'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky
Encyclopedia
"' Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" is the sixteenth episode of the fourteenth season of The Simpsons
that aired March 30, 2003. The title is a punning reference to the line " 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" from the song "Purple Haze
" by Jimi Hendrix
.
being introduced to Declan Desmond (voiced by Eric Idle
), a no-nonsense British
filmmaker, whose documentaries
are hard-hitting and, sometimes, a bit distorted. He shows Bart
’s fellow students a clip from one of his documentaries. After the clips are finished, Declan informs the kids that he is now shooting a documentary in Springfield Elementary and wants them all to act as they normally do.
While touring and filming the playground, where Bart
is humiliated by Nelson Muntz
, Declan is taken by Skinner to a room where Lisa is sitting. The room is decorated nicely and Bach
is playing in the background. While talking about herself, Lisa
tips over in her chair, and the decorations fall away, revealing the room to be a storage closet. Unamused by the charade, Declan proceeds to belittle Lisa as she goes on about the multiplicity of her interests, insinuating that she could neither be happy nor successful juggling too many hobbies or passions. Though hurt by his criticism, Lisa takes it to heart and resolves to find a singular passion to devote her energies to.
Lisa eventually decides to take up astronomy
. She convinces Homer to buy her a telescope
, but discovers that light pollution
from the city is blocking her view of Venus
and Jupiter
. After a discussion with Professor Frink
, Lisa starts a petition
to reduce the city’s light pollution. After gaining enough signatures, Mayor Quimby agrees to turn off the streetlights, leading to a clear view of the stars at which many people from Springfield marvel.
Meanwhile Bart is looking for a way to regain his popularity after being humiliated and after seeing Nelson parading around with stolen car hood ornament
s decides to go one better and steal Fat Tony’s hood ornament. On their first attempt Milhouse and Bart are foiled because Quimby has bowed to public pressure to switch the lights back on permanently because of the rising crime.
Lisa (still wanting to see the light pollution reduced) and Bart (still wanting to steal Fat Tony’s Hood ornament) take a now sleep-deprived Homer (due to the constant bright street lights) to the Power plant and overload the generators causing a power outage
. They are then confronted by the townfolk about the power outage until Lisa points out a meteor shower
that she knew would happen and wanted to see but could not because of the previous light pollution. The town look on in wonderment while Bart sneaks off and successfully steals Fat Tony’s hood ornament.
The show ends with various documentary style clips from Declan’s planned documentary, which Declan ends by saying he is going to Moe's.
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
that aired March 30, 2003. The title is a punning reference to the line " 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" from the song "Purple Haze
Purple Haze
"Purple Haze" is a song written in 1966 and recorded in 1967 by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and released as a single in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It appeared on their 1967 album Are You Experienced...
" by Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
.
Plot
The episode begins with BartBart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
being introduced to Declan Desmond (voiced by Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
), a no-nonsense British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
filmmaker, whose documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
are hard-hitting and, sometimes, a bit distorted. He shows Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
’s fellow students a clip from one of his documentaries. After the clips are finished, Declan informs the kids that he is now shooting a documentary in Springfield Elementary and wants them all to act as they normally do.
While touring and filming the playground, where Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is humiliated by Nelson Muntz
Nelson Muntz
Nelson Mandela Muntz is a fictional character and bully from the animated TV series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Nancy Cartwright. Nelson was introduced in Season 1's "Bart the General" as a bully but later turned into a friend of Bart Simpson, who is best identified by his signature laugh .-Role...
, Declan is taken by Skinner to a room where Lisa is sitting. The room is decorated nicely and Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
is playing in the background. While talking about herself, Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
tips over in her chair, and the decorations fall away, revealing the room to be a storage closet. Unamused by the charade, Declan proceeds to belittle Lisa as she goes on about the multiplicity of her interests, insinuating that she could neither be happy nor successful juggling too many hobbies or passions. Though hurt by his criticism, Lisa takes it to heart and resolves to find a singular passion to devote her energies to.
Lisa eventually decides to take up astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. She convinces Homer to buy her a telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
, but discovers that light pollution
Light pollution
Light pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excessive or obtrusive artificial light.The International Dark-Sky Association defines light pollution as:...
from the city is blocking her view of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
and Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
. After a discussion with Professor Frink
Professor Frink
Professor John Nerdelbaum Frink, Jr., or simply Professor Frink, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money". Frink is Springfield's nerdy scientist and professor and is extremely...
, Lisa starts a petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
to reduce the city’s light pollution. After gaining enough signatures, Mayor Quimby agrees to turn off the streetlights, leading to a clear view of the stars at which many people from Springfield marvel.
