"Mad About the Toy" is the eleventh episode of the thirtieth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons, and the 650th episode overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on January 6, 2019.
| "Mad About the Toy" | |
|---|---|
| The Simpsons episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 30 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Rob Oliver |
| Written by | Michael Price |
| Production code | YABF03 |
| Original air date | January 6, 2019 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Bryan Batt as Philip Hefflin Bill de Blasio as himself Lawrence O'Donnell as himself | |
| Episode features | |
| Chalkboard gag | "My new year's resolution was to quit school" |
| Couch gag | The Simpson family takes a break during a football game, with their friends cheering them on. |
The episode won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[1][2][3]
Plot
Homer and Marge celebrate their anniversary, leaving the kids at home with Grampa. Marge points out that Grampa needs to be home in an hour, so she and Homer do all their activities as fast as possible. At home, Bart and Lisa are bored and ask Grampa if they can play a game. Bart finds some plastic army men toys in the basement, which causes Grampa to panic.
The family takes him to the VA, but the doctor is unable to find out what is wrong. Lisa notices that the molding of the soldier toys resembles Grampa, then asks if the company that used him for the photos of the plastic army men paid him. Grampa recalls that in 1947 he was paid to model for the original army men, including a promise of a royalty for each toy.
Grampa ends up on Channel 6 news and shortly after reaches national headlines on NBC. After the headlines, the toy company that used Grampa for their toys invites him to visit their headquarters in New York City. The chairman tells Grampa that he missed out on millions of dollars because he never signed his contract. Grampa remembers that he ran out of the shoot because the male photographer kissed him. The company then fired the photographer for being gay. Realizing that he may have ruined the photographer's life, Grampa vows to visit him to apologize.
Lisa discovers that the photographer, Philip Hefflin, now lives in Marfa, Texas. The drive is long and the family encounters the Marfa lights and Prada Marfa.[4] When they get to Philip's hometown, Grampa stumbles into a gallery filled with paintings of him in his army uniform. Philip greets Grampa and thanks him for making him realize he was better off being true to himself. They enjoy time together before Grampa has to head back to Springfield.
In the backyard during the final scene, Bart, Milhouse, and Nelson are playing with the soldier toys. After Bart gets bored, he suggests melting them in the microwave, which the kids end up doing. A montage of Grampa and Philip is then shown.
Reception
Tony Sokol of Den of Geek gave the episode 3 out of 5 points ranking, stating "The Simpsons' 'Mad About the Toy' plays too far to the inside and tries to have it both ways. Like Grampa's stories it takes a very circuitous road, but goes nowhere, besides Texas and New York. Grampa gets the last word, but like many of his never-ending asides, it is too much rant but not enough rave. That's what they used to say back in his day before raves were raves and Molly was just what you called a girl who went out with a gangster."[5]
Dennis Perkins of The A.V. Club gave the episode B+ ranking, stating "It's a risk—not for addressing homosexuality, but for putting the story in the hands of Grampa, a supporting character used most often for the sort of quick-hit swipes at reactionary codgery mocking internet memes were invented for. But few characters on The Simpsons exist just as their initial stereotypes at this point, and there's a longer-than-most history of the show finding just the right touches of grudging humanity in the old coot to make 'Mad About The Toy' work."[6]
"Mad About the Toy" scored a 0.9 rating with a 4 share and was watched by 2.33 million people, making it Fox's second highest rated show of the night, behind Family Guy.[7]
Texas State Representative Poncho Nevárez tweeted, "If you ever wondered how Marfa would look like in the world of the Simpsons. Here you go. Nice shot of the Presidio County Courthouse", along with screenshots of Marfa as rendered in the episode.[5]
On September 14, 2019, "Mad About the Toy" won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program. It marks the eleventh win for The Simpsons in the category.[2][1]
References
- ^ a b Travers, Ben (Sep 15, 2019). "'The Simpsons' Wins Emmy for Best Animated Program". Retrieved Jan 23, 2020.
- ^ a b Haithman, Diane (Sep 15, 2019). "A 30th Anniversary Present for 'The Simpsons' With 11th Outstanding Animated Program Emmy Win". Retrieved Jan 23, 2020.
- ^ Zahed, Ramin (Jul 16, 2019). "Primetime Animation Emmy Nominations Are Announced". Retrieved Jan 23, 2020.
- ^ Solomon, Dan (January 8, 2019). "Marfa Is Now Such a Stereotype They Can Mock It on 'The Simpsons'". TexasMonthly. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
The episode featured the CliffsNotes version of things people know about Marfa. The "Prada Marfa" art installation outside of town was represented (Homer pees on it), the magic of the Marfa lights was highlighted (Lisa attempts to over-explain it), and the man that Grampa was looking for was one of the many artists who call Marfa home.
- ^ a b Sokol, Tony. "The Simpsons Season 30 Episode 11 Review: Mad About the Toy". Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ Perkins, Dennis. "The Simpsons finds the sweet spot as Grampa confronts an old wrong". Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ Welch, Alex. "Golden Globes adjust up: Sunday final ratings". Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.