• New article from the Springfield Shopper: The Simpsons are trapped on a flight from Hell this December!
  • New article from the Springfield Shopper: A Sneak Peek for “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Simpsons Wicked This Way Comes” has been released!
  • New article from the Springfield Shopper: Season 36 News: Even more Preview Images for “O C’mon All Ye Faithful” have been released!
  • Wikisimpsons needs more Featured Article, Picture, Quote, Episode and Comprehensive article nominations!
  • Wikisimpsons has a Discord server! Click here for your invite! Join to talk about the wiki, Simpsons and Tapped Out news, or just to talk to other users.
  • Make an account! It's easy, free, and your work on the wiki can be attributed to you.
TwitterFacebookDiscord

Difference between revisions of "A Tale of Two Springfields"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
m (→‎Promotional images: Replaced an image)
m (→‎Promotional images: replaced: A Tale of Two Springfields promo.png → A Tale of Two Springfields promo 1.png, A Tale of Two Springfields promo 2.jpg → A Tale of Two Springfields promo 2.png, A Tale of Two Springfields promo 3.jpg → A Tale of...)
 
(26 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{tab}}
+
{{Tab}}
 
{{EpisodePrevNext|Treehouse of Horror XI|Insane Clown Poppy}}
 
{{EpisodePrevNext|Treehouse of Horror XI|Insane Clown Poppy}}
 +
{{Icons||FE}}
 
{{Quote|We're officially a city. Now we just sit back and wait for an NFL franchise.|[[Homer Simpson]]}}
 
{{Quote|We're officially a city. Now we just sit back and wait for an NFL franchise.|[[Homer Simpson]]}}
−
{{episode
+
{{Episode
−
|image = A Tale of Two Springfields.png
+
|image= A Tale of Two Springfields.png
−
|Episode Number = 250
+
|number= 250
−
|productionCode = BABF20
+
|season=12
−
|originalAirdate = November 5, 2000
+
|snumber=2
−
|blackboardText = "I will not plant sublimin<span style="color: green;">'''al'''</span> messa'''[[Al Gore|<span style="color: green;">gore</span>]]'''s"
+
|prodcode= BABF20
−
|couchGag = Bart reaches the couch first and slips a whoopee cushion underneath Homer’s side. When the family runs in, Homer predictably sets off the whoopee cushion’s farting sound, causing him to grin sheepishly at a frowning Marge and Lisa while Bart laughs uproariously.
+
|airdate= November 5, [[2000]]
−
|specialGuestVoices = [[The Who]] as {{Chs|The Who|themselves}}, except for Pete Townshend (see ''[[A Tale of Two Springfields/References|Trivia]]'' below) <br/> [[Frank Welker]]
+
|blackboard= "I will not plant sublimin<span style="color: green;">'''al'''</span> messa'''[[Al Gore|<span style="color: green;">gore</span>]]'''s"
−
|Written By = [[John Swartzwelder]]
+
|couchgag= Bart reaches the couch first and slips a whoopee cushion underneath Homer's side. When the family runs in, Homer predictably sets off the whoopee cushion's farting sound, causing him to grin sheepishly at a frowning Marge and Lisa while Bart laughs uproariously.
−
|Directed By = [[Shaun Cashman]]
+
|guests= [[The Who]] as {{Chs|The Who|themselves}}<br>[[Frank Welker]] as [[Flanders' pet woodpecker]]
 +
|showrunner1= Mike Scully
 +
|writer= [[John Swartzwelder]]
 +
|director= [[Shaun Cashman]]
 
|DVD features=yes
 
|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
−
"'''A Tale of Two Springfields'''" is the second episode of [[season 12]] and is the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order.  
+
"'''A Tale of Two Springfields'''" is the second episode of [[season 12]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and fiftieth episode overall. It originally aired in November 5, [[2000]]. The episode was written by [[John Swartzwelder]] and directed by [[Shaun Cashman]]. It guest stars [[The Who]] as {{Chs|The Who|themselves}} and [[Frank Welker]] as the [[Flanders' pet woodpecker]].
  
