"Half-Decent Proposal" | |
---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 13 Episode 10 |
Directed by | Lauren MacMullan |
Written by | Tim Long |
Production code | DABF04 |
Original air date | February 10, 2002 |
Guest appearance | |
Episode features | |
Chalkboard gag | "I will not bite the hand that feeds me Butterfingers" |
Couch gag | The Simpsons arrive to find two repo men taking the couch away. |
Commentary | Al Jean Ian Maxtone-Graham Matt Selman Tim Long Dan Castellaneta Lauren MacMullan Matt Warburton James Lipton |
"Half-Decent Proposal" is the tenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002. In the episode, Homer's snoring interferes with Marge's sleep. To earn money to cure Homer's snoring, Marge agrees to spend a weekend with Artie Ziff if he vows to not grope her as he did during their high-school prom date ("The Way We Was"). While spying on Marge and Artie, Homer mistakenly thinks they are making out, so he leaves with Lenny to work on an oil rig.
Although the episode was written by Tim Long, the idea for the episode was pitched by series' co-creator and executive producer James L. Brooks. The episode was directed by Lauren MacMullan, who ordered several complicated sequences from the animators, leading to some tensions among The Simpsons staff. The episode's plot and title is based on the 1993 film Indecent Proposal , and the episode also features references to M*A*S*H , Midnight Cowboy and Five Easy Pieces . The episode features Jon Lovitz as Artie Ziff, the first time he portrayed Ziff since the season 2 episode "The Way We Was".
In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 7.5 million viewers and finished in 36th place in the ratings the week it aired.
Since its original broadcast, "Half-Decent Proposal" has received mostly positive reviews from critics, some of whom considered it among the best episodes of the season. However, the episode has also been criticized for parodying Indecent Proposal nine years after its release, a criticism that the episode's showrunner Al Jean responded to in the episode's DVD commentary.
Marge grows irritated when Homer's loud snoring keeps her awake at night. Dr. Hibbert recommends an expensive surgery to correct the problem, but balks when Homer asks him to do it for free. While spending the night with Patty and Selma to get some sleep, Marge hears a news report that her old high school boyfriend, Artie Ziff, is now the fifth-richest man in the United States. She drunkenly dictates an e-mail to Artie to congratulate him on his success, but Patty and Selma turn it into a sexually provocative message, to Marge's horror.
Artie, who has been deeply obsessed with Marge since high school, flies to Springfield and makes the Simpsons an offer: $1 million to spend a weekend with Marge to show her what life would be like if they were married. Eventually Marge accepts the offer to cure Homer's snoring. At first she enjoys Artie's company, but during a re-enactment of their high school prom, he tricks her into making out against her will. While trying to sneak into the prom, Homer sees them kissing and is devastated, not knowing the exact circumstances. A furious Marge leaves Artie and returns home to find Homer gone and a taped message saying he has left Springfield with Lenny — similarly despondent over his relationship with Carl—to work at an oil field.
While working on an oil rig in West Springfield, Homer and Lenny accidentally set fire to an ant. The flames quickly spread and set the entire rig ablaze, endangering both men's lives. Bart tracks down Homer's location, worrying the entire family because West Springfield is a death trap. Marge puts aside her anger with Artie and calls him for help. He picks her up in his private helicopter and flies to West Springfield to save Homer and Lenny. At first they are reluctant to accept his help, but Artie admits defeat and tells Homer he could never win Marge's love, even with his fortune. Lenny is surprised to see Carl is also aboard the helicopter. He and Homer are saved just before the rig collapses.
Instead of paying the Simpsons $1 million, Artie gives Homer a device in mask form that converts his snoring to soothing music. The device also allows Artie to watch Marge through a hidden camera and deliver subliminal messages to persuade her to leave Homer which causes Marge to wake up in shock.
