A Streetcar Named Marge
Encyclopedia
"A Streetcar Named Marge" is the second episode of The Simpsons
' fourth season
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge
wins the role of Blanche DuBois
in a musical
version of Tennessee Williams
' A Streetcar Named Desire
. Homer
is apathetic to his wife's acting pursuits, and Marge begins to see parallels between him and Stanley Kowalski
, the play's boorish lead male character. The episode contains a subplot
in which Maggie Simpson
attempts to retrieve her pacifier
from a strict daycare
attendant.
Jeff Martin
wrote the episode, and Rich Moore
served as director. Jon Lovitz
made his fourth guest appearance on The Simpsons, this time as musical director Llewellyn Sinclair, as well as Llewellyn's sister, who runs the daycare. The episode generated controversy for its original song about New Orleans
, which contains several unflattering lyrics about the city. One New Orleans newspaper published the lyrics before the episode aired, prompting numerous complaints to the local Fox affiliate. In response, the president of Fox Broadcasting issued an apology to anyone who was offended. Despite the controversial song, the episode was well-received by many fans, and show creator Matt Groening
has named it one of his favorite episodes.
While Homer
, Bart
and Lisa
are watching television, Marge announces that she is going to audition for a local musical production of A Streetcar Named Desire
. She wants to meet new people, since she usually spends all day at home with Maggie. The rest of the family reacts with disinterest and continues to watch television.
The musical is called "Oh, Streetcar!" and is directed by the acerbic Llewellyn Sinclair. After Ned Flanders
is cast as Stanley Kowalski, Marge and several other women audition for Blanche DuBois. Llewellyn immediately rejects Marge and the others, explaining that Blanche is supposed to be a "delicate flower being trampled by an uncouth lout". However, as a dejected Marge calls home and takes Homer's dinner order, Llewellyn realizes that she is perfect for the role.
The next day, Maggie causes distractions when Marge brings her to rehearsal, so Llewellyn instructs Marge to enroll the baby at his sister's daycare center, the Ayn Rand
School for Tots. Ms. Sinclair runs a strict daycare, and she immediately confiscates Maggie's pacifier. Maggie and the other babies later engage in a Great Escape
-style attempt to retrieve their pacifiers, but Ms. Sinclair thwarts their efforts and sends Maggie to "The Box" (a playpen).
During rehearsal, Marge struggles with a crucial scene in which Blanche is supposed to break a glass bottle and shove it in Stanley's face. She cannot muster enough hatred towards the Stanley character to break the bottle, and Llewellyn eventually leaves in disgust. After coming home, Marge asks Homer to help her learn her lines, but Homer is more interested in his handheld bowling
game. The day before the performance, Marge and Ned are again practicing the bottle scene as Homer arrives to drive Marge home. Homer repeatedly interrupts the rehearsal, then heads back to his car and honks for Marge to come out. Imagining that Stanley is Homer, Marge finally smashes the bottle and lunges at Ned. At dinner that night, Marge leaves early to practice with Flanders. Homer asks her to open his can of pudding, but Marge reacts with disdain and calls him a "big ape".
The next day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots, Maggie again attempts to regain the pacifiers and this time succeeds. Homer arrives to pick her up and discovers hundreds of babies sucking on pacifiers. He collects Maggie, and he and his children go to watch the musical. Homer immediately falls into boredom, but he perks up when Marge appears on stage and becomes saddened over the way Stanley treats Blanche. At the end of the musical, Marge receives a warm reaction from the crowd, but she misinterprets Homer's sadness for boredom. Afterwards, she confronts him with hostility, but Homer is able to explain that he was genuinely moved by Blanche's situation. Thus, he reacted with sadness because he wanted to be the husband that she deserves to have in her life who loved and cherished her, not like Stanley who neglects and mistreats her. Marge realizes that Homer really did watch the musical, and the two happily leave the theater.
then suggested that Marge could play Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Brooks saw that Marge's relationship with Homer was similar to Blanche's relationship with Stanley, and he wanted to use that fact to build the emotional arc for an episode. The estate of Tennessee Williams would not let the show use large excerpts from the actual play, since the work was copyrighted. However, Fox lawyer Anatole Klebanow said that original songs based on the play were acceptable. According to producer Mike Reiss
, Klebanow even promised to "take [their] case to the Supreme Court
to get [the] episode aired." Martin later explained that while the songs made the episode funnier, they also made it harder to write.
