Funeral for a Fiend

"Funeral for a Fiend"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 19
Directed by	Rob Oliver
Written by	Michael Price
Original air dates	November 25, 2007
Episode features
Couch gag	A magician walks into the empty living room and uses his cape to make the couch and the family appear from thin air.

"Funeral for a Fiend" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' nineteenth season and first aired on November 25, 2007. It was written by Michael Price and was directed by Rob Oliver. It features Kelsey Grammer in his tenth appearance as Sideshow Bob, as well as David Hyde Pierce in his second appearance as Cecil Terwilliger. John Mahoney made his first appearance as Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr., the father of Bob and Cecil. Keith Olbermann also made a guest appearance as himself.

Plot

The episode begins with Homer going to Circuit Circus to buy a camera battery, but Homer ends up purchasing a TiVo because the batteries are free with the purchase of a TiVo. The family enjoys using the TiVo to watch TV without the commercials, especially Marge, who happily skips over them. Late one night, Marge dreams of Keith Olbermann accusing her of not watching the commercials that pay for the TV shows, and convinces her to watch them. One such ad is for a new rib restaurant, owned by a cowboy named Wes Doobner, and the family decides to visit it for its grand opening.

When they arrive they find the building deserted, and the door locks behind them. The cowboy walks out of the shadows and reveals himself to be Sideshow Bob. Bob then ties up the family and plans on killing them by having a laptop explode from an overheated battery and setting off boxes of TNT. While gloating, Bob incorrectly quotes William Shakespeare, and Lisa tells him to look up the correct phrase on the computer, which explodes in Bob's hands. Bob is then arrested and taken to prison.

During Bob's trial, Bob's father, Dr. Robert Terwilliger Sr. is brought to testify. He explains Bob has a rare heart condition, and also suggests that Sideshow Bob's psychosis is because of Bart. This convinces Springfield that Bart is to blame, and they turn against him. Bart, however, tries to tell the town that they are being played by Bob. Bob then takes out a vial labeled nitroglycerin, which Bart snatches and throws out the window, thinking it an explosive. The vial was actually Bob's heart medication and he collapses on the floor and is pronounced dead.

Attending the funeral includes Bob's entire family: His mother, Dame Judith Underdunk who is a well-known actress; his father, Dr. Robert Terwilleger Sr.; his brother Cecil who was let out of jail for the occasion; his wife Francesca who is now a widow; and his son, Gino. As well, many people of Springfield attend Bob's funeral. Bart shows little remorse for Bob despite Krusty and the rest of Springfield grieving. After Bart speaks to Bob's brother Cecil, he decides to go to the Springfield Funeral Home to make peace with Bob's corpse before it gets cremated; however, Bob leaps out of the coffin, very much alive, and traps Bart in the coffin to be incinerated, all the while gloating about what he was accomplishing. Back at home, Lisa discovers that everything was an elaborate plot put together by Bob's entire family, explaining that he was put in a temporary death-like state with a special drug injection by his father. The Simpsons race to the funeral parlor and narrowly save Bart from being burned alive by blinding Bob with unclaimed ashes. Bob asks Lisa how she knew of his scheme, and Lisa explains that she was suspicious that Bob's coffin had extra room for his large feet, which the family would not bother to put in if Bob was really dead. Bob and his family are arrested and sentenced to prison for 87 years, where Bob imagines himself killing the Simpson family, and goes completely insane.

Cultural references

• The commercials that the TiVi fast forwards through the first time were all from past Simpsons episodes. They are (Not in order), Santa's Little Helper's Duff commercial, Turbo Diary, Funzo, Homer's "Springshield" commercial, Mr. Sparkle commercial, and the commercial that the family would see later in the episode.
• The family layout in the popular series Frasier is repeated in this episode; Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce play brothers in both series, while John Mahoney plays their father.
• After showing The Simpsons family his evil plot, Sideshow Bob says that the commercial gained him position as director of The Hills Have Eyes 3: The Hills Still Have Eyes.
• Marge Simpson, for skipping commercials while watching shows on TiVo, is named Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World.
• Moe runs behinds the Hibbert's car and watches Sesame Street (Big Bird in China) where Derek Jeter guest stars.

Reception

An estimated 9.03 million views tuned into the episode. Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 6.2/10, saying "there were some enjoyable scenes, but the half hour lacked in the number of laugh-out-loud moments, and Bob's ultimate scheme wasn't very surprising." Richard Keller of tvsquad.com said "While Pierce and Mahoney did have their moments it was all Grammer this episode as a Sideshow Bob coming apart at the seams". He went on to say, "For the most part this week's episode was entertaining. Plus, it also brought a bit of continuity into the show, something that comes and goes on the program."

External links

• "Funeral for a Fiend" at The Simpsons.com