Rome-Old and Juli-Eh

Last updated

"Rome-Old and Juli-Eh"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 18
Episode 15
Directed by Nancy Kruse
Written by Daniel Chun
Production codeJABF08
Original air dateMarch 11, 2007 (2007-03-11)
Guest appearances
Jane Kaczmarek as Judge Constance Harm
Episode features
Couch gag In a parody of the Bonanza opening, a map of frontier-era United States is burned out in the center, revealing the Simpsons on horseback as they gallop away.
Commentary
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Yokel Chords"		Next →
"Homerazzi"
The Simpsons season 18
List of episodes

"Rome-Old and Juli-Eh" is the fifteenth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2007. The episode was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Nancy Kruse.

Contents

In this episode, Grampa starts a romantic relationship with Selma while Bart and Lisa build a fort with cardboard boxes. Jane Kaczmarek guest starred as her recurring character, Judge Constance Harm. The episode received mixed reviews.

Plot

Homer surprises the family with a newly decorated basement, now a recreation room, prompting Marge to ask how he could afford all this. He tells Marge he has a plan, and he files for bankruptcy because he believes that this will save him from paying his debts. Unfortunately, Judge Constance Harm tells him that the bankruptcy laws have changed, and, under the new laws, he must pay everything back. Looking through the family's expenses, Homer decides to save money by moving Grampa out of the retirement home and having him live with the family. Grampa turns the recreation room into his bedroom. Without the recreation room, Bart and Lisa decide to order complimentary cardboard delivery boxes to build a fort after seeing Ned order some boxes. When the box deliveryman sees what Bart and Lisa did with the boxes, he demands they return them, and he threatens them when they refuse. An army of deliverymen arrive to battle Bart and Lisa at their fort. As they scale the fort, Nelson comes to the rescue of Bart and Lisa. They fend off the army but decide to melt the fort with water from a hose when they get bored with it.

One night, Homer and Marge go out and ask Grampa to babysit Bart and Lisa. Not trusting Grampa's competence, Marge also asks her sister Selma to watch Grampa and the kids. During the evening, Grampa and Selma bond and end up kissing as Homer and Marge arrive home. Marge is happy with Grampa and Selma's decision to date, but a disgusted Homer and Patty team up to break them up. At the mall, Patty, disguised as Selma, kisses a disguised Homer as Grampa passes them. Grampa is saddened until the real Selma appears and exposes them.

Angry at being manipulated, Grampa proposes to Selma and she accepts. They get married and move in together. With Grampa unable to work, Selma works as a manager at the DMV while he stays home and takes care of her daughter Ling. One day, Grampa gets confused while using the kitchen appliances and causes a fire. This makes Selma realize their relationship cannot last just with love, but as she laments that she will be alone forever, Grampa assures her she will find someone she can depend on, and they dance together one last time.

Production

Jane Kaczmarek reprised her role as Judge Constance Harm. [1] Kaczmarek first voiced this role in the thirteenth season episode "The Parent Rap". [2]

Cultural references

To save gas, Homer says he is "Flintstone-ing" the car, a reference of how characters from the animated television series The Flintstones start their cars. The battle sequence with Bart, Lisa, and the box deliverymen is a parody of the battles from The Lord of the Rings film series. [3]

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode earned a 3.1 rating and was watched by 8.79 million viewers on its first broadcast on Fox, which was the 33rd most-watched show that week. [4]

Critical response

Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 6 out of 10, concluding,

Again, this was an episode that had a handful of funny bits, but none of it came together to tell a solid, original story. And that's one of the major downfalls that's been hurting the show of late -- running out of stories to tell. This isn't too surprising after 18 seasons, but you'd think they would have been able to come up with something better than another Selma marriage that you already knew was going to fail. [3]

Adam Finley of AOL TV wrote, "[t]his episode had some good laughs, but overall I wasn't too impressed." [5]

On Four Finger Discount, Guy Davis and Brendan Dando thought the episode was "weird". They did not find the episode believable, and they knew the relationship between Grampa and Selma would not last. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grampa Simpson</span> Recurring character in The Simpsons

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.

