'The Old Man and the Lisa' is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 20, 1997. In the episode, Mr. Burns becomes bankrupt and asks Lisa to help him become rich again. Apr 07, 2001 Only in reality, Simpsons Wrestling is merde. The only wrestling part of this game is that there are two characters in a ring, with ropes, and they each.
'Marge's Son Poisoning' is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' seventeenth season. Marge buys a tandem bicycle because she thinks Homer will ride with her, but when she ends up trying to ride it on her own (and failing miserably), Bart chooses to ride with her. When the teahouse they go to (Marge. Mar 22, 2001 The Simpsons Wrestling is a professional wrestling video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons, made for the PlayStation console. The game was developed by Big Ape Productions, and published by Fox Interactive and Activision. It was released in the PAL region on March 22, 2001, and in North America on April 12, 2001.
'The Old Man and the Lisa' | |||
---|---|---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |||
Episode no. | Season 8 Episode 21 | ||
Directed by | Mark Kirkland[1] | ||
Written by | John Swartzwelder[1] | ||
Production code | 4F17 | ||
Original air date | April 20, 1997[2] | ||
Guest appearance(s) | |||
Episode features | |||
Couch gag | The Simpsons' couch becomes a giant Whac-A-Mole game, with Homer getting hit.[1] | ||
Commentary | Matt Groening Josh Weinstein Dan Castellaneta Yeardley Smith Mark Kirkland David X. Cohen George Meyer | ||
Episode chronology | |||
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The Simpsons (season 8) | |||
List of The Simpsons episodes |
'The Old Man and the Lisa' is the twenty-first episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on April 20, 1997.[2] In the episode, Mr. Burns goes bankrupt and asks Lisa to help him get rich again. She agrees on the condition that he change his evil ways. They earn money by recycling cans and soon Burns has enough money to start his own recycling plant. Lisa is aghast when she learns the plant makes a slurry from liquefied sea creatures. When Burns sells the plant to a company which makes fish sticks, he offers Lisa 10 percent of his profits, but she declines for ethical reasons.
The episode was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by John Swartzwelder. The writing staff had thought about an episode in which Mr. Burns would lose his money and would have to interact with the outside world. In DVD commentary, the writers explained that while Mr. Burns tried to change, he 'couldn't help being himself'.[3] Professional wrestler Bret Hart made a cameo as himself, animated in his pink wrestling outfit. 'The Old Man and the Lisa' contains cultural references to the television series That Girl and the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It was positively received by critics and won the Environmental Media Award for 'TV Episodic Comedy'.
Plot[edit]
Lisa collects recyclables to earn money for the Junior Achievers Club school trip to Albany. Mr. Burns speaks to the club at Springfield Elementary School, scoffing when Lisa suggests his nuclear power plant start a recycling program. When Burns boasts that he would not be filthy rich if he listened to nature lovers like her, Lisa counters that his net worth is only half what he claims. When pressed, Smithers reluctantly tells Burns he has even considerably less money than that.
May 11, 2000. The simpsons wrestling ps1. Retrieved 2009-01-01. Business Wire. Retrieved 2009-01-01. Mar, Posted (March 12, 2001).
Burns soon realizes he is nearly broke because his sycophantic advisers tell him only what he wants to hear. He is oblivious to the 1929 stock market crash, neglecting to check his stock ticker since September 1929. He aggressively invests in blue chip stocks, but makes bad investments and goes bankrupt. The bank forecloses on the plant — putting Lenny in charge — and sells his mansion to pro wrestler Bret Hart.[1]
Burns moves in with Smithers and insists on doing his grocery shopping. At the supermarket he is confused by the difference between ketchup and catsup, so the grocer commits him to the Springfield Retirement Castle. He sees Lisa again at the nursing home and begs her to help rebuild his empire. She agrees to help him earn money by recycling after he promises to change his evil ways.
Burns grabs every can he finds, eventually earning enough money to open his own recycling plant. He gives Lisa a tour of the plant, showing her the Burns Omni-Net — millions of six-pack holders fastened together to catch fish and sea creatures to make Li'l Lisa's Patented Animal Slurry. Lisa, a vegetarian and animal rights supporter, realizes he has not changed; when he tries to be good, he is even more evil. Lisa runs through the streets, trying to stop seemingly brainwashed citizens from recycling.