 
== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
−
While calling Animal Control over a badger taking residence in [[Santa's Little Helper]]'s doghouse, [[Homer]] discovers that [[Springfield]] has two different area codes—and ends up leading a revolt that splits the town in two.
+
{{Desc|While calling Animal Control over a badger taking residence in [[Santa's Little Helper]]'s doghouse, [[Homer]] discovers that [[Springfield]] has two different area codes—and ends up leading a revolt that splits the town in two.}}
  
 
== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
−
While feeding [[Santa's Little Helper]], [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] finds a badger in his doghouse. Bart and [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] try to get rid of it themselves, but are unsuccessful. After [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] suggests they blow up the doghouse with dynamite, Lisa tells him to call Animal Control instead. When Homer calls them, he gets a tri-tone and a recording indicating that he did not enter the correct area code. Marge informs him that the phone company ran out of telephone numbers, so they had to split [[Springfield]] into two area codes. One half keeps the old 636 and the Simpsons' half get the new 939. Homer is outraged that they changed the code so suddenly (even though [[Lenny Leonard|Lenny]] and [[Carl Carlson|Carl]] say that they had weeks of advance warnings, including two weeks at area code camp). While at a town meeting, [[Lindsey Naegle]] shows a film (starring talking telephone Phony McRing-Ring) that attempts to convince the audience two area codes are better. The whole town agrees with it. However, Homer stands up, reminding them how terrible it was and points out that the original 636 code was kept by the rich side of town. When Homer fails to blow himself up with the suicide belt he was wearing, he leads a rebellion of the poor and goes off to form a new town.
+
When trying to feed [[Santa's Little Helper]], [[Bart]] finds a badger is living in the dog house. After some unsuccessful attempts at getting the badger out, including trying to feed it the [[Flanders' pet woodpecker]], Homer decides to call Animal Control. However, Homer can't get through as the area code has changed, with Springfield now having two area codes. Homer gets annoyed at this and complains about it to his friends at work. Later, Homer is listening to [[KBBL Radio]] where they are giving away tickets to see {{Chs|The Who}}. They read out Homer's number, but the call goes to [[Mr. Burns]] instead, as the area code was no longer his.
  
−
Homer names the town with the new 939 code "New Springfield", while the half of the town with 636 is now called "Olde Springfield". Homer is appointed mayor of New Springfield, but shows disrespect for the office by using his sash as a napkin. While unveiling the Olde Springfield town plaque, [[Joe Quimby|Mayor Quimby]] attempts to bond with New Springfield, but Homer throws a beer can at him. Rivalry quickly ensues between the two towns. On [[Channel 6]], [[Kent Brockman]] insults the inefficiency of New Springfield, and states that New Springfield is less attractive than they [Olde Springfield] are, and while they talk in a sophisticated manner, New Springfield citizens tend to use low-brow expressions like "Oh, yeah?" and "C'mere a minute". Homer says,"Oh, yeah? So they think they're better than us, huh? Bart, c'mere a minute." Bart replies,"You c'mere a minute." and Homer says,"Oh, yeah?" That night, Homer and Bart go to the [[Springfield Nuclear Power Plant|Nuclear Plant]] and cut off the power to Olde Springfield. Olde Springfield retaliates by hijacking a beer truck and dumping its contents in the river. Homer and New Springfield strike back by cutting off the river supply into Olde Springfield; however, with the river drained, its inhabitants find gold in the riverbed and buy the Evian bottled water factory. Homer decides to build a giant wall right through town, just like the one [[Berlin]] had. When he tells his citizens they do not have enough supplies to get past tomorrow, and that a wave of disease will kill the weak (afterwards, they'll be forced to eat certain breeds of dogs), everyone except the Simpsons leave and join Olde Springfield.
+
A town meeting was called about the area codes, with [[Lindsey Naegle]] being the representative from the phone company. Naegle points out Homer in particular as being annoyed as he showed up wearing dynamite. To try and placate the crowd, she shows a movie featuring [[Phony McRing-Ring]] which satisfies most people without providing any answers. However, Homer isn't satisfied and goes on stage, and attempts to blow himself up. When this doesn't work, he riles up the crowd of people who had the area code changed and decides to form a new town, [[New Springfield]]. Homer is then made the mayor shortly after. At first, things seem to be going well, despite the rivalry between New Springfield and [[Olde Springfield]]. However, people start to get uncomfortable, with [[Marge]] feeling like people were glaring at her when she went shopping in Olde Springfield. Marge went home again, only feeling relaxed when she was back in New Springfield. The family then sat down to watch the news, where [[Kent Brockman]] insults the people of New Springfield.
  
