Town Jubilation Committee
- "Mm, he's embiggened that role with his cromulent performance."
- ―Seymour Skinner, on Homer's performance as town crier
The Town Jubilation Committee was a group of Springfield citizens who oversaw the town's bicentennial celebration. The committee was responsible for organizing the bicentennial parade and upholding the legacy of town founder Jebediah Springfield.
History
The Town Jubilation Committee was first seen appointing townspeople to fill roles in the parade such as water churner, typhoid carrier and apprentice. Homer Simpson auditioned for, and won, the role of town crier even though the committee had already decided to give the job to Ned Flanders. Homer's criering impressed the committee, and when Ned agreed that his ownership of the crier's hat and bell shouldn't stand in the way of Homer getting the job, the committee made Homer the crier.
The Town Jubilation Committee was put to its greatest test, however, when Lisa Simpson discovered evidence Jebediah Springfield was a fraud—in reality, he was a murderous pirate named Hans Sprungfeld. Lisa's revelation at the committee's meeting caused the celebration's corporate sponsor to exit as, they said, a pirate was hardly the image for Long John Silver's (itself named after fictional pirate Long John Silver). Lisa said that the proof of Jebediah's fraud was that Sprungfeld had lost his tongue in a fight and had it replaced with a silver prosthetic, and the silver tongue would be in Jebediah's coffin. To debunk Lisa's claim, the committee agreed to the extreme measure of having Jebediah exhumed. No silver tongue was found, but it was later revealed that town historian Hollis Hurlbut had stolen the tongue.
Lisa found further evidence of Jebediah Springfield's deception, and was about to publicly denounce him. As she approached a microphone, the length to which the Town Celebration Committee was willing to go to protect Jebediah's legacy was revealed. A sharpshooter, closely supervised by Mayor Quimby, was seen taking aim at her from a nearby rooftop. The sharpshooter said he thought he could pick her off, but Quimby said to wait and hear what she had to say. After a few moments' thought, Lisa decided that the truth was less important than the fact that Jebediah's legacy brought out the best in everyone. Instead of denouncing Jebediah Springfield as a fraud, she said that she had learned that Jebediah was great, and the crowd applauded. However, apparently either Quimby or the sharpshooter was unmoved. As Lisa left the stage to join the festivities, a bullet was seen hitting the stage near to where she had been standing.
Membership
The members of the Town Jubilation Committee were several of the town's well-known authority figures:
- Mayor Joe Quimby (Chairman)
- Police Chief Clancy Wiggum
- Rev. Timothy Lovejoy, Jr.
- Springfield Elementary School Principal Seymour Skinner
- Dr. Julius Hibbert
The members took widely varying approaches to their duties. Mayor Quimby took his position very seriously: When Homer indulged in some celebratory criering after winning the role for the parade, Quimby ordered him to restrict his criering to officially sanctioned events. Chief Wiggum, on the other hand, took a very flippant approach, using Jebediah Springfield's skull as a hand puppet after his coffin was opened.
Appearances