Later Burns tells Lisa that he has sold the recycling plant to a fish stick company for US$120 million, 10 percent of which is hers. Lisa refuses the money and rips up the check. This causes Homer to have four simultaneous heart attacks. At the hospital, Lisa apologizes to her dad for forfeiting the money. When he tells her that $12,000 would have been a godsend, Lisa tells him 10 percent of $120 million is actually $12 million. The hospital's public address system announces a code blue, indicating Homer has suffered cardiac arrest.[4][5][6]
Production[edit]
Guest voice Bret Hart insisted that his animated version in the episode would wear his pink wrestling outfit.
The episode was based on a story idea pitched by David X. Cohen,[7] although it was written by John Swartzwelder, who had written many of the Simpsons episodes that have environmental themes.[3] This habit led to him being called the 'conscience of the staff'[8] despite being a 'self declared anti-environmentalist.'[9] It was because of this that he was given such episodes, because the staff felt that he would give them just the right amount of sarcasm.[7] In the original script for the episode, he described the recycling center as 'a couple of hippies surrounded by garbage'.[8] Two alternate original titles for the episode were Cohen's 'Lisa and Burns' and Swartzwelder's 'Burns Goes Broke'.[7]
The writers had wanted an episode where Burns becomes bankrupt and shows what Burns would be like as a person in the real world.[3] The idea with the recycling plant was that Burns did not have any sort of evil plan, he just could not help being himself.[3] Burns really was trying to change and this was reflected in the end when he tried to give Lisa her share of the profits, with Lisa refusing.[10] Burns was drawn without his trademark scowl for this episode.[10] The staff joked about this being a suitable series finale, due to the episode ending with Homer suffering from another heart attack after Lisa tells Homer what 10% of Burns' $120,000,000 ('��')check really is.[9]
Professional wrestlerBret Hart guest starred in the episode as himself, and he was very insistent that he be shown wearing his pink wrestling outfit.[10] He explained that 'It's so cool to be part of a show that makes people laugh really, really hard.'[11] The media, aware that the animated Hart would want to purchase Mr. Burns' home, mistakenly anticipated that 'Bret offers to wrestle him [Mr. Burns] for the place.'[12] In a 2009 interview with the A.V. Club's Dave Hofer, Hart explained that the reason why his animated counterpart sounds nothing like him was that initially, he was brought in to voice a generic wrestler. When Mark Kirkland realised how famous Hart actually was, he told Hart that if the artwork had not been started yet, he would be drawn in as himself.[13] Later, Hart moved on to do voice work on the animated television series Jacob Two-Two. The press noted that at that time Hart was 'no stranger to cartoon-land,' having been 'immortalized' by 'The Old Man and the Lisa'.[14]
Cultural references[edit]
Mr. Burns's walk through the supermarket was based on a false rumor that George H. W. Bush visited a store and was confused by the scanner and, in the original draft for the episode, Burns met Bush while shopping there.[3] When bidding farewell to the hippie, Mr. Burns says 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', a reference to the Pink Floyd song of the same name. The hippie responds by saying that Burns needs to stop living in the past. The voice of the hippie is based on the character played by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now.[15] 'Achy Breaky Heart', a song by Billy Ray Cyrus, is played at the old folks' home.[1] The scene where Mr. Burns chases Lisa through the town is a spoof of the opening to the television series That Girl.[3] The scene where Lisa runs through the streets proclaiming recycling as evil, spoofs the finales of Soylent Green and the original version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers.[6]
![Simpson college wrestling schedule Simpson college wrestling schedule](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125627736/519085025.jpg)
Reception[edit]
In its original broadcast, 'The Old Man and the Lisa' finished 38th in ratings for the week of April 14–20, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 8.3, equivalent to approximately 8.1 million viewing households. It was tied along with King of the Hill as the third highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-files and Melrose Place.[16]
'The Old Man and the Lisa' received the 1997 Environmental Media Award in the 'TV Episodic Comedy' category.[17][18]
Simpsons Wrecking Ball
Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, called it 'An odd episode with a not-too-unexpected outcome. The best bits are undoubtedly Burns learning his way around a supermarket and Lisa's realisation of what Burns has been up to.'[1]
References[edit]
- ^ abcdef'The Old Man and the Lisa'. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-04-13.
- ^ abc'The Old Man and the Lisa'. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
- ^ abcdefWeinstein, Josh (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^Haig, Scott (2006-06-08). 'The Mystery of the Double Cardiac Arrest'. Time. Retrieved 2011-09-02.
