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| {{Infobox Simpsons episode | {{Infobox Simpsons episode | ||
| ⚫ | | image = | ||
| | episode_name = Brother from the Same Planet | |||
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| caption = | ||
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| season = 4 | ||
| | episode = 14 | |||
| | airdate = ], ] | |||
| | |
| director = ] | ||
| | writer |
| writer = ] | ||
| | production = 9F12 | |||
| ⚫ | | |
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| | airdate = {{Start date|1993|02|04}} | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| | guests = * ] as Tom and Mr. Muntz<ref name="deming">{{cite news | last=Deming | first=Mark | title=The Simpsons: Brother From the Same Planet | work=] | publisher=Macrovision Corporation | year=2008 | url=http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:284902 | access-date=2008-09-03 }}</ref> | |||
| | guest_star = ] as Tom, Mr. Muntz<br>] as Ren<br>] as Stimpy| | |||
| | blackboard = "The Principal's toupee is not a frisbee" | |||
| | image = ] | |||
| ⚫ | | couch_gag = The rear wall rotates, taking the family to another room and leaving an empty couch behind.<ref name="martyn" /> | ||
| ⚫ | | |
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| | commentary = ]<br>]<br>]<br>]<br>] | |||
| | prev = ] | |||
| ⚫ | | next = ] | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| "'''Brother from the Same Planet'''" is the fourteenth episode of the ] of the American animated television series '']''. It first aired on ] in the United States on February 4, 1993. In the episode, ], furious with ] for taking too long to pick him up from soccer practice on a rainy day, turns to the Bigger Brothers Agency, which pairs up fatherless boys with adult male role models (a parody of the ]). Meanwhile, ] becomes addicted to the Corey hotline, a phone service where television fans can listen to the voice of a ]. | |||
| The episode was written by ] and directed by ]. The producers tried to cast ] for the role of Tom, but Cruise declined and they chose ] instead. "Brother from the Same Planet" received favorable reception in books and in the media; a contemporary review in '']'' said it "may be the best ''Simpsons'' show ever"<ref name="Tucker">{{cite news|last=Tucker | first=Ken| work= Entertainment Weekly| title= The Simpsons| url=https://ew.com/article/1993/03/12/simpsons-4/}}</ref> and it was named one of the five best episodes of the series by the writers of '']''. | |||
| "'''Brother from the Same Planet'''" is an episode of '']'' from the fourth season. | |||
| == |
==Plot== | ||
| On a rainy day, ] waits for ] to pick him up from soccer practice. However, Homer forgets to pick Bart up for many hours; by the time Homer finally picks Bart up, Bart is soaked from the rain. Furious with Homer, Bart goes to the Bigger Brothers Agency, a mentor program which pairs up fatherless boys with positive male role models. Bart claims that his father was an ] ] who ] (which is true, but Bart exaggerates the details). The receptionist pairs him up with Tom, a handsome military test pilot. Bart and Tom enjoy a variety of activities together, though Bart begins to feel guilty for taking up Tom's time despite not actually being fatherless. Homer finds out about Tom and confronts Bart. Homer decides to get revenge by becoming a Bigger Brother himself. A poor young boy named Pepi comes to the agency and asks if he can have a Bigger Brother. Taking pity on Pepi, Homer decides to become his Bigger Brother. | |||
| {{spoiler}} | |||
| Meanwhile, ] discovers that the cost of her family's monthly phone bill is abnormally high. She soon finds out why — ] has been making lengthy calls to the Corey hotline, a premium rate phone service where fans can listen to the voice of a teen heartthrob. Lisa promises to stop making calls to the hotline on the family's phone. However, she continues to call the hotline by using phones in ]'s office, the ], and ]. After ] sees Lisa using the school's phone, he calls a meeting with Lisa and Marge. Marge suggests that Lisa try to go until midnight without calling the hotline; if she can do so, she will have conquered her addiction. Lisa is tempted throughout the rest of the day, but she ultimately beats her addiction. | |||
