I'm with Cupid
Encyclopedia
"I'm With Cupid" is the fourteenth episode of The Simpsons
' tenth season
. It first aired on the Fox network
in the United States
on Valentine's Day
, 1999. The episode takes place on Valentine's Day, and the wives of Springfield are jealous of the attention Apu gives to his wife Manjula. Angered by this, the Springfield husbands spy on Apu to sabotage his romantic plans.
The episode was written by Dan Greaney
and directed by Bob Anderson. Because the episode was to air on Valentine's Day, Fox wanted the episode to relate to the holiday, although the idea for the episode was pitched by Greaney. The title of the episode is based on the popular t-shirt slogan "I'm with stupid". Elton John guest-starred as himself, and recorded a new version of his song "Your Song
" for the episode. The episode also features references to Breakfast at Tiffany's, Tiffany & Co and "Lisa the Vegetarian
", an earlier episode in the series. In its original broadcast, "I'm With Cupid" was seen by approximately 7.7 million viewers and finished in 48th place in the ratings the week it aired. Following the release of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season, "I'm with Cupid" received generally positive reviews from critics.
and his new wife Manjula invite Homer and Marge to their house for dinner. However, Apu and Manjula get in a fight, after Marge mentions to Manjula that Apu does not need to work as much as he does. The week before Valentine's Day
, Apu tells Homer that he is disappointed that Manjula does not love him, until Homer assures him that Manjula will not leave him before Valentine's Day, and Apu agrees. Apu decides to shower Manjula with many romantic surprises to regain her love. However, although many of Apu's surprises succeed in fixing his marriage, they ruin other people's relationships. The rest of Springfield's women become jealous from all the attention Manjula is receiving, and find their men to be cheapskates (including Maude Flanders). At Moe's Tavern, Homer encourages several of Springfield's
men that they have to prevent Apu and Manjula from reconciling to save their own relationships and marriages.
During Valentine's Day, Homer, Chief Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert, Moe
, and Ned Flanders
investigate what Apu is doing so they can stop it. They go around town and Flanders is thrown out of the group for suggesting they should be using their time to be more romantic to their wives instead of trying to sabotage Apu. Following Apu to the airport, the remaining group see Elton John there, and they think that he supposedly came to Springfield to perform a concert for Apu and Manjula at his insistence (in reality, he had to make an emergency landing because the chandelier on his plane was malfunctioning). However, Apu's actual plan is that he arranged for a skywriter to write "I ♥ U MANJULA". During the trouble that ensues, Homer jumps on the plane during takeoff to try to stop the skywriter from spraying the message. When Homer destroys the plane's canister in mid-air it only sprayed part of the message, which the other women think is for them. While Homer and the pilot fight, Marge remains unconvinced until the plane flies by and Homer drops out of it covered with rose
s after the plane flew out of control through a thorny rose patch, possibly giving Homer a collapsed lung
. Nonetheless, Elton John is able to perform a private concert for Apu and Manjula, and their marriage is saved.
and directed by Bob Anderson. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on Valentine's Day
, 1999. Because they knew it would air on Valentine's Day, Fox asked the Simpsons staff to produce an episode related to the holiday. The episode's ending credits were also painted red in honor of the holiday. The idea for the episode was pitched by Greaney, who also wrote the episode's first draft. The episode's title was pitched by fellow Simpsons writer Ron Hauge
, who based it on the popular t-shirt slogan I'm with stupid. However, Hauge later found out that the title had already been used before for an episode of another television series. However, he did not believe that copyright issues would arise: "It's a very innocent mistake," Hauge said in the DVD comentary for the episode. "It is one of those things that, in the course of a career, you're gonna be on both sides of that, so nobody ever sues on it."
