The Springfield Connection

Last updated

"The Springfield Connection"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 6
Episode 23
Directed by Mark Kirkland
Written by Jonathan Collier
Production code2F21
Original air dateMay 7, 1995 (1995-05-07)
Guest appearance
Episode features
Chalkboard gag "I will not mock Mrs. Dumbface" [1]
Couch gag Homer enters as James Bond while the theme plays, spoofing the gun barrel sequence. [2]
Commentary Matt Groening
David Mirkin
Jonathan Collier
Dan Castellaneta
Yeardley Smith
Mark Kirkland
Episode chronology
← Previous
"'Round Springfield"		Next →
"Lemon of Troy"
The Simpsons (season 6)
List of episodes

"The Springfield Connection" is the twenty-third 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 May 7, 1995. [1] In the episode, Marge deals with corruption and crime when she joins the Springfield police force.

Contents

The episode was written by Jonathan Collier, with input from David Mirkin, and directed by Mark Kirkland. The episode's story was inspired by executive producer Mike Reiss' wife, who had debated becoming a police officer. "The Springfield Connection" drew on influences from the 1980s police drama Hill Street Blues and the 1971 film The French Connection , and includes references to McGruff the Crime Dog and the theme music to Star Wars .

Reviews in The Sydney Morning Herald and DVD Movie Guide were favorable, and the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide cited Marge's police training as the highlight of the episode.

Contributors to compilation works analyzing The Simpsons from philosophical and cultural perspectives have cited and discussed the episode. Marge's experiences in the episode are compared to the character Rita from the stage comedy Educating Rita by Willy Russell in a literary analysis of the play.

Plot

On their way home from an orchestra performance, Homer and Marge pass through a seedy part of town. Snake entices Homer to play his Three-card Monte game and cheats him of $20. When Marge exposes the con, Snake flees. Marge chases after him and knocks him unconscious with a garbage can lid, giving her a sense of exhilaration. Finding her everyday routine dull and boring, she joins the Springfield police force.

At first, Marge enjoys being a police officer, but is soon discouraged by the laziness of her fellow officers and rampant law-breaking behavior of Springfield's citizens, including Homer, who illegally parks across three handicapped spaces. Marge tries to ticket him, then arrests him after he takes her police hat and taunts her.

Upon his release from jail, Homer hosts an illegal poker game and stumbles across Herman running a jean-counterfeiting operation in the Simpsons' garage. Marge arrives and arrests Herman and his henchmen as they are about to assault Homer. While Marge is handcuffing his minions, Herman takes Homer hostage and flees to Bart's tree house. Herman tries to escape using a pair of counterfeit jeans as a rope, but he falls to the ground when they rip. Marge knows Herman's attempted escape is doomed because of the jeans' shoddy stitching, which she recognizes from years of buying jeans for her husband and children.

After Wiggum and the other officers confiscate the counterfeit jeans for their personal use, the chief informs Marge that they cannot detain Herman because the evidence has mysteriously disappeared. Upset at the corruption on the force, Marge resigns.

Production

"The Springfield Connection" was written by Jonathan Collier and directed by Mark Kirkland. [3] According to Collier, the inspiration for the episode was former The Simpsons executive producer Mike Reiss' wife. At one point, she had seriously decided that she wanted to become a police officer but it did not happen. [4] The joke where the police officers laugh at Marge for a long time was pitched by David Mirkin and features a "crazy twist" at the end where Wiggum says "welcome aboard". Mirkin liked the joke so much that he repeated it again at the end of the episode. [3] Marge uses a "McGriff the crime dog" hand puppet who says "Help me bite crime". [5] The hand puppet is a homage to McGruff the Crime Dog – the producers had wanted to use the real McGruff, but could not get permission to use the character. [3] The idea to have a counterfeit jeans ring was pitched because at the time there had been an explosion in the jeans market, and David Mirkin thought it was right to satirize it. [3]