"Half-Decent Proposal" was written by consulting producer Tim Long and directed by Lauren MacMullan. Serving as assistant director for MacMullan was Raymond Persi, who later became, according to current show-runner Al Jean, one of the series' "best regular directors". [1] The episode was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002. The idea for the episode was pitched by James L. Brooks, who is one of the series' co-creators and executive producers. He suggested an episode in which Artie Ziff returns and offers Homer a million dollars in exchange for spending a weekend with Marge, trying to convince her to divorce Homer. He also wanted the episode to parody the film Indecent Proposal . [1] Ziff's wealth had been established in the season 4 episode "The Front", in which it was revealed that he had become "stinking rich". [2] The setpiece of "Half-Decent Proposal", in which Homer's snoring is keeping Marge awake during the night, was pitched by Long's ex-girlfriend. Originally, at one point in the episode, there would be a sequence in which Homer travels to Silicon Valley in the wheel well of a jet. The sequence was based on a news story that the Simpsons writers were "really obsessed with". [3] The episode was one of the first to suggest that Lenny and Carl have an intimate relationship. This revelation garnered scrutiny from the series' fans, who, according to Jean, were "very angry" over it. [1]
"Half-Decent Proposal" was animated in a very complicated manner. In the DVD audio commentary for the episode, director MacMullan stated that a couple of sequences in the episode were "reaching too far" for the animation process to be "reassembled correctly". [4] One example, she mentioned, is the scene in which Marge remembers Ziff's assault from "The Way We Was". Ziff's assault is shown as hands reaching for Marge, and was put together by MacMullan in post-production. Right after Marge's sisters Patty and Selma send an e-mail to Ziff, the e-mail's path is elaborately shown through a "trip through the computer wires". [4] MacMullan stated that, even though she found the scene "illogical", she maintained that it was "done with great effort". [4] Because the characters at Ziff's prom had to wear 1970s styled wardrobe, the animators had to come up with new designs for the character's clothes. Several of the designs were pitched and drawn by Ron Hauge, a former Simpsons writer who was responsible for coordinating character designs on the series for many years. The dance that Ziff performs at the prom was pitched by MacMullan, and the prom locale was drawn using a photo reference. A scene in the episode shows Homer and Lenny signing on to become oil workers. The manager who hands them a paper clip can be seen smoking, and originally, MacMullan suggested that the manager "puts his lit cigarette out in the [oil] can [next to him], and blows his other arm off." [4] She pitched the idea to Jean, who responded by writing "I wouldn't." [4] The episode's complicated and lengthy animation process was so strenuous that it led the Simpsons animators to start calling MacMullan "Lauren MacMultiplane". [4]
"Half-Decent Proposal" features the return of Artie Ziff, and the first time since the season 2 episode "The Way We Was" that he was portrayed by American comedian Jon Lovitz. Even though Ziff appeared in the season 4 episode "The Front" as well, Lovitz was not available during the episode's recording session, and the character was instead voiced by Dan Castellaneta, who is one of the series' main cast members. Jean stated that Lovitz, who has voiced a variety of characters on The Simpsons before, is one of the staff's "favorite guest-stars". [1] The episode also features the first and only appearance of Baron von Kissalot. In the episode, Marge is charged $912 for a taxi drive back to Springfield. She sarcastically tells the taxi driver to send the bill to "Baron von Kissalot", who turns out to be a real person. The character, which was pitched by former show runner David Mirkin and portrayed by Castellaneta, has become one of the writers' favorites and was series animation director Jim Reardon's favorite joke of the entire season. [4] Castellaneta also voiced a couple of the ants who are put on fire at the oil tower. The Simpsons staff debated whether the ants would speak or make any sound at all, with series co-creator Matt Groening being notably hesitant to them being voiced. [5]
