Marge vs. the Monorail
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"Marge vs. the Monorail" is the twelfth episode of the fourth 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 January 14, 1993. The plot revolves around Springfield's
impulse purchase In the field of consumer behavior, an impulse purchase or impulse buying is an unplanned decision by a consumer to buy a product or service, made just before a purchase. One who tends to make such purchases is referred to as an impulse purchase ...
of a faulty
monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
from a conman, and how it subsequently falls to Marge to stop the train from destroying the town. The episode was written by Conan O'Brien and directed by
Rich Moore Rich Moore is an American film and television animation director, screenwriter and voice actor. He has directed the films ''Wreck-It Ralph'' (2012) and co-directed ''Zootopia'' (2016) and ''Ralph Breaks the Internet'' (2018) for Walt Disney A ...
. Recurring guest star
Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
provided the voice of Lyle Lanley, while
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
made a guest appearance as himself. "Marge vs. the Monorail" has been widely praised by fans and critics and is generally considered one of the best episodes of ''The Simpsons''. O'Brien has said that, of the episodes he wrote, this was his favorite. Nimoy's unexpected guest appearance was also widely praised. Despite this, the episode attracted some criticism when it was first aired due to the somewhat abstract and less
situational Situational ethics or situation ethics takes into account ''only'' the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it only according to absolute moral standards. With the intent to have a fair basis for judgment ...
nature of the plot, particularly from voice actor
Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith became an actress in 1982 aft ...
who in 1995 described the episode as "truly one of our worst".


Plot

When the Environmental Protection Agency fines Mr. Burns $3 million for dumping nuclear waste in a Springfield park, a town meeting is held to decide how to spend the money. After a few suggestions—including one from a poorly-disguised Burns to invest it back into his power plant—Marge nearly convinces them to repair the rundown Main Street but a fast-talking salesman named Lyle Lanley leads a song-and-dance routine that convinces the townspeople to instead build a
monorail A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and " rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam. Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurat ...
. After running a questionable training program, Lanley randomly selects
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 ...
as the monorail's conductor. Doubtful about Lanley, Marge visits his office and discovers he intends to run off with money skimmed from the project, leaving the townspeople with a defective train. Marge drives to the town of North Haverbrook, a previous purchaser of one of Lanley's monorails. She discovers the town and its monorail in ruins. She meets Sebastian Cobb, the engineer who designed it and he confirms that all of Lanley's monorail projects are scams. Cobb offers to help Marge prevent Springfield from suffering the same fate. At the Springfield monorail's inaugural run, Lanley arranges for
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
to be present at a well-attended opening ceremony, which is a diversion that enables him to escape on a plane to
Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austra ...
. When the flight makes an unexpected stopover in North Haverbrook, the townsfolk storm the aircraft to attack Lanley for ruining the town. Back in Springfield, the monorail leaves the station just before Marge and Cobb arrive. Sub-standard equipment causes the solar-powered train to speed round the track, endangering Homer,
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 ''Bartho ...
and everyone on board. The train stops briefly during a solar eclipse, then starts again. As
Chief Wiggum Chief Clancy Wiggum is a fictional character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Hank Azaria. He is the chief of police in the show's setting of Springfield, and is the father of Ralph Wiggum and the husband of Sara ...
and
Mayor Quimby Mayor Joseph Fitzgerald O'Malley Fitzpatrick O'Donnell The Edge "Joe" Quimby, nicknamed Diamond Joe, is a recurring character from the animated sitcom television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and first appeared in ...
argue over who takes charge, Marge and Cobb contact Homer by radio and Cobb tells him he must find an anchor to stop the train. Improvising quickly, Homer pries loose the metal "M" from the engine's side logo, ties a rope to it and throws it from the train. After damaging a large portion of the town—especially the already-derelict roads—the "M" catches on the giant donut of the Lard Lad Donut store's sign and the rope holds, stopping the monorail. As the passengers are rescued, Marge concludes that the monorail was the only foolish project the town ever embarked on, except for a skyscraper made from Popsicle sticks, a 50-foot-tall magnifying glass, and an up-escalator that leads nowhere.


