The Way We Was

"The Way We Was"
The Simpsons episode
File:7f12.jpg
Episode no.	Season 2
Directed by	David Silverman
Written by	Al Jean & Mike Reiss and Sam Simon
Original air dates	January 31, 1991
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not get very far with this attitude"
Couch gag	The sofa falls through the floor.
Commentary	Matt Groening James L. Brooks Al Jean Mike Reiss David Silverman

"The Way We Was" is the 12th episode of the second season of The Simpsons. The episode tells the story of how Marge and Homer first met and fell in love.

Plot

When the TV breaks down, Marge tells the kids the story of how she and Homer first met. We flashback to 1974, when they were both in their senior year of high school. While Homer was quite the slacker, Marge was a responsible student. But when she was at a feminist rally burning a bra on school grounds, she is sent to detention. Already there is Homer together with Barney, having been busted for smoking in the school restrooms. Homer is awestruck by the beautiful Marge.

To get to be around her more, Homer joins the debate team, of which Marge is a member. But there, Marge is more interested in the more articulate Artie Ziff. As a plan B, Homer pretends to be a French student so that he can be tutored by Marge. It appears to be working, and when Homer asks Marge to the senior prom, she says yes. However, when Homer reveals he does not really take French, Marge is furious and instead decides to go with Artie Ziff.

Homer does not realize (or perhaps refuses to believe) that Marge has rejected him, and so shows up for prom night to pick her up. He is thrown out by Marge, and so he has to go to the prom by himself.

After the prom, everyone goes to the makeout spot in Springfield, where Artie gets a little too grabby with Marge and rips her dress. Meanwhile, Homer's limo time has run out, and without any money he is forced to walk home.

Along the way Marge and Artie pass by Homer, and after Artie drops Marge off at her house (begging her not to say anything about his fondling of her) she goes back out to find Homer: the person who she should have went to the prom with all along.

First appearances

Characters making a first appearance in this episode are:

• Wiseguy
• Artie Ziff
• McBain

Notes

• The flashback to when Dr. Hibbert told Homer and Marge they were pregnant with Bart would be reanimated in I Married Marge, with better animation and a man in a body cast's "Poor guy" after Homer's "D'oh!".
• According to Marge's forensics teacher, Marge speaks in dramatic interpretation, where students perform works, usually of fiction, written by other persons. However, the speech Marge gives seems more consistent with original oratory, where students write their own speeches on contemporary topics.

Cultural references

• The Way We Were — The episode title is a reference to the 1973 movie, starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford. Another episode (The Way We Weren't) also spoofs this title.
• when Homer moons in class it was later referd on the Stanford mass mooning

Soundtrack

• The Joker, by The Steve Miller Band: Homer sings along to this song at the beginning of the flashback, as well as in the end credits.
• (They Long to Be) Close to You, by The Carpenters: played when Homer first met Marge in detention.
• Pick Up The Pieces, by The Average White Band
• I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby by Barry White
• Do the Hustle, by Van McCoy
• The Streak, by Ray Stevens: plays when Barney was streaking during the prom.

Goofs

• At the feminist rally where Marge burns the bra one of the women in the crowd shouted "Go, Simpson!". Marge's last name when she was in high school was Bouvier, her maiden name, not Simpson, the name she got when she married Homer.

External links

• Episode capsule on "Simpsons Archive"
• "The Way We Was" at IMDb