Episode Title: Brush with Greatness
Episode Number: 31
Original Air Date: April 11, 1991
Plot Synopsis: Bart and Lisa see a "Krusty the Clown Show" episode that was recorded at the fabled Mt. Splashmore water park and immediately beg Homer to go there. Reluctantly, and only to stop them from repeatedly asking, he agrees to take them. While there, Homer gets stuck in a water slide and realizes just how fat he is. He's "must be removed from a water slide via a large crane" fat. The bathroom scale confirms this and Homer pledges to lose weight.
Meanwhile, Bart finds a bunch of old paintings of Ringo Starr in the attic that Marge had made years earlier. Marge was quite the little artist, it seems, but was ultimately discouraged by a dick art teacher when she was younger. She also sent one of the paintings to Ringo asking for his opinion, and he never responded. These events together made her give up the paint brush for good. However, at Lisa's insistence she enrolls at an art class in the local community college. This goes well and she ends up winning an art show and local praise.
Mr. Burns finds out her name via the newspapers and commissions a portrait of himself for the Burns Wing of the Springfield Art Museum. Mr. Burns comes over so she can paint him (which makes less sense than if she were to go to his mansion, but whatever) and ends up making fun of Homer for being fat while just generally being a dick all day long. Marge boots him out of the house and tries to give up painting again, but Homer encourages her. At the same time, she finally gets a reply from Ringo saying that he loved the painting. He hadn't replied earlier because he replies to all fan mail himself and is only up to the early 1970s. Marge finishes the painting, but with a twist: she paints Mr. Burns nude to make a statement about his general state and personality. People end up liking this a great deal, including Mr. Burns himself.
Meanwhile, Bart finds a bunch of old paintings of Ringo Starr in the attic that Marge had made years earlier. Marge was quite the little artist, it seems, but was ultimately discouraged by a dick art teacher when she was younger. She also sent one of the paintings to Ringo asking for his opinion, and he never responded. These events together made her give up the paint brush for good. However, at Lisa's insistence she enrolls at an art class in the local community college. This goes well and she ends up winning an art show and local praise.
Mr. Burns finds out her name via the newspapers and commissions a portrait of himself for the Burns Wing of the Springfield Art Museum. Mr. Burns comes over so she can paint him (which makes less sense than if she were to go to his mansion, but whatever) and ends up making fun of Homer for being fat while just generally being a dick all day long. Marge boots him out of the house and tries to give up painting again, but Homer encourages her. At the same time, she finally gets a reply from Ringo saying that he loved the painting. He hadn't replied earlier because he replies to all fan mail himself and is only up to the early 1970s. Marge finishes the painting, but with a twist: she paints Mr. Burns nude to make a statement about his general state and personality. People end up liking this a great deal, including Mr. Burns himself.
Overall Thoughts: Okay, so this is happening so often that I'm just not going to mention it any more after today: I remembered this being the "Marge paints Mr. Burns naked" episode, but that's totally only like 30% of this episode, tops. The rest is a lovely story about Marge's artistic side, and a somewhat less lovely but still enjoyable B-story about Homer's desperate attempt to lose weight.
I have nothing to follow that up with. I continue to be surprised, day after day, as I watch these episodes. Which I suppose was the whole point.
I have nothing to follow that up with. I continue to be surprised, day after day, as I watch these episodes. Which I suppose was the whole point.
What Works: In addition to me not remembering what this episode was actually about at all, this episode is also much, much funnier that I'd remembered it being. Even an extended "Will you take us to Mt. Splashmore?" sequence manages to be really funny, and it's just Bart and Lisa literally asking "Will you take us to Mt. Splashmore?" for easily a solid minute or more.
A quick side note: I love how genuinely Bart and Lisa love Krusty the Clown. He really is their idol, to the point where they hold hands while watching an episode. It's a great, great touch.
This episode features the return of Mr. Burns as a part of the story instead of just being bizarrely interjected somewhere in the mix like in the last few episodes. Mr. Burns is evil here, but it's on a really small and intimate scale. The most egregious thing he does in the whole episode is make fun of Homer for being fat, and it somehow manages to be one of the worst things he's ever done. We, the audience, are allowed to call Homer "fat." Mr. Burns had better watch his mouth if he knows what's good for him.
Ringo Starr appears as himself, which conceptually is kind of dumb, but in execution it's surprisingly perfect. I've never been a fan of most episodes where celebrities appear as themselves, especially from episodes much later in the run. It typically never makes much sense and is rarely ever worth the trouble. However, this is a celebrity appearing as themselves in a way that is both tied directly into the story and also that makes sense and is very, very touching. Ringo himself never says anything that isn't funny, but the act of responding to Marge and encouraging her to continue with her art is great.
Additionally, the idea that Ringo Starr never replied to Marge because he's been meticulously responding to every fan letter he's ever received for the last twenty years is goddamn hilarious.
A quick side note: I love how genuinely Bart and Lisa love Krusty the Clown. He really is their idol, to the point where they hold hands while watching an episode. It's a great, great touch.
This episode features the return of Mr. Burns as a part of the story instead of just being bizarrely interjected somewhere in the mix like in the last few episodes. Mr. Burns is evil here, but it's on a really small and intimate scale. The most egregious thing he does in the whole episode is make fun of Homer for being fat, and it somehow manages to be one of the worst things he's ever done. We, the audience, are allowed to call Homer "fat." Mr. Burns had better watch his mouth if he knows what's good for him.
Ringo Starr appears as himself, which conceptually is kind of dumb, but in execution it's surprisingly perfect. I've never been a fan of most episodes where celebrities appear as themselves, especially from episodes much later in the run. It typically never makes much sense and is rarely ever worth the trouble. However, this is a celebrity appearing as themselves in a way that is both tied directly into the story and also that makes sense and is very, very touching. Ringo himself never says anything that isn't funny, but the act of responding to Marge and encouraging her to continue with her art is great.
Additionally, the idea that Ringo Starr never replied to Marge because he's been meticulously responding to every fan letter he's ever received for the last twenty years is goddamn hilarious.
What Doesn't Work: Jon Lovitz has a brief cameo (well, two, but only one is the issue) as an art teacher, and here he's unfortunately "Hey everyone look at me I'm Jon Lovitz!" Jon Lovitz. It's super brief, so ultimately it isn't a huge deal, but still. However, this does make his incredibly restrained performance as Artie Ziff from a few episodes ago all the more impressive.
Closing Thoughts: All in all, a totally solid episode from the show's second season. I don't know why I'm surprised by how consistently good these episodes are anymore. I really shouldn't be by this point. We're quickly settling into a "Golden Age" of the show, and it's totally amazing that it started so early in the run.
Also: Lenny's voice comes out of Carl's mouth at the nuclear power plant, which is something I didn't notice until I listened to the DVD commentary, which means I'm an unobservant ass.
Final Grade (out of 10): 8Also: Lenny's voice comes out of Carl's mouth at the nuclear power plant, which is something I didn't notice until I listened to the DVD commentary, which means I'm an unobservant ass.
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