- ^Martyn, Warren; Adrian Wood (2000). I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide. Virgin Books. ISBN0-7535-0495-2.
- ^ abGroening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 236. ISBN978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN98141857. OCLC37796735. OL433519M..
- ^ abcCohen, David X. (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ abMeyer, George (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ abGroening, Matt (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ abcKirkland, Mark (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^Cam Hutchinson, 'Doran Johnson given brushoff again,' Star-Phoenix, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: April 19, 1997, p. B.4.
- ^James Muretich, 'Worth Watching,' Calgary Herald, August 31, 1998, p. B.8.
- ^Hofer, Dave (September 19, 2009). 'Bret 'The Hitman' Hart sounds off on wrestling's bad rap'. The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ^Heath McCoy, 'Former wrestler Bret Hart to play the Hooded Fang,' National Post, August 28, 2003, p. AL.5.
- ^Castellaneta, Dan (2006). The Simpsons season 8 DVD commentary for the episode 'The Old Man and the Lisa' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^Associated Press (April 24, 1997). 'NBC lands on top of a hill of reruns'. Sun-Sentinel. p. 4E.
- ^Harris, Dana (1997-11-04). 'EMA honors for Home, Travolta'. The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^Martinez, Judy (1997-09-30). 'Environmental Media Award Nominations In; Home Improvement Singled Out'. City News Service.
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: 'The Old Man and the Lisa' |
- 'The Old Man and the Lisa' at The Simpsons.com
- 'The Old Man and the Lisa episode capsule'. The Simpsons Archive.
- 'The Old Man and the Lisa' on IMDb
- 'The Old Man and the Lisa' at TV.com
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Old_Man_and_the_Lisa&oldid=944884424'
Overview
Aliens from another planet have challenged Springfield to a wrestling match! As unbelievable as it sounds, it is not another story from I. P. Freely or one of his friends. It’s assumed that the aliens spied upon Jebediah Springfield years ago when he wrestled that bear but because their planet is light years away they haven’t been able to get here until now to present the challenge. Now it’s up to the townspeople to find someone that can wrestle like Jebediah to take that challenge.
The Simpsons Wrestling is really nothing like a traditional wrestling match other than the 3-count pin to finish the round. Like other aspects of The Simpsons, this game is totally wacky and promises to be a lot of fun for fans of TV show. Join up with the whole Simpson family as well as other characters to duke, rake, Chihuahua, Skateboard, Belch, and Squishee it out to see who will take on Kang and Kodos and save Springfield.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
Simply put, this is a fighting game with simple controls that will make your fingers very tired. Although it is called The Simpsons Wrestling, it’s not really too much like wrestling at all since it seems any sort of objects are legally allowed in the ring and anything goes. For instance, Groundskeeper Willie will use his rake to 'garden' you up whereas Bart can ride his skateboard and Mr. Burns will even throw in some explosive radioactive material while Smithers takes you on. Although each character has different and unique attacks, they are all controlled pretty much the same and seem to have the same amount of toughness (I guess it would be a bit too easy for Bumblebee Man to take on Lisa otherwise, don’tcha think?).
When you start the game, you have Homer, Marge (with Maggie), Bart, Lisa, Groundskeeper Willie, Apu, Krusty the Clown, and Barney to choose from. Each character can jump and has three main attacks: low, medium, and high power. You have an energy bar that determines which attacks you can execute and as you attack more the bar will deplete. You can also grapple your opponent and use one of the attack buttons to do a different style attack and bouncing against the ropes and hitting a button at the right time will execute a third set of attacks. There really are no actual combos aside from one that will knock over your opponent with four quick low power attacks in a row. In addition, you will receive one letter in the word 'Taunt' which shows up by your energy and health bars. When 'Taunt' is full you can execute a taunt which makes you invincible for a short amount of time. There are power-ups that appear in the ring from time to time that can restore partial or a big chunk of energy or health or give you a 'Taunt' letter or speed you up. Each match consists of three rounds (this can be set in the options menu for more or fewer, though). The best of the three wins the match. Like normal wrestling matches, the round is won when you pin and hold your opponent for a count of three. Since there are no referees the character him/herself will do the count.
