"No Loan Again, Naturally" | |
---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 20 Episode 12 |
Directed by | Mark Kirkland |
Written by | Jeff Westbrook |
Production code | LABF03 |
Original air date | March 8, 2009 |
Guest appearance | |
Maurice LaMarche as Additional Voices | |
Episode features | |
Chalkboard gag | "I will not have fun with educational toys" |
Couch gag | The Simpsons bury their couch after they find it beaten up and torn, then go to a ranch to get a new one. After the new couch bucks Homer off its back, Homer is seen in a full-body cast. |
"No Loan Again, Naturally" is the twelfth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on Fox in the United States on March 8, 2009. "No Loan Again, Naturally" was written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Mark Kirkland.
Maurice LaMarche guest starred in the episode. It was seen by 5.99 million viewers. [1]
Since airing, the episode has received generally positive reviews from television critics. The name of the episode references a 1970s song "Alone Again (Naturally)"; the song had previously been referenced in the title of the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons' eleventh season, "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily", which also centered largely around interactions between Homer and Ned.
The Simpsons throw a Mardi Gras party, having invited most of the town, and Homer reluctantly invites Ned Flanders at Marge's insistence. As they clean up the house the following morning, Lenny asks how they pay for the huge yearly party. Homer gleefully confesses that he borrows from a home equity line to do so, calling his home a "sucker" for getting stuck with the bill. Marge and Homer visit their mortgage broker, Gil Gunderson, after receiving a letter and find out that their adjustable rate mortgage payment has increased drastically because of Homer's ineptitude. The Simpson home goes up for auction and after seeing the Simpsons' sorrow, Ned outbids the initial offer for the house by Mr. Burns of $100,000, purchasing the home for $101,000 and then offers to let the Simpsons move back in and rent the property from him. The Simpsons thank Ned with a song and a small celebration, when Marge notices the sink faucet dripping. Ned offers to fix it, as he is now their landlord and the repairs are his responsibility, along with some other items that he is obligated to correct. However, Ned quickly tires of their constant requests for repairs.
Despite Ned's best efforts, Homer gets mad at him and denounces him to the media as a corrupt slumlord. When Homer refuses to apologize for his ingratitude, Ned tells them they must leave at the end of the month. The Simpsons move Grampa into the house with them in order to take advantage of a loophole in the eviction laws, but Grampa decides to live in Ned's house instead due to the better living conditions, automatically evicting the Simpsons, who are forced to sleep at a homeless shelter. While interviewing some potential tenants, Ned sees a picture from the move-in celebration and remembers the Simpsons' happiness and admiration of him. Ned lets the Simpsons move back into their house, ignoring the new tenants' threat of legal action. The rest of the Simpsons' neighbors promptly move away, disgusted at this decision.
The episode was written by Jeff Westbrook and directed by Mark Kirkland. [2] Maurice LaMarche also guest starred in the episode as various characters. [3]
In its original American broadcast, "No Loan Again, Naturally" was viewed by an estimated 5.99 million households. [1] The episode also received 3.4 rating/6% share in the 18-49 demographic. [4]
The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics.
Robert Canning of IGN said it can sometimes be difficult for an animated television show to "stay current, what with their lengthy production schedules that start months before the episode actually airs", but with "No Loan Again, Naturally" he felt like "if they wrote and animated everything just a few weeks ago. Well, the initial concept, anyway. With the Simpson family losing their house, it was up to Ned to come in and save the day. But what he couldn't do was keep this episode from feeling very middle-of-the-road." [5]
Erich Asperschlager of TV Verdict thought the episode delivered on "its deceptively simple premise in spades. Any time you get this much Ned Flanders, good things are bound to happen. Mix in a good deed well-punished and you’ve got a real winner." [6]
Steve Heisler of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ writing, "This episode's story was actually fairly original, which surprisingly doesn't happen all that often. Yeah, the story was mighty predictable, but what I liked about tonight's Simpsons was that it ventured into character-based territory, rather than an oddball, plot-driven direction." [7]
Abraham Jebediah "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa Simpson, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled "Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on The Tracey Ullman Show, before the debut of the television show in 1989.
"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. Maggie's first word is voiced by Elizabeth Taylor.
"Treehouse of Horror VIII" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 26, 1997. In the eighth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, Homer Simpson is the last Springfieldian left alive when a neutron bomb destroys Springfield until a gang of mutants come after him, Homer buys a transporter that Bart uses to switch bodies with a housefly, and Marge is accused of witchcraft in a Puritan rendition of Springfield in 1649. It was written by Mike Scully, David X. Cohen and Ned Goldreyer, and was directed by Mark Kirkland.
"The Great Money Caper" is the seventh episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 10, 2000. In the episode, Homer, along with his son Bart, con people out of their money in order to pay for Homer's broken car. However, after having paid for the repairs, the two decide to continue grifting, which leads to some troublesome situations.
"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.
"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 the Fox network 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.
"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" is the third 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 October 1, 1995. In the episode, the Simpson children are put in foster care at Ned and Maude Flanders' house. Homer and Marge are forced to attend a parenting class to get their children back.
"The War of the Simpsons" is the twentieth episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 1991. In the episode, Homer gets drunk at a dinner party and embarrasses Marge, so she enrolls them in marriage counseling at a lakeside retreat with Reverend Lovejoy.
"When Flanders Failed" is the third 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 3, 1991. In the episode, Homer makes a wish for Ned Flanders' new left-handed store to go out of business. The wish comes true and soon the Flanders family is in financial trouble. When he discovers that Ned's house is about to be repossessed, Homer feels guilty. He helps the store flourish by telling all of Springfield's left-handed residents to patronize it. Meanwhile, Bart takes karate lessons but quits after it does not turn out to be as interesting as he had hoped.
"Homer Loves Flanders" is the sixteenth episode of the fifth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 17, 1994. In the episode, Ned Flanders invites Homer to a football game and the two become good friends. However, in a reversal of their usual roles, Ned soon grows weary of Homer's overbearing friendship and stupid antics, and actually begins to hate him.
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.
"Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" is the ninth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 2007.
"Take My Life, Please" is the tenth episode of the twentieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 15, 2009. In the episode, Homer finds out that the class presidential election he lost in high school was rigged, and he gets the opportunity to find out what his life would have been like if he had become class president.
"Postcards from the Wedge" is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 14, 2010. In the episode, Homer and Marge once again try to discipline Bart after Edna Krabappel tells them that Bart has not been doing his homework, but Bart has a plan to manipulate Homer's strictness and Marge's sympathetic ear, which backfires when Homer and Marge see through the plan and decide to ignore Bart.
"Super Franchise Me" is the third episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 555th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by Bill Odenkirk. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 12, 2014.
"The Kids Are All Fight" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 571st overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Rob LaZebnik. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 2015.
"Let's Go Fly a Coot" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 572nd overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Jeff Westbrook. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 3, 2015. The episode's title is a parody of the song "Let's Go Fly a Kite".
"Dad Behavior" is the eighth episode of the twenty-eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 604th episode of the series overall. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 20, 2016. The plot revolves around Homer discovering an app that makes his life easier, and Grampa learning that he's about to become a father again. It was the first episode to be written by Ryan Koh, and was directed by Steven Dean Moore. Matt Leinart makes a guest appearance as himself.
"Left Behind" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 637th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Lance Kramer with a story by Al Jean and teleplay by Joel H. Cohen and John Frink. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 6, 2018.
"Manger Things" is the 16th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 700th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 21, 2021. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Rob LaZebnik.