Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington

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The Simpsons episode

"Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington"

Krusty runs for Congress.

Episode no.

305

Prod. code

EABF09

Orig. airdate

None

The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Homer clicks the remote control and sends the family to the Stone Age, clicks the remote again and sends the family to the era of the Roman Empire where they watch a gladiator match, and clicks it a final time to send the family to the present.

Guest star(s)

None

Season 14
November 3, 2002 – May 18, 2003

List of all The Simpsons episodes

Seasons
1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20

“Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington” is the fourteenth episode from The Simpsons’ 14th season.

1 Plot
2 Censorship
3 The News Ticker
4 Cultural references
5 External links

[edit] Plot

While watching a very late episode of The Three Stooges (where the violently bumbling trio are on the brink of senility), the Simpsons feel the ground shaking. They discover an airplane flying dangerously close to their house. They soon realize that the air traffic must have been redirected. Homer and Marge complain to an airport official, who says that the planes were redirected away from wildlife preserves to protect the animals; whereas, actually, they were redirected by the request of Mayor Quimby, so that he could entertain his lady friends in peace and quiet.

The family tries to adjust to the massive noise, but are unable to cope and decide to move. After failing to sell the house to Apu and Ralph Wiggum, Homer and Marge complain to their congressman, Horace Wilcox, who has been Springfield's representative since 1933. Horace seems genuinely moved by their predicament and ready to help them. Unfortunately, he suffers a heart attack and dies. Later, as they watch a Krusty show, Bart gets the idea to have Krusty run for Congress. The family also thinks it would be a good idea. The next day, Bart visits Krusty (who at first mistakes him for a dying fan) and asks him to run for Congress. Krusty seems reluctant at first, but he soon likes to the idea, since he could change all the problems that the government has plagued him with, such as taxes and immigration (of his monkey). At the shady Republicans’ meeting, he nominates himself as a candidate for Congress. The other members are supportive (except for Bob Dole who nominates himself).

Krusty’s campaign has a very bad start. He includes offensive jokes in his speeches and his opponent, John Armstrong, shows a sketch from Krusty’s show making fun of the UN, in which he spoofs the “French Stench,” the “Jamaican Hum-Drum” and San Francisco’s homosexuality. Desperate to have Krusty win the election (and be on the winning team, for once), Lisa helps Krusty turn his campaign around by having him connect with regular families and citizens. With this advice and some help from Fox News (including a TV debate with Krusty shown with a Halo, while the Democratic candidate is shown with devil horns and a Soviet flag on the background, and finally upside down), Krusty’s popularity soars and he wins the election, possibly due to Bart and extreme voter fraud.

So begins Krusty’s term in Congress. After taking the oath, he tries to bring up the topic of the air traffic over Evergreen Terrace. However, no one pays any attention to him and they tell him that as a freshman congressman, he doesn’t get much of a say in anything there. He’s told to clean up the graffiti on the walls of the House. The other congressmen then start discussing designing dollar coins made out of chocolate.

Later, the Simpsons find Krusty in a bar, drowning his sorrows in booze. He feels that he’s failed them, but they convince him to stand up for his beliefs. Thus encouraged, he tries to get his Air Traffic Bill passed, but he is only speaking to an empty room. The Simpsons watch him and feel sorry for him and more for themselves, considering they have to go back and live with all the airplane noise. When Homer says their plane leaves in 30 minutes (just to make things suspenseful), a janitor (who “looks like” Walter Mondale) arrives and informs them how a bill REALLY becomes a law. Lisa tries to show off her knowledge, but he interrupts her, telling them that underhanded tactics are necessary.

With his help, they blackmail a key congressman with a videotape, which has footage of him abusing the free mail policy (by sending a “Get Well Soon” card to his aunt). Homer manages to get Congressman Beauregard drunk (and himself as well, in the process). Finally, during a session in Congress, the janitor and Lisa, with Homer’s drunken diversion, place the Air Traffic Bill under a bill giving orphans American flags. When the bill comes up for discussion, the blackmailed congressman immediately consents, and Congressman Beauregard, in a drunken stupor, consents to the bill. The legislation is then passed, and Krusty embellishes the successes of democracy.

