Yokel Chords
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"Yokel Chords" is the fourteenth episode of the eighteenth season of The Simpsons, which originally aired on March 4, 2007. It was written by Michael Price, and directed by Susie Dietter. Guest starring Meg Ryan as Dr. Swanson, Peter Bogdanovich as a psychiatrist and Andy Dick, James Patterson and Stephen Sondheim as themselves.
[edit] Synopsis
In a scheme to steal his lunch for the day, Bart tries to scare his peers out of the cafeteria by making up a story about a cannibal cafeteria worker named Dark Stanley. At lunchtime, Bart pretended to be dead, causing all of the students to run screaming into the woods. Willie was sent to fetch them all back, but he brought seven extra kids who are Cletus's children. Principal Skinner tells Superintendent Chalmers that the kids have been refused education, which Lisa overhears. To appease her, Lisa is appointed a tutor of the children.
Meanwhile, Skinner punishes Bart by having him spend five sessions with a qualified psychologist. Bart develops a close bond with his psychologist, Dr. Swanson, (Meg Ryan) who uses a Mad-libs-like game and violent video games to get Bart to open up. When his sessions end, Bart starts to miss the time he spent with her and enters into a state of depression in which he talks about his problems to an empty chair while lying in bed. Marge, worried, pays for one more session with Dr. Swanson. When it ends, Bart feels that he's been able to get everything off his chest, and Dr. Swanson begins to obsess about him and goes to see her own psychologist. (Peter Bogdanovich) It is revealed during this discussion that "Dark Stanley" was in fact real, and had killed her own son.
Lisa's initial tutoring efforts are unsuccessful and so she decides to take them to downtown Springfield to introduce them to Culture in the outside world. However, her plans are diverted when Krusty spots the kids singing during their field trip and decides to use them as a musical act for his show. Cletus looks at the contract and points at various parts saying "Hamburger. Hamburger." then signs it. Lisa is worried about the way that Krusty and Cletus are exploiting the children, so she sends an e-mail to Brandine, who's currently a soldier in Iraq. She arrives by helicopter to tell Krusty that the contract Cletus signed is null and void, since he's only the father of the two untalented ones. It is also shown that Cletus signed the contract with an X mark rather than a real signature. The story ends with Cletus telling Brandine that they owe Krusty $12,000, but Brandine tells him that they can live off that.
[edit] Cultural references
- The video game, Death Kill City II: Death Kill Stories, played by Bart and the psychiatrist is a reference to the Grand Theft Auto series of video games, notably the city stories prequels (Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories). The rating for Death Kill City II is "Bad for Everyone," which spoofs the ESRB rating, "E for Everyone".
- Bart and the psychologist play Sad Libs, a reference to Mad Libs.
- During one song, Cletus' children and Lisa view a scene from the Luis Buñuel/Salvador Dalí film Un Chien Andalou.
- Peter Bogdanovich voices Bart's psychiatrist's own therapist, parodying his role on The Sopranos.
- All of the songs that the children sing are parodies of songs from The Sound of Music.
- The style of the artwork in the sequence in which Bart tells his classmates a story about a murderous cafeteria worker resembles the work of Edward Gorey. A piece of music is used in this scene that is reminiscent of a piece of Astor Piazolla's music used in 12 Monkeys from the suite "Punta del Este". This same music is used later when Bart's psychiatrist sees her psychiatrist. The clip is also comparable to that of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.
- The music played when Groundskeeper Willie rounds up the kids is the main title theme to the 1965 John Sturges film "The Hallelujah Trail", composed by Elmer Bernstein.
