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Fear of Flying is an episode of The Simpsons from the sixth season. When Homer destroys a plane after mistaken as a pilot, he and his family win free airline tickets though it is discovered that Marge is afraid of flying.
Synopsis
After Homer pulls a prank on Moe (with a saltshaker), Moe and the others at the bar ban Homer for life. Because of this, Homer tries to find a new bar. He visits a high class bar, the Cheers bar, and a lesbian bar, though none of them suit him. He eventually ends up in an airline pilot's bar where he is accidentally mistaken as a pilot and forced to fly a plane. However, when Homer tries to fly it, his incompetence results in the destruction of the plane. In order to prevent anyone from knowing about this embarrassing incident, the owner of the Krazy Klown Airlines gives Homer and his family free tickets to anywhere they want (except Hawaii or Alaska, "the freak states").
When Homer and his family finally get on the plane and the plane starts to take off, Marge admits to Homer that she has a fear of flying. Because of this, the vacation is cancelled and Marge starts to act strangely from admitting her fear. She begins to cook for no reason, works on the roof in the middle of the night, tries to stay in a state of cat-like readiness, believes the cat and dog should be married, and sits in the air from her tension and stress. In the end, Marge is taken to see therapy from Dr. Zweig where it is discovered that her fear of flying was rooted from finding out that her father was an airplane steward, a job that was mostly reserved for women during that time, as well as from other numerous causes. By the time the therapy session is finished and Marge is supposedly cured of her fears, Marge and Homer try to fly on a plane again, though ironically the planes ends up crashing into the swamp.
Trivia
- This is one of the few episodes where Marge's Father is shown, it was never explained how or if he died.
- According to the DVD commentary, there are five deleted scenes (or parts of scenes) from the episode:
- After Homer was kicked out of Moe's Tavern, it was originally planned for a cat to come to Homer, and then have it enter the bar. The result is the barflies loving the cat, and depressing Homer even more. According to David Silverman, the fact that it looked depressing was the reason why it was deleted, and replaced with a more humorous approach with him chasing a poodle
- The explination why there was a spare pilot uniform was that the pilot who had it was on the roof, in his underwear, drunk beyond reasonability, and attempts to fly. The obvious reaction was that he fell off the roof to the ground.
- Homer made fun of Marge's phobia on the plane. The reason it was cut, according to Silverman, was that it looked like it would make Marge more annoyed than panicky
- One of the things Marge had done while channeling her fear into bizarre actions was vacuuming in the middle of the night, but with the vacuum cleaner unplugged
- According to Marge, one memory of Homer involved him showing up with a tree branch in his mouth, and back in real life having him with another branch in his mouth. It was cut because, according to David, the branch joke made little sense
- At the very end, David Silverman also jokingly suggested that everybody on the plane (except Marge and Homer) died, but was cut out because "it was a bit of a downer"
Memorable quotes
- Homer: Hmmm, this looks like a nice, friendly place. (enters bar and sits down at a booth)
Carla Tortelli: Sammy, you're too old to go on a date with two twins on the same night you're supposed to marry Diane without Rebecca knowin'.
Sam Malone: Okay, Carla, I'll make you a bet: If this affects my major league comeback, I'll sell the bar.
Norm Peterson: Woody, give me a beer.
Woody Boyd: I think you've had enough, Mr. Peterson. My chiropractor says I can't carry you home anymore.
Norm Peterson: Just give me another beer, you brain dead hick! (breaks bottle) I'll kill you! I'll kill all of you!
Cliff Clavin: (holds him down) Whoa! Settle down, Normie! Gotta save those pipes for karaoke.
(Homer screams and runs away)
Norm Peterson: I love you guys. (sobs) - Homer: There's something odd about this bar...
(looks around, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this is a lesbian bar)
Homer: I know! This lesbian bar doesn't have a fire escape! Enjoy your death trap, ladies.
Woman: What's her problem? - (Shown walking up to a bar called The Little Black Box)
Homer: The last bar in Springfield. If they don't let me in here, I'll have to stop drinking.
Homer's Liver: Yay!
Homer: Shut up, liver!
(Homer punches his liver)
Homer: Ow! My liver hurts! - Homer: I'd like a beer, please.
