The Ziff Who Came to Dinner

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = The Ziff Who Came to Dinner
episode_no = 327
prod_code = FABF08
airdate = March 14, 2004
writer = Deb Lacusta & Dan Castellaneta
director = Nancy Kruse
blackboard = I will not speculate on how hot teacher used to be
couch_gag = In a parody of the 1977 science short film, "Powers of Ten", the Simpsons sit down on the couch as normal when suddenly, the camera pans out, revealing an overhead shot of the house, an overhead shot of the neighborhood, an overhead shot of the United States, an overhead shot of the North American continent and the Western Hemisphere, an overhead shot of the Earth, the solar system, and Kang and Kodos standing next to a broken spaceship. Soon, many stars fill the screen as they form into the Milky Way. Other galaxies form and turn into atoms, which turn into simple molecular structures, which turn into more complex molecular structures, which turn into DNA helices, which pan out into a blank yellow expanse, which reveals to be Homer’s bald head and returns to the couch scene. Homer stares blankly for a moment, then utters, “Wow!”
guest_star = Jon Lovitz as Artie Ziff, Jay Sherman, Llewelyn Sinclair, Aristotle Amadopoulos, and Professor Lombardo


image_caption = Ziff gets busted. | season = 15
color = #EFEFEF

"The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" is the fourteenth episode of "The Simpsons"' fifteenth season, and the third of four episodes written by Simpsons voice actor Dan Castellaneta and his wife, Deb Lacusta. The episode aired on March 14, 2004.

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Plot

Homer takes Bart and Lisa to a movie and he has to bring the Flanders family children with him, because Ned has taken the senior citizens for ice cream to celebrate the birthday of Jasper. However, at the Googolplex Theatre, every kid-friendly movie is sold out, and after listening to Lenny mention he had a small part in the horror movie "The Redeadening" as a gardener, Homer takes the kids to see the movie. The movie is very scary, causing it to scare Bart and Lisa at home, who think they hear noises from the attic. But when they look in the attic to see it, their fears scare them away. When Bart and Lisa arrange to have Homer and Marge look in the attic, they discover Artie Ziff living there.

Artie Ziff explains that he was living in the attic because he ran an unsuccessful internet business, Ziffcorp (an Enron parody), and lost all his money after spending it on many extravagant items. He said he came to the family house because he thought Marge was the closest thing to him. Artie says he wants to stay in the Simpson house until he gets back on his feet, as long as he promises to be on his best behavior. Artie arranges to stay in the Simpson house and his first activity there is to read to Lisa from The Corrections. He then tries to buy ice cream for Bart, but, when Artie's credit card gets cut up, he attempts to hang himself. Homer gets Artie down and takes him to Moe's.

Marge sees on the news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for Artie Ziff. Meanwhile, Artie is playing poker with Homer and his friends. Homer wins 98% of his company's outstanding stock. The SEC sweeps in to arrest Ziff, but Homer says he owns 230 million shares of Ziffcorp, making him the majority stockholder. To protect himself, Artie also blames Homer. Homer is taken into SEC custody, and placed on trial.

When Homer is on trial, Marge blames Artie for Homer being likely to go to prison. She also suggests that no one likes Artie for one reason: he only thinks of himself (this also proven by a short can-can that Artie had imagined, with all the people Artie). Homer is eventually found guilty and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Visiting Moe's Tavern, Artie encounters Patty and Selma, and Selma comes to take Artie to her apartment after he mentions putting Homer in prison. As they spend the night together, Artie makes a plan to turn over his corporate books in order to admit he is the real crook. Ziff turns himself in, and Homer is released from prison. The family takes one last look at their "Uncle Artie", who uses a squirt bottle to put out the prisoners' cigarettes, much to their anger.

Cultural references

*The name of this episode is a reference to the comedy "The Man Who Came to Dinner".
*The opening scene is a spoof of the famous short film Powers of Ten, going from 10²⁶ to 10^-18 to Homer's head.
*The soundtrack of 'The Re-Deadening' is very similar to the opening music of the classic American horror movie "Rosemary's Baby".
*The song during Artie's flashback was the 1999 Lou Bega Mambo No. 5.
*The movie "The Redeadening" is a "Village of the Damned" and "The Others" parody. Furthermore, the idea of a doll possessed by a murderer is the premise of the movie "Child's Play". "Village of the Damned" is also parodied in Wild Barts Can't Be Broken as "The Bloodening."
*The sounds made by Artie that Lisa hears from the attic are very similar to the "ach-um" sound that Jay Sherman from The Critic makes. Jon Lovitz voices both Jay and Artie Ziff.
*The scene where Lisa cries while talking into the video camera after Bart bails on her is taken from "The Blair Witch Project".
*Lisa states that Homer believes that characters and situations in books are real, remarking that his search for the factory from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" consumes him.
*When the family visits him in prison, the song Homer sings is based on "Turn Around" by Malvina Reynolds.
*Homer wants his friends to hide the fact he is going to jail from his family by pretending he joined the Blue Man Group.
*Some of the movies at the Googolplex are:
**"The Wild Movie", a reference to "The Wild Thornberrys"
**"Diet Coke: The Movie"
**"The Fashion of the Christ", a reference to "The Passion of the Christ"
**"You're in the Matrix, Charlie Brown
**"A Matrix Christmas"
**"The Re-Deadening"
**"Teenage Sex Wager", a reference to "American Pie"
**"My Big Fat Greek Salad" (Homer made this movie up)
**"Eating Nemo"
**"3 Fast 3 Furious"
*Ziffcorp's logo is reminiscent of Enron's, and shares the same fate.