'Round Springfield
Encyclopedia
"'Round Springfield" is the 22nd episode of the sixth season
of The Simpsons
. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, Bart
is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, Lisa
meets her old mentor, jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy. She is saddened when she later learns that Murphy has died, and resolves to honor his memory. Steve Allen
(as himself) and Ron Taylor
(as Bleeding Gums Murphy) guest star, each in their second appearance on the show.
It was written by Joshua Sternin
and Jeffrey Ventimilia
based on a story idea by Al Jean
and Mike Reiss
and was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore
. Jean and Reiss, who were previously the series' showrunners, returned to produce this episode (as well as "A Star is Burns
") in order to lessen the workload of the show's regular staff. They worked on it alongside the staff of The Critic
, the series they had left The Simpsons to create. The episode marks the first time in which a recurring character was killed off in the show, something the staff had considered for a while. The episode features numerous cultural references, including Carole King
's song "Jazzman
", the actor James Earl Jones
and the Kimba the White Lion/The Lion King controversy.
The episode also features the phrase "cheese-eating surrender monkeys
", used by Groundskeeper Willie
to describe the French
, which has since entered the public lexicon. It has been used and referenced frequently by journalists and academics and has been included in two Oxford
quotation dictionaries.
gets a stomachache after accidentally eating a jagged metal Krusty-O with his breakfast cereal. Lisa
is the only one who believes him, however, and Homer
and Marge
send him to school anyway. Bart struggles through the test, and after finally convincing Mrs. Krabappel
that he is actually ill, she lets him go and see the nurse. Bart collapses on the medical room floor, and is taken to Springfield General Hospital where he undergoes surgery from Dr. Hibbert
and Dr. Nick
, as it emerges he has appendicitis
. While visiting Bart in the hospital, Lisa meets her hero, jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy, in a bed in another ward.
Later, Bleeding Gums lends Lisa his saxophone for her school recital. It starts off terribly (owing to most of the orchestra having their appendixes removed so they could miss school), but Lisa gets up and performs a solo routine, becoming the star of the show. However, when she returns to the hospital, she is devastated to learn that Bleeding Gums has died. Lisa is the only person who attends Bleeding Gums's funeral, and she vows to make sure that everyone in Springfield knows the name Bleeding Gums Murphy. Bart, meanwhile, sues Krusty the Clown and is given a $100,000 settlement. However, after Bart's attorney Lionel Hutz
takes his "legal fees", Bart is left with only $500, much to his joy.
Still stricken with grief, Lisa decides that the best way to honor Bleeding Gums' memory is by having his album played at the local jazz station. Lisa spots it in the Android's Dungeon store for $250, but after hearing that Bleeding Gums is dead, Comic Book Guy
doubles the price to $500. Bart then walks in with his $500 and, after remembering that Lisa was the only one who believed him about his stomach ache, Bart decides to buy the album with his money. When the station plays one of Bleeding Gums's songs, Lisa is disappointed because the station's tiny range still prevents anyone from hearing it. Lightning then strikes the antenna, giving it extra power and projecting it into every radio in Springfield. Lisa is finally satisfied. After proclaiming "that was for you Bleeding Gums," she turns to leave, but not before Bleeding Gums appears from the heavens to tell Lisa that she had made "an old jazz man happy". After saying a final goodbye, Lisa and Bleeding Gums jam to "Jazzman
" one last time.
and Jeffrey Ventimilia
, based on a story idea by Al Jean
and Mike Reiss
. It was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore
. Due to Fox's demand for 24 or 25 episodes per season, which the production staff found impossible to meet, two episodes of each season were written and produced by former showrunners, to relieve the stress on The Simpsons writing staff. Jean and Reiss, who were showrunners for the show's third
and fourth seasons
returned to produce this episode, as well as "A Star is Burns
", instead of the season's main showrunner David Mirkin
. On both episodes, they were aided by the staff of The Critic
, the show the two left The Simpsons to create. Sternin and Ventimilia were writers on The Critic and were big fans of The Simpsons, so were thrilled to be able to write an episode.
