Brawl in the Family
Encyclopedia
"Brawl in the Family" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons
' thirteenth season
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States
on January 6, 2002. In the episode, the Simpsons family arrested for domestic disturbance
, prompting social worker Gabriel to move in and make the family functional. After the family is declared acceptable, Amber and Ginger, the cocktail waitresses Homer
and his neighbour Ned Flanders
married in Las Vegas, show up at their doorsteps.
"Brawl in the Family" was directed by Matthew Nastuk
and was the first full episode Joel H. Cohen
received a writing credit for. It was the first episode on which Al Jean
served as sole showrunner. The idea for the episode was pitched by Jean, who wanted to produce a sequel to the season 10 episode "Viva Ned Flanders
", which he thought had a "loose end." The episode features Jane Kaczmarek
as Judge Constance Harm, and Delroy Lindo
as Gabriel.
In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 12.8 million viewers, making it the 28th most watched program the week it aired. Later that year, the episode was nominated for an Environmental Media Awards
in the category "Television Episodic - Comedy," which it ultimately lost to the Dharma & Greg
episode "Protecting the Ego-System". Following its home video release, "Brawl in the Family" received negative reviews from critics.
storm (caused by The Republican Party
's latest decision to make caring for the environment a felony offense) and play a game of Monopoly. When it is revealed that Bart
has been cheating by using Lego
bricks as hotel pieces, Homer
strangles him. Marge
and Lisa
try to pry them apart, but this escalates to Marge fighting with Lisa. Despite her (presumed) inability to talk, Maggie
calls the police on her family. With help from The Negotibot and an edible taffy-like substance used to incapacitate criminals, the entire Simpson family (including Maggie) is arrested for causing a domestic disturbance
.
After a short time in jail, a man named Gabriel (whom Homer keeps thinking is an angel
sent from Heaven) moves in with the family to help them be functional again. After observing the family's quirks, Gabriel takes the family to a forest (presumably far away from Springfield) and diagnoses the family's problems (save Lisa and Maggie) accordingly: Marge tries to prove her self-worth to the family by medicating them with food, Bart is addicted to doing crazy stunts for attention, and Homer is, simply, a drunken childish buffoon. Gabriel then sets up a challenge to teach the Simpsons the importance of teamwork
by setting up a picnic basket in a tree. The object is for the family to work together as a team to get it down. After a harrowing rescue involving Bart driving the family car and Homer nearly becoming lunch for cougars and wolves, the Simpsons succeed and Gabriel congratulates them on working together as a family and becoming functional during their drive home.
Before the family can call it a day, they arrive home and find Amber and Ginger waiting in their driveway. Amber shows Marge and the kids video footage of a drunk Homer marrying Amber in Vegas (while Ginger is next door with a now-widowed Ned Flanders
). Homer tries to get his marriage to Amber annulled by the court, but Judge Constance Harm refuses, stating that Homer married Amber in Nevada
(where bigamy
is supposedly legal), and the marriage still stands since Homer never formally divorced Amber. Marge is so upset that she throws Homer out of the house. Homer takes up temporary residence in Bart's treehouse
with Amber, but Homer still loves Marge and refuses to sleep with
Amber. He tries to sleep in Santa's Little Helper's kennel
, but ends up getting its doorway stuck to his head and spends the rest of the night trying to get it off. When Marge wakes up the next day, she finds Homer asleep amid the broken remains of the doghouse. She tells Homer that she is still angry at him over what Homer did, but she has a plan to get Amber out of their house.
While Amber is lounging in a kiddie pool, she overhears Homer and Marge arguing, with Homer ultimately announcing that he is leaving Marge and the kids. Homer then invites Amber to Moe's for a night of drinking. The next day, a hungover Amber discovers that she is now married to Grampa Simpson (and the Simpsons have video evidence of the event). Amber and Ginger (the latter of which escapes because she can no longer take the sugary sweetness of Ned Flanders) drive away, vowing never to return.
