The PTA Disbands!
Encyclopedia
"The PTA Disbands" is the 21st episode of The Simpsons
' sixth season
. It originally aired on April 16, 1995. In the episode, Edna Krabappel
calls an emergency strike
on behalf of the Teacher
s' Union
of Springfield Elementary, to protest against Principal Skinner's miserly school spending. Students react in their own manner to the strike: Lisa
becomes obsessed with a desire to be graded, while Bart
enjoys the extra time he has during the day. Bart arranges to keep the teachers union and Principal Skinner at an impasse, but becomes frustrated with substitute teacher
arrangements and resolves to force negotiations forward. The situation is resolved when Krabappel and Skinner agree to rent space in classroom closets to the Springfield Prison.
The episode was written by Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Swinton O. Scott III
, with David Mirkin
as show-runner. The episode includes cultural references to a number of books highlighted by Edna Krabappel as having been banned by other schools – including William Shatner
's TekWar
, Steal This Book
by Abbie Hoffman
, and The Theory of Evolution
by Charles Darwin
. The episode received favorable mention in books on The Simpsons and media reviews, and was cited by academicians, who analyzed portions of the episode from physics
and psychology
perspectives. During a 2004 strike by voice actors for The Simpsons during salary negotiations, media sources cited an iconic quote from Homer to Lisa in the episode about the teachers strike.
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After a failed attempt at a school field trip
, which appears to have caused the apparent abandonment and brutal beating of the student Üter, Edna Krabappel
calls an emergency strike
on behalf of the Teacher
s' Union
of Springfield Elementary, to protest against Principal Skinner's miserly spending on school supplies and activities.
As the teachers' strike results in the closing of the school, the various student characters respond to the sudden turn of events in their own ways: Lisa
becomes increasingly obsessive in her desire to be graded, Milhouse
is forced by his parents to take private tutoring lessons (which improve his education), Jimbo Jones finds himself immersed in the intricacies of daytime soap opera
s with his mother, Dolph and Kearney become easily bored with video games, and Bart
revels in his newfound afternoon freedom and annoys many Springfield citizens by imitating other people to make them angry or hurt each other. In particular, Bart does what he can to keep the union and Principal Skinner at odds with each other. The two sides are at an impasse; the union wanting a restoration of funding and Skinner maintaining that even with the spending reductions he has made, government budget cuts have squeezed the school dry.
After some prompting from an exasperated Marge Simpson
, the parents of Springfield
eventually decide to take matters into their own hands, and recruit volunteers from the community to take over as temporary teachers. This turns out to be even worse for the students than before the strike, especially as Marge becomes Bart's new teacher and Jasper becomes Lisa's new teacher and gets his beard stuck in a pencil sharpener. Due to Marge's excessive mothering of Bart, he grudgingly resolves to force the strike negotiations forward. Together with Milhouse, he tricks both Krabappel and Principal Skinner into entering Skinner's office, which he then locks behind them. After spending several hours trapped together "like prisoners" in their own school, the two are mutually inspired with an idea to create extra revenue for more school spending. Things return to normal with the old teachers in charge, but with the school cloakrooms having been rented to the Springfield Prison
. Each classroom now features several full prison cells at the back, which have the added benefit of keeping the more troublesome students in line.
The episode was written by Jennifer Crittenden. She came in to the writers' room and pitched the idea that there should be a teachers' strike in an episode. Then-show runner David Mirkin
thought the episode had a lot of potential, and much of it is based on his experience as a child with schools running out of money. Despite the title of the episode, at no point does the PTA
(Parent-Teacher Association) actually disband. The title was suggested by Mirkin and was intended to poke fun at Crittenden, who thought the most exciting part of the teachers going on strike would be that the PTA might disband. In addition to this, Mirkin added a character to the episode who, on thinking the PTA has disbanded, jumps panicking out of a window. He jumps back in the same window when Ned
tells him the PTA has not disbanded.
