​taken from American Conservatory Theatre's "Words on Plays"

​

The Simpsons Terms​

Springfield is the town in which The Simpsons takes place. It is located in an  unspecified American state. Its mottos are “Meanest Town in America!” and “Springfield: Good.”
Bart Simpson, voiced by Nancy Cartwright, is a ten-year-old fourth-grade student and the only son of Homer and Marge Simpson. Unlike the other members of the Simpsons family, who are named after creator Matt Groening’s family members, Bart’s name is an anagram of the word “brat.” He is mischievous and disrespectful of authority; he makes prank phone calls, does poorly in school, and can be found riding his skateboard. He is famous for his catchphrases, including “Eat my shorts!” and “Ay, caramba!” “Cowabunga” also became one of his catchphrases, but only after fans attributed it to him.
Homer Simpson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, is the patriarch of the Simpsons family. He works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, but has held many other jobs. He has an affinity for beer and donuts. His stupidity is often a source of humor in the show.
Lisa Simpson, voiced by Yeardley Smith, is the eight-year-old daughter of Homer and Marge Simpson. Extremely intelligent with an IQ of 159, she often feels like an outcast in her family. She has idealistic morals; she is an environmentalist and a feminist, and she becomes a vegetarian and a Buddhist over the course of the show.
Maggie Simpson is the infant daughter of Marge and Homer Simpson. She generally does not speak, but has been voiced by Nancy Cartwright, Elizabeth Taylor, Jodie Foster, and James Earl Jones. She is usually seen sucking on a red pacifier. Throughout the series, she has exhibited traits that imply she is a genius.
Marge Simpson, voiced by Julie Kavner, is the matriarch of the Simpsons family. She is recognizable by her blue beehive hairstyle and high-pitched, gravelly voice. She is a calm foil to the rest of the family’s chaos. 

Mr. Montgomery Burns, voiced by Harry Shearer, is Homer’s boss and the   wealthy, evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. 
Sideshow Bob is a recurring character on The Simpsons. Voiced by Kelsey Grammer, he is an evil clown whose real name is Underdunk Terwillinger, PhD. Sideshow Bob begins his clowning career as the trod-upon, silent sidekick on Krusty the Clown’s television show. Eventually, Bob begins to resent Krusty’s abuse and frames his boss for armed robbery of Kwik-E-Mart, a neighborhood convenience store. Krusty is arrested, and Bob assumes control of the show, but Bart exposes the plan. Krusty is freed while Bob goes to prison, holding a long-lasting grudge against Bart.

Blinky is a species of fish with three eyes that lives in Springfield; the mutation is caused by radiation from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. In the episode “Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish” (S2E4), Bart catches a Blinky fish. 
Kent Brockman is a newscaster in Springfield.
Ned Flanders is the Simpsons’ neighbor. His devout Christianity and perfect family  are a source of annoyance for the Simpsons, particularly Homer. 
Itchy and Scratchy are characters in a fictional cartoon (The Itchy & Scratchy Show, part of The Krusty the Clown Show) frequently watched by Lisa and Bart. In this spoof of Tom and Jerry, a mouse (Itchy) and a cat (Scratchy) antagonize each other; but unlike Tom and Jerry, they succeed in killing each other several times, often with gratuitous violence and gore.
Edna Krabappel teaches Bart’s fourth- grade class. Her grumpy demeanor is a satire of the American public-school system. 
Troy McClure is a washed-up actor, acting in infomercials and educational videos. 
Nelson Muntz is a bully who attends Springfield Elementary School with Bart and Lisa. He is famous for his obnoxious laugh. 
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, an Indian immigrant, is the manager of Kwik-E-Mart, Springfield’s convenience store. 
Mayor Quimby is the mayor of Springfield and a parody of Kennedy politicians.
“Smarmy Prosecutor,” also known as the “Blue-Haired Lawyer,” often appears in episodes featuring the Simpsons in court. He is also one of Mr. Burns’s lawyers. 
Moe Szyslak is the owner of Moe’s Tavern, a bar frequented by Homer and his friends. He has a short temper and propensity for violence and suicide attempts, and often receives prank phone calls from Bart. 
Thelma is likely a corruption of the name of Marge’s sister Selma Bouvier. (There is no Simpsons character named Thelma.) 
Chief Wiggum is the incompetent chief of police in Springfield. In one episode, he claims that Sideshow Bob calls him Chief Piggum; in fact, the character was designed to resemble a pig.

