Gump Roast

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The Simpsons episode
"Gump Roast"
Episode no. 286
Prod. code DABF12
Orig. Airdate April 21, 2002
Show Runner(s) Al Jean
Writer(s) Deb Lacusta and
Dan Castellaneta
Director(s) Mark Kirkland
Couch gag The family, except Maggie, appears on a slot machine's wheels. It hits a jackpot.
SNPP capsule
Season 13
November 6, 2001 – May 22, 2002
  1. Treehouse of Horror XII
  2. The Parent Rap
  3. Homer the Moe
  4. A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love
  5. The Blunder Years
  6. She of Little Faith
  7. Brawl in the Family
  8. Sweets and Sour Marge
  9. Jaws Wired Shut
  10. Half-Decent Proposal
  11. The Bart Wants What It Wants
  12. The Lastest Gun in the West
  13. The Old Man and the Key
  14. Tales from the Public Domain
  15. Blame It on Lisa
  16. Weekend at Burnsie's
  17. Gump Roast
  18. I Am Furious Yellow
  19. The Sweetest Apu
  20. Little Girl in the Big Ten
  21. The Frying Game
  22. Papa's Got a Brand New Badge
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"Gump Roast" is the seventeenth episode of The Simpsons' thirteenth season. The episode aired on April 21, 2002.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Homer is on a park bench, telling a story that Chief Wiggum isn't interested in, but he builds interest when Homer uses flashbacks (actually clips from previous episodes) to help him tell the story. The family takes him to the Friar's Club, where he will be roasted by Krusty the Klown and other prominent citizens of Springfield. Among the people roasting him are Bart and Lisa, Grampa and Agnes Skinner (in Jennifer Lopez's infamous Grammy dress), and, in a Smothers Brothers-like manner, Reverend Lovejoy and Ned Flanders, and even Mr. Burns.

It isn't long, however, before Kang and Kodos arrive at the roast and prove humans are stupid, as part of their plans for world domination. When they probe Maggie, they find something on Earth that makes them spare it: celebrities.

The episode ends with a flashback song, "They'll Never Stop The Simpsons", a parody on Billy Joel's hit, "We Didn't Start the Fire". The song apologizes for the clip-show, and insists that despite the long run of The Simpsons the writers have still "got stories for years!" The future story ideas mentioned are Marge becoming a robot, Moe getting a cell phone, Bart owning a pet bear, and "a crazy wedding, where something happens, and do do do do do." The "crazy wedding" shot shows Grampa simultaneously marrying both Patty and Selma, which partially came true in the 2007 episode "Rome-old and Juli-eh".

The episode is debatable as to whether it's canon or not.

[edit] Trivia

  • This is the last clip show of The Simpsons to this date.
  • This is the second episode outside the Halloween episodes that Kang and Kodos appear together in. The other is "Behind the Laughter". However, one of them also appeared in an alien lineup in "The Springfield Files".
  • This episode contains a scene which particularly shows Harry Shearer's vocal range. Note the difference between the singing voices of Ned and Reverend Lovejoy, (which are both voiced by Shearer) when they sing "Camp Town Races".
  • This is one of the few episodes that directly referenced a Treehouse of Horror episode. Another noteworthy episode is "Weekend at Burnsie's", where one of Comic Book Guy's quips near the beginning references a Treehouse of Horror.
  • At the beginning of the clip show song, there is a picture of Homer jumping the shark, which is a slang term that describes when a television show (or channel) has reached its peak and is now declining in quality or has done something to cause a sudden decline in quality (some examples include: killing off a character, bringing in new castmembers, adding a baby character, adding Ted McGinley as a castmember or special guest, changing a character's personality, etc.)
  • It is debatable if this episode can be considered as events that 'actually happened' (within the context of the series), or just a fantasy, as with the 'Treehouse Of Horror' episodes. The main point of debate regarding this, is the inclusion of Kang and Kodos, who usually only appear in the 'Treehouse of Horror' episodes (i.e. aren't 'real').
  • In this episode Kang asserts that the Earth was created 5,000 years ago by God, and Kang and Kodos then make the sign of the Cross. This is an apparently satirical reference to Young Earth Creationism.
  • The "Crazy Wedding" shown in the slide show is between Selma Bouvier (the one with two lumps of hair) and Abe Simpson. This actually happens in the episode Rome-old and Juli-eh.
  • The slide show states that Marge becomes a robot. The couch gag in the future episode The Monkey Suit is compiled of future family photographs, the latter of which includes a robotic Marge.

[edit] Cultural references

  • The opening act spoofs Forrest Gump.
  • During the opening act Moe impersonates Austin Powers and Dr. Hibbert impersonates Darth Vader. Both are arrested because of an ordinance that banned impersonations of movie characters.
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