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"When You Dish Upon a Star" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' tenth season, which was originally broadcast on November 8, 1998.[1] When the family spend the day at Lake Springfield, Homer meets Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, who are hiding from the media in their secluded summer home. Homer starts to work for them, developing a good friendship, but he soon reveals their secrets to the public, damaging his new friendship with them.[1] It was written by Richard Appel and directed by Pete Michels.[2]
[edit] PlotThe family decides to spend the day at Lake Springfield. While there, Homer attempts parasailing and is involved in an accident. He crashes through a glass roof and into the bedroom of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's secluded summer home. The couple and Homer become acquainted. Homer convinces the couple to allow him to be their assistant, while keeping it secret that the celebrity couple are in Springfield. Homer, at first, works well with the couple, and they all become good friends. Homer scares Ron Howard when he visits the couple, and soon attempts to pitch a screenplay about a "killer robot driving instructor that travels back in time for some reason", as well as a talking pie. Both his attempts at writing for the couple are unsuccessful. Homer, due to his inability to keep a secret, releases the information that Baldwin and Basinger are in Springfield, and the couple's house is discovered by Springfield citizens and the media. Baldwin and Basinger are furious at Homer for breaking their trust, and immediately end their friendship with him. Annoyed at losing his friends, Homer begins a mobile museum, entitled "Museum of Hollywood Jerks", which displays the couple's personal belongings. Basinger, Baldwin and Howard discover the museum while intending to apologize to Homer. A high-speed chase quickly ensues between Homer, in his mobile museum, and the celebrities in their Hummer. Homer agrees to stop after Ron Howard is injured during the chase. As a result, Homer is ordered by a court of law to remain 500 miles away from any celebrity, both living or dead. One month later, Ron Howard successfully pitches Homer's screenplay from earlier to Brian Grazer of 20th Century Fox, and as a homage to Happy Days, played the theme song when he succeeded getting money for his next film. [edit] ProductionDuring the opening sequence, Bart originally wrote "butt.com" on the chalkboard, however, it was modified to butt.butt, due to butt.com being a real website.[3] The storyline of famous celebrities moving to Springfield was pitched by Mike Scully;[4] Scully originally pitched Bruce Springsteen as the celebrity to move to town, however, Springsteen turned down the opportunity to appear. Richard Appel then offered the guest appearance opportunity to Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, but they too turned down the offer. Appel then offered Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger the opportunity to provide their voices, and they agreed to guest star in the episode.[4] The episode was originally intended to be directed by Mike Anderson, but it was held over from season 9 and Pete Michels directed it.[5] In a 2008 interview, Ron Howard commented that guest voicing himself "was an honor. Probably, from my kids' perspective, my coolest turn."[6] [edit] Cultural referencesAt the beginning of the episode, Homer has a dream that is a spoof of Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear,[4] with Homer as Yogi, Bart as Boo Boo and Ned as Ranger Smith.[4] The time machine drawing in Homer's screenplay contains a Flux capacitor the device from Back to the Future.[4] Posters for 9½ Weeks and L.A. Confidential both starring Basinger, are seen in Homer's museum.[7] At the end of the episode, Brian Grazer has a poster of the movie Titanic in his office.[5] The scene where the lemonade ripples as the crowd approaches is a nod to a similar scene in Jurassic Park. [edit] Reception"When You Dish Upon a Star" finished 32nd in the weekly ratings for the week of November 2–8, 1998 with a Nielsen rating of 9.2.[8] In his review of The Simpsons' tenth season, James Plath of Dvdtown.com noted "When You Dish upon a Star" was written to be "one of the funnier episodes".[9] In a Simpsons flashback review, Robert Canning of IGN reviewed the episode positively, commenting "I'm not saying this episode is one of the greatest the series has every produced, but it is very, very funny, and it features one of my all-time favorite guest performances."[10] The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote in a negative review: "Despite three very high-profile guest actors, this episode is really rather dull and uninspired. The only real moment of interest is the car chase at the end, and Kim Basinger's delightfully self-deprecating quips about her constant adoration of her Oscars, Alec Baldwin apparently not having one himself."[2] IGN rated Ron Howard as the twelfth greatest guest appearance on The Simpsons.[10] Total Film's Nathan Ditum ranked Baldwin and Basinger's performances as the second best guest appearances in the show's history.[11] [edit] References
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