Jan Hooks
reprised her role as Manjula in the episode. In a scene in the episode, Apu and Manjula are arguing in an Indian language
. During the scene, both characters speak the language accurately, as both Hooks and Hank Azaria
(the voice of Apu) were given a phonetic transcription
of their lines. The singing parrot that Apu sends to Manjula was voiced by series main cast member Nancy Cartwright
, who also portrays Bart in the series. The episode features singer sir Elton John
as himself. John's lines were recorded by current showrunner Al Jean
, who found working with John being a "wonderful experience." "Elton John was a very nice person," Scully spoke for Jean in the DVD commentary for the episode, since Jean was busy during the commentary record. "He was a great sport and worked really hard for the show." Scully also stated that the re-recording of "Your Song
", which appears near the end of the episode, had to be recorded "several times," but that John was "very accommodating" about it.
". The two argued that "I'm with Cupid" represents Apu's role in the series, and "reinforces the romanticised view of Apu's marriage through the increasingly elaborate ways in which he expresses his love for his wife." They wrote: "In a Valentine's day episode, the message is clearly critically showing up the all-American men of Springfield for their lack of romance. [...] Throughout this episode, Apu's identity is reinforced as exotic other, but not so much as 'South Asian' other, as an 'American' ideal other, that more wholesome, romantic male juxtaposed to the Duff drinking, couch potatoe male typified by the men of Moe's bar and Homer Simpson. Again, Apu is not so much represented in his ethnicity, but presented in his critical otherness to both contemporary degenerativeness of American culture, specifically male identities and ironically (re)constructed idea of South Asianness. In these two episodes, the Asian cultural space which Apu, his mother and Manjula perform is a hybrid one, mixing 'Asian' and 'American' values and identities, but critically displacing Asian 'authenticity' and revealing the displacement of contemporary American marriage from its 'authentic' traditions."
In a scene in the episode, John, having just chewed his way out of a dog carrier, meets Apu, who exclaims "Elton John!", to which John replies "That's my name! Well, not really." The exchange references John's name change, as his birth name was Reginald Dwight. At the end of the episode, John performs for Apu and Manjula on the roof of the Kwik-E-Mart. The scene is a callback to the season 7 episode "Lisa the Vegetarian
", in which Paul McCartney
performed on the roof. The scene in which Homer is seen jamming Valentine's Day cards into their holders were based on an observation by the writers. Simpsons writer George Meyer
said of the scene: "You just see cards get really man-handled, and the envelopes get switched with the wrong sizes." In another scene, Marge and Manjula are seen playing badminton
. While the scene was conceived in order to provide exposition, the sport was included because badminton is "very popular" in India, according to Simpsons writer Ian Maxtone-Graham
. The episode also mentions the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. In a scene, Apu, carrying a shopping bag, exits the jewellery
and silver
ware store Tiffany & Co. Meanwhile, Homer, along with Chief Wiggum, Moe, Flanders and Dr Hibbert are watching Apu, assuming he bought jewellery for Manjula. It is soon revealed that Apu bought a croissant
in the store, to which Wiggum says "Oh, that's right, they have breakfast at Tiffany's now." The heart-shaped fade out at the end of the episode is a reference to the series Love, American Style
.
, translating to approximately 7.7 million viewers. The episode finished in 48th place in the ratings for the week of February 8–14, 1999. On August 7, 2007, the episode was released as part of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season DVD
box set. Mike Scully, George Meyer, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Ron Hauge and Matt Selman participated in the DVD's audio commentary of the episode.
Following its home video release, "I'm with Cupid" received generally positive reviews from critics. In 2007, Simon Crerar of The Times
listed Elton John's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. James Plath of DVD Town wrote that the episode is "funny" because "it has a plot we recognize from our own lives," and Jake McNeill of Digital Entertainment News considered it to be one of the season's best episodes. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide gave the episode a positive review as well, calling it "Very, very clever and funny," and wrote "it's executed stylishly and Homer wins in the end; entirely by default of course, but maybe that's his reward for not failing off the skywriting plane until the last minute!" However, they also criticized the episode for being "a little tacky," writing "After all, how nice are these people who want to ruin Apu and Manjula's day just because they're scared of looking bad?"
