The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace
Encyclopedia
"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" is the second episode of the tenth season
of The Simpsons
. It originally aired on the Fox network
in the United States on September 20, 1998, and was viewed in approximately 7.95 million households that day. In the episode, Homer
has a midlife crisis realizing his life is half over and he has not accomplished anything. He begins to admire Thomas Edison
and decides to create inventions to follow in Edison's footsteps and make his life worthwhile.
The idea behind "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" came from Dan Greaney
, who assigned John Swartzwelder
to write the episode. While directing "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", Mark Kirkland
visited the Edison Museum
in Edison, New Jersey
to receive inspiration for several scenes in the episode that take place in this museum. William Daniels
made a guest appearance in the episode as the character KITT
from the television series Knight Rider. In general, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" received positive reviews from television critics.
is shocked to hear on the radio that the average life expectancy
for men is now 76.2 years, which makes him realize that, at 38.1, his life is half over. Marge
informs him that he is actually 39, which depresses him more. Homer thinks he has not accomplished anything that will be considered worthwhile after he dies. His family
tries to cheer him up by showing him a film of his accomplishments and a special appearance by the character KITT
from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. When the film projector stops working, Homer's daughter Lisa
mentions that Thomas Edison
invented the projector as well as many other inventions. Homer decides to learn more about Edison and eventually idolizes him. He becomes so obsessed with him that he unknowingly begins to annoy people with stories about Edison's life and inventions. In an attempt to follow in Edison's footsteps, Homer quits his job at the power plant to become an inventor.
Homer gets to work and develops a few inventions, such as an alarm that beeps every three seconds when everything is alright, a shotgun which shoots make-up onto women's faces, an electric hammer, and a reclining chair which has a built-in toilet. None of these inventions are well received by his family and he feels disappointed over his failure to invent anything useful. However, he soon becomes encouraged when he discovers that the family likes one of his other inventions – a chair with two hinged legs on the back, making it impossible to tip over backwards. His hopes are destroyed when he notices his poster of Edison, which shows Edison sitting in the same type of chair, indicating that he has already invented Homer's untippable chair. Homer's son Bart
points out that the chair is not featured on a list of Edison's inventions, and that maybe no one knows he invented it. Homer and Bart therefore set out to the Edison Museum
in Edison, New Jersey
with his electric hammer to destroy the chair. Before he smashes the chair, Homer notices a poster of Edison's which shows he had less inventions than Leonardo da Vinci
. This means that Edison compared himself to Vinci, much like Homer compares himself to Edison. Feeling a renewed connection to Edison, Homer decides not to destroy the chair. Homer also suggests that they destroy some of da Vinci's creations, but when Bart points out those are in Italy, Homer settles for taking it out on Eli Whitney
.
Homer and Bart return to Springfield, without knowing that they left Homer's electric hammer behind at the museum. Later when the family watches the news on television, Kent Brockman
announces that the chair and the electric hammer have just been discovered at the Edison Museum and are expected to generate millions for Edison's already wealthy heirs. After Lisa complains that it should have been Homer's money, Homer angrily comments that it is a good thing he is sitting on his reclining toilet chair.
, who had a deal with the producers of the show to write five scripts for season ten. Although he was the one who wrote the episode, Dan Greaney
was the one who came up with the idea for it. Greaney based Homer's intense obsession with Edison on the fact that when he himself would have an obsession with something in life, he would badger and bore people with details of it. "Homer's relationship to Thomas Edison's achievements is a version of my own experience of trying to communicate the experience of things you love by driving people crazy," Greaney said in a DVD audio commentary
for the episode. The untippable chair was also an idea of Greaney's; while working on the episode, he was leaning back in his chair and fell backwards. He casually said it would be great if there were legs on the back of the chair and someone in the writing room said that would be a great invention for Homer. Soon after coming up with the story, Greaney told it to Swartzwelder so that he could turn it into a script. Greaney said "it couldn't in my best dreams have turned out as good as it did if I had written it."