The episode was directed by Swinton O. Scott III
. In the opening shot of the episode, the bus that the children travel in to the field trip had to vibrate up and down to give the impression that it did not have bumpers and that it was falling apart. Scott said it was difficult to animate the scene because of the vibrating and the backgrounds panning. Milhouse's tutor in the episode is based on the American actor Tony Randall
.
. The lookout was also modeled after the lookout in the show. The scene in which Üter is left behind at the end of the field trip is based on a scene from the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express
.
Edna points at some school books and says: "The only books we have are ones that were banned by other schools." Skinner picks up a book called TekWar
, and says: "Well, the kids have to learn about TekWar sooner or later," referencing William Shatner
's series of science fiction
novels. Other books in the bookshelf include Sexus by Henry Miller
, Hop on Pop
by Dr. Seuss
, The Satanic Verses
("Junior Illustrated Edition") by Salman Rushdie, 40 Years of Playboy by Hugh Hefner
, Steal This Book
by Abbie Hoffman
, and The Theory of Evolution
by Charles Darwin
.
Bart tells Skinner in the principal's office that Edna told him that Skinner "folds faster than Superman
on laundry day", a reference to the comic book character Superman. That line is one of The Simpsons animator David Silverman
's favorite lines on the show. Gabe Kaplan
is one of Bart's victims on his substitute list, a reference to Kaplan and his character in the 1975 TV series Welcome Back, Kotter
. The character at the bank who tells the angry crowd that their money's in "Bill's house, and Fred's house" is based on James Stewart
's George Bailey
character from It's a Wonderful Life
.
of 7.1. It was the 8th highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
In their book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood describe "The PTA Disbands" as "Possibly the best of the school episodes." In a review of the sixth season of The Simpsons, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide writes: "I especially like the contrasts between how Bart and Lisa accept the strike. The show doesn’t quite manage to soar consistently, but it has more than enough to make it positive." In his review of the episode for TV Squad, Adam Finley comments: "I love how Bart and Lisa both handle the news differently. Bart is thrilled ... Lisa, on the other hand, can't handle not being graded and evaluated every day, and slowly begins to lose her mind."
In 2004, when the voice actors for The Simpsons went on strike requesting additional income, The Scotsman
cited a quote by Homer from the episode: "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American Way." The Scotsman asserted "Homer would not approve" of the strike by the voice actors. The voice actors were asking for an increase from US$
125,000 to $360,000 per episode. The same quote by Homer to Lisa was cited by Michael Schneider in Daily Variety
, who wrote: "..insiders note that the actors work just six to seven hours to voice an episode --- which would mean $ 360,000 for a day's work, a figure that even "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano doesn't match."
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
physics
and mathematics
professor Paul Halpern discusses the episode in his book What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe, and quotes Homer's admonition to Lisa: "Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" at the beginning of Halpern's section on "Mechanical Plots". Halpern describes Lisa's efforts to build a perpetual-motion machine while bored during the teachers strike, and comments that though it is absurd in reality to order someone to obey the laws of thermodynamics, he acknowledges that "physicists sometimes don't know the proper arena within which certain laws apply". In the July 26, 2007 issue of Nature
, the scientific journal's editorial staff listed "The PTA Disbands" among "The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons", writing: "Lisa gets so bored by a lack of schooling she builds a perpetual motion machine. Homer is not pleased: 'Lisa, in this house we OBEY the laws of thermodynamics.'"
The episode is cited by Robert M. Arkin and Philip J. Mazzocco in their work "Self-Esteem in Springfield", in the compilation book The Psychology of The Simpsons
. Arkin and Mazzocco note an exchange between Edna Krabappel
and Seymour Skinner
, where Skinner exclaims to Krabappel: "Oh come on Edna: We both know these kids have no future! [All the children stop and look at him; he chuckles nervously] Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong." Arkin and Mazzocco note that this example is seen as an exception, writing: "Generally, however, the Simpsons are right on target in their understanding of the importance of self-esteem and the dynamics involved in the interplay between the social world and positive self-regard."
