Against the Groen(ing) 12.14.07: Some Enchanted Evening - Episode 12
Posted by Cory Lynn Schibler on 12.14.2007
Don't turn your back on that boy for a second.
Welcome to the final Against the Groen(ing) of season 1! I apologize to all my fans (all three of you) but this will be probably the shortest and most pointless review I’ve ever written as I am busily preparing for finals. However, I could not find any one to review this episode in my stead, so I shall hit the highlights and give my thoughts on the first season before returning to my studies.
Some Enchanted Evening
Production Code: 7G01 Air Date: May 13, 1990
Principal Cast Homer: Dan Castellaneta Marge: Julie Kavner Bart: Nancy Cartwright Lisa: Yeardley Smith
Written by Matt Groening and Sam Simon
Directed by David Silverman and Kent Butterworth
Chalkboard: “I will not yell ‘fire’ in a crowded classroom.” Couch: Everyone squeezes in tight and fits.
Basically this episode entails Homer and Marge wanting to go out for a fantastic romantic evening without their annoying brats. Every parents’ dream, I guess you could say.
Anyway, Marge has basically become frustrated with family life and being ignored on a daily basis and calls Dr. Marvin Monroe’s hotline to get some advice. Homer hears all of this and after receiving some advice from his friendly barkeep Moe, decides to take Marge out for a romantic getaway.
Of course, this requires getting a babysitter. Marge calls the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Babysitting Service, but is refused when she tells them her name is Simpson. Homer, in what is actually a smooth move, talks to the service and tells them they are actually the Samson family and convinces them to send a sitter. The sitter Mrs. Botz (Hollywood icon Penny Marshall) arrives, oddly enough carrying two suitcases.
After being subjected to watching one of Maggie’s dumb movies, Bart and Lisa switch over to America’s Most Armed and Dangerous and discover that Mrs. Botz is the Babysitter Bandit! The children are able to elude capture at first, but are eventually tied up by Mrs. Botz.
Luckily for them, Maggie is not your average infant. She uses her mobile to escape from her crib so that she can come downstairs and watch her video again. After the video ends Lisa convinces Maggie to untie her and the kids set a trap for Mrs. Botz. After Bart knocks her out with a baseball bat, Lisa and Bart tie Mrs. Botz up and force her to watch Maggie’s video while they go to a payphone to call the police.
Meanwhile, Marge and Homer arrive home and untie Mrs. Botz and help her with her suitcases (full of the Simpsons’ stuff) to the car. Homer scolds the now arriving Bart for tying up the babysitter and the press accuse Homer of aiding the Babysitter Bandit, which leads to Homer changing his story about how it went down.
In the end, Marge tells Homer that he is doing something right because their children were able to beat up and hogtie a perfect stranger. That is the weirdest sentence I have ever typed. Roll credits.
You know, it’s not anywhere near the brilliance that is coming, but from the very beginning this show captured the essence of the American family in a way that some shows are never able to do. You can tell that the family genuinely cares for each other, and that nothing is more important to them than the family’s well being. It’s also just a darn funny show that will only get funnier as we go along. It’s definitely not the best season of the show, but season 1 is a solid entry in a great series that is soon going to get better. Season 2 will be coming your way soon. Hold on to your hats folks, the fun has just begun.
The 411: As for this episode, it has never been one of my favorites for whatever reason, but Penny Marshall being in there counts for something. 7.0 out of 10.0.
