Skinner's Sense of Snow

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The Simpsons episode
"Skinner's Sense of Snow"

Episode no.	256
Prod. code	CABF06
Orig. Airdate	December 17, 2000
Show Runner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	Tim Long
Directed by	Lance Kramer
Chalkboard	"Science class should not end in tragedy"
Couch gag	The family flies over a Gridiron ball.
SNPP capsule
Season 12 November 1, 2000 – May 20, 2001
Treehouse of Horror XI A Tale of Two Springfields Insane Clown Poppy Lisa the Tree Hugger Homer vs. Dignity The Computer Wore Menace Shoes The Great Money Caper Skinner's Sense of Snow HOMR Pokey Mom Worst Episode Ever Tennis the Menace Day of the Jackanapes New Kids on the Blecch Hungry, Hungry Homer Bye Bye Nerdie Simpson Safari Trilogy of Error I'm Goin' to Praiseland Children of a Lesser Clod Simpsons Tall Tales
List of all Simpsons episodes...

Skinner's Sense of Snow is an episode from season twelve of the animated TV series The Simpsons.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

While the Simpsons attend a French-Canadian circus, a freak blizzard (specifically, a "classic nor'easter meeting a classic 'sou'wester'") hits Springfield, turning it into a winter wonderland overnight. However, Springfield Elementary School is the only school that did not declare a snowday. Some students from both Bart's and Lisa's classes show up while Skinner and Willie are the only faculty members to still be working. To pass the time, Skinner plays the ultra-boring movie "The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, But Then Was". While they are watching the movie, the snow piles up and traps everyone in the school.

Skinner, whose incompetence in not closing the school due to the blizzard caused everyone inside the school to be trapped, quickly determines that they will be unable to get out and will have to remain there for the duration of the storm. The kids complain about things they have to go home for, but Skinner firmly declares that no one can escape. The kids are forced to eat relish and mayonnaise. After Bart is prevented from escaping by Skinner, the kids begin to go beyond Skinner's control. To maintain order, he dons his old army uniform. Meanwhile, Homer and Ned set off to rescue the kids, but while driving, they hit a fire hydrant, encasing their car in ice. They allow carbon monoxide to enter the car, and suffer hallucinations.

In the middle of the night, Bart tries to dig a tunnel to get everyone out. He gets caught by Skinner, who orders Willie to destroy the tunnel. Willie refuses, and when Skinner insults him, he quits. Skinner decides to destroy it himself, but he again messes up and gets trapped in the cavern. The kids take advantage of this and take over the school. Skinner uses the school hamster, Nibbles, to get a message to the outside world. Nibbles makes it to Ned and Homer, which breaks the ice and frees them. Homer turns on the car's cruise control, sending the car going out-of-control and crashing into a salt silo. However, Homer's blunder fortunately releases a massive amount of salt that melts the snow around the school, freeing the kids, but rusting the car's body completely. A camel version of Lisa (from Homer's CO-inspired visions) wishes viewers a Merry Christmas.

[edit] Trivia

This episode got 1.65 million viewers when it premiered on the UK satellite channel Sky One on 11 February 2001, becoming the highest rated Simpsons episode on the channel ever, and beating the terrestrial channel ITV for the first time, who were showing the ITV Evening News. The record was later broken by the Ricky Gervais written "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife" in 2006, which got 2.301 million.
This episode aired 11 years after the premiere of the show.
The episode is based off an event that happened to writer Tim Long in elementary school. He was trapped in Exeter Public School, in Exeter Ontario, Canada.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cultural references

The episode title is a reference to Smilla's Sense of Snow, a book by Peter Høeg.
The circus "Cirque du Puree" is a parody of Cirque du Soleil.
The movie The Christmas That Almost Wasn't, But Then Was is a parody of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, which is considered one of the worst movies ever, and possibly the worst holiday movie ever. Skinner says the film is about "a Grinchy character who tries to steal Christmas", which gets the children excited as they think he is referring to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Bart refers to an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show where "they finally kiss", parodying a much-anticipated incident in The X-Files between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully which finally occurred (for American viewers) five months after this episode's broadcast, in May 2001. This line was later referenced by Comic Book Guy in Lisa's level in the video game The Simpsons Hit and Run.
Bart tortures Principal Skinner by poking him with a stick and shouting at him in Vietnamese, reminiscent of the way the soldiers were treated in Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. In Vietnamese, đi đi mau means "go fast". It should also be noted that Skinner is a Vietnam veteran.
Homer claims he wrote Bad Company's song "Feel Like Makin' Love" as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Al-Fayed, who died four years before.