Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"

"Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'"
The Simpsons episode
File:Aabf10.jpg
Episode no.	Season 10
Directed by	Mark Kirkland
Written by	David M. Stern
Original air dates	February 21, 1999
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	"Grammar is not a time of waste."
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. A crash bar lowers onto their laps and the couch takes the family on a wild rollercoaster ride.
Commentary	Mike Scully George Meyer Ian Maxtone-Graham Ron Hauge Matt Selman Mike B. Anderson

"Marge Simpson in: 'Screaming Yellow Honkers'" is the fifteenth episode The Simpsons' tenth season, which was originally broadcast on February 21, 1999. After Homer purchases a Canyonero, he discovers he bought the model intended for women, so he gives the vehicle to Marge. Despite disliking it at first, Marge grows fond of it, and quickly develops clear road rage against other motorists. The was written by David M. Stern and directed by Mark Kirkland. Overall, the episode was received with mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

Homer purchases a Canyonero sport utility vehicle, but is soon disappointed after discovering he bought the "F-series", intended for women. Embarrassed to drive it, he gives the vehicle to Marge, who dislikes it at first due to its size and features, but quickly becomes fond of it, and develops road rage. Later, when traveling around town, Marge is arrested by Springfield Police Department for traffic felonies, and is ordered to take a defensive driving course. However, she accidentally drives the SUV into the prison and loses her driving privileges.

Later, the police request her to use the large SUV to stop several raging Rhinoceros' who have escaped the zoo when Homer accidentally caused them to go berserk and escape while visiting with Bart and Lisa. After seeing her family in danger, Marge agrees to assist the police and succeeds in rounding up the animals, but learns there is one missing and sees Homer being carried off by the rhinoceros. She chases the angry rhino into a construction site and deliberately crashes it, making it burst into flames. The rhino instinctively attempts to stamp out the fire, and Homer escapes and the Rhino is returned to the zoo. Marge credits her success to Stone Phillips and the whole family praises NBC. During the end credits, Homer praises FOX at gunpoint and he is shot when he praises CBS.

Production

The idea for the episode came from a study done, that said women had more cases of road rage then men. The names of the other car salesmen on the board, are friends of Mike Scully from high school. The road rage film Chief Wiggum shows during the road rage class was originally titled "Screaming Yellow Honkers". They decided to make it the episode title instead. Mike Scully said the road rage film would have originally been a Troy McClure film, but voice actor Phil Hartman had died the previous year. The group of people running out of the zoo, before Homer, Bart, and Lisa, are Mike Scully, his wife, and his kids. The Scullys are also seen running behind Kent Brockman's news report. The Fox executives were not happy with all the positive references to NBC. As a compromise, the writers added in the credit part where Homer says NBC sucks and Fox is good.

Cultural references

• At the Springfield Elementary School talent show, Superintendent Chalmers and Principal Skinner botch the famous comedy routine of Abbott and Costello, Who's on First, The teachers sing "Not Gonna Teach Forever" to the tune of the Irene Cara song, "Fame" which was the theme to the film and TV series, and Mrs. Krabappel sings the song, Fever while performing a striptease.
• Marge's SUV accident refers to an ill-fated 1992 Dateline NBC investigative report about the gas tank crashworthiness of 1973-1991 Chevrolet and GMC full-sized pickup trucks.
• When Homer shoots a sloth with a tranquilizer gun, the sloth dances like Snoopy for a few seconds before passing out.
• The episode title is a play on the popcorn snack, Screaming Yellow Zonkers (as well as a double-entendre, given the pigmentation of people in the world of the Simpsons and the fact that Marge is driving the Canyonero).
• The episode lampoons the then-recent SUV craze, and increases in road rage. Also spoofed are vehicles marketed toward female demographics, whether a specific model (e.g., the Dodge LaFemme of the mid-1950s) or a model package (the Fashion Accessory Group offered on the 1978 Ford Mustang).
• The name of the zoo, Wild Animal Kingdom, is inspired by the 1960s nature series, Wild Kingdom.
• The "fact" that a rhino will instinctively try to put out a fire stems from the film, The Gods Must Be Crazy.
• In an attempt to stop the rhinos, Homer shouts "Jumanji!", a reference to the film, Jumanji.
• The scene where Homer is in a portable toilet and the rhino's horn rips through nearly stabbing him is a parody of a scene from Friday the 13th: A New Beginning.

Reception

Peter Brown of If notes in his review of The Simpsons' tenth season that "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers", alongside "Lard of the Dance", "Wild Barts Can't Be Broken", and "Homer Simpson in: 'Kidney Trouble'" as "some of the best episodes of the season." The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote in their review of the episode: "very clever, very dry humour and showcasing the last person you might expect to suffer road rage. Some lovely moments (Marge losing patience with Agnes and Kearney is great), especially her drive across the cornfield. Sadly the Canyonero doesn't survive the experience of this episode, which would have been nice, if only to see Marge regularly at the wheel rather than Homer."

External links

• "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers" episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive.
• "Marge Simpson in: "Screaming Yellow Honkers"" at IMDb