| "In the Name of the Grandfather" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
 The promotional image for the episode: Homer and Grampa on a drinking binge in O'Flanagan's Pub in Ireland. | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 20 Episode 14 | ||
| Directed by | Ralph Sosa | ||
| Written by | Matt Marshall | ||
| Production code | LABF11[1] | ||
| Original air dates | |||
| Guest appearances | |||
| Glen Hansard as Street musician Markéta Irglová as Eastern European woman Colm Meaney as Tom O'Flanagan Marcia Wallace asEdna Krabappel | |||
| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "Four leaf clovers are not mutant freaks" | ||
| Couch gag | The family members participate in a dog show;Bart wins andHomer attacks him. | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
| |||
| The Simpsonsseason 20 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"In the Name of the Grandfather" is the fourteenth episode of thetwentieth season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. It first aired onSky1 onSt. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2009 and aired on theFox network in theUnited States on March 22, 2009. It was the first episode of the show to premiere in Europe before airing on Fox. In the episode, the Simpsons buy a new hot tub and spend so much time relaxing in it that they neglectAbraham "Grampa" Simpson.Homer decides to make it up to Grampa by helping him do one thing he wants to do. Grampa reminisces about O'Flanagan's pub in Ireland where he once had the best night of his life so the Simpsons travel there.Marge,Bart andLisa visit various Irish landmarks while Homer and Grampa buy O'Flanagan's during a night ofbinge drinking and soon discover that pubs are no longer popular in Ireland.
"In the Name of the Grandfather" was directed by Ralph Sosa and was the first episode of the show to be written by Matt Marshall. Marshall pitched the idea in 2007 and the script was ready for atable read later that year, but theWriters Guild of America strike delayed work on the episode. Described by executive producerAl Jean as "an affectionate love letter to Ireland", the episode was inspired by aNew York Times article about the effects ofIreland's smoking ban on pubs. Guest stars for the episode includeColm Meaney as Tom O'Flanagan,Glen Hansard as astreet musician andMarkéta Irglová as anEastern European woman. The episode contains numerous jokes about Ireland and references to Irish culture including theGiant's Causeway,Blarney Castle,James Joyce,leprechauns,Guinness,Riverdance,U2 and the filmOnce.
The special broadcast of the episode in Ireland was part of Fox's year-long "Best. 20 Years. Ever." celebration which commemorates the 20th anniversary of the show. To promote the broadcast, Jean, Brooks and voice actorNancy Cartwright visited Ireland and participated in the Saint Patrick's Day parade inDublin. Critics in Ireland mostly enjoyed the jokes about the nation but felt that the episode itself was average. The initial broadcast on Sky1 in Ireland was watched by 511,000 viewers, with a 33 share making it the most watched Sky1 broadcast in Ireland ever. In the United Kingdom, an average of 957,000 viewers (with a 4.7 share) watched. The first airing of the episode on Fox in the United States finished with a 3.6Nielsen rating and was viewed in 6.15 million homes, finishing third in its timeslot.
The Simpson family visits a home and garden show where they decide to purchase ahot tub. They spend hours soaking in the tub and become so relaxed that they forget to visitAbraham "Grampa" Simpson at a family event. Grampa angrily unplugs and destroys the hot tub, scolding them for ignoring him.Homer and the family decide to make up for their neglect by doing something he's always wanted to do but never got the chance for. Grampa reminisces about apub in Dunkilderry,Ireland called O'Flanagan's, where he claims to have had the best night of his life many years ago. Homer and the family agree to go to Ireland with Abe so he can have one last drink at the pub. When the family arrives they realize Ireland has become a commercialized, hi-tech country of consumers and workaholics. The pub itself has also run out of business as many of the patrons are nowyuppies who have no interest in drinking. The pub owner, a man named Tom O'Flanagan, is happy to have customers again. Homer and Grampa sit down at the pub and start drinking whileMarge takesBart andLisa to visit various Irish landmarks, such as theGiant's Causeway,Blarney Castle, theGuinnessbrewery and the city ofDublin.
