Large Marge

Infobox Simpsons episode
episode_name = Large Marge
episode_no = 295
prod_code = DABF18
airdate = November 24, 2002
show runner = Al Jean
writer = Ian Maxtone-Graham
director = Jim Reardon
couch_gag = Homer (unseen, but implied to be him) draws the family on the couch with an Etch-a-Sketch (called a “Sketch-A-Etch” in the couch gag) and yells, “Whoo-hoo!” when he’s done.
guest_star = Jan Hooks as Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon
Burt Ward as Robin
Adam West as Batman
The Baha Men


image_caption = Marge starts enjoying her new enlarged breasts.
season = 14
color = #EFEFEF

"Large Marge" is the fourth episode of "The Simpsons"' fourteenth season. The episode aired on November 24, 2002.

Plot

Lisa and Homer make a bet on who would win the 1948 presidential election. Lisa wins and she gets to choose the activity for Daddy-Daughter Day. Her activity is taking part in building homes for Habitat for Humanity alongside Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George H. W. Bush. While painting, Homer takes off his wedding ring in order not to get paint on it, and Lindsay Naegle and Cookie Kwan mistakenly think Homer is a bachelor. Marge, driving by, sees Homer appearing to flirt with the women (though he is actually explaining how Marge gave birth to Bart). She worries that Homer has lost interest in her, so she decides to get liposuction, on the advice of Manjula.

Unfortunately, a mix-up causes her to get breast implants, which were intended for one of Mayor Quimby's interns. The doctor says that Marge must wait for 48 hours before the implants can be removed. Marge is furious with the new implants.

Meanwhile, Bart and Milhouse watch an old episode of "Batman", featuring Krusty as a villain named Clownface, who threatens the pair with a rapidly spinning carousel of death. Bart and Milhouse like the idea, inspiring them to recreate the stunt, with Bart putting Milhouse on a merry-go-round in school. Otto uses the bus to kick-start the merry-go-round, spinning it at an incredible speed. The bolts give way and the merry-go-round goes flying through the air, knocking over the school flag. Milhouse vomits on the flag while Iwo Jima veterans are visiting the school. Bart explains to Principal Skinner that he saw Krusty do the stunt on TV, and in response, Skinner leads a group protesting against Krusty, who is now seen as a dangerous influence to children. Krusty’s show is revamped to exclude all possibly dangerous elements, destroying the show's popularity with children.

After coming home from her surgery, Marge realizes that her very large breasts are making her life difficult after trying to hug Maggie and open the cupboard. Marge tries to hide her breasts from her family, but Homer and the kids find out Marge's secret after a few short hours. Homer, Marge and the kids go out for dinner to the local Italian restaurant. Luigi, who had just rejected the Flanders family, immediately admits the Simpson family after seeing Marge’s breasts. Homer soon starts singing about Marge’s breasts. He is joined by several other male patrons. Kiekie, a trade show executive, approaches Marge and offers her a modeling job. Marge accepts and initially enjoys the experience, but later experiences back pain because of her heavy breasts. She also finds herself being ogled and pinched by every man in Springfield.

At the Springfield Shoe Expo, Marge is further humiliated by lustful men while promoting shoe horns. At the same time, Bart helps Krusty to win back his popularity, using Milhouse and Stampy, Bart's old pet elephant in a stunt. The stunt quickly goes out of control when Stampy stuffs Milhouse and Bart in his mouth. Homer tries to save them, but suffers the same fate. Krusty forgets the word that was supposed to make Stampy submit and lie down. The police decide to shoot at Stampy, which would endanger Homer, Bart and Milhouse. Marge appears on the scene, and after unsuccessfully trying to dissuade the police shooting, distracts the police by revealing her huge breasts to the assembled crowd. Krusty, still hated by residents of Springfield, saves the day by accidentally saying Stampy's safety word, "Magumbo". Stampy releases Bart, Milhouse and Homer, and Krusty is hailed as a hero and his popularity is restored with the town. The next day, the "Springfield Shopper" proclaims "Crazed mom goes topless!" with 25 pages worth of pictures. Marge gets her implants removed.

Cultural references

*When the doctor sees Marge's implants he says 'Great Ceausescu's ghost!'. This exclamation is a parody of "Great Ceasar's Ghost," Perry White's catchphrase from the "Adventures of Superman" television series.
*The three former US presidents (George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter) parody the Three Stooges.
*The Baha Men sing a pair of parodies of their hit song "Who Let the Dogs Out?" in this episode. The first is a kid-friendly version on Radio Disney, called "Who Left the Milk Out?" that even Maggie dislikes. The second, "Who Let Her Jugs Out?" plays over the credits (with the use of repeated yells of D'oh in place of the dogs barking).
*In the parody of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, the episode features five marines, which is technically correct, as the sixth member of the group in the photo was a US Navy Corpsman.
*The shoe store Marge stands on is called "The Keds Are Alright," a reference to "The Kids Are Alright" by The Who.
*When the citizens are seen protesting Krusty, Principal Skinner is seen with a sign that says "Cancel Beavis & Butt-Head Jackass Krusty." The two shows crossed out are from the cable channel MTV and were actually protested against by parents and censors for showing dangerous actions that kids have easily imitated, often leading to injury.
* The title is a possible reference to Large Marge, a female trucker who gives Pee-Wee Herman a ride (and turns out to be a ghost) in "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure". There is also a third series Garbage Pail Kids sticker, 122b, called Large Marge (with the 'alias' sticker, 122a, called Broad Maud)
* When Kiekie offers Marge a job as a model, Homer first protests and says, "You're not putting your brain into her body!" This is a reference to The Atomic Brain episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
*The sparsely-worded newspaper story title about Krusty, "TV Clown Saves Day", is a parody of the real-life phenomenon of headlinese.
* When Krusty forgets Stampy's safety word, "Mogambo" (a 1953 John Ford film starring Clark Gable), he recites a string of similar sounding words. The first word is "Columbo," in a reference to the detective. The second word, "Modesto", is a city in California. The third word, "Daktari", references a television show from the 1960s. The final word, "Nintendo", is a reference to the popular video game company. While Daktari appears to stand out as the one unrhyming word, its use is not entirely random. Both "Mogambo" and "Daktari" are Swahili words, meaning "passion" and "doctor," respectively.