Worst Episode Ever #4: Alf's Back... in Pod Form (S15E21 - Bart-Mangled Banner)

Jack and Dan look out the window at the old cemetery, then watch "Bart-Mangled Banner," a season 15 episode that skewers post-9/11 patriotism in George W. Bush's America. Surely mid-series "Simpsons" does political satire with deftness and subtlety, right? We discuss the show's reliance on episode-ending musical numbers, how dark is too dark for a Moe joke, and start writing an episode called "Bart Goes Deaf at the Talent Show." Why did we not cut out a lot of crazy nonsense about "ALF" from this episode? Does anyone else measure American history by the Harold and Kumar films? And was suspending civil liberties in a charged post-9/11 world a necessary evil to protect the American citizenship? (Why would they put a real one in with the joke ones?) Enjoy our latest "Worst Episode Ever" and see if you agree with our assessment of "Bart-Mangled Banner."

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And here's a link to an episode of the Jeff Rubin Jeff Rubin Show about Simpsons Trivia featuring Dan and John Ortved, author of "The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History," as mentioned in this episode.

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