"The Simpsons" Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind (2007)

Director:

Chuck Sheetz

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator)
James L. Brooks (developer) ...

TV Series:

"The Simpsons" (1989)

Original Air Date:

16 December 2007 (Season 19, Episode 9)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy

Plot:

Homer goes to Dr. Frink to help him recover his memories from the night before, and he discovers, based on his interpretation of the memories, that Marge is having an affair. |

Plot Keywords:

Domestic Strife | Memory Loss | Attempted Suicide | Black Eye | Nuclear Power

Cast

Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Moe (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Skinner (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tress MacNeille	...	Little Boy (voice)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Various (voice)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Company:

Gracie Films

Quotes:

Homer Simpson: Something happened in this room. If only these walls could talk. Then people would pay to see my talking walls, and I could use that money to... Oh, another memory!

Movie Connections:

References Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Soundtrack:

Winter Wonderland

Dream-like entertainment

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The combination of this episode winning an Emmy, good word of mouth and seeing- and loving- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) made me want to see this episode. I was somewhat disappointed- it is a strong latter day effort for The Simpsons, like The Simpsons Movie, but that doesn't make it an equal to the episodes of the golden age, or to the movie the title references.

Homer finds out he took a drink to make him lose a memory, and wonders what he did that was so bad he'd want to forget it. He finds evidence he gave Marge a black eye after catching her with another man, and horrified, contemplates suicide. But it turns out that Marge wasn't having an affair with this man and the black eye was the result of an accident. Her real aim is to throw Homer a surprise party, and Homer takes the memory loss drug to make the party a surprise again.

What's good about this episode is that it scores some laughs, though not all of the jokes are great. Was I really supposed to laugh at "new bubble smell"? Homer seeing his life flash before his eyes was also done in an artsy way. I looked it up, and sure enough, it was a parody, but even though it's not original, I'll give The Simpsons credit for taking a good idea and making it its own. (Kind of like how the endings of Life on the Fast Lane and When Flanders Failed were actually parodies but worked on their own, by which I mean, enjoyable and touching even if you don't get the reference). On the other hand, speaking of spoofs, although I loved Ice Age (2002), I'm not sure I would have parodied it as they did in this episode. I'd only parody movies that have been or are guaranteed to be around forever to make sure the parody stays timeless. Ice Age may not be remembered in twenty years.

The down side of this episode is that it doesn't have the depth of the classic episodes. Take the episodes I've already mentioned- Life on the Fast Lane (s. 1) dealt with Marge nearly having an affair and When Flanders Failed (s. 3) has Homer wishing misfortune on his neighbour. These episodes thus explore the characters' dark side while making them understandable, sympathetic, and human. Eternal Moonshine looks like it will explore the Simpsons' dark side through the hint of infidelity and domestic disturbance, but it doesn't actually do this. Of course, not all episodes have to, and I'll give the episode a passing grade, but I won't give it the same regard that I give to older episodes.