The Old Man and the Lisa

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The Simpsons episode
"The Old Man and the Lisa"
Mr. Burns gives Lisa her cut of his profits.
Episode no. 174
Prod. code 4F17
Orig. airdate April 20, 1997[1]
Show runner(s) Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Written by John Swartzwelder[2]
Directed by Mark Kirkland[2]
Couch gag The Simpsons' couch becomes a giant Whac-A-Mole game, with Homer getting hit.[2]
Guest star(s) Bret Hart as himself[1]
DVD
commentary		 Matt Groening
Josh Weinstein
Dan Castellaneta
Yeardley Smith
Mark Kirkland
David X. Cohen
George Meyer
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

"The Old Man and the Lisa" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons' eighth season, first aired by the Fox network on April 20, 1997.[1] In this episode, Mr. Burns becomes bankrupt and asks Lisa to help him become rich again. It was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by John Swartzwelder.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Lisa helps Mr. Burns with recycling.
Lisa helps Mr. Burns with recycling.

Mr. Burns speaks with the Springfield Elementary School "Junior Achievers Club" and after a conversation with Lisa, he realizes that he does not have as much money as he thought he did. He discovers that he had lost a lot of money and decides to try to earn it back. However, in doing so, he makes more questionable investments and becomes bankrupt. The bank forecloses on the plant and sells Mr. Burns' house to pro wrestler Bret Hart[2].

Mr. Burns moves in with Smithers and, wanting to be of use, Burns decides to help Smithers out by going grocery shopping. However, he is unfamiliar with grocery stores and becomes confused by the ketchup and catsup, causing the grocer to send Burns to the Springfield Retirement Castle. While at the home, Mr. Burns meets Lisa again, and, seeing that she is determined and smart, he begs her to help re-build his empire. She eventually agrees on the condition that he drop his evil ways, and the two begin earning money through recycling.

Mr. Burns enthusiastically begins grabbing every can he can find, causing Lisa to believe that he has changed. Eventually, Burns earns so much money that he is able to open his own recycling plant. Burns gives Lisa a tour, showing her that its environmentally sound and made of recycled materials. At first, Lisa is impressed, but then Burns shows her "the best part". He has attached millions of six-pack holders together into a net which he uses to catch tons of sea life and make "L'il Lisa Slurry", a sort of all-purpose industrial chemical. Lisa is horrified; she proclaims that Burns is still evil, and runs through the streets trying to get people to stop recycling.

Mr. Burns later visits Lisa and tells her that he sold the recycling plant for US$120 million and he has decided to give her, being his advisor, a 10% share of the profits. Lisa decides that she can't accept the check, causing Homer to have four simultaneous heart attacks. At the hospital, Lisa apologizes to Homer for the heart attacks, and he forgives her. He does however remark that "they sure could have used those $12 000 now." By the time Lisa tells Homer what 10% of 120 million dollars is, Homer gets a code blue.[1][3][4]

[edit] Production

The episode was based on a story idea pitched by David X. Cohen[5] although it was written by John Swartzwelder, who had written many of the Simpsons episodes that have environmental themes.[6] This lead him to being called the "conscience of the staff"[7] despite being a "self declared anti-environmentalist."[8] It was because of this that he was given such episodes, because the staff felt that he would give them just the right amount of sarcasm.[5] In the original script for the episode, he described the recycling center as "a couple of hippies surrounded by garbage".[7] Two alternate original titles for the episode were Cohen's "Lisa and Burns" and Swartzwelder's "Burns Goes Broke".[5]

The writers had wanted an episode where Burns becomes bankrupt and shows what Burns would be like as a person in the real world.[6] The idea with the recycling plant was that Burns didn't have any sort of evil plan, he just couldn't help being himself.[6] Burns really was trying to change and this was reflected in the end when he tried to give Lisa her share of the profits.[9] Burns was drawn without his trademark scowl for this episode.[9]

[edit] Casting

Bret Hart's cameo
Bret Hart's cameo

Professional wrestler Bret Hart guest starred in the episode as himself, and he was very insistent that he be shown wearing his pink wrestling outfit.[9] He explained that "It's so cool to be part of a show that makes people laugh really, really hard."[10] The media, aware that the animated Hart would want to purchase Mr. Burns' home, mistakenly anticipated that "Bret offers to wrestle him [Mr. Burns] for the place."[11] Later, Hart moved on to do voice work on the animated television series Jacob Two-Two. The press noted that at that time Hart was "no stranger to cartoon-land," having been "immortalized" by "The Old Man and the Lisa."[12] A clip of this episode was later included in the Bret Hart documentary "Wrestling with Shadows."

[edit] Cultural references

The title of this episode is a reference to Ernest Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea.

Burns's walk through the supermarket was based on a false rumor that George H. W. Bush visited a store and was confused by the scanner and, in the original draft for the episode, Burns met Bush while there.[6] The voice of the hippie is based on Dennis Hopper's character in Apocalypse Now.[13] The song Achy Breaky Heart by Billy Ray Cyrus is played at the old folks' home.[2] The scene where Mr. Burns chases Lisa through town is a spoof of the opening to the TV series That Girl.[6]

[edit] Reception

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, called it "An odd episode with a not-too-unexpected outcome. The best bits are undoubtedly Burns learning his way around a supermarket and Lisa's realisation of what Burns has been up to."[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d The Old Man and the Lisa. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
  2. ^ a b c d e f The Old Man and the Lisa. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
  3. ^ Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0495-2. 
  4. ^ Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, p. 236. ISBN 0-00-638898-1. 
  5. ^ a b c Cohen, David X.. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ a b c d e Weinstein, Josh. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ a b Meyer, George. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ Groening, Matt. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  9. ^ a b c Kirkland, Mark. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ^ Cam Hutchinson, "Doran Johnson given brushoff again," Star-Phoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: April 19, 1997, pg. B.4.
  11. ^ James Muretich, "Worth Watching," Calgary Herald, August 31, 1998, pg. B.8.
  12. ^ Heath McCoy, "Former wrestler Bret Hart to play the Hooded Fang," National Post, August 28, 2003, pg. AL.5.
  13. ^ Castellaneta, Dan. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode "The Old Man and the Lisa" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.

[edit] External links

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