Marge Gets a Job

"Marge Gets a Job"is the seventh episode of thefourth seasonof the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons.It originally aired onFoxin the United States on November 5, 1992. In this episode,Margegets a job at theSpringfield Nuclear Power Plantto pay for foundation repair atthe Simpsons house.Mr. Burnsdevelops a crush on Marge after seeing her at work andsexually harassesher. A subplot withBartparallels the fable "The Boy Who Cried Wolf".

"Marge Gets a Job"
The Simpsonsepisode
Episodeno.	Season 4 Episode 7
Directed by	Jeff Lynch
Written by	Bill Oakley&Josh Weinstein
Production code	9F05
Original air date	November 5, 1992(1992-11-05)
Guest appearances
Tom Jonesas himself Phil HartmanasTroy McClureandLionel Hutz
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not teach others to fly"
Couch gag	The family members' heads are on the wrong bodies and they switch to the right heads withMaggietaking the pacifier fromHomer's mouth.
Commentary	Matt Groening Al Jean Bill Oakley Josh Weinstein Jeffrey Lynch Jim Reardon

The episode was written byBill OakleyandJosh Weinsteinand directed byJeffrey Lynch.

Plot

The Simpson family's houseneeds its foundation repaired, but the family does not have enough money to afford the repairs. When a job opens atSpringfield Nuclear Power Plant(because Mr. Burns has forced the retirement of an employee who has worked at the plant for 45 years),Margedecides to apply for the job opening so she andHomercan collectively earn enough money to pay for the foundation repair. After Lisa helps Marge write a resumé, Marge is hired.Mr. Burnsbecomes infatuated with Marge.

Meanwhile,Bart,after making several excuses to avoid taking a test, is forced to take the test by his teacher,Edna Krabappel.She places him alone outside the classroom, hands him the test, and leaves. A captive wolf escapes from a taping ofTheKrusty the ClownShowand attacks Bart outside the classroom. He cries "Wolf!" but Edna, who advised him to read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf",ignores him.Groundskeeper Willierescues Bart by fighting the wolf, giving Bart time to return to his classroom. Since he feels that he will not be believed if he tells the truth, Bart says, with apparent honesty, that he made up the story. He then passes out and Edna realizes that Bart really was attacked.

In an effort to impress Marge, Mr. Burns gives her a promotion. When she tells him that she is married, he fires her from her position andsexually harassesher. She threatens to sue Mr. Burns and enlists the help ofLionel Hutz.Hutz initially has a strong case, but he flees in terror after discovering Mr. Burns has ten lawyers. Homer stands up to Mr. Burns and admonishes him for sexually harassing Marge. Mr. Burns is impressed by Homer's devotion to Marge and decides to arrange a private concert for them featuringTom Jones,who had previously been taken captive by Burns after Marge told him she was a fan of Jones's music.

Production

SingerTom Jonesguest stars and Marge is revealed as a huge fan.

The idea for the show came fromConan O'Brien,who thought ofMargegetting a job at thepower plantand thatMr. Burnshas a crush on her.The animators had trouble animating Marge with the suit and lipstick.Director Jeff Lynch said there were a few scenes where Marge "looks like a monster".All the jargon used byTroy McClurewas taken from aTime–Lifefoundation repair book and used accurately.The original subplot for the episode was Mr. Burns tellingHomerto dress up asMister Atomand have him go to schools to talk to the children.The cast liked Tom Jones as a guest star, finding him genial and fun to work with. He offered to perform a concert after he was done recording lines.

The animators had originally drawn three different versions ofBartafter he was attacked by the wolf.They picked the version that looked the least scary, as they did not want Bart to look too "beaten up".An animation error during the dream sequence with Mr. Burns also caused issues when dealing with network censors, mistaking a "lump in his bed" as anerection,which was supposed to be Mr. Smithers' knee.

Cultural references

The restaurant "The Spruce Caboose" is a reference toHoward Hughes's planeThe Spruce Goose.Homer's fantasy of life in the woods is a parody ofHenry David Thoreau'sWalden.Grandpa Simpson asks Bart if he has read "The Boy Who Cried Wolf",and he replies" I glanced at it. Boy cries wolf. Has a few laughs. I forget how it ends. "Mr. Burns asks Smithers if he can dig upAl Jolson.The song performed for Mr. Burns at the retirement party is based on the song and dance number inCitizen Kane(1941).The photo of Mr. Burns meetingElvis Presleyis modeled on the photo ofRichard Nixonmeeting Elvis.While Mr. Burns is looking through the surveillance cameras, "The Imperial March"from theStar Warsfilms is played in the background.

Reception

Critical reception

Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the bookI Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guidecommented, "We like Bart's fantasy of the radioactiveMarieandPierre Curie,and Smithers' fantasy of his loved one flying through the window. A collection of wonderful set pieces rather than a story, which fizzles out without any real attempt at an ending. "

Empireplaced the "Mister Burns" dance number as the show's fourth best film parody, "the pick of a big bunch" from the show's manyCitizen Kaneparodies, coming "replete withWellesiancamera angles and subtly altered lyrics ".

Nathan Rabin writes that "'Marge Gets A Job' is just about perfect. There is not a wasted sequence or unfunny gag. It's head-spinningly smart in a way that doesn't call attention to itself—like setting the retirement party at The Spruce Caboose, a giant, unwieldy, trainwreck-themed eatery whose name and conceit are brilliant parodies of Howard Hughes' giant wooden airplane, the Spruce Goose. In its golden prime,The Simpsonsdid things no one else would and did them better than anyone else possibly could. In the process, it created a legacy that is still unmatched two decades on. "

Ratings

In its original broadcast, "Marge Gets a Job" finished 25th in ratings for the week of November 2–8, 1992, with aNielsen ratingof 13.6, equivalent to approximately 12.7 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beatingBeverly Hills, 90210andThe Simpsonsepisode "Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie",which aired on Tuesday in the same week.

Alternate version

In the original airing of this episode, Mrs. Krabappel names several different diseases Bart has faked in order to get out of taking his English test, one of which isTourette's syndrome.After Bart claims that he is not over it, he begins barking and snarling and mutters, "Shove it, witch!"This scene garnered many complaints from people who thought it was tasteless of the writers to make fun of an actual conditionand Joshua Smith, a boy inRenton, Washingtonbegan seeking legal action. Smith demanded that they "not repeat the episode and have Bart Simpson befriend somebody with Tourette's on the show" and include an apology from Bart at the end.Executive producerMike Reissreplied with an apology saying "We kind of feel like we made a mistake this time. We felt bad about this."In a move that was unprecedented for the show, the producers agreed to remove the scene from future broadcasts.However, Smith's other requests went unfulfilled.In the version of the episode released on the season fourDVD boxset,the part with Bart demonstrating his supposed Tourette's syndrome to Mrs. Krabappel was kept intact, but Krabappel's line about Bart having "...that unfortunate bout of Tourette's syndrome" was replaced with "...that unfortunate bout of rabies."

Additionally, duringSmithers' dream sequence with Mr. Burns, censors demanded the cutting of several seconds of animation that showed "Mr. Burns land[ing] in a particular position on Smithers anatomy".

Following the2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunamiand the associated nuclear emergency, the episode was pulled froman Austrian networkdue to jokes about radiation poisoning.

External links

• "Marge Gets a Job"atIMDb
• "Marge Gets a Job episode capsule".The Simpsons Archive.