Difference between revisions of "The War of the Simpsons"

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"The War of the Simpsons"

Episode Information Showrunner: [[{{{showrunner}}}]]

"The War of the Simpsons" is the 20th episode of the second season of The Simpsons.

Synopsis

Marge and Homer throw a party. Homer gets drunk and humiliates himself by leering at Maude Flanders, telling off total strangers, and stumbling over furniture. The next day at church, Marge signs up for a weekend retreat of marriage counseling hosted by Reverend Lovejoy and his wife. Marge recruits Grampa for the weekend to babysit since the babysitter she previously hired was emotionally scarred by Bart when he was a baby.

Homer finds out that the retreat will be held at Catfish Lake and packs his fishing equipment, despite Marge telling him that the retreat will be resolving their differences. On the way there, he learns of the legendary catfish, General Sherman.

Meanwhile, at home, left with Grampa, Bart and Lisa decide to hold a party. At the lake the next morning Homer tries to sneak away to go fishing. Marge is upset that Homer would choose fishing over their marriage. Homer takes a walk instead. On the dock, Homer finds an abandoned fishing pole. The pole yanks him off the pier into a small rowboat, and onto the lake. From their cabin window, Marge watches Homer fish.

Bart and Lisa's party has ended and the house is a total mess. Watching Grampa cry and fearing that he will get in trouble, they frantically clean up the house, not knowing he was pretending.

Marge attends the workshops alone while Homer catches his fish. When he returns, Marge tells him their marriage is in trouble if he values fish more than her. To prove that he loves Marge more he lets the fish go (despite battling it for several hours) and they return together to a clean house.

Appearances

Characters

• Homer Simpson
• Marge Simpson
• Bart Simpson
• Lisa Simpson
• Maggie Simpson
• Ned Flanders
• Maude Flanders
• Moe Szyslak
• Dr. Hibbert
• Bernice Hibbert
• Carl Carlson
• Sam
• Barney Gumble
• Patty and Selma Bouvier
• Larry
• Reverend Timothy Lovejoy
• Snowball II
• Helen Lovejoy
• Abraham Simpson
• Rainier Wolfcastle/McBain
• Milhouse Van Houten
• Otto Mann
• Snake Jailbird (debut appearance)
• Wendell Borton
• Sherri and Terri
• Nelson Muntz
• Santa's Little Helper
• Lewis
• Richard
• Dolph Starbeam
• Jimbo Jones
• Kearney Zzyzwicz
• General Sherman

Vehicles

• Orange Station Wagon
• Pink Sedan
• School Bus

Locations

• 742 Evergreen Terrace
• First Church of Springfield
• Bait Shop
• Catfish Lake
• Grocery Store
• Van Houten House
• Springfield State Prison

Quotes

Near the beginning of the episode

The Simpsons' party for firends and neighbors is in full swing, sort of...

Barney talks to Patty (or is it Selma?)

Barney: Hey! You're Homer's sister-in-law, right?

Barney: I remember you. But I don't remember you being so beau[burp]tiful.

Barney: [she maces him] Oh, ow, hey, [burp] [cough]

Barney: Is that a new kind of mace? It's really painful.

Near the end of the episode

At the bait shop...

Clerk: Yep, 'General Sherman'. They say he's five hundred pounds of bottom-dwelling fury, don't you know. No one knows how old he is, but if you ask me (and most people do), he's hundred years if he's a day.

Customer: And uh no one's ever caught him?

Clerk: Well, one fella came close. Went by the name of Homer. Seven feet tall he was, with arms like tree trunks. His eyes were like steel, cold, hard. Had a shock of hair, red like the fires of Hell.

Trivia

• The family from Burn's picnic in There's No Disgrace Like Home is seen again in church in front of Marge.

Cultural References

• The title is based on the 1989 film The War of the Roses.

• When Ned Flanders is making drinks at the Simpsons' party, much of the flashy ways he is seen preparing the cocktails is similar to Tom Cruise's bartending stunts in the 1988 film Cocktail.

• The music in the scene where an infant Bart chases his teenage babysitter with the car is similar to the score from The Omen.

• Homer's false memory of the party is a reference to the Algonquin Round Table, a group of New York City writers, critics, actors and wits. The guests and the party and the way they are drawn resemble Al Hirschfeld's caricature of the group. As Hirschfeld's drawings were always in black and white, the colour scheme is borrowed from the covers for The New Yorker.

• John and Gloria bear a strong resemblance to George and Martha from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

• The character of Gloria is one of the few times in the series that Julie Kavner has voiced a character other than Marge or one of her relatives.

• Homer's marathon attempt at catching General Sherman, his bludgeoning of the fish and the line "I love you but I have to kill you" are all based on Santiago's fight with the marlin in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.

• Homer sings "We Are the Champions" by Queen after he actually catches General Sherman, although he butchers the lyrics by singing "I Am the Champions", in which he fails to singularize the lyrics in order to describe only himself.

• The Picture of General Sherman, in the Service Station, is a reference to the famous hoax picture of the Loch Ness Monster