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 6)
The Simpsons sixth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 4, 1994 and May 21, 1995 and consists of 25 episodes. The Simpsons is an animated series about a working class family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
. It originally aired on April 16, 1995. In the episode, 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 :...
calls an emergency strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
on behalf of the Teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s' Union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
of Springfield Elementary, to protest against Principal Skinner's miserly school spending. Students react in their own manner to the strike: 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...
becomes obsessed with a desire to be graded, while 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...
enjoys the extra time he has during the day. Bart arranges to keep the teachers union and Principal Skinner at an impasse, but becomes frustrated with substitute teacher
Substitute teacher
A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, or other reasons. "Substitute teacher" is the most commonly used phrase in the United States, Canada and Ireland, while supply teacher is the most commonly...
arrangements and resolves to force negotiations forward. The situation is resolved when Krabappel and Skinner agree to rent space in classroom closets to the Springfield Prison.
The episode was written by Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Swinton O. Scott III
Swinton O. Scott III
Swinton O. Scott III is an animation director best known for his work on The Simpsons.He directed four episodes of Futurama, 7 episodes of "The Simpsons" and one episode of Family Guy...
, with David Mirkin
David Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
as show-runner. The episode includes cultural references to a number of books highlighted by Edna Krabappel as having been banned by other schools – including 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...
's TekWar
TekWar
Tekwar is a series of science fiction novels officially authored by William Shatner and co-written by uncredited science-fiction author Ron Goulart, published by Putnam...
, Steal This Book
Steal This Book
-Advice on dissidence:The book includes advice on such topics as growing cannabis, starting a pirate radio station, living in a commune, stealing food, shoplifting, stealing credit cards, preparing a legal defense, making pipe bombs, and obtaining a free buffalo from the Department of the Interior...
by Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, and The Theory of Evolution
The Theory of Evolution
The Theory of Evolution is a book by English evolutionary biologist and geneticist John Maynard Smith, originally published in 1958. It serves as a general introduction to the eponymous subject, intended to be accessible to those with little technical knowledge of the area. It has been highly...
by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. The episode received favorable mention in books on The Simpsons and media reviews, and was cited by academicians, who analyzed portions of the episode from physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
perspectives. During a 2004 strike by voice actors for The Simpsons during salary negotiations, media sources cited an iconic quote from Homer to Lisa in the episode about the teachers strike.
Plot
Field trip
A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...
, which appears to have caused the apparent abandonment and brutal beating of the student Üter, 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 :...
calls an emergency strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
on behalf of the Teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s' Union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
of Springfield Elementary, to protest against Principal Skinner's miserly spending on school supplies and activities.
As the teachers' strike results in the closing of the school, the various student characters respond to the sudden turn of events in their own ways: 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...
becomes increasingly obsessive in her desire to be graded, Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
is forced by his parents to take private tutoring lessons (which improve his education), Jimbo Jones finds himself immersed in the intricacies of daytime soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
s with his mother, Dolph and Kearney become easily bored with video games, and 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...
revels in his newfound afternoon freedom and annoys many Springfield citizens by imitating other people to make them angry or hurt each other. In particular, Bart does what he can to keep the union and Principal Skinner at odds with each other. The two sides are at an impasse; the union wanting a restoration of funding and Skinner maintaining that even with the spending reductions he has made, government budget cuts have squeezed the school dry.
After some prompting from an exasperated Marge Simpson
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...
, the parents of 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...
eventually decide to take matters into their own hands, and recruit volunteers from the community to take over as temporary teachers. This turns out to be even worse for the students than before the strike, especially as Marge becomes Bart's new teacher and Jasper becomes Lisa's new teacher and gets his beard stuck in a pencil sharpener. Due to Marge's excessive mothering of Bart, he grudgingly resolves to force the strike negotiations forward. Together with Milhouse, he tricks both Krabappel and Principal Skinner into entering Skinner's office, which he then locks behind them. After spending several hours trapped together "like prisoners" in their own school, the two are mutually inspired with an idea to create extra revenue for more school spending. Things return to normal with the old teachers in charge, but with the school cloakrooms having been rented to the Springfield Prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
. Each classroom now features several full prison cells at the back, which have the added benefit of keeping the more troublesome students in line.
