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Difference between revisions of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{episode
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{{Tab}}
|image=Babf18.jpg
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{{EpisodePrevNext|season=11|number=247|Last Tap Dance in Springfield|Behind the Laughter}}
|productionCode=BABF18
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{{Episode
|originalAirdate=May 14, 2000
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|image= It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge.png
|blackboardText=I cannot hire a substitute student.
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|caption = [[Otto]] drives away with the band in the school bus
|couchGag=Animators use a paint-by-numbers canvas and color in to reveal the family members.
+
|number= 247
|specialGuestVoices=[[Parker Posey]] as [[Becky]], [[Marc Wilmore]] as [[Dr. Wilmore]]
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|season=11
|Written By=[[Larry Doyle]]
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|snumber=21
|Directed By=[[Steven Dean Moore]]
+
|prodcode= BABF18
 +
|airdate= May 14, [[2000]]
 +
|blackboard= "I cannot hire a substitute student"
 +
|couchgag= The Simpsons are blank {{W|paint-by-numbers}} people; Animators color them in.
 +
|guests= [[Parker Posey]] as {{ap|Becky|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge}}
 +
|showrunner1= Mike Scully
 +
|writer= [[Larry Doyle]]
 +
|director= [[Steven Dean Moore]]
 +
|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
"'''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge'''" is the twenty-first episode of the [[List of The Simpsons episodes#Season 11 (1999-2000)|eleventh season]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It aired on May 14, 2000. It is a parody of the film ''The Hand that Rocks the Cradle'', although the title is a parody of the film ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World''.
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"'''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge'''" is the twenty-first episode [[season 11]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and forty-seventh episode overall. It originally aired on May 14, [[2000]]. The episode was written by [[Larry Doyle]] and directed by [[Steven Dean Moore]]. It guest stars [[Parker Posey]] as {{ap|Becky|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge}}.
  
 
== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
Each child in [[Bart Simpson|Bart]]’s class is loaned a video camera for a school project to create a movie. [[Otto Mann|Otto]] drives the school bus to the drive through where his girlfriend, Becky, works. While hoisting a boombox, he blasts ''Every Rose Has Its Thorn'' and proposes. She accepts. On Bart’s suggestion, they decide to have the wedding at the Simpson house and sends out flyers. [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] reluctantly agrees. The wedding is a success up until the point when Otto gets a Poison band tribute band to play ''Nothing but a Good Time''. Becky admits to Marge that she hates heavy metal music. At the wedding, Marge suggests to Becky that she gives Otto an ultimatum: it's either her or heavy metal. The wedding is called off as Otto drives off in the school bus with the band.
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{{Desc|When [[Marge]] forces Otto to choose between rock 'n' roll and his bride to be, Marge quickly finds herself playing hostess to a now-single Becky. But when Becky's attempt to earn her keep upstages Marge's own homemaking abilities, Marge quickly finds herself losing her mind.}}
  
Becky stays with the Simpson family. Marge consoles her, but begins to worry that her family likes Becky more than her. Eventually, she becomes paranoid that Becky is trying to kill her. Becky and the rest of the family meet without Marge at an ice cream parlour. Marge crashes the party and goes berserk, smashing anything in her grasp. She is arrested and declared insane. She escapes from the courtroom and becomes a notorious fugitive and butt of jokes. Finally, she returns home, only to find [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] tied up in what looks like an S & M tableau. It turns out that Bart is filming a scene in his movie, but Becky admits she was going to kill Marge and steal her family. The doctors show up and shoot a dart into Marge's neck, which doesn't take effect. Homer finally shoots a dart into her to make her fall asleep.  
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== Plot ==
 +
For a school project, each student in [[Bart]]'s class is loaned a video camera to make a movie with. [[Otto]] drives the [[School Bus]] to the {{W|drive-through}} where his girlfriend {{ap|Becky|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge}} works. He proposes to her, and she accepts. Following Bart's suggestion, they decide to have the wedding at the [[742 Evergreen Terrace|Simpson's house]]. Marge agrees, as they still have all the stuff from [[The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons|Apu's wedding]]. Otto hires a {{W2|Poison|band}} tribute band named Cyanide to play at the wedding, at which point Becky admits to Marge that she can't stand {{W|Heavy metal music}}. Taking Marge's advice, Becky gives Otto an ultimatum; either her or heavy metal. The wedding is called off, the guests return the wedding gifts, and Otto drives off with the band in the School Bus.
  