The Maggie subplot was present in Jeff Martin's episode pitch. The music in the sequence is Elmer Bernstein
's march
theme from The Great Escape. Simpsons composer Alf Clausen
secured the rights to the score, along with the original orchestra charts. The Great Escape had been Martin's favorite film as child, and he said "it was so exciting and so stirring" to hear the music being performed by the Simpsons' studio orchestra.
s. The episode contains many long setpiece
s, especially during the final third, which includes the end of the Maggie subplot and the performance of the musical. Several scenes required the animators to draw dozens of background characters. Rich Moore
, the head director, initially feared the episode would not be completed in time. David Silverman
, the supervising director, also had doubts; according to Jeff Martin, Silverman sent back a cartoon of himself reading the script with his eyes popping out and his jaw dropped. Producer Al Jean
said that Moore "worked himself to death" to produce the episode's most elaborate sequences.
A number of scenes that appeared in the storyboard
and animatic were reordered or dropped altogether in the final version of the episode. Much of the Maggie subplot, for example, was modified before the episode aired. A scene in which the babies lock Ms. Sinclair in her office is missing from the final version of the episode.
and Phil Hartman
. Assistant producer Lona Williams
also had a minor speaking role. Comedian
Jon Lovitz
, who played Llewellyn Sinclair and Ms. Sinclar, made his fourth guest appearance on The Simpsons. He had previously voiced characters in "The Way We Was
", "Brush with Greatness
", and "Homer Defined
". Lovitz later worked with Al Jean and Mike Reiss in the short-lived animated sitcom The Critic
, and returned to The Simpsons for the episodes "A Star Is Burns
", "Hurricane Neddy
", "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
", "Half-Decent Proposal
", and "Homerazzi
". In 2006, Lovitz was named the eighth best Simpsons guest star by IGN
.
Though "Oh, Streetcar!" is based on A Streetcar Named Desire, the title of the musical alludes to the theatrical revue Oh! Calcutta!
Besides Blanche and Stanley, characters from A Streetcar Named Desire who appear in "Oh, Streetcar!" include Stella (played by Helen Lovejoy), the Young Collector (played by Apu
), and Mitch (played by Lionel Hutz
). The musical's closing song, "Kindness of Strangers", is a reference to Blanche's last line in the original play: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." However, the song is very cheery in tone, intentionally missing the point of Blanche's line, which is meant to be ironic.
The episode contains multiple references to Ayn Rand
's novels and Objectivist philosophy
. Maggie's daycare center is called the "Ayn Rand School for Tots", and Ms. Sinclair can be seen reading a book called The Fountainhead Diet, a reference to Rand's novel The Fountainhead
. On the wall of the daycare is a poster that reads "Helping is Futile", an allusion to Rand's rejection of the ethical doctrine of altruism
. Another wall sign reads "A is A," the law of identity
, which plays a central role in Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged
.
The Maggie subplot uses the musical score of The Great Escape
and contains several other allusions to the film. At one point, Ms. Sinclair punishes Maggie by sending her to a playpen called "The Box", a play on "The Cooler" from the 1963 film. Maggie even bounces a ball against the wall of the playpen, as Steve McQueen
's character Virgil Hilts does throughout the film while he is in confinement.
