Natural Born Kissers

"Natural Born Kissers"
The Simpsons episode
File:The Simpsons 5F18.png
Episode no.	Season 9
Directed by	Klay Hall
Written by	Matt Selman
Original air dates	May 17, 1998
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I was not the inspiration for Kramer"
Couch gag	The family is represented as frogs
Commentary	Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Matt Selman Dan Castellaneta Mark Kirkland

"Natural Born Kissers" is the last episode of the ninth season of The Simpsons, and is especially notable for its risque subject matter. Some networks, including the UK's Sky One and Canada's CBC, list the episode by its working title: "Margie, May I Sleep With Danger?"

Plot

It's Homer and Marge's eleventh wedding anniversary and Grampa doesn't arrive at the Simpsons house to babysit the children. So they take Bart, Lisa and Maggie to a formal restaurant with them. However, Bart objects and takes the family to a family restaurant shaped like an airplane, which spoils Homer and Marge's evening together. Later that evening, Homer and Marge attempt to have sexual intercourse, but lack enthusiasm. The following day, it's discovered Homer left the freezer door open, 'causing the refrigerator motor to burn out. Homer and Marge make their way to a hardware store to buy another motor, but the car gets stuck in the muddy driveway.

Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa stay at the Springfield Retirement Castle with Grampa, and they discover a metal detector in his closet. Grampa explains that he used it to detect enemy bombs during World War II. He proudly says that he received the Iron Cross—which, being a German military decoration, suggests that he did his job poorly.

Homer and Marge rush into the nearest barn to avoid a sudden storm. The farmer suspects trespassers, and enters the barn, nearly catching Homer and Marge, who are hiding in the hay loft, but leaves after failing to locate them. When the coast is clear, Homer and Marge have sex. This is followed by an embarrassing incident at a Bed and Breakfast, and they conclude they are both aroused when they risk being caught during intimate moments. Hence, they later begin to have sex on the same miniature golf course windmill where Bart was conceived. This time they come too close to being caught, and while they manage to escape, they have to flee through Springfield in the nude. In the end, the two are seen in an football stadium, and a naked photograph of Homer and Marge appears in the local newspaper.

Using Grampa's metal detector, Bart and Lisa uncover a suppressed, happy ending to the film Casablanca. The final reel shows Rick Blaine and Louis, who draws a gun. Sam the pianist pushes his console piano into the gunman. Hitler pops out of the top of the piano holding a hand grenade, but Ilsa parachutes onto the piano and closes the lid, killing Hitler with his own grenade. Ilsa Lund and Rick marry.

The ending, variously described as "unbelievable" by Lisa Simpson, and "great" by Bart Simpson, finishes with "The End?" with the question mark leaving the door open for a sequel.

One of the residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle, who has not yet been given a name in the series except 'Old Jewish Man', steps forward to reveal that in his younger days, he was a studio executive that had tacked that happy ending onto the picture, "'cause back then, well, studio execs, we was just dopes in suits. Not like today!" He then gives Bart and Lisa twenty dollars to re-bury it, along with another film reel labeled, "It's a Wonderful Life: Killing Spree Ending".

Trivia

• At the beginning of the episode, Homer finds a funeral program for Frank Grimes inside his coat.
• After Homer and Marge are discovered on the golf course, Moe takes over Helen Lovejoy's catchphrase: "Won't somebody please think of the children?" as Helen Lovejoy stands next to him.
• Marge's bare breasts appear very briefly when Homer and Marge are escaping the windmill hole at the golf course and again as Homer says "There's only one thing left to do" before taking off in the balloon. Such a situation happens again when they land the balloon. The first and third situations can only be seen clearly when proceeding frame by frame (a feature on some DVD players).
• This is also the first episode where we see Marge's buttocks (first is when Homer and Marge are running from the golf course, the second is after they fall out of the hot air balloon).
• In Australia this was the first episode to be given an M rating on Network Ten, however this episode has been rated PG on VHS/DVD.
• When Homer takes off his shirt, Marge's shoes disappear.
• Homer's nipples are censored on the picture featured in the newspaper.
• Homer and Marge hide in the windmill where they say that in 1980 their lovemaking led to Bart's conception. However, in I Married Marge, Homer and Marge actually made love in a miniature castle, and Homer commented to Marge that some day he would buy her a real castle.

Cultural references

• The title of the episode is from the film Natural Born Killers.
• The chalkboard gag Bart writes about is based on the character Kramer from the hit television show Seinfeld, which went off the air only three days before this episode originally aired.
• Homer using the "querida" saying and kissing style of Gomez Addams from the television show The Addams Family.
• Bart's pirate fantasy is much like the novel Treasure Island. In actuality most pirates did not bury their treasure, but usually spent it as quickly as they got it.
• This episode mentions "Rock the Casbah" twice, and the song (by The Clash) was played in the end credits.
• As Homer and Marge are going to buy a new engine for the fridge, the radio airs an ad on divorce, the music which can be heard is "Spanish Flea", played by Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass.
• At the golf course, after the people discover that Marge and Homer were in the windmill, Ned Flanders says "It was people! People soiled our green!", a reference to the sci-fi movie Soylent Green.
• The all-glass church Homer is dragged across is modeled after the Crystal Cathedral.
• When Bart and Lisa read the newspaper, they say they're looking for Dave Barry, because "he's so good at pointing out life's little foibles."

External links

• "Natural Born Kissers episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.