My Way or the Highway to Heaven

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"My Way or the Highway to Heaven"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.Season 30
Episode 3
Directed byRob Oliver
Written by
Production codeXABF17
Original air dateOctober 14, 2018 (2018-10-14)
Guest appearances
Episode features
Couch gag
Homer finds himself in Bob's Burgers during the show's opening sequence. The Belchers look inside the restaurant at Homer.
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Heartbreak Hotel" 		Next →
"Treehouse of Horror XXIX"
The Simpsons season 30
List of episodes

"My Way or the Highway to Heaven" is the 642nd episode of the American animated television series The Simpsons and the third episode of season 30. The episode was directed by Rob Oliver and written by Deb Lacusta, Dan Castellaneta, and Vince Waldron.

Plot

In

door-to-door sales
.

As a salesman of Vertebreaker

Springfield Shopper reports intends to surpass the “500-bounce barrier”[1] and enter into the Duff Book of World Records (a reference to Guinness World Records). Ned rushes to intervene, pushes Homer out of the way, and is electrocuted by the trampoline and a bolt of lightning that was attracted by it,[2] appearing in heaven before a hippie-stylized, Che Guevara poster-donning Jesus who offers him the chance to live again if he becomes a Christian.[3] He wakes up “reborn” in his hospital bed with “a sign of [God's] mercy”, a permanent scar which is hidden by his mustache
.

Back in heaven on the couch, St. Peter suggests God consider another potential pool of candidates:

Carl Carlson and Barney Gumble, whom she disguises as dining staff.[1] During the meal, one of the U.S. soldiers mistakenly reveals the plan for Normandy landings.[2] To stop the Nazis from warning others, the U.S. soldiers sing “La Marseillaise”, which prompts the cafe patrons to stand and join in blocking the Nazis' exit.[1] When the Nazi general attempts to kidnap Genevieve, she kills him, and Meaux and the paratroopers help her in the killing of the Nazis. After the massacre the paratroopers escape and Genevieve and Meaux reconcile, thus proving Marge's point that atheists can also do great things. Back in heaven God agrees to opening heaven to atheists.[1]

In heaven still, God and St. Peter are visited by

Siddhārtha Gautama, founder of Buddhism) remained dissatisfied despite being denied nothing. She sought a middle path between opulence and decadence, and ventured out of the palace disguised as a poor boy. In search of scholars she goes to Kathmandu U. but frustratingly finds the university a party school; being void of ideas, she opts instead to sit under the Bodhi Tree until she was enlightened.[1] Back in heaven, God agrees that “all the good souls are welcome”.[1]

Heaven is instantly crowded again including a shocked Mr. Burns, who was let in as Waylon Smithers' guest as a plus-one invitee. Burns demands to get in later under his own merit, and Smithers goes after him. Back on Earth, Flanders tells his sons Rod and Todd that thunder is angels bowling; St. Peter then accidentally drops a tenpin on their house, which they consider a blessing.[1]

Production

Tracy Morgan was cast for two episodes for this season. In this episode, he plays himself as an angel in heaven as a nod to his 2014 car accident, which left him in a coma for two weeks. He later played a tow truck driver in "Baby You Can't Drive My Car". A photo of him in this episode was released in July 2018.[4]

Reception

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B− stating, "The episode takes the form of a sort of religion-based Treehouse of Horror, with three stories (told by Ned, Marge, and Lisa, respectively) that test out the new criteria by which God will choose who deserves to hang out for all eternity in the show's traditionally cloudy and harp-strewn paradise. Written by marrieds Dan Castellaneta and Deb Lacusta, along with first-time Simpsons writer Vince Waldron, the result is a decidedly low-stakes outing that, nonetheless, isn't without its charms."[1]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 4.5 out of 5 points ranking stating, "The Simpsons may not preach against evolution, but they have evolved from the kind of show that was uproariously laugh out loud to evoking us to say, oh, clever. The series will always be a little intellectual, as it is a constant battle between the selfless wisdom of Marge and Lisa and the chaotic buffoonery of Bart and Homer. Where were Bart and Homer, by the way? We get a story from Ned in place of a family member? Could it be it wouldn't matter what they brought as an offering it would send the whole town of Springfield straight to hell? "My Way or the Highway to Heaven" should have let the boy and his Homer offer their own dark alternative. The episode is tinted too bright."[5]

"My Way or the Highway to Heaven" scored a 1.0 rating with a 5 share and was watched by 2.52 million people, making The Simpsons Fox's highest rated show of the night.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Perkins, Dennis (October 14, 2018). "A trio of sweet religious tales sees The Simpsons finding goodness, if not greatness". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Bereta, Jesse (October 15, 2018). "Review: The Simpsons "My Way or the Highway to Heaven"". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "My Way or the Highway to Heaven". Archived from the original on August 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Snierson, Dan (July 16, 2018). "The Simpsons season 30: Tracy Morgan to guest-star in two episodes". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  5. ^ Sokol, Tony (October 15, 2018). "The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 3 Review: My Way or the Highway to Heaven". Den of Geek. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  6. ^ Welch, Alex (October 16, 2018). "'DWTS: Juniors' and 'Family Guy' adjust up, 'Alec Baldwin Show' and 'God Friended Me' adjust down: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=My_Way_or_the_Highway_to_Heaven&oldid=1216735318"