| After playing ], ] waits for ] to pick him up. However, Homer forgets, and Bart is left alone as a storm approaches. When Homer finally remembers after a dream about seeing Bart's skeleton on a soccer field, he rushes out to pick up Bart and tries to put the issue behind them, but Bart isn't buying. | |||
| Some time later, Homer, Pepi, Bart, and Tom attend Bigger Brothers Day at Marine World, where the Bigger Brothers and their boys attend to celebrate. Homer runs into Bart and Tom and reveals to Tom that he is Bart's father. Tom punches Homer, leading to a brawl between the two men. The fight rages across Springfield and ends when Homer lands on a fire hydrant, severely injuring his back. Homer is sent to a hospital on a stretcher. Feeling remorseful, Bart decides to forgive Homer. Tom laments how he will miss being a Bigger Brother, while Pepi is sad over losing his Bigger Brother. Bart suggests Tom become Pepi's big brother; they happily agree and walk into the sunset holding hands. After Homer recovers, Bart asks Homer to teach him how to fight. | |||
| When they return home, Bart watches ] when the Big Brothers ] comes up. This gives him an idea and he goes to the Big Brothers Agency disguising himself with accent as a brave young boy whose father left him six years ago. Afterwards, Bart is assigned a big brother called Tom whom Bart first meets when he comes to school to pick Bart up by letting him ride on the back of his ]. Later on, Bart and Tom meet up for Tomato Day at the Springfield Stadium. Afterwards, they go to lift weights and watch '']''. Eventually, Homer finds out about Bart's Big Brother and goes to the Big Brothers Agency where he is assigned the child Pepi. Homer then shows Pepi the garage door, "a wonder of modern technology" and then the two look at the stars together. | |||
| ==Production== | |||
| Meanwhile back at the Simpsons household, ] finds a $378.53 phone bill for calls made to the ] hotline. Because of this, Marge headed up to talk to ] who was hiding in her room, as the entrance was decorated with a Corey poster. Marge tells Lisa that she understands what she was going through and that when she was a girl she had a crush on ], which causes Lisa to laugh uproariously. Even so, in the end Lisa agrees to never make anymore calls. However, Lisa continues to make the calls until eventually she stops after taking Marge's advice in that if she could make it until 12 o'clock without calling, she would have conquered her addiction. | |||
| ].]] | |||
| The episode was written by ] and directed by ].<ref name="martyn" /> It originally aired in the United States on February 4, 1993, on ].<ref name="variety" /> The role of Tom was written for ].<ref name="Reiss"/> However, when offered the part, Cruise repeatedly turned it down, so the producers used ].<ref name="Reiss">Reiss, Mike (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' . 20th Century Fox.</ref> Corey is a composite of ] and ], known as ].<ref name="Jean">Jean, Al (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' . 20th Century Fox.</ref> Pepi was based on the title character of the daily comic strip '']''.<ref name="Jean"/> | |||
| In one scene of the episode, Bart and Tom watch a fictitious episode of '']''. Gracie Films contacted ] to get authorization to use ] for that sequence.<ref name="Jean"/> Nickelodeon was strict about what ''The Simpsons'' was allowed to do, and they were not allowed to make the duo uncharacteristically savage as they wanted.<ref name="Jean"/> Animators from ] who worked on the series, including ], offered to do the layouts of Ren and Stimpy for the episode.<ref name="Vitti">Vitti, Jon (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' . 20th Century Fox.</ref> Another show Bart watches, ''Tuesday Night Live'', is a parody of ]'s '']''. Krusty appears in a sketch called "The Big Ear Family", and says that the sketch goes on for twelve more minutes, even though the joke's punchline has already been established.<ref name="Vitti"/> That was Vitti's way of criticizing ''Saturday Night Live'' for having overlong sketches with thin joke premises.<ref name="Vitti"/> The sequence originally had a longer version of the ''Tuesday Night Live'' band playing into the commercial break, but it was cut because Vitti, who was a writer on ''Saturday Night Live'' during the 1985–86 season along with fellow ''Simpsons'' writers ] and ], did not want to come off as being bitter.<ref name="Vitti"/> | |||
