"That 90's Show" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' nineteenth season. It was first broadcast on January 27, 2008. Kurt Loder and
After Bart and Lisa discover Marge's diploma from Springfield University, Homer and Marge recount one of the darkest points of their relationship. The episode significantly retcons some of the Simpson family history, depicting the timeframe of Homer and Marge's romance as being in the 1990s, as opposed to the late 1970s and early 1980s setting in past episodes. Subsequent episodes such as Season 20's "Take My Life, Please" would return to the 80s depiction.
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Plot
The Simpson family are freezing inside their house since Homer had not paid the heating bill, thinking that global warming would compensate for his ineptitude. Bart and Lisa, searching for items to feed the fire, discover a box containing a degree belonging to Marge from Springfield University. Homer and Marge look shocked to find it, and claim it was from their dating years. Lisa does some calculations and realizes that, because Bart is 10, and Homer and Marge are in their mid-to-late thirties, Bart must have been born later in their parents' relationship than they thought. Marge and Homer proceed to describe one of the darker points of their relationship, the 1990s (which Bart has never heard of, despite the fact that the show was one of the most popular on TV during the 90s).
In the flashback, Homer and Marge are happily dating, living together in an apartment, Marge is an avid reader, and Homer is part of an R&B group alongside Lenny, Carl, and "Lou the cop". One morning, Marge wakes up to find out she had been accepted into Springfield University, but is shocked to learn of the high cost of tuition, $3000 a year. Homer, taking pity on Marge, gives up his dream of becoming a musician and instead decides to work at his dad's popular laser tag warehouse in order to pay for it, where he is abused by the children. At Springfield University, Marge is impressed with her surroundings and with the radically politically correct Revisionist history professor Stefane August, despite Homer's disapproval.
In the present, a repairman arrives and fixes the heater, while Marge continues on with the story. Marge soon begins to admire August, and while caressing Homer after his long day at work, realizes she has feelings for her professor. Marge starts talking to Professor August who has also fallen for her. August begins manipulating Marge by telling her Homer is a simple "townie" who would not appreciate her intellect. A shocked Homer arrives and catches the two together. In his anger, he reforms his R&B group with a new sound called "grunge," which Homer explains is an acronym for "Guitar Rock Utilizing Nihilist Grunge Energy." His band is renamed to "Sadgasm" and they sing a song Homer calls "Politically Incorrect", listed in the episode's credits as "Kisses are Dirt". An angry Marge and Homer soon call their relationship quits, and Marge leaves to go with Professor August.
Homer goes to Moe, who at this point owns a cigar bar, where Barney was starting to be a recurrent client. Finding no help from Moe, Homer goes on to perform a new song, called "Shave Me", which causes him to become so famous that
Cultural references
The title is a reference to That '70s Show and That '80s Show. Homer and Marge live at Springfield Place, a reference to Melrose Place. The scene with "Marvin Cobain" is a parody of a scene in Back to the Future, where "Marvin Berry" called his cousin Chuck Berry in a similar situation to show him the new sound of Rock and Roll. Homer's first band is a reference to R&B group Boyz II Men, and the song they record is a parody of the latter's 1994 hit I'll Make Love to You.[2] The button in the Springfield University quadrangle is a reference to Claes Oldenburg's "Split Button" on the University of Pennsylvania campus.[3] The University also features a sculpture attributed to Joan Miró. Homer's second band, Sadgasm, is a parody of the grunge band Nirvana, and before one of Sadgasm's concerts the Space Needle and a Starbucks are shown, implying that they are in Seattle, which is where Nirvana originated. The song "Shave Me" played by Sadgasm in the episode is similar to "Rape Me" by Nirvana, and "Margerine" to "Glycerine" by Bush. Homer mentions that Matt Groening was working hard on launching Futurama, during the 1990s.[4] Sonic and Amy Rose appear on a billboard. In one scene, Comic Book Guy is heard telling a group, "And that is why 'The Lord of the Rings' can never be filmed." When Homer tears out one tentacle of the couple's toy octopus, a reference to Ty Beanie Babies, the filling came out to the sound of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve.
Reception
An estimated 7.6 million viewers tuned in to the episode, fewer than the previous episode.[5] Richard Keller of TV Squad enjoyed the many cultural references to the 1990s, but felt disappointed that the episode changed the continuity of The Simpsons.[4] Robert Canning of IGN strongly disliked the episode, also feeling that the continuity change was not a good choice. He said, "What 'That '90s Show' did was neither cool nor interesting. Instead, it insulted lifelong Simpsons fans everywhere. With this episode, the writers chose to change the history of the Simpson family." He gave the episode a 3/10, and suggested that this episode should have been set a decade earlier to fit classic Simpsons continuity.[6] He later added that it was his least favorite episode of the nineteenth season, and that it "was an episode that [he] will be erasing from [his] personal Simpsons memory bank."[7]
References
- ^ a b "Primetime Listings". FoxFlash. 2008-01-27. http://foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&ID=71. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- ^ "Stereogum: That 90's Show". http://stereogum.com/archives/show-tunes/the-simpsons-revisit-the-90s-reveal-homer-invented_007875.html?utm_source=bb&utm_medium=rc.
- ^ a b "That 90's Show". tvsquad.com. http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/01/27/the-simpsons-that-90s-show/. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ "That 90's Show". Simpsons Channel. 2008. http://www.simpsonschannel.com/cgi-bin/newspro/addons/iSay.cgi?Page=Comments&ID=EkpEVlpuEZXNviWPxz. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ Robert Canning (2008). "That 90's Show". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/847/847940p1.html. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
- ^ Robert Canning (2008-05-27). "The Simpsons: Season 19 Review". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/876/876631p1.html. Retrieved 2008-01-28.
External links
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