Springfield Splendor

Last updated

"Springfield Splendor"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 29
Episode 2
Directed by Matthew Faughnan
Written by Tim Long
Miranda Thompson
Production codeWABF22
Original air dateOctober 8, 2017 (2017-10-08)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
← Previous
"The Serfsons"		Next →
"Whistler's Father"
The Simpsons (season 29)
List of episodes

"Springfield Splendor" is the second episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons , and the 620th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by Tim Long and Miranda Thompson. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 8, 2017.

Contents

This episode is dedicated in memory of Tom Petty, who had a guest appearance in the fourteenth season episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation." [1]

Plot

After Lisa has a recurring dream involving the lockers at Springfield Elementary, Homer and Marge decide to seek a therapist. Due to Homer having used all their insurance-covered counseling sessions for a stupid reason, they take her to see a shrink-in-training at Springfield Community College.

There, a therapist student suggests that Lisa draw her typical day. Back home, Lisa is frustrated at her bad drawings, so Marge helps her drawing while she explains her feelings. Lisa takes the drawings to the college, but they fall out of her backpack on the steps that lead into the building. Comic Book Guy's unhappy wife Kumiko collects them and sells them at The Android's Dungeon and Baseball Card Shop as a graphic novel called Sad Girl. Lisa and Marge complain to Comic Book Guy and Kumiko; however, when they see that people are buying (and relating to) the books, Lisa is happy and stops Kumiko from burning them. Marge and Lisa get commissioned by Kumiko to do a sequel, and they bond.

At the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con, a panel is held by Roz Chast, with Alison Bechdel and Marjane Satrapi, but the public lauds Lisa and hurts Marge's feelings by not wanting to listen to her talk about her drawing work. When Marge tells Lisa she wants more credit, Lisa becomes defensive and they have an argument, which ends with them dissolving their partnership. Soon thereafter, they meet a theatrical director, Guthrie Frenel, who has come by the house and wants to make an avant-garde Broadway show of the books. When the play opens, the play developed by Guthrie focuses on Marge's work and makes a point of giving Lisa/Sad Girl little mention. Lisa is upset and talks to the therapist about it, getting an analogy on parenting that's inspired by the therapist having just had a baby after an affair with her faculty advisor.

At the premiere of Frenel's play, Marge finally notices that the play is terrible and also insulting to Lisa, and feels bad about it. She draws Lisa's face on a spotlight and shines it on the stage, enraging Guthrie, which causes a chain reaction that ruins the show.

During the end credits, Marge presents Maggie her comic "The Adventures of Sad Girl's Mom". Marge still thinks it's good, but Maggie is disappointed with it.

Production

The episode was scheduled to be the season 29 premiere. However, "The Serfsons" took its place and the episode aired the week after. [2] [3] On October 12, Matt Selman tweeted a video of a cut opening scene from the episode. The scene sees a dream in Homer's head where he's on a show called "Dream Date". He has three women to choose from; the friendly stewardess who winked at him 23 years ago, She-Hulk or the sexy ketchup bottle from the commercial he likes. Homer chooses the ketchup bottle, but then She-Hulk smashes her apart. Homer and She-Hulk then go out on a date, using the broken bottle of ketchup to dip food in. [4]

This is the first episode credited to co-writer Miranda Thompson, wife of co-writer Tim Long. [5] [6] Martin Short was cast as an eccentric theater director who turns a graphic novel written by Lisa and drawn by Marge into a musical. Rachel Bloom was cast as a student psychologist. [7] Writer Dan Harmon appeared as himself. Cartoonists Alison Bechdel, Roz Chast, and Marjane Satrapi appeared as themselves. Bechdel recorded her lines on the Fox lot and was directed by Long. Thompson and Long also showed her the writers room. [5]

Cultural references

The episode title is a reference to the comic book series American Splendor . [5] Lisa's graphic novel Sad Girl is a reference to Bechdel's book Fun Home . [7] The disaster at the opening of Frenel's play refers to the issues of the play Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark . [5] Dan Harmon's story circle in the community college class is a reference to his community college based sitcom, Community , his firing and rehiring, and the show moving to Yahoo Screen, as well as his script writing method. [8]

Reception

Viewing figures

"Springfield Splendor" scored a 2.2 rating with an 8 share, and was watched by 5.25 million people, making it Fox's highest-rated show of the night. [9]

Critical response

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+ stating, "'Springfield Splendor'’s journey has a lot along the way to perk up the eyes and ears of the jaded Simpsons viewer. The plot, about Lisa and Marge teaming up to tell Lisa’s American Splendor -esque miserablist life story in graphic novel form, allows for an arresting visual style in those scenes where Marge’s pencils are animated to illustrate their comic vision. Accompanied as the stylized images are by a melancholy jazz score (as any real Lisa narrative would be), these sequences have a life of their own that suggests how well the mother-daughter team has captured what’s going on in Lisa’s head every damned day in the yahoo-infested halls of Springfield Elementary. The sequences’ lovely and evocative mix of the internal and external are impressive without being flashy, less a gimmick than an expansion of the show’s capabilities. They’re super." [1]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 3.5 out of 5 stars. He called the episode a solid entry and highlighted the movements of Guthrie Frenel. [10]

Michael Cavna of The Washington Post called the episode a perfect bookend to the thirteenth season episode "I Am Furious (Yellow)." He also said the episode reflects how comic readership has changed since the nineteenth season episode "Husbands and Knives," which also showcased three comic book artists. [5]

Awards and nominations

Animator Caroline Cruikshank won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for character animation at the 70th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for the episode. [11]

Related Research Articles

"Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer. Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and her attempts to sublimate it by playing her saxophone.