In the scene when Homer, Bart and Lisa pick up Maggie from the daycare center, babies are perched all over the building, staring at the family and quietly sucking on pacifiers. This is a spoof of the final shot of Alfred Hitchcock
's The Birds
. Indeed, a cartoon-version of Hitchcock can be seen walking his dogs past the daycare, a reference to his own cameo appearance in the film. The episode also contains an allusion to the opera scene in Citizen Kane
, in which Homer plays with a shredded playbill while he watches his wife in the musical.
of 11.8, equivalent to approximately 11.0 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Married... with Children
. Since airing, it has received many positive reviews from fans and television critics. Michael Moran of The Times
ranked the episode as the seventh best in the show's history. Entertainment Weekly
' s Dalton Ross lauded it as "the show's best ever musical episode", while Dave Kehr
of The New York Times
called it a "brilliant ... parody of Broadway musicals that should be required viewing for every Tony
viewer." In a list of his favorite episodes, Kevin Williamson of Canadian Online Explorer
added, "As pitch-perfect eviscerations of community theatre go, this tops Waiting for Guffman
." Series creator Matt Groening
has listed it as one of his own favorites, calling the subplot "Maggie's finest moment", and future Simpsons guest star Trey Anastasio
said the episode "may have been the best TV show ever". Executive producer James L. Brooks
also listed it as one of his favorites, saying it "showed we could go into areas no one thought we could go into". Following the episode, the Ayn Rand Society called Groening to say they were amazed at the references to Rand. They also asked him if the show was making fun of them.
In 1993, "A Streetcar Named Marge" and "Mr. Plow
" were submitted for the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series
". Before this season, the series had only been allowed to compete in the "Outstanding Animated Program
" category, winning twice, but in early 1993 the rules were changed so that animated television shows would be able to submit nominations for "Outstanding Comedy Series". However, the Emmy voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs, and The Simpsons did not receive a nomination. The Simpsons' crew submitted episodes for Outstanding Comedy Series the next season, but again these were not nominated. Since then, the show has submitted episodes in the animation category and has won seven times.
characters were supposed to walk out of the theater in disgust, but none of the voice actors could provide a convincing Cajun accent. An early version of the scene can be seen in an animatic included in the DVD boxset.
Before the premiere of the fourth season, the producers sent two episodes to critics: "Kamp Krusty
" and "A Streetcar Named Marge". A New Orleans critic viewed "A Streetcar Named Marge" and published the song lyrics in his newspaper before the episode aired. Many readers took the lyrics out of context, and New Orleans' then-Fox affiliate, WNOL-TV
(then-owned by musician Quincy Jones
; the Fox affiliation for the area later moved to WVUE), received about one hundred complaints on the day the episode aired. Several local radio stations also held on-air protests in response to the song.
At the urging of WNOL, Fox president Jamie Kellner
released a statement on October 1, 1992, apologizing for the episode:
The Simpsons' producers rushed out a chalkboard gag for "Homer the Heretic
", which aired a week after "A Streetcar Named Marge". It read, "I will not defame New Orleans." The gag was their attempt to apologize for the song and hopefully bring the controversy to an end. "We didn't realize people would get so mad," said Al Jean. "It was the best apology we could come up with in eight words or less." The issue passed quickly, and a person in a Bart Simpson costume even served as Krewe of Tucks
Grand Marshal at the 1993 New Orleans Mardi Gras
.
The episode generated further controversy in September 2005, when Channel 4
in the United Kingdom decided to air the episode a week after Hurricane Katrina
struck New Orleans. Arguing that the episode was an insensitive choice, given recent events, several viewers filed complaints with Ofcom
. Two days later, Channel 4 apologized on-air and directly contacted all those who had complained. Channel 4 had screened the episode for offensive content, but the reviews focused on the main content of the episode, and the song was not considered a key part of the plot. Channel 4 promised to update their review process to ensure that similar incidents would not occur.
. The episode was included in the 2000 VHS
set The Simpsons Go Hollywood and released on DVD
in 2004 as part of The Simpsons Complete Fourth Season. Jon Lovitz participated in the DVD's audio commentary
, alongside Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, and Hank Azaria
.
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...
The Simpsons (season 4)
The Simpsons fourth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 24, 1992 and May 13, 1993, beginning with "Kamp Krusty." The show runners for the fourth production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season...
