Eight Misbehavin'
Encyclopedia
"Eight Misbehavin" is the seventh episode of the eleventh season
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 1999. In the episode, after Manjula gives birth to octuplets that were the result of fertility drugs, she and Apu
unintentionally allows a zookeeper to exploit their babies in exchange for help after corporate sponsors abandon them for a mom that has given birth to nontuplets. The episode features several guest appearances and cultural references. Reception of the episode from television critics has been mixed.
. There, they meet Apu
and Manjula. They say that they would like to have a baby. They eventually do, and Manjula gives birth to octuplets with the help of fertility drugs
, gave by The Simpsons and Apu. It makes headlines across Springfield
, with local companies giving the Nahasapeemapetilons free products. However, their feat is eclipsed when a family in Shelbyville give birth to nine babies. With the discovery, the gifts were revoked. Apu and Manjula swiftly find they are not up to the task of raising eight kids all at once.
Apu told Marge that all of his octuplets have colic
. Later, Apu is met by the sleazy owner of the Springfield Zoo, a man named Larry Kidkill. Kidkill offers to put Apu's children in a nursery. Although Apu is not open to the idea at first, he caves in and reluctantly accepts. The children are the stars of a show at the zoo named "Octopia", but Apu is not impressed and he wants to liberate his children from the zoo's owner, but Kidkill will not let them because they are under contract. Apu talks with Homer
, and they sneak into the zoo at night to rescue the octuplets. Unfortunately, Homer accidentally wakes up the nanny, who sounds the alarm.
They quickly rush the octuplets to the Simpson household only for Kidkill to track them there. Homer manages to negotiate that he perform at the zoo through a new contract with a new act. After Kidkill refuses his original act (which was simply Homer prancing around in a monkey suit), he goes to his second plan; an act where he rides a tricycle
with Butch Patrick
on his shoulders, both of them dressed as Eddie Munster
, on a stage as both are being attacked by cobras (some real, some merely animatronic snakes packed with venom). Inspired by Homer's example, Apu and Manjula resolve that they can take care of their kids, while Homer is mercilessly attacked by several of the snakes and a mongoose
put in to contain them.
"Eight Misbehavin'" was written by Matt Selman
and directed by Steven Dean Moore
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). Guest starring in the episode were Jan Hooks
(as Manjula), Garry Marshall
(as Larry Kidkill), and Butch Patrick
(as himself). According to Jonathan Gray in his 2006 book Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality, the episode makes fun of the "conflation of real time and occasional predilection for time jumps" often seen in sitcoms. He further noted that in "Eight Misbehavin", "in order to fit a character's pregnancy into one episode, we skip nine months." Here, Gray refers the part in the episode where a new scene starts and Homer says: "Man, the last nine months sure were crazy." Bart responds "I'll say. I learned the true meaning of Columbus Day," and then Marge says "I enjoyed a brief but memorable stint as Sideshow Marge," followed by Lisa who says "I became the most popular girl in school, but blew it by being conceited." Bart then concludes by commenting: "And then I learned the true meaning of winter." Gray wrote in his book that "Here, we are treated to a parody not only of how awkwardly time jumps are proposed, but also of how ultimately irrelevant any sitcom time is — nothing really changes, after all — and finally, of the sort of plots that traditionally fill sitcom time."
. The store Shøp is a parody of the Swedish furniture business IKEA
, and the name is a reference to the similar business STØR
. The three songs played during "Octopia" are "Welcome to the Jungle
" by Guns N' Roses
, Ride of the Valkyries
by Richard Wagner
and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
" by John Mellencamp
. Homer's act is set to the song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
. In the octuplets room there is a picture of the character Babar the Elephant
dressed as former Prime Minister of India
Jawaharlal Nehru
.
for the episode, as well as guest voice Garry Marshall. Deleted scenes and concept drawings from the episode were also included on the box set.
The episode has received mixed reviews from critics. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "With such a silly concept, [the episode] probably should flop. However, it actually works pretty well. The best moments come from those that feature the kids at the zoo, but a mix of other amusing scenes emerge. Though the show often threatens to falter, it usually succeeds." Nancy Basile of About.com
, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the worst episodes of the season—the episodes that "made me cringe because they included blatant gimmicks and outlandish plots".
