Difference between revisions of "Season 5"

"Homer's Barbershop Quartet"

Homer tells the story of when he was a member of a barbershop quartet called The Be Sharps, consisting of himself, Principal Skinner, Apu and Chief Wiggum (later replaced by Barney). The group became popular very fast, largely due to their hit song, "Baby on Board," which earned them a Grammy. However, Homer missed his family while the Be Sharps were touring, and the group's popularity began to decline. Eventually the group broke up and the members returned to their regular lives. Back in the present, Homer calls the other members and the group reunites to perform "Baby on Board" on the roof of Moe's Tavern.

Bart is worried when he receives anonymous threatening letters written in blood, and even more worried when he learns that the sender is Sideshow Bob, and Bob has recently been released from prison. For their protection, the Simpsons are placed on the Witness Relocation Program, given new identities, and moved to Terror Lake to live on a houseboat. Unbeknownst to them, Bob has followed them to Terror Lake. He breaks into the boat, ties up the family, sets the boat adrift, and advances on Bart to kill him. Thinking quickly, Bart appeals to Bob's vanity by asking him to sing the entire score of H.M.S. Pinafore. While Bob sings, the boat drifts downriver back into the jurisdiction of the Springfield Police, where Bob is arrested and sent back to jail.

"Homer Goes to College"

Homer learns that he's underqualified for his own job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant because he has no college training in nuclear physics. He enrolls at Springfield University, where he tries to live the stereotypical college life of pranks and parties and gets his three nerd tutors to go along with him. When one prank gets the nerds expelled, they move in with the Simpsons and cause all kinds of problems for the family. Homer is able to get the nerds back into school, but fails his class. The nerds hack into the college computer and give Homer a passing grade, but Marge finds out and makes him retake the class.

"Rosebud"

Mr. Burns remembers his long-lost childhood toy, a teddy bear named Bobo, and wants to retrieve it. Maggie is discovered to be in possession of the bear, and offers the Simpsons a large reward to give the bear back. They decline, however, when they see how attached Maggie is to Bobo. Burns and Smithers try threats and begging to get Bobo back, but nothing succeeds. When the next step (cutting off beer and TV) affects all of Springfield, the whole town forces Homer to return the bear, but they relent when they see the expression on Maggie's face. Finally, Burns confronts Maggie in person and persuades her to gives Bobo back to him. Now reunited with Bobo, Burns snuggles up with him and wonders what the future holds for Bobo.

Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein, Greg Daniels & Don McGrath,Bill Canterbury

Prologue: Bart talks to the viewers in a room with paintings lampooned by the Simpsons. Marge tells him that he should warn viewers that the episode is scary, and leaves Maggie with him while she goes to buy some earrings. Bart ignores her, continuing to present the episode and telling three scary stories.

The Devil and Homer Simpson: Homer laments that he'd sell his soul for a donut. The Devil promptly appears, producing a contract (whch Homer signs) and a donut. Homer leaves one segment uneaten to keep the Devil from claiming his soul, but eats it anyway while half-asleep raiding the fridge. The Devil returns to collect, but Marge insists on having a trial, to which the Devil reluctantly agrees. After Homer spends a day in hell, the trial is held. Homer wins, but for revenge the Devil turns Homer's head into a donut. He is then unable to leave the house, as police officers with coffee are expectantly waiting outside for him.

Terror at 5½ Feet: Bart witnesses a gremlin attacking the school bus and tries to warn everyone, but nobody believes him because they don't see the gremlin. With each warning, Bart gets deeper into trouble while the gremlin further damages the bus. Bart manages to get the gremlin off the bus, and it falls into the road and is picked up by Ned Flanders. When the bus finally gets to school, everyone sees the damage but they still think Bart is crazy. When Bart is sent to a mental hospital in an ambulance, the gremlin re-appears in the ambulance's rear window, holding Ned's severed head,

Bart Simpson's Dracula: When a series of mysterious attacks occurs in Springfield, Lisa suspects that a vampire is responsible and that the vampire is Mr. Burns, but no one believes her. Lisa becomes more suspicious when Mr. Burns invites the family over for dinner and serves blood for drinks. Lisa and Bart then discover vampires in Burns' basement, and Bart is caught and turned into one. Later that night, Bart and several other children of Springfield try to attack Lisa. She tells the family that they have to kill the head vampire to get Bart back, so they return to the mansion and kill Burns (who fires Homer just before he dies). They return home, where Lisa discovers that the whole family (except herself) are vampires, and the head vampire is actually Marge ("I do have a life outside this house, you know"). They all swoop in to attack Lisa, but they stop at the last second and everyone wishes the viewers a happy Halloween. Then, in a parody of the Peanuts special A Charlie Brown Christmas, they sing while Santa's Little Helper dances and Milhouse plays the piano.