Production
David Mirkin
David Mirkin is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Marymount University. After graduating, he became a stand-up...
thought the episode had a lot of potential, and much of it is based on his experience as a child with schools running out of money. Despite the title of the episode, at no point does the PTA
Parent-Teacher Association
In the U.S. a parent-teacher association or Parent-Teacher-Student Association is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a public or private school. Most public and private K-8 schools in the U.S. have a PTA, a...
(Parent-Teacher Association) actually disband. The title was suggested by Mirkin and was intended to poke fun at Crittenden, who thought the most exciting part of the teachers going on strike would be that the PTA might disband. In addition to this, Mirkin added a character to the episode who, on thinking the PTA has disbanded, jumps panicking out of a window. He jumps back in the same window when Ned
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...
tells him the PTA has not disbanded.
The episode was directed by Swinton O. Scott III
Swinton O. Scott III
Swinton O. Scott III is an animation director best known for his work on The Simpsons.He directed four episodes of Futurama, 7 episodes of "The Simpsons" and one episode of Family Guy...
. In the opening shot of the episode, the bus that the children travel in to the field trip had to vibrate up and down to give the impression that it did not have bumpers and that it was falling apart. Scott said it was difficult to animate the scene because of the vibrating and the backgrounds panning. Milhouse's tutor in the episode is based on the American actor Tony Randall
Tony Randall
Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
.
Cultural references
During their field trip, the bus from Springfield Elementary arrives at the Fort Springfield civil war site and skids into a cannon, knocking one of its wheels off. The cannon then points at the tower leg of a lookout, giving the impression that it will fire at the lookout and destroy it, which is a reference to the opening sequence of the television sitcom F TroopF Troop
F Troop is a satirical American television sitcom that originally aired for two seasons on ABC-TV. It debuted in the United States on September 14, 1965 and concluded its run on April 6, 1967 with a total of 65 episodes. The first season of 34 episodes was filmed in black-and-white, but the show...
. The lookout was also modeled after the lookout in the show. The scene in which Üter is left behind at the end of the field trip is based on a scene from the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express
Von Ryan's Express
Von Ryan's Express is a 1965 World War II adventure film starring Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard, based on a novel by David Westheimer, and directed by Mark Robson.-Plot:...
.
Edna points at some school books and says: "The only books we have are ones that were banned by other schools." Skinner picks up a book called TekWar
TekWar
Tekwar is a series of science fiction novels officially authored by William Shatner and co-written by uncredited science-fiction author Ron Goulart, published by Putnam...
, and says: "Well, the kids have to learn about TekWar sooner or later," referencing 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...
's series of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novels. Other books in the bookshelf include Sexus by Henry Miller
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist and painter. He was known for breaking with existing literary forms and developing a new sort of 'novel' that is a mixture of novel, autobiography, social criticism, philosophical reflection, surrealist free association, and mysticism, one that is...
, Hop on Pop
Hop on Pop
Hop on Pop is a 1963 children's picture book by Dr. Seuss . It was published as part of the Random House Beginner Books series, and is subtitled "The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use"...
by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, The Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses
The Satanic Verses is Salman Rushdie's fourth novel, first published in 1988 and inspired in part by the life of Prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism and relied on contemporary events and people to create his characters...
("Junior Illustrated Edition") by Salman Rushdie, 40 Years of Playboy by Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
, Steal This Book
Steal This Book
-Advice on dissidence:The book includes advice on such topics as growing cannabis, starting a pirate radio station, living in a commune, stealing food, shoplifting, stealing credit cards, preparing a legal defense, making pipe bombs, and obtaining a free buffalo from the Department of the Interior...
by Abbie Hoffman
Abbie Hoffman
Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was a political and social activist who co-founded the Youth International Party ....
, and The Theory of Evolution
The Theory of Evolution
The Theory of Evolution is a book by English evolutionary biologist and geneticist John Maynard Smith, originally published in 1958. It serves as a general introduction to the eponymous subject, intended to be accessible to those with little technical knowledge of the area. It has been highly...
by Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
.