When the Korean animators were animating the sequence with Marge in the gun training course, they did not know how to correctly animate the "shell com[ing] out of the gun" because guns were illegal in Korea. They had to consult with the American animators, who advised them to watch movies so they could properly animate the guns. [6] The original design for Marge's police uniform had Marge's hair standing up (as it normally is) with the hat on top. Director Mark Kirkland found that it made it awkward for staging in scenes, so they altered the design to have her hair pulled down. [6] David Mirkin later stated that if the design had been used, he would have asked for it to be changed because they were trying to depict Marge as a serious cop. [3]

Cultural references

The title, as well as Herman's illegal activities, are references to the 1971 film The French Connection . The couch gag, a parody of the gun barrel sequence [2] in the James Bond films, shows some similarities to that of Sean Connery's own gun barrel sequences. Several references are made to the 1980s police drama Hill Street Blues : the briefing scene at the police station is similar and the background and end credits music, are parodies of the show's theme. [2] [7] Marge appears on an episode of COPS , and McGriff the dog is a reference to McGruff the Crime Dog, a US police public relations figure. [2] Additionally, Marge's training sequences features homages to Police Academy (1984), Bullitt (1968), and Speed (1994). [2] Marge's difficulties in scaling the wall in the police academy's obstacle course references An Officer and a Gentleman , where the lone female cadet had similar issues. The Springfield Pops play the theme to the Star Wars films at an outdoor venue attended by Homer and Marge, and Homer mistakenly believes that the theme's composer John Williams is dead, complaining: "Laser effects, mirrored balls—John Williams must be rolling around in his grave!". [8] Annoyed at Marge for becoming a police officer, Homer draws a line across the floor and says he is acting "a la I Love Lucy." referenced to the television sitcom I Love Lucy from the 1950s. Homer said to Herman that Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt and Antoine Bugle Boy are victims of the counterfeit jeans ring.

Analysis

Kurt M. Koenigsberger analyzes Homer's comments about the Springfield Pops rendition of the Star Wars theme in Koenigsberger's piece "Commodity Culture and Its Discontents: Mr. Bennett, Bart Simpson, and the Rhetoric of Modernism" published in the compilation work Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture edited by John Alberti. [8] Koenigsberger comments: "The joke in this opening scene involves a confusion of high and popular artistic production: Marge treats the Springfield Pops as 'culture' and expects that the usually boorish Homer will need to be drawn into the spectacle." [8] However, Koenigsberger notes that Homer actually regards Star Wars as a "classic", implying that a "classic" work must have a musical composer that is deceased, and be devoid of light-shows or glitter balls. [8] Koenigsberger uses this example to discuss Homer's application of "a strategy characteristic of literary modernism". [8]

In their book Educating Rita by Willy Russell, Rebecca Mahon and Nick Chedra cite Marge's desire to "enter the world" as an example of their topic called "Into the World". [9] Mahon and Chedra note: "Comedy and parody are frequently used in the episode in order to convey the frustrations Marge is forced to deal with — whether these are based around the corruption of her colleagues, the music used on occasion which parodies former police shows, or even the scene where Marge is forced to arrest her husband." [9] The authors compare Marge's experiences to those of the character Rita from the stage comedy Educating Rita by Willy Russell, commenting that both women later regret the decision to "move into the world". [9]

In the compilation book The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble, contributors Gerald J. Erion and Joseph A. Zeccardi cite the episode as an example in their piece titled, "Marge's Moral Motivation". [10] Erion and Zeccardi assert that Marge has "virtuous personality traits" which they compare to Aristotle, commenting: "Whether breaking up a counterfeit jeans ring run out of her garage in "The Springfield Connection", escaping a cult commune in "The Joy of Sect", or standing up to a Poe-ssessed "Treehouse of Horror". Marge is rarely short on courage." [10] They also note that "Marge's crime-stopping vigilantism in "The Springfield Connection" and her dangerous escape from the Movementarian commune in "The Joy of Sect" demonstrate that she is genuinely brave, but not foolhardy." [10]

Reception

Critical reception

Robin Oliver rates the episode "thumbs up" in a review in The Sydney Morning Herald , where she says of The Simpsons as a series: "this encouragingly funny show knows how to tug at the heartstrings". [11]

