Marge Gets a Job

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Marge Gets a Job
Season 4 Episode 7
Production Code	9F05
Original Airdate	November 5 1992
Written By	Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein
Directed By	Jeffrey Lynch
Show Runners	Al Jean & Mike Reiss
Special Guests	Tom Jones as himself
Blackboard Text	"I will not teach others to fly."

"Marge Gets a Job" is the 7th episode of fourth season.

Plot

The Episode starts off with a party for a forced retiree, Jack Marley. It's evident he did not want to retire, and the retirement party entertainment is filled with music praising Mr. Burns.

The Simpson's house is sinking/losing its foundation (or, by the looks of it, tipping over) and they have to somehow raise $8500 to repair the foundation. Thanks to Lisa's creative and very impressive resume, Marge gets a job at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant; the job was previously held by the newly retired Jack Marley. Homer is worried about working in the same place as Marge.

Meanwhile, Bart does not want to take a test at school, so he fakes a stomachache. This causes Mrs. Krabappel to ask him, "Bart, have you ever read The Boy Who Cried Wolf?"

From his office, Mr. Burns watches surveillance footage of his plant without enthusiasm. When Marge appears, however, he is enamored and begins a crusade to win her affection. He begins to take advice as to cheer up things around the plant--for example, "Funny Hat Day" and Tom Jones music.

Bart returns to school, but when Mrs. Krabappel suggests that he take a make-up test, he immediately begins to groan. ("Ohh, my ovaries!") Grandpa comes to pick him up and on the way home, references The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Again, Bart is unfazed.

When he returns to school once more, he is forced to take the make-up test. He begins to protest, but Mrs. Krabappel is unimpressed. "Bart," she says. "To avoid this test, you've had smallpox, the bends, and that unfortunate bout of Tourette's syndrome." She places him alone outside the classroom, hands him the test, and leaves.

At Krustylu Studios, the taping of Krusty the Clown's latest show is not going well. A wildlife expert is visiting, and with her is a large hawk and an Alaskan timberwolf, who she warns is spooked by loud noises. Unfortunately for the wolf, "loud" is the word of the day (a la "Pee-Wee's Playhouse"). Celebration and noise ensues, and the terrified animal panics and escapes the studio.

It runs to Springfield Elementary School, where it attacks Bart outside the classroom. He cries, "Wolf!" but Mrs. Krabappel ignores his pleas. Groundskeeper Willie rescues him only after serious damage has been done, and after all of Bart's lies, no one believes that he was attacked by a wolf. Since he feels that he will not be believed, he decides to say that he made it up, thus showing a "little honesty" to Mrs. Krabappel. He then passes out on the floor. Grandpa takes him to the hospital, while Willie gives the wolf some rubbing alcohol and consoles him about losing, saying that "I was wrestling wolves back when you was at your mother's teat."

Meanwhile, Mr. Burns attempts (with the help of a hostage Tom Jones, whom Marge stated was her favorite singer) to seduce Marge, but when she tells him that she's married, he fires her. She threatens a lawsuit and enlists the help of Lionel Hutz, who is completely unsuccessful and runs yelping from Mr. Burns's squad of real lawyers.

Mr. Burns has a change of heart after seeing how Homer would stand up for Marge. The episode ends as Homer and Marge enjoy a private show performed by the chained-up and protesting Tom Jones.

Trivia

• Lisa's claim that both Pierre and Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning is only half-correct. Marie died of radiation poisoning, but Pierre died in an accident, he was run over by a horse-driven cart.
• The photo of Mr. Burns meeting Elvis, given to Smithers in Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk, is visible in Smithers' office during Marge's interview.
• The Nuclear Plant has a system to deliver messages via a pneumatic tube. However, the messages never reach their destination, instead they are used in a beaver dam.
• Smithers doesn't seem to mind Burns' affections for Marge.
• In the scene where Homer and his coworkers protest the removal of their doughnuts, Homer's hat changes color from red to blue.

Censorship

• The part where Bart feigns his Tourette's Syndrome by twitching and muttering, "Shove it, witch!" got complaints from censors and viewers who found it tasteless because it showed Bart mocking a serious illness and insulting a female character. In one rebroadcast, Mrs. Krabappel's mention of Bart having Tourette's was redubbed with "rabies" and Bart's spastic actions were cut. In syndication, the Tourette's Syndrome claim was left in, but the part with Bart's spastic actions were cut. The DVD version replaces "Tourette's Syndrome" with "rabies" just like the rebroadcast version, but leaves in Bart's twitching and calling Krabappel a "witch" (but you can hear Bart mumbling "Tourette's Syndrome" when he's taking his test).

Claims made by Marge's resume

• She has worked as a chauffeur.
• She has worked as a seamstress.
• She has worked as a curator for large mammals (namely Homer).
• She worked for the Carter administration (She voted for him twice).
• She wrote a Muddy Waters song.
• She is fluent in Swahili.
• She invented a machine used in the nuclear power plant.

Cultural references

• The song performed by Smithers is a reference to Citizen Kane.
• The song for the "Funny Hat Day" is "What's New Pussycat?", performed by Tom Jones for the movie with the same title.
• In the end a kidnapped Tom Jones with fetters on his feet is performing "It's Not Unusual".
• While Mr. Burns is looking through the surveillance cameras, The Imperial March is being played in the background