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Difference between revisions of "The President Wore Pearls"

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{{Episode
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|image= The President Wore Pearls.png
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|number= 316
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|season=15
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|snumber=3
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|prodcode= EABF20
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|airdate= November 16, [[2003]]
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|couchgag= A camera click can be heard as an Polaroid photo lands to the couch. It develops to show the Simpson family.
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|guests= [[Michael Moore]] as {{Ch|Michael Moore|himself}}
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|showrunner1= Al Jean
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|writer= [[Dana Gould]]
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|director= [[Mike B. Anderson]]
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}}
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"'''The President Wore Pearls'''" is the third episode of [[season 15]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the three-hundred and sixteenth episode overall. It originally aired on November 16, [[2003]]. The episode was written by [[Dana Gould]] and directed by [[Mike B. Anderson]]. It guest stars [[Michael Moore]] as {{Ch|Michael Moore|himself}}.
  
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|image = The_President_Wore_Pearls.png
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== Synopsis ==
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|Episode Number = 316
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{{Desc|[[Lisa]] is elected student-body president at [[Springfield Elementary School|Springfield Elementary]] and immediately falls foul of [[Principal Skinner]], who fools her into taking popular classes off the curriculum. Angry at his deception, she retaliates by calling her classmates out on strike.}}
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|productionCode = EABF20
 
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|originalAirdate = November 16, 2003
 
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|couchGag = A camera click can be heard as an Polaroid photo lands to the couch. It develops to show the Simpsons family.
 
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|specialGuestVoices = [[wikipedia:Michael_Moore|Michael Moore]] as Himself
 
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|Written By = [[Dana Gould]]
 
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|Directed By = [[Mike B. Anderson]]
 
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}}
 
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'''The President Wore Pearls''' is the third episode of the [[Season 15|fifteenth season]]. It contains some loosely-concealed references to Evita Peron and the muscial anout her life.
 
  
 
== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
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Springfield Elementary holds a casino night as a fundraiser, the brainchild of student body president Martin Prince. Homer wins big, but when Martin points out that his winnings can only be redeemed for prizes and not real money, the angry casino patrons riot. After the chaos has cleared, Principal Skinner tells Martin he must resign as president. An election for a new president is announced, and Lisa signs up. However, initially Nelson Muntz is favored to win solely on popularity despite Lisa's good idea's. During a debate in the school auditorium, she sings a song (a spoof of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina") about how she will fight for student rights, winning them over.
+
[[File:I Am Their Queen.png|thumb|left|Lisa after her makeover]]
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The [[Simpson family]] attend a casino night at the [[Springfield Elementary School]]. Whilst [[Marge]] goes crazy with her gambling, [[Homer]] places a big bet and wins. When he goes to cash in his chips, he finds out that no real money is being exchanged. When everyone finds this out, they go wild and destroy the casino hall. After this disaster, [[Principal Skinner]] tells [[Martin]], whose idea it was, that he has to step down as class president due to this failure. The school then gets ready to elect a new class president.
 +
 
 +
Upon seeing the sign-up sheet, Lisa decided to run for president. However, [[Nelson]] also does so. Nelson proves to be a very popular candidate, winning over the other students. On stage during a debate, Nelson wins over the students whilst Lisa's ideas fail to gain any traction. Upon realizing that there was no hope left, Lisa started to sing "[[A Vote for a Winner]]". This song moved the audience and won over the students. Nelson then came up with a song too, "[[I Am Iron Man]]", which was ignored.
 +
 
 +
The day of the vote, Lisa ended up winning, to Nelson's surprise. Lisa was then invited to the teachers' lounge and given a makeover because the school president had to look the part too. Lisa took to her role quickly, posing for photo ops and proving to be popular. She then went to the teachers' lounge to give a list of things she wanted changed with the school, which all proved unpopular with the teachers. Skinner then gave Lisa a key to the school to get her to stop suggesting changes. Lisa went home and excitedly told her family all about her role. However, [[Bart]] told Lisa that Skinner was just using her.
 +
 
