Rate & Review: "Singin' in the Lane" (WABF21)

How would you rate this episode?


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Brad Lascelle

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Season 29, Episode 7
Original Airdate
: November 19, 2017
Writer: Ryan Koh
Director: Michael Polcino
Showrunner: Al Jean
Synopsis: Homer and the guys reunite their old bowling team to cheer up Moe, only to end up in fierce competition with a team of arrogant millionaires. Meanwhile, Lisa and Marge try to teach Bart that money isn't everything.

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R&R Poll Average Score: 2.40 / 5 (as of September 24, 2021 / 53 votes)
IMDB User Rating: 6.4 / 10
 
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Couch gag overlong.
* Anti-suicide key chain
* Thumbtumping in background
** Moe getting hit with bowling balls
Man this plot is moving fast
5/10 first act
** La La Land ref
-- Moe's crying is pathetic
* Yes Guy
Weak 2nd act, 2/10.
** Yes guy again
Closing Thoughts:
Trash episode.
The plot was a lame re-hash of Team Homer, with an added dynamic of Bart loving money, For Some Reason. and the opposing team being some bland rich dudes.
Jokes bombed too.
So overall, yet again, 3/10. This is shaping up to be the worst season ever.
 
Pretty bad episode. This was depressed, suicidal Moe throughout the entire episode, and that’s not the characterization I like from him. They obviously couldn’t replicate Team Homer’s plot, so they threw in this Bart and Lisa subplot that just wasted time and had no jokes whatsoever. The opposing team was just a bunch of snobby rich guys, the most prominent of whom sounded exactly like Blake in The Great Phatsby. I don’t think I found a single joke funny in this one either. And the resolution was so dumb. Moe thinks the team doesn’t care about him, and then they surprise him at the bar, and everything’s better. 1.5, rounded to 2/5.
 
yeah pretty dumb. very few funny gags and the plot was extremely stale. shoutout to that exceptionally awkward wilhelm scream and the random twist of moe deciding he actually wants to lose as exceptionally odd moments.
 
Another “Composer Emeritus” episode.
 
Is it wrong that I wanted Bart to throw the cheeseburger at Lisa?
 
Team Homer didn't need any sequel but for some reason, we get one. Well, it was pretty bland. It technically is Ryan Koh's best Simpsons episode seeing how painfully bland his previous episode was. The main plot, uhhhh...pretty boring to be honest. The "antagonists" felt pretty tame and generic. The plot didn't feel it had any real progression or escalation and the conflict wasn't really there. The twist that Moe wanted to lose made no sense at all and felt tacked on. On the plus side, I did like that Homer and his friends truly cared about Moe despite the plot being pretty dull. The B-plot was just awful in that it was pretty much humorless and very stupid. It also came in relatively late into the episode which was just a weird choice. I don't even get why we even needed that NERDS scene, that was just unfunny.. The B-plot's resolution felt pretty rushed and unsatisfactory. The humor in this episode was pretty sparse. There were a few gags that got a chuckle out of me but nothing else. The animation, however, was relatively fluid although it isn't Serfsons or Springfield Splendor levels. Overall, a pretty bland and inessential episode. Looks like Whistler's Father has been dethroned from the worst season 29 episode spot. Hopefully, things will change for the better when the next production line kicks in. 2/5(C/C-)
 
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Mr. Burns's list:
Rich Texan
Donald Sterling
Candy Spelling
Donny Deutsch
Frank Stallone
Stephen Baldwin
Keith David
David Keith
Smithers
...
Brandine Spuckler
Luigi Risotto
Duffman
Doris Freedman
Cookie Kwan
Benjamin Doug
Gary
Akira
Artie Ziff
Arthur Crandall
Gerald Sampson
Bill and Marty
Birch Barlow
Boobarella
Brunella Pummelhorst
Lance Murdock
Charlie
...
(repeat of the front of the list)
Frank Stallone
Stephen Baldwin
Keith David
David Keith
Smithers
Homer Simpson

Tournament bracket (* indicates a win):

Pin Pals * * * *
Rollin' Oldies
Balls of Death
The Sidekicks *
The Bracket Fillers
Up Your Alley *
Holy Rollers * *
Are They Reals
Strike Captains
The Kingpins *
Selma's Exes
The Legitimate Businessmen * * *
One And Dones
The Pin Strike Suits *
All Fall Down
Oh Spare Me! * *

Grumpy Old Man was on the scoreboard as OJM (Old Jewish Man, presumably).

