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Difference between revisions of "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{episode
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{{EpisodePrevNext|Brother's Little Helper|Treehouse of Horror X|season=11|number=229}}
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|productionCode=AABF21
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{{Episode
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|originalAirdate=October 24, 1999
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|image= Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner promo.png
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|blackboardText=
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|number= 229
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|couchGag=
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|season=11
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|specialGuestVoices=
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|snumber=3
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|Written By=[[Al Jean]]
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|prodcode= AABF21
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|Directed By=[[Nacy Kruse]]
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|airdate= October 24, [[1999]]
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|blackboard= "I am not the Last Don"
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|couchgag= The Simpsons sit down as normal. Marge notices the name "[[Matt Groening]]" written on the carpet, gets up, and wipes the name off. A caricature of Matt Groening (wearing a tacky orange and yellow Hawaiian shirt) comes in and rewrites his name on the floor.
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|guests= [[Ed Asner]] as the [[Lifeways editor]]
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|showrunner1= Mike Scully
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|writer= [[Al Jean]]
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|director= [[Nancy Kruse]]
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|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
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"'''Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?'''" is the third episode of the [[List of The Simpsons episodes#Season 11|eleventh season]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]''. It aired on [[October 24]], [[1999]].  
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"'''Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?'''" is the third episode of [[season 11]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the two-hundred and twenty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on October 24, [[1999]]. The episode was written by [[Al Jean]] and was directed by [[Nancy Kruse]]. It guest stars [[Ed Asner]] as the [[Lifeways editor]].
  
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==Plot==
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== Synopsis ==
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[[Springfield Elementary]] arranges a trip to the offices of ''[[Media in The Simpsons#The Springfield Shopper|The Springfield Shopper]]'' for the students. [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] volunteers, having left a dummy (which later gets promoted) to stand in for him at the [[Springfield Nuclear Power Plant|Power Plant]]. On the way, he has trouble getting past a vehicle which cut him off. Angrily, he honks and curses at it (with impressionable kids in the car), until [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] tells him that it is an [[ambulance]]. Thus informed, he honks and swears at the ambulance. Finally, they reach their destination... the [[zoo]]. [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] tells him that they were to go to the newspaper, and a loud, animal-scaring "D'Oh!" later, they land up at the newspaper office. There, they are introduced to the newspaper's beginnings and the workings in the inner office.
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{{Desc|[[Homer]] gets the perfect side job when he becomes the chief restaurant critic for [[The Springfield Shopper]] newspaper. He loves the perks, but can barely write a complete sentence. When [[Lisa]] helps out by ghosting his columns, Homer becomes the most powerful—and feared—critic in town. Soon Homer earns the wrath of every restaurant owner in [[Springfield]] and they join together in a plot to kill him with a poisonous éclair. Can Homer survive this death by chocolate (and butter, and custard)?}}
  
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While they are there, Homer smells cake, and a couple of sniffs later, figures out what it says. Meanwhile, the newspaper staff is having a retirement party for their over-finicky food critic. Homer crashes the party and starts pigging out on the food. The editor, seeing Homer's liking for food, offers him a job as their food critic. He asks Homer to prepare a 500-word sample review first. Homer thanks him for the opportunity.
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== Plot ==
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The kids of [[Springfield Elementary School]] take a trip to [[The Springfield Shopper]] headquarters. Homer is accompanying [[Bart]] and [[Lisa]] on the tour, but wanders off on his own when he smells food, and ends up crashing the newspaper food critic's retirement party. Homer eats the food at the party and sings a song about it; the editor is so impressed he hires Homer to be a food critic. Homer starts by writing an example review on the typewriter, but it's terrible. Lisa decides to help - She takes the nonsense Homer dictates to her and translates it into eloquent reviews, typing them up on her computer then giving them to Homer to send in (just like Bart and Lisa did with [[Grampa]] in "[[The Front]]").
  
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At home, Homer gets to work. Since the E's do not work on his [[typewriter]], he titles the review "Food Box: Go or No Go", by Bill Simpson. When he submits the review for evaluation, the editor has a nice laugh, due to the many typos, threatening references to the [[UN]] and the many concluding "Screw [[Ned Flanders|Flanders]]". Homer, acting as if the review was a joke, says he will get the "real" one.
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Homer gives all the restaurants good reviews, resulting in a massive surge in obesity of town residents including Ned and Maude Flanders, [[Lenny]], [[Otto]], [[Sideshow Mel]] and [[Mr. Burns]] (whose shins break under his new weight). He later talks to his fellow critics who say they sometimes have to give bad reviews. Homer being how he is takes this too seriously and gives every restaurant (and Marge) bad reviews. An angry Lisa quits ghost writing for Homer, while his unfair reviews anger every restaurant owner in [[Springfield]], making them want to kill him.  
  