. It first aired on the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
wins the role of Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Streetcar Named Desire...
in a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
version of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas 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...
' A Streetcar Named Desire
A 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...
. Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
is apathetic to his wife's acting pursuits, and Marge begins to see parallels between him and Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.-In the play:Stanley lives in the working class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella , and is employed as a factory parts salesman. He was an Army engineer in WWII, having...
, the play's boorish lead male character. The episode contains a subplot
Subplot
A subplot is a secondary plot strand that is a supporting side story for any story or the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or in thematic significance...
in which Maggie Simpson
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
attempts to retrieve her pacifier
Pacifier
A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon. In its standard appearance it has a teat, mouth shield, and handle...
from a strict daycare
Day care
Child care or day care is care of a child during the day by a person other than the child's legal guardians, typically performed by someone outside the child's immediate family...
attendant.
Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin (writer)
Jeff Martin is an American television producer and writer. He was a writer for The Simpsons during the first four seasons. He attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Lampoon, as have many other Simpsons writers...
wrote the episode, and Rich Moore
Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American animation director and a business partner in Rough Draft Studios, Inc., where he serves as Sr. Vice President of creative affairs. He is one of a handful of artists who in the early 90s redefined prime time television animation with his work on The Simpsons...
served as director. Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz
Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
made his fourth guest appearance on The Simpsons, this time as musical director Llewellyn Sinclair, as well as Llewellyn's sister, who runs the daycare. The episode generated controversy for its original song about New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, which contains several unflattering lyrics about the city. One New Orleans newspaper published the lyrics before the episode aired, prompting numerous complaints to the local Fox affiliate. In response, the president of Fox Broadcasting issued an apology to anyone who was offended. Despite the controversial song, the episode was well-received by many fans, and show creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
has named it one of his favorite episodes.
Plot
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, 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...
and 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...
are watching television, Marge announces that she is going to audition for a local musical production of A Streetcar Named Desire
A 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...
. She wants to meet new people, since she usually spends all day at home with Maggie. The rest of the family reacts with disinterest and continues to watch television.
The musical is called "Oh, Streetcar!" and is directed by the acerbic Llewellyn Sinclair. After Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
is cast as Stanley Kowalski, Marge and several other women audition for Blanche DuBois. Llewellyn immediately rejects Marge and the others, explaining that Blanche is supposed to be a "delicate flower being trampled by an uncouth lout". However, as a dejected Marge calls home and takes Homer's dinner order, Llewellyn realizes that she is perfect for the role.
The next day, Maggie causes distractions when Marge brings her to rehearsal, so Llewellyn instructs Marge to enroll the baby at his sister's daycare center, the Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
School for Tots. Ms. Sinclair runs a strict daycare, and she immediately confiscates Maggie's pacifier. Maggie and the other babies later engage in a Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
-style attempt to retrieve their pacifiers, but Ms. Sinclair thwarts their efforts and sends Maggie to "The Box" (a playpen).
During rehearsal, Marge struggles with a crucial scene in which Blanche is supposed to break a glass bottle and shove it in Stanley's face. She cannot muster enough hatred towards the Stanley character to break the bottle, and Llewellyn eventually leaves in disgust. After coming home, Marge asks Homer to help her learn her lines, but Homer is more interested in his handheld bowling
Bowling
Bowling Bowling Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule Bowling (1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule...
game. The day before the performance, Marge and Ned are again practicing the bottle scene as Homer arrives to drive Marge home. Homer repeatedly interrupts the rehearsal, then heads back to his car and honks for Marge to come out. Imagining that Stanley is Homer, Marge finally smashes the bottle and lunges at Ned. At dinner that night, Marge leaves early to practice with Flanders. Homer asks her to open his can of pudding, but Marge reacts with disdain and calls him a "big ape".
