Benjamin Robinson
2005-11-28 17:22:40 UTC
[The long of it]
During "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas," Marge meets Tammy, who leads a
social club called the Cherry Red Tomatoes. She organizes group sky-
diving expeditions. She has a double life; by night, she secretly
plots a daring robbery of stately Burns manor. She's even voiced by
Lily Tomlin, who has a history of playing characters that engage your
attention. Tammy should, by all rights, be a pretty interesting lady,
yet in this episode she's almost bland. And that's symbolic of the
problem with "Red Hat Mamas." The elements of an interesting story
are there, but the actual show is forgettable.
Maybe that's because the show gives us a superficial look at the
Tomatoes before diving into the heist subplot. As Marge herself
points out, she participates in exactly three activities with her new
friends, and that's counting the robbery. The other two -- a museum
tour and some group skydiving -- take about a minute of show time.
That's enough time to get some feel of what the group's about, but not
enough to get to really know (and thus care) about the women. It
doesn't help that of the seven women in the group (counting Marge and
Tammy), four of them are nameless ciphers. (The seventh is the
crotchety Agnes Skinner, in case you were wondering.) The robbery is
less that it could be, too. An elaborate caper has the potential to
be funny, since there are more things to go humorously wrong, or at
least to be interesting in its mechanics. Tammy's plans take up an
entire wall of her basement, but the plan is really simple: sneak in
through an air duct, unlock a gate, crack the safe, and make off with
the booty.
The subplot is more interesting. Lisa needs to learn fluent Italian,
presto, so she can go on a summer tour of Rome. This skill isn't
already in her bag of tricks, so she responds to an ad offering
Italian-language tutoring. The company sends Milhouse, who learned
the language while staying with his grandmother in Tuscany. It's a
nice twist to see Milhouse competent at something (and at something
that isn't dorky, to boot). He even manages to prove what we've long
suspected: fluency in a Romance language will drive the ladies wild.
Too bad the ending for this plot feels so inconsequential; we never
hear about the trip to Rome after Lisa applies for it in the first
act. Did the school drop it to save money? Was another student
selected? We'll never know.
There are a few bits that lift this episode's rating a notch. Mrs.
Quimby leads a tour of her husband's office. Much to her chagrin and
our delight, every button she pushes transforms the room into a 60s-
era fantasy bachelor pad. It might be a simple gag, but I loved the
way the Cat Lady was able to chuck a feline over the Simpson house.
Milhouse's flashback to summers with Grandma was fun. And the very
last joke, a callback involving Moe and his attempts to kill himself,
makes the show worthwhile almost by itself.
A couple of good jokes scattered here and there do not make for a
classic episode, however. More's the pity, because "Red Hat Mamas"
has the potential to be a cool caper show. As it stands, it's a
little like Tammy; intriguing on the surface, but there's less
substance than we'd expect underneath.
[The short of it]
The elements of an interesting story are here, but the actual show is
forgettable. Our look at the Cherry Red Tomatoes gives us some feel
for what the group's about, but we never really get to know (and thus
care) about them. (It doesn't help that the majority of them are
essentially extras.) The robbery plan isn't that engaging, either.
The subplot, where Milhouse tutors Lisa in Italian, is more
interesting, in large part because it's a surprise to see Milhouse so
competent at something. This plot thread ends a little too abruptly,
though. There are a some really good bits (the last joke is
terrific), but this episode could use more substance. (B-)
[DYNs]
... Nelson doesn't bother to put his phone number in his "for sale"
sign?
... somewhere in Springfield there's a language tutoring country
that will employ a ten-year-old boy?
... Milhouse's middle name is "Mussolini"?
... Marge counts the jewel heist as an activity (the other two being
the trip to the museum of suffering, and the skydive)?