Like the gameplay, the controls are also fairly simple. There are three attack buttons (one for each attack), a jump button, grapple button, and pin button. There aren’t any button combinations aside from jumping and using an attack button and no secret special moves to figure out, which really makes this game quite accessible to beginner players as well as the more seasoned wrestler. Simpsons wrestling ned flanders. The controls are reasonably responsive and easy to manipulate which is a huge plus in my book as so many of these types of games require super fast reflexes and well timed button presses to pull off particular moves.
Don’t get me wrong, though -- just because the controls are fairly simple for this style of game, it doesn’t mean the game is easy. There are three difficulty levels: New Challenger, Defender, and Champion Circuits. The Defender Circuit is locked out until you defeat the Challenger one. Likewise the Champion will be unlocked after defeating the Defender Circuit. The differences between these can more or less be rated as easy, medium, and hard by an average gamer’s standards. As you work your way through these circuits you will fight and unlock some hidden characters such as Bumblebee Man or Moe who can be used in later matches.
Although the game supports the vibration function if you have a Dual Shock controller, it is off by default and when I turned it on, I rarely felt anything at all which was disappointing. In fact, I even went back to the in-game options and main menu options a couple times to confirm if it was on at all. There is an interesting feature related to this, however, which is that you can turn the vibration on, off, or on for only player one or on for only player two. The other options include setting the number of rounds, loading up unlocked features, checking out the credits and adjusting the game’s various volumes for effects, voices, and music.
Please note that due to the characters available and the nature of this game, there are some potential matches that may seem to promote domestic violence (Homer vs. Marge for example).
Multiplayer
The Simpsons Wrestling has two-player support as long as you have a second controller. It will not allow you to even set up a two-player game unless the controller is attached.
Graphics
Simpson College Wrestling
This game looks very true to form for a Simpsons title -- it is very cartoon-like in nature and the graphics reflect this. The characters themselves are fairly large at all times and are rendered with great detail (which may be a little too much to ask when looking at Groundskeeper Willie without his shirt on!!). One of the big plusses about the characters is that they do not look very blocky or polygon-like at all. The animation is nice and smooth. As you move around in the ring the camera will follow in a strafing fashion and will zoom in or out as necessary to keep you both on screen at all times.
There are several different rings and backgrounds that you can fight in, from Evergreen Terrace to Moe’s to the nuclear power plant to the Kwik-E-Mart and several others. Unfortunately you don’t always get to see the background as the camera is focused more on the action in the ring, but when you do you will see well done renderings of various parts of Springfield. The characters standing in the background are more two-dimensional than those wrestling.
Audio
Simpsons Wrestling Lisa Vs
This is one of the best parts of The Simpsons Wrestling. The sound effects are pretty average for a PlayStation game. Some of the music sounds just like that from the TV show (and probably is taken straight from it, to boot). It’s the voices that are king in this department, though. All of the voices in the game are from the original voice talents on the TV show, which is a huge plus in my book. Nothing is worse than getting a game based on some of your favorite cartoon characters and having the voices sound nothing like the TV show. Each wrestler has his or her own phrases and taunts and some are even tailored to their opponent. In addition, some of the characters in the background will say something now and then as you get somewhat close to them.
Documentation
Standard issue stuff here, you may want to take a look over it to get the gist of the controls and get an explanation of the various power-ups. This is also the only place where you’ll find the story behind the game.
Originality / Cool Features
I don’t know that I can say that The Simpsons Wrestling is so much original because if you strip out all the great graphics and sounds all you have a simple fighting game with no timer. Fortunately since the great graphics and sounds ARE there, you do have a fairly original theme slapped on a genre of games that has countless clones. Like many other fighting games, each player has his or her own pseudo-special moves but I liked the general simplicity of the controls and that you don’t need to execute some difficult controller combination to execute a cool looking maneuver.
Bottom Line
Overall I found this to be a fun game. If you are a fan of The Simpsons and of fighting or wrestling games then you’ll very likely want to check this out. There’s a good chance that people who don’t like fighting games much but that DO like The Simpsons may find some enjoyment with this game too if for nothing else than the funny taunts and such. Just don’t touch it at all if you can’t stand The Simpsons (but if that’s the case, why are you still reading this anyway?). It’s fairly simplistic controls and great artwork, sounds, comments, taunts, and varied attacks between characters contributed a lot to my desire to go back for more and made the game accessible to a wide variety of skill levels which is why I give this game a score of 85.
Overall rating: 6