Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington

"Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington"
The Simpsons episode
Krusty runs for Congress.
Episode no.	305
Prod. code	EABF09
Orig. airdate	March 9, 2003
Written by	John Swartzwelder
Directed by	Lance Kramer
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Homer clicks the remote control and sends the family to the Stone Age, clicks the remote again and sends the family to the era of the Roman Empire where they watch a gladiator match, and clicks it a final time to send the family to the present.
Guest star(s)	Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony
DVD commentary	Al Jean Matt Selman Kevin Curran J. Stewart Burns Michael Price Tom Gammill Marc Wilmore Lance Kramer Mike B. Anderson
Season 14 November 3, 2002 – May 18, 2003 "Treehouse of Horror XIII" "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation" "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" "Large Marge" "Helter Shelter" "The Great Louse Detective" "Special Edna" "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" "Strong Arms of the Ma" "Pray Anything" "Barting Over" "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can" "A Star Is Born Again" "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" "C.E. D'oh" "'Scuse Me While I Miss the Sky" "Three Gays of the Condo" "Dude, Where's My Ranch?" "Old Yeller Belly" "Brake My Wife, Please" "The Bart of War" "Moe Baby Blues" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" is the fourteenth episode from The Simpsons' 14th season which aired on March 9, 2003.

Plot

While watching a very late episode of The Three Stooges (where the violently bumbling trio are on the brink of senility), the Simpsons feel the ground shaking. They discover an airplane flying dangerously close to their house. They soon realize that the air traffic must have been redirected. Homer and Marge complain to an airport official, who says that the planes were redirected away from wildlife preserves to protect the animals; whereas, actually, they were redirected by the request of Mayor Quimby, so that he could entertain his lady friends in peace and quiet.

The family tries to adjust to the massive noise, but are unable to cope and decide to move. After failing to sell the house to Apu and Ralph Wiggum, Homer and Marge complain to their congressman, Horace Wilcox, who has been Springfield's representative since 1933. Horace seems genuinely moved by their predicament and ready to help them. Unfortunately, he suffers a heart attack and dies. Later, as they watch The Krusty the Clown Show, Bart gets the idea to have Krusty run for Congress. The family also thinks it would be a good idea. The next day, Bart visits Krusty (who at first mistakes him for a dying fan) and asks him to run for Congress. Krusty seems reluctant at first, but he soon likes to the idea, since he could change all the problems that the government has plagued him with, such as taxes and immigration (of his monkey). At the shady Republicans' meeting, he nominates himself as a candidate for Congress. The other members are supportive (except for Bob Dole who nominates himself).

Krusty's campaign has a very bad start. He includes offensive jokes in his speeches and his opponent, John Armstrong, shows a sketch from Krusty's show making fun of the UN, in which he spoofs the French, Jamaicans, and San Francisco's gay community. Desperate to have Krusty win the election (and be on the winning team, for once), Lisa helps Krusty turn his campaign around by having him connect with regular families and citizens. With this advice and some help from Fox News (including a TV debate with Krusty shown with a halo, while the Democratic candidate is shown with devil horns and a Soviet flag on the background, and finally upside down), Krusty's popularity soars and he wins the election, due in part to Bart and extreme voter fraud.

So begins Krusty's term in Congress. After taking the oath, he tries to bring up the topic of the air traffic over Evergreen Terrace. However, everyone refuses to listen to him and they tell him that as a freshman congressman, he doesn't get much of a say in anything there. He's told to clean up the graffiti on the walls of the House. The other congressmen then start discussing designing dollar coins made out of chocolate.

