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"Round Springfield" is the twenty-second episode of the sixth 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 30, 1995.. In the episode,
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 ...
is hospitalized after eating a piece of jagged metal in his Krusty-O's cereal and sues
Krusty the Clown Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
. While visiting Bart,
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 ...
discovers her old mentor, jazz musician
Bleeding Gums Murphy 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 ...
, is also in the hospital. When he dies suddenly, she resolves to honor his memory.
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
(as himself) and Ron Taylor (as Bleeding Gums Murphy) guest star, each in his second appearance on the show.
Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957 in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, Maroon 5, Kenny Loggin ...
also returns as the writer and performer of all of Lisa and Bleeding Gums'
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...
solos. The episode was written by
Joshua Sternin Joshua Sternin is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. He is the oldest son of Alan Sternin and Esther Sternin, and married to actress/performer Paige Scurti Sternin. Career Among Sternin's producer credits include ...
and
Jennifer Ventimilia Jennifer Ventimilia (previously Jeffrey Ventimilia and also known as J.R. Ventimilia) is an American television writer. Ventimilia co-wrote ''The Simpsons'' episode " Simpson Tide" (with Joshua Sternin) and the teleplay of the episode 'Round Sprin ...
– based on a story idea by
Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
and
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 ...
– and was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore. Jean and Reiss, who were previously the series' showrunners, returned to produce this episode (as well as " A Star Is Burns") to ease the workload of the show's regular staff. They worked on it alongside the staff of ''
The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'', the series they had left ''The Simpsons'' to create. The episode marks the series' first time that a recurring character was killed off, something the staff had considered for a while. The episode features numerous cultural references, including Carole King's song "
Jazzman "Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album ''Wrap Around Joy''. King composed the music for the song, while David Palmer (formerly of Steely Dan) wrote the lyrics. The song is best known for its lengthy saxophone solos, ...
", the actor
James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...
and the '' Kimba the White Lion/The Lion King'' controversy. The episode also features the phrase "
cheese-eating surrender monkeys "Cheese-eating surrender monkeys", sometimes shortened to "surrender monkeys", is a pejorative term for French people. The term is based on the stereotype of the French that they surrender quickly. It was coined in 1995 by Ken Keeler, a writer for ...
", used by
Groundskeeper Willie William MacMoran MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature ...
to describe the French. The phrase has since entered the public lexicon. It has been used and referenced by journalists and academics, and it appears in two
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
quotation dictionaries.


Plot

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 ...
gets a stomach ache after accidentally eating a jagged metal Krusty-O
prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.
packed in his breakfast cereal. Thinking Bart is feigning illness to avoid a history test,
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 send him to school anyway. After Bart struggles through the test,
Mrs. Krabappel Edna Krabappel-Flanders ( Krabappel; ) is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Marcia Wallace from 1990 until her death in October 2013. She was a 4th-grade teacher, who taught Bart Simpson's class a ...
allows him to visit the school nurse once she sees he actually may be ill. Bart collapses in the nurse's office and is taken to Springfield General Hospital, where he undergoes
appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...
surgery from Dr. Hibbert and Dr. Nick. While visiting Bart in the hospital,
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 ...
discovers her hero, jazzman
Bleeding Gums Murphy 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 ...
, is a patient in another ward. He is destitute after spending all the royalties from his only album, ''Sax on the Beach'', on a $1,500-a-day
Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtua ...
habit. Bart's classmates admire his scar and demand to have appendectomies of their own. Lisa spends time with Murphy, who lends her his saxophone for a school recital. With most of the orchestra absent while recovering from appendix surgery, the remaining trio perform and Lisa is a hit with the crowd. She is saddened to learn that Bleeding Gums has died when she returns to the hospital the next day. Lisa is the only person who attends his funeral, where
Reverend Lovejoy Reverend Timothy "Tim" Lovejoy, Jr. is a recurring character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". Rev. Lovejoy is the minister at The First Ch ...
misidentifies him as a
sousaphone The sousaphone ( ) is a brass instrument in the tuba family. Created around 1893 by J. W. Pepper at the direction of American bandleader John Philip Sousa (after whom the instrument was then named), it was designed to be easier to play than ...
player. Lisa vows to make sure that everyone in Springfield appreciates Bleeding Gums' musical legacy. Bart sues
Krusty the Clown Herschel Shmoikel Pinchas Yerucham Krustofsky (; ) better known by his stage name Krusty the Clown (sometimes spelled as Krusty the Klown), is a recurring character on the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castel ...
and is given a $100,000
settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building * Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fin ...
. After Bart's attorney Lionel Hutz deducts his legal fees, Bart is left with only $500. Still stricken with grief, Lisa decides that the best way to honor Bleeding Gums' memory is by having his album played on the local jazz station. Lisa spots it at the Android's Dungeon for $250; after hearing that Bleeding Gums is dead,
Comic Book Guy Jeff Albertson, commonly known as Comic Book Guy, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the second-season episode " Three Men and a Comic Book", wh ...
doubles the price to $500. As she leaves, Bart arrives with his $500 settlement to buy a pog with Steve Allen's face. After seeing his sister's sad face through the shop window, Bart buys Lisa the album because she was the only one who believed his stomach ache was real. When she says he will never again see $500, Bart shows her a box of new Krusty-Os with flesh-eating bacteria which he intends to eat and sue Krusty again with. When the radio station plays one of Bleeding Gums' songs, Lisa is disappointed because the station's tiny range prevents anyone from hearing it. Lightning strikes the antenna, giving it extra power and projecting it into every radio in Springfield. She is satisfied and turns to leave, but Bleeding Gums appears from the heavens to tell Lisa that she has made "an old jazz man happy". After saying their final goodbyes, Lisa and Bleeding Gums perform "
Jazzman "Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album ''Wrap Around Joy''. King composed the music for the song, while David Palmer (formerly of Steely Dan) wrote the lyrics. The song is best known for its lengthy saxophone solos, ...
" one last time.