 +
At school the next day, Skinner put his evil plan in motion. He got Lisa to sign off on allowing him to take away gym, art and music subjects and activities from the school. When these got taken away, everyone was shocked to find that Lisa signed off on it. At home, Lisa was upset with what happened and blamed herself. Homer told Lisa that she has to stand up to the teachers for what they did. Lisa went back to school the next day and confronted Skinner over it. She then asked to make an announcement to the school and called a student strike. This strike drew the attention of the police, the local news and {{Ch|Michael Moore}}, with the police joining in with the strike. Eventually, the teachers came up with an idea and transferred Lisa to the [[Springfield Magnet School]]. Upon arriving at the school, Lisa decided that she liked it and wanted to stay until Homer pulled up in his car and took her away, saying he wasn't going to drive forty-five minutes a day to take Lisa to school.
  
−
Lisa easily wins the election. Worried by her determination and popularity, the faculty discusses how to control her. Following Mrs. Krabappel that a woman's weakness is vanity, the school faculty tells Lisa that as President, she deserves a more glamorous look. Another song is sung (a spoof of "Rainbow High") as the teachers give Lisa a makeover into a Bananas Eva Perón Hates. She is initially resistant, but gives in since she reasons she'll still be able to fight for the kids. The students love her more than ever, but the faculty plan on using her to distract the kids from the fact that they are cutting music, gym, and art (basically all the fun classes) from the curriculum to save on the budget. Realizing she was seduced by glamor, Lisa goes back to her old spiky hair and plain red dress. After resigning as president, Lisa leads the students in a strike.
+
Before the end credits, subtitles on the screen said that Springfield Elementary found the money to restore music, gym and art by canceling flu shots and selling loose cigarettes. The subtitles then said that on the advice of their lawyers, they have never heard of a musical based on the life of {{W|Eva Perón}}.
  
−
The students leave school in protest and Michael Moore (voicing himself) shows up to take their side. The police arrive at the school to handle the students, but Lisa wins over the police too. Several other labor unions, including goat milkers, newsroom cue card holders and theme park zombies join the strike. Groundskeeper Willie refuses Skinner's order to turn his hose on the students. Realizing there is no other way out of the crippling strike other than disposing of Lisa again, Skinner has her transferred to a school for the gifted. When she arrives there, Homer shows up to explain that he is not driving 45 minutes just to take her to school each day, and so everything ends up back to normal. A subtitle states that the elementary school cancels flu shots and sells loose cigarettes to pay for the restoration of music, art and gym. The subtitle also states that the producers of the show, based on the advice of their lawyers, never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Peron.
+
== Production ==
 +
[[Michael Moore]] recorded his lines at a studio in [[Michigan]], which is also the same studio that [[Julie Kavner]] uses often.<ref name="Moore">{{Com|Moore, Michael|The President Wore Pearls|Fifteenth|(2012).}}</ref> The episode was made as a parody of ''{{W2|Evita|musical}}'' because [[Al Jean]] liked [[Yeardley Smith]]'s singing voice and thought that using her in a political musical would be a good idea. At the table read, Yeardley sang to the original melodies of the songs they parodied but they changed the tunes later for legal reasons.<ref name="Jean">{{Com|Jean, Al|The President Wore Pearls|Fifteenth|(2012).}}</ref> [[Mike B. Anderson]] said that Lisa's makeover hair was really hard to draw and that the animators drew it looking a lot wackier.<ref name="Anderson">{{Com|Anderson, Mike B.|The President Wore Pearls|Fifteenth|(2012).}}</ref> It was Al Jean's idea to get Michael Moore into the episode in the news broadcast.<ref name="Jean"/>
  
