"Funeral for a Fiend"
The Simpsons episode
Bob's "funeral" with his brother Cecil and their father
Episode no.	408
Prod. code	KABF01
Orig. airdate	November 25, 2007
Show runner(s)	Al Jean
Written by	Michael Price
Directed by	Rob Oliver
Couch gag	A magician walks into the empty living room and uses his cape to make the couch and the family appear from thin air.
Guest star(s)	Kelsey Grammer as Sideshow Bob David Hyde Pierce as Cecil John Mahoney as Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr. Keith Olbermann as himself
Season 19 September 23, 2007 – May 18, 2008 "He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs" "Homer of Seville" "Midnight Towboy" "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" "Treehouse of Horror XVIII" "Little Orphan Millie" "Husbands and Knives" "Funeral for a Fiend" "Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind" "E Pluribus Wiggum" "That 90's Show" "Love, Springfieldian Style" "The Debarted" "Dial 'N' for Nerder" "Smoke on the Daughter" "Papa Don't Leech" "Apocalypse Cow" "Any Given Sundance" "Mona Leaves-a" "All About Lisa" List of all The Simpsons episodes
Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21

"Funeral for a Fiend" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' nineteenth season and first aired on November 25, 2007. It was written by Michael Price and was directed by Rob Oliver. It features Kelsey Grammer in his tenth appearance as Sideshow Bob, as well as David Hyde Pierce in his second appearance as Cecil Terwilliger. John Mahoney makes his first appearance as Dr. Robert Terwilliger, Sr., the father of Bob and Cecil. Keith Olbermann also makes a guest appearance as himself.^[1]

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cultural references 4 Reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Homer goes to Circuit Circus to buy a camera battery, but winds up purchasing a TiVo because the batteries are free with the purchase of a TiVo. The family enjoys using the TiVo to watch TV without the commercials, especially Marge, who happily skips over them. Late one night, Marge dreams of Keith Olbermann accusing her of not watching the commercials that pay for the TV shows, and convinces her to watch them. One such ad is for a new rib restaurant, owned by a cowboy named Wes Doobner. The restaurant is perfectly suited to each member of the family, and they decide to visit it for its grand opening.

When they arrive they find the building deserted, and the door locks behind them. Wes Doobner is revealed as Sideshow Bob after he speaks, since Lisa recognizes his voice and realizes that "Wes Doobner's World Famous Family Style Rib Huts" is an anagram of "Sideshow Bob's World Famous Family Style Return." After tying the Simpsons up, Bob shows them a slideshow of how he got to Springfield, built the restaurant, and produced the commercial. Sideshow Bob then reveals a large pile of TNT. Bob is going to use a laptop with a defective battery (which will cause it to overheat and explode) as a detonator. While gloating, Bob incorrectly quotes a phrase from Macbeth and Lisa corrects him. He goes to look up the correct phrase on the laptop, which explodes in Bob's hands. He is then arrested and taken to prison.

During Bob's trial, Bob's father, Dr. Robert Terwilliger Sr., is brought to testify. He explains Bob has a rare heart condition, and also suggests that Sideshow Bob is insane because of his long-standing feud with Bart. This convinces Springfield that Bart is to blame, and they turn against him. As Bart pleads his innocence, Bob takes out a vial labeled nitroglycerin, which Bart snatches and throws out the window, thinking it was an explosive. The vial was actually Bob's heart medication and he collapses on the floor, unconscious, and is pronounced dead.

Bob's entire family attends the funeral: His mother, Dame Judith Underdunk, a well-known Shakespearean actress; his father, Dr. Robert Terwilleger Sr.; his brother Cecil, who was let out of jail for the occasion; his wife Francesca, who is now a widow; and his son, Gino. Many of the regular Springfielders also attend the funeral. Feeling slightly guilty, Bart speaks to Cecil and decides to go to the Springfield Funeral Home to make peace with Bob's corpse before it gets cremated; however, Bob leaps out of the coffin, very much alive, and traps Bart in the coffin to be incinerated, all the while gloating over his old foe. Back at home, Lisa realizes that everything was an elaborate plot put together by Bob's entire family, explaining that Bob, whose mother was an actress, knew Shakespeare too well to have misquoted him accidentally and that he must have done so intentionally to get caught and go to trial, where he was put in a temporary death-like state with a special drug injection by his father, a doctor. (Cecil helped by exploiting Bart's guilt and encouraging him to visit the corpse, though Bob still doesn't show appreciation for his brother's efforts, snidely remarking "Yes, and Hamlet is all about Laertes!"). The Simpsons race to the funeral parlor (but waste time driving in circles around the building for ten minutes for Lisa to finish her explanation) and narrowly save Bart from being burned alive by blinding Bob with unclaimed ashes. The police then arrive and arrest the Terwilligers. Defeated, Bob asks Lisa how she knew of his scheme, and Lisa explains that she was suspicious that Bob's coffin had extra room for his large feet, which the family would not have bothered to put in if Bob was really dead. Bob and his family are sentenced to prison for 87 years, where a straitjacketed Bob daydreams of killing the Simpson family, and laughs maniacally.

[edit] Production

The scene where Homer blocks Marge from getting Bart out the coffin, telling her, "He has got to get over his fear of coffins," is derived from a deleted scene from The Simpsons Movie where Bart is trapped in a sarcophagus.^[2] Bart was previously trapped in a coffin in the twelfth season episode Tennis the Menace.

[edit] Cultural references

• The episode title is a reference to the Elton John song "Funeral for a Friend". At the funeral, Krusty sings a parody of "Candle in the Wind".
• Marge Simpson, for skipping commercials while watching shows on TiVo, is named Keith Olbermann's Worst Person in the World.
• The family layout in Frasier is repeated in this episode; Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce play brothers in both series, while John Mahoney plays their father.^[3]
• After showing The Simpsons family his evil plot, Sideshow Bob says that the commercial gained him position as director of The Hills Have Eyes 3: The Hills Still Have Eyes.
• Moe runs behinds the Hibbert's car and watches Sesame Street (Big Bird in China) where Derek Jeter guest stars.
• The battery brands Homer sees at Circuit Circus (Ever-Ready, Sometimes Ready and Dead Already, the latter of which is bought by Homer) are all parodies of the Eveready brand.
• After Marge is convinced to watch the TV advertisements, one of the ads she watches features former football player Ryan Leaf advertising a mop.

[edit] Reception

An estimated 9.0 million viewers tuned into the episode.^[4] Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a 6.2/10, saying "there were some enjoyable scenes, but the half hour lacked in the number of laugh-out-loud moments, and Bob's ultimate scheme wasn't very surprising."^[3] Richard Keller of tvsquad.com said "While Pierce and Mahoney did have their moments it was all Grammer this episode as a Sideshow Bob coming apart at the seams". He went on to say, "For the most part this week's episode was entertaining. Plus, it also brought a bit of continuity into the show, something that comes and goes on the program."^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• "Funeral for a Fiend" at The Simpsons.com

v • d • e The Simpsons Sideshow Bob episodes "Krusty Gets Busted" · "Black Widower" · "Cape Feare" · "Sideshow Bob Roberts" · "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming" · "Brother from Another Series" · "Day of the Jackanapes" · "The Great Louse Detective" · "The Italian Bob" · "Funeral for a Fiend"