The Parent Rap

"The Parent Rap" is the second episode and official premiere of the thirteenth season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 2001. In the episode, Bart and his father, Homer, are sentenced by the cruel judge Constance Harm to be tethered to each other as a result of Bart stealing Police Chief Wiggum's car. Eventually, Homer's wife, Marge, is fed up with the punishment and cuts the rope, which instead leads to Judge Harm sentencing them to have their heads and hands locked up in wooden stocks.

The episode was written by George Meyer and Mike Scully, who also served as the show runner for the episode, and Mark Kirkland worked as the director. The writers based the story on “a couple of incidents” in real life in which troublesome children, through alternative sentencing, were tethered to their parents. The episode marks the first appearance of the infamous and notoriously cruel Judge Constance Harm, who is played by actress Jane Kaczmarek. When it was first broadcast, “The Parent Rap” was watched by 14.4 million viewers, making it the second most watched show of its timeslot that night. After its release on DVD and Blu-ray, however, the episode garnered mixed reviews from critics.

Plot

When Homer makes Bart and Milhouse walk to school, the boys get into trouble and are arrested for stealing Chief Wiggum's squad car. Milhouse gets off but when Bart comes to the bench, judge Constance Harm takes over while judge Schneider is on his fishing trip and lays down the law. She holds Homer responsible for Bart's deeds and sentences he and Bart to be tethered together.

Marge finally gets fed up with the punishment and cuts the tether. Only now, she and Homer get brought back before Judge Harm and have their heads and hands locked up in old-fashioned wooden stocks. Not being able to bare the punishment any longer, they break free and decide to get back at the judge. When the plan goes awry, they accidentally sink the judge's houseboat and are once again brought into court. Just as judge Harm is ready to bang her gavel, judge Schneider comes back from his fishing trip and declares a verdict of "Boys will be boys," dismissing the case. While driving home afterwards, Marge makes the entire family promise not to break the law again for a whole year, which Homer instantly breaks when he runs over Hans Moleman.^[1]

Production and cultural references

The Simpsons show runner Mike Scully (left) and writer George Meyer (right) co-wrote the episode.

“The Parent Rap” was co-written by George Meyer and Mike Scully, and Mark Kirkland served as the director for the episode.^[2] It was first broadcast on the Fox network in the United States on November 11, 2001.^[2] The title of the episode is a reference to The Parent Trap. Even though "Treehouse of Horror XII" - the first episode of the thirteenth season - had aired the previous week, "The Parent Rap" was considered the official premiere of the season.^[3] “The Parent Rap” was the last episode written in its production line.^[4] “As I recall, we got toward the end of the season and we had to write another episode in a hurry”, said Meyer in a DVD audio commentary for the episode.^[4] Judge Constance Harm is a parody of Judge Judy.

The writing staff contributed a rough outline for the episode, and Meyer and Scully went into one of the writer's room and “basically, kind of locked [themselves] in for five days” writing the episode.^[4] Meyer and Scully both thoroughly enjoyed the writing process of the episode;^[2][4] “It really came together easily”, stated Meyer, “...because we had known each other so long and were comfortable with each other's style”.^[4] Ian Maxtone-Graham, one of the writers for The Simpsons, commented that the draft Meyer and Scully had written was “awfully good”.^[5]

The episode was based on “a couple of incidents” that the writers had heard about in which troublesome children, through alternative sentencing, were tethered to their parents.^[2] The scene in which Homer and Marge get spanked by Springfield's citizens as part of their punishment was also based on an alternative sentencing, in which the sentenced had to wear certain shirts or signs that indicated whether they, for example, had not paid taxes.^[2] The scene in which Bart accidentally drives away with Chief Wiggum's police car was based on one of Scully's friends in high school, who stole a still running police car parked at a Dunkin' Donuts while the police were in the store.^[2]

The episode featured the first appearance of Judge Constance Harm, portrayed by American actress Jane Kaczmarek.^[2] The character's name was conceived by Meyer, who had always thought that Constance was a scary name.^[4]

The episode makes a reference to Blue Öyster Cult's hit song “(Don't Fear) The Reaper”, which also plays during the episode's end credits, and inspired the title of a later episode.^[6] Meyer later got to meet the band, who said that they were “stoked” to be referenced in a Simpsons episode.^[4]

Release

In its original American broadcast on November 11, 2001, “The Parent Rap” was seen by approximately 14.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The episode received a 6.9 rating/16 share among adults between ages 18 and 49, making it the second most watched television show of the night in its demographic, losing the number-one spot to Malcolm in the Middle.^[7] The episode was listed among the 15 most watched shows in its demographic that week.^[8]

Following the episode's broadcast, as well as the home video release of thirteenth season of The Simpsons, “The Parent Rap" received generally mixed reviews from critics. Writing for NY Daily News, Eric Mink gave the episode a mixed review.^[3] "To be sure, the show has its moments", wrote Mink, "But there's not much zip here, and the show has, of all things, a warm-and-fuzzy ending... 'The Simpsons' and warm-and-fuzzy is not a healthy combination".^[3] Nate Boss of Project-Blu described the episode as “filler” and praised the episode's concept, but criticized how the episode was executed.^[9] Colin Jacobsson of DVD Movie Guide also gave the episode a mixed response, and wrote that “'Rap' starts with a clever – if absurd – concept”, but “does little to churn good comedy out of its theme”, and concluded by calling the episode “disappointing”.^[10] Writing for Obsessed With Film, Adam Rayner described the episode as “woefully weak” and “an example of the farcical that the series would fall deeper and deeper into”.^[11] He did, however, praise the episode for being original.^[11] Jennifer Malkowski, reviewing the season for DVD Verdict, was more positive towards the episode.^[12] Giving the episode a rating of B+, Malkowski listed “The Parent Rap” among episodes in the season where “We see wacky scenarios force Homer to bond with his family, to a rather heartwarming effect”.^[12] Ron Martin of 411Mania was also favorable, calling the episode “decent”.^[13]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "The Parent Rap"

• "The Parent Rap" at The Simpsons.com
• "The Parent Rap episode capsule". The Simpsons Archive. 
• "The Parent Rap" at TV.com
• "The Parent Rap" at the Internet Movie Database