Mark Kirkland
was the director
of "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace". He recalls that when he attended the table-read for the episode, the staff thought it was "hilarious" and they could tell it was "going to be a good one." It was the last episode to be produced during the season nine production run and because it takes several months to complete the production of a single episode, it had to air as a hold-over in the upcoming tenth season. It was decided that "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" would be the premiere episode of season ten. As a result, the annual premiere party was held at the Museum of Science and Technology in Los Angeles – it was a tradition for the premiere party to be related to the premiere episode.
Kirkland cites his assistant director Matthew Nastuk
as a big influence on the episode. He became heavily involved with the animation because he had grown up in New Jersey, where the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
that Homer and Bart visit is located. To help make the museum look as authentic as possible, Kirkland and Nastuk visited it and took a large number of photographs that they brought back to the animation studio. At one point in the episode, Homer writes complex math formulas on a chalkboard. The producers wanted them to be actual formulas, so writer David X. Cohen
got in contact with a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
who were able to provide them.
The episode features a guest appearance by actor William Daniels
as KITT
, a character from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. KITT is an artificially intelligent electronic computer module installed in an automobile. In the episode, after failing to cheer Homer up with a film reel of his life, the family shows him a video featuring KITT. The automobile, seen driving in the desert, tells Homer the following: "Hello Homer. It's me, KITT, from TV's Knight Rider. Your family has asked me to invite you to a very special ..."; the film reel breaks just before KITT finishes his sentence. This of course leads to Homer becoming even more depressed. Daniels' appearance in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" was the first and only time that he voiced KITT outside of Knight Rider and the film Knight Rider 2000
. He recalls that "when I told my son in New York that I was going to be on The Simpsons, I think that was the first time that he was really impressed with what I was doing! The Simpsons is a great show and I'm glad they thought of KITT in one of their jokes."
of 8.0, equivalent to approximately 7.95 million viewing households. It tied with Beverly Hills, 90210
and Home Improvement for the 25th place. The episode was the third highest-rated show (tied with Beverly Hills, 90210) on the Fox network that week, following Ally McBeal
and Party of Five
.
"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" has received generally positive reviews from critics. Daily Mail
cited as a "superb" and "hilarious" episode, and James Plath of DVD Town thought it had strong writing. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "a terrific episode, full of wit and sly digs at our expectations of Homer's abilities. The fact that he invents things that other people find useful (and steal the credit for) is both amusing and a little sad. Poor Homer." Writing for DVD Movie Guide, Colin Jacobson commented that "though 'Wizard' borders on 'Homer’s wacky scheme' territory, his attempts to come up with something significant offer amusement. At no point does 'Wizard' threaten to become a particularly strong episode, but it entertains to a reasonable degree. I do like the 'Everything’s Okay Alarm' and the makeup gun, though."
Although "Lard of the Dance
" aired as a teaser episode a month earlier, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" was the official season premiere of The Simpsons tenth season. Don Aucoin of The Boston Globe
wrote that "It is gratifying to report that, based on the season premiere, The Simpsons promises to remain the most reliable half-hour of laughs on television." Similarly, David Bianculli of The New York Daily News reported that "The Simpsons is one series that, year after year, remains fresh and funny and lively and surprising. Based on tonight's season premiere, that amazing streak is in no danger of ending." Lauri Githens of The Buffalo News
gave the episode a 5/5 rating, commenting that it shows that "This cynical, bleak yet somehow still hopeful comedy is nowhere near midlife crisis with Season No. 10. It's still fall-down funny. Thank God." She cited Homer's line to Marge as he and Bart leave for the Edison Museum, "I'm-taking-Bart-over-state-lines-back-soon-I-have-your-wallet-bye!", as the best line of the episode.
Lexington Herald-Leader
s Heather Svokos was not as pleased. She stated that "As always, the show is better written than most anything on TV, but for a 10th season premiere, it didn't blow me out of the water." In addition, Phil Kloer of The Atlanta Journal gave the episode a C grade, calling it an "off episode". He commented that it "doesn't have the zing that most Simpsons episodes do." Kloer did, however, enjoy Homer's inventions such as the hamburger earmuffs and the make-up gun, and Homer's line to Marge before he shoots her with it: "Try to keep your nostrils closed." Marge's response after being shot, "Homer! You’ve got it set on whore!", was commended by The Gazette
, DVD Verdict
, and Ian Jane of DVD Talk
, who called the scene the highlight of the episode.
