Line #13 Recap/TheSimpsonsS11E16Pygmoelian


1	[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kb.gif]]
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3	'''Original air date:''' 2/27/2000 ''(produced in 1999)''
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5	'''Production code:''' BABF-12
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7	Realizing that he's ugly after his face gets censored on the new Duff calendar, Moe gets plastic surgery and gets back at everyone who thought he was too ugly -- which lands him a role on Springfield's most popular soap opera, ''It Never Ends''. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa chase after Maggie's runaway pink elephant balloon.
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9	!! Tropes:
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11	* AlwaysALiveTransmission: When Moe receives a script in which his character is killed in a skydiving accident, he flips out and teams up with Homer to take revenge on the show. During a live broadcast, Homer arrives in the guise of Moe's character's "guardian angel" and proceeds to spoil every major plot point for the next year.
12	* AssholeVictim: Duffman tries to rig the contest in Titania's favor, and had promised she wouldn't have to touch her drunk if she slept on him, which he lied about. This makes the audience feel less sorry for him when Moe puts a sticker on his face, ultimately suffocating him.
13	* CheatedAngle: One of the few times Moe is intentionally shown facing front. After Moe wins the competition, his picture is taken for the calendar, but it has him facing forward and giving an uneasy grin. After the Duff workers berate the ugly photo, Moe (still facing front) gives them a sheepish thumbs up.
14	-->'''Duffman''': That's a mug you don't wanna chug!\
15	'''Phil Angelides''': Knock it off, Larry. We can't put this face on our calendar!
16	* BrainlessBeauty: Titania thinks that beer is brewed using Mountain Goats.
17	* CheatersNeverProsper: Titania slept with Duffman so he would let her win a beer-related contest. Too bad for her Duffman lied about that.
18	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: While cheering for Moe, Homer arranges for himself, Carl and Lenny to paint out the three letters in the bellies to support. However, Lenny neglects to follow up that he's supposed to be the last letter (E) until too late, much to Homer and Carl's chagrin.
19	-->'''Homer''': All right, guys! 1, 2, 3..... ''(he, Carl, and Lenny reveal the letters in their bellies, only to spell out M-O-O)'' MOO?!! ''(angrily)'' Lenny, you were supposed to be E!!\
20	'''Carl''': ''(angrily)'' See what happens when you skip rehearsal?!
21	** Even when Moe actually wins the contest, Lenny goes out with this:
22	-->'''Lenny''': ''(delighted)'' That's my Moo!!
23	* ContinuityNod: Bart and Lisa's HoverBike hunger (as seen in "The Joy of Sect") remains unsated.
24	* CouchGag: The family comes in, and Marge notices Matt Groening's signature at the bottom of the screen and wipes it off, until Matt Groening comes in and resigns the scene.
25	* DesignatedDriver: At the beer festival, Marge realizes she needs to be the designated driver. She is lead away from the family and put into a barb wire prison to make sure she doesn't get any alcohol.
26	* DisproportionateRetribution: After the covering-up of his face on the new Duff calendar, Moe takes out his indignation on... ''Duffman'', the ''mascot''. Then again, he did insult Moe when he saw him smile.
27	-->'''Duffman''': ''(watering his lawn)'' That brown patch could use a little H20, OH YEAH!\
28	''(Moe pulls up, and gets out)''\
29	'''Moe''': Hey Duffman, let's see how you like having a sticker on ''your'' face! ''(slaps a sticker over Duffman's face big enough to cover it completely)''\
30	'''Duffman''': Duffman can't breathe! Oh no! Oh!
31	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: When Moe and Homer get their hands on future plot developments for ''It Never Ends'', they find out that Moe's character is slated to be killed off in a sky-diving accident, complete with a thorough description of his autopsy. This pisses Moe off and he and Homer try to get revenge for it by spoiling an entire year's worth of plot twists while they're in the middle of a live broadcast, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero only for them to find out that Moe's character's death is]] AllJustADream, which naturally gets him fired.
32	* EasilyForgiven: Inverted. Moe calls out an old high school classmate who turned him down when he asked her out to a dance. His classmate immediately apologizes for hurting his feelings, which he wasn't expecting at all.
33	* EverybodyCries: When Moe is believing himself to be ugly, Carl tries to reassure him by pointing out Homer, Lenny, and Barney's flaws in comparison to Moe's. This results in Homer, Lenny, Barney, and Moe breaking down in tears. Carl lampshades the situation, BreakingTheFourthWall in the process.
34	* EveryoneHasStandards: Titania forfeits the Drunk Toss because she refuses to touch the drunk and Duffman lied that she wouldn't have to do that after she slept with him.
35	* FlairBartending: One of the challenges of the contest. Michael performs a gravity-defying pour, Titania splashes beer on her breasts while jumping up and down, and Moe arranges mugs in the shape of the Duff logo. Titania wins.
36	* GayConservative: The runaway balloon resembling a pink elephant that Bart and Lisa are chasing after happens to fly through a window into a roomful of gay Republicans who're trying to come up with a mascot for their party:
37	-->'''Republican''': [''upon seeing the balloon''] Little on the nose, don't you think?
38	* GoldenSnitch: Even though Titania appeared to be dominating beforehand, Moe ultimately wins the contest by doing the best in the Drunk Toss.