The title, as well as the episode's premise, is based on the 1993 drama film Indecent Proposal and follows the story of the film loosely. [1] The channel BHO is a reference to the real-life television network HBO. [3] Moe's line "He [Artie Ziff] is like a spy in the house Moe" is based on the Anaïs Nin novel A Spy in the House of Love . The ball in Ziff's manor points back to a scene in the season 2 episode "The Way We Was", in which Marge danced with Ziff. [1] Believing that Marge and Ziff will get married, Homer says that he'll "never be born" as a result, a similar problem faced by Marty McFly in Back to the Future . Comic Book Guy has several items of merchandise from the Star Wars franchise in his room, including sheets, pictures and a Jar Jar Binks doll. [6]
During breakfast after Marge has had a sleepless night, she serves a stack of pancakes to Lisa who pulls out of the stack a syrup covered copy of Time magazine with "AOL Rules" on the front cover - a reference to the ill-fated AOL-Time Warner merger that had happened the year before. Nookie in New York, the TV show that Marge watches with her sisters, spoofs the TV series Sex and the City . When Marge leaves with Artie, she sees that Homer has spelled the words "Keep Your Clothes On" as a direct reference to the M*A*S*H series finale, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen". In the video that Homer recorded for Marge, Homer holds two toys. The one in his left hand is a "Funzo", a fictional toy that first appeared in the season 11 episode "Grift of the Magi". The fictional area of "West Springfield" is modeled after the American state Texas (purposely once again a red-herring to where Springfield is based - it seems to be right next to Texas, until Lisa states that West Springfield is "Three times the size of Texas"). The scene in which Homer and Lenny are travelling to West Springfield is a reference to the last scene in the 1969 drama film Midnight Cowboy . The music heard during the scene is also made to resemble the theme from said film. The scene in which Homer and Lenny are working in an oil rig is a reference to the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces . [1] The song produced by Artie's invention at the end of the episode is Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) , originally by Eurythmics .
In its original American broadcast on February 10, 2002, "Half-Decent Proposal" received a 7.1 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research, translating to approximately 7.5 million viewers. The episode finished in 36th place in the ratings for the week of February 4–10, 2002. [7] On August 24, 2010, the episode was released part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Tim Long, Dan Castellaneta, Lauren MacMullan, Matt Warburton and James Lipton participated in the audio commentary of the episode. [1]
Six years after the episode's original broadcast, Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 9/10, describing it as "amazing". [8] He especially liked Lovitz' performance Artie Ziff, calling it "pitch-perfect" and that one of his favourite lines "stands out" because of Lovitz's "great delivery". [8] Canning also enjoyed the prom scene as well as Lenny and Carl's implied intimate relationship, which he described as "a completely unexpected treat". [8] He summarized the episode as "top-notch" and wrote "The writing was smart and tight, and instead of a B storyline, the half-hour was filled out with a number of great throwaway gags [...] It's true we may have never expected to see Artie Ziff again, but "Half-Decent Proposal" was a welcome and very funny return." [8]
In January 2010, following the conclusion of The Simpsons's twentieth season, IGN chose "Half-Decent Proposal" as the best episode from the thirteenth season, [9] and following the thirteenth season's home video release, reviewer R.L. Shaffer called it one of the season's "gems [...] with good reason". [10]
Both Michael Hikcerson of Slice of SciFi [11] and Rosie Fletcher of Total Film considered "Half-Decent Proposal" to be one of the season's best episodes, with Fletcher calling it a "stand-out". [12]
Casey Broadwater of Blu-ray.com gave it a positive review as well, describing it as a "strong character-centric episode". [13]
People will critique. They'll say: "Oh, you know, you're parodying a movie that's 9 years old." But to me that's actually more interesting than parodying... like doing say an Avatar parody now because everybody's gonna be doing it. Why don't you do something, you know, that's a more interesting story that people may not be familiar with.