The Simpsons (season 10)
The tenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998 and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons revolves around a working class family that...
of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. It originally aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on September 20, 1998, and was viewed in approximately 7.95 million households that day. In the episode, Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
has a midlife crisis realizing his life is half over and he has not accomplished anything. He begins to admire Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
and decides to create inventions to follow in Edison's footsteps and make his life worthwhile.
The idea behind "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" came from Dan Greaney
Dan Greaney
Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons. He was hired during the show's seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven...
, who assigned John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
to write the episode. While directing "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace", Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
visited the Edison Museum
Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, also known as the Menlo Park Museum / Edison Memorial Tower, is a memorial to inventor and businessman Thomas Alva Edison, located in the Menlo Park area of Edison, New Jersey...
in Edison, New Jersey
Edison, New Jersey
Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...
to receive inspiration for several scenes in the episode that take place in this museum. William Daniels
William Daniels
William David Daniels is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild . He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's father in The Graduate , as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, as the voice of KITT in...
made a guest appearance in the episode as the character KITT
KITT
KITT is the short name of two fictional characters from the adventure TV series Knight Rider. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider, and the other as the Knight...
from the television series Knight Rider. In general, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" received positive reviews from television critics.
Plot
HomerHomer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is shocked to hear on the radio that the average life expectancy
Life expectancy
Life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a given age. It is denoted by ex, which means the average number of subsequent years of life for someone now aged x, according to a particular mortality experience...
for men is now 76.2 years, which makes him realize that, at 38.1, his life is half over. Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
informs him that he is actually 39, which depresses him more. Homer thinks he has not accomplished anything that will be considered worthwhile after he dies. His family
Simpson family
The Simpson family is a family of fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of the married couple Homer and Marge and their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town...
tries to cheer him up by showing him a film of his accomplishments and a special appearance by the character KITT
KITT
KITT is the short name of two fictional characters from the adventure TV series Knight Rider. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider, and the other as the Knight...
from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. When the film projector stops working, Homer's daughter Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
mentions that Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
invented the projector as well as many other inventions. Homer decides to learn more about Edison and eventually idolizes him. He becomes so obsessed with him that he unknowingly begins to annoy people with stories about Edison's life and inventions. In an attempt to follow in Edison's footsteps, Homer quits his job at the power plant to become an inventor.
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
points out that the chair is not featured on a list of Edison's inventions, and that maybe no one knows he invented it. Homer and Bart therefore set out to the Edison Museum
Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, also known as the Menlo Park Museum / Edison Memorial Tower, is a memorial to inventor and businessman Thomas Alva Edison, located in the Menlo Park area of Edison, New Jersey...
in Edison, New Jersey
Edison, New Jersey
Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...
with his electric hammer to destroy the chair. Before he smashes the chair, Homer notices a poster of Edison's which shows he had less inventions than Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
. This means that Edison compared himself to Vinci, much like Homer compares himself to Edison. Feeling a renewed connection to Edison, Homer decides not to destroy the chair. Homer also suggests that they destroy some of da Vinci's creations, but when Bart points out those are in Italy, Homer settles for taking it out on Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney
Eli Whitney was an American inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. This was one of the key inventions of the Industrial Revolution and shaped the economy of the Antebellum South...
.
Homer and Bart return to Springfield, without knowing that they left Homer's electric hammer behind at the museum. Later when the family watches the news on television, Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman
Kent Brockman is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode "Krusty Gets Busted"...
announces that the chair and the electric hammer have just been discovered at the Edison Museum and are expected to generate millions for Edison's already wealthy heirs. After Lisa complains that it should have been Homer's money, Homer angrily comments that it is a good thing he is sitting on his reclining toilet chair.
