The Big Picture
- “Marge vs. The Monorail” is considered one of the ideal episodes of The Simpsons, showcasing the show’s sense of humor and formula.
- The episode cleverly satirizes consumer culture and Springfield’s ignorance, while also examining Marge’s character and her role within the community.
- “Marge vs. The Monorail” features memorable musical numbers and a surprise guest star, Leonard Nimoy, adding to its timeless and iconic status.
It’s hard to argue with the logic that The Simpsons is one of the best television shows of all time, and one of the longest running too. The Simpsons dominated culture in the 1990s and changed the landscape of comedy, animation, and television forever. While the series has continued to produce new episodes for over three decades, the early installments between Seasons 4 and 10 are largely considered by The Simpsons fans to be the show’s “golden age.” It was during this period that most of the most iconic episodes aired, including the unforgettable classic “Marge vs. The Monorail.” As the uproarious parody of The Music Man celebrates its 30th anniversary, it’s worth revisiting as an example of the ideal episode in terms of The Simpsons’ formula.
In “Marge vs. The Monorail,” Mr. Burns is fined $3 million by the Environmental Protection Agency for polluting Springfield’s parks. Now given the money to spend on public resources, Springfield’s community gathers in a town hall to decide what to do with their new funding. While Marge thinks that repairing the city’s streets would be a responsible choice, the citizens are swept up by a musical pitch by the charismatic salesman Lyle Lanley (voiced by guest star Phil Hartman) convinces them to spend it on an expensive monorail system. While Marge has her concerns about the monorail’s safety, the rest of the town doesn’t think for a moment about the consequences.
The early seasons of The Simpsons perfected a perfect formula for its episode structure. Typically, episodes have a four-act structure with both an “A” and “B” plot that are tangentially (but not always directly) related. The “A” storyline generally revolves around a member of the Simpsons family, and in this case it’s Marge. “Marge vs. The Monorail” follows the formula to a perfect T, and features some of the most heartfelt, ridiculous, inventive, and satirical moments in the show’s history. The series has become criticized in later seasons for being less funny, even though memorable and good episodes still exist. With The Simpsons about to enter Season 35 on October 1, it’s a good time to look back on one of the show’s best episodes.
Marge vs The Monorail Mixes the Satirical and the Ridiculous
Later seasons of The Simpsons were accused of “jumping the shark” when it came to outlandish plots, but “Marge vs. The Monorail” features a fairly straightforward narrative. While the concept of a massive monorail system being approved and built in a short period of time is certainly a stretch, it’s derived from a satirical point regarding the notion of advertising and Springfield’s ignorance. Everyone is quick to take the first exciting new feature that is presented to them, and Marge is left isolated by her responsibility. It was both a way to examine consumer culture and a clever method for retaining the show’s status quo when the system eventually collapses.
The episode was also one of the best to put Marge at the center. While generally most of the central characters were given equal screen time, it was interesting to see Marge take an interest in something that wasn’t directly related to Homer’s misfortune, greed, or irresponsibility. She’s taking on the entire community, fearful of becoming an outsider by speaking out. There’s still a bit of fun marital tension when Lyle selects Homer on a whim as the conductor, but it doesn’t push their arguments into uncomfortable territory. Later seasons presented a greedier, more selfish version of Homer, but here he’s just a hapless idiot. Marge’s desperate attempt to save Homer from impending disaster, even though the circumstances are completely ridiculous, is actually very touching.
“Marge vs. The Monorail” also featured an interesting option when the two storylines were directly connected; one part of the episode follows Marge as she investigates Lanley’s fraudulent schemes with the developer Sebastian Cobb, while the other portion examines how each of the citizens reacts to the spectacle of the monorail. Since the Simpsons family has enough episodes devoted to each individual member of the family, it’s fun to see a few great moments for supporting characters like Chief Wiggum, Apu, Mayor Quimby, Moe, Lenny, Carl, Ralph, Millhouse, Horatia, Patty, Selma, and Flanders among others. If you’re introducing a new viewer to The Simpsons for the first time, it’s a great way to get a glimpse of what makes each character unique.
The Episode Makes the Most of Musical Numbers and Guest Stars
What truly separates “Marge vs. The Monorail” from the other great episodes is its incredible musical numbers; “The Monorail Song” by Conan O’Brien is created as a clear homage to The Music Man, and it benefits from the seasoned voice of Hartman. O’Brien was one of The Simpsons’ best writers, as his storylines moved at such a fast pace that there was always room to insert more gags. The Simpsons would later rely on pop culture references a little too much, but the nods to Silence of the Lambs, Star Trek, and Beverly Hills Cop are timeless enough that they don’t date the episode.
The episode also made headlines due to a surprise cameo by Leonard Nimoy as one of Lyle’s guests at the ceremony inducting the monorail. Nimoy has some terrific lines and gets to poke fun at his role as Spock, but his star power doesn’t overshadow the main narrative thrust of Marge trying to save Homer from the monorail’s collapse. Some of The Simpsons’ later guest stars would appear as idealized versions of themselves that the other characters are in awe of (Elon Musk and Lady Gaga both popped up in the last decade), but Nimoy presents himself as an actor past his prime who is just looking for an easy gig. He’s in on the joke and manages to deliver some terrific Star Trek jokes.
The legacy of “Marge vs. The Monorail” rivals that of nearly every other The Simpsons episode; O’Brien has performed the theme song live several times, and recently Matt Groening mentioned that the episode’s popularity actually caused a decline in the funding of real monorails. While it’s great to see that The Simpsons has been having a surge in creativity that mirrors the highs of its past, “Marge vs. The Monorail” is a nearly perfect episode that shows everything the series does best.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