Writing for IGN
, Robert Canning described "I'm with Cupid" as "very smart and very funny" and "a great episode representing one piece of Apu's journey." However, he disliked John's guest appearance in the episode, describing it as "completely unnecessary" and "very tacked on," and described John's performance as "very flat." Nevertheless, Canning gave the episode an 8.8 rating and concluded his review by describing it as a "tightly written Valentine's episode." Giving the episode a more mixed review, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide criticized it for being to similar to an earlier episode, writing "Didn’t we already see that Flanders makes everyone else look like a jerk on Valentine’s Day? Doesn’t that theme mean that 'Cupid' is somewhat redundant?" He added "Not that the show lacks any spark, as it throws out a reasonable number of laughs," and concluded his review by writing that "it seems a little stale and not one of the year’s better programs."
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 10)
The tenth season of the animated television series The Simpsons was originally broadcast on the Fox network in the United States between August 23, 1998 and May 16, 1999. It contains twenty-three episodes, starting with "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons revolves around a working class family that...
. 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 Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, 1999. The episode takes place on Valentine's Day, and the wives of Springfield are jealous of the attention Apu gives to his wife Manjula. Angered by this, the Springfield husbands spy on Apu to sabotage his romantic plans.
The episode was written by Dan Greaney
Dan Greaney
Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons. He was hired during the show's seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven...
and directed by Bob Anderson. Because the episode was to air on Valentine's Day, Fox wanted the episode to relate to the holiday, although the idea for the episode was pitched by Greaney. The title of the episode is based on the popular t-shirt slogan "I'm with stupid". Elton John guest-starred as himself, and recorded a new version of his song "Your Song
Your Song
"Your Song" is a ballad composed and performed by English musician Elton John with lyrics by his long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin. It appeared on John's self-titled second album in 1970....
" for the episode. The episode also features references to Breakfast at Tiffany's, Tiffany & Co and "Lisa the Vegetarian
Lisa the Vegetarian
"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo...
", an earlier episode in the series. In its original broadcast, "I'm With Cupid" was seen by approximately 7.7 million viewers and finished in 48th place in the ratings the week it aired. Following the release of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season, "I'm with Cupid" received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
ApuApu 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 his new wife Manjula invite Homer and Marge to their house for dinner. However, Apu and Manjula get in a fight, after Marge mentions to Manjula that Apu does not need to work as much as he does. The week before Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, Apu tells Homer that he is disappointed that Manjula does not love him, until Homer assures him that Manjula will not leave him before Valentine's Day, and Apu agrees. Apu decides to shower Manjula with many romantic surprises to regain her love. However, although many of Apu's surprises succeed in fixing his marriage, they ruin other people's relationships. The rest of Springfield's women become jealous from all the attention Manjula is receiving, and find their men to be cheapskates (including Maude Flanders). At Moe's Tavern, Homer encourages several of Springfield's
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...
men that they have to prevent Apu and Manjula from reconciling to save their own relationships and marriages.
During Valentine's Day, Homer, Chief Wiggum, Dr. Hibbert, Moe
Moe Szyslak
Momar / Morris "Moe" Szyslak is a fictional character in the American animated television series, The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire"...
, and 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...
investigate what Apu is doing so they can stop it. They go around town and Flanders is thrown out of the group for suggesting they should be using their time to be more romantic to their wives instead of trying to sabotage Apu. Following Apu to the airport, the remaining group see Elton John there, and they think that he supposedly came to Springfield to perform a concert for Apu and Manjula at his insistence (in reality, he had to make an emergency landing because the chandelier on his plane was malfunctioning). However, Apu's actual plan is that he arranged for a skywriter to write "I ♥ U MANJULA". During the trouble that ensues, Homer jumps on the plane during takeoff to try to stop the skywriter from spraying the message. When Homer destroys the plane's canister in mid-air it only sprayed part of the message, which the other women think is for them. While Homer and the pilot fight, Marge remains unconvinced until the plane flies by and Homer drops out of it covered with rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s after the plane flew out of control through a thorny rose patch, possibly giving Homer a collapsed lung
Pneumothorax
Pneumothorax is a collection of air or gas in the pleural cavity of the chest between the lung and the chest wall. It may occur spontaneously in people without chronic lung conditions as well as in those with lung disease , and many pneumothoraces occur after physical trauma to the chest, blast...
