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Difference between revisions of "The Telltale Head"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{episode
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{{Icons||FE}}
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|image=SimpsonsMPG 7G07.jpg
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{{Tab}}
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|productionCode=7G07
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{{EpisodePrevNext|The Call of the Simpsons|Life on the Fast Lane}}
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|originalAirdate=25/2/90
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{{Quote|I wish someone would cut his ugly old head off!|[[Jimbo Jones]]}}
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|blackboardText="I Did Not See Elvis"; one line reads "I Did See Elvis"
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{{Episode
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|couchGag=Bart is squeezed off the couch, flies out of frame, and lands in front of the TV.
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|name= The Telltale Head
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|specialGuestVoices=
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|image= Bart Worried About the Statue (The Telltale Head).png
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|Written By=[[Al Jean]], [[Mike Reiss]], [[Sam Simon]] and [[Matt Groening]]
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|number= 8
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|Directed By=
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|season=1
 +
|snumber=8
 +
|prodcode= 7G07
 +
|airdate= February 25, [[1990]]
 +
|blackboard= "I Did Not See Elvis"; one line reads "I Did See Elvis"
 +
|couchgag= Bart is squeezed off the couch, flies out of frame, and lands in front of the TV.
 +
|showrunner1= James L. Brooks
 +
|showrunner2= Matt Groening
 +
|showrunner3= Sam Simon
 +
|writer= [[Al Jean]]<br>[[Mike Reiss]]<br>[[Sam Simon]]<br>[[Matt Groening]]
 +
|director= [[Rich Moore]]
 +
|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
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==Plot==
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"'''The Telltale Head'''" was the eighth episode of [[season 1]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It originally aired on February 25, [[1990]]. The episode was written by [[Al Jean]], [[Mike Reiss]], [[Sam Simon]] and [[Matt Groening]] and directed by [[Rich Moore]].
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[[Homer]] and [[Bart]] are chased through the streets of [[Springfield]] by an angry mob. Someone has sawn off the head of the statue of town founder [[Jebediah Springfield]]. Surrounded by the surly crowd, Bart pleads for understanding and relates the events of the previous day.
 
  
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As the story unfolds, Bart borrows $5.00 from Homer and sneaks away to see Space Mutants IV at the local movie theater. On his way, he runs into a gang of troublemakers. One of them, [[Jimbo]], invites Bart to sneak into the movies with him and his buddies. Later, as the boys throw rocks at Jebediah's statue, Jimbo wishes someone would cut off the statue's head. When Bart tries to defend the town's hero, Jimbo and the boys laugh at him. To be cool, Bart sneaks out of the house that night and saws the statue's head off.
+
== Synopsis ==
 +
{{Desc|[[Bart|Bart Simpson]] cuts off [[Statue of Jebediah Springfield|Jebediah Springfield's statue]]'s head to be cool to some bullies, but the whole city gets angry and starts looking for the vandal.}}
  
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The next day, all of Springfield grieves the decapitation of the town founder. Bart finds Jimbo and his pals and discovers they are as distraught as everyone else. Feeling remorse, Bart returns home and confesses to his family. As Homer escorts Bart to the authorities, they are confronted by the angry mob. Bart tells the crowd that his act has united the town and taught people to appreciate their heritage. The townspeople agree, and Bart is forgiven.
+
== Plot ==
 +
[[File:The Telltale Head title card.png|250px|thumb|left|This episode's title card]]
 +
The episode begins with [[Homer]] and Bart walking on a sidewalk in downtown [[Springfield]] at nighttime. Bart has the head of a statue in his arms. As the two turn the corner, an angry mob advances on them. Homer and Bart are forced to turn and run away. The mob corners Homer and Bart in the town square next to the headless Jebediah Springfield statue. As the mob angrily advances, Bart climbs up onto the statue and begs everyone to please listen to his story. Flashback to Sunday morning: the family's getting ready for church, and Homer's preoccupied with a football game.  
  
−
==Trivia==
+
On the way into church, [[Marge]] confiscates Bart's personal radio with headphones and gives them to Homer. During Sunday school, the teacher and students discuss the topic of who's allowed in [[Heaven]]. All of the students ask a lot of questions and, at the end, confuse and drive the teacher crazy. Back in the [[First Church of Springfield|church]], while the sermon's about sports gambling, Homer's oblivious because he's using Bart's headphones to listen to the game. On the way home from church, Marge expresses her disapproval of Homer's headphones and Bart sees the movie theater's playing ''{{ap|Space Mutants|films}}'', and begs to see it; Homer doesn't care, but Marge tells him no. Later at home, Bart asks for five dollars from Homer and takes off on his skateboard. Bart skates over to the movie theater. Once there, he encounters two of the worst kids in school: [[Jimbo]] and [[Kearney]]. Bart makes a good impression on them and, when [[Dolph]] pokes his head out the emergency exit door and says the coast is clear, they invite him to sneak into ''Space Mutants 4'' with them. Bart, a little unsure of the situation, agrees to sneak into the movie.
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*[[Marge]] pulls a [[Radioactive Man]] comic book from inside Bart's jacket before leaving the house for church.
 
