"Hail to the Teeth" is the 11th episode of the thirty-first 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 673rd episode overall. Being the first episode to air in the

2020s The 2020s (pronounced "twenty-twenties" shortened to "the '20s" and referred to as the twenties) is the current decade, which began on January 1, 2020, and will end on December 31, 2029. The 2020s began with the COVID-19 pandemic — the first ...

, it aired in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

on January 5, 2020. The episode was written by Elisabeth Kiernan Averick and was directed by

Mark Kirkland Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making super 8 films and working for his father, noted photograph ...

Plot

Artie Ziff The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...

invites

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 ...

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� ...

to his wedding. Although both are conflicted about going due to the number of times Artie has tried to break them up, they reluctantly accept the invitation. Homer goes alone to the bachelor party, where he finds Artie has regained his wealth after his

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

, selling burning cash-resembling fireplaces. Attending the ceremony with Marge, Homer gives the bride away, only to find out that the bride looks just like Marge. Unsettled, Marge leaves the ceremony, and later decides to tell the bride that Artie only married her because she and Marge look alike. She and Homer get to the honeymoon suite and find out that the marriage was a ruse and Artie's bride is a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

. Artie admits he had been trying to make a robot clone of Marge for years, but they all have flaws. Following Marge's suggestion, he uses his army of Marge droids to do humanitarian work, though they all reject his sexual advances, sprouting wings to fly off. Meanwhile,

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 ...

is heckled by a man who claims that she will be prettier and more popular if she smiled more often. Marge takes her to a new dentist to get a new set of braces, as her old dentist was a rogue periodontist masquerading as an orthodontist. The top half of her braces cause her to constantly smile and finally win popularity among her classmates. Initially disgusted by the shallowness of the concept, Lisa decides to bank on her newfound popularity and run for class president. Unfortunately, the other half of her braces are installed, resulting in her now constantly frowning for the next six months.

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 ...

hires

Martin Prince The American animated television series ''The Simpsons'' contains a wide range of minor and supporting characters like co-workers, teachers, students, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and even animals. The write ...

to manipulate a live feed of Lisa doing her election speech to make her smile, but the app malfunctions and Lisa exposes herself, causing her to lose the election to Dubya Spuckler. Outside in the school playground, Marge attempts to comfort Lisa, only to witness the same man heckle her for not smiling. Marge then sprouts robotic wings and attacks the man while Lisa smiles and cheers her on.

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 this episode a B+, stating, “The first credited script by former ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'' writer (and new ''Simpsons'' producer) Elisabeth Kiernan Averick, the episode is precisely the sort of latter-day ''Simpsons'' I’m excited my niece will slot into her growing databank of Simpsons fandom. Readers who—niece-like—have endured this critic’s grumpy dissertations concerning ''The Simpsons'' and how, with the right writers, ‘the good years’ could be now, dammit, should recognize that this is the sort of new blood I’ve been talking about. Averick clearly loves ''The Simpsons'', and understands them. There are fine jokes that have nothing to do with the episode's ‘message’ alongside ones that grow out of Lisa and Marge's specific arcs.” Tony Sokol 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 this episode 3.5 out of 5 stars, stating, “Arty has always been in love with Marge. He’s been plotting to get rid of Homer one way or another since the High School prom, once almost getting Homer sentenced to jail to get him out of the way. The wedding, of course, is a ploy to make Marge jealous, which works about as well as the replicant Marges Arty has developed in search of the perfect wife. Robotics is a consistent gag for ''The Simpsons,'' especially discarded prototypes, like the ones Mr. Burns made of himself a few episodes ago. His love solution has a touch of ''The Bride of Frankenstein'' in it. There is a very familiar spindly legged spider-Marge on the trash heap, but the best model is a Marge who has a toaster built in her head which doesn’t have slots large enough to toast bagels.”

References

External links

* {{The Simpsons episodes, 31 The Simpsons (season 31) episodes 2020 American television episodes Television episodes about weddings