Later, the Simpsons find Krusty in a bar called The Drinkin' Memorial, drowning his sorrows in booze. He feels that he's failed them, but they convince him to stand up for his beliefs. Thus encouraged, he tries to get his Air Traffic Bill passed, but he is only speaking to an empty room, causing him to lose faith with the system. The Simpsons watch him and feel sorry for him and more for themselves, seeing how ignorant the government really is and considering they have to go back and live with all the airplane noise. When Homer says their plane leaves in 30 minutes (just to make things suspenseful), a janitor (who looks like, and is implied to be, Walter Mondale) arrives and informs them how a bill REALLY becomes a law. Lisa tries to show off her knowledge, but he interrupts her, telling them that underhanded tactics are necessary.

With his help, they blackmail a key congressman with a videotape, which has footage of him abusing the free mail policy (by sending a "Get Well Soon" card to his aunt). Homer manages to get Congressman Beauregard drunk (and himself as well, in the process). Finally, during a session in Congress, the janitor and Lisa, with Homer's drunken diversion, place the Air Traffic Bill under a bill giving orphans American flags. When the bill comes up for discussion, the blackmailed congressman immediately consents, and Congressman Beauregard, in a drunken stupor, consents to the bill declaring "I don't wanna fight no Union!". The legislation is then passed, and Krusty, upon hearing his bill being passed into law for good, embellishes the successes of democracy.

At the Simpsons' place, the family is happy to get the peace and quiet that they heroically fought for. Homer says that the planes are now flying where they belong—over the homes of poor people.

Cultural references

• "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" is the second Simpsons episode that is a pun on the title of the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Another episode was "Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington".
• In the Three Stooges show on TV, Larry says that a slap from Moe did not hurt him because it landed on his paralyzed side. This refers to Larry Fine's real-life stroke in 1970, which occurred during the last project that the Stooges ever did together.
• When Marge asks for someone to perform CPR, Homer sings the song "Bad Moon Rising." Marge replies, "That's CCR!"
• Homer telling the TV and fridge to "Stay plugged in! I will find you!" is a reference to The Last of the Mohicans, in which Daniel Day-Lewis tells Madeleine Stowe: "Stay alive! I will find you!"
• When Mayor Quimby tells his shrill-voiced paramour "Now I regret building you that opera house," that is a reference to Citizen Kane when Charles Foster Kane builds an opera house for his new young wife Susan Kane, a mediocre singer who was made famous at his insistence.
• The bar "The Drinkin' Memorial" is a play on the "Lincoln Memorial."
• A promotional advertisement for Joe Millionaire runs on the screen which Homer becomes aware of, he then proceeds to grab it and eat it. Homer then spits it out in disgust because it is a promo for a show on Fox.
• Bob Dole returns to the Springfield Republicans meeting, having been part of the meeting in "Brawl in the Family."
• When the family is watching Fox News, the anchor remarks "You're watching Fox News, your voice for evil," referencing the criticisms directed towards Fox News that the network is biased towards the Republican Party. The news-ticker crawl in the episode includes such items as "JFK Posthumously Joins Republican Party" and "Albert Einstein + Brad Pitt = Dick Cheney".
• Lisa's statement of "being on the winning team" was a reference towards Republican control of the Presidency and both chambers of Congress at the time the episode was produced in 2002. (And this remained the same when it aired in 2003.) While Lisa is not a Republican, she campaigned for Republican candidate Krusty the Clown.
• At the end of the Krusty's campaign advertisement, his face is put on Buzz Aldrin while planting the flag during the moon landing, all the Marines who planted the flag on Iwo Jima, the tank man during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 and finally Jim Leavelle who was handcuffed to Lee Harvey Oswald when he was shot by Jack Ruby.
• Several months before this episode was first aired, Walter Mondale lost a senate race to represent Minnesota. In this episode, he is shown as a janitor, poking fun at his losing streak of elections ever since he served as vice-president under Jimmy Carter.
• The "gun nuts" firing guns in the crowd include Charlton Heston and Meathook, John Goodman's character from "Take My Wife, Sleaze".

External links

The Simpsons portal

• "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" at The Simpsons.com
• "Mr. Spritz Goes to Washington" at the Internet Movie Database