YOLO (The Simpsons)

Last updated

"YOLO"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 25
Episode 4
Directed byMike Frank Polcino
Written byMichael Nobori
Production codeRABF22
Original air dateNovember 10, 2013 (2013-11-10)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Chalkboard gag "My school schedule does not include a bye week"
During the episode, a picture of Bart writing "I will not drop a stitch" is seen.
Couch gag Everyone (except Maggie) tries to get to the couch as if they are climbing from a different direction, but gravity is pulling them away. Homer fails and falls up through the ceiling into the sky.
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Four Regrettings and a Funeral"		Next →
"Labor Pains"
The Simpsons season 25
List of episodes

"YOLO" is the fourth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 534th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 10, 2013. The episode was written by Michael Nobori and directed by Mike Frank Polcino. [1]

Contents

In the episode, Marge invites an old pen pal to stay with Homer and cross items off his "to-do" list from when he was 10 years old, so that Homer can embrace his "You-Only-Live-Once" spirit. Meanwhile, Lisa starts an honor code for the school to combat cheating. Jon Lovitz guest starred as Llewellyn Sinclair. The episode received mixed reviews.

Plot

Kirk Van Houten is going through a poorly-concealed midlife crisis and Homer is left in his own depression when Marge inadvertently ruins his mood by cheerfully telling him he will have the same job, family and experiences until he dies. Homer then shows Marge letters from his old Spanish pen pal, Eduardo, whom the young Homer wrote to for a school project because foreign pen pals required fewer letters from him than area prisoners. To cheer up Homer, Marge invites Eduardo to stay with the family. Eduardo arrives and helps Homer fulfill his childhood dreams, such as riding in the back of a fire truck, fighting The Pirates of Penzance , and re-enacting the battle of Captain Kirk and the Gorn from Star Trek using props from Comic Book Guy's store.

Homer decides to fulfill his last childhood dream: flying like Rocky the Flying Squirrel. Homer and Eduardo fly on a wingsuit and, after panicking, Homer is able to control his flying. Unfortunately, Homer crashes on the tallest building in Springfield and falls to the ground.

Meanwhile, Kent Brockman reveals that Springfield Elementary students are engaged in widespread cheating. Lisa proposes creating an honor code that will make students not cheat and turn any cheater in. Although every student declines at first, Lisa manages to get every student to sign the honor code by getting the most influential students to sign the honor code such as Nelson (the strongest kid), Martin (the smartest kid) and Milhouse (the class nerd), and after a few days Lisa's code begins to work as the students are studying much harder. Lisa accidentally grabs Bart's backpack and realizes that Bart is cheating. Lisa threatens to turn Bart in, but Bart checkmates her by smugly stating that if he gets caught cheating it will confirm her system is not working and destroy it.

Lisa plans to force Bart to turn himself in. Bart quickly declines and replies that the only thing that will make him turn himself in is a sign from God. Seconds later, Homer falls (following his earlier crash) and lands on Bart (followed by Homer's scream, since Homer himself landed faster than the speed of sound). Bart and Lisa see this as a sign from God, and Bart turns himself in, using the time to add more sections to the Detention Quilt.

As a thanks for helping him rediscover his spirit, Homer promises to drive Eduardo to the airport. After asking Eduardo where he wants to be dropped off, Eduardo tells him to "go as far as your heart will take you". Homer and Eduardo are last seen heading towards Sagrada Família in Barcelona.

Cultural references

The couch gag is a parody of the 2013 film Gravity including a musical composition playing in the background that is similar to Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt, which was the background music for the teaser trailer of the film. [2] The building that Homer hits is similar to the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. [3]

Reception

The episode received mixed reviews from critics.

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B, saying, "Especially after the clutter and callousness of last week’s episode, that agreeable straightforwardness is most welcome, even if Homer’s quest isn’t particularly hilarious along the way. Part of the reason is that Eduardo’s not an especially distinctive character. As much as I admire Hank Azaria’s voice work, a charismatic guest voice (get Javier Bardem on the phone!) would have elevated him from the "Hank’s foreign guy" cipher he remained here. (I did however like Eduardo’s incongruous anger at Homer’s yearbook regrets: "Everyone has a bad yearbook story! They spelled my name wrong, get over it!") In addition, the episode pauses for some oddly poetic interludes (the couch gag, Homer’s skydiving adventure, the unexpected tag at the end) where the score and the images go for mood rather than hard laughs. It slows things down a bit, but if there’s a choice between seeing how happy and peaceful Homer is fulfilling his gliding dream (before, naturally, whamming face-first into the "stupid tallest building in Springfield") and seeing the show cram in a few cruel, pop culture gags (like last week), I’m fine with seeing the creators expand their canvas a little." [4]

Teresa Lopez of TV Fanatic gave the episode two and a half stars, saying "In an effort to remain current, The Simpsons took on the popular (well, recently popular) phrase of "YOLO" this week. And you'd think it would be just a little exciting. The Simpsons Season 25 Episode 4 was, however, another mindless and dull installment of the long-running series." [5]

The episode received a 1.8 rating and was watched by a total of 4.20 million people, making it the most watched show on Animation Domination that night. [6]

Michael Nobori was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 66th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode. [7]

Related Research Articles

"Bart the Genius" is the second episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 14, 1990. It was the first episode written by Jon Vitti. It is the show's first normal episode as well as the first to use the signature title sequence, though this version is much different from the one subsequently used, from the second season to the twentieth season. In the episode, Bart cheats on an intelligence test and is declared a genius, so he is sent to a school for gifted children. Though he initially enjoys being treated as a genius, he begins to see the downside of his new life.

