Pokey Mom

"Pokey Mom"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	258
Prod. code	CABF05
Orig. airdate	January 14, 2001
Showrunner(s)	Mike Scully
Written by	Tom Martin
Directed by	Bob Anderson
Chalkboard gag	"I will not 'let the dogs out'"
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch and the wall spins around, revealing on the other side of the wall a cackling mad scientist who looks like Vincent Price and a scared Ned Flanders who is shackled upside-down and moaning.
Guest star(s)	Michael Keaton as Jack Crowley Charles Napier as The Warden Bruce Vilanch as himself Robert Schimmel as Prisoner
DVD commentary	Mike Scully Ian Maxtone-Graham Tom Martin John Frink Don Payne Matt Selman Dan Castellaneta Joe Mantegna Bob Anderson Joel H. Cohen
Season 12 November 1, 2000 – May 20, 2001 "Treehouse of Horror XI" "A Tale of Two Springfields" "Insane Clown Poppy" "Lisa the Tree Hugger" "Homer vs. Dignity" "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes" "The Great Money Caper" "Skinner's Sense of Snow" "HOMR" "Pokey Mom" "Worst Episode Ever" "Tennis the Menace" "Day of the Jackanapes" "New Kids on the Blecch" "Hungry, Hungry Homer" "Bye Bye Nerdie" "Simpson Safari" "Trilogy of Error" "I'm Goin' to Praiseland" "Children of a Lesser Clod" "Simpsons Tall Tales" List of all The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23

"Pokey Mom" is the tenth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 14, 2001. In the episode, Marge tries to rehabilitate a convict with remarkable artistic talent. Meanwhile, Homer uses a trash can to fix people's spines. "Pokey Mom" was written by Tom Martin and directed by Bob Anderson, and features guest appearances from, Michael Keaton, Charles Napier, Bruce Vilanch, and Robert Schimmel. Critics have given the episode generally negative reviews, and the staff members of the series received several complaints from chiropractors after it aired.

Plot

The family attends a prison rodeo. Marge meets Jack Crowley, a convict whom she believes to have great artistic potential after becoming impressed with his work. Marge later teaches a class on being an artist to the prisoners. Jack is up for parole and, with Marge's help, is granted parole under her custody. Marge finds a mural-painting job at Springfield Elementary School for him. Jack paints a powerful, epic mural symbolizing school spirit with a warrior woman riding a puma, which the whole school likes, but Principal Skinner (who hates it) demands that he tone it down using Skinner's own childish idea of kittens in a fantasy land. Jack reluctantly gives into Skinner's wishes; however, upon its unveiling, the new mural is panned by everyone in town (even by Flanders). Skinner blames Jack and fires him.

Sometime later, the mural is set on fire by a mystery arsonist; everyone immediately assumes that Jack did it to get back at Skinner. While the police are out searching for Jack, Marge stumbles upon him hiding in the playground. He swears to her that he did not start the fire, and Marge decides to believe him. She then offers to distract Skinner and Chief Wiggum while he escapes; however, instead, he immediately sets fire to Skinner's car, and dances around it laughing maniacally. Jack is arrested, and Marge is furious that he lied to her. When Jack attempts to lie to her again—claiming this time that although he did burn the mural, he did not burn Skinner's car (despite the fact that she had just seen him do it)—she washes her hands of him forever, and Chief Wiggum drives him back to jail.

Meanwhile, Homer suffers from a back injury at the rodeo, and goes to see a chiropractor. However, he fails to follow the instructions given to him by the chiropractor. Later, Homer accidentally falls backwards onto a garbage can at home and discovers that it solved his back problems. He names the garbage can "Dr. Homer's Miracle Spine-o-Cylinder", and makes a business out of his discovery. It turns out be successful method of solving problems with pain, until the other chiropractors denounce it and destroy the garbage can.

Production

"Pokey Mom" was written by Tom Martin and directed by Bob Anderson as part of the twelfth season of The Simpsons (2000–2001). The idea for the sub-plot was conceived by Martin during a visit to a chiropractor. In one of the first scripts of the episode, Homer fell on a table and not a garbage can. At one point early on in the writing process, the sub-plot was going to be about Homer getting a job as a prison rodeo clown. American stand-up comedian Robert Schimmel guest starred in the episode as a prisoner in Marge's class that wants to smell Marge's clothes. In addition, the episode features guest appearances from Michael Keaton as Jack Crowley, Charles Napier as The Warden, and Bruce Vilanch as himself.

Release

Michael Keaton guest starred in the episode as Jack Crowley, and was praised by one critic for his performance.

The episode originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 14, 2001. On August 18, 2009, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Twelfth Season. Staff members Mike Scully, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Tom Martin, John Frink, Don Payne, Matt Selman, Bob Anderson, and Joel H. Cohen, as well as cast members Dan Castellaneta and Joe Mantegna, participated in the DVD audio commentary for the episode. Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.

Critics have given "Pokey Mom" generally negative reviews. Nancy Basile of About.com said she "loathed" it. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "Other than a nice guest turn from Michael Keaton, 'Mom' doesn’t do much to stand out from the crowd. Oh, like much of Season 12, it keeps us interested, but that’s not exactly a strong endorsement. 'Mom' provides a watchable show but nothing more." Den of Geek critic Matt Haigh wrote that the episode "starts well, but begins to feel tired and drawn out, and there just doesn't seem to be much of a story there."

Following the original broadcast of the episode, the staff members of the series received several complaints from chiropractors—the biggest amount of complaints since the season ten episode "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday" (1999) that was criticized by many Catholics for featuring a racy commercial for the Catholic Church. In an article of the magazine Canadian Chiropractor, Steven R. Passmore (D.C., M.S.) and Lorraine Kochanowski-Sutter (D.C.) analyzed the portrayal of chiropractors in the media. They gave "Pokey Mom" as an example of how "chiropractors on sitcoms pok[e] fun at themselves as they prescribe the duration of a course of care. [...] Dr. Steve on The Simpsons corroborates this stereotype when telling Homer that he will need to see him 'three times a week for many years.'" Passmore and Kochanowski-Sutter also noted that in the episode "we see a dreamcatcher on the wall behind Dr. Steve as he treats Homer. This strategically placed decoration could suggest that the chiropractor is in touch with native and/or natural healing, or it could be a jab at the field’s more esoteric practitioners."

External links

• "Pokey Mom" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
• "Pokey Mom" at the Internet Movie Database