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Three Gays of the Condo

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"Three Gays of the Condo"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 14
Directed byMark Kirkland
Written byMatt Warburton
Original air dateApril 13, 2003
Episode features
Couch gagThe family (depicted as frozen food) is put in a deep-fryer, taken out, dumped in a basket, and salted
CommentaryAl Jean
Matt Warburton
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Matt Selman
Carolyn Omine
Yeardley Smith
Scott Thompson
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Mark Kirkland
David Silverman
Episode chronology
The Simpsons season 14
List of episodes

"Three Gays of the Condo" is the seventeenth episode of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on April 13, 2003 in the United States. The episode was written by Matt Warburton and directed by Mark Kirkland.

In the episode Homer is upset to find out that while dating, Marge was upset having to sit at Moe's Tavern while Homer got drunk. Homer notices two days later that Marge is pregnant with Bart, so he thinks that is why she stayed with him. Upset Homer moves in with two gay guys, Grady and Julio.

Plot

The family is searching for a missing piece of a jigsaw, when Homer finds a box in his closet. He reads the writing on the back of an invitation to Moe's Tavern in the box, and discovers that Marge was unhappy about sitting alone at Moe's while Homer played video games and got drunk. It then causes Homer to wonder why Marge stayed with him, but he finds out that two days after his alcohol poisoning, Marge learned she was pregnant with Bart. Marge enters the room after finding the missing piece and asks Homer why he looks unhappy, and he confronts her with the note. Marge says that she was mad, and she loves him.

The next morning, Homer becomes even angrier with Marge, packs up, and moves into Bachelor Arms' Apartments with Milhouse's dad, Kirk. Homer is ready to move back home – until he picks up a newspaper advertising an affordable room on the river, in Springfield's gay district. He shares the room with gay roommates, Grady and Julio. That night, at the local gay bar, Homer tells Grady and Julio that the chance for reconciliation with Marge is low.

The next day, Homer sees Marge and the kids, who have brought "Weird Al" Yankovic and his band, who play a song called "Homer and Marge", a parody of "Jack & Diane", to tell Homer that Marge loves him. Marge then asks Homer out on a date, but he is nervous while preparing for his date and drinks too much margarita. Meanwhile, at the venue of the date, Marge anxiously awaits Homer's arrival. When he arrives, she is upset that he is late and drunk, and leaves him. Back at the apartment, Grady tries to comfort Homer by telling him that he will find someone else, and kisses him romantically. Homer realises that Grady is in love with him and jumps out of the window, heading to Moe's Tavern to get some advice from Moe who forces Duff Beer down Homer's throat giving him alcohol poisoning.

After Homer awakens, Dr. Hibbert tells him that the incident was not as bad as the night he first treated him for alcohol poisoning. Homer retorts that that was the night that destroyed his marriage, however Hibbert shows him a videotape that documents Homer's first alcohol poisoning. It shows Marge's compassion for him, as she holds his hand as he lies unconscious, since she did not want to break up with him. Marge appears and tells Homer that he is a good person, and that she loves him, and they reconcile.

Years later, an elderly Hibbert tenderly watches a videotape of the reconciliation and muses on all that was left for him were the tapes, which he took in an attempt to prove the nurse was stealing sponges. Then he sees her on the video stealing sponges.

Production

"Weird Al" (pictured) guest-starred as himself

The character Grady is voiced by the openly gay comedian/actor Scott Thompson, most famous for being a member of the Canadian sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. "Weird Al" Yankovic has said that he was called in a week before the episode aired to re-record a line sung in the ending credits. The original line was "Oh yeah, we've got time to fill; why don't you go pee before King of the Hill?" However, prior to the airing, it was found that King Of The Hill was moved earlier and that the time slot after The Simpsons was taken by the new show Oliver Beene. The new line was sung as "Oh yeah, 'Weird Al' had fun on this show; even if it was just a brief cameo".

Harvey Fierstein was asked to reprise his role as Karl from the season two episode "Simpson and Delilah" in a cameo appearance. In the script, Homer was thrown out of the house by Marge, and encountered Karl. The purpose of the appearance was to introduce a gay couple that Homer would live with. Fierstein however felt that "the script was a lot of very clever gay jokes, and there just wasn't that Simpsons twist" and turned the role down.[1]

Reception

  • Won the Emmy Award in 2003 for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour).[2]

Cultural references

  • The title spoofs the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor.
  • The closet Homer finds "Marge's memory chest" among the shirts are Homer's "Mr. Plow" jacket from the episode "Mr. Plow" and the Pin Pals shirt from "Team Homer" which, as indicated in "Homer's Phobia", Marge had given it to Goodwill (and which John [the kitschy antique store dealer] now wears).
  • Homer's call to the puzzle piece is similar to the one from The Warriors.
  • Homer refers to Maggie as "Silent Bob" when she resents him when he said that the puzzle was the only worthwhile thing he ever made, with the exception of Lisa.
  • The jigsaw plot is similar to that of Laurel and Hardy film Me and My Pal.
  • Smithers roller-skates out of the "Sconewall Bakery" while in Springfield's Gay Village, making reference to the Stonewall riots in New York City in 1969 and the start of the modern Gay Liberation movement.
  • In the gay neighbourhood, the storefront of "Armistead Mopeds" is shown, which is a reference to noted gay writer, Armistead Maupin.
  • Homer calls Julio "Picky Ricardo" for being rude to Grady, parodying Ricky Ricardo.
  • Homer shops at "Victor/Victoria's", an "upscale men's clothing store" named after the 1982 film.
  • Homer mentions that without Marge, he is "like David Spade without Chris Farley, alone and useless".
  • At the nightclub, Homer mentions camp comedian Rip Taylor.
  • Dr. Hibbert's hair in the videotape of Homer's first alcohol poisoning is similar to that of Ranking Roger, singer for the British pop band The English Beat.
  • Homer says he came up with parody ideas for "Weird Al", including Living La Pizza Loca and Another One Bites The Crust.
  • When Weird Al calls the above songs "basically the same", Homer remarks "Yeah, like you and Allan Sherman".
  • In one scene the song West End Girls by The Pet Shop Boys plays.
  • This episode could be a reference to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani who moved in with a gay couple when he separated from his wife, Donna Hannover.

References

  1. ^ Ortved, John (2009). The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History. Greystone Books. pp. 248–250. ISBN 978-1-55365-503-9.
  2. ^ "Emmy Awards: 2003". Retrieved 2007-08-08.
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