Take My Life, Please
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- "I'm going to find out what Dondelinger did last summer! Twenty-two years ago! In the winter!"
- ―Homer Simpson
"Take My Life, Please"
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Episode Information
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"Take My Life, Please" is the tenth episode of season 20 of The Simpsons and the four-hundred and thirtieth episode overall. It originally aired on February 15, 2009. The episode was written by Don Payne and directed by Steven Dean Moore.
Synopsis
- "Homer recalls the time he lost the race to be class president at Springfield High School, only to find that he actually won the election. He then gets shown how different his life would have been if he was class president."
Plot
At the Springfield Wall of Fame, Mayor Quimby unveils Vance Connor's plaque on the wall. As the people of Springfield congratulate Vance, Homer reveals that he ran for class president against Vance back in high school. Homer recalls the debate that he and Vance had, with Vance's speech going over a lot better than Homer's speech. Homer then demands to know whether Vance is happy with his life, and he reveals that he is. Later at Moe's Tavern, Homer laments about Vance beating him in the election. Lenny and Carl then reveal that Principal Dondelinger had the two of them bury the ballot box in the woods so nobody would see who won. Homer thinks that there's a chance he may have won, but Al Gore, who was also in Moe's, tells Homer to let it go because he had an election stolen from him, and things turned out fine.
That night, Homer can't sleep because he's thinking about the stolen election. He gets up and gets Lenny to show him where the ballot box was buried. After digging it up, Homer has Lisa count the votes and they found that Homer actually won the election. Homer gets angry at Principal Dondelinger because he thinks his life would have been better had he won. Homer and Bart then go to Golf 'N' Die Retirement Village to confront Dondelinger about the stolen election. Principal Dondelinger reveals that he heard students talking about how they would vote for Homer as a joke then all laugh at him when he won, so he hid the results to spare his feelings.
Later at Luigi's, Homer isn't enjoying his meal as he's depressed over what could have been. As he talks about how he'll never know what his life would have been like, Luigi tells Homer that he can because there's an old Italian man who stirs the sauce who can see what might have been. Lisa is skeptical about this, but the family goes into the kitchen together to see if it's true. The old Italian man then shows the Simpsons what would have happened after the election was announced. Homer won the election, and the other students start laughing only for them to accept Homer as he's a loser like the rest of them. After becoming class president, Homer is asked to prom by a teenage Maude Flanders. However, Homer told her that he only had eyes for Debbie Pinson, who agrees to go to prom with him. At the prom, Homer sees Marge with Artie Ziff and asks her to dance instead, blowing off Debbie Pinson. After prom, Homer was offered a job working at Sector 6-F in the Nuclear Power Plant.
Lisa says that Homer's life would have been just the same, but the old Italian man tells her to be quiet and keeps showing how Homer's life would have unfolded. Homer and Marge lived in a huge mansion, located next to 742 Evergreen Terrace which is where Grampa lived. However, Homer and Marge didn't have kids as Homer used protection. Upon seeing this, Homer tried to jump into the sauce, only for the Italian man to pull him out. Upon returning home, Homer just lounged in the kiddie pool depressed. Eventually, the family took Homer out for a walk and took him back to the Wall of Fame. Homer gets annoyed at coming back here until he sees that they put a plaque up on the wall for him. A father and son then come along and ask for Homer to take a picture with them. Homer is happier now but realizes that there was another plaque on the wall before his plaque was put up, which is revealed to be for Principal Skinner. The family then walks off talking about where to go out to eat.
Production
"Take My Life, Please" is the first episode of The Simpsons to air in 720p high-definition television, though not the first time the show has appeared in high-definition, as The Simpsons Movie was rendered in HD.
In June 2022, audio of two animatics of the episode were uploaded to the Internet Archive from audio cassette tapes. The animatics had many jokes that were cut or changed before the final episode was aired. One of the changed lines had Barney yell out that he loved Vance, and that he would quit drinking if Vance said the word. While this joke was changed to a different man yelling "You're better than us!", the subtitles on Disney+ still accredit the line to Barney. Other notable changes include Chazz Busby getting a scene cut at the Wall of Fame ceremony, teenage Homer making jokes about teachers after his failed speech, the ballot box not actually being buried but being in Lenny's car, Butthead being kidnapped by a rival school, and teenage Cookie Kwan as well as Maude asking Homer to prom.[1]
Reception
Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club called the story "so bland". Heisler in particular claims that the episode "crushes under the weight of its bloated plot" and suffers from an "overexplanation of jokes".[2]
Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode an 8.0 rating. Canning called the episode a "pleasant enough experience" and liked the fact the vision of the past took place in a fantasy flashback that didn't affect the show's canon. He Canning also said that he enjoyed the new opening sequence that came with the episode.[3]
"Take My Life, Please" was nominated for a 2010 Writers Guild of America award in Animation, but it lost to "Wedding for Disaster".[4]
As of April 2024, the episode has a 6.9 rating on IMDb.[5]
Gallery
Promo image for the HD opening
References
- ↑ Internet Archive - "The Simpsons: Take My Life, Please Animatic (S20E10, Audio Only)"
- ↑ The A.V. Club - ""Take My Life, Please"/"What Happens At The National Propane Gas Convention In Memphis Stays At The National Propane Gas Convention In Memphis"/"Oceans Three And A Half"/"Family Affair""
- ↑ IGN - "The Simpsons: "Take My Life, Please" Review" (archived on Wayback Machine)
- ↑ IMDb - "Writers Guild of America, USA 2010 Awards"
- ↑ IMDb - "Take My Life, Please"
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