I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can
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"I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' fourteenth season. The episode aired on February 16, 2003. It is incorrectly displayed in the opening scene as the 301st episode. 22 million people watched this episode, making it the second-most watched episode since 2002. The episode is set at the start of a new school year.
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[edit] Plot
Bart and Homer are watching a program featuring Boobarella, a well-endowed female vampire similar to Elvira. A commercial plays for the Ribwich, a new Krusty Burger sandwich in which meat from an unidentified animal is processed and molded into the shape of ribs. Krusty's endorsement of the Ribwich is "I don't mind the taste". Homer can not wait for it to come to Springfield. Homer samples the Ribwich, recently arrived at the Krusty Burger in Springfield, and becomes addicted.
The next day at a school assembly, Principal Skinner announces that the school is holding a spelling bee. Lisa is excited when she wins the school spelling bee, for which she is awarded a "scale model of the planet Mars" (a kickball with the word "Mars" written on it). She continues to the state spelling bee, and wins again, qualifying her for the Spellympics to be held in Calgary.
Marge suggests they celebrate, but Homer says he has "important daddy business" — which turns out to be eating Ribwiches with Lenny and Carl. Unfortunately, when they arrive at Krusty Burger, the limited-time-only Ribwiches are no longer in stock. Homer is shattered, but a "Ribhead" (a fan of the Ribwich) tells him that it is being tested in other markets and shows him a tour schedule. Homer decides to follow a group of Ribheads as they track the release of the Ribwich.
At the Spellympics, hosted by George Plimpton, Lisa wins the semi-finals and secures a spot in the finals. Homer says he still cannot attend, as he wants to eat Ribwiches in the last release in San Francisco. The other two finalists are Sun Moon, a Korean girl, and Alex, a cute little boy with big round glasses. George Plimpton takes Lisa aside and gives her a speech about spelling bees' low ratings, thanks to the dominance of reality shows. He tells her that if she lets Alex win, she will be given a free scholarship to any Seven Sisters college and a free George Plimpton hot plate. Lisa is torn between wanting to win the Spellympics and free college.
That night, Lisa dreams of an ancient Greek setting in which each anthropomorphized Seven Sister tries to lure her to her college (Plimpton also appears to add, "and a hotplate!"). She wakes up and asks Marge whether they can afford to send her to college. Marge is unsure, but promises to do whatever it takes to get Lisa into college. Despite Marge's reassurances, Lisa is still uneasy.
In San Francisco, Homer pigs out on Ribwiches. A limousine pulls up and Krusty pops out of the sun-roof and informs all the Ribheads that the Ribwich can no longer be made, as the small animal from which it is made (one with "more legs (than a cow)") is now extinct. He tosses the last one into the crowd. Homer catches it, fighting off the others. When an Italian Ribhead promises him "the lease-a of my car" in return for the last Ribwich, Homer suddenly remembers Lisa and the Spellympics. He agrees to the trade and takes off in the sports car. The Italian suffers "buyer's remorse" after finishing the Ribwich.
At the Spellympics finals, George Plimpton asks Sun Moon to spell "whether/weather", deliberately confusing her by using both words in a sentence. He disqualifies her when she starts "W-E..." Next is Alex's turn, in which he spells "rigged" correctly. Finally, Lisa steps up and is asked to spell "intransigence". She is about to start, when Homer shows up and shouts encouragingly at her. Lisa, happy to see her father, tells everyone that she was told to take a dive and proceeds to spell the word, but she spells it "I-N-T-R-A-N-S-I-G-A-N-C-E". She is disqualified and George tells her that now she gets nothing.
On the way back to Springfield, Lisa is crestfallen at having lost the Spellympics. Homer tries to cheer her up, but she feels that she has let down the whole town. However, she finds that the town has assembled at the Simpson residence to felicitate her. Mayor Quimby tells her that even though she did not win first prize, she has done better than anyone else in Springfield (even outachieving the Springfield woman who once dated Charles Grodin!) They have even carved out her likeness in a mountain nearby. Lisa is thrilled.
