Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song
Encyclopedia
"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" is the 19th episode of The Simpsons
' fifth season
, and the 100th episode overall. It originally aired on the Fox network
in the United States on April 28, 1994. In the episode, Superintendent Chalmers fires Principal Seymour Skinner
after a disaster at the school. Bart Simpson
, feeling partially responsible for Skinner's firing, tries to help his old principal get his job back.
The episode was written by Bill Oakley
and Josh Weinstein
, and directed by Bob Anderson
. It was selected for release in a 1999 video
collection of selected episodes called The Simpsons: Greatest Hits. The episode features cultural references to films such as Alien
and Full Metal Jacket
. The title is a parody of the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating
of 12.7, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
, Bart
brings Santa's Little Helper
to school for show and tell
. Even though his show and tell presentation was well received by the class, the dog escapes into the school air ducts. Groundskeeper Willie
is sent after the dog and catches it, but he chooses the wrong vent to exit and the fire department is called in to rescue him. As the firemen are attempting to rescue Willie, an outraged Superintendent Chalmers appears and fires Principal Skinner
, much to Bart's shock.
Chalmers hires Ned Flanders
as the new principal of Springfield Elementary School, but when Flanders is hesitant to discipline the children, they run amok, and the school becomes a mad house. Meanwhile, Bart befriends the now jobless Skinner, as they laugh about anecdotes of Flanders's failure that Bart relates. Feeling lonely, Skinner eventually decides to re-enlist in the United States Army
.
Instead of rejoicing in the discipline-less school, Bart feels guilty about causing Skinner's firing. In an effort to get Skinner his job back, Bart attempts to expose Flanders's poor leadership to Chalmers. Despite the state of chaos at the school, Chalmers is not concerned. However, upon hearing Flanders utter a brief mention of God
over the intercom, Chalmers immediately fires Flanders for reciting a school prayer
. Skinner is soon re-hired as principal. Bart and Skinner share an amicable chat about their typically antagonistic relationship, then affectionately pat each other on the back. However, as they turn from each other, it is revealed Bart has taped a "Kick Me" sign on Skinner's back and Skinner taped a "Teach Me" sign on Bart, and the two chuckle to themselves as they walk away.
"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" was written by Bill Oakley
and Josh Weinstein
, and directed by Bob Anderson
. Oakley and Weinstein decided to do a Skinner and Bart episode because the staff wanted to take a deeper look at the relationships of characters during the fifth season and, according to show runner
David Mirkin
, "slow down parts of the show to take time for more emotional episodes like this one". Much of Principal Skinner's behavior in the episode is based on teachers Oakley and Weinstein had in high school who, according to Oakley, were "sad, lonely guys who lived with their mothers." It was selected to air as the 100th episode of the show because the staff wanted that particular episode to focus on Bart.
Baby Gerald, Luigi Risotto, Assistant Superintendent Leopold, and Flanders's parents make their first appearances on the show in this episode. Leopold and Luigi were designed by David Silverman
, one of the show's animators. Anderson thought Luigi was one of the funniest characters on the show when he first read Luigi's lines in the script during a table read of the episode, on the day of the recording sessions. When Anderson skimmed through the script and saw Luigi's lines, he said he "frightened Julie Kavner
because I was laughing to myself, but trying to keep the laughter in because it was so damn funny."
"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 28, 1994. The episode was selected for release in a 1999 video
collection of selected episodes called, The Simpsons: Greatest Hits, which also included the episodes "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
", "Lisa's First Word
", "Trash of the Titans
", and "Bart Gets an F
". The episode was again included in the 2003 DVD release of the Greatest Hits set, which also included all the other episodes except "Trash of the Titans". "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" was also included in The Simpsons season five DVD set, which was released on December 21, 2004.
