Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays

"Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays"
The Simpsons episode
The association named "Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays Against Parasitic Parents"
Episode no.	321
Prod. code	FABF03
Orig. airdate	January 4, 2004
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Jon Vitti
Directed by	Bob Anderson
Couch gag	The Simpsons sit on the couch as normal. Knives are hurled at the Simpsons' heads, but hit the wall. Homer tries to get a bowl of chips, but a knife stops him.
Season 15 November 2, 2003 – May 23, 2004 "Treehouse of Horror XIV" "My Mother the Carjacker" "The President Wore Pearls" "The Regina Monologues" "The Fat and the Furriest" "Today I Am a Clown" "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife" "Margical History Tour" "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" "Smart and Smarter" "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" "Co-Dependent's Day" "The Wandering Juvie" "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" "Catch 'Em If You Can" "Simple Simpson" "The Way We Weren't" "Bart-Mangled Banner" "Fraudcast News" List of all The Simpsons episodes
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"Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons fifteenth season. After Lindsay Naegle forms an anti-children group, Marge fights back with a group led with Mr. Burns' power.^[1] The episode originally aired on January 4, 2004. It was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Bob Anderson. This episode earned FOX ratings of 6.7/10.^[2]

Plot

When Bart and Lisa fight over what to watch on TV, they accidentally change the channel to a show hosted by a children's entertainer named Roofi. This does not appeal to Bart and Lisa, but Maggie adores the show, and after Bart and Lisa accidentally say there is a Roofi CD so that they can get the TV back, Marge buys the disc that she plays everywhere, much to the annoyance of Bart, Lisa, and Homer. Marge goes as far as to even buy tickets to Roofi's concert, which is to be held at Cletus Spuckler's farm. However, because the concert was oversold, it ends up packed and is then cancelled due to rain. Soon, the babies riot, an event referred to in the news as the "Tot Offensive".

In a response to the disaster, all the adults of Springfield who do not have children (the singles, the teenagers, dating couples, and homosexuals) are up in arms, because Kabul has declared they will no longer be Springfield's sister city and Mayor Quimby forcibly took $1 million from the audience to cover the damages. Lindsay Naegle arrives to form an anti-youth group named "Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples And Teens And Gays Against Parasitic Parents" (SSCCATAGAPP) to rid the town of anything that provides comfort to families. A statue to America's deadbeat dads is erected, a school bus ignores kids waiting at the stop to take senior citizens on a gambling junket, and a new ordinance allows children who act up in public to be tasered.

A furious Marge lobbies to get an initiative: "Families Come First", as she lobbies "Proud Parents Against Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens and Gays" (PPASSCCATAG). Her lobbying efforts do poorly at first, and she fends off a $50,000 offer from America's tobacco lobby, but fair support grows after Mr. Burns loans his signature on Marge's petition because he cares about children (specifically, their "supple young organs").

Other Springfield residents follow his lead (as Carl notes, "Rich guys always want what's best for everyone!"), and the proposition (Proposition 242) gets on the ballot. Homer tries to help with the campaign but screws up badly by placing the wrong information on bumper stickers and buttons for the voters, while his Rudy Guiliani-featuring ad is a disaster and the opposition slanders Marge with an ad where an actress posing as Marge says even she is against Prop 242, and "now it's time to do some coke off the blade of a knife". Bart and Lisa soon concoct a plan. When everyone goes to the voting polls, they are stopped in their tracks by the (literally) infectious hugs of children. Proposition 242 passes easily, and Homer decides to celebrate by dumping his kids at an R-rated movie with no supervision while he and Marge go some place nice by themselves.

Cultural references

• After Moe turns the R in the Toys "R" Us logo, a tearful Milhouse can be seen. This scene is a reference to a World War II photograph of a Frenchman witnessing the fall of Paris to German forces on June 14, 1940.
• In the beginning of the Roofi Concert, he is playing Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones.
• Comic Book Guy mentions Herman's Head as an example of the only petitions he ever signs: those calling for canceled TV shows to be brought back on the air. CBG's mention of the show is ironic because the character is voiced by Hank Azaria, who was one of the stars of HH and has been candid about finding the show subpar and not among his favorite roles.
• At the very start of the episode, they make fun of Steve Irwin when he gets bitten by a saltwater crocodile and then gets eaten and killed. Although Irwin later died while on the job, syndicated repeats of the show have included this sequence.
• In Scene 1 of the SSCCATAGAPP rebellion play the song My Generation by The Who; in Scene 2, the song "Signs" by Tesla is played.
• Homer refers to Ben Affleck as a childless celebrity advocate who lives out of state. Since this episode aired in 2004, Affleck and his wife Jennifer Garner have had two daughters together and are currently expecting their third child.
• Homer says he is using Al Jazeera.com as an unaffiliated source for his message board. Most syndicated airings of this episode edit out any mention of the Qatar-based news organization.
• The final lines after the children have infected the adults with flu by Lisa parody the last lines of the H.G. Wells classic War of the Worlds.

References

1. ^ "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" at the Internet Movie Database
2. ^ "Episode review at simpsonschannel.com". http://www.simpsonschannel.com/news/monthly-archive-1-2004.html. 

External links

• "Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays" at the Internet Movie Database

The Simpsons portal