Whistler's Father: Difference between revisions

"**Whistler's Father**"
"Whistler's Father"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 29; Episode 3
Directed by	Matthew Faughnan
Written by	Tom Gammill and Max Pross
Production code	WABF16
Original air date	October 15, 2017
Guest appearances
	Nick Fascitelli as Professor Whistler; Valerie Harper as Backstage Mom; Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony;
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"It's unfair to judge a president on his first 300 days"
Couch gag	The Simpson family is the furniture instead of the characters on the couch: Homer is the couch, Bart is the left lamp, Lisa is the right lamp, Maggie is the painting above the couch and Marge is the TV antenna. Couches come in to sit on Homer and painting-Maggie tilts herself once they're settled.
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"Whistler's Father" is the third episode of the twenty-ninth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 621st episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by Matthew Faughnan and written by Tom Gammill and Max Pross. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 15, 2017.

In this episode, Homer tries to gain fame with Maggie's whistling while Marge redecorates a building for Fat Tony. Nick Fascitelli and Valerie Harper guest starred. The episode received mixed reviews.

This is the final episode with a credit to longtime Simpsons score composer Alf Clausen, who was fired from his position shortly before the season began airing.^[1]

Plot

Marge is out for the evening with Luann Van Houten, Bernice Hibbert and Helen Lovejoy, and asks Homer to take care of Maggie. The women, led by Helen, criticize Marge's taste in interior decorating. After thinking about her tastes, Marge resolves to decorate a late-pick-up room for Springfield Elementary like the set from The Wizard of Oz, but Lisa remembers there never was one. The Hibbert family changes their opinion on Marge's style, but Helen is not convinced yet while Fat Tony asks Marge to redecorate the Springfield Post Office. Marge buys decorations and tools for the job from the Get It and Regret It Hardware store, only to discover that Fat Tony turned the post office into a whorehouse.

Meanwhile, Homer discovers Maggie has a talent of being a whistling savant. He plans to use her talent to become famous with Grampa's encouragement, and they bring Maggie to the Springfield City Zoo to teach her new whistles, where Bart is disappointed he is the only son not to have talent.

The family, reunited to eat, is hiding secrets from each other, including Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II kissing each other. Homer brings Maggie to Channel 6, where the auditions for Hot Shot Tots are held. Upon learning how show business works, he tries to convince Maggie to stop. In front of the public, she is unable to whistle anymore due to a tooth growing in her mouth. When the women discover what happened to the post office, Marge convinces Fat Tony to close the whorehouse down.

Back at home, Homer says good night to Maggie, telling her to hide any other talent she has. When he is gone, she pulls out a beautiful black and white painting of Homer. In bed, Homer and Marge reveal the secrets they held from each other. Shortly after that, Homer is saddened to find out Marge is letting out his pants to make him think he is losing weight.

Cultural References

Lisa mentions sharing the spotlight like on the television series South Park, but realizes Trey Parker does all the work.^[2]

Reception

Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode a C stating, "There are weeks where evaluating a latter-day Simpsons is simply a numbers game. Absent an inherently interesting premise, guest star, plotline, or performance, watching an average Simpsons these days means totting up what fringe benefits you can find, subtracting things that either underwhelm or actively piss you off, and determining relative worth. ‘Whistler’s Father,’ being genuinely average across the board, seems to call for such a formulaic judgement."^[2]

Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 3.5 out of 5 stars. He stated that the episode is filled with one-liners and sight gags but not a classic.^[3]

"Whistler's Father" scored a 1.3 rating with a 5 share and was watched by 2.91 million people, making it Fox's highest rated show of the night.^[4]

References

^ Bowman, Durrell (2019), "Be Sharp: The Simpsons and Music", in Waltonen, Karma; Du Vernay, Denise (eds.), The Simpsons' Beloved Springfield: Essays on the TV Series and Town That Are Part of Us All, United States: McFarland & Company, p. 54, ISBN 9781476636122
^ ^a ^b Perkins, Dennis (October 15, 2017). "Dueling plotlines both miss the mark on a pleasantly average Simpsons". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
^ Sokol, Tony (October 16, 2017). "The Simpsons Season 29 Episode 3 Review: Whistler's Father". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
^ Porter, Rick (October 17, 2017). "'Madam Secretary' and 'Wisdom of the Crowd' adjust down, '60 Minutes, 'AFV' and NFL up: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.

