Moonshine River

"Moonshine River"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 24
Directed by	Bob Anderson
Written by	Tim Long
Original air date	September 30, 2012 (2012-09-30)
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	I will not wear white after Labor Day (Bart is wearing a white suit)
Couch gag	The Simpsons are butterflies that come out of their cocoons and nearly get smashed by Gerald (the baby with a unibrow who Maggie hates). Maggie stops Gerald from smashing the butterfly Simpsons, and all four of them fly off into the sunset.

"Moonshine River" is the premiere episode of The Simpsons' season 24. The episode aired on September 30, 2012. The episode has ten guest stars, Ken Burns, Zooey Deschanel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Hathaway, Maurice LaMarche, Don Pardo, Natalie Portman, Kevin Michael Richardson, Al Roker and Sarah Silverman. Deschanel, Gellar, Hathaway, Portman and Silverman reprise their roles as Bart's previous love interests, Mary Spuckler (from "Apocalypse Cow"), Gina Vendetti (from "The Wandering Juvie"), Jenny (from "The Good, the Sad and the Drugly"), Darcy (from "Little Big Girl") and Nikki (from "Stealing First Base"), respectively. This is the second episode in which the Simpsons go to New York City, the first episode being "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson".

Plot

A joint-celebration of the Springfield Grand Prix and the final stage of the Tour de Springfield turns sour when the race cars and bicyclists collide with each other. During the following Racers Ball, Bart observes Lisa dancing with Milhouse and makes fun of them, but then Lisa tells him in return that he will never have a date, as his relationships do not last more than a week because his girlfriends eventually find out "the real him". Bart realizes that Lisa is right and, hoping to prove her point wrong, visits all of his past girlfriends (including Jenny the nursing home volunteer from "The Good, the Sad, and the Drugly", Gina Vendetti the juvenile delinquent from "The Wandering Juvie", Darcy the pregnant teen from "Little Big Girl", and Nikki McKenna from "Stealing First Base", who still oscillates between loving Bart and hating him) to see if they still like him, but each and every one of them rejects him. Finally, Bart is left with one option: Mary Spuckler. He and Milhouse visit the Spuckler house, but Cletus informs them that Mary ran away after he scheduled her for marriage with another hillbilly, and does not know where she is. However, Mary's brother Dubya tells Bart that Mary ran away to New York City and gives him her address. When Bart watches a video of him and Mary, he realizes that she might be his true love and asks Homer and Marge if they can go to New York. At first, the two refuse, still remembering the last time the family traveled to New York. However, Homer changes his mind and is able to find a way to get the family to New York: by swapping houses with a family from there (although the family is intentionally routed to the Flanders house).

Arriving at New York City, Bart and Homer search for Mary, and eventually find her at the address. Bart learns that Mary now works as a writer and has a performance option on Saturday Night Live. Mary and several citizens of New York sing a song for Bart, and the two realize that they truly love one another. Before they can kiss, Cletus arrives, having somehow found out where Mary is, and asks her to return home. Mary accepts, but while at the train station, she and Bart take advantage of Cletus's distraction to flee to another departing train. Mary tells Bart that there will be more Mary Spucklers out there, gives him their first kiss, and leaves on the train, calling out to not disappoint any of his future girlfriends and let them "fix him", as he has "a couple of problems, but is mostly great". The family and Cletus arrive, with Cletus demanding where Mary is heading for, but Bart, not wanting to ruin his last chance at true love, refuses. Cletus then accepts that he must let his daughter go. During the trip back to Springfield, Cletus comforts a saddened Bart by giving him a photo of several of his children, including Mary, while Homer tells him that he learned the lesson on how "complicated" grown-up feelings can be.

As part of a subplot during the New York sequence, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie decide to search for culture. They first try to go to a Broadway show, but the position of their seats gives them a partly blocked view, prompting them to leave. Eventually arriving at a Shakespeare in the Park performance, they first experience complications when the line is extremely long. Then, the manager announces that the showing, Romeo and Juliet, will not be played tonight, as the actors portraying the Montague and Capulet families are at a feud with one another. Enraged at this, Marge enlists the audience members to take over the roles and they perform the play. However, the police arrive and break up the production. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that a review was written for the show, which Lisa is initially disgusted at, but is diverted when she finds out the reviewer liked her performance as Juliet. During the end credits, the family announces a contest for fans to submit their own couch gag, in which the winner's couch gag will be animated and appearing on the show, and that further details are to be shown on TheSimpsons.com.

Cultural references

• The couch gag referenced the short film The Longest Daycare. Homer mentioned Fievel in the film An American Tail when they first arrived at New York. Additionally, the Springfield Grand Prix is a reference to the Baltimore Grand Prix which had been vilified for being poorly organized.

• One of Homer's reasons about not wanting to go to New York, he mentions that Yankee tickets will cost $400.

• Also, the episode's title is a take on the song "Moon River", most famously recorded by singer Andy Williams. By coincidence, Williams died just days before the airing of the episode, on September 25, 2012. The episode was thus dedicated in his memory. Andy Williams' music had been used in the series (notably in the Season 7 episode "Bart on the Road"), but he never appeared. A drawing was created for his dedication.

• The music that plays in the episode "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", after Princess Penelope (another character voiced by Anne Hathaway, who voiced Jenny, one of Bart's exes in this episode) finishes singing-coincidentally-"Moon River", is very briefly featured twice in this episode on each side of a scene in which Bart is sitting in his room trying to figure out why girls do not like him; similarly, when the music was used in "Once Upon a Time in Springfield", Penelope was feeling depressed after having been rejected by Krusty.

• The apartment building Mary Spuckler lives in is also home to T. Bickle and H. Golightly, references to Travis Bickle and Holly Golightly, the protagonists of the film Taxi Driver and novella Breakfast at Tiffany's, respectively. "Moon River" is prominently featured in the film adaptation of the novella (sung by Audrey Hepburn).

• The scene of Bart and Homer entering the subway is from a painting Subway by George Tooker.

• Homer's directive for Bart to "squeal like a piggy for the hillbilly man" on the train platform references the 1972 film Deliverance.

• Before leaving for New York, Homer asks Bart if he remembered what happened in New York City the last time they went there. Homer imagined a scene from the movie 'Smell of Success', where J. J. and Homer were having an argument.

• 9/11 is touched upon slightly. Bart tells Homer that he "would love New York, now that [his] two least favorite buildings have been obliterated". Bart then quickly adds "Old Penn Station and Shea Stadium," after a pause. In "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", Homer had struggled to use the restroom in the towers.

Reception

The episode earned a 3.8 adults 18-49 rating, on par with last season's premiere on September 25, 2011. The episode received 8.08 million viewers, making it the most watched show in the Animation Domination on FOX that night.

External links

• "Moonshine River" at IMDb