Trilogy of Error
| "Trilogy of Error" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 12 |
| Directed by | Mike B. Anderson |
| Written by | Matt Selman |
| Original air date | April 29, 2001 |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "Fire is not the cleanser" |
| Couch gag | The family skateboards to the couch, jumping off a ramp and doing some aerial stunts before landing, except Homer, who falls off the edge of the ramp and is hit on the head with his own skateboard. |
| Commentary | Matt Groening Mike Scully Al Jean Ian Maxtone-Graham Rob LaZebnik Matt Selman Tim Long Max Pross David Mirkin Mike B. Anderson |
"Trilogy of Error" is the eighteenth episode of the twelfth season, and the 266th overall, of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It was originally aired on April 29, 2001 by the Fox Broadcasting Company. In the episode, Homer's rush to the hospital to re-attach his severed thumb, Lisa's rush to school to win the science fair, and Bart's run-in with an illegal fireworks scheme are interconnected as each act tells the events of the same day, but from a different point of view.
The episode, originally titled "Go, Simpsons, Go", was directed by Mike B. Anderson from a script by Matt Selman, his second writing credit of the season. Frankie Muniz of Malcolm In The Middle guest-stars as Thelonious, while Joe Mantegna reprises his role as recurring character Fat Tony. "Trilogy of Error" is a parody of the movies Go and Run Lola Run, and imitates music and jokes from both. The episode has received positive reviews and was named the best episode of Season 12 by IGN.[2] Matt Selman names it the best episode he has ever written.[3]
Plot
Homer's day
Homer wakes up and goes to the kitchen to have breakfast with the family. Marge is serving a healthy cereal which the family refuses to eat. Lisa shows Homer her science project, Linguo a robot who corrects grammar, who fixes Homer's poorly spoken sentence. Homer pours beer on Linguo who short-circuits. Homer then tries to take a brownie from the tray Marge is cutting from, but Marge accidentally cuts off Homer's thumb. Marge calls 911 but Chief Wiggum hears a murder attempt and asks for her address. Marge falsely states her address as 123 Fake Street. On the way to the hospital Marge crashes into Rainier Wolfcastle's Ferrari. He smashes their windshield while Marge and Homer steal his car. She takes Homer to the hospital, but Dr. Hibbert wont help Homer due to a lack of insurance coverage, so they head to Dr. Nick's clinic. They make a stop at Moe's tavern to get a jar of pickle brine to preserve Homer's thumb but Homer stays to drink beer. When he comes out, Homer realizes that Marge has left, so he goes to the clinic with Cletus. Cletus takes him but the clinic is on fire. Homer decides to go to Shelbyville hospital, but Cletus' truck has been stolen. Instead, Homer walks to Shelbyville hospital but on the way is discouraged and decides to throw away his thumb. Before he is able to, he hears an explosion and Linguo's head lands near him.
Lisa's day
After fixing Linguo, Lisa misses the school bus. Finding her bike gone and seeing her parents leaving for the hospital, she runs to school but on the way gets a ride from Krusty's. However, Krusty takes her to the West Springfield Elementary School. While there, Lisa meets a boy named Thelonious, who is similar to her. After spending time with him, Lisa leaves the school and, needing a ride, stops at Moe's Tavern looking for her dad. Homer is not there, but she finds Chief Wiggum listening to a police radio. She identifies a voice as Fat Tony's. This causes Wiggum to speak into the receiver "Fat Tony, is that you?". As she leaves the tavern Homer comes in. Outside, Lisa finds Marge, who takes her to school, however the car runs out of gas. Marge and Lisa see Cletus' truck and hitch a ride, but when he exits his truck they steal it and drive to the school themselves. They never arrive because Bart emerges from the manhole in front of them.
Bart's day
The doorbell rings,and Bart answers it. It is Milhouse, he has found something in the woods. To get there, they ride Bart and Lisa's bicycles to the woods and find a cave full of fireworks. Bart tests some, only to blow up Dr. Nick's clinic. Bart and Milhouse hide in a building which is addressed 123 Fake Street, the address that Marge gave to the police. They are caught by the police and asked to help find the person selling the fireworks. Bart and Milhouse find Fat Tony but a voice comes out of the speaker hidden in Bart's clothes, saying "Fat Tony, is that you?". Fat Tony realizes that Bart has a wire and Bart lights the fireworks in Tony's hand to escape. Fat Tony chases the boys through the sewers until they emerge where Marge and Lisa are. Having been chased down the street, Bart and Milhouse get cornered. To save the boys, Marge throws Linguo at the gangsters and it explodes from the mobsters' bad grammar.
Conclusion
Fat Tony gets arrested, and Homer expresses gratitude that no one was hurt, but Marge points out his severed thumb and Lisa's destroyed science project. Fat Tony offers a solution to their problems. Lisa brings the mobsters to the science fair, and Legs (Fat Tony's henchman) reattaches Homer's thumb while Lisa narrates the presentation for her class. Lisa gets an A for her presentation.
