| "The Wettest Stories Ever Told" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |||
| Episodeno. | Season 17 Episode 18 | ||
| Directed by | Mike B. Anderson | ||
| Written by | Jeff Westbrook | ||
| Production code | HABF11 | ||
| Original air date | April 23, 2006 (2006-04-23) | ||
| Episode features | |||
| Couch gag | Homer solves a jigsaw puzzle of the family, placingMaggie and his heads in the wrong positions and saying "D'oh!", and then immediately fixing the mistake and giggling. | ||
| Commentary | Al Jean Jeff Westbrook Matt Selman Tom Gammill Max Pross Mike B. Anderson David Silverman | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| The Simpsonsseason 17 | |||
| List of episodes | |||
"The Wettest Stories Ever Told" is the eighteenth episode of theseventeenth season of the American animated television seriesThe Simpsons. It originally aired on theFox network in the United States on April 23, 2006. The episode was written byJeff Westbrook and directed byMike B. Anderson.
In this episode, three stories are told about life aboard ships at sea. The episode was watched by 7.1 million viewers and received mixed reviews.
When the Simpsons' plans for an outing at the Frying Dutchman turns into a disaster due to an uncooperative octopus, the family tells three nautically themed stories to pass the time.
InLisa's story,Bart, Lisa and a widowedMarge board theMayflower to head for the new world.Homer, fleeing from the police, boards the ship and hides in a barrel. Homer is attracted to Marge. However,Moe is jealous of their friendship. Moe takes Homer down to the storage room to play a drinking game. Homer and the crew get drunk, and Moe claims that Homer is responsible, leading Captain "Flandish" (Flanders) andReverend Lovejoy to place him in astock.
A storm approaches, and Flandish is knocked unconscious. Homer volunteers to take his place, and leads them safely out of the storm. Homer and Marge get together, and the members of the Mayflower meet theWampanoag tribe and join them for the firstThanksgiving feast.
In Bart's story, theBounty sets sail from England in 1789, commanded byCaptain Bligh (Seymour Skinner). During the voyage, Bligh severely mistreats his crew. Willie warns him of amutiny if he continues, but Bligh ignores him. They arrive in Tahiti, where Homer and Marge are the rulers of the island and have a wonderful time.
Bligh continues to abuse the crew, leadingFirst Mate Bart Christian to mutiny and sending Bligh and Willie off in a lifeboat. Bart, as the new Captain, orders the crews to set sail for Tahiti, but after throwing away theship's wheel, they end up in Antarctica.
Homer tells a story taking place on the ocean liner S.S.Neptune on New Year's Eve during the 1970s. At midnight,Captain Burns fails to notice a massivefreak wave, which hits the bridge, capsizing the ship and killing most of the passengers. Led bySelma, the survivors climb up the decks to the engine room, during which Lenny falls to his death, saying that it is "too confusing" to carry on.
Comic Book Guy swims through a flooded deck to help the others get to the engine room, but he has a heart attack and drowns. The group makes it to the engine room and are rescued, butSideshow Mel is killed when he is accidentally set on fire by one of the rescue crew welding a hole in the ship. Once outside the ship, the survivors encounter theskeletons of theBounty crew, who are still trying to get back to Tahiti.
The first story is a parody of the voyage of thePilgrims to North America.[1] The second story is a parody of theMutiny on theBounty.[2] The title of "The Whine-Bar Sea" references aHomeric epithet "wine-dark sea", which has also been used by nautical adventure authors such asPatrick O'Brian's 1993 novelThe Wine-Dark Sea. The third story is a parody of the 1972 filmThe Poseidon Adventure.[3] The title of "Watership D'ohn" references the novelWatership Down.
In its original airing, the episode earned a 2.5 rating and was watched by 7.1 million viewers, which was the 53rd most-watched show that week.[4]
Adam Finley ofTV Squad said the episode "wasn't great, but I think it had enough good moments for me not to write if off completely." He thought the first story was the weakest and liked the second story.[2]
Colin Jacobson ofDVD Movie Guide said the episode was "inconsistent" and had few jokes.[5]
OnFour Finger Discount, Guy Davis and Brendan said it was "one of the weakest episodes ever told" despite a good writer and director for the episode.[6]
The second story has been cited as depicting the canoe greeting trope of Polynesians welcoming Europeans to the Pacific islands as shown in the American South Seas film genre.[7]
