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Difference between revisions of "The Strong Arms of the Ma"

Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki
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{{Episode
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|image = The Strong Arms on the Ma promo.jpg
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|image= The Strong Arms of the Ma.png
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|imsize = 150px
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|number= 300
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|Episode Number = 300
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|season=14
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|productionCode = EABF04
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|snumber=9
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|originalAirdate = February 2, [[2003]]
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|prodcode= EABF04
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|blackboardText = "The school does not need a regime change"
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|airdate= February 2, [[2003]]
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|couchGag = The couch is a cardboard cutout with pictures of the family on it. There are holes where the pictures heads are supposed to be, so the family pokes their heads through the holes, each appearing to be one another.
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|blackboard= "The school does not need a regime change"
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|specialGuestVoices = [[Pamela Reed]] as [[Ruth Powers]]
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|couchgag= The couch is a cardboard cutout with pictures of the family on it. There are holes where the pictures heads are supposed to be, so the family pokes their heads through the holes, each appearing to be one another.
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|Written By = [[Carolyn Omine]]
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|guests= [[Pamela Reed]] as [[Ruth Powers]]
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|Directed By = [[Pete Michels]]
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|showrunner1= Al Jean
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|writer= [[Carolyn Omine]]
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|director= [[Pete Michels]]
 
|DVD features=yes
 
|DVD features=yes
 
}}
 
}}
  
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"'''The Strong Arms of The Ma'''" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fourteenth season. It is also the 300th episode of The Simpsons in production order. In broadcast order, "[[Barting Over]]" is the 300th episode while "Strong Arms of the Ma" is the 298th.
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"'''The Strong Arms of the Ma'''" is the ninth episode of [[season 14]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and the three-hundredth episode overall. It originally aired on February 2, [[2003]]. The episode was written by [[Carolyn Omine]] and directed by [[Pete Michels]]. It guest stars [[Pamela Reed]] as [[Ruth Powers]].
  
 
== Synopsis ==
 
== Synopsis ==
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== Plot ==
 
== Plot ==
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{{wikidump}}
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[[File:The Strong Arms on the Ma promo.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Promo image for the episode]]
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The [[Simpson family]] goes to [[Rainier Wolfcastle]]'s "Bankruptcy Garage Sale", where everything that he owns is up for sale at throwaway prices. [[Homer]] asks Rainier if he has anything that will go up in value when he dies and is shown his old weight-lifting set, complete with dumbbells and bench press. Homer takes it and packs everything in the car in the style of a [[Tetris]] game. The car ends up being so overpacked that Homer ends up being carried home by Rainier Wolfcastle in an adult sized baby harness built for an adult.
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An episode of ''[[Eye on Springfield]]'' features [[Rainier Wolfcastle]], who has gone bankrupt. As a result, he throws a bankruptcy sale to make some money back, selling off a lot of his possessions. The [[Simpson family]] attend the sale and buy a lot of Wolfcastle's items, including a set of weights. After loading the car up, they have no room left for Homer. so he has Wolfcastle take him home whilst Marge drives the family home. On the way back, [[Maggie]] needs a diaper change so they stop off at the [[Kwik-E-Mart]] to do so. After [[Apu]] smells Maggie, he lets Marge use the store's toilet to change Maggie's diaper. As they leave the toilet, a [[mugger]] confronts Marge and takes her pearls, leaving Marge incredibly shaken up and panicky.
  
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On the way home, [[Marge]] and the kids smell something awful. They pinpoint the source to [[Maggie]]. Marge quickly pulls into the [[Kwik-E-Mart]], and [[Apu]] is reluctant about letting Marge use the restroom, but when he smells Maggie, he allows it. Later, as Marge comes out with a much sweeter-smelling Maggie, a [[Mugger|shady character]] in a [[Goofy]] hat accosts her and threatens her with a gun. Finding only diapers in Marge's purse, he grabs Marge's pearl necklace and takes off. Marge, stunned, walks to her car in a daze and breaks down sobbing at the wheel in front of her kids.
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After the mugging, Marge attempts to go shopping at the Kwik-E-Mart again, but gets too scared and accidentally pepper sprays [[Ralph]] before going home again empty handed. As Marge rushes home, she accidentally parks her car on top of the [[mailman]], and then realizes that she's too scared to go out and move the car again, hallucinating the mugger as she tries to leave. [[Dr. Hibbert]] then makes a house call and tells Marge that she has agoraphobia, the fear of leaving the house. The family attempt to get Marge's courage to leave back, trying to help her take a few steps out of the house and putting on small acts so she can regain her confidence. During a small act they were putting on, [[Milhouse]] played the mugger, which caused Marge to panic and hide in the basement.
  
