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Difference between revisions of "Weekend at Burnsie's"

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“'''Weekend at Burnsie’s'''” is the sixteenth episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]''’ [[List of The Simpsons episodes#Season 13 (2001-2002)|thirteenth season]]. The episode first aired in the [[USA]] on [[April 7]], [[2002]].
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{{Tab}}
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{{EpisodePrevNext|season=13|number=285|Blame It on Lisa|Gump Roast}}
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{{Episode
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|image= Weekend at burnsies promo.jpg
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|number= 285
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|season=13
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|snumber=16
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|prodcode= DABF11
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|airdate= April 7, [[2002]]
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|couchgag= A gardner is cutting a hedge. He carves it to look like the [[Simpson family]], sitting on [[Couch Gag|their couch]]. He sighs and, with a wipe of his forhead, collapses, tired, to the floor.
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|guests= [[Phish]] as {{Chs|Phish|themselves}}
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|showrunner1= Al Jean
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|writer= [[Jon Vitti]]
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|director= [[Michael Marcantel]]
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|DVD features=yes
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}}
  
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==Plot==
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"'''Weekend at Burnsie's'''" is the sixteenth episode of [[season 13]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and eighty-fifth episode overall. It originally aired on April 7, [[2002]]. The episode was written by [[Jon Vitti]] and directed by [[Michael Marcantel]]. It guest stars [[Phish]] as {{Chs|Phish|themselves}}.
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After a bad experience with [[genetically modified food]] [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] decides to plant her own garden. [[Crow]]s arrive on the new garden, so Marge makes a [[scarecrow]], which scares [[Homer Simpson|Homer]]. Homer destroys the scarecrow, and the crows eventually see Homer as their leader, following him everywhere. But when the crows attack Maggie, Homer turns on them and they attack his eyes. He then goes to the hospital, where [[Julius Hibbert|Dr. Hibbert]] prescribes him [[medical marijuana|medicinal marijuana]].
 
  
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Homer becomes a [[Stoner (cannabis)|stoner]] stereotype, even asking [[Ned Flanders|Flanders]] to read him the whole [[Holy Bible]]. When Flanders offers a petition to have a vote on the ban of medical marijuana in [[Springfield (The Simpsons)|Springfield]], Homer unwittingly adds his signature. Homer's stoned state also sees him promoted to Executive Vice-President at the power plant, and so he goes to a rally for the legalization of medical marijuana (but the rally is actually held a day after the ban was approved by voters). Homer is cured of his medical condition and promises he won’t smoke pot again.
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== Synopsis ==
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{{Desc|After being attacked in the garden by an unruly group of crows, [[Homer]] goes to see [[Dr. Hibbert]] about the ongoing pain in his eyes. Dr. Hibbert suggests that Homer begin smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes.}}
  
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Mr. Burns asks Homer to help him with a speech for a crisis shareholders meeting. Homer gives [[Waylon Smithers|Smithers]] his last joint, and while Smithers is smoking and dressing like [[Judy Garland]], Burns apparently drowns in his bathtub. So, for the meeting, Smithers and Homer make Burns into a [[marionette]], a la ''Weekend at Bernie’s'', and the movement of the marionette inadvertenly gets Mr. Burns’ heart working again. The meeting is a success, and another financial crisis at the power plant is avoided.
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== Plot ==
 +
[[File:Weekend at Burnsie's promo 2.png|thumb|left|Alternate promo image]]
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[[Marge]] serves the family dinner with genetically modified vegetables because the vegetables were bigger. However, after seeing a potato eat a carrot, Marge decided to grow her own vegetables in the back yard. After making a vegetable patch and planting the seeds, [[The crows|crows]] started attacking the vegetable patch so Marge made a scarecrow. When [[Homer]] came home one day, he saw the silhouette of the scarecrow and got scared. He then came back and attacked it, destroying it. After doing this, the crows treated Homer like an alpha-crow because he killed their enemy. After the crows take [[Maggie]] for a flight and drop her, Homer tells them that they went too far and he wanted them to go. The crows then attack Homer, injuring his eyes.
  
