"Days of Future Future" is the eighteenth episode of the
twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' and the 548th episode of the series. It first aired on the
Fox network
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
in the United States on April 13, 2014. It was written by
J. Stewart Burns
Joseph Stewart Burns (born December 4, 1969), better known as J. Stewart Burns or simply just Stewart Burns is a television writer and producer most notable for his work on ''The Simpsons'', '' Futurama'', and ''Unhappily Ever After''.
Educatio ...
and directed by
Bob Anderson. The episode follows the 2011 episode "
Holidays of Future Passed
"Holidays of Future Passed" is the ninth episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 11, 2011. Most of the episode is set ...
", set 30 years from the present. In this futuristic installment,
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...
goes to a clinic to rid himself of his feelings for his ex-wife Jenda (who is now dating a
xenomorph
The Alien (also known as a ''Xenomorph XX121'' or ''Internecivus raptus'', or simply a xenomorph)Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report is a fictional parasitoid, endoparasitoid Extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial species that serves as the ...
-like alien named Jerry),
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
must choose whether or not to cure her zombie husband
Milhouse
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class ...
after he gets bitten by a homeless zombie, and
Marge
Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include:
People
*Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist
*Marge Anderson (1932 ...
(after putting up with years of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
dying and being cloned back to life by
Professor Frink
Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr., is a new recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money (The Simpsons episode), Ol ...
) loads Homer onto a flatscreen monitor and throws him out of the house.
Plot
Marge
Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret (name), Margaret. Notable Marges include:
People
*Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist
*Marge Anderson (1932 ...
wakes to find
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
atop of the kitchen table in nothing but his underwear, and gives him advice on his health. Just when Homer seems to be taking Marge's words to heart, he marches upstairs to tell his wife that he will take his health seriously only to fall down the stairs and die. At his funeral,
Professor Frink
Professor John I.Q. Nerdelbaum Frink Jr., is a new recurring character in the Animated cartoon, animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria, and first appeared in the 1991 episode "Old Money (The Simpsons episode), Ol ...
announces that he has made a
clone of Homer, and Marge warns Homer to take this second chance seriously. After thirty years of clones dying, Frink cannot bring Homer back, but has stored his memory in a
flash drive
A flash drive is a portable computer drive that uses flash memory. Flash drives are the larger memory modules consisting of a number of flash chips. A flash chip is used to read the contents of a single cell, but it can write entire block of cell ...
, which he plugs into a television screen. When Marge realizes that her husband is just a face on a screen, she is fed up with him, and gives the flash drive to
Bart
Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc.
Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...
, so that Homer can reside with him until she can figure out a way to get used to him in his current form.
Bart shows Homer his new digs, an abandoned classroom at Springfield Elementary. As soon as a glum Bart sends his two sons to his ex-wife
Jenda's house, he needs advice more than ever now, but Homer is of no use when the monitor freezes. Working at a dinosaur amusement park, Bart laments that he misses his children. Elsewhere at
Lisa Lisa or LISA may refer to:
People
People with the mononym
* Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam
* Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer
* Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...
's zombie soup kitchen, her husband
Milhouse
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a recurring character in the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'' voiced by Pamela Hayden and created by Matt Groening. Milhouse is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class ...
is attacked by a zombie. Unable to move on from his ex, Bart sees a targeted billboard telling him to move on using shock therapy that makes him forget. After the procedure, Bart visits Marge, who claims to not miss Homer that much, but in an attempt to initiate a conversation between her and Homer, he sees she does miss Homer.
