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Difference between revisions of "Helter Shelter"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{Tab|title=Helter Shelter}}
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{{Tab}}
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{{episode
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{{EpisodePrevNext|Large Marge|The Great Louse Detective}}
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|image =Helter_shelter.jpg
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{{For2|the location|Helter Shelter (building)}}
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|Episode Number = 296
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{{Episode
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|productionCode = DABF21
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|image= Helter shelter.png
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|originalAirdate = December 1, 2002
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|number= 296
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|blackboardText = "Milhouse did not test cootie positive"
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|season=14
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|couchGag = A computer mouse drags Homer, changes the color of the walls and replaces the Marge's boat painting with the Mona Lisa
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|snumber=5
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|specialGuestVoices = [[David Landers]] as [[Squiggy Larry Holmes]]
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|prodcode= DABF21
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|Written By = [[Brian Pollack]] and [[Mert Rich]]
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|airdate= December 1, [[2002]]
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|Directed By = [[Mark Kirkland]]
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|blackboard= "Milhouse did not test cootie positive"
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|couchgag= A computer mouse drags Homer, changes the color of the walls and replaces the Marge's boat painting with the Mona Lisa.
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|guests= [[David Lander]] as [[Squiggy]]<br>[[Larry Holmes]] as {{Ch|Larry Holmes|himself}}
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|showrunner1= Al Jean
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|writer= [[Brian Pollack]]<br>[[Mert Rich]]
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|director= [[Mark Kirkland]]
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|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
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"'''Helter Shelter'''" is the fifth episode from [[Season 14]] that aired December 1, 2002. Coincidentally, in the episode "[[Homer Loves Flanders]]", there's a soup shelter named "Helter Shelter", whose founder is Father James Helter. The title itself is a parody of The Beatles' song, "''Helter Skelter''."
 
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== Plot ==
 
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After Homer  suffers a brain injury at work, Mr. Burns, fearing Homer will sue him, offers his family tickets in a luxury sky box at a hockey  game. Although the family lives it up in the sky box, Lisa does not, and she moves to the rink side area. She gives a player from Russia some advice on where to aim to score and, in gratitude, he offers Lisa his hockey stick, which Homer mounts in Lisa's room after the game. Overnight, termites (living in the hockey stick) come into the Simpson house and severely damage it. The next day, Marge finds herself talking to Ned Flanders  while opening a cupboard, Bart touches a door and it crumbles, Homer falls downstairs from the toilet (still sitting on the toilet) and Lisa's doll-house crumbles into dust. They are told by the "A Bug's Death" exterminator (Homer hired him because of that funny name) that they cannot return into the house for 6 months, since it is tented and will be fumigated. Dolph, Kearney  and Jimbo Jones, thinking its a circus, try to crawl under the tent, but are rescued by the exterminator, before any real damage could occur.
 
  
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The family looks at various options for a new home. Homer, at first, suggests that they just stand in front of their house for 6 months ("time will just fly") and the King of the Hill theme plays, but then he gets bored and they try to check into a hotel. Unfortunately, all hotels in town are full, thanks to a "Bran Convention". They then decide to move in with Homer's "best friend in the whole world", Lenny (actually, Homer has Lenny confused with Carl). Lenny's apartment is pretty good, until they discover that he is sharing a wall with a Jai Alai Court (which generates a large amount of noise). They ditch that idea and try to move in with the Comic Book Guy, but he scares them off with his sci-fi talk. They land up at Moe's Tavern, but Marge has no intention of staying there. Barney and Carl inform the Simpsons about a reality show, where a family is put in an 1895 Victorian house, where they must live like it was 1895. Homer is reluctant at first, but then they go to the reality show.
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"'''Helter Shelter'''" is the fifth episode of [[season 14]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and ninety-sixth episode overall. It originally aired December 1, [[2002]]. The episode was written by [[Brian Pollack]] and [[Mert Rich]] and directed by [[Mark Kirkland]]. It guest stars [[David Lander]] as [[Squiggy]] and [[Larry Holmes]] as {{Ch|Larry Holmes|himself}}.
  