External links

"Whistler's Father" at IMDb

[1] Bowman, Durrell (2019), "Be Sharp: The Simpsons and Music", in Waltonen, Karma; Du Vernay, Denise (eds.), The Simpsons' Beloved Springfield: Essays on the TV Series and Town That Are Part of Us All, United States: McFarland & Company, p. 54, ISBN 9781476636122

[Perkins-2] Perkins, Dennis (October 15, 2017). "Dueling plotlines both miss the mark on a pleasantly average Simpsons". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved October 16, 2017.

[3] Sokol, Tony (October 16, 2017). "The Simpsons Season 29 Episode 3 Review: Whistler's Father". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on July 29, 2023. Retrieved July 28, 2023.

[4] Porter, Rick (October 17, 2017). "'Madam Secretary' and 'Wisdom of the Crowd' adjust down, '60 Minutes, 'AFV' and NFL up: Sunday final ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Infobox Simpsons episode
+| image          =
-| episode_name = Whistler's Father
-| image =
+| caption        =
-| image_caption =
+| season         = 29
-| episode_no = 621
+| episode        = 3
+| director       = [[Matthew Faughnan]]
-| prod_code = WABF16
+| writer         = [[Tom Gammill and Max Pross]]
-| airdate = {{Start date|2017|10|15}}
+| production     = WABF16
-| show runner = [[Al Jean]]
+| airdate        = {{Start date|2017|10|15}}
-| writer = [[Tom Gammill and Max Pross]]
+| guests         = * Nick Fascitelli as Professor Whistler
-| director = [[Matthew Faughnan]]
+* [[Valerie Harper]] as Backstage Mom
-| blackboard = It's unfair to judge a [[Donald Trump|president]] on his first 300 days
+* [[Joe Mantegna]] as [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]]
-| couch_gag = The Simpson family is the furniture instead of the characters on the couch: Homer is the couch, Bart is the left lamp, Lisa is the right lamp, Maggie is the painting above the couch and Marge is the TV antenna. Couches comes in to sit on Homer and painting-Maggie tilts herself once they're settled.
+| blackboard     = "It's unfair to judge a [[Donald Trump|president]] on his first 300 days"
-| guest_star = Nick Fascitelli as Professor Whistler<br>[[Valerie Harper]] as Backstage Mom<br>[[Joe Mantegna]] as [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]] II<br>[[Kevin Michael Richardson]]
+| couch_gag      = The [[Simpson family]] is the furniture instead of the characters on the couch: [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] is the couch, [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] is the left lamp, [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] is the right lamp, [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]] is the painting above the couch and [[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is the TV antenna. Couches come in to sit on Homer and painting-Maggie tilts herself once they're settled.
-| commentary =
-| season = 29
+| commentary     =
+| prev           = [[Springfield Splendor]]
+| next           = [[Treehouse of Horror XXVIII]]
 }}
-"'''Whistler's Father'''" is the third episode of the [[The Simpsons (season 29)|twenty-ninth season]] of the animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the 621st episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] on October 15, 2017.
+"'''Whistler's Father'''" is the third episode of the [[The Simpsons season 29|twenty-ninth season]] of the American animated television series ''[[The Simpsons]]'', and the 621st episode of the series overall. The episode was directed by [[Matthew Faughnan]] and written by [[Tom Gammill and Max Pross]]. It aired in the United States on [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] on October 15, 2017.
+In this episode, Homer tries to gain fame with Maggie's whistling while Marge redecorates a building for Fat Tony. Nick Fascitelli and [[Valerie Harper]] guest starred. The episode received mixed reviews.
-This is the final episode with a credit to longtime ''Simpsons'' score composer [[Alf Clausen]], who was fired from his position shortly before the season began airing.
+This is the final episode with a credit to longtime ''Simpsons'' score composer [[Alf Clausen]], who was fired from his position shortly before the season began airing.<ref>{{citation|first=Durrell|last=Bowman|contribution=Be Sharp: ''The Simpsons'' and Music|date=2019|title=The Simpsons' Beloved Springfield: Essays on the TV Series and Town That Are Part of Us All|editor-first=Karma|editor-last=Waltonen|editor2-first=Denise|editor2-last=Du Vernay|page=54|place=United States|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|isbn=9781476636122}}</ref>
 ==Plot==
-[[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is out for the evening with Luann Van Houten, Bernice Hibbert and Helen Lovejoy, and asks [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] to take care of [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]]. The women state that her sense of style is like visiting ''[[The Flintstones]]''.
