Episode 9F07
Written by Jon Vitti
Directed by Jim Reardon
Additional cast: Pamela Hayden
Special guest voices: Phil Hartman (as Troy McClure), Linda Ronstadt (as herself), Adam West (as himself)

Premise: Springfield's buried under snow - and only Homer's new business, Mr Plow (call KL5-3226) can rescue the citizens' driveways. Until the Plow King (proprietor Barney Gumble) appears.

Features: Troy McClure, Moe, Krusty, Bumblebee Man, Bill and Marty at KBBL, Barney, Rev. Lovejoy, Captain McCallister, Grampa, Apu, Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie, Nelson, Mayor Quimby, Carl, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman, Arnie Pie, God.

Couch: The Simpsons rush in - but the sofa isn't there. Doesn't stop them sitting down, though.

Trivia:

• Barney's working as Big Baby for Lullabys nappy store.
• Captain MacAllister's chanteys are available on a three CD set (bonus CD Hornpipe Fever available for quick orderers).
• The free T-shirt given away to Mr Plow's customers reads Stockdale for Veep.
• Springfield has a weather blackspot called Widow's Peak.
• Kent Brockman's opinion slot My Two Cents appears for the first time.

Homage: The sixties Batman TV series (during the Adam West sequences the camera starts tilting). The sequence in which the snowmen's faces melt recalls the fate of the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981). The McMahon & Tate Agency was the ad agency Darren worked for in the sixties TV series Bewitched.

Hi, my name's Troy McClure, you may remember me from: Such films as The Erotic Adventures of Hercules and Dial M for Murderousness.

Notes for Brits: Carnival of Stars is a thinly veiled version of the US series, in which celebrities do their party pieces.

Songs: Call Mr Plow sung by Homer. Call The Plow King sung by Barney and Linda Ronstadt. The Mr Plow Rap rapped by Homer. Señor Plow sung by Linda Ronstadt.

Notes: A good one. The highlights; the TV show Carnival of Stars, featuring Angela Lansbury walking on hot coals ('Excitement, she wrote!'), Homer's flashback to all he's done for Barney, and best of all, the McMahon & Tate ad agency's arty commercial for Mr Plow.