Fear of Flying (The Simpsons episode)
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"Fear of Flying" is an episode of The Simpsons from the sixth season. When Homer destroys a plane after being mistaken for a pilot, he and his family win free airline tickets though it is discovered that Marge is afraid of flying.
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[edit] Synopsis
After Homer pulls a prank on Moe, Moe and the others at the bar ban Homer for life, which causes Homer to try to find a new bar. He visits a high class bar, the Cheers bar, and a lesbian bar, though none of them suit him. He eventually ends up in an airline pilot's bar where he is accidentally mistaken as a pilot and forced to fly a plane. However, when Homer tries to fly it, his incompetence results in the destruction of the plane. In order to prevent anyone from knowing about this embarrassing incident, the owner of the Cwazy Clown Airlines gives Homer and his family free tickets to anywhere they want (except Hawaii or Alaska, "the freak states").
When Homer and his family finally get on the plane and it starts to take off, Marge admits to Homer that she has a fear of flying. Because of this, the vacation is cancelled and Marge starts to act strangely from admitting her fear. She begins to cook for no reason, works on the roof in the middle of the night, tries to stay in a state of cat-like readiness, believes the cat and dog should be married, and sits in the air from her tension and stress. In the end, Marge is taken to see therapist Dr. Zweig where it is discovered that her fear of flying was rooted from finding out that her father was an airplane stewardess, a job that was mostly reserved for women during that time, as well as from other numerous causes. By the time the therapy session is finished and Marge is supposedly cured of her fears, Marge and Homer try to fly on a plane again, though the plane ends up crashing into the swamp.
[edit] Trivia
- This is one of the few episodes where Marge's Father is shown. It wasn't until "Jazzy and the Pussycats" when it was explained that he had died.
- According to the DVD commentary, there are five deleted scenes (or parts of scenes) from the episode:
- After Homer was kicked out of Moe's Tavern, it was originally planned for a cat to come to Homer, and then have it enter the bar. The result is the barflies loving the cat with Moe even loving it when the cat spills sugar all over, and depressing Homer even more. According to David Silverman, the fact that it looked depressing was the reason why it was deleted, and replaced with a more humorous approach with him chasing a poodle.
- The explanation why there was a spare pilot uniform was that the pilot who had it was on the roof, in his underwear, drunk beyond reasonability, and attempts to fly. The obvious reaction was that he fell off the roof to the ground.
- Homer made fun of Marge's phobia on the plane. The reason it was cut, according to Silverman, was that it looked like it would make Marge more annoyed than panicky.
- One of the things Marge had done while channeling her fear into bizarre actions was vacuuming in the middle of the night, but with the vacuum cleaner unplugged.
- According to Marge, one memory of Homer involved him showing up with a tree branch in his mouth, and back in real life having him with another branch in his mouth. It was cut because, according to David, the branch joke made little sense.
- At the very end, David Silverman also jokingly suggested that everybody on the plane (except Marge and Homer) died, but was cut out because "it was a bit of a downer".
- When Moe takes down Homer's picture on his Mount Lushmore wall, the names of the other common bar drunks, Sam (the drunk with the glasses and the cap) and Larry the Lush (the one with the orange coat), are visible.
- The music during the scene where Homer is at the lesbian bar is the same music from the scene in Marge on the Lam where Ruth and Marge go to an underground dance club called "The Hate Box".
[edit] Cultural references
- The Cheers bar is a parody of Cheers. All the characters are voiced by the actor that originally played them, curiously except for Frasier, originally played by Kelsey Grammer, who stays silent. Kelsey Grammer portrays the somewhat regular character of Sideshow Bob, on the Simpsons.
- "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls is revealed as Homer's favorite song in this episode.
- Homer's line on shaking off the dust of this one-horse town comes from It's a Wonderful Life.
- "You Flyboys crack me up" is also thought to be a reference to the "Fly Club", an unrecognized Harvard University social club of all boys (attended by the creator of the show).
- Forgetting a family member on the plane and Abe slapping his hands on his face and yelling is similar to the movie Home Alone.
- Marge's dream is a reference to Lost in Space.
- The scene where Marge and Jaqueline Bouvier (her mother) duck down when a biplane approaches them in a cornfield is a parody of Hitchcock's North by Northwest.
- The mentioning of Lowenstein comes from The Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand as the psychiatrist.
- The last scene with Homer and Marge is similar to a scene in Say Anything where the man helps the female through her fear of flying.
- Homer's Mount Lushmore caricature is drawn to resemble Eustace Tilley, the mascot of The New Yorker.
[edit] Goofs
- Even though this episode establishes Marge's fear of flying, she had no trouble traveling by plane on the episode "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington". Likewise, this episode mentions that Homer has a fear of sock puppets, yet he had no problem with them in "Homer Alone" (It is possible that his fear began with his hands being mauled by Santa's Little Helper though) and Homer's Triple Bypass (when he used puppets to explain his operation to Bart and Lisa).
- Homer is told that he is banned from Moes for life. However, after this episode, he is seen drinking there happily again.
[edit] Quotes
- Homer: Hmmm, this looks like a nice, friendly place. (enters bar and sits down at a booth)
Carla Tortelli: Sammy, you're too old to go on a date with two twins on the same night you're supposed to marry Diane without Rebecca knowin'.