| Elsewhere, Homer takes Pepi and Tom takes Bart to Marine World to attend Big Brothers Day. There, Homer meets up with Tom and the two fight because Tom was angry after hearing Bart's stories about his father being a gambling drunk. In the end, Homer ends up in a stretcher leaving Tom without a child to take care of and Pepi without a Big Brother. Seeing this, Bart makes an obvious conclusion, telling them that Tom should become Pepi's big brother. Afterwards, Bart and Homer reconcile and the episode ends with Homer and Bart sitting on the couch. | |||
| The writers were looking for an ending, and executive producer ] suggested they watch '']''. The writers came in on a Saturday to watch it, and were inspired by the fight scene between ] and ] to do a fight scene between Homer and Tom.<ref name="Vitti"/> The scene was difficult for the producers to sound-mix because they wanted it to sound comedic but not horrifying. They discovered that the more realistic the effects used sounded, the funnier the scene became.<ref name="Groening">Groening, Matt (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' . 20th Century Fox.</ref> The producers tried all sorts of different sound effects for when Homer cracks his back on the fire hydrant and chose the tiniest realistic sound, because they believed that it was the most painful and "hilarious".<ref name="Groening"/> | |||
| {{endspoiler}} | |||
| ⚫ | ==Cultural references== | ||
| ==Trivia== | |||
| *Bart's telephone only has buttons from 1 to 9 with no zeroes or punctuation marks. | |||
| *According to the DVD commentary for this episode, the role of Tom was written with ] in mind. However, after being repeatedly turned down by Cruise, the producers went with ]. | |||
| *The name I.P. Freely that Kent Brockman was given was one of the prank names Bart gave in one of his calls to Moe's bar. | |||
| *Bart is asked to go to the movies by his friends, who are standing in the box of a pickup truck, which classmate Jimbo is driving. | |||
| The title of the episode is a reference to '']'' (1984).<ref name="clipd">{{cite web |url=http://www.clipd.com/tv/39991/14-classic-movie-references-in-the-simpsons-that-you-totally-missed/#page=3 |title=14 Classic Movie References In "The Simpsons" That You Totally Missed |publisher=Clipd |access-date=February 18, 2016 |archive-date=November 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151110191334/http://www.clipd.com/tv/39991/14-classic-movie-references-in-the-simpsons-that-you-totally-missed/#page=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref> ] and two other kids say they're going to sneak into an R-Rated movie, chanting "'']''!" The scene where Milhouse writes "Trab pu kcip!" on the wall is a reference to ]'s ] (1980).<ref>{{cite news|last=Rogers|first=Nicole E.|title=Latest Book Feeds Mania|work=Wisconsin State Journal|page=D1|publisher=Madison Newspapers, Inc.|date=October 22, 2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Star-Ledger Staff|title=Readers point out more evidence of 'Simpsons'-Kubrick connection|work=]|page=43|date=March 13, 1999}}</ref> The woman Bart mistakes for Homer is singing the ] song "]".<ref name="martyn" /> While Bart is stuck in the storm waiting for Homer, a nun is lifted by the wind, a reference to the TV series '']'', and explodes.<ref name="martyn" /> Bart and Tom watch '']''.<ref name="Jean" /> When Homer watches TV, the announcer says "Tonight, on ]" before trailing off: "...ah, who cares." He also watches an ] production about ], the ] on the ] who led the team to victory in the first two ].<ref name="Jean" /> | |||
| ⚫ | ==Cultural |
||
| *The episode's title is a play on ]' ] '']''. The Simpsons has also spoofed this title with the episode title "]''. | |||
| *When Tom and Bart are watching TV, they are watching '']''. The producers had to get ] to let them use it, and the scene follows like this: | |||
| :Ren: (eating a dinner made by Stimpy) mmm... Stimpy, this meatball soup is delicious!! | |||