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The next day, they inform the cops and [[Chief Wiggum]] declares he will get on it right away. Later, as Marge is about to leave the house, Homer gives her some pepper spray and some tips on how to handle an attacker. She pulls up to the Kwik-E-Mart, but she is scared when [[Ralph]] greets her. She pepper-sprays him, and feeling guilty, she drives back home where it's safe. When she reaches home, [[Bart]] tells her she is parked over the mailman. Marge is a nervous wreck and cannot bring herself to cross the threshold of her house. Homer and the kids try their best to encourage her to go outside, but to no avail. Finally, she moves into the basement. There, feeling a bit safer, she prepares breakfast for the family and sets up a bed for herself. One day, when she is alone at home, feeling bored but still afraid to venture outside, she eyes Rainier Wolfcastle's weight-lifting set and decides to use it to pass the time.
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Marge refuses to leave the basement, using radios to keep in contact with the family. Eventually, they move the bed down to the basement and eat meals down there. Whilst Marge was bored, she started working out with the weights that Homer bought from Rainier Wolfcastle. This gave her the confidence to actually leave the house, to grab a lemon from the lemon tree in the back yard. Upon realizing that she was no longer scared, Marge ran around town, telling everyone that she was no longer afraid. On this run, she met the mugger again and beat him up, leaving the police to take him away.
  
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In two weeks, she builds herself up and even gets a well-defined washboard stomach (much to Homer's delight). Suddenly, she dashes out to the garden to get some lemons. Realizing that she is not afraid anymore, she starts running around town in happiness. Suddenly, she runs into her mugger, who tries to assault her again. But this time, she beats him so intensely he is left a bloody mess. The cops arrive and arrest the crook. Marge, pumped after catching the crook, starts exercising even more. One day, as she jogs by an open-air gym at the beach, she runs into her  next door neighbor, [[Ruth Powers]]. Ruth, pretty buffed herself, tells Marge that she owes it all to steroids. She talks Marge into using them, attacking her inability to stop trying to be stronger, and also attacking her wish not to be weak and helpless. She also advises Marge to enter a women's bodybuilding contest. Marge, using the steroids, exercises harder than ever, becoming heavily muscled. At the contest, despite her massive training, she wins second prize. This puts Marge in a bad mood.
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Marge got fully into bodybuilding and went to the [[Springfield Beach]] where she met up with [[Ruth Powers]] again. Marge and Ruth decided to catch up at [[Let's Hear It for the Soy]] where Ruth gave Marge [[Ragin' 'Roids]] steroids to take so she could enter [[The Iron Maidens]] competition. After taking the steroids, Marge becomes stronger than ever and earns second place in the competition, which disappointed her. At [[Moe's Tavern]], Marge thinks that the reason she only came second in the competition was because she's still somewhat womanly. When Marge threatens [[Moe]], the patrons in the bar all attack her to calm her down, with Marge beating them all. Homer then gets Marge to realize what the hormones in the steroids were doing to her and decides to stop, as Moe then tries to burn down his bar to claim the insurance, which [[Carl]] then reminds him that he doesn't have. At home, Marge throws the weights in the furnace before taking Homer up to bed.
  
