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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 disperse 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

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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.

Feeling uncertain about the monorail, Marge investigates Lanley's past by traveling to "North Haverbrook," which Lanley mentioned was a previous purchaser of one of his monorails. She discovers the public transportation project was a dangerous scam perpetrated by Lanley, who is seen boarding a flight to Tahiti with Springfield's money in a suitcase.

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 (actually the "M" from the monorail) 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.

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Trivia

• Conan O'Brien says this is his favorite Simpsons episode (O'Brien also wrote this episode).
• 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 paramour, 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".
• 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.
• A framed painting of the Hindenburg can be seen on the doomed monorail. In a more tragic case of life imitating art, next to the Hindenburg is a painting of the World Trade Center burning down, eight years before it actually happened.
• 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."
• This episode was vaguely mentioned in a scene from the television show "Supernatural" in Season One - Episode 17. The main characters are looking for other towns where strange happenings have occurred, the other towns are, "Brockway, Ogdenville and Northhaverbrook" spoken over the phone from Sam to Dean.

Cultural References

• The episode starts with a tribute song to The Flintstones as Homer heads home from work and crashes his car
• The episode is a partial spoof of The Music Man, with "The Monorail Song" strongly resembling the Music Man's "Trouble".
• When Mr. Burns is brought into the court room, he is restrained in the same way as Hannibal Lecter in the film The Silence of the Lambs.
• On the Truck-o-Saurus advert, the narrator said that the (impersonated) voice of Truck-o-Saurus was Marlon Brando.
• Lisa imagines interacting with Genghis Khan via virtual reality helmet.
• According to Lyle Lanley, both the monorail and Superman can outrun The Flash.
• Homer sings part of the traditional English ballad "I Gave My Love a Cherry (The Riddle Song)".
• 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 taxiing plane is asked where a forklift truck is, and waves his batons in the direction of the forklift, causing the plane, whose pilot takes this as a direction, to crash into a terminal.
• The celebrity on the maiden voyage of the North Haverbrook monorail was Gallagher.
• Kent Brockman refers To "Springfield Heights, 90210" a reference to Beverly Hills, 90210.
• Mayor Quimby confuses Star Trek, Star Wars and Our Gang.

Quotes

• (in the Flintstones parody) (Power Plant Worker blows a whistle thing)
  Homer: Yabba, dabba doo! (Runs away, skids along a pipe, out a window, and smashes through the window of his car, breaking the glass.)(singing) Simpson, Homer Simpson. He's the greatest guy in history. From the town of Springfield, he's about to hit a chestnut tree!

• John Truckasaurus: You crazy car, I don't know whether to eat you or kiss you.

• EPA Agent: Agent Malone, Environmental Protection Agency. Some Boy Scouts stumbled on your little game of "hide the ooze".

• Homer: 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. (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.
  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! I've sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville, and North Haverbrook, and by gum, it put them on the map!

• Lyle Lanley speaks to Ms. Hoover's second grade class
  Lisa: Mr. Lanley, I would like to know why a small town with a centralized population would need a mass transit system.
  Lanley: Young lady, that is the most intelligent question I've ever been asked.
  Lisa: Really?
  Lanley: Oh, I could give you an answer, but the only one who would understand it would be you and me (leans in) and that includes your teacher. (Lisa giggles) Let's keep it going. You there, eating the paste.

• Homer is watching TV when a commercial comes on. It depicts a man bearing a strong resemblance to Homer at this very moment
  Lyle Lanley: Are you stuck in a dead-end job?
  Homer: Maybe!
  Lyle Lanley: Are you wasting away the precious gift of life in front of the idiot box?
  Homer: What's it to ya?!
  Lyle Lanley: Are you on your third beer of the evening?
  Homer: Does whiskey count as beer?
  Lyle Lanley: Then perhaps you should join the exciting field of monorail conducting by enrolling at the Lanley Institute!
  (photograph shows an impressive building)
  Disclaimer: Actual institute may not match photograph.

• 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: Do you want to change your name to Homer Junior? The kids can call you Ho-Ju!
  Bart: I'll get back to you.

• 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 could be killed!

• Marge: Homer, there's a family of possums in here.
  Homer: I call the big one "Bitey."
  (Matt Groening has said this was his favorite Simpsons line from season 4, 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.
  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: 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!
• Wiggum: The town charter says that in an emergency, I run the show!
  Quimby: We'll see about that! To Town Hall!
  Wiggum: Fine! (calm) Should we take one car, or should I follow you?

• 
  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? (grabs the charter)
  Wiggum: Hey, let go! You're rippin' it!
  Quimby: No, you are!
  Wiggum: No, you are!
  Quimby: Let go! That's the charter!

• Technician 1: I got it! We can just shut off the power!
  Technician 2: No such luck. It's solar powered.
  Technician 1: Solar power. When will people learn?
• 
  Leonard Nimoy: A solar eclipse. The cosmic ballet... goes on.
  Passenger (sitting next to him): Does anyone wanna switch seats?

• Captain: 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: 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: 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!

• Marge: How fast are they going?
  Homer: Eeeeeyaaaaaaai! (super fast as monorail whizzes by platform)
  Cobb: 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.

• Sea Captain: Arr! Ya'call that an anchor?

• Homer: Doughnuts... is there anything they can't do?

• 
  Leonard Nimoy: Well, my work is done here.
  Barney: What do you mean your work is done? You didn't do anything!
  Leonard Nimoy: Didn't I?

• 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.

See also

• Songs in the Key of Springfield — The 1997 album that contains the Monorail Song.

External links

• "Marge vs. the Monorail episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• Find Monorail at The Lyrics List at The Simpsons Archive

• The Simpsons episodes, season 4
• Rail transport in fiction