The Color Yellow
Encyclopedia
"The Color Yellow" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons
' twenty-first season
. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 21, 2010. In this episode, Lisa discovers that her ancestors from Florida
helped a black slave named Virgil (who looks like an African-American version of Homer) escape to freedom, but Milhouse has a piece of family history that shows Lisa's ancestors giving Virgil up in an act of cowardice.
The episode was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham
and Billy Kimball
and directed by Raymond S. Persi. It guest starred Wren T. Brown
as Virgil. The episode was viewed by 6.08 million viewers and received mixed to positive reviews.
assignment, Lisa
discovers a diary written by her great-great-great grandaunt, Eliza Simpson. She reads it, hoping to discover a Simpson in her family tree that was not an alcoholic, criminal, or sexual fetishist. At first she discovers through reading the diary that, to her dismay, Eliza was a slaveowner, but she soon learns Eliza and her mother Mabel were part of the Underground Railroad
in 1860. Eliza sneaks into a ball hosted by Colonel Burns (later said to be the father of Monty Burns, again making fun of his age) to meet a slave named Virgil, but as the two make their escape, they are spotted by a mounted patrol. Unfortunately, the diary is too disintegrated for Lisa to read on, and she cannot bear not knowing if Virgil escaped.
Lisa and Marge discover a cookbook at the local library written by Mabel, made decades after Eliza saved Virgil. In it is an anecdote that tells how Eliza and Virgil evaded capture by donning disguises at a traveling circus with a Krusty-type clown. They make it back to the Simpson household, but Eliza's father Hiram is suspicious of Virgil's presence. Virgil makes him 'wheel cakes' and Hiram swears to keep Virgil's whereabouts a secret. As the story continues on it becomes like The Color Purple
.
Lisa believes Eliza to be a hero for helping Virgil escape, and tells this story at a Black History Month presentation at Springfield Elementary. Milhouse, however, challenges her story and suggests that Eliza was a coward. He reads from the journal of his ancestor, Milford Van Houten, who witnessed Colonel Burns bribe Hiram with 'a pleasant surprise', a new pair of shoes in exchange for giving up Virgil. Eliza does not stand up against the Colonel and Lisa is crushed to think her ancestor was a coward. Milford said he was so disgusted he could never look at Eliza again (Milhouse adding it did not help that he went blind the next day after drinking bad well water). Milford Van Houten's account is substantiated when Lisa views a 1950s oral history
archival film interview with an elderly Eliza, where she indicates this cowardice as being the one regret of her life. In the film, a wedding portrait behind the wheelchair bound Eliza shows she married Milford Van Houten, thus creating a family link between the Simpsons and the Van Houtens.
To help raise Lisa's spirits Homer threatens Grampa Simpson to get him to tell the rest of story by turning the thermostat down a few degrees. Grandpa Simpson then tells how Mabel threatened to castrate Colonel Burns with a shotgun blast and then escaped with Virgil to Canada
(incorrectly flying the current Canadian flag, not adopted until 1965). There, she divorced Hiram and married Virgil. She also got one shoe from Hiram, but he kept the shoelaces to himself. Grampa reveals that Virgil and Mabel's son Abraham was his great-grandfather, and therefore Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are 1/64 Black, to which Lisa then claims is the reason for her Jazz musical ability, and Bart reasons is the reason for his being cool, and Homer understands is why he makes less money than his co-workers. When questioned why he kept this secret, Grampa hesitates to explain to which Lisa attributes to his generation being racist. Marge then notes that her father was French
, to which Homer claims as the cause of his drinking. Marge disagrees explaining that he is not French, she is. Homer dismisses this and continues drinking.
and came second in its timeslot after The Olympics improving 15% from "Boy Meets Curl
. The show ranked 19 in the 18-49 weekly ratings ranking 4th on FOX for the rating after Family Guy
and American Idol
Wednesday and Tuesday. Robert Canning gave the episode a 6.4 writing that it "as a whole fell flat" and commented: "I guess it's difficult to find the humor in slavery, even for The Simpsons". Todd VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club
gave the episode a C+, the worst grade of the lineup saying that "there was some funny stuff" but "the majority of the episode was a disappointment". Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave "The Color Yellow" a positive review stating that "there were some great comedic moments in tonight's episode".
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 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....
. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 21, 2010. In this episode, Lisa discovers that her ancestors from Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
helped a black slave named Virgil (who looks like an African-American version of Homer) escape to freedom, but Milhouse has a piece of family history that shows Lisa's ancestors giving Virgil up in an act of cowardice.
The episode was written by Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham
Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons , and has also served as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for The Simpsons...
and Billy Kimball
Billy Kimball
-Personal life:He was born in New York City and graduated from Harvard College where he was an editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He is currently married to the former Alexandra Manuela Vargas Hamilton and has two daughters.-Career:...
and directed by Raymond S. Persi. It guest starred Wren T. Brown
Wren T. Brown
Wren Troy Brown is an American film, theater, and television actor.A fourth generation Angeleno, Mr. Brown is also a fourth generation theatrical. He is in his third decade as an actor, producer, and director.-Biography:...
as Virgil. The episode was viewed by 6.08 million viewers and received mixed to positive reviews.
