The Fool Monty
Bart finds Burns; Homer seeks revenge.
In the twenty-second season of The Simpsons, the sixth episode, "The Fool Monty," aired on Fox on November 21, 2010. Bart discovers Mr. Burns in a forest and brings him home, while Homer plots revenge. Directed by Steven Dean Moore and written by Michael Price, it earned mixed reviews. A Fox News joke briefly sparked a feud with Bill O'Reilly.
Quick Facts
- Season
- 22
- Episode
- 6
- Director
- Steven Dean Moore
- Writer
- Michael Price
- Production
- NABF01
- Air date
- 21 November 2010
- Guests
- Terry W. Greene as Sgt. Activity
Facts from the source article.
Plot
TV representatives fabricate a disease caused by household cats to create mass panic and boost ratings, claiming a limited vaccine supply. At Springfield hospital, Mr. Burns steals most of the vaccine for himself, claiming he needs to set an example for his hounds, and runs over the remaining vaccine with his car, angering the town. After learning from his doctor that he has multiple fatal illnesses and only six weeks to live, Burns becomes distraught. When he shares the news, the town celebrates and melts his ice sculpture. Realizing no one in Springfield except Smithers likes him, Burns attempts suicide by leaping from a cliff but survives with amnesia and delusional behavior. Bart finds Burns in the wilderness and secretly takes him home. Homer, Marge, and the rest of Springfield decide to get payback for Burns's past cruelty, but eventually tire of tormenting him and abandon him. Lisa returns Burns to his mansion, where he regains his memory. As a cruel miser again, he decides to put a dome over the town for revenge, inspired by Stephen King's Under the Dome, but is told it has already been done and people could dig out. Marge tries to convince Burns to treat people with more respect, but he realizes his cruelty has kept him alive. Burns flies away in his helicopter piloted by Smithers, who briefly worked for Dick Cheney. Nelson threatens to crash the helicopter unless Burns attends a school play as his father; Burns ends up enjoying Nelson's performance.
Cultural references
The couch gag parodies the 2009 film Avatar. Mr. Burns's dome idea is inspired by Stephen King's Under the Dome, but Lenny notes it was already done in The Simpsons Movie. Bart hides Burns among stuffed animals, including an E.T. doll, referencing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The episode title references the 1997 film The Full Monty. In March 2020, a modified clip from this episode was combined with one from the season four episode Marge in Chains to suggest the show predicted the COVID-19 pandemic; the clip had the text CORONA VIRUS over the original Apocalypse Meow. Bill Oakley, co-writer of the 1993 episode, commented that history repeating itself makes it seem like predictions.
Reception
The episode received mixed reviews. Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club called it recycled, liking the first act with the housecat flu panic and vaccine line gags but noting the rest deflated; she gave it a C+. Eric Hochberger of TV Fanatic rated it 3.5 out of 5 stars, finding the fake epidemic opening unique before shifting to another Mr. Burns episode. A Fox News helicopter appeared with the slogan Fox News: Not Racist, But #1 With Racists. Bill O'Reilly aired the clip on The O'Reilly Factor, saying the show was biting the hand that feeds it and calling the producers pinheads. The producers responded by adding a helicopter in the next episode's opening with the slogan Fox News: Unsuitable for Viewers Under 75. Showrunner Al Jean said the producers were pleased to annoy O'Reilly and had never received a warning from Fox about network jokes, adding that both ends benefit the ultimate News Corp. agenda.
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