Tennis the Menace

Last updated

"Tennis the Menace"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 12
Episode 12
Directed byJen Kamerman
Written by Ian Maxtone-Graham
Production codeCABF07
Original air dateFebruary 11, 2001 (2001-02-11)
Guest appearances
Andre Agassi as himself
Pete Sampras as himself
Venus and Serena Williams as themselves
Episode features
Chalkboard gag "I will not publish the principal's credit report"
Couch gag The living-room floor is frozen over. The Simpsons ice skate to the couch. When Homer sits down, his side of the couch falls through the ice.
Commentary Mike Scully
Al Jean
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Matt Selman
John Frink
Don Payne
Max Pross
Phil Rosenthal
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Worst Episode Ever"		Next →
"Day of the Jackanapes"
The Simpsons season 12
List of episodes

"Tennis the Menace" is the twelfth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2001. In the episode, the Simpsons build a tennis court in their backyard and are ridiculed by the entire town because of Homer's inferior tennis ability. Homer therefore tries to please Marge by entering the two into a tournament, but they quickly turn into rivals when Marge replaces Homer with Bart as her partner.

Contents

The episode features guest appearances from tennis professionals Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and the Williams sisters as themselves. "Tennis the Menace" was directed by Jen Kamerman and written by Ian Maxtone-Graham, who also directed the Williams sisters' performance. The episodes title is a parody of Dennis the Menace. The animators of The Simpsons experimented with digital ink and paint on "Tennis the Menace", making it the first episode of the series to be animated using the process since season 7's "Radioactive Man".

"Tennis the Menace" has received generally positive reviews from critics with particular praise for its guest stars.

Around eight million American homes tuned in to watch "Tennis the Menace" during its original airing, and in 2009 it was released on DVD along with the rest of the episodes of the twelfth season.

Plot

The Springfield Retirement Castle holds a talent show, which the Simpson family attends. Grampa wins the show after performing his version of the song "What's New, Pussycat?". He wins a free autopsy, so the Simpsons visit a funeral salesman to claim the prize. While there, Homer decides to buy a casket and a tombstone for Grampa, who is then offered an expensive funeral plan that Homer cannot afford. The salesman tells Homer that the tombstone is produced from the same amount of cement as a tennis court, and this gives him the idea to build a tennis court in the family's backyard (although he initially regrets this, having confused tennis with foxy boxing).

The court is very popular with Springfield's residents, but they mock Homer and Marge for losing all the time, especially thanks to Homer's poor play. Marge pleads with Homer to take the game seriously, but he is too oblivious to how poorly he plays tennis. Instead, he tries to please Marge by entering the pair in Krusty's celebrity tennis tournament, the "Krusty Kharity Klassic". Marge, tired of being laughed at, ditches Homer and enters with Bart as her new partner. Homer is outraged that he was abandoned for a ten-year-old boy, and tries to get revenge by entering the tournament with Lisa as his partner, despite Lisa's disapproval.

The change in partners leads the Simpson family to begin arguing and aggressively competing against one another. The tournament takes place, and in the stands are leading tennis professionals Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams. At the tournament, Homer ditches Lisa for Venus. In response, Marge replaces Bart with Serena as her partner. Ultimately, Serena and Venus replace Marge and Homer with Sampras and Agassi, respectively. This forces the family to go back to the bench and resume their normal places in the family. As they enjoy the exhibition of top-class tennis, they agree that it is better to watch things than to do things, and Homer offers to buy the family dinner with money that he took from Sampras' wallet.

Production

Pete Sampras, who guest starred in the episode, delivered his lines "very naturally" according to Al Jean. Pete Sampras (2008) 1, cropped.jpg
Pete Sampras, who guest starred in the episode, delivered his lines "very naturally" according to Al Jean.

"Tennis the Menace" was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Jen Kamerman as part of the twelfth season of The Simpsons (2000–2001). [1] Maxtone-Graham considers himself to be a bad tennis player and he has always wanted to win against his mother in a tennis match. This served as the inspiration for the episode, as he thought "family dynamics around tennis would be a fun show." [1] Maxtone-Graham did a lot a research for the scenes at the beginning of the episode where the Simpsons visit a funeral salesman at a cemetery.

