Girly Edition
| "Girly Edition" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| File:Bartspeople.PNG | |
| Episode no. | Season 9 |
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland |
| Written by | Larry Doyle |
| Original air dates | April 19, 1998 |
| Episode features | |
| Couch gag | The family sits down and a live action hand spins the picture, causing it to blur.[1] |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Mike Scully George Meyer Yeardley Smith Mark Kirkland |
"Girly Edition" is the twenty-first episode of the ninth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, which originally aired April 19, 1998.[2] It was written by Larry Doyle and directed by Mark Kirkland.[2] The episode is about Lisa and Bart being in a news program, though when Bart is seen as a more successful news anchor, she becomes jealous and seeks revenge.
Plot
Bart causes Groundskeeper Willie's shack to explode after he takes away Bart's skateboard, leading Bart to fill up Willie's shack with creamed corn as he's sleeping. As Willie is being taken away for medical attention, he swears revenge on Bart. Meanwhile, Krusty's show comes under criticism for not being educational enough, causing the channel to make a news program on the show. Lisa is recruited as a news anchor along with other Springfield Elementary School children. Bart is not chosen at first, but is made sportscaster after he complains to Marge.
As a subplot, Homer obtains a monkey helper after learning Apu has gotten one. He is intentionally refused one, but is able to use Abraham Simpson to get one. Marge is upset that Homer obtained the monkey, though Homer persuades her to let him keep it. However, after Homer allows the monkey to eat and lounge around as he does, the monkey soon becomes overweight and lazy, as well as weak. Homer finally returns the monkey and rushes off from the shop.
Lisa is deemed to be boring by the channel's staff, though they are impressed by Bart's performance. Bart is then promoted to be the co-anchor, which leads to jealousy by Lisa. However, after Bart hears Lisa talking behind his back about being stupid, he tries to improve being an anchor. He eventually goes to Kent Brockman for advice, who teaches him about human interest stories. Bart becomes successful after creating a segment called "Bart's People", though this only leads to more jealousy to Lisa. She eventually sends a letter acting as an immigrant who lives in a landfill who pleads to be on Bart's People, which causes Bart to rush to the landfill to do a live "Bart's People". However, once he's doing the cast, he learns that the immigrant was Groundskeeper Willie, who wants to get revenge on Bart. Lisa sees that what she did was wrong, and rushes off to save him. She is able to reach him, and is able to change Willie's mind about killing him, using the similar techniques Bart used in his stories to stir up emotions. The two decide from then on to make a good educational news program, though it is soon canceled.[2][3]
Production
The episode was pitched by Larry Doyle to the writing staff. He came up with both the idea of the main plot and the subplot, and this was also the first episode he wrote for the show.[4]
The monkey that was in the subplot was inspired by the film Monkey Shines, as show runner Mike Scully had asked the staff to reference to the film when they were making the episode. The staff also studied the behavior of monkeys from other resources and researched the behavior of the animal to learn about the movements and how the animal reacts to humans.[5] Eric Stefani, who had then been a former show animator and was then with the band No Doubt, was called by show creator Matt Groening to come back and animate the scenes with Homer and the monkey. This was the final work Stefani did for The Simpsons.[6]
Two characters who have since been frequently recurring characters were first introduced in this episode, Lindsey Naegle and the Crazy Cat Lady. Lindsey Naegle was referenced as female executive in the episode and had brown hair, but in all of her appearances since, she has had blond hair.[4] Both the characters are voiced by Tress MacNeille. the crazy cat lady was first introduced at the end of th episod ewhere lisa's cats keep dying and recieves her last one from the cat lady
Reception
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, thought well of the episode, calling it, "A great episode, full of more than the normal quota of good jokes, but best of all is Lisa's revenge on Bart, and the mad cat-lady who goes around chucking her cats at people."[1]
This episode is one of Yeardley Smith's favorite episodes. She claims that "I don't actually remember a lot of the episodes because they all blend in together for me, and I don't have a really good memory anyway, but I do remember this one and thinking that it was terrific."[7]
References
- ^ a b Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Girly Edition". BBC. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c Gimple, Scott (1999). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued. Harper Collins Publishers. pp. p. 37. ISBN 0-06-098763-4.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ "Girly Edition" The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2007
- ^ a b Scully, Mike (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Kirkland, Mark (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ Smith, Yeardley (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Girly Edition" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help)
External links
- "Girly Edition" at The Simpsons.com
- "Girly Edition episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
- "Girly Edition" at TV.com
- "Girly Edition" at the Internet Movie Database