Difference between revisions of "Viva Ned Flanders"

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"Viva Ned Flanders" is the tenth episode of season 10 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and thirteenth episode overall. It originally aired on January 10, 1999. The episode was written by David M. Stern and directed by Neil Affleck. It guest stars The Moody Blues as themselves.

Synopsis

"Discouraged by sixty years of minding his P's and Q's, Ned Flanders asks Homer to reveal the secret of his intoxicating lust for life. But Homer's plans to put the spice back into Ned's life go haywire when they land the pair in wedlock with two grubby casino cocktail waitresses."

Plot

The Mr. Burns' Casino is getting demolished after being closed for a while, due to becoming forgotten about a week after it opened. The detonation used to demolish it is an explosion rather than an implosion and the people watching the demolition run away to avoid the dust cloud that follows. As the Simpsons get into their car and drive off, they get engulfed by the dust cloud, making the car filthy. Marge suggests that Homer take the car to get washed, but he says he'll do it later. Lenny then drives alongside them and tells Homer he should get the car washed, and Homer agrees to do so. At the Car Wash, Homer notices that Ned uses a senior citizens discount to get cheaper gas.

At church the next day, Homer confronts Ned in front of the entire congregation about using a discount he didn't have the right to use. Ned admits to Homer and the congregation that he is actually 60, so is a senior citizen. When the congregation question Ned on how he has stayed looking so young. Ned tells everyone that he resists all major urges, which is how he stays young. The congregation then mock Ned for never properly living for even a single day. Ned initially dismisses this but when he sees everyone else having fun, and realizes that he is very predictable, Ned decides to try and change his ways. After failing to impress his family with the minor change of not trimming his mustache, Ned goes to Homer for help.

Homer has Ned sign documents to get him into the "Homer Simpson Program" and then takes Ned out to have fun. Homer tells Ned that he has to take snap decisions, then decides to take Ned gambling at the Mr. Burns' Casino, forgetting that it had been demolished. Homer then takes Ned to Las Vegas instead, despite Ned not really wanting to go. Homer takes Ned to Nero's Palace where he and Homer play roulette. After winning the first bet they make, Homer puts all of Ned's money on the line and loses everything. He then takes Ned to the bar where they meet two waitresses, Amber and Ginger, and spend the rest of the day and night getting drunk.

The next morning, Homer and Ned wake up in a hot tub in a hotel suite and can't remember anything. Ned starts to thank Homer for taking him out until Ginger and Amber come out of another room and reveal that Ned and Homer married them that night. Homer and Ned are horrified at this because they can't remember it, and they already have wives. The pair decide to take their new wives to breakfast as they try and figure out how to get the waitresses to leave them alone. As the two of them are at the buffet table discussing it, Homer decides to just run, and Ned follows him. Casino security is then notified by Amber and Ginger to Homer and Ned trying to run from them and all the staff join the chase, eventually capturing the pair.

Homer and Ned are kicked out of Las Vegas at the edge of town and made to walk through the desert as Homer and Ned discuss their excuse to their wives. Homer comes up with an alien abduction where Ned is gang probed by the aliens. The pair are then followed by some vultures who then attack them.

Production

At the time the episode was being produced, there was a lot of talk on the news about buildings being imploded, so the producers wanted to implode something. So, they decided to implode the Mr. Burns' Casino from the season 5 episode "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)".^[1] The dust cloud was based on the observation that everyone would want to watch the implosion so would get close, but didn't realize there would be a dust cloud after.^[2]

Regarding Ned's age, the writers debated on how old they could get away with making him. The writers kept pushing his age up until they got to 57 or 58, but then they decided to go with 60.^[1] When Homer and Ned drive to Vegas, they are passed by Raoul Duke and Doctor Gonzo in a reference to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson. This scene was pitched by Meyer who said that they had to do a Ralph Steadman tribute since they were going to Vegas.^[2] Lance Murdock's assistant is the Fake Lisa Simpson from "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" as the animators reused the character in that scene.^[3]

The morning after Homer and Ned's alcohol binge had the two of them wake up clothes in the jacuzzi. The producers discussed whether they should wake up naked or clothed, with Matt Groening wanting them to wake up naked. It was decided against though as it would "raise some questions".^[4] A shot was cut from the same scene where we see from Ned's point of view as he wakes up, and he sees Homer's open mouth as he's sleeping. This was cut because the shot was deemed Fellini-esque and didn't fit The Simpsons.^[3] Mike Scully also suggested that Ned should throw up on screen, but nothing came from this idea.^[1]

For the chase scene through the casino, Mike Scully wanted to use the cover of "Viva Las Vegas" by Bruce Springsteen from the complication cover album The Last Temptation of Elvis rather than the one by Elvis Presley. However, they couldn't clear the rights to use the song in time for the episode so they went for the Elvis version. The Moody Blues guest starred in the episode. Scully said that they were good actors.^[1]

Reception

"Viva Ned Flanders" was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in the 51st Primetime Emmy Awards. However, it lost to "And They Call It Bobby Love" from King of the Hill.^[5]

As of July 2023, the episode has a 7.8 rating on IMDb.^[6]

References

Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Viva Ned Flanders".