The Mansion Family

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = The Mansion Family
episode_no = 238
prod_code = BABF08
airdate = January 23, 2000
show runner = Mike Scully
writer = John Swartzwelder
director = Michael Polcino
blackboard = "Class clown is not a paid position."
couch_gag = Marge and Homer are children while Bart and Lisa are adults (and Maggie is a baby doll in Homer’s arms). Homer reaches for the remote control, but Lisa slaps it away from him.
guest_star = Britney Spears as herself
season = 11

"The Mansion Family" is the twelfth episode of "The Simpsons"' eleventh season. The episode aired on January 23, 2000. This episode features the voice of Britney Spears as herself.

Plot

At the annual Springfield Pride Awards, which are hosted by Kent Brockman and Britney Spears, awards are given to prominent Springfield citizens for their achievements. Later on, they present the award for the oldest man in Springfield to Cornelius Chapman, a venerable 108-year-old man who built the first log cabin in Springfield and introduced the toothbrush to its citizens (he also took a bullet for Huey Long, but was a little late as he prevented the fifth bullet from hitting Huey, the other four killed him). He comes up to accept his award, but when Spears kisses him, he dies. Brockman tells Spears that they should have expected this and they ask for the next oldest man to stand up, it's Mr. Burns. Afterwards, he realizes he is not a young man anymore, and he and Smithers go to the Mayo Clinic. They give the Simpsons an opportunity to live in Burns's private mansion, while he is being tested for various diseases.

Later, Homer wants some beers, so he heads to Moe's. However, Moe, despite offering Homer Tuborg, Denmark's finest beer, informs him that he can not sell him alcohol on account of it being Sunday before 2PM. But Moe also informs Homer that he could sail out to international waters (Homer thinks this is a theme park at first), where there are no laws which means it would be legal to sell alcohol. They set sail in Burns's private yacht, with Homer bringing Moe, Lenny, Carl and a posse of others (including Bart) to get to international waters where they can do whatever they want.

Back at the Mayo Clinic, Burns discovers that he not only has all existing diseases (including pneumonia, juvenile diabetes and a little bit of hysterical pregnancy), but six new diseases the doctors appear to have just discovered in him. However, the sheer amount of diseases prevents any from actually doing harm to him (a condition the doctors call "Three Stooges Syndrome"). This leads Burns to conclude that he is indestructible.

Meanwhile, Homer's boat is confronted by a ship full of Chinese pirates who take Homer's ship hostage as they head for Hong Kong, which they call "hidden pirate island". They are almost killed until they are saved by a floating net. The family leaves after Marge and Lisa clean Burns's house, managing to scrub "that old man smell" out of 137 rooms. Back at home, everyone is glad to live a normal life again - with the exception of Homer, who is upset that he does not actually live the lifestyle of rich people. He proceeds to rant and lament about how rich the people in the episode's end credits are.

Cultural references

*Just before stealing the speech from Cornelius Chapman, Mr. Burns says "Abra Cadaver", which is a reference to a 1982 murder mystery play written by John Mattera.
*Mike Tyson is mentioned in this episode although he looks exactly like Drederick Tatum, who is the parody of Tyson.
*This episode's name is a play on the Manson Family, the cult lead by Charles Manson who were responsible for the murder of Sharon Tate and others.
*Britney Spears is dressed as she appeared in her music video for her song "Baby One More Time".
*Marge mentions Bill Cosby and David Letterman (she incorrectly calls them "Crosby" and "Letterson") as examples of famous comedians who smoke cigars.
*Homer refers to international waters as "The Land That Law Forgot". This alludes to Edgar Rice Burroughs's famous 1918 science fiction novel, "The Land That Time Forgot".
*The monkey named Furious George is a parody of Curious George.
*After watching a knife-fight between two monkeys, Moe comments "He ain't pretty no more!" This is Nicholas Colasanto's line in "Raging Bull".
*Mr. Burns is revealed to own every book in the Nancy Drew series, including a "controversial" entry entitled "Clue in the Clock". (This title was invented by the "Simpsons" writers). Upon looking through the book, Lisa comments, "So many swears".
*The Coast Guard officer gets Homer's party going by sounding out the opening guitar riffs to the Doobie Brothers' song "China Grove".
*The medical painting which Mr. Burns and Smithers pass on the way out of the docotr's office at the Mayo Clinic is "The Gross Clinic", painted by Nineteenth Century American painter, Thomas Eakens. It depicts Dr. Samuel Gross and his students. It was sold by the Eakens Gallery of Thomas Jefferson University in January, 2007, to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Pennsylvania Academy of Arts, and a replica now hangs in the Eakens Gallery. An image of the painting and more details on the work and its painter are to be found at the following URL: http://www.jefferson.edu/eakins/grossclinic.cfm

External links

*snpp capsule|BABF08
*imdb episode|id=0701250|episode=The Mansion Family