Production

"Round Springfield" was written by
Joshua Sternin Joshua Sternin is an American television writer, television producer, and screenwriter. He is the oldest son of Alan Sternin and Esther Sternin, and married to actress/performer Paige Scurti Sternin. Career Among Sternin's producer credits include ...
and
Jennifer Ventimilia Jennifer Ventimilia (previously Jeffrey Ventimilia and also known as J.R. Ventimilia) is an American television writer. Ventimilia co-wrote ''The Simpsons'' episode " Simpson Tide" (with Joshua Sternin) and the teleplay of the episode 'Round Sprin ...
, based on a story idea by
Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...
and
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 ...
. It was the first episode directed by Steven Dean Moore. Due to Fox's demand for 24 to 25 episodes per season, which the production staff found impossible to meet, two episodes of each season were written and produced by former showrunners, to relieve the stress on ''The Simpsons'' writing staff. Jean and Reiss, who were showrunners for the show's third and fourth seasons, returned to produce the episode, as well as " A Star Is Burns", instead of the season's main showrunner
David Mirkin David Mirkin (born ) is an American feature film and television director, writer and producer. Mirkin grew up in Philadelphia and intended to become an electrical engineer, but abandoned this career path in favor of studying film at Loyola Mar ...
. On both episodes, they were aided by the staff of ''
The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'', the show the two left ''The Simpsons'' to create. Sternin and Ventimilia were writers on ''The Critic'' and were big fans of ''The Simpsons'', so were thrilled to be able to write an episode. The episode marked the first time a recurring character has been killed off on the show. The writers and production team felt that it would be a good, emotional storyline, which, through Lisa, could focus on the theme of grief. They decided that it could not be one of the main characters; Jean joked that "we wouldn't want it to be someone like Mr. Burns, that we'd obviously want to see in the show again". Eventually, Jean decided on
Bleeding Gums Murphy 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 ...
, a character introduced in the season one episode " Moaning Lisa"; a flashback to "Moaning Lisa" is featured in the episode. Murphy was a fairly minor character, only appearing in a couple of episodes, but he appeared in the show's opening sequence and remained there after the episode, until the opening was re-designed in season 20. Moore's first ever job on the show was in the animation department for "Moaning Lisa" so he "appreciated" being able to direct the episode. Reiss stated, "I had been polling for years to kill Marge's mom but this was a better idea". Actor Ron Taylor returned to guest star as Murphy in the episode. Comedian
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
also made his second guest appearance on the show, having previously appeared in the episode "
Separate Vocations "Separate Vocations" is the eighteenth episode of the third season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons''. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 27, 1992. In the episode, Springfield Elementa ...
". The main story of the episode's first act sees Bart get appendicitis from eating a jagged metal Krusty-O. Mike Reiss's father, being a doctor, "sort of" acted as the medical consultant on the episode. He stated that it is impossible to get appendicitis from eating a piece of metal, but the writers decided to do it anyway. In his flashback, Murphy is shown as having a "$1,500 a day
Fabergé egg A Fabergé egg (russian: link=no, яйцо Фаберже́, translit=yaytso Faberzhe) is a jewelled egg created by the jewellery firm House of Fabergé, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. As many as 69 were created, of which 57 survive today. Virtua ...
habit". Al Jean "didn't realize just how expensive" Fabergé eggs actually were (in 2013, a collector revealed he spent just over $100 million to purchase nine Fabergé eggs "The World's Most Beautiful Eggs: The Genius of Carl Faberge"
BBC FOUR
), so the joke does not make much sense.


