Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song
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"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season, first aired on April 28, 1994. It is also the 100th Episode.
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[edit] Synopsis
After dismissing the idea of taking a geode, Bart brings Santa's Little Helper to school for show and tell. Even though Bart did well on the show and tell, the dog escapes into the air ducts after Mrs. Krabappel took him to the closet, and Groundskeeper Willie is greased up and sent after him. Willie gets stuck in the vents, and the fire department is called in to rescue him. However, Willie and the dog break through the vents and fall onto Superintendent Chalmers, who was in the school for an inspection. This debacle results in Chalmers firing Principal Skinner.
Chalmers hires Ned Flanders as the new principal of Springfield Elementary School, but when Flanders is hesitant to discipline the children, they run amok and the school becomes a mad house.
Bart befriends the now out of work Skinner, as they laugh about anecdotes of Flanders's failure that Bart relates. Skinner's original plan was to write the great American novel, an idea that's promptly shot down as a total plagiarism by Apu, resembling the movie Jurassic Park. Soon, Skinner eventually decides he should return to the only place that has ever really been a home to him, and rejoins the United States Army as a drill instructor.
Instead of rejoicing in the discipline-less school, Bart feels bad about causing Skinner's firing, so in an effort to get Skinner his job back, Bart attempts to expose Flanders' poor leadership to Chalmers, with the help of Homer. But despite the state of chaos Springfield Elementary is in, Chalmers is not concerned. However when he hears Flanders utter "thank the Lord for this beautiful day" over the intercom, Chalmers immediately fires Ned stating there is no room for prayer in public school, and Skinner is given back his job as principal.
[edit] Cultural references
- The episode title is in reference to a 1971 movie Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.
- The opening segment with the flashback and music is in reference to the classic television show The Wonder Years.
- Skinner looking at a monitor with two dots, one moving and one stationary, is from the movie Alien.
- When Skinner looks into the vent, it is in the same manner as when Hicks does it in Aliens.
- A very quick glimpse of Santa's Little Helper running fast through the vent is much like a scene in the film Alien³.
- Skinner's "great American novel" ("Billy and the Clone-a-saurus") idea turns out to be an inadvertent plagiarism of Jurassic Park.
- Luigi calls Skinner "Mr. Kookalamanza", which may be a reference to Bowanga Bowanga, a campy, low-budget, obscure film from 1941.[1] One of the characters, Kirby Kookalamanza, is apparently "a real ugly guy."[2]
[edit] Trivia
- As mentioned in the DVD commentary, this episode was advertised as Bart's "greatest prank ever", although he never commits a prank at all.
- Bart calls Skinner "Principal Skinner" only after he loses his job as principal. Bart is noted for disrespecting Skinner in other episodes by calling him by his last name only.
- In the beginning, while Bart is watching some homemade films of The Simpsons family, they are playing With a Little Help from My Friends by Joe Cocker in the background.
- The title of the Foetus (band) song Take it Outside Godboy is taken from dialogue in this episode.
[edit] External links
- "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
