The Otto Show
"The Otto Show" | |
---|---|
David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel. | |
Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 22 |
Directed by | Wes Archer |
Written by | Jeff Martin |
Production code | 8F21 |
Original air date | April 23, 1992 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | Santa's Little Helper growls at the family as they enter, forcing them to retreat slowly.[2] |
Commentary | Matt Groening James L. Brooks Al Jean Mike Reiss Dan Castellaneta Jeff Martin Wes Archer |
"The Otto Show" is the twenty-second episode of the
The episode was written by
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 11.5
Plot
Bart and Milhouse attend a Spın̈al Tap concert, but the poor condition of the arena leads Spın̈al Tap to angrily end their concert after only 20 minutes. A riot breaks out.
Bart decides he wants to become a rock guitarist, so
Otto tells his instructor Patty that he wants to pass so he can "staple my license to Homer Simpson's big bald head". Intrigued, Patty gives Otto the correct answers to the written test. She gives him a passing grade after being amused by Otto's story of Homer's crude behavior. Otto regains his job and is seen arriving to pick the kids up from school whilst a wistful Principal Skinner—having attempted, unsuccessfully, to drive the bus in Otto’s absence—watches on in admiration.
Production
"The Otto Show" was written by
"The Otto Show" features an appearance from the characters of
Marge says she hopes "the Spın̈al Taps don't play too loud." Homer says that his hearing has not been affected by heavy metal concerts and Marge replies, but her response is not heard clearly due to Homer's tinnitus. On the DVD commentary, the writers said that Marge's line was "pretty funny" and had taken a long time to write. In 2023, a fan used sound editing software to discover that Marge told Homer "Make sure they don't pick up any of the band's attitudes towards women, liquor, religion, politics...really anything."[10]
Cultural references
When Homer puts on an old jacket he finds a can of
Reception
In its original airing on the Fox Network, the episode had an 11.5
The episode, like the whole of the third season, received mostly positive reviews from critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "A nice episode for Otto and some great moments for Skinner as he tries to drive the bus, but especially memorable for Homer's moment of forgetfulness after the concert. Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer reprise their roles from This Is Spinal Tap perfectly."[2] MovieFreak.com's Dennis Landmann named "The Otto Show" as one of the stand-out episodes from the third season.[12]
Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed praised the episode, giving it a rating of five out of five donuts and writing "The writing is at full throttle here, cramming tons of jokes into the episode's 20-minute runtime with stunning success."[13] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote that it was "another solid episode. Actually, it regresses somewhat from the high quality of its predecessors. The Spinal Tap material feels somewhat tacky – it was a tie-in with their then-current attempt to sell a new album – and Otto's not a strong character. I don’t think the series ever made him the lead again, and he works best in small doses. "Otto: remains very good, but it doesn’t compete with the year’s best shows.""[14]
The guest appearance of Spın̈al Tap was especially noticed. Bryce Wilson, in his review of the third season for Cinema Blend, wrote "Simpson’s [sic] voice actor Harry Shearer...reunites Spinal Tap just for "The Otto Show", an episode full of the trademark Tap banter and stage disasters that rival even the mighty 18 inch Stonehenge."[15] IGN named Spinal Tap as the '18th best guest stars' in the show's history for this episode.[16] Andrew Martin of Prefix Mag named Spinal Tap his favorite musical guests on The Simpsons out of a list of ten.[17]
References
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- ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "The Simpsons: Season Three Episode Guide – Otto Show". BBC. Archived from the original on June 26, 2004. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ^ Martin, Jeff. (2003). Commentary for "The Otto Show", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c Reiss, Mike. (2003). Commentary for "The Otto Show", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Plume, Kenneth (February 10, 2000). "Interview with Harry Shearer (Part 2 of 4)". IGN. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Jean, Al. (2003). Commentary for "The Otto Show", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Archer, Wes. (2003). Commentary for "The Otto Show", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt. (2003). Commentary for "The Otto Show", in The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "Harry Shearer And Judith Owens Talk Spinal Tap, Marriage & The Simpsons". 4KQ Brisbane. June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on July 24, 2022. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
- ^ Chilton, Louis (April 21, 2023). "Simpsons fan uses audio processing to unearth 31-year-old lost Marge joke". The Independent.
- ^ Long Beach Press-Telegram.
- ^ Landmann, Dennis (September 23, 2003). ""The Simpsons – Season 3" DVD Review". MovieFreak.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Meyers, Nate (June 23, 2004). "dOc DVD Review: The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season (1991–92)". Digitally Obsessed. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
- ^ Jacobson, Colin (August 21, 2003). "The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season (1991)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
- ^ "Movie DVD for The Simpsons: The Complete Third Season". Cinema Blend. June 18, 2004. Archived from the original on June 25, 2004. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
- ^ Goldman, Eric; Iverson, Dan; Zoromski, Brian (January 4, 2010). "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances". IGN. Archived from the original on July 10, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Martin, Andrew (October 7, 2011). "Top 10 Best Musical Guests On 'The Simpsons'". Prefix Mag. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
External links
- "The Otto Show episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
- "The Otto Show" at the Internet Movie Database