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood comment on the episode in their book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide: "..the highlight of this episode has to be Marge's training, especially her sharpshooting on the firing range". [2]

In a review of the sixth season of The Simpsons, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide writes that the episode surpasses the quality of the previous episode " 'Round Springfield": 'After the dull "'Round", Season Six rebounds with the pretty good "Connection". I can't quite figure out how Marge stays in such good shape, but her escapades as a cop are funny, and the episode works best when she arrests Homer. I especially like his refusal to remain silent.' [12]

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "The Springfield Connection" finished 58th in ratings for the week of May 1–7, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 7.9. It was the 4th highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Beverly Hills, 90210 , The X-Files , and Melrose Place . [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Simpson</span> Fictional character from The Simpsons franchise

Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television sitcom series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa was born as a character in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening created and designed her while waiting to meet James L. Brooks. Groening had been invited to pitch a series of shorts based on his comic Life in Hell, but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the older Simpson daughter after his younger sister Lisa Groening Bartlett. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family were moved to their own series on Fox, which debuted on December 17, 1989.

"Lisa's Rival" is the second 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 September 11, 1994. Winona Ryder guest stars as Allison Taylor, a new student at Springfield Elementary School. Lisa Simpson begins to feel threatened by Allison because she is smarter, younger, and a better saxophone player. The episode's subplot sees Homer steal a large pile of sugar from a crashed truck and sell it door-to-door.

<i>The Itchy & Scratchy Show</i> Fictional animated cartoon on The Simpsons

The Itchy & Scratchy Show is a fictional animated series featured on The Simpsons. The cartoon depicts a blue mouse named Itchy, and a black cat named Scratchy, who repeatedly maim or kill each other. and is typically presented as 15- to 60-second shorts that are a part of The Krusty the Clown Show. Itchy & Scratchy is filled with graphic violence that almost invariably prompts laughter from The Simpsons characters, especially Bart and Lisa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treehouse of Horror VIII</span> 4th episode of the 9th season of The Simpsons

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa the Vegetarian</span> 5th episode of the 7th season of The Simpsons

"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth 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 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo. Her schoolmates and family members ridicule her for her beliefs, but with the help of Apu as well as Paul and Linda McCartney, she commits to vegetarianism.

"Homer the Vigilante" is the eleventh episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 6, 1994. In the episode, a crime wave caused by an elusive cat burglar plagues Springfield. Lisa is distraught when her saxophone is stolen, and Homer promises to get it back. The police are ineffective, so Homer takes charge of a neighborhood watch. Under his leadership, it becomes a vigilante group which fails to catch the burglar. With the help of Grampa, Homer discovers that the burglar is a charming senior named Molloy. Molloy is arrested, but he outwits the citizens of Springfield and escapes.

"And Maggie Makes Three" is the thirteenth 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 January 22, 1995. In the episode, Homer recounts the story of Maggie's birth when Bart and Lisa ask why there are no photos of her in the family album.

"All Singing, All Dancing" is the eleventh 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 January 4, 1998. In the fourth Simpsons clip show, Homer claims he hates singing, so Marge shows family videos of musical numbers from previous seasons. The episode is in the form of a sung-through musical, featuring spoken dialogue only at the start and end of the episode. The original material was directed by Mark Ervin and written by Steve O'Donnell. It was executive produced by David Mirkin. It features guest appearances from George Harrison, Patrick Stewart and Phil Hartman, although these are all clips and none of them recorded original material for the episode.

"Sweets and Sour Marge" is the eighth 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 20, 2002. In the episode, Homer gathers Springfield's citizens to build the world's biggest human pyramid. When it collapses and fails to set the world record, Springfield earns the top spot as the world's fattest town. Marge sues Garth Motherloving's sugar company for making the town's citizens obese. When Springfield bans sugar, Homer conspires with Garth to smuggle it to town.