| Marge tells Lisa that, as a girl, she had a crush on ], to Lisa's amusement. The scene where Homer accuses Bart of seeing his big brother is a reference to '']'' (1966), where ] accuses ] of ].<ref name="martyn" /> In the story Homer tells Pepi, Bart tells Homer to shut up and shoves half a grapefruit in his face, a reference to ] in '']'' (1931).<ref name="Jean" /> Bart watches ''Tuesday Night Live'', a parody of ]'s '']''.<ref name="Vitti" /> During the fight scene between Homer and Tom, the background music is a parody of the music used in the fight scene in '']'' (1952),<ref name="Reiss" /> and the fighting pose Tom makes is a parody of the '']'' introduction sequence. Skinner's disturbing monologue about his mother watching him is a parody of Norman Bates' similar dialogue from ]'s ] (1960).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/movieconnections |title=Psycho - Connections |publisher=IMDb |access-date=February 18, 2016}}</ref> | |||
| :Stimpy: Oh that's not meatball soup, Ren, that's my collection of furballs and stomach acid! | |||
| ==Reception== | |||
| :Ren: WHAT?! YOU EEDIOT!!! YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME MAN!!! | |||
| In its original broadcast, "Brother from the Same Planet" finished 18th in ratings for the week of February 1–7, 1993, with a ] of 14.9, equivalent to approximately 13.9 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating '']''.<ref>{{cite news |title='Skylark' helps CBS soar to no. 1|work=Sun-Sentinel|author=Elber, Lynn|page=3E|date=February 11, 1993}}</ref> | |||
| In their section on the episode in the book ''I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide'', Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood comment: "We love Homer sitting at home trying to remember to pick up Bart—he's watching a TV show about a football star called Bart, with pictures of Bart on all sides, and even Maggie seems to be calling her brother's name."<ref name="martyn">{{cite book|last=Martyn|first=Warren|author2=Adrian Wood|title=I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide|publisher=Virgin Books|date=February 10, 2000|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season4/page15.shtml|isbn=0-7535-0495-2|access-date=December 20, 2019|archive-date=June 29, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120629180421/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/simpsons/episodeguide/season4/page15.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writing in the compilation work '']'', Robert M. Arkin and Philip J. Mazzocco reference a scene from the episode where Homer "argues with his own brain about a desired course of action" to illustrate ], the idea that "humans will go to great lengths to attain and preserve self-esteem".<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Alan|author2=Chris Logan|title=]|publisher=Benbella Books|date=March 1, 2006|isbn=1-932100-70-9|page=127}}</ref> | |||
| :(Ren's eyes then wrap around each other and burst into blood.) | |||
| :(Tom and Bart laugh.) | |||
| The writers of '']'' named "Brother from the Same Planet" as one the five best episodes of ''The Simpsons'', along with "]", "]", "]", and "]".<ref name="variety">{{cite news | last =Staff | title ='King' scribes chime in with best bets | work =] | page =A8| date =February 13, 2003}}</ref> Mikey Cahill of the '']'' highlighted the quote "PickupBart? What the hell is PickupBart?" by Homer in his list of "Fab Fives" related to ''The Simpsons''.<ref>{{cite news | last =Cahill | first =Mikey | title =Fab Five | work =] | page =I10 | date =July 26, 2007 }}</ref> When asked to pick his favorite season out of ''The Simpsons'' seasons ] through ], Paul Lane of the '']'' picked season four and highlighted "Brother from the Same Planet" and "]" which he called "excellent", along with "the sweetly funny" "]", and "Homer the Heretic".<ref>{{cite news | last =Dzikiy | first =Phil |author2=Paul Lane | title =TELEVISION: 20 years — A 'Simpsons' extravaganza | work =] | date =September 25, 2008 }}</ref> In a review of ''The Simpsons'' season four, Lyndsey Shinoda of ''Video Store'' cited "Brother from the Same Planet" and "]" among her "personal favorites" from the season.<ref>{{cite news | last =Shinoda | first =Lyndsey | title =The Simpsons: the Complete Fourth Season | work =Video Store | publisher =Advanstar Communications | date =June 13, 2004 }}</ref> Reviewing season four in '']'', ] called the episode "a masterpiece of tiny, throwaway details that accumulate into a worldview."<ref name="Tucker"></ref> | |||
| :The ''Ren and Stimpy'' reference is intriguing, given the fact the plot of this episode is so similar to a Ren and Stimpy cartoon produced around the same time and vice versa. | |||