−
Now the mayor of a empty town, Homer boasts to himself that {{Chs|The Who}} is coming to their town. Bart then points out that they are actually performing in ''Olde'' Springfield, making Homer cry,"D'oh!" Bart says that they could try to talk the band into playing in New Springfield. Before heading out, he smashes a shop window and grabs a bottle of chloroform. He and Bart go to the [[Hotel Pillowmint]] where The Who is staying, and Homer tells them that Olde Springfield would make them cut their hair, turn their music down, and wear frilly shirts like [[Keith Partridge]]. The Who believe him and agree to play in New Springfield. When Olde Springfield is waiting for the band, they find them in New Springfield and prepare to riot. While waiting for Olde Springfield to show up, Homer gives the band a list of songs to play. {{ch|Roger Daltrey|Roger}} complains that most songs on the list are by {{w|Grand Funk Railroad}} and that they don't know 'Pac-Man Fever'. Olde Springfield shows up and launches flaming garbage at Homer with a catapult. Roger and {{ch|John Entwistle|John}} then discover that the feud is over the town being split into two area codes. Roger suggests they buy phones with speed dial, and both towns agree. Homer yells," 'Magic Bus'!" prompting the whole town to shout in agreement. Roger says they'll play 'Magic Bus' if Homer tears down the wall of garbage. Homer then yells," 'Pinball Wizard'!" which makes it clear that he just wants to hear them play. John says,"Oh, hell, I'll do it myself." and turns his amplifier up to a 'whuh-oh!' setting. The Who then play the outro to 'Won't Get Fooled Again', which knocks Homer onto the ground and destroys a section of the wall, merging the towns again. Homer then blames [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] for everything that happened. Before Marge can object, Homer dips a rag in chloroform and puts it over her face, making her fall unconscious and he dances with her until the credits roll.
+
In retaliation for Kent Brockman insulting them, Homer turns the power off to Olde Springfield. Olde Springfield then retaliated back, dumping a shipment of beer headed for New Springfield in the river. In retaliation to this, the people of New Springfield cut off the water supply to Olde Springfield, drying up the river. The people of Olde Springfield then find gold at the bottom of the river and use it to buy a water plant for the town. With tensions rising, Homer decides to build a wall between the two towns, cutting off all routes into and out of town. When the rest of the people figure this out, they all climb over the wall, escaping to Olde Springfield, leaving only the Simpsons in New Springfield.
 +
 
 +
To try and draw the people back to New Springfield, Homer goes to see The Who to convince them to perform in New Springfield instead. He gets them to accept and they start to put on a show on the wall between New and Olde Springfield. When the rest of the Springfieldians hear the music, they confront Homer and start to fire flaming trash over the wall at him. The Who then stop the angry crowd and convince them to knock down the wall and get on with each other again. They then play "[[Won't Get Fooled Again]]" to help with the demolition whilst performing. Meanwhile, on the edge of town, a large army of badgers gather to attack the people of Springfield whilst they are dancing.
  