. Nonetheless, Elton John is able to perform a private concert for Apu and Manjula, and their marriage is saved.
Production
"I'm With Cupid" was written by Dan GreaneyDan Greaney
Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons. He was hired during the show's seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven...
and directed by Bob Anderson. It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day
Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496...
, 1999. Because they knew it would air on Valentine's Day, Fox asked the Simpsons staff to produce an episode related to the holiday. The episode's ending credits were also painted red in honor of the holiday. The idea for the episode was pitched by Greaney, who also wrote the episode's first draft. The episode's title was pitched by fellow Simpsons writer Ron Hauge
Ron Hauge
Ron Hauge is an American television writer and executive producer. In his earlier career Hauge was a contributor to National Lampoon. After this he wrote for Seinfeld, In Living Color, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and a short lived reincarnation of The Carol Burnett Show...
, who based it on the popular t-shirt slogan I'm with stupid. However, Hauge later found out that the title had already been used before for an episode of another television series. However, he did not believe that copyright issues would arise: "It's a very innocent mistake," Hauge said in the DVD comentary for the episode. "It is one of those things that, in the course of a career, you're gonna be on both sides of that, so nobody ever sues on it."
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...
reprised her role as Manjula in the episode. In a scene in the episode, Apu and Manjula are arguing in an Indian language
Languages of India
The languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages...
. During the scene, both characters speak the language accurately, as both Hooks 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...
(the voice of Apu) were given a phonetic transcription
Phonetic transcription
Phonetic transcription is the visual representation of speech sounds . The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, e.g., the International Phonetic Alphabet....
of their lines. The singing parrot that Apu sends to Manjula was voiced by series main cast member Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
, who also portrays Bart in the series. The episode features singer sir Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
as himself. John's lines were recorded by 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...
, who found working with John being a "wonderful experience." "Elton John was a very nice person," Scully spoke for Jean in the DVD commentary for the episode, since Jean was busy during the commentary record. "He was a great sport and worked really hard for the show." Scully also stated that the re-recording of "Your Song
Your Song
"Your Song" is a ballad composed and performed by English musician Elton John with lyrics by his long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin. It appeared on John's self-titled second album in 1970....
", which appears near the end of the episode, had to be recorded "several times," but that John was "very accommodating" about it.
Themes and cultural references
In their book Picturing South Asian culture in English: textual and visual representations, Tasleem Shakur and Karen D'Souza analyzed "I'm with Cupid" along with the season 9 episode "The Two Mrs. NahasapeemapetilonsThe Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons
"The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons" is the seventh episode of The Simpsons ninth season, that originally aired on November 16, 1997. It was written by Richard Appel and directed by Steven Dean Moore. The episode sees Apu Nahasapeemapetilon marry Manjula, and incorporates several aspects of Hindu...
". The two argued that "I'm with Cupid" represents Apu's role in the series, and "reinforces the romanticised view of Apu's marriage through the increasingly elaborate ways in which he expresses his love for his wife." They wrote: "In a Valentine's day episode, the message is clearly critically showing up the all-American men of Springfield for their lack of romance. [...] Throughout this episode, Apu's identity is reinforced as exotic other, but not so much as 'South Asian' other, as an 'American' ideal other, that more wholesome, romantic male juxtaposed to the Duff drinking, couch potatoe male typified by the men of Moe's bar and Homer Simpson. Again, Apu is not so much represented in his ethnicity, but presented in his critical otherness to both contemporary degenerativeness of American culture, specifically male identities and ironically (re)constructed idea of South Asianness. In these two episodes, the Asian cultural space which Apu, his mother and Manjula perform is a hybrid one, mixing 'Asian' and 'American' values and identities, but critically displacing Asian 'authenticity' and revealing the displacement of contemporary American marriage from its 'authentic' traditions."
