Missionary: Impossible
Encyclopedia
"Missionary: Impossible" is the fifteenth episode of the 11th season
of The Simpsons
, which originally aired February 20, 2000.
(a Thames Television
British sitcom entitled Do Shut Up), Homer
pledges $10,000 to the network. Homer is applauded for saving the network, but it quickly becomes apparent that he does not have the money, prompting pledge drive host Betty White
and a mob of characters and personalities from various PBS shows (including the Teletubbies
, Oscar the Grouch
, Yo-Yo Ma
, Elmo
, Fred Rogers and Big Bird
) to chase him through the streets. Fortunately, Reverend Lovejoy saves Homer after he runs into the church. Reverend Lovejoy gets Homer past the mob by hiding him in a bag disguised as a sack of children's letters to God
. Lovejoy puts Homer on a cargo plane to the South Pacific
, where he will become a missionary
in "Microasia," despite Homer's lack of religious faith (to the point he mistakenly calls Jesus
"Jeebus").
Homer calls back to Marge
in Springfield
with a radio, during which he promotes Bart
to "the man of the house", Lisa
to "boy", Maggie
to the "brainy girl" and the toaster
to "Maggie", making Marge a consultant. Bart replaces Homer at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where Mr. Burns criticizes Homer's record and, not recognizing whom he is talking to, pokes Bart with a stick. After coming home from a hard day at work, Bart agrees to take Marge out for dinner one night.
Homer arrives on the island and he meets Qtoktok and Ak. He also meets a native girl who acts and sounds (and is voiced by the same voice actor
) exactly like Lisa
that he names "Lisa Jr." At first, he is so desperate that he drops to the ground writhing and crying "Oh God!" repeatedly (which the natives all imitate, following his example). The natives are first portrayed as noble savage
s, ignorant of and unspoiled by North American civilization. Homer eventually begins trying to teach them about religion, but realizing that he knows nothing about it, he tries something new and decides to build a casino
on the island, which he names "The Lucky Savage". This introduces alcohol
, gambling, and violence to the island, and ruins the natives' virtuous way of life.
After the failure of the casino, Homer builds a chapel in penance, but he and Lisa Jr. ring the bell too loudly, causing an earthquake
that releases a river of lava. The chapel, carrying Homer and Lisa Jr., starts to sink into the lava. As the two are about to meet their deaths, the scene cuts to another pledge drive, this time for the Fox network
. It is revealed that Homer's adventures and mishaps were all recorded while he was on the island, but the show is in danger of cancellation, as is the entire network (cf. the 1989 film UHF
). Various Fox show personalities are manning the phones, joined by a cranky Rupert Murdoch
and hosted again by Betty White, who entreats the viewers to help keep "crude, low-brow programming", such as Family Guy
, on air. Bart calls in and pledges a $10,000 donation. Murdoch remarks that Bart Simpson has saved his network, to which Bart replies "Wouldn't be the first time".
. British English
expressions terms used in the sitcom include "noggin" and "soddin". The song playing when the program starts is "No Feelings" by the Sex Pistols
. When Homer defaults on his financial pledge of support to PBS, references seen to characters from other programs that pursue him through the town include Yo-Yo Ma
, Big Bird, the Teletubbies
, and Garrison Keillor
.
In addition, there is a scene where Homer is licking toads, and he sees the toad reciting the lyrics to "Comfortably Numb
" by Pink Floyd
in Marge's voice.
The theme that Homer's attempts at giving the islanders what he considers "civilization" leads only to the demise of their peaceful innocence parallels the theories of 18th century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
.
!" On Sky One
, the last word in this line is redubbed with "bird", since the word "wanker" is considered obscene in the United Kingdom and is often censored in programs airing before the watershed
. This is the second Simpsons episode using the word "wanker", after season nine's "Trash of the Titans
". Both utterances of the word were censored in the United Kingdom.
characterizes the episode as "A Classic". Cotton notes: "There's a big finish, and one of those jokes at Fox's expense you know they wouldn't allow if The Simpsons wasn't their biggest cash cow." In a review of the episode for The Gazette
, Alex Strachan writes: "Missionary: Impossible ... may not be the funniest Simpsons episode ever made. But it has some of the funniest lines about TV." Strachan quotes Homer's description of the television program Do Shut Up to Bart: "If they're not having a go with a bird, they're having a row with a wanker," as one of the funniest moments in the episode. Writing in his review of the episode for The Simpsons 11th season DVD release, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide is critical of an "inane" choice by the producers to have Homer refer to Jesus as "Jeebus". However Jacobson gives the episode a positive review overall: "Highlighted by a fun turn from Betty White, the PBS segment amuses, and the pieces with Homer on the island do nicely as well. Despite 'Jeebus', this becomes arguably Season 11’s best episode."
