"Simpson Christmas Stories" is the eighth Christmas episode of the animated series The Simpsons, aired as the ninth episode in the show's seventeenth season. It is one of the series' "anthology episodes", which features three short stories.
Synopsis[]
The First D'oh-El[]
When Reverend Lovejoy cannot attend the Christmas sermon due to his train set catching on fire, Ned Flanders immediately takes over. However, he gets a paper cut and faints. Homer decides to lead the sermon and tells the story of the first Christmas, with Marge as Mary, Homer as Joseph, Lisa as the angel Gabriel, Mr. Burns as King Herod, and Bart as Jesus.
Mary tells Joseph that she is pregnant, even though she is a virgin. The angel Gabriel appears to them and explains that Mary is going to give birth to the Son of God. The three wise men (Dr. Hibbert, Principal Skinner, and Professor Frink) tell King Herod that they are going to give gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the King of the Jews. When Herod thinks that the gifts are for him, the men explain to him that they are for the baby. Herod becomes angry and claims that he will kill the baby.
At the Bethlehem Inn, the innkeeper (Moe) tells Mary and Joseph that he has plenty of rooms available with brand new carpeting. However, when Mary's water breaks, he forces them to stay in the barn. Mary successfully gives birth to Jesus, and the three wise men, along with the two shepherds (Lenny and Carl) come to see Jesus. Joseph is upset because he is not Jesus' father, and when he drinks some wine, Jesus turns it into water.
When Jesus keeps crying, Mary gives him to Joseph. He entertains him by hurting himself and one of the wise men (Skinner). When Jesus finally falls asleep, Herod and his troops find the barn that they are staying in. They escape and trick the soldiers by putting Jesus' halo on a duck. On top of the hill, Joseph cuts down a pine tree, and as it rolls down, the soldier gets caught in it. The soldiers, along with Herod, are arranged like ornaments on the tree, and the duck, still wearing the halo, stands on top of the tree. Mary calls it a Christmas tree, and Homer concludes his service.
I Saw Grampa Cussing Santa Claus[]
When Bart and Lisa find Grampa trying to stick a bear trap on top of the chimney, he tells them that he is trying to get his revenge on Santa Claus. Bart asks why, and to their dismay, Grampa tells them one of his many stories.
Back in World War II, Grampa and his brother, Cyrus (never mentioned until now), were fighting off Japanese planes when Cyrus got shot down due to the fact that Mr. Burns refused to radio Cyrus because he was busy talking to a girl. Shortly after, Grampa, who was accompanied by Mr. Burns, also get shot down and are stranded on an island. After a few months, they see a plane in the sky, and Mr. Burns shoots it down. However, when they go over to investigate, they see that it is actually Santa Claus. They build him a new sleigh using the parts from the plane and they gather up all the presents. When Santa was about to leave he was missing Prancer and Rudolph the latter shown to be in a snake. Mr. Burns knocks him unconscious with a coconut and flies away in the sleigh and claims that he is going to keep all the presents. Grampa catches up to him on Prancer and jumps onboard the sleigh. After he beats Mr. Burns with a tricycle, he gives the sleigh back to Santa. As Santa leaves, he tells Grampa that he will be back in a few days. However, he never comes back, and Grampa has to get off using a jet ski he made out of coconuts.
Bart and Lisa believe that it's just another one of Grampa's far-fetched tales, but when they hear a thump in the den, they find that Santa is there. He tells them that Cyrus did not die, but instead crashed into Tahiti. Santa takes Grampa there, and they meet up with Cyrus and his fifteen wives. Santa explains to Grampa that he did not come back for him on the island due to his procrastination and eventually feeling embarrassed about it.
The Nutcracker...Sweet[]
After the children of Springfield Elementary School perform The Nutcracker, everyone begins to go along their day singing to the tune of the songs from the play. This is done after mentioning that the songs are in the public domain and thus can be and are played constantly for free. Homer told Grandpa that they were not going to be at home and hid when he came forcing Grandpa to spend his Christmas in the bin with the raccoons who got Grandpa some rancid lard. Krusty then shows a clip from The Krusty Show from 1964 where Krusty had snowballs thrown at him from the audience and with John Glenn and Dr. Martin Luther King as guests. After the opening number, sung to the tune of the "Marche", Moe continues his annual holiday tradition and attempts suicide thrice, and naturally fails, done to the tune of the "Dance of the Flutes". Moe first tries to hang himself firstly with string popcorn which breaks. Secondly, he rides a sleigh through traffic with a note saying "No one gets my organs" pinned to his chest, but is not run over. Moe then tries to shoot himself with a gun, but this turns out to be a comedy bang gun saying "Merry Christmas". Finally, Moe then asks Barney to kill him, who refuses on the grounds that he had brought him a wool hat.
That evening, Marge tells Homer that he will like the present that she got him. Not wanting to upset her, Homer tells her that his present for her is outside and drives away to buy her a present, sung to the tune of the "Trepak". Every store is closed, and all Apu has at the Kwik-E-Mart is some jerky made out of trout. Homer searches in garbage cans, gutters, trees, and he even chases down Milhouse, but he cannot find anything.
When he gets home, Marge gives Homer his present, done to the "Pas De Deux". He opens it and sees that it is another present with a tag that reads, "To Marge, From Homer." Marge tells him that she knew that he would forget to give her a present, so she gave him one to give to her. He gives it to her and she unwraps it, and Homer sees that it is a picture of him dressed up as Santa with Marge on his lap. They hug and kiss, and Moe, for the fourth time, attempts suicide by again riding on a sleigh in the road, and fails again after an eighteen-wheel semi missed him.
Songs[]
Uncredited
- "American Patrol"
- "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)"
- Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker
- "Jingle Bell Rock"
- "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Dan Castellaneta
Availability[]
The episode was made available on The Simpsons: The Seventeenth Season DVD and Blu-ray sets, released on December 2, 2014.
Notes[]
- In Tahiti, there is a girl resembling Lisa Jr. from the episode "Missionary: Impossible".
- This is the show's 365th episode, making it possible for a different episode to air every day of the year.
- When Reverend Lovejoy mentions "so many plastic Christmases ruined", one of the figures lying on the table is Mr. Burns.
- This is the fourth Simpsons episode to date to air with a parental advisory warning before the episode in Australia for "adult themes". (It was originally scheduled to air May 9, 2006 on Network Ten, but was preempted and replaced with "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation")
Cast[]
External links[]
- The Simpsons Wiki: Simpson Christmas Stories
- "Simpson Christmas Stories" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Simpson Christmas Stories" recap at TV Tropes