Difference between revisions of "White Christmas Blues"

Episode number:	538
Season number:	S25 E8
Production code:	SABF01
Original airdate:	December 15, 2013
Title screen:	Barney and his reindeer.
Billboard gag:	Krusty's Kristmas Karol - With Sideshow Bob Hatchet
Chalkboard gag:	I will not call my teacher "Prancer" and "Vixen"
Couch gag:	Christmas version of the opening sequence, this time, as a retelling of The Night Before Christmas.
Showrunner:	[[Al Jean]]
Written by:	Don Payne
Directed by:	Steven Dean Moore

[[Category:Episodes showrun by Al Jean]]

"White Christmas Blues" is the eighth episode of season 25 of The Simpsons and the five-hundred and thirty-eighth episode overall. It originally aired on December 15, 2013. The episode was written by Don Payne and directed by Steven Dean Moore.

Synopsis

"Springfield is inundated with holiday revelers after the nuclear power plant springs a radiation leak, causing snow to fall all over town. When the tourists drive up Christmas shopping prices, Marge opens up the Simpsons' house to boarders."

Plot

After watching The Itchy & Scratchy Show episode "It's a Wonderful Knife", a news broadcast comes on saying that there will be no snow at Christmas due to global warming. As the Simpsons get ready for a year without snow, Homer goes outside to his hammock. However, he realizes that it was snowing, which made him and the kids happy. At a town meeting in the Town Square, Professor Frink points out that the snow is only in Springfield due to the radiation from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and the particles from the Springfield Tire Fire. This leads to an influx of tourists coming to Springfield to have Christmas in the snow.

Due to the amount of tourists flooding into town, prices rise and supplies dwindle. This leads to Marge struggling to provide a decent Christmas for her family. As Marge was going into the house after shopping, a family approached her in their car and asked if they could rent a room for $300 a night from her as everywhere in town was booked up. Marge reluctantly agrees because she needs the money and lets them stay in the rec room. When Homer gets back home, he's shocked to find that Marge is having them share the house with strangers. However, he accepts it after he imagines what Baby Jesus would do in his place.

Whilst Homer and Marge look after the adults, Bart looks after the kids, letting them play video games and quarantining the girls because they have cooties. At the First Church of Springfield, Reverend Lovejoy prepares for his big Christmas sermon and manages to write a sermon that he thinks is good. When he goes to read the sermon, he wins over the attendees and they leave with a positive message. Back at the Simpson house, as Homer and Marge struggle to look after their boarders, they become more weary of them all and start to lose their patience.

Lisa goes shopping at Towne Centre at Springfielde Glenne to find thoughtful presents for her family. Whilst there, Lisa learns that the Leftorium has shut down and been replaced with the Leftorium Express. Lisa finds everyone's presents and eventually finds a gift for Bart. Back at home, the boarders sing carols with Grampa playing the piano. Marge begins to lose her temper with the boarders and starts snapping at them all. Christmas day arrives and Lisa shares her presents with everyone, but her gifts disappoint everyone. Bart was most disappointed as he got a copy of Treasure Island, a book which he didn't care about. That night, a page from the book flies through Lisa's window and she finds that Bart is burning it, which upsets her. Bart tells Lisa that she only got everyone those gifts to make herself feel better, not make anyone else happy.

Lisa realizes that Bart was right and gets him a tablet to use instead of the book. As the boarders get ready to leave, Marge feels bad about the way she acted towards them. As Marge apologizes to the boarders, they sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to her and the family, thanking them for taking them in. They then sing "Good King Wenceslas", which Marge doesn't like so she leaves and uses the blender to drown it out.

Production

This episode had a Christmas-version of the opening sequence.

Script for the Episode

Reception

In its initial airing, the episode received a 3.5 rating and was watched by a total of 8.48 million people. This made it the highest watched show on Animation Domination that night.^[1]

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C rating. He complained about the episode being padded out with an extended opening sequence and multiple sight gags that made the episode "thinner". He also talked about how the episode took too long to reach its main plot after multiple fake-outs.^[2]

As of November 2011, "White Christmas Blues" has a 6.4 rating on IMDb.^[3]

International premieres

Country	Date	Channel	Note
Latin America	June 22, 2014; 8:30PM (Argentina Time)	Fox Latin America

Gallery

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References

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "White Christmas Blues".

← Season 24 Season 25 Episodes Season 26 →
Homerland • Treehouse of Horror XXIV • Four Regrettings and a Funeral • YOLO • Labor Pains • The Kid Is All Right • Yellow Subterfuge • White Christmas Blues • Steal This Episode • Married to the Blob • Specs and the City • Diggs • The Man Who Grew Too Much • The Winter of His Content • The War of Art • You Don't Have to Live Like a Referee • Luca$ • Days of Future Future • What to Expect When Bart's Expecting • Brick Like Me • Pay Pal • The Yellow Badge of Cowardge

[1] TV by the Numbers - "Sunday Final Ratings: '60 Minutes' Adjusted Down, No Adjustment for 'Revenge' or 'Survivor'" (archived on Wayback Machine)

[2] The A.V. Club - "The Simpsons: "White Christmas Blues""

[3] IMDb - "White Christmas Blues"

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