Marge vs. the Monorail
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"Marge vs. the Monorail" was the 71st full-length Simpsons episode released on television. The citizens of Springfield must decide how to disburse a $3 million fine paid by Charles Montgomery Burns, who is caught dumping nuclear waste in a city park. At the town meeting to decide how to spend the money, a well-timed appearance by slick, fast-talking, Lyle Lanley (Phil Hartman) persuades the townspeople to commission a monorail, over the objections of Marge Simpson. When Homer is hired to be the monorail's conductor, Marge uncovers disturbing evidence about the project, and it seems disaster is inevitable. Leonard Nimoy guest stars as himself.
Synopsis
Homer drives home from work in a send-up of the opening to The Flintstones. Mr. Burns and Smithers dump nuclear waste in a city park and are caught. Burns is put on trial, appearing in court in Hannibal Lecter-style full-body restraints, and is fined $3 million, which he pays off from his pocket change, also purchasing the statue of Lady Justice.
Springfield holds a town hall meeting on what to do with Burns' money. Marge suggests repairing a cracked Main Street, and this gains favor initially until the arrival of an unknown stranger. This stranger, Lyle Lanley, guest-voiced by Phil Hartman, in a parody of The Music Man, suggests via "The Monorail Song," that Springfield spend the money on a monorail. After Springfield decides to build the monorail, Lanley offers a monorail conductor class, with Homer among the students, and Homer, is chosen to become the conductor, despite having no idea about his job. He gets to wear a cape similar to Darth Vader's in Star Wars.
Back in Springfield, the monorail has already started its maiden voyage, and malfunctions begin almost immediately. As Mayor Quimby and Chief Wiggum argue about who has the jurisdiction to take control of the emergency, it is left to Homer and Bart to save the passengers, which they accomplish by using a crudely-shaped anchor to stop the runaway monorail.
As for Lanley, his plane makes a forced landing in North Haverbrook, where a mob of disgruntled townsfolk gather to "thank" him.
Trivia
- Conan O'Brien says this is his favorite Simpsons episode (O'Brien also wrote this episode).
- The episode is a partial spoof of The Music Man, with "The Monorail Song" strongly resembling The Music Man's "Trouble".
- George Takei was asked to guest star but declined, saying he did not want to make fun of public transportation (Takei was a member of the board of directors of the Southern California Rapid Transit District). The role was instead given to another Star Trek star, Leonard Nimoy, who made a second appearance in the 1997 episode "The Springfield Files".
- Lurleen Lumpkin, Homer's near , appears here with the gravelly voice of Doris Grau; she was previously voiced by Beverly D'Angelo in the third season episode Colonel Homer.
- The three "escalator to nowhere" patrons are caricatures of directors Rich Moore, Wes Archer, and supervising director David Silverman.
- This particular episode was one of many whose content Butters wished to duplicate on the South Park episode "Simpsons Already Did It".
- This episode spoofs The Music Man throughout. Conan O'Brien, who wrote the episode, felt things had come full circle when he offered to play the lead in The Music Man on Broadway.
- When released on DVD for The Simpsons Season 4, the episode had two separate commentary tracks. The first is accessed simply by turning the commentaries on in the Main Menu. The second, containing writer Conan O'Brien, must be accessed manually by changing the audio to track five.
- In an interesting case of life imitating art, the City of Seattle embarked on building a city-spanning monorail transportation system called the "Green Line" only to have the project end in debacle in 2005 after years of mismanagement.
- In one scene Barney Gumble is waving to signal to a crane operator, who is building the monorail, where the track needs to be placed. He sees Homer and waves at him. The crane operator takes this as a signal to drop the track, which he does, subsequently destroying a house. This could be a reference to the film 'Airplane!', in which a man directing a taxi-ing plane is asked where a forklift truck is, and waves his batons in the direction of the forklift, causing the plane, whose driver takes this as a direction, to crash into a terminal.
- According to the Season 4 DVD set, Matt Groening's favorite line from the season comes when Homer says, about a group of possums living in the monorail, "I call the big one Bitey."
Quotes
- Homer: (in the Flintstones parody) Simpson, Homer Simpson. He's the greatest guy in history. From the town of Springfield, he's about to hit a chestnut tree! [Homer screams in terror as his car, indeed, hits a chestnut tree]
- Homer: [reading the newspaper] Heh heh heh. Oh, Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk. Heh heh heh.
- Marge: I think the money should be spent on something the whole town can be proud of.
Homer: Like a giant billboard that says "no fat chicks!"?
- Mr. Burns: Hello, my name is Mr Snrub, and I come from... some place far away. [to himself] (Yesss, that'll do.) Anyway I say we invest that money back in the nuclear plant.
Smithers: I like the way Snrub thinks!
- Lyle Lanley: Y'know, a town with money is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it and danged if he knows how to use it.[audience laughs]
Homer: Heh heh heh... "Mule."
Lyle Lanley: The name's Lanley. Lyle Lanley. And I come before you good people tonight with an idea. Probably the greatest... Aw, it's not for you. It's more of a Shelbyville idea.
Quimby: Now wait just a minute! We're twice as smart as the people of Shelbyville! Just tell us your idea and we'll vote for it!
Lyle Lanley: All right, I tell you what I'll do. I'll show you my idea! I give you the Springfield Monorail! [audience gasps] I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map! [cue Monorail Song]
- Bart: Y'know? I used to think you were stuck in an emasculating, go-nowhere job.
