The Frying Game
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"The Frying Game" is the 21st episode of The Simpsons' thirteenth season.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The endangered species 'screamapillar' takes up residence in Homer's anniversary gift for Marge, a koi pond. Bound by law not to disturb it, Homer accidentally injures the loud, unsettling beast and is sentenced to community service.
Homer begins delivering Meals on Wheels to an elderly woman, Mrs. Bellamy, who takes a shine to him. She subtly guilts Homer and later, Marge, into becoming her personal servants. When Mrs. Bellamy turns up dead, having been stabbed with a pair of scissors, Homer and Marge are the prime suspects in the murder, even though they witnessed a man with braces leaving the murder scene, with Mrs. Bellamy's necklace. The people of Springfield are very suspicious of Homer and Marge, and Chief Wiggum does not believe their story, during an inspection of the house Maggie is found with Mrs. Bellamy's stolen necklace, presumably given to her by the Man with the braces. Bart, Lisa and Maggie are adopted by Cletus Spuckler, who decides to change their "city names."
Despite no lie detector or DNA test given, the two are sentenced to Death Row. In a successful bid to spare Marge, Homer confesses it was all him. As he is sitting in the electric chair, it is suddenly revealed to Homer that he is on a reality TV show, Frame Up that airs on FOX along with No Pants Island and Fart Date. The whole thing was just part of an elaborate hidden camera scheme, the "man with the braces" was the show's host, and Mrs. Bellamy is guest host Carmen Electra in disguise. Homer and Marge are reunited with the kids, but Homer is left furious that he had to suffer so the show could get big ratings.
[edit] Analogies
In one notable dialogue, Lenny and Carl make analogies between people and objects which cannot easily be compared. This exchange mocks the practice of comparing incommensurable items via analogies, as expressed by the common English idiom "comparing apples to oranges."
Lenny: If you ask me, Muhammad Ali in his prime, was much better than anti-lock brakes.
Carl: Yeah, but what about Johnny Mathis versus Diet Pepsi?
Moe: Oh, I cannot listen to this again!
[edit] Cultural references
The prison inmate who tells Homer to give him his hands and offers cornbread to a mouse before threatening to kill them is a parody of John Coffey, a character played by Michael Clarke Duncan in The Green Mile, with the character’s kind nature being reversed. He then talks to a mouse named Mr. Jingles, another character from The Green Mile. The Green Mile’s score by Thomas Newman is also used in this scene.
The episode's title refers to the 1992 film The Crying Game. The 'man with the braces' is a parody of the one-armed man from the movie The Fugitive. The EPA inspector bears a resemblance to Walter Peck, the EPA inspector from Ghostbusters.
Two real-life criminal charges are referenced in the episode, one when the newspaper comes on to the screen wich has the headline reading "Ho. J. Simpson" giving reference to the O. J. Simpson murder case as well as Homer's middle name "Jay". The other is when Otto refers to Homer as "H. Diddy", a reference to Sean Combs, who in 2002 was dealing with criminal charges and changing his nickname from "Puff Daddy" to "P. Diddy".
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "The Frying Game" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