When Moe "charged" the scoreboard to change the score, the individual scores didn't change.

The Parson has taken Maude's place on the Holy Rollers.

They never did show a fourth member of Number Crunchers.

Even if Homer hadn't thrown three strikes, Barney, drunk as he was, still hadn't bowled his tenth frame in the third game either.

Is Matt Groening "rich"? He (and his second son) have been on a zero-G flight.
 
You can go on a Zero-G plane for about $5,000, that's not incredibly expensive considering that a trans atlantic flight in business/first class can cost as much.

I don't remember who said this in a previous discussion but it seems that this season is the season of nostalgia.. I think this was a slightly better attempt than Kramp Krustier, at least there was some continuity. I didn't care for the kid's arc much... resolution came way too quickly.. The best part of this episode might have been Moe's new start ( Maux )
 
Well I liked it. Would definitely say that it's one of the better episodes of the season. I thought that the jokes were decent (I enjoyed some of the slapstick gags with Moe) and I liked the fact that the episode had an actual story, not wasting time with 5 mins of opening nonsense or a random subplot just to fill time. I also appreciated the fact that Homer really didn't do much here, instead allowing the focus to shift to the bar buddies. Though if I had one complaint about the episode is that the villains were fairly generic and not very memorable. Was this an unnecessary sequel to Team Homer? Sure. But when compared to Kamp Krustier, it is a definite improvement. 3.5/5

Random Other Thoughts
- The fish intro was kinda cute
- Man that's two Wilhelm screams in a row. Nice.
- I guess after the last episode referenced Monorail, that the writers are watching their old DVDs again.
- Random fourth point.
 
So whenever I watch TV, I typically always work on art while doing it. So maybe I missed something here and there.

I haven't seen the Pin Pals episode in forever so not sure how this compares to that episode.

The story didn't really go anywhere, I feel. Moe was neglected at the beginning, neglected in the end, and had such a odd reason of not wanting the Pin Pals to win.

I did like how bowling was a theme. Bowling has kinda been neglected and it's nice to see Barney do something major again. I do wish Apu and Otto could someway be incorporated in the episode.

I didn't care for the subplot. The rich guys were the most boring characters ever.

I don't know. Aside from Serfsons and Treehouse of Horror, none of the episodes have really been all that good this season.
 
i accidentally voted 1/5 in the poll, someone help. I meant 3/5. It's not the worst, but it was very bland.
 
Grumpy Old Man was on the scoreboard as OJM (Old Jewish Man, presumably).

That seems to be his default name, now. And FYI, it was Crazy Old Man, not Grumpy Old Man.

Visible teams:

Selma's exes - Disco Stu, Fat Tony (isn't he on another team?), Sideshow Bob
One and Dones - Baron Von Kiss-A-Lot ("Half-Decent Proposal), Goose Gladwell (Fat Man and Little Boy), Senor Ding-Dong (Maximum Homerdrive), and... Ray Magini? (Don't Fear the Roofer)
Are They Reals? - The Leprechaun, The Grumple, Cheesy McMayor, and... the Devil from Treehouse of Horror XXV's "School is Hell"?
Rollin' Oldies - Abe, Jasper, Moleman, Old Jewish Man
The SIdekicks - Milhouse, Sideshow Mel, Lou, Smithers
The Legitimate Businessmen - Fat Tony is the only seen member (again, also on Selma's Exes)

Also, you can't walk on that part of the lane. It's very slippery. (The same thing happened in "Team Homer" with Smithers kicking down the pins)
 
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3/5

Things I liked:
-The aquatic opening sequence
-Seeing the Pin Pals again
-Homer, Lenny, Carl, and Barney show appreciation for Moe

Things I didn't like
-Bart asking Marge if he's old enough to drink Vodka
-A reference to La La Land
-Moe getting hit with bowling balls

This felt like the two episodes "Team Homer" and "Whiskey Business" were blended together to make a new episode.
 