[edit] Cultural references
[edit] Seven Sister Colleges parody
This episode is noted for its parody of the Seven Sister Colleges (as they were prior to the 1970s; Vassar College is now coeducational and Radcliffe College merged with Harvard) who appear to Lisa in a dream:[1]
- Barnard College: (wearing glasses): We are the Seven Sisters. And you can attend any one of us! Like Barnard, Columbia's "girl next door."
Radcliffe College: Come to Radcliffe and meet Harvard men.
Wellesley College: Or come to Wellesley and marry them.
Mount Holyoke College: (slurring, champagne glass in hand) No. Party with me! (Falls face first.)
Vassar College: Or nonconform with me! (Raises arms, reveals hairy armpits.)
Smith College: (muscular, carries lacrosse stick, husky voice) Play lacrosse with me!
Bryn Mawr College: Or explore with me! (She and Smith kiss with passion.)[2]
[edit] General
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- While opening the school, Principal Skinner sings a parody of "School's Out" by Alice Cooper.
- Apu's back to school sale (and to some extent the Ribwich commercial) are similar in tone to the patriotic commercials that were popular on TV following September 11. Unfortunately, Apu's plea to Springfieldians to not beat him up anymore also reflects the numerous attacks on Indians (particularly Sikhs) who were beaten and in some cases killed after being misidentified as Arabs or Muslims.
- The song played during the Spelling Bee Olympics and during the credits is "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
- Another song played during the Olympics was "Get Ready to Rumble". This song was also played in the episode "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass".
- The lawsuit against the Spellympics by the Olympics (for using -lympics) is a parody of the law made by Congress which says that the Olympic Committee can sue anyone who uses "Olympics" or makes an arrangement of five rings.
- This episode contains some Grateful Dead references. "Ribheads" are touring the country in devotion to the Ribwich (as opposed to Deadheads) and end up in San Francisco. At the end of the episode, Krusty says, "What a long strange product rollout it's been".
- The character appearing on the TV show at the beginning of the episode is a parody of television personalities Vampira and/or Elvira. The name Boobarella is also a play on the name and movie Barbarella. Or Vampirella.
- The song played during the TV ad for the Ribwich is a parody of "Like a Rock" by Bob Seger, which is best known as Chevrolet trucks theme music through most of the 1990s.
- The title of the episode is a reference to the 1981 book I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can, by Barbara Gordon. The book describes Gordon's addiction to prescription medication and her rehabilitation. It was later made into a movie; the late executive Don Simpson reportedly protested bitterly when the project was one of several he was ordered to complete under a punshing pre-strike deadline during his time as a production executive at Paramount Pictures, and only took on this and other movies when his boss green-lit An Officer and a Gentleman.
- The stairs Lisa runs up are similar to the Rocky Steps.
- The framed number 0 jersey in George Plimpton's office is in the style of the Detroit Lions, the team Plimpton practiced with in his book Paper Lion.
- Portions of this episode were a parody of the Darren Aronofsky film Requiem for a Dream. The use of a montage around a central theme, in the film and this episode, addiction (the Ribwich); also the visuals when Homer eats the Ribwich (dilating pupils, blood pulsing through veins, etc).
- The ribwich is an obvious parody of the McDonald's McRib sandwich, which is also noted for its intermittent availability and the less than obvious origin of the meat.
- A reference to AC/DC is made when Otto asks Lisa to spell AC/DC and she spells it A-C-D-C, but after she finishes, Otto says "you forgot the lightning bolt" (referring to the band's logo).
- The Spellympics are held in Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
- The scene where Lisa arrives home to see the town congratulate her for coming in second place, is very similar to the Little House on the Prairie episode "The Pride of Walnut Grove", where Mary enters a math competition and gets welcomed by the townspeople for coming in second place.
- The music which plays when Homer is led out of the Krusty Burger by Lenny and Carl is similar to the theme from The Green Mile by Thomas Newman.
- The sculpture of Lisa's head carved into the mountain is a reference to Mount Rushmore.
[edit] Deleted scenes
- A lengthy scene at the beginning of the show where Bart rushes to do everything he planned on doing during summer vacation was cut for time. It was later put in "The Monkey Suit", which aired three years later.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Seven Sisters. Mount Holyoke College.
- ^ Transcript
- ^ Jean, Al. (2006). The Simpsons season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "Lisa's Sax" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
[edit] External links
