Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington

Last updated
"Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 14
Episode 14
Directed by Lance Kramer
Written by John Swartzwelder
Production codeEABF09
Original air dateMarch 9, 2003 (2003-03-09)
Guest appearance
Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony
Episode features
Couch gag The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Homer clicks the remote control and sends the family to the Stone Age, clicks the remote again and sends the family to the era of the Roman Empire where they watch a gladiator match, and clicks it a final time to send the family to the present.
Commentary Al Jean
Matt Selman
Kevin Curran
J. Stewart Burns
Michael Price
Tom Gammill
Marc Wilmore
Lance Kramer
Mike B. Anderson
Episode chronology
 Previous
"A Star Is Born Again"
Next 
"C.E.D'oh"
The Simpsons (season 14)
List of episodes

"Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" is the fourteenth episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 9, 2003. In this episode, the Simpsons' home becomes uninhabitable because of airplane noise. Krusty is elected to Congress and eventually has a bill passed to change the flight path.

Contents

Plot

There is a tremendous rumble and the Simpsons' house shakes. There is a new flight path to Springfield International Airport overhead. A complaint to an airport official has no effect, and the house is now unsellable. Homer and Marge then go to their congressman Horace Wilcox, who has been Springfield's representative since 1933. While Wilcox is eager to help, he is so upset by their misfortune that he suffers a heart attack and dies.

Bart asks Krusty the Clown to run for Congress and he agrees, thinking he can also eliminate everything with which the Government is harassing him. He is adopted as the Republican candidate. His campaign starts badly because he has offended so many minorities with his politically incorrect jokes, but Lisa helps him turn his campaign around by having him connect with regular families and citizens. With this advice and a very helpful Fox News programme, he is elected.

To Krusty's chagrin, no-one pays attention to a freshman Congressman, and he is appointed to useless committees, or set to work cleaning the graffiti off the walls. He, and the Simpsons, are about to give up, but Walter Mondale, who is working as a janitor in Congress, explains to them how a bill really becomes a law. With his help, Bart blackmails a key congressman with a videotape that shows him abusing the free mail policy. Homer manages to get another congressman drunk (and himself as well). Finally, during a session in Congress, Mondale and Lisa, with Homer's drunken diversion, fix the Air Traffic Bill with a paperclip to another bill giving orphans American flags. When the bill comes up for a vote, both the blackmailed congressman and the drunk one consent, and it is passed. Krusty praises the processes of democracy. At home, the Simpsons are happy to get the peace and quiet that they heroically fought for. Homer says that the planes are now flying where they belong — over the homes of poor people.

Controversy

At one point during the episode, the family is watching Krusty and his opponent debate on the Fox News Channel, which showed several headlines in its news ticker that parodied the right-leaning network's political views. Among the headlines in the news ticker were "Pointless news crawls up 37 percent," "Do Democrats cause cancer? Find out at foxnews.com," "Rupert Murdoch: Terrific dancer," "Dow down 5,000 points," "Study: 92 percent of Democrats are gay," "JFK posthumously joins Republican Party," and "Oil slicks found to keep seals young, supple." Several months after the episode originally aired, Matt Groening claimed that Fox News, the corporate sister to the Fox Broadcasting Company that airs the show, threatened to sue Groening, but opted against "suing itself." Groening mentioned that while they got away with the joke, they were no longer allowed to parody news tickers on the show. [1] Despite that, the show would still parody Fox News on several occasions afterward. [2] The Dow Jones & Company, which owned the Dow Jones Industrial Average that was parodied in the news ticker, would be purchased by News Corporation in 2007 and would be a corporate sister to Fox until the 2013 split between the new News Corporation and 21st Century Fox, which was further split with the acquisition of the film and television assets of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company on March 19, 2019, with Fox News Channel now part of the Fox Corporation.