Homer returns to normal when Bart starts to get back into the dating scene, and sleeps with one woman after another, including Lisa's former teacher, Miss Hoover. At Bart's apartment, Homer gets a new lease of life in a robot suit. Bart's sons visit him and ask him to help Jenda out with her depression. She shows up in tears, telling Bart that after she bought a shedding tank for Jerry, her alien boyfriend, he humiliated her and broke up with her for someone else. Bart comforts her by mentioning he is trying to get his life on track and her crying is a reminder of what he lost. Jenda is impressed by Bart's newfound maturity and invites him to dinner. It goes well and the two decide to patch up their relationship again. However, the two later fall into their bad habits of not paying attention to each other that destroyed their marriage the first time, and become unsure whether to continue working things out. Meanwhile, Lisa and zombie Milhouse are attacked by bullies, and Lisa actually finds it attractive that Milhouse fights them off. She does not want him cured and is stalked by Dr. Hibbert who is not happy about her decision.
Bart and Lisa both go to Moe's to deal with their respective marital problems, where Marge tells them to stick through. She then electrocutes herself to death in order to live in the flash drive with Homer. Milhouse is cured and Bart moves on from Jenda, discovering that she has started seeing Jerry again.
Bart then finds himself back in the therapist's chair, and learns that what he experienced was just a neural implant. Bart and Lisa visit Marge and find out that she and Homer have finally gotten back together, and she gave him a new robot body and personality. Bart recommends Lisa try moving on if things do not work out with her and Milhouse, but Lisa points out that Milhouse is still a zombie and there is no cure, much to her own affection, and
Santa's Little Helper
Santa's Little Helper is a fictional dog in the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is the pet greyhound of the Simpson family. He was previously voiced by Frank Welker, and is currently voiced by Dan Castellaneta. The dog ...
(who is now a
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
of him and the
family cat) is seen talking.
Reception
Dennis Perkins of ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' gave the episode a C, saying "Things are even worse for ''The Simpsons'' after tonight's sequel, 'Days Of Future Future,' where Burns returns to the (it seems) inevitable sci-fi future of the series and limits the show's world even more. Losing much of the heart of its predecessor in favor of the sort of ill-conceived and contradictory character arcs the latter, scattershot ''Simpsons'' has become notorious for, 'Days Of Future Future' reveals a series willing to shrug off what it still could be. Instead, this future Simpsons world seems just a playground for writers to use up whatever Futurama jokes they had left over."
Tony Sokol
Tony Sokol (born March 23, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York (U.S. state), New York, United States) is an American playwright, writer and composer, best known for writing the theatrical horror series La Commedia Del Sangue: Vampyr Theatre in New York Cit ...
of ''
Den of Geek
''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gan ...
'' gave the episode four out of five stars, saying "''The Simpsons''s 'Days of Future Future' is a laugh every 2.5 seconds, allowing for wind resistance. A very worthy entry into what will someday be an even longer running longest running show that has ever walked slowly up a flight of stairs. I absolutely love Jerry, Bart's future ex-wife's new soon to be ex-Alien lover. Nelson's mom still has to strip at the age of 87 because there is no more retirement. Even with 99 Democrats in the Senate, because the Republican still knows how to get things his way. Of course Ralph Wiggum will be the new chief of police, he is a chip off the old cop. Santa's Little Hybrid is an unnatural progression that Cosmo does not teach about."
Teresa Lopez of ''TV Fanatic'' gave the episode four out of five stars, saying "I always love The Simpsons episodes that show the possible futures of Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Homer and Marge. And this week was no exception. Even though the future episodes are not technically canon (I mean, who can say what will really happen in their future?), I liked that this one attempted some continuity.
The episode received a 1.7 rating and was watched by a total of 3.64 million people, making it the second most watched show on
Animation Domination
Animation Domination (also called AniDom, Fox AD, and AD) is an American animated programming block which has aired in two iterations on the Fox broadcast network, featuring a lineup solely made up of prime-time animation and adult animation carr ...
.
References
External links
*
"Days of Future Future"at theSimpsons.com
*
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The plot description was adapted fro
Days of Future Futureat Simpsons Wiki, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license.
{{Simpsons Future-set episodes
2014 American television episodes
Older versions of cartoon characters
The Simpsons (season 25) episodes
Television episodes about cloning
Television episodes about zombies
Science fiction comedy