The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies." Homer's quote "Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all", entered The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations in August 2007.
The Simpsons (season 11)
The Simpsons 11th season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The show runner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully...
of the American animated sitcom The Simpsons
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...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 1999. In the episode, after Manjula gives birth to octuplets that were the result of fertility drugs, she and 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...
unintentionally allows a zookeeper to exploit their babies in exchange for help after corporate sponsors abandon them for a mom that has given birth to nontuplets. The episode features several guest appearances and cultural references. Reception of the episode from television critics has been mixed.
Plot
The family visits Shøp, a shop, and decides to go to the food courtFood court
A food court is generally an indoor plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining. Food courts may be found in shopping malls and airports, and in various regions may be a standalone development...
. There, they meet 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 Manjula. They say that they would like to have a baby. They eventually do, and Manjula gives birth to octuplets with the help of fertility drugs
Fertility medication
Fertility medication are drugs which enhance reproductive fertility. For women, fertility medication is used to stimulate follicle development of the ovary...
, gave by The Simpsons and Apu. It makes headlines across Springfield
Springfield (The Simpsons)
Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
, with local companies giving the Nahasapeemapetilons free products. However, their feat is eclipsed when a family in Shelbyville give birth to nine babies. With the discovery, the gifts were revoked. Apu and Manjula swiftly find they are not up to the task of raising eight kids all at once.
Apu told Marge that all of his octuplets have colic
Colic
Colic is a form of pain which starts and stops abruptly. Types include:*Baby colic, a condition, usually in infants, characterized by incessant crying*Renal colic, a pain in the flank, characteristic of kidney stones...
. Later, Apu is met by the sleazy owner of the Springfield Zoo, a man named Larry Kidkill. Kidkill offers to put Apu's children in a nursery. Although Apu is not open to the idea at first, he caves in and reluctantly accepts. The children are the stars of a show at the zoo named "Octopia", but Apu is not impressed and he wants to liberate his children from the zoo's owner, but Kidkill will not let them because they are under contract. Apu talks with 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 they sneak into the zoo at night to rescue the octuplets. Unfortunately, Homer accidentally wakes up the nanny, who sounds the alarm.
They quickly rush the octuplets to the Simpson household only for Kidkill to track them there. Homer manages to negotiate that he perform at the zoo through a new contract with a new act. After Kidkill refuses his original act (which was simply Homer prancing around in a monkey suit), he goes to his second plan; an act where he rides a tricycle
Tricycle
A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...
with Butch Patrick
Butch Patrick
Butch Patrick is a former American child actor. He is widely known for his role on the TV show The Munsters where he played Eddie Munster, the son of Herman and Lily Munster...
on his shoulders, both of them dressed as Eddie Munster
Eddie Munster
Edward Wolfgang "Eddie" Munster is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom The Munsters, originally played by Butch Patrick. The only child of Herman and Lily Munster, Eddie is a werewolf...
, on a stage as both are being attacked by cobras (some real, some merely animatronic snakes packed with venom). Inspired by Homer's example, Apu and Manjula resolve that they can take care of their kids, while Homer is mercilessly attacked by several of the snakes and a mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
put in to contain them.
Production and themes
Matt Selman
Matthew "Matt" Selman is an American writer and producer. Selman grew up in Massachusetts, attended the University of Pennsylvania and was editor-in-chief of student magazine 34th Street Magazine. After considering a career in journalism, he decided to try and became a television writer...
and directed by Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore is an animation director who has directed 35 episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several episodes of the long running Nicktoon programme Rugrats...
as part of the eleventh season of The Simpsons (1999–2000). Guest starring in the episode were Jan Hooks
Jan Hooks
Janet V. "Jan" Hooks is an American actress and comedienne best known for her work on NBC's Saturday Night Live , on which she appeared from 1986 to 1991...
