The Springfield Files
"The Springfield Files"
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Episode Information
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"The Springfield Files" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of The Simpsons. It features Leonard Nimoy and The X-Files stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, who appear as their X-Files characters, Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully.
Plot
Leonard Nimoy begins the episode hosting a show about alien encounters. He begins talking about an encounter in a town called Springfield.
At Moe's on Friday night, Homer drinks over ten bottles of "Red Tick Beer", a brand that is brewed with real dogs. He takes a breathalyzer test which declares he is as drunk as Boris Yeltsin and he decides to walk home. However, Homer takes the wrong path and ends up lost and disoriented in the woods. In a clearing, he sees a glowing thin-boned alien. Homer panics and runs away screaming.
No one in the Simpson family believes Homer's story, and his attempts to report the alien to the local police are dismissed. Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the FBI go to the Simpson residence to investigate. After no results from their psychological tests, which are closely watched by the Cigarrette Smoking Man, Homer fails to provide any proof he actually did see an alien. Homer is ridiculed by most of the neighborhood, especially Lisa, but Bart says that he believes Homer. He tells Homer that the reason why he believes him is that he so 'damn' sure, much to Homer's relief. The next Friday night, they camp out in the clearing (with Ned Flanders' camping equipment) and they both see the alien (in which Bart sees it for the first time), who promises peace before Homer scares him away by screaming as he accidentally steps in their campfire. Homer starts to go down in the dumps until Bart tells him that he captured the entire incident on tape (with Flanders' video camera). Homer and Bart cheer as they now have evidence of the alien.
Leonard Nimoy says goodnight to the viewers. He is then reminded the show still has ten minutes left by an offscreen Squeaky Voiced Teen, at which point he runs to his car and leaves. The Squeaky Voiced Teen takes over for Nimoy in his narrating duties.
Although Bart's tape is only three seconds long and is mostly static, only briefly showing the alien, everyone in Springfield starts to believe Homer, except for Lisa who still isn't convinced. Friday comes again and all Springfielders go to the clearing (among them Leonard Nimoy). Sure enough, the alien appears, promising love. The Springfielders begin to riot until Lisa shows that the "alien" is actually Mr. Burns. Smithers states that Burns receives longevity treatment once a week to cheat death for the next seven days; this leaves him twisted and disoriented (and with a sweet heavenly voice). Back to his normal self, Burns reveals that his green glow is due to many years of working in a nuclear plant, and then renounces his promises of peace and love and instead says that he brings famine and hatred. Before he can say anything else negative, Burns receives a booster shot from Dr. Nick and everyone sings "Good Morning Starshine" along with him. The Squeaky Voiced Teen ends Nimoy's show, although he mispronounces "skies" in doing so.
Quotes
- Bart: "{telling a scary story} ...and that's how much money college will cost for Maggie."
- Homer: No... no... nooooooooooooooooooo!"
- Mr Burns: La la, la la la la
- Dr Nick: The most rewarding part was when he gave me my money.
- Mr Burns: Yes, and now that I'm back to normal I don't bring you peace and love I bring you hate and...
- Dr Nick: Time for a booster (Jabs needle in Burns).
- Mr Burns (in happy state): Good morning sunshine, the earth says hello...
- Squeaky voiced teen: I'm Leonard Nimoy, goodnight, and keep watching the skis, I mean skies.
- Mulder: What's the point of this experiment?
- Scully: No point, I just thought he could stand to lose some weight.
- Mulder: His jiggling is almost, hypnotic!
- Scully: Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
- Homer: (Panting).
- Mulder: Look Scully, another case of ufo seeing no solved.
- Scully: But today we have a shipment of drugs and illegal arms coming from New Jersey
- Mulder: Ha! I don't think that FBI is interested in that kind of things
Cultural references
- When Homer is asked to identify which alien he saw, the line-up includes Marvin the Martian (Warner Bros.), Gort (from The Day the Earth Stood Still), Chewbacca (from Star Wars), either Kang or Kodos, and ALF.
- After Homer is been examined by Scully and Mulder, a view on Moe's Tavern is shown with brief description, after which "ALL WORK AND NO PLAY MAKES JACK A DULL BOY" text is repeatedly writen on screen. This refers to famous scene form "The Shining" by Stanley Kubrick.