Cultural references

The episode title is a reference to the movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". The scene where Mayor Quimby, upon hearing his mistress speak for the first time, remarks that he "regrets building her that opera house" is a reference to Citizen Kane, where the title character opens an opera house for his mistress, despite her lack of vocal talent.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart Simpson</span> Fictional character from The Simpsons

Bartholomew Jojo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional character in the American animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed Bart while waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic strip, Life in Hell, but instead decided to create a new set of characters. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name is an anagram of the word brat. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for two years, the Simpson family received its own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. Bart has appeared in every Simpsons episode except "Four Great Women and a Manicure".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krusty the Clown</span> Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise

Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky, better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown, is a recurring character on the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the long-time clown host of Bart and Lisa's favorite TV show, a combination of kiddie variety television hijinks and cartoons including The Itchy & Scratchy Show. Krusty is often portrayed as a cynical, burnt-out, addiction-riddled smoker who is made miserable by show business but continues on anyway. He has become one of the most frequently occurring characters outside the main Simpson family and has been the focus of several episodes, many of which also feature Sideshow Bob.

Springfield (<i>The Simpsons</i>) Fictional city in the United States from the Simpsons universe

Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundings, and layout are flexible, often changing to accommodate the plot of any given episode.

"Kamp Krusty" is the first episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 24, 1992. In the episode, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named after Krusty the Clown. The camp is extremely unpleasant, leading to the campers rebelling against the camp director. Meanwhile, with the kids away, Homer and Marge's relationship improves, with the former losing much of his excess weight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Like Father, Like Clown</span> 6th episode of the 3rd season of The Simpsons

"Like Father, Like Clown" is the sixth episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 24, 1991. In the episode, Krusty the Clown reveals to the Simpsons that he is Jewish and that his father, Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, kicked him out for pursuing a career in comedy and feeling unwanted. Bart and Lisa try to reunite a heartbroken Krusty with his estranged father.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krusty Gets Kancelled</span> 22nd episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons

"Krusty Gets Kancelled" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 1993. In the episode, a new show featuring ventriloquist Arthur Crandall and his dummy Gabbo premieres in Springfield and competes with Krusty the Clown's show. Krusty's show is soon cancelled. Bart and Lisa decide to help Krusty get back on the air by staging a comeback special.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa's First Word</span> 10th episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons

"Lisa's First Word" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on December 3, 1992. In the episode, as the Simpson family gathers around Maggie and tries to encourage her to say her first word, Marge reminisces and tells the story of Lisa's first word. Elizabeth Taylor appeared for the voicing of Maggie's first word.

"Treehouse of Horror III" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 29, 1992. The third annual Treehouse of Horror episode, it features segments in which Homer buys Bart an evil talking doll, Homer is a giant ape which is captured by Mr. Burns in a parody of the 1933 version of King Kong, and Bart and Lisa inadvertently cause zombies to attack Springfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield</span> 14th episode of the 7th season of The Simpsons

"Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 4, 1996. In this episode, Marge buys a Chanel suit and is invited to join the Springfield Country Club. Marge becomes obsessed with trying to fit in, but she decides she would rather go back to the way things were than continue to pursue high social ambitions.

Politics is a common theme in the animated sitcom The Simpsons, and this phenomenon has had some crossover with real American politics. The local politics of the fictional town Springfield feature prominently in many episodes, and character archetypes represent different political concepts within a community. The show satirizes ideas across the political spectrum, though overall it is described as having left-wing and anti-establishment bias. Politicians have been caricatured in many episodes of The Simpsons, including an episode following President George H. W. Bush in response to his public criticism of the show. References to the show also feature in real-world politics. The Simpsons addresses contemporary issues including substance abuse, the economy, education, environmentalism, gun politics, health politics, LGBT rights, immigration and criminal justice. Episodes of the show have also caused international political dispute for its portrayal of foreign countries.

