Pokey Mom
From Simpsons Wiki
"Pokey Mom" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' twelfth season, aired on January 14, 2001.
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Plot
When the family attends a prison rodeo, Marge meets Jack Crowley, a convict whom she believes to have some artistic potential. She sees his work and likes it. Marge later teaches a class on being an artist to the prisoners. Jack is up for parole and, with Marge's help, is granted parole. When Jack is looking for a job, Marge finds a mural-painting job at Springfield Elementary School. Jack paints an epic mural symbolizing school spirit in which the whole school likes (including the teachers), but Principal Skinner (who hates it) demands that he tone it down. After reluctantly giving into Skinner's wishes, he is criticized for doing a terrible job. He goes crazy and commits arson. Inevitably, Marge does not like Jack for lying to her as he returns to jail.
Meanwhile, Homer suffers from a back injury at the rodeo, and he sees a chiropractor. He reveals that he can solve his back problems with the garbage can; therefore, he names it "Dr. Homer's Miracle Spine-o-Cylinder", and makes a business out of it. It turns out be successful until the other chiropractors denounce it and destroy it.
Cultural references
- Bob Dylan's song "Hurricane," about boxer and convict Rubin Carter, is obliquely referenced when the announcer at a prison rodeo says of Crowley that he is so vile "Bob Dylan wrote a song to keep him in prison!". Ironically, this statement also recalls Dylan's take on William Zantzinger, as musically chronicled in "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" back in 1964's The Times They Are a-Changin'.
- Michael Keaton's vocal performance as Jack Crowley is similar to his portrayal of sociopathic convict Peter McCabe in the 1998 film Desperate Measures.
- The name "Pokey Mom" is a tribute to the popular Japanese franchise "Pokémon", which is occasionally (intentionally or unintentionally) pronounced "Pokeymon" and sometimes misspelled as Pokémom.
- Moe echoes the famous line from Chinatown as "Forget it Homer, it's Chirotown".
- The prison rodeo at the beginning of the episode is a parody of the Huntsville Prison Rodeo, that took place in Huntsville, Texas from the years of 1931-1986. Inmates would participate in typical rodeo fare such as bareback and saddle bronco riding and bull riding. The rodeo drew huge crowds and was a boost to the local business economy. It was finally shut due to lack of funds for repairs.
Trivia
- When Homer is dangling Lisa in front of the bull, he looks for a blue object to calm it down. Looking to Bart he asks, "Hey, where's your blue shirt?". This is a reference to the official Simpsons line of action figures, where Bart often sports a blue shirt.
- Sideshow Bob is shown in the prison infirmary wearing a headcast from the neck up. Later on in the episode Marge tells Bart that Sideshow Bob said he would be seeing him very soon and Bart just laughs it off and says "Oh, that Bob" he would in fact encounter him again in Day of The Jackanapes