One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish
Encyclopedia
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons
' second season
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. In the episode, Homer
consumes a poisonous fugu
fish at a sushi
restaurant, and is told that he has only twenty-two hours left to live. He accepts his fate and makes a list of all the things he wants to do before he dies.
The episode was written by Nell Scovell
and directed by Wes Archer
. It features guest appearances from Larry King
, George Takei
, Sab Shimono
, Joey Miyashima
, and Diane Tanaka. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released November 9, 1998. The episode features cultural references to songs such as “Theme from Shaft
”, “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves”, and "When the Saints Go Marching In
". Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating
of 14.1, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
takes his family to the new sushi
bar, The Happy Sumo. After sampling most of the items on the menu, he tries sushi made from the fish fugu
. The chef in charge is busy having sex with Edna Krabappel
, so his apprentice has to slice the fugu, of which certain parts are toxic. The apprentice tries to do it carefully, but Homer starts yelling impatiently, disturbing the apprentice and forcing him to serve it, unsure if the poisonous portions have been removed. Homer considers it a treat, but the chef soon returns and believes that the fish has not been prepared correctly and tells Homer that he may have been poisoned. Homer and Marge go to the hospital, where Dr. Hibbert
informs Homer that based on a chat he had with the sushi chef, Homer is indeed very likely to die and has twenty-two hours left to live. At night with Marge by his side, he decides not to tell his children about the bad news and makes a list of all the things he wants to do before he dies.
On his last day, after oversleeping, Homer attempts to do all the things on his list. He has a man-to-man talk with Bart
, listens to Lisa
play her saxophone
, and borrows Flanders
's camcorder
to make a video for Maggie
that she can look at when she is older. Homer finally reconciles with his father Abe
, which takes up far more time than he expects and forces him to give up doing some of the things on his list. After trying to catch up on time he lost doing these things, Homer is arrested for speeding. He calls Barney
, who is asked to pay $50 to bail him out. Leaving jail and with not much time left, he tells off his boss Mr. Burns and has one last drink at Moe's Tavern with his friends, causing him to miss dinner with his waiting family. He then hurries home in time to say goodbye to his children and make love to Marge.
At midnight, Homer quietly gets out of bed, visits each family member, who are all asleep, and says goodbye. Feeling glum, he goes to the living room and listens to Larry King
read the Bible
on tape. The tape plays out to which suddenly his head drops and it appears he has succumbed to the poison. Marge awakens the next morning and is panicked that her husband is not by her side. She runs downstairs and finds Homer, collapsed in the armchair. As she mourns, she realizes that his drool is still warm. She wakes him up and drums in the fact that he is alive. Homer then prances around in an overjoyed state and vows to live life to its fullest. In typical Homer fashion, he is soon back on the couch watching a bowling tournament and eating pork rinds.
The episode was written by Nell Scovell
and directed by Wes Archer
. In the episode, Bart and Lisa sneak into the sushi bar's karaoke room and sing the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft
, "Theme from Shaft
". The Fox network censors originally did not want the staff to use the song because they thought the lyrics were too obscene to appear on television. In order to prove the censors wrong and show that it could appear on television, the staff dug up footage from an old Academy Awards
ceremony at which the song was performed by Isaac Hayes
. When the chef of the sushi bar finds out that Homer has been poisoned, he yells at his apprentices in Japanese
. The staff wanted the language they spoke to be actual Japanese, so they hired a Japanese actor who translated the lines for them. The episode introduced the character Akira, who has appeared many times later on the show. American actor George Takei
provided the voice of Akira. The episode featured many other guest appearances; Larry King as himself; Sab Shimono
as the sushi bar chef; Joey Miyashima
as Toshiro, the apprentice chef who slices up the fugu; and Diane Tanaka as hostess of the bar. King's role was first offered to American singer Bruce Springsteen
, but he turned it down. According to showrunner Sam Simon
, actor William Shatner
also rejected the part.