Bartender: Sorry, you gotta be a pilot to drink in here.
Homer: Uh, but I am a pilot.
Bartender: Oh, yeah? So where's your uniform?
Homer: Um, I stowed it safely in the overhead compartment!
Bartender: Well, you talk the talk. Here's a loaner. - Airport Worker: Hey! Who wants to fly to the Windy City?
(all of the pilots stand up, trying to get his attention)
Airport Worker: Conditions are a little windy!
(all of the pilots who stood up sit down, leaving Homer standing)
Airport Worker: You! (points at Homer)
Homer: Me? But I...
Airport Worker: Hey! You're not just impersonating a pilot so you can drink here, are you?
Homer: Yes. That's exactly why I'm here.
Airport Worker: (laughs) You flyboys crack me up!
(cuts to the cockpit of a plane)
Homer: I keep telling you, I'm not a pilot!
Airport Worker: And I keep telling you you flyboys crack me up!
(forces Homer into room) - Allen: "Hi, I'm Allen, your co-pilot."
- Bart: You know, I have this feeling that we forgot something...
Abe: (still on the plane) (screams with his hands on his face)
Homer: Ehh, I'm sure it's nothing. - Marge: Well, everone's afraid of something.
Homer: Not me.
Marge: Sock puppets!
Homer: (screams) Where? Where?! (runs off screaming) - Homer: Now Marge, "Dear Abby" says seeing films about air travel can calm your fears. Ooh! Here are some upbeat titles: "Hero", "Fearless"..." The Miracle of the Andes" (at home, Marge watches them)
Man 1: No thanks to the plane, many of us are still...
Everyone: Alive!
Man 2: (through full mouth) We certainly are. (chews)
Man 3: Pass me another hunk of copilot.
Lisa: Dad, Mom's getting worse. You have to take her to see a real psychiatrist. Look how tense she is!
Homer: She's fine! (camera shows Marge sitting on air) Oh. - Homer: Ever since you started therapy, all you can do is talk about yourself. Well what about me, Marge?
Marge: I just left my first session and I haven't even opened my mouth yet.
Homer: You see? You see? "I just left my first session and I haven't opened my mouth yet"! - Marge: (weeping) My father...was a stewardess!
Dr. Zweig: Marge, there's nothing to be ashamed of here. Today, male flight attendants, or "stewards", are common.
Marge: (sniffs) They are?
Dr. Zweig: Yes. Thanks to trailblazers like your father, you might say he was a pioneer.
Marge: Yeah. You might even say he was an American hero.
Dr. Zweig: Let's not go nuts. - Marge: Thank you, doctor. Whenever the wind whistles through the leaves, I'll think "Lowenstein", "Lowenstein".
Dr. Zweig: My name is Zweig.
Marge: (going out the door) (whispering) Lowenstein... - Homer: Don't worry about a thing, honey. I'm going to help you through this. (he and Marge sit down) Those are all normal noises. Luggage compartment closing...cross checking...just sit back and relax. (shot from outside the plane) That's just the engine powering up... (engine stutters) that's just the engine struggling... (the plane drives off the runway into a swamp) That's just a carp swimming around your ankles...
(Marge murmurs grumpily)
Parodies
- The episode's title is based on Erica Jong's book Fear of Flying.
- The Cheers bar is a parody of Cheers. All the characters are voiced by the actor that originally played them, curiously except for Frasier, originally played by Kelsey Grammer, who stays silent. Kelsey Grammer portrays the somewhat regular character of Sideshow Bob, on the Simpsons.
- Homer's line on shaking off the dust of this one-horse town comes from It's a Wonderful Life.
- Forgetting a family member on the plane and Abe slapping his hands on his face and yelling is similar to the movie Home Alone (film).
- Marge's dream is a reference to Lost in Space.
- The scene where Marge and her mother duck down when a biplane approaches them in a cornfield is a parody of Hitchcock's North by Northwest.
- The mentioning of Lowenstein comes from The Prince of Tides with Barbra Streisand as the psychiatrist.
- The last scene with Homer and Marge is similar to a scene in Say Anything where the man helps the female through her fear of flying.
External links
"Fear of Flying (The Simpsons)"