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The Simpsons Season 20 Episode 8

The Burns and the Bees

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7.9

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 12/7/08

Mr. Burns wins a professional basketball team in a poker game at the annual billionaire's retreat. In an effort to lure fans he decides to build a state-of-the-art facility, but the stadium site is on the last remaining bee colony in Springfield and Lisa leads the charge to block Burns' building.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

Lisa wants to save the bee population in Springfield when Mr. Burns decides to build a sports arena in the site where the bees live

10

By tigerdude22, May 27, 2012

Mr. Burns wins a professional basketball team in a poker game at the annual billionaire's retreat. In an effort to lure fans he decides to build a state-of-the-art facility, but the stadium site is on the last remaining bee colony in Springfield and Lisa leads the charge to block Burns' building. I thought that this was a perfect episode of "The Simpsons". It was very fun to watch and it's one of my favorites from Season 20. I love the storyline and there were a lot of moments in this episode that just cracked me up. It was very nice to see Homer help out Lisa save the bee population by getting some kind of Africanized bees to invade the sports arena and stop Burns. See, this proves that even though Homer is an idiotic father, he does care about his family and he helps out Lisa here but it's not the first time he helps out though. The parts that made me laugh were the bees buzzing "We hate you most of all Uncle Tom" when they are invading the stadium, Mr. Burns betting Smithers in the poker game, Grandpa's cameo appearance when walked in and say "Oh hey, it's Abraham Lincoln" when Lisa has a bee beard and a hat, Homer opening the lid and asking the bees "Are you dangerous?" then the bees fly out of the hive and punch Homer down with Homer saying "A simple yes would've sufficed", and many more. It's got a terrific storyline, a lot of humorous moments that are terrific, good dialogue, and just excellent everything and I recommend you watch this episode. Overall, this was a perfect episode of "The Simpsons". 10/10moreless
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Wasn't as fond of this episode as the other episodes from this season. It started out as a great epsiode but I think progressivly got worse. However, still a decent episode.moreless

7.5

By Iverson82094, Dec 31, 2010

During the annual billionaires' retreat, Mr. Burns wins the Boston Celtics in a casual game of poker. While hosting the season opener in Springfield, Mr. Burns witnesses the antics of Dallas Mavericks' owner Mark Cuban (guest voice as himself). Fascinated with his behavior, Mr. Burns decides to emulate Cuban's over-the-top crowd pleasing stunts in order to win over the hearts of Springfield's basketball fans. In the midst of his failing endeavor, Mr. Burns decides that the best way to win over the fans is to build a brand new, state-of-the-art sports arena. Unfortunately, the last remaining bee colony in Springfield is located on the proposed stadium site, and Lisa is single-handedly spearheading a movement to protect them. As Lisa fights for a safe haven for the bees, Homer attempts to help the quickly diminishing bee population by mating the Springfield bees with Africanized bees, creating a buzzworthy fiasco.moreless
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Season 20, Episode 8.

5.5

By Wanted23, Dec 31, 2010

I didn't really enjoy this episode too much. After 20 years, I think it is time to call it quits on this show. If there's going to be more episode like this one, then this show really should end. I did enjoy the opening sequence and Bart's pranks. Spray painting over the WO in WOMEN is a pretty smart idea. Hehe, Principal Skinner fell victim to it. The whole bee hive on the 2nd graders thing was outrageous, though. Still entertaining. I didn't like it from that point on, though. A bee beard? I'm all for animal survival, but that's stupid. I'm only 15 minutes into the episode, but it's not looking like a series classic to me.moreless
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The Billionaires Club

10

By luiz4200, Jun 08, 2009

Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. So funny. The billionaires playing Quidditch. How much does magic cost? Remember that Wonder Bat episode where Monty Burns was a member of a millionaires club where each member was required to have at least one million dollars? Now he was being kicked out of the billionaires club because his net worth was just little more than nine hundred ninety-six million dollars. He would die rather than live at millionaire camp. And Rupert Murdock spray painted the number seven at his net worth so it's read seventy-something billion. And Burns's attempts of showing off with his team? So hilarious!moreless
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At an annual billionaire's retreat, Mr. Burns wins a basketball team in a lucky hand of poker. Burns decides to build a new multi-billion dollar arena for the team over the last thriving bee colony in Springfield. Lisa tries to stop him.moreless

9.0

By meathead704, Dec 08, 2008

After the terrible "Mypods and Boomsticks" it was a welcome relief to see one of the funniest and best written episodes of "The Simpsons" in quite a long time. Watching this episode reminded me why I have been a fan for the show's 20 year run. Multiple times during this episode I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. I almost fell off my chair when Mr. Burns shot the team mascot. I laughed even harder when the wrecking ball tore through the greenhouse. Lisa's reaction was rip roaring hysterical. I hope to see more episodes as good as this.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Dan Castellaneta	Homer Simpson, Grampa Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, and others
Julie Kavner	Marge Simpson, Patty Bouvier, and Selma Bouvier
Nancy Cartwright	Bart Simpson, Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, Todd Flanders, and others
Yeardley Smith	Lisa Simpson
Hank Azaria	Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Moe Szyslak, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Lou, and others
Harry Shearer	Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Waylon Smithers, Kent Brockman, and others