"Brawl in the Family" was directed by Matthew Nastuk
and was the first episode Joel H. Cohen
received a sole writing credit for. Cohen had previously received a credit for "Hex and the City", the first segment of "Treehouse of Horror XII
" which aired the previous year. "Brawl in the Family" originally aired on January 6, 2002 on the Fox network
. It was the first episode for which current showrunner Al Jean
served as sole showrunner. It was the second of his episodes to air however, since the Christmas-themed "She of Little Faith
", the second episode he produced, was chosen to air first as it would coincide with the holiday. The idea for the episode was pitched by Jean, who wanted to make a follow-up to the season 10 episode "Viva Ned Flanders
". In it, Homer takes Ned to Las Vegas to teach him how to have fun. While there, the two get intoxicated and wake up the next morning to find that they have gotten married to two cocktail waitresses, Amber and Ginger. The episode ends with Homer and Ned walking home from Vegas. Jean felt that the ending to "Viva Ned Flanders" was "a bit loose" because "...if you leave a wife, like, in Vegas, they track you down." He pitched "Brawl in the Family" in order to "resolve it [the ending to 'Viva Ned Flanders']." Amber and Ginger were portrayed by Pamela Hayden
and Tress MacNeille
respectively.
"Brawl in the Family" features British actor and theater director Delroy Lindo
as Gabriel, the social worker. According to Jean, Lindo was chosen to guest star because of his "great voice." Gabriel was then designed to match Lindo's voice. In the DVD commentary for the episode, Lindo expressed dissatisfaction with the character's design. He said "Were I an audience member, looking at this [the episode] I'd think, 'That guy doesn't sound like he looks.'" However, he added that his appearance in the episode earned him "much cred" among his nieces and nephews. In an interview with The A.V. Club
, he said "After I did that voiceover, I was very aware of the power of The Simpsons, because in certain quarters, I got instant credibility." The episode also features Jane Kaczmarek
as Judge Constance Harm.
. It became the 28th most watched program of the week it aired, beating such shows as ABC
's 8 Simple Rules
and NBC
's Crossing Jordan
and Mister Sterling
. Later that year, the episode was nominated for an Environmental Media Award in the category "Television Episodic - Comedy," which it ultimately lost to the Dharma & Greg
episode "Protecting the Ego-System". Its nomination was based solely on a scene in which "a bigger fish eats a smaller three-eyed fish," according to Jean, and because the award show was short on nominees. On August 24, 2010, "Brawl in the Family" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season DVD
and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen, Max Pross, Delroy Lindo, Matt Warburton and David Silverman participated in the audio commentary of the episode.
Following its home video release, "Brawl in the Family" received negative reviews from critics. Aaron Peck of High-Def Digest criticized the episode for being unoriginal, writing "Homer is always doing something that jeopardizes his marriage to Marge. When Homer's 'Vegas Wife' shows up unexpectedly [...] the same thing happens. This is a storyline that has worn out its welcome, but it still continues." Nate Boss of Project-Blu was overall critical of the episode, although he praised the return of Amber and Ginger. He wrote: "For once, a one shot character actually plays a bigger part, though in the continuing rift in Homer and Marge's marriage, that always gets repaired stronger than ever, one can only sotp (sic) giving a damn after about the fiftieth such episode." 411Mania's Ron Martin described the episode as having a "ridiculous set up." Andre Dellamorte of Collider thought negatively of the episode as well, calling it "Mannered to the point of ridiculousness." While he didn't consider it the worst episode he's ever seen, he criticized the episode's pacing and lack of satire, writing "it’s just that the plates spin so fast and so pointlessly that it becomes just about the gags. [...] the satire is gone; it’s just incident after incident to set up gags (some of which are funny) and get the show to an end time."
Writing for DVD Movie Guide, Colin Jacobson wrote that the episode "seems like two story fragments combined into one; it’s like the writers couldn’t flesh out either tale for an entire 22 minutes so they just stuck two half-programs together." He added that it still "manages some laughs," and also argued that the episode was very similar to the season 1 episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home
", which was also noted by Ryan Keefer of DVD Talk
. Despite receiving negative reviews, "Brawl in the Family" is often considered a fan favourite, and R. L. Shaffer of IGN
called it one of the season's "gems."
