Sleeping with the Enemy (The Simpsons)

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Sleeping With The Enemy


image_caption= Dwight Eisenhower and Louis St. Laurent, "whose relationship was frosty at best", as drawn by Martin during Bart's party.
episode_no = 338
prod_code = FABF19
airdate = November 21, 2004
show runner = Al Jean
writer = Jon Vitti
director = Lauren MacMullan
couch_gag = The Simpsons run in and find that the couch is missing. A few seconds later, the couch falls from the sky and crushes everyone.
season = 16"Sleeping With the Enemy" is the third episode from the sixteenth season of "The Simpsons".

Plot

Lisa's friends at school tease her about her "big butt" (for seemingly no reason other than to embarrass Lisa), causing her to become self conscious about her weight. Homer only makes matters worse when he tells her about the "Simpson butt", something that all Simpsons have. He goes on to draw himself the way an animator would, starting with circles, then filling in the rest of the details (there is also an inside joke here: Homer draws his hair and ear forming the initials MG "for some reason" as he narrates; Matt Groening was originally considering drawing Homer this same way, but then realized that it would be too distracting to the viewers, according to a commentary from a Simpsons DVD set). Bart brings home a geography test with a grade of 100, eagerly expecting a party that was promised to him if he ever got a 100. However, Homer thinks Bart forged the test, and is not easily willing to give up. They visit Bart's teacher Mrs. Krabappel, who confesses that because she forgot to fold up the map during the test, everyone in the class received a 100. Bart gets his "party", which is attended by Aunt Patty and Selma, Grampa (sleeping in an armchair), Grandma Bouvier, Ralph, and Martin. Milhouse can only attend via speakerphone because he has the measles. Bart does not enjoy the party and to make matters worse, Lisa runs up to her room crying when Marge offers her a big slice of cake.

Marge thinks her kids do not appreciate her anymore, so when she finds Nelson eating tadpoles from a fountain in the park, she decides to become a mother figure in his life and spend some quality time with him. She brings Nelson home and pays him to do some chores. Nelson's mother finds this out and does not want Marge giving them any "charity". Later that night, Nelson's mom has left town, and Nelson, having no place else to go, decides to stay with the Simpsons. Marge lets him sleep in Bart's room, forcing Bart to sleep on the floor, underneath his bed.

Late one night, Nelson is singing about his long lost father, while Lisa, unable to take any more starvation, is stuffing herself with an entire cake that says "Happy Labor Day Lenny”. The next day, Nelson helps Lisa get back at Sherri and Terri for teasing her. Nelson unleashes a skunk, which sprays both of them, while Lisa and the rest of the children point and sing a modified version of Jingle Bells. Both twins are horrified and run off screaming. When Lisa and Nelson return home, they find Nelson's father, who Bart found working at a freak show in a circus. It turns out that Nelson's dad had really gone to the Kwik-E-Mart (which Nelson has repeatedly stated previously in the series), where he had gotten a severe allergic reaction from eating a chocolate bar full of peanuts. Coincidentally, the circus had made a stop in the Kwik-E-Mart parking lot, and found Nelson's father, thinking he was some kind of half human, half monkey beast. Nelson's mother finally returns, after going to Hollywood and getting the lead role in Macbeth, playing Lady Macbeth. At the conclusion of this episode, Nelson kindly thanks Bart for finding his father and goes back to live with his family and Homer declares that everything is back to normal. However, Lisa tells Homer that she still has issues about her weight that were never resolved in the episode (and probably never will be). Despite Homer goading Lisa to say that everything is fine, Lisa doesn't admit that she's overcome her weight issues.

Cultural references

*The title is a reference to the motion picture of the same name.
*NoHomers.net is referenced at the bowling alley.
*While Nelson and Homer are watching television, a voice says, "Next on ABC---Who's come to see "The George Lopez Show"? We pray it's you!"
*Nelson sings the song "Papa, Can You Hear Me?", from the film "Yentl" that was originally sung by Barbra Streisand.

Notes

*Nelson's father first appeared in the fourth season episode "Brother from the Same Planet", where he was voiced by Phil Hartman. Here, he is voiced by Harry Shearer, making him the only Simpson's character voiced by Hartman to reappear after his death.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0784543/ Sleeping with the Enemy] at the Internet Movie Database
* [http://www.tv.com/episode/280524/summary.html Sleeping with the Enemy] at TV.com
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/68297-Sleeping_with_the_Enemy.html Sleeping with the Enemy] at the Big Cartoon DataBase