The Book Job (20 Nov. 2011)

Homer and Bart put together a team to author the next successful tween novel franchise and make a million dollars, but discover that they need Lisa's help to pull it off.

Director:

Bob Anderson

Writers:

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

Stars:

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Yeardley Smith

Cast

Episode credited cast:
Dan Castellaneta	...	Homer Simpson (voice)
Julie Kavner	...	Marge Simpson (voice)
Yeardley Smith	...	Lisa Simpson (voice)
Nancy Cartwright	...	Bart Simpson / Additional Voices (voice)
Hank Azaria	...	Nobel Prize Announcer / Wiseguy / Van Krusten / European Judge #1 / Roofi / Easy Reader / Sprooklyn Bum / Guy Talking To Krusty / Moe Szyslak (voice)
Harry Shearer	...	Kent Brockman / Ned Flanders (voice)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Neil Gaiman	...	Neil Gaiman (voice)
Andy Garcia	...	Slick Publisher (voice)
Pamela Hayden	...	Milhouse Van Houten (voice)
Tress MacNeille	...	Dolph (voice)

Storyline

Lisa becomes disheartened when she learns the shocking truth behind the "tween lit" industry and her beloved fantasy novel characters. But Homer decides to cash in on the craze and forms a team to group-write the next "tween lit" hit, with the king of fantasy, Neil Gaiman, lending his expertise to the effort. After catching the eye of a slick industry publisher at the Springfield Book Fair, the team gets an advanced copy of their work and discovers that the corporate lit business is a bigger operation than they imagined.

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Plot Keywords:

fantasy novel | ogre | double cross | tyrannosaurus rex | allosaurus | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family

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Details

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the books featured at the Springfield Book Fair is Steve Hely's "How I Became A Famous Novelist," which also revolves around the deliberate creation of a bestselling novel solely for personal gain via going to the bookstore, determining what's already selling well, and slapping together a pastiche of it.

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Goofs

Lisa's laser printer is printing out Bart and Homer's manuscript yet the sound of a dot matrix printer is heard

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Quotes

Neil Gaiman: You've heisted yourself up the best seller charts yet again. And the most brilliant part is, I don't even know how to read!

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Crazy Credits

The credits are written in white instead of the usual yellow.

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Connections

References Barney & Friends (1992)

User Reviews

The Simpsons take on The Italian Job, Ocean's Eleven and put together a very funny episode

Couch gag: N/A There isn't one to speak of.

The episode: Lisa discovers one of her favorite authors is just a face for the back cover. Her books turn out to be written by scores of recently graduated lit majors who will do anything for money. Lisa vents to Homer about it, planting the idea in Homer's brain. He assembles a crack team, starting with Bart, to write the book with him.

Any time The Simpsons put together a group of Homer, Bart, Moe, Professor Frink, Selma, and Principal Skinner, you know you're in for a treat. That's precisely what this episode was. Neil Gaiman guest stars in this episode and does a very good job.

Favorite moment(s): Principal Skinner's original recruitment and then his pizza delivery decoy. Kansas City.

Sit down and watch this episode if you get a chance. It's cute but not too cute. The Italian Job/Ocean's Eleven spoof is a real charmer. This is an episode that ends really well, combining the comedy and sentimentality we've come to expect from The Simpsons.

Overall rating: 9/10 I highly recommend this episode. It's a fun one.