However, giving the episode a mixed review, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide called it "mediocre". [14] Although he praised Lovitz' return as Ziff, and though he did not consider it to be one of the season's worst episodes, Jacobson criticized it for not "hav[ing] a lot of zing". [14]
Ron Martin of 411Mania wrote a negative review, calling it a "yearly episode just with different tempters each time". [15]
Adam Rayner of Obsessed with Film criticized the episode's references to Indecent Proposal, calling it a "rip-off" of the film. [16] Furthermore, he wrote that the episode "manages to be worse [than] that dire movie [Indecent Proposal]." [16]
Nate Boss of Project-Blu also criticized the episode's similarity to Indecent Proposal, calling it "late to the party". [17] He wrote: "Like South Park imitating the WWE in its 13th year, about 12 years past when it hit its prime, The Simpsons makes an Indecent Proposal themed episode." [17] Boss also described the episode as "played out," and criticized it for having "unfunny characters (Artie Ziff), who appear far more often than they should." [17]
In the DVD commentary for the episode, Jean defended The Simpsons' writers' choice to base the episode's story on Indecent Proposal, nine years after the movie was released. He argued that rather than lampooning a current film that will get parodied on other television shows anyway, it is more "interesting" to make an episode based on a story that "people may not be familiar with". [1]
"She of Little Faith" is the sixth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network on December 16, 2001. In the episode, Bart Simpson and his father Homer accidentally launch a model rocket into the Springfield church, causing the church council to accept funding plans from Mr. Burns for reparation. Discontent with how commercialized the rebuilt church has become, Lisa abandons Christianity and seeks out to follow a new religion, deciding on Buddhism.
"Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge" is the twenty-second and final episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 22, 2002. In the episode, a massive heatwave causes the residents of Springfield to install large air conditioning devices in their homes. This leads the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to overload, causing two town-wide blackouts to occur. The Springfield Police Department are unable to face the riots that follow, prompting Homer, dissatisfied with the police's incompetence, to start his own security company, called SpringShield.
"Treehouse of Horror XII" is the first episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. Because of Fox's contract with Major League Baseball's World Series, the episode first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 6, 2001, nearly one week after Halloween. It is the twelfth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments. In the first segment, a gypsy puts a curse on Homer, which puts everybody he cares about in danger. In the second segment, which is a parody on both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Demon Seed, the Simpson family buys a new house, who falls in love with Marge and attempts to kill Homer. In the third and final segment, which lampoons the Harry Potter franchise, Lord Montymort attempts to capture Lisa, a skilled magician, in order to drain her magic powers.
"The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is the fourteenth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 14, 2004. This is the third of nine episodes to date written by The Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife, Deb Lacusta, and the episode was directed by Nancy Kruse.
"The Bart Wants What It Wants" is the eleventh episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 2002. In the episode, Bart befriends Rainier Wolfcastle's daughter, Greta. While Greta falls in love with him, Bart only accompanies her because she owns a lot of entertaining things.
"Tales from the Public Domain" is the fourteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 2002. It is the third trilogy episode of the series, which had become annual since the twelfth season's "Simpsons Tall Tales", consisting of three self-contained segments that are based on historical stories. The first segment puts Homer Simpson in the role of Odysseus in the ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey. The second segment tells the story of Joan of Arc, and the third and final segment lampoons William Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet.
"The Blunder Years" is the fifth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 9, 2001. The episode sees Homer, after being hypnotized by the hypnotist Mesmerino while having dinner at the restaurant Pimento Grove, reminded by a repressed traumatic experience from his childhood, including the moment he discovered the dead body of Waylon Smithers' father while having a fun at an abandoned mine. The Simpsons set out to find the corpse that triggered Homer's psychological trauma, which evolves into a murder mystery later in the episode.
"The Way We Was" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 1991. In the episode, Marge tells the story of how she and Homer first met and fell in love. Flashing back to 1974, it is shown how Homer falls in love with Marge in high school and tries to get close to her by enlisting her as his French tutor. After several hours of verb conjugation, Marge falls for Homer too, only to become enraged when he admits he is not a French student, since the time she spent tutoring him meant she did't have time to prepare for an important debate. Marge rejects Homer's invitation to the prom and goes with Artie Ziff, who turns out to be a terrible date and Marge realizes that it is Homer she really wants.
