Lady Bouvier's Lover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Lady Bouvier's Lover" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons' fifth season, which originally aired on May 12, 1994. It was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Wesley Archer.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
Maggie has her first birthday, and coming to celebrate are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Grampa, Patty and Selma, and Gramma Bouvier. At the party, Grampa is feeling lonely, and when he is bored, Marge suggests she set up a date for him with her mother. They do well until when on a night on the town, Mrs. Bouvier goes dancing with Mr. Burns, whom she finds to be more dashing. Meanwhile, Bart hears about an Itchy & Scratchy animation cel which costs $350 when he is watching a TV shopping channel. He buys one with one of Homer's credit cards. Mr. Burns declares that he is in love with Mrs. Bouvier, against Marge's interests. Bart gets $350 from Mr. Burns to pay Homer back.
It is the day of the wedding, and Mr. Burns and Marge's mother attempt to marry. Only minutes before Mrs. Bouvier becomes Mrs. Montgomery Burns, in a scene similar to one from The Graduate, Grampa crashes the ceremony by arguing that Mrs. Bouvier not be married to Mr. Burns. She declares that she does not want to marry either man, and they hop on a bus and look anxious about their future.
[edit] Cultural references
- When Abe bangs on the glass at the wedding, it is a reference to Wayne doing this exact thing in Wayne's World 2.
- The title is a play on the 1928 D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.
- Bart and Lisa sing (under protest) the 1980s advertising jingle used for Armour and Company's brand of hot dogs. Everyone (except Lisa) then sings the advertising jingle for Chicken Tonight, complete with chicken dance moves.
- Grandpa is hassled twice by lawyers representing the estates of long-deceased actors:
-
- "Charles Chaplin" for his "unauthorized imitation" of the bread roll dancing scene in the 1925 silent movie The Gold Rush. (In fact it had been in the public domain for nearly 40 years when this episode first aired.)
- Jimmy Durante for his mournful walk down a dimly-lit sidewalk while wearing a trilby.
- Mrs. Bouvier's favorite tune - played at the dance and later by Grandpa Simpson at the wedding - is Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade".
- The swing tune played during Jackie and Mr. Burns' dance is the 1936 piece "Sing, Sing, Sing", written by Louis Prima and performed by Benny Goodman.
- In exchange for his worthless animation cel, Bart is given a humorous telephone shaped like Mary Worth, a comic strip teacher who dispenses advice on real-life issues.
- Prompted by Smithers, Mr. Burns confuses Homer and family with the cast of The Flintstones, which at the time of this episode's first broadcast was the longest-running American prime-time cartoon (a record The Simpsons later broke).
- The stand off between Bart and Mr. Burns spoofs a scene from the film Reservoir Dogs.
- Grandpa Simpson banging on the window while shouting "Mrs. Bouvier!", and the subsequent getway on the bus, are references to the film The Graduate, as is the closing song, a parody of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel.
[edit] Goofs
- When Lisa asks Bart if Grampa was invited to the wedding, Bart replies that his reply envelope had a check to the gas company in it. It doesn't make sense for Abe to be paying the gas bill if he lives at the Retirement Castle.
[edit] External links
- "Lady Bouvier's Lover" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
