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"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge"

Episode Information Showrunner: [[{{{showrunner}}}]]

"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' second season, airing on December 20, 1990.

Plot

Homer attempts to build Marge a spice rack. While he is doing so, Maggie sneaks up and hits Homer on the head with a mallet. Marge is at first clueless as to why Maggie would do such a thing, but Maggie sees an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show, a cartoon which is known for its violence, and tries to stab Homer with a pencil. Marge immediately blames The Itchy & Scratchy Show for Maggie's actions and bans Bart and Lisa from watching the show. Despite the ban, Bart and Lisa still manage to watch Itchy & Scratchy at friends houses. Marge writes a letter to the producers of the show asking them to tone down their violence and in response, Roger Meyers, Jr.—the CEO of Itchy & Scratchy International—writes a letter to Marge, telling her one person can not make a difference and calls her a "screwball". In response, Marge decides to "show what one screwball can do".

Marge forms "Springfieldians for Nonviolence, Understanding, and Helping" (SNUH) and forces the family to picket outside the Itchy & Scratchy Studios. Marge's protest gains momentum and soon more people join the group and even start to picket The Krusty the Klown Show, on which Itchy & Scratchy is shown. Marge appears on Kent Brockman's show, Smartline where she confronts Roger Meyers over the violence and suggests that concerned parents send letters to Meyers. Many angry letters are sent to the Studio and Roger Meyers concedes defeat, and agrees to eliminate violence in Itchy & Scratchy. Eventually, a new short in which Itchy & Scratchy sit on a porch drinking lemonade airs, but Bart, Lisa, and other kids across Springfield reject the cleaned-up show. A lengthy montage follows, in which the children of Springfield go outside and engage in various wholesome activities and that night Bart and Lisa brag about their various outdoor activities while Marge listens happily.

Meanwhile, Michelangelo's David goes on a coast-to-coast tour of the U.S. and will stop in Springfield. The members of SNUH urge Marge to protest the sculpture, insisting that the sculpture is offensive and unsuitable. However, Marge argues that the sculpture is a masterpiece. Deciding that it is wrong to censor one form of art but not another, she decides to give up her anti-cartoon violence protest. Itchy & Scratchy immediately returns to its old form and Springfield's children abandon their wholesome activities. Homer and Marge go to see David and Marge expresses her disappointment that the kids are watching cartoons rather than seeing the sculpture. She cheers up when Homer tells her that the school will be forcing them to go.^[1][2][3]

Production

Itchy & Scratchy & Marge is an acclaimed episode which dealt with censorship issues and allowed the writers to have a lot of Itchy & Scratchy cartoons, which many fans had been clamoring for.^[4] The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, who loved Itchy & Scratchy and wrote several episodes that have them at the centre.^[5] The episode was partially inspired by Terry Rakolta, who protested the Fox network over the show Married... with Children.^[4] For the episode, which handles a large issue, the writers tried not to have a point of view and looked at both sides, despite what the writers personally felt.^[5] During the original airing of the episode, the Fox satellite blew out and the entire West coast of the United States missed the first act of the episode.^[6]

This was the first episode directed by Jim Reardon, who had previously made a student film called "Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown" which was very violent and the experience served him well for this episode.^[6] There are several characters who work at I&S studios who are caricatures of real people: the cartoonist who draws the Marge/Squirrel is based on Eddie Fitzgerald, who worked at Filmation and the three people with Meyers when he is asking Marge for suggestions are caricatures of Rich Moore, David Silverman and Wes Archer.^[6]

Alex Rocco makes his first of three appearances as Roger Meyers. Many people behind The Simpsons were huge fans of The Godfather and Jim Reardon looked for a way to shoot him in the eye as a reference to Rocco's character, Moe Greene.^[6]

The long montage of the Kids of Springfield playing was directed by Bob Anderson^[6] and is making a satirical point by saying the opposite of what the writers believed.^[7] The segment was written by John Swartzwelder and the idea of using Beethoven's 6th Symphony was in the original script. James L. Brooks had wanted the episode to end with the montage, but the writers disagreed.^[5] Roger Meyers, Jr. makes his first appearance in this episode, as does Sideshow Mel, although he does not have any lines until the later episode "Black Widower".^[2]

Trivia

• Homer's hammer still has the price tag connected.

Cultural References

• The scene where Maggie attacks Homer with a mallet is a recreation of the shower scene from Psycho.

Appearances

Characters

• Marge Simpson
• Homer Simpson
• Bart Simpson
• Lisa Simpson
• Maggie Simpson
• Itchy & Scratchy
• Krusty the Clown
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Nelson Muntz
• Janey Powell
• Roger Meyers Jr.
• Maude Flanders
• Ned Flanders
• Timothy Lovejoy
• Helen Lovejoy
• Sideshow Mel
• Corporal Punishment
• Kent Brockman
• Dr. Marvin Monroe

Reception

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide praised the episode, stating that "Homer's doomed attempt to build a spice rack is only the start of another great episode, which works as a superb debate about television violence and politically inspired censorship." As well as noting that "the ending is especially poignant, as the pedagogues of Springfield swoop on Michelangelo's David as an example of filth and degradation". Empire named the Psycho parody as the second best film parody in the show. "The best throwaway gags blindside the unsuspecting viewer in episodes that are nominally about something else [...] Hitchcock is ripped off more than any other director but this is the most lovingly rendered reference."