Flaming Moe

Not to be confused with Flaming Moe's, an episode of The Simpsons' third season.

"Flaming Moe"
The Simpsons episode
Moe and Smithers complete the transformation of Moe's into Mo's.
Episode no.	475
Prod. code	NABF04
Orig. airdate	January 16, 2011[1]
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Matt Selman
Directed by	Chuck Sheetz
Couch gag	The couch is a bowl. An arm releases five scoops of ice cream resembling the Simpsons into the bowl and tops it with chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a cherry. Santa's Little Helper eats the sundae and belches.
Guest star(s)	Alyson Hannigan Kristen Wiig Scott Thompson
Season 22 September 26, 2010 – May 22, 2011 "Elementary School Musical" "Loan-a Lisa" "MoneyBART" "Treehouse of Horror XXI" "Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life" "The Fool Monty" "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window?" "The Fight Before Christmas" "Donnie Fatso" "Moms I'd Like to Forget" "Flaming Moe" "Homer the Father" "The Blue and the Gray" "Angry Dad: The Movie" "The Scorpion's Tale" "A Midsummer's Nice Dream" "Love Is a Many Strangled Thing" "The Great Simpsina" "The Real Housewives of Fat Tony" "Homer Scissorhands" "500 Keys" "The Ned-Liest Catch" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"Flaming Moe" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' twenty second season and aired on January 16, 2011 on the Fox Network. It follows the efforts of Waylon Smithers to earn Mr. Burns' respect by turning Moe's Tavern into a successful gay bar, leading Moe becoming more popular as a gay man than Smithers. Meanwhile, Principal Skinner looks for love with the substitute music teacher.

Plot

Waylon Smithers learns that he is not included in Mr. Burns' will. When he confronts Burns, he tells Smithers he only respects "self-made men". Dejected, Smithers tries to cheer himself up by going to "The League of Extra Horny Gentlemen", a gay bar, but is denied entrance because he is not as attractive or fashionable as the rest of the clientele. Stopping by Moe's Tavern instead, he notices how slow business is and proposes to Moe that they refurbish his bar and make it into a gay bar. Smithers hopes to earn Mr. Burns' respect by building a successful business in addition to having a place in which he can feel accepted. They turn Moe's into an ultra-trendy gay bar called Mo's. Mo's new patrons come to believe that Moe too is gay, a misconception he encourages for fear of losing their business. He becomes more popular than Smithers, so popular with the local gay community that they push Moe to run for the city council to become the first "openly gay" council member.

Smithers attempts to "out" Moe as straight while Moe is announcing his candidacy by demanding that Moe kiss him. Puckering his lips, Moe leans into Smithers, but at the last minute cannot and announces that he was lying. Moe asks for forgiveness and hopes that they understand his need to be accepted. The crowd is nevertheless disheartened and angry, and leaves. Before Moe leaves, he grabs Smithers and kisses him, afterward saying "Like frisbee golf, I'm glad I tried it once". The credits end as Mo's is renovated again to the old Moe's Tavern.

Meanwhile, Principal Skinner tries to date the substitute music teacher, Calliope Juniper (Kristen Wiig), and sets her daughter Melody (Alyson Hannigan) up with Bart as an excuse to spend time with her.^[2][3] Bart cannot stand Melody, however, and eventually breaks up with her. Ms. Juniper quits her job and moves out of town with Melody. She asks Skinner to come with them, who accepts, but he returns three months later, saddened by the end of the relationship but content that he was able to maintain it for as long as he did.

Production

"Flaming Moe" was written by Matt Selman and was directed by Chuck Sheetz, both their first credit for the season. The episode also featured guest appearances by actress Alyson Hannigan, actress and comedienne Kristen Wiig, and comedian Scott Thompson reprising his role as Grady from "Three Gays of the Condo".^[2]

Cultural references

• Moe's run for office is an homage to the plot of the film Milk.^[4]

Reception

In its original American broadcast, "Flaming Moe" was viewed by an estimated 6.38 million households and received a 3.1 rating/8% share among adults between the ages of 18 and 49 ranking third in its timeslot.^[5] The episode received a significant drop from the previous episode due to no NFL game overrun airing on Fox.^[5]

Rowan Kaiser of The A.V Club calling it a "strong episode" writing "this was a very good episode of The Simpsons. The guest stars added instead of subtracting, it had a gently satirical inverse of gay panic jokes, and it was pretty damn funny."^[4] He ultimately gave the episode a B+, the highest rating of the night, beating Bob's Burgers, American Dad!, Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.^[4]

References

1. ^ The Simpsons - Episode Guide - MSN TV
2. ^ ^{a b} "Schedule (January 9 - January 15)". FoxFlash. http://www.foxflash.com/div.php/main/page?aID=1z4&mo=13&d=9. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
3. ^ ""Flaming Moe"". Fox. http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20110101fox14/. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} Kaiser, Rowan. ""Fart-break Hotel"/"Flaming Moe"/"Crawl Space"/"And I'm Joyce Kinney"/"How Do You Solve A Problem Like Roberta?" | Fox animation | TV Club | TV". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/fartbreak-hotelflaming-moecrawl-spaceand-im-joyce,49924/. Retrieved 2011-01-17. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Gorman, Bill. "Sunday Final Ratings: ‘Brothers & Sisters, ‘Bob's Burgers Adjusted Down; Plus ‘Golden Globes, ‘Undercover Boss, ‘CSI:Miami & More". TV By the Numbers. http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/01/19/sunday-final-ratings-brothers-plus-golden-globes-undercover-boss-csimiami-more/79343. Retrieved January 19, 2011. 

External links

• "Flaming Moe" at TV.com
• "Flaming Moe" at the Internet Movie Database