24 Minutes
| "24 Minutes" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
 Promotional artwork for the episode featuring Bart, Jack Bauer, Chloe O'Brian and Lisa. | |
| Episode no. | Season 18 Episode 21 |
| Directed by | Raymond S. Persi |
| Written by | |
| Production code | JABF14 |
| Original air date | May 20, 2007 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Episode features | |
| Commentary | |
"24 Minutes" is the twenty-first episode of the eighteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 20, 2007 as part of the one-hour season finale, alongside the episode "You Kent Always Say What You Want". It was originally promoted as being the 400th episode,[1] but was broadcast as the 399th. It was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham and Billy Kimball. It was Kimball's first writing credit.
The episode is a
The episode received critical acclaim and won the 2008
Plot
To tackle misbehavior,
Meanwhile, Marge discovers that there is a bake sale at the school that day, and realizes she has just 27 minutes to make a cake. In order to save time, she drastically increases the oven temperature to 1,200 degrees, quickly burning the cake and making it rock-solid. Marge desperately attempts to cover it up with pink and white frosting before rushing to the bake sale.
Lisa suggests that Bart help them, though he only agrees after negotiating immunity from punishment for all his past and future pranks (and making Skinner teach him a new swear word). At Jimbo's house, the bullies make a powerful stink bomb (which resembles the canisters of Sentox Nerve Gas from season 5 of 24) from the expired yogurt and a variety of other putrid items, and plan on detonating it at the bake sale. During his investigation, Bart's phone call is accidentally crossed with a call from Jack Bauer of 24, who is busy in a gun battle, and turns it into a prank call against him ("Ahmed Adoudi").
Bart finds out about the stink bomb and informs Lisa. Upon returning to school, he discovers that Martin is a double-agent working for the bullies. Before Bart can tell Lisa about Martin's double-dealing, Martin knocks him unconscious and takes him to the ventilation room, where the bullies tie up Bart. When Willie stumbles upon the bullies, they overpower him and tie him up too. The bullies then return Martin's ant farm, which they had used to blackmail him into working for them, but Martin is devastated to learn one of their ants has joined the bullies' cause. Later, he hangs himself by his underwear on a clothing hook, giving himself a wedgie after putting on his hall monitor sash (as a homage to the suicide in A Few Good Men as well as that of the character Walt Cummings on Season 5 of 24, who is murdered and has his death framed as a hanging).
At the bake sale, the bullies start the three-minute timer for the bomb. Bart, still tied up, manages to contact Lisa by his cell phone, telling her to have Skinner dump the hot dog water to short circuit the ventilation fan. Skinner starts filling up the room with the water. Running out of air and floating dangerously close to the sharp ceiling fan blades, Bart swims down with the chair tied to his back to the room's only window, which faces the bake sale room.
Production
An original idea saw
Cultural references
The title is a reference to the Fox show 24. The episode includes many of the show's hallmarks, such as the multiple split screens, the timer before and after the commercial break, and extended opening credits running over the opening scenes of the narrative. 24 characters Jack Bauer and Chloe O'Brian, voiced by their original portrayers, make cameo appearances.[3]
Reception
Robert Canning on IGN named "24 Minutes" the best episode of the season and gave it a 9.6/10 saying "this smart, funny, spot-on parody of 24 was so good that it came very close to redeeming the entire season."[4] He also stated "Though much of Season Eighteen was quite mediocre, "24 Minutes" ranks up there with the best of all time".[3]
In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times listed Sutherland's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show.[5]
In 2012, Johnny Dee of The Guardian listed the episode as one of his five favorite episodes in the history of The Simpsons. He wrote: "One reason why The Simpsons has remained so watchable is that its parodies are getting sharper – The Departed in Debarted, The Da Vinci Code in Gone Maggie Gone. None though can top this excellent riff which begins with Kiefer Sutherland announcing 'Previously on 24... I mean The Simpsons,' and dispenses with its normal format completely for an entire episode of split-screen thrills, torture and cake baking."[6]
Screen Rant called it the best episode of the 18th season.[7]
References
- ^ Elber, Lynn (September 9, 2006). "'Simpsons'Honcho: 'Let's Keep Doing It'". Fox News. Retrieved September 8, 2006.
- ^ Anthony C. Ferrante (May 8, 2007). "Exclusive: 'THE SIMPSONS' AL JEAN CELEBRATES 400 EPISODES (AND A '24' PARODY) AND THEY STILL HAVEN'T RUN OUT OF IDEAS". iF Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 14, 2007.
- ^ a b Canning, Robert (July 7, 2010). "The Simpsons: 20 Seasons, 20 Episodes – TV Feature at IGN". Tv.ign.com. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
- ^ Canning, Robert (June 14, 2007). "The Simpsons: Season 18 Review". IGN.com. Archived from the original on June 22, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2007.
- ^ Crerar, Simon (July 5, 2007). "The 33 funniest Simpsons cameos ever". The Times. Retrieved August 9, 2010.
- ^ Dee, Johnny (January 13, 2012). "The Simpsons at 500: what are your favourite episodes?". The Guardian. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
- ^ Sim, Bernardo (September 22, 2019). "The Simpsons: The Best Episode In Every Season, Ranked". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
External links
- "24 Minutes" at IMDb
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