Who Shot Mr. Burns?

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The Simpsons episode
"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)"
The townsfolk find Mr. Burns lying on the town sundial.
Episode no. 128
Prod. code 2F16
Orig. airdate May 21, 1995
Show runner David Mirkin
Written by Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Directed by Jeffrey Lynch
The Simpsons episode
"Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)"
Homer attacks Mr. Burns.
Episode no. 129
Prod. code 2F20
Orig. airdate September 17, 1995
Show runner David Mirkin
Written by Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Directed by Wes Archer

"Who Shot Mr. Burns?" is the only two-part episode of The Simpsons to date. Part one is the twenty-fifth and final episode of the sixth season and originally aired on the Fox network on May 21, 1995.[4] Part two is the season premiere of the seventh season and originally aired on September 17, 1995.[4]

Springfield Elementary School strikes oil, but Mr. Burns steals it and at the same time brings misery to many of Springfield's citizens. The first part has a cliffhanger ending where Mr. Burns is shot by an unidentified assailant. In the second part, Springfield's police try to find the culprit, with their main suspects being Waylon Smithers and Homer Simpson.

Both episodes were written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, the first part was directed by Jeffrey Lynch and the second was directed by Wes Archer.[1] Musician Tito Puente guest stars as himself in both parts.[5]

"Who Shot Mr. Burns?" was conceived by series creator Matt Groening and the writing staff decided to turn into a two-part mystery episode. The first part contain several clues about the identity of the culprit because the writers wanted it to be solveable. In the months following the airing of part one, there was much widespread debate among fans of the series as to who actually shot Mr. Burns. The show mimicked the controversy that had resulted when the character J.R. Ewing was shot on the series Dallas in the episode titled "A House Divided", known by most as "Who shot J.R.?". Over the summer of 1995, Fox offered a contest to tie in with the mystery (sponsored by 1-800-COLLECT). It was one of the first contests to tie together elements of television and the Internet.

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Part one

Principal Skinner walks into school and discovers that a class gerbil has died. Skinner orders Groundskeeper Willie to bury it and as he is digging the grave, he strikes oil, suddenly making Springfield Elementary rich. Skinner and Superintendent Chalmers lavishly think of ways to spend the money, taking many student requests: Tito Puente is hired as a music teacher on Lisa's suggestion, for example.

At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer is disturbed that Mr. Burns cannot remember his name, even after being his boss for ten years. Later, Burns finds out about the school's oil and immediately wants it. He establishes a slant drilling operation to take it and the Springfield Elementary oil pump fails as Burns had tapped into the oil first. Mr. Burns's drilling operation causes harm and distress to many Springfield citizens: Moe's Tavern is closed and Moe and Barney are enraged; the Springfield Retirement Castle collapses and Grampa has no home; Bart's treehouse is destroyed and Santa's Little Helper is injured; and because the school has lost a lot of money, Tito Puente and Groundskeeper Willie are fired. Lisa is also upset by the loss of music classes.

Burns then reveals to Smithers his grandest scheme: the construction of a giant, movable disk that will permanently block out the sun in Springfield, forcing the residents to continuously use the electricity from his nuclear power plant. A horrified Smithers finally stands up to Burns, insisting that he has gone too far - but Burns just fires him in response. Homer later sneaks into Burns's office and spray-paints his name on the wall, hoping to help Burns remember it. Burns catches him in the act, but still does not recognize him, and in a rage Homer attacks him. Homer is hauled away by security, vowing revenge on Burns.

At a city hall meeting, the Simpson family, along with many other citizens, angrily come to Mayor Quimby about their problems with Mr. Burns. Suddenly, Burns himself appears and activates his sun-blocking device, stating that nobody can stop him since he has armed himself with a gun in a holster inside his jacket, after his encounter with Homer in the office. Laughing evilly, Burns leaves the city hall.

Mr. Burns encounters his assailant.
Mr. Burns encounters his assailant.

The camera shows him walking into an alley, obscuring him from view. Burns can be heard saying, "Oh it's you, what are you so happy about? I see. I think you'd better drop it," and can be heard struggling with someone before a gunshot rings out. He then stumbles out into the open and collapses on the town's sundial. The townspeople find his body and since Burns has angered so many people recently, no one can guess who the culprit is. Chief Wiggum promises that he will find out.

[edit] Part two

Mr. Burns is now hospitalized in a coma, and the Springfield police are working to find the shooter. Their primary suspect is Waylon Smithers, who, after waking up in his apartment with a hangover, is himself unsure if he did it. Smithers is arrested until Sideshow Mel realizes that Smithers must have been home watching Pardon My Zinger at the time of the shooting, and Smithers is released.