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*Homer has an 8-track tape deck in his car.  
 
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*A member of the angry mob carries a sign with the likeness of Jebediah Springfield's head and the words, "Have You Seen Me?"
 
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*The football announcer on Homer's car radio says, "This could be the most remarkable comeback since Lazarus rose from the dead."
 
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*Announcer: "Wolodarsky takes it at the 5... oh my, he fumbles," reference to show writer-producer [[Wallace Wolodarsky]].
 
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*A sign inside church where [[Rev. Lovejoy]] has just given a sermon on the evils of gambling reads, "Bingo---Tuesday Night. Monte Carlo Night---Wednesday. Reno Retreat Saturday."
 
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*The movie marquee reads, "[[Space Mutants]] IV: The Trilogy Continues."
 
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*Among the items Jimbo, [[Dolph]], and [[Kearney]] steal from the [[Kwik-E-Mart]] is a copy of Playdude magazine.
 
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*Kearney stands on the lawn and leans on a sign that reads "Keep off the Grass."
 
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*[[Sideshow Bob]]'s hair evolves from a huge red afro.
 
  
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==References==
+
Inside the movie theater, the kids watch the movie, are discovered by an angry usher, and are kicked out of the theater. Back outside, the group including Bart head to the [[Kwik-E-Mart]]. While Bart unwittingly distracts [[Apu]] and orders 4 [[Squishee]]s, the other kids swipe a bunch of stuff from the store. Bart meets up with them in the parking lot, realizes he was used to help steal from the store, and, in an effort to stay cool with the group, he doesn't say anything. They all wander over to the town square to throw rocks at the Jebediah Springfield statue. Once again, Bart goes along with the group so they will like him. Later, while the group shoots the breeze, one of the kids says it'll be cool if somebody cut the head off the statue. When Bart hears this, he defends the town founder, [[Jebediah Springfield]], and the other three ridicule and tease him for it. Bart walks away embarrassed. When Bart walks home by himself, he passes by the statue again, and, thinking about what the kids said earlier, he gets an idea. Bart arrives home and talks to Homer in the kitchen about the importance of being popular. Homer tells Bart that, no matter what it takes, popularity is the most important thing in life. That night after everyone is asleep, a black clad Bart sneaks out of the house and heads to the town square. Once at the square, Bart climbs to the top of the statue with a hacksaw and beheads the statue.
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*The episode title is a reference to the short story "The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe. In addition, Bart actually hears the head talking when he is overcome with guilt.  
 
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*The Bridge over the River Kwai - the line "What have I done?"
 
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*When Bart awakes to a find the head of Jebediah Springfield in bed next to him, it is reminiscent of the scene from "The Godfather" where Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall) "persuades" Woltz to cast Fontane in the movie by leaving the head of the producer's prize racehorse in his bed.
 
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This Sideshow Bob's first appearance although he doesn't speak.
 
  
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{{Season 1}}
+
The next morning Bart wakes up in bed next to the head of Jebediah (an homage to ''[[The Godfather]]''). Bart heads downstairs to the kitchen with the head in his backpack where everyone's eating breakfast when a report comes over the radio announcing the decapitation of the town statue. Bart starts to get nervous when he sees how everyone in the family becomes angry after hearing the report. Scenes from [[Moe's Tavern]] and the [[Springfield Retirement Castle|Retirement Castle]] reveal everyone else is upset about the statue as well. In town, Bart meets up with the three kids from the day before. He's about to show them the head when he hears them say they were just kidding about decapitating the statue and will like to pound whoever stole Jebediah's head. Bart quickly picks up his backpack and hurries away toward home, passing through a growing angry crowd downtown. On the way, Bart's guilty conscience talks to him in the form of Jebediah's voice.
 +
 
 +
Back at home, Bart quickly goes to the back yard and tries to bury the head, but his guilty conscience, acting as Jebediah, talks him out of it. Cut to the living room where the rest of the family's watching TV; Bart walks in with the head and confesses, much to the shock of the family. When Bart tells Homer he stole the head to become popular, Homer realizes he's at fault as well. Homer and Bart head back into town with the head, and now the story meets back up with the beginning of the episode. As Bart finishes the story, he apologizes to the angry mob, and they have a turn of heart and forgive him. Bart places the head back on the statue, and all's well as the mob cheers.
 +
 