"Catch 'em if You Can" is the eighteenth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 25, 2004. The episode was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

"Sleeping with the Enemy" is the third episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 2004. To date, this is Jon Vitti's last episode as writer and Lauren MacMullan's last episode as director.

"Bart vs. Thanksgiving" is the seventh episode of the second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on Thanksgiving, November 22, 1990. In the episode, Bart runs away from home after destroying a centerpiece that Lisa makes for the Thanksgiving dinner table.

"Goo Goo Gai Pan" is the twelfth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 13, 2005. The episode was written by Dana Gould and directed by Lance Kramer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simpson family</span> Family of five fictional characters in animation series The Simpsons

The Simpson family are the main fictional characters featured in the animated television series The Simpsons. The Simpsons are a nuclear family consisting of married couple Homer and Marge and their three children, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. They live at 742 Evergreen Terrace in the fictional town of Springfield, United States, and they were created by cartoonist Matt Groening, who conceived the characters after his own family members, substituting "Bart" for his own name. The family debuted on Fox on April 19, 1987, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" and were later spun off into their own series, which debuted on Fox in the U.S. on December 17, 1989, and started airing in Winter 1990.

"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 Seven-Beer Snitch" is the fourteenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 3, 2005. The episode was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

"On a Clear Day I Can't See My Sister" is the eleventh episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 6, 2005. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Jeff Westbrook.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Fear the Roofer</span> 16th episode of the 16th season of The Simpsons

"Don't Fear the Roofer" is the sixteenth episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 1, 2005. The episode was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Mark Kirkland.

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Married Marge</span> 12th episode of the 3rd season of The Simpsons

"I Married Marge" is the twelfth episode of the third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on December 26, 1991. In the episode, Marge worries that she may be pregnant again and visits Dr. Hibbert's office. While anxiously waiting at home, Homer tells Bart, Lisa, and Maggie the story of his and Marge's marriage and Bart's birth. The episode was written by Jeff Martin and directed by Jeffrey Lynch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simpsons Christmas Stories</span> 9th episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons

"Simpsons Christmas Stories" is the ninth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 18, 2005. The episode was written by Don Payne and directed by Steven Dean Moore

"Homer's Paternity Coot" is the tenth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 8, 2006. The episode was written by Joel H. Cohen and directed by Mike B. Anderson.

"We're on the Road to D'ohwhere" is the eleventh episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 29, 2006. The episode was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Nancy Kruse.

"Bart Has Two Mommies" is the fourteenth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 19, 2006. The episode was written by Dana Gould and directed by Michael Marcantel.

"The Wife Aquatic" is the tenth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 7, 2007. The episode was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Lance Kramer.

"Smoke on the Daughter" is the fifteenth episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 30, 2008. The episode is the only one of the series in which Billy Kimball received sole writing credit, and it was directed by Lance Kramer.

"Brake My Wife, Please" is the twentieth 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 May 11, 2003. The episode was written by Tim Long and directed by Pete Michels.

"The Winter of His Content" is the fourteenth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 544th episode of the series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 16, 2014. It was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Chuck Sheetz.

References

  1. ↑ "Episode Title: (SI-1808) "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh"". The Futon Critic . Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
  2. ↑ Davis, Brian (September 19, 2021). "'The Simpsons': The 11 Best Guest Stars Who Didn't Play Themselves". Collider . Archived from the original on March 1, 2024. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Canning, Robert (March 12, 2007). "The Simpsons: "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh" Review". IGN . Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Weekly Program Rankings (Mar. 5-11)". ABC Medianet. March 13, 2007. Archived from the original on May 28, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  5. ↑ Finley, Adam (March 12, 2007). "The Simpsons: Rome-old and Juli-eh". HuffPost . Archived from the original on May 19, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ Davis, Guy; Dando, Brendan (January 18, 2024). ""Rome-Old And Juli-Eh" Podcast Review (S18E15)". Four Finger Discount (Simpsons Podcast) (Podcast). Event occurs at 5:30. Retrieved August 17, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.