This episode marked the first time a recurring character has been killed off on the show. The writers and production team felt that it would be a good, emotional storyline, which, through Lisa, could focus on the theme of grief. They decided that it could not be one of the main characters; Jean joked that "we wouldn't want it to be someone like Mr. Burns, that we'd obviously want to see in the show again". Eventually Jean decided on Bleeding Gums Murphy, a character introduced in the season one
episode "Moaning Lisa
"; a flashback to "Moaning Lisa" is featured in the episode. Murphy was a fairly minor character, only appearing in a couple of episodes, but he appeared in the show's opening sequence and remained there after this episode, until the opening was re-designed in season 20. Moore's first ever job on the show was in the animation department for "Moaning Lisa" so he "appreciated" being able to direct this episode. Reiss stated "I had been polling for years to kill Marge's mom but this was a better idea". Actor Ron Taylor
returned to guest star as Murphy in the episode. Comedian Steve Allen
also made his second guest appearance on the show, having previously appeared in the episode "Separate Vocations
".
The main story of the episode's first act sees Bart get appendicitis from eating a jagged metal Krusty-O. Mike Reiss's father, being a doctor, "sort of" acted as the medical consultant on this episode. He stated that "you can't get" appendicitis from eating a piece of metal, but the writers decided to do it anyway. In his flashback, Murphy is shown as having a "$1,500 a day Fabergé egg
habit"; Jean "didn't realize just how expensive" Fabergé eggs actually were, so the joke does not make much sense.
The episode contains numerous cultural references. The title is a play on both the jazz standard 'Round Midnight
by Thelonious Monk
and the similarly named film
also about an unappreciated jazz musician. When a deceased Bleeding Gums Murphy appears to Lisa in a cloud near the end he is joined by Darth Vader
, Mufasa, and James Earl Jones
saying "This is CNN
". Although all three roles were portrayed by Jones, the characters in this scene were impersonated by cast member Harry Shearer
; Jones himself guest starred twice previously. Additionally, Mufasa accidentally mentions "Kimba" and corrects himself by saying "Simba
". This is a reference to the debate regarding The Lion King
s resemblance to the anime
Kimba the White Lion
. Lisa and Bleeding Gums play Carole King
's song "Jazzman
" in this scene and in the hospital earlier in the episode. Bleeding Gums has to leave at the end of the scene because he has a date with the jazz singer Billie Holiday
.
Additionally, Homer has a Starland Vocal Band
tattoo on his arm, Bart considers buying a Steve Allen
"ultimate pog
", while the music just before Bart's operation is a parody of the theme music of ER
. Bleeding Gums appears on an episode of The Cosby Show
, a reference to Cosby often getting jazz musicians he liked to appear on the show; in the episode, Cosby is voiced by The Simpsons regular Dan Castellaneta
. Lionel Hutz' "crack team of lawyers" Robert Shaporo and Albert Dershman are parodies of Robert Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz
, two of the defense attorneys at the O.J. Simpson murder case. The three drive away in a white Ford Bronco
, the same car O.J. Simpson drove in his televised low-speed pursuit before his arrest.
. In a DVD
review of the sixth season, Ryan Keefer of DVD Verdict rated the episode a "B". Adam Finley of TV Squad praised the episode, noting its many "great moments" including "Steve Allen pimping his books on TV: How to Make Love to Steve Allen; Happiness is a Naked Steve Allen; Journey to the Center of Steve Allen; The Joy of Cooking Steve Allen" and "Moe running a "retox" clinic right next to a detox clinic". On the other hand, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide called the episode "dull" stating that "some of the moments connected to Bart's illness are funny," but that he "really hate[s] that "Jazzman" song" and dislikes "the Bleeding Gums parts."
to be used as a French
teacher. Expressing his disdain for the French
, he exclaims to his class: "Bonjour, you cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys." The quote, particularly the phrase "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", has since entered wider use. It was used particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq, having been popularized by the right-wing National Review
journalist Jonah Goldberg
, to describe European and especially French opposition to military action. A piece in The Guardian
noted that the phrase was "made acceptable in official diplomatic channels around the globe". Ben Macintyre
has written that the phrase is "perhaps the most famous" of the show's coinages and since Goldberg's usage it "has gone on to become a journalistic cliché."