"Missionary: Impossible" was also named the best episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons by IGN
writers Robert Canning, Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, and Brian Zoromski. They highlighted scenes "such as the building of the 'Lucky Savage' casino and the destruction of Homer's chapel by an earthquake and a river of lava," but also noted that "Some of the episode's best humor is back in Springfield, after Homer makes Bart the man of the house — as Bart fills in for Homer at the nuclear plant, Mr. Burns berates "Homer" for his poor performance record, gets tired of talking and ends up just poking Bart with a stick. Betty White also gives a great guest performance as herself, hosting a PBS telethon and ridiculing those viewers who watch but don't send in contributions."
The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies." Some questions asked in the courses include: "What aspects of American society are being addressed in the episode? What aspects of them are used to make the points? How is the satire conveyed: through language? Drawing? Music? Is the behavior of each character consistent with his/her character as developed over the years? Can we identify elements of the historical/political context that the writers are satirizing? What is the difference between satire and parody?"
The New York Times
"The Lede", mentions how Homer is a "good Catholic" according to an article in L’Osservatore Romano and offers a clip from this episode in which Homer "memorably" declared, “I’m no missionary, I don’t even believe in Jebus!” seconds before uttering the despairing plea, “Save me, Jebus!”
The Simpsons (season 11)
The Simpsons 11th season originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, beginning on Sunday, September 26, 1999, with "Beyond Blunderdome". The show runner for the 11th production season was Mike Scully...
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...
, which originally aired February 20, 2000.
Plot
In an attempt to end a pledge drive which interrupts a favorite show of his on PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
(a Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
British sitcom entitled Do Shut Up), 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...
pledges $10,000 to the network. Homer is applauded for saving the network, but it quickly becomes apparent that he does not have the money, prompting pledge drive host Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
and a mob of characters and personalities from various PBS shows (including the Teletubbies
Teletubbies
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was...
, Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch
Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character on the television program Sesame Street. He has a green body , has no nose , and lives in a trash can. His favorite thing in life is trash; evidence for this is the song "I Love Trash". A running theme is his compulsive hoarding of seemingly useless items...
, Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...
, Fred Rogers and Big Bird
Big Bird
Big Bird is a protagonist of the children's television show Sesame Street. Big Bird, like many of the other Sesame Street characters, is a Muppet character. He is sometimes referred to simply as "Bird" by his friends....
) to chase him through the streets. Fortunately, Reverend Lovejoy saves Homer after he runs into the church. Reverend Lovejoy gets Homer past the mob by hiding him in a bag disguised as a sack of children's letters to God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
. Lovejoy puts Homer on a cargo plane to the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, where he will become a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
in "Microasia," despite Homer's lack of religious faith (to the point he mistakenly calls Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
"Jeebus").
Homer calls back to 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...
in 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...
with a radio, during which he promotes 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...
to "the man of the house", 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...
to "boy", Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
to the "brainy girl" and the toaster
Toaster
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
to "Maggie", making Marge a consultant. Bart replaces Homer at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where Mr. Burns criticizes Homer's record and, not recognizing whom he is talking to, pokes Bart with a stick. After coming home from a hard day at work, Bart agrees to take Marge out for dinner one night.
Homer arrives on the island and he meets Qtoktok and Ak. He also meets a native girl who acts and sounds (and is voiced by the same voice actor
Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
) exactly like 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...
that he names "Lisa Jr." At first, he is so desperate that he drops to the ground writhing and crying "Oh God!" repeatedly (which the natives all imitate, following his example). The natives are first portrayed as noble savage
Noble savage
The term noble savage , expresses the concept an idealized indigene, outsider , and refers to the literary stock character of the same...
s, ignorant of and unspoiled by North American civilization. Homer eventually begins trying to teach them about religion, but realizing that he knows nothing about it, he tries something new and decides to build a casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
on the island, which he names "The Lucky Savage". This introduces alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, gambling, and violence to the island, and ruins the natives' virtuous way of life.
After the failure of the casino, Homer builds a chapel in penance, but he and Lisa Jr. ring the bell too loudly, causing an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
that releases a river of lava. The chapel, carrying Homer and Lisa Jr., starts to sink into the lava. As the two are about to meet their deaths, the scene cuts to another pledge drive, this time for the Fox network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
. It is revealed that Homer's adventures and mishaps were all recorded while he was on the island, but the show is in danger of cancellation, as is the entire network (cf. the 1989 film UHF
UHF (film)
UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
). Various Fox show personalities are manning the phones, joined by a cranky Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
and hosted again by Betty White, who entreats the viewers to help keep "crude, low-brow programming", such as Family Guy
Family Guy
Family Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
, on air. Bart calls in and pledges a $10,000 donation. Murdoch remarks that Bart Simpson has saved his network, to which Bart replies "Wouldn't be the first time".
