A Star is Burns

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The Simpsons episode
"A Star is Burns"

Dr. Hibbert arriving at the film festival thinking that the Rocky Horror Picture Show was on that night.
Episode no.	121
Prod. code	2F31
Orig. Airdate	March 5, 1995
Show Runner(s)	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Writer(s)	Ken Keeler
Director(s)	Susie Dietter
Couch gag	The family reverses size, with Maggie as the biggest and Homer as the smallest.
Guest star(s)	Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman Maurice LaMarche as Anthony Hopkins, William Shatner and George C. Scott
DVD commentary by	James L. Brooks Al Jean Mike Reiss Ken Keeler Dan Castellaneta Jon Lovitz Susie Dietter
SNPP capsule
Season 6 September 4, 1994 – May 21, 1995
Bart of Darkness Lisa's Rival Another Simpsons Clip Show Itchy & Scratchy Land Sideshow Bob Roberts Treehouse of Horror V Bart's Girlfriend Lisa on Ice Homer Badman Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy Fear of Flying Homer the Great And Maggie Makes Three Bart's Comet Homie the Clown Bart vs. Australia Homer vs. Patty & Selma A Star is Burns Lisa's Wedding Two Dozen and One Greyhounds The PTA Disbands! 'Round Springfield The Springfield Connection Lemon of Troy Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)
List of all Simpsons episodes...

"A Star is Burns" is the 18th episode of The Simpsons' sixth season. It involves a crossover with the short-lived animated television series The Critic for which it has been subject to some controversy.

1 Synopsis
2 Trivia
3 Cultural references
4 Controversy
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Barney's film.

Springfield adopts Marge's proposal to launch a film festival, and she is placed on a panel to judge each short film produced by the townspeople. Also on the panel is the New York City critic Jay Sherman, who is the star of Gracie Films' other animated series, The Critic. Sherman's stay at the Simpsons' house proves problematic, as Homer begins to suspect Marge prefers Jay and does not really respect Homer. Thus, Marge gives him a spot on the panel, in place of Martin Scorsese. On the night of the festival, the panel comes into deadlock, between members bribed by the untalented contestant C. Montgomery Burns and those who honestly support Barney's touching film about alcoholism, titled Pukahontas. Homer, originally supporting Hans Moleman's film Man Getting Hit by Football (which he liked because it was funny, even though it was just a clip of Moleman being hit in the groin with a football), is convinced to look into his heart and resolve the deadlock by voting for Barney's film (which he initially missed before the deadlock occurred when getting a beer). Later on, Burns' attempt to buy an Academy Award loses out to another version of Man Getting Hit by Football, starring George C. Scott.

[edit] Trivia

This is the first of many episodes which is executive produced by earlier show runners Al Jean and Mike Reiss during another showrunner's term. Other episodes include "'Round Springfield", "Simpson Tide" and "Lisa's Sax".
Syndication cuts the scene where Bart is selling "maps to movie stars' homes" to Japanese tourists, who find Moe's house and mistake him for Drew Barrymore because of how unkempt and hungover he is.
The films shown at the festival are:
- Bright Lights, Beef Jerky ("Directed" by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon): Security camera footage from the Kwik-E-Mart featuring Apu, Snake, and Chief Wiggum.
- Moe Better Booze (Directed by Moe Szyslak): Moe does a musical number, dancing on top of his bar. He wears garish makeup and man's evening dress, reminiscent of the "Master of Ceremonies" character from the musical Cabaret.
- Man Getting Hit by Football (Directed by Hans Moleman): As the title suggests, the film simply focuses on a football hitting Hans in the groin. A remake starring George C. Scott (the film appears in his filmography) later wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.
- Pukahontas (Directed by Barney Gumble): A dramatic black and white film about Barney and his alcoholism. Contains a cameo by Lisa Simpson in a scene where Barney mistakes a girl scout meeting for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.
- A Burns for All Seasons (Directed by Senor Spielbergo for Montgomery Burns): A epic-style movie that clearly rips off other material such as the Creation of Adam painting and the movie Ben-Hur.
- Four Funerals and a Wedding (An Itchy and Scratchy short): Itchy replaces Scratchy's bride with a dummy bride made of bombs. Scratchy manages to have bomb-children and live to old age before the dummy explodes.

[edit] Cultural references

This episode's title is a play on the film A Star Is Born.
The scene when Bart tries to escape pulling the screen's cord but he gets wrapped around the screen parodies Garfield.
On The Critic, Jay Sherman has five fingers and Caucasian colored flesh, however, in this episode, he has only four fingers and the standard yellow Simpsons complexion.
Jay Sherman reviews an aging Charles Bronson in Death Wish 9.
When the plane from New York lands it forces its way in front of another plane. The pilot of the New York plane yells out "Hey! I'm landing here!", which is a nod to the film Midnight Cowboy.
Bart is seen watching The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. He refers to it as "another cheap cartoon crossover." This is a reference to this Simpsons episode itself.
Señor Spielbergo is a Mexican parody of director Steven Spielberg.
When Bart and Lisa are filming The Eternal Struggle, Bart is dressed in a suit when introducing the film. This is parody of the beginning of The Twilight Zone when the narrator introduces the story.
Jay Sherman notes that only he and Eudora Welty are the only Pulitzer Prize winners who can belch as robustly as he does. She can later be heard doing just that off screen.
Anthony Hopkins (as Hannibal Lecter) and William Shatner (as Captain Kirk) both try out for the part of Mr. Burns.
Parodies in Burns' film:
- The title of Burns' film, A Burns for All Seasons, is a parody of the play and film A Man For All Seasons.
- Burns is seen giving Judah Ben-Hur a bottle of water. In the actual film Ben-Hur, it is Jesus who gives Ben-Hur water.
Several parts of Barney's film are based on the 1945 classic film The Lost Weekend about an alcoholic writer.
When we view Burns' office, the music is clearly "The Imperial March" ("Darth Vader's Theme") from The Empire Strikes Back, reprising the theme from "Marge Gets a Job".
A deleted scene features Lisa and Maggie winning the award for Best Swedish Film Made By an Eight-Year-Old (Lisa utters "Homer aten my Häagen-Dazs"). When it's announced that Lisa and Maggie won, Maggie is dressed as Death from The Seventh Seal.
The title of Moe's film, Moe Better Booze, is a reference to Mo' Better Blues. The dancing is similar Joel Greys in Cabaret.
Todd Flanders yelling "Help mmmeeeee!" is similar to how David Hedison famously yelled it in The Fly.
The Itchy and Scratchy film is called Four Funerals and a Wedding, a pun on Four Weddings and a Funeral.
At the beginning of the film festival, there is a shot of Dr. Hibbert, who thought that the Rocky Horror Picture Show was being shown that night. He is dressed like Frank-N-Furter, as is the custom at screenings of the cult film.

The ending of Burns' Movie is similar to the ending of E.T. The Extraterrestrial

[edit] Controversy

The episode has been subject to some controversy, as some viewers saw it as a mere thirty-minute advertisement for The Critic. Indeed, James L. Brooks was involved in the production of both shows. Among the fiercest critics of the Simpsons episode was creator Matt Groening himself, who promptly removed his name from the credits. In response, Brooks labelled Groening a "gifted, adorable, cuddly ingrate."^[1] On the sixth season DVD, Groening is absent from the cast and crew commentary on this episode.