| *Milhouse writes "Trab pu kcip" on the wall, which is "Pick up Bart" backwards, a reference to Danny Torrance writing "red rum" which is "murder" backwards, in '']''. | |||
| *The woman that Bart mistakes for Homer in an ironic touch sings "]". | |||
| *While Bart is stuck in the storm waiting for Homer, a nun is lifted up by the wind, a reference to the ] '']''. | |||
| *The grapefruit scene is a reference of the ] movie, '']''. | |||
| *When Bart tells himself "], Bart" he is making a reference to what ] says to himself in '']''. | |||
| *When Homer tells Bart "You've been flouncing around with that floosy of a bigger brother of yours, haven't you? Haven't you!" he is making a reference to '']'' when ] accuses his wife of ]. | |||
| *Skinner makes a reference to the movie '']'' when he says "Oh... there's mother now." This is the first time Skinner has been portrayed as a ] like character. | |||
| *During the part where Bart watches "Tuesday Night Live" (an obvious jab at NBC's '']''), Bart comments that he misses ]. It parodies how the loss of a cast member or members from one season leaves the next season to be mediocre in the eyes of SNL fans because of the loss of said cast member (or castmembers). | |||
| *Krusty's line during Tuesday Night Live, "We've got a great show, except the last half hour is a real garbage dump" is a jab at SNL putting on weaker, less funny sketches and performances in the last half hour of the show. | |||
| *Another criticism of SNL comes when Krusty is in a sketch called "The Big Ear Family", which could be a reference to either the ] (a family of space aliens played by ], ] and ]) or the Widettes (a family with really big rear ends, played by Jane Curtin, ], ], and Dan Aykroyd). Krusty's line, "This sketch goes on for 12 minutes", is a jab at SNL trying to milk out humor from one-joke sketch premises, which was a complaint from SNL fans in the 1990's (and still is to this day). | |||
| *At one point, Bart tells Homer that he would fake the excitment he would have when Homer pushed him on the swing and demonstrates it, to Homer's horror. This is a reference to the infamous fake orgasm scene in '']''. | |||
| *Before Homer lands on the ], Tom mimics the pose and punches of the fighter from the opening titles in ]. | |||
| == |
==References== | ||
| {{Reflist|2}} | |||
| *'''Dealer''': Nineteen. <br/>'''Homer''': Hit me.<br/>'''Dealer''': '''' Twenty.<br/>'''Homer''': Hit me.<br/>'''Dealer''': '''' Twenty-one.<br/>'''Homer''': Hit me.<br/>'''Dealer''': '''' Twenty-two <br/>'''Homer''': D'oh!<br/> | |||
| *'''Bart''': You've been really great to me, but there's probably some other kid who needs you even more. <br/>'''Tom''': Bart, I could kiss you. If the Bigger Brothers didn't make me sign a form promising I wouldn't. <br/> | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| *'''Homer''': Hey, boy. Where ya goin'?<br/>'''Bart''': Father-son picnic. ''''<br>'''Homer''': Have a good time! '''' Wait a minute…<br/> | |||
| {{Portal|The Simpsons}} | |||
| *'''Administrator''': And what are your reasons for wanting a Little Brother?<br/>'''Homer's brain''': Don't say revenge! Don't say revenge!<br/>'''Homer's mouth''': Uh, revenge?<br/>'''Homer's brain''': That's it, I'm gettin' outta here. ''''<br/> ''''<br/>'''Administrator''': Welcome aboard Mr. Simpson. | |||
| *{{cite book | last =Irwin | first =William | author2 =Mark T. Conard | author3 =Aeon J. Skoble | title =] | publisher =Open Court | year =2001 | isbn =0-8126-9433-3 | page = }} | |||
| *'''Bart:''' Dad, remember when Tom had you in that headlock and you screamed "I'm a ]" and when he let you go, you kicked him in the back? <br/>'''Homer:''' Heh heh heh. Yeah? <br/> '''Bart:''' Will you teach me how to do that? <br/> '''Homer:''' Sure, boy. First, you gotta shriek like a woman and keep sobbing until he turns away in disgust. That's when it's time to kick some back! (he and Bart laugh) And then when he's lying down on the ground... <br/> '''Bart:''' Yeah? <br/> '''Homer:''' kick him in the ribs...<br/>'''Bart:''' Yeah? <br/> '''Homer:''' step on his neck...<br/> '''Bart:''' Yeah? <br/> '''Homer:'''Then, run like hell. (Bart and Homer laugh together) | |||
| *'''Pepi:''' I love you, Papa Homer. <br/> '''Homer:''' I love you too, ]. <br/> '''Pepi:''' Pepi. <br/> '''Homer:''' Pepi. | |||
| *'''' '''TV Announcer: '''Tonight on '']''...(apathetically): ah, who cares? | |||
| *'''Bart (as he's watching Tuesday Night Live go to commercial break):''' I miss ]. | |||