== References ==
+
Due to Marge ruining another wedding, Becky is allowed to stay with them for a while. The family grow to like the new girl, seemingly more than Marge. After her 'brakes cut light' starts blinking and her car fails to stop on a steep hill, Marge becomes {{W|paranoid}}, believing that Becky is trying to kill her and seduce Homer. She visits the police, where [[Chief Wiggum]] says he can't help her. Meanwhile, Becky and the rest of the family meet at an ice cream parlor (without Marge, as they could not find her). Becky tells everyone that she's found an apartment to live in, and buys everyone huge ice creams to celebrate her moving out. Homer is shocked by the sight of so much ice cream, and collapses on the floor. Marge walks in just as Becky is giving him {{W|Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation|mouth-to-mouth}}; believing they were kissing, she attacks.
*The scene where Otto proposes to Becky by radio is a parody of the famous radio scene in the 1988 movie, ''Say Anything''.
+
 
*Krusty's interview scene is a spoof of the "Celebrity Interviews" skit on ''Late Night with [[Conan O'Brien]]''. Also, the Mad Marge Dancers references the Dancing Lance Itos from ''The Tonight Show With [[Jay Leno]]''.
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Marge is arrested and taken to a sanity hearing. The board declare her {{W|insane}}, taking all her actions (including praying and her faith in God) as signs of madness. Before she can be committed, she escapes the courtroom, becoming a fugitive. Heading to the library to check up on Becky's history, Marge finds nothing bad about the girl, but a newspaper clipping about herself ruining Becky's wedding. She decides she ''is'' being paranoid, and returns home.
*The episode title is a parody of the movie ''It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World''.
+
 
*The episode itself is a parody of ''The Hand That Rocks the Cradle'' and it is also mentioned by [[Patty]]. Becky's name also appears to be a reference to the star of the movie Rebecca DeMornay.
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Upon entering the house, she finds Homer tied up, Lisa stuck to the wall, Maggie in a cage and Becky holding a knife, heading for Homer. Marge snatches the knife away and strangles Becky, before Bart reveals that this is all a setup for his school project (a {{W|music video}}).
*Homer sings his own version of the song "Changes" by David Bowie.
+
 
*After Otto leaves Becky at the altar, Homer warns her to take off her wedding dress lest she look crazy. This is a possible reference to Ms. Havisham, the [[Charles Dickens]] character.
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Homer reveals that he had cut the brake line of [[Orange Station Wagon|Marge's car]], accidentally while working on it. When Marge apologizes for her behavior, Becky admits that she ''was'' intending to kill Marge and steal her family, but gave up when she couldn't find a good shovel. Doctors show up and fire three tranquilizer darts into Marge's neck, which don't do anything. She orders Homer to do some scrubbing and mopping, as he is "dressed for the job anyway". In reply, Homer shoots a fourth dart into her neck, which makes her fall into a deep sleep.
  
== Trivia ==
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== Production ==
*One of the kids in the classroom says [[D'oh]] when he drops his camera.
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"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" was written by [[Larry Doyle]] and direted by [[Steven Dean Moore]]. [[Parker Posey]] guest stars as [[Otto]]'s girlfriend, {{ap|Becky|It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge}}.
*[[Dr. Zweig]] from [[Fear of Flying]] and [[Dr. Foster]] from [[Hurricane Neddy]] both appear at Marge's insanity hearing.
 
*This is the second time Homer knocks out Marge. The first time was in [[Mayored to the Mob]].
 
*The bar [[Juggernauts]] which was mentioned earlier in [[Pygmoelian]] is mentioned by [[Kent Brockman]] in this episode and is seen briefly.
 
*[[Becky]] is briefly seen in [[The Simpsons Movie]] where she sees [[Bart]] naked during his skateboard dare.
 
  
 +
== Reception ==
 +
The episode's ending was used by Chris Suellentrop of ''Slate'' as an example in his editorial about the show's decline in quality, from a realistic show about family life into a typical cartoon.
 +
:"But under [[Mike Scully|Scully's]] tenure, ''The Simpsons'' became, well, a cartoon. ... Episodes that once would have ended with [[Homer]] and [[Marge]] bicycling into the sunset (perhaps while [[Bart]] gagged in the background) now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge's neck."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/id/2078501/ |title=The Simpsons: Who turned America's best TV show into a cartoon? |work=Slate |author=Suellentrop, Chris |date=2003-02-12|accessdate=2010-02-27}}</ref>
  
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== References ==
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{{Reflist}}
  
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{season 11}}
 
{{season 11}}
  
[[Category:Season 11]]
 