With the prime suspect cleared, the police start eliminating other suspects and Tito Puente, Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie and Moe are all cleared. While checking the suit Burns was wearing, Wiggum finds an eyelash which matches Simpson DNA. At the same time, Burns wakes up from his coma and cries, "Homer Simpson!" The police raid the Simpson home and find a gun under the seat of their car loaded with bullets that match the shooting. Homer is arrested for attempted murder, but escapes from a paddywagon when it overturns. Smithers offers a reward for his capture.

Lisa returns to the scene of the crime to investigate and finally figures out the identity of Burns' true assailant. At the same time, Homer arrives at the hospital prepared to silence Burns who keeps saying his name. A police bulletin reports Homer's location, and Lisa, the police, and citizens of Springfield all race to the hospital. Upon entering Burns's room, everyone finds an enraged Homer shaking Mr. Burns vigorously. The shaking returns Burns's ability to speak normally, and Burns reveals the true assailant: Maggie Simpson.

Burns reveals what really happened on the night he was shot: after leaving the town meeting victoriously, he came across Maggie with a lollipop alone in the Simpsons' car. Burns decided to once again try stealing candy from a baby. However, Maggie's strength proved comparable to his own, and there was a struggle for the lollipop. As he finally yanked it away, his gun slipped from its holster into Maggie's hands and fired. The gun and lollipop both then fell beneath the car seat; Homer would later unknowingly leave fingerprints on the gun and find the lollipop while feeling around under the seat.

Burns demands that Maggie be arrested for the crime, but his demands are dismissed by everyone. Marge adds that the shooting was an accident, but the episode ends focusing on Maggie shifting her eyes, implying that it may not have been entirely accidental.

[edit] Production

The idea for the episode came from Matt Groening, who had wanted to do an episode in which Mr. Burns was shot, which could be used as a publicity stunt.[6] The writers decided to make the episode a two parter, with a mystery that could be used in a contest.[7] It was important for them to design a mystery that had clues, took advantage of freeze frame technology, and was structured around one character who seemed the obvious culprit.[7] While deciding who the culprit was, Oakley and Weinstein pitched Barney Gumble because he was a character that could go to jail and it could change the dynamic of the show.[8] Mirkin suggested Maggie because he felt it was funnier and wanted the culprit to be a family member.[9] Oakley and Weinstein were initially unsure about having Maggie as the culprit, and it was decided that the episode would end with Maggie shifting her eyes and making it would look like it wasn't a complete accident.[10]

The producers worked hard to keep the ending of the episode a secret. While it was in production, David Silverman was the only animator who knew who the culprit was.[11] Wes Archer, director of the episode, was initially unaware of the solution and directed the episode up until the conclusion.[12] When it was time to animate the ending of the show, Silverman and Archer waited until the end of the Summer of 1995 to work on it. They realized they needed help with the layouts and started giving various animators small parts to work on without telling them who the culprit was.[11] The table read for the episode also ended before the third act.[10] The writers had wanted the clues that were animated to be just right, so there were many animation retakes.[10]

Tito Puente and His Latin Jazz Ensemble appear in the episode and sing the song "Sẽnor Burns". Oakley and Weinstein were unfamiliar with Puente and wrote him into the episode because Matt Groening is a fan. They figured he would sing the song, but later discovered that Puente was a drummer, not a singer.[10] The lyrics were sung by one of Puente's band members.[9] His band would also play their version of The Simpsons' theme over the end credits.[9]

[edit] Hidden clues

One of the most important clues shows Mr. Burns's arms pointing towards W and S on the sundial.
One of the most important clues shows Mr. Burns's arms pointing towards W and S on the sundial.[6]

A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part One for viewers who wanted to unravel the mystery.[6]

  • Almost every clock is set at three or nine o'clock. The point of the clocks was to teach the viewer to view the sundial at the end upside down.[6]
  • An important clue for identity of the culprit is when Mr. Burns looks out his window at Maggie and talks about stealing candy from a baby.[7]
  • When Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, he points at W and S, although from his viewpoint, the W looks like an M.[6]
  • Many of the suspects have the letters S and W or M in their initials and the intention was that several "obvious" suspects could be eliminated by the letters. Several characters already had names with those initials, but some were made up specifically for this episode.[6]
  • Just before entering Mr. Burns's office to spray paint his name, Homer stands in front of a sign that says "IN ONLY", but his head blocks all of the letters except "NO", and a small arrow can be seen pointing at him.[14]
  • A television in Moe's Tavern shows that "Pardon My Zinger" is broadcast on weekdays at 3 PM on Comedy Central.[6] It is later revealed that Burns is shot at 3 PM. At the meeting, Smithers reveals that he never misses the show and afterwards is seen heading in the opposite direction that Burns heads.[6]
  • During the scene at the town hall, several citizens are seen stroking guns: Skinner has a silenced handgun, Moe has a shotgun, Barney has a derringer and Smithers has a standard handgun.[6]
  • As Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, it is seen that the gun he was previously carrying has gone missing. This was inserted as an intentional freeze frame clue.[6]