 
== Production ==
 
== Production ==
−
The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Shaun Cashman. The episode was pitched by [[John Frink]] and Don Payne based on Don's mom area where one side would spread rumors of the other side. Larry Doyle then pitched it to because of area code. Originally there would not be Snob vs. Slobs, but accidentally happened. They was backlash from the internet with Homer's interals being visible. The phone from the educational cartoon was voiced by [[Dan Castellaneta]]. The decision for who's on whose side was difficult with one time it being between [[Ned Flanders|Ned]] and Homer's house. [[Pete Townshend]] did not guest in the episode as he did not know he would be providing his own voice and assumed someone else would like in Yellow Submarine. Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Pete's brother, Paul Townshend provided guest voices in the episode. "I knew they didn't do a lot of cartoon work. But I really wanted to meet them, so it was worth a shot," Scully said. After a number of calls were made by the show's casting director in Los Angeles to The Who's managers in London, the group agreed to appear on the show. The animated versions of the band members included Daltrey in his trademark tight t-shirt and long curls, even though Daltrey cut the curls in the mid 1980s as they wanted to use the image The Who they are best known for. The Who recorded their lines in England, but still weighed in on script details. During the production the staff decided to animate Keith Moon instead of the current drummer in honor of him since he died in 1978. There was later an website about What badgers eat.
+
[[John Frink]] and [[Don Payne]] pitched the idea of the town splitting in two. The episode was inspired by Don Payne's mother's neighborhood, where each side of the neighborhood would spread rumors about the other side. [[Larry Doyle]] then came up with the idea of the town splitting due to the area codes.<ref name="Payne">{{Com|Payne, Don|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref> After the episode, a website was set up called whatbadgerseat.com<ref name="Jean">{{Com|Jean, Al|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref> which has since been redirected to fox.com. The producers didn't want the episode to become "snobs vs. sloths", which eventually did happen with the rich and poor divide in the town.<ref name="Scully">{{Com|Scully, Mike|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref> [[George Meyer]] pitched the chalkboard gag for the episode, which was a reference to the {{W|2000 United States presidential election}} which was happening at the time.<ref name="Scully"/>
−
=== Cuts ===
+
 
−
Several scenes in this episode are cut when it airs in syndication on [[Sky|Sky1]] in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] and [[Ireland]]; the cuts are present on [[Channel 4]], however.
+
The Who was the first choice for the band in the episode. The line of the split was changed several times, with one of the lines being between Homer and Ned's houses.<ref name="Scully"/> Bart keeping his pants off in the scene after he had them taken was not in the script but was done by the animators.<ref name="Cashman">{{Com|Cashman, Shaun|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref> The Who recorded their lines in [[London]], with [[Mike Scully]] and [[Dan Castellaneta]] going there to record. Pete Townshend didn't voice his character as he thought it would have been like ''{{W2|Yellow Submarine|film}}'' where [[The Beatles]] had other actors imitate their voices.<ref name="Scully"/> [[Roger Daltrey]] then got the idea to call Pete's brother [[Paul Townshend]] who looked and sounded like Pete and offered him money to voice Pete.<ref name="Castellaneta">{{Com|Castellaneta, Dan|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref> Roger Daltrey had talked Pete Townshend into voicing his character, but on the day of recording, he didn't show up, having changed his mind.<ref name="Daltrey">{{Com|Daltrey, Roger|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref>
  
−
* When [[KBBL]] are talking about a mattress on the freeway, the line '{{w|Joan Collins}} must be in town' is cut.
+
The animators based the look of The Who on how they looked in the '80s.<ref name="Cashman"/> The band wanted them to put {{W|Keith Moon}} in, rather than their current drummer {{W|Zak Starkey}}, to immortalize him after Moon passed away in 1978. The Who also helped with the designs for their costumes.<ref name="Scully"/>
−
* When Homer phones the radio station, it cuts from that scene to the town hall, missing out the scene with Homer strangling Bart, and Bart retaliating by hitting Homer on the head with the phone.
 
−
* [[Kent Brockman|Kent's]] 'Golden Showers' line is cut.
 
−
* All of the badger scenes (with the exception of the first) are cut.
 
−
* In other parts of the world, there is a scene right after the guard throws Homer and [[Bart Simpson]] into The Who's room, where Homer smashes a lamp to the ground, and Bart starts to kick the drum set.
 
