You Kent Always Say What You Want

The Simpsons episode
"You Kent Always Say What You Want"
Promotional Artwork - Kent apologizing to the viewers for the accident
Episode no.	400
Prod. code	JABF15
Orig. airdate	May 20, 2007
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Tim Long
Directed by	Matthew Nastuk
Guest star(s)	Ludacris as himself Maurice LaMarche as the Fox Announcer
Season 18 September 10, 2006 – May 20, 2007 "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife and Her Homer" "Jazzy and the Pussycats" "Please Homer, Don't Hammer 'Em" "Treehouse of Horror XVII" "G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)" "Moe'N'a Lisa" "Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)" "The Haw-Hawed Couple" "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" "The Wife Aquatic" "Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Three Times" "Little Big Girl" "Springfield Up" "Yokel Chords" "Rome-old and Juli-eh" "Homerazzi" "Marge Gamer" "The Boys of Bummer" "Crook and Ladder" "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot" "24 Minutes" "You Kent Always Say What You Want" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"You Kent Always Say What You Want", formerly known as "Kent State Massacre",^[1] is the twenty-second episode of The Simpsons' eighteenth season, airing on May 20, 2007 as part of the one-hour season finale, alongside the episode "24 Minutes"; a repeat took place on August 19, 2007. It was the milestone 400th episode of The Simpsons and was written by Tim Long. Guest starring Ludacris as himself and Maurice LaMarche as the Fox announcer.

Special opening

In celebration of the 400th episode, the entire opening sequence is replaced with a black screen that reads, "20 Years Ago..." followed by a showing of The Tracey Ullman Show Simpsons short "Family Portrait".

Episode summary

Driving home after a trip to the dentist and a hip-hop lesson in dental care from "Luda-Crest", Homer and the kids decide to go to the local ice cream parlor, where Homer buys what turns out to be the store's millionth ice cream cone. This results in Homer's appearing on Kent Brockman's show Smartline (the reason being that the news channel and the ice cream store are owned by the same corporation) where Kent is disgusted that he has to have such a stupid interview instead of an in-depth discussion of the Middle East. There, a gesturing Homer knocks over Kent's mug, while he says "the happiness just swept me away", accidentally spilling hot coffee on Kent's lap. Kent jumps up and, in a moment of excruciating pain, yells out a horrible swear word.

Immediately, Kent apologizes for swearing but as he and Homer leave he is relieved to see that no one seems to have seen his faux pas because no one watches local TV news anymore (Comic Book Guy even goes far enough to call Kent a "dinosaur" because, "like every normal person under 70 years old, I get my news from the Internet"). However, Ned Flanders sees Kent's swearing while going through tapes of TV shows looking for blasphemous material, and immediately he shoots off an e-mail to the FCC, reporting the incident. The next day, during the Channel 6 newscast, Kent finds out that he is under scrutiny for his indiscretion and that the station has been fined $10 million. Kent is then demoted to weekend weatherman with Arnie Pie as the new anchorman. Later, Lindsey Naegle speaks to Kent, assuring him that his job is safe, but fires him when she sees a white powdery ring of Splenda in his coffee and mistakes it (accidentally-on-purpose) for cocaine. As he leaves the Channel 6 building, Kent is jeered at by Nelson for his ruination.

The next day, at the Simpsons' home, Homer finds Kent sleeping on their couch, after Marge took him in amidst fears that he might commit "you-know-what-icide, and he wouldn't be here if you hadn't dumped coffee on him." Later, while watching TV, Lisa wonders why FOX News can be so conservative, when the FOX Network keeps airing "raunchy shows." Kent replies that FOX deliberately run shows that will attract huge fines, which are then funneled through the FCC to the Republican Party. He says that apparently everyone in the media knows it, but no one has the guts to say it. Lisa goads him into blowing the whistle on the scam, using her web camera. Kent's subsequent webcast is so successful that the Republican Party members are less than thrilled about Kent threatening their ill-gotten gains, so Lindsay Naegle and Krusty hatch a plan to stop him.

The next day, Lisa and Kent are accosted by the party-members, who offer him his old job back with a 50% raise, which Kent accepts two seconds later, before apologizing to Lisa. At home, feeling downcast, she complains to Homer about there being no truth and bravery in today's media. Homer starts to tell Lisa something horrible Kent mentioned about the FOX Network, but the audience doesn't hear what he says as his voice is dubbed over by another voice (Maurice LaMarche) promoting FOX and its shows (especially American Idol). However, Homer suspects that the FOX Network might attempt to cover up his words, so looking at the camera, he starts saying, "the truth is..." before being cut off by the Twentieth Century Fox Television logo and music. He appears against an all-white backdrop and tries to continue his exposé, but he is shushed by the Gracie Films logo. The Twentieth Century Fox and Gracie Films logos are shown again, in their usual places, at the end of the credits.

Previous episode references

• The anchor scene when Lisa switches back and forth between The FOX Network and The FOX News Channel looks like Birch T. Barlow, the Rush Limbaugh-esque right-wing radio show announcer from season six's Sideshow Bob Roberts.
• In this episode, Kent Brockman gets in trouble for saying something obscene on TV after Homer spills coffee on his lap. In the season four finale, "Krusty Gets Kancelled", Brockman mutters, "That oughta hold those SOBs" during a newscast about Gabbo the puppet bad-mouthing the children of Springfield and, according to a newspaper headline, gets fired for his transgression (even though later episodes show Brockman working as an anchor again). Brockman again swears on live TV (but doesn't get in trouble for it) in season five's "Bart's Inner Child", when he reports on Bart's irreverent attitude making the townspeople open about their feelings, then adds, "...and this reporter thinks it's about f***ing time," with "f***ing" bleeped out.
• While Marge is running, she goes through the dog park. There you can clearly see Laddie from "The Canine Mutiny".

Cultural references

• The title references the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want".
• The song played when Kent Brockman is fired is the movie theme of Midnight Cowboy by John Barry.
• Homer makes implicit references to the Terri Schiavo case and the hot-button issue of immigration.
• The scene where Kent Brockman says to stand up to FOX while smoking is in reference to Edward R. Murrow and the film Good Night, and Good Luck..^[2]
• The title of the video shown in the dentist's office, "Menace Tooth Society", is a spoof of Menace II Society. Lisa's comment that the dentist's cartoon sends mixed messages parallels critiques of the spoofed movie.
• As Marge runs hurriedly home to greet Bart and Lisa, the main yodeling music of the Coen Brothers' film Raising Arizona is heard, and parts of the scene parody the same scene (Moleman almost hitting them head-on, being shot at by Snake, etc.)
• When Kent Brockman is force to live the station a picture is seen where in Brockman is interviewing R2-D2.

Production

This episode, formerly known as "The Kent State Massacre",^[1] was renamed in light of the Virginia Tech massacre, which occurred only a month before the episode was set to air.^{[citation needed]} The episode was intended to spoof increased fines by the Federal Communications Commission in the wake of the Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. However, a month before the episode aired, Don Imus was suspended and subsequently fired for racist and sexist remarks he made on the air about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, through events closely paralleling the events of this episode.^[3]

Reception

Robert Canning of IGN.com named the episode one of his three favorites of the season, stating that it "ended the season on a very high note".^[4]

References

External links

• You Kent Always Say What You Want at TheSimpsons.com
• "You Kent Always Say What You Want" at the Internet Movie Database

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