[edit] Alternate endings

Due to the amount of interest in the ending of this episode, David Mirkin wrote several "terrible endings" and, with just Harry Shearer, recorded several alternate endings.[7] His original intention was to fool the production staff and also leak the endings to various media outlets, but much to his surprise he was unsuccessful.[7] Several endings were animated that showed various characters shooting Mr. Burns.[9] Several of the alternate endings aired during the clip show "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". Various clips showed Apu, Moe, Barney, Tito and Santa's Little Helper as the gunmen. There was also a full-length conclusion that aired in which Smithers shot Burns and explained his doing so at Burns's bedside after Homer's wild chase, and fell on "W" and S" on the compass, Waylon's initials.[15]

[edit] Contest

In the months following the broadcast of Part One, there was widespread debate among fans of the series as to who shot Mr. Burns. Fox offered a contest to tie in with the mystery where callers who dialed 1-800-COLLECT were eligible and they then guessed who the culprit was.[16] It ran from August 13 to September 10 and was one of the first contests to tie together elements of television and the Internet.[17] Fox launched a new website, www.springfield.com, devoted to the mystery which got over 500,000 hits during the summer of 1995.[16] The winner would be animated on an episode of the show. No one, however, was ever animated on the show. This was because no one officially guessed the right answer. Due to contest regulations, a winner had to be selected out of a random sample of entries. The sample did not contain any correct answers, so the winner who was chosen did not have the right answer and was paid a cash prize in lieu of being animated.[7]

The contest is referenced at the end of the episode when Dr. Hibbert says, "Well I couldn't possibly solve this mystery... Can you?"[7]

The writers had trawled the internet trying to see if anyone had correctly guessed who the culprit was, and found that only one man on a college account on alt.tv.simpsons had followed the clues and correctly guessed the culprit. David Mirkin was going to send him a prize but was legally barred from contacting him in any way. Mirkin decided to instead contact him after the contest had ended, but by that time the account was dead and Mirkin has been unable to find him.[9]

[edit] Springfield's Most Wanted

Springfield's Most Wanted was a TV special hosted by John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted. The special aired on September 17, 1995, at 7:30 P.M. ET before the first episode of the seventh season of The Simpsons. A parody of Walsh's television series, this special was designed to help people find out who shot Mr. Burns, by laying out the potential clues and identifying the possible suspects. It features opinions from former Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates and predictions from Dennis Franz, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Kevin Nealon, Chris Elliott, and Andrew Shue. It was directed by Bill Brown and written by Jack Parmeter and Bob Bain. Although it aired with Part Two during the seventh season, it was released as part of the season six DVD Boxset.

The special was criticized for taking the publicity of the episode too far. Several critics said the special tainted host John Walsh's credibility and was described as gimmicky,[18] tacky,[19] and "blatant groveling for viewers".[20] The special averaged an 8.4 Nielsen Rating and finished 50th in the United States in the ratings for the week of September 11-17, 1995.[21]

[edit] Cultural references

[edit] Part one

The title and concept for these two episodes were taken from the series Dallas. In the "Who shot J.R." plotline, J.R. Ewing is shot in the season finale. The identity of the assailant was not revealed until the following season, leaving viewers to wonder for months which of Ewing's many enemies were the culprit.[2]

When Mr. Burns refers to his package at the beginning of the episode, he states that it "absolutely, positively" has to arrive in Pasadena, California the following day, a reference to an early Fedex slogan.[7] The song Mr. Burns sings to a lamp-post echo the lyrics of Simon & Garfunkel's song "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".[7] The musical score that ends the episode (when the credit rolls) is a parody of John Williams' Drummers' Salute, which is part of the musical score he wrote for Oliver Stone's movie JFK.[6]

[edit] Part two

Chief Wiggum's dream is a detailed reference to Dale Cooper's interaction with the Man from Another Place in the series Twin Peaks. The moving shadow in the middle of the curtain is also right out of Twin Peaks.
Chief Wiggum's dream is a detailed reference to Dale Cooper's interaction with the Man from Another Place in the series Twin Peaks. The moving shadow in the middle of the curtain is also right out of Twin Peaks.[8]

The opening sequence, wherein Smithers dreams that he merely dreamt shooting Mr. Burns, is a reference to the episode "Blast From The Past" from Dallas, in which the events of the entire eighth season were explained away as being merely a character's dream.[3][9] The dream itself, in which Smithers and Burns are undercover detectives on the 1960s Speedway racing circuit, parodied The Mod Squad.[3] Groundskeeper Willie's interrogation, and particularly his crossing and uncrossing his legs, is a parody of Sharon Stone's famous interrogation scene in Basic Instinct.[1] The nightclub is called 'Chez Guevara', a reference to revolutionary Che Guevara.[1]

