Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily

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"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily"
Snowball II are in a nine-square grid as seen in the opening credits of The Brady Bunch.[2]
CommentaryMatt Groening
Bill Oakley
Josh Weinstein
Jon Vitti
Susie Dietter
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"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" is the third episode of the

Maude Flanders' house. Homer and Marge
are forced to attend a parenting class to get their children back.

The episode was written by

show runners. The episode features cultural references to the 1965 film Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Sonny & Cher's song "I Got You Babe
".

Since airing, the episode has received positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a

Nielsen rating
of 9.0, and was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.

Plot

During a school day,

Todd Flanders
. Bart and Lisa hate living with the Flanders due to all activities being strictly religious, being served unusual bland food, and having to go to bed at only 7 o'clock. However, Maggie enjoys it since she gets more attention from Ned than she ever did from Homer. Meanwhile, Marge and Homer are forced to attend a parenting class to regain custody of their children.

During a quiz game of Bible questions, Ned becomes concerned when he learns the Simpson children know nothing of Christian history; something which the Flanders family believes one should start learning at baptism. When Lisa reveals that they have never been baptized, Ned becomes so distraught that he drives them to the Springfield River. When Homer and Marge are declared fit parents, they quickly head for the river to stop Ned from baptizing their children. Just as Ned is about to pour holy water on Bart, Homer pushes Bart away and the water falls on him instead, inadvertently making him a baptized member of the Flanders family. The Simpsons are reunited and head home together.

Production

"Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" was the first episode to be made after

show runners of The Simpsons. They wanted to start the season with an episode centering on the Simpson family.[4] The story was pitched by writer George Meyer at a story retreat. Story retreats were held twice a year at a hotel room close to the studio lot, where all the writers gathered to pitch their ideas.[5] Seventeen episodes were pitched at this particular story retreat. Out of them all, Weinstein considered this episode to be the best, and he thought the pitch by Meyer was the best he had ever heard.[4] Oakley and Weinstein selected former full-time staff writer Jon Vitti to write the episode, wanting a "heavy hitter", since it was going to start the seventh production season. Vitti retained in his script most of what Meyer pitched at the retreat.[3]

The episode was directed by

Cletus was slightly distorted in this episode because, over the summer between seasons, Azaria and the producers had forgotten what Cletus sounded like.[4]

Cultural references

Ned and Maude Flanders sing Maggie to bed with their own version of

The Exorcist.[6]

Reception

In its original broadcast, the episode finished 53rd in the ratings for the week of September 25 to October 1, 1995, with a

Nielsen rating of 9.0.[7] The episode was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files, Beverly Hills, 90210, and Melrose Place.[7]

Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics.

DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson enjoyed the episode, saying that "its best elements come from the amusing bizarreness of the Flanders home, but Homer and Marge’s classes are also fun. Chalk this one up as season seven's first great episode."[8]

Jennifer Malkowski of DVD Verdict considered the best part of the episode to be when Marge tells Bart and Lisa that someday they will have to be adults and take care of themselves, just before Homer comes to Marge about a spider near his car keys. She concluded her review by giving the episode a grade of B+.[9]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "one of the most disturbing episodes, as Bart and Lisa are dragged into the Flanders' sinister lifestyle." They thought the ending, when Ned tries to baptize the children, was "nail-biting stuff", and Maggie speaking was "a truly shocking moment". The authors added: "It's astonishing that anything this radical made it on to prime time television. The final moments are perhaps the most moving in the entire series, a wonderful affirmation of everything the series, and the Simpson family, are about."[2]

Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons, thought the episode was "fantastic" and he called it one of his favorites. He particularly liked the ending which he thought was "sweet".[10]

References

  1. ^
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  2. ^ a b c d Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved January 4, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c Oakley, Bill (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ a b c d Weinstein, Josh (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ Vitti, Jon (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ Dietter, Susie (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  7. ^ a b "Nielsen Ratings". The Tampa Tribune. October 5, 1995. p. 4. Retrieved on January 7, 2009.
  8. ^ Jacobson, Colin (January 5, 2006). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season (1995)". DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  9. ^ Malkowski, Judge (January 16, 2006). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventh Season". DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
  10. ^ Groening, Matt (2005). The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.

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