−
*Kent Brockman's news report misses out the word "Evian" when he mentions Olde Springfield was rich enough to transport the Evian Water Factory to their town, to replace the blocked river.
 
−
* The entire episode was in fact heavily cut for syndication. Originally 22 minutes and 11 seconds long, two minutes and 10 seconds were cut, and the episode was expanded 46 seconds to a length of 20:47. This is still about a half-minute shorter than most syndicated versions.
 
−
*A deleted scene on the season 12 DVD shows that when Marge says that it's a little chilly, the singer replies "Oh, shut the fuck up, Marge." before smacking her with the microphone. This scene was cut because of the profanity. Even if it was aired, it would have been censored for the FCC.
 
  
 
== Reception ==
 
== Reception ==
−
The episode got a 3.96 out of 5 ranking 102 out of 373 episodes. Mort of the TV Legion said the episode is a memorable episode. Colin Jacobson of the DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review saying "Maybe it’s the low expectations that accompany 21st century Simpsons episodes, but “Tale” works for me. It takes a simple premise and turns in a good number of strong comedic bits. Hey, and a mention of “golden showers” keeps the season 12 perverted sexual practices streak going!" although he critizised the animaton of The Who other than Daltrey saying that "That’s particularly odd in the case of Pete, as he’d gone awfully bald and gray by 2000.". Jennifer Malkowski of the DVD Verdict said the Greatest Moment was A tie between "Sacred bond" and "Who huddle." Nancy Basile of About.com gave the episode a 5 writing "Finally! I loved this episode because, flashy guest stars aside, it got back to the heart and soul of the show."
+
According to producer [[George Meyer]], there was online backlash against the episode over the scene where Homer gets disemboweled by the badger, with fans finding it too disgusting for ''The Simpsons''.<ref name="Meyer">{{Com|Meyer, George|A Tale of Two Springfields|Twelfth|(2009).}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
As of January [[2020]], the episode has a 7.5 rating on {{W|IMDb}}<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701049/ IMDb - "A Tale of Two Springfields"]</ref> and a 7.9 rating on {{W|TV.com}}.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-simpsons/a-tale-of-two-springfields-3805/ TV.com - "A Tale of Two Springfields"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
== In other languages ==
 +
{{LanguageBox
 +
|de=yes
 +
|deName=Die Geschichte der zwei Springfields
 +
|deTrans=The story of the two Springfields
 +
|es=yes
 +
|esName=Historia de dos ciudades
 +
|esTrans=A Tale of Two Cities
 +
|la=yes
 +
|laName=El cuento de dos ciudades
 +
|laTrans=The Tale of Two Cities
 +
|fr=yes
 +
|frName=La Bataille des deux Springfield
 +
|frTrans=The Battle of the Two Springfields
 +
|qu=yes
 +
|quName=Un code, une ville
 +
|quTrans=One code, one city
 +
|it=yes
 +
|itName=La storia di due Springfield
 +
|itTrans=A Tale of Two Springfields
 +
|jp=yes
 +
|jpName=ホーマー市長の聖域なき構造計画
 +
|jpTrans=Mayor Homer's No Sacred Sites Structure Plan
 +
}}
  
 
== Promotional images ==
 
== Promotional images ==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
−
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo.png
+
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo 1.png
−
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo 2.jpg
+
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo 2.png
−
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo 3.jpg
+
File:A Tale of Two Springfields promo 3.png
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
−
== External links ==
+
== References ==
−
*{{imdb episode|id=0701049|episode=A Tale of Two Springfields}}
+
{{Reflist}}
−
*[http://www.whatbadgerseat.com/ Whatbadgerseat.com] A spoof site created after the episode.
 