 +
== Production ==
 +
This is the first episode of the series in which Sideshow Bob, Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Krusty the Clown, Jimbo Jones, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Dolphin "Dolph" Starbeam, [[Ms. Albright]], and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon appear.
 +
 
 +
<gallery>
 +
File:7G07 Script.jpg
 +
</gallery>
 +
 
 +
== Reception ==
 +
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said they enjoyed: "the Simpsons being grossly dysfunctional in church, Homer dispensing terrible advice, and a real moral dilemma for Bart." And DVD Movie Guide said "Good little moments abounded, and this was a generally solid episode. I liked the objects the boys saw in the clouds, and quite a few other funny bits appeared. "Telltale" wasn't a great episode, but it was generally entertaining and clever."
 +
 
 +
== In other languages ==
 +
{{LanguageBox
 +
|fr=yes
 +
|frName=Bart a perdu la tête
 +
|frTrans=Bart has lost his head
 +
|qu=yes
 +
|quName=Bart, chasseur de tête
 +
|quTrans=Bart, Headhunter
 +
|de=yes
 +
|deName=Bart köpft Oberhaupt
 +
|deTrans=Bart beheads the leader
 +
|es=yes
 +
|esName=La cabeza chiflada
 +
|esTrans=The crazy head
 +
|la=yes
 +
|laName=El héroe sin cabeza
 +
|laTrans=The Headless Hero
 +
|it=yes
 +
|itName=La testa parlante
 +
|itTrans=The talking head
 +
|br=yes
 +
|brName=Conversa Fiada
 +
|brTrans=Chitchat
 +
|hu=yes
 +
|huName=A beszélő fej
 +
|huTrans=The talking head
 +
|uk=yes
 +
|ukName=Історія однієї голови
 +
|ukTrans=One head story
 +
|jp=yes
 +
|jpName=忘れられた英雄
 +
|jpTrans=A Forgotten Hero
 +
}}
 +
 
 +
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 +
{{season 1}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telltale Head, The}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telltale Head, The}}
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[[Category:Season 1]]
+
 
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[[Category:Episodes]]
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[[Category:1990]]
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[[Category:Bart episodes]]
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[[Category:Flashback episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Al Jean]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Mike Reiss]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Matt Groening]]
 +
[[Category:Episodes written by Sam Simon]]
 +
[[Category:Episodes directed by Rich Moore]]
 +
 
 +
[[de:Bart köpft Oberhaupt]]
 +
[[sv:The Telltale Head]]

Latest revision as of 11:22, April 14, 2024

Season 1 Episode
← 007 "The Call of the Simpsons"
008
"The Telltale Head"
"Life on the Fast Lane" 009 →
"I wish someone would cut his ugly old head off!"
―Jimbo Jones
"The Telltale Head"
Bart Worried About the Statue (The Telltale Head).png
Episode Information
Episode number: 8
Season number: S1 E8
Production code: 7G07
Original airdate: February 25, 1990
Chalkboard gag: "I Did Not See Elvis"; one line reads "I Did See Elvis"
Couch gag: Bart is squeezed off the couch, flies out of frame, and lands in front of the TV.
Showrunners: James L. Brooks
Matt Groening
Sam Simon
Written by: Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Sam Simon
Matt Groening
Directed by: Rich Moore
DVD features


"The Telltale Head" was the eighth episode of season 1 of The Simpsons. It originally aired on February 25, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Sam Simon and Matt Groening and directed by Rich Moore.

Synopsis[edit]

"Bart Simpson cuts off Jebediah Springfield's statue's head to be cool to some bullies, but the whole city gets angry and starts looking for the vandal."


Plot[edit]

This episode's title card

The episode begins with Homer and Bart walking on a sidewalk in downtown Springfield at nighttime. Bart has the head of a statue in his arms. As the two turn the corner, an angry mob advances on them. Homer and Bart are forced to turn and run away. The mob corners Homer and Bart in the town square next to the headless Jebediah Springfield statue. As the mob angrily advances, Bart climbs up onto the statue and begs everyone to please listen to his story. Flashback to Sunday morning: the family's getting ready for church, and Homer's preoccupied with a football game.

On the way into church, Marge confiscates Bart's personal radio with headphones and gives them to Homer. During Sunday school, the teacher and students discuss the topic of who's allowed in Heaven. All of the students ask a lot of questions and, at the end, confuse and drive the teacher crazy. Back in the church, while the sermon's about sports gambling, Homer's oblivious because he's using Bart's headphones to listen to the game. On the way home from church, Marge expresses her disapproval of Homer's headphones and Bart sees the movie theater's playing Space Mutants, and begs to see it; Homer doesn't care, but Marge tells him no. Later at home, Bart asks for five dollars from Homer and takes off on his skateboard. Bart skates over to the movie theater. Once there, he encounters two of the worst kids in school: Jimbo and Kearney. Bart makes a good impression on them and, when Dolph pokes his head out the emergency exit door and says the coast is clear, they invite him to sneak into Space Mutants 4 with them. Bart, a little unsure of the situation, agrees to sneak into the movie.

