Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play
| "Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
 | |
| Episode no. | Season 17 |
| Directed by | Bob Anderson |
| Written by | Joel H. Cohen |
| Original air dates | May 21, 2006 |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | Have a great summer, everyone. |
| Couch gag | Every couch in Springfield comes alive and attacks everyone. |
“Marge and Homer Turn a Couple Play” is the 22nd episode of the 17th season of The Simpsons that originally aired on May 21, 2006. It was the finale for the seventeenth season.
Synopsis
Open to the family watching a cop drama. As the credits roll, Kent Brockman announces that the Springfield Isotopes are in first place thanks to their new acquisition of Buck “Homerun King” Mitchell. “To the bandwagon!” shouts Homer, as they all head to Springfield Stadium. Tabitha Vixx, Buck Mitchell’s wife, sings the first few bars of the National Anthem at the game, then strips down to lingerie and launches into one of her own songs. After a minute of lascivious dancing, she concludes “...and the home of the brave.” Buck, humiliated, delivers a terrible performance at that night’s game. He later sees Homer and Marge kissing on the Jumbotron; the next day Buck shows up at the Simpsons’ front door and asks for help with his marriage in exchange for season tickets.
Marge doubts their ability to counsel another couple. Her doubts lead to her and Homer flirting, which Buck sees and claims is an example of what he wants with his own wife. At the first session—taking place in the Simpsons’ living room—Buck confesses he assumed Tabitha would give up her recording career to focus on his minor league baseball career, to which she responds she won’t stay in a mismatched marriage. The session concludes with Homer asking Buck to sign baseballs.
The next session takes place at Buck and Tabitha’s mansion, which goes much more smoothly. As a result of his now-steady personal life, his game returns to superior form. Tabitha continues her singing tour, and Homer comes to meet her in the locker room to check up on things. There he gives her a neck rub; her loud moans through the door are overheard by Buck, who barges in enraged and slugs Homer.
Now with his marriage again on the rocks, Buck goes into another slump. Homer wants to get them back together, but Marge refuses to help. He leaves, and a few minutes later Tabitha knocks on the door; she tells a shocked Marge that she plans to leave Buck for good. Marge objects, insisting they stay together.
Flash to Buck Mitchell at the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Homer has hijacked the Duff blimp and spells out a message to Buck, supposedly from Tabitha proclaiming her love. Buck, reinvigorated, hits the ball into the blimp itself, causing it to crash into the field; as Homer alone runs from the wreckage, Buck realizes Tabitha had no part in the message. He charges Homer, bat in hand, but Marge delivers a monologue over the loudspeaker, dissuading him. It also prompts Tabitha to tell Buck she wants to stay together.
The episode closes with another Isotope player, Tito, saying he doesn’t care about the healed marriage because bandits just kidnapped his mother.
Cultural references
- One of the misplays that Buck made during the first game in this episode is a parody of Bill Buckner’s infamous error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
- One of Tabitha’s songs sounds very similar to Britney Spears’ Toxic.
- The show they are watching is called Hunch and seems to be a poke at the television show Monk. In fact, the first name of the “actor” on Hunch is Tony which is the real life first name of Monk’s main actor Tony Shalhoub.
- Hunch also seems to be a bit controversial, in the same vein as NYPD Blue if Bart’s comment about Hunch’s butt in the shower is accurate.
- At the end credits for Hunch, the city of New York is credited as being played by the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, a small city between Calgary and the USA/Canadian border of approximately 80,000 inhabitants. A strange choice to film a prime time crime drama, although Canada has become a popular filming location for many American movies and some television. This was shown in “The Bart Wants What It Wants.”
- Among the people credited in the cast of Hunch are The Late George C. Scott as Furious Bowler, Anthony Hopkins as Bystander #2, Gwyneth Paltrow as Gloria Huncharella and Heidi Klum as Guy Who Turned Out To Be That Other Guy. J.D. Salinger is credited as the writer.
- The file photo of Marge and Homer references Michelangelo’s famous Pietà.
- The writer for the show Homer and the family are watching at the beginning of the episode is J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye.
- Tabitha’s frequent pole-dancing could be a reference to Anna Benson.
- Homer asks “Why couldn’t you marry one of your crummy back-up dancers?”, a reference to notable singers marrying back-up dancers, such as Britney Spears marrying Kevin Federline, and Jennifer Lopez marrying Cris Judd.
- When the zeppelin is above the stadium and showing the text “I love you Buck,” the announcer is saying “Wow, that’s a zeppelin with whole lotta love!” as a reference to Led Zeppelin song “Whole Lotta Love.”
- After accidentally destroying Homer's dirigible with a home run swing, Buck remarks, "This is the second worst blimp crash ever," to which Grampa Simpson replies, "Too soon!" This is a reference to the Hindenburg Disaster. This event was also referenced by Kent Brockman in Lisa the Beauty Queen, who after witnessing Barney crash the Duff Blimp exclaimed, "Oh, the humanity!" a la Herbert Morrison.
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