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released on November 9, 1998. Other episodes included in the collection set were "Colonel Homer
", "Homer Alone
", and "Simpson and Delilah
". The episode was again included in the 2005 DVD release of the Last Temptation Of Homer set. It was also released in May 1998 on the seventh volume of the Best of The Simpsons video collection, together with "Bart Gets Hit by a Car
". The episode was later included on The Simpsons season two DVD set; released on August 6, 2002. Scovell, Matt Groening
, Al Jean
, and Mike Reiss
participated in the DVD's audio commentary
.
film franchise. While waiting for Homer to finish his meal at the sushi bar, Bart and Lisa sneak into the bar's karaoke room and sing the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft
, "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes. In the karaoke room, a gentleman introduces himself as Richie Sakai, a reference to a writer on The Simpsons with the same name. He proceeds to sing the 1971 song "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" by Cher
. Homer sings his own version of the gospel
hymn
"When the Saints Go Marching In
" while listening to Lisa playing her saxophone one last time. When Homer arrives at his home after leaving Moe's Tavern, he hammers on one of the windows of the house and shouts Marge's name. This is a reference to the 1967 film The Graduate
, in which Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman
) does the same and runs to the church, pounds on the window, and yells "Elaine! Elaine!" As Homer awaits his death, he listens to Larry King read the Bible on tape.
of 14.1, equivalent to thirteen million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said that despite a "potentially gimmicky tone", the episode provided "a lot of fun moments along with a little emotional content as well. The show usually balanced sentimentality cleanly, and that occurred here; it avoided becoming too syrupy and featured just enough emotion to make an impact. It also contained some great bits, like Lisa and Bart’s karaoke performance of the 'Theme from Shaft'. It also ended on a hilarious and incisive note." Jacobson's favorite line of the episode was the sushi restaurant hostess's "This is our karaoke bar. Now it is empty, but soon it will be hopping with drunken Japanese businessmen." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "Again, a playful dig at racial stereotypes. Homer comes over as a reasonable man who wants to live his last day in style, and the closing twist is easily as good as the farewells leading up to it." Jeremy Kleinman of DVD Talk
said that the episode is "rich with sentimentality and Homer's expression of love for his family as he fears that his time is up." He also commented that while all of the chalkboard gags on the show are "funny", this episode "features a true gem" as Bart writes "I will not cut corners" once and then puts ditto marks below. Ed Potton of The Times
wrote: "The writers offer black humour by the bucketload, but the grim reality of Homer's fate is never in doubt; his eventual collapse is deeply affecting. A great example of [the show's] fierce satire being offset by a potent emotional core." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone
contributor, said the first half of the episode has "fun skewering Japanese restaurants and such, while the second half is reasonably successful at emphasizing character while sustaining the comedy."
In a review of the second season, Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend
commented: "The worst moments of this season are merely uninspired, never truly horrible. Slight misses like “Dancin' Homer
”, “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish”, “Bart's Dog Gets an F
”, and “The War of the Simpsons
” are a bit flat. But even in their lowest points, humor is easy to find." Jeremy Roebuck of KVUE
named this episode, along with "Bart Sells His Soul
", "Homer the Heretic
", "Simpsons Bible Stories
", and "She of Little Faith
", one of the best Simpsons episodes with a religious theme. Dawn Taylor of The DVD Journal thought Homer's line to Bart, "I want to share something with you, the three little sentences that will get you through life. Number one: 'Cover for me.' Number two: 'Oh, good idea, boss.' Number three, 'It was like that when I got here.'", was the best line of the episode.
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 2)
The Simpsons second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 22 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt...
. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. In the episode, 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...
consumes a poisonous fugu
Fugu
is the Japanese word for pufferfish and the dish prepared from it, normally species of genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides, or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin; therefore, it must be carefully prepared to remove toxic parts and to...
fish at a sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
restaurant, and is told that he has only twenty-two hours left to live. He accepts his fate and makes a list of all the things he wants to do before he dies.
The episode was written by Nell Scovell
Nell Scovell
Nell Scovell is a television and magazine writer, producer and director. She is the creator of the television series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which aired on ABC and The WB from 1996 until 2003....
and directed by Wes Archer
Wes Archer
Wesley Meyer Archer is a television animation director. He was one of the original three animators on The Simpsons' Tracey Ullman shorts and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes before becoming supervising director at King of the Hill. A...
. It features guest appearances from Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
, Sab Shimono
Sab Shimono
Sab Shimono is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in character roles.-Career:An accomplished stage actor, he has appeared on Broadway and in regional theaters including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre...
, Joey Miyashima
Joey Miyashima
Joey Miyashima is a Japanese American television and film actor. Miyashima played Pee-wee Herman's Japanese pen pal, Oki Doki, in "Accidental Playhouse", an episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse...