Production
"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" was written by John SwartzwelderJohn Swartzwelder
John Swartzwelder is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series The Simpsons, as well as a number of novels. He is credited with writing the largest number of Simpsons episodes by a large margin...
, who had a deal with the producers of the show to write five scripts for season ten. Although he was the one who wrote the episode, Dan Greaney
Dan Greaney
Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons. He was hired during the show's seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven...
was the one who came up with the idea for it. Greaney based Homer's intense obsession with Edison on the fact that when he himself would have an obsession with something in life, he would badger and bore people with details of it. "Homer's relationship to Thomas Edison's achievements is a version of my own experience of trying to communicate the experience of things you love by driving people crazy," Greaney said in a DVD audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
for the episode. The untippable chair was also an idea of Greaney's; while working on the episode, he was leaning back in his chair and fell backwards. He casually said it would be great if there were legs on the back of the chair and someone in the writing room said that would be a great invention for Homer. Soon after coming up with the story, Greaney told it to Swartzwelder so that he could turn it into a script. Greaney said "it couldn't in my best dreams have turned out as good as it did if I had written it."
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Mark Kirkland is an American director. He has directed 69 episodes, from 1990-present, of The Simpsons, more than any other person.-Career:...
was the director
Animation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
of "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace". He recalls that when he attended the table-read for the episode, the staff thought it was "hilarious" and they could tell it was "going to be a good one." It was the last episode to be produced during the season nine production run and because it takes several months to complete the production of a single episode, it had to air as a hold-over in the upcoming tenth season. It was decided that "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" would be the premiere episode of season ten. As a result, the annual premiere party was held at the Museum of Science and Technology in Los Angeles – it was a tradition for the premiere party to be related to the premiere episode.
Kirkland cites his assistant director Matthew Nastuk
Matthew Nastuk
Matthew Nastuk is an animation director on The Simpsons. He started directing during the tenth season, and has since directed over a dozen episodes and continues to direct today.-Season Ten:...
as a big influence on the episode. He became heavily involved with the animation because he had grown up in New Jersey, where the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower and Museum
The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park, also known as the Menlo Park Museum / Edison Memorial Tower, is a memorial to inventor and businessman Thomas Alva Edison, located in the Menlo Park area of Edison, New Jersey...
that Homer and Bart visit is located. To help make the museum look as authentic as possible, Kirkland and Nastuk visited it and took a large number of photographs that they brought back to the animation studio. At one point in the episode, Homer writes complex math formulas on a chalkboard. The producers wanted them to be actual formulas, so writer David X. Cohen
David X. Cohen
David Samuel Cohen , primarily known as David X. Cohen, is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and he is the head writer and executive producer of Futurama.-Early life:...
got in contact with a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
who were able to provide them.
The episode features a guest appearance by actor William Daniels
William Daniels
William David Daniels is an American actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild . He is known for his performance as Dustin Hoffman's father in The Graduate , as John Adams in 1776, as Carter Nash in Captain Nice, as Mr. George Feeny in ABC's Boy Meets World, as the voice of KITT in...
as KITT
KITT
KITT is the short name of two fictional characters from the adventure TV series Knight Rider. While having the same acronym, the KITTs are two different entities: one known as the Knight Industries Two Thousand, which appeared in the original TV series Knight Rider, and the other as the Knight...
, a character from the Knight Rider television series that Homer is a fan of. KITT is an artificially intelligent electronic computer module installed in an automobile. In the episode, after failing to cheer Homer up with a film reel of his life, the family shows him a video featuring KITT. The automobile, seen driving in the desert, tells Homer the following: "Hello Homer. It's me, KITT, from TV's Knight Rider. Your family has asked me to invite you to a very special ..."; the film reel breaks just before KITT finishes his sentence. This of course leads to Homer becoming even more depressed. Daniels' appearance in "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" was the first and only time that he voiced KITT outside of Knight Rider and the film Knight Rider 2000
Knight Rider 2000
Knight Rider 2000 is a 1991 sequel movie to the television series Knight Rider. It is included in the Region 1, Region 2 and Region 4 versions of the Knight Rider Season One box set/...
