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'The Simpsons Road Rage' is most certainly not the best of games, but I sure do enjoy playing it and recording the gameplay through an old DVD recorder with. The Simpsons: Road Rage is pretty much Crazy Taxi, Simpsons style. You can play as more than 30 characters from The Simpsons television show, although initially you are limited to the 'ain characters,' such as Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge and Grandpa. And who wouldn't want to drive Reverend Lovejoy's book burning mobile?

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The Simpsons: Road Rage is a 2001 video game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It is one of a series of games based on the animated television series The Simpsons

Simpsons Road Rage Mr Plowing

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The game has many similarities to Sega's Crazy Taxi, to the extent that Sega sued the developer and publisher in 2003 for patent infringement.

Mr. Burns has bought all transit systems in Springfield and has begun to overcharge everyone for the transportation services. Even worse, the buses are nuclear powered, thus irradiating whoever rides it.

The citizens of the city (managed by the game player) must earn money by driving cars around town in order to regain control of the transit systems. The game contains 17 different drivable/collectible vehicles, six starting locations (five of which are unlockable), and 10 different missions. In order to collect the vehicles and unlock starting locations, players must earn progressively more money for each vehicle or starting location they want to get. In order to complete missions, players must do certain things (such as knocking down 12 baseball team mascots in 45 seconds or running into Gils within a time limit).

Simpsons Road Rage Mr Plow Reviews

To earn money, players must drive around a vehicle for a given amount of time, picking up passengers and taking them to their destinations. Any of the vehicles that the player has collected can be used as taxis. Players have to avoid certain hurdles, such as other vehicles that spin out of control, rocks, flying street objects, Smithers's car, Mr. Burns' nuclear transit buses, and houses on difficult curves.

The game features six locations familiar to Simpsons fans, which have varying levels of difficulty for completing tasks.

• Evergreen Terrace: Is the location of the Simpsons' house, the Flanders' house, Gerald Ford's (formerly George H. W. Bush's) house, the Maison Derriere, Milhouse's house, the Kwik-E-Mart, Smithers's apartment, Principal Skinner's house, Chief Wiggum's house, Springfield Elementary School, Willie's shack, the First Church of Springfield, Reverend Lovejoy's house, Edna Krabappel's house, Apu's apartment, Hans Moleman's house, the grocery store, the Springfield Retirement Castle, Barney's apartment, a Krusty Burger restaurant, Spinser City Apartments and a gas station.

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• Entertainment District: Is the location of Moe's Tavern, the King Toot's Music Store, the She-She Lounge, the Duff Brewery, the Rusty Barnacle, the Guilded Truffle, Planet Hype, a milkshake shop, Sir Putt-A-Lot's, the Aztec Theatre, the Gogolplex, the Frying Dutchman, the Noiseland Arcade, the Girlesque, the Springfield Mini Mall, Barney's Bowl-O-Rama, Circus of Values, the Try-N-Save, Moe's house, Fiesta Terrace, Candy Most Dandy, the Box Factory, a dating building, a pet shop, the Duff Center, the office of an insurance company, three Krusty Burger restaurants, five gas stations, a 24-Seven, a Pineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor and a Lard Lad Donuts restaurant.
• Springfield Dam: Is the location of the Springfield Dam, Mayor Quimby's Mansion, Kamp Krusty, the Stonecutters Lodge, Jittery Joe's Coffee Shop, the office of K Radio, Rancho Relaxo, an interesting home, a builder's shack and a trailer park.
• Nuclear Power Plant: Is the location of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, the Springfield Mall, the Springfield War Memorial Stadium, the Springfield Community Center, a run-off stream, a Lard Lad Donuts restaurant and two gas stations.
• Downtown: Is the location of Herman's Military Antiques, Helter Shelter, the Springfield Plasma Center, the Veterans of Popular Wars, the office of Burns Transit, the Springfield Observatory, the Android's Dungeon, the Springfield Stadium, a cathedral, Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls, the Springfield Airport, Area 51A, the Little Black Box, the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club, the DMV, Professor Frink's apartment, Snake's hideout, Krusty's house, the Springfield Drive-in, Springfield Park, Whacking Day Park, the Happy Sumo, the Singing Sirloin, Chez Pierre, Clown College, the Springfield General Hospital, Channel 6 Studios, the Popsicle Stick Skyscraper, the 50-Foot Magnifying Glass, the Escalator to Nowhere, the Springfield Revolving Restaurant, the Monty Burns Casino, two car parks, a convention center, the Springfield Natural History Museum, Springfield City Hall, the Springfield Court House, the Springfield Public Library, the Springfield Police Station, Copy Jalopy, the Springfield post office, a savings and loan, three Krusty Burger restaurants, two Lard Lad Donuts restaurants, two 24-Sevens, two Big T's, a Phineas Q. Butterfat's Ice Cream Parlor and four gas stations.
• Springfield Mountains: Is the location of Mr. Burns' Mansion, the Springfield Pet Cemetery, the Gold House, the Tire Fire, the office of KBBL, the Springfield Gorge, a gas station, the world's largest toilet and an inspiration point

