| The Simpsons episode | |||||||||||
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| "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 |
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| Directed by | Jeffrey Lynch | ||||||||||
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| The Simpsons episode | |||||||||||
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| "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 |
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| Directed by | Wes Archer | ||||||||||
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"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.[5]
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 by Wes Archer.[1] Musician Tito Puente guest stars as himself in both parts.[4]
"Who Shot Mr. Burns?" was conceived by series creator Matt Groening and the writing staff decided to turn it 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 |
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, including Lisa's suggestion of hiring Tito Puente as a music teacher.
At the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, Homer is disturbed that Mr. Burns cannot remember his name, even after working for him for ten years. Burns finds out about the school's oil and immediately decides that he must have 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.
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 he reveals that he has armed himself with a gun after his encounter with Homer in the office. He then proceeds to activate the sun-blocking device, stating that nobody can stop him. Laughing evilly, Burns leaves the city hall.
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 says that he will find out.
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, vaguely remembers shooting someone the night before. Smithers is arrested until Sideshow Mel realizes that Smithers must have been home watching Pardon My Zinger at the time of the shooting. It turns out that Smithers had actually shot Jasper's wooden leg; following this, Smithers is released.
With one of the prime suspects cleared, the police eliminate other suspects, including Tito Puente, Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie, and Moe. 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 one fired and covered with Homer's fingerprints. Homer is arrested for attempted murder, but escapes from a paddywagon when it overturns. Smithers offers a reward for his capture.
At the hospital it's revealed that "Homer Simpson" are the only words that Burns can speak. 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 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 he reveals the true assailant: Maggie Simpson.
Burns reveals what really happened on the night he was shot: after leaving the town meeting, he came across Maggie with a lollipop in the Simpsons' car. Burns decided to again try stealing candy from a baby but Maggie's strength proved comparable to his own due to his frailness, 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 while feeling around under the seat.
Burns demands that Maggie be arrested for the crime, but he is dismissed by everyone. Marge adds that the shooting must have been an accident. However, the episode ends focusing on Maggie shifting her eyes.
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 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 "Señor 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]
A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part One for viewers who wanted to unravel the mystery.[6]
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 even 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; Burns then decides to give Smithers a 5 percent paycut for attempting to kill him.[15]
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]
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.
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]
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 first episode (when the credits roll) is a parody of John Williams' Drummers' Salute, which is part of the musical score he composed for Oliver Stone's film JFK.[6] During the scene in part one where Moe's bar is closed, an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is playing on the television in the background following a promotion for the fictional program Pardon My Zinger at 3:00pm.[7]
The opening of the second part, 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 Communist 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]
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]
Tito Puente ranked 19th on AOL's list of their favorite 25 Simpsons guest stars.[28]