$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)

January 2025 February 2012 5 10 Wes Archer Bill Oakley & Josh Weinstein 1F08 1993 12 16 Gerry Cooney as himself Robert Goulet as himself "I will not say 'Springfield' just to get applause" The family runs to the couch, but when they get there, they break and shatter like glass. Santa's Little Helper enters the room confused. Matt GroeningDavid MirkinBill OakleyJosh WeinsteinWes Archer The Last Temptation of Homer Homer the Vigilante "$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", simply known as "$pringfield", is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 91st episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 16, 1993. In the episode, Springfield legalizes gambling to revitalize its economy. Mr. Burns opens a casino where Homer is hired as a blackjack dealer. Marge develops a gambling addiction, Bart opens a rival casino in his tree house, and Burns's appearance and mental state deteriorate à la Howard Hughes. The episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Wes Archer. Gerry Cooney and Robert Goulet guest starred as themselves. The episode features cultural references to the films Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Wizard of Oz, Rain Man and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 11.7, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired. The Rich Texan makes his debut in this episode, referred to as "Senator" by Homer. Plot At a town hall meeting, Mayor Quimby fields suggestions on ways to improve Springfield's faltering economy. Principal Skinner suggests the town legalize gambling to rejuvenate its economy. Everyone likes the idea, even Marge, who has become known for disapproving of the townspeople's ideas. Mr. Burns and Quimby work together to build a casino, and Homer is hired as a blackjack dealer. While waiting for Homer's shift to end, Marge finds a quarter on the casino floor and uses it to play a slot machine. She wins and quickly develops a gambling addiction. Bart attempts to patronize the casino, but he is refused service because he is younger than the legal gambling age. This prompts Bart to transform his tree house into a casino for children. Burns grows even richer from his casino, but his appearance and mental state deteriorate. He develops a fear of germs and builds a wooden model plane called "The Spruce Moose", which he believes is big enough to hold human passengers. Marge's gambling addiction causes her to neglect her family. She stays in the casino for multiple days in a row, forcing Homer, Bart, and Lisa to make their own meals and do their own laundry, which they do poorly. Marge forgets to help Lisa make a costume for Springfield Elementary School's geography pageant. Homer makes a costume of Florida for Lisa, but it is misshapen and shabby, displaying the state's name as "Floreda". Lisa begins crying, which motivates Homer to cure Marge of her gambling addiction. Homer frantically runs throughout the casino, searching for Marge. Security cameras capture his rampage, causing Burns to demote him to his old job at the power plant. After realizing how much he misses the plant, Burns decides to return to it. When Homer confronts Marge for her behavior, she finally realizes she has a gambling problem and agrees to stop. Lisa wins a prize in the geography pageant for children who "clearly had no help from their parents". Ralph receives the same prize for his costume, a note taped to his shirt that reads "Idaho". Production thumb|upright|left|Bill Oakley was one of the writers of the episode. |alt=A portrait of a man with black hair looking at the viewer The episode was written by Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein, and directed by Wes Archer. The story of the episode originated from a newspaper article that Oakley and Weinstein found about a town in Mississippi that was introducing riverboat gambling.Weinstein, Josh 2004 The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "$pringfield" DVD 20th Century Fox Oakley said another inspiration for it was that there had not been many episodes about Springfield as a whole and how "crummy" the town was, so they filled the whole first act with scenes showing how "dismal" it was.Oakley, Bill 2004 The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "$pringfield" DVD 20th Century Fox Oakley particularly liked the animation of the lights on the slot machines and the lamps in the ceiling of the casino; the "way they radiate out" had always amazed him. Archer, who directed the animation of the episode, also thought they turned out well. The lights were especially hard for them to animate back then because the show was animated traditionally on cels.Archer, Wes 2004 The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "$pringfield" DVD 20th Century Fox A deleted scene from the episode shows Homer