Sideshow Bob Roberts
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"Sideshow Bob Roberts" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' sixth season. The episode's name is a take on the movie Bob Roberts. It is the fourth episode featuring Sideshow Bob, and his middle name is revealed as Underdunk. This episode is one of few, if not the only episode, that features no couch gag, and goes straight from "The Simpsons" to "Created by...".
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[edit] Plot
Sideshow Bob calls Birch Barlow, a local right-wing talk show host who authored the "well selling book" Only Turkeys Have Left Wings. He complains of being unfairly imprisoned. Thanks to Barlow, all of Springfield sympathizes with Bob. Pressured by protests, Mayor Quimby releases Bob.
At a Springfield Republican meeting, Bob announces his candidacy for mayor of Springfield. Determined to keep the psychopath from becoming mayor, Bart and Lisa help campaign for Quimby. Mayor Quimby helps get the old folks' votes by naming a new expressway the "Matlock Expressway". Unfortunately, at a televised debate hosted by Larry King, Quimby's drowsiness (caused by extra drowsy flu medication) and sickly appearance, in which he runs his hand through his hair which causes him to appear to have 2 horns on his head and the television station adds flames to the background to make him look more evil, cause him to lose all support. Springfield votes for mayor and the results are 100% for Bob and 1% for Quimby (with a one percent margin of error).
Within days, the Simpsons wake up to construction occurring outside. Bob informs the family that the Simpsons' house is in the way of the new Matlock Expressway and that it will be demolished in 72 hours, along with any remaining Simpsons. Bart and Lisa begin to suspect that Bob somehow cheated in the election. Lisa goes through all the voter records but is unable to find any evidence that the election was rigged. (Meanwhile, thanks to Bob, Bart has not only failed the fourth grade, but has been put back in kindergarten.) While Lisa reviews the records, someone leaves a message for her. Bart and Lisa go to a parking garage to meet with the whistle blower, who turns out to be Waylon Smithers.
Smithers explains that even though his boss supports Bob, the mayor's policies conflict with Smithers' "choice of lifestyle" (one of many times during this part of the show's run where it was hinted that Smithers was gay before it was finally confirmed later on). He knows where they can find evidence of electoral fraud since he worked on Bob's campaign at the behest of Mr. Burns. Smithers gives them the name of a person who voted for Bob, cryptically telling them "find him, and you'll find your answer." Lisa and Bart search the telephone listings for the name Smithers gave them, Edgar Neubauer, but cannot find him. They try the library next, without success. As Lisa and Bart begin to lose hope, Bart notices a tombstone in the nearby cemetery with the name "Edgar Neubauer." Lisa still has the voter records, which she pulls out at this time. She discovers that many of those listed as voting for Bob are in fact dead and buried in the Springfield Cemetery (even pets from the Pet Cemetery are listed as voting for Bob). At the trial that follows, an angry Bart and Lisa trick Bob into confessing his crime, and he is thrown into a minimum security prison by Judge Synder. The Simpsons get their house back, Quimby takes Bob's place as mayor, and Bart returns to the fourth grade.
[edit] Cultural references
- The plot of Bart and Lisa investigating Bob's election fraud, the pull-out of Lisa looking over the voting records, and the clandestine meeting with Smithers are references to the movie (and book) All the President's Men, which chronicled Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein's investigation of Watergate (Lisa even mentions that they are like Woodward and Bernstein, and the library scene mimics the overhead shot of the library in the film).
- When Lisa is driving, she is listening to "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr.[1]
- The language spoken at Republican Party headquarters is inspired by Enochian, a language associated with occult and Satanic ceremonies.[2]
- Bob says the famous line from A Few Good Men. His speech also parodies Jack Nicholson's speech following the line.[1]
- Sideshow Bob gives his acceptance speech underneath a giant poster with a picture of himself on it; this is a reference to the campaign speech scene in Citizen Kane. Bob enters Burns' meeting draped in an American flag, a nod to the the Bob Roberts' poster.[1]
- Bob wins the election by ballot stuffing using the names of the deceased, a common type of electoral fraud that is perhaps best known for having occurred in Chicago in the mid-1900s, where the dead who voted were dubbed "ghost voters." This is referenced in The shame of The Cities by Muckraker Lincoln Steffens, saying that The Assesors list is the bosses list, and the assesors practice fraud at very stage... the assesor pad the list with the names of DEAD DOGS, CHILDREN, AND NON-EXISTENT PERSONS. (The caps lock is to emphasize it.)[1]
- Some of the deceased voters consisted of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens & The Big Bopper. These were the three Rock Stars that were killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 (see The Day The Music Died) .
