Brother from Another Series
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"Brother from Another Series" is the sixteenth of The Simpsons' eighth season and originally aired February 23, 1997. Sideshow Bob is released from prison into the care of his brother Cecil and claims to be a changed man. However, Bart doesn't believe him and tries to find out what Bob is up to.[1] It was the first episode directed by Pete Michels and was written by Ken Keeler.[2] Guest starring Kelsey Grammer in his sixth appearance as Sideshow Bob and David Hyde Pierce as Cecil.[1] The title is not only a pun on the movie The Brother from Another Planet, but also a reference to the fact that guest stars Kelsey Grammer (Frasier Crane) and David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane) also play bickering brothers on the sitcom Frasier.
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[edit] Synopsis
Former criminal Sideshow Bob is declared a changed man by Reverend Lovejoy and released from prison, despite the protests of Bart. Bob is released into the care of his brother Cecil, who is Springfield's chief Hydrological and hydrodynamical engineer. The two had previously not spoken since Bob had become Krusty the Clown's sidekick, a job which Cecil had always coveted. Cecil and Bob plan to build a dam in a river near Springfield and Bart, believing that Bob is still evil, continuously follows Bob around. Bob begins to become upset over Bart's investigations and his incompetent employees and expresses his desire to see the dam blow up.
Meanwhile, Bart enlists Lisa to help find out what Sideshow Bob is up to, much to the annoyance of Bob. They decide to go to Bob's trailer at the dam construction site and discover a briefcase full of money, evidently stolen from the dam construction funds. They are soon discovered by Bob and the children run away and hide inside the dam's turbine room, but are cornered. They confront Bob with the money and he denies knowing anything about it. Cecil shows up and reveals that he embezzled the money by cutting back on construction and plans on framing Bob and using him as a scapegoat. He locks Bob, Bart and Lisa in the dam and prepares to blow it up.
Bob helps Bart and Lisa escape and they try to save the dam. Bart jumps on Cecil's back, but is thrown off of a cliff. Bob, seeing that Bart is in danger, grabs the dynamite and cord and dives down in an effort to save him. He manages to save Bart and the town by cutting the chord on the dynamite. The police arrive and Cecil is immediately arrested. Bob gloats over his victory, but Chief Wiggum suddenly arrives and declares that he doesn't believe that Bob is innocent and arrests Bob. Meanwhile, the dam suddenly breaks and the town is flooded, although no serious damage is caused.
Bob and Cecil are taken away to jail and are locked in the same cell, where they fight over who gets the top bunk.[1][3][4][5]
[edit] Production
The episode was written by Ken Keeler, who had been watching a lot of Frasier at the time and had been assigned to write a Sideshow Bob episode and he thought it would be a good idea to mix the two.[6] Pierce was cast as Sideshow Bob's brother, causing Pierce to joke, "Normally, I would not do something like this. But how often do you get a chance to work with an actor like Kelsey Grammer and, more importantly, play his brother?"[7] While Sideshow Bob is addressing the crowd, a man near the back raises his hand and says "probably"; he is also voiced by David Hyde Pierce, who had wanted to be a man in a crowd.[8]
An early draft of the episode originally featured an Opera house explosion,[6] which was changed because the writers felt using a dam would be more exciting.[8] An early rule of Sideshow Bob episodes was to recap what had gone on in previous Bob episodes, in case the viewer had forgotten who he was.[8] The original script was run by the Frasier producers to make sure they were okay with it, and they only had one problem. There was a very brief scene in which Cecil talks to a visible character and refers to her as "Maris", who in Frasier is an unseen character, and the producers of Frasier said the scene should go.[6] The writers spent a long time trying to figure out a civilization that considered chief hydrological engineer a true calling and chose the Cappadocians, who were famous for underground cities although not specifically dams.[8]
Cecil was drawn to resemble David Hyde Pierce, but still look similar to Bob.[9] According to director Pete Michels, it was difficult to draw Bob and Cecil standing together because their feet are both so big.[9] There was a scene featuring Hans Moleman and his house, which was cut, but his house can still briefly be seen in the scene where Cecil throws Bart off of a cliff.[8] The sequence was cut in order to make room for the explanation of why Bob was sent back to prison.[8] Ken Keeler has said that it is his favourite deleted scene.[6]
[edit] Cultural references
The "Krusty the Clown Prison Special" is based on Johnny Cash's 1968 appearance at Folsom Prison. Krusty's song is a parody of Folsom Prison Blues.[8] The episode contains several references to Frasier, with the intention of making it blatantly obvious that The Simpsons was ripping it off. These include: A title card just before the start of the second act which says "Frasier is a hit show on the NBC Television Network" and when Bart jumps on Cecil and says "guess who", Cecil replies with "Maris?"[10]
[edit] Reception
Beforehand, the media said the episode "looks promising."[11] This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Sound Mixing For a Comedy Series or a Special.[12] It has also been called one of director Peter Michels' "classics."[13] The episode earned a score of 7.3/10 on IMDB[14] and an 8.8/10 out on TV.com.[15]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "Brother From Another Series" The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on March 29, 2007
- ^ a b c d Brother From Another Series BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on March 29, 2007
- ^ Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0495-2.
- ^ Episode Capsule at The Simpsons Archive
- ^ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 173. ISBN 0-00063-8898-1.
- ^ a b c d Keeler, Ken. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Brother from Another Series" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "TV Tidbits," The Spectator, Hamilton, Ontario: February 20, 1997, pg. E.7.
- ^ a b c d e f g Weinstein, Josh. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Brother from Another Series" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b Michels, Pete. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Brother from Another Series" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Grammer, Kelsey. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Brother from Another Series" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ "Volcanic thriller among Sunday watchables," Edmonton Journal, February 23, 1997, pg. D.2.
- ^ Associated Press, "49th Annual Primetime Emmy Nominations," The Globe and Mail, July 25, 1997, pg. C.9.
- ^ Ben Rayner, "Fans react to Family feud; FOXy The Family Guy pinches plots but also steals The Simpsons' thunder, to some fans' dismay," Toronto Star, November 5, 2006, pg. C.6.
- ^ Brother from Another Series IMDB. Retrieved on February 28, 2007
- ^ Brother From Another Series TV.com. Retrieved on February 7, 2007
[edit] External links
- "Brother From Another Series" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive.
- "Brother From Another Series" episode page at The Simpsons.com
- "Brother From Another Series" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Brother From Another Series" at TV.com
