The Italian Bob

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"The Italian Bob" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' seventeenth season. It first aired on December 11, 2005 in U.S.A. and March 14, 2007 in Italy. This episode is the ninth appearance of Sideshow Bob and the last seen appearance of him since this episode aired. This episode was also shown during the Super Bowl XL Halftime show (February 5, 2006).

Plot

After Montgomery Burns gets teased about his old car by the kids at Springfield Elementary, he sends Homer to pick up a brand new Lamborgotti Fasterossa car in Italy. The rest of his family goes along with him and they fly over on Alitalia. After they pick up the car, they have a great time touring the country. When they arrive in Pompeii they see a historic family who look identical to themselves. During the trip, Homer and Bart manifest profound knowledge of the history of Italy, not to mention the Italian language. After a huge wheel of Mortadella lands on their car, they slowly push it into a small Tuscan village nearby called Salsiccia, which means sausage in the Italian language. When they get there, they ask an elderly woman for help, and she tells them that the mayor speaks English. In gratitude, Homer gives her a cup with "Kentucky" written on it, which the woman breaks angrily, screaming that in Italian, "Kentucky" means "whore". The Simpsons find out the mayor is none other than Sideshow Bob. They are shocked to find him there, and he feels the same way. Bob explains to them that after he attempted to kill Bart, he came to Italy to begin a new life. After a rough start, the natives warm up to him after he helped them crush grapes into wine (using his enormous feet). After that, they elected him mayor of their tiny village. Bob no longer has any intention of killing Bart, and it is revealed that he has a wife and son, Francesca and Gino, who know nothing about his past life in America. Bob begs the Simpsons not to tell anyone, and they agree in order to have the car fixed.

The Simpsons enjoy spending time in the village, and they continue to keep Bob's past a secret. However, when Lisa gets drunk at a party, she starts to spout off about him being an attempted-murderer. He leads her away from the table, but as she stumbles backwards, she rips off his suit and everyone can see that underneath is his prison uniform. The village finds out the Bob is an attempted killer, and they sack him as Mayor. The Simpsons take off in the fixed car, and Bob swears vendetta on them.

When the family flees, Bob follows them on a motorcycle. Homer drives into a ditch and ends up driving on ancient Roman ruins, and after they go off the end, the car ends up on top of Trajan's Column in the Roman Forum. Bob's wife and son meet him, and Francesca tells him that they will kill the Simpsons together as a family.

Meanwhile, the Simpsons are wondering what they should do next, since they are in a foreign country, have no car and no money whatsoever. Lisa spots a bus with a poster advertising Krusty the Klown's performance in Pagliacci. They meet up with him at the Colosseum, and he puts them in as un-noticed extras. However, Bob, Francesca and Gino find them and corner them on the stage while Krusty, who went through a trap door, flees the stage, allowing Bob to perform the climax of Vesti la Giubba. Before Bob and family could finish off the Simpsons, though, Krusty's limo picks them up. Krusty needs them to smuggle an ancient artifact back to America. The Terwilligers walk away with evil smiles, plotting revenge.

Cultural references

  • The episode title is a reference to the 1969 film The Italian Job and its 2003 remake.
  • The Lamborgotti Fasterossa is virtually identical to the real-life Lamborghini Gallardo. As a play on the names of Italian exotic cars, the Fasterossa's name is also derived from the Ferrari Testarossa and the manufacturer Bugatti or Maserati. The badge is of a horse (which appears on the Ferrari badge) but is in the stance of the bull on the Lamborghini badge. The 'rossa' root might explain the car's red color, despite Lamborghini's signature yellow color. Also, Sideshow Bob chases the Simpsons with a motorcycle that looks like a Ducati 999.
  • The song Lisa chants as the cheeses bounce towards the Fasterossa is to the tune of "Italiano Calypso", a song on The Seven Hills of Rome.
  • When the Italian police are looking through a book of American criminals for Bob, Peter Griffin has plagirismo under his picture, and Stan from American Dad has plagirismo di plagirismo under his picture.

Awards

it:Il Bob italiano ru:The Italian Bob

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