| "Pork and Burns" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 28 Episode 11 | ||
| Directed by | Matthew Nastuk | ||
| Written by | Rob LaZebnik | ||
| Production code | WABF06 | ||
| Original air date | January 8, 2017 (2017-01-08) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Couch gag | The family sits on the couch. The camera pans out to reveal that they are a picture on a box for "The Simpsons Couch Gag Playset" which is on display in a store.Bart pestersMarge to buy one for him, but she refuses and pulls him away. | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 28 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"Pork and Burns" is the eleventh episode of thetwenty-eighth season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons, and the 607th episode of the series overall. The episode was directed byMatthew Nastuk and written byRob LaZebnik. It aired in the United States onFox on January 8, 2017.
In this episode, Mr. Burns bonds with Plopper and refuses to return it to Homer while Lisa starts getting rid of all her possessions.Michael York guest starred as Dr. Budgie. WriterJoyce Carol Oates appeared as herself. The episode received mixed reviews.
The Simpsons go to the Springfield Car Wash, and Marge buys a book calledThe Japanese Warrior Monks Guide to Tidying Up. Homer buys somesushi and ends up in the hospital. The family reunites at home and she makes the family follow the book's teaching, giving up everything that doesn't give them joy any more. Lisa gives up some of her Malibu Stacy dolls, Bart tells Marge all his stuff gives him joy, while Homer gives up his Mr. Plow jacket. Marge however tells him he has to give upPlopper, and find him a new place to live, so he puts an announcement on Greg's list. The first one to offer it is Snake, but Homer refuses, getting in a panel van to navigate back home.
Bart, Lisa and Homer with Plopper go to Luigi's and seeJoyce Carol Oates at a table, but when trying to enter with the pig, Luigi forbids them, unless Plopper becomes atherapy animal. Homer prepares to make Plopper one, but Lisa gets worried of him getting in trouble and gets ananxiety attack, and Homer gets the idea to get a prescription for anxiety at Dr. Bud's MedicinalMarijuana Clinic, but he turns out to be a charlatan, so he turns to Dr. Nick, who gives him some pills. Lisa gets rid of every object in her room, and finds out the sax doesn't give her joy anymore. Meanwhile, Homer brings Plopper at the Power Plant, placing him on his seat, and says to Marge that he'll bring him everywhere he goes so she won't see him for long anymore.
At the Springfield nuclear family day picnic, Lisa gives up hersaxophone. Plopper gets greased up by kids, leading to Mr. Burns' hounds attacking him, and biting his back. Dr. Budgie visits him, and to avoid a lawsuit, Burns and Smithers agree to take care of him. Back at home, Lisa is empty of any joy since she gave away all of her stuff, so Bart helps her at school, playing the music she likes over the intercom. She gets her joy back, but is missing her stuff, so Marge takes her to Springfield Lock 'N' Leave Storage Facility and reveals she kept all the stuff there, and go and retrieve them, disturbing Gil. At Burns Manor, Dr. Budgie gives Plopper a makeover, and Burns has some great moments with the pig, becoming reluctant to give him up once he recovers. Homer comes to check on him and sees Burns dancing with him. He then returns to the manor that evening and gets back his animal friend with Bart's and later Smithers' help, and to keep him he says to Marge he will give up beer. That night, Homer has a dream of aHellman's Mayonnaise cartoon, similar to one he had earlier, and wakes up from the nightmare after seeing they prepared hamburgers with fruit in the sides. This scene is a parody of the opening theme toER.
Michael York reprised his role as Dr. Budgie, who was first seen in thetwenty-seventh season episode "Lisa the Veterinarian." WriterJoyce Carol Oates appears as herself.[1]
Marge's book is a parody ofMarie Kondo's bookThe Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing.[1]
Dennis Perkins ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode a B− stating, "But why graft three full stories (and possibly a fourth) together into one resultingly cluttered episode? It’s a common complaint, but a lot of recent Simpsons episodes waste promising storylines this way. You’ve got Homer and his pig buddy, coming back together before a barbeque sauce-and-hounds mishaps leads to Mr. Burns taking a shine to the injured Plopper. But that’s only set up by Marge’s enthusiasm for a Japanese anti-cluttering book/philosophy that sees her urging the family to toss out anything that 'no longer brings them joy' (that’s an episode), which leads to Lisa discovering that, once she’s given away everything but her sax (and herBleeding Gums Murphy poster), she’s lost all joy in playing. 'I finally feel about my sax the way you all do!,' she wails in horror. And that’s another episode. Throw in some promising emotional beats to that story—Homer comforts the confused Lisa during an anxiety attack, Bart hijacks the school’s PA system to restore her love for jazz—and there’s an abundance of good ideas not given enough time to come to fruition."[1]
Tony Sokol ofDen of Geek gave the episode 4.5 out of 5 stars. He called the episode a future classic filled with jokes.[2]
"Pork and Burns" scored a 3.5 rating with an 11 share and was watched by 8.19 million viewers, making it Fox's highest rated show of the night.[3]
