The Dad Who Knew Too Little
Encyclopedia
"The Dad Who Knew Too Little" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons
' fourteenth season
which aired on January 12, 2003.
and Lisa
are watching a TV and they see a commercial for a new & improved personal diary, the Turbo Diary, which does not allow anyone else to read it and shocks them if they attempt it. Lisa, tired of Bart reading her diary, asks Homer
and Marge
to get her the diary for her birthday and they agree. The next day, Homer and Bart go to the mall to get the diary for Lisa. Homer gets sidetracked and when they finally go to the toy store all the diaries are sold out, he finds Mr. Burns who bought the last diary and tries to steal it from him but shocks Homer as the diary is already in use by Mr. Burns.
On Lisa's birthday, Bart gives her a laser pointer
. Homer gives Lisa a personalized movie he made for her. She is disappointed that she did not get the diary she wanted, nevertheless she watches the movie, which is a story about Lisa as a sheriff
in a Western movie. The dialogue in the movie helps Lisa realize that Homer knows absolutely nothing about her. She runs upstairs crying, making Homer feel bad.
The next day, Homer gets an idea from Moe to hire Dexter Colt, a private detective to find out facts about Lisa so he can appear to know things about her. Colt begins to spy on Lisa and build up information to produce a report. Using the report, Homer starts to bond with Lisa by playing the songs that she likes and going to a protest against animal testing at a research lab. Homer and Lisa's relationship is good again as she feels he does know her after all. Homer goes to see Dexter Colt to thank him for all his work. When Colt gives him a bill for $1000 Homer refuses to pay the incredible amount. Colt swears revenge as Homer runs off into the night.
The next morning, Lisa, Homer, and Bart are watching the news. They see that someone has vandalised the research lab and stolen all the animals. Chief Wiggum says that, based on the clues collected, Lisa Simpson is the main suspect. Lisa says she is innocent and Homer knows she has been framed by Dexter Colt. Homer and Lisa escape as a fugitives and disguise themselves. While on the run Homer comes clean about the report and Dexter Colt and Lisa is angry with him once more. The police track Homer and Lisa to the motel but they escape again and find themselves at a circus. There they find all the stolen animals, it seems Dexter sold them to the circus as a petting zoo and sideshow attractions. Dexter Colt shows up and chases Homer into a hall of mirrors. As Colt is about to kill Homer, Lisa shows up. Colt wonders how she heard them, and Homer says that Lisa's hearing is very good and that one day when she was very young, she had heard him quietly sobbing in the closet. Lisa, impressed that Homer actually remembered something about her, flashes Colt in the eye with the laser pointer
that Bart gave her, temporarily blinding him. Later, Colt is arrested and Lisa is exonerated, finally getting the personal diary she wanted from Homer.
During the credits, Bart steals Lisa's new diary (with the help of a pair of tongs) and shows it to Homer, saying it is a bedtime story and asking him to read to him. The episode ends with Homer getting shocked by the diary and Bart laughing at him.
registered the e-mail and received thousands of messages after the episode aired. He responded to some of them in the character of Homer, but gave up after being swamped with e-mails.
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...
The Simpsons (season 14)
The fourteenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between November 3, 2002 and May 18, 2003. The show runner for the fourteenth production season was Al Jean, who executive produced 21 of 22 episodes. The other...
which aired on January 12, 2003.
Plot
BartBart 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...
and 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...
are watching a TV and they see a commercial for a new & improved personal diary, the Turbo Diary, which does not allow anyone else to read it and shocks them if they attempt it. Lisa, tired of Bart reading her diary, asks 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...
and 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...
to get her the diary for her birthday and they agree. The next day, Homer and Bart go to the mall to get the diary for Lisa. Homer gets sidetracked and when they finally go to the toy store all the diaries are sold out, he finds Mr. Burns who bought the last diary and tries to steal it from him but shocks Homer as the diary is already in use by Mr. Burns.
On Lisa's birthday, Bart gives her a laser pointer
Laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small portable device with a power source and a laser emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light...
. Homer gives Lisa a personalized movie he made for her. She is disappointed that she did not get the diary she wanted, nevertheless she watches the movie, which is a story about Lisa as a sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
in a Western movie. The dialogue in the movie helps Lisa realize that Homer knows absolutely nothing about her. She runs upstairs crying, making Homer feel bad.
The next day, Homer gets an idea from Moe to hire Dexter Colt, a private detective to find out facts about Lisa so he can appear to know things about her. Colt begins to spy on Lisa and build up information to produce a report. Using the report, Homer starts to bond with Lisa by playing the songs that she likes and going to a protest against animal testing at a research lab. Homer and Lisa's relationship is good again as she feels he does know her after all. Homer goes to see Dexter Colt to thank him for all his work. When Colt gives him a bill for $1000 Homer refuses to pay the incredible amount. Colt swears revenge as Homer runs off into the night.