The next day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots, Maggie again attempts to regain the pacifiers and this time succeeds. Homer arrives to pick her up and discovers hundreds of babies sucking on pacifiers. He collects Maggie, and he and his children go to watch the musical. Homer immediately falls into boredom, but he perks up when Marge appears on stage and becomes saddened over the way Stanley treats Blanche. At the end of the musical, Marge receives a warm reaction from the crowd, but she misinterprets Homer's sadness for boredom. Afterwards, she confronts him with hostility, but Homer is able to explain that he was genuinely moved by Blanche's situation. Thus, he reacted with sadness because he wanted to be the husband that she deserves to have in her life who loved and cherished her, not like Stanley who neglects and mistreats her. Marge realizes that Homer really did watch the musical, and the two happily leave the theater.
Writing and music
"A Streetcar Named Marge" was conceived about two years before it aired on television. Jeff Martin first pitched the idea of Homer being in a theatrical production of 1776. Producer James L. BrooksJames L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
then suggested that Marge could play Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Brooks saw that Marge's relationship with Homer was similar to Blanche's relationship with Stanley, and he wanted to use that fact to build the emotional arc for an episode. The estate of Tennessee Williams would not let the show use large excerpts from the actual play, since the work was copyrighted. However, Fox lawyer Anatole Klebanow said that original songs based on the play were acceptable. According to producer Mike Reiss
Mike Reiss
Michael "Mike" Reiss is an American television comedy writer. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series The Simpsons and co-created the animated series The Critic...
, Klebanow even promised to "take [their] case to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
to get [the] episode aired." Martin later explained that while the songs made the episode funnier, they also made it harder to write.
The Maggie subplot was present in Jeff Martin's episode pitch. The music in the sequence is Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein
Elmer Bernstein was an American composer and conductor best known for his many film scores. In a career which spanned fifty years, he composed music for hundreds of film and television productions...
's march
March (music)
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John...
theme from The Great Escape. Simpsons composer Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen
Alf Clausen is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of The Simpsons, of which he has been the sole composer since 1990...
secured the rights to the score, along with the original orchestra charts. The Great Escape had been Martin's favorite film as child, and he said "it was so exciting and so stirring" to hear the music being performed by the Simpsons
Animation
"A Streetcar Named Marge" posed a challenge to the show's animation directorAnimation director
An animation director is the director in charge of all aspects of the animation process during the production of an animated film or animated segment for a live-action film...
s. The episode contains many long setpiece
Setpiece
In film production, a setpiece is a scene or sequence of scenes the execution of which requires serious logistical planning and considerable expenditure of money. The term setpiece is often used more broadly to describe any important dramatic or comedic highpoint in a film or story, particularly...
s, especially during the final third, which includes the end of the Maggie subplot and the performance of the musical. Several scenes required the animators to draw dozens of background characters. Rich Moore
Rich Moore
Rich Moore is an American animation director and a business partner in Rough Draft Studios, Inc., where he serves as Sr. Vice President of creative affairs. He is one of a handful of artists who in the early 90s redefined prime time television animation with his work on The Simpsons...
, the head director, initially feared the episode would not be completed in time. David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
, the supervising director, also had doubts; according to Jeff Martin, Silverman sent back a cartoon of himself reading the script with his eyes popping out and his jaw dropped. Producer Al Jean
Al Jean
Al Jean is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss...
said that Moore "worked himself to death" to produce the episode's most elaborate sequences.
A number of scenes that appeared in the storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
and animatic were reordered or dropped altogether in the final version of the episode. Much of the Maggie subplot, for example, was modified before the episode aired. A scene in which the babies lock Ms. Sinclair in her office is missing from the final version of the episode.
Voice acting
All the main Simpsons cast members lent their voices to the episode, along with semi-regulars Maggie RoswellMaggie Roswell
Maggie Roswell is an American film and television actress and voice artist from Los Angeles, California. She is well known for her voice work on the Fox network's animated television series The Simpsons, in which she has played recurring characters such as Maude Flanders, Helen Lovejoy, Miss...
and Phil Hartman
Phil Hartman
Philip Edward "Phil" Hartman was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter, and graphic artist. Born in Brantford, Ontario, Hartman and his family moved to the United States when he was 10...
