"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star" is the twenty-first and the last episode of the sixteenth 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 May 15, 2005. Originally supposed to air April 10, the episode was dropped from the week's schedule due to the death of Pope John Paul II, since this episode revolved around

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. This episode is also the 350th episode in production order (in broadcast order, " Future-Drama" is the 350th episode).

Plot

After Bart is expelled from school after being blamed for

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 ...

's prank unleashing hundreds of rats during the school's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

festival, Marge enrolls him in St. Jerome's Catholic School, where Bart's rebel attitude is frowned upon. Bart meets a sympathetic Father Sean, who gives him a

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

about saints, and he is drawn into it. Marge becomes concerned over Bart's interest in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, due to the Catholic ban on birth control.

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 ...

goes to the school to confront Sean, but decides to convert to Catholicism as well for easy absolution of his

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

s. With Bart and Homer considering joining the Church, Marge seeks help from Rev. Lovejoy and

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, ch ...

, who agree to get them back. On the road, Marge, Ned and Lovejoy try to bring Bart back to the "one true faith" – The Western Branch of American Reform Presbylutheranism – by taking him to a Protestant Youth Festival where Marge bribes him with

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

and

paintball Paintball is a competitive team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called paintballs that break upon impact. Paintballs are usually shot using low-energy a ...

. Alerted by

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 ...

, who agrees with Homer and Bart's desire to join a new faith, Homer and Sean arrive there with a motorcycle, and engage in a Mexican standoff with Ned and Lovejoy. Bart mocks the feuds between the different forms of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, explaining that the topics they disagree on are nothing compared to the topics they agree on. The two groups agree to fight monogamist

gays ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and stem cells, taking Bart's idea to heart. The episode then jumps 1,000 years into the future, when Bart is believed to be the last Prophet of God. Mankind is waging war over whether Bart's teachings were about love and tolerance, or understanding and peace (and whether he was betrayed by Milhouse). Engaging in a bloody battle, one side cries Bart's catchphrase "Eat my shorts", the other cries " Cowabunga".

Reception

Robert Canning, Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson, and Brain Zormski of IGN called this episode the best episode of the sixteenth season. They thought of it as a great episode that dealt with the sensitive topic of

religious tolerance Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

, stating that "with a daring story, we can't help but remember when ''The Simpsons'' was an edgy hip show that would frequently shed a light on cultural complexes". They thought it would be ideal if there were more episodes like this one.''The Simpsons'': 17 Seasons, 17 Episodes
/ref> ''

L'Osservatore Romano ''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not ...

'', the daily broadsheet of the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

, praised the episode for taking up issues such as Christian faith and religion. Matt Warburton was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the

58th Writers Guild of America Awards The 58th Writers Guild of America Awards, given on February 4, 2006, honored the best film and television writers of 2005. Winners and nominees Film Adapted Screenplay '' Brokeback Mountain'' – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana *'' Capot ...

for his script to this episode.

References

External links

"The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star"
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Father, the Son and the Holy Guest Star, The The Simpsons (season 16) episodes 2005 American television episodes Fiction set in the 4th millennium Television episodes about Catholicism