Cultural references
In the beginning of the episode Homer is watching a program called Do Shut Up, described as "a delicious British sitcom about a hard-drinking yet loving family of soccer hooligans". The program seems similar in style to early nineties BBC show BottomBottom (TV series)
Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...
. British English
British English
British English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
expressions terms used in the sitcom include "noggin" and "soddin". The song playing when the program starts is "No Feelings" by the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
. When Homer defaults on his financial pledge of support to PBS, references seen to characters from other programs that pursue him through the town include Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
, Big Bird, the Teletubbies
Teletubbies
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was...
, and Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
.
In addition, there is a scene where Homer is licking toads, and he sees the toad reciting the lyrics to "Comfortably Numb
Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, which first appears on the 1979 double album, The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year with "Hey You" as the B-side. It is one of only three songs on the album for which writing credits are shared between Roger...
" by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
in Marge's voice.
The theme that Homer's attempts at giving the islanders what he considers "civilization" leads only to the demise of their peaceful innocence parallels the theories of 18th century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
.
Censorship
When Homer is watching Do Shut Up, he says about the main characters "If they're not having a go at a bird, they're having a row with a wankerWanker
Wanker is a pejorative term of English origin, common in Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth countries, including Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. It initially referred to an onanist but has since become a general insult. It is synonymous with tosser.-Meaning:The term wanker...
!" On Sky One
Sky One
Sky1 is the flagship BSkyB entertainment channel available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.The channel first launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, and is the fourth-oldest TV channel in the United Kingdom, behind BBC One , ITV and BBC Two...
, the last word in this line is redubbed with "bird", since the word "wanker" is considered obscene in the United Kingdom and is often censored in programs airing before the watershed
Watershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
. This is the second Simpsons episode using the word "wanker", after season nine's "Trash of the Titans
Trash of the Titans
"Trash of the Titans" is the 22nd episode of The Simpsons ninth season and the 200th overall. It originally aired on the Fox network on April 26, 1998...
". Both utterances of the word were censored in the United Kingdom.
Reception
Jeff Cotton of The ObserverThe Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
characterizes the episode as "A Classic". Cotton notes: "There's a big finish, and one of those jokes at Fox's expense you know they wouldn't allow if The Simpsons wasn't their biggest cash cow." In a review of the episode for The Gazette
The Gazette (Montreal)
The Gazette, often called the Montreal Gazette to avoid ambiguity, is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with three other daily English newspapers all having shut down at different times during the second half of the 20th century.-History:In 1778,...
, Alex Strachan writes: "Missionary: Impossible ... may not be the funniest Simpsons episode ever made. But it has some of the funniest lines about TV." Strachan quotes Homer's description of the television program Do Shut Up to Bart: "If they're not having a go with a bird, they're having a row with a wanker," as one of the funniest moments in the episode. Writing in his review of the episode for The Simpsons 11th season DVD release, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide is critical of an "inane" choice by the producers to have Homer refer to Jesus as "Jeebus". However Jacobson gives the episode a positive review overall: "Highlighted by a fun turn from Betty White, the PBS segment amuses, and the pieces with Homer on the island do nicely as well. Despite 'Jeebus', this becomes arguably Season 11’s best episode."
"Missionary: Impossible" was also named the best episode of the eleventh season of The Simpsons by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
writers Robert Canning, Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, and Brian Zoromski. They highlighted scenes "such as the building of the 'Lucky Savage' casino and the destruction of Homer's chapel by an earthquake and a river of lava," but also noted that "Some of the episode's best humor is back in Springfield, after Homer makes Bart the man of the house — as Bart fills in for Homer at the nuclear plant, Mr. Burns berates "Homer" for his poor performance record, gets tired of talking and ends up just poking Bart with a stick. Betty White also gives a great guest performance as herself, hosting a PBS telethon and ridiculing those viewers who watch but don't send in contributions."
The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to "examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects, in this case, a satirical cartoon show", and to figure out what it is "trying to tell audiences about aspects primarily of American society, and, to a lesser extent, about other societies." Some questions asked in the courses include: "What aspects of American society are being addressed in the episode? What aspects of them are used to make the points? How is the satire conveyed: through language? Drawing? Music? Is the behavior of each character consistent with his/her character as developed over the years? Can we identify elements of the historical/political context that the writers are satirizing? What is the difference between satire and parody?"
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
"The Lede", mentions how Homer is a "good Catholic" according to an article in L’Osservatore Romano and offers a clip from this episode in which Homer "memorably" declared, “I’m no missionary, I don’t even believe in Jebus!” seconds before uttering the despairing plea, “Save me, Jebus!”
External links
- "Missionary: Impossible" at The Simpsons.com