Review: The Simpsons ‘Super Franchise Me’

Spoilers Below:

This week’s episode of The Simpsons didn’t live up to the standard set by the previous two weeks, but it still had a lot of things that worked. Most notably, the plot was simple, quick, and clean.

After Ned Flanders discovered Homer was stealing his electricity to run (among other things) a giant freezer, he pulled the plug, forcing Marge to cook all the stored meat in an attempt to save it. Her sandwiches became a hit at Springfield Elementary, and Marge was asked to open her own “Mother Hubbard’s Sandwich Cupboard” franchise company.

After initially struggling with financial woes and incompetent employees, Marge hired the rest of the Simpsons to help out, and began turning a profit. Unfortunately, a Mother Hubbard’s Sandwich Cupboard EXPRESS opened up right across the street and stole her business. With a suggestion from Moe, some acting from Homer, and a handy loophole, the Simpsons ended up getting out of their contract. Homer ended the story by stating: “Well, family, we should be proud. We took on Corporate America and broke even.”

In Case You Missed It:

1) No Chalkboard Gag

2) The Couch Gag was based on Cat Steven’s “Tea for the Tillerman,” and ended with a “D’oh!”

3) Flanders’ Jesus sports figurines said: “Jesus is my coach,” “Jesus checks Satan into the boards,” “Jesus dunks on Judas,” and “Jesus wins biathlon.”

4) Homer’s home ferris wheel was from Rickety Brothers Ride Rentals.

5) Homer has bottles marked both “ketchup” and “catsup.”

6) “All you can drink, if you buy a jumbo cup” = how Homer bankrupted a Pizza Hut.

7) The store’s homemade needlepoint said: “A sandwich is when bread gives meat a hug.”

8) Bart: “Mom, I need a few hours off; It’s Milhouse’s birthday party and I’m all the guests.”

9) Even Grandpa Simpson (an employee of Marge’s Mother Hubbard’s) patronized the EXPRESS store.

10) RIP Jan Hooks a.k.a. Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon

The most obvious throwback to the Simpsons’ days of yore was the fact that this story had no alternate plotline. The whole family was involved from the beginning, and the episode only momentarily appeared to stray from that.

Additionally, it was a quick & easy story: Marge started a business, the business struggled, the business succeeded, the business struggled again, a plan was hatched, and everything went back to normal. There was no huge conflict, but just one underlying issue that ran throughout the whole show. This week’s installment didn’t feature any moments that overcomplicated things by tugging at the viewer’s heartstrings, or teaching any morals either. In fact, the episode was wrapped up so nicely that it even ended early – and needed to be supplemented with a “Great Moments in Sandwich History” short afterward.

Overall, it felt a bit awkward (possibly because I’m thrown off every time the main characters aren’t wearing their usual clothes for an extended period of time) but the aforementioned simplicity kept everything grounded. As did the plethora of townspeople that made appearances throughout the show.

The jokes came often, and there were a ton of visual gags snuck in as well. My list above contains a sample, but could have easily been just as long with ten totally different points. The only knock I have was that “Super Franchise Me” never got to the big laugh level – lots of chuckles, but nothing that obviously stuck out.

As much as I initially felt this episode was somehow lacking, by the end I felt quite satisfied with it. There simply was not much to knock.