Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!

Last updated

"Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!"
The Simpsons episode
Giuliani on The Simpsons.png
The episode's promotional image, featuring Rudy Giuliani.
Episode no.Season 18
Episode 20
Directed by Matthew Faughnan
Written by John Frink
Production codeJABF12
Original air dateMay 13, 2007 (2007-05-13)
Guest appearances
Stephen Hawking as himself
Rudy Giuliani as himself
Maurice LaMarche as The Horn Stuffer
Episode features
Chalkboard gag "Pearls are not oyster barf" [1]
Couch gag The Simpson family sits down on the couch. Then, another Simpson family sits down on it. Then, many more Simpson families come into the house at once. One Homer shouts "Hey, don't shove!" [1]
Commentary
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Crook and Ladder"
Next 
"24 Minutes"
The Simpsons (season 18)
List of episodes

"Stop, or My Dog Will Shoot!" [1] is the twentieth episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 13, 2007. [1] When Santa's Little Helper rescues a lost Homer, he becomes a local hero and the Simpsons decide to enroll him in Police Dog Academy, where he is teamed with Lou and they become a crime-busting duo. Bart's excitement quickly vanishes after an incident with a jaded Santa's Little Helper, so to appease Bart's depression after the loss of his dog, Marge agrees to buy him a huge pet snake, which causes a life-threatening situation at Bart and Lisa's school. It was written by John Frink and directed by Matthew Faughnan. [1] Friend of the show Stephen Hawking makes his third guest appearance on the show as himself, [1] while Maurice LaMarche does the voice of the Horn Stuffer. [1] Rudy Giuliani makes a guest voice appearance as himself, although not in the original airing. [1] The fan-favorite song "Freak On a Leash" by metal band Korn is featured when Santa's Little Helper is trying to find Homer in a cornstalk maze. The episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award. [2]

Contents

Plot

Homer, excited about going to Oktoberfest, is disappointed when he discovers that Marge has tricked him and the kids into going to a Harvest Festival which allows no alcohol. While attempting to leave, Homer accidentally leads the family into a cornfield maze. Lisa crafts an escape plan with Tremaux's algorithm, a real life maze-solving method, but Homer is left behind after wrongly assuming that Marge wants to break up when she was suggesting to split up to find a way out.

Homer is lost inside the maze for several hours and Santa's Little Helper is called upon by Bart to find him. The dog manages to sniff out Homer and drag him out of the maze. Santa's Little Helper becomes a hero and the Simpsons, persuaded by Chief Wiggum, enroll him in the Springfield Animal Police Academy, where he is teamed with Lou, managing to help fight crime in Springfield.

Santa's Little Helper catches Snake Jailbird who is taken to court, but freed on a technicality. This makes Santa's Little Helper jaded, and when he returns home, he bites Bart on the leg out of frustration. Considering the fact that the pressure from the fight against crime is what led to the dog's actions on Bart, the Simpsons send the dog away to live with Lou. As a replacement, Marge buys Bart an African rock python, which he names Strangles. Bart takes Strangles to show and tell at school, where Strangles escapes into a school lab and unintentionally knocks over beakers of ethanol and nitric acid, mixing both substances and creating a toxic cloud.

Bart, being the only person still stranded in school trying to find Strangles, collapses from the smoke, (remarking "It smells like some chemicals cut one"). Both Santa's Little Helper and Strangles arrive to save Bart, who chooses his faithful dog to save him. Santa's Little Helper goes back to living with the Simpsons. Groundskeeper Willie adopts Strangles, and places him in the fire hose coil.

Production

Rudy Giuliani was originally announced in the official press release as appearing in this episode. As a result, several images of him recording his part as well as a promotional image of him in Simpsonized form, were released. However, his appearance was not included in the final version of the episode. [3] According to executive producer James L. Brooks in an interview with Charlie Rose, the show was not allowed to use Giuliani's appearance because he had become a presidential candidate. [4]

However, Giuliani's appearance is present in the syndicated version of the episode where he gives the commencement address at the police animal academy graduation ceremony. His speech to the trained animals includes a large amount of condescending "animal talk" such as talking about their fluffy tails and stomachs. He also said they should get a treat, prompting Homer to wish someone had said that on his graduation day.

Cultural references

Reception

Robert Canning of IGN describes the episode as "average", and was only a buildup to next week's 400th episode. [5] Canning says the episode had bright bits, including Stephen Hawking's appearance. [5]

Adam Finley of TV Squad states the episode "fell flat halfway through the middle act, and all of the third". [6]

This episode was nominated for a WGA Award in 2007, but lost to "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II", another episode this season. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa's Little Helper</span> Dog in The Simpsons animated TV series

Santa's Little Helper is a fictional dog in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. He was previously voiced by Frank Welker, and is currently voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons him for finishing last in a greyhound race. Homer Simpson and his son Bart, who are at the race track in hope of winning some money for Christmas presents, see this and decide to adopt the dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of The Simpsons

"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" is the series premiere of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on December 17, 1989. Introducing the Simpson family into half-hour television in this episode, Bart Simpson disobediently gets a tattoo without the permission of his parents. After Marge spends all the family's holiday budget on having it removed, Homer learns that his boss is not giving employees Christmas bonuses, and takes a job as a shopping mall Santa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trilogy of Error</span> 18th episode of the 12th season of The Simpsons

"Trilogy of Error" is the eighteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 266th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 29, 2001. In the episode, Homer's rush to the hospital to re-attach his severed thumb, Lisa's rush to school to win the science fair, and Bart's run-in with an illegal fireworks scheme are interconnected as each act tells the events of the same day, but from a different point of view.

