Rednecks and Broomsticks
Encyclopedia
"Rednecks and Broomsticks" is the seventh episode of the twenty-first season
of the American animated television series The Simpsons
. It aired on the Fox network in the United States
on November 29, 2009. In the episode, Lisa befriends three teenaged Wicca
ns after getting lost in the woods during a game of hide-and-seek, and must clear her new friends' names when they are accused of cursing the townspeople with their supposed witchcraft
. Meanwhile, Homer befriends Cletus after learning that he and his friends make their own moonshine
.
The episode was written by Kevin Curran
, and directed by Bob Anderson
and Rob Oliver. In its original airing, the episode had an estimated 9 million viewers and received a Nielsen rating of 4.2/10. The episode also received positive reviews from critics.
vacation (causing Homer to shout, "Doh! I hate traffic; the band
and the phenomenon!") To pass the time, Bart, Lisa and Maggie spend hours playing the repetitive and noisy game "Bonk-It", much to the annoyance of Marge and Homer. Homer loses his patience and throws the toy out the window, where it is crushed by passing vehicles. By a twist of fate, another father throws his children's Bonk-It out of a car window, and it lands in the hands of the Simpson children. Eventually the batteries run out, but Bart plugs the toy in to the car's cigarette lighter, causing it to play even faster. His patience long-gone, Homer smashes the Bonk-It with his foot, but it becomes lodged under the brake pedal. He loses control of the vehicle, hits a deer reminiscent of Bambi
and ends up on a frozen lake, where a mysterious person drags them out (with Homer muttering the words "pull it, twist it, smack it, bonk it," from the repetitive Bonk-It game in his sleep.) When the family wakes up, they discover that the mysterious person who saved them was Cletus
. Cletus tells Homer about moonshine
, and invites him to taste the latest batch. Homer impresses Cletus and his hillbilly
friends with his moonshine-tasting
skills and is invited to be the judge of a moonshine competition.
Meanwhile, Bart and Cletus's sons play with a box of grenades Cletus's wife Brandine (a former soldier) brought back from Iraq, and Lisa plays hide and seek with Cletus's daughters. But they do not find her as she hides too well (plus the two hillbilly girls cannot count) and Lisa gets lost in the woods. Trying to find her way back, she encounters three girls who are Wicca
ns, practicing their full moon Esbat
. Lisa is initially skeptical of their ability to cast spells, but becomes interested after she happens to mention in the witches' Circle that she wishes she did not have to hand in her unfinished art project, and her wish then comes true when Miss Hoover is taken ill. The girls ask Lisa to join their coven, which she accepts. But on the night of Lisa's induction, Chief Wiggam turns up after being tipped off by Ned Flanders (who saw Lisa looking at a Wiccan website - Wiccapedia
) and arrests the three girls on suspicion of witchcraft. Outside the courtroom, the girls say a chant, asking their Goddess to 'show their persecutors that they are blind'. Many of the townspeople then suddenly become blind
, and blame the three girls, who are then put on trial. When the judge dismisses the case, the townspeople decide to take the law in to their own hands, and wish to drown the girls in an impromptu witch trial
. Lisa, however, proves that the real culprits behind the town's temporary blindness are Homer and his friends, who threw their moonshine in to the town's reservoir
after thinking that they were about to be arrested by the police. The girls are released, and Homer entertains himself by using the witch-dunking chair
to binge drink the moonshine water, but falls off the chair into the river.
The episode ends with Lisa ice-skating on the frozen river to the song Season of the Witch (Her skates carve a hole in the ice that frees Homer.)
and Rob Oliver. The episode also guest stars Neve Campbell
as Cassandra.
. Neve Campbell
(who is a guest star in this episode) is also famous for starring in The Craft
, a film with a similar theme to this episode. The way Cletus takes the family out of the frozen lake is similar to Deliverance
and Misery
. Also the sequence with Homer and Cletus looking for moonshine with four different screens is a parody of Sideways
. The Bonk-It toy is a parody of the Bop It
toy. The last scene in the episode of Lisa figure skating on the frozen water is also reminiscent of the final scene in the film To Die For
.
. The show was also the fourth most watched show on Fox
that week after House
, The OT, and Bones
while being fourth in the Adults 18–49 viewing for the week after House, The OT, and Family Guy
.
Robert Canning of IGN
stated in his review "In the end, for all the small bits the worked -- Moleman operating on himself, Moe and the angry mob -- "Rednecks and Broomsticks" was just too bland to be worthwhile.". Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
gave the episode A- praising the Sideways parody saying "a.) arose naturally from the story and b.) was all about moonshine, which is never not funny.". Ariel Ponywether of FireFox gave the episode a B- saying "Mildly amusing, but not with the verve the show’s been displaying this season in general, and arguably the second-worst episode this season after “Homer the Whopper
” – not a condemnation, but not a recommendation either."