Production

The episode was written by Conan O'Brien who conceived the idea when he saw a billboard in Los Angeles that just had the word "Monorail" on it, with no other details or explanation. He first pitched this episode at a story retreat to Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who said the episode was a little crazy and thought he should try some other material first. O'Brien had previously pitched episodes where Lisa had a rival and where Marge gets a job at the power plant and Mr. Burns falls in love with her; both went well. James L. Brooks "absolutely loved" this episode when O'Brien presented it. Leonard Nimoy was not originally considered for the role as the celebrity at the maiden voyage of the monorail, as the writing staff did not think he would accept, because
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...
had previously turned the show down. Instead,
George Takei George Takei (; ja, ジョージ・タケイ; born Hosato Takei (武井 穂郷), April 20, 1937) is an American actor, author and activist known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS ''Enterprise'' in the televi ...
was asked to guest star, as he had previously appeared as Akira in the second season episode "
One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish" is the eleventh episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 24, 1991. In the episode, ...
". After demanding several script changes, Takei declined, saying he did not want to make fun of public transportation as he was a member of the board of directors of the
Southern California Rapid Transit District The Southern California Rapid Transit District (almost always referred to as ''RTD'' or rarely as ''SCRTD'') was a public transportation agency established in 1964 to serve the Greater Los Angeles area. It was the successor to the original Los ...
(now the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority). As a result, the staff went to Nimoy, who accepted. Writer Jeff Martin said Nimoy was "just very gracious and easy to work with, and a good sport when we went and recorded his voice." Phil Hartman was cast as Lanley because, as Reiss put it, he "was always pretending to be a glad-handing salesman." Martin added, "He was very good at portraying slick, empty people. I think he brought a lot of joy to it." Director Rich Moore and animator David Silverman called the production process for this episode "huge and ambitious". Because of limited design resources, Moore took photos of buildings to use for various shots. The Lanley Institute came from a building in old town
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...
. Different locations in North Haverbrook were all photos taken around North Hollywood. Moore bypassed the design team and provided the photos directly to background layout artist
Nancy Kruse Nancy Kruse is a former animation director on ''The Simpsons''. She started working on the show during the first season as a background clean-up artist. After that she did background layout and character layout for several years on the show before ...
.


Cultural references

The episode borrows some elements from ''
The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments ...
'', a musical stage production about a conman, with " The Monorail Song" strongly resembling the show's "
Ya Got Trouble "Ya Got Trouble" is a song by Meredith Willson from the 1957 Broadway musical ''The Music Man'', and its 1962 filmed version. It is one of the most popular and recognizable songs in the musical, and Robert Preston's performance in the film is a ...
" and Lyle Lanley being based on the play's character Harold Hill. The episode starts with a tribute song to ''
The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...
'' as Homer heads home from work and crashes his car into a chestnut tree. The music that plays as Smithers moves the barrel of toxic waste is a spoof of the "
Axel F "Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' performed by Harold Faltermeyer. It was an international number one hit in 1985. Background The title comes from the main character's name in the film, Axe ...
" theme from ''
Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...
''. Later,
Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the '' Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, th ...
makes a guest appearance as himself. References are made to his role in ''
Star Trek: The Original Series ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'' (''TOS'') to distinguis ...
'', and an allusion to his role as the host of '' In Search of...''. Kyle Darren, the caricature of
Luke Perry Coy Luther "Luke" Perry III (October 11, 1966 – March 4, 2019) was an American actor. He became a teen idol for playing Dylan McKay on the Fox television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1998 to 2000. He ...
, star of ''
Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...
'', appears as well.Mullen, p. 74 Mayor Quimby uses the phrase "
May the Force be with you The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the '' Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...
" from the '' Star Wars'' franchise, confusing it with Nimoy's work on ''Star Trek'' (and—at the same time—believing Nimoy to have been "one of
The Little Rascals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
"). Homer's Monorail conductor uniform is based on uniforms from ''Star Wars''. When Mr. Burns is brought into the court room, he is restrained in the same way as
Hannibal Lecter Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a Character (arts), fictional character created by the novelist Thomas Harris. Lecter is a serial killer who Human cannibalism, eats his victims. Before his capture, he was a respected Forensic psychiatry, forensic psychi ...
in the film '' The Silence of the Lambs''. Homer briefly serenades Marge in their bedroom with a line from the folk tune "
The Riddle Song "The Riddle Song", also known as "I Gave My Love a Cherry", is an English folk song, a lullaby carried over by settlers to the American Appalachians. History "The Riddle Song" descends from a 15th-century English song in which a maiden says sh ...
". The logo on the monorail cars which is revealed as Homer attempts to stop the speeding train shows they were first used during the
1964 World's Fair The 1964–1965 New York World's Fair was a world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants, representing 80 nations (hosted by 37), 24 US states, and over 45 corporations with the goal and the final result of building exhibits or ...
, though that event's train actually used cars suspended from an overhead rail.


