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Brush with Greatness
The Simpsons Season 02 Episode 18
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
Mt. Splashmore looks hellish and reminds me of way too many days spent in line at Six Flags Great Adventure. What happens to Homer has always been a nightmare of mine: getting stuck in a tube slide. (No, I do not weigh 260 pounds—I recognize that it's an irrational fear.)
Homer's anti-Gone With the Wind diet oath is pretty funny: "As God as my witness, I'll always be hungry again!" Of course, he promptly tries to cheat on his diet just a few scenes later by loading tasty, non-diet food on top of his rice cake. (To be fair, until Marge corrected his misconception, he thought the rice cake was a coaster.)
Personally, I think Marge's portraits of Ringo Starr are awesome. Except the one where she and Ringo are getting married. That one is a little creepy.
I love it when Jon Lovitz does guest voices. His art instructor is so enthusiastic, even about the janitor's painting.
Mr. Burns doesn't sound quite as decrepit as usual in this episode. Sounds like Harry Shearer hadn't quite nailed down the voice yet. Almost, though. Almost. He also pronounces the word bosom "boozum." Incidentally, why is Mr. Burns showering at the Simpsons' house?
The scene with the donut delivery dude (also voiced by Jon Lovitz) is only ten seconds long, but it's totally one of the funniest bits in the episode. Just look at all the donuts piling up without Homer to eat them....
Aw, Ringo's such a mensch, insisting upon answering all his fan mail himself...even though it's taking him a couple of decades. He also exclaims in pleasure at Marge's portrait, "Gear!" Cracks me up every time.
Undoubtedly the best line of the episode (and one of the reasons I love Ms. Hoover), is uttered when she looks at Marge's portrait of the nude, crinkly, old Mr. Burns: "He's bad, but he'll die. So I like it."
CONCLUSION
Look, this one contains a nude portait of Mr. Burns and a cameo by Ringo Starr. How could it not be a classic?
THIS EPISODE'S RATINGS
 5/5 donuts from Mrs. Waldorf
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RATINGS LEGEND
 = LAME
= BAD
= MEH
= GOOD
= CLASSIC
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PLOT SUMMARY FROM WIKIPEDIA
After Bart and Lisa see Krusty do his show at the Mt. Splashmore water park, they consistently irritate and beg Homer about going there. Homer gets annoyed, but reluctantly decides to take them there. The family goes to Mt. Splashmore, where Bart, Lisa and Homer ride H2WHOA!, a crowded water slide. Being overweight, Homer gets lodged in a section of the slide and the park's rescue crew are forced to remove him from the ride with the help of a large crane. Homer is made a fool of on the news for his massive weight and realizes that he needs to lose weight.
Homer announces to his family that he will go on a diet and exercise more. While Homer is looking for his weights in the attic, Bart stumbles upon several old paintings of Ringo Starr that Marge made as a student in high school, when she had a crush on Starr. Marge tells Lisa that she was scolded by her art teacher for doing those paintings; she also recalls sending a painting to Starr for an "honest opinion", but she never got a response. Lisa suggests that Marge take a painting class at Springfield Community College, which she does. She makes a painting of Homer on the couch in his underwear, which her professor, Lombardo, praises. The painting wins the college art show, thus gaining her fame and the headlines of the newspapers.
Mr. Burns wants Marge to paint his portrait for the Burns Wing of the Springfield Art Museum. She reluctantly agrees, as long as Burns insists that the painting portray him as a beautiful man. While Burns heckles Marge as she does the painting, Homer finds out that he weighs 239 pounds, which is twenty-one pounds less than what it previously was. After Burns insults Homer's weight and children, Marge insists that he leave the house and is ready to quit until Homer encourages Marge to finish the painting: She also gets a reply from Starr, who is decades behind on answering his fanmail, praising her artwork. She finishes the painting, and at the opening of the Burns Wing, she unveils it. The painting depicts a naked, frail, and weak Burns. The people are shocked, until Marge explains that it depicts what Burns actually is: a vulnerable human being which will, one day, be no more. Everyone, even Burns, who is at first outraged but then accepts his new glory, praises Marge's painting and thanks Marge "for not making fun of [his] genitalia," to which Marge replies, "I thought I did."
Accessed from Wikipedia on Mar. 13, 2010