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Natural Born Kissers

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"Natural Born Kissers"
The Simpsons episode
File:The Simpsons 5F18.png
Episode no.Season 9
Directed byKlay Hall
Written byMatt Selman
Original air datesMay 17, 1998
Episode features
Chalkboard gag"I was not the inspiration for Kramer"[1]
Couch gagEveryone is a frog and Maggie is a tadpole that jump onto a lily pad; Homer uses his tongue to turn on the TV.[2]
CommentaryMatt Groening
Mike Scully
George Meyer
Matt Selman
Dan Castellaneta
Mark Kirkland
Episode chronology
The Simpsons season 9
List of episodes

"Natural Born Kissers" is the season finale of The Simpsons' ninth season which originally aired on the Fox network on May 17, 1998.[3] Homer and Marge discover that the fear of getting caught while making love is a turn on and start making love in public places. It was the first episode written by Matt Selman and was the only episode to be directed by Klay Hall.[2] Some networks, including the UK's Sky One and Canada's CBC, list the episode by the title: "Margie, May I Sleep With Danger?"[4][5]

Plot

It is Homer and Marge's eleventh wedding anniversary and Grampa does not arrive at the Simpsons house to babysit the children. As a result, they decide take Bart, Lisa and Maggie to a fancy restaurant with them. However, Bart objects and takes them 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 is 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 in the middle of farm country. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa stay at the Springfield Retirement Castle with Grampa, and they discover a metal detector in his closet. Later in the episode, they use they uncover a suppressed, happy ending to the film Casablanca in which Ilsa Lund and Rick marry. The 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. 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".

Homer and Marge rush into the nearest barn to avoid a sudden storm. A farmer discovers the barn door is open and suspects trespassers. He 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 inspired sexual intercourse in the hay loft. They think their marriage has been recharged and go for a romantic weekend at a Bed and Breakfast, but soon fall into their old patterns. However, a maid walks in on them and they conclude they are both aroused when they risk being caught during intimate moments.

Their love life is recharged and one day they 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, even using a hot air baloon. The Crystal Cathedral and its former senior pastor, Robert H. Schuller, were depicted in the episode as Homer is dragged nude across the glass roof of the cathedral, holding on to a rope tied to the balloon while pleading for Marge to "make the baloon go a little higher." Dr. Schuller and the congregation sit aghast below, inside the sanctuary, while the pastor exhorts his congregation to keep their eyes focused on "God's floor" during the ordeal. In the end, the two are seen in a football stadium, and a naked photograph of Homer and Marge appears in the local newspaper.[1][2][3]

Production

"Natural Born Kissers" was the first episode written by Matt Selman, who partly based it on his parent's marriage.[6] The episode was the only time that Mike Scully ever got a call from Fox where they suggested not doing the episode. They were worried about the sexual content, the nudity and how it was going to be handled.[7] They disliked several of the phrases used in the episode, such as the term "ass forkin'".[6] In an interview, Matt Groening said "The network censors couldn't believe it, and neither could I: the cow at the peephole while Homer and Marge make love in a hayloft; neighbors groping Homer when he and Marge are caught nude inside the windmill at the Sir Putts-A-Lot mini golf course; Homer dangling naked from a hot-air balloon, his ass dragging against the glass of a Crystal Cathedral-like church."[8] The producers fought the censors and in the end, very little of the script was changed.[6] Marge's behind is also shown on television for the first time.[7] Marge and Homer in the golf course is a reference to the season 3 episode "I Married Marge", although in that episode they are in a castle, rather than a windmill.[6]

The idea for the episode's couch gag came from Dan Castellaneta's niece, who was given a special credit for it.[9]

Cultural references

The airplane restaurant "Up, Up and Buffet!" is based on a submarine shaped restaurant that was near the Fox studio named "Dive".[7] The supposed alternate ending to the 1942 film Casablanca is shown in the episode, and the Old Jewish Man gives Bart and Lisa a copy of It's A Wonderful Life with a "killing-spree ending".[2] The song played over the end credits is "Rock the Casbah" by The Clash.[2]

Reception

Matt Groening listed the episode as being his eighth favorite episode,[8] and the aroused cow is one of his all-time favorite act break jokes.[10] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "a superb episode which actually makes Marge and Homer's love life seem very real; everyone needs a bit of spice now and again, and they find theirs. The balloon trip is hysterical, and the attempts to explain their behaviour to a very worldly-wise Bart and Lisa are magnificent."[2] The episode was part of a DVD boxed set release called: The Simpsons Kiss and Tell: The Story of Their Love, and in his review of the release Andy Dougan of the Evening Times characterized the episode along with "Large Marge", "Three Gays of the Condo", and "The Way We Weren't" as "four of the funniest episodes of recent series."[11] The DVD release was also reviewed favorably by Louis R. Carlozo in the Chicago Tribune, where the episode was seen as "more ridiculous" than "Large Marge".[12]

References

  1. ^ a b Gimple, Scott M. (December 1, 1999). The Simpsons Forever!: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family ...Continued. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0060987633.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Natural Born Kissers". BBC. Retrieved 2007-11-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b "Natural Born Kissers". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  4. ^ "Broadcasting Schedule". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  5. ^ "Sky One beats ITV in prime time for first time". Sky One. Retrieved 2007-11-18.
  6. ^ a b c d Selman, Matt (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Natural Born Kissers" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ a b c Scully, Mike (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Natural Born Kissers" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ a b Dan Snierson (2000-01-14). "Springfield of Dreams". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-08-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Castellaneta, Dan (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Natural Born Kissers" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ Groening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Natural Born Kissers" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. {{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ Dougan, Andy (February 25, 2006). "Andy Dougan's DVDs of the week". Evening Times. pp. Page 20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ Carlozo, Louis R. (February 10, 2006). "Can you feel the love in the DVD aisle this week?". Chicago Tribune. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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