[6.6/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] What a bizarre, jumbled-up episode this is. The first act is nonsense. The second act is surprisingly great. And the third act is a lazy slide toward a half-assed ending. I don’t know what to do with it.
The first act is effectively a Looney Tunes short where Bart gets chased by a malevolent dog for no reason. It barely matters to the arger plot of the episode. The dog is cartoony and too anthropomorphized for even the waistband reality of the show. And most of all, the shtick just isn’t very funny. “Eat my short stories” is not the clever bit of wordplay the writers think it is. The antics of Bart escaping from the dog and the lengths he goes too are tired. There’s simply nothing to it.
But then the middle act, and the main plot of the episode finally arrives, and is legitimately good. The concept of Bart befriending an old movie cowboy has tons of potential. Homer feeling affronted that t his wild west star is Bart’s new hero rather than him grounds things in some emotion. The eccentricities of 1950s westerns and old Hollywood are the kind of old timey cultural bric-a-brac that writer John Swartzwerlder specializes in making amusing, absurd hay out of (no pun intended).
Dennis Weaver does a great job as Buck, seeming distinctive in his timbre and line-reads in a fashion that make him seem like a legitimate old cowboy with ad sitintive tone and presence. The fact that his quiet mentoring of Bart leads to a local fad that’s enough to get Buck a comeback spot on the Krusty show makes for a good progression. And again, there’s even some quality emotional undercurrent to Buck being so nervous about his chance to step back in the spotlight that he starts drinking again.
But from the close of the second act, the whole thing goes down the tube. Buck accidentally shoots Krusty in the stomach! What the hell! That’s a huge thing, and the show mostly moves on like it’s nothing. Buck isn’t in jail, or reexamining himself, or anything. I’m not one for asking that The Simpsons be 100% realistic, but it’s jarring to have someone get shot in the gut by an intoxicated gunman and just move on like it’s all a part of the laughs.
The third act is ostensibly about Buck’s alcoholism and regaining Bart’s admiration, but almost every part of it is rushed and half-assed. There’s some decent enough, Swartzwelderian humor to Buck asking why it’s Marge’s business that he’s an elderly successful man who likes to drink when he doesn’t even know her name. But the alcoholism problem itself isn’t even introduced until very late, and it’s never really solved. Buck ust decides to throw out his flask one time, and that's it? I guess?
You can see the strings a bit. Homer tries to become Bart’s hero again by rehabilitating Buck as a hero, and there’s a peculiar logic to that. But the whole thing comes off very slapdash, especially with the stupidity of Buck defeating top tech robbers who try to shoot through his lasso. This one limps to the finish line without much to show for the decent ideas it played around with up to that point.
Overall, this is not the total crater of an episode that many diehard fans deride it as. If you just watch the second act, you even have a glimpse of Swartzwelder doing what he does best. But the first and third acts drag it down considerably to where it’s hard to recommend this one to anybody besides completionists and committed Swartzwelder fans.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2022-08-10T04:16:37Z
[6.6/10 on a post-classic Simpsons scale] What a bizarre, jumbled-up episode this is. The first act is nonsense. The second act is surprisingly great. And the third act is a lazy slide toward a half-assed ending. I don’t know what to do with it.
The first act is effectively a Looney Tunes short where Bart gets chased by a malevolent dog for no reason. It barely matters to the arger plot of the episode. The dog is cartoony and too anthropomorphized for even the waistband reality of the show. And most of all, the shtick just isn’t very funny. “Eat my short stories” is not the clever bit of wordplay the writers think it is. The antics of Bart escaping from the dog and the lengths he goes too are tired. There’s simply nothing to it.
But then the middle act, and the main plot of the episode finally arrives, and is legitimately good. The concept of Bart befriending an old movie cowboy has tons of potential. Homer feeling affronted that t his wild west star is Bart’s new hero rather than him grounds things in some emotion. The eccentricities of 1950s westerns and old Hollywood are the kind of old timey cultural bric-a-brac that writer John Swartzwerlder specializes in making amusing, absurd hay out of (no pun intended).
Dennis Weaver does a great job as Buck, seeming distinctive in his timbre and line-reads in a fashion that make him seem like a legitimate old cowboy with ad sitintive tone and presence. The fact that his quiet mentoring of Bart leads to a local fad that’s enough to get Buck a comeback spot on the Krusty show makes for a good progression. And again, there’s even some quality emotional undercurrent to Buck being so nervous about his chance to step back in the spotlight that he starts drinking again.
But from the close of the second act, the whole thing goes down the tube. Buck accidentally shoots Krusty in the stomach! What the hell! That’s a huge thing, and the show mostly moves on like it’s nothing. Buck isn’t in jail, or reexamining himself, or anything. I’m not one for asking that The Simpsons be 100% realistic, but it’s jarring to have someone get shot in the gut by an intoxicated gunman and just move on like it’s all a part of the laughs.
The third act is ostensibly about Buck’s alcoholism and regaining Bart’s admiration, but almost every part of it is rushed and half-assed. There’s some decent enough, Swartzwelderian humor to Buck asking why it’s Marge’s business that he’s an elderly successful man who likes to drink when he doesn’t even know her name. But the alcoholism problem itself isn’t even introduced until very late, and it’s never really solved. Buck ust decides to throw out his flask one time, and that's it? I guess?
You can see the strings a bit. Homer tries to become Bart’s hero again by rehabilitating Buck as a hero, and there’s a peculiar logic to that. But the whole thing comes off very slapdash, especially with the stupidity of Buck defeating top tech robbers who try to shoot through his lasso. This one limps to the finish line without much to show for the decent ideas it played around with up to that point.
Overall, this is not the total crater of an episode that many diehard fans deride it as. If you just watch the second act, you even have a glimpse of Swartzwelder doing what he does best. But the first and third acts drag it down considerably to where it’s hard to recommend this one to anybody besides completionists and committed Swartzwelder fans.