ACT I
-Fairly mild, but decent. What stood out to me most was the meta-joke of the different bowling teams (and thanks to [MENTION=73300]BlueRibbonCommittee[/MENTION] for actually writing these all out). Although I'm a little enamored against the increasing use of meta-humor in these newer episodes (didn't need Lenny to comment on the music), this one was actually pretty funny. Moe's suicide keychain was dark, but funny in how pathetic it was. At least "suicidal Moe" wasn't over-the-top here. And I liked seeing the Pin Pals referenced and revived. No useless B-plot here either. So far off to a good start.

ACT II
-The swanky bowling alley was funny in how insane it was, and the design was also fun to look at. Not sure how I feel about Bart's treatment in this episode. I was glad to see more of him, and some of it was perfectly in character (Bart often does treat Milhouse like dirt and he has been sucked into the "sweet life" before, so that didn't seem off, but I wasn't crazy about them labeling him a sociopath). But after that, we hit a low point in this episode. Reynolds isn't funny, just awful, annoying, and one-dimensional. I don't want to see more of him and listen to his obnoxious voice, so the fact that he's a major part of the episode whom we have to keep hearing from makes me want to shut off the TV. The part when he "took down" Moe was just cruel and unfunny to boot. The joke with the "yes" guy was so absurd that I laughed, though.

ACT III
-The idea of Moe catfishing Barney was pretty funny, as well as the "Getty Images" reference. The Tarantino "Nerds" thing was kind of weird and random and unnecessary, but Lisa teaming up with the nerdy team to get back at the Fund Bunch isn't terrible in itself. (But what's with the awkward Wilhelm scream? Why do they have such a boner for it lately?). While the way the team got taken down was fine, it felt like a minor conflict at best: is this episode about Moe? Or Bart? Or the rich team getting their comeuppance? Too many minor conflicts to feel much about any of them. I cared about Moe's story the most, and when he did imagine starting over, I felt like this was believable. Moe's life has never been portrayed as very good, so if he imagines a possible better life (loved the reference to Manet's Un bar aux Folies Bergère), I can buy it, even if it was a little tacked on. The fact that the guys still treated Moe like crap in the end was disappointing though. I was hoping to see something nice done for him, but I guess it's funnier to have the gang always indifferent and cruel to him and have him always be suicidal and depressed. Lovely.

Overall, not great.

2/5
 
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i accidentally voted 1/5 in the poll, someone help. I meant 3/5. It's not the worst, but it was very bland.
I don't believe there's a way to change an accidental poll vote officially, but I can make a note of your intended change when calculating the NoHomers community score for this episode to ensure it's properly accounted for so you can rest easy.
 
I found the episode to be pretty darn weak. I liked the premise of Homer deciding to revive the Pin Pals team along Lenny, carl and Barney with Moe as the coach to make the letter feel better after feeling left out after not getting to go to the game with him and the other three & I definitely didn't mind that it was sort of an sequel to Team Homer (despite Otto and Apu getting unceremoniously left out), but it was ultimately a disappointment which was even weaker than last week's episode and the messy 'Grampy Can Ya Hear Me'.

It never got any funny so it was pretty bad in the humor department (sure, there were some nice gags but most were bad and there weren't any good lines) or interesting for that matter (both because of the uninspired writing and also since the rich hedge fund rivals were so dull, boring and generic) and it just fizzled out and recovered, even having a pointless subplot with Lisa standing up for a nerd team and Bart' sucking up to the rich dudes and letting them treat him like a stooge (and even gets called something unflattering) just for money and their appreciation (this was so unlike him; almost literally and willingly turning into someone's, for a lack of a better word, bitch and having no issues with that felt bizarre, however I wouldn't have said no if he 'burgered' Lisa instead of suddenly having second thoughts).

Still, it would merely have been mediocre if it wasn't for Moe portrayed as a depressed and neglected loser who got crapped on a lot; I know he's a fictional character who can be a prick but he was portrayed very sympathehically here and the wealthy guys crushing his spirit & driving him too far (even making him decide that he want his team to lose and desperately trying to stop it in the end since he imagines that his miserable life would be better with the loss) wasn't funny and just left a bad taste in my mouth (worst part was when they almost made him cry during the lunch; that was depressing). Of course they good guys win but Moe is still upset and feel that his friends doesn't care about him, but is immediately cheered up as he find the guys surprising him at the Tavern which makes it all good somehow; that was a surprisingly quick change and it felt like there was a missing scene.

