A Streetcar Named Marge

]

At the urging of WNOL, Fox president Jamie Kellner released a statement on October 1, 1992 apologizing for the episode:

The "Simpsons"' producers rushed out a chalkboard gag for "Homer the Heretic", which aired a week after "A Streetcar Named Marge". It read, "I will not defame New Orleans." The gag was their attempt to apologize for the song and hopefully bring the controversy to an end. "We didn't realize people would get so mad," said Al Jean. "It was the best apology we could come up with in eight words or less." [cite news|title=Bart chalks up apology for New Orleans song|date=1992-10-08|page=A1|publisher="The Times-Picayune"|author=Lorando, Mark] The issue passed quickly, and a person in a Bart Simpson costume even served as Krewe of Tucks Grand Marshal at the 1993 New Orleans Mardi Gras. [cite news|title=For Silver Celebration, Tucks 'Lov-A-Da Music|date=1993-02-21|page=D7|publisher="The Times-Picayune"]

The episode generated further controversy in September 2005, when Channel 4 in the United Kingdom decided to air the episode a week after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. Arguing that the episode was an insensitive choice, given recent events, several viewers filed complaints with Ofcom. Two days later, Channel 4 apologized on-air and directly contacted all those who had complained. Channel 4 had screened the episode for offensive content, but the reviews focused on the main content of the episode, and the song was not considered a key part of the plot. Channel 4 promised to update their review process to ensure that similar incidents would not occur.cite web|url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/prog_cb/pcb49/#skip|title=Issue number 46|accessdate=2007-08-24|year=2005|publisher=Ofcom]

Merchandise

All the songs from "A Streetcar Named Marge" are available on Rhino Records' 1997 album "Songs in the Key of Springfield". [cite news|title=Songs in the Key of Springfield|date=1997-03-27|page=F4|publisher="The Atlanta Journal-Constitution"|author=Kloer, Phil] The episode was included in the 2000 VHS set "The Simpsons Go Hollywood" [cite news|title=Home Video|date=2000-01-14|page=51|publisher="The Star-Ledger"] [cite news|title=Another Homer for the Simpsons|date=2000-01-14|page=11J|publisher="The Dallas Morning News"|author=Maurstad, Tom] and released on DVD in 2004 as part of the "Simpsons Complete Fourth Season". Jon Lovitz participated in the DVD's audio commentary, alongside Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jeff Martin, and Hank Azaria. ["The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season". 1992–1993. DVD. 20th Century Fox, 2004.] In 2002, Playmates Toys created a Llewellyn Sinclair action figure for its World of Springfield collectors' series. [cite web|url=http://figures.nohomers.net/WoS_Figures_Celebrity_Series_3.html|title=Celebrity Series 3|accessdate=2007-09-11|last=Persico|first=Tino|publisher=The Simpsons Action Figure Information Station]

References

External links

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*imdb episode|0701048|episode=A Streetcar Named Marge
* [http://www.thesimpsons.com/episode_guide/0402.htm "A Streetcar Named Marge"] at The Simpsons.com
* [http://www.tv.com/the-simpsons/a-streetcar-named-marge/episode/1346/summary.html "A Streetcar Named Marge"] at TV.com