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At home, Lisa helps out Homer. Putting Homer's gestures into words, she prepares a glowing review. On reading the "real" review, the editor is mighty impressed and declares that this is page-one material (of Section H-2).  
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Their plan is for a French chef/assassin to bake a poison éclair for Homer, who will eat it once he reaches the man's stand at an upcoming eat-off event. When the day comes, during the competition, Bart overhears the chefs talking about their plot and tells Marge and Lisa. Homer sees the éclair, but Lisa tells him it is going to kill him. Homer declares he would rather die than not eat the pastry, but then Lisa says it is low fat. He screams in horror and drops it into [[Hans Moleman]]'s gruel, then destroys the eat-off, and everyone chases him.
  
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To celebrate Homer's new job, the family goes to [[The Sea Captain]]'s restaurant, The Frying Dutchman. There, people overhear that Homer's a food critic. Captain McCallister brings along a "Critic Special" meal for them, where moving creatures signify freshness. Homer also visits Planet Springfield and a revolving restaurant. He gives all the restaurants he visits great reviews. Soon, everyone in Springfield has put on weight, eating in all of Homer's well-reviewed restaurants.
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{{Images|ep=yes}}
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{{season 11}}
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At the ''Springfield Shopper'' office, the editor introduces Homer to other critics. They chide him for being too generous in his reviews. Homer, giving in to peer pressure, decides to give out bad reviews. His next review is at a [[dinner theater]], where [[Krusty the Klown|Krusty]] gives a terrible rendition of [[King Lear]], thinking it to be a comedy. Homer gives the food and the acting a scathing review, much to Lisa's discomfort. He continues the trend at [[Luigi Risotto|Luigi]]'s restaurant. [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is given only "seven thumbs up" for her pork chops.
 
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Lisa argues with him for being needlessly cruel, but he retorts saying that people will think what he wants them to think. Having had enough, she quits. Homer declares that he is a powerful person, who'll never get his [[wikt:comeuppance|comeuppance]]. Homer decides to do the reviews himself, though he does take some help from [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] and [[Santa's Little Helper]]. On reading the baby- and dog-assisted review, the editor tells Homer to shape up as the Taste of Springfield food festival is coming up and he will be reviewing all restaurants in town.
 
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Meanwhile, the restaurateurs hold a secret meeting, regarding Homer's reviews. Luigi complains that he [[The Godfather|put a horse's head in Homer's bed]] as a warning, but Homer ate the head and gave it a bad review. Soon, they decide to kill him. A French chef (of [[The French Connection (film)|The French Confection]]) declares that he will do the deed, by feeding Homer an [[éclair]], which is over one million calories. For good measure, he will also add some poison.
 
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At the food festival, despite Marge's women's intuition, Homer goes on his reviewing duties. Meanwhile, the French chef prepares the deadly piece of confectionery. Bart overhears some of the restaurateurs discussing the murder plot and alerts Marge and Lisa. They split up, looking for him before it is too late. Homer, meanwhile, has reached the French chef's stall and is about to eat the éclair. Lisa runs up and shouts it is low-fat. Homer chucks the lethal treat away in revulsion, causing it to explode harmlessly, leaving a large crater on the ground.
 
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The French chef is apprehended by Springfield's finest, but, predictably, escapes. Homer thanks Lisa for saving his life and is relieved that he did not get his comeuppance. As he and Lisa walk away, an angry mob runs after them. As the scene fades to black, Homer gets beaten up, finally getting his comeuppance.
 
  
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==Trivia==
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[[Category:1999]]
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*Booths at the food festival: Ugli, The Gilded Truffle, Ah, Fudge!, Much Ado About Muffins!, The French Confection, The Texas Cheesecake Depository, Phineas Q. Butterfats 5600 Flavors Ice Cream Parlor, The Pimento Grove, The Happy Sumo, The Frying Dutchman, The Hungry Hun, and Moleman's Gruel. All of these restaurants except the last have made appearances in past episodes.
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[[Category:Homer episodes]]
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*Lisa says that they recently visited a restaurant called the Pate Le-Belle, a reference to [[Patti LaBelle]].
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[[Category:Episodes written by Al Jean]]
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*At the Sea Captain's Restaurant there is a picture on the wall of a sail boat being eaten by a whale. Also, the restaurant is named "The Frying Dutchman," a parody of [[The Flying Dutchman]].
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[[Category:Episodes directed by Nancy Kruse]]
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*The headline of Homer's first review is "Cod is Great, Scrod Is Good," a parody of the brief pre-meal prayer "God is Great, God is Good, now we thank him for this food."
 
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*There are references to Üter's disappearance from the episode, "[[The PTA Disbands]]" in which he was left behind at a Civil War field trip (despite the fact that he made several appearances since then).
 
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*When Homer writes his first review Marge says that the letter 'E' on the typewriter does not work yet when the news editer reads the review he says at the end of the review Homer wrote Screw Flanders, both those words have an 'E' in them, though it's possible that he could have written it as "Scru Flandurs".
 
  
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==Cultural references==
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[[sv:Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?]]
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*The title references the 1967 film, ''[[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner]]''.
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[[de:AABF21]]
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*Homer's song about food resembles, in part, the tune "I Feel Pretty", from ''[[West Side Story (film)|West Side Story]]''.
 