It has subsequently been used by the New York Post
(as "Surrender Monkeys") as the headline for its December 7, 2006, front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group
and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq
by early 2008. Articles in the Daily Mail
have used the phrase in reference the French's "attitude problem", and the "muted" European reaction to the death of Osama Bin Laden
, while The Daily Telegraph
has cited it in relation to Anglo-French military cooperation. The term has been used in books by commentator Laura Ingraham
, and academics Stuart Croft, Stephen Chan, and Paul L. Moorcraft and Philip M. Taylor. Ned Sherrin
included the quote in the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations; it was introduced in the third edition in 2005. It is also included in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. Douglas Coupland
's 2009 novel Generation A
refers to Groundskeeper Willie's use of the phrase.
The line was "probably" written by Ken Keeler
during one of the episode's re-write sessions, although none of those present on the episode's DVD audio commentary
could remember for sure. The writers were surprised it became as widely used as it did and never meant it as a political statement, merely as an "obnoxious" joke for Willie. The French dub of the show uses the line "singes mangeurs de fromage", eliding the word "surrender".
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...
of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. It originally aired on April 30, 1995. In the episode, 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...
is rushed to hospital after eating a jagged metal Krusty-O and decides to sue Krusty the Clown. Whilst visiting Bart, 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...
meets her old mentor, jazz musician Bleeding Gums Murphy. She is saddened when she later learns that Murphy has died, and resolves to honor his memory. Steve Allen
Steve Allen (comedian)
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
(as himself) and Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor (actor)
Ronald James Taylor was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas and later moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, he began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz , before getting his break with the 1982...
(as Bleeding Gums Murphy) guest star, each in their second appearance on the show.
It was written by Joshua Sternin
Joshua Sternin
-Career:Among Sternin's producer credits include 23 episodes of Murphy Brown in 1996 through 1997 and as writer for 10 of them, as well as producer for 64 episodes of That 70's Show in 1998 through 2001 and as a writer for 8 of them. In 2002, he and Jeffrey Ventimilia created a show for Fox called...
and Jeffrey Ventimilia
Jeffrey Ventimilia
Jeffrey Ventimilia is an American television writer. Ventimilia wrote The Simpsons episode "Simpson Tide" and the teleplay of the episode "'Round Springfield", based on a story idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss. Other credits include Murphy Brown, That '70s Show, and The Critic...
based on a story idea by 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...
and was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore is an animation director who has directed 35 episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several episodes of the long running Nicktoon programme Rugrats...
. Jean and Reiss, who were previously the series' showrunners, returned to produce this episode (as well as "A Star is Burns
A Star is Burns
"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...
") in order to lessen the workload of the show's regular staff. They worked on it alongside the staff of The Critic
The Critic
The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...
, the series they had left The Simpsons to create. The episode marks the first time in which a recurring character was killed off in the show, something the staff had considered for a while. The episode features numerous cultural references, including Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
's song "Jazzman
Jazzman
"Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album Wrap Around Joy. King provided the sheet music for the song, while David Palmer wrote the lyrics....
", the actor James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
and the Kimba the White Lion/The Lion King controversy.
The episode also features the phrase "cheese-eating surrender monkeys
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
"Cheese-eating surrender monkeys", sometimes shortened to "surrender monkeys", is a derogatory description of French people that was coined in 1995 by a writer of the television series The Simpsons. The phrase has since entered two Oxford quotation dictionaries...
", used by Groundskeeper Willie
Groundskeeper Willie
William McDougal, usually referred to as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is head groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is a Scottish immigrant, almost feral in nature and immensely proud of his homeland...
to describe the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, which has since entered the public lexicon. It has been used and referenced frequently by journalists and academics and has been included in two Oxford
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
quotation dictionaries.