−
 
 
  
 +
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{season 12}}
 
{{season 12}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of Two Springfields, A}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of Two Springfields, A}}
−
[[Category:Episodes]]
+
 
−
[[Category:Season 12]]
 
 
[[Category:2000]]
 
[[Category:2000]]
 
[[Category:Homer episodes]]
 
[[Category:Homer episodes]]
 +
[[Category:Episodes written by John Swartzwelder]]
 +
[[Category:Episodes directed by one time directors]]
  
 
[[sv:A Tale of Two Springfields]]
 
[[sv:A Tale of Two Springfields]]

Latest revision as of 12:17, August 30, 2024

Season 12 Episode
← 249 "Treehouse of Horror XI"
250
"A Tale of Two Springfields"
"Insane Clown Poppy" 251 →
"We're officially a city. Now we just sit back and wait for an NFL franchise."
―Homer Simpson
"A Tale of Two Springfields"
A Tale of Two Springfields.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 250
Season number: S12 E2
Production code: BABF20
Original airdate: November 5, 2000
Chalkboard gag: "I will not plant subliminal messagores"
Couch gag: Bart reaches the couch first and slips a whoopee cushion underneath Homer's side. When the family runs in, Homer predictably sets off the whoopee cushion's farting sound, causing him to grin sheepishly at a frowning Marge and Lisa while Bart laughs uproariously.
Guest star(s): The Who as themselves
Frank Welker as Flanders' pet woodpecker
Showrunner: Mike Scully
Written by: John Swartzwelder
Directed by: Shaun Cashman
DVD features


"A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode of season 12 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and fiftieth episode overall. It originally aired in November 5, 2000. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and directed by Shaun Cashman. It guest stars The Who as themselves and Frank Welker as the Flanders' pet woodpecker.

Synopsis[edit]

"While calling Animal Control over a badger taking residence in Santa's Little Helper's doghouse, Homer discovers that Springfield has two different area codes—and ends up leading a revolt that splits the town in two."


Plot[edit]

When trying to feed Santa's Little Helper, Bart finds a badger is living in the dog house. After some unsuccessful attempts at getting the badger out, including trying to feed it the Flanders' pet woodpecker, Homer decides to call Animal Control. However, Homer can't get through as the area code has changed, with Springfield now having two area codes. Homer gets annoyed at this and complains about it to his friends at work. Later, Homer is listening to KBBL Radio where they are giving away tickets to see The Who. They read out Homer's number, but the call goes to Mr. Burns instead, as the area code was no longer his.

A town meeting was called about the area codes, with Lindsey Naegle being the representative from the phone company. Naegle points out Homer in particular as being annoyed as he showed up wearing dynamite. To try and placate the crowd, she shows a movie featuring Phony McRing-Ring which satisfies most people without providing any answers. However, Homer isn't satisfied and goes on stage, and attempts to blow himself up. When this doesn't work, he riles up the crowd of people who had the area code changed and decides to form a new town, New Springfield. Homer is then made the mayor shortly after. At first, things seem to be going well, despite the rivalry between New Springfield and Olde Springfield. However, people start to get uncomfortable, with Marge feeling like people were glaring at her when she went shopping in Olde Springfield. Marge went home again, only feeling relaxed when she was back in New Springfield. The family then sat down to watch the news, where Kent Brockman insults the people of New Springfield.

In retaliation for Kent Brockman insulting them, Homer turns the power off to Olde Springfield. Olde Springfield then retaliated back, dumping a shipment of beer headed for New Springfield in the river. In retaliation to this, the people of New Springfield cut off the water supply to Olde Springfield, drying up the river. The people of Olde Springfield then find gold at the bottom of the river and use it to buy a water plant for the town. With tensions rising, Homer decides to build a wall between the two towns, cutting off all routes into and out of town. When the rest of the people figure this out, they all climb over the wall, escaping to Olde Springfield, leaving only the Simpsons in New Springfield.

To try and draw the people back to New Springfield, Homer goes to see The Who to convince them to perform in New Springfield instead. He gets them to accept and they start to put on a show on the wall between New and Olde Springfield. When the rest of the Springfieldians hear the music, they confront Homer and start to fire flaming trash over the wall at him. The Who then stop the angry crowd and convince them to knock down the wall and get on with each other again. They then play "Won't Get Fooled Again" to help with the demolition whilst performing. Meanwhile, on the edge of town, a large army of badgers gather to attack the people of Springfield whilst they are dancing.