He read Jessica Mitford's book The American Way of Death Revisited, which discusses the funeral industry, and was able to take a tour with funeral salesmen at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. At the time, he did not reveal that this was for research, and instead pretended to have a dying relative. [1] According to Maxtone-Graham, the tour helped him find out "all about urns versus coffins, and cremation. I asked sort of questions about, 'Well, do the bodies smell?' They were very nice and gave me all the answers. It was quite fascinating." [1]

The opening of "Tennis the Menace" is what Maxtone-Graham describes as a "screw you" beginning, as the viewer has "no idea that the twist is going to be tennis". [1] The part of the story revolving around tennis does not begin until around eight minutes into the episode. The Simpsons show runner Mike Scully has said that he thought this was "probably too long to wait before getting the story started." [2]

Maxtone-Graham has similarly said that while he thinks these type of openings "are kind of funny", they may be best avoided. [1] However, Scully liked the fact that the staff included a comment in the episode on its "screw you" beginning by having Homer say "I'll bet you didn't see that coming!" to the viewers when he decides to get the tennis court. [2] The writers had a number of alternate endings to "Tennis the Menace" before deciding on the one eventually used. [1] For instance, at one point, the family was to return home to watch the match in which Serena and Sampras faced off against Venus and Agassi on television. The staff changed it to the final one because they did not want it to feel like the episode petered out. [1]

"Tennis the Menace" features guest appearances from Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, and sisters Venus and Serena Williams. All of them appeared as themselves. [3] [4] [5] Executive producer Al Jean directed Sampras, who Jean thought delivered his lines "very naturally", while Maxtone-Graham directed the Williams sisters. [6] Agassi recorded his lines in the summer of 2000. [7] The Williams sisters, however, recorded their lines in Los Angeles sometime in the winter of 2000–2001. [7] According to Maxtone-Graham, the sisters were "incredibly nice and incredibly generous with their time." [1]

This is the second episode—after season seven's "Radioactive Man" (1995)—to be animated with digital ink and paint. This kind of digital coloring would not be used permanently on the show until the season fourteen episodes "Treehouse of Horror XIII" and "The Great Louse Detective" (2002). [8] It was used on "Tennis the Menace" primarily to test the technique. [8] [9] The reason for the long gap between this episode and "The Great Louse Detective" was that the staff of The Simpsons wanted to refine the look some more before doing it full-time. [8]

Release

Tennis player Andre Agassi guest starred in the episode and was praised by The Times critic Simon Crerar. Andre Agassi Indian Wells 2006.jpg
Tennis player Andre Agassi guest starred in the episode and was praised by The Times critic Simon Crerar.

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 11, 2001. [10] [11] It was viewed in approximately eight million households that night. With a Nielsen rating of 8.2, the episode tied the X-Files for the 41st place in the ratings for the week of February 5–11, 2001. [12] The episode was the fourth-highest-rated broadcast on Fox that week, following episodes of Temptation Island , Ally McBeal , and Boston Public . [12]

On August 18, 2009, "Tennis the Menace" was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season. Staff members Mike Scully, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, John Frink, Don Payne, Matt Selman, Max Pross, as well as television writer and producer Philip Rosenthal, participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. [13]

Critics generally received "Tennis the Menace" quite well.

Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel listed it at number nine on his 2004 list of the show's "Top 10 Sporting Episodes". [14]

Nancy Basile of About.com wrote in her 2003 review that the plot of the episode "allowed us to see more secondary characters than usual. It also gave Springfield a sense of community that we sometimes don't get in recent seasons. Though the blatant use of guest stars has sweeps written all over it, the tennis stars were funny and able to make fun of themselves. Homer had some wonderful lines, too, such as, 'Take your hands off me. They feel like salad tongs.' Overall, a very funny episode." [15]

In July 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed Agassi's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. [16]

In his review of the twelfth season of The Simpsons, Jason Bailey of DVD Talk wrote that the staff members' "habit of using the first act as a red herring, only semi-connected to the rest of the show, is ingenious and hilarious [...] They'd been doing this kind of thing for years, but it still plays; what's more, they've begun to acknowledge it, and wink about it." [17]

He noted the scene from this episode in which Homer tells the viewers that "I'll bet you didn't see that coming!", adding that a "moment like that is The Simpsons at its best: smart, knowing, and ridiculously funny." [17]

Related Research Articles

"The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" is the seventh episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 16, 1997. It was written by Richard Appel and directed by Steven Dean Moore. The episode sees Apu Nahasapeemapetilon marry Manjula, and incorporates several aspects of Hindu wedding ceremonies, which the writers researched during the episode's production. Appel pitched the episode several years before season nine but the idea was not used until Mike Scully became showrunner. The episode's subplot, which sees Homer stay at the Springfield Retirement Castle, was initially conceived as a separate episode, but could not be developed in enough detail. The episode received positive reviews.

