When Flanders Failed
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"When Flanders Failed" is the third episode of the third 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, ...
''. 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 an ...
in the United States on October 3, 1991. In the episode,
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 ...
makes a wish for
Ned Flanders Nedward "Ned" Flanders Jr. is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer and first appearing in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire." He is the good-natured, chee ...
's new
left-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...
store to go out of business. The wish comes true and soon the Flanders family is in financial trouble. When he discovers that Ned's house is about to be repossessed, Homer feels guilty. He helps the store flourish by telling all of Springfield's left-handed citizens to patronize it. Meanwhile,
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 ...
takes
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
lessons but quits after learning it is not as interesting as he had hoped. The episode was written by
Jon Vitti Jon Vitti is an American writer best known for his work on the television series ''The Simpsons''. He has also written for ''King of the Hill'', ''The Critic'' and ''The Office'', and has served as a screenwriter or consultant for several animate ...
and directed by
Jim Reardon Jim Reardon is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, television director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the animated TV series ''The Simpsons''. He has directed over 30 episodes of the series and was cr ...
. It had an unusual amount of animation glitches because the animation studio was training a new group of animators. The episode features cultural references to playwright
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and the film ''
It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas by medium#Films, Christmas Fantasy film, fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern se ...
''. The title of the episode is a reference to the title of the poem "
In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and ...
". Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired 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 13.9, and was the highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.


Plot

Ned Flanders invites the Simpson family to a barbecue where he announces plans to quit the pharmaceutical business and open the
Leftorium 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 ...
, a store for left-handed people. While pulling a
wishbone Wishbone commonly refers to: * Furcula, a fork-shaped bone in birds and some dinosaurs Wishbone may also refer to: * Wish-Bone, an American salad dressing and condiment company * Wishbone formation, a type of offense in American football * Wish ...
with Ned, Homer—jealous of Ned's material success—wishes for the Leftorium to fail and go out of business. Undeterred after Lisa scolds him for indulging in ''
schadenfreude Schadenfreude (; ; 'harm-joy') is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, or humiliation of another. It is a borrowed word from German, with no direct translation ...
'', Homer gloats when Ned tells him business is slow. Homer sees left-handed citizens struggling with items made for right-handed people and considers telling them about the Leftorium, but decides not to. Eventually the store closes, plunging the Flanders family into debt and misery. Ned is forced to sell his possessions, and Homer gleefully buys many of them for a pittance. Overcome by regret, Homer decides to return Ned's possessions, but he finds Ned's house repossessed and the family living in their car. Homer tells Ned to open the store one final time and informs all the left-handed residents of Springfield about the Leftorium; they descend upon the store and buy almost everything. The business boom helps Ned keep the store open and get his house back. In the subplot, Bart begins taking karate lessons at Akira's karate school. He soon finds himself bored with karate, so he decides to skip each lesson and play video games at the mall arcade instead. Whenever Bart is asked by his friends and family about the karate techniques he is learning, he refers to the
Touch of Death The touch of death (or death-point striking) refers to any martial arts technique reputed to kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body. The concept known as ''dim mak'' (), alternatively ' () traces its ...
, an ability he sees in one of the arcade games he plays. He proceeds to terrorize
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 ...
into doing his will by threatening her with the Touch of Death. When the school bullies take Lisa's saxophone, she tells them Bart will defend her with the Touch of Death. Unable to actually defend himself or his sister, Bart is pantsed and hung by his underwear from a playground basketball hoop rim by the bullies. Having reclaimed her saxophone, Lisa wistfully notes that sometimes two wrongs ''do'' make a right.


Production

The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jim Reardon. It featured an unusual number of animation glitches because the animation studio in Korea was training a new group of animators, and this episode was one of their first efforts.
Show runner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...
Mike Reiss Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...
said he will always remember it as the episode "that came back animated with a thousand mistakes in it and was just a complete and utter mess". Reardon said there was "literally a mistake in every other scene" when the episode came back from Korea. Several scenes had to be re-animated in the United States because of these glitches, but according to Reardon, "you can still see the lesser ones that got through, such as line quality problems particularly in the first act." Though it aired in season three, "When Flanders Failed" was produced during the previous season. It was recorded in spring 1991 when the previous season had ended, and was scheduled to air in autumn. The staff therefore had more time to fix the glitches during the summer. Unlike the season premiere "
Stark Raving Dad "Stark Raving Dad" is the first episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 19, 1991. In the episode, Homer is sent to a mental ins ...
", which was originally the final episode in the season two production run, this episode was not presented in
Dolby Surround Dolby Pro Logic is a surround sound processing technology developed by Dolby Laboratories, designed to decode soundtracks encoded with Dolby Surround. Dolby Stereo (also known as ''Dolby MP'' or ''Dolby SVA'') was developed by Dolby in 1976 f ...
and uses the season two
Danny Elfman Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American film composer, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the singer-songwriter for the new wave band Oingo Boingo in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, Elfman has garnered internation ...
arrangement of the opening and closing themes rather than the
Alf Clausen Alf Heiberg Clausen (born March 28, 1941) is an American film and television composer. He is best known for his work scoring many episodes of ''The Simpsons'', for which he was the sole composer between 1990 and 2017. Clausen has scored or orc ...
arrangement. "When Flanders Failed" features the second appearance of the character Akira, voiced by
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, Sna ...
. He was previously seen in the season two 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, ...
", where he is a waiter at a Japanese restaurant and was originally voiced by
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 ...
. It is revealed in this episode that the characters Ned Flanders,
Moe Szyslak Moe Szyslak is a recurring character from the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Moe is the proprietor and bartender of M ...
and
Montgomery Burns Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, Monty, or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by ...
are left-handed, just like ''The 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 ...
. ''The Simpsons'' writer
George Meyer George Meyer (born 1956) is an American producer and writer. Meyer is best known for his work on ''The Simpsons'', where he led the group script rewrite sessions. He has been publicly credited with "thoroughly shap ng... the comedic sensibility ...
came up with the idea of The Leftorium when the creators were trying to figure out what Ned's failed business would be. The inspiration came from a family friend of the Meyer family who had opened a left-handed store that was quickly forced to close down due to lack of business. It is also the first episode in the series to only focus on Ned Flanders.