, and Diane Tanaka. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released November 9, 1998. The episode features cultural references to songs such as “Theme from Shaft
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
”, “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves”, and "When the Saints Go Marching In
When the Saints Go Marching In
"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is an American gospel hymn that has taken on certain aspects of folk music. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a spiritual, today people are more likely to hear it played by a jazz band...
". Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating
Nielsen 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 14.1, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot
HomerHomer 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...
takes his family to the new sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
bar, The Happy Sumo. After sampling most of the items on the menu, he tries sushi made from the fish fugu
Fugu
is the Japanese word for pufferfish and the dish prepared from it, normally species of genus Takifugu, Lagocephalus, or Sphoeroides, or porcupinefish of the genus Diodon. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin; therefore, it must be carefully prepared to remove toxic parts and to...
. The chef in charge is busy having sex with Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel
Edna Krabappel is a fictional character from the animated TV series The Simpsons, voiced by Marcia Wallace. She is a 4th grade teacher at Springfield Elementary School. Krabappel is the only character Wallace voices on a regular basis.- Profile :...
, so his apprentice has to slice the fugu, of which certain parts are toxic. The apprentice tries to do it carefully, but Homer starts yelling impatiently, disturbing the apprentice and forcing him to serve it, unsure if the poisonous portions have been removed. Homer considers it a treat, but the chef soon returns and believes that the fish has not been prepared correctly and tells Homer that he may have been poisoned. Homer and Marge go to the hospital, where Dr. Hibbert
Julius Hibbert
Dr. Julius M. Hibbert, usually referred to as Dr. Hibbert, is a recurring character on the animated series The Simpsons. His speaking voice is provided by Harry Shearer and his singing voice was by Thurl Ravenscroft, and he first appeared in the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Dr...
informs Homer that based on a chat he had with the sushi chef, Homer is indeed very likely to die and has twenty-two hours left to live. At night with Marge by his side, he decides not to tell his children about the bad news and makes a list of all the things he wants to do before he dies.
On his last day, after oversleeping, Homer attempts to do all the things on his list. He has a man-to-man talk with 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...
, listens to 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...
play her saxophone
Baritone saxophone
The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
, and borrows 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...
's camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
to make a video for 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...
that she can look at when she is older. Homer finally reconciles with his father Abe
Abraham Simpson
Abraham J. "Abe" Simpson, often known simply as Grampa, is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and he is also the patriarch of the Simpson family, the father of Homer Simpson, and the grandfather of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson...
, which takes up far more time than he expects and forces him to give up doing some of the things on his list. After trying to catch up on time he lost doing these things, Homer is arrested for speeding. He calls Barney
Barney Gumble
Barnard "Barney" Gumble is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. The character is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the town drunk and Homer Simpson's best friend. His capacity for...
, who is asked to pay $50 to bail him out. Leaving jail and with not much time left, he tells off his boss Mr. Burns and has one last drink at Moe's Tavern with his friends, causing him to miss dinner with his waiting family. He then hurries home in time to say goodbye to his children and make love to Marge.
At midnight, Homer quietly gets out of bed, visits each family member, who are all asleep, and says goodbye. Feeling glum, he goes to the living room and listens to Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
read the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
on tape. The tape plays out to which suddenly his head drops and it appears he has succumbed to the poison. Marge awakens the next morning and is panicked that her husband is not by her side. She runs downstairs and finds Homer, collapsed in the armchair. As she mourns, she realizes that his drool is still warm. She wakes him up and drums in the fact that he is alive. Homer then prances around in an overjoyed state and vows to live life to its fullest. In typical Homer fashion, he is soon back on the couch watching a bowling tournament and eating pork rinds.
Production
Nell Scovell
Nell Scovell is a television and magazine writer, producer and director. She is the creator of the television series Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, which aired on ABC and The WB from 1996 until 2003....
and directed by Wes Archer
Wes Archer
Wesley Meyer Archer is a television animation director. He was one of the original three animators on The Simpsons' Tracey Ullman shorts and subsequently directed a number of The Simpsons episodes before becoming supervising director at King of the Hill. A...
. In the episode, Bart and Lisa sneak into the sushi bar's karaoke room and sing the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
, "Theme from Shaft
Theme from Shaft
"Theme from Shaft", written and recorded by Isaac Hayes in 1971, is the soul and funk-styled theme song to the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, Shaft...