 
== Reception ==
 
== Reception ==
−
In 2007, [http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/08/top10simpsons200708 Vanity Fair] called "The President Wore Pearls" the tenth best episode of The Simpsons, the most recent episode on the list. John Orvted said, "It may seem ludicrous to include anything later than Season 8 in this list, but this one is brilliant. The musical numbers are astoundingly good, and Lisa's comeuppance is so well constructed it harkens back to the golden years of the show."
+
In 2007, {{W|Vanity Fair}} called "The President Wore Pearls" the tenth best episode of The Simpsons, the most recent episode on the list. John Orvted said, "It may seem ludicrous to include anything later than season 8 in this list, but this one is brilliant. The musical numbers are astoundingly good, and Lisa's comeuppance is so well constructed it harkens back to the golden years of the show."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070712145315/https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2007/08/top10simpsons200708 Vanity Fair - "Springfield's Best"] archived on {{W|Wayback Machine}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
The song "[[A Vote for a Winner]]" was nominated for a {{W|Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics}} in the {{W|56th Primetime Emmy Awards}}. However, it lost to "Because You Are Beautiful" from ''{{W|V-Day: Until the Violence Stops}}''.<ref>[https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2004/outstanding-original-music-and-lyrics Television Academy - "Outstanding Music and Lyrics – 2004"]</ref>
 +
 
 +
As of October [[2019]], the episode has a 6.9 rating on {{W|IMDb}}<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701256/ IMDb - "The President Wore Pearls"]</ref> and a 8.1 rating on {{W|TV.com}}.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-simpsons/the-president-wore-pearls-207763/ TV.com - "The President Wore Pearls"]</ref>
  
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The episode was also nominated for an [[Emmy]] for Outstanding Music (by [[Alf Clausen]]) And Lyrics (by [[Dana Gould]]).
+
== References ==
 +
{{Reflist}}
  
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{{Season 15}}
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
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{{season 15}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:President Wore Pearls, The}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:President Wore Pearls, The}}
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[[Category:Episodes]]
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[[sv:The President Wore Pearls]]
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[[Category:Season 15]]
 
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[[Category:Musical Episodes]]
 
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[[Category:Episodes centering on Education]]
 
 
[[Category:2003]]
 
[[Category:2003]]
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[[Category:Lisa episodes]]
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[[Category:Principal Skinner episodes]]
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[[Category:Musical episodes]]
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[[Category:Education-themed episodes]]
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[[Category:12-rated episodes]]
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[[Category:Primetime Emmy Award nominated episodes]]
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[[Category:Episodes written by Dana Gould]]
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Mike B. Anderson]]

Latest revision as of 13:42, November 5, 2024

Season 15 Episode
← 315 "My Mother the Carjacker"
316
"The President Wore Pearls"
"The Regina Monologues" 317 →
"The President Wore Pearls"
The President Wore Pearls.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 316
Season number: S15 E3
Production code: EABF20
Original airdate: November 16, 2003
Couch gag: A camera click can be heard as an Polaroid photo lands to the couch. It develops to show the Simpson family.
Guest star(s): Michael Moore as himself
Showrunner: Al Jean
Written by: Dana Gould
Directed by: Mike B. Anderson


"The President Wore Pearls" is the third episode of season 15 of The Simpsons and the three-hundred and sixteenth episode overall. It originally aired on November 16, 2003. The episode was written by Dana Gould and directed by Mike B. Anderson. It guest stars Michael Moore as himself.

Synopsis[edit]

"Lisa is elected student-body president at Springfield Elementary and immediately falls foul of Principal Skinner, who fools her into taking popular classes off the curriculum. Angry at his deception, she retaliates by calling her classmates out on strike."


Plot[edit]

Lisa after her makeover

The Simpson family attend a casino night at the Springfield Elementary School. Whilst Marge goes crazy with her gambling, Homer places a big bet and wins. When he goes to cash in his chips, he finds out that no real money is being exchanged. When everyone finds this out, they go wild and destroy the casino hall. After this disaster, Principal Skinner tells Martin, whose idea it was, that he has to step down as class president due to this failure. The school then gets ready to elect a new class president.

Upon seeing the sign-up sheet, Lisa decided to run for president. However, Nelson also does so. Nelson proves to be a very popular candidate, winning over the other students. On stage during a debate, Nelson wins over the students whilst Lisa's ideas fail to gain any traction. Upon realizing that there was no hope left, Lisa started to sing "A Vote for a Winner". This song moved the audience and won over the students. Nelson then came up with a song too, "I Am Iron Man", which was ignored.

