Burns, Baby Burns
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"Burns, Baby Burns" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of the American animated television series ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
''. It originally aired on the
Fox network Fox Broadcasting Company, LLC (commonly known as Fox; stylized in all caps) is an American commercial broadcast television network serving as the flagship property of Fox Corporation and operated through Fox Entertainment. Fox is based at Fo ...
in the United States on November 17, 1996. In the episode,
Mr. Burns Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by Ch ...
reunites with his long-lost son Larry. At first, they get along well, but Mr. Burns soon realizes that his son is an oaf. The episode was directed by
Jim Reardon Jim Reardon is an American animation 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 credited as a supervising director for seasons 9 t ...
and is the first one written by
Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for the ...
. The episode guest starred
Rodney Dangerfield Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, ...
as Larry Burns.


Plot

After attending the annual Harvard–Yale football game,
Mr. Burns Charles Montgomery Plantagenet Schicklgruber "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns or C. Montgomery Burns, is a recurring character and the main antagonist of the Fox animated television series ''The Simpsons'', voiced initially by Ch ...
and
Waylon Smithers Waylon J. Smithers Jr., usually referred to as Mr. Smithers, or simply Smithers, is a recurring character in the animated sitcom ''The Simpsons'', voiced by Harry Shearer. His first appearance was in the episode of " Homer's Odyssey", although ...
take a train back to Springfield. When the train makes an unexpected stop, a man named Larry approaches them selling souvenirs. Seeing Burns, he compares his face with an old photo and notes the resemblance. Suddenly, the train pulls away, leaving Larry behind. While on their way home from visiting a cider mill, the Simpsons see Larry hitchhiking and give him a ride. They take him to Burns' mansion where Larry reveals that he is the old man's son. After finding the birthmark that confirms that Larry is his son, Burns admits that Larry was the result of a one-night stand with the daughter of a former flame named Lily Bancroft at a college reunion. At first, he is overjoyed to have a son and treats him as his
protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
. He takes him to fancy parties and tries to enroll him at Yale, but Larry's oafish behavior embarrasses him. Larry starts working alongside
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient 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. Despite doubts about his autho ...
in Sector 7G at the
Springfield Nuclear Power Plant 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 unknown state in the United States. The fictional city's geography, surroundin ...
, and they become friends. Larry invites Homer to dinner at the mansion. No longer able to contain his displeasure at Larry's boorishness, Burns says that he wishes he had no son. After Homer convinces Larry to fake a kidnapping so that Burns will admit that he loves his son, he moves into the Simpsons' basement. Homer tells Burns that he can have Larry back if he admits that he loves him.
Marge Marge is a feminine given name, a shortened form of Marjorie, Margot or Margaret. Notable Marges include: People * Marge (cartoonist) (1904–1993), pen name of Marjorie Henderson Buell, American cartoonist * Marge Anderson (1932–2013), Ojibwe ...
discovers the plan and convinces Homer and Larry to abandon it, but they are spotted by
Kent Brockman Brock Kentman, more commonly called Kent Brockman, is a fictional character in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Harry Shearer and first appeared in the episode " Krusty Gets Busted". He is the grumpy, self-cente ...
's news helicopter as they leave the house. Homer and Larry run around town avoiding the police, being unsuccessful in looking for a place to hide. After managing to hide in the Aztec Theater, they unwittingly attract the attention of the police and media after
Hans Moleman 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 writ ...
calls the police on them for harassing him. Homer and Larry climb atop the movie theater and have a brief standoff with the police. Homer gives a heartfelt speech to justify Larry's actions and Burns forgives them for the hoax, but explains he cannot be the family whom Larry needs. Larry understands and reveals he has a wife and children back home who are probably worried about him. After Burns and Larry say their goodbyes, a party spontaneously breaks out in front of the cinema at Larry's incitement as the song "
Any Way You Want It "Any Way You Want It" is a song by American rock band Journey, released in February 1980 as the lead single from the band's sixth album '' Departure'' (1980). Written by lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, it peaked at number 23 on ...
" by Journey plays in the background.