"Jaws Wired Shut" is the ninth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 27, 2002. In the episode, Homer's jaw is broken when he collides with a statue of Drederick Tatum. Homer's jaw is wired shut, leaving him unable to speak. At first Marge enjoys Homer's inability to talk, since it makes him a better listener and a more compassionate person. Eventually Marge misses Homer's wild antics. Craving excitement, she enters a demolition derby.
"Brawl in the Family" is the seventh episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 6, 2002. In the episode, the Simpsons get arrested for domestic violence, prompting social worker Gabriel to move in and make the family functional. After the family is declared acceptable, Amber and Ginger, the cocktail waitresses Homer and his neighbor Ned Flanders married in Las Vegas, show up at their doorsteps. This episode is the first episode of Season 13's DABF production line.
"Sweets and Sour Marge" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 20, 2002. In the episode, Homer gathers Springfield's citizens to build the world's biggest human pyramid. When it collapses and fails to set the world record, Springfield earns the top spot as the world's fattest town. Marge sues Garth Motherloving's sugar company for making the town's citizens obese. When Springfield bans sugar, Homer conspires with Garth to smuggle it to town.
"The Frying Game" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 19, 2002. In the episode, after accidentally injuring an endangered caterpillar, Homer is sentenced to two weeks of community service. As part of his sentence, Homer delivers Meals on Wheels to an old woman called Mrs. Bellamy, who subtly guilt trips him, and later Marge, into becoming her personal servants. One day, the two find Mrs. Bellamy dead in her house, having been stabbed by a man with braces who quickly escapes the murder scene. Being the only ones present when the police arrive, Homer and Marge are soon suspected for the murder. The episode also features a "Snuh cascade", an homage to a group of Simpsons fans on Usenet.
"The Front" is the nineteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired in the United States on Fox on April 15, 1993. In the episode, Bart and Lisa decide to write an episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show; after their script is rejected, they resubmit it under the name of their grandfather Abraham Simpson, resulting in Grampa being hired as a staff writer. Meanwhile, Homer returns to high school to retake a failed science course.
"A Streetcar Named Marge" is the second episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge wins the role of Blanche DuBois in a community theatre musical version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Homer offers little support for his wife's acting pursuits, and Marge begins to see parallels between him and Stanley Kowalski, the play's boorish lead male character. The episode contains a subplot in which Maggie Simpson attempts to retrieve her pacifier from a strict daycare owner.
"The Sweetest Apu" is the nineteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 5, 2002. In the episode, Homer and Marge discover that convenience store owner Apu is having an affair with the Squishee delivery lady working in his store.
"Little Girl in the Big Ten" is the twentieth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 12, 2002. In the episode, Lisa befriends two college students at a gym and attends college with them. Meanwhile, after being bitten by a mosquito from a Chinese-made toy, Bart is infected with the "panda virus" and is placed in a plastic bubble to prevent others from infection.
The thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between November 6, 2001, and May 22, 2002, and consists of 22 episodes. The showrunner for the thirteenth production season was Al Jean, who executive-produced 17 episodes. Mike Scully executive-produced the remaining five, which were all hold-overs that were produced for the previous season. The Simpsons is an animated series about an American family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.
"Treehouse of Horror XXIII" is the second episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by David Mandel and Brian Kelley. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 7, 2012. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the episode aired on Sky 1 on March 24, 2013 with 1,312,000 viewers, making it the most watched program that week.
"Hail to the Teeth" is the 11th episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 673rd episode overall. Being the first episode to air in the 2020s, it aired in the United States on Fox on January 5, 2020. The episode was written by Elisabeth Kiernan Averick and was directed by Mark Kirkland.