The Otto Show

The Otto Show                                            Written by Jeff Martin
                                                         Directed by Wes Archer

TV Guide synopsis

Spinal Tap (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer) hits Springfield,
and Otto the bus driver (Shearer) hits the skids after being fired.

Title sequence

Cut from clouds directly to driveway.

Couch      :- SLH is on the couch and growls menacingly.
              The family back away slowly.
              Recycled from [8F09].

In Canada and Australia:

Blackboard :- ``I will not spin the turtle''.
              ``I will not spin the tu'' at cutoff.

Lisa's solo:- upbeat with a funky rhythm.
              Repeated from [8F11]

Didja notice...

    (Starring)
        (Harry Shearer) (Derek Smalls, bassist)
    Special Guest Voice
        Christopher Guest (Nigel Tufnel, guitarist)
    Special Guest Voice
        Michael McKean (David St. Hubbins, singer/rhythm guitarist)
    Also Starring
        Pamela Hayden (Milhouse)
        Russi Taylor (Martin)

    ... Maggie reaching out for the toy guitar after being put to bed?
        What's more, her parents completely ignored her! {thf}
    ... Bart's ``stupid pigs'' fans were all women? {ajr}
    ... in their tour bus, Spinal Tap were proud of how well their
        Springfield concert went?
    ... the spots in the Kwik-E-Mart parking lot are marked ``2 min. park''?
    ... Otto was wearing Homer's bathrobe?
    ... the gold and riches hidden under the floorboards of Lisa's room?

Reviews

David Hyatt {dh2}:  Bleagh.  Not a great episode.  Actually, one of the
worst this season.

Ron Carter {rc}:  This wasn't Simpsonia at its best.

Yours Truly {rjc}:  Yawn.

Movie (and other) References

  + The Price is Right
        - Otto watches the show
  + Happy Days
        - Otto calls Homer ``Mr. S.'' after Homer compares the situation
          to the program

Freeze Frame Fun

As usual, items due to Ron Carter {rc} are tagged with a `-'.

Bart's T-shirt

    Spinal Tap
    World Tour

    London
    Paris
    Munich
    Springfield

Homer's snacks

  - Krunchy Korns
  - Pork Rinds Lite
  - New Snorfles Chips (?)

KBBL 102.5 FM

Bart's new guitar

   Free instruction book:  ``Guitar Instruction in 99 Easy Lessons''

Bumper sticker: ``How's my driving? Call 555-8821''

   [Obviously, they don't intend on repeating the Wes Archer phone fiasco.]

The Kwik-E-Mart

  - Duff Beer Suitcase $12.95

Between the floors of the Simpsons house

  - Sword/sceptre
  - crown
  - pearls
  - coins
  - bars o' gold

Otto's driver's license

    ====DMV==S==P==R==I==N==G==F==I==E==L==D=====
         O       driver's license       VOUS18213

                OTTO MANS
                [squiggle]
     +-------+  [squiggle]
     | photo |          Hair: black  Eyes: black
     |       |  Ht: 5'10''  Wt: 150  DOB: 01-18-63
     |       |
     |       |      OTTO            [That's right, he
     +-------+  x _________________  signed just his first name]

    Otto stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth and made a goofy
    face for his license photo.

Animation and continuity goofs

Bart's guitar changes from a left-handed guitar to a right-handed guitar.

(I haven't reviewed the following list for amendments and corrections.)

Dave Hall @{dh} reports:

   When Homer left the house with Bart, it was through a door that opened to
   the right.

   The scene showing Homer & Bart coming back from the concert depicts a
   different Front room.  This scene's angle doesn't show the right side of
   the entrance to the Front room from the hallway.  Also Homer runs [off
   camera] to the front room where we hear him slam the front door and drive
   off.

   Bart sat down after Otto gave back the guitar, yet, the next scene shows
   Bart being empty handed.

   Chief Wiggum worn an apron before diving for cover, yet this apron wasn't
   shown afterwards.  Also, I'm surprised his hat stayed on.

   Four people, who witness the bus accident, change positions (reversely)
   after the bumper came to a stop.

   In a lot of scenes, some of the colors were off and/or were messy.  (i.e.
   Otto's hat doesn't seem to decide wether to match his shirt or not.)

   The shot showing the line of kids getting on the school bus depicts
   Sherry & Terry just behind Bart, yet next scene only shows one of the
   twins getting on.

   With both hands on the steering wheel, Principal Skinner manages to close
   the school bus' doors.  (How does he do that?)

   The scene of Principal Skinner driving the school bus depicts telephone
   poles on both sides of the street.  (Is this how it is in the US?)

