Some Enchanted Evening
From Simpsons Wiki
| Some Enchanted Evening | |
| |
| Season 1 Episode 13 | |
| Production Code | 7G01 |
| Original Airdate | May 13, 1990 |
| Written By | Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Directed By | David Silverman Kent Butterworth |
| Show Runners | James L. Brooks Matt Groening Sam Simon |
| Special Guests | Penny Marshall as Ms. Lucille Botz June Foray as the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Babysitting Service Receptionist. |
| Blackboard Text | "I will not yell 'Fire' in a crowded classroom." |
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"Some Enchanted Evening" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons, but was the first full-length episode to be produced. The episode features Bart's, Lisa's, and Maggie's encounter with the notorious "Babysitter Bandit".
Contents |
Plot
Marge is fed up with Homer's thoughtlessness and explains her predicament on Dr. Marvin Monroe's radio call-in show. Monroe urges Marge to confront Homer about her feelings. Homer, who has heard the call on a radio at work, feels bad and – after a stop at Moe's Tavern for advice – brings home a single rose and chocolates. Marge's mood immediately softens, and a remorseful Homer decides to treat Marge to a night on the town: dinner at a fancy restaurant, dancing, and staying at a hotel room. Marge attempts to hire a babysitter through the local babysitting service, but is rejected because of her children's previous antics with babysitters. Homer calls later and – after identifying himself as "Homer Sampson" – is able to get a babysitter.
Later, Ms. Botz – an imposing-looking woman with an intimidating demeanor – arrives to take the job. On Marge's advice, Ms. Botz has Bart and Lisa watch "The Happy Little Elves Meet the Curious Bear Cub." However, it isn't long before Ms. Botz leaves the room, and Bart – having grown bored with the Happy Little Elves – switches to something more to his liking. He tunes into a station airing "America's Most Armed and Dangerous," which is doing a profile of a wanted burglar nicknamed "The Babysitter Bandit." The announcer also warns that the suspect, named Lucille Botzkowski, could be "using a clever alias." A profile of the suspect confirms Bart and Lisa's suspicions: Ms. Botz is "The Babysitter Bandit." As if on cue, "Ms. Botz" enters the room. Bart and Lisa try to hide, but she easily finds them, ties them up and makes them watch "The Happy Little Elves" tape as Ms. Botz goes about her work uninterrupted.
Maggie eventually wakes up and goes downstairs, to discover that her siblings are tied up watching TV. She frees Bart and Lisa, and they are able to knock out Ms. Botz with a baseball bat. After tying up Ms. Botz, the kids – finding all their telephones disabled – go to a nearby pay telephone and alert the authorities. Meanwhile, Marge decides to try to call to check up on things at home, but gets no answer. Worried, she and Homer decide to go home, finding Ms. Botz bound and gagged. Homer, thinking his children have gotten the best of another babysitter and unaware of her true identity, frees her. Ms. Botz makes a clean getaway, just seconds before the Springfield police arrive to arrest her. After admitting he released her, he is told of Botz's suspected identity. Realizing he is on national television, Homer decides to exaggerate the story so it doesn't seem he delibrately helped her escape. He reflects on this in bed after watching himself on the news, and declares himself a failure as a father. Marge, however, comforts him, claiming that since the three children he parented could outwit a dangerous criminal, he must have done something right.
First screening
According to the commentary for the episode on the Simpsons Season 1 DVD, a debacle erupted when this episode, the first to return from animation in Korea, was screened in front of the production staff at the Gracie bungalow. The animation was reportedly so appalling and even disturbing that the room had cleared by the time the episode finished playing. In a 1991 interview on the The Tonight Show with guest host Jay Leno, Matt Groening described one of these disturbing scenes in which the kids were watching the happy little elves that featured an add in by the animators in which a baby cub decapitates an elf and drinks the blood from its head.[1] Things hastened by executive producer James L. Brooks' initial reaction, "This is shit!". A heated argument ensued between Brooks and the Klasky-Csupo animation studio head Gabor Csupo; Csupo denied that there was anything wrong with the animation and suggested that the real problem lay with the quality of the show's writing. The producers considered aborting production on the series if the next episode, "Bart the Genius" turned out as poorly, but it turned out to suffer only a few, easily fixable problems.
Afterwards, the producers entreated Fox to push the air date for the series premiere back several months, which was then switched to "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" so that more time could be spent fixing the animation problems with this episode. Directorial duties for the retakes were also handed from Kent Butterworth to David Silverman, who already had considerable experience directing the Simpsons Tracey Ullman shorts. The episode's production number is 7G01, as it was the first Simpsons episode produced and, if not for the aforementioned animation problems, it would have served as the series premiere.
Deleted scenes
The Complete First Season DVD contains some of the original footage that had to be re-done before the episode was aired. No sound effects were included, but the original dialogue tracks can be heard. The quality of the footage was slightly re-mastered for the DVD. Commentary on these scenes explaining why they were redone, was also included.
The scenes featured were:
- The original opening: Marge is talking to Maggie, while cooking breakfast. Homer and the kids rush downstairs and raid the kitchen for food. Bart and Lisa's "tug-of-war" over the last donut is here, but animated differently. Also included is a brief moment where Marge puckers her lips to kiss Homer, but Homer drinks her coffee and slams the door on her lips, leaving a mark. This would explain the kiss mark left on the back of the door later in the episode when Marge and Homer leave for their date.
- Angry Marge: As an angry Marge waits for Homer, Dr. Marvin Monroe's words plays in her in head, while radios circle above her head. This was re-animated with Homer heads instead of monstrous visions of home appliances.
- Calling a sitter: An alternate take to Homer's reaction to the old lady on the phone quoting that Homer is a "big ape".
- Dancing: An alternate take of Homer and Marge dancing.
Debut appearances
- This is the first episode produced with:
Trivia
- Also starring Christopher Collins as Moe, the host of "America's Most Armed And Dangerous, the Maitre D, and a reporter;" June Foray as the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Babysitting Service Receptionist; and Paul Willson as Howard, the florist.
Cultural references
- The chalkboard gag sentence is a reference to a 1919 Supreme Court Case concerning the limits of freedom of speech.
- "America's Most Wanted" - The "America's Most Armed and Dangerous" show is a parody of the FOX network show. The host of the parody is a John Walsh-soundalike (voiced by Christopher Collins).
- The Happy Little Elves - These elf-like creatures are similar to other fantasy folk-type cartoon characters, most notably The Smurfs and The Care Bears.
- "Jaws" - The ominous-sounding music as Ms. Botz approaches Bart and Lisa is similar to the music that plays when the bloodthirsty shark is about to attack in the movie.
- "Patricia" - Homer hums the song, made famous by Cuban bandleader Perez Prado.
- "Some Enchanted Evening" - The episode title is taken from the title of a song from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" and is also the name of a 1978 Blue Öyster Cult album (one later episode featured that band's 1977 hit, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," and the title of another later episode spoofed that song).
- A dirty limerick - When Homer calls the babysitting service he gives them a fake name of Sampson, reiterating it with the line "No, I said Sampson, not Simpson." This is a reversal of the poem, which ends with "My name is Simpson, not Samson."