Plot
BartBart 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...
gets a stomachache after accidentally eating a jagged metal Krusty-O with his breakfast cereal. 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...
is the only one who believes him, however, and Homer
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Marge
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...
send him to school anyway. Bart struggles through the test, and after finally convincing Mrs. 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 :...
that he is actually ill, she lets him go and see the nurse. Bart collapses on the medical room floor, and is taken to Springfield General Hospital where he undergoes surgery from 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...
and Dr. Nick
Dr. Nick Riviera
Dr. Nick Riviera, usually referred to as Dr. Nick, is a recurring fictional character on the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Riviera is an inept quack physician, and a satire of incompetent medical...
, as it emerges he has appendicitis
Appendicitis
Appendicitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the appendix. It is classified as a medical emergency and many cases require removal of the inflamed appendix, either by laparotomy or laparoscopy. Untreated, mortality is high, mainly because of the risk of rupture leading to...
. While visiting Bart in the hospital, Lisa meets her hero, jazzman Bleeding Gums Murphy, in a bed in another ward.
Later, Bleeding Gums lends Lisa his saxophone for her school recital. It starts off terribly (owing to most of the orchestra having their appendixes removed so they could miss school), but Lisa gets up and performs a solo routine, becoming the star of the show. However, when she returns to the hospital, she is devastated to learn that Bleeding Gums has died. Lisa is the only person who attends Bleeding Gums's funeral, and she vows to make sure that everyone in Springfield knows the name Bleeding Gums Murphy. Bart, meanwhile, sues Krusty the Clown and is given a $100,000 settlement. However, after Bart's attorney Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz
Lionel Hutz is a recurring character from the animated television series The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman, and his first appearance was in the season two episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Due to the death of Hartman, his final speaking role was in the episode "Realty Bites"...
takes his "legal fees", Bart is left with only $500, much to his joy.
Still stricken with grief, Lisa decides that the best way to honor Bleeding Gums' memory is by having his album played at the local jazz station. Lisa spots it in the Android's Dungeon store for $250, but after hearing that Bleeding Gums is dead, Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy
Comic Book Guy is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the second-season episode "Three Men and a Comic Book", which originally aired on May 9, 1991. He is the proprietor of a comic book store, The...
doubles the price to $500. Bart then walks in with his $500 and, after remembering that Lisa was the only one who believed him about his stomach ache, Bart decides to buy the album with his money. When the station plays one of Bleeding Gums's songs, Lisa is disappointed because the station's tiny range still prevents anyone from hearing it. Lightning then strikes the antenna, giving it extra power and projecting it into every radio in Springfield. Lisa is finally satisfied. After proclaiming "that was for you Bleeding Gums," she turns to leave, but not before Bleeding Gums appears from the heavens to tell Lisa that she had made "an old jazz man happy". After saying a final goodbye, Lisa and Bleeding Gums jam to "Jazzman
Jazzman
"Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album Wrap Around Joy. King provided the sheet music for the song, while David Palmer wrote the lyrics....
" one last time.
Production
"'Round Springfield" was written by Joshua SterninJoshua Sternin
-Career:Among Sternin's producer credits include 23 episodes of Murphy Brown in 1996 through 1997 and as writer for 10 of them, as well as producer for 64 episodes of That 70's Show in 1998 through 2001 and as a writer for 8 of them. In 2002, he and Jeffrey Ventimilia created a show for Fox called...
and Jeffrey Ventimilia
Jeffrey Ventimilia
Jeffrey Ventimilia is an American television writer. Ventimilia wrote The Simpsons episode "Simpson Tide" and the teleplay of the episode "'Round Springfield", based on a story idea by Al Jean and Mike Reiss. Other credits include Murphy Brown, That '70s Show, and The Critic...
, based on a story idea by 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...
. It was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore
Steven Dean Moore is an animation director who has directed 35 episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several episodes of the long running Nicktoon programme Rugrats...
