And Maggie Makes Three

“And Maggie Makes Three” is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons’ sixth season. It is notable for recounting the birth of Maggie. The episode title is a play on the lyric “And baby makes three” from the song “My Blue Heaven.”

It is the third and last episode chronicling the births of the Simpson children. It comes after the third season episode "I Married Marge" (about Bart) and the fourth season episode "Lisa's First Word".

1 Plot
2 Cultural references
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

When Marge insists on the weekly hour for the family without TV, they decide to spend the time looking through the family photo albums. Bart and Lisa comment on the lack of baby pictures for Maggie. To explain this, Homer starts a long story beginning with Maggie's conception and birth.

We go back to 1993, when Bart was 8 years old and Lisa 6 years old. Homer hates working at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, and has a dream job of working at a bowling alley. Through "careful" budgeting, he manages to make that dream come true. He quits the power plant, and goes to get a job at Barney’s Bowl-A-Rama. It means less pay, but also less stress, a friendly atmosphere, and enables them to have just enough money to get by with the four of them.

However, when Homer and Marge "snuggle" to celebrate this development, she becomes pregnant. Knowing that another baby will mean that Homer would have to get a better paying job, Marge tries to keep it a secret from Homer as long as she can to avoid ruining his good mood, but Patty and Selma manage to find out. Even though they promise not to tell Homer, they spread the word quickly around town that Marge is pregnant, and throw her a "surprise" baby shower after "forgetting" that Homer is due back from work soon.

Homer is not happy when he finds out about the new baby, and completely unenthusiastic about the impending birth. Because of the financial problems caused by the pregnancy of the baby, Homer is forced to quit his dream job and go back to the Power Plant. Mr. Burns smugly allows him to return, but only after placing a "demoralizing plaque" in Homer’s station saying "Don’t forget: you’re here forever", to remind him that he can never quit again. As much as he dreads the idea of having another child, as soon as Maggie is born, Homer immediately falls in love with her.

Back in the present, Bart and Lisa still do not understand what that has to do with Maggie's pictures. Homer merely mentions that they are in the place where he needs them the most. The scene then cuts to his workplace with all of Maggie's pictures positioned around the plaque to alter it into saying "Do it for her."

[edit] Cultural references

The couch gag is a reference to the James Bond gun barrel sequence,^[2] and Dr. Hibbert's flashback hairstyle is modelled on Arsenio Hall's.^[1] The family watch Knight Boat, a parody of Knight Rider.^[2] Homer spinning around with a bowling ball in his hand before throwing it into the air and exclaiming "I'm gonna make it after all!", is reminiscent of the opening of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.^[1]