[References]
White House Easter egg hunt
- every Easter, an egg hunt is held for children on the White
House lawn; Mayor Quimby does the same thing at his house
Loony Tunes cartoons
- egg hunt referee is Hugs Bunny, a play on Bugs Bunny
- Mrs. Quimby refers to Hugs as a "wascawy wefewee," thus
mimicking Elmer Fudd's speech impediment
Trix (breakfast cereal)
- ads for this cereal had the tagline, "silly rabbit, Trix are for
kids;" Homer yells "silly rabbit, kicks are for ribs" while
attacking "Hugs Bunny"
tyrannosaurus rex
- Homer propositions Marge by calling himself, "tyrannosaurus sex"
"La donna รจ mobile" (opera aria)
- while brushing her hair, Lisa makes up new lyrics to this famous
aria from Verdi's "Rigoletto"
[Previous Episode References]
[CABF22] REM appears
[FFF]
Signs at Easter egg hunt:
TODAY --
MAYOR'S EASTER EGG HUNT
BEWARE
OF
RAT POISON
Homer's "real" food stamps:
REAL FOOD
STAMPS
[Homer eating]
[ a hoagie ]
Lisa's Italian tape:
ITALIAN
FOR
ITALIAN-
AMERICANS
Sign's on the community bulletin board:
For Sale 2001 BMW. SPEAK
Martin Prince's GREAT ITALIAN
bike. CONDITION. SEND YOUR TONGUE
Call Nelson. NOT FOR SALE. ON A GONDOLA RIDE
Poker show title:
HAS-BEEN
Celebrity
POKER
Museum sign:
MUSEUM
OF
SUFFERING
Marge's text message:
U
ROCK!
Homer's home-made "welcome back" sign:
HOPE YOU HAD
FUN
[Homer] [Marge]
Lisa's flash card:
PREGO
Little Italy sign:
SPRINGFIELD'S
Little [flag]
Italy
BIRTHPLACE OF BEEF-O-GHETTI
Burns manor blueprint:
BURNS MANOR GROUND FLOOR
Note on Smithers' picture:
WHY NO
GIRLFRIEND?
Mr. Burns' novelty check:
BANK OF SPRINGFIELD 0723
C. Montgomery Burns [Illegible] 200[*]
1000 Mammon Lane
Springfield, USA
Pay to the order of
Springfield Children's Hospital $1,000,000 00/100
One Million and 00/100 Dollars
DONATION C. Montgomery Burns
12 22200 6676055
[*] Final digit of date illegible
Channel logo:
FOX
SPORTS WEST II
Classic FOX
SPORTS
FOX
[Each "FOX" is really the FOX network logo]
Marge's news clipping folder:
Marge's
CLIPABLES
AND
KEEPABLES
Marge's folder categories:
"RECIPES"
"DRESS PATTERNS"
"TOASTER
UNDERCOATING
AGREEMENT"
"HEIST PLANS"
[Oops!]
Marge sure covered a lot of ground in a hurry to get from the vent
opening in the ditch all the way to Burns' front gate. Maybe she does
have a special skill after all.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
plays in the background.
in fact, she isn't seen very often on the series.
After Marge gives her the Faberge egg, Tammy says she and Marge are
friends, but can never see each other again. I think this plays on
the tendency for guest stars to come on a show, make friends with one
of the regular characters, and then mysteriously disappear, never to
be seen or talked about again.
She's referring to the legend of Romulus and Remus, although they
didn't exactly settle Rome together. Both men, citing conflicting
omens, argued over which one would found a new city named for himself.
During the argument, Romulus slew his twin brother. He founded his
city (according to tradition, on April 21, 753 B.C.) and named it
Sherriville, er, I mean Roma.
And that's why we don't refer to the glory of ancient Reme.
[Some information from "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World," by
Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish.]
Mel, the blustery owner of Mel's diner on "Alice."
happened in real life. Someone paid to run a classified ad to
describe a car and then proclaim that it *wasn't* for sale. The ad
even made it to the "Tonight" show; Jay Leno used it in his weekly
showcase of weird headlines and news articles.
I don't know the name of it, but there is a women's social club that
asks its members to wear purple suits and red hats to meetings. The
"Pickles" comic strip refers to it, and that's how I learned about its
existence.
During "The Last of the Red Hat Mamas," Marge meets Tammy, who leads a
social club called the Cherry Red Tomatoes. She organizes group sky-
diving expeditions. She has a double life; by night, she secretly
plots a daring robbery of stately Burns manor. She's even voiced by
Lily Tomlin, who has a history of playing characters that engage your
attention. Tammy should, by all rights, be a pretty interesting lady,
yet in this episode she's almost bland. And that's symbolic of the
problem with "Red Hat Mamas." The elements of an interesting story
are there, but the actual show is forgettable.