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 13)
The Simpsons thirteenth season originally aired on the Fox network between November 6, 2001 and May 22, 2002 and consists of 22 episodes. The show runner for the thirteenth production season was Al Jean who executive-produced 17 episodes...
. 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on January 6, 2002. In the episode, the Simpsons family arrested for domestic disturbance
Domestic Disturbance
Domestic Disturbance is a 2001 thriller film directed by Harold Becker and stars John Travolta and Vince Vaughn. It co-stars Teri Polo, Matt O'Leary and Steve Buscemi.-Plot:...
, prompting social worker Gabriel to move in and make the family functional. After the family is declared acceptable, Amber and Ginger, the cocktail waitresses 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...
and his neighbour 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...
married in Las Vegas, show up at their doorsteps.
"Brawl in the Family" was directed by Matthew Nastuk
Matthew Nastuk
Matthew Nastuk is an animation director on The Simpsons. He started directing during the tenth season, and has since directed over a dozen episodes and continues to direct today.-Season Ten:...
and was the first full episode Joel H. Cohen
Joel H. Cohen
For the film director, see Joel Coen.Joel H. Cohen is a writer for Saturday Night Live, Suddenly Susan and The Simpsons...
received a writing credit for. It was the first episode on which 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...
served as sole showrunner. The idea for the episode was pitched by Jean, who wanted to produce a sequel to the season 10 episode "Viva Ned Flanders
Viva Ned Flanders
"Viva Ned Flanders" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 1999. In the episode, Ned Flanders, who is revealed to be 60 years old, feels that he has not lived his life to the fullest...
", which he thought had a "loose end." The episode features Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee...
as Judge Constance Harm, and Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Gabriel.
In its original broadcast, the episode was seen by approximately 12.8 million viewers, making it the 28th most watched program the week it aired. Later that year, the episode was nominated for an Environmental Media Awards
Environmental Media Awards
The Environmental Media Awards have been awarded by the Environmental Media Association since 1991 to the best television episode or film with an environmental message....
in the category "Television Episodic - Comedy," which it ultimately lost to the Dharma & Greg
Dharma & Greg
Dharma & Greg is an American television sitcom that aired from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002.It starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a couple who married instantly on their first date despite being complete opposites...
episode "Protecting the Ego-System". Following its home video release, "Brawl in the Family" received negative reviews from critics.
Plot
The Simpsons end up staying inside during an acid rainAcid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
storm (caused by The Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
's latest decision to make caring for the environment a felony offense) and play a game of Monopoly. When it is revealed that 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...
has been cheating by using Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
bricks as hotel pieces, 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...
strangles him. 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...
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...
try to pry them apart, but this escalates to Marge fighting with Lisa. Despite her (presumed) inability to talk, Maggie
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...
calls the police on her family. With help from The Negotibot and an edible taffy-like substance used to incapacitate criminals, the entire Simpson family (including Maggie) is arrested for causing a domestic disturbance
Domestic Disturbance
Domestic Disturbance is a 2001 thriller film directed by Harold Becker and stars John Travolta and Vince Vaughn. It co-stars Teri Polo, Matt O'Leary and Steve Buscemi.-Plot:...
.
After a short time in jail, a man named Gabriel (whom Homer keeps thinking is an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
sent from Heaven) moves in with the family to help them be functional again. After observing the family's quirks, Gabriel takes the family to a forest (presumably far away from Springfield) and diagnoses the family's problems (save Lisa and Maggie) accordingly: Marge tries to prove her self-worth to the family by medicating them with food, Bart is addicted to doing crazy stunts for attention, and Homer is, simply, a drunken childish buffoon. Gabriel then sets up a challenge to teach the Simpsons the importance of teamwork
Teamwork
Teamwork is action performed by a team towards a common goal. A team consists of more than one person, each of whom typically has different responsibilities....
by setting up a picnic basket in a tree. The object is for the family to work together as a team to get it down. After a harrowing rescue involving Bart driving the family car and Homer nearly becoming lunch for cougars and wolves, the Simpsons succeed and Gabriel congratulates them on working together as a family and becoming functional during their drive home.