[[Category:Episodes]]
 
 
[[Category:2000]]
 
[[Category:2000]]
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[[Category:Marge episodes]]
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[[Category:Romance-themed episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Larry Doyle]]
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Steven Dean Moore]]
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[[sv:It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge]]

Latest revision as of 14:10, March 28, 2024

Season 11 Episode
246 "Last Tap Dance in Springfield"
247
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge"
"Behind the Laughter" 248
"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge"
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge.png
Otto drives away with the band in the school bus
Episode Information
Episode number: 247
Season number: S11 E21
Production code: BABF18
Original airdate: May 14, 2000
Chalkboard gag: "I cannot hire a substitute student"
Couch gag: The Simpsons are blank paint-by-numbers people; Animators color them in.
Guest star(s): Parker Posey as Becky
Showrunner: Mike Scully
Written by: Larry Doyle
Directed by: Steven Dean Moore
DVD features


"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" is the twenty-first episode season 11 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and forty-seventh episode overall. It originally aired on May 14, 2000. The episode was written by Larry Doyle and directed by Steven Dean Moore. It guest stars Parker Posey as Becky.

Synopsis[edit]

"When Marge forces Otto to choose between rock 'n' roll and his bride to be, Marge quickly finds herself playing hostess to a now-single Becky. But when Becky's attempt to earn her keep upstages Marge's own homemaking abilities, Marge quickly finds herself losing her mind."

Plot[edit]

For a school project, each student in Bart's class is loaned a video camera to make a movie with. Otto drives the School Bus to the drive-through where his girlfriend Becky works. He proposes to her, and she accepts. Following Bart's suggestion, they decide to have the wedding at the Simpson's house. Marge agrees, as they still have all the stuff from Apu's wedding. Otto hires a Poison tribute band named Cyanide to play at the wedding, at which point Becky admits to Marge that she can't stand Heavy metal music. Taking Marge's advice, Becky gives Otto an ultimatum; either her or heavy metal. The wedding is called off, the guests return the wedding gifts, and Otto drives off with the band in the School Bus.

Due to Marge ruining another wedding, Becky is allowed to stay with them for a while. The family grow to like the new girl, seemingly more than Marge. After her 'brakes cut light' starts blinking and her car fails to stop on a steep hill, Marge becomes paranoid, believing that Becky is trying to kill her and seduce Homer. She visits the police, where Chief Wiggum says he can't help her. Meanwhile, Becky and the rest of the family meet at an ice cream parlor (without Marge, as they could not find her). Becky tells everyone that she's found an apartment to live in, and buys everyone huge ice creams to celebrate her moving out. Homer is shocked by the sight of so much ice cream, and collapses on the floor. Marge walks in just as Becky is giving him mouth-to-mouth; believing they were kissing, she attacks.

Marge is arrested and taken to a sanity hearing. The board declare her insane, taking all her actions (including praying and her faith in God) as signs of madness. Before she can be committed, she escapes the courtroom, becoming a fugitive. Heading to the library to check up on Becky's history, Marge finds nothing bad about the girl, but a newspaper clipping about herself ruining Becky's wedding. She decides she is being paranoid, and returns home.

Upon entering the house, she finds Homer tied up, Lisa stuck to the wall, Maggie in a cage and Becky holding a knife, heading for Homer. Marge snatches the knife away and strangles Becky, before Bart reveals that this is all a setup for his school project (a music video).

Homer reveals that he had cut the brake line of Marge's car, accidentally while working on it. When Marge apologizes for her behavior, Becky admits that she was intending to kill Marge and steal her family, but gave up when she couldn't find a good shovel. Doctors show up and fire three tranquilizer darts into Marge's neck, which don't do anything. She orders Homer to do some scrubbing and mopping, as he is "dressed for the job anyway". In reply, Homer shoots a fourth dart into her neck, which makes her fall into a deep sleep.

Production[edit]

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" was written by Larry Doyle and direted by Steven Dean Moore. Parker Posey guest stars as Otto's girlfriend, Becky.

Reception[edit]

The episode's ending was used by Chris Suellentrop of Slate as an example in his editorial about the show's decline in quality, from a realistic show about family life into a typical cartoon.

"But under Scully's tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. ... Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset (perhaps while Bart gagged in the background) now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge's neck."[1]

References[edit]

  1. Suellentrop, Chris (2003-02-12). The Simpsons: Who turned America's best TV show into a cartoon?. Slate. Retrieved on 2010-02-27.


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge".
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