Homer: Heh, heh… Kids.
Bart: But now, I want to follow in your footsteps.
Homer: [excited] Do you want to change your name to Homer Junior? The kids can call you Ho-Ju!
Bart: [appropriate pause] I'll get back to ya.
- Marge: According to this book, the monorail goes over 150 miles an hour! What if something goes wrong?
Homer: "What if." What if I stepped in the shower and slipped on a bar of soap?... Oh, my God! I'd get killed!
- Marge: [opening the fire extinguisher door in the monorail] Homer, there's a family of possums in here.
Homer: I call the big one "Bitey."
(Matt Groening has said this is his favorite Simpsons line ever, written by Conan O'Brien)
- Leonard Nimoy is the grandmaster of the monorail unveiling:
Leonard Nimoy: I'd say this vessel could do at least Warp 5. [crowd laughs]
Mayor Quimby: And let me say, "May the force be with you."
Leonard Nimoy: Do you even know who I am?
Mayor Quimby: I think I do. Weren't you one of the Little Rascals?
- Quimby: [to Wiggum] Watch it, you walking tub of donut batter!
Wiggum: Hey, I got pictures of you, Quimby.
Quimby: You don't scare me. That could be anyone's ass!
- [Chief Wiggum and Mayor Quimby are looking over the town charter to find out who takes charge of the city during a crisis.]
Wiggum: Hey, it says that as chief constable I'm entitled to a pig every month. And "two comely lasses of virtue true."
Quimby: Keep the pig. How many broads do I get?
- [A solar eclipse takes place outside]
Leonard Nimoy: A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet... goes on.
Passenger (sitting next to him): Does anyone wanna switch seats?
- Captain: [over plane's PA] Folks, this is your captain speaking. Our non-stop flight to Tahiti will be making a brief layover in North Haverbrook.
Lyle Lanley: North Haverbrook. Where've I heard that name before... Oh no... OH NO!
Member of angry mob awaiting Lanley upon the plane's landing: THERE HE IS! SEAT 3-F!
- Homer: Are we gonna die, son?
Bart: Yeah, but at least we're going to take a lot of innocent people with us.
- Marge and Homer talking on the phone after the monorail goes out of control:
Marge: Homer, there's a man here who thinks he can help you.
Homer: Batman?!
Marge: No, he's a scientist.
Homer: Batman's a scientist.
Marge: It's not Batman! - Lyle Lanley: You there, eating the paste.
- Marge: How fast are they going?
Homer: Eeeeeyaaaaaaai (super fast as monorail whizzes by platform).
Cobb: [looking at watch] Well, judging by your husband's cowardly scream, a hundred eighty miles an hour.
(Marge gasps)
Homer: Eeeeeyaaaaaaai (super fast as monorail whizzes by platform again) - Marge: We're too late!
Cobb: I shouldn't have stopped for that haircut. Sorry. - Lisa: Mr. Lanley, why would a city with a centralized population need a mass transit system?
Lanley: Young lady, that is a very intelligent question.
Lisa: Really?
Lanley: Yes. You and I are the only people smart enough to know the answer. And also, your teacher. - Homer: [in awe] Doughnuts... is there anything they can't do?
- [Everyone has just been saved from the monorail]
Leonard Nimoy: Well, my work is done here.
Barney: What do you mean your work is done? You didn't do anything!
Leonard Nimoy: [bemusedly cocking an eyebrow] Didn't I? [he teleports into nothingness, as on Star Trek]
- Marge: (in reference to the monorail) And that was the only folly the people of Springfield ever embarked upon. Except for the popsicle stick skyscraper. And the 50-foot magnifying glass. And that escalator to nowhere. [cuts to scene showing the top of the "escalator to nowhere" with people dropping off the top]
The Monorail Song
Lyle LanleyWell, sir, there's nothing on earth
Like a genuine,
Bona fide,
Electrified,
Six-car
Monorail!
What'd I say?
Ned Flanders
Monorail!
Lyle Lanley
What's it called?
Patty & Selma
Monorail!
Lyle Lanley
That's right! Monorail!
(crowd chants "Monorail" softly and rhythmically)
Miss Hoover
I hear those things are awfully loud.
Lyle Lanley
It glides as softly as a cloud.
Apu
Is there a chance the track could bend?
Lyle Lanley
Not on your life, my Hindu friend.
Barney
What about us brain-dead slobs?
Lyle Lanley
You'll be given cushy jobs.
Abe
Were you sent here by the devil?
Lyle Lanley
No, good sir, I'm on the level.
Wiggum
The ring came off my pudding can.
Lyle Lanley
Take my pen knife, my good man.
I swear it's Springfield's only choice,
Throw up your hands and raise your voice!
All
Monorail!
Lyle Lanley
What's it called?
All
Monorail!
Lyle Lanley
Once again...
All
Monorail!!
Marge
But Main Street's still all cracked and broken!
Bart
Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken.
All
Monorail!
Monorail!
Monorail!!
''(music crescendos to a finish)
Homer
Mono— D'oh!
See also
- Truck-o-Saurus appears in this episode.
- Songs in the Key of Springfield — The 1997 album that contains the Monorail Song.
External links
- Find Monorail at [The Lyrics List] at The Simpsons Archive
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