Maybe that's because the show gives us a superficial look at the
Tomatoes before diving into the heist subplot. As Marge herself
points out, she participates in exactly three activities with her new
friends, and that's counting the robbery. The other two -- a museum
tour and some group skydiving -- take about a minute of show time.
That's enough time to get some feel of what the group's about, but not
enough to get to really know (and thus care) about the women. It
doesn't help that of the seven women in the group (counting Marge and
Tammy), four of them are nameless ciphers. (The seventh is the
crotchety Agnes Skinner, in case you were wondering.) The robbery is
less that it could be, too. An elaborate caper has the potential to
be funny, since there are more things to go humorously wrong, or at
least to be interesting in its mechanics. Tammy's plans take up an
entire wall of her basement, but the plan is really simple: sneak in
through an air duct, unlock a gate, crack the safe, and make off with
the booty.
The subplot is more interesting. Lisa needs to learn fluent Italian,
presto, so she can go on a summer tour of Rome. This skill isn't
already in her bag of tricks, so she responds to an ad offering
Italian-language tutoring. The company sends Milhouse, who learned
the language while staying with his grandmother in Tuscany. It's a
nice twist to see Milhouse competent at something (and at something
that isn't dorky, to boot). He even manages to prove what we've long
suspected: fluency in a Romance language will drive the ladies wild.
Too bad the ending for this plot feels so inconsequential; we never
hear about the trip to Rome after Lisa applies for it in the first
act. Did the school drop it to save money? Was another student
selected? We'll never know.
There are a few bits that lift this episode's rating a notch. Mrs.
Quimby leads a tour of her husband's office. Much to her chagrin and
our delight, every button she pushes transforms the room into a 60s-
era fantasy bachelor pad. It might be a simple gag, but I loved the
way the Cat Lady was able to chuck a feline over the Simpson house.
Milhouse's flashback to summers with Grandma was fun. And the very
last joke, a callback involving Moe and his attempts to kill himself,
makes the show worthwhile almost by itself.
A couple of good jokes scattered here and there do not make for a
classic episode, however. More's the pity, because "Red Hat Mamas"
has the potential to be a cool caper show. As it stands, it's a
little like Tammy; intriguing on the surface, but there's less
substance than we'd expect underneath.
[The short of it]
The elements of an interesting story are here, but the actual show is
forgettable. Our look at the Cherry Red Tomatoes gives us some feel
for what the group's about, but we never really get to know (and thus
care) about them. (It doesn't help that the majority of them are
essentially extras.) The robbery plan isn't that engaging, either.
The subplot, where Milhouse tutors Lisa in Italian, is more
interesting, in large part because it's a surprise to see Milhouse so
competent at something. This plot thread ends a little too abruptly,
though. There are a some really good bits (the last joke is
terrific), but this episode could use more substance. (B-)
[DYNs]
... Nelson doesn't bother to put his phone number in his "for sale"
sign?
... somewhere in Springfield there's a language tutoring country
that will employ a ten-year-old boy?
... Milhouse's middle name is "Mussolini"?
... Marge counts the jewel heist as an activity (the other two being
the trip to the museum of suffering, and the skydive)?
[References]
White House Easter egg hunt
- every Easter, an egg hunt is held for children on the White
House lawn; Mayor Quimby does the same thing at his house
Loony Tunes cartoons
- egg hunt referee is Hugs Bunny, a play on Bugs Bunny
- Mrs. Quimby refers to Hugs as a "wascawy wefewee," thus
mimicking Elmer Fudd's speech impediment
Trix (breakfast cereal)
- ads for this cereal had the tagline, "silly rabbit, Trix are for
kids;" Homer yells "silly rabbit, kicks are for ribs" while
attacking "Hugs Bunny"
tyrannosaurus rex
- Homer propositions Marge by calling himself, "tyrannosaurus sex"
"La donna รจ mobile" (opera aria)
- while brushing her hair, Lisa makes up new lyrics to this famous
aria from Verdi's "Rigoletto"
[Previous Episode References]
[CABF22] REM appears
[FFF]
Signs at Easter egg hunt:
TODAY --
MAYOR'S EASTER EGG HUNT
BEWARE
OF
RAT POISON
Homer's "real" food stamps:
REAL FOOD
STAMPS
[Homer eating]
[ a hoagie ]
Lisa's Italian tape:
ITALIAN
FOR
ITALIAN-
AMERICANS
Sign's on the community bulletin board:
For Sale 2001 BMW. SPEAK
Martin Prince's GREAT ITALIAN
bike. CONDITION. SEND YOUR TONGUE
Call Nelson. NOT FOR SALE. ON A GONDOLA RIDE
Poker show title:
HAS-BEEN
Celebrity
POKER
Museum sign:
MUSEUM
OF
SUFFERING
Marge's text message:
U
ROCK!
