The Great Wife Hope (11 Oct. 2009)

Marge takes on the owner of an ultimate fighting league in the ring in order to get the sport banned in Springfield.

Directors:

Matthew Faughnan, Mike B. Anderson

Writers:

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

Stars:

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson / Groundskeeper Willie / Sideshow Mel / Blue-Haired Lawyer / Krusty the Clown / Barney Gumble / Hans Moleman / Additional Voices (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson / Nelson Muntz / Ralph Wiggum / Kearney / Additional Voices (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Moe Szyslak / Carl Carlson / Drederick Tatum / Akira / Chief Wiggum / Additional Voices (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Lenny Leonard / Otto Mann / Montgomery Burns / Seymour Skinner / Additional Voices (voice)
Chuck Liddell	...	Himself (voice)
Marcia Wallace	...	Edna Krabappel (voice)
Pamela Hayden	...	Milhouse Van Houten / Sarah Wiggum / Jimbo Jones / Additional Voices (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	Crazy Cat Lady / Additional Voices (voice)
Maggie Roswell	...	Luann Van Houten / Helen Lovejoy (voice)
Russi Taylor	...	Martin Prince (voice)
Karl Wiedergott	...	Additional Voices (voice)

Storyline

The men and boys of Springfield become obsessed with Mixed Martial Arts, a violent sport where fighters inflict severe pain on one another. When Marge and her friends stage a protest, the show's promoter embraces the controversy and challenges Marge to a match, promising to shut down the competition if she wins.

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Plot Keywords:

ultimate fighting | 2d animation

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Right before the fight starts Barney is at the fight and then like 2 seconds later hes passed out at Moes with Moe, Lenny and Carl watching the fight.

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Quotes

Marge Simpson: Ultimate punching? Ultimate makes everything worse!
Otto Mann: Not frisbee.
Marge Simpson: Otto, don't you have a sack to hackey?
Otto Mann: Indeed I do! One... Aw, I messed up. One... Aw, I messed up. One... Aw, I messed up.

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Connections

References H.R. Pufnstuf (1969)

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Soundtracks

"Boola Boola"
(uncredited)
Written by James L. Boyce, Allan M. Hirsch, Albert Marckwald, and F. M. Van Wicklen
Performed by The Sing-A-Long Gang

User Reviews

Still in doubt over euthanasia? This episode proves that it's sometimes essential

In this episode, Marge embarks on a protest against a new 'ultimate fighting' fad in Springfield that is corrupting its children. Marge protesting? That's a new idea isn't it? Oh wait, it was covered nicely right back in the second series, when she tried to ban/soften Itchy & Scratchy... owing to its violent content and bad influences on children. I'm hardly going to sit here and painstakingly point out every time The Simpsons repeats itself (Comic Book Guy style), but so much work goes into making these episodes, so why bother making a point you've already made?

Alright, I don't think this episode really had a point anyway. Maybe we can overlook this, maybe we can say 'it made many valid points back in the nineties... as long as it still makes us laugh, that's all that matters.' On this measure, it fails again. I barely smiled throughout this dragged out piece of rubbish. Every attempt at humour was terrible, just the same character-based jokes we've seen a million times... Homer likes food, Homer likes violence, Marge is over-concerned. The desperation to please was very obvious - background characters were pulled in left, right and centre, and yet it still failed to deliver.

For every new episode of The Simpsons they make, I'm going to watch something pre-eleventh season. I beg you to join me.