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Later that night, at [[Moe's]], Homer and a whole lot of other male Springfieldians are celebrating, Homer tries to calm the angry Marge down. Due to the steroids and other drugs, she has become extremely short-tempered and powerful, a recipe for disaster. After Homer goes to the bathroom, she gets mad at [[Moe]] for saying she isn't attractive anymore and proceeds to beat up everyone at the bar. Finally, when Homer comes out and sees the "Muscle Marge", he pleads with her to look inside her and find the sweet, loving Marge and to lay off the steroids. Marge, horrified with what she has done, apologizes and leaves with Homer. Moe, in order to cover the costs of repairing his bar, sets fire to it; however, [[Carl]] points out that he has not insured the place yet. Later, at the Simpson house, Marge burns the weight set in the furnace (despite being metal) as the show ends. Homer asks if Marge is ready for a "real workout" which turns out to be a request to wax the car.
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== Production ==
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In the original pitch by [[Carolyn Omine]], Homer was to be the one who got mugged and became agoraphobic, which she pitched as she had an interest in agoraphobia. [[Al Jean]] then suggested to make Marge a bodybuilder so they changed it to have her mugged instead. The mugging came across as a serious moment for the show.<ref name="Omine">{{Com|Omine, Carolyn|The Strong Arms of the Ma|Fourteenth|(2011).}}</ref> The ''[[Eye on Springfield]]'' opening used both old footage from "[[Flaming Moe's]]", whilst it also added new footage. The episode was the 300th episode to air, although "[[Barting Over]]" was advertised as the 300th episode as Fox wanted the 300th episode to air on a specific day. The show then had fans call up to say that there was a mistake as "The Strong Arms of the Ma" was the 300th episode to air.<ref name="Jean">{{Com|Jean, Al|The Strong Arms of the Ma|Fourteenth|(2011).}}</ref>
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Al Jean thought the scene where Marge is mugged had a lot of emotion and it was something the show hadn't seen before. He also thought the [[Goofy]] hat was to add something innocent to someone who was scary. He then went on to say that if he was to do the episode again, he wouldn't have made Marge so big and muscly.<ref name="Jean"/> The scene where Marge hallucinates was drawn with a fish-eye lens effect. Marge was given a white and red football helmet because animator [[Mark Ervin]] drew it, and he based it off the {{W|Nebraska Cornhuskers}}. Michels also said that drawing characters lifting weights is a challenge as it's hard to get the perspective of lifting them to look natural. When Bart and Lisa are talking through their teeth, a special mouth chart to work out which way their mouths moved for which letters was used.<ref name="Michels">{{Com|Michels, Pete|The Strong Arms of the Ma|Fourteenth|(2011).}}</ref>
  
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== Production Notes ==
 
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"The Strong Arms of the Ma" was the 300th ''Simpsons'' episode to be produced, although it was the 298th aired. The 100th episode produced was "[[Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song]]" and the 200th was "[[Trash of the Titans]]".
 
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
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File:EABF04_Script.jpg
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File:EABF04 Script.jpg
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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== Promo Videos ==
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== Reception ==
 +
As of December 2019, the episode has a 6.8 rating on {{W|IMDb}}<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701218/ IMDb - "The Strong Arms of the Ma"]</ref> and a 7.3 rating on {{W|TV.com}}.<ref>[http://www.tv.com/shows/the-simpsons/the-strong-arms-of-the-ma-145099/ TV.com - "The Strong Arms of the Ma"]</ref>
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== References ==
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{{Reflist}}
 +
 
 +
== Promo videos ==
 
*{{Youtube|DcgCejDcgAA|The 300th Episode!}}
 
*{{Youtube|DcgCejDcgAA|The 300th Episode!}}
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 +
{{Images|ep=yes}}
 
{{season 14}}
 
{{season 14}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong Arms of the Ma, The}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong Arms of the Ma, The}}

Latest revision as of 14:24, March 28, 2024

Season 14 Episode
← 299 "The Dad Who Knew Too Little"
300
"The Strong Arms of the Ma"
"Pray Anything" 301 →
"The Strong Arms of the Ma"
The Strong Arms of the Ma.png
Episode Information
Episode number: 300
Season number: S14 E9
Production code: EABF04
Original airdate: February 2, 2003
Chalkboard gag: "The school does not need a regime change"
Couch gag: The couch is a cardboard cutout with pictures of the family on it. There are holes where the pictures heads are supposed to be, so the family pokes their heads through the holes, each appearing to be one another.
Guest star(s): Pamela Reed as Ruth Powers
Showrunner: Al Jean
Written by: Carolyn Omine
Directed by: Pete Michels
DVD features


"The Strong Arms of the Ma" is the ninth episode of season 14 of The Simpsons and the three-hundredth episode overall. It originally aired on February 2, 2003. The episode was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Pete Michels. It guest stars Pamela Reed as Ruth Powers.

Synopsis[edit]

"Marge takes up bodybuilding to boost her self-esteem after a mugging, but the family finds they just can't cope with a Marge that can bench-press 500 pounds."


Plot[edit]

Promo image for the episode

An episode of Eye on Springfield features Rainier Wolfcastle, who has gone bankrupt. As a result, he throws a bankruptcy sale to make some money back, selling off a lot of his possessions. The Simpson family attend the sale and buy a lot of Wolfcastle's items, including a set of weights. After loading the car up, they have no room left for Homer. so he has Wolfcastle take him home whilst Marge drives the family home. On the way back, Maggie needs a diaper change so they stop off at the Kwik-E-Mart to do so. After Apu smells Maggie, he lets Marge use the store's toilet to change Maggie's diaper. As they leave the toilet, a mugger confronts Marge and takes her pearls, leaving Marge incredibly shaken up and panicky.