<i>Persepolis</i> (comics) Graphic novel series by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is a series of autobiographical graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi that depict her childhood and early adult years in Iran and Austria during and after the Islamic Revolution. The title Persepolis is a reference to the ancient capital of the Persian Empire. Originally published in French, Persepolis has been translated to many other languages. As of 2018, it has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.

"The Girl Who Slept Too Little" is the second 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 September 18, 2005, and was seen by 9.79 million people during this broadcast.

<i>The Simpsons</i> opening sequence Opening sequence of the TV series The Simpsons

The Simpsonsopening sequence is the title sequence of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It is accompanied by "The Simpsons Theme". The first episode to use this introduction was the series' second episode "Bart the Genius".

"Moonshine River" is the first episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Tim Long. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 30, 2012.

"The Changing of the Guardian" is the eleventh episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 519th episode overall. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Rob LaZebnik. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 27, 2013. The title "The Changing of the Guardian" is a pun on the term the changing of the guard. The episode received negative reviews by critics.

"What Animated Women Want" is the seventeenth episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 525th episode overall. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by J. Stewart Burns. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 14, 2013. The name is a take on that of the film What Women Want.

I Wont Be Home for Christmas (<i>The Simpsons</i>) 9th episode of the 26th season of The Simpsons

"I Won't Be Home for Christmas" is the ninth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 561st episode of the series. The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by Al Jean. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 7, 2014. It is the thirteenth Christmas episode of the show.

"Every Man's Dream" is the twenty-seventh season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 575th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by J. Stewart Burns. It aired in the United States on Fox on September 27, 2015.

Sad Girl may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXVII</span> 4th episode of the 28th season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXVII" is the fourth episode of the twenty-eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, the 27th episode in the Treehouse of Horror series of Halloween specials, and the 600th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Joel H. Cohen. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 16, 2016.

The Town (<i>The Simpsons</i>) 3rd episode of the 28th season of The Simpsons

"The Town" is the third episode of the twenty-eighth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 599th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver and written by Dave King. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 9, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Serfsons</span> 1st episode of the 29th season of The Simpsons

"The Serfsons" is the twenty-ninth season season premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 619th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver and written by Brian Kelley. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 1, 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXX</span> 4th episode of the 31st season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXX" is the fourth episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 666th episode overall as well as the thirtieth Treehouse of Horror episode. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 20, 2019. The episode was written by J. Stewart Burns, and was directed by Timothy Bailey.

"I Want You (She's So Heavy)" is the sixteenth episode of the thirtieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 655th episode overall. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Jeff Westbrook. It aired in the United States on Fox on March 10, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXI</span> 4th episode of the 32nd season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXI" is the fourth episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 688th episode overall as well as the thirty-first "Treehouse of Horror" episode. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 1, 2020. The episode was directed by Steven Dean Moore, and written by Julia Prescott.

"The Dad-Feelings Limited" is the 11th episode of the thirty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 695th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 3, 2021. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Ryan Koh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror XXXII</span> 3rd episode of the 33rd season of The Simpsons

"Treehouse of Horror XXXII" is the third episode of the thirty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 709th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 10, 2021, and unlike the previous season, aired at the appropriate time to avoid conflict with Major League Baseball’s post-season, which stretched into November. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan, and written by John Frink.

"Marge the Meanie" is the 20th episode of the 33rd season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 726th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 8, 2022. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Megan Amram.

References

  1. 1 2 Perkins, Dennis (October 8, 2017). "Lisa and Marge write themselves a fine story on The Simpsons". The A.V. Club . Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  2. ↑ Jean, Al [@AlJean] (August 21, 2017). "@danharmon yes 10/8" (Tweet). Retrieved July 2, 2023– via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Jean, Al [@AlJean] (August 7, 2017). ".@TheSimpsons The Serfsons now season 29 premiere, 10/1" (Tweet). Retrieved July 2, 2023– via Twitter.
  4. ↑ Selman, Matt [@mattselman] (October 12, 2017). "Deleted opening scene from "Springfield Splendor"" (Tweet). Retrieved July 2, 2023– via Twitter.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Cavna, Michael (October 9, 2017). "'The Simpsons' hilariously spoofs the comics industry". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  6. ↑ Ahearn, Victoria (April 25, 2019). "The Simpsons writer shares details on Canuck-themed episode D'Oh Canada". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Snierson, Dan (September 29, 2017). "The Simpsons: Season 29 Features Ed Sheeran, 'Game of Thrones' Gag, Possessed Maggie". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  8. ↑ Hamilton, Isobel (October 9, 2017). "'Rick and Morty' co-creator loved his 'Simpsons' cameo because they made him sexier". Mashable.
  9. ↑ Porter, Rick (October 10, 2017). "NFL adjusts up, all others unchanged: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers . Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ Sokol, Tony (October 9, 2017). "The Simpsons Season 29 Episode 2 Review: Springfield Splendor". Den of Geek . Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  11. ↑ Pedersen, Erik (August 28, 2018). "Emmys: 'Broad City', 'The Simpsons' & 'Adventure Time' Among Juried Winners". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved July 2, 2023.
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.