice of Harry Shearer) is the evil Pharaoh, and Milhouse (voice of Pamela Hayden) is Moses, destined to lead them to freedom. Homer images himself as King Solomon, though the monarch's fabled wisdom takes an unexpected turn when two of his subjects come to him to settle a dispute over who is the rightful owner of a pie. And Bart (voice of Nancy Cartwright) gets into the act by dreaming he's King David, and that he's been challenged to a repeat of his famous battle with Goliath -- only this time he's squaring off against Goliath's son, who looks a lot like dreaded bully Nelson Muntz (also voiced by Cartwright). Simpsons Bible Stories first aired on April 4, 1999. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
After seeing a commercial for a do-it-yourself Barbecue Pit Kit, Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta) tries building one himself, but the end result is a useless and unrecognizable mass of brick, mortal and metal ("Why must I fail at every attempt at masonry?!!"). Homer has no luck returning it to the hardware store, but when the object is found by Astrid Weller (voice of Isabella Rossellini), proprietor of the "Louvre: American Style" art gallery, she presumes it's a sculpture by a gifted outsider artist, and puts it on display. When capricious multi-billionaire C. Montgomery Burns (voice of Harry Shearer) buys the piece, Homer is officially a professional artist, and he quits his job to work up more sculptures for his first show. Marge (voice of Julie Kavner), herself a talented artist, is a bit peeved that her husband has been proclaimed a genius by Springfield's intelligencia over a botched attempt at masonry, but Homer's one man show lands with a resounding thud, and Homer decides he needs to come up with a major project if the creative community is to continue to respect him. Mom and Pop Art first aired on April 11, 1999, and features a voice cameo from acclaimed artist Jasper Johns. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
Ultra-charming billionaire Arthur Fortune (voice of Hank Azaria) comes to Springfield for the grand opening of one of his Fortune Megastore multi-media shops, and he wins over the townspeople with his habit of throwing dollar bills to strangers and sharing stories of his adventures around the world. Springfield's scandalously wealthy energy magnate C. Montgomery Burns (voice of Harry Shearer) notices people seem to love Fortune but don't much care for him, and he sets out to win the hearts of the people of Springfield. A radio interview with local shock-jock Jerry Rude (voice of Michael McKean) backfires on Burns, but when he learns that Fortune earned plenty of positive press by donating pandas to the Springfield Zoo. Burns decides to trump that by giving them a one-of-a-kind attraction -- the Loch Ness Monster. With faithful toady Waylon Smithers (also voiced by Shearer), bumbling employee Homer Simpson (voice of Dan Castellaneta), semi-respected scientist Professor John Frink (also voiced by Azaria) and resident Scot Groundskeeper Willie (also voiced by Castellaneta) in tow, Burns heads to Scotland, determined to capture the possibly mythical sea creature and bring it back home. Monty Can't Buy Me Love first aired on May 2, 1999. Mark Deming
All Movie Guide
While Springfield has never been known as a hub of high culture, things hit a new low when local radio station KBBL sponsors a "How Low Can You Go?" Contest, in which the entrant who performs the most humiliating stunt in public wins a trip to Hawaii. A melee ensues, and a disgusted Lisa Simpson (voice of Yeardley Smith) writes a letter to the editor of the Springfield Shopper, proclaiming "we live in a town of lowbrows, no-brows and ignorami." The letter attracts the attention of Springfield's chapter of MENSA, the international organization for people of genius-level IQ, and Lisa is invited to join. When the MENSA members pay a visit to Mayor Quimby (voice of Dan Castellaneta) to complain about the police's handling of park reservations, the wildly corrupt elected official thinks they've uncovered his misdeeds and he hits the road. Under a little-known provision in the city charter, the MENSA team takes over the city government in Quimby's absence, but just because they're brilliant doesn't mean they're able to agree on things. Meanwhile, Homer (also voiced by Castellaneta) wins a session with a boudoir photographer, and tries to come up with some spicy snaps for his wife Marge (voice of Julie Kavner), even though the shutterbug warns him "light is not your friend." Featuring a voice cameo from actual genius Stephen Hawking, They Saved Lisa's Brain first aired on May 9, 1999. Mark Deming