Difference between revisions of "Season 3"

"Stark Raving Dad"

Through a series of misunderstandings, Homer is put into a mental hospital and his roommate is a man who talks and sings like Michael Jackson. Everything is cleared up and Homer is released, but in all the chaos everyone has forgotten about Lisa's birthday. Bart, for his part, hasn't even remembered to buy her a present. To make it up to her, Bart and "Michael" write and perform a song for Lisa, which she says is the best present she ever got.

Lisa wins the local competition of an essay contest, earning the family a trip to Washington, D.C. for the finals. Lisa sees Bob Arnold (her own representative) taking a bribe. Disgusted, she changes her previous uplifting essay into a cynical one denouncing corruption in government in general and Bob Arnold in particular. Her faith in the system is restored when Arnold is arrested and expelled from Congress.

"When Flanders Failed"

Ned Flanders opens the Leftorium, a store specializing in merchandise for left-handed people. Homer thinks it's a stupid idea and secretly wishes for the store to fail and Ned to be humiliated. Homer's wish comes true when business is very slow, and Ned is facing financial ruin and the loss of his house. Homer goes through a change of heart, tells Ned to open the store one more time, and calls every left-handed person he knows to tell them about the Leftorium. They all come to the store the next morning and buy alll kinds of left-handed items, and Ned's store is saved.

"Bart the Murderer"

Bart is hired to work in a Mafia bar run by Fat Tony (making his first appearance). Bart is late for work due to having been put in detention by Principal Skinner. Fat Tony announces that he and his men will "meet and greet" Skinner, and shortly after that, Skinner disappears. Both Bart and Fat Tony are accused of Skinner's murder, and at trial Fat Tony tries to pin the murder (and all of his other illegal activities) on Bart. Skinner then re-appears, telling the court that he had an accident at home and was trapped under a pile of newspapers for a week. The case is dismissed and Bart quits his job at Fat Tony's bar.

At the nuclear power plant, Homer prevents a meltdown through sheer luck. He is hailed as a hero, but fears being found out as being only lucky rather than brave or clever. When the truth comes out, the phrase "to pull a Homer" becomes a widely used term meaning "to succeed despite idiocy," and Homer's picture ends up in the dictionary, illustrating the definition. Meanwhile, Bart's and Milhouse's friendship is strained when Mihouse's mother considers Bart to be a bad influence and orders Milhouse to stay away from him.

Krusty the Clown has dinner with the Simpsons, and reveals that he is Jewish, his real name is Herschel Krustofski, and he is estranged from his rabbi father. They parted ways over Krusty's becoming a clown instead of following his father and becoming a rabbi. Bart and Lisa see Krusty becoming depressed, and they take it upon themselves to reunite him with his father. They find Rabbi Krustofski, and after several attempts convince him to meet Krusty on the set of his show, where they reconcile their differences. Krusty introduces his father to the audience, and together they sing a song.

Opening: Marge warns viewers that this year's Halloween episode is even scarier than last year's, but resigns herself to being ignored again.

Prologue: Lisa, Bart, and Homer eat a lot of candy from trick-or-treating, and Marge warns them that they'll have nightmares.

Lisa's Nightmare: The Simpsons buy a monkey's paw that grants wishes which have unpredictable results.

Bart's Nightmare: Bart has the ability to make things happen just by thinking about them, which makes the whole town live in fear of him.

Homer's Nightmare: In an effort to create the ultimate worker, Mr. Burns transplants Homer's brain into a robot.

"Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"

"Burns Sells the Power Plant"*

Rumours of a takeover of a successor to take over the power plant as Mr.Burns wishes to resign to pursue other interests. All but Homer each have received $5,200 for the rise of stocks. Homer, however, sold his stocking for 25¢ and earns $25 dollars, spending it on a beer which he was unaware of the skyrocketed stock. The takeover then unfolds as German Businessmen had paid Burns $100,000,000 for the plant, which worries employees to possibly being fired by Germany's stricter and hard working ethic.

• - An English translation of the original German title.

Jeff Martin

56 - 21

"Black Widower"

59 - 24