“The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" is the sixth 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 3, 2000. In the episode, Homer buys a computer and creates his own website to spread gossip and fake news. However, when Homer starts writing conspiracy theories about flu shots, he is sent to an island where people who know too much are imprisoned.

"A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 5, 2000. In the episode, Homer discovers that Springfield has two different area codes and ends up leading a revolt that splits the town in two.

<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.

"Pokey Mom" is the tenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 14, 2001. In the episode, Marge befriends Jack Crowley, a convict who she believes has some artistic potential. With Marge's help, Jack is granted parole and finds a mural-painting job at Springfield Elementary School. Meanwhile, Homer suffers from a back injury after being kicked by a bull at the prison rodeo and goes to see a chiropractor. Despite this, his pain remains and it is not until he accidentally falls backwards onto a garbage can that his back injury disappears. Homer makes a successful business out of this injury-healing garbage can, much to the dismay of chiropractors in town.

"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.

"Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the twelfth season of the American television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 12, 2000. In the episode, during an outdoor book fair, Krusty finds out he has a daughter, but loses her trust after gambling away her violin to Fat Tony, prompting Homer and Krusty to retrieve it.

"Lisa the Tree Hugger" is the fourth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 19, 2000. In the episode, Lisa falls in love with the leader of a radical environmentalist group and tries to impress him by living in Springfield's oldest tree in order to keep it from being cut down. The episode is based on the story of the American tree sitter Julia Butterfly Hill. Actor Joshua Jackson guest starred in the episode as Jesse.

"Bye Bye Nerdie" is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 11, 2001. In the episode, after Lisa becomes the target of a female bully named Francine, she discovers a scientific reason as to why bullies pick on nerds and demonstrates her findings at a science conference. Meanwhile, Homer goes into the childproofing business, causing baby-injury-related businesses to go in decline.

"Simpson Safari" is the seventeenth 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 April 1, 2001. When the Simpsons run out of food thanks to a bag boy strike, the family finds an old box of Animal Crackers in their attic. In the box is a golden cracker that was part of a contest conducted by the owners of Animal Crackers. Finding out that anyone that found the golden cracker would win a trip to Africa, Homer shows it to the company's owners, who refuse to honor the prize. When he is injured by one of the box's sharp corners however, the family is given a free trip to Africa as compensation.

"Simpsons Tall Tales" is the twenty-first and final episode of the twelfth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 20, 2001. In the episode, Homer refuses to pay a five dollar airport tax to fly to Delaware, which forces the family to ride in a livestock car of a train instead. There they meet a singing hobo who tells three tall tales which include Homer as Paul Bunyan, Lisa as Connie Appleseed and Bart and Nelson as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Gets an "A"</span> 7th episode of the 10th season of The Simpsons

"Lisa Gets an 'A'" is the seventh episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 22, 1998. In the episode, Lisa cheats on a test for which she fails to study and receives an A+++ grade, but becomes guilt-ridden. In the subplot, Homer buys a lobster with the intention of fattening him up to eat, but he bonds with the crustacean and keeps him as a pet named Pinchy.

"Homer Simpson in: 'Kidney Trouble'" is the eighth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 6, 1998. In the episode Grampa's kidneys explode, leaving him in urgent need of a donor. His son Homer initially agrees to donate one of his kidneys, but after hearing of side effects of only having one kidney, he begins to have second thoughts about the operation.

"I'm with Cupid" is the fourteenth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on Valentine's Day, 1999. The episode takes place on Valentine's Day, and the wives of Springfield are jealous of the attention Apu gives to his wife Manjula. Angered by this, Moe and the Springfield husbands spy on Apu to sabotage his romantic plans.

