Goo Goo Gai Pan
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| "Goo Goo Gai Pan" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 16 Episode 12 |
| Directed by | Lance Kramer |
| Written by | Dana Gould (under the pseudonym "Lawrence Talbot") |
| Production code | GABF06 |
| Original air date | March 13, 2005 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Robert Wagner as himself Lucy Liu as Madam Wu | |
| Episode features | |
| Couch gag | The ancillary characters surprise the Simpsons as they run to the couch. Homer has a heart attack. |
| Commentary | Al Jean Dana Gould Ian Maxtone-Graham Matt Selman Michael Price Max Pross Lance Kramer Steven Dean Moore David Silverman |
"Goo Goo Gai Pan" is the twelfth episode in the sixteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 13, 2005. The episode focuses on Selma Bouvier adopting a Chinese orphan after experiencing menopause. Lucy Liu guest stars. The original closing credits feature the show's director David Silverman giving viewers a quick lesson on how he draws Bart Simpson.[1] The episode was banned in the People's Republic of China.
Plot
While giving Mr. Burns a driving test to replace his long-expired license, Selma experiences a hot flash and is taken to the hospital. Dr. Hibbert explains (using a video featuring Robert Wagner) that she has entered menopause, which means she can no longer become pregnant. Selma is upset about losing the ability to have children and fears growing old alone, so Patty suggests that she adopt a child. She almost manages to adopt one of Cletus's many babies through a misunderstanding, but that fails when Brandine wants the baby back. Lisa suggests adopting a child from China. Since the Chinese government only allows married couples to adopt, Selma puts on her application that she's married to Homer Simpson.
Selma sponsors a trip to China for the Simpsons. When Selma informs Homer that he must pretend to be her husband, he is shocked and reluctant, but later decides to do it for Marge. When they arrive in China, Selma claims Bart and Lisa are her children, while Marge is their nanny, ″Ms. October.″ The Chinese adoption agent, Madam Wu, tells them they will get a baby in a few days, as she wants to detail the "marriage relationship" between Homer and Selma, much to both Homer and Selma's dismay. The family then spends time touring through several landmarks in China, including visiting the mummified body of Mao Zedong, whom Homer likens to a "little angel who killed 50 million people."[2] Selma eventually gets a daughter, whom she names Ling. However, following the adoption, the ruse is quickly revealed when Wu catches Homer and Marge talking about the false marriage and kissing through a painting.
As they are about to leave for Springfield, Wu angrily arrives and takes Ling away, stating that Homer and Selma are not married. As the Simpsons try to console her, Lisa plots with them to get the baby back. At the nursery, they dress and spray-paint Homer to look like a cross-legged golden Buddha statue. According to the customs of feng shui, the Buddha statue must be taken indoors, so Chinese guards drag him into the nursery. When the guards leave, Homer goes inside the nursery and grabs Ling.
The Simpsons, Selma and Ling pass through Tiananmen Square, a place where, according to the marker shown in the episode, "nothing happened" in 1989. Wu, in a Type 59 Tank, confronts them and demands the baby back in a way similar to the tanks confronting the Tank Man. After an impassioned speech from Selma and Homer, Wu then agrees to allow Selma to adopt Ling as a single parent—her leniency stemming from the fact that when she herself was just a baby, her father choked to death on a Ping-Pong ball the day before the Heimlich maneuver was invented, and her mother had ultimately raised her as a single parent. Wu also stops Homer from smuggling a panda cub in his luggage.
Selma and her new daughter, Ling, and the Simpsons depart China by junk except for Bart, who is replaced by a Chinese child spy masquerading as him to deceive Homer. The episode ends with three dragons flying in the sky and singing while playing an erhu.
During the credits, David Silverman shows the viewers how to draw Bart.
References
- ^ The Simpsons Season 16 - "Goo Goo Gai Pan"
- ^ https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35398932
