Lard of the Dance

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The Simpsons episode
"Lard of the Dance"
Lisa and Alex (Lisa Kudrow)
Episode no. 204
Prod. code 5F20
Orig. airdate August 23, 1998
Show runner(s) Mike Scully
Written by Jane O'Brien
Directed by Dominic Polcino
Couch gag The family go to sit on the couch, but fall backwards. Nelson exclaims his catchphrase: "Ha-ha!"
Guest star(s) Lisa Kudrow as Alex Whitney[1]
Season 10
August 23, 1998 – May 16, 1999
  1. "Lard of the Dance"
  2. "The Wizard of Evergreen Terrace"
  3. "Bart the Mother"
  4. "Treehouse of Horror IX"
  5. "When You Dish upon a Star"
  6. "D'oh-in in the Wind"
  7. "Lisa Gets an "A""
  8. "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble""
  9. "Mayored to the Mob"
  10. "Viva Ned Flanders"
  11. "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken"
  12. "Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"
  13. "Homer to the Max"
  14. "I'm with Cupid"
  15. "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers""
  16. "Make Room for Lisa"
  17. "Maximum Homerdrive"
  18. "Simpsons Bible Stories"
  19. "Mom and Pop Art"
  20. "The Old Man and the "C" Student"
  21. "Monty Can't Buy Me Love"
  22. "They Saved Lisa's Brain"
  23. "Thirty Minutes over Tokyo"
List of all The Simpsons episodes

"Lard of the Dance" is the first episode of The Simpsons' tenth season, that originally aired on August 23, 1998.[1] Homer discovers he can make money by stealing and reselling grease, but eventually stops after negative encounters with Groundskeeper Willie and the Springfield Grease Company. Meanwhile, Lisa becomes jealous that a new student is distracting all her friends by using her fashionable personality. The episode was written by Jane O'Brien and directed by Dominic Polcino.[2]

Contents

[edit] Plot

After going back-to-school shopping, Homer learns from Apu that he can sell grease to make a profit. At breakfast, Homer begins frying up various amounts of bacon to use the grease to make money, then decides to hire Bart for his "grease business," but this, ultimately, forces Bart to quit school. Meanwhile, on the first day back at school, Lisa volunteers to help Alex Whitney, a fashion conscious new student by showing her around the school. To help her make new friends, Lisa takes Alex, Sherri, Terri, Alison Taylor and Janey for lunch in the cafeteria after the two groups group meet up, but shortly after abandon Lisa after being distracted by Alex's cell phone.

Homer and Bart begin their grease business and make sixty-three cents worth of grease from twenty-seven dollars worth of bacon, much to their disappointment. The two continue their grease business, resuming to drive past Springfield Elementary School where Bart gazes at his former schoolmates playing. The pair drive to Krusty Burger, where they steal grease from the Squeaky Voiced Teen's face and the fryers, but the grease Homer and Bart stole is later taken by The Springfield grease company, who attempt to warn them off.

Alex convinces Principal Skinner to have a school-dance rather than the other event he had organised. Skinner agrees, so Alex and Lisa, accompanied by Sherri, Terri, Janey and Allison visit the mall to purchase party supplies, but the girls detour and begin trying on outfits for the dance, despite Lisa's protests and Alex attempting to convince her it will help her get a date for the dance. The group leave the mall, none speaking to each other. Lisa decides not to attend the dance, but changes her mind and goes to the school to take tickets at the door, but later arrives in a gothic outfit and discovers the boys and girls are on different sides of the room, and explains to Alex it is like this because they're only children, not adults.

Homer and Bart arrive at the school during the dance to steal the grease after being told of the large amount in the school kitchen by Bart. Homer sneaks into the kitchen and plants a hose in the fryer to suck it in to the car, but Willie spots them and attempts to stop them, claiming the grease to be his for retirement. A fight ensues between the two of them after a brief argument regarding Willie's nationality. Homer tries to escape, but Willie grabs his legs and strangles him with the hose sucking the grease, which exploded due to the increased pressure, falling on to the hall where the dance is being held. A grease fight begins among the students, where Alex eventually joins in after being told by Lisa to act her own age.

[edit] Production

The origins of the episode come from a conversation between Jane O'Brien and Mike Scully, when the two were talking about how girls always want to grow up so fast, as Scully has five daughters; so they decided to produce an episode with a storyline based on this.[3] The idea behind the episode plot came from Jace Richdale, who came up with the idea of Homer stealing grease and the grease business, having read about in a magazine.[4] Several aspects of the characters used throughout the episode had been improvised significantly by Lisa Kudrow.[3] Ron Hauge, a writer for The Simpsons, came up with the initial character of Alex,[4] and Jane O'Brien named the character after her best friend.[5] The scene showing Homer's exploding eye gag got a big laugh in the studio,[3] Mike Scully comments that he now uses it in college clip shows.[3]

[edit] Cultural references

Much of the shop where the girls enter to buy clothes is based on Wet Seal.[3] The title of the episode is a play on Irish musical Lord of the Dance.[2] Marge sings her own, altered version of 1990 song "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" when attempting to persuade Lisa to attend the dance.[2]

[edit] Reception

"Lard of the Dance" finished 31st in the weekly ratings for the week of August 17-23, 1998 with a Nielsen rating of 7.2. It was the third highest rated show from the Fox Network that week.[6] The episode aired during the summer so that it could serve as a lead-in for the early premieres of That '70s Show and Holding the Baby.[7] While That '70s Show would receive higher Nielsen ratings than The Simpsons, Holding the Baby was a ratings flop.[8]

In a 2008 article, Entertainment Weekly named Lisa Kudrow's role as Alex as one of the sixteen guest guest appearances on The Simpsons.[9]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood commented that "The idea of Lisa being unpopular in the light of a new girl in the school hallways is not new (see "Lisa's Rival") but it is done here with such class,"[2] concluding of Homers treatment that "this is an episode which shows that even he can find interesting ways to do things."[2] Wesley Mead noted, in a review of the tenth season that the episode "might deal with familiar territory ("Lisa's Rival", anyone?), but it doesn't feel like a retread, and is also home to a superbly realised subplot that sees Homer and Bart go into the grease business."[10]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Lard of the Dance". The Simpsons.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e Martyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian. Lard of the Dance. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-02-05.
  3. ^ a b c d e Scully, Mike. (1998). The Simpsons season 10 DVD commentary for the episode "Lard of the Dance" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  4. ^ a b Hauge, Ron. (1998). The Simpsons season 10 DVD commentary for the episode "Lard of the Dance" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  5. ^ O'Brien, Jane. (1998). The Simpsons season 10 DVD commentary for the episode "Lard of the Dance" [DVD]. 20th Century Fox.
  6. ^ "Prime-Time Ratings", The Orange County Register, 1998-08-26. Retrieved on 2008-02-18. 
  7. ^ "Fox offers both good and bad", The State Journal-Register, 1998-08-20, p. 4E. Retrieved on 2008-02-18. 
  8. ^ Associated Press. "Fox premieres one hit, one miss", Boston Globe, 1998-08-26, p. 4E. Retrieved on 2008-02-18. 
  9. ^ "16 great 'Simpsons' guest stars", Entertainment Weekly, 2008-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-05-11. 
  10. ^ Mead, Wesley (August 12, 2007). Complete Tenth Season DVD Reviewed. The Simpsons Archive. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.

[edit] External links

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