+[[Marge Simpson|Marge]] is out for the evening with Luann Van Houten, Bernice Hibbert and Helen Lovejoy, and asks [[Homer Simpson|Homer]] to take care of [[Maggie Simpson|Maggie]]. The women, led by Helen, criticize Marge's taste in interior decorating. After thinking about her tastes, Marge resolves to decorate a late-pick-up room for Springfield Elementary like the set from ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'', but [[Lisa Simpson|Lisa]] remembers there never was one. The Hibbert family changes their opinion on Marge's style, but Helen is not convinced yet while [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]] asks Marge to redecorate the Springfield Post Office. Marge buys decorations and tools for the job from the Get It and Regret It Hardware store, only to discover that Fat Tony turned the post office into a whorehouse.
-Meanwhile, Homer discovers Maggie has a talent of being a whistling savant. Homer starts dreaming of using her talent to become famous.
+Meanwhile, Homer discovers Maggie has a talent of being a whistling savant. He plans to use her talent to become famous with [[Grampa Simpson|Grampa]]'s encouragement, and they bring Maggie to the Springfield City Zoo to teach her new whistles, where [[Bart Simpson|Bart]] is disappointed he is the only son not to have talent.
+The family, reunited to eat, is hiding secrets from each other, including [[Santa's Little Helper]] and Snowball II kissing each other. Homer brings Maggie to Channel 6, where the auditions for Hot Shot Tots are held. Upon learning how show business works, he tries to convince Maggie to stop. In front of the public, she is unable to whistle anymore due to a tooth growing in her mouth. When the women discover what happened to the post office, Marge convinces Fat Tony to close the whorehouse down.
-Meanwhile, Marge thinks about her tastes, and resolves to decorating a late pick up room for Springfield Elementary unlike any seen before, but Lisa remembers there never was one. The Hibbert family changes their opinion on Marge's style, but Helen is not convinced yet while [[Fat Tony (The Simpsons)|Fat Tony]] appears with his cousin's son Michael D'Amico, offering her a job appreciating the work she did.
+Back at home, Homer says good night to Maggie, telling her to hide any other talent she has. When he is gone, she pulls out a beautiful black and white painting of Homer. In bed, Homer and Marge reveal the secrets they held from each other. Shortly after that, Homer is saddened to find out Marge is letting out his pants to make him think he is losing weight.
-At Moe's Tavern, Homer tried fooling the guys, but [[Grampa Simpson]] unveils his trick, telling the story of his whistling talent being stopped by a performance going wrong, and asks Homer to bring her to become popular like he wished he become. They bring Maggie to the Springfield City Zoo to teach her new whistles, and [[Bart Simpson]] is disappointed he's the only son not to have talent, while vultures try to take Grampa, unsuccessfully.
+==Cultural References==
-At the Springfield Post Office, Fat Tony asks Marge to redecorate it. At the Get It and Regret It Hardware store, a family tries a couch, imitating the family's couch gags, and Squeaky Voice Teen tells them they have to buy it after trying the couch, while Marge buys stuff to redecorate the post office, but she discovers that Fat Tony turned it into a whorehouse.
+Lisa mentions sharing the spotlight like on the television series ''[[South Park]]'', but realizes [[Trey Parker]] does all the work.<ref name="Perkins"/>
+==Reception==
-The family, reunited to eat, is hiding secrets from each other, including [[Santa's Little Helper]] and Snowball II kissing each other. Homer brings Maggie to Channel 6, where the Hot Shot Tots Springfield Audition is held, and finds out how show business works and tries to convince Maggie to stop but she refuses, while the women discover what happened to the post office. Marge convinces Fat Tony to close the whorehouse down while Maggie, in front of the public, can't whistle anymore due to a tooth growing in her mouth.
+Dennis Perkins of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a C stating, "There are weeks where evaluating a latter-day Simpsons is simply a numbers game. Absent an inherently interesting premise, guest star, plotline, or performance, watching an average Simpsons these days means totting up what fringe benefits you can find, subtracting things that either underwhelm or actively piss you off, and determining relative worth. ‘Whistler’s Father,’ being genuinely average across the board, seems to call for such a formulaic judgement."<ref name="Perkins">{{cite web|last=Perkins|first=Dennis|url=https://www.avclub.com/dueling-plotlines-both-miss-the-mark-on-a-pleasantly-av-1819492692|title=Dueling plotlines both miss the mark on a pleasantly average Simpsons|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=October 15, 2017|access-date=October 16, 2017|archive-date=July 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200710113815/https://www.avclub.com/dueling-plotlines-both-miss-the-mark-on-a-pleasantly-av-1819492692|url-status=live}}</ref>