Production[edit]

John Frink and Don Payne pitched the idea of the town splitting in two. The episode was inspired by Don Payne's mother's neighborhood, where each side of the neighborhood would spread rumors about the other side. Larry Doyle then came up with the idea of the town splitting due to the area codes.[1] After the episode, a website was set up called whatbadgerseat.com[2] which has since been redirected to fox.com. The producers didn't want the episode to become "snobs vs. sloths", which eventually did happen with the rich and poor divide in the town.[3] George Meyer pitched the chalkboard gag for the episode, which was a reference to the 2000 United States presidential election which was happening at the time.[3]

The Who was the first choice for the band in the episode. The line of the split was changed several times, with one of the lines being between Homer and Ned's houses.[3] Bart keeping his pants off in the scene after he had them taken was not in the script but was done by the animators.[4] The Who recorded their lines in London, with Mike Scully and Dan Castellaneta going there to record. Pete Townshend didn't voice his character as he thought it would have been like Yellow Submarine where The Beatles had other actors imitate their voices.[3] Roger Daltrey then got the idea to call Pete's brother Paul Townshend who looked and sounded like Pete and offered him money to voice Pete.[5] Roger Daltrey had talked Pete Townshend into voicing his character, but on the day of recording, he didn't show up, having changed his mind.[6]

The animators based the look of The Who on how they looked in the '80s.[4] The band wanted them to put Keith Moon in, rather than their current drummer Zak Starkey, to immortalize him after Moon passed away in 1978. The Who also helped with the designs for their costumes.[3]

Reception[edit]

According to producer George Meyer, there was online backlash against the episode over the scene where Homer gets disemboweled by the badger, with fans finding it too disgusting for The Simpsons.[7]

As of January 2020, the episode has a 7.5 rating on IMDb[8] and a 7.9 rating on TV.com.[9]

In other languages[edit]

Language Name Translation
Germany.png Deutsch "Die Geschichte der zwei Springfields" The story of the two Springfields
Spain flag.png Español "Historia de dos ciudades" A Tale of Two Cities
Hispanic America.gif Español "El cuento de dos ciudades" The Tale of Two Cities
France.png Français "La Bataille des deux Springfield" The Battle of the Two Springfields
Flag of Quebec.svg.png Français "Un code, une ville" One code, one city
Italy Flag.png Italiano "La storia di due Springfield" A Tale of Two Springfields
Flag of Japan.png 日本語 "ホーマー市長の聖域なき構造計画" Mayor Homer's No Sacred Sites Structure Plan

Promotional images[edit]

  • A Tale of Two Springfields promo 1.png
  • A Tale of Two Springfields promo 2.png
  • A Tale of Two Springfields promo 3.png

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Payne, Don (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  2. ↑ Jean, Al (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Scully, Mike (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cashman, Shaun (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  5. ↑ Castellaneta, Dan (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  6. ↑ Daltrey, Roger (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  7. ↑ Meyer, George (2009). Commentary for "A Tale of Two Springfields", in The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season.
  8. ↑ IMDb - "A Tale of Two Springfields"
  9. ↑ TV.com - "A Tale of Two Springfields"


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "A Tale of Two Springfields".
Season 12 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror XI • A Tale of Two Springfields • Insane Clown Poppy • Lisa the Tree Hugger • Homer vs. Dignity • The Computer Wore Menace Shoes • The Great Money Caper • Skinner's Sense of Snow • HOMЯ • Pokey Mom • Worst Episode Ever • Tennis the Menace • Day of the Jackanapes • New Kids on the Blecch • Hungry, Hungry Homer • Bye, Bye, Nerdie • Simpson Safari • Trilogy of Error • I'm Goin' to Praiseland • Children of a Lesser Clod • Simpsons Tall Tales
Retrieved from "https://simpsonswiki.com/w/index.php?title=A_Tale_of_Two_Springfields&oldid=1317085"
  • Modified on August 30, 2024, at 12:17.
  • Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
  • Powered by MediaWiki