Beyond Blunderdome

"Beyond Blunderdome" is the first episode of Season 11 (and produced as the final episode of season ten)
== Synopsis==
The Simpsons are going to Hollywood when Homer complains about Mel Gibson's remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Gibson teams up with him to improve it, as he's the only person during the Springfield test screening to be honest with him.
== Full Story ==
The episode and the season open with Homer taking a test drive of a new Elec-Taurus electric car so that he can get a free gift. After destroying the car, the family return to the dealer to receive their gift, which they forget to open until Homer and Marge are in bed. His gift turns out to be free tickets to a preview screening of the new Mel Gibson movie, a remake of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Mel is not pleased with the film itself claiming that he basically just talked for the whole duration of the film but the films producers assure him it'll be great. The audience members are given comment cards to fill out so that the filmmakers can change the movie based on the audiences' reactions. The movie is a smash with everyone but Homer, who only likes action and comedy movies finds it "more boring than church." During the screening, Mel Gibson is assured by the producers that the movie is wonderful. "But I don't shoot anybody," he screams. Later, while reading the comment cards, Mel is certain that everyone loves him too much to tell him how to improve the movie. When he reads Homer's comments, he concurs that Homer was the only person brave enough to tell him the truth.
Mel comes to the Simpsons' house and invites the family to Hollywood in order to change the movie. Homer and Mel begin work on the film while the rest of the family explores Hollywood. When Homer's ideas prove to be stupid and pointless, Mel begins to wonder whether he made a mistake. However, he is enthusiastic when Homer tells him his ideas for the famous "filibuster" scene at the end. The next day, they present the new ending to the producers. In the new version, Mr. Smith goes berserk and slaughters every member of Congress and the President in a mindless action movie sequence. The producers are horrified at this, saying that "Mr. Smith" was meant to be the Studio's big prestige picture and that they have already "bought five Golden Globes." They attempt to burn the new ending, but Homer and Mel, determined to save their movie, grab the film and run with it.
They meet up with the rest of the family at a wax museum, where they steal a replica of the car from the Mad Max movies and engage in a ludicrous car chase through the streets of Hollywood, with the film executives hot on their trail. They eventually manage to evade them. Homer and Mel then attend the movie's premiere back in Springfield, and when the film ends, the entire audience walks out disgusted (in particular, Moe Szyslak flatly said "Well, that was disgusting!"; Comic Book Guy, while typing a presumably very scathing review of the film on his laptop, sums it up as "Worst ending ever!"; and Ned Flanders is so disgusted with the film that he needed to be helped out by Maude, his wife, to even walk and makes clear that he going to feel sick afterward), and Jimmy Stewart's granddaughter threatens to report Homer and Mel to her attorney. Homer then tries to apologize to Mel and offers similarly stupid ideas for "their" next movie which sound more like 1980's college movies. While leaving the theater, Mel, having had enough of Homer's stupid ideas, kicks him out of his moving limousine.
The episode finishes by showing a closeup of a dog (known as the Shifty-Eyed Dog) moving its eyes side-to-side; a reference to one of Homer's earlier ideas for the film edit.
==Citations==
fr:Mel Gibson les cloches
pl:Beyond Blunderdome
pt:Além da mancada do trovão
Category:Homer episodes
Category:Season premieres
Category:Movies and films themed-episodes
Category:Work-themed Episodes
Category:Episodes featuring guest stars
Category:Firsts
Category:Episodes on DVD
Category:Episodes with a alternative Gracie Films logo
Category:Written by Mike Scully
Category:Directed by Steven Dean Moore
Category:Episodes named after a film or TV Show