'Gorgeous Grampa' is the fourteenth episode of the 24th season of The Simpsons and the 522nd episode overall.^[3] It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 3, 2013.

Apr 05, 2001  Simpsons Wrestling, seen in the form of screenshots, actually looks pretty nice, even if the concept as a whole gives off far too much of an aura of brand leveraging (particularly given the polls. May 25, 2015 The Simpsons Wrestling is a fighting video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons and is based on the professional wrestling genre. The game was made for the PlayStation console.

Plot[edit]

Homer becomes addicted to a reality TV show called Storage Battles and decides to participate in a storage unit auction as a result. He wins the storage unit with $1000, outbidding several townspeople and elephant Stampy. The family goes through its contents to find it is full of women's clothes and muscleman magazines belonging to Grampa Simpson. Marge comes to the conclusion that Grampa is a closeted homosexual who was forced to be heterosexual through most of his life. Homer and Marge set Grampa up with Waylon Smithers, but the plan fails when Mr. Burns arrives and scares Smithers off. Marge then admits to Grampa that she thought he was homosexual, to which Grampa becomes enraged and Mr. Burns reveals that Grampa actually used to be an old-time Gorgeous George-type wrestler called 'Glamorous Godfrey', whose radical fighting style was heavily despised by the wrestling fan community, forcing him to retire. Burns reveals himself to be Godfrey's biggest fan (and only living one); he then persuades Grampa to return to the wrestling scene, which Grampa does. Though he is again met with loathing, Grampa continues the act under Burns's manipulation.

Bart soon becomes fascinated with Grampa and starts mimicking the mannerisms Grampa uses in the ring. However, he also attracts hatred and it worries Homer and Marge, but pleases Grampa and Burns. Under Burns's supervision, Grampa and Bart partner up in a tag team wrestling match. Marge tries to appeal to Grampa, but he turns her efforts down. However, he changes his mind when he observes Bart harassing the audience and takes on another wrestling identity that he calls 'Honest Abe' in order to convince Bart to stop his ways. When Burns protests against this, Grampa and Bart defeat him in the ring. Afterwards, the two retire from wrestling.

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

Robert David Sullivan of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B-, saying, 'The season has already been heavy on nostalgia and on Grampa appearances, so it's not a pleasant surprise when the Simpsons stumble upon a storage unit with boxes of feather boas, wigs, and perfume sprayers in boxes marked 'Property of Abe Simpson'.'^[4]

Ratings[edit]

The episode received a 2.2 in the 18-49 demographic and was watched by a total of 4.66 million viewers. This made it the most watched show on Fox's Animation Domination line up that night.^[5]

Syndication edits[edit]

The 'Homer Shake' couch gag was removed from repeated airings in the US and all airings in the UK, presumably due to what it parodies.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^'FoxFast.com - View, Screen, Download'. Direct.foxfast.com. Retrieved 2014-04-15.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. ^Chris Ledesma Twitter. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
3. ^ ^abReg. #PAu003625982 in the Copyright Catalog. United States Copyright Office. Retrieved 5 February 2012.
4. ^David, Robert (2013-03-03). ''Gorgeous Grampa' | The Simpsons | TV Club | TV'. The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2014-04-15.
5. ^'Sunday Final Ratings: 'Once Upon a Time', 'The Amazing Race', 'Celebrity Apprentice', 'Red Widow', 'The Cleveland Show', 'America's Funniest Home Videos' Adjusted Up; '60 Minutes', 'The Simpsons' Adjusted Down'. Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. Retrieved 2014-04-15.

External links[edit]

• 'Gorgeous Grampa' on IMDb
• 'Gorgeous Grampa' at TV.com
• 'Gorgeous Grampa' at theSimpsons.com

Simpson University Wrestling

'The Old Man and the Lisa' is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 20, 1997.^[2] In the episode, Mr. Burns goes bankrupt and asks Lisa to help him get rich again. She agrees on the condition that he change his evil ways. They earn money by recycling cans and soon Burns has enough money to start his own recycling plant. Lisa is aghast when she learns the plant makes a slurry from liquefied sea creatures. When Burns sells the plant to a company which makes fish sticks, he offers Lisa 10 percent of his profits, but she declines for ethical reasons.

