The Simpsons episode 22 Short Films about Springfield, gives us the chance to see inside the lives of other Springfield residents in a series of short stories. This episode is a loose parody of the film Pulp Fiction, in that all the stories intertwine with each other to form the overall plot of the episode. The episodes title is a reference to the movie 32 Short Films about Glenn Gould and there are only fourteen short stories in this episode not twenty-two like the title suggests. So sit back and relax while I go through each short story and talk about the greatness which is this episode.
The episode starts out perfectly with Bart and Milhouse pouring ketchup and mustard on cars from an overpass. Bart then wonders if anything interesting happens to the people of Springfield, which kicks off the episode a look into the lives of some of the lesser known Simpson characters.
Apu is up first the story titled “The Jolly Bengali” where Apu’s brother Sanjay invites him to a party at his house. Apu is reluctant to at first, but then decides to “party for the next five minutes like it’s on sale for $19.99”. Apu then goes to the party and eats a hotdog, drinks beer, dances, then does the deed with a woman and then falls in the pool and is back at the Kwik-E-Mart with one minute to spare.
Lisa is next where Bart throws gum in her hair and Marge tries to get it out using a ridiculous amount of techniques, which only makes matters worse for Lisa. Marge uses Peanut Butter and Mayonnaise and then tells Lisa to sit outside and let it melt in but then she is attacked by bees and we then see one single bee fly away which leads is into the next story.
Mr. Burns and Smithers are out for a bike ride, Mr. Burns sits on the back of the two peddled bike and reads a magazine, while Smithers does all the work. Well that bee we just saw flies into Smithers eye and Mr. Burns tries to swat away the bee and it stings Smithers on the eye, who then begins to have an allergic reaction. Smithers asks Mr. Burns to peddle but we all know that isn’t going to happen so Mr. Burns gets them to the hostipal the only way he can, by coaching Smithers to do all of the peddling to get them there. They finally get to the hospital and they fall off the bike and the hospital workers bring Mr. Burns inside and leave Smithers on the street. Dr. Nick then walks by and gives Smithers change and walks into the hospital.
Dr. Nick is under review by the Medical Review Board for one-hundred and sixty mischarges such as performing surgery with a knife and fork. Dr. Nick is then called to see Grandpa Simpson who is demanding to see a doctor. We then see Dr. Nick’s medical incompetence when he tells Grandpa that if he doesn’t calm down he is going to give himself skin failure and that Grandpa’s skeleton will try to leap out of his body. Dr. Nick solves the problems Grandpa is experiencing and the charges against him are dropped.
We then see Moe and Barney who are talking about Barney’s bar tab and how much he owes Moe (which is fourteen billion dollars), Barney then gives Moe two-thousand dollars and Moe takes it. Snake then enters the bar with a gun and demands Moe to give him the money or he will shoot Barney, Moe then runs away and hides in a crawl space and tells Snake to do his worst. Snake then takes all the money while Moe has to watch from his crawl space.
Seymour Skinner and Superintendant Chalmers are up next in a way we have never seen them before. Usually when these characters are together Chalmers yells at Skinner for not running the school properly. Here we see them having a somewhat normal conversation with Skinner lying constantly and being called out by it. Skinner tries to make Chalmers dinner, but ends up setting his house on fire and trying to disguise food from Krusty Burger as his own. This is a great exchange between these two characters, who have a real interesting dynamic when paired together.
Homer is up next where he accidently locks Maggie in a newspaper vending box and tries desperately to get her out. Homer tries to pull Maggie out from it but pulls out her clothes instead and tries to send the dog for help, which also doesn’t work for him. He also has no quarters to get her out because he stopped at the train tracks for fun. Homer then uproots the box and places it in Maggie’s bedroom, with Maggie still inside.
We have Bumblebee Man up next, who we see for the first time out of costume and talking to his wife about his day, where he got pecked on the head by a woodpecker, electrocuted and hit with a giant baseball. We then think that Bumblebee Man is not like the character he plays on TV, until oranges fall out of his cupboard and he begins to fall over them and accidently makes his house fall apart.
We then see Snake run over Chief Wiggum and the two begin to fight in a scene straight out of Pulp Fiction from the Gold Watch Segment of the film. Snake and Wiggum begin a long fight where they tackle each other and roll into Herman’s store, who captures them by gunpoint.
Reverend Lovejoy then urges his dog to use Ned Flanders lawn as a toilet, but when Flanders see this Lovejoy says his dog is bad and he condemns him to hell, but then whispers to the dog not to stop. Flanders then goes to the Simpsons house to borrow a shovel but sees Marge still trying to get the gum out of Lisa’s hair. Flanders suggests to freeze the gum and smash it with a hammer to get it out, but this only makes matters worse. Various townspeople show up and give their opinions on how to get it out which leaves Lisa more embarrassed than before.
Cletus “The Slack-Jawed Yokel” is up next in a story which has a very catchy theme song, which will get stuck in your head. We see Cletus giving his wife boots he found to wear to her job but she doesn’t want them because they will dirty the topless dancing runway where she works. Cletus then puts the boots back on the telephone pole where he got them.
We then go to Comic Book Guy’s store where Milhouse has to use the bathroom, but cant unless he makes a purchase. Once the transaction is complete Milhouses dad comes in and catches Milhouse buying a comic and drags him out before he can use the bathroom. Milhouse and his dad show up at Herman’s store next where Herman has Snake and Chief Wiggum tied up. Herman allows Milhouse to use the bathroom and points a gun at his dad, but Milhouse comes out of the bathroom playing with a mace and accidently hits Herman in the face and Chief Wiggum makes his escape.
Lisa then goes to the barbershop to get the gum cut out of her hair and is happy with her new haircut until Nelson laughs at her. Nelson then begins to laugh at a woman who fell over and a man driving a small car. The man in the car gets out and makes Nelson walk down the street with his pants down while everybody laughs at him, and as he is walking he gets ketchup and mustard poured on him from Bart and Milhouse. Bart then says to Milhouse that interesting things do happen to the residents on Springfield, but there is no time to hear all of the stories. Professor Frink then runs onto the screen wanting to tell his story but he is late due to problems at his lab and a monkey stealing his glasses. The screen fades to black as Frink tries to tell his story but we never get to hear it.
In my opinion this is one of the best Simpsons episodes ever because we got to see into the lives of characters we wouldn’t normally see stories about and I had a great time re-watching it again and it only gets better after each viewing. I urge you to re-watch this episode from The Simpsons because of the great intertwining stories that make for a great episode.
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