. Due to Fox's demand for 24 or 25 episodes per season, which the production staff found impossible to meet, two episodes of each season were written and produced by former showrunners, to relieve the stress on The Simpsons writing staff. Jean and Reiss, who were showrunners for the show's third
The Simpsons (season 3)
The Simpsons third season originally aired on the Fox network between September 19, 1991 and May 7, 1992. The show runners for the third production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss who executive produced 22 episodes the season, while two other episodes were produced by James L. Brooks, Matt...
and fourth seasons
The Simpsons (season 4)
The Simpsons fourth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 24, 1992 and May 13, 1993, beginning with "Kamp Krusty." The show runners for the fourth production season were Al Jean and Mike Reiss. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season...
returned to produce this episode, as well as "A Star is Burns
A Star is Burns
"A Star Is Burns" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons sixth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on March 5, 1995. In the episode, Springfield decides to hold a film festival, and famed critic Jay Sherman is invited to be a judge...
", instead of the season's main showrunner 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...
. On both episodes, they were aided by the staff of The Critic
The Critic
The Critic is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both of whom had worked as writers on The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994,...
, the show the two left The Simpsons to create. Sternin and Ventimilia were writers on The Critic and were big fans of The Simpsons, so were thrilled to be able to write an episode.
This episode marked the first time a recurring character has been killed off on the show. The writers and production team felt that it would be a good, emotional storyline, which, through Lisa, could focus on the theme of grief. They decided that it could not be one of the main characters; Jean joked that "we wouldn't want it to be someone like Mr. Burns, that we'd obviously want to see in the show again". Eventually Jean decided on Bleeding Gums Murphy, a character introduced in the season one
The Simpsons (season 1)
The Simpsons first season originally aired between December 17, 1989 and May 13, 1990, beginning with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". The show runners for the first production season were Matt Groening, James L...
episode "Moaning Lisa
Moaning Lisa
"Moaning Lisa" is the sixth episode of The Simpsons first season, and originally aired February 11, 1990. The episode was written by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, and was directed by Wes Archer. Ron Taylor guest stars in the episode as Bleeding Gums Murphy. The episode deals with Lisa's depression and...
"; a flashback to "Moaning Lisa" is featured in the episode. Murphy was a fairly minor character, only appearing in a couple of episodes, but he appeared in the show's opening sequence and remained there after this episode, until the opening was re-designed in season 20. Moore's first ever job on the show was in the animation department for "Moaning Lisa" so he "appreciated" being able to direct this episode. Reiss stated "I had been polling for years to kill Marge's mom but this was a better idea". Actor Ron Taylor
Ron Taylor (actor)
Ronald James Taylor was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas and later moved to New York to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, he began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz , before getting his break with the 1982...
returned to guest star as Murphy in the episode. Comedian Steve Allen
Steve Allen (comedian)
Stephen Valentine Patrick William "Steve" Allen was an American television personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. Though he got his start in radio, Allen is best known for his television career. He first gained national attention as a guest host on Arthur Godfrey's Talent...
also made his second guest appearance on the show, having previously appeared in the episode "Separate Vocations
Separate Vocations
"Separate Vocations" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons third season. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on February 27, 1992. In the episode, the Springfield Elementary School makes the students take career aptitude tests...
".
The main story of the episode's first act sees Bart get appendicitis from eating a jagged metal Krusty-O. Mike Reiss's father, being a doctor, "sort of" acted as the medical consultant on this episode. He stated that "you can't get" appendicitis from eating a piece of metal, but the writers decided to do it anyway. In his flashback, Murphy is shown as having a "$1,500 a day Fabergé egg
Fabergé egg
A Fabergé egg is any one of the thousands of jeweled eggs made by the House of Fabergé from 1885 to 1917. Most were miniature eggs that were popular gifts at Eastertide...
habit"; Jean "didn't realize just how expensive" Fabergé eggs actually were, so the joke does not make much sense.