After the mugging, Marge attempts to go shopping at the Kwik-E-Mart again, but gets too scared and accidentally pepper sprays Ralph before going home again empty handed. As Marge rushes home, she accidentally parks her car on top of the mailman, and then realizes that she's too scared to go out and move the car again, hallucinating the mugger as she tries to leave. Dr. Hibbert then makes a house call and tells Marge that she has agoraphobia, the fear of leaving the house. The family attempt to get Marge's courage to leave back, trying to help her take a few steps out of the house and putting on small acts so she can regain her confidence. During a small act they were putting on, Milhouse played the mugger, which caused Marge to panic and hide in the basement.

Marge refuses to leave the basement, using radios to keep in contact with the family. Eventually, they move the bed down to the basement and eat meals down there. Whilst Marge was bored, she started working out with the weights that Homer bought from Rainier Wolfcastle. This gave her the confidence to actually leave the house, to grab a lemon from the lemon tree in the back yard. Upon realizing that she was no longer scared, Marge ran around town, telling everyone that she was no longer afraid. On this run, she met the mugger again and beat him up, leaving the police to take him away.

Marge got fully into bodybuilding and went to the Springfield Beach where she met up with Ruth Powers again. Marge and Ruth decided to catch up at Let's Hear It for the Soy where Ruth gave Marge Ragin' 'Roids steroids to take so she could enter The Iron Maidens competition. After taking the steroids, Marge becomes stronger than ever and earns second place in the competition, which disappointed her. At Moe's Tavern, Marge thinks that the reason she only came second in the competition was because she's still somewhat womanly. When Marge threatens Moe, the patrons in the bar all attack her to calm her down, with Marge beating them all. Homer then gets Marge to realize what the hormones in the steroids were doing to her and decides to stop, as Moe then tries to burn down his bar to claim the insurance, which Carl then reminds him that he doesn't have. At home, Marge throws the weights in the furnace before taking Homer up to bed.

Production[edit]

In the original pitch by Carolyn Omine, Homer was to be the one who got mugged and became agoraphobic, which she pitched as she had an interest in agoraphobia. Al Jean then suggested to make Marge a bodybuilder so they changed it to have her mugged instead. The mugging came across as a serious moment for the show.[1] The Eye on Springfield opening used both old footage from "Flaming Moe's", whilst it also added new footage. The episode was the 300th episode to air, although "Barting Over" was advertised as the 300th episode as Fox wanted the 300th episode to air on a specific day. The show then had fans call up to say that there was a mistake as "The Strong Arms of the Ma" was the 300th episode to air.[2]

Al Jean thought the scene where Marge is mugged had a lot of emotion and it was something the show hadn't seen before. He also thought the Goofy hat was to add something innocent to someone who was scary. He then went on to say that if he was to do the episode again, he wouldn't have made Marge so big and muscly.[2] The scene where Marge hallucinates was drawn with a fish-eye lens effect. Marge was given a white and red football helmet because animator Mark Ervin drew it, and he based it off the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Michels also said that drawing characters lifting weights is a challenge as it's hard to get the perspective of lifting them to look natural. When Bart and Lisa are talking through their teeth, a special mouth chart to work out which way their mouths moved for which letters was used.[3]

  • EABF04 Script.jpg

Reception[edit]

As of December 2019, the episode has a 6.8 rating on IMDb[4] and a 7.3 rating on TV.com.[5]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Omine, Carolyn (2011). Commentary for "The Strong Arms of the Ma", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jean, Al (2011). Commentary for "The Strong Arms of the Ma", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season.
  3. ↑ Michels, Pete (2011). Commentary for "The Strong Arms of the Ma", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourteenth Season.
  4. ↑ IMDb - "The Strong Arms of the Ma"
  5. ↑ TV.com - "The Strong Arms of the Ma"


Promo videos[edit]


The Saga of Carl - title screen.png Wikisimpsons has a collection of images related to "The Strong Arms of the Ma".
Season 14 Episodes
Treehouse of Horror XIII • How I Spent My Strummer Vacation • Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade • Large Marge • Helter Shelter • The Great Louse Detective • Special Edna • The Dad Who Knew Too Little • The Strong Arms of the Ma • Pray Anything • Barting Over • I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can • A Star Is Born Again • Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington • C.E. D'oh • 'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky • Three Gays of the Condo • Dude, Where's My Ranch? • Old Yeller-Belly • Brake My Wife, Please • The Bart of War • Moe Baby Blues
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