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*The typewriter without an "e" refers to the film ''[[Misery (film)|Misery]]''
 
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*Props seen at Planet Springfield: [[Herbie]] from ''[[The Love Bug]]'', the coffee mug from ''[[Heartbeeps]]'', the cane from ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', a script from ''[[The Cable Guy]]'', an alien resembling one from ''[[Mars Attacks!]]'' (but pink), a model of the [[RMS Titanic|Titanic]], models of an [[X-Wing]] and TIE fighters, and a statue of [[C-3PO]].
 
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*When Lisa and Homer discuss the language to use in his first review Homer attempts to augment nouns with "groin-grabbingly". Lisa offers the word "transcendent" to which Homer replies "What about groin-grabbingly transcendent?". "Groin Grabbingly Transcendent" is the name of a song by [[Jason Becker]] on his album ''[[The Blackberry Jams]]''.
 
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*The episode was also the second episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' to feature a reference to the movie ''[[The French Connection (film)|The French Connection]]'' (The first was "[[The Springfield Connection]]").
 
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*Luigi references the "horse head" scene from ''[[The Godfather]]''.
 
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*Homer typing the same thing over and over spoofs the [[1980 in film|1980 film]] ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]''.
 
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*''[[Citizen Kane]]'' is referenced multiple times throughout the episode, such as the "cane from ''Citizen Kane''" and the scene where Homer tells Lisa "people will think what I tell them to think", and that she "can't do this to me, I'm Homer Simpson!" as she leaves the room.
 
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{{season 11}}
 
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[[Category:Season 11]]
 
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[[Category:Episodes]]
 

Latest revision as of 14:06, March 28, 2024

Season 11 Episode
← 228 "Brother's Little Helper"
229
"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"
"Treehouse of Horror X" 230 →
"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?"
Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner promo.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 229
Season number: S11 E3
Production code: AABF21
Original airdate: October 24, 1999
Chalkboard gag: "I am not the Last Don"
Couch gag: The Simpsons sit down as normal. Marge notices the name "Matt Groening" written on the carpet, gets up, and wipes the name off. A caricature of Matt Groening (wearing a tacky orange and yellow Hawaiian shirt) comes in and rewrites his name on the floor.
Guest star(s): Ed Asner as the Lifeways editor
Showrunner: Mike Scully
Written by: Al Jean
Directed by: Nancy Kruse
DVD features


"Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?" is the third episode of season 11 of The Simpsons and the two-hundred and twenty-ninth episode overall. It originally aired on October 24, 1999. The episode was written by Al Jean and was directed by Nancy Kruse. It guest stars Ed Asner as the Lifeways editor.

Synopsis[edit]

"Homer gets the perfect side job when he becomes the chief restaurant critic for The Springfield Shopper newspaper. He loves the perks, but can barely write a complete sentence. When Lisa helps out by ghosting his columns, Homer becomes the most powerful—and feared—critic in town. Soon Homer earns the wrath of every restaurant owner in Springfield and they join together in a plot to kill him with a poisonous éclair. Can Homer survive this death by chocolate (and butter, and custard)?"


Plot[edit]

The kids of Springfield Elementary School take a trip to The Springfield Shopper headquarters. Homer is accompanying Bart and Lisa on the tour, but wanders off on his own when he smells food, and ends up crashing the newspaper food critic's retirement party. Homer eats the food at the party and sings a song about it; the editor is so impressed he hires Homer to be a food critic. Homer starts by writing an example review on the typewriter, but it's terrible. Lisa decides to help - She takes the nonsense Homer dictates to her and translates it into eloquent reviews, typing them up on her computer then giving them to Homer to send in (just like Bart and Lisa did with Grampa in "The Front").

Homer gives all the restaurants good reviews, resulting in a massive surge in obesity of town residents including Ned and Maude Flanders, Lenny, Otto, Sideshow Mel and Mr. Burns (whose shins break under his new weight). He later talks to his fellow critics who say they sometimes have to give bad reviews. Homer being how he is takes this too seriously and gives every restaurant (and Marge) bad reviews. An angry Lisa quits ghost writing for Homer, while his unfair reviews anger every restaurant owner in Springfield, making them want to kill him.

Their plan is for a French chef/assassin to bake a poison éclair for Homer, who will eat it once he reaches the man's stand at an upcoming eat-off event. When the day comes, during the competition, Bart overhears the chefs talking about their plot and tells Marge and Lisa. Homer sees the éclair, but Lisa tells him it is going to kill him. Homer declares he would rather die than not eat the pastry, but then Lisa says it is low fat. He screams in horror and drops it into Hans Moleman's gruel, then destroys the eat-off, and everyone chases him.


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner?".
Season 11 Episodes
Beyond Blunderdome • Brother's Little Helper • Guess Who's Coming to Criticize Dinner? • Treehouse of Horror X • E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt) • Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder • Eight Misbehavin' • Take My Wife, Sleaze • Grift of the Magi • Little Big Mom • Faith Off • The Mansion Family • Saddlesore Galactica • Alone Again, Natura-Diddily • Missionary: Impossible • Pygmoelian • Bart to the Future • Days of Wine and D'oh'ses • Kill the Alligator and Run • Last Tap Dance in Springfield • It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge • Behind the Laughter
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