. Assistant producer Lona Williams
Lona Williams
Lona Willams is an American television producer, writer and actress.Williams was raised in Rosemount, Minnesota, where her father, Les, was a middle school math teacher...
also had a minor speaking role. Comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Jon Lovitz
Jon Lovitz
Jonathan "Jon" Lovitz is an American comedian, actor, and singer. He is best known as a cast member of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1985 to 1990.-Early life:...
, who played Llewellyn Sinclair and Ms. Sinclar, made his fourth guest appearance on The Simpsons. He had previously voiced characters in "The Way We Was
The Way We Was
"The Way We Was" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 31, 1991. In the episode, Marge tells the story of how she and Homer first met and fell in love. Flashing back to 1974, we see how Homer falls in love with...
", "Brush with Greatness
Brush with Greatness
"Brush with Greatness" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 11, 1991. In the episode, Marge revives her high school-era interest in painting by enrolling in an art class after getting encouraged by Lisa...
", and "Homer Defined
Homer Defined
"Homer Defined" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 17, 1991. In the episode, Homer accidentally saves the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant from meltdown by choosing a button to a counting rhyme...
". Lovitz later worked with Al Jean and Mike Reiss in the short-lived animated sitcom The Critic
The Critic
The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...
, and returned to The Simpsons for the episodes "A Star Is Burns
A Star is Burns
"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...
", "Hurricane Neddy
Hurricane Neddy
"Hurricane Neddy" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons eighth season which originally aired December 29, 1996. It was written by Steve Young, directed by Bob Anderson and features a cameo by Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman from The Critic. In this episode, "Hurricane Barbara" viciously strikes...
", "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
"The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season, and the third of four episodes written by Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife, Deb Lacusta...
", "Half-Decent Proposal
Half-Decent Proposal
"Half-Decent Proposal" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 2002...
", and "Homerazzi
Homerazzi
"Homerazzi" is the sixteenth episode of the eighteenth season of The Simpsons, which was originally broadcast on March 25, 2007. It was written by J. Stewart Burns, directed by Matthew Nastuk, and guest starred J.K. Simmons as the tabloid editor, Betty White as Herself, and Jon Lovitz as Enrico...
". In 2006, Lovitz was named the eighth best Simpsons guest star by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
.
Cultural references
Oh! Calcutta!
Oh! Calcutta! is an avant-garde theatrical revue, created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in London in 1970. It ran in London for over 3,900 performances, and in New York initially for 1,314...
Besides Blanche and Stanley, characters from A Streetcar Named Desire who appear in "Oh, Streetcar!" include Stella (played by Helen Lovejoy), the Young Collector (played by Apu
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
), and Mitch (played by Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz is a recurring character from the animated television series The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman, and his first appearance was in the season two episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Due to the death of Hartman, his final speaking role was in the episode "Realty Bites"...
). The musical's closing song, "Kindness of Strangers", is a reference to Blanche's last line in the original play: "I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." However, the song is very cheery in tone, intentionally missing the point of Blanche's line, which is meant to be ironic.
The episode contains multiple references to Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
's novels and Objectivist philosophy
Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...
. Maggie's daycare center is called the "Ayn Rand School for Tots", and Ms. Sinclair can be seen reading a book called The Fountainhead Diet, a reference to Rand's novel The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead
The Fountainhead is a 1943 novel by Ayn Rand. It was Rand's first major literary success and brought her fame and financial success. More than 6.5 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide....
. On the wall of the daycare is a poster that reads "Helping is Futile", an allusion to Rand's rejection of the ethical doctrine of altruism
Altruism (ethics)
Altruism is an ethical doctrine that holds that individuals have a moral obligation to help, serve, or benefit others, if necessary at the sacrifice of self interest. Auguste Comte's version of altruism calls for living for the sake of others...
. Another wall sign reads "A is A," the law of identity
Law of identity
In logic, the law of identity is the first of the so-called three classic laws of thought. It states that an object is the same as itself: A → A ; While this can also be listed as A ≡ A this is redundant Any reflexive relation upholds the law of identity...