After a long night of drinking, Homer and Grampa awaken and discover that they bought the pub from Tom O'Flanagan during the previous night's binge, much to their shock and dismay. They rename the bar and try to continue running it but get no business and have to find a way to market their unwelcoming business. Homer gets help fromMoe Szyslak, who suggests that they allow people to do illegal things in their pub. The guys discover that it's illegal to smoke indoors in Ireland, so they turn the bar into asmokeasy. They do a roaring trade, but are closed down by the Irish authorities. As punishment, Homer and Grampa are deported back to America and have to pay a small fine.Chief Wiggum arrives to bring them back to the U.S., but accidentally hits himself with hisnightstick and thenmaces andtasers himself.
"In the Name of the Grandfather" was the first episode written by Matt Marshall who had previously worked on the show as a writers' assistant.[4] In 2007, hepitched the idea ofGrampa Simpson being neglected and the Simpsons taking him to Ireland. The script was ready for atable read in late 2007, but theWriters Guild of America strike delayed work on the episode.[5] Executive producerAl Jean said the episode is intended to be "an affectionate love letter to Ireland" because many of the writers have Irish roots.[6] He added, "The episode is based on the experiences of myself and a lot of the writers onThe Simpsons who have Irish ancestry and come back to visit to find it very different, much more hi-tech."[7] According toJames L. Brooks, the story was also inspired by aNew York Times article about the effects of thesmoking ban in Ireland on pubs.[8]
Previous episodes of the show where the Simpsons visit other countries have been controversial. For example, the Simpsons visited Australia in "Bart vs. Australia" (season six, 1995) and Brazil in "Blame It on Lisa" (season 13, 2002) and both episodes generated controversy and negative reaction in the visited countries.[8] In the latter case,Rio de Janeiro's tourist board—who claimed that the city was portrayed as having rampant street crime, kidnappings, slums, and monkey and rat infestations—went so far as to threaten Fox with legal action.[9] When asked whether he thought this episode would generate similar controversies, Al Jean replied "I'm Irish American and I know Irish people have an excellent sense of humor so we weren't very worried."[10]
Colm Meaney guest starred as Tom O'Flanagan.[11] Al Jean felt that Meaney was "just perfect with his voice".[12] For the episode,Glen Hansard andMarkéta Irglová reprised their roles as astreet musician and Eastern European woman, respectively, from the filmOnce.[13] They recorded their parts in October 2008 in Los Angeles during their tour of the United States.[14]
In a September 2008 interview, Jean said thatKenneth Branagh would guest star as the pub owner and that he had come in to record the part.[15][16] However, Branagh was replaced by Meaney and did not appear in the episode.[12] According to Fox's official press release,Kathy Ireland was to have a cameo as herself. However, although she appeared in animated form in the episode, a caption stated that the producers asked her to guest voice and that she had declined. The voice of her character was performed byTress MacNeille.[3]
The episode featured numerous jokes about and references to Ireland and its culture.[17] The title refers to the Irish filmIn the Name of the Father. The Simpson family visits landmarks includingBlarney Castle andGuinness Brewery as well as theGiant's Causeway.[11] The fictional village of Dunkilderry containsyuppieleprechauns described by Grampa as "yuprechauns"[17] and Homer drinksGuinness beer. An advertising executive with Guinness stated that a deal had to be worked out withThe Simpsons producers in order for the brand to appear in the episode.[18] The Simpsons visit Dublin onBloomsday, a day when people recreate the events inJames Joyce's novelUlysses.[19] Homer says that he wants to take Ireland back to the "good old days ofAngela's Ashes", referencing Irish authorFrank McCourt's memoir.[20] In his flashback, Grampa dances inRiverdance style.[21] MusiciansGlen Hansard andMarkéta Irglová reprise their roles as buskers from the 2007 Irish filmOnce - much of which was originally shot inMountjoy Square,Dublin, coincidentally a location that is also featured inUlysses. A billboard in Ireland advertises aU2 moving company with the slogan "We Move in Mysterious Ways".[20]