(as Manjula), Garry Marshall
Garry Marshall
Garry Kent Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. His notable credits include creating Happy Days and The Odd Couple and directing Nothing In Common, Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Valentine's Day, and The Princess Diaries.-Early life:Marshall was born in the New York City...
(as Larry Kidkill), and Butch Patrick
Butch Patrick
Butch Patrick is a former American child actor. He is widely known for his role on the TV show The Munsters where he played Eddie Munster, the son of Herman and Lily Munster...
(as himself). According to Jonathan Gray in his 2006 book Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality, the episode makes fun of the "conflation of real time and occasional predilection for time jumps" often seen in sitcoms. He further noted that in "Eight Misbehavin", "in order to fit a character's pregnancy into one episode, we skip nine months." Here, Gray refers the part in the episode where a new scene starts and Homer says: "Man, the last nine months sure were crazy." Bart responds "I'll say. I learned the true meaning of Columbus Day," and then Marge says "I enjoyed a brief but memorable stint as Sideshow Marge," followed by Lisa who says "I became the most popular girl in school, but blew it by being conceited." Bart then concludes by commenting: "And then I learned the true meaning of winter." Gray wrote in his book that "Here, we are treated to a parody not only of how awkwardly time jumps are proposed, but also of how ultimately irrelevant any sitcom time is — nothing really changes, after all — and finally, of the sort of plots that traditionally fill sitcom time."
Cultural references
Several references to popular culture are featured in the episode. The episode's plot is loosely based on the life of the Dionne quintupletsDionne quintuplets
The Dionne quintuplets are the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. The sisters were born just outside Callander, Ontario, Canada near the village of Corbeil.The Dionne girls were born two months premature...
. The store Shøp is a parody of the Swedish furniture business IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
, and the name is a reference to the similar business STØR
STØR
STØR Furnishings International Inc. was an American furniture chain based in City of Industry, CA, that opened in 1987. It sold European-style furniture and ready-to-assemble furnishings. Advertisements for the chain ended with the statement "STØR: without the 'E'"...
. The three songs played during "Octopia" are "Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome to the Jungle
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on its 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987, and reached number #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number #24 on the UK Singles Chart...
" by Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, Ride of the Valkyries
Ride of the Valkyries
The Ride of the Valkyries is the popular term for the beginning of Act III of Die Walküre, the second of the four operas by Richard Wagner that comprise Der Ring des Nibelungen. The main theme of the Ride, the leitmotif labelled Walkürenritt, was first written down by the composer on 23 July 1851...
by Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
"R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", subtitled "A Salute to '60s Rock", is a rock song written and performed by John Mellencamp as John Cougar Mellencamp...
" by John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
. Homer's act is set to the song "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
Kenny Loggins
During the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
. In the octuplets room there is a picture of the character Babar the Elephant
Babar the Elephant
Babar the Elephant is a French children's fictional character who first appeared in Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 and enjoyed immediate success. An English language version, entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Britain and also in the United States. The book is based on...
dressed as former Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
.
Release and legacy
"Eight Misbehavin'" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 21, 1999. On October 7, 2008, it was released on DVD as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Mike Scully, George Meyer, Matt Selman, Julia Thacker, and Steven Dean Moore participated in the DVD audio commentaryAudio 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...
for the episode, as well as guest voice Garry Marshall. Deleted scenes and concept drawings from the episode were also included on the box set.
The episode has received mixed reviews from critics. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "With such a silly concept, [the episode] probably should flop. However, it actually works pretty well. The best moments come from those that feature the kids at the zoo, but a mix of other amusing scenes emerge. Though the show often threatens to falter, it usually succeeds." Nancy Basile of About.com
About.com
About.com is an online source for original information and advice. It is written in English, and is aimed primarily at North Americans. It is owned by The New York Times Company....
, on the other hand, listed the episode as one of the worst episodes of the season—the episodes that "made me cringe because they included blatant gimmicks and outlandish plots".
The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies." Homer's quote "Kids are the best, Apu. You can teach them to hate the things you hate. And they practically raise themselves, what with the Internet and all", entered The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations in August 2007.
External links
- "Eight Misbehavin'" at The Simpsons.com