“Then me and my friend were about to press it, but the man said not to press it, but we pressed it anyway! And we ran and we hid in a giant tire, oh yeah, and my other friend was already there!” – Homer Simpson
In yet another desperate bid for attention, Zombie Simpsons has once again hitched its cart to a more currently successful person. In this case, it’s Judd Apatow (who wrote a couple of good episodes of The Critic back in the day), who dusted off an old spec script he wrote twenty odd years ago. The premise is that Homer gets hypnotized and thinks he’s Bart’s age. I’ll just say this: there’s a reason this didn’t get made when the show was good, and it’s not because Apatow wasn’t famous then.
- Oof, that couch gag took an awful long time.
- And we get an early start on this week’s unnecessary exposition with Homer singing to himself about walking.
- So there’s another safety inspector? I’m sure glad he and Homer repeated who he was and what he did several times. I never would’ve caught it in one.
- The book titles are pretty good, “The Core: Mistress of Death”. As usual, the sign gags are the best thing here.
- Lenny and Carl were there, then they weren’t.
- Now Lenny’s back.
- Ah, that’s good exposition, unneeded, nonsensical, the whole megillah: “You need to relax. So, I got us all tickets to see the circus on Saturday.”
- Homer is ranting about parking now. It’s like they believe that the famous phrase is “tell, don’t show” instead of the other way around.
- I get that the sideshow signs are Apatow references, but reminding the audience about the existence of Funny People isn’t a good idea. I gave up on that movie halfway through and have never talked to a single person who liked it.
- So, Marge needed to explain to Homer that she had to use the port-a-potty, why, exactly?
- “No, I’m not”/”Yes you are” just keeps going, doesn’t it?
- “Mom, Dad’s been hypnotized to think he was ten.” – Thanks, Exposition Lisa!
- “Buddy Ebsen Died Here” on the hospital sign is pretty good. Sadly, this episode would probably be funnier on mute.
- Hey, a briefly popped eyeball.
- I’ll give them this, 10-year-old Homer is at least a novel take on Jerkass Homer. It’s not funny or entertaining or anything, but he’s never been an asshole quite like this.
- Culottes were funny that one time; here, not so much,
- Uh, why is Homer at the school?
- Naturally, Chalmers is there. Remember when he was the superintendent? Good times.
- They’re reusing the happy music from “Treehouse of Horror II” when Bart and Homer bond. It was ironic then. It’s kinda ironic now, but in a different way.
- Also, Chalmers and Skinner are back.
- Speaking of re-used music, Lisa’s playing “Baker Street“.
- “Lis, you know how Dad thinks he’s a ten-year-old?”/”I’ve been emotionally dealing with that all week, so, yes.” We just saw Lisa have fun with Homer. Also too, unnecessary exposition.
- And now Bart’s explaining what we just saw.
- Now they’re at Itchy & Scratchy Land for some reason. That was unexpected.
- The MST3K robots on the amusement park ride are a nice touch, though once again the best parts of this episode have nothing to do with its story and work fine without any sound whatsoever.
- Incidentally, if you ever do get suckered into going to Disney’s California Adventure park, the Soarin’ Over California ride is one of the few things really worth doing. It’s a lot more entertaining in person than as filler in Zombie Simpsons.
- Marge, Chief Wiggum, Lou, and the hypnotist just showed up out of nowhere. How did they find Bart and Homer? Enh. At least Wiggum re-explained things.
- And Homer’s back to normal now, though he also recapped things.
- I guess the “Je Suis Charlie” thing is a nice gesture, but why was it in between the end of the story and this weird Marvel thing they needed to fill the contractually obligated runtime?
- Huh, that was Stacy Keach at the beginning.
Anyway, the numbers aren’t in for some reason, but given the lack of late football on FOX and competition from yet another awards show, I wouldn’t expect much. I’ll update after TV By the Numbers does.