Before the family can call it a day, they arrive home and find Amber and Ginger waiting in their driveway. Amber shows Marge and the kids video footage of a drunk Homer marrying Amber in Vegas (while Ginger is next door with a now-widowed 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...
). Homer tries to get his marriage to Amber annulled by the court, but Judge Constance Harm refuses, stating that Homer married Amber in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
(where bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
is supposedly legal), and the marriage still stands since Homer never formally divorced Amber. Marge is so upset that she throws Homer out of the house. Homer takes up temporary residence in Bart's treehouse
Tree house
Tree houses, treehouses, or tree forts, are platforms or buildings constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level...
with Amber, but Homer still loves Marge and refuses to sleep with
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
Amber. He tries to sleep in Santa's Little Helper's kennel
Kennel
A kennel is the name given to any structure or shelter for dogs. A kennel is a doghouse, run, or other small structure in which a dog is kept...
, but ends up getting its doorway stuck to his head and spends the rest of the night trying to get it off. When Marge wakes up the next day, she finds Homer asleep amid the broken remains of the doghouse. She tells Homer that she is still angry at him over what Homer did, but she has a plan to get Amber out of their house.
While Amber is lounging in a kiddie pool, she overhears Homer and Marge arguing, with Homer ultimately announcing that he is leaving Marge and the kids. Homer then invites Amber to Moe's for a night of drinking. The next day, a hungover Amber discovers that she is now married to Grampa Simpson (and the Simpsons have video evidence of the event). Amber and Ginger (the latter of which escapes because she can no longer take the sugary sweetness of Ned Flanders) drive away, vowing never to return.
Production
Matthew Nastuk
Matthew Nastuk is an animation director on The Simpsons. He started directing during the tenth season, and has since directed over a dozen episodes and continues to direct today.-Season Ten:...
and was the first episode Joel H. Cohen
Joel H. Cohen
For the film director, see Joel Coen.Joel H. Cohen is a writer for Saturday Night Live, Suddenly Susan and The Simpsons...
received a sole writing credit for. Cohen had previously received a credit for "Hex and the City", the first segment of "Treehouse of Horror XII
Treehouse of Horror XII
“Treehouse of Horror XII” is the first episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. Because of Fox’s contract with Major League Baseball’s World Series, the episode first aired on the Fox Network in the United States on November 6, 2001, nearly one week after Halloween. It is the twelfth annual...
" which aired the previous year. "Brawl in the Family" originally aired on January 6, 2002 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...
. It was the first episode for which current showrunner 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...
served as sole showrunner. It was the second of his episodes to air however, since the Christmas-themed "She of Little Faith
She of Little Faith
"She of Little Faith" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons thirteenth season. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network on December 16, 2001...
", the second episode he produced, was chosen to air first as it would coincide with the holiday. The idea for the episode was pitched by Jean, who wanted to make a follow-up to the season 10 episode "Viva Ned Flanders
Viva Ned Flanders
"Viva Ned Flanders" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 1999. In the episode, Ned Flanders, who is revealed to be 60 years old, feels that he has not lived his life to the fullest...
". In it, Homer takes Ned to Las Vegas to teach him how to have fun. While there, the two get intoxicated and wake up the next morning to find that they have gotten married to two cocktail waitresses, Amber and Ginger. The episode ends with Homer and Ned walking home from Vegas. Jean felt that the ending to "Viva Ned Flanders" was "a bit loose" because "...if you leave a wife, like, in Vegas, they track you down." He pitched "Brawl in the Family" in order to "resolve it [the ending to 'Viva Ned Flanders']." Amber and Ginger were portrayed by Pamela Hayden
Pamela Hayden
Pamela Hayden is an American actress, best known for providing various voices for the animated television show The Simpsons.-Biography:...
and Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...
respectively.
