The Front (The Simpsons)

"The Front"
The Simpsons episode
File:Thefrontsimpsons.PNG
Episode no.	Season 4
Directed by	Rich Moore
Written by	Adam I. Lapidus
Original air dates	April 15, 1993
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not sell miracle cures"
Couch gag	The family forms a chorus line, which turns into a large production number.
Commentary	Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss Adam I. Lapidus Rich Moore

"The Front" is the 19th episode of The Simpsons ' fourth season, which originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 15, 1993. In the episode, Bart and Lisa decide to write an Itchy & Scratchy, but their script is rejected, so they resend it under the name of Abraham Simpson. The episode was written by Adam I. Lapidus and directed by Rich Moore.

Plot

Bart and Lisa watch a terrible episode of The Itchy & Scratchy Show and decide they can write a better one themselves. Inspired by the sight of Homer accidentally cutting Marge's hair with hedge shears, they write "The Little Barbershop of Horrors", but the episode is rejected by Roger Meyers, head of Itchy & Scratchy International. Correctly guessing that Meyers didn't take them seriously because they were kids, they resubmit the manuscript under the name of Abraham Simpson. As a result, Grampa is given a job as staff writer. Bart and Lisa inform him that they were submitting the scripts under his name, and they develop a plan whereby Grampa will show up for work at the writer's office and continue to secretly pass off Bart and Lisa's scripts as his own, while they split the money three ways.

Meanwhile, Homer and Marge are invited to their "Class of 1974" High School reunion. They have a great time, with Homer winning numerous awards (all of them of a dubious or negative nature). However, the school principal, Dondelinger, reveals that Homer never graduated because he failed a science class. Dondelinger revokes Homer's awards, and Homer vows to retake the class he failed in determination to win them back. Homer later takes the final exam and passes, finally graduating.

Later, at a ceremony called the "Annual Cartoon Awards", Grampa is recognized for outstanding writing in a cartoon series. Krusty the Clown and Brooke Shields presented the award for Outstanding Writer. After watching the clip shown to introduce the award – the first time he has ever seen the show – Grampa is appalled, both at how violent it is and at the audience for being amused by it, and directs his acceptance speech as an assault against the cartoon and against the audience attending the ceremony. He then storms off, as the crowd boos and throws vegetables at him. Grampa gives the award to Lisa and Bart, and Bart swears never to watch an award show again, unless it has "that delightful Billy Crystal."

At the conclusion of the episode, a brief segment – complete with its own theme song – entitled "The adventures of Ned Flanders" is shown. In it, Ned Flanders scolds his children for not wanting to go to church. They then tell them that it is in fact saturday, and they all laugh as the episode ends completely.

Production

There was originally a longer version of the tour Roger Meyers gives to Bart and Lisa. It contained a stop at the art department, where they see a dozen sketchers observing a cat and trying to design it. One of them puts a stick of dynamite into his mouth and lights it. As Meyers, Lisa, and Bart walk out of the room, a large explosion can be heard. According to the audio commentary, it was cut out because the censors objected to the implied animal abuse.

Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein have said that the Ned Flanders short in this episode inspired them to come up with the idea for the season seven episode 22 Short Films About Springfield.

Trivia

• The writers and animators for Itchy and Scratchy (particularly the Harvard graduate who got fired) are all based on real Simpsons writers and animators. The Harvard graduate who got fired is based on Jon Vitti. The other writers in the writer's room are:
  • John Swartzwelder sitting in a chair on the left side of the room.
  • George Meyer sitting at a computer
  • Al Jean sitting in a chair, rocking (this is the one who said that he wrote a thesis on life experience in college and, during the award show, said he was going to abandon doing cartoons and write a sitcom about a sassy robot).
  • Jeff Martin standing behind Al Jean holding a coffee pot.
  • Sam Simon standing next to Jeff Martin, smoking a cigar.
  • Mike Reiss sitting on the couch on the right side of the screen, reading a newspaper.
• Simpsons creator Matt Groening can be seen with the writers in the audience at the awards show.
• The "Everyone Loves Ned Flanders" piece was done to fill up time when it was discovered that the episode was running short.
• According to the DVD commentary for this episode, the "CLIP NOT DONE YET" shown for Ren and Stimpy: Season Premiere was made as a knock on John Kricfalusi's notorious habit of turning shows into Nickelodeon behind schedule. Kricfalusi had previously took shots at the animation and writing of The Simpsons. The show was also parodied in the episode Brother from the Same Planet.
• Artie Ziff makes his second of four appearances, but is not voiced by Jon Lovitz, as in his previous one and later two. This episode also establishes that he has become extremely wealthy but still pines for Marge.
• The scene where a caricature of Al Jean mentions about a sassy robot was actually a pilot of Teen Angel, which was written along with Mike Reiss. The show was said to be rejected by several networks until ABC picked it up.
• Lisa reads a book entitled "How To Get Rich Writing Cartoons" By John Swartzwelder.

Cultural references

• The title references the Front, the Woody Allen movie of the same name.
• When Artie Ziff confronts Homer and Marge about his wealth, Homer asks if Ziff would trade it all for one night with Marge, a reference to Indecent Proposal, which was released a week after this episode aired. This concept would later come to pass with the episode Half-Decent Proposal.
• Strong-Dar: Master of Akom (one of the nominees) is a spoof of the 1980s cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Strong-Dar is clearly based upon Filmation's model of He-Man, the lack of the cross on his chest armour being the only notable difference. Also, "Master of Akom" is a reference to the Korean animation studio AKOM (who did the animation for this episode).
• The writer deciding to write a sitcom about a "sassy robot" is a reference to British sitcom Metal Mickey, which was created by former Monkee Micky Dolenz. Simpsons creator Matt Groening would go on to create Futurama, featuring Bender, who is also a sassy robot.
• One of the 'Itchy & Scratchy' episodes finishes with Scratchy, with Itchy sitting on his shoulder, typing at a typewriter. Scratchy pulls the paper out and throws it into the air, forming an Itchy & Scratchy Productions logo. This is a spoof of the close of many series created / produced by Stephen J. Cannell, which had an almost identical sequence.
• The Episode "Little Barbershop of Horrors" features Elvis on the apartment above the barbershop, who shoots the TV when Scratchy bursts through it. This is a reference to when he shot his De Tomaso Pantera because it wouldn't start.
• Krusty makes a reference to Brooke Shields' film, The Blue Lagoon when they arrived on stage to present the award.

Reception

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, praised the episode. They said that it is "An ironic look at the animation industry, with a higher than average Itchy and Scratchy count. The episode is followed by The Adventures of Ned Flanders with its own, rather wonderful, theme tune."

External links

• "The Front episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "The Front" at The Simpsons.com
• "The Front" at IMDb
• "Kamp Krusty" at TV.com