The Simpsons: Road Rage contains the following tropes:

• Artificial Stupidity: The buses in the game crash into things themselves, and crash into you all the time. The introduction in the game's manual attempts to justify this by claiming Mr. Burns gave the drivers 'free reign to wreak havoc' all over Springfield.
• Big Bad: Mr. Burns. He usually appears in his limo (driven by his partner Smithers) to stop you from progressing.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Near the end of the introductory cutscene, Bart says to just start the game already.
• Continuity Nod: Arguably the strongest source of praise for this game is the various winks and nudges to the Simpsons universe, such as various sight gags and the vehicles the playable characters drive (including the unlockable Mr. Plow truck).
  • A lot of the characters have specific interactions with each other that you would expect based on their relationship in the show and everyone says 'hi' back to Dr. Nick after his Catchphrase. Try to find all of the special interactions!
• Drives Like Crazy: The point of the game, just like Crazy Taxi, is to drive your charge to their destination quickly. Some passengers will specifically ask for a destructive ride and give you a huge bonus if you destroy a certain number of objects before you arrive at the destination. Other passengers, however, will offer a bonus if you arrive before hitting less than three vehicles.
• Holiday Mode: If you play the game on Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day or New Year's Day (Or just set the system clock to those dates), you'll get access seasonal variants of Bart, Marge, Apu and Krusty respectively:
  • For Halloween, Bart is wearing a Frankenstein's Monster costume and his Honor Roller is painted like a jack o’lantern.
  • For Thanksgiving, Marge is dressed like a pilgrim and her Canyonero is painted in autumnal colors.
  • For Christmas, Apu is dressed as Santa Claus and his car is painted a festive green and red.
  • For New Years, Krusty is wearing a tuxedo and conical party hat, and his car is decorated with confetti and champagne bottle decals.
• Kids Driving Cars: Bart and Lisa are able to drive vehicles despite only being ten and eight years old, respectively, though they're limited to just driving the Honor Roller and the Electaurus.
• Loads and Loads of Loading: Another major criticism among critics, other than its clone-status mentioned above. We're talking 50 seconds of loading for a task that only lasts for 20 seconds.
• Self-Deprecation: In Simpsons tradition. The game opens with a cutscene of Bart playing a game in the living room, to which Homer tells him that the game is just a waste of time. The music from the game is also music from Road Rage, and the tiny parts of the screen visible seem to indicate it is, indeed, Road Rage.
• Shout-Out:
  • If you do a good job bringing Krusty the Clown to a destination, he'll remark 'Boy, that was over faster than Chevy Chase's Talk Show.' Krusty will also criticize a bad ride by negatively comparing your driving skills to Mickey Rooney's.
  • In the Entertainment District, one of Bart's reasons for heading to the Ice Cream Parlor is to look for Betty and Veronica.