Reception


Critical reception

"Marge vs. the Monorail" has frequently been selected in lists of the show's best episodes. In 1998, ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...
'' listed it in its list of top twelve ''Simpsons'' episodes. In 2003, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' released a list of its Top 25 episodes, ranking this episode in fourth, saying "the episode has arguably the highest throwaway-gag-per-minute ratio of any ''Simpsons'', and all of them are laugh-out-loud funny." ''EW.com''. Retrieved on February 13, 2007 In his book ''
Planet Simpson ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation'', also abbreviated to ''Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Defined a Generation'', is a non-fiction book about ''The Simpsons'', written by Chris Turner ...
'', Chris Turner named the episode as being one of his five favorites. In 2006, ''
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
'' named the episode the best of the fourth season. John Ortved of '' Vanity Fair'' called it the third best episode of the show, due to, "An amazing musical number; Leonard Nimoy in a random guest appearance... Besides being replete with excellent jokes, this episode reveals the town's
mob mentality Herd mentality, mob mentality or pack mentality describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make dif ...
and its collective lack of reason. This is the episode that defines Springfield more than any other." In 2010, Michael Moran of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' ranked the episode as the ninth best in the show's history. In 2019,
Entertainment.ie ''Entertainment.ie'' is an Irish web company based in Dublin. The company provides news and reviews of programs and films for TV and the cinema. It also provides information on upcoming comedies, festivals, theater shows and music in Ireland, a ...
named it among the 10 greatest ''Simpsons'' episodes of all time. Later that same year, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' named it one of the five greatest episodes in ''Simpsons'' history, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' ranked the episode first in its list of 10 best ''Simpsons'' episodes picked by ''Simpsons'' experts, and ''
Consequence Consequence may refer to: * Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment'' * In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior * Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...
'' ranked it the number two episode on its list of top 30 ''Simpsons'' episodes. The authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, called it "an unsurpassed episode. It's hard to know where to start dishing out the praise — Leonard Nimoy's guest appearance, the Monorail song, Marge's narration, the truck full of popcorn..." Robert Canning of ''IGN'' strongly praised the episode, stating "It is by far one of the most loved episodes of ''The Simpsons'' and can safely be called a classic by any fan. From beginning to end, there's joke after joke after hilarious joke. There's nothing in this half-hour that doesn't work, and no matter how many times I watch this episode, it never, ever gets old." Emily VanDerWerff of '' Slant Magazine'' named it the show's best episode, stating "It's the one you think of when you think of a ''Simpsons'' episode", and is "maybe the show's funniest, and it most perfectly encapsulates what may be the show's overriding theme: People are really stupid and self-serving, but if you give them long enough, they'll eventually bumble toward the right answer." In 2012, "Marge vs. the Monorail" was the second-place finisher in a ''Splitsider'' reader poll to decide on the best episode of any television sitcom, losing to the ''
Community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...
'' episode "
Remedial Chaos Theory "Remedial Chaos Theory" is the fourth episode of the Community (season 3), third season of the American television series ''Community (TV series), Community''. The episode was written by Chris McKenna (writer), Chris McKenna and directed by Jeff ...
". Leonard Nimoy's appearance as himself has been praised as being one of the show's best guest appearances. In a list of the 25 greatest guest voices on the show, released September 5, 2006, ''IGN'' ranked Leonard Nimoy at 11th. Nathan Ditum ranked his performance as the 13th best guest appearance in the show's history. Nimoy made a second guest appearance in season eight's "