"Maximum Homerdrive" is the seventeenth episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on March 28, 1999.

"Monty Can't Buy Me Love" is the twenty-first episode of the tenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 1999. In the episode, Mr. Burns is jealous of megastore owner Arthur Fortune, who is beloved by the people of Springfield. In order to win the people's love, Burns gathers the help of Homer Simpson, Professor Frink and Groundskeeper Willie to capture the Loch Ness monster.

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge" is the twenty-first and penultimate episode of the eleventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network on May 14, 2000. After a failed marriage attempt with Otto, Becky stays with the Simpson family. However, Marge begins to get paranoid at her family's newfound love of Becky, and begins to think that she is seducing Homer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Blunder Years</span> 5th episode of the 13th season of The Simpsons

"The Blunder Years" is the fifth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 9, 2001. The episode sees Homer, after being hypnotized by the hypnotist Mesmerino while having dinner at the restaurant Pimento Grove, reminded by a repressed traumatic experience from his childhood, including the moment he discovered the dead body of Waylon Smithers' father while having a fun at an abandoned mine. The Simpsons set out to find the corpse that triggered Homer's psychological trauma, which evolves into a murder mystery later in the episode.

"The Parent Rap" is the second episode and official premiere of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 2001. In the episode, Bart and his father, Homer, are sentenced by the cruel judge Constance Harm to be tethered to each other as a result of Bart stealing Police Chief Wiggum's car thanks to Homer's negligence. Eventually, Homer's wife, Marge, is fed up with the punishment and cuts the rope, which instead leads to Judge Harm sentencing them to have their heads and hands locked up in wooden stocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trash of the Titans</span> 22nd episode of the 9th season of The Simpsons

"Trash of the Titans" is the twenty-second episode of the ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The 200th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 1998. The episode, which was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and directed by Jim Reardon, sees Homer Simpson run for the job of Springfield's Sanitation Commissioner. Steve Martin guest stars as Ray Patterson, the incumbent commissioner, while U2 play themselves after requesting an appearance on the show.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Maxtone-Graham, Ian (2009). The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Tennis the Menace". 20th Century Fox.
  2. 1 2 Scully, Mike (2009). The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Tennis the Menace". 20th Century Fox.
  3. ↑ Berkowitz, Lana (February 8, 2001). "YO! remote". Houston Chronicle . p. 3.
  4. ↑ Storm, Jonathan (January 10, 2010). "Guests of Homer and Marge". The Philadelphia Inquirer . p. H13.
  5. ↑ McEntire, Mac (September 9, 2009). "Buy The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season at Amazon The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on November 3, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  6. ↑ Frink, John (2009). The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Tennis the Menace". 20th Century Fox.
  7. 1 2 Elmore, Charles (February 9, 2001). "Woo-hoo! Williamses in toon turney". The Palm Beach Post . p. 1B.
  8. 1 2 3 Jean, Al (2009). The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Tennis the Menace". 20th Century Fox.
  9. ↑ Reiss, Mike; Klickstein, Mathew (2018). Springfield confidential: jokes, secrets, and outright lies from a lifetime writing for the Simpsons. New York City: Dey Street Books. p. 98. ISBN   978-0062748034.
  10. ↑ Jacobson, Colin (September 2, 2009). "The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season (1999)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  11. ↑ Alberti, John (2004). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. p. 324. ISBN   978-0-8143-2849-1.
  12. 1 2 Associated Press (February 15, 2001). "NBC tumbles to 3rd after XFL's fumbles". The Orlando Sentinel . p. E9.
  13. ↑ Lambert, David (May 20, 2009). "The Simpsons - Season 12 Street Date, Detailed Contents & 'Comic Book Guy Head' Box". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  14. ↑ Greene, Jerry (April 7, 2004). "D'oh! The end may be near for The Simpsons". Orlando Sentinel . p. D2.
  15. ↑ Basile, Nancy. "Tennis the Menace". About.com. Archived from the original on April 16, 2003. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  16. ↑ Crerar, Simon (July 5, 2007). "The 33 funniest Simpsons cameos ever". The Times . Retrieved August 9, 2011.
  17. 1 2 Bailey, Jason (August 18, 2009). "The Simpsons: The Twelfth Season". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2011.

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.