By the fourth season, The Simpsons had really
hit its stride. It was regularly honoured in awards shows, so much so that when
the showrunners entered episodes for the Emmys in categories that until that
year were only open to live-action shows, yet got no nominations for them, it
was considered a snub.
Guest stars were by this point a fixture, for better
or worse. Elizabeth Taylor came in to deliver Maggie’s first real word, Leonard
Nimoy’s appearance cemented his general comedic persona from then on, and the
final episode is a parade of famous faced and Groening-ised voices. There are
some great, classic episodes, most of them keeping things simple and not being
too ambitious – Mr. Plow, Marge Get a Job, A Streetcar named Marge.
On the other hand, there are some signs of laziness
creeping in. There was a clip show, though not the most egregious of its kind, and
the plotlines were sometimes not so well-constructed, as when Krusty’s rival
ventriloquist in Krusty Gets Cancelled never has his story properly concluded –
he’s last seen annoyed by the bigger line Krusty’s show gets.
There are some moments that push a little too far
into the surreal, many of them in Marge vs the Monorail, and Homer occasionally
goes a bit far into the persona that later ruins many a later season, where he’s
less loveable oaf and more outright psychopath – including when he decides to
start caring for a little neglected kid called Pepi just to spite Bart.
Marge is probably the star of this season, with her
well-meaning ideas on home parenting, frustration with her marriage needing an outlet
and even her reaction to being caught accidentally shoplifting being
highlights.
The cast is largely established by this point,
though the season introduces the one-note Sea Captain and classic authority
figure stooge Superintendent (Super Nintendo) Chalmers. Oh, and Jub Jub in yet
another episode that surprised me with how much development Patty and Selma get
with their relatively limited screen time. I always considered them the butt of
ugly women jokes, but in fact there’s a lot of depth to them, and sadness to
their stories.
I don’t consider the fourth season as strong as the
third or fifth, but it was still a show in very good standing.