+[[Tony Sokol]] of ''[[Den of Geek]]'' gave the episode 3.5 out of 5 stars. He stated that the episode is filled with one-liners and sight gags but not a classic.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sokol|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Sokol|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-simpsons-season-29-episode-3-review-whistlers-father/|title=The Simpsons Season 29 Episode 3 Review: Whistler’s Father|website=[[Den of Geek]]|date=October 16, 2017|access-date=July 28, 2023|archive-date=July 29, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729002554/https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-simpsons-season-29-episode-3-review-whistlers-father/|url-status=live}}</ref>
-Back at home, Homer says good night to Maggie, telling her to hide any other talent she has. When he's gone, she pulls out a beautiful black and white painting of Homer.
-In bed, Homer and Marge tell each other the secrets they held from each other. Shortly after that, Homer finds out Marge is letting out his pants making him think he's thinner as he weeps about this.
-==Reception==
-Dennis Perkins of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' gave the episode a C stating, "There are weeks where evaluating a latter-day Simpsons is simply a numbers game. Absent an inherently interesting premise, guest star, plotline, or performance, watching an average Simpsons these days means totting up what fringe benefits you can find, subtracting things that either underwhelm or actively piss you off, and determining relative worth. ‘Whistler’s Father,’ being genuinely average across the board, seems to call for such a formulaic judgement."<ref>{{cite web|last=Perkins|first=Dennis|url=https://www.avclub.com/dueling-plotlines-both-miss-the-mark-on-a-pleasantly-av-1819492692|title=Dueling plotlines both miss the mark on a pleasantly average Simpsons|publisher=Avclub.com|date=October 15, 2017|accessdate=October 16, 2017}}</ref>
-"Whistler's Father" scored a 1.3 rating with a 5 share and was watched by 2.91 million people, making it Fox's highest rated show of the night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/sunday-final-ratings-oct-15-2017/|title=‘Madam Secretary’ and ‘Wisdom of the Crowd’ adjust down, ’60 Minutes, ‘AFV’ and NFL up: Sunday final ratings|last=Porter|first=Rick|date=October 17, 2017|publisher=[[TV by the Numbers]]|accessdate=October 17, 2017}}</ref>
+"Whistler's Father" scored a 1.3 rating with a 5 share and was watched by 2.91 million people, making it Fox's highest rated show of the night.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/sunday-final-ratings-oct-15-2017/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018012726/http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/daily-ratings/sunday-final-ratings-oct-15-2017/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 18, 2017|title='Madam Secretary' and 'Wisdom of the Crowd' adjust down, '60 Minutes, 'AFV' and NFL up: Sunday final ratings|last=Porter|first=Rick|date=October 17, 2017|website=[[TV by the Numbers]]|access-date=October 17, 2017}}</ref>
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
-==External Links==
+==External links==
+{{Wikiquote|The_Simpsons/Season_29#Whistler's Father|"Whistler's Father"}}
+{{Portal|The Simpsons}}
 * {{IMDb episode|6225292}}
-* {{Tv.com episode|3475906}}
 {{The Simpsons episodes|29}}
 [[Category:2017 American television episodes]]
-[[Category:The Simpsons (season 29) episodes]]
+[[Category:The Simpsons season 29 episodes]]
+[[Category:Television episodes directed by Matthew Faughnan]]

v t e The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1–20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Season 21–present 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Season 29	"The Serfsons" "Springfield Splendor" "Whistler's Father" "Treehouse of Horror XXVIII" "Grampy Can Ya Hear Me" "The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used to Be" "Singin' in the Lane" "Mr. Lisa's Opus" "Gone Boy" "Haw-Haw Land" "Frink Gets Testy" "Homer Is Where the Art Isn't" "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage" "Fears of a Clown" "No Good Read Goes Unpunished" "King Leer" "Lisa Gets the Blues" "Forgive and Regret" "Left Behind" "Throw Grampa from the Dane" "Flanders' Ladder"
Themed episodes	Treehouse of Horror list
See also	The Simpsons episode guides "The Simpsons Guy"
Category