E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt): I Demand Satisfaction

I’ve been waiting for this moment since the start of this blog. E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) is one of my all-time favorite episodes of the Simpsons. It is always a pleasure to watch, and it is likewise a pleasure to review. That being said, its name is terrible. To start with, this episode is really called E-I-E-I-D’oh, which is slightly better. “Annoyed grunt” is the way that “d’oh” is written in Simpsons scripts, since the original “d’oh” was an improvised noise by Dan Castellaneta. I have been writing this blog for months, and I still don’t know how to spell his name. Every time I have to Google it. I just call the episode“Tomacco,” because it’s simpler and I’m a deeply lazy person. But whatever, Ian Maxtone-Graham, I’ll play your little game. E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) it is.

As discussed previously, the huge majority of Simpsons episodes have two plotlines that run in tandem. Usually, the A-plot will star one or two members of the family going off on their own adventure, with the B-plot serving as a way for the others to have something to do. E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) is a little different. This time both the A and B-plots star Homer, but instead of the B-plot serving as a separate concurrent narrative it splits and forms bookends for the A-plot. In other words: we start with the B-plot, then we diverge and go off to the main narrative only to eventually return to where we started. This difference in structure alone is such a breath of fresh air for the series. After years and years of the same old beats, E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) fucks with the formula just enough to keep things interesting.

Our B-plot involves Homer going around town slapping people with a glove and challenging them to duels. This is funny enough that it probably could have sustained an entire episode. They even went to the trouble of getting the B-52’s to record an alternate version of their hit Love Shack called Glove Slap. I’m not gonna lie, Glove Slap gets stuck in my head all the time. Homer uses all of this glove slapping to throw people off their rhythm and benefit from their confusion. It’s great for cutting in line or scaring away Snake, for example. Eventually, Homer glove slaps the wrong guy and, afraid of having to duel somebody for real, he runs away from home and goes to hang out on the old Simpson family farm. And yes, this farm did burn down in a previous episode. Whatever. A wizard did it.

The bulk of E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt), which I’m getting REAL sick of writing over and over, takes place on the farm. Long story short, Homer ends up growing a field of radioactive tomato/tobacco hybrid plants that he calls “tomacco”. Ralph tastes one and says that it “tastes like Grandma.” Chief Wiggum tries another and confirms that it does indeed taste like Grandma. Despite this, Homer’s tomacco plants are extremely addictive once consumed, and it becomes his most viable get-rich-quick scheme to date. This is a rare example of one of Homer’s hair-brained schemes actually working, for a while at least. I always enjoy seeing Homer succeed. He deserves a win every now and then.

A brief aside: Some good samaritan, inspired by this glorious episode, grew some real tomacco of his own. Unfortunately, the real stuff contained way too much nicotine to be viable on the market. People would have overdosed and whatnot, it would have been a scene. Still, props to Rob Baur for proving that Homer’s horribly addictive and deadly product could actually exist in the real world. You monster.

The plot of this episode is not gonna blow anybody’s mind on its own. If I saw it on paper I wouldn’t expect much from it. However, what really shines in this episode is the writing itself. The dialogue is sharp, the jokes land hard, the characters are consistent, the pacing is on point… this episode achieves everything that it sets out to do flawlessly. It’s effectively anti-tobacco without sacrificing humor for commentary. It has Homer acting like a jerk, but doing so in a way that is in keeping with his character. He’s selfish and reckless at times, but in a very human way, and he still retains his inherent likability throughout. And sure, he never learns his lesson in a traditional sense, but he does lose out on $150 million and get shot in the arm, so close enough. And that fake-out ending with the pie… brilliant. It’s like they’re shooting the gun right out of Chekhov’s hand.

In my eyes, E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) is an absolute classic. It was, in many ways, the impetus for this entire blog. If an episode this good could come from a much-maligned season of the show then what other classics might be out there, just waiting to be discovered. Though perhaps the answer can be found in the episode’s writer, Ian Maxtone-Graham. He also wrote my second-favorite episode of Season 10, Lisa Gets an “A,” as well as the best episodes of season 9: The Trouble with Trillions and Trash of the Titans. Fortunately, Graham stayed with the show for years to come, continuing to write episodes through 2014, and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of his work. In the meantime, we might as well wrap it up now. E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) is my favorite episode of Season 11, and unless there’s a crazy upset somewhere down the line that’s the way it’ll stay.

Also, the animators need to stop forgetting about Snowball II and Santa’s Little Helper. I didn’t see them at the farm, so I’m assuming the Simpsons just left them at home to starve to death. That’s not very likable if you ask me.

Glove slap, baby glove slap. Glove slap, shut your big yap. Glove slap, I don’t take crap. Glove slap babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ah what’s happening I blacked out for a second