"Marge on the Lam" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 4, 1993. After Marge invites her neighbor Ruth Powers to attend the ballet, they become friends. Homer grows jealous of their friendship and pursues them, resulting in a police chase led by Chief Wiggum that ends in near-disaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homer vs. Patty and Selma</span> 17th episode of the 6th season of The Simpsons

"Homer vs. Patty and Selma" is the seventeenth 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 February 26, 1995. In the episode, Homer loses all his money in pumpkin futures and must turn to Patty and Selma for a loan. Meanwhile, Bart takes up ballet lessons, with an instructor voiced by actress Susan Sarandon.

"Fear of Flying" is the eleventh episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on December 18, 1994. In the episode, the family attempts to go on a vacation but soon discovers that Marge is afraid of flying.

"The PTA Disbands" is the twenty-first 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 16, 1995. In the episode, Bart Simpson manipulates Edna Krabappel into organizing a strike of Springfield Elementary's teachers union to protest Principal Skinner's miserly school spending.

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

"Homer and Apu" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 1994. In the episode, Homer participates in a hidden-camera investigation of spoiled food being sold at the Kwik-E-Mart. The chain's corporate office fires Apu and replaces him with actor James Woods, who is doing research for an upcoming film role. Apu misses his job, so he and Homer travel to India to persuade the head of the Kwik-E-Mart corporation to rehire him.

"Burns' Heir" is the eighteenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 14, 1994. In the episode, Mr. Burns has a near-death experience that prompts him to find an heir to inherit his wealth after he dies. He chooses Bart as his heir because he admires the "creature of pure malevolence". Marge convinces Bart to spend time with his benefactor, who allows his heir the money and freedom to do whatever he pleases. Soon Bart leaves his family to live with Burns instead.

"Team Homer" is the twelfth 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 January 7, 1996. In the episode, Homer starts a bowling team with Moe, Apu, and Otto. When Mr. Burns discovers the team was funded with his money, he insists on joining, but the team fears he will cost them the league championship. In the subplot, Bart's "Down with homework" T-shirt incites a school riot, so Principal Skinner implements a uniform dress code.

"The Last Temptation of Homer" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 9, 1993. In the episode, an attractive female employee named Mindy is hired at the nuclear power plant. Homer and Mindy find themselves attracted to each other after bonding over their shared interests of beer, donuts and television. Although Homer is tempted to sleep with Mindy, he remains faithful to his wife Marge. Meanwhile, Bart becomes an outcast after medical treatments make him look like a nerd.

Media is a recurring theme of satire on The Simpsons. The show is known for its satire of American popular culture and especially television culture, but has since its inception covered all types of media such as animation, journalism, commercials, comic books, movies, internet, and music. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town but the town of Springfield acts as a complete universe. The town features a vast array of media channels—from kids' television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.

<i>The Simpsons</i> season 6 Season of television series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Who Shot Mr. Burns?</span> Two-part episode of The Simpsons

"Who Shot Mr. Burns?" is a two-part episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons.Part One is the twenty-fifth and final episode of the sixth season and originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 21, 1995, while Part Two is the season premiere of the seventh season and aired on September 17, 1995.

References

  1. 1 2 Richmond & Coffman 1997, p. 174.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Martyn & Wood 2000
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Mirkin, David (2005). Commentary for "The Springfield Connection", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  4. ↑ Collier, Jonathan (2005). Commentary for "The Springfield Connection", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  5. ↑ Choron, Sandra (2005). Planet Dog: A Doglopedia. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p.  57. ISBN   0-618-51752-9.
  6. 1 2 Kirkland, Mark (2005). Commentary for "The Springfield Connection", in The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  7. ↑ Adams, Erik (November 10, 2013). ""The Springfield Connection"". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Alberti 2004 , pp. 29–30
  9. 1 2 3 Mahon & Chedra 2003 , pp. 109–111
  10. 1 2 3 Irwin, Skoble & Conrad 2001 , pp. 48–49
  11. ↑ Oliver, Robin (September 25, 1995). "Thumbs". The Sydney Morning Herald . Fairfax Media. p. 18, Section: The Guide.
  12. ↑ Jacobson, Colin (August 15, 2005). "The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season (1994)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2008.
  13. ↑ "How they rate". St. Petersburg Times. May 12, 1995. p. 15.
Bibliography

Further reading

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.