'Mr. Plow'
The Simpsons episode
Promotional artwork for the episode, featuring Barney Gumble, Homer Simpson, Linda Ronstadt and Adam West
Episode no.	Season 4 Episode 9
Directed by	Jim Reardon
Written by	Jon Vitti
Production code	9F07
Original air date	November 19, 1992
Guest appearance(s)
Adam West as himself[1] Linda Ronstadt as herself[1] Phil Hartman as Troy McClure[1]
Episode features
Chalkboard gag	'A burp is not an answer'[2]
Couch gag	The family runs in and sits on a small wooden chair.[1]
Commentary	Matt Groening Al Jean Jon Vitti Jim Reardon
Episode chronology
← Previous 'New Kid on the Block' Next → 'Lisa's First Word'
The Simpsons (season 4)
List of The Simpsons episodes

'Mr. Plow' is the ninth episode of The Simpsons' fourth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 19, 1992.^[3] In the episode, Homer buys a snow plow and starts a business plowing driveways. It is a huge success, and inspired by this, Barney Gumble starts a rival company and quickly puts Homer out of business.^[4]

The episode was written by Jon Vitti and directed by Jim Reardon. The episode was well received, with some critics calling it one of the best in the show's history. In 1993, Dan Castellaneta won his second Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Voice-Over Performance' for this episode (Castellaneta performs the voice of both Homer and Barney in the series). The episode was also submitted in the 'Outstanding Comedy Series' category although ultimately it was not nominated.

Plot[edit]

Springfield is hit by a blizzard, so Marge calls Homer at Moe's Tavern and tells him to come home. While on the way home, Homer's view is obscured by the snow and he crashes into the family's station wagon. As both cars are completely totaled, Homer begins searching for a new car, and after several unsuccessful attempts, the family go to a car show.

After an unsettling encounter with Adam West, a salesman talks Homer into getting a snowplow. Homer agrees on the basis that he can make the payments by plowing people's driveways. Homer starts his snowplowing business, titled 'Mr. Plow', but he has trouble finding any customers. His advertising campaigns are unsuccessful until Lisa suggests an advertisement on late night local television. The resulting commercial and jingle attracts lots of customers and the business is a booming success. Homer is given the key to the city in recognition of his service to the community.

Barney, after being humiliated while working as a mascot for a baby supply store, asks how he can be a success as well. Homer advises him go out and be the best Barney he can be. The next day, it is revealed that Barney has purchased an even bigger plow and has started a rival company under the title of 'Plow King'. Barney creates his own commercial, with Linda Ronstadt involved in singing the jingle, which defames and slanders Homer. Homer pays an agency to make him a new commercial, which turns out to be completely nonsensical. As a result, Homer loses his success to Barney, and Mayor Quimby revokes his key to the city and hands it over to Barney.

To get revenge and regain his customers, Homer tricks Barney into plowing a non-existent driveway on Widow's Peak, a large treacherous mountain outside of town. Homer begins to plow driveways again, but sees a news report showing that Barney has been trapped in an avalanche. Homer immediately drives to the mountain and rescues Barney. The friends resolve their differences and agree to work together in the plow business, claiming that 'When two best friends work together, not even God Himself can stop them!'. Angered, God sarcastically says 'Oh no?' and promptly retaliates by causing a heatwave, melting all the snow and effectively putting them both out of business. As Homer can no longer make the snowplow payments, his plow is soon repossessed, returning things to normal. However, Homer retains the Mr. Plow jacket as a memento from his earlier job, and Marge asks him to wear it to bed.^[1][3]

Production[edit]

When the episode was being written, many writers' contracts had just expired, so there was a small number of writers at the annual story retreat. Al Jean was very nervous about how they could write a whole new season with such a small crew. In addition, there were several scenes added after the animatic, making the schedule even tighter.^[5] However, Jon Vitti was very committed to this episode and pitched almost the entire plot by himself.^[6] Vitti's inspiration for the episode was when he noticed that very few TV shows portray snow outside of Thanksgiving or Christmas, so he wanted to do an episode with snow involved. From this idea he developed the 'friends in competition with each other' plot, which led to Homer getting the plow from a car show.^{[citation needed]}

From this came Vitti's plan; have Adam West be at the car show, so then they could hire him for the voice acting and Vitti could finally meet him.^[7] The other writers agreed because they were all big fans of Batman when they were children and also wanted to meet Adam West. Matt Groening said that West was one of the most popular people to ever come to the studio.^[8]Linda Ronstadt was recorded in San Francisco. Jon Vitti was tasked with recording Ronstadt and he enjoyed it immensely. He remarked the most beautiful thing he has ever heard is Ronstadt singing the Spanish Plow King jingle.^[7][9]