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At The Reality Channel studio, the executives screen many families (including the Cosbys because Bill just wants to get back on TV) and finally they settle on the Simpsons (they like the way Homer strangles Bart and overreacts when he does not get his lattè). They are taken to the Victorian house and shown around by the Network Executive, who says that they will be filmed round the clock. The only thing of the 20th century there is a "Confessional Room", which is a small room with a video camera. Marge runs inside and confesses that her hair is not really blue, she pauses and then tries to grab the tape from the camera.
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== Synopsis ==
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{{Desc|The Simpsons attend a hockey game and Lisa brings home a souvenir hockey stick, but the stick has Russian termites, which quickly infest the whole house. When they learn that the house needs to be fumigated and will be uninhabitable for six months, the family look for another place to live and join a reality TV show where they must live like a family from 1895.}}
  
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The next day, Marge and Lisa are preparing breakfast, and tell Bart that it takes 6 hours to do so. Homer has trouble shaving with a straight razor and shows up with his stubble and many closely-spaced cuts. They go to the Kwik-E-Mart, where Apu only allows them to buy things that were available in 1895 (Apu states that Oreos were made in 1896, though in actuality they were first made in 1912). At dinner, the family seems a bit down (much to the delight of the show's audience). But Homer tells them that they are on TV and must suck it up. Thus, the next day onwards, the Simpsons all start to get along and form a non-dysfunctional lifestyle. Bart even sends Moe a prank telegram ("Heywood U. Cuddleme"). Without conflict and hardship plaguing them, the Simpsons are no longer entertaining viewers, who tune out in droves.
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== Plot ==
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[[File:Helter shelter1.png|250px|thumb|left]]
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When Homer is injured at work, his compensation is the use of a luxury sky box at a Hockey Rink. The family enjoys the luxuries, but [[Lisa]] is bored and joins the masses rink side. She gives one of the players some score tying advice and is rewarded with a goal for the [[Ice-O-Topes]] and one of their players, Kozlov's, hockey "tree". The stick is mounted in Lisa's room where later that night termites break out of the stick and do much damage to the family home. Until the Russian no-wood-nick termites can be thoroughly exterminated, which will take six months, the Simpson family is left homeless.
  
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The Reality Channel network executives feel that the show's popularity has waned, because the family is supposed to be at each others' throats. They decide to introduce Squiggy (an out-of-work 70's actor) from Laverne and Shirley into the household. But even his presence (and that of a taser which he uses on Homer) does not boost the ratings. Finally, one of the executives comes up with an idea. The house is airlifted at night (while the family is asleep) and put into a river.
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The family tries a number of options like staying with [[Lenny]] and [[Comic Book Guy]], but due to these men's strange lifestyles, they end up trying out for a home on a TV show where they are required to live as though they it was the year 1895. They pass the audition and face various hardships. However, they soon cooperate with each other and start living an ideal 19th century life. When the "1895 Challenge" sinks in the ratings, the producers try to stir things up by adding the character of Squiggy from ''Laverne and Shirley''. When that also fails, they relocate the house to a river and watch it float downstream, without warning the Simpsons beforehand. (Squiggy is presumed lost.)  
  
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The next morning, Homer, on his way to the blacksmith to get his tooth pulled, falls into the river. He is saved by Marge and Lisa. He confronts the executives (via the Confessional Room), who inform him that they can do anything they like, because it says so in the contract. The house finally washes up on shore and the Simpsons run out and see it collapse, with all the 1895 things they had grown accustomed to and Squiggy. The network crew is filming it and loving the drama that unfolds. They then break for lunch, but deny the Simpsons any of their lunch, as the crew is not supposed to interfere in the family's lives.
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Eventually the house comes to shore and falls apart. The family finds themselves without food and shelter as the TV crew eats away. They encounter a tribe of lost people from another reality program and together they fight the TV crew and producers and return to civilization, where they believe they can find quality scripted television, which soon fails.
  
