Catch 'Em If You Can
Encyclopedia
"Catch 'Em If You Can" is the 18th episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

' fifteenth season
The Simpsons (season 15)
The Simpsons 15th season began on Sunday, November 2, 2003 with "Treehouse of Horror XIV".The season contains five hold-over episodes from the season 14 production line...

, first broadcast on April 25, 2004.

Plot

Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 lectures the other students on the bus on the topic of water balloon
Water balloon
A water balloon or water bomb is a latex rubber balloon filled with water. They are commonly used in water balloon fights and as a practical joke device.-History:...

s. After hitting Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...

 with one he fights with her all the way home. Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 stops them and tells the pair that they are going to Dayton, Ohio
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton is the 6th largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, the fifth most populous county in the state. The population was 141,527 at the 2010 census. The Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 841,502 in the 2010 census...

 to celebrate Uncle Tyrone's birthday. Bart and Lisa aren't thrilled with the idea: they get to stay home. As a family activity they all rent the film Love Story
Love Story (1970 film)
Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...

; Bart and Lisa are bored by it such that they ruin any moment the film might have created for Homer and Marge. Homer and Marge look forward to their trip without the children. At the airport, they see people in another queue, dressed in Hawaiian shirts and skimpy tops, going to Miami. On a whim, they decide to forego the visit to Uncle Tyrone and get on the plane to Miami as a second honeymoon.

Lisa and Bart are watching TV with Grandpa, when they learn that the hotel in Dayton where Marge and Homer are supposed to be staying has been completely wiped out by a tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...

. They suddenly get a call from Marge, informing them that all is well: "Just checking in." Suspicious, Bart uses last-call return to find out the last incoming phone number and discovers their parents are in Miami. They get Grandpa to take them there, promising him that many single beautiful pensioners will be available. Marge and Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 see the children waiting for them outside their hotel room door, so they run away again, but Bart and Lisa are on their trail. They will not have any trouble paying for their chase, considering Homer has Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...

' credit card and Bart has Rod Flanders' junior credit card. Meanwhile in Miami Abe has not found any woman interested in him, but he found companionship with a gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 man named Raoul who "appreciates" his rambling stories by turning his hearing aid off.

Homer and Marge are in Atlantic City when they spot the children once more, so they go on the run from them in an instrumental musical montage and an animated sequence. Homer and Marge finally find themselves at the Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

, but the children are there as well. Bart and Lisa confront them and Homer and Marge finally give up and allow the children to stay with them. The children start to mess about in the room, making Homer and Marge even more despondent.

That night, Bart and Lisa, feeling a little guilty, decide to give their parents their space and go to an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

, only to find their parents are already there. Homer and Marge, thinking the children are chasing them again, run from the pair to find refuge in a giant inflatable castle (which is not a good idea, as it is under repair), which their lovemaking antics cause to fall into the Niagara River
Niagara River
The Niagara River flows north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. It forms part of the border between the Province of Ontario in Canada and New York State in the United States. There are differing theories as to the origin of the name of the river...

. The rescue teams who are Canadian and American start to fight over who is to rescue. The couple floats towards the falls and certain death, only to be saved by their large flotation device. Later they pass by the Maid of the Mist
Maid of the Mist
The Maid of the Mist is a boat tour of Niagara Falls. The boat starts off at a calm part of the Niagara River, near the Rainbow Bridge, and takes its passengers past the American and Bridal Veil Falls, then into the dense mist of spray inside the curve of the Horseshoe...

, whose captain asks them if they need help. A naked
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

 Marge and Homer shout they do not need any from inside the inflatable castle, as it floats away, and they engage in marital sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...

 underneath The Falls. Bart and Lisa, watching from a telescope, decide that everything worked out alright.

Later back in Springfield, Ned and Rod Flanders receive their monthly credit card bills and gasp at the charges Homer and Bart have run up.

Cultural references

The title of the episode is a reference to the film Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can
Catch Me If You Can is a 2002 American biographical comedy-drama film based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, successfully performed cons worth millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a Georgia doctor, and a Louisiana parish prosecutor...

, which is also parodied in the musical montage.

Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 is traveling by air in first class and says "Look at me, I'm reading The Economist. Did you know Indonesia is at a crossroads?" and when questioned by his wife, he simply replies "It is!" Four days later, with its customary dry wit, The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

alluded to the quote, and published an article about Indonesia referring to the "crossroads". The title of the issue was "Indonesia's Gambit". About seven months later, The Economist ran a cover headline reading "Indonesia at a Crossroads."
  • Drederick Tatum tells Homer and Marge as they roll out of an elevator he's fighting a White Rhino
    White Rhinoceros
    The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species...

     at the Tropicana (A real Atlantic City casino) with shows at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & Midnight.
  • Next to the Lackluster Video (itself a spoof of Blockbuster Video) entrance, there is a sign that reads "If it doesn't star Sandra Bullock
    Sandra Bullock
    Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...

    , your rental is free!".
  • In the same video store, we see Moe
    Moe Szyslak
    Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...

     nervously entering the "ADULT FILMS" section in the back, to which Bart follows him in euphoric expectation, only to find out that the private room features arthouse movies from "Merchant-Ivory", "Truffaut
    François Truffaut
    François Roland Truffaut was an influential film critic and filmmaker and one of the founders of the French New Wave. In a film career lasting over a quarter of a century, he remains an icon of the French film industry. He was also a screenwriter, producer, and actor working on over twenty-five...

    ", "Unfunny Woody Allen
    Woody Allen
    Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...

    ", "Henry Jaglom
    Henry Jaglom
    - Life and career :Born January 26, 1941 in London, England to Simon and Marie Jaglom, Henry Jaglom trained with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York, where he acted, wrote and directed off-Broadway theater and cabaret before settling in Hollywood in the late 1960s...

    ", "Bergman
    Ingmar Bergman
    Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...

    ", " Spike
    Spike Lee
    Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....

     & Ang Lee
    Ang Lee
    Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director. Lee has directed a diverse set of films such as Eat Drink Man Woman , Sense and Sensibility , Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon , Hulk , and Brokeback Mountain , for which he won an Academy...

    " rather than adult movies.
  • There is a Futurama
    Futurama
    Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series follows the adventures of a late 20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy, Philip J...

     poster in the Lackluster video store.
  • The song playing on the record player that the 2 older men are carrying is a re-recorded version of Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
    Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy
    "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" was a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune. This song can be considered an early jump blues recording...

     by The Andrews Sisters
    The Andrews Sisters
    The Andrews Sisters were a highly successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews , soprano Maxene Angelyn Andrews , and mezzo-soprano Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews...

     on Capitol Records.
  • The other people at Uncle Tyrone's birthday are the Simpsons that Homer gathered in the episode Lisa the Simpson
    Lisa the Simpson
    "Lisa the Simpson" is the seventeenth episode of the ninth season of the animated television series The Simpsons, which originally aired March 8, 1998. It was written by Ned Goldreyer and directed by Susie Dietter. This episode was also the final episode with Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein as show...

    .

Reception

The episode won a Writers Guild of America Award
Writers Guild of America Award
The Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...

 for Best Animation Screenplay in 2005
Writers Guild of America Awards 2004
The 57th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on 19 February 2005, honored the film and television best writers of 2004.-Adapted Screenplay: Sideways - Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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