   During the kitchen scene, Otto is depicted as to be sitting near the
   sink, yet one angle places him next to the fridge (beside Bart) and Marge
   is the one next to the sink.

   Beginning shot of Homer banging on the bathroom door doesn't show the
   door nob that it does a few frames later.

   When Otto opened the bathroom door, it was to (his) right, yet when Homer
   was in the bathroom, the door opened to (Homer's) left.

   As Homer & Marge discuss Otto, they're were in the TV room, yet after
   Lisa's scream, they're depicted as sitting in the front room.

   As Otto told the scary story to Lisa, he held a lit candle and the lights
   were off, yet after Lisa's scream, the candle is gone and the lights are
   on. (Not to mention that he held the lit candle under his chin.)

   The heart on top of Lisa's mirror grew & shrank during Otto's scary
   story.

   As Otto & Bart stood outside, the doors to the `Springfield Department of
   Motor Vehicles' opened outward, yet later, Otto kicked the doors inward.

   As Patty moved her arms, the pens in her shirt pocket vanishes.

   Otto hit & broke the Bus Stop sign, yet scene showing Otto driving off
   depict the sign to be untouched.

Comments and other observations

Applose applause to Nancy Cartwright for doing the voice of Bart doing

   Marge.

The (state of?) Springfield driver's license is obviously patterned on

   the California license.  Including the racing stripes across the
   top and the dotted circle in the corner for your organ donor sticker.

Music

Spinal Tap: Break Like the Wind

Homer's radio: The Spanish Flea

    Lyrics, according to Homer:  (Transcribed by Ron Carter {rc})

    There was a little Spanish flea.
    A record star he thought he'd be.
    He heard of singers like Beatles,
    The Chipmunks he'd seen on TV.
    Why not a little Spanish flea?

    And so he hid inside a dog...

Otto's bus jam: Free Bird

Quotes and scene summary

 Bart (wearing a Spinal Tap T-shirt) tells Homer to hurry up.  Marge sweetly
 notes that this is Bart's first heavy-metal concert.  Homer comes down
 the stairs, amazed that his old jacket still fits him.  He finds a can
 of Billy Beer in the pocket, and drinks it.
   
   I hope the Spinal Taps [sic] don't play too loud.
   -- Marge's motherly concern, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Homer responds, ``Oh, Marge.
 I went to thousands of heavy-metal concerts, and it never hurt me.''
 Marge's response is drowned out by the ringing in Homer's ears.  The
 two leave.

 In the car, Homer and Bart catch a news item about Mayor Quimby honoring
 ``the aging supergroup'' in a ceremony at City Hall.  The announcers then
 make an incredibly stupid pun.  The car skids to a halt, and Milhouse
 hops in, wearing a leather jacket of his own, and no shirt.
   
   Bart:     Hey, Milhouse, cool jacket!
   Milhouse: It cost me 50,000 Bazooka Joe comics!
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 At the Springfield Coliseum, Homer drops the kids off.
   
   Homer: Now just meet me back here after the show.
   Bart:  Thanks, Dad.  Sure you're not going to be bored?
   Homer: [chuckles] Boy, some of the best times I've ever had were in the
          back seat of a car!  Heh, heh, heh, heh...
          [flashback.  Inspiration Point.  Homer in the back seat, his car
           springing up and down]
   Young Homer:  [lustfully]  Ohhhhhhh....  Oh, baby...
          [Young Homer eats pizza, hot dogs, chips...]
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart and Milhouse walk past people hawking T-shirts.
   
   Check it out, Spinal Tap kicking Mohammar Qadaffi in the butt.
   A timeless classic.  Now two for a dollar.
   -- Hawking t-shirts, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Backstage, Bill and Marty of KBBL interview the group.
   
   Fellas, I'm going to hit you with a phrase that has dogged you throughout
   your career.   ``Washed-up.''
   -- Interviewing Spinal Tap, ``The Otto Show''
   
   Here you are, among the top one hundred and five concert acts today.
   What's your secret, guys?
   -- Interviewing Spinal Tap, ``The Otto Show''
   
   We're very big in Bulgaria.  And what-his-name, the other -garia...
   -- Spinal Tap speaks, ``The Otto Show''
   
 In the crowd before the show, a frisbee is tossed about.  Bart accidentally
 hits the fellow next to him with it.  Bart apologizes, but the fellow is
 too stoned to notice.

 Bill and Marty ask Spinal Tap to record some promos for the station, but
 they are reluctant to say ``Nobody rocks like Bill and Marty on KBBL''
 because it might not be true.  ``We don't want to look stupid.''  So they
 agree to say, ``Rock-a-doodle-doo, you're listening to Bill and Marty!''