Homer's escape from the overturned paddy wagon is a homage to the 1993 film The Fugitive.[1] Chief Wiggum's dream in which Lisa speaks backwards is reference to Twin Peaks and Special Agent Dale Cooper's interaction with the Man from Another Place.[1] While recording Lisa's lines for the segment, Yeardley Smith recorded the part backwards and it was reversed, which is the same way it was done on Twin Peaks.[9] Several other parts out of the segment are direct references to the dream, including a moving shadow on the curtain, and Wiggum's hair standing straight up after waking.[10]

[edit] Reception

The second part averaged 12.3 million households and a 12.9 Nielsen Rating. It finished sixteenth in the United States in the ratings for the week of September 11-17, 1995, finishing first in its timeslot and was the highest rated show on the Fox network that week.[21] It helped the Fox network rank third overall for that week at a time when Fox was usually finishing fourth.[22]

In 2003, Entertainment Weekly published a Top 25 Simpsons episode list and placed both parts of "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" in 25th place, saying "a two-part comedic homage to Dallas' Who shot J.R.? stunt, [Who Shot Mr. Burns] is perhaps The Simpsons' most grandiose pop moment ever".[23] The Daily Telegraph characterized the episode as one of "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes."[24]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "A superb end to the season - and what's more, it's a genuine whodunnit. There's no cheating - all the clues are there."[2] Jake Rossen of Wizard called the ending the sixth greatest cliffhanger of all time but expressed disappointment in the resolution, saying, "Sometimes it’s better to make up your own ending, kids."[25] In 2008, Entertainment Weekly included the first part in their list of the best television season finales of all time.[26]

The song "Señor Burns", which was composed by Alf Clausen and written by Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1996 for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics".[27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Richmond, Ray; Antonia Coffman (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers, pp. 176-177; pp. 180-181. ISBN 0-00063-8898-1. 
  2. ^ a b c Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One). BBC. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  3. ^ a b c Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). Who Shot Mr Burns? Part Two. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  4. ^ a b Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One). The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  5. ^ Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One). The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oakley, Bill. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)". The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mirkin, David. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)". The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ a b Weinstein, Josh. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part Two)". The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Mirkin, David. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part Two)". The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  10. ^ a b c d e Oakley, Bill. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part Two)". The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  11. ^ a b Silverman, David. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part Two)". The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  12. ^ Archer, Wes. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part Two)". The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  13. ^ Weinstein, Josh. (2005). Commentary for the episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns (Part One)". The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  14. ^ Walk, Gary Eng (1995-09-15). A Burns-ing Mystery. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-05-07.
  15. ^ "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". Vitti, Jon; Silverman, David. The Simpsons. Fox. 1995-12-03. No. 10, season 7.
  16. ^ a b Kristi Turnquist. "To Be Continued... Cyberspace Has Been", The Oregonian, 1995-09-11, p. D01. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  17. ^ Tim Cuprisin. "Broadcast bucks, events get bigger - Networks step up battle with cable to get viewers to tune in", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1995-08-10, p. 3. Retrieved on 2008-05-02. 
  18. ^ Tim Cuprisin. "A Simpsons `pseudo show' keeps him off edge of his seat", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1995-09-07, p. 3. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  19. ^ Walt Belcher. "Fox gimmick triggers round of criticism", The Tampa Tribune, 1995-09-08, p. 3. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  20. ^ Tom Hopkins. "Walsh joins 'Simpsons' hype", Dayton Daily News, 1995-09-15, p. 11B. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  21. ^ a b Associated Press. "CBS comes tumbling down, falls to 4th place in week's ratings", The Plain Dealer, 1995-09-21, p. 4F. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  22. ^ Associated Press. ""Simpsons" helps shoot down CBS", Dayton Daily News, 1995-09-21, p. 11B. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  23. ^ The Family Dynamic. Entertainment Weekly (2003-01-29). Retrieved on 2007-08-25.
  24. ^ Walton, James. "The 10 Best Simpsons TV Episodes (In Chronological Order)", The Daily Telegraph, July 21, 2007, pp. Page 3. 
  25. ^ Jake Rossen. "THE TOP 25 CLIFFHANGERS OF ALL TIME!", Wizard, 2007-08-05. Retrieved on 2007-08-05. 
  26. ^ Gary Susman. "TV's Best Season Finales Ever", Entertainment Weekly, 2008-05-15. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  27. ^ Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search. Emmys.org. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.

[edit] External links

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