Two more script changes that put extra pressure on the episode were a post-animatic rewrite and a complete character change. In the original script for the episode, Lenny was going to be Homer's rival as the Plow King. The idea was quickly dropped because it did not seem to fit in.^{[citation needed]} The post-animatic rewrite was to include the joke in which Homer uses the radio dial to tip the precariously balanced plow back onto the road. This joke was created by Conan O'Brien, and the writers liked it so much that they included it in the episode.^[10]

The Simpsons team encountered trouble with the network censors in the scene where Homer answers the phone and pretends to be Tony Dow from Leave it to Beaver. After a brief pause Homer replies to an inquiry by the person on the phone with 'Yeah, they were gay.' The censors refused to allow the line to be aired fearing legal recourse for libel. The Simpsons crew protested, arguing that no one in particular was being implied, and that the 'they' could be anybody. After numerous phone calls and arguments, the censors allowed the joke to air.^[11]

Cultural references[edit]

This episode contains several references that Al Jean referred to as 'very obscure'. Examples of this include the scene where Homer drives through the treacherous mountain roads, a parody of a scene in Sorcerer,^[6] and the scene in which Kent Brockman reports Barney's accident, in which his attire (including glasses), camera angles and facial expressions are in reference to the manner of Walter Cronkite's reporting of the Kennedy shooting.^[6]

The revamped 'Mr. Plow commercial' is a parody of a similar perfume commercial that aired at the time of the episode's production. The fast moving clouds were taken from Koyaanisqatsi, a documentary film.^[6] The music that was used in the commercial was from 'Casta Diva' from Vincenzo Bellini's Norma because the Simpsons crew would not have to pay for it. At the time the episode was made, Russia did not abide by American copyright laws. In return, America did not respect Russia's copyright laws.^[7] Homer's original jingle, 'Call Mr. Plow, that's my name, that name again is Mr. Plow!', is based on a radio jingle for the Roto-Rooter, which had a similar tune, 'Call Roto-Rooter, that's the name, and away go troubles down the drain.'^[7]

Other references include the Carnival of the Stars television show seen at the start of the episode. This is a parody of Circus of the Stars, an annual special that aired on CBS from 1976–1994, featuring celebrities performing circus acts.^[6] The scene where Barney gradually degrades into a drunk is a parody of the transformation sequence in the 1941 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.^[6] The scene where Bart is pelted with snowballs is a reference to the Sonny Corleone tollbooth shooting scene in the film The Godfather.^[5] The snowmen melting during the heatwave is a reference to the melting Nazi soldiers in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark.^[5]

Linda Ronstadt's desire to record a Spanish version of the Plow King jingle, along with her mariachi costume in Barney's commercial, both refer to her notoriety at the time for recording several popular Spanish-language albums celebrating the music of Mexico, beginning with Canciones de Mi Padre.

Reception[edit]

In its original broadcast, 'Mr. Plow' finished 23rd in ratings for the week of November 16–22, 1992, with a Nielsen rating of 14.6, equivalent to approximately 13.6 million viewing households. It was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, beating Married... with Children.^[12]

In 2003, the episode was placed sixth on Entertainment Weekly's top 25 The Simpsons episode list.^[13] In June 2009, Robert Canning of IGN gave the episode a score of 9.8 out of 10 and said it was 'a fantastic episode that told an engaging story and was laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish. [...] There was a fun, engaging story, great guest stars poking fun at themselves, flashbacks, songs, cutaways and opportunities to highlight characters outside the series' namesake family.'^[14]

In January 2010, Michael Moran of The Times ranked the episode as the second best in the show's history.^[15] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, enjoyed the episode. They said that it is: 'A good one. The highlights; the TV show Carnival of Stars, featuring Angela Lansbury walking on hot coals ('Excitement, she wrote!'), Homer's flashback to all he's done for Barney, and best of all, the McMahon & Tate ad agency's arty commercial for Mr. Plow.'^[1] In June 2012, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club stated that the episode 'isn't just spectacularly funny and filled with classic bits: it also foretells the future. Not bad for an animated cartoon from the 1990s.'^[16]

When asked to pick his favourite season out of The Simpsons seasons one through twenty, Paul Lane of the Niagara Gazette picked season four and highlighted 'Brother from the Same Planet' and 'Mr. Plow' which he called 'excellent', along with 'the sweetly funny' 'Lisa's First Word', and 'Homer the Heretic'.^[17] The episode's reference to The Godfather was named the 37th greatest film reference in the history of the show by Total Film's Nathan Ditum.^[18] Ditum also ranked West's performance as the seventh best guest appearance in the show's history.^[19]