". The Fox network censors originally did not want the staff to use the song because they thought the lyrics were too obscene to appear on television. In order to prove the censors wrong and show that it could appear on television, the staff dug up footage from an old Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
ceremony at which the song was performed by Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
. When the chef of the sushi bar finds out that Homer has been poisoned, he yells at his apprentices in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
. The staff wanted the language they spoke to be actual Japanese, so they hired a Japanese actor who translated the lines for them. The episode introduced the character Akira, who has appeared many times later on the show. American actor George Takei
George Takei
George Hosato Takei Altman is an American actor, author, social activist and former civil politician. He is best known for his role in the television series Star Trek and its film spinoffs, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the...
provided the voice of Akira. The episode featured many other guest appearances; Larry King as himself; Sab Shimono
Sab Shimono
Sab Shimono is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of movies and television shows in character roles.-Career:An accomplished stage actor, he has appeared on Broadway and in regional theaters including San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre and Berkeley Repertory Theatre...
as the sushi bar chef; Joey Miyashima
Joey Miyashima
Joey Miyashima is a Japanese American television and film actor. Miyashima played Pee-wee Herman's Japanese pen pal, Oki Doki, in "Accidental Playhouse", an episode of Pee-Wee's Playhouse...
as Toshiro, the apprentice chef who slices up the fugu; and Diane Tanaka as hostess of the bar. King's role was first offered to American singer Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, but he turned it down. According to showrunner Sam Simon
Sam Simon
Samuel "Sam" Simon is an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist. While at Stanford University, Simon worked as a newspaper cartoonist and after graduating became a storyboard artist at Filmation Studios. He submitted a spec script for the sitcom Taxi, which was...
, actor William Shatner
William Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
also rejected the part.
"One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. The episode was selected for release in a video collection of selected episodes, titled The Last Temptation Of Homer, that was released on November 9, 1998. Other episodes included in the collection set were "Colonel Homer
Colonel Homer
"Colonel Homer" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 26, 1992. In the episode, Homer embarrasses his wife Marge at a movie theater, leading to a big argument between the two...
", "Homer Alone
Homer Alone
"Homer Alone" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 6, 1992. In the episode, stress at home causes Marge to have a mental breakdown and she decides to go on a vacation...
", and "Simpson and Delilah
Simpson and Delilah
"Simpson and Delilah" is the second episode of The Simpsons second season and first aired on October 18, 1990. Homer uses the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant medical insurance plan to buy Dimoxinil, a miracle hair growth formula. Homer grows hair, and is given a promotion at work which allows him...
". The episode was again included in the 2005 DVD release of the Last Temptation Of Homer set. It was also released in May 1998 on the seventh volume of the Best of The Simpsons video collection, together with "Bart Gets Hit by a Car
Bart Gets Hit by a Car
"Bart Gets Hit by a Car" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 1991. At the start of the episode, Bart is hit by Mr. Burns' car. Prompted by ambulance chasing lawyer Lionel Hutz and quack doctor Dr. Nick...
". The episode was later included on The Simpsons season two DVD set; released on August 6, 2002. Scovell, 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....
, 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...
, and 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...
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...
.
Cultural references
The sushi bar that the Simpson family visits is located on a street called Elm Street, a reference to the A Nightmare on Elm StreetA Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)
A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American horror franchise that consists of nine slasher films, a television show, novels, and comic books. The franchise began with the film series created by Wes Craven. The franchise is based on the fictional character Freddy Krueger, introduced in A Nightmare on...
film franchise. While waiting for Homer to finish his meal at the sushi bar, Bart and Lisa sneak into the bar's karaoke room and sing the theme song to the 1971 film Shaft
Shaft (1971 film)
Shaft is a 1971 American blaxploitation film directed by Gordon Parks, released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. An action film with elements of film noir, Shaft tells the story of a black private detective, John Shaft, who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob neighborhoods in order to find the...
, "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes. In the karaoke room, a gentleman introduces himself as Richie Sakai, a reference to a writer on The Simpsons with the same name. He proceeds to sing the 1971 song "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves" by Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
. Homer sings his own version of the gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
"When the Saints Go Marching In
When the Saints Go Marching In
"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is an American gospel hymn that has taken on certain aspects of folk music. The precise origins of the song are not known. Though it originated as a spiritual, today people are more likely to hear it played by a jazz band...
