Selma's Choice

"Selma's Choice"
The Simpsons episode
Episode no.	Season 4
Directed by	Carlos Baeza
Written by	David M. Stern
Original air date	January 21 1993
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"I will not yell "She's Dead" at roll call."
Couch gag	The Simpson family is caught by a net on the ground.
Commentary	Matt Groening Al Jean Mike Reiss David M. Stern Jim Reardon

"Selma's Choice" is the 13th episode of The Simpsons' fourth season. The title of the episode is a reference to the book (and the film) Sophie's Choice. The episode highlights Selma's attempt to conceive a baby, having watched the videotaped will of the late Great Aunt Gladys.

Naming Origin

On the April 11, 2006 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, former Simpsons writer Conan O'Brien revealed, in an interview with Hank Azaria, that he came up with the name Jub-Jub for the iguana, as it was a phrase he used to break awkward silences.

Plot

Homer and the kids are looking forward to going to Duff Gardens, but on the day of their trip, Marge appears distressed that Great Aunt Gladys has died. The trip to Duff Gardens is postponed; the Simpsons attend her funeral and the subsequent reading of her will. On the video will, Great Aunt Gladys warns Patty and Selma not to die alone without a husband and children as she did. Selma starts to worry that her biological clock may be ticking and decides to find a way to become pregnant. Selma tries video dating and eventually considers an anonymous sperm donor (Barney Gumble). She also goes on a blind date with Hans Moleman, who she then decides is too ugly to be the father of her children.

Meanwhile, Homer becomes ill after eating a spoiled hoagie, and is too ill to take the children to Duff Gardens and Marge must stay behind to nurse him. Marge, in an effort to give Selma a chance to experience the responsibilities of motherhood, nominates her to take Bart and Lisa. The kids wear Selma out at Duff Gardens: Lisa begins to hallucinate after being dared by Bart to drink tainted water from an aquatic ride, and Bart is detained by park security after sneaking on and having to be rescued from The Barrel Roll Rollercoaster after it gets stuck on a loop. After these negative experiences with Bart and Lisa, Selma decides she can live without children and adopts Jub-Jub, Gladys' pet iguana instead.

Debut appearances

Characters making a first appearance in this episode are:

• Jub-Jub

Cultural references

• Homer and Bart start to sing "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead" from The Wizard of Oz.
• Marge's flashback of her and her sisters swimming in a lake is based on The Prince of Tides.
• The poem that Great Aunt Gladys reads at the start of her video will is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.
• Duff Gardens and its attraction parodies well-known theme parks in the United States. Its name is a parody of another amusement park owned by a brewing company, Busch Gardens.
• After Lance Murdoch jumps some flaming school buses, he is asked what he going to do next. He replies "I'm going to Duff Gardens", a reference to the slogan "I'm Going to Disneyland!".
• The song and ride that Bart, Lisa and Selma go on, with animatronic kids from all over the world singing a saccharine, repetitive song, is a parody of the ride and song "It's a Small World" at Disneyland.
• The song that the group "Hooray For Everything" sings is a cover of the song "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed, with the lyrics changed from the Lou Reed version which goes "She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side, and the colored girls go, doo doo doo, doo ..." while the "Hooray For Everything" lyrics go "Hey kids, take a walk on the wild side and all the races sing, doo doo doo, doo..."
• Lisa's hallucinogenic state refers to several novels and works of art. Firstly, she sees Selma as a monster with a pair of snarling teeth where her shoulder is, a nod to the artistic style of Ralph Steadman the artist for various novels by Hunter S. Thompson.
• When she yells 'I am the Lizard Queen', this is a reference to Jim Morrison (lead singer of the 60's rock band 'The Doors'), who used to refer to himself as 'the Lizard King'. This quote was later used in "The Simpsons: Hit & Run".
• The parade where Lisa dances in her drunk state is a parody of Disney World's Electrical Parade.
• The ending, a camcorder recording of Selma holding Jub-Jub and singing "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman", was based on the famous Murphy Brown episode where her son is born..

See also

• Beeramid

External links

• "Selma's Choice episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.