Homer's home-made "welcome back" sign:
HOPE YOU HAD
FUN
[Homer] [Marge]
Lisa's flash card:
PREGO
Little Italy sign:
SPRINGFIELD'S
Little [flag]
Italy
BIRTHPLACE OF BEEF-O-GHETTI
Burns manor blueprint:
BURNS MANOR GROUND FLOOR
Note on Smithers' picture:
WHY NO
GIRLFRIEND?
Mr. Burns' novelty check:
BANK OF SPRINGFIELD 0723
C. Montgomery Burns [Illegible] 200[*]
1000 Mammon Lane
Springfield, USA
Pay to the order of
Springfield Children's Hospital $1,000,000 00/100
One Million and 00/100 Dollars
DONATION C. Montgomery Burns
12 22200 6676055
[*] Final digit of date illegible
Channel logo:
FOX
SPORTS WEST II
Classic FOX
SPORTS
FOX
[Each "FOX" is really the FOX network logo]
Marge's news clipping folder:
Marge's
CLIPABLES
AND
KEEPABLES
Marge's folder categories:
"RECIPES"
"DRESS PATTERNS"
"TOASTER
UNDERCOATING
AGREEMENT"
"HEIST PLANS"
[Oops!]
Marge sure covered a lot of ground in a hurry to get from the vent
opening in the ditch all the way to Burns' front gate. Maybe she does
have a special skill after all.
[Personal Comments & Observations]
Musical references
During Marge's downhearted walk around town, REM's "Everybody Hurts"plays in the background.
Meta-reference corner
Mrs. Quimby is referred to as Mayor Quimby's "seldom-seen wife" and,in fact, she isn't seen very often on the series.
After Marge gives her the Faberge egg, Tammy says she and Marge are
friends, but can never see each other again. I think this plays on
the tendency for guest stars to come on a show, make friends with one
of the regular characters, and then mysteriously disappear, never to
be seen or talked about again.
The original Twin City?
Sherri (or is it Terri?) mentions that Rome was founded by twins.She's referring to the legend of Romulus and Remus, although they
didn't exactly settle Rome together. Both men, citing conflicting
omens, argued over which one would found a new city named for himself.
During the argument, Romulus slew his twin brother. He founded his
city (according to tradition, on April 21, 753 B.C.) and named it
Sherriville, er, I mean Roma.
And that's why we don't refer to the glory of ancient Reme.
[Some information from "What Are the Seven Wonders of the World," by
Peter D'Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish.]
Personality Parade
Vic Tayback -- Actor who is probably best known for his portrayal ofMel, the blustery owner of Mel's diner on "Alice."
Miscellaneous, Etc.
The BMW "not for sale" ad may sound ridiculous, but something like ithappened in real life. Someone paid to run a classified ad to
describe a car and then proclaim that it *wasn't* for sale. The ad
even made it to the "Tonight" show; Jay Leno used it in his weekly
showcase of weird headlines and news articles.
I don't know the name of it, but there is a women's social club that
asks its members to wear purple suits and red hats to meetings. The
"Pickles" comic strip refers to it, and that's how I learned about its
existence.
--
Benjamin Robinson ***@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"I'm naked, clueless, and f-e-e-e-ling good!" -- Ratbert
Benjamin Robinson ***@freenet.tlh.fl.us
This message may or may not contain sarcastic content; your burden to decide
"I'm naked, clueless, and f-e-e-e-ling good!" -- Ratbert