| "The Burns and the Bees" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 20 Episode 8 | ||
| Directed by | Mark Kirkland | ||
| Written by | Stephanie Gillis | ||
| Production code | KABF21 | ||
| Original air date | December 7, 2008 (2008-12-07) | ||
| Guest appearances | |||
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| Episode features | |||
| Chalkboard gag | "Jesus is not mad his birthday is on Christmas" | ||
| Couch gag | The family (in Christmas attire) sits on the couch, and the camera pulls out to reveal they are reflected in a Christmas ornament which is on a Christmas tree, andSanta's Little Helper andSnowball II rest nearby. | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 20 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"The Burns and the Bees" is the eighth episode of thetwentieth season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. It first aired on theFox network in theUnited States on December 7, 2008. In the episode, during a poker game,Mr. Burns wins ownership of the Austin Celtics basketball team and he decides to build a new stadium in Springfield that endangers a bee colony whichLisa built. Lisa's subplot refers to the current worldwidedisappearance of bees.
The episode was written byStephanie Gillis and directed byMark Kirkland. It marks a second use of the Christmas-themed opening, first seen in "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II". BillionairesMark Cuban andJeff Bezos and sportscasterMarv Albert guest star as themselves.[1]
In its original airing, the episode garnered 6.19 million viewers. It received mixed reviews from television critics.
Mr. Burns attends the annual Billionaires' Retreat, where he wins the fictional Austin Celtics pro basketball team in a poker game against theRich Texan. After witnessing the antics ofMark Cuban at aDallas Mavericks game, Burns decides to build a luxurious sports arena to win overSpringfield basketball fans, renaming the Celtics the Springfield Excitement.
Meanwhile,Jimbo,Dolph, andKearney dareBart to prank the second-graders by hitting a beehive with his slingshot. Lisa discovers, however, the bees in the hive are dead.Groundskeeper Willie explains the bees are dying all over Springfield by loss of habitat, thus contracting a fatal disease. Lisa seeks help from a reluctantHomer, informing him that there will be no more honey without the bees to produce it, andProfessor Frink has an uninfectedqueen bee sting Lisa, releasing pheromones which attract many uninfected bees, which form abee beard.
After trying to keep the bees in the Simpson home, Lisa andMarge find an abandoned greenhouse for the bees to live in. However, the site of the greenhouse is exactly where Burns plans to construct his new arena. Lisa attempts to convince the town to save the bee population, but despite her logical protest that they always get into trouble when they ignore her advice, she fails when Burns informs everyone about the amazing features of his arena.
Homer andMoe attempt to help save the bees by mating aqueen bee from Lisa's hive with Moe'sAfricanized bees to create a hybrid bee species strong enough to survive anywhere. Six weeks later, on the night of the grand opening of Burns' sports arena, Homer takes Lisa to the top of a hill and shows her the hive containing the hybrid bees. When Homer accidentally releases them, the bees attack Burns' new arena, which resembles a beehive. In the end, the arena is legally declared a bee sanctuary, enabling the bees to survive. At the next billionaires' retreat one year later, Burns reveals how much the bees cost him ($804 million). After it is discovered that he is four million dollars short of a billion ($996,036,000), he is kicked out of the retreat and into the millionaires' camp. Much to his horror, these millionaires got rich thanks to their low-class businesses, such as a minor-league hockey team.
The episode was written byStephanie Gillis and directed byMark Kirkland. BillionairesMark Cuban andJeff Bezos and sportscasterMarv Albert guest star as themselves.[1] The episode marks a second use of the Christmas-themed opening, first seen in "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II".
The episode's title is a reference to the expression "The birds and the bees", used by parents when explaining a sexual relationship to a child.
Lisa's subplot refers to the worldwide disappearance of bees known asColony Collapse Disorder.[2] In a scene where Homer imagines a future without honey, a small green robot resembling WALL-E from the 2008 filmWALL-E, gives him a bottle of honey and then turns Homer into a cube. The bee tombstone that setJerry Seinfeld a reference to the 2007 filmBee Movie where Seinfeld played as the voice of Barry. The Billionaires' Retreat is the parody of theBohemian Club.[3][4]
In the opening sequence, Mr. Burns appears to beEbenezer Scrooge with Smithers asJacob Marley fromA Christmas Carol.[5] The statue of Mr. Burns outside his new basketball arena is based on theNike, Inc. "Jumpman" logo featuringMichael Jordan.[3] Just before Burns is thrown out of the Billionaires' retreat, he asks Mark Cuban if he can let him "off the hook, for old times' sake" and Cuban refuses, referring to the scene in the 1972 film,The Godfather, in whichSalvatore Tessio is led away to be executed after being revealed as a traitor.[3] The Billionaires playQuidditch, as it is depicted in theHarry Potter film series, and use the paintings,Mona Lisa byLeonardo da Vinci,Whistler's Mother byJames Abbott McNeill Whistler andThe Scream byEdvard Munch, as target practice.[3]
The songs featured in the episode include "Hip Hop Hooray" byNaughty by Nature during Mr. Burns' attempt to be more like Mark Cuban, and "Sea of Love" as performed byThe Honeydrippers, which Homer and Moe play to their bees.Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" is also played in the episode.[3]
In its original airing, the episode garnered 6.19 million viewers.[6] The episode received mixed reviews from critics.
Robert Canning ofIGN gave the episode 7/10 and said that with an episode like this "I just don't laugh as much as I would have liked".[7]
Steve Heisler ofThe A.V. Club gave the episode a grade of B and said it was "okay", but "boring".[8]
Erich Asperschlager of TV Verdict wrote: "Part of me knows that the only way to enjoy the modern incarnation of The Simpsons is to stop expecting its stories to make sense. [The episode is] not straightforward at all. It’s like sometime after the tenth season, The Simpsons writers started usingMad Libs to generate story ideas. In fact, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion the only reason this episode exists is because someone came up with the title 'The Burns and the Bees' and just had to make it work."[5]
Harry Shearer received a nomination for aPrimetime Emmy Award forEmmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his role as Mr. Burns, Smithers, Lenny and Dr. Hibbert in this episode,[9] but lost to fellowSimpsons cast memberDan Castellaneta.[10]
Stephanie Gillis was nominated for aWriters Guild of America Award in the Animation category in2010 for writing the episode.The Simpsons was the only show to be nominated in the category, with the other nominated episodes being "Take My Life, Please", "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe", "Gone Maggie Gone" and "Wedding for Disaster". The winner, "Wedding for Disaster," was announced on February 20, 2010.[11]