At the Simpsons’ place, the family is happy to see that all the air traffic has been diverted to the poor sections of town, while they get the peace and quiet that they heroically fought for.

[edit] Censorship

There was a scene that was shown in the promos, but not included in the episode where a drunken Homer declares that North Dakota doesn't exist as he's being dragged out of Congress.

[edit] The News Ticker

Messages shown on the Fox News news ticker during the show and over the credits:

Pointless news crawls up 37%
Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at Foxnews.com
Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer
Dow down 5000 points
Study: 92% of Democrats are gay
J.F.K. posthumously joins Republican Party
Oil slicks found to keep seals young & supple
Dan Quayle: Awesome
Ashcroft declares breast of chicken sandwich “obscene”
Hillary Clinton embarrasses self, nation
Bible says Jesus favored capital-gains cut
Stay tuned for Hannity & Idiot
Only dorks watch CNN
Jimmy Carter: old, wrinkly. useless
Brad Pitt + Albert Einstein = Dick Cheney

[edit] Cultural references

Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington is the second Simpsons episode that is a pun on the title of the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Another episode was "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington".
When Marge asks for someone to perform CPR, Homer sings the song “Bad Moon Rising.” Marge replies, “That’s CCR!”
Homer telling the TV and fridge to “Stay plugged in! I will find you!” is a reference to The Last of the Mohicans, in which Daniel Day-Lewis tells Madeline Stowe: “Stay alive! I will find you!”
When Mayor Quimby tells his shrill-voiced paramour “Now I regret building you that opera house,” that is a reference to Citizen Kane when Charles Foster Kane builds an opera house for his new young wife Susan Kane, a failed opera singer.
A promotional ad for Joe Millionaire runs on the screen which Homer becomes aware of, he then proceeds to grab it and eat it. Homer then spits it out in disgust because it is a promo for a show on Fox. Ironically, this segment was used (with a promo that said "See Homer 7:30 Tuesdays) by Network Ten in Australia to promote The Simpsons, although Homer did not spit out the promo.
Bob Dole returns to the Springfield Republicans meeting, having been part of the meeting in Brawl in the Family. The fact that the entire group prefers Krusty to him as a candidate for office may reflect Dole's 1996 Presidential loss to Bill Clinton and his subsequent retirement from his U.S. Senate seat.
When the family is watching Fox News, the anchor remarks “You’re watching Fox News, your voice for evil,” referencing the criticisms directed towards Fox News that the network is biased towards the Republican Party. The news-ticker crawl in the episode includes such items as "JFK Posthumously Joins Republican Party" and "Albert Einstein + Brad Pitt = Dick Cheney".
To keep up the running gag about Springfield's location in the U.S., Krusty is said to be running in "Springfield's 24th (or 44th) Congressional district". In real life, of course, cities do not have several Congressional districts contained entirely inside their boundaries, though it is possible for parts of a large city to cover multiple independent districts.
Lisa's statement of "being on the winning team" was a reference towards Republican control of the Presidency and both chambers of Congress at the time the episode was produced in 2002 (and this remained the same when it aired in 2003. While Lisa is a Democrat, she campaigned for Republican candidate Krusty the Clown.
At the end of the Krusty's campaign ad, his face is put on Buzz Aldrin while planting the flag during the moon landing, the soldiers who planted the flag on Iwo Jima, the tank man during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and finally Jim Leavelle who was handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when he was shot by Jack Ruby.
Several months before this episode was first aired, Walter Mondale lost a senate race to represent Minnesota. In this episode, he is shown as a janitor, poking fun at his losing streak of elections ever since he served as vice-president under Jimmy Carter.
The "gun nuts" firing guns in the crowd include Charlton Heston and Meathook, John Goodman's character from "Take My Wife, Sleaze".
The House of Representatives have their session in the Senate chamber (evident because of the Senate desks used by Krusty and other representatives).
Channel 6 runs Krusty shows 3 times a day, saying that "[they have] nothing else". This is a reference to some FOX syndicates airing The Simpsons reruns 3 times a day.