The Springfield Files "The Springfield Files" is the tenth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 12, 1997. In the episode, Homer believes he has d ...
". Conan O'Brien has said that of all the episodes of ''The Simpsons'' he wrote, this is his favorite. Homer's lines "I call the big one Bitey" and "Donuts, is there anything they can't do?" are among series creator
Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
's favorite lines. O'Brien and
Hank Azaria Henry Albert Azaria ( ; born April 25, 1964) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is known for voicing many characters in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), most notably Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, ...
performed the monorail song live at the Hollywood Bowl from September 12–14, 2014 as part of the show "The Simpsons Take The Bowl". When ''The Simpsons'' began streaming on
Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...
in 2019, former ''Simpsons'' writer and executive producer Bill Oakley named the episode as one of the best classic Simpsons episodes to watch on the service. The television show '' Supernatural'' references "Marge vs. the Monorail" in the episode " Something Wicked" when
Sam Winchester Samuel "Sam" Winchester is a fictional character and one of the two protagonists of the American drama television series ''Supernatural'' along with his older brother, Dean. He is portrayed primarily by Jared Padalecki. Other versions of the char ...
says that places attacked by the monster included Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, all towns mentioned in the song Lyle Lanley uses to persuade Springfield to purchase a monorail. Conversely, the episode was not initially well received by many fans of the show's earlier seasons, as it was a particularly absurd early example of the show taking a more joke-based cartoon approach to comedy, rather than the more realistic situational style of comedy it had employed in its first few years. In 1995, during the production of the seventh season,
Yeardley Smith Martha Maria Yeardley Smith ( ; born July 3, 1964) is an American actress, artist and writer. She currently stars as the voice of Lisa Simpson on the long-running animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Smith became an actress in 1982 aft ...
said of the episode as "truly one of our worst – we he entire castall agree". The Monorail Society, an organization with 14,000 members worldwide, has blamed the episode for sullying the reputation of monorails, to which ''Simpsons'' creator
Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
responded in 2021, "That's a by-product of our viciousness... Monorails are great, so it makes me sad, but at the same time if something's going to happen in The Simpsons, it's going to go wrong, right?"


Ratings

In its original American broadcast, "Marge vs. the Monorail" finished 30th in the ratings for the week of January 11 to 17, 1993, with a
Nielsen rating Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
of 13.7. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.


See also

*
58th Primetime Emmy Awards The 58th Primetime Emmy Awards were held on Sunday, August 27, 2006, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET (00:00 UTC) with Conan O'Brien hosting the show. The ceremony attracted 16.2 million viewers, 2. ...
, where episode writer Conan O'Brien performed a parody of "
Ya Got Trouble "Ya Got Trouble" is a song by Meredith Willson from the 1957 Broadway musical ''The Music Man'', and its 1962 filmed version. It is one of the most popular and recognizable songs in the musical, and Robert Preston's performance in the film is a ...
" *
Public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...


References

;Bibliography * * *


External links

* *
"Marge vs. the Monorail"
at BBC.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Marge Vs. The Monorail The Simpsons (season 4) episodes Fiction about rail transport 1993 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Leonard Nimoy Monorails Works by Conan O'Brien it:Episodi de I Simpson (quarta stagione)#Marge contro la monorotaia fi:Simpsonit (4. tuotantokausi)#Joko säteilee (Marge vs. the Monorail)