#EverySimpsonsEver -- Day Three

The FXX Simpsons marathon is in full swing! It's still very difficult for me to not just list every episode. I've left out some really great ones. In a couple of cases I chose episodes featuring big musical numbers...

MUST-SEE!

8/23 2:00 AM ET “Krusty Gets Kancelled” -- Filled with guest stars appearing (or, in one case, not appearing) on Krusty's comeback special: Johnny Carson, Hugh Hefner, Bette Midler, Barry White, Luke Perry, Elizabeth Taylor and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

8/23 3:00 AM ET “Cape Feare” -- One of a series of excellent Sideshow Bob episodes.

8/23 4:30 AM ET “Treehouse of Horror IV” -- In one of the tales, Homer sells his soul. For a donut. Mmmm, donuts...where was I? Oh, year. After some family begging the Devil -- Ned Flanders -- agrees to a trial before claiming Homer's soul, and stacks the jury with: Benedict Arnold, John Wilkes Booth, Lizzie Borden, Blackbeard, John Dillinger, Richard Nixon (who was actually still alive at the time this aired)...and "the starting line-up of the 1976 Philadelphia Flyers." But something is wrong with this picture...

8/23 6:00 AM ET “Boy-Scoutz ‘n the Hood” -- If for nothing else but seeing Bart and Milhouse, on a Squishee bender, going crazy...Broadway style!

8/23 6:30 AM ET “The Last Temptation of Homer” -- A new co-worker is attracted to Homer, and he's attracted to her. They are chosen to represent the power plant at a convention in Capitol City. Nary a visit to a Chinese restaurant goes by without me thinking of the fortune cookies from this episode.

8/23 8:30 AM ET “Homer and Apu” -- Again, a musical number is a standout. "Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart?" Apu does. But he's been fired, and replaced by actor James Woods.

8/23 9:30 AM ET “Deep Space Homer” -- "I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords!" Oh, Kent Brockman, don't ever change.

8/23 4:00 PM ET “Treehouse of Horror V” -- One of my favorite Halloween specials, featuring the "Shining" parody and Homer's toaster-turned-time machine.

8/23 5:00 PM ET “Lisa on Ice” -- A hockey episode! Needing to avoid failing gym, Lisa accidentally discovers that she's a stellar goalie. And once she gets into it, look out: “Hey, Milhouse! Knock him down if he’s in your way. Jimbo! Jimbo, go for the face! Look! Ralph Wiggum lost his shin guard. Hack the bone! Hack the bone!” Homer, at first, has a different view: "Lisa, if the Bible has taught us nothing else -- and it hasn't -- it's that girls should stick to girls' sports, such as hot-oil wrestling, foxy boxing, and such-and-such." Bonus quote: "Me fail English? That's unpossible!"

8/23 7:00 PM ET “Homer the Great” -- Stonecutters. 'Nuff said.

8/23 11:00 PM ET “Two Dozen and One Greyhounds” -- In which Santa's Little Helper becomes a father twenty-five times over, and Mr. Burns offers to take all the puppies in...in order to make a tuxedo. Musical standout: "See My Vest."

MEH. M-E-H, MEH.

8/23 12:00 AM ET “So It’s Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show”
8/23 2:30 PM ET “Another Simpsons Clip Show”

These two are pretty easy. The first is framed by Bart's April Fool's prank on Homer that goes badly (for Homer), and the second by a family discussion of love and romance with similarly-themed clips.

Quick Reviews: This Is Promised Guidance

Okay, so these movies may not even be in theaters by now, but I don't want to just ignore them. And, if anyone really wants my opinion before renting or buying the DVDs, it'll be here.

What surprised me about This Is 40, the sort-of-sequel to "Knocked Up" focusing on the married couple Pete and Debbie (Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann), was how much bickering they did. Between their own issues, business problems and dealing with their children and parents, there were times when I was wishing there was more comedy and less drama. A nice amount of shirtless Paul Rudd, though, and there's the cameo with current (Scott Hartnell, now-retired Ian Laperriere) and former (James van Riemsdyk, Matt Carle) Flyers in a bar with Mann and Megan Fox. My grade: B-minus.

I started out really liking Promised Land, the film about natural-gas "fracking," with Matt Damon and Frances McDormand trying to get farmers to sign mineral-rights leases to drill on their land. Then an environmental advocate (John Krasinski) hits town and Damon's character is so completely flustered by this development it rang extremely false. And the big twist near the end was just stupid. My grade: C-plus.

I'd compare Parental Guidance to "The Guilt Trip" in that it's a somewhat safe and predictable comedy, in which a long-married couple (Billy Crystal, Bette Midler), called upon to hop on a plane and mind the grandkids for a week, have difficulty with how their daughter and son-in-law are raising the children. But the baseball subplot (Crystal's an announcer needing a new job) helped, the ending made me cry a little (whether I'm just easily manipulated by films or I'm getting mushy in my advancing age is yet to be determined) and Crystal and Midler have old-pro charm. My grade: B.

Mom's Music

A few years ago my mom received an mp3 player as a gift, so she wrote out a list of songs and asked if I could put them on the player. So here's a list of 200 of her favorites. This is just the collection that made it onto the player. Looking at the worksheet which I created, there are some songs that didn't make it for some reason. Either they weren't online at all for me to download, or the quality was poor, or she wasn't sure of the song title or artist and I couldn't figure out exactly which song she wanted.

Also, I should point out that she adored Rod Stewart, but she had many CDs with his music so she didn't bother to have any of it put onto the mp3 player.

The list begins after the jump...