 The crowd chants, ``Tap!'', while the group complains that there's water
 all over the stage.  The stage manager explains that they're playing in
 what is usually a hockey rink.  ``This is a rock concert, not a bleedin'...
 splish-splash show!''
   
   Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...  Duff Beer, in association with
   Laramie Cigarettes, is proud to welcome... Spinal Tap!
   -- Rock concert, ``The Otto Show''
   
 The show goes on, although the spotlights don't always stay on their
 intended targets, and the feedback on the audio system is rather
 annoying.  But things pick up.

 Meanwhile, Homer sits in the car, munching on chips and singing along
 with the radio.

 Spinal Tap chat with the crowd, inserting a few gratuitous local references
 to the delight of the crowd.  The next song begins, and giant devil hovers
 overhead.  Then slowly deflates...  Despite the minor setback, ``We salute
 you, our half-inflated Dark Lord!''  The crowd half-heartedly joins in.

 Another chat with the crowd goes awry then the stage hands don't cooperate
 with the lighting.  So they go straight on to the laser show, but cut it
 short when one of the band members gets hit in the eye with a laser beam.
 That's the last straw.  The show ends, after only twenty minutes.
 Otto and Snake are in attendance, and Snake suggests they trash the stage.
 A riot ensues.

 Back in the car, Homer continues to sing along, as police helicopters
 converge on the scene, and officers in riot gear cautiously enter the
 arena.  The riot gets local news coverage.
   
   Tonight, the city weeps, as for the first time ever, a hockey arena
   becomes then scene of violence.
   -- Kent Brockman reports on a concert riot, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Marge hopes her ``poor baby'' is okay, then sees Bart swinging over the
 seats clutching a streamer, which breaks.
   
   Of course, it would be wrong to suggest this sort of mayhem began with
   rock-and-roll.  After all, there were riots at the premiere of Mozart's
   ``The Magic Flute''.  So, what's the answer?  Ban all music?  In this
   reporters opinion, the answer, sadly, is `yes'.
   -- Kent Brockman's two cents, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart (his shirt sleeve torn off) arrives with Homer, and Bart announces
 that he wants to be a rock star.  Marge defers the discussion to later.
 She asks if Milhouse is okay, and Homer responds, ``Uh, I'll be right
 back.''  He quickly leaves and drives off.  Back at the arena, Milhouse
 (sans jacket and glasses) lies under a pile of folding chairs.  ``Heeeelp?''

 [End of Act One.  Time: 7:22]

 Marge tucks in Maggie for bed, and she suggests to Homer that they buy
 Bart a guitar since he wants to be a musician.  Homer answers that they
 already have a guitar.  He produces Maggie's toy guitar.  ``I meant
 a <real> guitar.''  ``This is real!''  Homer bangs it on his head to
 prove that the guitar is not a figment of their imagination.

 Marge and Homer present Bart with his own guitar.
   
   Homer: Now, boy, we spent a lot of money, so you'd better get real good
          real fast, or <POW>!
   Marge: Homer!
   Homer: Hey, I thought I was supposed to encourage him.
   -- Feedback of all types, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart slips into a daydream.  He's a heavy-metal rocker.
   
   I'd loik to play me latest chaht-toppah.  It's called,
   ``Me Fans Are Stupid Pigs''.
   -- Bart the heavy-metal rock star, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Backstage, Bart is zonked out.  Milhouse says, ``You've changed,
 man!''  Bart throws a glass bottle at him.  Bart lies on the
 floor, complete out of it.  Bart returns to reality.  ``Cool!''

 Bart feebly strums his guitar, while Lisa gleefully plays her sax.  Bart
 tells Lisa to knock it off, but she (teasing) says she was merely jamming
 with him.

 Waiting for the bus, Bart picks at his guitar, and Nelson makes fun of him.
 The bus arrives, and Otto takes the guitar and plays an awesome lick.  The
 kids cheer.
   
   Bart: I didn't know you played the guitar, Otto-Man!
   Otto: Hey, that's all I <did> in high school!
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
   My old man said I was wasting my time, and I'd never amount to anything.
   He-hah-hah-hah!  He-hah-hah-hah-heh-heh!   [realizes]  Oh...
   -- Otto, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Otto plays another song for his captive audience.  Meanwhile, cars pile
 up behind the bus, since Otto left the red lights blinking.  Martin
 reminds Otto that they were supposed to be at school ten minutes ago,
 and earns the wedgie he feared.
   