Cultural references

The episode contains numerous references to popular culture. The title is a play on both the jazz standard '' 'Round Midnight'' by
Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...
and the similarly named film also about an unappreciated jazz musician. When a deceased Bleeding Gums Murphy appears to Lisa in a cloud towards the end of the episode, he is joined by
Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
from the '' Star Wars'' film series,
Mufasa This article lists the characters appearing in Disney's ''The Lion King'' franchise. Introduced in ''The Lion King'' (1994) Simba Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick as adult Simba in the films, Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub in ''The Lion Kin ...
from ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
'', and
James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...
. Although all three roles were originally portrayed by Jones, the characters in this scene were impersonated by cast member
Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
; Jones himself guest starred twice previously. Additionally, Mufasa accidentally mentions "Kimba" and corrects himself by saying "
Simba Simba is a fictional character and the protagonist of Disney's ''The Lion King'' franchise. Introduced in the 1994 film ''The Lion King'', Walt Disney Animation's 32nd animated feature, the character subsequently appears in '' The Lion King II: ...
". This is a reference to the debate regarding ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance ...
''s resemblance to the
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
''
Kimba the White Lion ''Kimba the White Lion'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese '' shōnen'' manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka which was serialized in the '' Manga Shōnen'' magazine from November 1950 to April 1954. An anime based on ...
''. Lisa and Bleeding Gums play Carole King's song "
Jazzman "Jazzman" is a 1974 song performed by Carole King, from her album ''Wrap Around Joy''. King composed the music for the song, while David Palmer (formerly of Steely Dan) wrote the lyrics. The song is best known for its lengthy saxophone solos, ...
" in this scene and in the hospital earlier in the episode. Bleeding Gums has to leave at the end of the scene because he has a date with the jazz singer
Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop s ...
. Additionally, Homer has a Starland Vocal Band tattoo on his arm, Bart considers buying a
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
"ultimate pog", and the music heard just before Bart's operation is a parody of the theme music of '' ER''. Bleeding Gums appears on an episode of ''
The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
'', a reference to
Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...
often getting jazz musicians he liked to appear on the show; in the episode, Cosby is voiced by ''The Simpsons'' regular
Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...
. Lionel Hutz's "crack team of lawyers", Robert Shaporo and Albert Dershman, are parodies of Robert Shapiro and
Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and former law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law and American criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law School, where he was appoin ...
, two of the defense attorneys at the
O. J. Simpson murder case ''The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson'' was a criminal trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court starting in 1994, in which O. J. Simpson, a former National Football League (NFL) player, broadcaster and actor, was ...
. The three drive away in a white pickup truck, similar to the
Ford Bronco The Ford Bronco is a model line of sport utility vehicles manufactured and marketed by Ford. The first SUV model developed by the company, five generations of the Bronco were sold from the 1966 to 1996 model years. A sixth generation of the mo ...
that
Al Cowlings Allen Cedric "A.C." Cowlings (born June 16, 1947) is a former American football player and actor. He began playing for the National Football League (NFL) in 1970, for such teams as the Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Sea ...
and O. J. Simpson drove in their televised low-speed pursuit before Simpson's arrest.