" while listening to Lisa playing her saxophone one last time. When Homer arrives at his home after leaving Moe's Tavern, he hammers on one of the windows of the house and shouts Marge's name. This is a reference to the 1967 film The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...
, in which Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
) does the same and runs to the church, pounds on the window, and yells "Elaine! Elaine!" As Homer awaits his death, he listens to Larry King read the Bible on tape.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" finished twenty-seventh in the ratings for the week of January 21–27, 1991, 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 14.1, equivalent to thirteen million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said that despite a "potentially gimmicky tone", the episode provided "a lot of fun moments along with a little emotional content as well. The show usually balanced sentimentality cleanly, and that occurred here; it avoided becoming too syrupy and featured just enough emotion to make an impact. It also contained some great bits, like Lisa and Bart’s karaoke performance of the 'Theme from Shaft'. It also ended on a hilarious and incisive note." Jacobson's favorite line of the episode was the sushi restaurant hostess's "This is our karaoke bar. Now it is empty, but soon it will be hopping with drunken Japanese businessmen." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: "Again, a playful dig at racial stereotypes. Homer comes over as a reasonable man who wants to live his last day in style, and the closing twist is easily as good as the farewells leading up to it." Jeremy Kleinman 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...
said that the episode is "rich with sentimentality and Homer's expression of love for his family as he fears that his time is up." He also commented that while all of the chalkboard gags on the show are "funny", this episode "features a true gem" as Bart writes "I will not cut corners" once and then puts ditto marks below. Ed Potton 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...
wrote: "The writers offer black humour by the bucketload, but the grim reality of Homer's fate is never in doubt; his eventual collapse is deeply affecting. A great example of [the show's] fierce satire being offset by a potent emotional core." Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
contributor, said the first half of the episode has "fun skewering Japanese restaurants and such, while the second half is reasonably successful at emphasizing character while sustaining the comedy."
In a review of the second season, Bryce Wilson of Cinema Blend
Cinema Blend
Cinema Blend is a website founded and run by Josh Tyler dedicated to news and reviews of upcoming and currently playing films, movie projects, Television Shows, and a newly founded Music section which covers album reviews, band interviews and daily news from the industry. It combines gossip from...
commented: "The worst moments of this season are merely uninspired, never truly horrible. Slight misses like “Dancin' Homer
Dancin' Homer
"Dancin' Homer" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 8, 1990. In the episode, Homer fires up the crowd at a Springfield Isotopes baseball game and is chosen to be the team's new mascot. He immediately becomes a...
”, “One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish”, “Bart's Dog Gets an F
Bart's Dog Gets an F
"Bart's Dog Gets an F" is the sixteenth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 7, 1991. In this episode, the Simpson family's dog, Santa's Little Helper, manages to infuriate the entire family by destroying Homer's new shoes,...
”, and “The War of the Simpsons
The War of the Simpsons
"The War of the Simpsons" is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 2, 1991. In the episode, Homer gets drunk at a party and embarrasses his wife Marge, so she decides to sign them up for a marriage counseling retreat...
” are a bit flat. But even in their lowest points, humor is easy to find." Jeremy Roebuck of KVUE
KVUE
KVUE, virtual channel 24 , is the local Austin, Texas-based ABC affiliate, owned by Belo Corporation. Its transmitter is located in West Lake Hills, just west of Downtown...
named this episode, along with "Bart Sells His Soul
Bart Sells His Soul
"Bart Sells His Soul" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It first aired in the United States on the Fox network, on October 8, 1995. In the episode, Bart pranks churchgoers by replacing the music to a hymn with a psychedelic rock song, so Reverend Lovejoy forces him and Milhouse...
", "Homer the Heretic
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...
", "Simpsons Bible Stories
Simpsons Bible Stories
"Simpsons Bible Stories" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on Easter, 1999. It is the first of The Simpsons now annual trilogy episodes, and consists of four self-contained segments. In the episode the Simpsons all fall...
", and "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...
", one of the best Simpsons episodes with a religious theme. Dawn Taylor of The DVD Journal thought Homer's line to Bart, "I want to share something with you, the three little sentences that will get you through life. Number one: 'Cover for me.' Number two: 'Oh, good idea, boss.' Number three, 'It was like that when I got here.'", was the best line of the episode.
External links
- "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" at The Simpsons.com
- "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...