Duffless
"Duffless" | |
---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 16 |
Directed by | Jim Reardon |
Written by | David M. Stern |
Production code | 9F14 |
Original air date | February 18, 1993 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | Maggie is seated as the rest of the family "overshoot the mark" and run past the edge of the film and return to the couch.[2] |
Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss David M. Stern Jim Reardon |
"Duffless" is the sixteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 18, 1993. Homer gets arrested for drunk driving, and Marge asks him to stop drinking beer for a month. Meanwhile, after Bart ruins Lisa's science fair project, she attempts to get revenge by proving that he is dumber than a hamster.
The episode was written by David M. Stern, and directed by Jim Reardon.[2] It had a positive reception.
Plot
While having breakfast with her family,
Bart discovers Lisa's plans to humiliate him at the science fair and pre-empts her project with a project of his own, "Can hamsters fly planes?", showing her hamster in the cockpit of a miniature plane. Despite Lisa's objection concerning the lack of scientific merit, everyone is distracted by how cute the hamster is, and a proud Skinner hands Bart the winning ribbon.
During the month that Homer spends without beer, he loses weight and saves over $100. After being sober for a month (despite many temptations), Homer goes back to Moe's, despite Marge's declaration that she would like to spend time with him in that moment. Homer orders a beer at Moe's, but thinks about what Marge said to him and leaves after a steady, appraising look at Barney and the other barflies. Homer and Marge ride a bike into the sunset, singing "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head".
Production
Bart's go-go ray idea was "stolen" from the opening credits of Jonny Quest.[3] Mike Reiss said they did not want to show the hamster getting shocked but had to for plot purposes.[4] The first line Richard Nixon says, during the Duff commercial, was taken verbatim from the Kennedy-Nixon Debate during the 1960 Presidential Campaign.[5] Adolf Hitler's head, among other things, can be seen going by in bottles of Duff when the quality control man is not paying attention.[5] The Troy McClure driver's education film title Alice's Adventures Through the Windshield Glass was pitched by Frank Mula.[6]
The episode contains the first appearance of Sarah Wiggum.[7] The episode also contains a two-second snippet of footage from "Bart the Daredevil": a close-up of Homer making a disappointed face and saying "D'oh!" when he gets arrested.[8]
Cultural references
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/QueenPerforming1977.jpg/220px-QueenPerforming1977.jpg)
When Bart reaches for the cupcakes and collapses, it is a parody of a scene in
Reception
"Duffless" aired during February
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood called it "A superb episode with a sincere message. Homer is excellent throughout, but it is the cameos by Principal Skinner and Edna Krabappel that steal the show, especially the latter's reaction to Milhouse's Slinky."[2]
Nathan Rabin writes: “'Duffless' flirts with a truly downbeat ending when Homer returns to an even-more-depressing-than-usual Moe’s (no mean feat considering that even at its liveliest and most upbeat, the bar is a pit of bottomless sorrow) to the bitterness and resentment of Moe and the sour apathy of the barflies Homer deludes himself into thinking are his friends, even if they can’t be bothered to remember his name.
The episode pulls back from that bleak void, however, by having a humbled and at least slightly wiser Homer turn down the beer he’s been lusting for, temporarily of course, so that he can go bike riding with Marge to the gentle strains of 'Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head.' It’s a bit of a cheat, since we know that Homer’s sobriety is only temporary. Then again, it was awfully ballsy for an animated family sitcom in 1993 to make an entire episode around a lead character’s alcoholism and drunk-driving conviction so the show can be forgiven for not being quite as uncompromising in its depiction of Homer’s alcoholism as it could be."[13]
Entertainment Weekly ranked the episode eleventh on their list of the top twenty-five The Simpsons episodes: "Not only does 'Duffless' tweak an unrelenting alcohol culture (a billboard flips between 'Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk' and 'It’s Always Time for Duff'), it deftly depicts poignant, if grudging, emotional growth for Homer: After bemoaning his newfound sobriety at a baseball stadium ('I never realized how boring this game is'), he forgoes a reward beer to bike into the sunset with Marge."[14] Reviewing the season in 1993, Ken Tucker wrote that "the Simpsons aren’t winking, rib-cage-nudging rebels; if anything, they’re touchingly sincere. Groening and company want to suggest that family life is so complicated, so full of inarticulated desires and fears, that it can never be reduced to a mere collection of wisecracks." Referring to "Duffless" and "Selma's Choice", he writes "The closest the series has ever come to offering a 'message' has been in a few episodes this season that mercilessly satirize the alcohol industry in the form of the profoundly cynical 'Duff' beer company...the show has Homer trying to give up Duff for a month, with great difficulty. The episode is hilarious, in part because it makes alcoholism seem like such an absurd horror, you have to laugh."[15]
References
- ^ OL 433519M..
- ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (1993). "Duffless". BBC. Archived from the original on June 23, 2003. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
- ^ Reardon, Jim (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Duffless" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e Reiss, Mike (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Duffless" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b Stern, David M. (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Duffless" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ISBN 978-0062748034.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). Commentary for "Duffless", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Duffless" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Stern, David (2004). The Simpsons The Complete Fourth Season DVD commentary for the episode "Selma's Choice" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ISBN 978-0-00-738815-8.
- ^ "CBS wins its third ratings race in 'sweeps'". Press-Telegram. Associated Press. February 25, 1993. p. 4E.
- ^ "Nielsen Ratings/Jan. 15–21". Press-Telegram. Associated Press. February 24, 1993. p. C6.
- ^ Rabin, Nathan. "The Simpsons (Classic): "Duffless"". The A.V. Club.
- ^ "The best Simpsons episodes, Nos. 11-15". Entertainment Weekly. February 2, 2003. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ Tucker, Ken. "The Simpsons". Entertainment Weekly.
External links
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