- I'm Goin' to Praiseland
Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = I'm Goin' to Praiseland
episode_no = 267
prod_code = CABF15
airdate =May 6 ,2001
show runner =Mike Scully
writer =Julie Thacker
director =Chuck Sheetz
blackboard = "Genetics is not an excuse"
couch_gag = A cement truck pours out concrete statues of the Simpson family. The head of Homer’s statue breaks off and falls at his feet.
guest_star =Shawn Colvin as Rachel Jordan
season = 12"I'm Goin' to Praiseland" is the nineteenth episode of the twelfth season of "
The Simpsons ". It aired onMay 6 ,2001 , and is the last episode written byJulie Thacker (the wife of showrunner Mike Scully).Plot
Ned Flanders is reunited with his old flame, Rachel Jordan, from the episode, "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily ". She stays at the Flanders house with him, and leaves briefly after Flanders molds her into his deceased wife Maude's image. Ned realizes that he needs to break his obsession with Maude. And sure he does, by having the Simpson family remove every reminder of Maude he has in his house, although Homer has a thing for putting Maude's things in the wood chipper, except for one: a sketchbook, which includes designs for aChristian amusement park , Praiseland. With the help of the family and several Springfield citizens, Flanders builds Praiseland as a tribute to Maude, on the site of the abandoned Storytown Village (from "Lisa the Vegetarian ").However, after Praiseland is established, it becomes very unsuccessful. But when a mask of Maude rises up in front of a Maude statue, the visitors who leave think it is a miracle. Eventually, anyone who stands in front of the statue (which Ned calls the "Miracle Maude", which he says will raise money for an orphanage) has a vision. However, Ned finds out that the cause of everyone's "visions" is actually a gas leak. In saving the lives of two orphans lighting candles, Ned and Homer are mistaken for child abusers. Ned reluctantly shuts down Praiseland, but it allows him to go on another date with Rachel Jordan.
Cultural references
* The whole concept of Praiseland is based on the Christian theme park,
Heritage USA , that was built in the 1980s by donations made totelevangelist s Jim andTammy Faye Bakker .
* The title of the episode is a spoof of the famous slogan "I'm Going to Disneyland!" or perhaps a reference to the Paul Simon song "Graceland", whose refrain repeats the line "I'm going to Graceland"
* The old popular "Whack-A-Mole " game is titled "Whack a Satan" in Praiseland (and has the clown hallucination music fromHomer the Clown )
*Comic Book Guy 's vision of heaven has him in the role ofSpock on the bridge of the Enterprise from the originalStar Trek . In his vision, he saysshazbot , the expletive used byMork in the TV show "Mork and Mindy ". After he savescaptain Kirk ,Uhura tells him she wants to make out with him, as doCatwoman and agent 99.
* The scene where Ned cuts Rachel's hair to model Maude's hair refers to (bothAlfred Hitchcock films), "Rebecca" and "Vertigo".
* The end sequence song (and the song that plays when Disco Stu hallucinates that he's being let into a disco version of Heaven) is "Get Dancin'" byDisco-Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes .
* In Disco Stu's hallucination of heaven, he meets a deadFrank Sinatra who states "For me, this is Hell. Ya dig, pally?"
* After getting kicked by his cow, Professor Frink says "Ivan Reitman ", who is a film director.
* The scene where there is a gas leak on opening day of the park could possibly be a reference to the opening day ofDisneyland , where a gas leak inFantasyland shut down a part of the park.Trivia/Bloopers
In "
Alone Again, Natura-Diddily " Ned Flanders sleeps on the right side of the bed, but in this episode, Maude's side of the bed is also depicted as the right side of the bed (plus, Maude's indentation wasn't there in "Alone Again, Natura-Diddily ").In a news report, Flanders is referred to as Nedward Flanders
External links
*snpp capsule|CABF15
*imdb episode|id=0701133|episode=I'm Goin' to Praiseland
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