"Million Dollar Abie" is the sixteenth episode of the
seventeenth 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 Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
''. It originally 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 ...
in the United States on April 2, 2006. This is the first episode to have a parody title of the film ''
Million Dollar Baby'', with the second being "
Million Dollar Maybe" in season 21.
Plot
When it is announced that the commissioner of
pro
Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional".
Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to:
People
* Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest
* Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter
* Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
football Bud Armstrong wants to expand the league, Homer leads the charge to get the new franchise in
Springfield. At first his family does not think he can do it, but Homer manages to put forth a surprisingly strong package for the Springfield Meltdowns and the new park, named the
''
Duff Beer
Duff Beer is a brand of beer that originated as a fictional beverage on the animated series ''The Simpsons''. Beers using the Duff branding have been brewed in a number of countries, resulting in legal battles with varying results. An official ...
Krusty Burger
Springfield is the primary fictional setting of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' and related media. It is an average-sized, fictional city within an indeterminate state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundi ...
Buzz Cola
The long-running television animation ''The Simpsons'' has featured a number of fictional products, sometimes spoofs of real-life products, that have subsequently been recreated by real world companies attempting to exploit the popularity of ''The ...
Costington's Department Store
Kwik-E-Mart
The Kwik-E-Mart (spelled "Quick-E-Mart" in "Bart the General") is a convenience store in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''.
It is a parody of American convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven and Cumberland Farms, and depicts many of th ...
Stupid Flanders Park''.
The commissioner narrows down the choice of the two cities to either Springfield or
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
. L.A. puts forth an anti-Springfield video hosted by
Rob Reiner
Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performan ...
and features a song sung by celebrity impersonators that ends with them singing "Springfield Blows". All the owners decide that Springfield is the lesser of two evils (it does not hurt that the Rich Texan owns slums in Springfield and another owner snaps that
she
She most commonly refers to:
*She (pronoun), the third person singular, feminine, nominative case pronoun in modern English.
She or S.H.E. may also refer to:
Literature and films
*'' She: A History of Adventure'', an 1887 novel by H. Rider Hagga ...
did not kill her
husband and seize his team just to put a team in Los Angeles) and the Commissioner awards the new team to Springfield. The town gets "Meltmania" and "
Downs syndrome
Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...
", quickly builds Homer's new park, paints the town in the team colours (orange and purple) and changes all of the street names to football-related names (e.g. Two-Point Conversion Avenue, Off-Season Knee Surgery Blvd).
On the day when Springfield is officially announced as the new team, Commissioner Armstrong gets confused by all of the new street names and gets lost. He stops for directions at the Simpsons' house and is greeted by
Grampa Simpson
Abraham Jebediah "Abe" Simpson II, better known as Grampa, is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He made his first appearance in the episode entitled " Grandpa and the Kids", a one-minute Simpsons short on ...
, who welcomes him in as he is busy watching
Maggie. However, Grampa is watching a TV program about undercover burglars who act just as the Commissioner did (asking for a telephone and a bathroom and, sometimes, taking pictures of the children of the house - he was looking at one with Bart and Lisa when attacked), and sneaks up behind Armstrong and knocks him unconscious with a golf club. The rest of the family arrives home, disappointed that the commissioner did not show and is shocked to find him tied up in their living room. The commissioner furiously declares that neither he nor the League will ever return to Springfield, ending the Meltdowns' history before it began. Homer then gets angry at Grampa, not only for costing the town the entire team, but also for losing track of Maggie.
The entire town hates Grampa for his actions, and the expensive stadium has to be used for farmers' markets, with even his dentures refusing to smile at him. Grampa is depressed and decides to seek out a doctor called Dr. Egoyan who will
help him commit suicide with a
suicide booth
A euthanasia device is a machine engineered to allow an individual to die quickly with minimal pain. The most common devices are those designed to help terminally ill people die by voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide without prolonged pain. ...
called a "diePod". The doctor tells Grampa to reconsider, and Grampa decides that if anyone calls him in the next 24 hours, he will not go through with his plan. The call never comes and Grampa goes back to the clinic the next day. To make it a more peaceful experience they project in front of him, at his request, hippies being beaten up by police while music from the
Glenn Miller Orchestra plays. Grampa comes very close to dying, but Chief Wiggum ends the procedure just in time, telling the doctor that voters have overturned Springfield's assisted-suicide law.
Grampa thinks he is dead and runs through the town, seeing "Hamburger Heaven" and a
Charlie Chaplin impersonator. He soon learns that he is not dead, gets a new lease on life and decides to live without fear. Meanwhile, the city decides to turn the unused football stadium into an arena for
bull fighting
Bullfighting is a physical contest that involves a bullfighter attempting to subdue, immobilize, or kill a bull, usually according to a set of rules, guidelines, or cultural expectations.
There are several variations, including some forms wh ...
. Despite
Lisa's protests, as they go against
her vegetarianism, Grampa decides to become a matador. Grampa wins his first fight with a bull, but at home, Lisa tells Grampa that she wants him to stop hurting and killing animals. Grampa tells her that people are cheering him for his success, but Lisa tells him that she has always cheered for him until now. Grampa is not sure about that, but in the next fight he sees the bull that he is about to kill and decides to spare its life.
He releases all the bulls, which immediately start
running through the streets of Springfield, causing a great deal of destruction and injuring everyone. One bull takes the elevator up to the press box, and attacks the announcer, who is a parody of Spanish-language soccer announcer
Andres Cantor
Andres or Andrés may refer to:
*Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US
*Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France
*Andres (name)
*Hurricane Andres
* "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7
See also ...
. Lisa is proud of Grampa and the two reconcile in two
Lawnchair Larry flight
On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) made a 45-minute flight in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. The aircraft rose to an altitude of about , drifted from th ...
type patio chairs, but they both become in danger by two bulls flying with balloons.
In the
post-credits scene
A post-credits scene (commonly referred to as a stinger or credit cookie) or mid-credits scene is a short clip that appears after all or some of the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV series, or video g ...
, a flashback shows that Abe was present at the
House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. While he was only there to test out the microphone during preparation time, he names several individuals as members of the Communist Party before being escorted out of the room.
Cultural references
In the "Springfield Blows" music video,
Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character of the Gungan race from the '' Star Wars'' saga created by George Lucas. Jar Jar appears throughout the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy – as a major character in '' Episode I: The Phantom Menace'', with ...
,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
,
Keith Richards
Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...
,
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
,
Steven Spielberg,
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...
and
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
are seen.
The song "
Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)
"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" is a song written by John Lennon released on his 1974 album ''Walls and Bridges''. The song is included on the 1986 compilation ''Menlove Ave.'', the 1990 boxset ''Lennon (album), Lennon'', the 1998 ...
" by
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
is featured when Grampa becomes a town pariah.
When Grandpa decides to enlist medical help in an assisted suicide (via the "die-Pod"), he is given three options; 'instant death, slow-painful death & "Megadeath"', in reference to the
Heavy Metal band
Megadeth.
The euthanasia machine, the "diePod" is named after the
iPod and bears a physical resemblance to it.
The scene where Grandpa seeks assisted suicide is also a reference to the scene in the film ''
Soylent Green
''Soylent Green'' is a 1973 American ecological dystopian thriller film directed by Richard Fleischer, and starring Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role. It is loosely based on the 1966 science fict ...
'' where the character played by
Edward G. Robinson seeks a similar fate.
During the montage showing Grampa's new lease on life, "
Superman" by
R.E.M
R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternativ ...
. plays.
References
External links
*
{{The Simpsons episodes, 17
The Simpsons (season 17) episodes
2006 American television episodes
Television episodes about euthanasia