'Round Springfield

"'Round Springfield" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth season of The Simpsons, and the 125th episode overall. It originally aired on April 30, 1995.^[1] It was written by Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia based on a story idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss and was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore.^[1] The episode saw Steve Allen and Ron Taylor guest star, each in their second appearance on the show. It marked the first time in which a recurring character was killed off in the show, as well as being the third episode to feature death as its prominent theme.

1 Plot
2 Bleeding Gums's past
3 Production
4 Cultural references
5 Reception
- 5.1 Legacy
- 5.2 Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Plot

Bart gets a stomachache after accidentally eating a jagged metal Krusty-O with his breakfast cereal. Lisa is the only one who believes him, as Homer and Marge send him to school. Bart struggles through the test, and after finally convincing Mrs. Krabappel that he is actually ill, she lets him go and see the nurse. Bart collapses on the medical room floor, and is taken to Springfield General Hospital where he undergoes surgery from Dr. Hibbert and Dr. Nick, as it emerges he has appendicitis. While visiting Bart in the hospital, Lisa meets her hero, jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy, in a bed in another ward.

Later, he lends Lisa his saxophone for her school recital. It starts off terribly, but Lisa gets up and performs a solo routine, becoming the star of the show. However, when she returns to the hospital, she is saddened to learn that Bleeding Gums has died. Lisa, Marge and Homer are the only people who attend Bleeding Gums's funeral, and vow to make sure that everyone in Springfield knows the name Bleeding Gums Murphy. Bart, meanwhile, sues Krusty the Clown for $100,000 and wins. However, after Bart's attorney Lionel Hutz takes his "legal fees", Bart is left with only $500.

Still stricken with grief, Lisa decides that the best way to honor Bleeding Gums' memory is by having his album played at the local jazz station. Lisa spots it in the Android's Dungeon store for $250, but after hearing that Bleeding Gums is dead, Comic Book Guy doubles the price to $500. Bart then walks in with his $500 and, after remembering that Lisa was the only one who believed him about his stomachache, he decides to buy the album with his money. When the station plays one of Bleeding Gums's songs, Lisa is disappointed because the station's tiny range still prevents anyone from hearing it. Lightning then strikes the antenna, giving it extra power and projecting it into every radio in Springfield. Lisa is finally satisfied. After proclaiming "that was for you Bleeding Gums," she turns to leave, but not before Bleeding Gums appears from the heavens to tell Lisa that she had made "an old jazz man happy". After saying a final goodbye, Lisa and Bleeding Gums jam to "Jazzman" one last time.

[edit] Bleeding Gums's past

Bleeding Gums with Bill Cosby, in a flashback of the Cosby show.

The episode sees Bleeding Gums Murphy telling Lisa all about his past, and the beginnings of his jazz career, including mentioning that he lost touch with a little brother "who used to laugh at inappropriate times and grew up to become a doctor" (Julius Hibbert). He says that he learned "at the feet of 'Blind Willie' Witherspoon", from whom he received what Witherspoon thought was a saxophone, though it was actually an umbrella. His big break came with an appearance on Steve Allen's Tonight Show, after which he recorded his only album, Sax on the Beach. Unfortunately for him, he then spent all of his money on his $1,500 a day Fabergé egg habit.^[2] A lull in his career was only interrupted by a guest shot on The Cosby Show as one of The Huxtable children's many great jazz musician grandfathers.

In the DVD audio commentary, Al Jean stated that "he didn't realize just how expensive Fabergé eggs were." In the episode, they were priced at $1500, when in truth they are priceless museum artifacts.

[edit] Production

This episode marked the first time in which a recurring character was killed off in the show. The writers and production team felt that it would be a great storyline, with a lot of emotions, primarily for Lisa.^[3] They knew that it couldn't be one of the main characters, Al Jean states in the episode's DVD audio commentary, "we wouldn't want it to be someone like Mr. Burns, that we'd obviously want to see in the show again".^[3] Eventually they decided on Bleeding Gums Murphy, although Mike Reiss stated "I had been polling for years to kill Marge's mom but this was a better idea".^[4]

The main story of the episode's first act sees Bart get appendicitis from eating a jagged metal Krusty O'. Mike Reiss's father, being a doctor, was the medical consultant on this episode. He stated that you "just can't get" appendicitis from eating a piece of metal.^[4] This was one of two episodes that was created with the help of the staff of The Critic, with the previous being "A Star Is Burns".^[4]

[edit] Cultural references

Bleeding Gums appearing to Lisa in a cloud, along with Mufasa and Darth Vader.

The title is a play on both the jazz standard 'Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk and the similarly named film about an unappreciated jazz musician.^[2] Homer has a Starland Vocal Band tattoo on his arm,^[1] and the music just before Bart's operation is a parody of the theme music of ER.^[4] When Bleeding Gums Murphy appears to Lisa near the end, he is joined by Darth Vader, Mufasa, and James Earl Jones saying "This is CNN". All three roles were played by actor James Earl Jones.^[5] Lionel Hutz' "crack team of lawyers" Robert Shaporo and Albert Dershman are parodies of Robert Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz.^[1] Lisa and Bleeding Gums play Carole King's song "Jazzman" twice throughout the episode. When Mufasa appears he accidentally says "Kimba" and corrects himself after by saying "Simba". This is a reference to a long going, raging debate about whether or not The Lion King had ripped off the anime Kimba the White Lion.^[5]

[edit] Reception

Mike Reiss and Al Jean thought that the episode would "get a ton of awards", this was why they received a story credit, although ultimately it did not win any.^[4] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide found that it was "a real tear-jerker" and praised Grampa believing everything he saw was death.^[2]

[edit] Legacy

Bleeding Gums dying is one of the few times The Simpsons went against its own status quo by permanently removing a character, in this case due to death. Despite this, Bleeding Gums still appears in the complete version of the opening credits,^[6] and even appeared in the live-action format, in The Simpsons Sky One commercial, that was also used for the episode "Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife". His grave stone is seen, along with those of the other dead characters at Maude Flanders' funeral in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily".

[edit] Cheese-eating surrender monkeys

Main article: Cheese-eating surrender monkeys

Groundskeeper Willie's description of the French as "cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys"^[7] has become widely used, particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq.^[8] The New York Post used the phrase "Surrender Monkeys" as the headline for its December 7, 2006 front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq by early 2008.^[9] The line was "most likely" written by Ken Keeler.^[4]