Selma's Choice
Selma's Choice" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season and originally aired on the FOX network on January 21, 1993.[3] Selma decides she wants to have a baby, so she does not spend her life alone. Yet after taking Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens, she decides she is not ready for kids. It was written by David M. Stern and directed by Carlos Baeza.[2]
Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cultural references 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links
[edit] Plot After seeing an ad for Duff Gardens, Homer, Bart, and Lisa decide to go. As they are getting ready to leave, Marge tells them that Great Aunt Gladys has died and they will be going to her funeral instead. The Simpsons, along with Patty and Selma, drive to Littleneck Falls to attend her funeral and the reading of her will. On the video will, Great Aunt Gladys warns Patty and Selma not to die alone without a husband and children, as she did. Selma starts to worry that her biological clock may be ticking and decides she wants a child. Selma tries video dating but gets rejected by Groundskeeper Willie. She goes to a psychic who tries to sell her a love potion. The psychic ingests it, blurts out the innocuous ingredients and discovers that she accidentally drank a truth serum. Selma dates Hans Moleman after revoking his license at the DMV, and all goes well until the goodnight kiss. Selma envisions being the mother of several ugly and blind children that look like Moleman, prompting her to throw him out of her car and drive away. Lisa then suggests to Selma that she go through artificial insemination which Homer thinks is when a human has sex with a robot. After seeing Barney sell his sperm and several women carry out babies that look and belch like Barney, she leaves only with a sperm sample and a magazine about other sperm donors which she never uses.
When the day comes for Homer to take Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens, he falls ill from food poisoning after eating a ten-foot hoagie from the nuclear plant picnic despite it having gone bad some time previously. Selma is chosen to take the kids to Duff Gardens while Homer stays home with Marge where they watch Yentl and the cheesy pseudo-porn The Erotic Adventures of Hercules starring Troy McClure as Hercules and Norman Fell as Zeus. Selma soon grows weary of caring for Bart and Lisa. Things get worse when Selma, Bart, and Lisa are on the Little Land of Duff ride and Bart dares Lisa to drink the toxic water from it. Lisa refuses, but is forced to by Selma after Bart mocks her. The water causes Lisa to hallucinate and become paranoid (she nearly attacks Selma with an oar after her shoulder transforms into a monster) and she wanders away from the ride. While Selma is looking for Lisa, Bart sneaks on a rollercoaster called The Barrel Roll and ends up having to be rescued after the car stops on a loop. While in the security office, one of the guards tells Selma that while park security was rescuing Bart, hoodlums (Dolph, Jimbo, and Kearney, even though they were shown arrested in one of the Duff Gardens commercials) stole three bumper cars. The guard adds that the George Washington robot from the Duff Hall of Presidents is badly malfunctioning after Bart pulled down its pants. Lisa is soon found swimming in the park's Fermentarium, returned to Selma and given pills by an unlicensed doctor for her condition. After her rough day with Bart and Lisa, Selma decides she can live without children for now and adopts Jub-Jub, Gladys' pet iguana who was originally willed to Marge's mother, Jackie.
[edit] Production
Writer David Stern said he wanted to go back to a "Patty and Selma episode", because it was sustained so well when he wrote "Principal Charming".[4] He thought it was important to "Keep these characters (Patty and Selma) alive." The animators had trouble with the size of the character's pupils during the season. In this episode, they are noticeably larger.[5] When the family watches the video will, Julie Kavner did five voices in the scene.[4] When Gladys shows off her collection of potato chips, the scene was inspired by an actual guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, who was showing off her collection of chips that looked like famous people.[6] Jub-Jub made his debut appearance in this episode; The name of the iguana Jub-Jub came from Conan O'Brien.[4]
Research is usually done to get languages correct.[4] However, the language heard on Selma's ham radio was made up.[6]
[edit] Cultural references
It's a Small World parodyMarge's flashback of her and her sisters swimming in a lake is based on The Prince of Tides.[4] The singers at Duff Gardens (which is a parody of Busch Gardens), Hooray for Everything, are a tribute to Up with People.[7] Homer and Bart start to sing "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead" from The Wizard of Oz.The poem that Great Aunt Gladys reads at the start of her video will is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The song and ride that Bart, Lisa, and Selma go on, with animatronic kids from all over the world singing is a parody of the ride and song "It's a Small World".[6] The Duff Garden's parade is a parody of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade.[4] When Lisa says "I am the Lizard Queen!", it is a tribute to the Lizard King, Jim Morrison[2] Lisa's hallucinatory vision of Selma after drinking the water resembles the work of artist Ralph Steadman, particularly from the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
[edit] Reception
"Selma's Choice" finished 27th in the weekly ratings for the week of January 18-24, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 14.2.[8]
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood said, "A nice episode for Selma and good for Marge and Homer as well. But it's the kids who provide the highlights in this one, with their antics at Duff Gardens."[2] The author of Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, Chris Turner said it "Fills in with the usual grab bag of great gags" and "The episode had some crowd-pleasing moments." He went on to say, "The last few minutes of the show played out to continuous laughter (in the pub he was watching it in)".[9]
[edit] References
^ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 106. ISBN 0-00-638898-1.
^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Selma's Choice". BBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
^ "Selma's Choice". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
^ a b c d e f Stern, David. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Reardon, Jim. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ a b c Jean, Al. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Reiss, Mike. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
^ Associated Press (1993-01-27). "Nielsen Ratings/Jan. 18-24", Press-Telegram, p. C5. Retrieved on 9 February 2008.
^ Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81341-6.
[edit] External links "Selma's Choice" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive "Selma's Choice" at The Simpsons.com
The Simpsons portal
"Selma's Choice" at the Internet Movie Database "Selma's Choice", at TV.com
