Itchy & Scratchy & Marge
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| The Simpsons episode | |
| "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" | |
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| Episode no. | 22 |
| Prod. code | 7F09 |
| Orig. Airdate | December 20, 1990 |
| Writer(s) | John Swartzwelder |
| Director | Jim Reardon |
| Chalkboard | "I will not pledge allegiance to Bart." |
| Couch gag | The couch is missing and the family all look around puzzled. |
| Guest star(s) | Alex Rocco as Roger Meyers, Jr. |
| SNPP capsule | |
| Season 2 October 11, 1990 – July 11, 1991 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
"Itchy & Scratchy & Marge" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' second season. The episode aired on December 20, 1990.
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[edit] Synopsis
When Homer attempts to build Marge a spice rack, Maggie hits Homer on the head with a mallet after seeing Itchy do the same to Scratchy. Later, after seeing yet another Itchy & Scratchy show, Maggie attempts to stab Homer with a pencil, but she is stopped by Marge. Marge forbids Bart, Lisa, and Maggie from watching cartoons, after she blames The Itchy & Scratchy Show for Maggie's actions. Although Bart watches Itchy & Scratchy at Milhouse's house, and Lisa watches it at Janey's, Marge writes a letter to the producers of the show asking them to tone down their violence. In response, Roger Meyers, Jr.—the CEO of Itchy & Scratchy International—writes a letter to Marge, calling her a "screwball". She says that she will show them "what one screwball can do".
The family pickets outside the Itchy & Scratchy studios, forming SNUH, or "Springfieldians for Nonviolence, Understanding, and Helping". Marge's protest gains momentum, and more people join the group. SNUH also pickets The Krusty the Klown Show, where Itchy & Scratchy is shown on. The producers of the show suggest a new character based on Marge, which is a squirrel sporting Marge's big blue hairdo, who tells Itchy and Scratchy to stop fighting, but in response, they whack her head off with a baseball bat. Marge appears on Kent Brockman's show, Smartline, suggesting that Itchy & Scratchy be made less violent. Eventually, a new short ("Porch Pals") airs, but Bart, Lisa, and other kids across Springfield reject the cleaned-up show, going outside to do wholesome childlike things.
Meanwhile, Michelangelo's David goes on a coast-to-coast tour of the U.S. with stops in New York City and Springfield, and possibly Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles. As it goes on tour, the members of SNUH urge Marge to protest the sculpture, insisting that the sculpture is offensive. However, Marge argues that the sculpture is a masterpiece. Deciding that it is wrong to censor one form of art but not another, she was forced to give up her protest. Itchy & Scratchy go back to their violent cartoons, still influencing Maggie badly, and Homer and Marge see Michelangelo's David sculpture.
[edit] Trivia
- Moe is holding a protest sign that says "Bring back Wagon Train".
[edit] Cultural References
- The scene where Maggie hits Homer over the head with a mallet is an homage to Psycho. The music and camera angles are almost identical.
- The music heard while the children play outside is Beethoven's 6th Symphony.
- Nelson and his buddies whitewash a fence in a style reminiscent of Tom Sawyer.
[edit] Snuh
The meaningless word "Snuh", first introduced in this episode as the acronym for Marge's protest group, has appeared in several other episodes of the Simpsons. It is one of the meaningless sounds Homer uses while avoiding making a promise to Marge in the episode Lisa's Pony. It also appears in the episode "Radioactive Man" as a written sound effect in a fight scene parodying the 1960s Batman TV series.
Snuh!, as an exclamation, has become somewhat of a rallying cry of Simpsons fans. A student organization at Calvin College focused around The Simpsons has gone so far as to call their organization SNUH, although it stands for Students for Non-ignorance and the Understanding of Hilarity [1].
The use of snuh on Usenet took off in September 1999 when a user posted a test message to alt.tv.simpsons with the subject "Snuh?" [2]. The thread generated a cascade of hundreds of replies. Soon thereafter, multiple imitation threads were posted to the newsgroup. Snuh became such a phenomenon in alt.tv.simpsons that the newsgroups alt.snuh and alt.tv.simpsons.snuh were created for those who wished to post cascading threads in the snuh tradition. The backlash in some groups is to the point that some refer to 'snuhers' as 'snuhtards', much as users of the word 'meow' were once vilified.
The pets on the chat room/online game Habbo Hotel often say "Snuh" in various manners instead of mewing or barking - possibly because of the Usenet use of the word outlined above.
[edit] External links