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==References==
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At [[Springfield General Hospital|hospital]], [[Dr. Hibbert]] tells Homer that medical marijuana could help him with the pain in his eyes. Homer remembers a bad incident he had when he was a teenager, with [[Sergeant Scraps|a police dog]] attacking him as he had marijuana, and initially refuses. However, Dr. Hibbert convinces Homer to give it a try. Homer starts to smoke the marijuana, much to the annoyance of Marge. He continues to go to work and act as normal throughout his medication usage and gets closer to his family and [[Ned Flanders]]. Ned convinces Homer to sign a petition to criminalize medical marijuana when Homer doesn't realize what he's signing.
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===Cultural===
 
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*Some elements of the episode, as well as its title, parody "[[Weekend at Bernie's|Weekend at Bernie’s]]".
 
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*When the family first finds out Homer is using [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]], he is singing “[[Smoke on the Water]]” by [[Deep Purple]].
 
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*The music used while Homer is getting stoned on his first joint is "[[Incense and Peppermints]]" by [[Strawberry Alarm Clock]].
 
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*“[[Wear Your Love Like Heaven (album)|Wear Your Love Like Heaven]]” by [[Donovan]] plays in the montage of a stoned Homer getting ready for work.
 
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*Homer’s car during his hallucination as he’s getting ready for work looks like Benny the Cab from ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit]]''.
 
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*When Marge is making the scarecrow for her vegetable patch, pop-ups appear on the screen in the style of VH1’s ''[[Pop-Up Video]]''.
 
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*The song [[Phish]] is singing is “[[Run Like an Antelope]].” Later, Phish plays the opening limb of the ''Simpsons'' theme song, something Phish actually did in their real-life concerts.
 
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*When Homer smokes pot, he says that it (marijuana) can "make anything funny. Even that show that follows ''[[Friends]]''." This is possibly a reference to ''[[Frasier]]'', which did follow ''Friends'' at the time of this episodes original air-date but is more likely a reference to the numerous -- and usually short-lived -- series scheduled after ''Friends'' for many years.
 
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*When Homer is stoned and talks to Ned Flanders he cites his own example of the [[Omnipotence paradox]]: Could Jesus [[microwave oven|microwave]] a [[burrito]] so hot that he himself could not eat it?"
 
  
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===Previous episodes===
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At the [[Springfield Nuclear Power Plant]], [[Mr. Burns]] is reading jokes to [[Waylon Smithers, Jr.]] for a potential investors meeting. Homer then comes into Burns' office, thinking it was the toilets, and laughs at Mr. Burns' jokes. Burns then promotes Homer to executive vice president because he'll laugh at all of Burns' jokes. Homer then goes home where he reveals to Marge that he got promoted. Later that evening, Homer and [[Otto]] are hanging out in the attic of the house, watching TV together. At that moment, a news report comes on talking about the election to re-criminalize medical marijuana. Homer and Otto decide they have to do something about this and set up a {{Chs|Phish}} concert at a rally to support medical marijuana. During the rally, however, they realize that they missed the vote, which was the day before, and medical marijuana was re-criminalized. Homer then stopped taking it as a result.
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*Seth and Munchie, the hippies from "[[D'oh-in in the Wind]]", are in the crowd in the rally for the legalization of medical marijuana.
 
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*Otto remembers his wedding to Becky in [[It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge]] after seeing his ring.
 
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*When Marge takes out some clothes from a box, captions show up when Marge lay them up in a shape of a body. These include Lisa's jersey from '[[Lisa on Ice]]', Bart's jockey pants from '[[Saddlesore Galactica]]', the Jack-o-Lantern from Treehouse of Horror [[Treehouse of Horror III|III]], [[Treehouse of Horror IX|IX]] and [[Treehouse of Horror XII|XII]], and Grampa's fez hat from 'Who Shot Grampa's Hat' (This isn't an actual title, but the name is similar to '[[Who Shot Mr. Burns]]').
 
