After a 30-plus minute NASCAR delay (caused, I assume, by either a loose windshield wiper or a cup holder malfunction…I don’t know much about NASCAR), The Simpsons kicked off their second HD episode, “How The Test Was Won,” with a title sequence tour of sitcom history, from The Honeymooners to Cheers (complete with Kelsey-Grammer-as-Sideshow-Bob joke). Too bad the episode that followed wasn’t anywhere near as good. Despite three strong set-ups and a great first act, the episode barely got off the ground, crash landing long before its what-the-heck Footloose finale.
Thanks to the No Child Left Alone act, Springfield Elementary has been frantically preparing its students for the Vice President Assessment Test, using teaching methods as varied as dodgeball-pummeling pop quizzes and PhD-level alphabet soup. On the day of the test, Bart is met at school by Principal Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers who inform him that he doesn’t have to take the test because he aced the practice VPAT. In fact, he and the other test superstars get to spend the day at a bowling alley pizza party instead. As soon as he boards the chartered “helicopter,” however, Bart realizes the truth: he and the rest of the underachievers are being shuttled off campus so they can’t drag down the curve. Only after boarding the same bus to retrieve Chalmers’ forgotten sunglasses does Skinner realize he’s being shuttled off with them.
Back in school, meanwhile, Lisa faces an uncharacteristic bout of test anxiety so bad she’s unable to answer a single question. And on the other side of town, Homer realizes that because he forgot to mail their insurance payment, he’s financially responsible for his actions for the first time in his life, so he rushes home to wait out any and all potential danger until he can be sure the coverage has been reinstated.
All of the above premises are solid. Sure, Bart and the bullies have been hidden away from school evaluation before, and Lisa confronting standardized test-itis is kind of a copout, but the Homer setup is so good I’m surprised they haven’t used it already. Forcing the world’s most accident-prone person (as evidenced by a lengthy montage of clips from past episodes) to avoid all danger to himself and anyone for whom he’s liable is fertile comedic ground. Why, then, doesn’t it work? Because there isn’t enough time to get the B-plot rolling. We get about a minute of Homer dodging catastrophe in the outside world before he rushes home, spending the rest of the episode imagining all the dangerous and sexy things that might happen to the women in Marge’s book club. There might have been enough time for Homer hilarity if they hadn’t dedicated so much time to the meandering and ultimately boring story of Skinner trying to keep his dull charges safe after they get stranded in Capital City. There’s a moral in there about kids learning better from experience than testing, but it gets lost in the literal shuffle of the impromptu dance party that ends the episode. First third aside, this HD episode was more fizzle than sizzle.
Sound off in the comments fellow viewers. Am I wrong in thinking the end paled in comparison to the beginning? Were you as disappointed as I was by how little they did with the Homer story compared to the time they spent with Bart and Skinner? Sharpen your number two pencils and fill in your answers below.
2. March 2009 at 1:19 pm
Could not disagree with you more. I thought it was one of the funniest episodes they’ve done in a long time.
2. March 2009 at 2:08 pm
Yeah…I agree with Shawn, and disagree with YOU, Mr. Critic(al). It was a stellar episode, from beginning to end, the jokes were funny, the cultural references were great, and the animation was some of the most sophisticated for this show yet. Is it still popular to criticize the Simpsons or something, like it is (apparently) to criticize SNL? Must be, luckily, millions of fans don’t read your reviews.
3. March 2009 at 6:30 am
This episode was one of the best in recent memory, from the couch gag to the end. Bart spent most of the episode being a smart-ass punk, Skinner had several amusing remarks and reactions, Lisa was not the little miss know-it-all for a change, and Homer was typically dopey and inappropriate. What more could you want? By the way, the stay-out-of-trouble-until-the-insurance-kicks-in-again premise has been done on other shows in years past, so it wasn’t an original premise, but still quite amusing. At least they didn’t overdo it. There have been some very weak episodes this season, so it was a treat to see one that was solid from start to finish.
3. March 2009 at 2:19 pm
I loved this episode, but mind you I haven’t been an avid Simpsons watcher in the past so a lot of the content was new to me.
However I do agree that they could have done so much more with Homer and his insurance issue; it was such a great idea and I was really intrigued to see where the writers would go with it. When it ended with a small scene at home with the book club I was rather disappointed.
Great episode, but I wish they had done more with Homer.
4. March 2009 at 10:11 am
Erich, I totally agree with you. Up until the part where the kids got on the bus it was a great episode, but after that it took a total belly flop. The whole ‘insecure Lisa’ thing has been used too many times and is getting old. The ‘Homer with no insurance’ part was lifted from an old “King of the Hill” episode and the ‘Footloose’ ending felt tacked on.
18. March 2009 at 4:31 pm
Aside from the fact that there was an old episode about two years ago (I think) about getting the hillbilly kids from taking the standardized test, which is essentially the same premise as this episode, I still really enjoyed it. I laughed out loud when lightning almost hit Homer while he realized he couldn’t get hurt, and also at the angry letter he wrote to the insurance company. It’s also nice to see Otto again.
This episode is lacking in originality, but pretty much everything is these days. Luckily, some things are funnier the second time around.
20. May 2010 at 1:22 pm
It was worth it all just for Mr. Burns screaming “Apaches!” It made my day