When The Simpsons began streaming on Disney+ in 2019, former Simpsons writer and executive producer Bill Oakley named this one of the best classic Simpsons episodes to watch on the service.^[20]

Awards[edit]

In 1993, Dan Castellaneta won an Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Voice-Over Performance' for his performance as Homer in this episode. It was his second consecutive Emmy, as he had also won in the same category the previous year.^[21] In 1993, 'Mr. Plow' and 'A Streetcar Named Marge' were submitted for the Primetime Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Comedy Series'. The Simpsons' staff had previously submitted episodes for 'Outstanding Animated Program', winning twice, but that season they took a chance with the main comedy category. However, the Emmy voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs, and The Simpsons did not receive a nomination. The Simpsons' crew submitted episodes for Outstanding Comedy Series the next season, but again these were not nominated.^[6] Since then, the show has submitted episodes in the animation category and has won eight times.^[21]

Legacy[edit]

On December 17, 2015, Google and YouTube modernized the episode and its 'Mr. Plow' jingle for use in a commercial in which Lisa uses the website on her computer to place Homer's ad onto its YouTube campaign.^[22][23]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdefMartyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). 'Mr. Plow'. BBC. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
2. ^Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 101. ISBN978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN98141857. OCLC37796735. OL433519M..
3. ^ ^ab'Mr. Plow'. The Simpsons.com. Retrieved 2011-09-17.
4. ^Groening, Matt; Vitti, Jon; Reardon, Jim (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
5. ^ ^abcReardon, Jim (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
6. ^ ^abcdefgJean, Al (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
7. ^ ^abcdVitti, Jon (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
8. ^Groening, Matt (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
9. ^After the commercial sequence mentioned above, there is a later scene in which Ronstadt says she wants to record a Spanish version of the jingle, after which she sings a few translated lines.
10. ^Jean, Al; Reardon, Jim; Vitti, Jon (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
11. ^Jean, Al; Vitti, Jon (2004). The Simpsons Season 4 DVD commentary for the episode 'Mr. Plow' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
12. ^Moore, Frazier (November 28, 1992). 'ABC is first in November sweeps race'. Sun-Sentinel. p. 3D.
13. ^'The Family Dynamic (The best 'Simpsons' episodes, Nos. 6-10)'. Entertainment Weekly. February 2, 2003. Archived from the original on February 4, 2009. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
14. ^Canning, Robert (June 2, 2009). 'The Simpsons Flashback: 'Mr. Plow' Review'. IGN. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
15. ^Moran, Michael (January 14, 2010). 'The 10 best Simpsons episodes ever'. The Times. Archived from the original on May 25, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
16. ^Rabin, Nathan (June 3, 2012). 'The Simpsons (Classic): 'Mr. Plow''. The A.V. Club. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
17. ^Dzikiy, Phil; Paul Lane (September 25, 2008). 'TELEVISION: 20 years — A 'Simpsons' extravaganza'. Niagara Gazette.
18. ^Ditum, Nathan (June 6, 2009). 'The 50 Greatest Simpsons Movie References'. Total Film. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
19. ^Ditum, Nathan (March 29, 2009). 'The 20 Best Simpsons Movie-Star Guest Spots'. Total Film. Retrieved August 2, 2009.
20. ^Katz, Mathew (2019-11-11). 'The best classic Simpsons episodes on Disney+'. Digital Trends.
21. ^ ^ab'Primetime Emmy Awards Advanced Search'. Emmys.org. Archived from the original on 2009-04-03. Retrieved 2007-10-24.
22. ^Hendrickson, John (December 19, 2015). 'If Mr. Plow Was an Annoying YouTube Ad'. Esquire. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
23. ^YouTube for Business (December 17, 2015). 'Homer Simpson saves the day with YouTube'. YouTube. Retrieved December 19, 2015.

External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to: 'Mr. Plow'

• 'Mr. Plow' at The Simpsons.com
• 'Mr. Plow episode capsule'. The Simpsons Archive.
• 'Mr. Plow' on IMDb
• 'Mr. Plow' at TV.com

Homer Simpson Mr Plow