"All's Fair in Oven War" is the second 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 14, 2004. In the episode, Marge gets her kitchen remodeled and the dishes she makes inside it get rave reviews. The suggestion of Ned Flanders leads her to enter a cooking contest. However, Marge realizes the competition is harder than it seems. Meanwhile, Bart finds Homer's vintage Playdude magazines and decides to adopt the lifestyle he sees within the articles.

"Treehouse of Horror VI" is the sixth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the sixth episode in the Treehouse of Horror series. It first aired on Fox in the United States on October 29, 1995, and contains three self-contained segments. In "Attack of the 50-Foot Eyesores", an ionic storm brings Springfield's oversized advertisements and billboards to life and they begin attacking the town. The second segment, "Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace", is a parody of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series, in which Groundskeeper Willie attacks schoolchildren in their sleep. In the third and final segment, "Homer3", Homer finds himself trapped in a three-dimensional world, Earth. It was inspired by the 1962 The Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost". The episode was written by John Swartzwelder, Steve Tompkins, and David X. Cohen and was directed by Bob Anderson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Simpsons house</span> Fictional street address in Springfield of the Simpson family home

The Simpsons house is the residence of the Simpson family in the animated sitcom The Simpsons and in The Simpsons Movie. The house's address is most frequently attributed as 742 Evergreen Terrace. In the series, the house is occupied by Homer and Marge Simpson and their three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie.

<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".

"Dial 'N' for Nerder", also known as "N is for Nerder", is the fourteenth 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 9, 2008. After a prank gone wrong, Bart and Lisa believe they have accidentally killed Bart's classmate Martin Prince. Meanwhile, Marge hires a TV show called Sneakers to spy on Homer and see if he is cheating on his diet. The episode was written by Carolyn Omine and William Wright and directed by Bob Anderson. During its first broadcast, the episode had an estimated 7.3 million viewers and received a 10 percent audience share.

"To Surveil with Love" is the twentieth episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 2010, as the 461st episode of the whole series. In the episode, radiation seeps out of Homer's gym bag after a bomb squad blows it up and Springfield officials decide to suspend all civil liberties. Meanwhile, Lisa dyes her hair after being stereotyped for being blonde.

"Beware My Cheating Bart" is the eighteenth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by Ben Joseph. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 15, 2012. The title refers to the song "Be Still My Beating Heart" by Sting.

"Pulpit Friction" is the eighteenth episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 526th episode overall. The episode was directed by Chris Clements and written by Bill Odenkirk. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 28, 2013. The name is a pun on the film Pulp Fiction.

"Hardly Kirk-ing" is the thirteenth episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 521st episode overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by Tom Gammill and Max Pross. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 17, 2013.

"Black Eyed, Please" is the fifteenth episode of the twenty-fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 523rd episode overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Schofield and written by John Frink. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 10, 2013. The name is a pun on black-eyed peas and the band of the same name.

"What to Expect When Bart's Expecting" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 549th episode of the series. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 27, 2014. It was written by John Frink and directed by Matthew Nastuk.

"Luca$" is the seventeenth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 547th episode of the series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 6, 2014. It was written by Carolyn Omine and directed by Chris Clements.

"Diggs" is the twelfth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 542nd episode of the series. It premiered on the Fox network in the United States on March 9, 2014. The episode was written by Dan Greaney and Allen Glazier and directed by Mike Frank Polcino.

"Pay Pal" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the 551st episode of the series. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 11, 2014. It was written by David H. Steinberg and directed by Mike Frank Polcino.

"The Kids Are All Fight" is the nineteenth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 571st overall episode of the series. The episode was directed by Bob Anderson and written by Rob LaZebnik. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 26, 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barthood</span> 9th episode of the 27th season of The Simpsons

"Barthood" is the ninth episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 583rd episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver and written by Dan Greaney. It aired in the United States on Fox on December 13, 2015. The episode parodies the 2014 film Boyhood.

"Orange Is the New Yellow" is the twenty-second and final episode of the twenty-seventh season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 596th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by Eric Horsted. It aired in the United States on Fox on May 22, 2016. The title is a spoof of the book and the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

"Gorillas on the Mast" is the fifth episode of the thirty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 667th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on November 3, 2019. The episode was directed by Matthew Nastuk and written by Max Cohn.

References

  1. ↑ "The Simpsons Episode Guide 2013 Season 25 - YOLO, Episode 4". TVGuide . Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  2. ↑ Shenton, Andrew (2018). Arvo Pärt's Resonant Texts: Choral and Organ Music 1956-2015. Cambridge University Press. p. 10. ISBN   9781107082458.
  3. ↑ "D'oh! Homer Simpson scales Dubai's Burj Khalifa". Al Arabiya . November 13, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
  4. ↑ Perkins, Dennis (November 11, 2013). ""YOLO" | The Simpsons". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on November 16, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  5. ↑ Lopez, Teresa (November 10, 2013). "The Simpsons Review: You Only Die Once". TV Fanatic. Archived from the original on July 28, 2024. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ Bibel, Sara (November 12, 2013). "Sunday Final Ratings: 'Revenge' & 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Down, Plus Unscrambled CBS & Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers . Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  7. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (December 5, 2013). "'Simpsons' & 'Futurama' Dominate WGA Nominations". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
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.