"
Rome-old and Juli-eh" is the 15th episode of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television 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 eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
' eighteenth seasonThe Simpsons' 18th season aired from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007. The season contained seven hold-over episodes from the season 17 production line. Al Jean served as the Executive Producer, a position he has held since the thirteenth season.The season finale, "You Kent...
, which was originally broadcast on March 11, 2007. It was written by
Daniel ChunDaniel Chun is an American comedy writer. He now writes for The Simpsons, where he currently carries the title of co-executive producer. Chun has also contributed to TNR.com, 02138 Magazine, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Vitals magazine, where he wrote the back page column.-Simpsons...
, and directed by
Nancy KruseNancy Kruse is an animation director on The Simpsons. She started working on the show during the first season as a background clean-up artist. After that she did background layout and character layout for several years on the show before becoming an assistant director...
.
Jane KaczmarekJane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. She lives in San Marino, California.- Early life & career :...
guest starred as her recurring character, Judge Constance Harm.
Homer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father 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...
surprises the family with a newly decorated basement, now a rec room with a pinball machine, a ping-pong table and other luxury items, prompting his wife
MargeMarjorie "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...
to ask how Homer could afford all this.
"
Rome-old and Juli-eh" is the 15th episode of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television 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 eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
' eighteenth seasonThe Simpsons' 18th season aired from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007. The season contained seven hold-over episodes from the season 17 production line. Al Jean served as the Executive Producer, a position he has held since the thirteenth season.The season finale, "You Kent...
, which was originally broadcast on March 11, 2007. It was written by
Daniel ChunDaniel Chun is an American comedy writer. He now writes for The Simpsons, where he currently carries the title of co-executive producer. Chun has also contributed to TNR.com, 02138 Magazine, New York Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Vitals magazine, where he wrote the back page column.-Simpsons...
, and directed by
Nancy KruseNancy Kruse is an animation director on The Simpsons. She started working on the show during the first season as a background clean-up artist. After that she did background layout and character layout for several years on the show before becoming an assistant director...
.
Jane KaczmarekJane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. She lives in San Marino, California.- Early life & career :...
guest starred as her recurring character, Judge Constance Harm.
Plot
Homer SimpsonHomer Jay Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and father 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...
surprises the family with a newly decorated basement, now a rec room with a pinball machine, a ping-pong table and other luxury items, prompting his wife
MargeMarjorie "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...
to ask how Homer could afford all this. He says he has a plan and in the next scene files for
bankruptcyBankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay its creditors. Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against a debtor in an effort to recoup a portion of what they are owed or initiate a restructuring...
before Judge Constance Harm, believing that this will save him from paying his debts. Unfortunately, Judge Harm tells him that the bankruptcy laws have changed and under the new laws, he has to pay everything back. When looking though the family's expenses, Homer decides to save a lot of money by moving his
fatherAbraham Jay Simpson , commonly called Abe Simpson or Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
out of the retirement home and having him live with the family. The rec room now doubles as Grampa's room.
One night Homer and Marge go out, and they ask Abe to babysit. Not entirely trusting Abe's competence as a babysitter, Marge also asks her sister Selma Bouvier to come over and watch Abe watch the kids. During the evening, Abe and Selma end up kissing and eventually fall in love with each other, and are unaware that they are caught by Homer, much to his dismay, as he wants his dad to end up old and lonely. Abe previously dated Selma's mother Jacqueline Bouvier in "
Lady Bouvier's Lover"Lady Bouvier's Lover" is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons
' fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 12, 1994. In the episode, Grampa Simpson falls in love with Marge's mother, Mrs. Bouvier, and they start dating. However, on a night...
". As is the case in this episode, Marge is happy with the arrangement while Homer is not. Patty is no happier than Homer and she enlists his help to break them up. Patty impersonates Selma and Homer dresses up as "Esteban de la Sexface", a Spanish lover-type, and the two arrange for Abe to catch them kissing. Their plan is foiled though, when the actual Selma comes by and catches them. Angry at being manipulated, Abe proposes to Selma. She accepts; they are married and move in together.
With Abe unable to find work, Selma is the sole breadwinner in the family, working hard in her new, more stressful job as department manager at the DMV. Abe, meanwhile, destroys their kitchen with his ignorance of how things work by misusing the appliances, causing a kitchen fire. This makes Selma realize that maybe love is not everything you need after all, and she dances with him one last time. They presumably divorce with Abe moving back to the retirement home and Selma moving back to her and Patty's room at Spinster Arms Apartments.
