|
|
|
|
Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?
|
| |
|
| |
"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" is the 24th episode of The Simpsons' third season. It was originally supposed to be the opener for season four, but FOX decided to air it earlier to promote the series premiere of Martin; thus, it became the finale of season three. This is the second episode to air after a season's official finale, the first being "Blood Feud", which aired after the official end of season two.
lass="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m3434768",this)' onMouseout='hide("m3434768")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Homer_Simpson">Homer "wins" the "First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence", a fictional $2000 prize awarded by Montgomery Burns.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?' Start a new discussion about 'Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
"Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" is the 24th episode of The Simpsons' third season. It was originally supposed to be the opener for season four, but FOX decided to air it earlier to promote the series premiere of Martin; thus, it became the finale of season three. This is the second episode to air after a season's official finale, the first being "Blood Feud", which aired after the official end of season two.
Plot
Homer "wins" the "First Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence", a fictional $2000 prize awarded by Montgomery Burns. The name of the "award" was hastily concocted by Burns on the spot in an attempt to convince Homer to sign a waiver freeing the nuclear plant of all liability for Homer's recently discovered sterility after taking a routine physical at work. Joe Frazier is the host of the award ceremony, which features extraordinary extravagance (including a lengthy opening) but only the one $2000 prize is awarded to Homer.
Despite planning on using the money for the Spinemelter 2000 vibrating chair, Homer agrees to loan the money to his bitter half-brother Herb Powell who, ruined by Homer previously, is now a hobo. After hearing a baby cry while in the park, Herb's idea to become rich again is by making a machine to translate a baby's babbling into actual English. He uses Homer's money to develop his invention, which is an instant money-making success. Herb becomes rich once again.
Along with returning the money to Homer, he buys several gifts for the Simpson family, including a new washer-dryer for Marge and the $50 he got from selling them (the old, broken washer and dryer are sold to Moe's Tavern where they are subsequently engaged in racing), an honorary membership to the NRA for Bart, (since he is too young to own a gun just yet), and a subscription to the Greater Books of the Western Civilization for Lisa. Herb then tells Homer that his gift to him is forgiveness for ruining him in the first place, and he and Homer re-establish a brotherly relationship. Finally, Homer is rewarded for his generosity and faith when Herb has a truck pull in with the Spinemelter, which Homer enjoys.
Production
The decision to make another episode with Herb was reached due to many viewers being unhappy about the sad ending to the previous episode. It was decided that an episode would be created in which he regains his fortune.
The fight between Barney and Joe Frazier was originally going to have Barney victorious; however, Frazier's son objected. On the commentary, Al Jean states that Frazier was very hard to record, especially saying the word 'Excellence' in the award title. George Meyer was the director and, after almost twenty takes, Frazier got the word down. Afterwards Meyer said to Frazier that the take was 'excellent', but he did not get the joke. Originally the producers were going end the original Herb episode with Herb saying "I have an idea!" while riding the bus at the end of the episode, but they decided to flesh this out into a full story.
Cultural references
The episode's title is a play on the Great Depression-era tune "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?". The images Homer sees when sitting in the Spinemelter chair are a reference to the penultimate scenes of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Homer reminisces about sitting on the couch while watching Dallas - specifically Kristin's revelation that she shot J.R. Ewing, the Hands Across America charity event, and the Berlin Wall coming down, which he switches over to Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Homer's line "excuse me while I kiss the sky" is a reference to Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze". Ned Flanders' doorbell plays the hymn "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God". Homer's line in the last scene "I don't think there's a vibrating chair in that bag for me" is a reference to a similar line the the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The statue of the "First Annual Montgomery Burns Award For Outstanding Achievement In The Field Of Excellence" looks very much like an Emmy Award, except for Montgomery Burns posing instead of a female angel. Furthermore, Lisa "stands corrected" when Bart mentiones the Emmy as being a bigger farce than the beforementioned Award Ceremony. Ironically, nowadays "The Simpsons" are the most successful cartoon series in the history of the Emmy Awards.
Inspiration of Product
Herb's baby monitor become reality when www.dailymail.co.uk announced the new 'WhyCry' baby monitor that "analys[es] the energy, frequency, pitch, breathing and cycle of a baby's cry for 20 seconds at a time,[...] to be able to identify babies' moods". There is no mention of the Simpson's episode.
External links
|
| |
|
|