| *'''Homer (who is bent backwards over a fire hydrant following a punch from Tom):''' This is even more painful than it looks. | |||
| *'''Marge''': Homer, I'm heading down to the store. Remember, pick up Bart. <br/>'''Homer''': I'm on my way.<br/>'']]'' | |||
| *'''Homer (holding the garage door opener):''' I push this button and the door opens like magic. ''(the door goes up a little bit, then stops)''<br/>'''Pepe:''' Why does it stop there? <br/>'''Homer:''' Because it is a stupid PIECE OF JUNK!! ''(begins banging on the door)'' | |||
| *''(Homer and Bart see each other at the ])''<br/>'''Homer:''' It's you! ''(pause)'' So, you're looking well. <br/> '''Tom:''' Come on, Bart. You know better than to talk to strangers. <br/> '''Homer:''' For your information, I'm his father! <br/> '''Tom:''' His father, the drunken gambler?! <br/>'''Homer:''' (pleasantly)That's right, and who might you be? | |||
| *'''Kent Brockman:''' This just in. A fistfight is in progress in downtown Springfield. Early reports indicate, and this is very preliminary, that one of the fighters is a giant lizard. '']] '' Do we have a source on this? ... Uh huh. A bunch of drunken frat boys? All right, I could use some names. I. P. Freeley. Eh, hey! | |||
| ==External links== | ==External links== | ||
| {{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_4#Brother_from_the_Same_Planet|"Brother from the Same Planet"}} | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| *{{ |
*{{Snpp capsule|9F12}} | ||
| *{{IMDb episode|id=0764185}} | |||
| {{The Simpsons episodes|4}} | |||
| {{The Ren & Stimpy Show}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 18:36, 21 December 2024
14th episode of the 4th season of The Simpsons
| "Brother from the Same Planet" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 14 | ||
| Directed by | Jeffrey Lynch | ||
| Written by | Jon Vitti | ||
| Production code | 9F12 | ||
| Original air date | February 4, 1993 (1993-02-04) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
| |||
| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "The Principal's toupee is not a frisbee" | ||
| Couch gag | The rear wall rotates, taking the family to another room and leaving an empty couch behind. | ||
| Commentary | Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss Jon Vitti Jeffrey Lynch | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsons season 4 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Brother from the Same Planet" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on Fox in the United States on February 4, 1993. In the episode, Bart, furious with Homer for taking too long to pick him up from soccer practice on a rainy day, turns to the Bigger Brothers Agency, which pairs up fatherless boys with adult male role models (a parody of the Big Brothers of America). Meanwhile, Lisa becomes addicted to the Corey hotline, a phone service where television fans can listen to the voice of a teen idol.
The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. The producers tried to cast Tom Cruise for the role of Tom, but Cruise declined and they chose Phil Hartman instead. "Brother from the Same Planet" received favorable reception in books and in the media; a contemporary review in Entertainment Weekly said it "may be the best Simpsons show ever" and it was named one of the five best episodes of the series by the writers of King of the Hill.
Plot
On a rainy day, Bart waits for Homer to pick him up from soccer practice. However, Homer forgets to pick Bart up for many hours; by the time Homer finally picks Bart up, Bart is soaked from the rain. Furious with Homer, Bart goes to the Bigger Brothers Agency, a mentor program which pairs up fatherless boys with positive male role models. Bart claims that his father was an alcoholic gambler who abandoned him (which is true, but Bart exaggerates the details). The receptionist pairs him up with Tom, a handsome military test pilot. Bart and Tom enjoy a variety of activities together, though Bart begins to feel guilty for taking up Tom's time despite not actually being fatherless. Homer finds out about Tom and confronts Bart. Homer decides to get revenge by becoming a Bigger Brother himself. A poor young boy named Pepi comes to the agency and asks if he can have a Bigger Brother. Taking pity on Pepi, Homer decides to become his Bigger Brother.