Inside the movie theater, the kids watch the movie, are discovered by an angry usher, and are kicked out of the theater. Back outside, the group including Bart head to the Kwik-E-Mart. While Bart unwittingly distracts Apu and orders 4 Squishees, the other kids swipe a bunch of stuff from the store. Bart meets up with them in the parking lot, realizes he was used to help steal from the store, and, in an effort to stay cool with the group, he doesn't say anything. They all wander over to the town square to throw rocks at the Jebediah Springfield statue. Once again, Bart goes along with the group so they will like him. Later, while the group shoots the breeze, one of the kids says it'll be cool if somebody cut the head off the statue. When Bart hears this, he defends the town founder, Jebediah Springfield, and the other three ridicule and tease him for it. Bart walks away embarrassed. When Bart walks home by himself, he passes by the statue again, and, thinking about what the kids said earlier, he gets an idea. Bart arrives home and talks to Homer in the kitchen about the importance of being popular. Homer tells Bart that, no matter what it takes, popularity is the most important thing in life. That night after everyone is asleep, a black clad Bart sneaks out of the house and heads to the town square. Once at the square, Bart climbs to the top of the statue with a hacksaw and beheads the statue.

The next morning Bart wakes up in bed next to the head of Jebediah (an homage to The Godfather). Bart heads downstairs to the kitchen with the head in his backpack where everyone's eating breakfast when a report comes over the radio announcing the decapitation of the town statue. Bart starts to get nervous when he sees how everyone in the family becomes angry after hearing the report. Scenes from Moe's Tavern and the Retirement Castle reveal everyone else is upset about the statue as well. In town, Bart meets up with the three kids from the day before. He's about to show them the head when he hears them say they were just kidding about decapitating the statue and will like to pound whoever stole Jebediah's head. Bart quickly picks up his backpack and hurries away toward home, passing through a growing angry crowd downtown. On the way, Bart's guilty conscience talks to him in the form of Jebediah's voice.

Back at home, Bart quickly goes to the back yard and tries to bury the head, but his guilty conscience, acting as Jebediah, talks him out of it. Cut to the living room where the rest of the family's watching TV; Bart walks in with the head and confesses, much to the shock of the family. When Bart tells Homer he stole the head to become popular, Homer realizes he's at fault as well. Homer and Bart head back into town with the head, and now the story meets back up with the beginning of the episode. As Bart finishes the story, he apologizes to the angry mob, and they have a turn of heart and forgive him. Bart places the head back on the statue, and all's well as the mob cheers.

Production[edit]

This is the first episode of the series in which Sideshow Bob, Reverend Timothy Lovejoy, Krusty the Clown, Jimbo Jones, Kearney Zzyzwicz, Dolphin "Dolph" Starbeam, Ms. Albright, and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon appear.

  • 7G07 Script.jpg

Reception[edit]

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, said they enjoyed: "the Simpsons being grossly dysfunctional in church, Homer dispensing terrible advice, and a real moral dilemma for Bart." And DVD Movie Guide said "Good little moments abounded, and this was a generally solid episode. I liked the objects the boys saw in the clouds, and quite a few other funny bits appeared. "Telltale" wasn't a great episode, but it was generally entertaining and clever."

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Germany.png Deutsch "Bart köpft Oberhaupt" Bart beheads the leader
Spain flag.png Español "La cabeza chiflada" The crazy head
Hispanic America.gif Español "El héroe sin cabeza" The Headless Hero
France.png Français "Bart a perdu la tête" Bart has lost his head
Flag of Quebec.svg.png Français "Bart, chasseur de tête" Bart, Headhunter
Italy Flag.png Italiano "La testa parlante" The talking head
Brasil Flag.png Português "Conversa Fiada" Chitchat
Hungary flag.png Magyar "A beszélő fej" The talking head
Ukraine flag.png Українська "Історія однієї голови" One head story
Flag of Japan.png 日本語 "忘れられた英雄" A Forgotten Hero


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Telltale Head".
Season 1 Episodes
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire • Bart the Genius • Homer's Odyssey • There's No Disgrace Like Home • Bart the General • Moaning Lisa • The Call of the Simpsons • The Telltale Head • Life on the Fast Lane • Homer's Night Out • The Crepes of Wrath • Krusty Gets Busted • Some Enchanted Evening
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