- The character Birch Barlow is a take-off on American talk show host and political commentator Rush Limbaugh.[1] He was voiced by Harry Shearer, who is a strong critic of Mr. Limbaugh and his political views. The name "Birch" is likely a reference to the John Birch Society. The writers revealed during the audio commentary for this episode that they had considered keeping the name "Rush Limbaugh" for the character, but ultimately decided against it after they heard rumors that Limbaugh was a litigious individual.
- This episode also features cameo appearances by several Archie Comics characters, including Archie Andrews, Reggie Mantle, Moose Mason and Jughead Jones; they are shown pulling up to the Simpsons' house, tossing Homer out of Archie's jalopy, and warning him to "stay out of Riverdale!" Later, Homer reads an Archie comic and calls them all "stuck-up Riverdale punks."
[edit] Political satire
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This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (November 2007) |
There are many sections of the show that are designed to satirize politics in the United States. In his talk show, Birch T. Barlow complains that Sideshow Bob has been unfairly imprisoned by the "liberal justice system", but conservatives usually argue that the "liberal justice system" is too soft on criminals.
In Sideshow Bob's political ad the narrator talks about the liberal "revolving door prison system". The narrator points out that the liberal mayor released a man twice convicted of attempted murder, Sideshow Bob. The ad ends insisting that the viewer vote for the aforementioned two time convict for mayor. This satirizes the fact that politicians often turn against their own policies when it affects them, or their close friends in an adverse way.
The campaign ad is also a direct parody of the 1988 US Presidential campaign, when Michael Dukakis was attacked in an ad by George H. W. Bush for allowing the release of Willie Horton, a convicted rapist, when Dukakis was Governor of Massachusetts. In a further reference to Dukakis, Birch Barlow asks Mayor Quimby about what it would be like if his family were kidnapped. This is a reference to a similar question posed to Dukakis during the 1988 Presidential Campaign. Dukakis' response to this question is believed to have contributed to his losing the election.
Mayor Quimby boasts about building a new expressway to the members of the old folks home, but he quickly realises that it is not winning him any support. Grandpa Abraham Simpson points out that he only cares about fictional TV character Matlock, so mayor Quimby's aide quickly changes the diagram to show that it is called the "Matlock Expressway". This satirizes the fact that politicians continuously re-phrase, and rename their policies and plans for more appeal, despite the fact that is in fact the exact same expressway criticized a moment ago.
On the television airing of the political debate between Sideshow Bob and Mayor Quimby, Mayor Quimby's head is surrounded by fire and his hair was held upward at the front like two demons horns. TV networks and newspapers may favor candidates with policies which will be more favourable to them. Mayor Quimby's performance in the debate is similar to that of Nixon in the televised 1960 Presidential debate with Kennedy. The Simpsons debate was said to be broadcast by FOX, which was (and still is) run by a well-known conservative, Rupert Murdoch.
When Sideshow Bob is at the Elementary School, he performs tricks which entertain the children. This is a parody of how politicians use meaningless political tricks to gain election. Birch T. Barlow also publicly asked Sideshow Bob about his thoughts on a comment by "Les Whinin" and Bob's response was "he ought to do more thinkin' and less whinin'." Lisa knew that there was no such person as "Les Whinin" and that it was just a trick to showcase Bob's cleverness.
This episode reinforces the stereotypical Republican image through the local members of the party: the Blue-Haired Lawyer, Mr. Burns and even Count Dracula. Rainier Wolfcastle (a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger), the Rich Texan, and Dr. Hibbert are also shown as members of the party. In other episodes, Helen Lovejoy, Ms. Hoover and Judge Snyder are seen sitting at the Republican table at its location. This episode, and many other episodes of the Simpsons, reinforces the stereotypical image of the Kennedy family members through Mayor Joseph Quimby, the antics of him and the members of his close family, as well as Joe Quimby's accent.
Shortly after this episode first aired, Matt Groening spoofed the Internet reaction to the story's political bent in a Life in Hell strip, in which he voiced his quiet pleasure in the discontent he had stirred up among the show's notoriously overreactive fanbase.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- "Sideshow Bob Roberts" episode capsule at The Simpsons Archive
- Internet Movie Database "Bob Roberts 1992 (Tim Robbins)"
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