The day of the vote, Lisa ended up winning, to Nelson's surprise. Lisa was then invited to the teachers' lounge and given a makeover because the school president had to look the part too. Lisa took to her role quickly, posing for photo ops and proving to be popular. She then went to the teachers' lounge to give a list of things she wanted changed with the school, which all proved unpopular with the teachers. Skinner then gave Lisa a key to the school to get her to stop suggesting changes. Lisa went home and excitedly told her family all about her role. However, Bart told Lisa that Skinner was just using her.

At school the next day, Skinner put his evil plan in motion. He got Lisa to sign off on allowing him to take away gym, art and music subjects and activities from the school. When these got taken away, everyone was shocked to find that Lisa signed off on it. At home, Lisa was upset with what happened and blamed herself. Homer told Lisa that she has to stand up to the teachers for what they did. Lisa went back to school the next day and confronted Skinner over it. She then asked to make an announcement to the school and called a student strike. This strike drew the attention of the police, the local news and Michael Moore, with the police joining in with the strike. Eventually, the teachers came up with an idea and transferred Lisa to the Springfield Magnet School. Upon arriving at the school, Lisa decided that she liked it and wanted to stay until Homer pulled up in his car and took her away, saying he wasn't going to drive forty-five minutes a day to take Lisa to school.

Before the end credits, subtitles on the screen said that Springfield Elementary found the money to restore music, gym and art by canceling flu shots and selling loose cigarettes. The subtitles then said that on the advice of their lawyers, they have never heard of a musical based on the life of Eva Perón.

Production[edit]

Michael Moore recorded his lines at a studio in Michigan, which is also the same studio that Julie Kavner uses often.[1] The episode was made as a parody of Evita because Al Jean liked Yeardley Smith's singing voice and thought that using her in a political musical would be a good idea. At the table read, Yeardley sang to the original melodies of the songs they parodied but they changed the tunes later for legal reasons.[2] Mike B. Anderson said that Lisa's makeover hair was really hard to draw and that the animators drew it looking a lot wackier.[3] It was Al Jean's idea to get Michael Moore into the episode in the news broadcast.[2]

Reception[edit]

In 2007, Vanity Fair called "The President Wore Pearls" the tenth best episode of The Simpsons, the most recent episode on the list. John Orvted said, "It may seem ludicrous to include anything later than season 8 in this list, but this one is brilliant. The musical numbers are astoundingly good, and Lisa's comeuppance is so well constructed it harkens back to the golden years of the show."[4]

The song "A Vote for a Winner" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics in the 56th Primetime Emmy Awards. However, it lost to "Because You Are Beautiful" from V-Day: Until the Violence Stops.[5]

As of October 2019, the episode has a 6.9 rating on IMDb[6] and a 8.1 rating on TV.com.[7]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Moore, Michael (2012). Commentary for "The President Wore Pearls", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteenth Season.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jean, Al (2012). Commentary for "The President Wore Pearls", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteenth Season.
  3. ↑ Anderson, Mike B. (2012). Commentary for "The President Wore Pearls", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fifteenth Season.
  4. ↑ Vanity Fair - "Springfield's Best" archived on Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Television Academy - "Outstanding Music and Lyrics – 2004"
  6. ↑ IMDb - "The President Wore Pearls"
  7. ↑ TV.com - "The President Wore Pearls"


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The President Wore Pearls".
Season 15 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror XIV • My Mother the Carjacker • The President Wore Pearls • The Regina Monologues • The Fat and the Furriest • Today I Am a Clown • 'Tis the Fifteenth Season • Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays • I, (Annoyed Grunt)-bot • Diatribe of a Mad Housewife • Margical History Tour • Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore • Smart and Smarter • The Ziff Who Came to Dinner • Co-Dependent's Day • The Wandering Juvie • My Big Fat Geek Wedding • Catch 'Em If You Can • Simple Simpson • The Way We Weren't • Bart-Mangled Banner • Fraudcast News
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