The Simpsons (season 21)
The Simpsons twenty-first season aired on Fox from September 27, 2009 to May 23, 2010. It was the first of two seasons that the show was renewed for by Fox, and also the first season of the show to air entirely in high definition....
of the American animated television series 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 aired on the Fox network in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on November 29, 2009. In the episode, Lisa befriends three teenaged Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
ns after getting lost in the woods during a game of hide-and-seek, and must clear her new friends' names when they are accused of cursing the townspeople with their supposed witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. Meanwhile, Homer befriends Cletus after learning that he and his friends make their own moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
.
The episode was written by Kevin Curran
Kevin Curran (writer)
Kevin Curran is an American television writer. He has written for Late Night with David Letterman, Married...with Children, and The Simpsons. He was also the voice of Buck the Dog on Married...with Children...
, and directed by Bob Anderson
Bob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
and Rob Oliver. In its original airing, the episode had an estimated 9 million viewers and received a Nielsen rating of 4.2/10. The episode also received positive reviews from critics.
Plot
The Simpson family becomes helplessly stuck in traffic while returning from a skiSkiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
vacation (causing Homer to shout, "Doh! I hate traffic; the band
Traffic (band)
Traffic were an English rock band whose members came from the West Midlands. The group formed in April 1967 by Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, Chris Wood and Dave Mason...
and the phenomenon!") To pass the time, Bart, Lisa and Maggie spend hours playing the repetitive and noisy game "Bonk-It", much to the annoyance of Marge and Homer. Homer loses his patience and throws the toy out the window, where it is crushed by passing vehicles. By a twist of fate, another father throws his children's Bonk-It out of a car window, and it lands in the hands of the Simpson children. Eventually the batteries run out, but Bart plugs the toy in to the car's cigarette lighter, causing it to play even faster. His patience long-gone, Homer smashes the Bonk-It with his foot, but it becomes lodged under the brake pedal. He loses control of the vehicle, hits a deer reminiscent of Bambi
Bambi
Bambi is a 1942 American animated film directed by David Hand , produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten...
and ends up on a frozen lake, where a mysterious person drags them out (with Homer muttering the words "pull it, twist it, smack it, bonk it," from the repetitive Bonk-It game in his sleep.) When the family wakes up, they discover that the mysterious person who saved them was Cletus
Cletus Spuckler
Cletus Delroy Spuckler is a recurring character in the Fox animated series, The Simpsons, and is voiced by Hank Azaria. Cletus is Springfield's resident hillbilly stereotype. He is very messy and is usually portrayed wearing a white sleeveless shirt and pair of blue jeans.- Biography :Cletus was...
. Cletus tells Homer about moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
, and invites him to taste the latest batch. Homer impresses Cletus and his hillbilly
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
friends with his moonshine-tasting
Wine tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onwards...
skills and is invited to be the judge of a moonshine competition.
Meanwhile, Bart and Cletus's sons play with a box of grenades Cletus's wife Brandine (a former soldier) brought back from Iraq, and Lisa plays hide and seek with Cletus's daughters. But they do not find her as she hides too well (plus the two hillbilly girls cannot count) and Lisa gets lost in the woods. Trying to find her way back, she encounters three girls who are Wicca
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
ns, practicing their full moon Esbat
Esbat
An esbat is a coven meeting other than one of the Sabbats within Wicca and other Wiccan-influenced forms of Neopaganism. Janet and Stewart Farrar describe esbats as an opportunity for a "love feast, healing work, psychic training and all."...
. Lisa is initially skeptical of their ability to cast spells, but becomes interested after she happens to mention in the witches' Circle that she wishes she did not have to hand in her unfinished art project, and her wish then comes true when Miss Hoover is taken ill. The girls ask Lisa to join their coven, which she accepts. But on the night of Lisa's induction, Chief Wiggam turns up after being tipped off by Ned Flanders (who saw Lisa looking at a Wiccan website - Wiccapedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
) and arrests the three girls on suspicion of witchcraft. Outside the courtroom, the girls say a chant, asking their Goddess to 'show their persecutors that they are blind'. Many of the townspeople then suddenly become blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
, and blame the three girls, who are then put on trial. When the judge dismisses the case, the townspeople decide to take the law in to their own hands, and wish to drown the girls in an impromptu witch trial
Witch trial
A witch trial is a legal proceeding that is part of a witch-hunt. * Witch trials in Early Modern Europe, 15th–18th centuries** Salzburg witch trials - 1675-1690, Salzburg, Austria** Spa witch trial - 1616, Belgium...
