Worst Episode Ever (a Simpsons Podcast)

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." Never miss an episode and subscribe in an RSS reader or through iTunes or on Stitcher. If you're an FX subscriber, you can watch "Bart-Mangled Banner" right now o