Sam Malone: Okay, Carla, I'll make you a bet: If this affects my major league comeback, I'll sell the bar.
Norm Peterson: Woody, give me a beer.
Woody Boyd: I think you've had enough, Mr. Peterson. My chiropractor says I can't carry you home anymore.
Norm Peterson: Just give me another beer, you brain dead hick! (breaks bottle) I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!
Cliff Clavin: (holds him down) Whoa! Settle down, Normie! Gotta save those pipes for karaoke.
(Homer screams and runs away)
Norm Peterson: I love you guys. (sobs) - Homer: Wait a minute... there's something bothering me about this place.
(looks around, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this is a lesbian bar)
Homer: I know! This lesbian bar doesn't have a fire exit! Enjoy your death trap, ladies.
Woman: What was her problem? - (Shown walking up to a bar called The Little Black Box)
Homer: The last bar in Springfield. If they don't let me in here, I'll have to stop drinking.
Homer's Liver: Yay!
Homer: Shut up, liver!
(Homer punches his liver)
Homer: Ow! My liver hurts! - Homer: I'd like a beer, please.
Bartender: Sorry, you gotta be a pilot to drink in here.
Homer: Uh, but I am a pilot.
Bartender: Oh, yeah? So where's your uniform?
Homer: Um, I stowed it safely in the overhead compartment!
Bartender: Well, you talk the talk. Here's a loaner. - Airport Worker: Hey! Who wants to fly to the Windy City?
(all of the pilots stand up, trying to get his attention)
Airport Worker: Conditions are a little windy!
(all of the pilots who stood up sit down, leaving Homer standing)
Airport Worker: You! (points at Homer)
Homer: Me? But I...
Airport Worker: Hey! You're not just impersonating a pilot so you can drink here, are you?
Homer: Yes. That's exactly why I'm here.
Airport Worker: (laughs) You flyboys crack me up!
(cuts to the cockpit of a plane)
Homer: I keep telling you, I'm not a pilot!
Airport Worker: And I keep telling you you flyboys crack me up!
(forces Homer into room) - Allen: Hi, I'm Allen, your co-pilot.
Homer: As a change of pace, I'm... going to let you do most of the work here. I think you're ready for it, Allen.
(flips a random switch)
Allen: Umm, we'll need that to live.
(Homer flips another switch, causing the plane's landing gear to detract, and fall to the ground.) - Bart: You know, I have this feeling that we forgot something...
Abe: (still on the plane) (screams with his hands on his face)
Homer: Ehh, I'm sure it's nothing. - Marge: Well, everyone's afraid of something.
Homer: Not me.
Marge: Sock puppets!
Homer: (screams) Where? Where?! (runs off screaming) - Homer: Now Marge, "Dear Abby" says seeing films about air travel can calm your fears. Ooh! Here are some upbeat titles: "Hero", "Fearless"..."Alive!" (at home, Marge watches them)
Man 1: No thanks to the plane, many of us are still...
Everyone: Alive!
Man 2: (through full mouth) We certainly are. (chews)
Man 3: Pass me another hunk of copilot.
Lisa: Dad, Mom's getting worse. You have to take her to see a real psychiatrist. Look how tense she is!
Homer: She's fine! (camera shows Marge sitting on air) Oh. - Homer: Ever since you started therapy, all you can do is talk about yourself. Well what about me, Marge?
Marge: I just left my first session and I haven't even opened my mouth yet.
Homer: You see? You see? "I just left my first session and I haven't opened my mouth yet"! - Marge: (weeping) My father...was a stewardess!
Dr. Zweig: Marge, there's nothing to be ashamed of here. Today, male flight attendants, or "stewards", are common.
Marge: (sniffs) They are?
Dr. Zweig: Yes. Thanks to trailblazers like your father, you might say he was a pioneer.
Marge: Yeah. You might even say he was an American hero.
Dr. Zweig: Let's not go nuts. - Marge: Thank you, doctor. Whenever the wind whistles through the leaves, I'll think "Lowenstein", "Lowenstein".
Dr. Zweig: My name is Zweig.
Marge: (going out the door) (whispering) Lowenstein... - Homer: Don't worry about a thing, honey. I'm going to help you through this. (he and Marge sit down) Those are all normal noises. Luggage compartment closing...cross checking...just sit back and relax. (shot from outside the plane) That's just the engine powering up... (engine stutters) that's just the engine struggling... (the plane drives off the runway into a swamp) That's just a carp swimming around your ankles...
(Marge murmurs grumpily) - (The plane is sitting on the ground waiting to take off) Grampa: Wow! We must really be flying high! Those men look all tiny and blurry...just like the inside of a cataract!
- Executive: If word gets our about this, Crazy Clown airlines will be a laughing stock.
- Psychiatrist: Everything you say in this meeting will be private. (Homer appears on a makeshift platform cleaning the windows) Oh, that just the window cleaner. He comes every day at twelve o'clock.
Marge: But its a few seconds before twelve o'clock. (Real window cleaner comes from above and knocks Homer down. You can hear him screaming as he falls).
[edit] External links
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
- "Fear of Flying" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
