Selma's Choice
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| The Simpsons episode | |
| "Selma's Choice" | |
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| Episode no. | 72 |
| Prod. code | 9F11 |
| Orig. Airdate | January 21, 1993 |
| Show Runner(s) | Al Jean & Mike Reiss |
| Writer(s) | David M. Stern |
| Director(s) | Carlos Baeza |
| Chalkboard | "I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call." |
| Couch gag | The Simpson family is caught by a net on the ground. |
| Guest star(s) | Phil Hartman |
| DVD commentary by | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss David M. Stern Jim Reardon |
| SNPP capsule | |
| Season 4 September 24, 1992 – May 13, 1993 |
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| List of all Simpsons episodes... | |
"Selma's Choice" is the 13th episode of The Simpsons' fourth season.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
After Great Aunt Gladys dies, the Simpsons attend the funeral and subsequent reading of the will. On the video will, Great Aunt Gladys warns Patty and Selma not to die alone without a husband and children as she did. Selma starts to worry that her biological clock may be ticking, and decides to find a way to become pregnant. Selma tries video dating and eventually considers an anonymous sperm donor.
Meanwhile, Homer promises Bart and Lisa that they will go to Duff Gardens, a popular amusement park, but Homer becomes ill after eating a spoiled sandwich. Marge, in an effort to give Selma a chance to experience the responsibilities of motherhood, nominates her to take the two. Bart and Lisa wear Selma out at Duff Gardens. Lisa begins to hallucinate after drinking some "water" in an aquatic ride (at Selma's order) and Bart is detained by park security. After these negative experiences caring for Bart and Lisa for a day, Selma decides she can live without children, and adopts Jub-Jub, Gladys' iguana, instead.
[edit] Trivia
- On the April 11, 2006 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, former Simpsons writer Conan O'Brien revealed, in an interview with Hank Azaria, that he came up with the name Jub-Jub for the iguana, as it was a phrase he used to break awkward silences.
- Bart would also be detained by amusement park security in the season six episode "Itchy and Scratchy Land", but he would be detained along with Homer Simpson.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title of the episode is a reference to the book (and the film) Sophie's Choice.
- Duff Gardens is a parody of another amusement park owned by a brewing company, Busch Gardens.
- When Lisa drinks the 'water' on the Duff boat ride, she begins to hallucinate and sees Selma as a monster with a pair of snarling teeth where her shoulder is, a nod to the artistic style of Ralph Steadman the artist for various novels by Hunter S. Thompson.
- The song and ride of that Bart, Lisa and Selma go on, with animatronic kids from all over the world singing a saccharine, repetitive song, is a parody of the ride and song "It's A Small World" at Disneyland.
- Marge's flashback of her and her sisters swimming in a lake is based on The Prince of Tides.
- After Lance Murdoch jumps some flaming school buses, he is asked what he going to do next. He replies "I'm going to Duff Gardens", a reference to the slogan "I'm Going to Disneyland!"
- When Lisa yells 'I am the Lizard Queen', this is a reference to Jim Morrison (lead singer of the 60's rock band 'The Doors'), who used to refer to himself as 'the Lizard King'.
- The ending, a camcorder recording of Selma holding Jub-Jub and singing "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman", was based on the famous Murphy Brown episode where her son is born.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "Selma's Choice" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