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Mark Cuban	Himself	Guest Star
Jeff Bezos	Himself	Guest Star
Marv Albert	Himself	Guest Star
Pamela Hayden	Milhouse Van Houten, Rod Flanders, Jimbo Jones, and others	Recurring Role
Tress MacNeille	Agnes Skinner, Brandine Del Roy, Dolph and others	Recurring Role
Karl Wiedergott	Additional Voices	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Music from this episode
  "Amazing Grace" (Groundskeeper Willie plays it on his bagpipes while mourning for the deceased bees)
  "Hip Hop Hooray" by Naughty By Nature (played during the gorilla mascot scene)
  "Sea of Love" by The Honeydrippers (when the queen bee is being introduced to the Africanized bees)
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QUOTES (11)
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- (After Homer shows Lisa the hive containing the new hybrid bees he and Moe had created)
  Lisa: They sound awfully mad. Are they dangerous?
  Homer: Hmm, I'm not sure. Let me check. (Lifts the lid of the hive) Are you guys dangerous? (The bees fly out of the hive and knock Homer down) A simple "Yes" would've sufficed!
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- Lisa: Dad, we have to do something all the bees are dying!
  Homer: (sarcastically) Oh, no! No bees! Ooh, now who will sting me and walk all over my sandwiches?
  Lisa: But, Dad! Bees pollinate flowers.
  Homer: Pfft. Flowers, the painted whores of the plant world.
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- (Killer bees attack the new stadium)
  Bumblebee Man: Stop, I am one of you!
  Africanized bee: (buzzing translated in subtitles) We hate you most of all, Uncle Tom.
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- Moe: Listen, Homer: in the back room, I got these super-tough Africanized bees. I saw this ad in a gentleman's magazine for excited African honeys and that's what they sent me. If we could combine them with Lisa's bees, it would make them strong enough to survive any environment.
  Homer: But how are we supposed to combine the DNA of two strains of the same species?
  Moe: Actually, Homer... (whispers)
  Homer: (gasps) You and me?
  Moe: No, the bees!
  Homer: Oh, yeah, yeah, that's what I meant, too. I... have no... inclination.
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- Mayor Quimby: First, one announcement: I regret to inform you we are not offering childcare tonight. I don't know who that guy was you were leaving your kids with.
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- (Mr Burns walks into a tree)
  Mr. Burns: Kill his acorns and make him watch.
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- (Lisa releases the bees into their sanctuary)
  Lisa: Oh, I miss them.
  Marge: Now you know how I'll feel when you go to college.
  Lisa: You'll always have Bart! Always.
  Marge: But he'll be gone a lot repairing refrigerators.
  Lisa: Always.
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- (Lisa's bees are swarming around the breakfast table)
  Bart: Mom, maybe you shouldn't have put so much syrup on the pancakes.
  Homer: The secret is not to swallow the stingers. (takes big bite of pancakes with bees on them, and spits stingers out into a glass)
  Lisa: Dad, don't eat the bees!
  Homer: They're just drones, Lisa, they only live for, like, five minutes anyway! And they only have haploid cells, not diploid like me and Bart!
  Bart: Yeah! (high-fives Homer)
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- Homer: Marge, remember when we were talking about our worst fears?
  Marge: Uh-huh.
  Homer: And mine was snakes, and yours was...?
  Marge: Never being a grandmother.
  Homer: Really? I thought it was Lisa with a beard of bees. Well, whatever, brace yourself.
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- Lisa: Willie, I didn't know you were an apiarist.
  Groundskeeper Willie: From context, I can tell that means beekeeper.
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- Jimbo: Nice prank, Simpson. I dare you to dump that bees' nest on those second grade babies.
  Bart: Why would I want to?
  Jimbo: Because I said "I dare you." Kearney, can you read it back?
  Kearney: (reading) "Nice prank, Simpson. I dare you to dump that bees' nest on those second-grade babies. Bart: Why would I want to? Jimbo: Because I said 'I dare you.' Kearney, can you read it back? Kearney, reading: Nice prank, Simpson. I dare you to--"
  Jimbo: The point is, Simpson, a dare has been placed on your nards.
  Bart: My nards accept.
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NOTES (2)
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- For the first 8 episodes of this season, the show won the 2009 People's Choice Award for Favorite Animated Comedy.
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- Blackboard Joke: Jesus is not mad his birthday is on Christmas.
  Couch Gag: The opening sequence is winterized with snow and Christmas decorations. The Simpsons rush onto the couch and the camera pulls back to reveal that they are a reflection on an ornament from their Christmas tree.
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ALLUSIONS (5)
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- Bee Movie
  One of the tombstones of Willie's bees had Jerry Seinfeld on it, which is a reference to the 2007 CGI film Bee Movie, where Seinfeld wrote it and starred as the main character.
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- The Godfather
  Mr. Burns asks Mark Cuban to let him off the hook for old times' sake when it is discovered that he is not a billionaire. This is an allusion to The Godfather when Sal asks Tom Hagen to let him off the hook before he is about to be killed for his treachery.
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- Boston Celtics
  The Rich Texan's Austin Celtics basketball team's logo is based on the Boston Celtics logo, but with Austin in place of Boston in the logo.
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- Harry Potter
  At the billionaire's retreat people are playing Quidditch as seen in most of the Harry Potter films.
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- WALL-E
  The environment in Homer's vision of the future without honey is stylized to look like the polluted wasteland Earth from the 2008 film WALL-E. The robot that offers Homer some honey is a parody of the title character from said film.
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