39	-->'''Duffman''': Now the final round, which counts for 98% of the total score, making the previous rounds a complete waste!
40	* GroupCostumeFail: Homer, Lenny, and Carl show up to support Moe at a bartending contest, with the plan for each of them to have a letter painted on their chest to spell out "MOE." However, Lenny got confused and thought he was O instead of E, leading them to spell out "MOO" when they remove their shirts.
41	-->'''Homer''': Moo? Lenny, you were supposed to "E"!
42	-->'''Carl''': See what happens when you skip rehearsal?
43	* HollywoodHomely: Conversed by the producers of ''It Never Ends'' after rejecting Moe's audition for being 'actually' ugly.
44	-->'''Producer:''' What were you thinking?\
45	'''Casting:''' Well, you said you wanted gritty. In other words, ugly.\
46	'''Producer:''' I wanted Mary Ann on ''Series/GilligansIsland'' ugly, not Cornelius on ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'' ugly. TV-ugly, not... ugly-ugly.[[note]]'''Moe:''' I've been called ugly, fugly, pugly, pug-fugly... but not ugly-ugly![[/note]]
47	** After plastic surgery makes him handsome, he wears an eyepatch on the show, which apparently makes him Hollywood Homely.
48	* ILied:
49	--> '''Titania:''' Hey you said I wouldn't have to touch the drunk if I slept with you!
50	--> '''Duffman:''' Duffman says a lot of things, oh yeah!
51	* InkSuitActor: The post-plastic surgery Moe's looks are modeled after Creator/HankAzaria's own appearance.
52	* InterruptedByTheEnd: Moe questioning the outcome of the episode:
53	-->'''Moe:''' When my face was crushed, why'd it go back to my old face? I mean, shouldn't it have turned into some third face that was different? It don't make no-- ''("Executive Producer: Mike Scully")''
54	* LoopholeAbuse: As his prize for winning a Duff-sponsored contest, Moe gets his face on the new Duff calendar. The company's executives don't want to show Moe's ugly face but, not allowed to go back on the terms of the contest, they merely cover it up with several stickers.
55	* LogoJoke: This was one of the episodes that repeated characters' lines for the Gracie Films logo.
56	-->'''Duffman''': [[{{Catchphrase}} Oh, yeah!]]
57	* NotSoAboveItAll: Marge eagerly starts writing down the spoilers Homer reveals on ''It Never Ends'' when Bart, of all people, questions how and why Homer's on the show to begin with.
58	* OpenMouthInsertFoot: When Moe realizes how ugly his photo is, Carl tries to console him.
59	-->'''Moe:''' Am I really that ugly?\
60	'''Carl:''' Moe, it's all relative. Is Lenny really that dumb? Is Barney that drunk? Is Homer that lazy, bald, and fat?\
61	'''Moe:''' Oh, my God, it's worse than I thought!\
62	(''Moe, Lenny, Barney, and Homer start sobbing'')\
63	'''Carl:''' (''[[BreakingTheFourthWall to camera]]'') See, this is why I don't talk much.
64	* TheOtherDarrin: In-universe. Moe replaces the actor who portrays Dr. Tad Winslow in a soap opera.
65	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Moe refers to his competition in the opening contests as "the Mick[[note]]A slur for Irish people.[[/note]] and the chick with the rack, there."
66	* RunningGag: When Homer is giving the spoilers for the soap opera, he always ends by saying "with sexy results."
67	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Upon reaching the "drunk toss" stage, Titania decides the prize isn't worth touching the drunk.
68	* ShoutOut: ''It Never Ends'' seems to be one of ''Series/DaysOfOurLives''. An actress (Andrea Hamilton) is credited in its title credits as playing both a nun and a rebellious, sexy young woman, which was actually a plot in ''Days.''
69	* ShowWithinAShow: A soap opera titled ''It Never Ends''.
70	* SkewedPriorities: During the false fire drill Homer puts the family through, while the family saves the majority of the important things (Lisa saves Snowball II, Bart saves Santa's Little Helper and Marge saves Maggie), Marge also saves the ''vacuum cleaner'' and Lisa spent some time deciding which of her trophies she should save.
71	* StatusQuoIsGod: In the end, a set-piece falls on top of Moe's face, undoing the plastic surgery. Lampshaded later on as Moe wonders why his face hadn't turned into something completely different.
72	* TearsOfJoy: Subverted. When Moe first sees his new beautiful face, he smiles and seemingly sheds a tear. The doctor tells him it's just a bit of leakage and grabs a drill to cauterize it.
73	* TemptingFate:
74	** While using a beer tab, Homer says it's not even nearly as complicated as Moe makes it out to be. The tab then breaks, spraying beer at his face. Subverted when Homer gleefully opens his mouth to catch the beer.
75	** After being fired from the soap opera ''It Never Ends'', Moe says he doesn't need the role because his beautiful face can get him any role in Springfield. A set piece then falls on his face, reverting it back to its pre-surgery self.
76	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: Lenny notes that Moe's liquor license is only good in Rhode Island, which is the wrong state.
77	* YouJustRuinedTheShot: Moe and Homer's revenge scheme only works because the director of ''It Never Ends'' decides to avert the trope by [[ThrowItIn going along with his sudden appearance]] instead of having him hauled off-set.

Context Recap / TheSimpsonsS11E16Pygmoelian