Kicked out of the rec room,
BartBartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous 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...
and
LisaLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child, and elder daughter, of the eponymous family. She is voiced by Yeardley Smith and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
order a lot of complimentary shipping boxes from the A.S.S. (American Shipping Services, not affiliated with the
human assThe buttocks are rounded portions of the anatomy located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, including many other bipeds or quadrupeds.-Anatomy:...
), getting the idea from
Ned FlandersNedward "Ned" Flanders 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 loathed...
, and build a fort out of them. When the Sarcastic Man becomes angry and asks for them back, they refuse, whereupon he threatens to come back and get them by force. Bart and Lisa think he is bluffing, but in fact he comes back with an army of delivery men and women. Bart and Lisa put up a brave fight, first by releasing a barrage of cardboard tubes to trip the enemies, then using cardboard squares to throw like
shurikenShuriken is a traditional Japanese concealed weapon that were generally for throwing, and sometimes stabbing or slashing...
. The delivery men and women set up a siege ladder and Lisa wraps the lead man in tape and pushes the ladder down. They are aided by
NelsonNelson Muntz is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is the former nemesis and later friend of Bart Simpson. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright.-Profile:...
, who arrives unexpectedly to aid Lisa, who could have been hit by a barrage of cardboard arrows. He dives down with twin cardboard tubes and fends off a large number of delivery men and women, while one of the enemies flies overhead, upon a giant, red Fell Beast.
The army swarms while Bart uses a cardboard tube to shoot down enemies with bricks, beehives, egg cartons and Snowball II. The A.S.S. legion fails and flees, but the kids immediately lose interest in their fort and melt it with the garden hose.
Cultural references
- The title of this episode is a pun on Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young "star-cross'd lovers" whose untimely deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet and Macbeth, is...
.
- To save gas, Homer says he's "Flintstoning
The Flintstones is an animated American television sitcom that ran from 1960 to 1966 on ABC. The series was the first prime-time animated series aimed at adults. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions , The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next door...
" the car (cutting a hole in the floor so he can stick his legs through and push the car, as Fred FlintstoneFrederick Joseph "Fred" Flintstone is a fictional character who originated in the animated sitcom The Flintstones on ABC. He is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintstone...
does, with the same sound effect but not the same efficiency). Homer also says "Yabba-Dabba-Do!".
- "Is She Really Going Out with Him?
"Is She Really Going Out with Him?" is the first single released by Joe Jackson in September 1978. The track was included on Jackson's debut album, Look Sharp!, the following year, and a live version appeared on Volume 4 in 2003...
" by Joe JacksonJoe Jackson is an English musician and singer–songwriter, now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
plays during Selma and Grampa in love sequence.
- The battle sequence with Bart, Lisa, and the box salesmen uses The Fields of the Pelennor, a portion of the score from the The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and the scene itself is a parody of the Battle of the Hornburg
The Battle of the Hornburg is a fictional battle in J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings. The battle pitted the forces of the Wizard Saruman against the Rohirrim under King Théoden, who had taken refuge in the mountain fortress of the Hornburg at Helm's Deep...
from The Two TowersThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a 2002 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson based on the second volume of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
and the Battle of the Pelennor FieldsIn J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction, the Battle of Pelennor Fields is the battle for the city of Minas Tirith between the forces of Gondor and its allies, and the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron...
from The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R...
. Lisa also references the movie when she says to Nelson "you've come to help us in our hour of need." One of the A.S.S. delivery men even flies a fell beast like the NazgûlIn J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, the Nazgûl were nine men who succumbed to Sauron's power and attained near-immortality as wraiths, servants bound to the power of the...
. Lisa also says "So it begins" as the enemy attack begins, as King ThéodenThéoden is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings. He first appears in The Two Towers and remains an important character in The Return of the King.-Early life:...
says before the Uruk-haiThe Uruk-hai are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth. They are introduced in The Lord of the Rings as an advanced breed or breeds of Orcs that serve Sauron and Saruman.-Terminology:...
attack Helm's Deep.
- Lisa calls the box fort Boxingham Palace, a reference to Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
.
- When Selma is admitting to Abe that their marriage will not work, she claims that The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 who became one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music...
may not have been right, and that maybe, "love isn't all you need." This is a reference to the Beatles song, All You Need Is Love"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon/McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Broadcast to 26 countries and watched by 400 million, the programme was broadcast via satellite on June 25 1967. The...
- Right before the battle Bart asks Lisa "Who knew guys in brown shirts could cause so much trouble". This is a reference to the brown shirts of the NSDAP's Sturmabteilung.
Reception
The episode drew 8.98 million viewers on its first broadcast on
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
.
External links
- "Rome-old and Juli-eh" at TV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The service was launched on June 1, 2005 and replaced the popular TV Tome website.- Format :...