So all in all, I didn't like this episode very much. The premise was good as said and it could have been pretty decent but it was pulled off very poorly and was really unfunny with most jokes not working. I wouldn't say it's bottom of the barrel bad since it had a few decent jokes & I liked the bits of camraderie of Homer's group, but it's still very weak and fell short, especially with Moe getting mistreated and more and more upset (all the supposed humor about his misery bombed). In short, it was immensly mediocre and very much below average (the intro/couch gag was nice though). This really should have been a lot better.

2/5
 
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THE GOOD:

It prompted me to take out and wear my customized 'Pin Pals' bowling shirt from my closet this morning (I brought a white with black trim/black collar bowling shirt on-line and told the seller to embroider HOMER above the shirt's pocket, dyed it mint green and iron a 'Pin Pals' decal on the back of the bowling shirt)

THE BAD: With the exception of the 'Shrimpsons' (I had to check this morning because I didn't catch all of what Bart wrote on the blackboard; I caught part of it) intro, the episode was an absolute gutter ball.
 
The Shrimpsons? What was the point of that? Work on the episode, not the intro, as said 287954 times. Too many visual jokes as well, especially when Bart is going through the town. Pretty sure it's twice as long as it is in the actual intro.
Kamp Krustier last season, entire beginning of last episode dedicated to Marge VS The Monorail and now a Team Homer sequel?
When I read Legitimate Business Men I was expecting the story to start revolving around the mob.
Lisa being worried about Bart hanging out with those guys came out of nowhere.
Moe just imagines what it would be like if he could start over so decides he wants to throw the game? What the actual fuck? He just imagined that. Is he a fucking moron? Besides he could still do that stuff even if he owns the bar. If anything, he could SELL it and have an even greater advantage.
 
Another average episode that keeps the streak of averageness going. Out of all the old episodes that could maybe benefit from a sequel, Team Homer was not one of them. And I don't even think that Team Homer was that good for its era either. I do like that the episode focusses mostly on Homer's gang: Lenny, Carl, Moe... and even Barney who we barely see part of the gang these days. The small Bart and Lisa sub plots felt like filler, but eventually linked together which... still resulted in a sloppy and rushed ending.

''The Shrimpsons'' couch gag looked nice, even if it was just the original couch gag turned into an aquatic setting. I liked Burns's gag with his list dragging on and Homer ''listening'' to his hearth and brain. Homer not inviting Moe felt kinda jerkish and he could've just invited his friends without him being present. I didn't mind the suicide gag shortly afterwards which was to be expected, at least they didn't drag on with these type of jokes. I liked how they relieved the past from Team Homer. The new bowling teams names were mostly funny, got a good chuckle out of ''The Sidekicks'' who end up being dragged out by the guys who they sidekicked for. Apparently the Parson has replaced Maude for the church bowling team. Good gag with showering Moe with bowling bowls to end the act.

The fancier bowling stages had these rich guys where one of them looked and sounded, as found out by Financial panther, almost exactly like Blake from The Great Phatsby. Maybe they could've tried to show that the 2 were actually related or something. Afterwards I found that the plot was getting predictable as it was easy to tell that the rich guys were playing with Moe. They tried to fill the main plot with some bits of Bart trying to fit in with the rich guys and Lisa trying to help the nerds, other than some good Bart moments I didn't care much for this and it ended so abrupt. The main plot didn't exactly end either aswell, they only surprised Moe in the bar just to convince him that they're still friends. It also feels like they could've made up a funnier gag with the gift that Moe has gotten that only rich guys can deliver.

There's not much that stands out in this episode. Its just an unnecesary sequel that hardly does anything new, I don't see why I would want to watch this over Team Homer which is just better written. It had some funny jokes with nothing too cringy, the characters were done well for most of the part with the bar gang doing something together and Bart/Lisa who remained themselves. Overall this episode balances out its good and bads, so this episode gets a:

2.5/5
 
Singin' In The Lane 1/10

More like Singin' In The Lame, am I right?!
Okay, let's get on with this thing.