film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
. Skinner's quote "We'll always have the laundromat" is a reference to a famous quote by Humphrey Bogart
in Casablanca
. The beginning scene of the episode, in which Marge
, Lisa
, and Bart watch a home video, is a parody of the television series The Wonder Years
; the Joe Cocker
version of the song "With a Little Help from My Friends
" from that series is also used in the background of the opening scene. The scene in which Santa's Little Helper runs through the school vent is a reference to a scene in the film Alien
, as is Skinner's use of a heat-seeking tracer to pin down the positions of Groundskeeper Willie and Santa's Little Helper within the ventilation system. Skinner says he was shot in the back at a United Service Organizations
(USO) show while trying to get "Joey Heatherton to put some pants on", a reference to American actress Joey Heatherton
. Skinner's attire and shots of him running with his troops are references to the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket
. Skinner tells Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
of his plan to write a novel about an amusement park with dinosaur
s called Billy and the Cloneasaurus, which Apu rightfully condemns as a concept of plagiarism
; the book is a reference to the Michael Crichton
novel Jurassic Park. When Martin is in a cage, he is singing the Toreador Song
from the opera Carmen
. In describing the relationship of Bart and Skinner, Lisa Simpson compares them to Sherlock Holmes
and Professor Moriarty
, the famous characters from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
detective stories; she also compares them to Mountain Dew
and Mello Yello
, which she describes as mortal enemies.
of 12.7, translating to 12 million households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "The 100th episode [...] is a fine one, with Principal Skinner's idea for a novel and the conduct of the staff at the Italian restaurant as highpoints." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said the opening scene of episode reminded him of when he was in second grade and got a puppy for Christmas. Jacobson said, "I still recall the excitement when my mom brought [the dog] into school for the others to see, and the first segment of [the episode] reflects the atmosphere caused by a doggie visit. The rest of the episode gets into Skinner’s life nicely. Toss in a great Alien reference and the episode offers yet another solid show." Jacobson also said he liked the appearance of Flanders's "beatnik father". Gary Mullinax of The News Journal called the episode "very funny" and named it one of his top-ten favorite episodes. Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a B+ grade, and Bill Gibron of DVD Talk
gave the episode a 4 out of 5 score. Dave Manley of DVDActive said in a review of The Simpsons: Greatest Hits that it was "certainly one of the weaker [episodes on the DVD] – I can only assume the fact that it was episode 100 is what gets it onto this disc."
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
The Simpsons (season 5)
The Simpsons fifth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 30, 1993 and May 19, 1994. The show runner for the fifth production season was David Mirkin who executive produced 20 episodes. Al Jean and Mike Reiss executive produced the remaining two, which were both hold overs...
, and the 100th episode overall. It originally aired on 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...
in the United States on April 28, 1994. In the episode, Superintendent Chalmers fires Principal Seymour Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
after a disaster at the school. Bart Simpson
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...
, feeling partially responsible for Skinner's firing, tries to help his old principal get his job back.
The episode was written by Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley then attended Harvard University and was Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon...
and Josh Weinstein
Josh Weinstein
Josh Weinstein is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans High School; Weinstein then attended Stanford University and was editor-in-chief of the...
, 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....
. It was selected for release in a 1999 video
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
collection of selected episodes called The Simpsons: Greatest Hits. The episode features cultural references to films such as Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
and Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
. The title is a parody of the film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 American independent drama film, written, produced, scored, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles, father of actor Mario Van Peebles . It tells the picaresque story of a poor African American man on his flight from the white authority...
. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 12.7, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot
After dismissing the idea of taking Simpson family home videos and a geodeGeode
Geodes are geological secondary sedimentary structures which occur in sedimentary and certain volcanic rocks. Geodes are essentially spherical masses of mineral matter that were deposited sygenetically within the rock formations they are found in. Geodes have a Chalcedony shell containing...
, 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...
brings Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a recurring character in the American animated television series The Simpsons. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. The dog was introduced in the first episode of the show, the 1989 Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", in which his owner abandons...
to school for show and tell
Show and tell (education)
Show and tell is the process of showing an audience something and telling them about it, predominantly in North America and also popular in Australia. It is usually done in a classroom as an early elementary school technique for teaching young children the skills of public speaking...
. Even though his show and tell presentation was well received by the class, the dog escapes into the school air ducts. 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...
is sent after the dog and catches it, but he chooses the wrong vent to exit and the fire department is called in to rescue him. As the firemen are attempting to rescue Willie, an outraged Superintendent Chalmers appears and fires Principal Skinner
Seymour Skinner
Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
, much to Bart's shock.
