When Flanders Failed

Ned Flanders invites the Simpson family to a barbecue where he announces plans to quit the pharmaceutical business and open the Leftorium, a store for left-handed people.

Afterwards, Homer keeps seeing left-handed citizens struggling with items made for right-handed people (including his boss, Mr. Burns) and considers telling them about the Leftorium, but decides not to.

Whenever Bart is asked by his friends and family about the karate techniques he is learning, he refers to the Touch of Death, an ability he sees in one of the arcade games he plays.

Unable to actually defend himself or his sister, Bart is pantsed and hung from a playground basketball hoop rim by the bullies, exposing his underwear.

[2] Show runner Mike Reiss said he will always remember it as the episode "that came back animated with a thousand mistakes in it and was just a complete and utter mess".

Several scenes had to be re-animated in the United States because of these glitches, but according to Reardon, "you can still see the lesser ones that got through, such as line quality problems particularly in the first act.

[3] It is revealed in this episode that the characters Ned Flanders, Moe Szyslak and Montgomery Burns are left-handed, just like The Simpsons creator Matt Groening.

[3] The final scene is based on the ending of It's a Wonderful Life (1946), with Maude's dress and mannerisms modeled after Donna Reed.

Kirk Baird of the Las Vegas Sun named it the fifth best episode of The Simpsons,[8] and Central Michigan Life called it an "instant classic".

[9] Pete Oliva of North Texas Daily said the episode "proves that it is possible to laugh and cry at the same time without being able to control either response".

[10] Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "When Flanders Failed" shows that even if The Simpsons is not dealing with famous celebrities or "high profile places", the writers can still "wring uproarious comedy out of their cast of regulars.

Flanders is a special creation in the canon of humor, a regular guy who is funny because of how hyper-normal he is compared to his Neanderthal neighbors.

"[11] Hock Guan Teh of DVD Town also praised the writers, saying they "are able to craft a downtrodden tale for the perpetually clueless Flanders family that serves to illustrate how dark emotions can eventually be overcome by Homer's guilt.

[14] Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed rated the episode a 3+1⁄2 (of 5) and commented that "perhaps it is not profound in its examination of jealousy causing people to behave irrationally, but it handles the topic in a serious manner while not compromising the show's humor.

There are few times Homer is more shamelessly smug than he was while imitating Flanders and using Ned's yard sale grill, and we haven't even mentioned Bart's 'Touch of Death' subplot.