My Fair Laddy

"My Fair Laddy" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' seventeenth season. It first aired on February 26, 2006. This is the first episode that centers around Groundskeeper Willie.

[edit] Plot

When the old gym teacher announces that she will be gone until fall because of her sex change operation, a substitute takes her place. Every gym class, he has them play a game called "Bombardment," which basically just involves him throwing dodgeballs at the students. When Bart gets sick of the constant bullying, he fills a ball full of water and sticks it in the freezer overnight (Nelson calls it an Ice-ball). The next day, he throws it at the gym teacher, who ducks, and the ball crashes through the window and hits Willie's shack, destroying it. When Marge picks up Bart from school and sees Willie is homeless and sitting alone in the pouring rain, she offers to let him stay at their house, and he accepts. When there, Lisa has Willie realize that his life could be much better, and she decides to turn him into a proper gentlemen. Bart, however, does not believe that she can do it, but Lisa bets that she can do it in time for the school science fair.

Meanwhile, Homer comes home with his last pair of blue pants ripped and torn after his seat breaks at the go-cart track. As he searches through town for a new pair, he finds no store that sells his favorite type of pants. When he goes to the factory that sells them, the manager tells him that they do not make blue pants anymore due to poor sales, but Homer tells him that he'll get more customers. He does this by writing "Buy blue pants" on the back of his head (when he turns out the light, Marge observes that the writing glows in the dark, to which a rather scared Homer replies, "It's not supposed to."). Homer's advertising campaign pays off and soon everyone is wearing blue pants. However, Marge is annoyed when Homer begins putting other advertisements on his head.

While this is happening, Lisa is struggling to teach Willie how to act sophisticated. Soon, it is the day before the science fair, and he is still his same old self. When he sees how disappointed Lisa is, he suddenly surprises both Bart and Lisa by correctly (and with a 'proper' accent/dialect) saying a sentence she gave him. At the science fair the next day, he impresses everyone with his politeness and veral dexterity. However, no one actually knows that it is the old groundskeeper until Lisa announces it to everyone. Once again, she wins the science fair, and the bet along with it.

Even though he is respected by everybody, Willie misses his old life and feels out of place working as the maitre'd at a fancy restaurant, but his job and his shack were both taken by the music teacher. He explains to Lisa that he wishes to go back to the way things were, and she understands. Soon, he is back to living in his loving restored "crap shack".

[edit] Cultural references

The title is a take-off of My Fair Lady. Also, the episode features songs similar to the style featured in the play.
The wager that Jimbo Jones makes with Kearney is a reference to Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne.
The music heard in the Super Bowl commercial for Blue Pants is "Baby Elephant Walk" by Henry Mancini, composed for the film Hatari!, and frequently used in Dancin' Homer.
Krusty calls Willie, 'The Duchess of Cornball,' punning on Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
The scene where Bart threatens Coach Krupt with the ice filled dodgeball is based on the scene in Full Metal Jacket when Private Pyle shoots Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman played by R. Lee Ermey.
This episode, along with the season eleven episode, Pygmoelian, are parodies of the plot of the play Pygmalion. Both episodes are about an ancillary Simpsons character known for being ugly and/or ill-mannered (Moe in "Pygmoelian" and Groundskeeper Willie in "My Fair Laddy") getting made over to be more pleasing (Moe gets plastic surgery and becomes a handsome soap opera star and Groundskeeper Willie is groomed to be a proper gentleman and works at a fancy restaurant).
The company that makes the Blue Pants is called 'Worldwide Pants', a reference to David Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants Incorporated.