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Later, the family sits by a pond, wondering what to do next, when they see a bunch of wild-looking people, advancing on them. Homer tries to promote peace, but they tell him that they are not savages, just contestants in reality shows, whom the network ditched after they failed in their tasks. They decide to overpower the crew and return to civilization.
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== Production ==
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<gallery>
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File:DABF21 Script.jpg
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</gallery>
  
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Together with the Simpsons, they attack the crew and disrupt their lunch. Homer is about to destroy the crew's helicopter with a big rock, but Marge tells him that they need it to return home. Finally at home, Homer decides to watch scripted TV shows, as he has had it with reality shows. However, after watching Law & Order: Elevator Inspectors Unit, he gets disillusioned with TV and looks for other means of entertainment, like books and clubs. Bart suggests he go drink water from the hose, to which he agrees. Outside, as he drinks, Bart turns off the water and Homer looks into the pipe and gets splashed in his eye, then in his ear, then in his other eye....much to the amusement of his family and the fans of scripted entertainment!
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
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{{season 14}}
  
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[[Category:2002]]
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[[Category:Homer episodes]]
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[[Category:Marge episodes]]
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[[Category:Bart episodes]]
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[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by one time writers]]
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Mark Kirkland]]
  
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{{Season 14}}
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[[sv:Helter Shelter]]
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[[Category:Episodes]]
 
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[[Category:Season 14]]
 

Latest revision as of 13:07, March 28, 2024

Season 14 Episode
← 295 "Large Marge"
296
"Helter Shelter"
"The Great Louse Detective" 297 →
For the location, see Helter Shelter (building).
"Helter Shelter"
Helter shelter.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 296
Season number: S14 E5
Production code: DABF21
Original airdate: December 1, 2002
Chalkboard gag: "Milhouse did not test cootie positive"
Couch gag: A computer mouse drags Homer, changes the color of the walls and replaces the Marge's boat painting with the Mona Lisa.
Guest star(s): David Lander as Squiggy
Larry Holmes as himself
Showrunner: Al Jean
Written by: Brian Pollack
Mert Rich
Directed by: Mark Kirkland
DVD features


"Helter Shelter" is the fifth episode of season 14 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and ninety-sixth episode overall. It originally aired December 1, 2002. The episode was written by Brian Pollack and Mert Rich and directed by Mark Kirkland. It guest stars David Lander as Squiggy and Larry Holmes as himself.

Synopsis[edit]

"The Simpsons attend a hockey game and Lisa brings home a souvenir hockey stick, but the stick has Russian termites, which quickly infest the whole house. When they learn that the house needs to be fumigated and will be uninhabitable for six months, the family look for another place to live and join a reality TV show where they must live like a family from 1895."


Plot[edit]

Helter shelter1.png

When Homer is injured at work, his compensation is the use of a luxury sky box at a Hockey Rink. The family enjoys the luxuries, but Lisa is bored and joins the masses rink side. She gives one of the players some score tying advice and is rewarded with a goal for the Ice-O-Topes and one of their players, Kozlov's, hockey "tree". The stick is mounted in Lisa's room where later that night termites break out of the stick and do much damage to the family home. Until the Russian no-wood-nick termites can be thoroughly exterminated, which will take six months, the Simpson family is left homeless.

The family tries a number of options like staying with Lenny and Comic Book Guy, but due to these men's strange lifestyles, they end up trying out for a home on a TV show where they are required to live as though they it was the year 1895. They pass the audition and face various hardships. However, they soon cooperate with each other and start living an ideal 19th century life. When the "1895 Challenge" sinks in the ratings, the producers try to stir things up by adding the character of Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley. When that also fails, they relocate the house to a river and watch it float downstream, without warning the Simpsons beforehand. (Squiggy is presumed lost.)

Eventually the house comes to shore and falls apart. The family finds themselves without food and shelter as the TV crew eats away. They encounter a tribe of lost people from another reality program and together they fight the TV crew and producers and return to civilization, where they believe they can find quality scripted television, which soon fails.

Production[edit]

  • DABF21 Script.jpg


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Helter Shelter".
Season 14 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror XIII • How I Spent My Strummer Vacation • Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade • Large Marge • Helter Shelter • The Great Louse Detective • Special Edna • The Dad Who Knew Too Little • The Strong Arms of the Ma • Pray Anything • Barting Over • I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can • A Star Is Born Again • Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington • C.E. D'oh • 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky • Three Gays of the Condo • Dude, Where's My Ranch? • Old Yeller-Belly • Brake My Wife, Please • The Bart of War • Moe Baby Blues
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