Chalmers hires Ned Flanders
Ned Flanders
Nedward "Ned" Flanders, Jr. is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally...
as the new principal of Springfield Elementary School, but when Flanders is hesitant to discipline the children, they run amok, and the school becomes a mad house. Meanwhile, Bart befriends the now jobless Skinner, as they laugh about anecdotes of Flanders's failure that Bart relates. Feeling lonely, Skinner eventually decides to re-enlist in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
.
Instead of rejoicing in the discipline-less school, Bart feels guilty about causing Skinner's firing. In an effort to get Skinner his job back, Bart attempts to expose Flanders's poor leadership to Chalmers. Despite the state of chaos at the school, Chalmers is not concerned. However, upon hearing Flanders utter a brief mention of 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....
over the intercom, Chalmers immediately fires Flanders for reciting a school prayer
School prayer
School prayer in its common usage refers to state-approved prayer by students in state schools. Depending on the country and the type of school, organized prayer may be required, permitted, or prohibited...
. Skinner is soon re-hired as principal. Bart and Skinner share an amicable chat about their typically antagonistic relationship, then affectionately pat each other on the back. However, as they turn from each other, it is revealed Bart has taped a "Kick Me" sign on Skinner's back and Skinner taped a "Teach Me" sign on Bart, and the two chuckle to themselves as they walk away.
Production
Bill Oakley
Bill Oakley is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley then attended Harvard University and was Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon...
and Josh Weinstein
Josh Weinstein
Josh Weinstein is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series The Simpsons. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans High School; Weinstein then attended Stanford University and was editor-in-chief of the...
, 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....
. Oakley and Weinstein decided to do a Skinner and Bart episode because the staff wanted to take a deeper look at the relationships of characters during the fifth season and, according to show runner
Show runner
Showrunner is a term of art originating in the United States and Canadian television industry referring to the person who is responsible for the day-to-day operation of a television seriesalthough such persons generally are credited as an executive producer...
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...
, "slow down parts of the show to take time for more emotional episodes like this one". Much of Principal Skinner's behavior in the episode is based on teachers Oakley and Weinstein had in high school who, according to Oakley, were "sad, lonely guys who lived with their mothers." It was selected to air as the 100th episode of the show because the staff wanted that particular episode to focus on Bart.
Baby Gerald, Luigi Risotto, Assistant Superintendent Leopold, and Flanders's parents make their first appearances on the show in this episode. Leopold and Luigi were designed by David Silverman
David Silverman
David Silverman is an animator best known for directing numerous episodes of the animated TV series The Simpsons, as well as The Simpsons Movie...
, one of the show's animators. Anderson thought Luigi was one of the funniest characters on the show when he first read Luigi's lines in the script during a table read of the episode, on the day of the recording sessions. When Anderson skimmed through the script and saw Luigi's lines, he said he "frightened Julie Kavner
Julie Kavner
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. Noted for her role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, she also voices other characters for the show, including Jacqueline Bouvier, and Patty and Selma Bouvier.Born in Los...
because I was laughing to myself, but trying to keep the laughter in because it was so damn funny."
"Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 28, 1994. The episode was selected for release in a 1999 video
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
collection of selected episodes called, The Simpsons: Greatest Hits, which also included the episodes "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", also known as "The Simpsons Christmas Special", is the first full-length episode of The Simpsons to air despite originally being the eighth episode produced for season one. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 17, 1989...
", "Lisa's First Word
Lisa's First Word
"Lisa's First Word" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons fourth season. It was first broadcast on Fox in the United States on December 3, 1992. In the episode, as the Simpson family gathers around Maggie and tries to encourage her to say her first word, Marge reminisces and tells the story of...
", "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...
", and "Bart Gets an F
Bart Gets an F
"Bart Gets an F" is the first episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 11, 1990. In the episode, Bart fails four consecutive history exams and the school psychiatrist recommends that Bart repeat the fourth grade...
". The episode was again included in the 2003 DVD release of the Greatest Hits set, which also included all the other episodes except "Trash of the Titans". "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" was also included in The Simpsons season five DVD set, which was released on December 21, 2004.