Meanwhile Bart is looking for a way to regain his popularity after being humiliated and after seeing Nelson parading around with stolen car hood ornament
Hood ornament
A hood/bonnet ornament, or radiator cap, or car mascot is a specially crafted model of something which symbolizes a car company like a badge, located on the front center portion of the hood...
s decides to go one better and steal Fat Tony’s hood ornament. On their first attempt Milhouse and Bart are foiled because Quimby has bowed to public pressure to switch the lights back on permanently because of the rising crime.
Lisa (still wanting to see the light pollution reduced) and Bart (still wanting to steal Fat Tony’s Hood ornament) take a now sleep-deprived Homer (due to the constant bright street lights) to the Power plant and overload the generators causing a power outage
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
. They are then confronted by the townfolk about the power outage until Lisa points out a meteor shower
Meteor shower
A meteor shower is a celestial event in which a number of meteors are observed to radiate from one point in the night sky. These meteors are caused by streams of cosmic debris called meteoroids entering Earth's atmosphere at extremely high speeds on parallel trajectories. Most meteors are smaller...
that she knew would happen and wanted to see but could not because of the previous light pollution. The town look on in wonderment while Bart sneaks off and successfully steals Fat Tony’s hood ornament.
The show ends with various documentary style clips from Declan’s planned documentary, which Declan ends by saying he is going to Moe's.
Cultural references
- The title is a play on the Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
song "Purple Haze": "Actin' funny, but I don't know why-- 'scuse me while I kiss the sky". - When LisaLisa SimpsonLisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
shuts down the power for the last time in the episode, Sideshow Mel says: 'I say we'll tear her limb from limb'; as a reference to the Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song 'Bob Dylan's 115th DreamBob Dylan's 115th Dream"Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. In 2005, Mojo Magazine rated the song as the #68 greatest Bob Dylan song....
' from the album Bringing It All BackBringing It All Back HomeBringing It All Back Home is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's fifth studio album, released in March 1965 by Columbia Records. The album is divided into an electric and an acoustic side. On side one of the original LP, Dylan is backed by an electric rock and roll band - a move that further alienated...
Home. - The recording from Springfield Museum mentions Rigel VII as a planet, although it is merely a fictional planet originally from the Star Trek universeStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
, and the apparent home of Kang and Kodos from The Simpsons. - The store where Homer buys Lisa's telescope is called "Teenage Pasteland". This is a parody of the phrase "teenage wasteland" which is a line from (and is often mistaken to be the title of) the The WhoThe WhoThe Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
song, "Baba O'RileyBaba O'Riley"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
". - The music playing when Lisa is in the museum and first develops her inspiration for astronomy is Jupiter from Gustav HolstGustav HolstGustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's The PlanetsThe PlanetsThe Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...
Suite. - The Krusty Burger documentary's name Do You Want Lies with That? became the tagline for the film version of Fast Food NationFast Food Nation (film)Fast Food Nation is a 2006 American/British drama film directed by Richard Linklater. The screenplay was written by Linklater and Eric Schlosser, loosely based on the latter's bestselling 2001 non-fiction book of the same name...
. - Groundskeeper Willie is revealed to be an Aberdeen F.C.Aberdeen F.C.Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
fan. - Don McLeanDon McLeanDonald "Don" McLean is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for the 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".-Musical roots:...
's song "VincentVincent (song)"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting The Starry Night. The song also describes different paintings done by the artist.McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading...
" plays during the meteor shower. - The scene in which the baseball lights explode parodies the home run scene from The NaturalThe Natural (film)The Natural is a 1984 film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's 1952 baseball novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robert Redford, Glenn Close and Robert Duvall...
, accompanied by the dramatic music. - While sleep-deprived, Marge yells Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
s famous opening catch-phrase, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!"Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" is the famous line featured on the American comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live which runs on the NBC broadcast network...
". - In the background of the toy store there is a box that reads Clay D'oh. The item's name is a parody, combining Play-DohPlay-DohPlay-Doh is a modeling compound used by young children for art and craft projects at home and in school. Composed of flour, water, salt, boric acid, and mineral oil, the product was first manufactured in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA as a wallpaper cleaner in the 1930s...
and Homer's annoyed grunt. - While watching the meteor shower, Marge comments "this is better than a screen saver". This is a reference to the 'Starry Starry Night' module on the 'After Dark' screensaver packs.
- The picture on which the Captain draws Lisa's petition by way of signature is an image of the closing chapter of Moby Dick. It depicts the Pequod being smashed by an upwards lunge from Moby Dick.
- Declan mentions Machiavelli while in the playground.
- Documentarian asks several children, "where do you see yourself in seven years," referring to the Up Series.
- Mayor Quimby's comment about the fading southern belle is an allusion to the Tennessee WilliamsTennessee WilliamsThomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
play A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
.
External links
- "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" at The Simpsons.com