   Otto: Uh-oh.  Better fasten your seat belts, little dudes!
   Lisa: We don't have seat belts.
   Otto: Well, then, uh... Just try to go limp.
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 The bus speeds off, as the kids scream for their lives.  Otto takes
 a short cut, through the Springfield Tire Yard, running the Spinal Tap
 tour bus off the road (which overturns and catches fire), driving
 through a police picnic.  (None of the policemen catch the license
 plate.  ``I didn't think to look,'' explains Eddie.)  The bus skids
 on its side and comes to halt on (yes, on) the town square, knocking
 over the statue of Jebediah Springfield.  Otto's bumper flies off,
 carrying with it a bumper sticker, ``How's my driving?  Call...''
 Large numbers of townspeople rush for the pay phones.  The kids
 gleefully exit through the emergency door.  (``Whee!'')

 Principal Skinner scolds Otto.
   
   I stand on my record.  Fifteen crashes and not a single fatality.
   -- Otto, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Eddie asks to see Otto's license, but he never got one.  ``But if you
 need proof of my identity, I wrote my name on my underwear.''  Otto
 checks his underwear.  ``Wait, these aren't mine!''
   
   Well, that tears it.  Until you get a [drivers] license and wear your own
   underwear, mister, you are suspended without pay!
   -- Principal Skinner to Otto, ``The Otto Show''
   
 The kids find Principal Skinner behind the wheel.  The kids sing a song
 (not entirely complimentary to the bus driver) and Skinner joins in.
 Skinner waits at a side street for the traffic to clear so he can enter
 the main road, but the traffic is too heavy.  ``I think you have to be
 more aggresive, sir,'' suggests Lisa, but Skinner is sure someone will
 stop to let him in.  No one does.

 At the Springfield Department of Motor Vehicles...
   
   Patty: [laughs spontaneously]
   Selma: What's so funny?
   Patty: I was just thinking about the time Homer got his nose caught in the
          toaster.
   Selma: We'll watch the tape tonight.
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Otto approaches the window.  Patty explains that she will be testing him.
 She grades good deeds with a green pen, errors with a red pen.  ``Any
 questions?''  ``Yeah, one.  Have you always been a chick?''  Patty discards
 her green pen.

 In the parking lot, Otto knocks down cone after cone.  The last one teeters
 for a while before it falls.  Otto cheers, ``Awright!  Yeah!''
   
   You failed every segment, and misspelled `bus' on your application.
   -- Patty administers Otto's driving test, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Skinner has yet to enter the main thoroughfare and has become furious.
 Ralph tries to resume the singing but Skinner snaps at him.

 Otto returns to his apartment, to find something curiously different...
   
   Hey, landlord!  Some clown changed my locks, padlocked the door, and
   put on an eviction notice!
   -- Otto, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Otto hasn't paid his rent.
   
   Otto:     Can I at least get my stuff?
   Landlord: All I found in there was a jar of mustard and a couple of old
             `Psycho' magazines.
   Otto:     Wow!  I have mustard?
   -- Otto gets evicted, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart buys a Squishee at the Kwik-E-Mart and agrees to try Apu's
 newly-invented chutney-flavored drink.  Bart takes a sip and
 spits it out, discarding the drink in a nearby dumpster.  We hear
 Otto yell, ``Ow!''
   
   Bart: Otto-Man?  You're living in a dumpster?
   Otto: Ho, man, I wish.  Dumpster-brand trash bins are top-of-the-line.
         This is just a Trash-Co waste disposal unit.
   -- His summer home is the aluminum recycle bin down the street,
      ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart suggests Otto stay in the Simpsons garage.  ``A garage?  Ho-ho!
 Somebody up there likes me!''  The dumpster lid crashes down on Otto's head.
 Otto's moan echoes...

 [End Act Two.  Time: 14:14]

 At three in the morning, the house rocks awake to the sound of Otto jamming
 on his guitar.  Homer and Marge go down to the garage to find Bart with
 his bus-driving friend.
   
   Marge: What's going on?
   Bart:  Mom, I thought you might forget our little conversation this
          afternoon, so I took the precaution of recording it.
   Marge: What conversation?
   Bart:  [turns on a tape recorder]
   Tape:  [Bart]  ``Mom, can Otto live in our garage for as long as he wants?''
          [bad imitation of Marge]  ``He sure can!''
   Homer: Marge, what were you thinking!
   Marge: That's not my voice!
   Homer: Oh, everybody says that when they hear themselves on tape.
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Homer, Marge, Otto and Bart sit around the kitchen table.  Otto doesn't
 get along with his parents, so he can't stay with them.
   
   Otto:  Please let me stay here.  I've got nowhere else to go!
   Homer: Forget it!  That line didn't work for my dad, and it's not
          going to work for you!
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Bart begs.
   