 

The Simpsons Episodes

“Calm thyself, Bartron, and tell us now where the magic space crystals which can save the galaxy are hidden” is a line said by Lisa in “Space Patrol,” the 14th short on The Tracey Ullman Show, which aired on November 8, 1987. In the short, Lisa, Bart, and Maggie play “Space Patrol”; Maggie and Lisa put pots on their heads as helmets, but Bart gets his head stuck in a vase. Lisa dubs him “Bartron, the evil robot from Mars gone berserk” and proceeds to antagonize him. 

“A Streetcar Named Marge” (S4E2), originally aired October 1, 1992

Marge wins the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s classic play A Streetcar Named Desire. Homer is unsupportive of Marge’s new hobby, and she begins to realize that he shares certain undesirable traits with Stanley Kowalski, the brutish character in Streetcar. Homer eventually comes around and is sincerely moved by the production and Marge’s role in it. The episode pokes fun at community theatre and makes allusions to other plays.

“Homer the Heretic” (S4E3), originally aired date October 8, 1992

To Marge’s dismay, Homer decides not to attend church one cold winter morning, instead staying home and having an extraordinarily good time. Despite visits from God in his dreams, Homer continues skipping church, but one Sunday morning he falls asleep with a lit cigar and the house catches on fire. Homer survives but concludes that God was exacting vengeance on him, and he decides to return to church. It is one of the more philosophical episodes, including such lines as “I’m not a bad guy, I work hard, I love my kids . . . so why should I spend half my Sunday hearing about how I’m going to hell?” and “What if we’ve picked the wrong religion? Every week we’re just making God madder and madder.” 

“Bart of Darkness” (S6E1), originally aired September 4, 1994

Called “Heart of Bartness” in Mr. Burns. In this parody of the Hitchcock film Rear Window (1954), Bart breaks his leg and is confined to his room for the entirety of summer vacation. Realizing that her brother is becoming increasingly agitated and bored, Lisa gives him a telescope, which Bart uses to spy on their neighbors, the Flanders. Bart becomes convinced that Ned Flanders murdered his wife, but eventually discovers that she was just at vacation Bible camp. 

“Lisa the Vegetarian” (S7E5), originally aired October 15, 1995

After visiting a petting zoo, Lisa decides to stop eating meat. She is teased for her decision but receives encouragement from Apu, who is a vegan, as well as Paul and Linda McCartney. The McCartneys, who were vegetarians in real life, agreed to appear on the show as long as Lisa remained a vegetarian for the rest of the series. The episode received an Environmental Media Award and a Humane Society of the United States Genesis Award for its treatment of animal rights and environmental issues. 

“Much Apu About Nothing” (S7E23), originally aired May 5, 1996

When Springfield forms a patrol to pro- tect the townspeople from bears, taxes are raised astronomically; Mayor Quimby shifts the blame to illegal immigrants and puts forth a proposition to deport them. When Homer learns that Apu (manager of the Kwik-E-Mart) is at risk of depor- tation, he helps his friend study for the U.S. citizenship test so he can remain in Springfield. The episode received gener- ally positive reviews for its satirical yet sympathetic take on a controversial topic. 

“Springfield Files” (S8E10), originally aired January 12, 1997

This parody of The X-Files (a series that aired on FOX from 1993 to 2002) features guest stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as their characters from The X-Files, as well as Star Trek actor Leonard Nimoy as himself. In the episode, Homer sees an alien, but Lisa reveals that the alien is actually Mr. Burns, who glows green at night due to radiation from his nuclear plan.

​

General

Cape Fear is a 1962 psychological thriller film directed by J. Lee Thompson. Based on the novel The Executioners, by John D. MacDonald, the film is about attorney Sam Bowden (played by Gregory Peck), whose family is stalked by a rapist named Max Cady (Robert Mitchum), whom Bowden helped send to jail. Bowden and his family escape to their houseboat in Cape Fear, off the coast of North Carolina, but Cady follows them. After a long struggle, Bowden ultimately allows Cady to live out the rest of his life in jail. The film regularly makes it onto lists of the most frightening movies ever made. In 1991, the film was remade, directed by Martin Scorsese. It starred Nick Nolte as Bowden, Robert De Niro as Cady, Ileana Douglas as Bowden’s colleague and Cady’s victim, and Juliette Lewis as Bowden’s teenage daughter. De Niro and Lewis both received Academy Award nominations for their roles. 

Chablis (sha-ˈblē or sha-‘blēz) is a white wine made in and around the town of the same name in Burgundy, France. Chablis wines are almost all dry chardonnays and are famous for their distinctive notes of flint, chalk, and/or seashells.

Do the Right Thing— see The Night of the Hunter

“Feets, don’t fail me now” is a catchphrase most famously heard in films of the 1930s and ’40s, said by such black actors as Willie Best, Stepin Fetchit, and Mantan Moreland. 