, which plays a central role in Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
.
The Maggie subplot uses the musical score of The Great Escape
The Great Escape (film)
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...
and contains several other allusions to the film. At one point, Ms. Sinclair punishes Maggie by sending her to a playpen called "The Box", a play on "The Cooler" from the 1963 film. Maggie even bounces a ball against the wall of the playpen, as Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
's character Virgil Hilts does throughout the film while he is in confinement.
In the scene when Homer, Bart and Lisa pick up Maggie from the daycare center, babies are perched all over the building, staring at the family and quietly sucking on pacifiers. This is a spoof of the final shot of Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's The Birds
The Birds (film)
The Birds is a 1963 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on the 1952 short story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. It depicts Bodega Bay, California which is, suddenly and for unexplained reasons, the subject of a series of widespread and violent bird attacks over the course of a few...
. Indeed, a cartoon-version of Hitchcock can be seen walking his dogs past the daycare, a reference to his own cameo appearance in the film. The episode also contains an allusion to the opera scene in Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
, in which Homer plays with a shredded playbill while he watches his wife in the musical.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "A Streetcar Named Marge" finished 32nd in ratings for the week of September 21 - October 4, 1992, with a Nielsen ratingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 11.8, equivalent to approximately 11.0 million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
. Since airing, it has received many positive reviews from fans and television critics. Michael Moran of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
ranked the episode as the seventh best in the show's history. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr is an American film critic. A critic at the Chicago Reader and the Chicago Tribune for many years, he writes a weekly column for The New York Times on DVD releases, in addition to contributing occasional pieces on individual films or filmmakers.-Early life and education:Dave Kehr did...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called it a "brilliant ... parody of Broadway musicals that should be required viewing for every Tony
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
viewer." In a list of his favorite episodes, Kevin Williamson of Canadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer
Canadian Online Explorer is a bilingual online news and information site from Canada.A subsidiary of Quebecor Media, Canoe.ca is a leading local and national interactive media provider of news, entertainment and services, helping to inform and connect Canadians...
added, "As pitch-perfect eviscerations of community theatre go, this tops Waiting for Guffman
Waiting for Guffman
Waiting for Guffman is a mockumentary starring, co-written and directed by Christopher Guest that was released in 1997. Its cast included Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Parker Posey and others who would appear in several of the subsequent mockumentaries directed by Guest.The title of...
." Series creator Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
has listed it as one of his own favorites, calling the subplot "Maggie's finest moment", and future Simpsons guest star Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio
Trey Anastasio is an American guitarist, composer, and vocalist most noted for his work with the rock band Phish...
said the episode "may have been the best TV show ever". Executive producer James L. Brooks
James L. Brooks
James Lawrence Brooks is an American director, producer and screenwriter. Growing up in North Bergen, New Jersey, Brooks endured a fractured family life and passed the time by reading and writing. After dropping out of New York University, he got a job as an usher at CBS, going on to write for the...
also listed it as one of his favorites, saying it "showed we could go into areas no one thought we could go into". Following the episode, the Ayn Rand Society called Groening to say they were amazed at the references to Rand. They also asked him if the show was making fun of them.
In 1993, "A Streetcar Named Marge" and "Mr. Plow
Mr. Plow
"Mr. Plow" is the ninth episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 19, 1992. In the episode, Homer buys a snow plow and starts a business plowing driveways. It is a huge success, and inspired by this, Barney Gumble starts a...
" were submitted for the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series is an Emmy given to the best television comedy series of the year.-Winners and nominees:...
". Before this season, the series had only been allowed to compete in the "Outstanding Animated Program
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour)
The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program is a Creative Arts Emmy Award which is given annually to an animated series which is judged to have been the best...
