The Burns and the Bees (7 Dec. 2008)

Mr. Burns wins a professional basketball team in a poker game, and the new arena he plans to have Springfield build for the team threatens to interfere with Lisa's new bee sanctuary.

Director:

Mark Kirkland

Writers:

Matt Groening (creator), James L. Brooks (developer),

Stars:

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson / Groundskeeper Willie / Abraham Simpson / Mayor Quimby (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson / Kearney Zzyzwicz (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Moe Szyslak / Professor Fink (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Mr. Burns / Smithers (voice)
Marv Albert	...	Himself (voice)
Jeff Bezos	...	Himself (voice)
Mark Cuban	...	Himself (voice)
Pamela Hayden	...	Milhouse Van Houten (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	Dolph / Jimbo Jones (voice)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Various (voice)

Storyline

Alarmed that the bee population is dying Lisa creates a breeding ground in an old greenhouse but Burns demolishes it to make way for a new stadium to house his recently acquired basketball team. Thanks to Moe's cross-breeding Lisa's swarm with a group of killer African bees the little winged creatures come back to take their revenge on Burns and lead to the destruction of his stadium.

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Plot Keywords:

stadium | greenhouse | poker game | 2d animation | town meeting | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 2008 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (Dolby Surround)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Willie says that bees are dying "all over the world, from Glasgow to Edinburgh." Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland; Edinburgh is the capital. The two are 46 miles (74 km) apart.

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Goofs

When Lisa is against Mr Burns she claims that Mr Burns is crashing the greenhouse where the bees are, she turns to Mr Burns, before Mr Burns trys to look innocent he has a purple tie, after he looks innocent he has a black tie.

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Quotes

Lisa Simpson: Listen, people. You didn't listen to me about the darter snail, you didn't listen to me about the osprey, and you didn't listen to me about the jabalina.
Lenny: The feisty pig of the desert?
Lisa Simpson: Apparently, not feisty enough.

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Connections

Spoofs Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Dance of the Hours - Movement 1"
(uncredited)
Music by Amilcare Ponchielli

User Reviews

Awesome episode - one of the best ever Simpsons episodes

I was impressed with this episode. Extremeley witty and one of the best Simpsons episodes ever written. Seriously. The puns were fast and furious but even more than usual.

Kudos to the writer on this episode.

The story managed to be both topical - the dying off of Bees and provide a great story for Mr. Burns trying to impress as a billionaire. Both stories converged neatly in the end and Homer was there to muck up it up - albeit slightly.

What makes this episode so top-notch was the quality of the writing. I have never written a Simpsons commentary but had to stop what I was doing to check out the writer. I am not familiar with her: Stephanie Gillis, I think.