. He recalls that "when I told my son in New York that I was going to be on The Simpsons, I think that was the first time that he was really impressed with what I was doing! The Simpsons is a great show and I'm glad they thought of KITT in one of their jokes."
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" finished 25th in the ratings for the week of September 14–20, 1998, with a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 8.0, equivalent to approximately 7.95 million viewing households. It tied with Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210
Beverly Hills, 90210 is an American drama series that originally aired from October 4, 1990 to May 17, 2000 on Fox and was produced by Spelling Television in the United States, and subsequently on various networks around the world. It is the first series in the Beverly Hills, 90210 franchise...
and Home Improvement for the 25th place. The episode was the third highest-rated show (tied with Beverly Hills, 90210) on the Fox network that week, following Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
and Party of Five
Party of Five
Party of Five is an American teen drama television series that aired on Fox for six seasons, from September 12, 1994, until May 3, 2000.Critically acclaimed, the show suffered from low ratings and after its first season was slated for cancellation...
.
"The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" has received generally positive reviews from critics. Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
cited as a "superb" and "hilarious" episode, and James Plath of DVD Town thought it had strong writing. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "a terrific episode, full of wit and sly digs at our expectations of Homer's abilities. The fact that he invents things that other people find useful (and steal the credit for) is both amusing and a little sad. Poor Homer." Writing for DVD Movie Guide, Colin Jacobson commented that "though 'Wizard' borders on 'Homer’s wacky scheme' territory, his attempts to come up with something significant offer amusement. At no point does 'Wizard' threaten to become a particularly strong episode, but it entertains to a reasonable degree. I do like the 'Everything’s Okay Alarm' and the makeup gun, though."
Although "Lard of the Dance
Lard of the Dance
"Lard of the Dance" is the first episode of The Simpsons tenth season, that originally aired on August 23, 1998. Homer discovers he can make money by stealing and reselling grease, but eventually stops after negative encounters with Groundskeeper Willie and the Springfield Grease Company...
" aired as a teaser episode a month earlier, "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" was the official season premiere of The Simpsons tenth season. Don Aucoin of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
wrote that "It is gratifying to report that, based on the season premiere, The Simpsons promises to remain the most reliable half-hour of laughs on television." Similarly, David Bianculli of The New York Daily News reported that "The Simpsons is one series that, year after year, remains fresh and funny and lively and surprising. Based on tonight's season premiere, that amazing streak is in no danger of ending." Lauri Githens of The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
gave the episode a 5/5 rating, commenting that it shows that "This cynical, bleak yet somehow still hopeful comedy is nowhere near midlife crisis with Season No. 10. It's still fall-down funny. Thank God." She cited Homer's line to Marge as he and Bart leave for the Edison Museum, "I'm-taking-Bart-over-state-lines-back-soon-I-have-your-wallet-bye!", as the best line of the episode.
Lexington Herald-Leader
Lexington Herald-Leader
The Lexington Herald-Leader is a newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company and based in the U.S. city of Lexington, Kentucky. According to the 1999 Editor & Publisher International Yearbook, the Herald-Leaders paid circulation is the second largest in the Commonwealth of Kentucky...
s Heather Svokos was not as pleased. She stated that "As always, the show is better written than most anything on TV, but for a 10th season premiere, it didn't blow me out of the water." In addition, Phil Kloer of The Atlanta Journal gave the episode a C grade, calling it an "off episode". He commented that it "doesn't have the zing that most Simpsons episodes do." Kloer did, however, enjoy Homer's inventions such as the hamburger earmuffs and the make-up gun, and Homer's line to Marge before he shoots her with it: "Try to keep your nostrils closed." Marge's response after being shot, "Homer! You’ve got it set on whore!", was commended by The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
, DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict
DVD Verdict is a judicial themed website for DVD reviews. The site was founded in 1999. Current editor in chief is Michael Stailey, who also reviews for Rotten Tomatoes...
, and Ian Jane of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
, who called the scene the highlight of the episode.
External links
- "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace" at The Simpsons.com