Cultural references

The title of the episode is a reference to the title of the poem "
In Flanders Fields "In Flanders Fields" is a war poem in the form of a rondeau, written during the First World War by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae. He was inspired to write it on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of friend and ...
". Homer watches the Canadian Football League Draft on television. ''The Simpsons'' writers
Jay Kogen Jay Kogen is an American comedy writer, producer, actor and director. Biography He was born to a Jewish family. His father is comedy writer Arnie Kogen. In 2001, Kogen had a son, Charlie, who is now a musician. Career Kogen co-wrote several ep ...
,
Wallace Wolodarsky Wallace Wolodarsky, also billed as Wally Wolodarsky, is an American actor, screenwriter, television producer, and film director known for being one of the writers for ''The Simpsons'' during the first four seasons with his writing partner Jay K ...
, and
John Swartzwelder John Joseph Swartzwelder Jr. (born February 8, 1949) is an American comedy writer and novelist, best known for his work on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Born in Seattle, Washington, Swartzwelder began his career working in adv ...
appear on the draft list.. Akira's school is located in the mall next to Shakespeare's Fried Chicken, a reference to the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Akira gives Bart's karate class the ancient Chinese military treatise ''
The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...
'' by
Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...
.
Richard Sakai Richard Sakai (born January 28, 1954) is an American television and film producer. He is best known for his work on the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', for which he is one of the original producers. In 1997, Sakai was nominated for an Academy ...
is seen in one of the crowd shots at The Leftorium at the end of the episode. The ending scene is a parody of the 1946 film
It's a Wonderful Life ''It's a Wonderful Life'' is a 1946 American Christmas by medium#Films, Christmas Fantasy film, fantasy drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra, based on the short story and booklet ''The Greatest Gift'', which Philip Van Doren Stern se ...
.


Reception

In its original American broadcast, "When Flanders Failed" finished 29th in the ratings for the week of September 30 – October 6, 1991, 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 13.9, equivalent to approximately 12.8 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on Fox that week. Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. Kirk Baird of the ''
Las Vegas Sun The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily Subscription business model, subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays ...
'' named it the fifth best episode of ''The Simpsons'', and ''
Central Michigan Life Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...
'' called it an "instant classic". Pete Oliva of ''
North Texas Daily ''North Texas Daily,'' also known as NT Daily, is the student newspaper of the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, published daily on the web and every Thursday in print. In 2015, under the leadership of Editor-In-Chief Nicholas Friedm ...
'' said the episode "proves that it is possible to laugh and cry at the same time without being able to control either response". Bill Gibron of DVD Verdict said "When Flanders Failed" shows that even if ''The Simpsons'' is not dealing with famous celebrities or "high profile places", the writers can still "wring uproarious comedy out of their cast of regulars. Flanders is a special creation in the canon of humor, a regular guy who is funny because of how hyper-normal he is compared to his Neanderthal neighbors. The focus on people who are left-handed, and the whole idea of being a lefty, is an unusual basis for a television show. But then again, nothing about ''The Simpsons'' is ever common." Hock Guan Teh of DVD Town also praised the writers, saying they "are able to craft a downtrodden tale for the perpetually clueless Flanders family that serves to illustrate how dark emotions can eventually be overcome by Homer's guilt. A memorable episode." Niel Harvey of ''
The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...
'' called "When Flanders Failed" a "classic bit of Simpsonia". The episode's reference to ''It's a Wonderful Life '' was named the 26th greatest film reference in the history of the show by ''
Total Film ''Total Film'' is a British film magazine published 13 times a year (published monthly and a summer issue is added every year since issue 91, 2004, which is published between July and August issue) by Future Publishing. The magazine was launched i ...
'''s Nathan Ditum. Nate Meyers of Digitally Obsessed rated the episode a (of 5) and commented that "perhaps it is not profound in its examination of jealousy causing people to behave irrationally, but it handles the topic in a serious manner while not compromising the show's humor. The side story with Bart stems from the era of the series when Bart was the big star, but it still has some funny bits." DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "Mean Homer equals Funny Homer, so 'When Flanders Failed' presents an above average show. He seems unusually crude here, which makes him amusing. The subplot with Bart and his karate class also adds good material, especially when he threatens to turn the 'Touch of Death' on Lisa. Another sappy finish slightly mars this one, but it remains generally solid." Kimberly Potts of
AOL AOL (stylized as Aol., formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City. It is a brand marketed by the current incarnation of Yahoo (2017 ...
named it tenth best episode of the show and commented: "Schadenfreude is the theme of this tight episode about Homer's joy at the failure of Flanders' Leftorium store. There are few times Homer is more shamelessly smug than he was while imitating Flanders and using Ned's yard sale grill, and we haven't even mentioned Bart's 'Touch of Death' subplot." ''
Winston-Salem Journal The ''Winston-Salem Journal'' is an American, English language daily newspaper primarily serving Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, North Carolina. It also covers Northwestern North Carolina. The paper is owned by ...
s Tim Clodfelter called it an "outstanding" episode.


References


External links

* * {{good article The Simpsons (season 3) episodes 1991 American television episodes Handedness it:Episodi de I Simpson (terza stagione)#Quando Flanders fallì