" category, winning twice, but in early 1993 the rules were changed so that animated television shows would be able to submit nominations for "Outstanding Comedy Series". However, the Emmy voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs, and The Simpsons did not receive a nomination. The Simpsons
Controversy
The musical within the episode contains a controversial song about New Orleans, which describes the city as a "home of pirates, drunks and whores", among other things. Jeff Martin, the writer of the episode, had meant the song to be a parody of the opening number in Sweeney Todd, which speaks of London in unflattering terms. Al Jean later explained that two CajunCajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
characters were supposed to walk out of the theater in disgust, but none of the voice actors could provide a convincing Cajun accent. An early version of the scene can be seen in an animatic included in the DVD boxset.
Before the premiere of the fourth season, the producers sent two episodes to critics: "Kamp Krusty
Kamp Krusty
"Kamp Krusty" is the first episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 24, 1992. During summer vacation, the children of Springfield attend Kamp Krusty, a summer camp named after Krusty the Clown. The camp is extremely...
" and "A Streetcar Named Marge". A New Orleans critic viewed "A Streetcar Named Marge" and published the song lyrics in his newspaper before the episode aired. Many readers took the lyrics out of context, and New Orleans' then-Fox affiliate, WNOL-TV
WNOL-TV
WNOL-TV, virtual channel 38, is the CW-affiliated television station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 15. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, in a duopoly with ABC affiliate WGNO.-Digital television:...
(then-owned by musician Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
; the Fox affiliation for the area later moved to WVUE), received about one hundred complaints on the day the episode aired. Several local radio stations also held on-air protests in response to the song.
At the urging of WNOL, Fox president Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner
Jamie Kellner is an American television executive. He was chairman and chief executive officer of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a division of Time Warner which includes TBS, TNT, and Cartoon Network. Kellner took over the post in 2001 and handed over the company to Philip Kent in 2003...
released a statement on October 1, 1992, apologizing for the episode:
Homer the Heretic
"Homer the Heretic" is the third episode of The Simpsons fourth season, which originally aired on FOX in the United States on October 8, 1992. In the episode, Homer decides to forgo going to church and has an excellent time staying home. His behavior quickly attracts the wrath of God, who visits...
", which aired a week after "A Streetcar Named Marge". It read, "I will not defame New Orleans." The gag was their attempt to apologize for the song and hopefully bring the controversy to an end. "We didn't realize people would get so mad," said Al Jean. "It was the best apology we could come up with in eight words or less." The issue passed quickly, and a person in a Bart Simpson costume even served as Krewe of Tucks
Krewe of Tucks
The Krewe of Tucks is an organization that parades during New Orleans Mardi Gras, on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. It is known for its irreverence and satirical floats, including the King's Throne, a giant toilet....
Grand Marshal at the 1993 New Orleans Mardi Gras
New Orleans Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a Carnival celebration well-known throughout the world.The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany . It is a season of parades, balls , and king cake parties...
.
The episode generated further controversy in September 2005, when Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom decided to air the episode a week after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
struck New Orleans. Arguing that the episode was an insensitive choice, given recent events, several viewers filed complaints with Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
. Two days later, Channel 4 apologized on-air and directly contacted all those who had complained. Channel 4 had screened the episode for offensive content, but the reviews focused on the main content of the episode, and the song was not considered a key part of the plot. Channel 4 promised to update their review process to ensure that similar incidents would not occur.
Merchandise
All the songs from "A Streetcar Named Marge" are available on Rhino Records' 1997 album Songs in the Key of SpringfieldSongs in the Key of Springfield
Songs in the Key of Springfield is a soundtrack/novelty album from The Simpsons compiling many of the musical numbers from the series. The album was released in the United States on March 18, 1997, and in the United Kingdom in June 1997...
. The episode was included in the 2000 VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
set The Simpsons Go Hollywood and released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 2004 as part of The Simpsons Complete Fourth Season. Jon Lovitz participated in the DVD's audio commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
, alongside Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, and Hank Azaria
Hank Azaria
Henry Albert "Hank" Azaria is an American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian. He is noted for being one of the principal voice actors on the animated television series The Simpsons , on which he performs the voices of Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief...
.
External links
- "A Streetcar Named Marge" at The Simpsons.com