Cultural references
The episode's title is a reference to the 1971 Melvin Van PeeblesMelvin Van Peebles
Melvin "Block" Van Peebles is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer.He is most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films...
film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is a 1971 American independent drama film, written, produced, scored, directed by, and starring Melvin Van Peebles, father of actor Mario Van Peebles . It tells the picaresque story of a poor African American man on his flight from the white authority...
. Skinner's quote "We'll always have the laundromat" is a reference to a famous quote by Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
in Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
. The beginning scene of the episode, in which 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...
, 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...
, and Bart watch a home video, is a parody of the television series The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
; the Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
version of the song "With a Little Help from My Friends
With a Little Help from My Friends
-Joe Cocker version:Joe Cocker's version was a radical re-arrangement of the original, in a slower, 6/8 meter, using different chords in the middle eight, and a lengthy instrumental introduction...
" from that series is also used in the background of the opening scene. The scene in which Santa's Little Helper runs through the school vent is a reference to a scene in the film Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, as is Skinner's use of a heat-seeking tracer to pin down the positions of Groundskeeper Willie and Santa's Little Helper within the ventilation system. Skinner says he was shot in the back at a United Service Organizations
United Service Organizations
The United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
(USO) show while trying to get "Joey Heatherton to put some pants on", a reference to American actress Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton
Joey Heatherton is an American actress, dancer, and singer.-Early life:Christened Davenie Johanna Heatherton and nicknamed "Joey," she was raised in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb of New York City. There she attended St. Agnes Cathedral School, a Catholic grade and high school...
. Skinner's attire and shots of him running with his troops are references to the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket
Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is an adaptation of the 1979 novel The Short-Timers by Gustav Hasford and stars Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Arliss Howard and Adam Baldwin. The film follows a platoon of U.S...
. Skinner tells Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Apu is the proprietor of the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and a friend of Homer Simpson. He is also...
of his plan to write a novel about an amusement park with dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s called Billy and the Cloneasaurus, which Apu rightfully condemns as a concept of plagiarism
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
; the book is a reference to the Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton , best known as Michael Crichton, was an American best-selling author, producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and thriller genres. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and many have been adapted...
novel Jurassic Park. When Martin is in a cage, he is singing the Toreador Song
Toreador Song
The Toreador Song is one of the most famous arias from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Sung by the matador Escamillo, it describes various situations in the ring, the cheering of the crowds and the fame that comes with victory.-Text:-In popular culture:* The song is mocked during the "I lost my...
from the opera Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. In describing the relationship of Bart and Skinner, Lisa Simpson compares them to Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
, the famous characters from the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
detective stories; she also compares them to Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
and Mello Yello
Mello Yello
Mello Yello is a caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced on March 1, 1979 to compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew. There have been three flavored variants of Mello Yello. Mello Yello Cherry was released in response to Mountain Dew...
, which she describes as mortal enemies.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" finished 16th in the ratings for the week of April 25–May 1, 1994, with a Nielsen RatingNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 12.7, translating to 12 million households. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote, "The 100th episode [...] is a fine one, with Principal Skinner's idea for a novel and the conduct of the staff at the Italian restaurant as highpoints." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said the opening scene of episode reminded him of when he was in second grade and got a puppy for Christmas. Jacobson said, "I still recall the excitement when my mom brought [the dog] into school for the others to see, and the first segment of [the episode] reflects the atmosphere caused by a doggie visit. The rest of the episode gets into Skinner’s life nicely. Toss in a great Alien reference and the episode offers yet another solid show." Jacobson also said he liked the appearance of Flanders's "beatnik father". Gary Mullinax of The News Journal called the episode "very funny" and named it one of his top-ten favorite episodes. Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a B+ grade, and Bill Gibron of DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
gave the episode a 4 out of 5 score. Dave Manley of DVDActive said in a review of The Simpsons: Greatest Hits that it was "certainly one of the weaker [episodes on the DVD] – I can only assume the fact that it was episode 100 is what gets it onto this disc."
External links
- "Sweet Seymour Skinner's Baadasssss Song" at The Simpsons.com