The Simpsons
The Italian Bob
TV Flash files “The Italian Bob” as hour 364 of 802 in the TV Flash guide — The Simpsons (1989–present) on Fox, season 17, episode 8, aired 2005-12-11, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S17E08: listed hour 364 of 802 in the The Simpsons guide, hour 8 of 22 in season 17. It aired 2005-12-11 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “The Last of the Red Hat Mamas” (S17E07). Next is “Simpsons Christmas Stories” (S17E09). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
After Mr. Burns crashes his Stutz Bearcat, he sends Homer and the family off to Italy to pick up his new fancy sport car. While on their Italian adventure, the Simpsons end up stranded in a small Italian village where a rehabilitated Sideshow Bob reigns as mayor. Sideshow Bob impresses the Simpsons enough so that they keep his sordid past a secret until one of the family members, in a wine-induced state, spills the beans.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Italian Bob sit in the The Simpsons guide?
S17E08 is listed hour 364 of 802 — hour 8 of 22 in season 17, season 17 episode 8.
When did The Simpsons S17E08 air?
The Italian Bob aired 2005-12-11 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start if I am not watching all 800 episodes?
Start with the 1989 Christmas premiere, then a handful of golden-age hours from seasons four through eight. Treat the rest as a library, not a novel.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it as a living joke encyclopedia, not a series you owe from pilot to present. The early years still teach how American satire learned to reset weekly; the later catalog is optional weather. You already speak Springfield. This is how the grammar got written.
The first image is a couch, and then it is not. The Simpsons treats the opening gag as a weekly contract: we will reset the living room, and we will still find a new joke about the country that owns it. Fox put a yellow family on Sunday nights in 1989 after the Tracey Ullman shorts, and the half-hour that followed did not merely popularize adult animation. It installed a shared vocabulary. People who stopped watching still speak Springfield.
Filed against
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