[7.7/10] I love both major stories here. The main one, about Homer choosing to encourage his daughter instead of sating his own desire for comfort, is superb. All throughout the episode, you get hints at the way that Grampa was a terrible father, and it’s definitely been a thread through the rest of the series. Homer makes his own mistakes here (not the least of which is taking his toddler to a dank bar), but you can tell how much he wants to nourish his daughter’s gift, to the point of giving up his chance at air conditioning in a heatwave in order to get Lisa a musical instrument that will, hopefully, encourage her prodigious talents (twice!). It’s a nice instance of Homer as the dopey but well-meaning dad, his best mode.
I also enjoy the much more cynical B-story, involving Bart’s first day of school. There’s something that feels so true to the show about Bart actually starting out as a happy, excited young kid as he first boards the bus, only to have every bit of cheer and enthusiasm worn out of him by the grim meatgrinder of public education. The way his teacher scolds him and stifles his potential has the ring of satire, and the way he gets the encouragement and attention from his beers through crudeness and acting out that he can’t get from his educators suggests the little hellraiser we know and love didn’t happen by destiny, but that he’s a rebel as a product of his environment.
That’s a pretty highfalutin way to describe a storyline that ends with our favorite future ten-year-old chanting “Buttman!”, but it’s a fun and telling origin story for the spiky-haired little hellion.
I also love the humor in this one. The homages to All in the Family, the random appearances of Apu, the spoof of Twin Peaks, Grampa’s antics, and the dual inscriptions that both end in “D’oh” are all classic Simpsons gags. The satire of the failings of the modern school system are pointed but still humorous. And there's a lot of good yuks to be wrung from the Simpsons’ efforts to feed Lisa’s gifts given their lack of financial largesse. This one’s as funny as it is alternatingly sweet and cynical.
Overall, with Al Jean behind the pen, this one definitely feels like a throwback to the episodes he and Mike Reiss showran together in seasons 3 and 4, and that’s a good thing.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2020-06-27T03:35:58Z
[7.7/10] I love both major stories here. The main one, about Homer choosing to encourage his daughter instead of sating his own desire for comfort, is superb. All throughout the episode, you get hints at the way that Grampa was a terrible father, and it’s definitely been a thread through the rest of the series. Homer makes his own mistakes here (not the least of which is taking his toddler to a dank bar), but you can tell how much he wants to nourish his daughter’s gift, to the point of giving up his chance at air conditioning in a heatwave in order to get Lisa a musical instrument that will, hopefully, encourage her prodigious talents (twice!). It’s a nice instance of Homer as the dopey but well-meaning dad, his best mode.
I also enjoy the much more cynical B-story, involving Bart’s first day of school. There’s something that feels so true to the show about Bart actually starting out as a happy, excited young kid as he first boards the bus, only to have every bit of cheer and enthusiasm worn out of him by the grim meatgrinder of public education. The way his teacher scolds him and stifles his potential has the ring of satire, and the way he gets the encouragement and attention from his beers through crudeness and acting out that he can’t get from his educators suggests the little hellraiser we know and love didn’t happen by destiny, but that he’s a rebel as a product of his environment.
That’s a pretty highfalutin way to describe a storyline that ends with our favorite future ten-year-old chanting “Buttman!”, but it’s a fun and telling origin story for the spiky-haired little hellion.
I also love the humor in this one. The homages to All in the Family, the random appearances of Apu, the spoof of Twin Peaks, Grampa’s antics, and the dual inscriptions that both end in “D’oh” are all classic Simpsons gags. The satire of the failings of the modern school system are pointed but still humorous. And there's a lot of good yuks to be wrung from the Simpsons’ efforts to feed Lisa’s gifts given their lack of financial largesse. This one’s as funny as it is alternatingly sweet and cynical.
Overall, with Al Jean behind the pen, this one definitely feels like a throwback to the episodes he and Mike Reiss showran together in seasons 3 and 4, and that’s a good thing.