Apart from the references to Ireland Bart also makes a derogatory remark about Belgium, causing Marge to threaten him with "taking hisTintins away", whereupon Bart clutches a copy of the Tintin bookThe Crab with the Golden Claws to his chest, promising he'll behave.[22][23][24][25]
"In the Name of the Grandfather" was first episode ofThe Simpsons to premiere in Europe before airing on Fox in the United States.[11][26] Previously, new episodes of the show occasionally aired on theGlobal Television Network in Canada a half-hour before they aired on Fox. Globalsimulcasts shows from several American networks and the occasional special forces them to push episodes ofThe Simpsons to an earlier timeslot.[27]
The episode aired at 7:30 PM on Sky1[11] and was paired with "Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapes", the season premiere episode ofThe Simpsons, which begins with a visit to a St. Patrick's Day parade.[2] The special broadcast is part of Fox's year-long "Best. 20 Years. Ever." celebration which commemorates the 20th anniversary of the show.[28] To promote the broadcast, executive producersAl Jean andJames L. Brooks, as well asNancy Cartwright visited Ireland and participated in theSaint Patrick's Day parade inDublin.[11] The episode was screened at the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin on March 16.[8] In addition, Homer was announced as the special guest editor of the March edition ofSky Magazine.[11] To promote the episode in the United States, several people dressed as Marge visited pubs in various major cities on March 17 and gave away codes for free cell phone ringtones and wallpaper. A clip from the episode was played all day on theJumboTron screen inTimes Square,New York City.[28]
Before "In the Name of the Grandfather" aired, IrishbookmakerPaddy Power started taking bets on what would happen in the episode. It offered odds on things such as which Irish phrase Homer would use first, number of viewers, and which Irish star would make a cameo appearance.[29]
The initial airing of the episode on Sky1 in the United Kingdom drew an average of 957,000 viewers with a 4.7 share of the audience.[30] The initial broadcast on Sky1 in Ireland was watched by 511,000 viewers, with a 33 share. The episode became the most watched Sky1 broadcast in Ireland, breaking the previous record set in April 2004. The episode also had a 60.5 share of child viewers and a 40 share of the 15- to 24-year-old demographic, both records.[31]
The original airing of the episode on Fox in the United States finished with a 3.6Nielsen rating and was viewed in 6.15 million homes.[32] The episode finished third in its timeslot.[33]
Shane Hegarty ofThe Irish Times wrote that it "may not have been a vintage episode [...] but it had plenty of good moments, and from an Irish perspective it was a fascinating opportunity to see ourselves through the eyes of the greatest comedy series ever written." He added that "even as it reveled in stereotypes, it used them to continue the running joke about how Ireland doesn't conform to American's [sic] views of it."[17]
Pat Stacey of theEvening Herald gave the episode two stars. He wrote that he enjoyed the jokes about the Irish landmarks but called it "a fairly slapdash, ramshackle half-hour" and mentioned that Colm Meaney deserved a better role.[20]
Evan Fanning of theSunday Independent wrote "Yes, The Simpsons came to Ireland and all we got was some lousy rehashed jokes and a feeling that the whole thing was a bit of a waste of time."[34]
Robert Canning ofIGN wrote "It wasn't the funniest of foreign land adventures, but it was serviceable. [...] The saving grace of the episode was all the Irish-centric vignettes with Marge and the kids. These quick hitting gags were the funniest moments and kept the episode from being completely blah."[35]
Steve Heisler ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode a B, commenting that the episode "allowed the show to have fun with its surroundings", adding that it was one of his favorites of the twentieth season.[36]