Plot
While working on a genealogyGenealogy
Genealogy is the study of families and the tracing of their lineages and history. Genealogists use oral traditions, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members...
assignment, 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...
discovers a diary written by her great-great-great grandaunt, Eliza Simpson. She reads it, hoping to discover a Simpson in her family tree that was not an alcoholic, criminal, or sexual fetishist. At first she discovers through reading the diary that, to her dismay, Eliza was a slaveowner, but she soon learns Eliza and her mother Mabel were part of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
in 1860. Eliza sneaks into a ball hosted by Colonel Burns (later said to be the father of Monty Burns, again making fun of his age) to meet a slave named Virgil, but as the two make their escape, they are spotted by a mounted patrol. Unfortunately, the diary is too disintegrated for Lisa to read on, and she cannot bear not knowing if Virgil escaped.
Lisa and Marge discover a cookbook at the local library written by Mabel, made decades after Eliza saved Virgil. In it is an anecdote that tells how Eliza and Virgil evaded capture by donning disguises at a traveling circus with a Krusty-type clown. They make it back to the Simpson household, but Eliza's father Hiram is suspicious of Virgil's presence. Virgil makes him 'wheel cakes' and Hiram swears to keep Virgil's whereabouts a secret. As the story continues on it becomes like The Color Purple
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is an acclaimed 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker. It received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction...
.
Lisa believes Eliza to be a hero for helping Virgil escape, and tells this story at a Black History Month presentation at Springfield Elementary. Milhouse, however, challenges her story and suggests that Eliza was a coward. He reads from the journal of his ancestor, Milford Van Houten, who witnessed Colonel Burns bribe Hiram with 'a pleasant surprise', a new pair of shoes in exchange for giving up Virgil. Eliza does not stand up against the Colonel and Lisa is crushed to think her ancestor was a coward. Milford said he was so disgusted he could never look at Eliza again (Milhouse adding it did not help that he went blind the next day after drinking bad well water). Milford Van Houten's account is substantiated when Lisa views a 1950s oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
archival film interview with an elderly Eliza, where she indicates this cowardice as being the one regret of her life. In the film, a wedding portrait behind the wheelchair bound Eliza shows she married Milford Van Houten, thus creating a family link between the Simpsons and the Van Houtens.
To help raise Lisa's spirits Homer threatens Grampa Simpson to get him to tell the rest of story by turning the thermostat down a few degrees. Grandpa Simpson then tells how Mabel threatened to castrate Colonel Burns with a shotgun blast and then escaped with Virgil to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(incorrectly flying the current Canadian flag, not adopted until 1965). There, she divorced Hiram and married Virgil. She also got one shoe from Hiram, but he kept the shoelaces to himself. Grampa reveals that Virgil and Mabel's son Abraham was his great-grandfather, and therefore Bart, Lisa, and Maggie are 1/64 Black, to which Lisa then claims is the reason for her Jazz musical ability, and Bart reasons is the reason for his being cool, and Homer understands is why he makes less money than his co-workers. When questioned why he kept this secret, Grampa hesitates to explain to which Lisa attributes to his generation being racist. Marge then notes that her father was 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...
, to which Homer claims as the cause of his drinking. Marge disagrees explaining that he is not French, she is. Homer dismisses this and continues drinking.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "The Color Yellow" was watched by 6.08 million households getting a 3.0/8 in the 18-49 Nielsen Rating, and was the second most-watched show on Fox that night, after a repeat of 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...
and came second in its timeslot after The Olympics improving 15% from "Boy Meets Curl
Boy Meets Curl
"Boy Meets Curl" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons twenty-first season. It aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 14, 2010. In this episode, Homer and Marge Simpson form a mixed-doubles curling team with Agnes and Seymour Skinner, which is chosen to play in the 2010 Winter...
. The show ranked 19 in the 18-49 weekly ratings ranking 4th on FOX for the rating after 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...
and American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
Wednesday and Tuesday. Robert Canning gave the episode a 6.4 writing that it "as a whole fell flat" and commented: "I guess it's difficult to find the humor in slavery, even for The Simpsons". 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 C+, the worst grade of the lineup saying that "there was some funny stuff" but "the majority of the episode was a disappointment". Jason Hughes of TV Squad gave "The Color Yellow" a positive review stating that "there were some great comedic moments in tonight's episode".
Trivia
- There is an anachronismAnachronismAn anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
in this episode. In one scene, a flashback from the diary of Eliza Simpson, which shows a scene in 1860, at a party in KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
where the music playing is Blue DanubeThe Blue DanubeThe Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 , a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866...
waltz. However, the Blue Danube was composed in ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, 1866.