Bart tells Skinner in the principal's office that Edna told him that Skinner "folds faster than Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
on laundry day", a reference to the comic book character Superman. That line is one of The Simpsons animator David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
's favorite lines on the show. Gabe Kaplan
Gabe Kaplan
Gabriel W. "Gabe" Kaplan is an American comedian, actor, poker commentator, and professional poker player.He was born in Brooklyn, New York...
is one of Bart's victims on his substitute list, a reference to Kaplan and his character in the 1975 TV series Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter
Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta.It originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979.-Premise:...
. The character at the bank who tells the angry crowd that their money's in "Bill's house, and Fred's house" is based on James Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
's George Bailey
George Bailey (fictional character)
George Bailey is a fictional character and the main protagonist in Frank Capra's 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life. He is played by James Stewart. He is loosely based on George Pratt, a character in Philip Van Doren Stern's The Greatest Gift....
character from It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
.
Reception
In its original broadcast, "The PTA Disbands" finished 69th in ratings for the week of March 13-19, 1995, 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 7.1. It was the 8th highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
In their book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood describe "The PTA Disbands" as "Possibly the best of the school episodes." In a review of the sixth season of The Simpsons, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide writes: "I especially like the contrasts between how Bart and Lisa accept the strike. The show doesn’t quite manage to soar consistently, but it has more than enough to make it positive." In his review of the episode for TV Squad, Adam Finley comments: "I love how Bart and Lisa both handle the news differently. Bart is thrilled ... Lisa, on the other hand, can't handle not being graded and evaluated every day, and slowly begins to lose her mind."
In 2004, when the voice actors for The Simpsons went on strike requesting additional income, The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
cited a quote by Homer from the episode: "If you don't like your job, you don't strike. You just go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American Way." The Scotsman asserted "Homer would not approve" of the strike by the voice actors. The voice actors were asking for an increase from US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
125,000 to $360,000 per episode. The same quote by Homer to Lisa was cited by Michael Schneider in Daily Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, who wrote: "..insiders note that the actors work just six to seven hours to voice an episode --- which would mean $ 360,000 for a day's work, a figure that even "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano doesn't match."
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
University of the Sciences , officially known as University of the Sciences in Philadelphia , located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in pharmacy and a variety of other health-related disciplines.-History:The history of the University of the Sciences...
physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
professor Paul Halpern discusses the episode in his book What's Science Ever Done for Us?: What the Simpsons Can Teach Us About Physics, Robots, Life, and the Universe, and quotes Homer's admonition to Lisa: "Lisa, in this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!" at the beginning of Halpern's section on "Mechanical Plots". Halpern describes Lisa's efforts to build a perpetual-motion machine while bored during the teachers strike, and comments that though it is absurd in reality to order someone to obey the laws of thermodynamics, he acknowledges that "physicists sometimes don't know the proper arena within which certain laws apply". In the July 26, 2007 issue of Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, the scientific journal's editorial staff listed "The PTA Disbands" among "The Top Ten science moments in The Simpsons", writing: "Lisa gets so bored by a lack of schooling she builds a perpetual motion machine. Homer is not pleased: 'Lisa, in this house we OBEY the laws of thermodynamics.'"
The episode is cited by Robert M. Arkin and Philip J. Mazzocco in their work "Self-Esteem in Springfield", in the compilation book The Psychology of The Simpsons
The Psychology of The Simpsons
The Psychology of The Simpsons: D'oh! is a non-fiction book analyzing psychology themes in the television series The Simpsons. It contains content from several contributors, including psychologists, counselors and school therapists. The book was edited by Alan S. Brown, Ph.D., and Chris Logan, and...
. Arkin and Mazzocco note an exchange between 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 :...
and Seymour Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
, where Skinner exclaims to Krabappel: "Oh come on Edna: We both know these kids have no future! [All the children stop and look at him; he chuckles nervously] Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong." Arkin and Mazzocco note that this example is seen as an exception, writing: "Generally, however, the Simpsons are right on target in their understanding of the importance of self-esteem and the dynamics involved in the interplay between the social world and positive self-regard."
External links
- "The PTA Disbands" at The Simpsons.com