dealing cards to James Bond. The staff liked the scene, so they decided to put it in the clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular". There was a brief period when the episode had a different subplot that revolved around the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood. Groening had been told by a spokesperson that if he put Planet Hollywood in The Simpsons, the creators of the restaurant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone, would agree to make guest appearances on the show. The writers of The Simpsons were excited about this so they wrote a new subplot for the episode that featured Planet Hollywood and the three actors. However, for unknown reasons, they were unable to appear in the episode. Instead, Gerry Cooney and Robert Goulet guest starred as themselves. Executive producer David Mirkin enjoyed directing Goulet because he was "such a good sport" and had "a great sense of humor". Oakley thought it was nice that Goulet was willing to make fun of himself in the episode, which at the time was rare for guest stars on The Simpsons. This episode features the first appearances of Gunter and Ernst, the Siegfried and Roy-esque casino magicians who are attacked by their white tiger, Anastasia. Ten years after this episode first aired, on October 3, 2003, Roy Horn was attacked by one of the duo's white tigers. The Simpsons production team dismissed the novelty of the prediction by saying that it was "bound to happen" sooner or later.Mirkin, David 2004 The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "$pringfield" DVD 20th Century Fox Cultural references thumb|Mr. Burns's paranoid obsession with germs and cleanliness, and his refusal to leave his bedroom once the casino opens, is a parody of American magnate Howard Hughes. The title is a reference to the 1964 film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, the music of which was composed by Laurie Johnson. Two of his songs, "Happy-go-lively" and "Rue de la park" can be heard in the News on Parade segment at the beginning of the episode.https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/16/stanleykubrick2 Stanley and Bart... another Kubrick legend July 16, 1999 The Guardian London March 1, 2009 Burns' bed looks similar to the one occupied by Keir Dullea's character Dave Bowman in the end of the 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Homer is impressed by the card-counting abilities of a man who resembles Raymond Babbitt, Dustin Hoffman's character in Rain Man (1988).Groening Matt Matt Groening Ray Richmond Ray Richmond Antonia Coffman The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family Created by Matt Groening; edited by Ray Richmond and Antonia Coffman. 1st 1997 New York HarperPerennial 98141857 433519M 37796735 978-0-06-095252-5 131 Richmond & Coffman 1997 . Krusty's midnight show is similar to Bill Cosby's 1971 album For Adults Only, recorded at a casino at midnight. Marge reminds Homer that his lifelong dream was to be a contestant on The Gong Show. Henry Kissinger visits the plant and drops his glasses in the toilet. He thinks that no one can know how he lost them, "Not I, the man who drafted the Paris Peace Accords!" Burns's paranoid obsession with germs and cleanliness, and his refusal to leave his bedroom once the casino opens, parodies American magnate Howard Hughes, who had obsessive–compulsive disorder and was involved in the casino business in his later years. The "Spruce Moose", an absurdly tiny wooden plane Burns makes, is a parody of Hughes' impractically enormous wooden plane, derisively nicknamed the Spruce Goose. Homer parodies the scene in The Wizard of Oz (1939) when the Scarecrow demonstrates his newfound intelligence by (incorrectly) reciting the law that governs the lengths of the sides of an isosceles triangle. Unlike in the film, somebody correctly points out that the Pythagorean theorem recited applies only to right triangles, not isosceles triangles.Groening, Matt 2004 The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode "$pringfield" DVD 20th Century Fox When Marge initially promises to stop gambling and spend more time with her family, and then hugs Lisa and Maggie, Homer says, "Aww, just like on TV", and then turns and trips over an ottoman, like Dick Van Dyke's character Rob Petrie did in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Reception In its original American broadcast, "$pringfield" finished 35th in the ratings for the week of December 13 to December 19, 1993, with a Nielsen Rating of 11.7, translating to 11 million households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.Nielsen Ratings/December 13–19 Long Beach Press-Telegram C6 December 22, 1993 Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that "this excellent episode includes a surprising number of concurrent plots. Homer also works in the casino and tries