Marge and the family's neighbor, Ruth Powers, spend time together while Homer tries to cope without Marge and has Lionel Hutz babysit the kids. Homer and Chief Wiggum follow the two and tries to pull them over. Ruth insteads speeds up her car and reveals that it had been stolen from her ex-husband, much to Marge's dismay. While the police catch up to them, they dismiss the two and the charges.

Marge consults a self help guru, Brad Goodman, for her constant nagging. Although he uses Bart's behaviour as an example of how people should behave. The whole town of Springfield then acts like him, which Bart does enjoy at first but then finds his behaviour assumed. The town then stop acting like him when things go wrong during an inaugural "Do what you feel" festival.

Bart remembers that he had joined a Boys Scouts-esque group called the Junior Campers while intoxicated from a squishee entirely made out of syrup he and Milhouse drank the previous day and became hyper as a result. Bart at first hates the group although is interested in some of its routines such as a member's own knife and enjoys it. A father-son rafting trip is to be held, which Homer is forced to enter. He, Bart, Ned and Rod Flanders become groups as ordered and end up seperated from the rest of the group. They become stranded at sea with no supplies for survival until upon discovering a Krusty Burger restaurant on an oil rig and become saved.

Homer finds himself attracted to Mindy Simmons, a new employee in the Nuclear Power Plant and is dissatisfied as his crush on her would ruin his marriage on Marge despite Mindy having similar traits to him. While both have feelings for one other, Homer decides not to cheat on Marge. Meanwhile, Bart's appearance is modified into looking like a nerd as additional treatments applied to him for needing glasses for two weeks as he becomes shortsighted, being more prone to being bullied as a result.

Gambling is made legalized by voters as the economy slips, having Mr. Burns open a casino. Homer is hired as a blackjack dealer and Marge has an enduring addiction for gambling which has her care about it more than her family life. Meanwhile, Bart opens his own casino in his treehouse after he was kicked out of Burn's for being too young.

"Homer the Vigilante"

A cat burglar steals items through many homes in Springfield such as Lisa's saxophone. In response to this crime wave, a neighborhood watch group is created, leaded by Homer as the police are ineffective. Although the group becomes ineffective as well due to Homer's incompetence and the cat burglar remains loose and unknown. Grampa knows who it is as he had been ignored for his old age by Homer, revealing the cat burglar to be a senior named Malloy. Citizens of Springfield track him down and have him arrested although he gives back his stolen items. Now arrested, Malloy also states that he had hidden millions of dollars under a big "T". The citizens then rush to one which is a tree shaped like a T and dig under it. Instead, there is a note written by Malloy that he had tricked them so he would be able to escape. Some disapprove this and continue digging until deciding that there is no money whilst dug down below.

"Bart Gets Famous"

John Swartzwelder

Bart becomes employed in Krustylu Studios as a production assistant after sneaking away from a school field trip to a box factory. He does not, however, enjoy his job and wants to quit. One day, Krusty needs Bart for a sketch and despite being unsuccessful in one, he becomes an unexpected star by saying "I didn't do it.". He then becomes famous although is dissatisfied for being well known by one line. Marge then encourages him that making people happy is what matters as then Bart decides to continue delivering the line. Despite saying it enthusiastically in a show, people then become tired of it and his popularity and fame sharply declines until Bart returns to being an average citizen.

"Homer and Apu"

Homer gets Apu fired after being food poisoned twice from expired products from the Kwik-E-Mart by having him reported with Kent Brockman. An unemployed Apu then lives with the Simpsons and actor James Wood replaces his job in the Kwik-E-Mart. Homer then decides to have Apu get his job by going to India to talk to the owner of the Kwik-E-Mart chain although are unsuccessful as the three questions solely available are wasted by Homer's own incompetence. Apu then visits the Kwik-E-Mart and saves Woods from being shot by a robbery in the store. Woods then helps him get his job back after being grateful from being saved.

Lisa is dissatisfied over the new Malibu Stacy doll, which phrases it utters are demeaning for women, and persuades the creator of the doll line to produce a more politically correct doll. Named "Lisa Lionheart" after Lisa herself, the new Malibu Stacy doll gets positive attention although Malibu Stacy executives then have customer's attention redirected to a new doll with a hat included, rendering Lisa's doll as unsuccessful as a result. Meanwhile, Grampa worries that he is getting old and makes the most of it such as having a job at a Krusty Burger restaurant despite being incompetent at it.

