QUICK SYNOPSIS

After a massive soccer riot, Homer purchases a gun to protect the family.

POINTLESS GUEST STAR(S)

Clint Eastwood, Charlton Heston, and Soupy Sales. Just kidding, there were no guest stars!

WHY THIS EPISODE SUCKS

No suckiness here. We’re still in the early days of Zombie Simpsons where the punchlines are still smart, the first act either sets up the story or is directly related to the story, and Flanderization is at a minimum. We see Homer acting like a complete idiot, but he doesn’t learn anything at the end like he usually does. Instead, we see Marge do a 180° turn on the gun. I’m not sure if this ending would’ve flown with classic Simpsons. There would have been a lot less guns and a lot more hugging! Bleh. At any rate, this episode is an early example of social commentary about the availability of guns in America to people who shouldn’t have them, whether or not it was intentional. It sure can be about that in today’s environment, and the episode doesn’t even feel dated because the only gun glorification is performed by the town idiot. Honestly, it holds up a lot better than I expected. But maybe that’s because I am an America and I’ve been desensitized to every gun-related death that has been reported on the news every day since 2006.

One gripe! I don’t know how early this started in the series, but eventually crowd scenes would have nothing but recognizable characters. Back in the day you would find random stock nobody characters among crowds. But nowadays any time there’s a scene at, say, a soccer match or an NRA meeting, you’re going to find Chief Wiggum, Jimbo Jones, Mr. Burns, and Duffman among the throngs. It makes the town seem extra small to see the same 60 characters over and over again at every location.

BUT “THE CARTRIDGE FAMILY” HAS GOOD JOKES! “I don’t have to be careful, I got a gun!” is a line no one would have thought of in the last 15 years. The reference to the original ending of “Who Shot Mr. Burns” where Lisa says it “would have made a lot more sense” if it were Smithers instead of Maggie harkens back to the good old self-aware meta days of yore (mentioning Dustin Hoffman and Michael Jackson as guest stars that didn’t use their real names from “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” comes to mind). And all the gun misuse and reckless aiming? Does this episode still air in syndication? It feels just as insensitive as all those times Homer choked Bart, and that’s not a complaint!

IMDb TRIVIA FUNHOUSE!

Tom Petty rarely granted permission for his music to be used on television. He allowed the use of his song “The Waiting”, because he was a fan of the show.
Tom Petty’s dead while The Simpsons lives on? A case against God if I’ve ever heard one.

The censors at Fox Network were initially nervous about certain moments in this episode, such as Homer pointing the gun at Marge’s face, and Bart aiming the gun at Milhouse to shoot an apple in his mouth. However, they eventually allowed the show to leave the scenes in.
Who the hell gets a job as a TV censor anyway? They always sound like a gaggle of nerds that I’d like to beat the shit out of.

In 1998, Sky One decided not to broadcast this episode alongside the rest of the season in the UK because they felt it was “too strong, even for a late slot.” Instead it was released exclusively on the VHS release “The Simpsons: Too Hot for TV” and was not otherwise available until it was broadcast on BBC2 in 2001.
In the alternate British version of the episode, Homer buys a baton. That’s a joke about the lack of guns in Britain, you see. Feel free to use that joke yourself at your next dinner party.

FINAL GRADE
A-