Marge vs. the Monorail
"Marge vs. the Monorail"
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Episode Information
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"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season and originally aired on January 14, 1993. The plot focuses around the town of Springfield buying a monorail from a conman and Marge's dislike of the purchase. It was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by Rich Moore. Leonard Nimoy guest stars as himself and Phil Hartman guest stars as Lyle Lanley.
Synopsis
After being caught dumping nuclear waste in the city park, Mr. Burns is fined three million dollars. A town meeting is immediately held so that the citizens can decide what to spend the money on and Marge suggests using it to fix up Main Street, which is in a bad condition. The town shows enthusiasm for this idea and is about to vote for it when suddenly a whistle is heard and a smooth stranger named Lyle Lanley suggests that the town buys a new monorail. He leads them in a song, which convinces the town to buy the monorail.
Marge is unhappy with the town's purchase, believing that they should have fixed Main Street and that the monorail is unsafe. While watching TV, Homer sees an advertisement that suggests he become a monorail conductor and Homer, claiming it to be a lifelong dream, immediately agrees. After an intensive three week course, Homer is named the monorail conductor.
Still feeling uneasy about the monorail, Marge decides to visit Lyle Lanley and discovers a notebook that reveals Lanley’s true intentions. Marge immediately drives to North Haverbrook, which Lanley mentioned was a previous purchaser of one of his monorails, and meets Sebastian Cobb who explains that Lanley cut costs everywhere and that the entire thing is a scam.
At the maiden voyage of the monorail, the entire town has come out, including Leonard Nimoy. Lanley grabs his money and jumps in a taxi, which takes him to the airport. The monorail takes off just before Marge and Cobb arrive. At first things run smoothly, but the cords malfunction, causing the monorail to speed up and travel at dangerous speeds. Nobody can figure out how to stop the monorail and although a Solar eclipse briefly halts it, the eclipse ends and the monorail takes off. Meanwhile, Lanley’s flight makes a brief unscheduled stop in North Haverbrook, where Lanley is immediately attacked by a group of locals, having been tipped off, perhaps by Marge. Back in Springfield, Cobb tells Homer that in order to stop the train, he needs to find an anchor. Homer grabs the giant “M” from the side of the Monorail and uses it as an anchor. Eventually, it latches onto a giant doughnut, stopping the monorail and saving its passengers.
Reception
In 2003, Entertainment Weekly named this the fourth best episode in the show's history.