The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by John Swartzwelder. The writing staff had thought about an episode in which Mr. Burns would lose his money and would have to interact with the outside world. In DVD commentary, the writers explained that while Mr. Burns tried to change, he 'couldn't help being himself'.^[3] Professional wrestler Bret Hart made a cameo as himself, animated in his pink wrestling outfit. 'The Old Man and the Lisa' contains cultural references to the television series That Girl and the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was positively received by critics and won the Environmental Media Award for 'TV Episodic Comedy'.

Plot[edit]

Lisa collects recyclables to earn money for the Junior Achievers Club school trip to Albany. Mr. Burns speaks to the club at Springfield Elementary School, scoffing when Lisa suggests his nuclear power plant start a recycling program. When Burns boasts that he would not be filthy rich if he listened to nature lovers like her, Lisa counters that his net worth is only half what he claims. When pressed, Smithers reluctantly tells Burns he has even considerably less money than that.

Burns soon realizes he is nearly broke because his sycophantic advisers tell him only what he wants to hear. He is oblivious to the 1929 stock market crash, neglecting to check his stock ticker since September 1929. He aggressively invests in blue chip stocks, but makes bad investments and goes bankrupt. The bank forecloses on the plant — putting Lenny in charge — and sells his mansion to pro wrestler Bret Hart.^[1]

Burns moves in with Smithers and insists on doing his grocery shopping. At the supermarket he is confused by the difference between ketchup and catsup, so the grocer commits him to the Springfield Retirement Castle. He sees Lisa again at the nursing home and begs her to help rebuild his empire. She agrees to help him earn money by recycling after he promises to change his evil ways.

Burns grabs every can he finds, eventually earning enough money to open his own recycling plant. He gives Lisa a tour of the plant, showing her the Burns Omni-Net — millions of six-pack holders fastened together to catch fish and sea creatures to make Li'l Lisa's Patented Animal Slurry. Lisa, a vegetarian and animal rights supporter, realizes he has not changed; when he tries to be good, he is even more evil. Lisa runs through the streets, trying to stop seemingly brainwashed citizens from recycling.

Later Burns tells Lisa that he has sold the recycling plant to a fish stick company for US$120 million, 10 percent of which is hers. Lisa refuses the money and rips up the check. This causes Homer to have four simultaneous heart attacks. At the hospital, Lisa apologizes to her dad for forfeiting the money. When he tells her that $12,000 would have been a godsend, Lisa tells him 10 percent of $120 million is actually $12 million. The hospital's public address system announces a code blue, indicating Homer has suffered cardiac arrest.^[4][5][6]

Production[edit]

Simpson College Wrestling Schedule

The episode was based on a story idea pitched by David X. Cohen,^[7] although it was written by John Swartzwelder, who had written many of the Simpsons episodes that have environmental themes.^[3] This habit led to him being called the 'conscience of the staff'^[8] despite being a 'self declared anti-environmentalist.'^[9] It was because of this that he was given such episodes, because the staff felt that he would give them just the right amount of sarcasm.^[7] In the original script for the episode, he described the recycling center as 'a couple of hippies surrounded by garbage'.^[8] Two alternate original titles for the episode were Cohen's 'Lisa and Burns' and Swartzwelder's 'Burns Goes Broke'.^[7]

Simpson College Wrestling Roster

The writers had wanted an episode where Burns becomes bankrupt and shows what Burns would be like as a person in the real world.^[3] The idea with the recycling plant was that Burns did not have any sort of evil plan, he just could not help being himself.^[3] Burns really was trying to change and this was reflected in the end when he tried to give Lisa her share of the profits, with Lisa refusing.^[10] Burns was drawn without his trademark scowl for this episode.^[10] The staff joked about this being a suitable series finale, due to the episode ending with Homer suffering from another heart attack after Lisa tells Homer what 10% of Burns' $120,000,000 ('��')check really is.^[9]

