Brush with Greatness
"Brush with Greatness" is the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons
The episode was written by Brian K. Roberts and directed by Jim Reardon. Beatles member Ringo Starr guest starred as himself, while Jon Lovitz starred as Marge's art teacher, Professor Lombardo. The episode features cultural references to films such as Rocky and Gone with the Wind.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics, who praised the use of Starr and the central focus on Marge. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 12.0 and was the second highest-rated show on Fox the week it aired.
Plot
After Bart and Lisa see Krusty the Clown broadcast his show from the Mount Splashmore water park, they pester Homer to take them there. While Marge and Maggie visit a wading pool for infants, Bart, Lisa and Homer ride an intense water slide called H2WHOA!. Because of his weight, Homer gets lodged in the water slide mid-course. The park's rescue crew is forced to close the ride and remove the blocked section of pipe using a large crane, with Homer still stuck inside. That night, the news media poke fun at Homer's massive size during their coverage of his mishap at the water park.After finding that he weighs 260 pounds, Homer vows he will diet and get more exercise. While Homer is looking for his weights in the attic, Bart stumbles upon several old paintings of Ringo Starr that Marge had made as a high school student. Marge reveals she was scolded by her art teacher for painting Starr, whom she had a crush on. She sent a painting to him for his "honest opinion", but she never got a response from the Beatles' drummer. After Lisa suggests that Marge take a painting class at Springfield Community College, she paints Homer asleep on the couch in his underwear, earning praise from her teacher, Professor Lombardo. The painting wins the college art show, earning Marge fame and newspaper headlines.
Mr. Burns asks Marge to paint his portrait for a new wing of the Springfield Art Museum. Desperate to please his boss, Homer convinces Marge to agree, although she resists Homer's plea to paint Burns as a beautiful man. While Burns is taking a shower at the Simpsons' house, Marge inadvertently sees him naked. Homer finds he has lost 21 pounds from his exercise regimen and now weighs 239. After Burns disparages Homer's weight and his daughters, Lisa and Maggie, Marge throws him out of the house. She is ready to quit until Homer encourages her to finish the portrait.
Marge is also inspired by a letter from Starr, who is determined to answer decades' worth of old fan mail. After working well into the night, she finishes the painting in time for its unveiling at the opening of the museum wing. The painting depicts a naked, frail and weak Burns. The museum visitors are shocked until Marge explains that the portrait shows what Burns really is: a vulnerable human being who will die one day. At first Burns is outraged, but then he praises Marge's painting and thanks her for not making fun of his genitalia — to which she replies, "I thought I did."
Production
and Mike Reiss originally pitched the idea of Marge taking an art class and churning out depressing paintings, with the family realizing she was secretly unhappy. James L. Brooks took that pitch and came up with the Burns commission plot as well as the idea she would paint him as frail and naked. The script was written by Brian K. Roberts and directed by Jim Reardon. Prior to writing the episode, Roberts had been an audio and visual editor on the show. Musician Ringo Starr made a guest appearance in the episode as himself. He was the first Beatle to appear on the show; both George Harrison and Paul McCartney would later guest star in the season five episode "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" and the season seven episode "Lisa the Vegetarian" respectively. When the story of Marge's having a crush on Starr was pitched out, Roberts took the opportunity to write Starr into the script because he had always wanted to meet a Beatle. He then sent the script to Starr, who was then in southern France. Starr agreed to do the guest appearance after reading only two lines, and he told Roberts he would be able to do it when he visited Los Angeles a few weeks later. The staff was thrilled, and they immediately decided to expand his role. The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said of the guest appearance: "We were so excited that we got Ringo Starr coming in to do the show and we recorded him over at the Complex in West Los Angeles. We were given a list of rules about what we couldn't do to Ringo, such as 'Don't touch him', 'Don't approach him', and 'Don't ask for his autograph'. But of course when he shows up in this big limo, Brian brings out a big poster and asks him to sign it!" Roberts explained that he had not received the memo with the rules so he showed up with a copy of the script cover and asked Starr to sign it. Groening asked Starr if he wanted to be animated the way he was in Yellow Submarine or the way he was in the cartoon series The Beatles. Starr chose Yellow Submarine because he did not like his appearance in the cartoon. In addition to Starr, the episode features a guest appearance by Jon Lovitz as Lombardo and the doughnut delivery man who delivers doughnuts to the nuclear power plant. Lombardo's physical appearance was based on an art teacher Reardon had in art school.Cultural references
The line for the H2WHOA! ride reproduces the staircases in the lithograph Ascending and Descending by M. C. Escher. The way Krusty removes the clown make-up from his face resembles the way the Joker removes his make-up in the 1989 film Batman. When Homer announces he is going on a diet, he says: "As God is my witness, I'll always be hungry again!", a reference to the famous line "As God is my witness... I'll never be hungry again!" from the film Gone with the Wind. Homer exercises in a way similar to how Rocky exercises in the 1976 film Rocky. The music that plays as Homer approaches the scale is the main theme from the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. A copy of Andy Warhol's painting Campbell's Soup Cans is visible at the art gallery.Reception
In its original broadcast, "Brush with Greatness" finished thirty-seventh in the ratings for the week of April 8–14, 1991, with a Nielsen rating of 12.0, equivalent to approximately eleven million viewing households. It was the second highest-rated show on Fox that week, following Married... with Children.The episode received positive reviews from television critics. Many lauded the use of Starr; for instance, IGN ranked his performance in the episode, along with Paul McCartney's performance in "Lisa the Vegetarian" and George Harrison's performance in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet", as the tenth best guest appearance in The Simpsons
Doug Pratt, a DVD reviewer and Rolling Stone contributor, wrote that "Brush with Greatness" has a "well thought-out" plot and he enjoyed the use of Starr and Marge's previously undiscovered talents. Paul A. Cantor, author of the book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, said that "once again Brian K. Roberts proves his genius with 'Brush with Greatness' in a superb work where Marge cultivates her wonderful artistic side". DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson wrote: "From the opening at Mt. Splashmore through Homer's diet and the unveiling of Mr. Burns' controversial portrait, the episode packed a lot of great material. It also expanded Marge's character in a pleasing way, as it avoided any semblance of sappiness; we needed a break from sentiment after 'Old Money'. Overall, 'Brush with Greatness' provided a terrific episode."
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: "A superb episode, with Marge rightfully centre stage. Despite his general unpleasantness, Mr. Burns' gratitude to Marge is both welcome and unexpected. And the dig at Water Parks is spot on." In October 2008, Ringo Starr posted a video on his website in which he said he was too busy to answer fan mail and that all mail sent to him after October 20 would be thrown out. Although Starr did not mention "Brush with Greatness" in the video, several media sources compared his announcement to his portrayal in the episode.