Production

Ian Maxtone-Graham Ian Maxtone-Graham is an American television writer and producer. He has formerly written for ''Saturday Night Live'' (1992–1995) and ''The Simpsons'' (1995–2012), as well as serving as a co-executive producer and consulting producer for the ...
wrote the episode, and it was his first writing credit for ''The Simpsons'', although he had served as a consultant on the show for several months prior. Maxtone-Graham had previously worked with showrunners
Bill Oakley William Lloyd Oakley (born February 27, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans Sc ...
and
Josh Weinstein Josh Weinstein (born May 5, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animated comedy series ''The Simpsons''. Weinstein and Bill Oakley became best friends and writing partners at St. Albans School; Weins ...
on a game show and the two had wanted to hire him as a writer on ''The Simpsons''. The episode started out as a story about Mr. Burns and Grampa both being stationed in Paris during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and falling in love with the same woman, who had a love child. Maxtone-Graham, however, had wanted this episode to be about Burns having a child, which is where it went. The other episode idea became " Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in 'The Curse of the Flying Hellfish', which aired during the previous season. The episode opens with the family visiting Mt. Swartzwelder Historic Cider Mill (a reference to fellow writer
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 ad ...
) because the writers had wanted to do something involving autumn and a cider mill seemed like a good setting for that.
Rodney Dangerfield Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known by the stage name Rodney Dangerfield, was an American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-liner humor, ...
guest stars in this episode and was a huge favorite of many of the show's writers. Many of the jokes in the episode were specifically written to be "Dangerfield jokes", which were much tougher to write than the staff had originally thought. Dangerfield made a few key changes to his script during the recording of his part; Weinstein kept the annotated script and pen and considers them among his three most prized ''The Simpsons'' possessions. Designing Larry Burns was a challenge because the director had wanted him to look like Dangerfield but still have Burns' characteristics such as the pointed nose.


Cultural references

The title of the episode references a line in
The Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of " Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disc ...
song "
Disco Inferno "Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 studio album of same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream ...
" ("Burn, baby, burn"). After discovering that Larry Burns is also working in Sector 7G, Homer frantically cleans up and puts away an almost entirely assembled
jigsaw puzzle A jigsaw puzzle (with context, sometimes just jigsaw or just puzzle) is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaicked pieces. Typically each piece has a portion of a picture, which is comple ...
which has an image of
Snoopy Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip ''Peanuts'' by American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. He also appears in all of the ''Peanuts'' films and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of ...
lying on his doghouse. The puzzle is missing several pieces over where Snoopy's nose should be, which was intentionally drawn that way to avoid
copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of Copyright#Scope, works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the c ...
. The character from Yale that Mr. Burns briefly talks to is based on the fictional character Dink Stover from the book ''Dink Stover at Yale'' by Owen Johnson. The episode contains several references to the film ''
Caddyshack ''Caddyshack'' is a 1980 American sports comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, written by Brian Doyle-Murray, Ramis and Douglas Kenney, and starring Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, Ted Knight (his final film role), Michael O'Keefe and Bill ...
'', in which Dangerfield starred in, such as the scene where Larry tries to fit in with Mr. Burns' associates. The final street party, which features the song "
Any Way You Want It "Any Way You Want It" is a song by American rock band Journey, released in February 1980 as the lead single from the band's sixth album '' Departure'' (1980). Written by lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, it peaked at number 23 on ...
" by Journey (also featured in ''Caddyshack''), also parodies the way that several films, including ''Caddyshack'' itself, end. The episode ends at a movie theater, which is a reference to several famous criminals who were involved with theatres, such as
John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (; June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprison ...
,
Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...
, and
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
.


Reception

In its original broadcast, "Burns, Baby Burns" finished 64th in ratings for the week of November 11–17, 1996, 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 TV ...
of 7.7, equivalent to approximately 7.5 million viewing households. It was the fourth-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
'', ''
Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime-time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex in West Hollywood, ...
'', and ''
Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...
''. 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 " fun episode, with Rodney Dangerfield putting a lot of pathos into Larry – and Homer's impassioned speech atop the cinema at the climax is one of his funniest moments."


References


External links

* * {{The Simpsons episodes, 8 1996 American television episodes The Simpsons season 8 episodes Television episodes directed by Jim Reardon Television episodes written by Ian Maxtone-Graham