Professional wrestlerBret Hart guest starred in the episode as himself, and he was very insistent that he be shown wearing his pink wrestling outfit.^[10] He explained that 'It's so cool to be part of a show that makes people laugh really, really hard.'^[11] The media, aware that the animated Hart would want to purchase Mr. Burns' home, mistakenly anticipated that 'Bret offers to wrestle him [Mr. Burns] for the place.'^[12] In a 2009 interview with the A.V. Club's Dave Hofer, Hart explained that the reason why his animated counterpart sounds nothing like him was that initially, he was brought in to voice a generic wrestler. When Mark Kirkland realised how famous Hart actually was, he told Hart that if the artwork had not been started yet, he would be drawn in as himself.^[13] Later, Hart moved on to do voice work on the animated television series Jacob Two-Two. The press noted that at that time Hart was 'no stranger to cartoon-land,' having been 'immortalized' by 'The Old Man and the Lisa'.^[14]

Cultural references[edit]

Mr. Burns's walk through the supermarket was based on a false rumor that George H. W. Bush visited a store and was confused by the scanner and, in the original draft for the episode, Burns met Bush while shopping there.^[3] When bidding farewell to the hippie, Mr. Burns says 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a reference to the Pink Floyd song of the same name. The hippie responds by saying that Burns needs to stop living in the past. The voice of the hippie is based on the character played by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now.^[15] 'Achy Breaky Heart', a song by Billy Ray Cyrus, is played at the old folks' home.^[1] The scene where Mr. Burns chases Lisa through the town is a spoof of the opening to the television series That Girl.^[3] The scene where Lisa runs through the streets proclaiming recycling as evil, spoofs the finales of Soylent Green and the original version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.^[6]

Reception[edit]

In its original broadcast, 'The Old Man and the Lisa' finished 38th in ratings for the week of April 14–20, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 8.3, equivalent to approximately 8.1 million viewing households. It was tied along with King of the Hill as the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-files and Melrose Place.^[16]

'The Old Man and the Lisa' received the 1997 Environmental Media Award in the 'TV Episodic Comedy' category.^[17][18]

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, called it 'An odd episode with a not-too-unexpected outcome. The best bits are undoubtedly Burns learning his way around a supermarket and Lisa's realisation of what Burns has been up to.'^[1]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdef'The Old Man and the Lisa'. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
2. ^ ^abc'The Old Man and the Lisa'. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
3. ^ ^abcdefWeinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
4. ^Haig, Scott (2006-06-08). 'The Mystery of the Double Cardiac Arrest'. Time. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
5. ^Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN0-7535-0495-2.
6. ^ ^abGroening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 236. ISBN978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN98141857. OCLC37796735. OL433519M..
7. ^ ^abcCohen, David X. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
8. ^ ^abMeyer, George (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
9. ^ ^abGroening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
10. ^ ^abcKirkland, Mark (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
11. ^Cam Hutchinson, 'Doran Johnson given brushoff again,' Star-Phoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: April 19, 1997, p. B.4.
12. ^James Muretich, 'Worth Watching,' Calgary Herald, August 31, 1998, p. B.8.
13. ^Hofer, Dave (September 19, 2009). 'Bret 'The Hitman' Hart sounds off on wrestling's bad rap'. The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
14. ^Heath McCoy, 'Former wrestler Bret Hart to play the Hooded Fang,' National Post, August 28, 2003, p. AL.5.
15. ^Castellaneta, Dan (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
16. ^Associated Press (April 24, 1997). 'NBC lands on top of a hill of reruns'. Sun-Sentinel. p. 4E.
17. ^Harris, Dana (1997-11-04). 'EMA honors for Home, Travolta'. The Hollywood Reporter.
18. ^Martinez, Judy (1997-09-30). 'Environmental Media Award Nominations In; Home Improvement Singled Out'. City News Service.

External links[edit]

Randy Simpson Wrestling

• 'The Old Man and the Lisa' at The Simpsons.com
• 'The Old Man and the Lisa episode capsule'. The Simpsons Archive.
• 'The Old Man and the Lisa' on IMDb
• 'The Old Man and the Lisa' at TV.com

Simpsons Wrestling Episode