  
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==Censorship==
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Back at home, Homer gets back to his old way of life, kicking Otto out and making up with his friends, who were considering an intervention. Homer then goes to [[Burns' manor]] to get ready for the investors meeting. After both he and Smithers fail to find Burns' jokes funny, Burns goes to take a bath. Homer and Smithers then get high so they can find the jokes funny and forget about Burns. After realizing Burns had been in the bath for an hour, they ran into the bathroom to find him dead. They decided to carry on with the meeting and turned Burns into a puppet, with Smithers pulling the strings and Homer talking on Burns' behalf. During a dance routine, Mr. Burns' heart started again. Burns then made Smithers slap Homer, Smithers and himself several times.
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Due to the prevalent drug themes/use throughout the episode, the following rating assignments were made:
 
  
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This is the second episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' to be issued an “M” rating on [[Australia]]n network television for “drug use” (the first episode to be rated M by [[Network Ten]] was [[Natural Born Kissers]], although that episode has been rated PG by the [[Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia)|OFLC]]).
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== Production ==
 +
The idea of the episode was pitched by [[George Meyer]]. [[Al Jean]] found the idea funny and assigned [[Jon Vitti]] to write the first draft.<ref name="Al Jean">{{Com|Jean, Al|Weekend at Burnsie's|Thirteenth|(2010).}}</ref> Jon Vitti wrote the script at his home and didn't participate in any of the rewrite sessions.<ref>{{Com|Vitti, Jon|Weekend at Burnsie's|Thirteenth|(2010).}}</ref> After being attacked by the crows, Homer was originally supposed to look more bloody. The staff decided to change this.<ref name="Al Jean"/> The staff debated what to do with Homer's eyes when he was high. Since a common side effect is dilated pupils, they dilated them slightly. One of the suggestions was to also widen his pupils.<ref>{{Com|Silverman, David|Weekend at Burnsie's|Thirteenth|(2010).}}</ref> George Meyer pitched the idea of [[Phish]] guest starring in the episode.<ref name="Al Jean"/>
  
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This episode does not air before the 9pm watershed on [[Sky One]] in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. It does not air at all on [[Channel 4]].
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Al Jean said that the writers wanted to explore both sides of the debate on marijuana usage rather than making a statement. He also said that the episode is a critique of legalisations that are immediately criminalized again after.<ref name="Al Jean"/> The scene at the beginning of the episode with the genetically modified vegetables was conceived during a rewrite and was originally three times longer. Even though genetic modifying is portrayed in a negative light in the episode, none of the writers were against it.<ref>{{Com|Reiss, Mike|Weekend at Burnsie's|Thirteenth|(2010).}}</ref>
  
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This episode was originally rated [[TV-PG]]V (when it first aired in the [[U.S.]], but was rerated [[TV-14]]V).
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<gallery>
 +
File:DABF11 Script.jpg
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</gallery>
  
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{{Season 13}}
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== Reception ==
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[[Category:Episodes]]
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In an opinion column in ''{{W|The Seattle Times}}'', Robert S. Stephens and Roger A. Roffman wrote about the episode, saying that we rarely see the benefits of drug usage in television as we usually only see the negatives. They praise the episode for showing both the positive and negative effects of usage.<ref>[http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020517&slug=homerop17 The Seattle Times - "Did Homer go to pot?"]</ref>
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[[Category:Season 13]]
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 +
As of September [[2018]], the episode has a 7.7 rating on {{W|IMDb}}<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701291/ IMDb - "Weekend at Burnsie's"]</ref> and a 8.9 rating on {{W|TV.com}}.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-simpsons/weekend-at-burnsies-110000/ TV.com - "Weekend at Burnsie's"]</ref>
 +
 