Meanwhile, Marge discovers that the cost of her family's monthly phone bill is abnormally high. She soon finds out why — Lisa has been making lengthy calls to the Corey hotline, a premium rate phone service where fans can listen to the voice of a teen heartthrob. Lisa promises to stop making calls to the hotline on the family's phone. However, she continues to call the hotline by using phones in Dr. Hibbert's office, the Springfield Retirement Castle, and Springfield Elementary School. After Principal Skinner sees Lisa using the school's phone, he calls a meeting with Lisa and Marge. Marge suggests that Lisa try to go until midnight without calling the hotline; if she can do so, she will have conquered her addiction. Lisa is tempted throughout the rest of the day, but she ultimately beats her addiction.
Some time later, Homer, Pepi, Bart, and Tom attend Bigger Brothers Day at Marine World, where the Bigger Brothers and their boys attend to celebrate. Homer runs into Bart and Tom and reveals to Tom that he is Bart's father. Tom punches Homer, leading to a brawl between the two men. The fight rages across Springfield and ends when Homer lands on a fire hydrant, severely injuring his back. Homer is sent to a hospital on a stretcher. Feeling remorseful, Bart decides to forgive Homer. Tom laments how he will miss being a Bigger Brother, while Pepi is sad over losing his Bigger Brother. Bart suggests Tom become Pepi's big brother; they happily agree and walk into the sunset holding hands. After Homer recovers, Bart asks Homer to teach him how to fight.
Production
The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jeffrey Lynch. It originally aired in the United States on February 4, 1993, on Fox. The role of Tom was written for Tom Cruise. However, when offered the part, Cruise repeatedly turned it down, so the producers used Phil Hartman. Corey is a composite of Corey Feldman and Corey Haim, known as The Two Coreys. Pepi was based on the title character of the daily comic strip Dondi.
In one scene of the episode, Bart and Tom watch a fictitious episode of The Ren & Stimpy Show. Gracie Films contacted Nickelodeon to get authorization to use Ren and Stimpy for that sequence. Nickelodeon was strict about what The Simpsons was allowed to do, and they were not allowed to make the duo uncharacteristically savage as they wanted. Animators from Games Animation who worked on the series, including Chris Reccardi, offered to do the layouts of Ren and Stimpy for the episode. Another show Bart watches, Tuesday Night Live, is a parody of NBC's Saturday Night Live. Krusty appears in a sketch called "The Big Ear Family", and says that the sketch goes on for twelve more minutes, even though the joke's punchline has already been established. That was Vitti's way of criticizing Saturday Night Live for having overlong sketches with thin joke premises. The sequence originally had a longer version of the Tuesday Night Live band playing into the commercial break, but it was cut because Vitti, who was a writer on Saturday Night Live during the 1985–86 season along with fellow Simpsons writers George Meyer and John Swartzwelder, did not want to come off as being bitter.
The writers were looking for an ending, and executive producer Sam Simon suggested they watch The Quiet Man. The writers came in on a Saturday to watch it, and were inspired by the fight scene between John Wayne and Victor McLaglen to do a fight scene between Homer and Tom. The scene was difficult for the producers to sound-mix because they wanted it to sound comedic but not horrifying. They discovered that the more realistic the effects used sounded, the funnier the scene became. The producers tried all sorts of different sound effects for when Homer cracks his back on the fire hydrant and chose the tiniest realistic sound, because they believed that it was the most painful and "hilarious".
Cultural references
The title of the episode is a reference to The Brother from Another Planet (1984). Milhouse and two other kids say they're going to sneak into an R-Rated movie, chanting "Barton Fink!" The scene where Milhouse writes "Trab pu kcip!" on the wall is a reference to Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). The woman Bart mistakes for Homer is singing the Helen Reddy song "I Am Woman". While Bart is stuck in the storm waiting for Homer, a nun is lifted by the wind, a reference to the TV series The Flying Nun, and explodes. Bart and Tom watch The Ren & Stimpy Show. When Homer watches TV, the announcer says "Tonight, on Wings" before trailing off: "...ah, who cares." He also watches an NFL Films production about Bart Starr, the quarterback on the Green Bay Packers who led the team to victory in the first two Super Bowls.