"$pringfield ", simply known as "$pringfield", is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 91st episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 1993. In the episode, Springfield legalizes gambling to revitalize its economy. Mr. Burns opens a casino where Homer is hired as a blackjack dealer. Marge develops a gambling addiction, Bart opens a casino in his treehouse, and Burns' appearance and mental state deteriorate in a parody of Howard Hughes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">22 Short Films About Springfield</span> TV episode from season 7 of The Simpsons

"22 Short Films About Springfield" is the twenty-first episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States on April 14, 1996. It was written by Richard Appel, David X. Cohen, Jonathan Collier, Jennifer Crittenden, Greg Daniels, Brent Forrester, Dan Greaney, Rachel Pulido, Steve Tompkins, Josh Weinstein, Bill Oakley, and Matt Groening, with the writing being supervised by Daniels. The episode was directed by Jim Reardon. Phil Hartman guest starred as Lionel Hutz and the hospital board chairman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase</span> 24th episode of the 8th season of The Simpsons

"The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" is the twenty-fourth and penultimate episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 1997. The episode centers on fictional pilot episodes of non-existent television series derived from The Simpsons, and is a parody of the tendency of networks to spin off characters from a hit series. As such it includes references to many different TV series. The first fictional spin-off is Chief Wiggum P.I., a cop-dramedy featuring Chief Wiggum and Seymour Skinner. The second is The Love-matic Grampa, a sitcom featuring Moe Szyslak who receives dating advice from Abraham Simpson, whose ghost is possessing a love testing machine. The final segment is The Simpson Family Smile-Time Variety Hour, a variety show featuring the Simpson family except for Lisa, who has been replaced.

"Bart Gets an Elephant" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 31, 1994. In this episode, Bart wins a radio contest and is awarded a full-grown African elephant that he names Stampy. After Stampy wrecks the Simpsons' house and eats all the food, Homer decides to sell Stampy to an ivory dealer. Bart runs away with Stampy to save his pet, but the family finds the two at a museum exhibit, where Homer sinks into a tar pit. Homer is saved by Stampy, and so gives the elephant away to an animal refuge instead.

"Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington" is the second episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 26, 1991. In the episode, Lisa wins a patriotic essay contest about the United States. She and her family attend the contest finals in Washington, D.C., where she is dismayed after watching a congressman accept a bribe. Lisa loses the contest when she pens a scathing screed condemning the government system, but the corrupt congressman is jailed and removed from office, restoring her faith in government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart Gets Famous</span> 12th episode of the 5th season of The Simpsons

"Bart Gets Famous" is the twelfth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 3, 1994. In the episode, Bart gets a job as Krusty the Clown's production assistant. He replaces Sideshow Mel in one of Krusty's skits and accidentally destroys the stage props. When Bart says "I didn't do it," he instantly becomes famous for his catchphrase.

Media is a recurring theme of satire on The Simpsons. The show is known for its satire of American popular culture and especially television culture, but has since its inception covered all types of media such as animation, journalism, commercials, comic books, movies, internet, and music. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town but the town of Springfield acts as a complete universe. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.

<i>The Simpsons</i> (season 6) Season of television series

The sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994, and May 21, 1995, and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class 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. Season 6 was the highest rated season of the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XX</span> 4th episode of the 21st season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XX" is the fourth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 18, 2009. This is the twentieth "Treehouse of Horror" installment, containing three self-contained stories: In "Dial 'M' for Murder or Press '#' to Return to Main Menu", Lisa is forced into a Hitchcock-esque murder scheme by Bart; in "Don't Have a Cow, Mankind", Springfield is once again overrun by zombies thanks to Krusty Burger's latest sandwich; and in the Sweeney Todd parody, "There's No Business Like Moe Business", Moe the Bartender bleeds Homer dry to create the perfect microbrewed beer. This is the first "Treehouse of Horror" episode to air in the month of October since "Treehouse of Horror X" in 1999. An estimated 8.59 million viewers tuned in to watch the episode.

References

  1. Byrne, Ciar (29 October 2003). "Simpsons parody upset Fox News, says Groening". The Guardian.
  2. The Simpsons uses Fox News as a Punching Bag on YouTube