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== International airdates ==
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{{Table|sortable=yes|width=50%|align=left|
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{{TH|Country}}
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{{TH|Airdate}}
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{{TH|Channel}}
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{{TBT|Italy}}
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{{TB|Februrary 2, 2004<ref>[https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodi_de_I_Simpson_(tredicesima_stagione) Wikipedia (Italy) - Episodi de I Simpson (tredicesima stagione)]</ref>}}
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{{TB|{{W|Italia Uno}}}}
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{{TBT|United Kingdom}}
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{{TB|October 6, 2002}}
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{{TB|[[Channel 4]]}}
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}}
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== In other languages ==
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{{LanguageBox
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|it=yes
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|itName=L'erba di Homer
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|itTrans=Homer's weed}}
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== References ==
 +
{{Reflist}}
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
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{{season 13}}
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[[Category:2002]]
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[[Category:Homer episodes]]
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[[Category:Mr. Burns episodes]]
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[[Category:Smithers episodes]]
 
[[Category:TV-14 Episodes]]
 
[[Category:TV-14 Episodes]]
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[[Category:12-rated episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Jon Vitti]]
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Michael Marcantel]]
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[[sv:Weekend at Burnsie's]]

Latest revision as of 13:05, August 30, 2024

Season 13 Episode
← 284 "Blame It on Lisa"
285
"Weekend at Burnsie's"
"Gump Roast" 286 →
"Weekend at Burnsie's"
Weekend at burnsies promo.jpg
Episode Information
Episode number: 285
Season number: S13 E16
Production code: DABF11
Original airdate: April 7, 2002
Couch gag: A gardner is cutting a hedge. He carves it to look like the Simpson family, sitting on their couch. He sighs and, with a wipe of his forhead, collapses, tired, to the floor.
Guest star(s): Phish as themselves
Showrunner: Al Jean
Written by: Jon Vitti
Directed by: Michael Marcantel
DVD features


"Weekend at Burnsie's" is the sixteenth episode of season 13 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and eighty-fifth episode overall. It originally aired on April 7, 2002. The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Michael Marcantel. It guest stars Phish as themselves.

Synopsis[edit]

"After being attacked in the garden by an unruly group of crows, Homer goes to see Dr. Hibbert about the ongoing pain in his eyes. Dr. Hibbert suggests that Homer begin smoking marijuana for medicinal purposes."


Plot[edit]

Alternate promo image

Marge serves the family dinner with genetically modified vegetables because the vegetables were bigger. However, after seeing a potato eat a carrot, Marge decided to grow her own vegetables in the back yard. After making a vegetable patch and planting the seeds, crows started attacking the vegetable patch so Marge made a scarecrow. When Homer came home one day, he saw the silhouette of the scarecrow and got scared. He then came back and attacked it, destroying it. After doing this, the crows treated Homer like an alpha-crow because he killed their enemy. After the crows take Maggie for a flight and drop her, Homer tells them that they went too far and he wanted them to go. The crows then attack Homer, injuring his eyes.

At hospital, Dr. Hibbert tells Homer that medical marijuana could help him with the pain in his eyes. Homer remembers a bad incident he had when he was a teenager, with a police dog attacking him as he had marijuana, and initially refuses. However, Dr. Hibbert convinces Homer to give it a try. Homer starts to smoke the marijuana, much to the annoyance of Marge. He continues to go to work and act as normal throughout his medication usage and gets closer to his family and Ned Flanders. Ned convinces Homer to sign a petition to criminalize medical marijuana when Homer doesn't realize what he's signing.