- Visually the ocean intro is fine, but stop wasting time.
-- Marge's voice when making dinner sounds horrible. I can't be surprised anymore.
# Some typical gags with Homer talking to his brain ensue, nothing really new.
-- Wow, Homer and his friends are acting like real dicks to Moe just because they didn't have more than 4 free tickets to the game. I mean, I know Moe is hardly the greatest friend, but it just feels so bizzarre and off-putting.
--- So Homer actually feels bad for Moe and decides that they should reform the old Pin Pals team, with him onboard this time as well. Only now Moe's fingers are weak or something and he can't bowl??? Okay then! :rolleyes:
+ Barney falling down with the song I Get Knocked Down playing was pretty funny.
# Okay, so Moe is gonna be a coach instead? Not a totally bad idea. PLEASE don't screw this up.
+++ I feel silly for laughing, but Lenny commenting with a tone of annoyance in his voice "Lots of music in this episode." made me laugh so hard that I couldn't stop chuckling until 30 seconds after the joke was over. Not bad, modern Simpsons writers!
# Moe's groaning when his pals rain bowling balls over the head sounds different from the trailer.
- So they're up against a bunch of one-off characters? Boy, that's always a good sign... (sarcasm)
-- Bart when tricking off a bunch of money from a stranger: "Wow, I finally found my path in life. Socio." FUCK YOU! I'm starting to get what people mean now with Bart being depicted as a loser every episode!
-- The Fancy Millionaires Club or whatever the hell they are called are demeaning Bart, and Bart comments "You're treating me like dirt... I belong!" SIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGH.
--- Wow, talk about a hamfisted La La Land reference, and from Moe of all people.
? So what the hell are Lisa and Bart doing still hanging around the millionaires?
-- Oh, and now we get a bunch of "jokes" with Moe getting humiliated and starting to cry. Are you SURE this is a sequel to Team Homer? Because you sure as hell are not paying a lot of respect to it.
# Also, Hank Azaria breaks into his Frink voice.
- What...? The millionaires tell Moe if he wins they're gonna take his bar away from him, but Moe says if he wins he wants them to do something nice to his friends. Okay, that's kind of an odd proposition, I mean why would he trust the millionaires to ever do something nice to his friends?
--- Oooooh, I get it, Bart hung out with the millionaires so they can set up this stupid subplot where Bart becomes addicted to money. Why does Bart even get "addicted" to money??? Hasn't be scammed off people before? Dumb.
-- And now there's some joke with Barney inhaling beer and roaring like Chewbacca??????? Who wrote this fucking episode?!
+/- What in the living hell was that awfully stock use of the Wilhelm Scream?! I don't know whether to laugh or cry...
- So Lisa has just suddenly been shoehorned into the plot with her own NERD team, and is only there to conclude the subplot with her and Bart bonding over.. Bart not throwing a hamburger at her. I'm not even slightly exaggerating.
--- So Moe decides last minute because he imagines, mind you, IMAGINES he might start over by going to Paris and having the greatest time. Have we all forgotten that Moe is poor as a church mouse and can't even afford to go to Paris?! Why would he want to lose his match over something he probably won't even be able to do???? I almost take back what I said about Moe's friends being heartless in the beginning, this is just beyond ridiculous!
--- Okay, so the millionaires did do something nice to his friends after all. Hey, wait a minute... If he trusted on the millionaires to do something nice to his friends, WHY was he so hellbent on losing? Like I said, he wouldn't even afford to go to Paris!