Cultural references
'Round Midnight (song)
Round Midnight" is a 1944 jazz standard by pianist Thelonious Monk. Jazz artists Cootie Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Pepper, and Miles Davis have further embellished the song, with songwriter Bernie Hanighen adding lyrics...
by Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
and the similarly named film
Round Midnight (film)
Round Midnight is a 1986 film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by David Rayfiel and Bertrand Tavernier. It tells the story of an African American tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s who is befriended by an unsuccessful French graphic designer who idolizes the musician and who...
also about an unappreciated jazz musician. When a deceased Bleeding Gums Murphy appears to Lisa in a cloud near the end he is joined by Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, Mufasa, and James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones
James Earl Jones is an American actor. He is well-known for his distinctive bass voice and for his portrayal of characters of substance, gravitas and leadership...
saying "This is CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
". Although all three roles were portrayed by Jones, the characters in this scene were impersonated by cast member Harry Shearer
Harry Shearer
Harry Julius Shearer is an American actor, comedian, writer, voice artist, musician, author, radio host and director. He is known for his long-running role on The Simpsons, his work on Saturday Night Live, the comedy band Spinal Tap and his radio program Le Show...
; Jones himself guest starred twice previously. Additionally, Mufasa accidentally mentions "Kimba" and corrects himself by saying "Simba
Simba
Simba is a lion character and the protagonist of Disney's most successful animated feature film, The Lion King. He is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, nephew of Scar, mate of Nala, and father of Kiara. He has golden fur and when he grows into an adult, he has an auburn mane...
". This is a reference to the debate regarding The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
s resemblance to the anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Kimba the White Lion
Kimba the White Lion
, known in the United States as Kimba the White Lion, is an anime series from the 1960s. Created by Osamu Tezuka and based on his manga of the same title which began publication in 1950, it was the first color animated television series created in Japan. The manga was first published in serialized...
. Lisa and Bleeding Gums play Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
's song "Jazzman
Jazzman
"Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album Wrap Around Joy. King provided the sheet music for the song, while David Palmer wrote the lyrics....
" in this scene and in the hospital earlier in the episode. Bleeding Gums has to leave at the end of the scene because he has a date with the jazz singer Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing...
.
Additionally, Homer has a Starland Vocal Band
Starland Vocal Band
Starland Vocal Band were an American pop band, known primarily for "Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles in 1976.-Career:The group began as 'Fat City', a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. The band was also composed of Jon Carroll and Margot Chapman...
tattoo on his arm, Bart considers buying a Steve Allen
Steve Allen
Steve Allen may refer to:*Steve Allen , American musician, comedian, and writer*Steve Allen , presenter on the London-based talk radio station LBC 97.3...
"ultimate pog
Pogs
Pogs is a game that was popularized during the early 1990s. The word "pog" also refers to the discs used to play the game. The name originates from POG, a brand of juice made from passionfruit, orange and guava; the use of the POG bottle caps to play the game pre-dated the game's commercialization...
", while the music just before Bart's operation is a parody of the theme music of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. Bleeding Gums appears on an episode of The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
, a reference to Cosby often getting jazz musicians he liked to appear on the show; in the episode, Cosby is voiced by The Simpsons regular Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
. Lionel Hutz' "crack team of lawyers" Robert Shaporo and Albert Dershman are parodies of Robert Shapiro and Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
, two of the defense attorneys at the O.J. Simpson murder case. The three drive away in a white Ford Bronco
Ford Bronco
The Ford Bronco is a sport utility vehicle that was produced from 1966 to 1996, with five distinct generations. Broncos can be divided into two categories: early Broncos and full-size Broncos ....
