Summer of 4 Ft. 2
| "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| File:Lisas Friends.png | |
| Episode no. | Season 7 |
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland[1] |
| Written by | Dan Greaney[1] |
| Original air date | May 19, 1996[1] |
| Episode features | |
| Couch gag | The couch is a fax machine that spews out a piece of paper with the Simpson family in a sitting position.[2] |
| Commentary | Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Dan Greaney Yeardley Smith David Silverman |
"Summer of 4 Ft. 2" is the twenty-fifth and last episode of The Simpsons' seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 19, 1996. In the episode, the Simpson family rents a beach house. Hanging around with a new set of children, Lisa becomes popular, while Bart is left out. Bart tries to sabotage his sister's newfound acceptance, but fails.
The episode was written by Dan Greaney and directed by Mark Kirkland. The episode guest stars Christina Ricci, who recorded her lines over the phone instead of going into the studio. The Simpson family's rented beach house is based on the then-show runner Josh Weinstein's parents' house in New Hampshire. The episode features cultural references to Pippi Longstocking, The New Yorker character Eustace Tilley, and Alice and The Hatter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from fans and television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 8.8, and was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
Plot
Lisa finds out on the last day of school how unpopular she is when nobody signs her yearbook. Meanwhile, Ned Flanders offers the Simpson family the use of his beach house over the summer. Marge likes the idea and suggests that Bart should bring Milhouse and that Lisa should bring a friend too. However, Lisa has no friends to bring and decides to change her image as a result. After reaching the beach house, Lisa tells Marge that she forgot to pack, so they go shopping for new clothes. Lisa buys a new suit of clothes that she believes will make her look "cool", and goes in search of some children.
When Lisa succeeds in making friends with a group of cool children, Bart becomes jealous and plots revenge against Lisa. He decides to teach Lisa a lesson by showing her friends her yearbook, revealing that she is a nerd. Lisa is furious at Bart, thinking that his disclosure has turned her friends away. However, when Lisa returns home from a carnival she finds her friends in the act of decorating the Simpsons' car with sea shells in her honor, and they explain that they like her for who she is. To make up with Lisa, Bart has them sign her yearbook.
Production
The episode was written by Dan Greaney, and directed by Mark Kirkland.[1] It was Greaney's second episode on The Simpsons. The staff of the show wanted to do a summer episode because there was "so much stuff" about summer vacations that they felt had to be covered in an episode.[3] David Silverman, one of the show's animators, particularly likes the episode because he thinks it captures the feel of being on summer vacation.[4]
The area in which the Simpson family's rented beach house is located in is based on the Cape Cod peninsula. Many of the writers of The Simpsons spent time on Cape Cod so they decided to model the new locations on it.[5] The animators looked at Cape Cod photographs to get inspiration for the episode, and one of the show's background designers, Lance Wilder, grew up in that area.[4] The beach house is based on the then-show runner Josh Weinstein's parents' house in New Hampshire, to which the writers had paid visit many times. They played several board games when they were there, which gave them the idea to have to the Simpson family play the Mystery Date board game in the episode.[3] Silverman said that the episode was difficult to animate and direct because it had so many new and detailed backgrounds and completely different locations.[4]
American actress Christina Ricci guest starred in the episode as Erin, one of Lisa's new friends.[3] Ricci was not able to come to the recording studio, so she recorded all of her lines over the phone.[3] Weinstein, who was a fan of Ricci, thought she did a nice performance in the episode.[3]
Cultural references
The episode's title is a parody of the 1971 film Summer of '42.[3] Lisa has hallucinations of characters enticing her into becoming a nerd again, including Pippi Longstocking, The New Yorker character Eustace Tilley, and Alice and The Hatter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.[2] Milhouse remarks that Lisa's new appearance makes her look like the character Blossom from the American television series Blossom.[2] TeeJay's ZayMart is a spoof of defunct retailer Zayre and parent company T.J. Maxx.[4] Homer replicates a scene from the 1973 film American Graffiti when he buys some embarrassing products at the store in order to get some illegal fireworks.[3] The ending music of American Graffiti is also played at the end of the episode.[5] The Mystery Date board game that the family is forced to play is an actual Milton Bradley Company board game from the 1960s. Weinstein recalled playing it as a child and claim it to be "a very disappointing game to play as a little boy" because of the female target audience.[6][3]
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" finished forty-second (tied with Melrose Place and Married... with Children) in the ratings for the week of May 13 to May 19, 1996, with a Nielsen rating of 8.8.[7] The episode was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week (tied with Melrose Place and Married... With Children), following The X-Files.[7]
Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from fans and television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "This episode will strike a chord with anyone that's ever tried to fit in with the crowd [...] Lisa gets to show the many facets of her character, and there's a superb slapstick sequence as Homer tries to dispose of a firework."[2] Dave Foster of DVD Times praised the episode and said: "The episode is quite simply my favourite Lisa episode regardless of season. From calm to cool and fiercely aggressive, we've rarely seen Lisa so enticing as we do here, and the episode's many elements including the side stories for the other family members culminate in one of the finest this season has to offer."[8] DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson enjoyed the episode and said that he likes how it addresses Bart's resentment of Lisa's popularity. "Granted, it makes [Bart] a little too mean, but it's entertaining," he added. Jacobson went on to say: "Marge gets the best moment again, as I love watching her non-violent approach to the bumper cars."[9] Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict considered the best parts of the episode to be the scenes that feature Milhouse, particularly his yearbook message to Lisa and the scene with the Mystery Date board game. She concluded her review by giving the episode a grade of A.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e Richmond, Ray (1997). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to our Favorite Family. Harper Collins Publishers. p. 207. ISBN 0-00-638898-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Summer of 4 Ft. 2". BBC. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h Weinstein, Josh (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b c d Silverman, David (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ a b Greaney, Dan (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
{{cite AV media}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Mystery Date". BoardGameGeek. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ a b "NBC Keeps Its Lock On No. 1 Spot". Sun-Sentinel. May 23, 1996. p. 4E. Retrieved on December 8, 2008.
- ^ Foster, Dave (2006-02-25). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season". DVD Times. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Jacobson, Colin (2006-01-05). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season (1995)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ Malkowski, Judge (2006-01-16). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season". DVD Verdict. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
External links
- "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" at The Simpsons.com
- "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" at TV.com
- "Summer of 4 Ft. 2" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Summer of 4 Ft. 2 episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.