What an insulting sequel to a season 7 classic. I mean, it's not in my top 10 for the season, but it's a very funny and charming classic episode. Why did they feel they ever needed to make a sequel? And if they're gonna make a sequel, at least don't have Moe be the ever-so-annoying whining selfish leech. Part of the problem with trying to make viewers sympathize with Moe being suicidal is that even in a lot of those episodes he still comes off as a huge dickhead. In this episode Moe is just the worst killjoy throughout, and his reason for not wanting to win the bowling match is so poorly thought out and narcissistic that you even miss the cruel Moe from Dumbbell Indemnity. I mean, at least there he had some semblance of a real character, here he makes decisions which make no sense even for him, and acts like his friends don't care about him when ALL he does is COMPLAIN. Fuck Moe!
Yeah, this was worse than Grampy. The sleepily boring guest characters, Moe's godawful characterization and the thin unfocused plot makes this a serious insult to anyone who was a fan of the much better received original episode.
One single joke made me laugh out loud, but apart from that this episode completely lacked any good humor. Where was the heart? Where was the joyful spirit that the Pin Pals had the first time? Just an utter drag to sit through.
 
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This show just does not know how to incorporate dark humor into an episode. It's almost like they are attempting to copy Family Guy in this regard, with the logic that "people watch that show and like it there so they will definitely like it here!" Watching Moe be in pain and attempt suicide was not funny nor entertaining. I found myself shaking my head while watching this episode more than anything else, I think I smirked maybe only once or twice. I don't understand the point of subplot with Bart. Why does he care so much about money all of a sudden? He is friggin 10 years old. And his decision to not through the burger at Lisa came way too quickly and is not fully explained.

Oh and we are back to Bart being a sociopathic loser again! As the user above me mentioned, in this episode Bart says he found his path as a "socio," and proceeds to allow himself to be treated like shit by a bunch of older rich men for money. I seriously don't even know what else to say at this point. It is excruciatingly annoying to see them continue to portray Bart in this manner. Also, in this case it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why don't Bart’s parents stop him from interacting with these guys who are obviously disrespecting and belittling their child? I guess Marge and Homer have apparently forgotten how to be good parents to their son. But then again, who cares? Bart is a worthless, sociopathic loser and has no chance at a successful future, right? If you just started watching this show now in this season, I don't see how you could come to any different conclusion about Bart, which is a shame because you would never see any of his many positive character traits.

Ugh. Mind bogglingly terrible. I’m sorry but I see no redeeming qualities about this episode. 1/5.
 
Have they referenced Bart being a loser every single episode this season? I think they actually have.
 
Have they referenced Bart being a loser every single episode this season? I think they actually have.

They have in every episode except "The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used to Be." In that episode the only significant event involving Bart was when Homer threw a flagpole and pens at Bart and hit him with a painting.
 
I can't believe people didn't 'Get' the moe starting over bit..... his life is shit and has always been shit, anything he imagines will be better than his actual life, don't you ever wish like you could use a fresh start?

I also do not agree with the positive points of the two posters who commented on this gag.. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinions
 
I can't believe people didn't 'Get' the moe starting over bit..... his life is shit and has always been shit, anything he imagines will be better than his actual life, don't you ever wish like you could use a fresh start?

That's basically what I said in my review. I mainly liked that little scene because of the Manet reference, but I don't feel it's entirely out of place. It feels a bit tacked on because it comes so late and it's so quick (and yet Moe's reaction is so strong), but I don't see anything wrong with Moe dreaming about starting over (even if it's not realistic--it's a dream).
 
Maybe it's just me but even with the misfires I think this so far has been better than last season.

Oh and we are back to Bart being a sociopathic loser again! As the user above me mentioned, in this episode Bart says he found his path as a "socio," and proceeds to allow himself to be treated like shit by a bunch of older rich men for money. I seriously don't even know what else to say at this point. It is excruciatingly annoying to see them continue to portray Bart in this manner. Also, in this case it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why don't Bart’s parents stop him from interacting with these guys who are obviously disrespecting and belittling their child? I guess Marge and Homer have apparently forgotten how to be good parents to their son. But then again, who cares? Bart is a worthless, sociopathic loser and has no chance at a successful future, right? If you just started watching this show now in this season, I don't see how you could come to any different conclusion about Bart, which is a shame because you would never see any of his many positive character traits.

I rarely see myself complaining about how Bart is portrayed nowadays but him willingly being the little servant of the rich guys, letting them treat him like dirt and call him names for money really rubbed me the wrong way and was just sad (like the bullying of Moe in the episode). As I said in my review, it, if anything, didn't at all feel like something he would do, even in the post-classic era.
 
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