In a scene in the episode, John, having just chewed his way out of a dog carrier, meets Apu, who exclaims "Elton John!", to which John replies "That's my name! Well, not really." The exchange references John's name change, as his birth name was Reginald Dwight. At the end of the episode, John performs for Apu and Manjula on the roof of the Kwik-E-Mart. The scene is a callback to the season 7 episode "Lisa the Vegetarian
Lisa the Vegetarian
"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo...
", in which Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
performed on the roof. The scene in which Homer is seen jamming Valentine's Day cards into their holders were based on an observation by the writers. Simpsons writer George Meyer
George Meyer
George A. Meyer is an American producer and writer. Raised in Tucson, Arizona in a Roman Catholic family, Meyer attended Harvard University. There, after becoming president of the Harvard Lampoon, he graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry. Abandoning plans to attend medical school, Meyer...
said of the scene: "You just see cards get really man-handled, and the envelopes get switched with the wrong sizes." In another scene, Marge and Manjula are seen playing badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
. While the scene was conceived in order to provide exposition, the sport was included because badminton is "very popular" in India, according to Simpsons writer Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons , and has also served as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for The Simpsons...
. The episode also mentions the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's. In a scene, Apu, carrying a shopping bag, exits the jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
and silver
Silver (household)
Household silver or silverware includes dishware, cutlery and other household items made of sterling, Britannia or Sheffield plate silver. The term is often extended to items made of stainless steel...
ware store Tiffany & Co. Meanwhile, Homer, along with Chief Wiggum, Moe, Flanders and Dr Hibbert are watching Apu, assuming he bought jewellery for Manjula. It is soon revealed that Apu bought a croissant
Croissant
A croissant is a buttery flaky pastry named for its distinctive crescent shape. It is also sometimes called a crescent, from the French word for "crescent". Croissants are made of a leavened variant of puff pastry...
in the store, to which Wiggum says "Oh, that's right, they have breakfast at Tiffany's now." The heart-shaped fade out at the end of the episode is a reference to the series Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on February 14, 1999, "I'm with Cupid" received a 7.7 rating, 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...
, translating to approximately 7.7 million viewers. The episode finished in 48th place in the ratings for the week of February 8–14, 1999. On August 7, 2007, the episode was released as part of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth 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....
box set. Mike Scully, George Meyer, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Ron Hauge and Matt Selman participated in the DVD's audio commentary of the episode.
Following its home video release, "I'm with Cupid" received generally positive reviews from critics. In 2007, Simon Crerar 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...
listed Elton John's performance as one of the thirty-three funniest cameos in the history of the show. James Plath of DVD Town wrote that the episode is "funny" because "it has a plot we recognize from our own lives," and Jake McNeill of Digital Entertainment News considered it to be one of the season's best episodes. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide gave the episode a positive review as well, calling it "Very, very clever and funny," and wrote "it's executed stylishly and Homer wins in the end; entirely by default of course, but maybe that's his reward for not failing off the skywriting plane until the last minute!" However, they also criticized the episode for being "a little tacky," writing "After all, how nice are these people who want to ruin Apu and Manjula's day just because they're scared of looking bad?"
Writing for 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...
, Robert Canning described "I'm with Cupid" as "very smart and very funny" and "a great episode representing one piece of Apu's journey." However, he disliked John's guest appearance in the episode, describing it as "completely unnecessary" and "very tacked on," and described John's performance as "very flat." Nevertheless, Canning gave the episode an 8.8 rating and concluded his review by describing it as a "tightly written Valentine's episode." Giving the episode a more mixed review, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide criticized it for being to similar to an earlier episode, writing "Didn’t we already see that Flanders makes everyone else look like a jerk on Valentine’s Day? Doesn’t that theme mean that 'Cupid' is somewhat redundant?" He added "Not that the show lacks any spark, as it throws out a reasonable number of laughs," and concluded his review by writing that "it seems a little stale and not one of the year’s better programs."
External links
- "I'm with Cupid" at The Simpsons.com