The Principal and the Pauper

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The Simpsons episode
"The Principal and the Pauper"

Episode no.	180
Prod. code	4F23
Orig. Airdate	September 28, 1997
Show Runner(s)	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Writer(s)	Ken Keeler
Director(s)	Steven Dean Moore
Couch gag	The family dresses up in spacesuits, and the couch blasts off like a rocket.
Guest star(s)	Martin Sheen as Sgt. Seymour Skinner
DVD commentary by	Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Ken Keeler Steven Dean Moore
SNPP capsule
Season 9 September 21, 1997 – May 17, 1998
The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson The Principal and the Pauper Lisa's Sax Treehouse of Horror VIII The Cartridge Family Bart Star The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons Lisa the Skeptic Realty Bites Miracle on Evergreen Terrace All Singing, All Dancing Bart Carny The Joy of Sect Das Bus The Last Temptation of Krust Dumbbell Indemnity Lisa the Simpson This Little Wiggy Simpson Tide The Trouble with Trillions Girly Edition Trash of the Titans King of the Hill Lost Our Lisa Natural Born Kissers
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"The Principal and the Pauper" is the second episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. The episode first aired on September 28, 1997.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Seymour Skinner is about to celebrate his 20th anniversary as school principal, and it goes smoothly until a man who says his name is Seymour Skinner comes in, pointing out that Agnes Skinner is his mother. Principal Skinner admits he is not the real Seymour Skinner, and is only an impostor. He tells his story and admits that his real name is Armin Tamzarian, but assumed the identity of Sergeant Seymour Skinner. Soon, the sergeant becomes the school's principal, because he says he had intentions to be the principal of Springfield Elementary School.

Afterwards, Springfield prefers Tamzarian over the real Skinner. Tamzarian, however, had left Springfield and gone to Capital City. Marge devises a plan to get Tamzarian back to Springfield, and she heads off for capital city with Homer, Lisa, Edna Krabappel, Agnes Skinner, Grampa, Bart, Maggie and for some reason, Jasper Beardley. After Agnes orders Armin to return home, Homer convinces Mayor Quimby and all the other citizens to allow Armin to stay. However, Sergeant Skinner refuses to give up his dignity just because they like some other guy better. Homer comes up with a way of letting Skinner keep his dignity and let Armin Tamzerian get his old job back. The plan is to force Sergeant Skinner to leave on a train (actually tied to a chair on a freight train car). Tamzarian returns to being Principal Skinner through an order by Judge Snyder, saying that no one will mention "Tamzarian" again under penalty of torture.

[edit] Trivia

This episode is referenced by Lisa in the episode "I, D'oh-Bot", when Lisa refers to her principal as "Principal Tamzarian". She obviously does not receive the penalty of torture, however.
Armin is a German name, although the name Armen is a very common Armenian name. Tamzarian also appears to be an Armenian.
A clip from this show was used in Behind the Laughter as an example of the show's increasingly "gimmicky and non-sensical plots". Many Simpsons fans, especially on the Internet, hate this episode for this reason.
According to the DVD commentary, Ken Keeler states that the episode reflected the fans on the internet who attacked the show, (i.e. a community that cannot accept any change and would prefer an illusion to the truth). Keeler and director Steve Moore have both said that this episode is a favorite of theirs, although Matt Groening stated on the intro commentary that this episode was one of his least favorites.

[edit] Cultural references

The title of the episode is a reference to the title of the book The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain.
Although many people believe this episode is based on the story of Martin Guerre, according to writer Ken Keeler on the DVD commentary he in fact based his story on the Tichborne Case.
The bridge scene with flashing explosions is like the picture Apocalypse Now. That film starred Martin Sheen, this episode's guest star.
The song sung by the Springfield Elementary Chorus in tribute to Skinner is a parody of the theme song of Flipper.