Gilbert and Sullivan collectively refers to librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who wrote 14 comic operas together between 1871 and 1896. Their work is marked by intricate rhyming structures, syncopated rhythms, witty lyrics, and dynamic harmonies. H.M.S. Pinafore, the pair’s first international success, was first performed in 1878. The Mikado opened in 1885 and became their most popular opera. It takes place in a fictional Japanese city where flirting is punishable by execution; Ko-Ko has been convicted of this crime, but as he himself is the Lord High Executioner, he cannot be killed, and therefore, no one else can be. His assistant, Pooh-Bah, takes the offices of all those who are too proud to serve Ko-Ko. The opera features the song “Three Little Maids from School Are We,” which is sung by Yum-Yum (the ingénue) and her friends.

H.M.S. Pinafore— see Gilbert and Sullivan

“Hundreds of plants”—in the United States, there are currently 62 nuclear power plants in operation, with a total of 100 reactors. The state with the most is Illinois, with 6 plants and 11 reactors. The West Coast has only two plants, with a total of three  reactors.

Kelsey Grammer (born 1955) is an American actor, famous for his role as Dr. Frasier Crane in the television series Cheers and Frasier, and for providing the voice of Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons.

Lithium batteries use the element lithium as a source of power. These batteries can be one-use or rechargeable. Due to their longevity (some can last for as long as 15 years), they are often used in electronics and such medical devices as pacemakers. 

“LOVE" and “HATE”— see The Night of the Hunter

The Mikado— see Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Night of the Hunter, directed by Charles Laughton, is a 1955 film about reverend/serial killer Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), who attempts to seduce a widow (Shelley Winters) in order to acquire the money her husband stole from a bank. In the film, Powell has tattoos of the words “LOVE” and “HATE” on his knuckles. He explains them to the widow’s young son, while acting out the story with his hands:

H-A-T-E! It was with this left hand that old brother Cain struck the blow that laid his brother low. L-O-V-E! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. [. . .] Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one agin t’other. Now watch ’em! Old brother left hand, left hand hate’s a-fighting, and it looks like love’s a goner. But wait a minute, wait a minute! Hot dog, love’s a-winning! Yessirree! It’s love that’s won, and old left hand hate is down for the count!

In 1989, director/writer/producer Spike Lee paid homage to The Night of the Hunter in his film Do the Right Thing, about mounting racial tension in a Brooklyn neighborhood. In this film, the character Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) wears brass knuckles spelling out “LOVE” and “HATE.” He explains them while acting out the story with his hands:

Hate: it was with this hand that Cain iced his brother. Love: these five fingers, they go straight to the soul of man. The right hand: the hand of love. One hand is always fighting the other hand, and the left hand is kicking much ass. I mean, it looks like the right hand, love, is finished. But hold on, stop the presses, the right hand is coming back. [. . .] Ooh, it’s a-devastating, right, and hate is hurt, he’s down. Left-hand hate K-O’ed by love. 

Pooh-Bah— see Gilbert and Sullivan.

Pret-a-Manger (pret-ah-mahn-zhay) is a fast-food chain, especially popular in London (where it first opened in 1986) and New York City. It is famous for its sandwiches and dedication to using all-natural/ preservative-free ingredients. 

Robert Mitchum was a film noir actor in the 1950s and 1960s. Appeared in both The Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear (1962). See The Night of the Hunter.

Rods provide the fuel for nuclear reactors. They are usually made of uranium-235, an isotope that fissions readily, and are encased in metal cladding. 

Shale is a sedimentary rock that often contains higher-than-average levels of radioactivity. 

Shiraz is a red wine made from grapes grown primarily in Australia, with undertones of violet, tar, pepper, spice, and dense, dark red berries. 

Smash cut refers to an abrupt cut in a film that occurs without warning, usually in the middle of a scene, with the intent of startling the viewer.

“This is the vida loca, we are living the vida loca” is a line from the 1999 Latin- pop song “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” by Ricky Martin. It was one of the best-selling singles of all time and stayed at number one on the Billboard “Hot 100” for five weeks.

Three fingers—many early cartoon characters were drawn with three fingers and one thumb, as this was easier for animators to draw than a complete human hand. Groening used this convention for The Simpsons.

“Three Little Maids from School Are We”— see Gilbert and Sullivan.

“Toxic” is a 2003 song by American pop singer Britney Spears; it reached number nine on the Billboard “Hot 100” chart. The song compares the singer’s lover to a toxic substance, presumably a drug.

The West Wing is a political drama series, created by Aaron Sorkin, that ran from 1999 to 2006. The show, which follows the story of the fictional President Bartlet and his staff through his term in office, has been praised for its political accuracy, treatment of current events, and witty, fast-paced dialogue