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May 26, 2012

The Simpsons: Little Big Girl

by Adam Finley, posted Feb 12th 2007 11:50AM

simpsons(S18E12)

Homer: Why would I go to Utah? I love booze, caffeine and monogamy.

This episode really felt like two episodes in one, with both Lisa's story about her made up Native American heritage and Bart becoming involved with an older girl (played by Natalie Portman). Overall, my first reaction --having only seen the episode once-- is that it felt like the quintessential Simpsons episode with plenty of smart dialogue and enough hidden gags I know I probably won't catch until the second or third round in syndication. Of course, that could just be because I'm really slow.

The one thing that struck me about this episode, and some others before it, is how the writers will "cheat" in order to tackle issues that would usually be impossible because of the fact that none of the characters age. If this were a live-action sitcom, Bart would have received a driver's license at some point, but since he's perpetually a ten year old, they had to come up with another way of getting him behind the wheel. In this case, he's awarded with a license when he inadvertently puts out a town fire using stolen fire extinguishers (which caused the fire to spread out of control in the first place).

There's a kind of poetic correlation between Bart's desire to run away to avoid having to run errands for Homer all the time, and his new girlfriend's belief that marrying a ten year old will solve her problem of being a pregnant teen. They're both convinced they can handle things on their own, but neither really knows the first thing about what it means to be an adult.

Here's a few things I caught in this episode:

  • Ralph Wiggum, at the school assembly to celebrate family history, is dressed as a puppy.
  • Mr. Burns striking a Jack Benny pose when Smithers catches on fire and exclaims, "but sir, I'm flaming!"
  • When Lisa is giving her speech, a Native American is wearing a shirt with the same corncob curtain design as Lisa's.

The best exchange in the episode:

Utah minister: How many brides will you be marrying today, Mr. Simpson?

Bart: Just one.

Utah minister: What are you, gay?

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14 Comments

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Finn

Anyone now what the song is called that is played when bart skates on mountains in Utha?

March 13 2007 at 3:55 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
GhaleonQ

It have more winning lines than any other episode this season, but the construction was awful.

February 14 2007 at 12:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ivan

For me this has been the best episode of the season. I laughed out many times and when I heard the Top Gear theme I was in trance. I don't get the whole Utah thing though, probably because I'm not that familiar with American local stereotypes (at least not beyond "Florida = old people" and "Alabama = inbreeding"). Maybe someone could explain that.

February 13 2007 at 8:22 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
B

Homer: Why would I go to Utah? I love booze, caffeine and monogamy.

Homer, Bigamy is legal in whatever state Springfield is in. They call it Mormon Hold-Em.

February 13 2007 at 9:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

Utah: Home of Powerful Weirdos

February 12 2007 at 11:38 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Matthew

Your choice for best exchange was perfect. Hands down, that was the best line in the episode. "What are you, gay?" I'm still chuckling over that.

As a loyal fan since '89, I have to say that this episode was nearly - if not completely - on par with the golden age seasons of 3-7. This was a nice switch from a lot of the crap they'd passed off over the last few years.

I'm a little surprised at the negative reactions from previous commentators. This episode had a solid plot, delivered funny lines and managed to throw in some solid social commentary on top of all that. Solid A, maybe A- at worst.

February 12 2007 at 5:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott

Best Scene of the episode, and possibly the last three seasons.

HOMER: I don't want to creep you out Bart, but I am calling you from inside the trunk (thump, thump) some really uncool people put me in here.

February 12 2007 at 4:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tyler

Simpsons are cool/gangster.although i missed it because of the grammies , you can't just judge a show by one episode! you should no that and also if u did watch it and not laugh the humor was probably something you didn't get (don't worry it happens to me all the time ) so ya peace out and rmember the first sentence (Simpsons are cool/gangster.) Peace!

February 12 2007 at 4:08 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shawn

i thought it was a strong unique episode of the simpsons.

February 12 2007 at 2:52 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
KMF

Did we watch the same episode? I didn't laugh at all. In fact it seemed like it was going nowhere and seemed to stretch on forever. Yet again I was disappointed by another episode of The Simpson.

February 12 2007 at 2:15 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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