19th episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons
| "Girls Just Want to Have Sums" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
 Promotional Artwork for "Girls Just Want To Have Sums". | |||
| Episode no. | Season 17 Episode 19 | ||
| Directed by | Nancy Kruse | ||
| Written by | Matt Selman | ||
| Production code | HABF12 | ||
| Original air date | April 30, 2006 (2006-04-30) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Frances McDormand as Melanie Upfoot Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel | |||
| Episode features | |||
| Couch gag | The living room is dark, with many eyes present. The lights go up, and many secondary characters appear behind a banner that reads, "Surprise!" The Simpsons come in and the characters yell, "SURPRISE!" Homer is so overwhelmed with shock, he has a heart attack and collapses. | ||
| Commentary | Al Jean Matt Selman Dan Greaney Tom Gammill Max Pross Nancy Kruse Mark Kirkland David Silverman | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsons season 17 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Girls Just Want to Have Sums" is the nineteenth episode of the seventeenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 30, 2006. The episode was written by Matt Selman and directed by Nancy Kruse.
In this episode, a new school principal decides to segregating boys and girls classes, and Lisa is dissatisfied with the New Age-based girls maths class. So, she disguises herself as a boy called Jake Boyman to infiltrate the boys' classroom to be admitted to the actual maths class, and Bart mistakes his camouflaged sister as a new friend. Frances McDormand guest starred as Melanie Upfoot.
Plot
The Simpsons see a performance of Stab-a-Lot: The Itchy and Scratchy Musical. Juliana Kellner, the show's director and former student of Springfield Elementary School, greets the reception along with Principal Skinner, who acknowledges Juliana's straight As at the school but attributes her "B or two" in math to being a girl. Skinner's attempts to defend himself make the situation worse, and he is beaten by the Itchy and Scratchy puppeteers.
The next day, the teachers of Springfield Elementary stage a protest outside the school. Skinner holds a conference to address the protest. Nothing he says or does appeases the women, and he eventually collapses from exhaustion. Superintendent Chalmers introduces a new principal, Melanie Upfoot, whilst Skinner is demoted to serving as Groundskeeper Willie's assistant. Upfoot segregates the school across gender lines. Lisa initially looks forward to the all-girls school, but discovers Upfoot's math lessons are New Age. Lisa infiltrates the boys' school, where actual math is being taught. Lisa disguises herself as a boy named Jake Boyman and attends the boys' school, where she gets nicknamed "Toilet". After Lisa inadvertently gets into a fight with Nelson, Bart vows to help her blend into the boys' school.
Lisa is accepted by the boys, and is recognized for her performance in math. She then reveals her true identity. Bart claims she only did well because she learned to think like a boy. In response, she throws her award at him, and is shocked at her violent behavior. Lisa ends her speech by saying how proud she is of her feminism and her intelligence.
Production
In 2005, Lawrence Summers, who was President of Harvard University at the time, made "ill-advised remarks" regarding the reason why there were fewer women than men in the fields of science and mathematics. In response, the producers created this episode featuring Principal Skinner making similar remarks. However, they did not want to end the episode with "a simplistic or glib conclusion" or get into the same controversy that Skinner did. Because they had difficulty creating an ending, they concluded the episode by having Martin Prince interrupt Lisa as she is about to give her opinion about why there are fewer women than men in science and mathematics. The title of the episode refers to the Cyndi Lauper song "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".
In a conversation with Sarah J. Greenwald, producer Jeff Westbrook said he and producer J. Stewart Burns spent half an hour attempting to fit the Seven Bridges of Königsberg mathematics problem into a joke in the episode but were unsuccessful. Executive producer Al Jean cited this episode as him advocating for more girls joining the field of physical sciences.
Frances McDormand guest starred as Melanie Upfoot.
Reception
Viewing figures
The episode earned a 3.1 rating and was watched by 8.74 millions viewers, which was the 41st most-watched show that week.
Critical reception
Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide said, "I like the series' pokes at various flawed theories. That side of the show does pretty well, as do Skinner's desperate attempts to be politically correct. It's not a great show, but it offers a decent bounce back after a few meh episodes."
Kareem Gantt of Screen Rant thought that although the writers intended to make a commentary about education for women, the episode was "idiotic and pointless, but it was also unusually cruel."
Awards and nominations
Writer Matt Selman was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Writing in Animation at the 59th Writers Guild of America Awards for his script to this episode.
See also
References
- Jones, Thomas (October 24, 2013). "The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- Siddique, Ashik (November 4, 2013). "The Simpsons has been tricking you into learning maths for decades". Wired. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Greenwald, Sarah J. (March–April 2006). "Girls Just Want to Have Sums" (PDF). Association for Women in Mathematics Newsletter. 36 (2): 22–23. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Highfield, Roger (September 13, 2014). "The Maths Behind the Simpsons' Women". Newsweek. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- "Episode Title: (SI-1712) "Girls Just Want to Have Sums"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- "Weekly Program Rankings (Apr. 24-30)". ABC Medianet. May 2, 2006. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
- Jacobson, Colin (December 10, 2017). "The Simpsons: The Complete Seventeenth Season [Blu-Ray] (2005-06)". DVD Movie Guide. Archived from the original on August 18, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- Gantt, Kareem (November 28, 2020). "The Simpsons: 10 Of The Series' Most Nonsensical Storylines, Ranked". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- DiOrio, Carl (December 14, 2006). "HBO, NBC dominate WGA noms". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on February 28, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