, the same car O.J. Simpson drove in his televised low-speed pursuit before his arrest.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "'Round Springfield" finished 60th in the ratings for the week of April 24 to April 30, 1995, with a Nielsen rating of 8.2. The episode was the fourth highest rated show on the Fox network that week. Mike Reiss and Al Jean thought that the episode would "get a ton of awards", and joked that this was why they opted to receive a story credit, which they usually would not. Ultimately it did not win any awards. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide found that it was "a real tear-jerker" and praised Grampa believing everything he saw was deathDeath
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
. In a 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....
review of the sixth season, Ryan Keefer of DVD Verdict rated the episode a "B". Adam Finley of TV Squad praised the episode, noting its many "great moments" including "Steve Allen pimping his books on TV: How to Make Love to Steve Allen; Happiness is a Naked Steve Allen; Journey to the Center of Steve Allen; The Joy of Cooking Steve Allen" and "Moe running a "retox" clinic right next to a detox clinic". On the other hand, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide called the episode "dull" stating that "some of the moments connected to Bart's illness are funny," but that he "really hate[s] that "Jazzman" song" and dislikes "the Bleeding Gums parts."
Cheese-eating surrender monkeys
In the episode, budget cuts at Springfield Elementary School force the janitor Groundskeeper WillieGroundskeeper Willie
William McDougal, usually referred to as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on The Simpsons, voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is head groundskeeper at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is a Scottish immigrant, almost feral in nature and immensely proud of his homeland...
to be used as a French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
teacher. Expressing his disdain for the French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
, he exclaims to his class: "Bonjour, you cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys." The quote, particularly the phrase "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", has since entered wider use. It was used particularly in the run-up to the war in Iraq, having been popularized by the right-wing National Review
National Review
National Review is a biweekly magazine founded by the late author William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1955 and based in New York City. It describes itself as "America's most widely read and influential magazine and web site for conservative news, commentary, and opinion."Although the print version of the...
journalist Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Jonah Jacob Goldberg is an American conservative syndicated columnist and author. Goldberg is known for his contributions on politics and culture to , of which he is editor-at-large...
, to describe European and especially French opposition to military action. A piece in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
noted that the phrase was "made acceptable in official diplomatic channels around the globe". Ben Macintyre
Ben Macintyre
Ben Macintyre is a British author, historian, and columnist writing for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies.- Author :...
has written that the phrase is "perhaps the most famous" of the show's coinages and since Goldberg's usage it "has gone on to become a journalistic cliché."
It has subsequently been used by the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
(as "Surrender Monkeys") as the headline for its December 7, 2006, front page, referring to the Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
by early 2008. Articles in the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
have used the phrase in reference the French's "attitude problem", and the "muted" European reaction to the death of Osama Bin Laden
Death of Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden, then head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan on May 2, 2011, shortly after 1 a.m. local time by a United States special forces military unit....
, while The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
has cited it in relation to Anglo-French military cooperation. The term has been used in books by commentator Laura Ingraham
Laura Ingraham
Laura Anne Ingraham is an American radio host, author, and conservative political commentator. Her nationally syndicated talk show, The Laura Ingraham Show, airs throughout the United States on Talk Radio Network...
, and academics Stuart Croft, Stephen Chan, and Paul L. Moorcraft and Philip M. Taylor. Ned Sherrin
Ned Sherrin
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC...
included the quote in the Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations; it was introduced in the third edition in 2005. It is also included in the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations. Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
's 2009 novel Generation A
Generation A
Generation A is the thirteenth novel from Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland. It takes place in a near future, in a world in which bees have become extinct. The novel is told with a shifting frame narrative perspective, shifting between the novel's five main protagonists...
refers to Groundskeeper Willie's use of the phrase.
The line was "probably" written by Ken Keeler
Ken Keeler
Kenneth "Ken" Keeler is an American television producer and writer. He has written for numerous television series, most notably The Simpsons and Futurama. According to an interview with David X. Cohen, he proved a theorem which appears in the Futurama episode "The Prisoner of Benda".-Career:After...
during one of the episode's re-write sessions, although none of those present on the episode's DVD 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...
could remember for sure. The writers were surprised it became as widely used as it did and never meant it as a political statement, merely as an "obnoxious" joke for Willie. The French dub of the show uses the line "singes mangeurs de fromage", eliding the word "surrender".
External links
- "'Round Springfield" at The Simpsons.com