After a heavier episode like "Moaning Lisa" it does feel good to finally be going into an episode with more levity in it like "The Call of the Simpsons". An episode that does blend the early season's attempts at both pseudo realism and out there comedy. Does it hold up well in the wild? Let's find out as we review "The Call of the Simpsons", first aired February 18, 1990. Unlike Mandela and Buster Douglas last week, nothing amazing really happened on this day, but The Hulk died in the made for TV movie "The Death of the Incredible Hulk", so that's something.
CHALKBOARD GAG: I will not draw naked ladies in class
COUCH GAG: Family sit on the couch and... that's it. No gag.
We open the episode with Homer and Bart doing outdoor chores the hard way, while becoming jealous of how good the Flanders have it. From a riding mower to a new RV. See, this is still the era of Flanders as not so much the Charlie Church, but just the nice guy who has it better than Homer. And thus leads to much of Homer's early envy, because Homer is a very petty man. Homer doesn't understand how Flanders can afford a new RV, but perks up at the prospect of credit.
The family head out to "Bob's RV Roundup" run by Cowboy Bob, who is voiced by Albert Brooks (or A. Brooks in the credits). It's hard to say if Brooks is technically the first special guest star since Penny Marshall did work for "Some Enchanted Evening" first, despite the shift in schedule, and Marcia Wallace voiced Krabappel for a couple episodes before this. But since Wallace became more of a technical regular like Phil Hartman would later, I'd say Albert Brooks gets the right to be referred to as the first guest star.
Homer's focus is, of course, to get an RV better than Ned's "behemoth", so Cowboy Bob shows him the Ultimate Behemoth, an RV that has everything and maybe two or three kitchen sinks. Despite Marge's reservations about not being able to afford it, Homer is all in, just to see the look on Ned's face when he rolls up in it. However, it urns out that Homer's credit is terrible, and despite how badly he wants it, they could never afford it. Some really great lines from Albert Brooks here, feels like a lot of ad-libbing.
QUOTE OF THE EPISODE:
"Mr. Simpson, you're never gonna own a better RV. And I don't mean that in a good way. I mean literally, buddy. This is for you, you know? It's this or a wagon." -Cowboy Bob
Now lost in the forest, Homer claims to be an experienced woodsman, but it's easy to see that he's not very good at this survival stuff. Homer and Bart leave to find food, while Maggie follows along, with Marge oddly being fine with her toddler daughter in the woods out of her supervision. I guess Lisa with Bleeding Gums was a concern, but this is just fine. Homer and Bart mistake Maggie's pacifier for a rattler and run off, eventually falling off a cliff and down the river.
This leads to a B/C plot with Maggie befriending a family of bears who steal stuff for her from other campers, while in the other plot, Marge and Lisa are actually better at survival skills than the moronic patriarch. Homer and Bart end up naked after their stream trip, so they wear some leaves and try to hunt for food using Homer's snare strategy.
It doesn't pan out well.
Nor does plan B.
Homer decides to just take a handful of honey from a beehive, which leads to stings and his mouth being too full to speak. He goes to find water, but lands in a mudhole, which covers him completely. A nearby camper filming mistakes Homer for Bigfoot, causing a five thousand dollar hunt for him and that leads to the majority of the last act of the episode. Wow, when you write it out that really escalated quickly.
They make it back to civilization, but Homer gets caught by the hunters, but he tries to escape, only to get tranquilized and taken down. Homer is taken in for some scientific study and eventually released, with the whole scientific world asking if he's a human or truly a missing link. Homer is embarrassed later that night, but Marge consoles him as he's her brilliant beast.
"The Call of the Simpsons" is a fun episode. It's a great use of the family outside of their natural element of suburbia to this point and it offered a good amount of time to build the story without as much rush as prior episodes. I will say the Bigfoot stuff comes along pretty fast and almost out of nowhere, but compared to some other episodes in season one, the pacing is far better. As for other things I enjoy, I loved Albert Brooks as Cowboy Bob, I still get a kick out of the scene with Homer being attacked by the animals, and I do find the whole act with Maggie and the bears to be particularly adorable. And, despite the structure of the episode, it feels the least like the structure of an Ullman short, so it definitely shows that the writers are getting the hang of stretching The Simpsons plots to a half hour format. In the end, this is one trip to the woods that's still fun to get lost in.
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FIRST APPEARANCES:
NONE
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