   Marge: Doesn't the Bible say, ``Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers,
          that you do unto me''?
   Homer: Yes, but doesn't the Bible also say ``Thou shalt not take... moochers
          into thy... hut''?
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
   Bart:  Please, Dad?  If you let Otto stay, he'll help around the house and
          chip in a few bucks whenever he can.
   Homer: All right, he can stay.  But I get to treat him like garbage.
   Otto:  Wow!  What's the catch?
   -- The catch is, you have to stay with the Simpsons, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Otto lounges on the couch watching ``The Price is Right''.  Marge tells
 Otto he can't just sit around watching TV, so Otto decides to read a book.
 But the Simpsons don't have anything that suits is fancy.  Marge suggests
 Otto get a job, but Otto explains that the only thing he was good at was
 driving a bus, but ``the man'' demands he get ``a piece of paper''.
 Marge responds, ``So, get that piece of paper!''  Otto complains that he
 tried, but failed.

 Otto plays the guitar in the garage...
   
   Homer: Will you knock it off, I can't hear myself think!
          [the music stops]
          [thinks]  I want some peanuts.
          [aloud]  That's better!
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
   Homer: Hey, how come you never play your guitar any more?
   Bart:  I'll tell ya the truth, Dad.  I wasn't goot at it right away, so
          I quit.  I hope you're not mad.
   Homer: [sweetly]  Son, come here!  Heh heh heh...
          [Bart sits on Homer's knee]
          Of course I'm not mad.  If something's hard to do, then it's not
          worth doing!  You just stick that guitar in the closet next to your
          short-wave radio, your karate outfit and your unicycle, and we'll
          go inside and watch TV.
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Homer stands in his underwear, banging on the bathroom door.  ``I gotta
 go!''  Otto emerges...
   
   Hey, Poppin' Fresh!  [pokes Homer in the belly]  You're supposed to giggle!
   -- Otto, ``The Otto Show''
   
 ... and Homer finds the sink overflowing, the drain
 clogged by a mat of hair.

 Homer tells Marge Otto must go.  Marge notes that he <is> good with
 the kids...  Upstairs, Otto tells Lisa a scary story, and she screams
 her head off.  This is the last straw for Homer.  ``Listen, you
 drain-clogging, last-cookie-eating, collect-call-getting sponge!
 I want you out of my house!''
   
   Bart: What are you going to do, Otto?
   Otto: Oh, don't worry.  There's plenty of money out there for a guy who
         knows how to fake his own death.
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Marge suggests Otto try the driving test again.
   
   I can't pass that thing.  I got a zero last time.  This time, I'm hung over!
   -- Otto dreads his driving test, ``The Otto Show''
   
   Bart: You can do it, Otto!  You're the coolest adult I ever met!
   Otto: Wow!  I've never been called an adult before. ...
         I've been tried as one, but...
   -- ``The Otto Show''
   
 Otto reads the DMV booklet.
   
   ``Alcohol imcreases your ability to drive.''  [looks up the answer]
   ``False''!?  Oh, man!
   -- Otto studies for his driving test, ``The Otto Show''
   
 Outside the DMV building, Otto admits that Homer was right. ``I <am> a
 bum.''  Bart corrects him.  Homer called him a sponge.  This pushes
 Otto over the edge, and he storms inside.  Otto tells Patty he wants to
 be re-tested.  When asked why, he explains, ``So I can staple my license
 to Homer Simpson's big, bald head!''  Patty changes her demeanor.  ``Here's
 your written test.  I'll get you started.  E, D, C, A, B...''

 In the parking lot, Otto runs over every single cone, but Patty doesn't
 care.  While Otto bad-mouths Homer, he runs over cardboard cut-outs of
 pedestrians, but Patty takes no notice.  She suggests, ``Let's get some
 margaritas, I'm buying.''

 The school bus skids to a halt in front of Springfield Elementary (knocking
 down the `Bus Stop' sign).  Yes, Otto's back behind the wheel.  He
 shows off his drivers license (stamped, ``Probationary'').  The kids pile
 in, and the bus skids off (running a stop sign).  Skinner watches and
 adds, ``Yes.  Hail to the bus driver.  Bus Driver Man.''

 [End of Act Three.  Time: 20:14]

 The closing theme is unaltered.

 The Gracie theme is played on an electric guitar.

 The Twentieth Century Fox logo is unchanged.

 [End of credits]
   Episode summaries Copyright 1992 by Raymond Chen.  Not to be redistributed
   in a public forum without permission.  (The quotes themselves, of course,
   remain the property of The Simpsons, and the reproduced articles remain
   the property of the original authors.  I'm just taking credit for the
   compilation.)