to care for the family without Marge. It balances them deftly and provides great laughs along the way."January 24, 2009 http://www.dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonfive.shtml The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season (1993) DVD Movie Guide December 21, 2004 Jacobson, Colin https://web.archive.org/web/20090116115643/http://dvdmg.com/simpsonsseasonfive.shtml January 16, 2009 Adam Suraf of Dunkirkma.net named it the third best episode of the season. He also praised the episode's cultural references.http://www.dunkirkma.net/inreview/features/simpsons_5.html The Simpsons: Season 5 Suraf Adam December 18, 2004 Dunkirkma.net February 10, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090218011707/http://dunkirkma.net/inreview/features/simpsons_5.html February 18, 2009 The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Gary Russell and Gareth Roberts,http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv51/garyrussell.html Gary Russell: From Peladon to Placebos Preddle, Jon June 1997 Time Space Visualiser 51 20 August 2020 The New Zealand Doctor Who Fan Club I've just done my first non-fiction book, Oh No It's A Completely Unofficial Simpsons Guide for Virgin, co-authored with Gareth Roberts which has, to be frank, been more of a nightmare than it needed to be [the book was published as I Can't Believe It's An Unofficial Simpsons Guide, with Gary and Gareth writing under the pseudonyms Warren Martyn & Adrian Wood]. wrote: "There's a lovely nod to the earlier episodes in which Marge protests the citizenry's hare-brained ideas at council meetings. A series of bizarre moments rather than a story—we're especially fond of Homer's photographic memory and Mr Burns' descent into insanity—but great fun."https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season5/page10.shtml $pringfield April 12, 2008 Martyn Warren Gary Russell Wood Adrian Gareth Roberts (writer) 2000 BBC https://web.archive.org/web/20080419105936/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season5/page10.shtml April 19, 2008 Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of A,January 24, 2009 http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason5.php The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season DVD Verdict February 23, 2005 Bromley, Patrick https://web.archive.org/web/20090116115733/http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/simpsonsseason5.php January 16, 2009 and Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave it a score of 4 out of 5.http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/13784/simpsons-the-complete-fifth-season-the/ The Simpsons – The Complete Fifth Season Gibron Bill December 23, 2004 DVD Talk January 9, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090122084431/http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/13784/simpsons-the-complete-fifth-season-the/ January 22, 2009 The episode is Sarah Culp of The Quindecim's eleventh-favorite episode of the show,http://media.www.thequindecim.com/media/storage/paper618/news/2003/02/19/ArtsAndEntertainment/The-Simpsons.Top.25.Episodes-372979.shtml The Simpsons' Top 25 Episodes Culp Sarah February 19, 2003 The Quindecim March 1, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090219032151/http://media.www.thequindecim.com/media/storage/paper618/news/2003/02/19/ArtsAndEntertainment/The-Simpsons.Top.25.Episodes-372979.shtml February 19, 2009 and one of Les Winan of Box Office Prophets's favorite episodes.http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=8736 How to Spend $20 Winan Les December 28, 2004 Box Office Prophets March 1, 2009 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160314022418/http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnid=8736 March 14, 2016 A scene from the episode where former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger meets Burns was included in the 2002 documentary film The Trials of Henry Kissinger.January 16, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/26/arts/film-review-taking-kissinger-to-task-perhaps-even-a-bit-more.html FILM REVIEW; Taking Kissinger to Task, Perhaps Even a Bit More September 26, 2002 ELVIS MITCHELL The New York Times References 2 External links The_Simpsons/Season_5#.24pringfield_.28or.2C_How_I_Learned_to_Stop_Worrying_and_Love_Legalized_Gambling.29 "$pringfield" The Simpsons 1F08 0701040 5 Category:The Simpsons season 5 episodes Category:1993 American television episodes Category:Gambling and society Category:Works about addiction Category:Cultural depictions of Henry Kissinger Category:Television episodes about gambling Category:Fiction about obsessive–compulsive disorder Category:Fiction about animal cruelty Category:Television episodes written by Bill Oakley Category:Television episodes written by Josh Weinstein Category:Television episodes directed by Wes Archer