Simple Simpson
| The Simpsons episode | |
|---|---|
| "Simple Simpson" | |
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| Episode no. | 332 |
| Prod. code | FABF15 |
| Orig. airdate | May 2, 2004 |
| Show runner(s) | Al Jean |
| Written by | Jon Vitti |
| Directed by | Jim Reardon |
| Couch gag | Homer is Batman, Bart is Robin, and Marge, Lisa, and Maggie are all Batgirl, as they slide from a pole to a couch, a la the original Batman series. |
| Guest star(s) | Nichelle Nichols as herself |
| Season
15 November 2 2003 – May 23 2004 |
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| List of all The Simpsons episodes | |
"Simple Simpson" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifteenth season. The episode aired on May 2, 2004. The concept is mainly inspired by (and parodies) the 2002 Spider-Man movie, though it contains elements of other superheroes as well.
Plot
Homer watches a commercial about a contest that will allow the winner, the finder of a golden ticket, a trip to "Farmer Billy's Bacon Factory", and is intrigued by the commercial. Although Homer buys a surplus of bacon from the Kwik-E-Mart, he is only able to find a silver ticket, which allows him to judge the upcoming pig competition at the county fair. At the fair, Lisa's entry in the place setting competition is wrecked by the Rich Texan, angering Homer, who decides to teach the Rich Texan a lesson. Recalling a warning from Chief Wiggum that he will be arrested if he commits another felony assault (who leaves a comment about himself fitting in a bubble), Homer disguises himself as a masked superhero, "The Pie Man", and throws a pie straight into the Rich Texan's face, leaving the crowd laughing. He leaves as quickly as he came, before Lisa can say "thank you" to him. Seconds later, Homer returns, not in disguise. Sideshow Mel wonders aloud if Springfield will ever see the "Pie Man" again, and Homer says they will.
The next day, Lisa is seen drawing her favorite superhero - Pie Man. Homer appreciates the drawing, but suggests that he had a "bigger package". After Homer hears that the Comic Book Guy has ripped off Bart and Milhouse, he arrives as the Pie Man (with a newer look) and throws a pie in the his face. Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek, whom the Comic Book Guy invited for tea and some chit chat, suddenly shows up and is turned off by the pie on his face. This humiliates him in front of the kids and he runs away in tears. Bart then notices a note parodying Spider-Man on the pie tin which Homer smashed his pie with.
The next day, the family watches the news and discovers that the Springfield Children's Hospital is going to be turned into a cosmetic surgery clinic. Homer worries about the plight of the sick children. That same evening, two sick and coughing children are pushed away from the hospital by Mayor Quimby. Chief Wiggum, believing that the Pie Man must be stopped because he does not do bike safety lectures, plans to capture him at the event. The Pie Man (who almost revealed his true identity) shows up, pie at the ready. Lenny (who tried to warn Homer), the Pieman fans, and the other crowd members run for safety because the cops open fire, with Lou hitting Homer in the arm. After Lou shoots Homer, Chief Wiggum and Lou start arguing about Wiggum calling Lou a jerk. Homer manages to escape rather flamboyantly, but takes time out to save Marge from being stampeded to death and kisses her while hanging upside down (à la Spider-Man), and Marge says that it tastes familiar. At home, Lisa enters the kitchen and sees Homer - still disguised as Pie Man - using a knife to remove the bullet in his arm. He tries to act like Pie Man, saying that "Pie Man is not your father, little girl. I...murdered your father." Lisa figures out that he is actually her father, partly because they have been getting Pie Man's mail about winning a million dollars for a week. Homer, unmasked, brings blindfolded Lisa to his Pie Cave (a.k.a. the basement) but Lisa is not surprised. He promises Lisa (who does not want him to get hurt again) that he will stop his pie avenging. Homer wonders what do with the pie, and Lisa suggests eating it, which Homer strangely forgot about.
