Moe Letter Blues
"Moe Letter Blues" | |
---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |
Episode no. | Season 21 Episode 21 |
Directed by | Matthew Nastuk |
Written by | Stephanie Gillis |
Production code | MABF13[1] |
Original air date | May 9, 2010 |
Guest appearance | |
| |
Episode features | |
Couch gag | The family is a model constructed and subsequently destroyed by Nelson Muntz. |
"Moe Letter Blues" is the twenty-first episode of the twenty-first season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 2010. In this episode, Homer, Reverend Lovejoy, and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon receive a letter from Moe stating that he will steal one of their wives. The three get together and try to remember intimate moments between Moe and their wives.
The episode was written by Stephanie Gillis and directed by Matthew Nastuk and guest stars Don Pardo as himself. The main plot of the episode is a parody of A Letter to Three Wives. It is the third episode after season 19's "Mona Leaves-a" and season 20's "Four Great Women and a Manicure" to air on Mother's Day and be centered on mothers and women.
"Moe Letter Blues" received positive reviews from critics and was viewed by 5.66 million households according to the Nielsen Media Research.
Plot
At Weasel Island, the children spend time at a shoddy amusement park while Homer, Apu and Lovejoy agonize over their situation. At first, each insists their marriage is fine. Homer, however, remembers his mother-in-law Jacqueline Bouvier's 80th birthday, where Moe was the bartender. Homer, who was angry at Marge for only serving non-alcoholic beer, got into an argument with
When the ferry returns to the mainland, each man realizes that they are equally likely to have lost their wives to Moe.
Moe reveals that he saw how troubling the relationships were, so he organized Marge's portrait, the Lovejoys' trip and the Nahasapeemapetilons' marriage rescue. He also explained that he only wrote the horrible letter just to teach the three men a lesson about taking their wives for granted, saying that they need to value them more just like their other family members. Upon learning this, Homer thanks Moe for teaching him that lesson. In the end, Moe implores viewers to value their wives and mothers this Mother's Day as a montage of Springfield's mothers plays over the 1973 hit "
Cultural references
"Moe Letter Blues" served as a parody of the
The
Moe's voice-over claims he moved to Springfield because the
Otto's state of
Reception
Viewing figures
In its original American broadcast, "Moe Letter Blues" was viewed by an estimated 5.660 million households, received a 2.7 rating/9 share in the 18-49 demographic tying with last week, coming second in its time slot losing to the
Critical response
The episode received mainly positive reviews.
TV Fanatic gave the episode 3.5/5 and stated "The flashbacks definitely had some hilarious moments including a thousand devils d'ohing on Homer's shoulder. Moe was fantastic as a narrator and even better when he took advantage of his omniscient point of view."[6]
Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode 8.4/10 and remarked "One issue I did have with the episode was Moe's, 'I'm leaving town forever and taking one of your wives' statement in his letter. You know there's no way Moe would ever be leaving the series or running off with any of these women, so the claim never held any drama. It might have worked better if Moe had simply said he was going to sleep with one of the women. This would have been a little more believable in the realm of the series and certainly would have been more in line with Moe's character. That aside, however, the storytelling and humor delivered yet another great episode."[4]
Sharon Knolle of
Awards and nominations
Hank Azaria was nominated for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance at the 62nd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards for voicing Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Moe Szyslak in the episode.[7]
Additionally,
References
- ^ "WebVoyage Titles : THE SIMPSONS Series - MOE LETTER BLUES Episode (TV- MOTION PICTURE)". Cocatalog.loc.gov. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
- ^ VanDerWerff, Emily (May 10, 2010). ""Moe Letter Blues"/"Brown History Month"/"Quagmire's Dad"/"An Incident at Owl Creek"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ a b Knolle, Sharon (May 10, 2010). "The Simpsons' - 'Moe Letter Blues' Recap". HuffPost TV. Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ a b Canning, Robert (May 10, 2010). "The Simpsons "Moe Letter Blues" Review". IGN. Retrieved January 13, 2022.
- ^ Gorman, Bill (May 10, 2010). "TV Ratings: ABC Wins Another Slow Sunday; Amazing Race Lowest Finale Ever; Celebrity Apprentice Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- ^ Hochberger, Eric (May 10, 2010). "The Simpsons Review "Moe Letter Blues"". TV Fanatic. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- ^ "62nd Primetime Emmy Award Nominations". CBS News. July 8, 2010. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Weprin, Alex (December 8, 2010). "PBS Dominates News Categories in Writers Guild Award Nominations". Adweek. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- "Moe Letter Blues" at TheSimpsons.com
- "Moe Letter Blues" at The Simpsons Archive
- "Moe Letter Blues" at IMDb