<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 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Regina Monologues</span> 4th episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons

"The Regina Monologues" is the fourth 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 November 23, 2003. It was directed by Mark Kirkland and was the final episode written by John Swartzwelder. The episode sees the Simpson family travel to the United Kingdom for vacation. There, they meet several celebrities including Tony Blair, Evan Marriott, Ian McKellen and J. K. Rowling, who all appear as themselves. Later, Homer is arrested and locked in the Tower of London for accidentally crashing into the Queen's carriage. Meanwhile, Abraham Simpson journeys to find Edwina, his long lost love, who is voiced by Jane Leeves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Canine Mutiny</span> 20th episode of the 8th season of The Simpsons

"The Canine Mutiny" is the twentieth 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 April 13, 1997. It was written by Ron Hauge and directed by Dominic Polcino. Bart fraudulently applies for a credit card and uses it to buy an expensive trained dog called Laddie. It guest stars voice actor Frank Welker as Laddie, a parody of Lassie. The episode's title references the novel The Caine Mutiny.

"Two Dozen and One Greyhounds" is the twentieth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 9, 1995. The episode was written by Mike Scully and directed by Bob Anderson. Frank Welker guest stars as Santa's Little Helper and various other dogs. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper has puppies with a dog that he met at the greyhound racetrack.

"Bart's Dog Gets an 'F'" is the sixteenth 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 March 7, 1991. In the episode, the Simpson family's dog, Santa's Little Helper, infuriates Homer and Marge by destroying a family heirloom and an expensive pair of shoes. When Marge and Homer want to get rid of the dog, Bart enrolls him at an obedience school to curb his bad behavior.

"Dog of Death" is the nineteenth 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 March 12, 1992. In the episode, Santa's Little Helper falls ill and the family must make budget cuts to pay for his operation. Although the dog's life is saved, the family begins to feel the strain of their sacrifices and starts treating him badly, causing him to run away. Santa's Little Helper ends up in the possession of Mr. Burns, who trains him to become a vicious attack dog. Several days later, Bart stumbles upon the trained Santa's Little Helper and is attacked, but the dog eventually recognizes his old friend and stops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazzy and the Pussycats</span> 2nd episode of the 18th season of The Simpsons

"Jazzy and the Pussycats" is the second episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 17, 2006. When Bart turns a quiet funeral into a chaotic mess, Homer and Marge are faced with angry Springfielders who have had enough of Bart's mischievousness. But when a psychiatrist assists Bart by channelling Bart's anger through drums, Lisa feels Bart may have stolen the one thing she held strong: music. As a result, Lisa begins collecting animals to subdue her misery. It was written by Daniel Chun and directed by Steven Dean Moore. Meg White and Jack White of the White Stripes guest star as themselves. In its original run, the episode received 8.94 million viewers.

"Midnight Towboy" is the third 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 October 7, 2007, and in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2007. This is the first Simpsons episode to premiere in October since season eleven's "Treehouse of Horror X", which aired on October 31, 1999.

"Crook and Ladder" is the nineteenth 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 May 6, 2007. It was written by Bill Odenkirk and directed by Lance Kramer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind</span> 9th episode of the 19th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apocalypse Cow</span> 17th episode of the 19th season of The Simpsons

"Apocalypse Cow" is the seventeenth 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 April 27, 2008. After joining 4-H, Bart saves a cow named Lou and gives it to a girl named Mary, a farm girl. Her father, Cletus, mistakenly believes it as a token for Mary's hand in marriage, and attempts to get the two married.

"Judge Me Tender" is the twenty-third and final episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The 464th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 23, 2010. In the episode, Moe discovers his talent for judging in competitions and is invited to appear on the show American Idol. Meanwhile, Homer drives Marge crazy when he starts spending too much time at home, and Lisa tries to comfort Santa's Little Helper.

"How Munched Is That Birdie in the Window?" is the seventh episode of the twenty-second season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Mike Frank Polcino and written by Kevin Curran. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 28, 2010.

"Peeping Mom" is the eighteenth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 570th overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by John Frink. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 19, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bart's New Friend</span> 11th episode of the 26th season of The Simpsons

"Bart's New Friend" is the eleventh episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 563rd episode of the series. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Judd Apatow. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 11, 2015. The episode focuses on Bart's new friendship with his father Homer, who has been hypnotized in order to think he is a young boy.

"To Courier with Love" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 594th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Timothy Bailey and written by Bill Odenkirk. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 8, 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "The Simpsons: "Stop or My Dog Will Shoot"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  2. 1 2 Simpsons Channel | Your Source For Simpsons News Archived November 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Listings - SIMPSONS, THE on FOX | TheFutonCritic.com
  4. Rose, Charlie (Host, Executive producer) (July 30, 2007). Charlie Rose:A Conversation About The Simpsons Movie (Television production). Charlie Rose, Inc. Event occurs at approx. 28 minutes in. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2007.
  5. 1 2 3 Robert Canning (May 14, 2012). "The Simpsons: "Stop, Or My Dog Will Shoot!" Review - IGN". IGN .
  6. 1 2 Adam Finley (May 14, 2007). "The Simpsons: Stop, Or My Dog Will Shoot - TV Squad". TV Squad. Yahoo.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2007.