Reception

In its original broadcast, "Round Springfield" finished 60th in the ratings for the week of April 24 to April 30, 1995, 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 8.2. The episode was the fourth highest rated show on the Fox network that week. Mike Reiss and Al Jean thought that the episode would "get a ton of awards", and joked that this was why they opted to receive a story credit, which they usually would not. Ultimately it did not win any awards. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', found that it was "a real tear-jerker" and praised Grampa believing everything he saw was
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
. In a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
review of the sixth season, Ryan Keefer of DVD Verdict rated the episode a "B". Adam Finley of ''
TV Squad Weblogs, Inc. was a blog network that published content on a variety of subjects, including tech news, video games, automobiles and pop culture. At one point, the network had as many as 90 blogs, although the vast majority of its traffic could be ...
'' praised the episode, noting its many "great moments" including "Steve Allen pimping his books on TV: ''How to Make Love to Steve Allen''; ''Happiness is a Naked Steve Allen''; ''Journey to the Center of Steve Allen''; ''The Joy of Cooking Steve Allen''" and "Moe running a "retox" clinic right next to a detox clinic". The podcast ''Put it in H - A Die Hard Simpsons Podcast'' praised the episode for its "high number of laughs per minute while still being full of heart". However, Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide called the episode "dull", stating that "some of the moments connected to Bart's illness are funny", but that he "really hate that "Jazzman" song" and dislikes "the Bleeding Gums parts".


Cheese-eating surrender monkeys

In the episode, budget cuts at
Springfield Elementary School 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 ...
force the janitor
Groundskeeper Willie William MacMoran MacDougal, better known as Groundskeeper Willie, is a recurring character on ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Dan Castellaneta. He is the head groundskeeper and Janitor at Springfield Elementary School. Willie is almost feral in nature ...
to be used as a French teacher. Expressing his disdain for the French, he exclaims to his class: "Bonjourrrrr, you cheese-eatin' surrender monkeys." The quote, particularly the phrase "cheese-eating surrender monkeys", has since entered wider use. It was used particularly in the run-up to the
war in Iraq This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states. Other armed conflicts involving Iraq * Wars during Mandatory Iraq ** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921 * Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...
, having been popularized by the conservative ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'' journalist
Jonah Goldberg Jonah Jacob Goldberg (born March 21, 1969) is an American conservative syndicated columnist, author, political analyst, and commentator. The founding editor of ''National Review Online'', from 1998 until 2019 he was an editor at '' National Revie ...
, to describe European and especially French opposition to military action. A piece in ''
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 ...
'' noted that the phrase was "made acceptable in official diplomatic channels around the globe". Ben Macintyre has written that the phrase is "perhaps the most famous" of the show's coinages and since Goldberg's usage it "has gone on to become a journalistic cliché". It has subsequently been used by the ''
New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...
'' (as "Surrender Monkeys") as the headline for its December 7, 2006, front page, referring to the
Iraq Study Group The Iraq Study Group (ISG) also known as the Baker-Hamilton Commission was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and ...
and its recommendation that U.S. soldiers be withdrawn from
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
by early 2008. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'' has cited it in relation to Anglo-French military cooperation. The term has been used in books by commentator
Laura Ingraham Laura Anne Ingraham (born June 19, 1963) is an American conservative television host. Gale Biography In Context. She has been the host of '' The Ingraham Angle'' on Fox News Channel since October 2017, and is the editor-in-chief of LifeZette ...
, and academics Stuart Croft, Stephen Chan, and Paul L. Moorcraft and Philip M. Taylor.
Ned Sherrin Edward George Sherrin (18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC. He appeared in a variety of r ...
included the quote in the ''Oxford Dictionary of Humorous Quotations''; it was introduced in the third edition in 2005. It is also included in the ''Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations''.
Douglas Coupland Douglas Coupland (born 30 December 1961) is a Canadian novelist, designer, and visual artist. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller '' Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the terms ''Generation X'' and ''McJ ...
's 2009 novel '' Generation A'' refers to Groundskeeper Willie's use of the phrase. The line was written by
Ken Keeler Ken Keeler is an American television producer and writer. He has written for numerous television series, most notably ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama''. According to an interview with David X. Cohen, he proved a theorem that appears in the ''Fut ...
during one of the episode's re-write sessions, although none of those present on the episode's DVD
audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...
could remember for sure. According to Reiss, Keeler called it his "greatest contribution to the show." The writers were surprised it became as widely used as it did and never meant it as a political statement, merely as an "obnoxious" joke for Willie. The French dub of the show uses the line "singes mangeurs de fromage", omitting the word "surrender".


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Round Springfield The Simpsons (season 6) episodes 1995 American television episodes Cultural depictions of Bill Cosby Television episodes about death Lawsuits in fiction Works about jazz