. Lisa, however, proves that the real culprits behind the town's temporary blindness are Homer and his friends, who threw their moonshine in to the town's reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
after thinking that they were about to be arrested by the police. The girls are released, and Homer entertains himself by using the witch-dunking chair
Dunking
Dunking is a form of torture and punishment that was applied to scolds and supposed witches.-As torture:In a trial by ordeal, supposed witches were immersed into a vat of water or pond, and taken out after some time, thus and given the opportunity to confess...
to binge drink the moonshine water, but falls off the chair into the river.
The episode ends with Lisa ice-skating on the frozen river to the song Season of the Witch (Her skates carve a hole in the ice that frees Homer.)
Production
The episode was written by Kevin Curran and directed by Bob AndersonBob Anderson (director)
Bob Anderson is an animation director on The Simpsons. He also contributed additional sequence direction on The Simpsons Movie....
and Rob Oliver. The episode also guest stars Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...
as Cassandra.
Cultural references
The title refers to the 1971 Disney film Bedknobs and BroomsticksBedknobs and Broomsticks
Bedknobs and Broomsticks is a 1971 musical film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution Company which combines live action and animation and was released in North America on December 13, 1971...
. Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...
(who is a guest star in this episode) is also famous for starring in The Craft
The Craft (film)
The Craft is a 1996 American supernatural teen horror film directed by Andrew Fleming and starring Robin Tunney, Rachel True, Fairuza Balk and Neve Campbell. The film's plot centers on a group of four teenage girls who pursue witchcraft and use it for their own gain...
, a film with a similar theme to this episode. The way Cletus takes the family out of the frozen lake is similar to Deliverance
Deliverance
Deliverance is a 1972 American thriller film produced and directed by John Boorman. Principal cast members include Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ronny Cox and Ned Beatty in his film debut. The film is based on a 1970 novel of the same name by American author James Dickey, who has a small role in the...
and Misery
Misery (film)
Misery is a 1990 American Psychological Horror Film based on Stephen King's 1987 novel of the same name. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film received critical acclaim for Kathy Bates' performance as the psychopathic Annie Wilkes...
. Also the sequence with Homer and Cletus looking for moonshine with four different screens is a parody of Sideways
Sideways
Sideways is a 2004 comedy-drama film written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne and directed by Payne. Adapted from Rex Pickett's 2004 novel of the same name, Sideways follows two forty-something year old men, portrayed by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, who take a week-long road trip to...
. The Bonk-It toy is a parody of the Bop It
Bop It
Bop It toys are a line of audio games based on concepts originally patented by Dan Klitsner. Bop It was licensed to Hasbro and further developed there by a number of designers including Bob Welch....
toy. The last scene in the episode of Lisa figure skating on the frozen water is also reminiscent of the final scene in the film To Die For
To Die For
To Die For is a 1995 dark comedy film, made in a mockumentary format, directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Buck Henry, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Maynard, which in turn was based on the Pamela Smart story. It stars Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillon, and Joaquin Phoenix...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Rednecks and Broomsticks" was viewed by an estimated 9.02 million households and received a 4.2 Nielsen rating/10% share in the 18-49 demographic rising 27% from last weeks episode. It was the most-watched show out of the four shows on Fox's "Animation Domination" line-up, but the second highest rated show of Animation Domination after Family GuyFamily 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...
. The show was also the fourth most watched show on Fox
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...
that week after House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
, The OT, and Bones
Bones (TV series)
Bones is an American crime drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. The show is based on forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, with each episode focusing on an FBI case file concerning the mystery behind human remains brought by FBI Special Agent...
while being fourth in the Adults 18–49 viewing for the week after House, The OT, and 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...
.
Robert Canning of 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...
stated in his review "In the end, for all the small bits the worked -- Moleman operating on himself, Moe and the angry mob -- "Rednecks and Broomsticks" was just too bland to be worthwhile.". Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
gave the episode A- praising the Sideways parody saying "a.) arose naturally from the story and b.) was all about moonshine, which is never not funny.". Ariel Ponywether of FireFox gave the episode a B- saying "Mildly amusing, but not with the verve the show’s been displaying this season in general, and arguably the second-worst episode this season after “Homer the Whopper
Homer the Whopper
"Homer the Whopper" is the season premiere of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 27, 2009. In the episode, Comic Book Guy creates a new superhero called Everyman who takes powers from other superheroes. Homer is cast as the...
” – not a condemnation, but not a recommendation either."