I would give a testicle for John Schwartzwelder to write and create a show. Particularly "The Simpsons" *sigh* "Homer's Enemy" introduces Frank Grimes, a character to whom every bad thing that could possibly happen to a person has happened, causing Mr. Burns to hire him after seeing Grimes's story on TV. Of course, he forgets soon afterward, forcing Mr. Smithers to "stick him" in Homer's Sector 7G where Grimes meet Homer, the boorish oaf with a devoted wife, a brilliant daughter, and a family that loves him in spite of... well, everything. For this reason, I always thought this episode was John Schwartzwelder (far and away "The Simpsons'" best writer, bar none)'s commentary on the series as a whole, but nah, not that ambitious. Schwartzwelder was just so talented he could phone in an episode better than other entire series. When Grimes meets Homer, his sense of the unfairness of it all makes him declare Homer an enemy, to which gentle-hearted Homer goes out of his way to change his mind, with hilarious results.
Again, what boggles my mind is how many brilliant and genuinely funny, not just "clever," or "poignant" or "subversive" jokes there are in this episode. It's silly, it's amazing, it's downright transcendent. I could live to be 100 and never write anything as good as this. Schwartzwelder was a freakishly good talent, which is probably why he disappeared and has yet to be duplicated. "The Simpsons" in the '90's was by far the best show on television, and if not for the 2000's episodes and beyond, would go down in history as the best television show of all time. And I miss it SO MUCH.
Again, what boggles my mind is how many brilliant and genuinely funny, not just "clever," or "poignant" or "subversive" jokes there are in this episode. It's silly, it's amazing, it's downright transcendent. I could live to be 100 and never write anything as good as this. Schwartzwelder was a freakishly good talent, which is probably why he disappeared and has yet to be duplicated. "The Simpsons" in the '90's was by far the best show on television, and if not for the 2000's episodes and beyond, would go down in history as the best television show of all time. And I miss it SO MUCH.