Selma's Choice

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The Simpsons episode
"Selma's Choice"
Selma with Jub-Jub
Episode no. 72
Prod. code 9F11
Orig. airdate January 21, 1993
Show runner(s) Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Written by David M. Stern
Directed by Carlos Baeza
Chalkboard "I will not yell 'She's Dead' at roll call."[1]
Couch gag The Simpson family is caught by a net on the ground.[2]
Guest star(s) Phil Hartman
DVD
commentary		 Matt Groening
Al Jean
Mike Reiss
David M. Stern
Jim Reardon
Season 4
September 24, 1992 – May 13, 1993
  1. "Kamp Krusty"
  2. "A Streetcar Named Marge"
  3. "Homer the Heretic"
  4. "Lisa the Beauty Queen"
  5. "Treehouse of Horror III"
  6. "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie"
  7. "Marge Gets a Job"
  8. "New Kid on the Block"
  9. "Mr. Plow"
  10. "Lisa's First Word"
  11. "Homer's Triple Bypass"
  12. "Marge vs. the Monorail"
  13. "Selma's Choice"
  14. "Brother from the Same Planet"
  15. "I Love Lisa"
  16. "Duffless"
  17. "Last Exit to Springfield"
  18. "So It's Come to This: A Simpsons Clip Show"
  19. "The Front"
  20. "Whacking Day"
  21. "Marge in Chains"
  22. "Krusty Gets Kancelled"
List of all The Simpsons episodes

"Selma's Choice" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season and originally aired on the Fox network on January 21, 1993.[3] Selma decides she wants to have a baby, so she does not spend her life alone. Yet after taking Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens, she decides she is not ready for kids. It was written by David M. Stern and directed by Carlos Baeza.[2]

Contents

[edit] Plot

After seeing an ad for Duff Gardens, Homer, Bart, and Lisa decide to go. As they are getting ready to leave, Marge tells them that Great Aunt Gladys has died and they will be going to her funeral instead. The Simpsons, along with Patty and Selma, drive to Littleneck Falls to attend her funeral and the reading of her will. On the video will, Great Aunt Gladys warns Patty and Selma not to die alone without a husband and children, as she did. Selma starts to worry that her biological clock may be ticking and decides she wants a child. Selma tries video dating but gets rejected by Groundskeeper Willie. She goes to a psychic who tries to sell her a love potion. The psychic ingests it, blurts out the innocuous ingredients and goes on to say that is a truth serum. Selma dates Hans Moleman after revoking his license at the DMV, and all goes well until the goodnight kiss. Selma envisions being the mother of several ugly and blind children that look like Hans, prompting her to throw Hans out of her car and drive away. Lisa then suggests to Selma that she go through artificial insemination which Homer thinks is when a human makes out with a robot. After seeing Barney sell his sperm and several women carry out babies that look and belch like Barney, she leaves only with a sperm sample and a magazine about other sperm donors which she never uses.

When the day comes for Homer to take Bart and Lisa to Duff Gardens, he falls ill from food poisoning after continuing to eat a ten-foot hoagie from the nuclear plant picnic that went bad the more he ate it. Selma is chosen to take the kids to Duff Gardens while Homer stays home with Marge where they watch "Yentl" and the cheesy pseudo-porn "The Erotic Adventures of Hercules" starring Troy McClure and mentioned four episodes ago. Selma soon grows weary of caring for Bart and Lisa, as they ride on the little land of Duff ride Bart dares Lisa to drink water thats running in a river under the ride. An annoyed Selma tells Lisa to just drink it. The water causes Lisa to become high and go temporarily insane, attacking Selma envisioned as a monster. Meanwhile when the ride is over Bart sneaks on a rollercoaster called The Barrel Roll and ends up having to be rescued after the car stops on a loop. Lisa is soon found swimming naked in the Fennurium by the park security guards. They tell Selma that while getting Lisa, hoodlums (Jimbo, Kearny and Dolph as seen in the Duff Gardens commercial in the beginning) stole three bumper cars. Selma is given pills by an unlicensed doctor for Lisa's condition. After her rough day with Bart and Lisa, Selma decides she can live without children for now and adopts Jub-Jub, Gladys' pet iguana who was originally willed to Marge's mother, Jackie.

[edit] Production

Writer David Stern said he wanted to go back to a "Patty and Selma episode", because it was sustained so well when he wrote "Principal Charming".[4] He thought it was important to "Keep these characters (Patty and Selma) alive." The animators had trouble with the size of the character's pupils during the season. In this episode, they are noticeably larger.[5] When the family watches the video will, Julie Kavner did five voices in the scene.[4] When Gladys shows off her collection of potato chips, the scene was inspired by an actual guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, who was showing off her collection of chips that looked like famous people.[6] The name of the iguana Jub-Jub came from Conan O'Brien.[4] The language heard on Selma's ham radio was made up.[6] Research is usually done to get languages correct.[4] Jub-Jub made his debut appearance in this episode.

[edit] Cultural references

It's a Small World parody
It's a Small World parody

Marge's flashback of her and her sisters swimming in a lake is based on The Prince of Tides.[4] The singers at Duff Gardens (which is a parody of Busch Gardens), Hooray for Everything, are a tribute to Up with People.[7] Homer and Bart start to sing "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead" from The Wizard of Oz.The poem that Great Aunt Gladys reads at the start of her video will is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. The song and ride that Bart, Lisa, and Selma go on, with animatronic kids from all over the world singing is a parody of the ride and song "It's a Small World".[6] The Duff Garden's parade is a parody of Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade.[4] When Lisa says "I am the Lizard Queen!", it is a tribute , Jim Morrison poem Celebration Of The Lizard [2] Lisa's hallucinatory vision of Selma after drinking the water resembles the work of artist Ralph Steadman, particularly from the book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

[edit] Reception

"Selma's Choice" finished 27th in the weekly ratings for the week of January 18-24, 1993 with a Nielsen rating of 14.2.[8]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood said, "A nice episode for Selma and good for Marge and Homer as well. But it's the kids who provide the highlights in this one, with their antics at Duff Gardens."[2] The author of Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation, Chris Turner said it "Fills in with the usual grab bag of great gags" and "The episode had some crowd-pleasing moments." He went on to say, "The last few minutes of the show played out to continuous laughter (in the pub he was watching it in)".[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 106. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
  2. ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). Selma's Choice. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-01-23.
  3. ^ Selma's Choice. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Stern, David. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ Reardon, Jim. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ a b c Jean, Al. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ Reiss, Mike. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ Associated Press. "Nielsen Ratings/Jan. 18-24", Press-Telegram, 1993-01-27, p. C5. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  9. ^ Turner, Chris (2004). Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81341-6. 

[edit] External links

The Simpsons Portal
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