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Mr. Burns is reading jokes to Waylon Smithers, Jr. for a potential investors meeting. Homer then comes into Burns' office, thinking it was the toilets, and laughs at Mr. Burns' jokes. Burns then promotes Homer to executive vice president because he'll laugh at all of Burns' jokes. Homer then goes home where he reveals to Marge that he got promoted. Later that evening, Homer and Otto are hanging out in the attic of the house, watching TV together. At that moment, a news report comes on talking about the election to re-criminalize medical marijuana. Homer and Otto decide they have to do something about this and set up a Phish concert at a rally to support medical marijuana. During the rally, however, they realize that they missed the vote, which was the day before, and medical marijuana was re-criminalized. Homer then stopped taking it as a result.

Back at home, Homer gets back to his old way of life, kicking Otto out and making up with his friends, who were considering an intervention. Homer then goes to Burns' manor to get ready for the investors meeting. After both he and Smithers fail to find Burns' jokes funny, Burns goes to take a bath. Homer and Smithers then get high so they can find the jokes funny and forget about Burns. After realizing Burns had been in the bath for an hour, they ran into the bathroom to find him dead. They decided to carry on with the meeting and turned Burns into a puppet, with Smithers pulling the strings and Homer talking on Burns' behalf. During a dance routine, Mr. Burns' heart started again. Burns then made Smithers slap Homer, Smithers and himself several times.

Production[edit]

The idea of the episode was pitched by George Meyer. Al Jean found the idea funny and assigned Jon Vitti to write the first draft.[1] Jon Vitti wrote the script at his home and didn't participate in any of the rewrite sessions.[2] After being attacked by the crows, Homer was originally supposed to look more bloody. The staff decided to change this.[1] The staff debated what to do with Homer's eyes when he was high. Since a common side effect is dilated pupils, they dilated them slightly. One of the suggestions was to also widen his pupils.[3] George Meyer pitched the idea of Phish guest starring in the episode.[1]

Al Jean said that the writers wanted to explore both sides of the debate on marijuana usage rather than making a statement. He also said that the episode is a critique of legalisations that are immediately criminalized again after.[1] The scene at the beginning of the episode with the genetically modified vegetables was conceived during a rewrite and was originally three times longer. Even though genetic modifying is portrayed in a negative light in the episode, none of the writers were against it.[4]

  • DABF11 Script.jpg

Reception[edit]

In an opinion column in The Seattle Times, Robert S. Stephens and Roger A. Roffman wrote about the episode, saying that we rarely see the benefits of drug usage in television as we usually only see the negatives. They praise the episode for showing both the positive and negative effects of usage.[5]

As of September 2018, the episode has a 7.7 rating on IMDb[6] and a 8.9 rating on TV.com.[7]

International airdates[edit]

Country Airdate Channel
Italy Februrary 2, 2004[8] Italia Uno
United Kingdom October 6, 2002 Channel 4

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Italy Flag.png Italiano "L'erba di Homer" Homer's weed

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jean, Al (2010). Commentary for "Weekend at Burnsie's", in The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season.
  2. ↑ Vitti, Jon (2010). Commentary for "Weekend at Burnsie's", in The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season.
  3. ↑ Silverman, David (2010). Commentary for "Weekend at Burnsie's", in The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season.
  4. ↑ Reiss, Mike (2010). Commentary for "Weekend at Burnsie's", in The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season.
  5. ↑ The Seattle Times - "Did Homer go to pot?"
  6. ↑ IMDb - "Weekend at Burnsie's"
  7. ↑ TV.com - "Weekend at Burnsie's"
  8. ↑ Wikipedia (Italy) - Episodi de I Simpson (tredicesima stagione)


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Weekend at Burnsie's".
Season 13 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror XII • The Parent Rap • Homer the Moe • A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love • The Blunder Years • She of Little Faith • Brawl in the Family • Sweets and Sour Marge • Jaws Wired Shut • Half-Decent Proposal • The Bart Wants What It Wants • The Lastest Gun in the West • The Old Man and the Key • Tales from the Public Domain • Blame It on Lisa • Weekend at Burnsie's • Gump Roast • I Am Furious (Yellow) • The Sweetest Apu • Little Girl in the Big Ten • The Frying Game • Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge
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