Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious

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The Simpsons episode
"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious"
Shary Bobbins says hello to the Simpson family.
Episode no. 166
Prod. code 3G03
Orig. airdate February 7, 1997
Show runner(s) Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Written by Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Directed by Chuck Sheetz
Chalkboard "I will not hide the teacher's prozac."[1]
Couch gag The living room is empty. Cut to outside where Homer is struggling with a locked front door while the other members of the family wait impatiently.[2]
DVD
commentary		 Matt Groening
Al Jean
Mike Reiss
Chuck Sheetz
David Silverman
Season 8
October 27, 1996 – May 18, 1997
  1. "Treehouse of Horror VII"
  2. "You Only Move Twice"
  3. "The Homer They Fall"
  4. "Burns, Baby Burns"
  5. "Bart After Dark"
  6. "A Milhouse Divided"
  7. "Lisa's Date with Density"
  8. "Hurricane Neddy"
  9. "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)"
  10. "The Springfield Files"
  11. "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson"
  12. "Mountain of Madness"
  13. "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious"
  14. "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
  15. "Homer's Phobia"
  16. "Brother from Another Series"
  17. "My Sister, My Sitter"
  18. "Homer vs. The Eighteenth Amendment"
  19. "Grade School Confidential"
  20. "The Canine Mutiny"
  21. "The Old Man and the Lisa"
  22. "In Marge We Trust"
  23. "Homer's Enemy"
  24. "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase"
  25. "The Secret War of Lisa Simpson"
List of all The Simpsons episodes

"Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious", also known as SimpsoncalifragilisticexpialaD'OHcious[2] is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season and originally aired February 7, 1997.[3] After Marge becomes stressed, the Simpsons hire a new nanny, a Mary Poppins parody (voiced by Maggie Roswell), who tries to help the Simpson family become better people.[3] It was directed by Chuck Sheetz and was written and executive produced by Al Jean & Mike Reiss.[2] It would also prove to be the last episode for which Mike Reiss received a writing credit.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Shary, seconds before her death.
Shary, seconds before her death.

After discovering that she is losing hair at an alarming rate, Marge visits Dr. Hibbert, who informs her that stress is the cause of her woes. The Simpson family decides to hire a nanny who can help relieve Marge of some chores. They start interviewing several candidates, but none of them are right for the job. Bart and Lisa sing a song about what they would consider the perfect nanny, and their wishes are answered when a woman with an umbrella glides down from the sky and introduces herself as Shary Bobbins. She seems perfect and is immediately hired.

Shary Bobbins proves to be a big help for the Simpson family, helping the kids clean their rooms and even helping to make Mr. Burns happy. Marge recovers from her stress and her hair returns back to normal. The next day, Shary Bobbins declares her work finished and leaves the house. Just as she is starting to miss the Simpson family, she sees Homer throttling Bart; the family seems to have instantly reverted to its previous state of dysfunction. She realizes that her work is far from complete and decides to stay.

The family now starts to treat her rudely and lose interest in her songs and zest for life. Declaring that the Simpsons would be the death of her, she becomes depressed and starts drinking (and singing "Margaritaville") with Barney. The family realizes that they have crushed her spirit and decide to cheer her up. Marge tells Shary that nothing can be done to change the Simpsons and they are happy just the way they are. The family sings a song; Shary declares that the Simpsons are a bunch of apes and takes off with her magical umbrella. As Shary glides away, Lisa asks whether they will see her again and Homer is positive that they will. Even as he says these words, in the background Shary is killed, by being sucked into a passing airplane's jet engine, unnoticed by the family.[2][1]

[edit] Production

Although the majority of the season eight episodes were executive produced by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, former executive producers Al Jean and Mike Reiss had signed a deal with Disney that allowed them to produce four episodes of The Simpsons.[4] The idea for this episode originated several years before its airdate when Jean and Reiss were the regular showrunners. The idea was pitched at a writers' retreat by Al Jean, but nobody had wanted to flesh it out. After being allowed to come back to produce some Simpsons episodes, Jean and Reiss decided to write this episode.[4] At first, Mike Reiss was against the episode and had felt that it was a bad idea.[5] He felt that the plot was slightly ridiculous and that the show shouldn't feature any magic; except for a few moments, he largely kept magic out of the episode. He now considers it one of the best liked episodes that he co-wrote.[5]

At the time, "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" had more music in it than any other episode.[6] While writing, Jean thought that the songs would stretch out and make the episode the proper length, but it was considerably shorter than required.[4] Several additional scenes, such as the Itchy & Scratchy segment, were added to pad out the episode.[4] There was originally a sequence where Bart, Lisa and Shary Bobbins visit Patty and Selma who sing "We Love to Smoke", a parody of "I Love to Laugh".[4] The song was cut because it wasn't getting any laughs, but the full version was included on the album Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons and a brief animated version was included as a deleted scene on the Season 8 DVD.[4] During the end song, Homer can be seen dancing along but not singing; this was because the producers forgot to record Dan Castellaneta.[5]

Many of the scenes were animated by Eric Stefani, a former member of No Doubt, who specialized in animation for musical numbers.[6]

[edit] Casting

Julie Andrews was asked to guest star in the episode and agreed to take the role, although in the end, the producers went with regular Maggie Roswell.[5] Nancy Cartwright mentions in her autobiography that this was because after hearing Roswell's reading, the producers cast her in the role instead.[7]

Quentin Tarantino was also asked to guest star, but he did not want to deliver the lines required, believing them to be insulting.[4] Instead, regular Dan Castellaneta did the voice. He now regularly wears a "bootleg Itchy & Scratchy T-shirt."[8]

[edit] Cultural references

Quentin Tarantino along with Itchy and Scratchy in Reservoir Cats
Quentin Tarantino along with Itchy and Scratchy in Reservoir Cats

The plot of the episode is a reference to Mary Poppins; Shary Bobbins is based on the character Mary Poppins and the episode title is a spoof of the word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious". Several songs are also direct parodies of songs from the film, including "The Perfect Nanny", "The Life I Lead", "A Spoonful of Sugar", "Feed the Birds" and a deleted scene featured Patty and Selma singing their version of "I Love to Laugh".[4] The montage about Marge losing her hair features the song "Hair" from the film Hair.[9] Homer says he has seen Mrs. Doubtfire and believes that some of the candidates for the role of nanny are men in drag.[4] Homer's imagination is a parody of the dancing characters in Steamboat Willie and features the song "Turkey in the Straw".[9] The Itchy & Scratchy short "Reservoir Cats" is a parody of the "ear-cutting scene" from Reservoir Dogs, where Mr. Blonde cuts off the ear of the police officer. The sequence features the same setting, camera angles and same music -- "Stuck in the Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel. At the end, Itchy & Scratchy dance in a manner similar to that seen in the film Pulp Fiction.[4]

[edit] Reception

Alf Clausen received an Emmy Award nomination for "Outstanding Music Direction" for this episode.[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 173. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
  2. ^ a b c d Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on March 28, 2007
  3. ^ a b "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on March 28, 2007
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jean, Al. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ a b c d Reiss, Mike. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ a b Sheetz, Chuck. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ Cartwright, Nancy. My Life as a Ten Year old Boy. ISBN 0-786-86696-9. 
  8. ^ Groening, Matt. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  9. ^ a b Silverman, David. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ^ Every show, every winner, every nominee. The Envelope. Retrieved on 2007-02-10.

[edit] External links

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