NASA is required to hire average joes for astronauts to gain higher ratings. Homer and Barney are recruited and the former wins by default as Barney becomes intoxicated by wine. Homer then is prepared for launch in space with Race Banyon and Buzz Aldrin. Their mission then goes wrong when Homer has potato chips and ants. Havoc ensures and he accidently breaks the handle of the space shuttle's hatch. Homer then inadvertently seals the door shut with an inanimate carbon rod despite being reluctant to have it close the hatch. The crew safely return back to Earth. While the rod is hailed the hero, Homer is respected by the family instead.

Homer is arrested for drunk driving, and his license is revoked and he is ordered to attend traffic school and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Marge persuades Homer to give up beer for a month, and the experience of living without beer gives him a whole new outlook on life. When the month is up, Homer is tempted to start drinking again, but passes up beer at Moe's Tavern in favor of bicycling with Marge. Meanwhile, Bart destroys Lisa's science fair project, a large genetically engineered tomato, and she replaces it with a project that compares the intelligence of Bart and a hamster.

Springfield Nuclear Power Plant announces its intention to cancel the dental plan, and the Simpsons have just learned that Lisa needs braces. Homer realizes that he needs the plan to pay for Lisa's braces, and almost before he knows it, he finds himself leading the power plant employees' union in a strike to win back the dental plan. Lisa, meantime, is forced to wear cheap, but large and outdated, braces that look hideous. In spite of Homer's bumbling, Mr. Burns is convinced that Homer is a master negotiator, and a long standoff ensures, during which the plant uses tactics such as shutting off power to the entire town. Burns finally agrees to bring back the dental plan on the condition that Homer step down as union leader. Homer eagerly agrees and Lisa gets her new braces.

For an April Fool's Day prank on Homer, Bart shakes a can of Duff Beer in a paint shaker, then leaves the beer in the refrigerator for Homer to find. When Homer opens the beer, the resulting explosion blows the roof off the house and puts Homer into a coma. During his coma, the family reminisce by way of clips from previous episodes. Homer shows some signs of life during the stories, but when Bart confesses to the shaken beer prank, Homer immediately wakes up and begins strangling Bart. The rest of the family are glad to see that Homer has recovered.

Disappointed with the quality of a recent Itchy & Scratchy episode, Bart and Lisa write one of their own and submit it to Roger Meyers, CEO of the cartoon's studio. Meyers immediately rejects the script because Bart and Lisa are too young, so they re-submit it under Grampa's name. This time it is accepted, and Grampa finds himself with a new job as an Itchy & Scratchy writer, with Bart and Lisa doing the creative work while Grampa gets the credit. The front falls through, however, when Grampa's writing wins him an award, he sees the cartoon for the first time, and in his acceptance speech he denounces violence in cartoons. Meanwhile, Homer and Marge attend their high school reunion and learn that Homer never officially graduated because he failed a science class.

It's time for Whacking Day, a Springfield holiday where snakes are driven to the town square and beaten to death, a tradition dating back to town founder Jebediah Springfield. Lisa speaks out against the violence, but no one listens. Bart, who has become a serious student since being expelled from Springfield Elementary, discovers that Jebediah couldn't have started Whacking Day and suggests that Lisa enlist the help of Barry White and his smooth bass singing voice to lure the snakes to the Simpson home where they'll be safe. The plan succeeds and Bart tells the town the truth about Whacking Day: It was actually invented in the 1920s as an excuse to beat up the Irish. The townspeople renounce the holiday, and Principal Skinner allows Bart to return to school.

102 - 21

"Lady Bouvier's Lover"

A new children's TV program, featuring a ventroloquist's dummy named Gabbo and airing opposite the Krusty the Clown show, is an instant success. Krusty's show, meanwhile, declines in ratings and popularity and is soon cancelled. Bart and Lisa are uninmpressed with Gabbo and manage to record him on a live TV camera insulting the children of Springfield, creating a scandal which decreases Gabbo's popularity. Bart and Lisa then convince several of Krusty's celebrity friends (Bette Midler, Johnny Carson, Luke Perry, Hugh Hefner and the Red Hot Chili Peppers) to take part in a special comeback program for Krusty. The Krusty Comeback Special is very successful, and Krusty's show returns to the air.