At the power plant, Mr. Burns is particularly cruel to his employees. He whips Lenny and Carl, so that they will eat faster and return to work, and docks Homer a day's pay for being late...and fat, of course. Out of his mind, a pie starts telling Homer to throw him when more desserts join the talk and they argue to be thrown. Even though he remembers his promise to Lisa, Homer makes another appearance as Pie Man. Mr. Burns shuts down the showers as soon as Pieman came and splats Burns in the face. However, after watching the video surveillance cameras, Burns sees that Pie Man has tired from his escape and fallen asleep on a couch. Turning around, he sees Pie Man sleeping on the couch in the room. The transition to the next scene was similar to the Batman and Robin series. Burns and Smithers lock him in the employee detention center, and unmask him. Burns realizes that Pie Man is Homer. Homer argues with Burns as his wicked boss told him to silence or he'll be chewed up by his flesh eating gerbils. So he makes Homer his personal "hit man" and threatens to reveal his identity to the rest of the city if he does not comply. Homer tries to tell Burns that he made a promise with Lisa and refuses but failed miserably.
His first task is to pie himself, then a girl-scout (who Homer complained that was just a little girl), who comes to Burns's mansion to sell cookies. Mr. Burns and Smithers come to the town square in disguise to Homer to show that his next assignment is throw a pie in the face of the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual teacher, the Dalai Lama (who Mr. Burns said did something to his Chinese masters). However, at the Dalai Lama's show, Homer - disguised as Pie Man - can not go through with it since Lisa is present and is Buddhist herself. He reveals his identity to the public, but no one believes he could possibly be Pie Man, they all think he is just too dumb and greedy. The Dalai Lama then flies out of the building safely, and to give another lecture at Buffalo, New York. Wiggum says that it is the end of the Pie Man but Lou disagrees. Pie Man is now free from Mr. Burns's control for good.
Later, we see Homer and Marge snuggling in bed. Marge says that she believed that Homer was the Pie Man. Before she asks him to show her his superpowers, Homer escapes and - disguised as Pie Man - stands on the roof, holding an American flag along with Bart - disguised as his new companion called "The Cupcake Kid" - declaring war against injustice. But they fall victim to an even greater, inescapable injustice perpetrated by Marge - to clean the leaves from the gutter in the roof. Both Bart and Homer groan while cleaning the gutters on the roof.
Notes
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- When this episode was first broadcast in Asia on the Star World channel on November 6, 2005, all scenes mentioning or showing the Dalai Lama were cut. This act of censorship was to appease the predominantly Buddhist viewers of East, South, and Southeast Asia with regards to any view of mocking the Dalai Lama. [citation needed]
- Mr. Burns's comment about the Dalai Lama doing something to his Chinese masters may be a reference to the Chinese Communist Party and the Dalai Lama's denouncement of the current communist government.
- This is the Dalai Lama's second visit to Springfield, since according to Stark Raving Dad, he visited in 1952.
- During the Farmer Billy's Bacon Factory commercial, Ralph Wiggum is seen on the "Five-Story Pig Shredder."
- At the Nuclear Power Plant the photos move position.
- The two sick children turned out of the hospital are Patches and Poor Violet, previously seen in Miracle on Evergreen Terrace
Cultural references
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This article or section contains too many minor or trivial fictional references. Mere trivia, or references unimportant to the overall plot of a work of fiction, should be deleted. See also what Wikipedia is. |
- The title is based on the nursery rhyme Simple Simon
- Several scenes are directly based on the Spider-Man movies, including the montage of Homer creating his costume, and Pie Man's upside down kiss with Marge. There is also a scene when Mr. Burns remove Pie Man's mask and realizes it is Homer. This scene is similar to the scene in Spider-Man 2 when Harry Osbourne removes Spider-Man's mask and realizes it is Peter Parker.
- The police attempting to arrest/kill Pieman is reminiscent of the Gotham City police often attempting to do the same to Batman in his mythos.
- Burns's quote, "It's cobblering time!" is a parody of The Thing's catch phrase, "It's clobbering time!"
- The golden ticket plot is a parody of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There is also a similarity to The Perry Bible Fellowship strip called ‘The Golden Ticket’.
- One of the comics that the Comic Book Guy made Bart pay for was "Richie Rich Incorporates in Delaware." Since the 1800s and through today, a large number of corporations have incorporated in Delaware because of tax advantages.
- Milhouse's comic was Fantastic Floor. The title was a parody of Fantastic Four (Milhouse mentions the team).
- The Scene where Homer is cutting out his costume for Pie-Man is reminiscent of the scene in Batman Forever when Bruce Wayne is designing his costume. It is also similar to the same scene on the first Spider-Man movie.
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