Production
"Trilogy of Error" was scripted by Matt Selman, his second writing credit for Season 12 after "Lisa the Tree Hugger". It was directed by Mike B. Anderson, his second directing credit after the Emmy Award-winning episode, "HOMR". Selman was inspired by the 1999 film Go and devised the plot before pitching it.[4] The episode was originally called "Go, Simpson Go" in an allusion to the 1998 film Run Lola Run, the basis of the "Lisa's Day" segment.[4] In the original draft, the second act would have portrayed Lisa travelling on the short school bus and meeting children with amusing disabilities, but it was deemed "too radical" at the time.[4] The production team also wanted to create a segment focusing on Marge, but thought she was already too prominent in the "Homer's Day" and "Lisa's Day" segments.[5]
During production, the staff found it difficult to choose jokes to start each part of the episode, since these jokes would be seen after each commercial break.[4][further explanation needed] There was also a debate on the appearance of Homer's truncated thumb. The staff decided to add a thumbnail, although characters in The Simpsons do not have nails on their fingers and toes. It was also made to look older and in an increasingly deteriorated state as the episode progresses.[6] The cost of "Trilogy of Error" was above average, despite contrary expectations on the part of the production team.[7][further explanation needed]
Selman made tie-in shirts for the production staff.[5][further explanation needed] During production of the third part of the episode, Selman went on vacation and the staff had to finish the act without him.[4] The episode features music from Run Lola Run[4] and guest stars Joe Mantegna as the recurring character of Fat Tony and Frankie Muniz as Thelonius.
Deleted scenes
Two scenes were deleted from the final cut of the episode. Homer pretends to take his thumb off his hand for Cletus and almost crushes a bug.[8] Marge and Lisa steal Cletus's car and Marge nearly kills the same bug, but Lisa stops her.[8]
Cultural references
The title of the episode is a reference to the 1975 made-for-television horror film Trilogy of Terror.[9] The episode makes a number of allusions to the 1999 film Go, examples of which include Homer and Marge's theft of Rainier Wolfcastle's car after Wolfcastle smashes up their vehicle in the manner of Jack Nicholson's character from the film.[4] The "Lisa's Day" segment is also a parody of the 1998 film Run Lola Run, and features music similar to the film's soundtrack.[10] Furthermore, the working title for the episode was "Go, Simpsons Go".[4] Homer expresses his belief that thumb re-attachment only occurs in films such as "Gattaca"[9] and discusses Blue Man Group while drunk.[9]
Reception
The episode has received positive reviews, with most commentators calling it the best episode of Season 12. In a 2008 Flashback Review, Robert Canning of website IGN awarded the episode a rating of 9, describing it as "outstanding" and suggested that, "The Simpsons may have peaked in the '90s, but that doesn't mean the eight years since haven't delivered their share of quality episodes. This was one of them. And with so much plot to go over in this review, there just wasn't enough room to reference all the great lines. Like Dr. Nick's, 'Inflammable means flammable?!' and Cletus' reference to 'TV magic queers'."[11] Matt Haigh of the website Den of Geek has said the episode is "gold".[12]
The episode ranked 20th in an AOL poll to determine the top 20 episodes of The Simpsons.[13] Matt Selman considers this episode "the best [he] has ever written".[3] Judge Mac McEntire of the website DVD Verdict suggests that the greatest moment of the episode is Dr. Nick Riviera's line, "Inflammable means flammable?".[14]
Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a positive review, saying "À la the Treehouse of Horror episodes, it seems like shows with three distinct plots work well. Perhaps the fact that they don’t have time to meander benefits the program; with so little time for each tale, the writers have to keep things simple. And effective, at least in the case of 'Error'. It's a clever program that consistently entertains."[15] The episode has an average grade of A from fan site The Simpsons Archive.[9]
References
- ^ "Welcome to The Simpsons.com". TheSimpsons.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ Canning, Robert (2010-07-07). "The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes - TV Feature at IGN". Tv.ign.com. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ^ a b Haller, Scott (2003-10-02). "The 105th Funniest Man | 34th Street Magazine". 34st.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Selman, Matt (2009). The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. Cite error: The named reference "Do the Bartman" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ a b Scully, Mike (2009). The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2009). The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Anderson B., Mike (2009). The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b The Simpsons The Complete Twelfth Season DVD commentary for "Trilogy of Error" (DVD). 20th Century Fox. 2009.
- ^ a b c d Benjamin Robinson (May 1, 2004). ""Trilogy of Error" Capsule". Simpsons Archive. Retrieved June, 28, 2010.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ Golz, Peter. "run lola run". http://www.hobomagazine.com. Hobo Media Inc. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
{{cite web}}: External link in|work= - ^ Canning, Robert. "The Simpsons Flashback: "Trilogy of Error" Review". tv,ign.com. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
- ^ "The Simpsons Season 12 DVD Review". Den of Geek. 2009-10-01. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "#20 - #16 Memorable Simpsons Episodes - AOL Television". Television.aol.com. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
- ^ Mac McEntire (2009-09-09). "DVD Verdict Review — The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season". DVDVerdict.com. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ^ "The Simpsons: The Complete Twelfth Season (2000)". Dvdmg.com. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
External links
