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How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
Season 22 Episode
470 "The Fool Monty"
471
"How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?"
"The Fight Before Christmas" 472
"I'm contractually obligated by my sponsors to appear in random fans' fantasies."
Danica Patrick
"How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?"
How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 471
Season number: S22 E7
Production code: NABF02
Original airdate: November 28, 2010
Title screen: A Fox News helicopter flies by, with "Not Suitable For Viewers Under 75" on it. (original airing)
King Homer climbs up the Empire State Building and takes the three-eyed crow in his hand. (online & international version)
Billboard gag: Springfield Kwik-E-Mart: Thoughtless gifts for people you don't like
Chalkboard gag: "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" is as good as "A Charlie Brown Christmas"
Couch gag: Professor Frink is sitting on the couch, and he zaps the family, causing them to shrink. Grampa almost steps on them, then Homer takes a bite out of a giant chip. Snowball II chases the family, who escape into a mousehole. They sit on a piece of cheese, but it turns out to be on a mousetrap, which goes off, trapping them.
Guest star(s): Danica Patrick as herself
Rachel Weisz as Dr. Thurston
Showrunner: Al Jean
Written by: Kevin Curran
Directed by: Michael Polcino


"How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?" is the seventh episode of season 22 of The Simpsons and the four-hundred and seventy-first episode overall. It originally aired on November 28, 2010. The episode was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Michael Polcino. It guest stars Danica Patrick as herself and Rachel Weisz as Dr. Thurston.

Synopsis

"When a pigeon breaks its wing in the Simpson house, Bart takes the duty to protect the bird – who he calls Ray – until he recovers. When Ray is ready to fly, Homer decides to enter it in a bird race, which makes Danica Patrick appears in his dreams. However, plans go awry when Santa's Little Helper eats Ray. Thinking that Bart will need help to overcome the loss, Marge and Homer take him to a therapy session with Dr. Thurston, who diagnoses that the only cure for Bart's sadness is getting rid of the family dog. But when the Simpsons visit Santa's Little Helper's new home, the shock makes them rethink their decision."


Plot

Promotional image.

During a thunderstorm, a carrier pigeon flies into the Simpsons's house. After discovering that its wing is injured, Lisa instructs Bart to take care of it, because she has a phobia of pigeons. Bart agrees to take it in, and nurses it back to health over several weeks. He tries to release it back into the wild, but he and the pigeon (nicknamed "Ray") have become too close, so he decides to keep it as a pet.

After seeing an advertisement for a video about the role of carrier pigeons in the Second World War, Bart and Homer decide to train Ray to carry messages, while Marge teaches Lisa that it is okay to be afraid of a single animal while caring about all others, as she herself is scared of opossums.

After training Ray to deliver messages, Bart and Homer use his ability for several pranks, such as Bart sending Mrs. Krabappel a message stating "who cares?" during a lesson and Homer sending Mr. Burns a message suggesting he should "do a ballet dance without no clothes on". Bart also sends Milhouse a message to become friends with him again, as they had had a fight earlier over a toy Milhouse had broken because he thought it was a Transformer.

Moe comes by the house, suggesting that Ray might become a racing pigeon. As he is discussing it with Homer and Bart, however, Santa's Little Helper eats Ray, despite Homer's attempts to rescue him. Overcome with grief, the family holds a funeral for Ray and Bart becomes resentful of Santa's Little Helper.

Marge and Homer take Bart to see Dr. Thurston, a psychologist. She suggests to Bart that he should forgive Santa's Little Helper, as he is the smarter of the two and knows that dogs do not have the brain capacity to know that it is wrong to kill small birds. Bart still cannot forgive Santa's Little Helper, so the family plan to take him to live on a farm upstate, Ostrich World. Bart shares parting words with Santa's Little Helper, telling him never to kill a bird ever again.

As the family are about to leave, Homer releases an ostrich and it starts attacking the family. Bart calls for Santa's Little Helper to help, but he is confused, since Bart told him earlier it was wrong to hurt birds. Bart ends up clobbering the bird with some nearby tools, forgives Santa's Little Helper, and the family leaves happily, taking the seemingly dead ostrich as meat for dinner. As they are driving, though, the bird wakes up, breaks through the roof, and starts strangling Homer with its foot. The episode ends with the car swerving down the roads as Homer tries to steer.

References


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?".
Season 22 Episodes
Elementary School Musical Loan-a Lisa MoneyBart Treehouse of Horror XXI Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life The Fool Monty How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window? The Fight Before Christmas Donnie Fatso Moms I'd Like to Forget Flaming Moe Homer the Father The Blue and the Gray Angry Dad: The Movie The Scorpion's Tale A Midsummer's Nice Dreams Love Is a Many-Strangled Thing The Great Simpsina The Real Housewives of Fat Tony Homer Scissorhands 500 Keys The Ned-liest Catch