|
|
|
|
|
|
017
"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"
|
|
|
- "And those bureaucrats in the state capital can stick that in their pipes and smoke it!"
- ―Charles Montgomery Burns
| "Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish"
|
| Episode Information
|
"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" is the fourth episode of season 2 of The Simpsons and the seventeenth episode overall. It originally aired on November 1, 1990. The episode was written by John Swartzwelder and Sam Simon and directed by Wes Archer.
Synopsis[edit]
- "Bart catches a three-eyed fish named Blinky in the river by the power plant, and it makes headlines. State nuclear inspectors find numerous safety violations, and order Mr. Burns to fix them or face having the plant closed down. Burns decides to run for governor so he can pass laws which will keep the plant open (by doing away with the regulations costing him so much money). Burns comes very close to having enough support to win the election, and his advisors propose a publicity stunt to put him over the top. As the TV cameras roll, Burns visits the Simpson house for a meal, but the plan backfires when he is presented with Blinky as the main course, and he takes a bite and spits it out."
Bart and Lisa go fishing downstream of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and Springfield Shopper reporter Dave Shutton pulls up just as Bart catches a three-eyed fish, Blinky. From the resulting publicity, the governor, Mary Bailey, calls for an investigation of the power plant and its owner, Montgomery Burns. After an inspection, Mr. Burns is presented with a list of over 342 violations, which will cost $56 million to rectify. Distraught, Burns talks to underperforming Homer who half-heartedly suggests Burns run for Governor, which he does. Marge wants nothing to do with Homer's campaigning for Burns, even though Homer implies he may move up to an executive position this way, because she believes Mr. Burns is attempting to gain political office in order to cover up problems at the plant. Homer's support for Burns divides the Simpson house because Marge and Lisa support Bailey. It is unsure whether Bart himself supports either Bailey or Burns, but he is seen wearing a "Vote for Burns" T-shirt, probably because Homer made him do so.
Burns's political advisors break the news to Burns he is not well liked and force Burns to try being friendly and even smile. Burns makes a TV commercial, discussing Blinky with an actor portraying Charles Darwin, who claims Blinky is an evolutionary step. Combined with a smear campaign against Mary Bailey, this eventually leads to Burns tying Bailey in the polls. The night before the election, Smithers and his other advisors suggest Burns have dinner at the Simpsons' house as an opportunity to put Burns "over the top". To everyone's surprise, Marge serves Blinky, the three-eyed fish Bart caught, for dinner. On the advice of his campaign team, Burns tries to act like it does not bother him, but is unable to keep from spitting it out. The cameras flash as the bite flies through the air, but the press is gone, and his gubernatorial campaign is over by the time the chunk hits the floor. But nevertheless, it brought the Simpson family back together again.
Production[edit]
"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" was written by show developer Sam Simon and John Swartzwelder. It was directed by Wes Archer. Blinky, the three-eyed fish seen in this episode, previously appeared in "Homer's Odyssey" but the writers loved his design and subsequently planned a whole episode around him. Mary Bailey and Springfield Shopper reporter Dave Shutton, who make several appearances throughout the series, made their first appearance on the show in this episode.
The episode was the first show produced for season two. However, "Bart Gets an "F"" was aired beforehand because of Bart's growing popularity. The producers also wanted to steal viewers from The Cosby Show.
Reception[edit]
"Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish" won a 1991 Environmental Media Award in Best Television Episodic Comedy.[1]
In other languages[edit]
| Language
|
Name
|
Translation
|
 Deutsch
|
"Frische Fische mit drei Augen"
|
Fresh fish with three eyes
|
 Español
|
"Dos coches en cada garaje y tres ojos en cada pez"
|
Two cars in each garage and three eyes on each fish
|
 Español
|
"Dos autos en cada cochera y tres ojos en cada pez"
|
Two cars in each garage and three eyes on each fish
|
 Français
|
"Sous le signe du poisson"
|
Under the sign of the fish
|
 Italiano
|
"Due auto in ogni garage, tre occhi in ogni pesce"
|
Two cars in every garage, three eyes in every fish
|
 Português
|
"Peixe de Três Olhos"
|
Three-eyed Fish
|
 Magyar
|
"Háromszemű halat – micsoda jó falat!"
|
Three eyed fish – what a dainty morsel!
|
 日本語
|
"バーンズ知事選に出馬!!"
|
Burns Runs for Governor!!
|
|
References[edit]