"Brawl in the Family" features British actor and theater director Delroy Lindo
Delroy Lindo
Delroy George Lindo is an English actor and theatre director. Lindo has been nominated for the Tony and Screen Actors Guild awards and has won a Satellite Award...
as Gabriel, the social worker. According to Jean, Lindo was chosen to guest star because of his "great voice." Gabriel was then designed to match Lindo's voice. In the DVD commentary for the episode, Lindo expressed dissatisfaction with the character's design. He said "Were I an audience member, looking at this [the episode] I'd think, 'That guy doesn't sound like he looks.'" However, he added that his appearance in the episode earned him "much cred" among his nieces and nephews. In an interview with The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
, he said "After I did that voiceover, I was very aware of the power of The Simpsons, because in certain quarters, I got instant credibility." The episode also features Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Kaczmarek
Jane Frances Kaczmarek is an American actress. She is best known for playing the character of Lois on the television series Malcolm in the Middle. Kaczmarek is a three-time Golden Globe and seven-time Emmy Award nominee...
as Judge Constance Harm.
Release and reception
On its original American broadcast on January 6, 2002, "Brawl in the Family" was watched by approximately 12.8 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
. It became the 28th most watched program of the week it aired, beating such shows as ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's 8 Simple Rules
8 Simple Rules
8 Simple Rules is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from September 17, 2002, to April 15, 2005, with 76 episodes produced over three seasons. It is based on the self-improvement book of the same name. The show starred John Ritter until his death on September 11, 2003...
and NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan
Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
and Mister Sterling
Mister Sterling
Mister Sterling is an American television serial drama created by Lawrence O'Donnell that ran from January to March in 2003. It starred Josh Brolin as an idealistic United States Senator, and featured Audra McDonald, William Russ, David Noroña, and James Whitmore as members of his staff...
. Later that year, the episode was nominated for an Environmental Media Award in the category "Television Episodic - Comedy," which it ultimately lost to the Dharma & Greg
Dharma & Greg
Dharma & Greg is an American television sitcom that aired from September 24, 1997, to April 30, 2002.It starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as Dharma and Greg Montgomery, a couple who married instantly on their first date despite being complete opposites...
episode "Protecting the Ego-System". Its nomination was based solely on a scene in which "a bigger fish eats a smaller three-eyed fish," according to Jean, and because the award show was short on nominees. On August 24, 2010, "Brawl in the Family" was released as part of The Simpsons: The Complete Thirteenth Season 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....
and Blu-ray set. Al Jean, Joel H. Cohen, Max Pross, Delroy Lindo, Matt Warburton and David Silverman participated in the audio commentary of the episode.
Following its home video release, "Brawl in the Family" received negative reviews from critics. Aaron Peck of High-Def Digest criticized the episode for being unoriginal, writing "Homer is always doing something that jeopardizes his marriage to Marge. When Homer's 'Vegas Wife' shows up unexpectedly [...] the same thing happens. This is a storyline that has worn out its welcome, but it still continues." Nate Boss of Project-Blu was overall critical of the episode, although he praised the return of Amber and Ginger. He wrote: "For once, a one shot character actually plays a bigger part, though in the continuing rift in Homer and Marge's marriage, that always gets repaired stronger than ever, one can only sotp (sic) giving a damn after about the fiftieth such episode." 411Mania's Ron Martin described the episode as having a "ridiculous set up." Andre Dellamorte of Collider thought negatively of the episode as well, calling it "Mannered to the point of ridiculousness." While he didn't consider it the worst episode he's ever seen, he criticized the episode's pacing and lack of satire, writing "it’s just that the plates spin so fast and so pointlessly that it becomes just about the gags. [...] the satire is gone; it’s just incident after incident to set up gags (some of which are funny) and get the show to an end time."
Writing for DVD Movie Guide, Colin Jacobson wrote that the episode "seems like two story fragments combined into one; it’s like the writers couldn’t flesh out either tale for an entire 22 minutes so they just stuck two half-programs together." He added that it still "manages some laughs," and also argued that the episode was very similar to the season 1 episode "There's No Disgrace Like Home
There's No Disgrace Like Home
"There's No Disgrace Like Home" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons first season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 28, 1990. In the episode, Homer becomes ashamed of his family after a catastrophic company picnic and decides to enroll them in therapy. The...
", which was also noted by Ryan Keefer of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
. Despite receiving negative reviews, "Brawl in the Family" is often considered a fan favourite, and R. L. Shaffer of 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...
called it one of the season's "gems."
External links
- "Brawl in the Family" at The Simpsons.com