The next morning, Lisa, Homer, and Bart are watching the news. They see that someone has vandalised the research lab and stolen all the animals. Chief Wiggum says that, based on the clues collected, Lisa Simpson is the main suspect. Lisa says she is innocent and Homer knows she has been framed by Dexter Colt. Homer and Lisa escape as a fugitives and disguise themselves. While on the run Homer comes clean about the report and Dexter Colt and Lisa is angry with him once more. The police track Homer and Lisa to the motel but they escape again and find themselves at a circus. There they find all the stolen animals, it seems Dexter sold them to the circus as a petting zoo and sideshow attractions. Dexter Colt shows up and chases Homer into a hall of mirrors. As Colt is about to kill Homer, Lisa shows up. Colt wonders how she heard them, and Homer says that Lisa's hearing is very good and that one day when she was very young, she had heard him quietly sobbing in the closet. Lisa, impressed that Homer actually remembered something about her, flashes Colt in the eye with the laser pointer
Laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small portable device with a power source and a laser emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light...
that Bart gave her, temporarily blinding him. Later, Colt is arrested and Lisa is exonerated, finally getting the personal diary she wanted from Homer.
During the credits, Bart steals Lisa's new diary (with the help of a pair of tongs) and shows it to Homer, saying it is a bedtime story and asking him to read to him. The episode ends with Homer getting shocked by the diary and Bart laughing at him.
Production
In the episode, Homer's e-mail was said to be chunkylover53@aol.com. Episode writer Matt SelmanMatt Selman
Matthew "Matt" Selman is an American writer and producer. Selman grew up in Massachusetts, attended the University of Pennsylvania and was editor-in-chief of student magazine 34th Street Magazine. After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try and became a television writer...
registered the e-mail and received thousands of messages after the episode aired. He responded to some of them in the character of Homer, but gave up after being swamped with e-mails.
Cultural references
- The title is reminiscent of the 1956 movie "The Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film)The Man Who Knew Too Much is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name....
" starring James StewartJames StewartJames Stewart was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart may also refer to:-Noblemen:*James Stewart, 5th High Steward of Scotland*James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorn James Stewart (1908–1997) was a Hollywood movie actor and USAF brigadier general.James Stewart...
and Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, and more recently, the 1997 movie "The Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too LittleThe Man Who Knew Too Little is a 1997 American comedy espionage film starring Bill Murray, directed by Jon Amiel, and written by Robert Farrar and Howard Franklin...
" starring Bill MurrayBill MurrayWilliam James "Bill" Murray is an American actor and comedian. He first gained national exposure on Saturday Night Live in which he earned an Emmy Award and later went on to star in a number of critically and commercially successful comedic films, including Caddyshack , Ghostbusters , and...
. This is not the only time this title has been parodied; see "The Girl Who Slept Too LittleThe Girl Who Slept Too Little"The Girl Who Slept Too Little" is the second episode of The Simpsons seventeenth season, which originally broadcast on September 18, 2005. 9.79 million viewers watched the episode.-Plot:...
" and "The Boy Who Knew Too MuchThe Boy Who Knew Too Much"The Boy Who Knew Too Much" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 5, 1994. In the episode, Bart runs away from a pursuing Principal Skinner after attempting to skip school...
". - Elliot Gould (65 years old in 2003, but juvenile-looking, slim in tracksuit) appears at length in the beginning, and has a neighbourly brawl with Krusty : his son has been bitten by Krusty's tame chimp.
- PETAPetaPeta can refer to:* peta-, an SI prefix denoting a factor of 1015* Peta, Greece, a town in Greece* Peta, the Pāli word for a Preta, or hungry ghost in Buddhism* Peta Wilson, an Australian actress and model* Peta Todd, English glamour model...
actions, i.e. freeing laboratory and circus animals, are a main action line. As for the freed animals, they have been consigned to the Spuckler family : while Cletus and Brandine are resting on their porch, a dozen smoking spider-monkeys are rampaging on the roof, and the chidren are running after the pigs (formerly labelled in the zoo : "The Sultry Sows from the Southern Seas"). But when Brandine sees a garishly make-upped sow whizz by, she warns her husband : if she finds makeup on his collar again, she won't allow him to sleep in the pig-sty anymore. Cletus agrees, but smiles slyly : one more clear hint at his alleged zoophiliaZoophiliaZoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον and φιλία is the practice of sex between humans and non-human animals , or a preference or fixation on such practice...
. - The sleuth tips off Homer about Lisa's cultural tastes, which he had, until then, fully ignored. So he is able to put Birth of the CoolBirth of the CoolBirth of the Cool is a compilation album by American jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1957 on Capitol Records. It compiles twelve songs recorded by Davis's nonet for the label over the course of three sessions during 1949 and 1950...
(Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
1957 compilation albumCompilation albumA compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
) on the record-player, which enthralls her.
External links
- "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" at The Simpsons.com