Marge tells Lisa that, as a girl, she had a crush on Bobby Sherman, to Lisa's amusement. The scene where Homer accuses Bart of seeing his big brother is a reference to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), where Richard Burton accuses Elizabeth Taylor of adultery. In the story Homer tells Pepi, Bart tells Homer to shut up and shoves half a grapefruit in his face, a reference to James Cagney in The Public Enemy (1931). Bart watches Tuesday Night Live, a parody of NBC's Saturday Night Live. During the fight scene between Homer and Tom, the background music is a parody of the music used in the fight scene in The Quiet Man (1952), and the fighting pose Tom makes is a parody of the Street Fighter II introduction sequence. Skinner's disturbing monologue about his mother watching him is a parody of Norman Bates' similar dialogue from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).
Reception
In its original broadcast, "Brother from the Same Planet" finished 18th in ratings for the week of February 1–7, 1993, with a Nielsen rating of 14.9, equivalent to approximately 13.9 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating Martin.
In their section on the episode in the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood comment: "We love Homer sitting at home trying to remember to pick up Bart—he's watching a TV show about a football star called Bart, with pictures of Bart on all sides, and even Maggie seems to be calling her brother's name." Writing in the compilation work The Psychology of The Simpsons, Robert M. Arkin and Philip J. Mazzocco reference a scene from the episode where Homer "argues with his own brain about a desired course of action" to illustrate self-discrepancy theory, the idea that "humans will go to great lengths to attain and preserve self-esteem".
The writers of King of the Hill named "Brother from the Same Planet" as one the five best episodes of The Simpsons, along with "Homer the Heretic", "Lisa's Wedding", "Lisa's Substitute", and "Behind the Laughter". Mikey Cahill of the Herald Sun highlighted the quote "PickupBart? What the hell is PickupBart?" by Homer in his list of "Fab Fives" related to The Simpsons. When asked to pick his favorite season out of The Simpsons seasons one through twenty, Paul Lane of the Niagara Gazette picked season four and highlighted "Brother from the Same Planet" and "Mr. Plow" which he called "excellent", along with "the sweetly funny" "Lisa's First Word", and "Homer the Heretic". In a review of The Simpsons season four, Lyndsey Shinoda of Video Store cited "Brother from the Same Planet" and "I Love Lisa" among her "personal favorites" from the season. Reviewing season four in Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker called the episode "a masterpiece of tiny, throwaway details that accumulate into a worldview."
References
- Deming, Mark (2008). "The Simpsons: Brother From the Same Planet". Allmovie. Macrovision Corporation. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
- ^ Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (February 10, 2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0495-2. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ Tucker, Ken. "The Simpsons". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Staff (February 13, 2003). "'King' scribes chime in with best bets". Variety. p. A8.
- ^ Reiss, Mike (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season . 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Jean, Al (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season . 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Vitti, Jon (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season . 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Groening, Matt (2004). Commentary for "Brother from the Same Planet", in The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season . 20th Century Fox.
- "14 Classic Movie References In "The Simpsons" That You Totally Missed". Clipd. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- Rogers, Nicole E. (October 22, 2002). "Latest Book Feeds Mania". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison Newspapers, Inc. p. D1.
- Star-Ledger Staff (March 13, 1999). "Readers point out more evidence of 'Simpsons'-Kubrick connection". The Star-Ledger. p. 43.
- "Psycho - Connections". IMDb. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
- Elber, Lynn (February 11, 1993). "'Skylark' helps CBS soar to no. 1". Sun-Sentinel. p. 3E.
- Brown, Alan; Chris Logan (March 1, 2006). The Psychology of The Simpsons. Benbella Books. p. 127. ISBN 1-932100-70-9.
- Cahill, Mikey (July 26, 2007). "Fab Five". Herald Sun. p. I10.
- Dzikiy, Phil; Paul Lane (September 25, 2008). "TELEVISION: 20 years — A 'Simpsons' extravaganza". Niagara Gazette.
- Shinoda, Lyndsey (June 13, 2004). "The Simpsons: the Complete Fourth Season". Video Store. Advanstar Communications.
Further reading
- Irwin, William; Mark T. Conard; Aeon J. Skoble (2001). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer. Open Court. p. 241. ISBN 0-8126-9433-3.
External links
- "Brother from the Same Planet episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
- "Brother from the Same Planet" at IMDb
